Book Review, Giveaway: Moonlight on the Thames by Lauren Westwood

Moonlight on the Thames

by Lauren Westwood

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA  /

B&N / Kobo / iBooks / Google

 

Worlds collide when two strangers meet at Waterloo station. It’s a moment they’ll never forget. Perfect for the fans of Milly Johnson. 

Christmas is a joyous time, but not everyone is merry and bright.

Nicola is a rising star at the top of the corporate ladder, but her personal life is a disaster. Her office affair has lost its allure, and the last thing she wants to think about is Christmas. A night of canceled trains and festive Christmas carols at Waterloo Station is just about the last straw…

Dmitri loves conducting his pop-up choir during the festive season, meeting people, and spreading joy and cheer around London. But he carries deep secrets from his past that robbed him of his dream to become a concert pianist. 

Can their hearts and souls be unlocked by music and moonlight and will they discover the healing power of love?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Jules had what many people would consider the perfect life: a perfect husband, a perfect house and three perfect children – and therefore took it upon herself to appear busy and stressed at all times.

 

Her penguin jumper had a white pompom stuck on the back – the penguin’s tail. Not that real penguins had tails like that. The jumper was probably made in some sweatshop in Bangladesh by women chained to sewing machines who’d never even seen a proper picture of a penguin, let alone a real one.

 

When she caught sight of him, he could tell from her face that he must look like an old shoe that had been chewed by a dog and spat out again. Which was better than he felt.

 

For a brief moment, her life had been shaken up like a snow globe and filled with magic.

 

… it was as if she was experiencing the world for the first time. The colours looked brighter; the people were people, not simply obstacles to be avoided on public transport.

 

Chrissie put her hands on her hips. Even the appliqué reindeer on her Christmas jumper seemed to look annoyed.

 

My Review:

 

This was an angsty holiday tale, fraught with tragic histories, regrets, guilt, anxieties, personal pain, and tension. Both main characters were heavily marked with scars, although where Nicola’s were internal, Dmitri’s were equally distributed inside and out with PTSD. I held my breath they would not damage each other further as Dmitri was so fragile and Nicola so full of anger and hostility, she was difficult for me to care for initially as she was so cold, selfish, and basically abhorrent. Both characters were fascinatingly complex, deeply damaged, and brilliantly crafted.   And the music – oh my heart, I’ll never be able to listen to Chopin or Rachmaninov again without remembering this heartrending tale. Ms. Westwood certainly made me earn that hard-won, well deserved, and highly desired HEA, but it was well worth the effort.

In addition to the new additions to my Brit Word List of bursary (scholarship) and chivvy (hurry along); I have learned a new manner of drinking tea as Dmitri enjoyed his strong black tea with one spoonful of strawberry jam, I’d never heard of that before. I’m going to have some while I listen to Chopin’s Nocturnes one more time.

Author Bio

 Lauren Westwood writes romantic women’s fiction and is also an award-winning children’s writer. Originally from California, she now lives in England in a pernickety old house built in 1602, with her partner and three daughters. facebook: @Lwestwoodbooks; twitter: @lwestwoodwriter; web: www.laurenwestwoodwriter.com; Instagram: @lwestwoodwriter; Goodreads: Lauren Westwood

Social Media Links –

facebook: @Lwestwoodbooks;

twitter: @lwestwoodwriter;

web: www.laurenwestwoodwriter.com;

instagram: @lwestwoodwriter;

Goodreads: Lauren Westwood;

Booktrail: https://www.thebooktrail.com/book-trails/moonlight-on-the-thames/ (this is a third-party site).

Playlist (music plays a big part in the book): http://www.laurenwestwoodwriter.com/playlist

Giveaway

Win 2 x Signed copies of Moonlight On The Thames

(UK Only)

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will be passed to the giveaway organizer and used only for the fulfillment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for dispatch or delivery of the prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Spotlight, Giveaway: Christmas in Kentbury by Claudia Burgoa

Title: Christmas in Kentbury
Author: Claudia Burgoa
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: December 12, 2018

 

