Month: February 2018

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Series Book Review: Cracks Duet – A Crack In Everything #1 and How The Light Gets In #2 by L.H. Cosway

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We’re celebrating the release of the CRACKS DUET by L.H. Cosway! 

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Title: A Crack In Everything and How The Light Gets In

(Cracks Duet)

Age Group: Adult

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A Crack In Everything  Goodreads

How The Light Gets In Goodreads

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A Crack In Everything
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2DvxZc5

iBooks: https://apple.co/2BsghVg

Nook: http://bit.ly/2n7Od4k

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2Gd10ez

 A Crack in Everything is Book #1 in L.H. Cosway’s Cracks duet.

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A Crack in Everything

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Life used to be simple.

I was a city girl with humble dreams. Then Dylan O’Dea broke into my flat, held me against the wall and told me to stay quiet.

It was like in the movies, where the universe zeros in on a single scene. I looked into his eyes and knew he was going to change me.

For Dylan, the sky was always falling. He showed me how our world is a contradiction of beauty and ugliness. How we choose to ignore the awful and gloss over it with the palatable. How you need just a tiny drop of something unsavory to create every great scent.

Pretty deep for a pair of teenagers living in a block of council flats in inner city Dublin, right Probably. But we weren’t typical. We both had our obsessions. Mine was growing things, Dylan’s was scent. He taught me how to use my nose, and I introduced him to the magic of flowers.

I had no idea that one day he’d build an empire from what we started together. But before that, there was love and happiness, tragedy and epic heartbreak…

My name is Evelyn Flynn and I’m going to tell you about the crack in everything.

 

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How the Light Gets In is Book #2 and the concluding installment in L.H. Cosway’s Cracks duet.

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How the Light Gets In

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Amazon: http://amzn.to/2GfvMmO

iBooks: https://apple.co/2n9grg1

Nook: http://bit.ly/2n9RWyf

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2F9klMf

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He came back to me 16 minutes and 59 seconds into Beethoven’s Symphony no. 7.

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We parted amid tragedy, so it seemed poetic. Dylan O’Dea, my childhood sweetheart, had once meant everything to me. Now we were strangers, and honestly, after eleven years I never thought I’d see him again.

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I lived in the world of the average, of getting paid by the hour and budgeting to make ends meet. But Dylan, he lived in the world of wealth and success. He’d achieved the great things I always suspected he would. The dissatisfaction he’d felt as a teenager had obviously been an excellent motivator.

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He started a business from scratch, pioneered a brand, and created perfumes adored by women across the globe. I was just one of the people who’d been there before. Now he was living his best life in the after.

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And me, well, I’d been in a dark place for a while. Slowly but surely, I was letting the light back in, but there was something missing. I was an unfinished sentence with an ellipsis at the end. And maybe, if I was brave enough to take the chance, Dylan could be my happy ending.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 A Crack in Everything

 

I loved Sam and all, but instead of avoiding elephants in rooms he tended to grab them by the tusks.

 

I was wondering whether you think everyone is redeemable?… I’ll give you the serial killer and the rapists, but what about people who are just sort of arseholes? Do you think they can ever become less . . . arsehole-y?

Granny Kennedy was terribly talkative on her deathbed. I think that’s final wish number eleven we’re at now, if we count brushing my teeth every night and saving myself for marriage. The woman must’ve never shut up when she was preparing for those pearly gates.

 

You should come at night. The place transforms. It’s like a Roman orgy after hours… It’s true. All these old timers are mad for it. They don’t have to worry about getting pregnant.

 How the Light Gets In

 

I’m ninety-nine percent convinced all Americans think Irish people talk like Leprechauns.

 

I felt so small. Why did you bump into old flames when you looked your absolute worst? It was one of God’s twisted celestial algorithms that made it happen to everyone at least once in their lives.

 

I was one of those people who were all, spa days are for spoiled housewives. But then as soon as someone said they’re paying, I was already in a bathrobe, cucumber slices on each eye, while a lady dressed in white gave me a pedicure.

 

Okay, fine… You’re not a cougar. I take it back. You’re a lion cub, a cute and adorable baby lion with no wrinkles and the most youthful appearance.

 

My Review:

 

Thank goodness I had the second book ready to go or I would be stamping my little foot at this strategic cliffhanger at the end of A Crack In Everything,  which was an angsty and devastating YA tale that had tugged at my cold heart the entire way through. The storylines and writing were well honed, emotive, intriguing, insightful, moody, and cleverly paced. Despite the angsty and melancholy tone, I was more than anxious to continue on to the second book.

I was delighted with How The Light Gets In, which picked up eleven years after the tragic ending of A Crack In Everything and was significantly lighter in tone with frequent hits of levity and clever banter between the characters as they slowly and sweetly rekindled their relationship. The writing was witty, engaging, beguiling, and increasingly hopeful while the characters were thoughtfully deconstructed and reassembled. The first person POV held my interest and rapt attention throughout as I was highly curious about those eleven years and how the story would resolve. I was more than satisfied by the thoughtful and ever so sweet conclusion.  I reveled in Dylan’s success as an adult.    Second-chance romances are among my favorites and I enjoyed this pair and their odd assortment of family and friends.

 

About the author: 

 

 

L.H. Cosway lives in Dublin, Ireland. Her inspiration to write comes from music. Her favourite things in life include writing stories, vintage clothing, dark cabaret music, food, musical comedy, and of course, books. She thinks that imperfect people are the most interesting kind. They tell the best stories. L.H. is represented by Louise Fury at The Bent Agency.

