Imagine your closest friend utterly betraying you. Years later, when she seeks forgiveness, you invite her to your engagement party as a gesture of reconciliation. But seething hostilities rise to the surface, ruining everyone’s evening. After an awful night, your friend’s battered, lifeless body is found at the bottom of a rocky cliff.
Newly engaged Marissa Parlette is living this nightmare. She should be celebrating her upcoming wedding, but she can’t shake the image of her friend lying dead on the beach. Did she fall? Was she pushed? Or did she take a purposeful step into darkness? Desperate for answers, Marissa digs deep into the events of the party. But what she remembers happening after nightfall now carries sinister implications: the ugly sniping, the clandestine meetings, the drunken flirtations. The more she investigates, the more she questions everything she thought she knew about her friends, the man she once trusted, and even herself.
Bestselling author A. J. Banner keeps readers on a razor-sharp edge in this intricately plotted novel of psychological suspense…in which nothing is as it seems.
“Gripping and arresting! After Nightfall is a stellar psychological thriller. Banner had me second-guessing every character throughout the entire novel. I literally couldn’t figure out who’d done it until the reveal. And it was shocking. Love that!” –Kerry Lonsdale, Wall Street Journal bestselling author
“Moody and beautifully atmospheric, After Nightfall is a psychological thriller that will keep you guessing until the final page, the final sentence even, a heart-stopping revelation. I highly recommend it!” –Barbara Taylor Sissel, bestselling author of Faultlines and The Truth We Bury
My Rating:
Favorite Quote:
There is something timeless and otherworldly about birds, the surviving descendants of dinosaurs. Evidence of past eons. I could take comfort in knowing that, millions of years from now, our lives will amount to nothing but a cosmic hiccup.
My Review:
Once I picked up this addictive book I resented any intrusion or interruption and could not willingly put my Kindle down. It was stellar! This was my first experience reading this gifted author and I greedily want all her words, she has to be an evil genius as her storylines were brilliantly crafted, cunningly paced, and kept me gripping my Kindle and wishing I could read faster yet also wanting to savor each an every well-chosen word. The writing was transportive and the characters were all compellingly suspect and oddly out of pocket while absolutely no one appeared totally trustworthy, the narrator included. The plot was unique and compelling while the writing was divinely enthralling and dripping with intrigue. I remained riveted and transfixed to the Kindle throughout as the narrative was densely packed with twists, turns, and miscues. I devised and cast off numerous theories but would never have guessed the conclusion. Gasp, it was marvelous.
About A. J. Banner
Born in India and raised in North America, A. J. Banner received degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. Her previous novels of psychological suspense include The Good Neighbor and The Twilight Wife, a USA Today bestseller. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and six rescued cats.
Join Bestselling Author Kelly Collins on another trip to Aspen Cove where anything is possible when it comes to love…
Aspen Cove, Colorado, isn’t on Lydia Nichols’s wish list when she finishes her residency at Denver General Hospital, but life delivered several surprising blows. Her long-time boyfriend, who was also her boss, moved on with a nurse and took Lydia’s job with him. No boyfriend. No job. No options. As a favor to her sister, she arrives in the small mountain town for a temporary job as the clinic doctor. Her first question when she gets there is ‘how fast can I leave?’ That is, until sinfully sexy Wes Covington comes into the clinic seeking care. With him around, Lydia may have found a reason to stay—for now.
Wes Covington left his demons in Denver. Working for his family’s architectural firm, he was tired of being almost—almost good enough, almost rich enough, almost loveable enough. He abandoned his penthouse, his high-paying position and his Porsche for simple, small-town life. All he wants is to restore his ancestral home and find a good woman who’ll love him for who he is and not what he’s worth. When Wes meets Dr. Lydia Nichols, he likens her to a hellion with a halo. She’s the perfect mix of sassy and sweet, cunning and compassion, but she’ll never be his unless he can convince her to stay.
