Dr. Strange Beard, an all-new standalone in the bestselling, romantic comedy Winston Brothers Series by Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author Penny Reid, is LIVE!

Hunches, horse races, and heartbreak

Ten years after Simone Payton broke his heart, all Roscoe Winston wants is a doughnut. He’d also like to forget her entirely, but that’s never going to happen. Roscoe Winston remembers everything—every look, every word, every single unrequited second—and the last thing he needs is another memory of Simone.

Unfortunately, after one chance encounter, Simone keeps popping up everywhere he happens to be . . .

Ten years after Roscoe Winston dropped out of her life, all Simone Payton wants is to exploit him. She’d also like some answers from her former best friend about why he ghosted her, but if she never gets those answers, that’s a-okay. Simone let go of the past a long time ago. Seriously, she has. She totally, totally has. She is definitely not still thinking about Roscoe. Nope. She’s more than happy to forget he exists.

But first, she needs just one teeny-tiny favor . . .

Dr. Strange Beard is a full-length romantic comedy novel, can be read as a stand-alone, and is the fifth book in the USA TODAY bestselling Winston Brothers series.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

All men are fugly as soon as they demonstrate an inability to carry on a conversation about issues that matter… Or if they poop with the bathroom door open. No one wants to see that. Even I—ye old goddess of crime fighting—have accepted that some mysteries in life are better left unsolved, such as the facial expressions associated with a boyfriend’s constipation. Hard. Pass.

…the element of surprise was my favorite, even if it wasn’t on the periodic table.

Roscoe was a man-maiden. That’s what he was. A fair man-maiden, with a beard so dark and eyes so blue, a tall specimen of manly greenness, innocent and untouched.

Clowns, in my experience, are like cats. They can sense when a person isn’t into them and then go out of their way to interact with that person. Once, in my case, I’d had a clown follow me around a co-worker’s child’s birthday party, trying to foist balloon animals on me (I thought they all looked like genitalia, but what did I know?)

 My Review:

Penny Reid is da bomb! It was an instant freefall into this skillfully adept wordsmith’s compelling vortex and I gleefully smirked my way through her captivating and cleverly amusing tale. Written in my favorite dual POV, the storylines were lively, well-crafted, and stacked with unexpected twists, and unique conundrums. Ms. Reid’s own special blend of brainy humor and cunning wit amuses while simultaneously enlightening with interesting factual tidbits. Roscoe’s eidetic memory was fascinating and I and appreciated the humanizing and thoughtful observations illuminating the advantages and disadvantages for those bearing such a trait. I have adored this series and the uniquely peculiar little community of Green Valley, Tennessee, which appears to be populated with oddly beguiling and magnetic characters brimming with idiosyncrasies and intriguing quirks.

Download your copy today!

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2KqqV41

iBooks: https://apple.co/2twGVeA

Amazon Universal: http://mybook.to/DrStrangeBeard

Nook: https://bit.ly/2LwwIKa

Kobo: https://bit.ly/2yU5zdo

Google Play: https://tinyurl.com/y76ze2x4

Paperback: https://amzn.to/2LXgohE

Add to GoodReads: https://bit.ly/2KvoGwA

Meet Penny Reid:

Penny Reid is the Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Winston Brothers and Knitting in the City series. She used to spend her days writing federal grant proposals as a biomedical researcher, but now she just writes books. She’s also a full-time mom to three diminutive adults, wife, daughter, knitter, crocheter, sewer, general crafter, and thought ninja.

Connect with Penny:

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

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2lakzsD

Twitter: @ReidRomance

Mailing List: http://pennyreid.ninja/newsletter/

www.pennyreid.ninja

The Haunting of Hattie Hastings

 Part Three

by Audrey Davis

Goodreads

 Amazon US/ UK /  CA / AU

Nothing lasts forever … Gary’s time on earth seems to be coming to an end. His visits are less frequent and his visibility is fading fast. But he still has a mission to accomplish, which involves Hattie and her ability to pass on a heart-rending message.

Best friend Cat’s ex-husband is determined to prove that he deserves another chance, but do leopards really change their spots?

Times are tough for Hattie’s mother Rachel, but where there’s life, there’s hope …

Meanwhile, is there someone already in Hattie’s life who can help her move on when it’s finally time to say goodbye?