Social Media Links:FB: www.facebook.com/LHCosway

Twitter: www.twitter.com/LHCosway

Instagram: www.instagram.com/l.h.cosway

Website: www.lhcoswayauthor.com

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lhcosway13/

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 Book Review: Say You’ll Remember Me by Katie McGarry

 Say You’ll Remember Me

by Katie McGarry

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

Hardcover: 464 pages

Publisher: Harlequin Teen (January 30, 2018)

 

Doesn’t matter who did it. Not anymore. I did the time. It’s over.”

When Drix was convicted of a crime—one he didn’t commit—he thought his life was over. But opportunity came with the Second Chance Program, the governor’s newest pet project to get delinquents off the streets, rehabilitated and back into society. Drix knows this is his chance to get his life back on track, even if it means being paraded in front of reporters for a while.

Elle knows she lives a life of privilege. As the governor’s daughter, she can open doors with her name alone. But the expectations and pressure to be someone she isn’t may be too much to handle. She wants to follow her own path, whatever that means.

When Drix and Elle meet, their connection is immediate, but so are their problems. Drix is not the type of boy Elle’s parents have in mind for her, and Elle is not the kind of girl who can understand Drix’s messy life.

But sometimes love can breach all barriers.

Fighting against a society that can’t imagine them together, Drix and Elle must push themselves—Drix to confront the truth of the robbery, and Elle to assert her independence—and each other to finally get what they deserve.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

He must believe there’s nothing in my skull beyond the beginnings of hair follicles.

 

It’s creepy hanging with you… It’s like you’re the Walking Dead. I’m half expecting someone to jump out with a samurai sword and slice out your heart.

 

“I don’t know how to get them to leave me alone.” I pause, then the bitterness leaks out as well as a grim grin. “At least not without a baseball and a well-placed throw. Some people shouldn’t be allowed to continue their genetics.”

 

What does being mature mean? Mature feels an awful lot like being tamed, and so far, I’m not caring for the view from my cage.

 

Andrew and I are barely friends, and most days I lean toward thinking he should be neutered.

 

Drix gives that dog anything he wants. I’m warning you in case you guys grow up, get married and have babies. When the zombie apocalypse happens, he’s saving the dog before he saves any of us.

  

My Review:

 

I was stunned and off-balance by how much I enjoyed this skillfully crafted, engrossing, and heart-squeezing tale. I was immediately sucked in by the engaging storytelling and quick to fall for these enticing and intriguing characters, although I occasionally wanted to give several of them a pop to the back of their head and lock the bratty sister in her room. I very rarely read YA since I don’t like being reminded of those claustrophobic and hopeless feelings due to being powerless to the forces of controlling and cruel adults. But I couldn’t seem to put this one down. Adulting may be hard but it’s ever so sweet to make your own choices once out from under a menacing or suffocating thumb, as was the case for these two diversely different teens. Both were miserable and under intense pressure and scrutiny but had completely dissimilar life experiences.   Elle was a naïve and wealthy private school girl who had everything but freewill as she was little more than a trained monkey to her political parents’ dog and pony show. Hendrix was a cynically resigned, street-smart, and overly exposed delinquent fresh out juvenile detention. An unlikely pair who had been forbidden to interact while on the campaign trail, but of course, they meshed and became fast friends who eventually set off fireworks in their nether regions. I sighed with relief at the satisfying conclusion and certainly wouldn’t mind seeing the tale of this ragtag grouping further developed into a series.

About Katie McGarry 

Katie was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan.

She is the author of the Pushing the Limits and Thunder Road series. Say You’ll Remember Me will be released in 2018.

Katie loves to hear from her readers.

Connect with Katie

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

 

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Book Review: The View from Rainshadow Bay  (A Lavender Tides Novel) by Colleen Coble

The View from Rainshadow Bay

 A Lavender Tides Novel

by Colleen Coble

 

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Paperback: 336 pages

Publisher: Thomas Nelson (January 23, 2018)

 

“Prepare to stay up all night with Colleen Coble. Coble’s beautiful, emotional prose coupled with her keen sense of pacing, escalating danger, and very real characters place her firmly at the top of the suspense genre. I could not put this book down.” –Allison Brennan, New York Times bestselling author of Shattered

After her husband, Jack, dies in a climbing incident, Shauna has only her five-year-old son and her helicopter charter business to live for. Every day is a struggle to make ends meet and she lives in constant fear of losing even more than she already has.

When her business partner is murdered, his final words convince Shauna that she’s in danger too. But where can she turn? Zach Bannister was her husband’s best friend and is the person she blames for his death. She’s barely spoken to him since. But right now he seems her only hope for protecting her son.

Zach is only too happy to assuage his guilt over Jack’s death by helping Shauna any way he can. But there are secrets involved dating back to Shauna’s childhood that more than one person would prefer to stay hidden.

In The View from Rainshadow Bay, suspense, danger, and a longing to love again ignite amid the gorgeous lavender fields of Washington State.

 

My Rating:

My Review:

 

While still reading, I became increasingly concerned and conflicted in how to assess and rate this book.   The premise was interesting and original and the mystery was intriguing with several creative story elements that keep me reading and had my rating floating at four-stars. However, I grew restless and annoyed with the uneven pace and quality of the writing as some storylines dragged and became tediously repetitious, while others seemed rushed. Ms. Coble excelled in her creation and colorful descriptions of the quirky small town and its characters as I could well envision the historical and antiquated buildings, persnickety mother-in-law, and a somewhat inept middle-aged Elvis-wannabe sheriff with a thick mane full of product who had somehow managed to snare a young model for a wife. That image still brings a smile to my lips.