Blurb
Knightly
If practice makes perfect, I should excel at pretending that Heath Miller doesn’t affect me. That I’m immune to that wide jaw, taut body, and the unique woodsy-aftershave-engine-oil scent that makes my ovaries explode.
Since before I could walk, he’s been my champion. My best friend. The one problem I can’t solve. Why? If I tell him I love him, I’ll lose him and his adorable daughter. Maybe the best Christmas gift I can give him—and myself—is to turn in the keys to my B&B and put some distance between us.
Heath
I’ve made my share of mistakes. Lost my MIT scholarship, came home to fix cars and romance Kentbury’s female tourists—until I wound up a single father. For all eight years of Cassie’s life, Knightly’s been my anchor.
I’ve changed. Cassie’s the best part of me, and Knightly’s been there every step of the way. But as Christmas lays its mantle of magic over Kentbury, she drops a bomb—she’s following a dream to New York City. I’ve got one week to do everything, say everything I’ve never dared. To convince my best friend to be mine—ours—for all the holidays to come.
.

Purchase Links

99c for a limited time!!

AMAZON

Free in Kindle Unlimited

Playlist

 

 

Author Bio
Claudia is an award-winning, international bestselling author. She lives in Colorado, working for a small IT. She has three children and manages a chaotic household of three confused dogs, and a wonderful husband who shares her love of 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
Giveaway

Book Review, Giveaway: The Christmas Spirit by Susan Buchanan

The Christmas Spirit

by Susan Buchanan

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA

Christmas is coming, but not everyone is looking forward to it.


Rebecca has just been dumped and the prospect of spending the holiday period with her parents is less than appealing.


Eighty-two-year-old Stanley lost his beloved wife, Edie, to cancer. How will he cope with his first Christmas without her?


Jacob’s university degree hasn’t helped him get a job, and it looks like he’ll still be signing on come New Year.


Workaholic Meredith would rather spend December 25th at home alone with a ready meal and a DVD box set. Can anything make her embrace the spirit of the season?


The enigmatic Natalie Hope takes over the reins at the Sugar and Spice bakery and café in an attempt to spread some festive cheer and restore Christmas spirit, but will she succeed?

 

My Rating:

My Review:

 

I initially was uncertain if the main character of Natalie was human, and if not, what type of supernatural being she might be.   I’m still not entirely sure, but she certainly had magic, as does this creative and talented wordsmith. Susan Buchanan has gifted us with a sweet, lushly detailed, and insightfully emotive tale of common complications and foibles with a large cast of mostly likable and endearing characters or all ages.   Each character was struggling with various significantly vexing life events during a bone-chilling holiday season in Scotland. A full grab-bag of issues was confounding the previously unrelated group with each one facing life-altering events of turmoil and stress, whether financial, personal, familial, and/or career-wise. Little did they know that help had been covertly deployed with a secret plan already in operation. I enjoyed this tender, warm, and entertaining tale and was pleased with the interesting new addition to my British Word list with po-faced, which Mr. Google indicated was priggish, humorless, or critical. A look that I am well familiar with and, which apparently, was my destiny to incite from most of my relatives and teachers.   😉

Author Bio 

 Susan Buchanan lives in Scotland with her husband and their two children. She is the author of four novels: Return of the Christmas Spirit, The Christmas Spirit, The Dating Game, and Sign of the Times. She is currently working on books five and six: The Proposal and Just One Day.


Susan is also a proofreader, editor, and translator, and when not working, writing, or caring for her two delightful cherubs, loves reading, the theatre, quiz shows and eating out – not necessarily in that order!

Social Media Links

Facebook – www.facebook.com/susan.buchanan.author

Twitter – susan_buchanan

Blog – Sooz’s journal – www.susancbuchanan.blogspot.co.uk

Giveaway

Win e-copies of Sign of the Times and The Dating Game (Open Internationally)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will be passed to the giveaway organizer and used only for the fulfillment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for dispatch or delivery of the prize.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review, Giveaway: ALL OF ME by A.L. Jackson

A forbidden stand-alone romance in A.L. Jackson’s Confessions of the Heart Series.

“This is without a doubt my top read for 2018.”

~A Book Lover’s Emporium Book Blog

Amazon

Paperback

Audible

⋆Sexy Attorney
⋆Forbidden Romance
⋆The one woman who will make him question everything
DETAILS:
TITLE: ALL OF ME
SERIES: A Confessions of the Heart Stand-Alone Novel
RELEASE DATE: December 3rd, 2018

People call me callous. Arrogant. Ruthless.

I call myself tenacious.

One of the most powerful attorneys in Charleston, I don’t let anyone or anything stand in my way.

Until a chance encounter changes everything.

One glance.

One touch.

One night.

It only leaves me wanting more.