Get your tissues at the ready – both for laughter and tears – with the final installment of a trilogy that has been hailed ‘brilliant’, ‘hilarious’, and ‘a great feel-good read’.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Don’t think I haven’t noticed you ogling Mike next door when he’s mowing the lawn in those ridiculously tight shorts. Christ, if they were any tighter, his balls would be begging Amnesty International for freedom.

She was make-up free, her skin that enviable porcelain Hattie could only have dreamed of in her youth. Her teens had been plagued by spots, the hideous blighters regrouping during the night.

Can you take a few days off from the salon, or will the wrinkly clientele attack you with pitchforks and vats of serum?

‘Does my bum look big in this?’ Cat stretched around to check out her rear, encased in skin-tight faux leather trousers. ‘Bloody enormous. Like something you’d see wallowing in an African river,’ retorted Hattie…

 My Review:

I adored this cleverly amusing and delightfully saucy series; each installment left me with pages and pages of favorite quotes while whittling the list down to include in my review proved increasingly painful each time. Audrey Davis provided a humorous and creative vision of the afterlife, one which I certainly wouldn’t mind finding myself slotted into, even if I needed to fulfill the role of helpful specter before earning my spot within “The Next Realm” with bouncy castles and a bump up in class, comfort, and extra legroom. I reveled in her quirky characters and highly innovative and entertaining storylines. Ms. Davis’ lively wit and comedic stylings kept me smirking and snorting aloud and left my Brit Vocabulary List well padded. New additions from this volume include scuppered (ruined), telling porkies (lying), and Sod’s law (when things go bad, it is always in the worst possible way).

About Audrey Davis

Audrey Davis survived secondary school on the West coast of Scotland. Rubbish at science but not too bad at English, she originally wanted to be an actress but was persuaded that journalism was a safer option. Probably wise. She studied at Napier College in Edinburgh, the only place in Scotland at that time to offer a journalism course.

Her first foray into the hard-nosed newspaper world was as a junior reporter in Dumfriesshire. Duties included interviewing farmers about the prize-winning heifers to reporting on family tragedies. She persuaded her editor to let her launch an entertainment column which meant meeting the odd celebrity – or just the downright odd. From there, she moved to the loftier rank of senior reporter back in her home patch. Slightly more money, fewer farm animals but a higher crime rate. As Taggart would say: ‘There’s been a murrrrder!’

After a stint in London on a video magazine – yes, she is that old – Audrey moved to Singapore with her fiancé. She tried valiantly to embrace the stinking heat, humidity and lack of jobs, although she did work briefly on a magazine which was banned by the government for ‘artistic’ use of naked men’s bottoms.

Next on her adventures was a land Down Under where her main focus was raising Cost Centre One (aka firstborn) and coming to terms with the imminent arrival of Number Two. Still, she loved the Aussie way of life – BBQs, beaches and bring your own booze to restaurants – so it came as a blow when OH announced a move back to the UK. Not a job between them, the climate a possible deal breaker and an Exorcist-style vomiting infant on the flight home didn’t bode well …

Always a survivor, Audrey sought out similar-minded friends (i.e. slightly bonkers), got the children into a good school and thought about taking up writing again. Sadly, thinking about it was as far as she got, unless you count shopping lists. Then, hubby drops another bombshell. Switzerland. As in – it’s packing time again. Off to the land of cheese, chocolate, scarily efficient trains and a couple of teeny, tiny issues. Like driving on the ‘wrong’ side of the road and speaking a foreign language (French). The former was conquered fairly quickly (we’ll skip over the wall demolition in week two), the latter remains an ongoing battle of the hopeful against the hopeless. At least she provides amusement for the local workforce.

It wasn’t until 2016 that Audrey rediscovered her writing mojo with an online Writing Fiction course. From there, her first novel – A Clean Sweep – was born, although it took a bit longer than nine months from conception. A short, darker prequel – A Clean Break – followed, and in November 2017 she published the first in a novella trilogy, The Haunting of Hattie Hastings Part One. Part Two is published on 21 March 2018, with the conclusion following in July. After which she might have a wee lie down …

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

Twitter- https://twitter.com/audbyname

 The Love Letter

by Rachel Hauck

Amazon | Books-A-Million | 

Barnes & Noble | iBooks

Paperback: 352 pages

Publisher: Thomas Nelson (June 12, 2018)

#TheLoveLetter,tnzfiction #NetGalley

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Dress comes a story of long-lost love and its redemption in future generations.