 About Colleen Coble

USA Today bestselling author Colleen Coble has written numerous romantic suspense novels including The Inn at Ocean’s Edge, Twilight at Blueberry Barrens, and Beneath Copper Falls.  

Connect with Colleen

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Book Review: FOUND by Claudia Burgoa


FOUND

by Claudia Burgoa 

Goodreads

Special sale price is 99 cents! 

BOOK DESCRIPTION:


All I’ve ever wanted was for someone to choose me. My mother didn’t. My father didn’t. The beautiful boy next door, who grew up to marry me, didn’t. Neither did the next man with whom I thought my heart was safe.

Back in the Bay area, three thousand miles from New York City, I can start fresh. Become one with the sea again, rise or fall on the tide of my own choices. But on the first day of my bright new life, the darkest shadows of my past follow me through my office door. The two men whose names are definitely not on my five-year plan.

If I let it consume me—my need for one man, my love for the other—the darkness will swallow me whole. I can’t let that happen. Not again. This time, the waves of emotion crashing against my heart won’t drown me. This time, I get to choose my happy ending.


 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

My parents used to say that I was the link between my brothers. I was the one who kept the peace— or started the biggest fights.

 

“But I guess life is about taking risks as we search for that special place,” he says, sounding like a fortune cookie from Ying Palace where we ordered takeout almost every Wednesday. They never make sense but taste yummy, and their quotes sound so beautiful.

 

Depression is something that’s all over me, even when I don’t want it. I’ve tried to break away from it several times, but it’s my permanent companion.

 

We could call HGTV and have a show. Something like, Abandoned Houses Dusty Edition.

 

His eyes are pleading me to say something, but I am catching his words. They are like fluttering butterflies that one can see only once in a lifetime.

 

After my journey, love still has the same meaning it’s had for as long as I can remember. It’s a verb, a noun, an adjective, and an adverb with many meanings but it’s hard to explain in only a few words

 

Belonging wasn’t a clear verb for me until I met you…

 

 My Review:

 

Decisions, decisions… what a conundrum. After a lifetime of battling feelings of inadequacy and being “never enough,” as she had essentially been abandoned or passed over by everyone who had ever mattered to her, Hazel suddenly found herself having to choose between two adoring men who were vying for her heart. One was her ex-husband who had been her childhood best friend and first love, and the other was her business partner and the man she has been secretly in love with for the last two years. She felt deeply for both who were successful, smart, sexy, and attentive.   Hazel was a wreck, drowning in indecision, and miserable over the dilemma, but damn, I should have such problems!

 

Written from the multiple POV of the three main characters, the emotive storylines were original, entertaining, and well-crafted while the writing was richly poignant and insightful, engaging, delectably sensual, and held my rapt attention throughout. Ms. Burgoa’s characters are always uniquely compelling, considerably flawed or damaged, and tend to ceaselessly pluck at my curiosity as the cunning and wily wordsmith slowly reveals their motivations and histories. I was as conflicted as Hazel was and couldn’t decide whom she should select and waffled several times as I gained more perspective on each one. To my vast delight, the conclusion was even better than expected and infinitely satisfying.

 
 

AUTHOR INFORMATION:


Claudia is an award-winning, international bestselling author. She lives in Colorado working for a small IT company, managing her household filled with three confused dogs, two daughters wrought with fandoms and a son who thinks he’s the boss of the house. And a wonderful husband who shares her love for all things geek. To survive she works continually to find purpose for the voices flitting through her head, plus she consumes high quantities of chocolate to keep the last threads of sanity intact.

AUTHOR LINKS:

Newsletter: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/m6l6v4

Amazon: http://ow.ly/qffW30bU5Ur

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/claudia-burgoa

Book+Main: https://bookandmainbites.com/claudiaburgoa

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClaudiaYBurgoa

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/Author_ClaudiaB

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/yuribeans

Instagram: http://instagram.com/claudia_b30/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7202946.Claudia_Y_Burgoa

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Book Review: Your Endless Love by Layla Hagen

Your Endless Love

by Layla Hagen

Goodreads

✦ Amazon US / UK / CA / AU

✦ iBooks  /  ✦ Google Play 

✦ B&N    /  ✦ Kobo 

 

An incurable romantic with a chronic case of bad luck with men…

Museum curator Summer Bennett knows that happily-ever-afters are not make-believe. After all, her siblings all found their soulmates, so she’s optimistic her prince charming will come along too…eventually. In the meantime, she focuses on her job and her volunteering—which brings her face to face with one of Hollywood’s hottest A-listers.

When Alexander Westbrook flashes America’s favorite panty-melting smile, Summer’s entire body responds. When she asks him to get involved in the community where she volunteers, Summer is shocked that the Hollywood heartthrob agrees right away. Two weeks working side by side with the world’s sexiest guy, and the game is on.