But Grace is off limits. Most people would even say forbidden.

Everyone knows an attorney can’t sleep with his client.

Too bad I already did.

And even with the threat of losing everything, I don’t know if I can stop myself from having her again…

All of Me – a Confessions of the Heart forbidden, stand-alone romance

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

“I’ve seen pictures of you. You were a knockout.” “Pssh.” She waved her hand. “What are you talking about, was? I am a knockout. You should see all the men fighting for me down at the bingo hall.”

 

He was doing that arrogant thing. You know, just breathing. As if he held the power to command all the air.

 

Their childhood . . . it was a battle. A warzone. One they were forced to fight even though they’d never enlisted. The aftermath left them completely different and so intrinsically the same.”

 

I could hear my grandmother shuffling through the night. “That squirrely bastard,” she hissed. “I have half a mind to go after that boy with a frying pan and teach him a lesson. Lord knows his mama must not have done it.”

My Review:

 

All of Me was a long book with lots and lots of angsty words and atomically steamy sex scenes. In fact, there were so many naughty words that I was forced to plug my Kindle into the charger to be able to keep reading them.   Oh my, this tale was full of torment, woe, conflict, and hot sex, but mostly woe. There was even woe about the hot sex. Written in my favorite dual POV, both characters were overflowing with stressors and tension of all varieties.   Their inner musings were a full-on angst fest, which at times felt tediously repetitive as well as more than a bit over the top, yet I was inexplicably unable to stop reading. I may have wanted to roll my eyes and sigh, but the hooks were deeply embedded – I had to know how it would unravel. Ms. Jackson can certainly spin a tangled tale as the storylines were well-crafted and intriguing. In addition to the intense sensual heat, a bit of much needed comic relief and sweet heart squeezes were provided by a feisty grandmother and sweet and imaginative children.

 

Don’t miss the awesome giveaway for the All of Me release! It’s a Fight for Me Bundle + More of You + $50 Amazon Gift Card!

I can’t wait for you to fall in love with Ian and Grace’s story the way I did! Enjoy!

xoxo ~

Amy

 

A.L. Jackson is the New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance. She writes emotional, sexy, heart-filled stories about boys who usually like to be a little bit bad.
Her bestselling series include THE REGRET SERIES, CLOSER TO YOU, BLEEDING STARS, and FIGHT FOR ME novels. Grab A.L. Jackson’s latest novel, ALL OF ME, the second stand-alone novel in her brand-new CONFESSIONS OF THE HEART series.
If she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the pool with her family, sipping cocktails with her friends, or of course with her nose buried in a book.
Be sure not to miss new releases and sales from A.L. Jackson – Sign up to receive her newsletter http://smarturl.it/NewsFromALJackson or text “aljackson” to 33222 to receive short but sweet updates on all the important news.

Connect with A.L.

Facebook: http://smarturl.it/ALJacksonPage
Reader Group: http://smarturl.it/AmysAngelsRock
Amazon: http://smarturl.it/ALJacksonAmzn
Bookbub: http://smarturl.it/ALJacksonBookbub
Twitter: @aljacksonauthor
Instagram: @aljacksonauthor

Book Review, Giveaway: Promised Hearts (Lines in the Sand # 4) by Lindsay Detwiler

Title: Promised Hearts
Series: Lines in the Sand, bk 4
Genre: Romantic Comedy/Contemporary Romance
Release Date: December 1, 2018
Cover Designer: Claire Smith
 On sale for 99c! 
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2C1PlPZ
All other links: books2read.com/promised-hearts

How could we be anything but forever to each other when our lives are so irresolutely melded together?


Two years ago, Avery Johannas swore she wouldn’t give her heart to another man again—and then Jesse Pearce changed her mind. Now, with wedding bells getting ready to ring, Avery’s relying on her friends to get her through all the hectic wedding planning. However, she’ll have to let go of the past in order to say “I do” one more time and take the risk again.

Avery and Jesse’s relationship isn’t the only one changing. Reed’s role as wedding planner makes Lysander realize all he is missing. With wedding fever in the ocean air, will the two be ready to take the next big step as well—or will Lysander be left craving the promise of forever?