Romance has never been actress Chloe Daschle’s forte—in life or on screen. But everyone knows who to call for a convincing death scene . . . and it might be killing her career.

When Chloe is given a peek at the script for an epic love story, she decides to take her destiny into her own hands and request an audition for the lead female role, Esther Kingsley. The compelling tale, inspired by family lore and a one-page letter from the colonial ancestor of scriptwriter Jesse Gates, just might break her out of this career-crippling rut. Jesse would rather write about romance than live through it after his past relationship ended in disaster. But once on-set together, the chemistry between Jesse and his leading lady is hard to deny.

Centuries earlier, in the heart of the Revolutionary War, Hamilton Lightfoot and Esther Longfellow wrote their saga off the silver screen. Esther’s Loyalist father opposes any relationship with Hamilton, but Esther must face her beloved father’s disapproval and the dangers of war in order to convince Hamilton of their future together. Hamilton has loved Esther for years, and on the eve of battle pens the love letter she’s always wanted—something straight from the heart.

Set in stunning upcountry South Carolina, The Love Letter is a beautifully-crafted story of the courage it takes to face down fear and chase after love, even in the darkest of times. And just maybe, all these generations later, love can come home in a way not even Hollywood could imagine.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Chloe never understood how one could simply fall out of love. Was it an open window, a trap door?

 Hollywood is getting tired of me. I’m fifty-seven going on a hundred. I refuse to have plastic surgery and… I refuse to play one of those horny old cougars who makes a fool of herself by falling for some hot thirty-something who only has one thing on his mind.

 My Review:

While the premise sounded interesting, I struggled to remain engaged with this book, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Written with two timelines that were 240 years apart, both storylines involved a young couple of ancestral heritage bucking authority and yearning to establish a romantic relationship during a turbulent period. Both timelines were overflowing with heartbreak, grueling disappointments, angst, stress, despair, and conflicts of every sort – which again,  not my favorite tropes.  As such, my frustration and dissatisfaction were entirely self-inflicted – I chose poorly. There was considerably more religious spirituality than I was expecting and I couldn’t seem to invest or connect to but a few of the characters as I found most of them rather shallow and tedious. Several storylines seemed to lack cohesion – or maybe I just got lost. I probably should have stopped with a DNF but was ultimately glad I continued as despite my disappointment and frustrations with the author’s choices, I needed closure and in due course, I did enjoy the ending, although I doubt it would be an easy read for anyone, nor was it an HEA all the way around.

About Rachel Hauck

Rachel Hauck is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA TODAY bestselling author of The Wedding Dress, which was also named Inspirational Novel of the Year by Romantic Times and was a RITA finalist. Rachel lives in central Florida with her husband and pet and writes from her ivory tower.

Connect with Rachel

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Today we are celebrating the release of the first title in Claudia Burgoa’s Chaotic Love duet! BEGIN WITH YOU is now live (99 cents till Monday!) and the second book in the set, BACK TO YOU, releases August 9th.

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Begin with You by Claudia Burgoa

Chaotic Love, #1 – Available Now

Purchase for just 99 cents!

Amazon  |  Nook  |  iBooks  |  Kobo

Add the book to Goodreads

Synopsis:

From the outside, Abby’s life looks like a fairytale. 

Loving family, wealthy lifestyle, education at a prestigious university. The truth? She’s barely managing to survive. Few know the nightmare she lived before she was adopted. And no one knows the secret agony that still haunts her nightmares.

With a degree from Berkeley, she could have gone anywhere, but she’s back in Colorado. Not for a fresh start—fresh starts are only an illusion—but for Wes Ahern. Her protector, who throws around words like “therapy” and “talk to me.” Her brother in every way but blood. The one man she wishes could be so much more.

Maybe, just this once, she can stop running from her demons. 

But does she dare let Wes see inside the darkest closets of her pain…or will love be the biggest mistake of her life?

An inspirational and emotional contemporary romance Begin with You is a heartbreaking tale of fresh starts and old wounds. This jarring and dark novel will leave readers at the edge of their seats. This is part one of a duet, thus containing a cliffhanger that leads into the next installment. It contains references to childhood trauma, kidnapping, and PTSD.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Some people don’t have what it takes to be human, and she was one of them.

 Because sex is like bungee jumping. If you overthink it, you’ll never do it.