Far from the public eye, Summer discovers she likes the real Alex even more than his on-screen persona. Secret kisses and whispered conversations spark a fire in her that nothing can extinguish. If only his life wasn’t splashed all over the tabloids…

Alex can’t keep his eyes–or his hands–off of Summer. But she’s too sweet, and too damn lovely to be swept up in his Hollywood drama. His career is at risk, and an iron-clad clause in his contract with the studio makes a relationship impossible. But staying away from her is out of the question.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

As my brother heads to the bunch of kids grouped in the center of the room, I wonder for the millionth time if he’s actually human. He runs a billion-dollar corporation, finds time to woo his wife, and raise four little souls. I’m still going with a radioactive spider bite. Possibly vampire.

 

Some would call my tactics underhanded. Unorthodox is a better word. Much more elegant. A convincing sales pitch takes people skills, which I have in spades. You cannot grow up with eight siblings and not have people skills.

 

Everything we eat during girls’ night doesn’t matter… Gossiping burns a lot of calories…

 

Believing someone’s promise is more complicated than gifting them with yours, because when you chose to believe someone, you give them power over you.

 

My Review:

 

I have learned that I can always count on Layla Hagen’s Bennetts for sweet and steamy stories that are relatively low in conflict and dreaded angst, and I was long overdue for some refreshing relief. Summer and Alex were a charming couple and their story was delightfully crisp and simply adorable while it also brought the heat. The storyline was entertaining and engaging and provided updates on the rest of the massive Bennett clan. I enjoyed their playful banter and sizzling chemistry. But I’m left to wonder what will be next as Ms. Hagen has married off the last of the clan, although there seems to be a large pool of cousins yet to be tapped.

 

 About Layla Hagen   

Website | Twitter | Facebook 

Layla Hagen is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance.

She fell in love with books when she was nine years old, and her love affair with stories continues even now, many years later.

She writes steamy and romantic stories and can’t wait to share them with the world.

She is represented by fabulous Louise Fury (The Bent Agency) 

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Book Review: The Wild Woman’s Guide to Traveling the World by Kristin Rockaway

The Wild Woman’s Guide to Traveling the World

by Kristin Rockaway

Purchase Links

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

 

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Center Street

 

Fans of Sophie Kinsella and The Devil Wears Prada will love this smart, sexy debut novel of wanderlust.

Objectively, Sophie is a success: she’s got a coveted job at a top consulting firm, a Manhattan apartment, and a passport full of stamps. It isn’t quite what she dreamed of when she was a teenager dog-earing pages in exotic travel guides, but it’s secure. Then her best friend bails just hours after they arrive in Hong Kong for a girls’ trip, and Sophie falls for Carson, a free-spirited, globetrotting American artist. He begs her to join him on his haphazard journey, but she chooses responsibility and her five-year plan.

Back in New York, that plan feels less and less appealing. As Sophie recalls the dreams she’s suppressed, the brief international jaunts she sneaks in between business trips no longer feel like enough. Carson isn’t ready to let her go either, but as they try to figure out their relationship, Sophie realizes she may have to pursue her passions with or without him.

Praise

“With its spirited yet credible plot and vividly intricate characters, this debut novel shines.” — Library Journal (starred review)

“…a fun, sexy debut perfect for readers who love exotic settings and a great love story. For those wishing to indulge their wanderlust, or who have dreams too big for tidy little boxes, this is an incredibly satisfying read.” — Karma Brown, bestselling author of Come Away With Me

“…brilliantly navigates one woman’s quest to let go of what is practical to pursue her passion and surrender to her inner dreamer.” — Kerry Lonsdale, bestselling author of Everything We Keep

“Can a novel be smart and loads of fun? Kristin Rockaway’s debut is proof that it’s possible. Warm, witty, and completely delightful, this book had my inner escapist itching to hop on the next flight out of town.” — Camille Pagán, bestselling author of Life and Other Near-Death Experiences

“Kristin Rockaway is a wise and fresh new voice in women’s fiction and this book was a delight from start to finish.”  — Anita Hughes, author of Christmas in Paris

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Elena rarely left the tri-state area; her idea of an exotic getaway involved tanning on the Jersey Shore.

 

But with my focus on the future, I rarely immersed myself in the right now. My life was reduced to a series of check marks, ticking off each goal I achieved without taking the time to revel in my accomplishments. As soon as I hit one target, I was already reaching for the next one and contemplating the one after that. I rushed full speed ahead, my sights pointed sharply forward, never stopping to take a look at what was around me.

 

I can sketch in Hong Kong, in Australia, in New York. I can find an adventure wherever I am. The only constant I need in my life is you. So wherever you go, I’ll follow.

 

My Review:

 

Sophie loved to travel and plan travel and dream up detailed imaginary itineraries, although she had unfortunately chosen the wrong travel partner in Elena who decided on their first night there that she just wasn’t feeling the Hong Kong vacation that Sophie had planned and paid for and after a tense dinner of informing Sophie of all her unlovable and miserable flaws, Elena flew back home the very next day.   Wow, this was the opening scene of the story and although I flinched a few times, I was hooked. Poor Sophie, I felt for her and was exasperated by her and also wanted to kick her more than a few times as I saw far too much of my twenty and thirty-something self in this character; it was rather eerie and more than a bit painful. I truly adored the character of Carson who proved that opposites not only attract, they can bewitch and fascinate. Carson was an artistic dreamer going through a nomad stage while Sophie was a highly structured and over anxious planner.

I was stunned to realize this insightful and well-written book was the author’s first; every single character was colorfully described with vivid environmental details and interesting facts also tucked into the narrative. The premise was unique and entertaining while the writing was cleverly observant, wryly amusing, and delightfully steamy. Ms. Rockaway has a bright future ahead of her.