As the couples from Midsummer Nights get ready for Avery’s big day, they’ll pull together in a memorable way—and the surprise twist up their sleeves is sure to make fans of the Lines in the Sand series swoon.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

My mind flashes back to dozens of times Mom caused drama in my life. Visions of her dashing toward the altar and tackling the priest or Jesse run through my head. The only sense of relief I get is that if that happens, Reed will be so pissed about his vision being ruined, he’ll probably drown her in the Atlantic Ocean. I smile devilishly at the thought.

 

I turn to see my mother in all her nagging glory, a martini in her hand. She’s wearing her bedazzled sunglasses and a silk scarf accessorizing her “mother of the bride” shirt. The shirt is neon yellow and probably visible from Mars. Dear God. I know inside, the fashion-obsessed Reed is dying a little. “We tried to liquor her up, thinking that might Zen her out. Doesn’t seem to be working,” Lysander whispers.

 

“Haven’t you come to realize just about everything involving women is complicated?” “Well, I’m not gay for nothing, you know?”

 

It’s weddings, I think. They make everyone mushy. We need to like go home and eat some steak, watch some manly shows, and build something. We’ve just been around too much estrogen today. We need to man up or something.

 

But something about today, something about the gesture, just hangs in the air. There’s something special, almost magical, about the knowledge that in a few short hours, he’ll be forever and legally mine. There’s something literally and emotionally binding about promises that can’t be taken back.

 

My Review:

 

I have adored each well-written and entertaining installment of this engaging series, and am a bit deflated to see this one labeled as the final. I have enjoyed getting to know this dynamic group of friends and co-workers who quickly became more of a supportive family than their blood-relatives had proven to be. Two couples and were featured with wedding preparations, surprise gifts, family drama, and relationship contemplations taking center stage. The diverse grouping of characters seem like old friends to me now, lively and lovely, flawed yet quite dear, and insightfully and poignantly written with frequent lashings of wit and humor.

 On sale for 99c! 
* * *
 Lines in the Sand Series 
Inked Hearts
(book 1)
On sale for half price!
Wild Hearts
(book 2)
Hidden Hearts
(prequel)
Texan Hearts
(book 3)


books2read.com/texan-hearts

A high school English teacher, an author, and a fan of anything pink and/or glittery, Lindsay’s the English teacher cliché; she loves cats, reading, Shakespeare, and Poe.
She currently lives in her hometown with her husband, Chad (her junior high sweetheart); their cats, Arya, Amelia, Alice, and Bob; and their Mastiff, Henry.
Lindsay’s goal with her writing is to show the power of love and the beauty of life while also instilling a true sense of realism in her work. Some reviewers have noted that her books are not the “typical romance.” With her novels coming from a place of honesty, Lindsay examines the difficult questions, looks at the tough emotions, and paints the pictures that are sometimes difficult to look at. She wants her fiction to resonate with readers as realistic, poetic, and powerful. Lindsay wants women readers to be able to say, “I see myself in that novel.” She wants to speak to the modern woman’s experience while also bringing a twist of something new and exciting. Her aim is for readers to say, “That could happen,” or “I feel like the characters are real.” That’s how she knows she’s done her job.

Lindsay’s hope is that by becoming a published author, she can inspire some of her students and other aspiring writers to pursue their own passions. She wants them to see that any dream can be attained and publishing a novel isn’t out of the realm of possibility.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Riding the Lines Submissions

Book Review, Giveaway: A Lion Is Not Just For Christmas by Henriette Gyland

A Lion Is Not Just For Christmas

by Henriette Gyland

Amazon US / UK AU / CA

Is there life after the circus has left town?


Circus performer Justine Belmont works with big cats, but when the circus is disbanded and the old lion is sold to a private menagerie at a stately home in Norfolk, she is asked to spend a few weeks settling him into his new environment. When she arrives at the estate, however, she receives a mixed welcome.


The groundsman Tom Yates resents her presence as he doesn’t feel he needs her help with the lion. He revises his opinion when he sees the bond between her and the big cat, and she and Tom grow closer, although Justine remains torn about her feelings for him. The lady of the house, Priscilla – who is married to the reclusive owner, Lord Brooks’s, grandson – is not so easily convinced. She perceives Justine as a threat for the male attention and her plans for the manor. And her two young daughters are a little too curious about the lion for their own good.


When unsettling events occur, Justine begins to wonder if there is more to Priscilla’s animosity than meets the eye. Can Justine keep herself and everyone else safe until it’s time for her to leave again and start a new life elsewhere?