 My Review:

I don’t know what it is about Claudia Burgoa but despite my complete and total loathing of conflict and angst, I cannot resist her disquieting stories. She definitely has the word voodoo – and lots of it. Begin With You had me ensorcelled, captivated, and held hostage with compelling characters and a heart-squeezing and intriguing tale. But how vile, I’m am stamping my little foot while blue steam is blasting from every cranial orifice as this foreboding, dark, and twisted saga ended with a heinous cliffhanger and broke me. Once I’ve calmed down it’s off to the store to pick up supplies for a fetish doll and extra sharp pins to employ while impatiently awaiting the second half of this addictive duet.

 ——————–

Back to You by Claudia Burgoa

Chaotic Love, #2 – Coming August 9

Pre-order Now!

Amazon (coming soon!)  |  Nook  |  iBooks  |  Kobo

Add the book to Goodreads

—————————–

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:

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Jane Doe

by Victoria Helen Stone

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

Lake Union Publishing (August 1, 2018)

A double life with a single purpose: revenge.

Jane’s days at a Midwest insurance company are perfectly ordinary. She blends in well, unremarkably pretty in her floral-print dresses and extra efficient at her low-level job. She’s just the kind of woman middle manager Steven Hepsworth likes—meek, insecure, and willing to defer to a man. No one has any idea who Jane really is. Least of all Steven.

But plain Jane is hiding something. And Steven’s bringing out the worst in her.

Nothing can distract Jane from going straight for his heart: allowing herself to be seduced into Steven’s bed, to insinuate herself into his career and his family, and to expose all his dirty secrets. It’s time for Jane to dig out everything that matters to Steven. So she can take it all away.

Just as he did to her.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

I’ve been to church plenty of times. When you grow up in rural Oklahoma, there’s no avoiding it… We had no use for pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps Christianity. If there wasn’t a big potluck after services, what was the point of going? My mom always stayed late, putting on a show of helping clean up. I liked that part. There were lots of leftovers, and she usually smuggled out a couple of free serving bowls.

That first time I read about sociopaths, I felt filled up with a bright light that was equal parts terror and joy. Finally—finally!—I understood. It was scary to know the truth, yes, but not nearly as frightening as ignorance… later research at the county library assured me that most people like me don’t grow up to be killers. We lie and manipulate and take advantage, but usually that just makes us great at business. Yay for capitalism…

There are a lot of us. More than I even realized back then. Most of us are just trying to get through the day, like aliens living secretly among humans. And we’re great for the economy. It’s easy to turn a profit when you have no self-doubt.

The clerk is a pale young man who looks like he suffered a terrible haircut nine months ago and decided to never try again.

Everyone likes to be told they are right, because that means someone else is deliciously, fantastically wrong, and that is a joy that never gets old. I like it too.

Don’t believe the movies about us. Being a sociopath doesn’t automatically make someone a genius at killing. I’m learning on the job here.

 My Review:

Gird yourselves – this is going to be a full-on rave and I fear my anxiously eager yet well-manicured fingers may not be able to keep up. Jane Doe was a tasty treat! It was deliciously snarky, brilliantly written, expertly crafted, and savagely clever. I loved every fiendishly compelling word. It was wicked good, and I feel impotent and ineffectual, as I cannot mentally retrieve enough lofty adjectives and adverbs to do it justice.

I was immediately sucked into Jane’s cunning vortex and honestly, I didn’t want to leave as I took great pleasure in being a hitchhiker within her deviously sly cranium and being privy to her sardonic inner musings and razor-sharp insights while she ingeniously plotted the demise of her best friend’s tormenter. In deciding the best course of action for her vengeance, Jane debated and shuffled through various scenarios in determining her plan. I was gleefully cheering her on every step of the way and greatly relieved when she landed on the winning combination without bloodshed, yet was far more devastating. I had never read this author in either incarnation whether Victoria Helen Stone or Victoria Dahl, but she is my new favorite. I adore her. Fangirl down!

About Victoria Helen Stone

Victoria Helen Stone is the nom de plume for USA Today bestselling author Victoria Dahl. After publishing more than twenty-five novels, she is now taking a turn toward the darker side of genre fiction. Born and educated in the Midwest, she finished her first manuscript just after college. In 2016, the American Library Association awarded her the prestigious Reading List Award for outstanding genre fiction. Having escaped the plains of her youth, she now resides with her family in a small town high in the Rocky Mountains, where she enjoys hiking, snowshoeing, and not skiing (too dangerous).

Connect with Victoria

Website | Twitter