 

About Kristin Rockaway

Kristin Rockaway is a native New Yorker with an insatiable case of wanderlust. After working in the IT industry for far too many years, she finally traded the city for the surf and chased her dreams out to Southern California, where she spends her days happily writing stories instead of software. Her debut novel, The Wild Woman’s Guide to Traveling the World, was released from Hachette Book Group in June 2017. When she’s not writing, she enjoys spending time with her husband and son, browsing the aisles of her neighborhood bookstores, and planning her next big vacation.

Find out more about Kristin at her website, and connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Goodreads.

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Book Review, Giveaway: THE STORY OF OUR LIVES by Helen Warner

THE STORY OF OUR LIVES 

by Helen Warner

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

Paperback: 416 pages

Publisher: Graydon House (February 6, 2018)

They think nothing can tear their bond apart, until a long-buried secret threatens to destroy everything.

Every year they have met up for a vacation, but their time away is much more than just a bit of fun. Over time, it has become a lifesaver, as each of them struggles with life’s triumphs and tragedies.

Sophie, Emily, Amy and Melissa have been best friends since they were girls. They have seen each other through everything—from Sophie’s private fear that she doesn’t actually want to be a mother despite having two kids, to Amy’s perfect-on-the-outside marriage that starts to reveal troubling warning signs, to Melissa’s spiraling alcoholism, to questions that are suddenly bubbling up around the paternity of Emily’s son. But could a lie that spans just as long as their friendship be the thing that tears them apart?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Anton was her tutor and over the course of her first year, Emily had grown increasingly attracted to him. In his late thirties, he was tall, tanned, blond and devastatingly charming. He was also devastatingly married with two young children.

 

Melissa’s love life was non-existent. Well, that wasn’t strictly true. Melissa’s sex life was excellent. It was just that there wasn’t much love involved in any of her liaisons…

 

She had so much to apologize for that if she started now, until the end of her life it wouldn’t be enough.

 

Can’t you hunt for Mr Right while still enjoying the company of Mr Wrong?

 

My Review:

 

I was immediately captivated by the vividly descriptive writing style and fell headlong into the engaging and original story of four uniquely compelling women who had met and bonded as teens while living in close quarters during their first year of college. The four had retained a special and supportive bond for over twenty years while enduring harrowing events, spats, betrayals, addictions, illnesses, abuse, pregnancies, child rearing, love affairs, professional gains, and tragic loss. They thought they knew each other inside out although each had at least one long-held secret, indiscretion, or shameful transgression that remained unknown to the others.

While their tale would have been fodder for Jerry Springer or a daytime soap if handled differently, Ms. Warner kept it classy and infinitely intriguing. The storylines were original, relevant, frightfully realistic, and unpredictable while the writing was keenly honed, hypnotically engrossing, and hit all the feels. I adored most of the characters with my favorite being the steadfast and gallant Steve, although the four women were devastatingly infuriating as well as fascinating, insightful, stubborn, and exasperating.   At times they were disappointingly weak and repellent then, thankfully later they were allowed to be surprisingly strong.

Despite their occasional periods of envy and annoyances, they remained unquestionably loyal to each other through it all. At various times I had been disappointed with each to the point of gnashing my teeth, although I was more than pleased with their personal development and emotional maturity by the deeply satisfying conclusion. And as a bonus – I learned a new phrase to add to my ever expanding Brit Word list, “knees up,” which Mr. Google told me was a noun meaning a lively party. Which is something we should have at every opportunity.

About Helen Warner

Helen Warner is head of daytime for Channel 4, where she is responsible for shows such as Come Dine With Me and Deal Or No Deal. Previously she worked for ITV where she launched the daytime talk show Loose Women and was editor of This Morning. She lives in East Anglia with her husband and their two children.

 

Connect with Helen
Website | Goodreads

 

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Book Review: One More Promise (Band on the Run #2) by Samantha Chase

One More Promise

by Samantha Chase

 

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Amazon

B&N

 

Dylan Anders is making amends
…to his family
…to the public
…to the woman who just walked into his life

Paige Walters must learn to forgive
…her busy father
…her bossy sister
…and the wonderful man she horribly misjudged

Ambitious Paige Walters is ecstatic when she’s hired to recruit musicians for a literacy campaign—it’s her chance to prove she’s got the chops to make it in the family business. When Dylan steps in, she immediately dislikes him and vows not to let the fallen idol screw it up. But as the work brings Paige and Dylan closer together, their attraction grows…and so do their challenges…

Shaughnessy Brothers: Band on the Run series
One More Kiss (Book 1)
One More Promise (Book 2)
One More Moment (Book 3)

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Leave it to his parents to think all he needed to get started on this new life was a new suitcase.

 

Ariel didn’t smile. She rarely did. She thought it caused wrinkles.

 

She wasn’t even his usual type, but it turned out his usual type wasn’t particularly good for him.

 

A man knew when to pay attention, and Dylan learned early on that food was to Paige what flowers were to some women.

 

My Review:

 

This was a relatively light and easy to follow story with a slowly developing romance between Dylan, a newly rehabbed and tattooed bad boy rock-star with his reputation in tatters; and Paige, the mousy, uptight, and generally overlooked yet anxious to please PR executive who was assigned to be his handler. Paige worked in her father’s firm and her family was rather vile, yet they provided most of the comic relief.