 

My Rating:

My Review:

 

This quick and entertaining tale was hard for me to classify as it had a little of everything – a tight-knit small circus, big cats, a bit of suspense, murder, family drama, bratty over-privileged children, a dash of romance, and a secret identity – and all within one-hundred-thirty-four pages.  Impressive! The characters were likable and the storylines were easy to follow and quickly paced yet also engaging and unpredictable with a variety of hissing and petty villains to despise, after all, every hero story needs at least one.

 

Author Bio 

Henriette Gyland grew up in Northern Denmark but moved to England after she graduated from the University of Copenhagen. She wrote her first book when she was ten, a tale of two orphan sisters running away to Egypt, fortunately, to be adopted by a perfect family they meet on the Orient Express.

Between that first literary exploit and now, she has worked in the Danish civil service, for a travel agent, a consultancy company, in banking, hospital administration, and for a county court before setting herself up as a freelance translator and linguist. Henriette recently began to pursue her writing in earnest winning the New Talent Award in 2011 from the Festival of Romance and a Commended from the Yeovil Literary Prize.

Henriette lives in London.

Social Media Links 

Website: henriettegyland.wordpress.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/henriette.gyland

Twitter: @henrigyland

Giveaway 

Win a sterling silver Thomas Sabo Snowflake Charm

(UK Only)

*Terms and Conditions –UK  entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will be passed to the giveaway organizer and used only for the fulfillment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for dispatch or delivery of the prize.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Book Review, Giveaway: THIS HAPPENED TO JESSICA by Michele Pariza Wacek

 

THIS HAPPENED TO JESSICA

by Michele Pariza Wacek

Amazon US / UK / CA / AU

From bestselling author, Michele Pariza Wacek comes the next book in her Secrets of Redemption series, THIS HAPPENED TO JESSICA. Becca would like nothing better than to put the past behind her, instead, she races against time to uncover the truth about what happened to Jessica before another sixteen-year-old girl is doomed to the same fate. Fans of Nora Roberts’ paranormal suspense novels, THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN by Paula Hawkins and classic Stephen King will devour this psychological thriller with an eerie twist of romantic suspense.

 

Title: This Happened to Jessica

Author: Michele Pariza Wacek

Release Date: November 27, 2018

Publisher: Love-Based Publishing

Series: Secrets of Redemption #2

Genre: Psychological thriller/mystery/romantic suspense

Synopsis:

Becca would like nothing better than to put the past behind her and focus on making Redemption her home. But what do you do when the past refuses to stay buried?

Becca still can’t remember the night sixteen-year-old Jessica disappeared from a party, never to be seen again. Which is bad enough (especially since she was supposedly the last person to see Jessica alive), but it’s not the worst …

Strange events are making Becca think there’s a link between what happened to Jessica fifteen years ago and the darkness happening now.

With help from her friends and her teenage crush, Daniel, Becca races against time to uncover the truth about Jessica before another sixteen-year-old girl is doomed to the same fate as Jessica.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

The best way to describe her was round—round face, round glasses, round bosom , round belly. Her silver-grey hair was cut short, and it “poofed” around her face like a dandelion gone to seed. She looked like a stereotypical grandmother, except for her sharp eyes, which peered out at me from behind black-rimmed frames. She smelled like a combination of mothballs and chamomile.

 I had found some of Aunt Charlie’s bags she had custom made to package her teas and tinctures. Across one side was stamped “Charlie’s Concoctions” with a cartoon picture of a witch’s cauldron.

 

My Review:

 

The ingenious Michele Pariza Wacek’s devious scheming and strong word voodoo has returned in full force. I was again mesmerized, ensnared, and held enthrall by the continuation of her intricately woven and brilliantly nuanced tale, despite my irritation and exasperation with the main character of Becca – I wanted to shake her silly. The storylines were complex, maddeningly paced, taut with tension, dripping with intrigue, and confounding eerie; tension and anxiety wafted off my Kindle. I need a fresh manicure from biting my nails!

Ms. Wacek has mad skills and she has gifted us with characters who were intricately developed, riddled with issues, and simultaneously annoying and enticing. I feel quite familiar with them now and would enjoy gossiping with and about them over wine at The Tipsy Cow. While part of the mystery was solved, my curious mind has a long list of unanswered questions yet to be addressed. My greedy fingers are crossed that the clever and conniving Ms. Wacek will reveal all in the final installment. Needless to say, I will be anxiously awaiting its arrival.