Love blooms when the timing is right, but will Lydia surrender her chance at love or can Wes convince her that everything she’ll ever want or need is right in Aspen Cove?
Find out in One Hundred Promises…
My Rating:
Favorite Quotes:
Making sense of her life was like trying to eat steak with a straw. How had it gone from gold to lead in such a short time?
Men were like Bluetooth. They connected to you when you were nearby, but searched for other devices when you were away.
In soiled jeans and a flannel shirt, he was straight off a mountain man poster—a cross between a geriatric Brawny model and grizzly bear.
He looked between the sisters. They were as different as the sun and the moon. Sage had curly red hair, green eyes, and was the size of a leprechaun, while her sister resembled Malibu Barbie.
I’ve never had sex in a jail cell. If we get caught, I’ll rock your world.
My Review:
I giggle-snorted and smirked my way through this delightfully amusing and entertaining tale. Ms. Collin’s prodigious wit and humorous observations were in top form and sparkled throughout. Clever wordplay, snappy banter, and convivial teasing were deftly woven into engaging and well-crafted storylines that cleverly knitted in threads from the previous books without causing confusion and still allowed this installment to standalone. I adored Lydia and Wes; they brought out the best in each other and may well be my favorites of all of Aspen Cove, although they do have stiff competition as the community appears to be populated with the quirkiest of residents.
Kelly Collins writes with the intention of keeping the love alive.
Always a romantic, she is inspired by real-time events mixed with a dose of fiction. She encourages her readers to reach the happily ever after but bask in the afterglow of the perfectly imperfect love.
Kelly lives in Colorado with her husband of twenty-five years. She loves hockey, shiny objects and has a new-found appreciation for green smoothies.
Restored Dreams L.B. Dunbar Sexy silver fox romance Release day: August 22 Cover credit: @Shanoff Designs
BLURB:
More romance for the over forty.
Brut Paige needs a life break.
As caretaker to his brother, his business, and his son, he’s used to being the man to get things done.
Yet, along the way, he’s forgotten how to have fun.
Lily Warren deserves a vacation.
She’s worked hard to establish her bakery, a lifelong dream. She’s proud of her accomplishments.
But, she knows there’s something missing.
A broken heart tore them apart.
A little matchmaking forces them together…
Twenty-two years later.
Funny thing about being over forty—forgiveness and frosting can lead to all kinds of trouble…or restored dreams.
+ + +
If you loved Hank Paige in Midlife Crisis, you’ll want to learn more about his brother, Brut, a sexy silver fox mechanic, and the lost woman of his dreams.
The dangerous beauty of Lavender Tides is harboring secrets that reach around the world.
Ellie Blackmore is making a name for herself as a house flipper. But when her sister Mackenzie disappears, Ellie can’t focus on anything but uncovering what happened. Her only clue is the bloodstain on the deck of Mackenzie’s boat. Ellie knows her sister isn’t on the best of terms with her ex-husband, Jason, but he wouldn’t kill her—would he?
Coast Guard intelligence officer Grayson Bradshaw believes Mackenzie faked her own death after stealing a seized cocaine shipment. The problem is convincing Ellie, who seems to view him as the true enemy.
Both Ellie and Grayson want truth, but truth—and family—is often more complex than it first appears. From international terrorism to the peaceful lavender fields of Puget Sound, The House at Saltwater Point is a thrilling race to uncover the truth before it’s too late.
My Rating:
Favorite Quotes:
You know I’d do just about anything for you. Well, other than give up coffee. I wouldn’t do that for anyone.
Life wasn’t one long ribbon of known events. There were frayed areas he didn’t understand…
My Review:
While the premise sounded promising and I do enjoy a diminutive and feisty hammer-wielding heroine, this story goes in So-So – Not Bad But Not Good pile. Maybe it’s me but I just wasn’t feeling it. I never experienced that rapturous, swept-away, plugged-in connection to the story or characters. And I missed that. I like feeling that on-edge prickle of tension and hypothesis generation when reading a well-written thriller.