If you have ever read a romance novel at any time in your life then, of course, you already know the outcome, yet the story was entertaining with a few delightfully naughty bits, and the characters were sweet and endearingly flawed.  Although, I was slow to fully warm up to Paige as she was initially rudely judgmental and inflexible.  I did not expect the former hard-partying man-ho rock-star to be the most level-headed, considerate, and thoughtful character in the book, but I adored the sweet and sexy Dylan.

Most girls/women have had a rock-star or famous actor fantasy or two – um thousand, yes, I will fess up… I’ll own it and wave my hands in the air like I do not care. While I don’t read rocker romances often, there are times I need something lighter in tone to break up the tedium or alleviate the residual heaviness from over-servings of angst or brain scrambling thrillers, and this sexy bad boy with a bad rep for fast living and hard partying came at a good time. And well, it’s from Samantha Chase, nuff said.

About the Author

Website

Twitter

Goodreads 

Amazon

New York Times and USA Today Bestseller/contemporary romance writer Samantha Chase released her debut novel, Jordan’s Return, in November 2011. Although she waited until she was in her 40’s to publish for the first time, writing has been a lifelong passion. Her motivation to take that step was her students: teaching creative writing to elementary age students all the way up through high school and encouraging those students to follow their writing dreams gave Samantha the confidence to take that step as well.


When she’s not working on a new story, she spends her time reading contemporary romances, playing way too many games of Scrabble or Solitaire on Facebook and spending time with her husband of 25 years and their two sons in North Carolina.

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Spotlight: The Things We Need to Say by Rachel Burton

The Things We Need to Say

by Rachel Burton

Goodreads

 

Sometimes the things we never say are the most important.

Fran loves Will with all her heart. They had a whirlwind romance, a perfect marriage and a wonderful life. Until everything changed. Now Fran needs to find her way again and teaching a yoga retreat in Spain offers her just that. Leaving behind a broken marriage she has some very important decisions to make.

Will needs his wife, he needs her to open up to him if they’re to ever return to the ways things once were. But he may have damaged any possibility he had of mending their relationship and now Fran is in Spain and Will is alone.

As both Fran and Will begin to let go of a life that could have been, fate may just find a way of bringing them back together.

 Perfect for fans of Katie Marsh, Amanda Prowse and Sheila O’Flanagan

Pre-order on Amazon UK – http://amzn.to/2kLqSYL

Publication Day – 11th May 2018

 

First Chapter Sneak Peek

 

DECEMBER 2004

It started at the party. His hands on my hips, my forehead against his shoulder. He asked me to dance but he didn’t know how. We stood together at the edge of the dance floor shaking with laughter at his two left feet. I don’t know how long we stood there. I don’t know if anybody noticed.

He’d waited for me, sitting with my friends, not sure if I’d turn up or not. I wasn’t in the habit of going to work Christmas parties; I only went in the end because he said he would be there, because he said he would wait for me. I arrived just as the main course was being served. I slipped into the seat next to him. His hand brushed against my thigh as I sat down. He held my gaze for longer than he should have done.

I fell in love with him that night as we stood on the dance floor laughing, my hands on his waist, feeling the muscles of his back, the warmth of his body, through his dress shirt, the press of him against my hip.

That was where it began. I sometimes wonder if that should have been where it ended.

But later that evening, as I got out of his car, and I said those words I should have kept to myself, we both knew there was no going back.

JULY 2016

Fran

She wakes up in the same position in which she fell asleep, her husband’s arms around her, their hands entwined on her stomach. Neither of them have slept that deeply for months. Fran remembers something: a hotel room on a Greek island, a feeling of hope, of new beginnings. She doesn’t allow the memory to linger. This is what they have now. They can be happy again if they allow themselves to be.

The hot, humid weather has broken in the night and she listens to the sound of summer rain on the roof. Will moves gently against her, pulling her closer. She feels his breath against her neck and the sensation of hot liquid in her stomach, a combination of desire and need. This is their second chance – she can’t let it pass her by.

‘I love you,’ Will says sleepily.

‘I love you too,’ she replies. It feels good to be saying it to each other again. She’s never stopped loving him; she just forgot how to tell him for a while.

‘Do you want me to go and make coffee?’ Will asks, nuzzling her neck.

‘Not just yet,’ she replies, turning around to look at him. His brown eyes are dark, impenetrable pools. His hair is pushed back off his face. Sometimes she forgets how much all of this has affected him too. Sometimes she forgets everything except her own pain. She feels his warmth against her, his strength. She feels as though the gulf that had been threatening to open up between them for the last year is slowly closing. She realises they have so much life ahead of them. So much time to learn to be happy again.

‘I thought I’d lost you,’ Will says quietly, reaching up to stroke her face. ‘I thought you’d gone, but recently I feel as though you’ve come back to me.’

She smiles softly. ‘I thought I’d lost you too,’ she says. ‘This last year has been …’ She doesn’t finish. She can’t finish.

She watches as a shadow of anguish crosses his face, as his brow furrows, as his jaw tightens. She recognises that look, recognises the pain he is trying to hide. She hears the shudder of his breath. His eyes flick away for a moment; he pauses for a fraction too long.

‘No,’ he says. ‘You never lost me. I’ll always be here.’

She kisses him gently then, and feels his hand drift down the bones of her spine.

Later, showered and dressed, they finally appear in the kitchen; Will’s younger brother, Jamie, is already sitting at the table drinking coffee. Will and Fran are hardly able to stop touching each other.