THIS HAPPENED TO JESSICA Excerpt

Copyright © 2018 Michele Pariza Wacek

 

Celia was looking around the table with a bewildered expression on her face. “I don’t understand. Why does it matter if Jessica is related to Brittany?”

“Because Brittany looks like Jessica,” Mia said.

Everyone fell silent. A woman next to us burst into hysterical, high-pitched laughter. Another table over, a group of college-aged guys started chanting as one of their friends, wearing a Wisconsin Badger cap, guzzled a pitcher of beer. Glasses clanked as they were plunked onto tables.

“Not this again,” Celia breathed out, picking up her Cosmo and draining it.

“What do you mean, ‘not this again?’” Mia asked, her voice quiet, but with a dangerous edge.

Barry put a hand on Celia’s arm. “Nothing. She means nothing.” He glared at his wife. Celia kept her mouth shut, but her sour expression spoke volumes.

“Barry, let her talk,” Mia said. “What do you mean, ‘not this again?'”

“You know what I mean,” Celia said. “It’s been fifteen years. It’s time to let it go.”

“Let it go?” Mia said, her voice sounding even more quiet and dangerous. “Let it go? Our friend disappeared! And we don’t know what happened to her!”

“First off, I’m sure Jessica left on her own. Her stuff was gone …”

“But, it wasn’t the right …” Mia tried to interrupt, but Celia kept going. “And even if something did happen, she’s gone. Gone!” Celia leaned forward. “I know this is difficult for you to hear, but you’re not going to heal unless you, all of you …” here she looked around the table, “… accept it. She’s gone. She’s been gone for fifteen years. She’s not coming back. And no amount of rehashing or talking about it is going to change that.”

“She was our friend,” Mia said. “Don’t you get that? How heartless can you be?”

“I know she was your friend and I know this is painful to hear. No, Barry, stop it. Let me talk. This isn’t healthy. It’s not healthy to live in the past and that’s precisely what everyone here is doing. Someone has to speak the truth and I guess that has to be me. I didn’t know Jessica, but I very much doubt she would want all of you still obsessing over what happened to her fifteen years later. Besides, this has all gotten worse since she,” she nodded toward me, “came back. We don’t need to keep living in the past. Jessica is gone.”

“I agree,” Rich said, his deep voice cutting across the table. His voice was quiet, but there was something about it that caused everyone to pay attention. Maybe it was because he so seldom talked that when he finally did, it was really noticed. “If we’re not going to be honest about what happened that night, then it makes no sense to keep talking about it.”

“What aren’t we being honest about?” Mia asked.

Rich stared at me, his dark eyes glittering. “If we’re honest, we know exactly who to blame for that night.”

Did he mean me? I stared at Rich, dumbfounded. “What do you mean?”

His gaze didn’t flinch. “You know exactly what I mean.”

You were the last person to see Jessica alive. Daniel had told me that. And Daphne. But, he couldn’t possibly mean I had anything to do with Jessica’s disappearance. Could he?

 

Start at the beginning of Becca’s story with

IT BEGAN WITH A LIE!

The first in her brand-new Secrets of Redemption series, bestselling author, Michele Pariza Wacek brings you IT BEGAN WITH A LIE. Becca was hoping for a fresh start for her troubled family, but instead, she is thrust into a mysterious past she barely remembers, one that threatens not only her sanity but her life. Fans of Nora Roberts’ paranormal suspense novels, GONE GIRL by Gillian Flynn and classic Stephen King will devour this psychological thriller with an eerie twist of romantic suspense.

Enter to win signed copies of IT BEGAN WITH A LIE & THIS HAPPENED TO JESSICA.  Three will win a digital copy of IT BEGAN WITH A LIE!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

About Michele PW:

Michele Pariza Wacek (also known as Michele PW) taught herself to read at three years old because she so badly wanted to write fiction. As an adult, she became a professional copywriter (copywriters write promotional materials for businesses, nothing to do with protecting intellectual property or putting a copyright on something) and eventually founded a copywriting and marketing company. She grew up in Madison, Wisconsin and currently lives with her husband and dogs in the mountains of Arizona. You can reach her at MicheleParizaWacek.com. She’s published two novels, “The Stolen Twin” and “Mirror Image,” both psychological thrillers/mystery/suspense books.