The initial mystery did pluck at my curiosity, however, there were far too many implausible elements that I couldn’t get past or wrap my head around. For instance, despite one of the ringleaders consistently eluding law enforcement and earning “phantom” status, his current crew appeared to have been one of the most inept in ISIS’s history, as they were repeatedly unable to corral a tiny, unarmed, and incredibly naïve woman in a small town. And in spite of a known terrorist cell operating in the area, there was no law enforcement presence beyond the Elvis wannabe small-town sheriff and his deputies. The Coast Guard investigator offering his assistance was there looking into a different matter involving a drug heist. Hurrah for the Coast Guard, but the FBI/CIA rated several embarrassing black eyes in this one. I did derive immense satisfaction from Hammer Girl putting her trusty tool to good use, the little gal proved herself capable of more than blogging about home improvement and flipping houses.
The Wedding from Hell, Part 2: The Rehearsal Dinner is the exciting second adventure in J.R. Ward’s three-part ebook serialization: The Wedding From Hell. This exclusive prequel to her upcoming standalone suspense, Consumed (available in Fall 2018) takes us back to the night steamy arson investigator Anne Ashburn and ‘bad boy’ firefighter Danny Maguire will never forget.
About the Book:
The Wedding From Hell, Part 2: The Reception: As the wedding from hell continues, Anne and Danny find themselves walking the delicate balance between professional distance and explosive attraction. Will the desire they feel last through the night and change their lives? Or are they doomed to part after one night of passion?
About the Author:
J.R. Ward is the author of more than thirty novels, including those in her #1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series. There are more than fifteen million copies of her novels in print worldwide, and they have been published in twenty-six different countries around the world. She lives in the South with her family.
Excerpt:
Saturday, October 31
T minus 2 hours ’til blastoff
St. Mary’s Cathedral, New Brunswick, Massachusetts
Anne Ashburn had never had veil envy, as they called it. As a young girl, she had never pictured herself walking down an aisle in a white dress, ready to be rescued by a knight-in-shining-armor groom who was going to take charge and take care of her for the rest of her life.
Nope. Anne had wanted to fight fires like her father and then her brother. Even though she no longer respected the former, and had a strained relationship with the latter, she’d wanted to pull on turnouts and strap an air tank to her back and breathe canned air as she ran into open flames dragging hundreds of pounds of charged line with her. She’d wanted to rescue grandmothers, and children, and people who had succumbed to smoke inhalation. She’d been ready to cut open crumpled cars and drag broken bodies out of wreckage at the sides of highways. She’d been determined that the extremes of cold winter nights, hot summer days, physical exhaustion, and mental fatigue would never keep her from doing her job.
So, yup, the old fashioned Mrs. degree had never held any fascination for her. There was no way in hell she was going to be like her mother, living a derivative, nineteen-fifties version of life, nothing but a pretty blow-up doll that was expected to cook, clean, and cut the yapping.
On that note, as she pulled into St. Mary’s parking lot and looked up at the great cathedral’s stained glass windows and lofty spires, she decided it made sense that not only was she not the bride, she wasn’t even a bridesmaid.
Like the rest of the crew down at the 499 firehouse, she was a groomsmen in the impending nuptials of Robert “Moose” Miller and Deandra—what the hell was her last name anyway? Cox. That was it.
Anne was thinking groomsmen was a role she might as well get used to. Not that Duff, Emilio, Deshaun, or any of the other men she worked with were settling down anytime soon.
Especially not Dannyboy Maguire.
Right on cue, a Ford truck entered the parking lot, the late afternoon sun flashing across its windshield.
As Anne’s heart kicked in her chest, she was tempted to hustle in the side door of the church—but she had never been one to run from a challenge.
Danny was more than just a challenge, though.
And okay, fine. So maybe she had already run out of his way at least once: Last night, at the rehearsal dinner, she’d positively bolted after he’d made that speech of his.
I never believed in love . . . I thought it was just a word, a title folks gave to daydreams and misconceptions about destiny, a lie folks told to themselves to make them feel solid in this imperfect, unreliable, and mean-ass world.
Now I know it can happen between two people. And it doesn’t have to make sense because it’s not about logic. And it doesn’t have to have good timing because forever is like infinity, without beginning or end. And it doesn’t have to be defined because truth is like faith—it just is.
So, let’s toast to love.
He’d looked at her while he’d spoken. He had been talking . . . to her . . . in that slow, deep voice.
Everybody else had toasted Moose and Deandra. But Anne had known it hadn’t been about them. Danny, ever the ladies man, king of the one-night stand, he who shalt never be tied down . . . seemed to be suggesting not just that he’d had a change of heart.
But that he might have given his own to Anne.
Unless she was misreading everything? Then again, they had kissed the night before that. In her living room. While riding an adrenaline high after they’d saved a life in an alleyway.
And lips-to-lips had been better than good, the rare circumstance when reality had improved on a fantasy. After two years of attraction and sizzle and unacknowledged heat, that which had been pushed under the rug was exposed now. And there was no going back.
Especially as she felt the same way.
So hell yeah she had bolted out of that restaurant. The second she had been able to get up from her chair, she had hit the exit and left Danny without a ride home.
He’d called two hours later. He’d been in a bar, probably
Timeout where the crew always went, the noise in the background loud and raucous.
She had not answered. He had left a short message, but not called again.
Anne just wasn’t sure what to do. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. There were plenty of things she wanted to do to him, with him, on him—all of which were naked and erotic and not necessarily only horizontal.
Refocusing, she watched Danny’s truck pass by. From behind the wheel, he looked over at her.
She waited for him to find a space and get out, and as he walked across to her, she tried—tried—not to go sixteen-year-old girl at the sight of him in a tuxedo.
#epicfail
He was very tall, over six feet five, and he was built hard and muscular, his shoulders so wide, his chest so broad, his waist the point of the inverted triangle of his torso. His jet-black hair was still damp, and what sunlight there was in the mostly cloudy sky flashed blue in its depths. He was freshly shaven—his cologne reaching her nose even before he stopped in front of her—and his eyes were that brilliant blue that had always arrested her. Irish eyes.
But they were not smiling.
For a man who was rarely serious, he looked positively grim, and she frowned.
“You okay?” Stupid question. “I mean—”
“Yeah, no. I’m fine.”
Standard answer for firefighters when they were in pain. And she wondered if it had to do with that speech of his, and what she could have sworn he had been telling her.
His eyes shifted off to the side and then his mouth got thinner.
“And here’s the blushing bride.”
A stretch limo entered the parking area and made a fat turn toward the back door of the cathedral. When it stopped, its driver got out and went to the rear door.
Seven all-in-pink, spray-tanned, body-glittered, and blond-streaked women got out one by one, a clown car of bridesmaids who were such carbon copies of each other, it was like they had been ordered out of a catalogue.
And then the white dress emerged.
Deandra, Moose’s intended, had her blond-streaked hair—natch—piled up on her head in an organized, sculpted waterfall of curls. Her veil was a gossamer fall over her tiny waist and her big skirt, and the shimmer of crystals across the bodice and down the front and sides of the gown made her look like a princess.
Provided you didn’t catch her expression.
She was sour as an old woman with gout and shingles. In spite of the fact that she was supposedly marrying her true love, she looked downright nasty as she snapped at the driver, glared at her maid of honor, and yanked her skirting up to march into the back of the church.
“Wow,” Anne muttered. “That’s a happy bride.”
“Whatever. They’re on their own with this dumbass idea.”
“Did you happen to talk to Moose last night?” she blurted.
“As in out of this? Or would that be considered tacky given it was less than twenty-four hours before the priest hit the altar with them.”
Danny rolled his eyes. “He’s bound and determined to ball-and-chain himself. Personally, I’d be running in the opposite direction.”
And then there was silence between them. Tension coiled up quick, and as Anne’s temples started to pound, she decided it was going to be a long night, just not for the reasons she’d assumed at the beginning of the weekend.
Video from J.R. Ward:
Youtube: https://youtu.be/9SApaA9CrHA
When Olivia Shaw’s mother dies, the sophisticated food editor is astonished to learn she’s inherited a centuries-old English estate—and a title to go with it. Raw with grief and reeling from the knowledge that her reserved mother hid something so momentous, Olivia leaves San Francisco and crosses the pond to unravel the mystery of a lifetime.
One glance at the breathtaking Rosemere Priory and Olivia understands why the manor, magnificent even in disrepair, was the subject of her mother’s exquisite paintings. What she doesn’t understand is why her mother never mentioned it to her. As Olivia begins digging into her mother’s past, she discovers that the peeling wallpaper, debris-laden halls, and ceiling-high Elizabethan windows covered in lush green vines hide unimaginable secrets.
Although personal problems and her life back home beckon, Olivia finds herself falling for the charming English village and its residents. But before she can decide what Rosemere’s and her own future hold, Olivia must first untangle the secrets of her past.
My Rating:
Favorite Quote:
Life had washed me here on this strange errand. Maybe the best thing to do was to just let it show me what it had in mind.
My Review:
This was my first exposure to the clever and stealthy genius of Barbara O’Neal, and I was quickly hooked by her thoughtful and surreptitious storytelling. Her first-person narrative was evocative, atmospheric, and compelling while her divinely descriptive and nuanced writing style was a feast for all senses, however, be warned, her intricately detailed foodie scenes were a bane for my diet. Her word voodoo was strong, I swear I could taste the spices and smell the garlic. The premise was unique and engaging with several well-woven and intriguing storylines just oozing with mystery and confounding clues that kept me tethered to my Kindle late into the night.
About the Author
Barbara Samuel (also known as Barbara O’Neal) is the bestselling author of more than 60 books, and has won Romance Writers of America’s RITA award seven times. How to Bake a Perfect Life was a Target Club pick and The Lost Recipe for Happiness went back to print nine times. Her books have been published around the world, including France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Turkey, and Australia/New Zealand, among others.
Whether set in the turbulent past or the even more challenging present, Barbara’s books feature strong women, families, dogs, food, and adventure—whether on the road or toward the heart.
A native of Colorado Springs, Barbara lives there with her partner, Christopher Robin, an endurance athlete, along with her dogs and cats. She is an avid gardener, hiker, photographer, and traveler who loves to take off at dawn to hike a 14er or head to a faraway land, or curl up with the animals in the garden and read. She loves to connect with readers and is very involved with them on the Internet.
Abby Spencer knows she can come across as an airhead – she talks too much and is a bit of a klutz – but there’s more to her than that. Though she sacrificed her career to help raise her sisters, a job interview at biscuit company Crumbs could finally be her chance to shine. That’s until she hurries in late wearing a shirt covered in rusk crumbs, courtesy of her baby nephew, and trips over her handbag.
Managing director Douglas Faulkner isn’t sure what to make of Abby Spencer with her Bambi eyes, tousled hair and ability to say more in the half-hour interview than he manages in a day. All he knows is she’s a breath of fresh air and could bring a new lease of life to the stale corporate world of Crumbs. To his life too, if he’d let her.
But Doug’s harboring a secret. He’s not the man she thinks he is.
My Rating:
Favorite Quotes:
‘I’m a brown belt in BJJ. Brazilian jiu-jitsu,’ he added at her puzzled look. ‘I’ve heard of a Brazilian, but I’m pretty sure the one I’m thinking of wouldn’t take out two men.’ Bugger, bugger, talk about a mood crusher
I’m an ample, if I breathe in, size ten. Okay, maybe I’m an eleven but they don’t really do that size so I guess that makes me a twelve.
Though I suppose there are plenty of women out there better at sex than me. If I had to make a guess, I’d say I’m only Brownie badge status.’ She winced, finally looking up at him. ‘And that sounds wildly inappropriate because unless things have changed radically in the last fifteen years, I doubt Brownies have a badge for sex.’
‘Don’t change, Abby,’ he replied quietly. ‘You’re perfect just the way you are.’ And wow, he might not say many words but those he did say were dynamite.
My Review:
Before finishing the first few pages I was an instant fangirl of the delightfully amusing Kathryn Freeman, who is now my favorite wordsmith. I want all her clever and witty words as I savored this scrumptious and engaging book and from start to finish. I absolutely adored Abby although all the characters were endearingly quirky and intriguing. The writing was well-crafted and engaging, the characters were uniquely appealing and complex, and the reading was a total treat. I hit pay dirt yet again for my Brit Vocab List with several comical entries including: not on your nelly (not likely), cock-a-hoop (extremely pleased), Hell’s teeth (exclamation of surprise, frustration, or anger), and gazump (swindle). I am cock-a-hoop having discovered this exceptionally talented author.
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.
*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 despatch or delivery of the prize.
With an exciting new life in Paris, Clemmie Hamilton isn’t looking forward to heading home to the picturesque but sleepy village of St Aidan, Cornwall. However, when she discovers that the cozy apartment by the sea, which her grandmother left to her, is under threat from neighbor and property developer, Charlie Hobson, Clemmie realizes she can’t abandon her home in its time of need.
With her childhood friends encouraging her, Clemmie decides to turn the apartment into ‘The Little Cornish Kitchen’ – a boutique pop up pudding club raising money for the repairs to the building in an effort to stop Charlie once and for all. But when Charlie and his easy charm won’t seem to go away, everything soon becomes even messier than the state of Clemmie’s Cornish kitchen…
My Rating:
Favorite Quotes:
I start to take a deep breath but stop halfway. In the five years since Sophie’s wedding, my dress must have shrunk in the wardrobe. A lot.
I purse my lips and stay silent. The only way to deal with Sophie in her ‘conquer the world’ mood is to go with her. Then clear up the wreckage afterwards.
As for me waking up for the first time in my life with a fur ball snuggled in the crook of my knees – comfortable doesn’t start to cover it. Suddenly all the stories about crazy cat women make complete sense.
I’ll always look back on that last hour we spent together as the time when the tilt of my whole world shifted –very gently, to a better place. There weren’t any thunderclaps or even any sobbing. In the end, there was nothing momentous or earth shattering about what is, after all, simply right.
I start to work my way down Sophie’s final menu list. Every item has the word ‘mini’ in front, except the drinks, which say large. According to Sophie, so long as food’s small enough to fit in a child’s mouth it has zero calories.
My Review:
It took me a good while to warm up to the character of Clemmie as she wasn’t always likable or admirable, she was often rude, thoughtless, snappish, and prone to escape or avoid anything that required much effort – such as conversations, relationships, self-analysis, or any type of feeling. The storylines developed gradually, at the slow and leisurely pace of a tortoise. Once I realized this, I settled in for a long, amusing, and gentle read that should have come with a warning label, as it proved hazardous to my diet. Don’t report me to your diet guru but – gasp – the food! It sounded positively delectable! The lessons, food prep, the mess, the eating… all of which had me frequently venturing into my pantry while foraging for food and gasp even a frightening moment where I was actually considering dusting off the mixer to replicate their baking efforts, that soon passed… But I was highly pleased to find a few recipes in the back, in particular, the one for brownies, which has only three ingredients and uses Nutella – OMG – that right there is worth purchasing the book.
And I hit a treasure trove of additions for my Brit Vocab List with: throw a wobbly (tantrum), Serviettes (table napkin), mahoosive (extremely large) skew-whiff (lopsided), Eton mess (a sweet dessert), and Bloody Nora (an expression of dismay dating back to a long-dead 17th century Duke after one of his servants, named Norah, who had a penchant for battering and killing the Duke’s other servants with odd objects such as celery sticks and tea kettles, and thus causing a bloody mess). Learning a new vernacular is such fun.
Author Bio – Jane Linfoot is a best selling author, who lives in a muddy cottage, up a steep hill in Derbyshire, with her family, their pets, and an astonishing number of spiders. Although she loves seeing cow noses over the garden wall, she’s happy she can walk to a supermarket.
Jane grew up in North Yorkshire where she spent a lot of her childhood avoiding horizontal gales blowing off the sea, and wrote her first book by accident while working as an architect, and renovating country houses. While she loves to write feelgood books that let readers escape, she’s always surprised to hear her stories make people laugh, admits to (occasionally) crying as she writes, and credits her characters for creating their own storylines.
Jane’s garden would be less brambly if she wasn’t on Facebook and Twitter so often. On days when she wants to be really scared, she rides a tandem.
Her latest books include a series of stand-alone novels, based around a seaside wedding shop in Cornwall. Cupcakes and Confetti – The Little Wedding Shop by the Sea, Sequins and Snowflakes – Christmas at the Little Wedding Shop, and Bunting and Bouquets – Summer at the Little Wedding Shop, and most recently, The Little Cornish Kitchen. These are all published by Harper Impulse, an imprint of Harper Collins.
Win a signed copy of The Little Cornish Kitchen, Mermaid Notebook and Sugar Unicorns
(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 despatch or delivery of the prize
I don’t want to know his full name.
I don’t even want his phone number.
In fact, the only thing I want from Jude is the filthy hot sex the masterful hung stud delivers on a weekly basis.
He’s way too young for me . . . and much too good at fulfilling my every dirty desire.
He definitely isn’t supposed to show up one morning on my doorstep with an offer I can’t refuse.
Now he’s in my life on a daily basis, and I can’t shake him no matter how hard I try.
He’s absolutely unsuitable.
She’s everything he knew he wanted from the first moment he saw her.
A book full of filthy sex and beautiful tortured romance. Why Him? is a standalone novel with a tear-worthy HEA, no cheating, no cliffhangers, just all yes. Keep the fan handy, you’ll need it.
My Rating:
Favorite Quote:
There are no words to describe that blight to the human eye…
My Review:
Oh, my… This couple was deliciously naughty and with explosive sensual chemistry, I felt sorry for the ladies working housekeeping in the hotel they frequented as I’m sure their room required steam cleaning and their linens could only be tossed upon their exit. The writing was salaciously scandalous and occasionally went a bit past my comfort zone for eewwww with the body fluids, while their activities were punctuated with the filthiest of bawdy talk, OMG, I couldn’t read fast enough, err, I mean, for review and research purposes, of course… hmmm. Yep, that’s it… All right, I will confess to experiencing a sharp increase in respirations while reading, as well as frequent gasping for breath, elevated heart rate, and an uptick in my laundry needs.
Rie Warren left me breathless! While the storyline was highly lascivious, there was also a highly amusing family drama as well as a sweet romance building between decidedly endearing characters. The story was original, easy to follow and smirk-worthy and enjoyable, despite the lubricity and sticky residue. And I learned a new word – fapping – what the boys used to call spanking the monkey in my highly sheltered youth.
All of Rie Warren’s self-published series are available to read on Kindle Unlimited, including the instant hit Bad Boys of Retribution MC, Carolina Bad Boys, Bad Boy Ballers, and many more!
Badass, sassafras Rie Warren is the author of Sugar Daddy and the Don’t Tell series—a breakthrough trilogy that crosses traditional publishing boundaries beginning with In His Command.
She lives in gorgeous Charleston, South Carolina with her small family where she basks in the sunshine during the day, and adjourns to her woman cave at night. A nocturnal creature, she stays up way too late talking to herself, her characters, and anyone who will listen. She’s all about writing with heat, heart, and a hint of the dark, and she doesn’t shy away from the impossible.
Rie’s work has been called “edgy”, “daring”, and “some of the sexiest smut around”.
From award-winning author Laura Trentham comes Set the Night on Fire, a novel about starting over, finding your way back home—and falling head over heels. . .
Ella Boudreaux has a lot to prove to her family, friends, and foes—and to herself. So when her marriage ends she decides to invest her energy and money into a place that brings back some of Ella’s happiest memories: the Abbott brothers’ garage. Maybe, if she puts her mind to it, she can teach skeptical, stubborn Mack Abbott how to make the business a true success. Which would be a lot easier if the hunky mechanic didn’t make her motor run quite so fast…and hot.
Mack was furious when his brother, Ford, sold his share of the business. He’s in no rush to team up with a wealthy divorcée who shows up to the garage in stilettos—and the longest, sexiest legs he’s seen in forever. But Ella’s grit and determination won’t quit…and soon Mack can see that she’s been down a few rough roads herself. Neither Mack nor Ella can deny the fierce attraction that’s revving up between them. Could it be that true love has been in the back seat all along…and they’ve finally found the key?
My Rating:
Favorite Quotes:
“… you and Sutton have a wedding to plan.” “All I have to do is show up, according to Sutton. Her mom is going a little crazy. She has mentioned a harp player and doves.” “Good Lord, one of the Abbott cousins might pull out a shotgun and shoot a dove if they’re in season.”
… the aroma of fresh-brewed coffee drawing him in like a cartoon mouse to cheese.
Mack led them out and around the garage to the parking lot where the Corvette was parked in a ray of sunlight like the Second Coming.
A deep shuddery breath forewarned a rising tide of tears. She had to get home. A threesome in bed with Ben and Jerry was all she craved.
Trevor’s smile was full of smug self-satisfaction. How had she ever thought he was handsome and sophisticated? He was a nasty little bug, and she wore the shoes to smush him.
My Review:
I have greatly enjoyed each of my three visits to Cottonbloom, an especially peculiar little town with an identity disorder as it falls within two different states with divisive social circles. Book six in the series was the third in a row to feature the hard-working, endearingly flawed, resilient, and devastatingly handsome classic car mechanics of the Abbott family. I could almost smell the motor oil as Ms. Trentham’s agile use of lush details cunningly employed all the senses and painted a complete, spectacular, and vivid picture for the mind’s eye while also smoothly keying-in the emotional tone. The writing was well-balanced and expertly paced while evocative, amusing, steamy, and heart-squeezing with crisscrossing and engaging storylines. I enjoyed the verbal sparring and developing romance as well as the surprises from the unfolding secrets of family drama – all culminating into a highly satisfying HEA. I keep hoping for prequel scenes to chronicle the now elderly aunties hellion salad days, as I’m quite certain they had them.
Author Info:
An award-winning author, Laura Trentham was born and raised in a small town in Tennessee. Although she loved English and reading in high school, she was convinced an English degree equated to starvation. She chose the next most logical major—Chemical Engineering—and worked in a hard hat and steel-toed boots for several years.
She writes sexy, small-town contemporaries and smoking hot Regency historicals. KISS ME THAT WAY, Cottonbloom Book 1, won the Stiletto Contest for Best Long Contemporary and finaled in the National Readers Choice Award. THEN HE KISSED ME, Cottonbloom Book 2, was named an Amazon Best Romance of 2016 and was a finalist for the National Excellence for Romance Fiction. TILL I KISSED YOU, Cottonbloom Book 3, is a finalist in the Maggie contest. LEAVE THE NIGHT ON, the latest Cottonbloom book was named an iBooks Best Book of the Month and a Recommended Read from NPR.
When not lost in a cozy Southern town or Regency England, she’s shuttling kids to soccer, helping with homework, and avoiding the Mt. Everest-sized pile of laundry that is almost as big as the to-be-read pile of books on her nightstand.
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About A. J. Banner