Jamie smiles at them, raising an eyebrow. ‘You’re up late,’ he says. Fran feels herself blushing, her stomach flipping over, and turns away towards the toaster.

‘Thanks for last night,’ Jamie goes on. ‘I needed that.’ Recently separated from his wife, living apart from his children, Jamie is lonely. Last night wasn’t the first Saturday night he’d spent with them. Fran knows Will has been throwing himself into cheering his brother up. She doesn’t mind. Jamie makes Will smile and it’s good to see him smile again.

As Will and Jamie start talking about the cricket, she feels her husband’s hand on her thigh, the warm, solid sensation of him right there next to her. They have been given a second chance, and they have grabbed it with both hands. She isn’t naive enough to think everything is going to go back to the way it used to be, but she knows that they can move on; they can talk and heal together. They can take another chance on living, find a new kind of normal.

Will stretches, draining his coffee cup. ‘This weather isn’t going to let up is it?’ he says looking out of the window where the rain is rattling against the frames like beads in a jar. ‘I’m going to have to cancel the cricket.’ As captain of the village team it is up to him to reschedule this afternoon’s match. Fran is quietly delighted that the weather means she doesn’t have to spend her last afternoon with her husband before she goes away watching him play cricket. Will gets up and walks into his study, shutting the door behind him.

‘How are you feeling about tomorrow?’ Jamie asks.

‘Nervous,’ Fran replies. ‘It’s the first time I’ve been on a plane on my own, which is pathetic at my age, I know.’

‘It’s OK to be nervous.’

‘It’s the first time Will and I have been apart since …’ She trails off. Jamie knows what she’s talking about. ‘I’m worried about him too.’

Jamie smiles. ‘I’ll look after him,’ he says.

After a moment Jamie gets up and follows Will into his study. He doesn’t knock; he just opens the door and walks in. As Fran starts to clear the breakfast dishes she hears raised voices but can’t quite make out what they are saying. She rolls her eyes to herself. As an only child she has long since given up on understanding Will and Jamie’s relationship: best friends one minute, bickering the next. She just hopes Jamie doesn’t stay too long – she wants her husband to herself for the day.

Will

It rains all day, the sky grey and waterlogged and heavy with cloud. After Jamie leaves, Will pulls Fran towards him, his hands at the back of her head where her skull meets her neck, where her hair is cut so short.

‘No cricket,’ he says. ‘I’m all yours.’

She smiles, standing on tiptoe to kiss him.

‘Can we just watch a film or something?’ she says. ‘I’m tired and I have to pack for Spain later.’ His stomach drops at the thought of her going away. He wishes he’d never encouraged her to do it.

‘I’d forgotten about Spain,’ he says.

‘No you hadn’t. It’s the only thing we’ve talked about for ages.’

Will had watched Fran spend the last few weeks flipping back and forth between excitement and terror at the thought of going to Spain on her own. He knew she was strong enough to do it; he knew she was stronger than anyone realised. But he also knew that she wondered if she was ready. When she first mentioned Spain to him he had seen it as a perfect opportunity to help her begin to put herself back together again after what had been the worst year of both their lives. He tried to believe that everything life threw at him was an opportunity.

Fran had been teaching at a studio in central Cambridge for six years and had been asked to teach for a week on a retreat in Spain. Will had always supported her teaching, always tried to put her career on a level par with his own and had done everything he could to help her find the strength to go back to work in January. None of it had felt as though it was enough. None of it would make up for the last year, the things he had said, the things he had done. Suddenly he is terrified about being on his own. Neither of them have been alone for months.

‘What do you want to watch?’ he asks, squatting down in front of the TV.

‘Can we watch Some Like it Hot?’ Fran replies.

Will rolls his eyes. He must have seen it a hundred times, but puts it in the DVD player anyway and goes to settle himself on the sofa. ‘Come here,’ he says, and she sits with him, leaning back against his chest.

‘Are you OK about Spain?’ he asks quietly.

‘I think so,’ she says. ‘I’m nervous, but I’m excited as well.’

‘Elizabeth will be there with you, won’t she?’

‘Yes, and Constance. In fact, I already know most of the other people who are going. I’ll be fine.’ She pauses. ‘Are you going to be OK?’ she asks quietly.

‘I’m going to miss you,’ he says, lying back on the sofa, wrapping his arms around her. He doesn’t know how to answer the question. He wants to tell her everything but knows that now is not the right time.

‘I’m going to miss you too,’ she replies.

He kisses the top of her head as she presses ‘play’ on the remote control. He watches her as she watches her favourite film, her lips moving along with the characters – she still knows every word by heart. They used to spend rainy Sundays like this when they were younger, when life seemed easier.

Halfway through the film he realises that Fran is crying – fat, salty tears running down her cheeks.

‘Fran?’ he asks quietly, pressing pause on the remote.

Fran doesn’t reply, she just turns around and he takes her in his arms. He feels her body against his. She clings to him as though her life depends on it and he holds her close as she cries and cries. He can’t remember the last time he saw her cry like this. They had both done their grieving in private over the last year but to Will it feels as though Fran has been holding all this in for months, shutting herself down. He’s relieved that she finally seems ready to let go.

‘I want my old life back,’ she sobs. ‘I want to be happy again.’

‘So do I,’ Will whispers. ‘And we will, in time. I promise.’

‘I wish we’d never bought this house – we had so much hope.’

‘Shhh …’ Will says softly, stroking her hair as she weeps against him.