Follow:  Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Newsletter | Amazon | BookBub | Pinterest | Instagram

Book Review, Giveaway: Wranglers Rescue The Montana Cahills #7) by B.J. Daniels 

Wranglers Rescue

The Montana Cahills #7)

by B.J. Daniels 

Amazon | B-A-M | B&N

SYNOPSIS:

She’ll risk everything to bring her cowboy back home…

One week ago, Cyrus Cahill told Ashley Jo “AJ” Somerfield that he’d be back in her arms by the weekend. He just needed to buy a bull for his ranch, and then they’d pick up where they left off after that romantic ride through the foothills. But now he’s gone missing and everyone—even the sheriff—believes he’s dead.

Everyone…but AJ. She suspects foul play and she won’t rest until Cyrus is back home in Gilt Edge, right where he belongs. Because Cyrus isn’t the kind of cowboy who breaks a promise. And since she’s not the kind of woman who gives up on her man, AJ will risk anything to help bring him home…even her own life.

Don’t miss this suspenseful conclusion of The Montana Cahills series from New York Times bestselling author B.J. Daniels.

 

My Rating:

My Review:

Oh, those Cahills, they are always stepping in something, they certainly seem to liven up their small rural community.   This time the entire family is forced to deal with a ripping good mystery when informed by the authorities that the painfully shy and quiet Cyrus was suddenly married, missing, and presumed dead while nearly halfway across the globe. Wow, and all in one weekend. Cyrus had unwittingly tangled with a seductive sociopath/black widow.   Juliette went through husbands like I go through wine. This treacherous beauty had quite the scheme and was a tenacious villain. The intriguing storylines were active, eventful, and well-crafted while the writing was engaging, occasionally steamy, and hard to put down. Ms. Daniels has been a recent discovery for me but I relish her lovably quirky yet flawed characters and clever yet easy to follow and witty tales.

About B.J. Daniels

NYT and USA Today Bestselling author B.J. Daniels was born in Texas but moved with her family to Montana at the age of five. Her first home was a cabin in the Gallatin Canyon and later a lake house on Hebgen Lake outside of West Yellowstone.

Most of her books are set in Montana, a place she loves. She lives now in a unique part of the state with her husband and three Springer Spaniels.

Connect with B.J.

Website | Facebook | Twitter

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/82ae250c88/?

Book Review, Giveaway: A Little Christmas Charm by Kathryn Freeman

 

A Little Christmas Charm

by Kathryn Freeman

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA 

Would you swap sea and sunshine for tinsel and turkey?
Gabby Sanderson is used to being let down – even at Christmas. Which is why she’s happy to skip the festive season completely in favor of a plane ticket and sunnier climes.

But this Christmas could be different because this time she might not be spending it alone. Can Owen Cooper charm Gabby into loving Christmas in the same way he’s charmed his way into her life or is he just another person who’ll end up disappointing her?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

She almost laughed out loud when she saw the car he finally climbed into. A deep blue Maserati – of course. Nothing said single man on the pull like a Maserati.

 

I’m so flabbergasted at your audacity I can’t find the breath to tell you to stop being so stupid.

 

As it’s December and frigging freezing in this house, despite the expensive new boiler, I’m covering up my important parts. I don’t want to ruin the image you have of me by appearing in front of you naked. And cold.

 

My Review:

 

This was an engaging holiday read yet it contained considerably more angst than I was expecting, sigh. Angst is just not one of my favorite things, and the main character of Gabby was riddled with it and was basically a tight knot of tension, anxieties, and a critical case of wariness. Thankfully, Ms. Freeman also tossed in her own special brand of levity, wit, emotive storylines, and enough clever banter to keep me from descending into the abyss.   Gabby was emotionally immature, exasperatingly stubborn, distrustful, easily startled, and a pain in the posterior.   Why the luscious Owen was so fully captivated by her prickly nature was a grand mystery. I adored Owen, he was extremely patient, witty, perceptive, and sex on legs.

I found two extra fun new additions to my Brit word list with throw a wobbly (a display of temper usually over something minor) and skivvy – which I have only known as underwear but apparently, it is also another word for servant. Oh my, now I am envisioning a butler clad only in his bow tie and boxers while tossing a tantrum.

 

 

Author Bio 

A former pharmacist, I’m now a medical writer who also writes romance. Some days a racing heart is a medical condition, others it’s the reaction to a hunky hero.

With two teenage boys and a husband who asks every Valentine’s Day whether he has to buy a card (yes, he does), any romance is all in my head. Then again, his unstinting support of my career change proves love isn’t always about hearts and flowers – and heroes come in many disguises.