Author Bio

Rachel Burton has been making up stories since she first learned to talk. After many false starts she finally made one up that was worth writing down.

After graduating with a degree in Classics and another in English, she didn’t really know what to do when she grew up. She has worked as a waitress, a paralegal and a yoga teacher.

She has spent most of her life between Cambridge and London but now lives in Leeds with her boyfriend and three cats. The main loves of her life are The Beatles and very tall romantic heroes.

Her debut, The Many Colours of Us, was an Amazon Kindle bestseller. Her second novel, The Things We Need to to Say, is released on 11 May 2018. She is currently working on her third novel in which the heroine follows the love of her life to live in a city in northern England. It has no autobiographical elements at all…..maybe.

Find her on Twitter & Instagram as @bookish_yogi or search Facebook for Rachel Burton Author. She is always happy to talk books, writing, music, cats and how the weather in Yorkshire is rubbish. She is mostly dreaming of her next holiday….

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/rachelburtonauthor/

Twitter – https://twitter.com/bookish_yogi

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/bookish_yogi/

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Book Review: A Different Game (A Wrong Game Novel) by Charlie M. Matthews

Book: A Different Game (A Wrong Game Novel)
Author: Charlie M. Matthews
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: 30th January

#ADifferentGameTour


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Blurb

You know that saying: One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

I found out that it was true. At least, that’s what I’d thought a year earlier when a few stolen moments with this one, unexpected girl, turned my heart to mush.

I thought she was different.

I thought she was special.

But it turned out I was wrong.

I was the kind of guy who learned from his mistakes quickly, so I moved away, threw myself into my budding football career, and I was determined to make something of myself and focus on my future.

And it worked, despite me missing her.

For a short while, I had everything figured out again.

Then, in one split second, it was all gone, ripped out from beneath my feet.

An injury forced me back home to Winslow to face the world I’d left behind.

But I wasn’t the same man when I returned.

I was different now. Too different for everything to go back the way it was before.

-Jake

 

I wasn’t the relationship type. I was the girl who mothers warned their sons about. I was the local piece of trash.

At least, that’s what they all thought.

None of them ever really knew me at all. None of them except him.

And then he left me… alone and confused. He forced me to hate him, to hate them all. I wanted to drift away. Leave Winslow far behind me and start afresh someplace else. Someplace new. Somewhere I could become anything and anyone I wanted to be.

But then he came back, dragging with him every moment, every explicit memory I had of us together and dumping them unceremoniously at my feet.

I wanted to keep hating him.

I wanted to resist.

But he was different now.

So cold, so angry, and sexy as all hell.

He’d changed, and all my plans for a happy ever after were shattered the moment he made the decision to return and show me exactly what I’d been missing while he’d been gone. I was screwed.

-Melanie

 .

My Rating:

 

My Review:

The story for A Different Game continued from the first in the series, The Wrong Game, but could easily stand-alone.  The premise was interesting and the storylines featured a mercurial and atomically sensual relationship between two unlikely former college lovers with an unfortunate history, as well as uniquely dysfunctional family dynamics in both households.  The family drama had understandably resulted in significant and long-term damage to all parties.  While it was well-written, I struggled with this book as I am just not a fan of constant conflict and this story was a full-on angst-fest.  I was further hampered by my difficulty in scraping up an appreciation for many of the characters as they were not easily likable and more than a bit obnoxious and prone to immature and selfish behavioral patterns.  Yet Ms. Matthew’s unique brand of storytelling and compelling narrative held my attention and I couldn’t seem to put my Kindle down, despite my desire to growl and sigh despondently at the characters’ toxic and melodramatic train wreck displays.  Craftily written from a dual POV, I found considerably more enjoyment and appeal in the characters’ inner musings than in their interpersonal interactions.  Melanie was my least favorite of the cast with her past behaviors, which were briefly recapped from the previous book, being highly promiscuous as well as maliciously vile and toxic; and although she believed herself to have “changed” after college graduation, those behaviors were not all behind her as she could still switch on the vicious and cruel harpy and spitefully lash out at will.  Yikes.  While this one may not have been tailored to my personal preference, if you feast on angst, emotional conflicts, and relationship dramas, then this is the book for you.

About the Author

Charlie M. Matthews is a hopeless romantic, lost in her own world of fairy tales and adventures. A lover of art and painting, she’d happily trade in her everyday clothes in exchange for a paint smudged shirt. In the confines of her attic room, she is able to create a world that is unlike no other. Mixing fantasy and fiction to generate a piece of work that she could so easily lose herself in. With her wild imagination and passion for reading, Charlie stumbled upon a new love.

Writing…

What started as a distraction from the crazy little thing that is ‘life’, it soon became all too real. She no longer dreamt about the day her words would be published for all to see because that day had finally come true. It 2015 she released her first novel and hasn’t looked back since.

Charlie is a mum of three beautiful children, living in a small village on the outskirts of Oxfordshire, England. Born and raised in the busy town of Reading, she switched the bright lights and traffic jams for a quiet life in the sticks a little over eight years ago.

Between school runs and generally just doing the whole ‘mum’ thing, you’ll most likely find her slobbing out on the sofa, shouting at the tv screen while her favourite football team (Arsenal) are tearing up the field. And yes, no doubt there will be beer involved, or if she’s feeling extra girlie, maybe even a glass of vino.

Connect with Charlie on social media
Twitter: @C_MMatthews
Buy The Book




Other books in the series

The Wrong Game

Buy The Wrong Game