Social Media Links –

Website:  http://kathrynfreeman.co.uk

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

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/KathrynFreeman1

Giveaway 

Win a paperback copy of A Little Christmas Faith by Kathryn Freeman

(Open Internationally)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will be passed to the giveaway organizer and used only for the fulfillment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for dispatch or delivery of the prize.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Book Review, Giveaway: A Hollow Sky (An Alex Ripley Mystery #2) by M. Sean Coleman

A Hollow Sky

(An Alex Ripley Mystery #2)

by M. Sean Coleman

Amazon UK / US / AU / CA

Red Dog Press

A SUSPENSEFUL, ATMOSPHERIC THRILLER.

Jane Hewitt had been miraculously healed—cured of a terminal cancer that had been eating away at her body for months. After one meeting with an incredible young woman, Jane rose from her wheelchair and walked out, believing that her lifetime of devoted faith had been rewarded.

The next day, Jane died in her husband’s arms, devastated that her God had deserted her. Her husband, Ian, blames her hastened death on the faith healer she visited. But that faith healer is a teenage girl called Megan, who has been in a coma for five years and has no say over how her gift is used.

When Ian is arrested after being accused of breaking into Megan’s house and trying to tamper with her life support, he turns to the only person he knows can help clear his name, and stop this family deceiving any other victims—Dr. Alex Ripley, the so-called Miracle Detective.

Fascinated by Megan’s case, and needing a distraction, Ripley finds herself on Holy Island, off the coast of North Wales, caught up in an investigation that will prove more sinister and dangerous than she could have imagined. Ian is not the first person to complain about Megan and her supporters, but he seems to be the only one left alive. For now.

A Hollow Sky is the second Alex Ripley Mystery

 

My Rating:

My Review:

 

Sean Coleman has conjured an original and brilliantly connived plot to immerse his favorite busybody.   If I were one of Mr. Coleman’s friends I would be rather cautious about tipping his ire, he seems quite crafty in causing annoyances to miraculously disappear. While the mystery was slower to develop and not as eerie as his recent stunning release of The Cuckoo Wood, the sly and twisty storylines of A Hollow Sky were tautly written with canny misdirections and clever sleight of hand that kept me guessing to the final chapter.

I couldn’t bring myself to trust or admire any of these shifty yet vividly detailed characters; not the self-serving tight-knit villagers, the deluded and greedy mother, or least of all the slick religious charlatans who were exploiting a sick child as well as the gullible people they were fleecing who were desperate enough to expect a death-defying cure from a comatose child. I was repulsed by the spectacle and despised them all while my fervent curiosity remained fully engaged to the extremely precarious climax, which had me full of body tension and holding my breath.

I must not forget to mention that the devilish Mr. Coleman began and ended this tale with Dr. Ripley’s own personal drama with disconcerting yet exciting news which was then quickly placed in a holding pattern while waiting for more information, only to be dangled again at the very end to taunt and tantalize me while I wait for the heinously cunning Mr. Coleman to pound out the next caper. Curses! I want to give him a good pinch for teasing me so but must confess that I’m on the hook… this guy knows his stuff!

I was able to harvest one new addition for my Brit vocabulary list with chock-a-block, which apparently has several meanings such as overly full or overflowing as well as disgruntled or fed-up.

Author Bio 

 

 

Born in the UK and raised in South Africa, M. Sean Coleman developed a love for reading and writing novels in his early teens, thanks to two incredibly passionate English teachers who infected him with their love of words and stories. Over the intervening years, he has written film and television drama, cross-platform series, an interactive children’s storybook, and a graphic novel series.


He finally found his niche as a thriller writer when he was asked to write a novel as part of the cross-platform project, Netwars. His first book, The Code, was published six months later, with the sequel, Down Time, hot on its heels. There was no going back.


He is obsessed with crime, mystery and thriller stories, especially those with a fresh or surprising angle. He writes novels from his home in The Cotswolds, where he lives with his husband and their three red dogs.

Social Media Links –  

www.facebook.com/mseancoleman.author

www.twitter.com/mseancoleman

 

Giveaway

Win paperback copies of The Cuckoo Wood and A Hollow Sky, a cool tote bag with book quote from the publisher, a branded bookmark and some chocolates (Open INT)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will be passed to the giveaway organizer and used only for the fulfillment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for dispatch or delivery of the prize.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway