Author: Empress DJ

Empress DJ AKA Honolulubelle is a Rabid Reader, Unabashed Reviewer, and All-Purpose Goddess
Posted on

Book Review: Fighting Irish (The Summerhaven Trio #1) by Katy Regnery

 

Fighting Irish

The Summerhaven Trio #1

by Katy Regnery

 

 

FIGHTING IRISH, The Summerhaven Trio #1

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Blueberry Lane series comes a new trio of romances featuring the Haven triplets!

Rory Haven and Brittany Manion knew one another as children…
…but it’s been a long time since their childhood summers at Summerhaven.

The Havens weren’t the children who attended exclusive Summerhaven Camp in Center Sandwich, New Hampshire. They were the children of the owners, expected to “pull their weight” and absolutely forbidden to fraternize with the paying guests. But that didn’t keep Rory from having a quiet, unrequited crush on gorgeous, popular, insanely-rich, Brittany Manion for three tortuous summers.

When all-grown-up, recently-engaged Brittany books the off-season summer camp for her upcoming spring wedding, she immediately recognizes Rory as the scorching-hot boy who wouldn’t give her the time of day. Meanwhile, Rory, who senses that Brittany’s nuptials are less about Mr. Right and more about Mr. Right Now, launches the fight of his life to win the heart of the girl he’s always wanted.

.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

I’m not a fighter by nature. Never was, never will be. That’s probably why I never fell in love. Love is the biggest battle there is.

 

Rory, you’re a dumbass if you think all fights require fists and fury. Some fights are quiet, but the battle’s still being waged.

 

 My Review:

 

Oh, what fun! Katy Regnery has started a new series of stand-alone books featuring triplets of Irish descent, and what a diverse set of triplets they are, although close and patiently supportive of each other. I enjoyed this light and sweet story of secret childhood crushes reconnecting ten years later as adults. The premise was interesting, the characters were appealing and likable, and the writing was easy to follow and observant and insightful with a minimum of angst and conflict, and sprinkled with playful banter and a bit of steam. It was a delightful way to spend a rainy afternoon.

 

 

~THE SUMMERHAVEN TRIO~

Book #1: Fighting Irish (Rory and Brittany)
Book #2: Smiling Irish (Tierney and Burr)
Book #3: Loving Irish (Ian and Hallie)

 

 

SERIES INFORMATION: 

Three siblings.
Three seasons.
Three stories.

Calling all devotees of the hit TV show, “This is Us” . . . New York Times bestselling author Katy Regnery has a trio of siblings she’s dying for you to meet!

Irish-American triplets, Tierney, Rory and Ian Haven (trí ciarde, in their mother’s native Gaelic) grow up as “children of the help” at Summerhaven, an ultra-exclusive camp for rich, city kids in New Hampshire.

Years later, distinct personalities, an unusual upbringing and complicated family dynamics will challenge their hopes for lasting true love.

FIGHTING IRISH
Coming Feb 2018
Add to you Goodreads TBR List

SMILING IRISH
Coming April 2018
Add to you Goodreads TBR List

LOVING IRISH
Coming June 2018
Add to you Goodreads TBR List

~Add the Haven triplets to YOUR Goodreads TBR list today: http://bit.ly/2CQLSWi

~Don’t miss a thing! Subscribe to Katy’s newsletter: http://eepurl.com/cIYnZn

*Hot contemporary romance intended for readers 18+.

About the Author:

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Katy Regnery started her writing career by enrolling in a short story class in January 2012. One year later, she signed her first contract and Katy’s first novel was published in September 2013.

Twenty-five books later, Katy claims authorship of the multi-titled, New York Times and USA Today Blueberry Lane Series, which follows the English, Winslow, Rousseau, Story, and Ambler families of Philadelphia; the six-book, bestselling ~a modern fairytale~ series; and several other standalone novels and novellas.

Katy’s first modern fairytale romance, The Vixen and the Vet, was nominated for a RITA® in 2015 and won the 2015 Kindle Book Award for romance. Katy’s boxed set, The English Brothers Boxed Set, Books #1–4, hit the USA Today bestseller list in 2015, and her Christmas story, Marrying Mr. English, appeared on the list a week later. In May 2016, Katy’s Blueberry Lane collection, The Winslow Brothers Boxed Set, Books #1-4, became a New York Times E-book bestseller.

In 2016, Katy signed a print-only agreement with Spencerhill Press. As a result, her Blueberry Lane paperback books will now be distributed to brick and mortar bookstores all over the United States.

Katy lives in the relative wilds of northern Fairfield County, Connecticut, where her writing room looks out at the woods, and her husband, two young children, two dogs, and one Blue Tonkinese kitten create just enough cheerful chaos to remind her that the very best love stories begin at home.

Author Links:

Posted on

Book Review: One Hundred Reasons (An Aspen Cove Romance Book 1) by Kelly Collins

One Hundred Reasons 

(An Aspen Cove Romance Book 1)

by Kelly Collins 

Goodreads

Amazon

 

Fresh starts, hope, and happily ever afters…

Nurse Sage Nichols life changed when she lost her favorite patient and inherited a bed and breakfast in a town she didn’t know existed. She traveled to Aspen Cove intent to sell so she could hurry back to her life in Denver. Little did she know, she was about to find everything she ever needed in the tiny mountain town with a big heart. Sage found herself in a place where caring for your neighbor was a way of life. In her case, that happened to be surly Cannon Bishop, the man of her dreams.

Cannon Bishop was a man who learned long ago that hope was a dangerous thing. Closed off from the world after a family tragedy, Cannon lived a lonely life as the owner of Aspen Cove’s only bar and son to the town drunk. When Sage Nichols breezed into town, she offered the possibility of more if he’d only open his heart. Cannon’s protective walls tumble and suddenly a brighter future of healing, hope, and peace was possible…if only Sage would stay.

 

 .

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

…the air was filled with a scent that seemed to be synonymous with the elderly. Sage tried to figure the smell out, but the closest thing she could ever come up with was Bengay for arthritis mixed with contraband candy.

 

She confiscated the candy and reminded David Lark that a man with diabetes shouldn’t feed his disease. “Come on! I gave up women. I gave up alcohol. I gave up swearing. I’m dying.” He watched her tuck the candy bar into her pocket.

 

When Sage opened her mouth, the man popped a Life Saver from its wrapper straight into it. The cherry flavor coated her tongue. She wasn’t sure if it was supposed to ease the pain or shut her up. It did both.

 

I work for peanut butter cups and Skittles… I’m cheap, but I’m not easy.

 

She’d arrived and disrupted his status quo, making him realize it had been status woe.

 

My Review:

 

I adored this sweet small-town romance as I have every other Kelly Collins book I have ever picked up. Her characters tend to be flawed, wounded, endearing, and doing their best in a difficult situation and the main characters of this entertaining tale, Cannon and Sage, fit this description as well. The storylines were fresh, relevant, emotive, and thoughtfully observant with hits of humor and steam. I am excited about this new series of stand-alone stories and am already looking forward to the next installment.

 

ABOUT KELLY COLLINS   

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.

Posted on

Book Review: A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline

A Piece of the World 

by Christina Baker Kline

 

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

 

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; Reprint edition (January 30, 2018)

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“Exquisite. A must-read.” –Kristin Hannah

“This paperback edition includes a color reproduction of Andrew Wyeth’s painting Christina’s World, along with a Q&A with bestselling author Kristin Hannah and a bonus short story, “Stranded in Ice.”

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the smash bestseller Orphan Train, a stunning and atmospheric novel of friendship, passion, and art, inspired by Andrew Wyeth’s mysterious and iconic painting Christina’s World.

“Later he told me that he’d been afraid to show me the painting. He thought I wouldn’t like the way he portrayed me: dragging myself across the field, fingers clutching dirt, my legs twisted behind. The arid moonscape of wheatgrass and timothy. That dilapidated house in the distance, looming up like a secret that won’t stay hidden.”

To Christina Olson, the entire world is her family farm in the small coastal town of Cushing, Maine. The only daughter in a family of sons, Christina is tied to her home by health and circumstance, and seems destined for a small life. Instead, she becomes Andrew Wyeth’s first great inspiration, and the subject of one of the best-known paintings of the twentieth century, Christina’s World.

As she did in her beloved bestseller Orphan Train, Christina Baker Kline interweaves fact and fiction to vividly reimagine a real moment in history. A Piece of the World is a powerful story of the flesh-and-blood woman behind the portrait, her complicated relationship to her family and inheritance, and how artist and muse can come together to forge a new and timeless legacy.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Sometimes a sanctuary, sometimes a prison, that house on the hill has always been my home. I’ve spent my life yearning toward it, wanting to escape it, paralyzed by its hold on me. (There are many ways to be crippled, I’ve learned over the years, many forms of paralysis.) … You can never escape the bonds of family history, no matter how far you travel. And the skeleton of a house can carry in its bones the marrow of all that came before.

 

It is a terrible thing to find the love of your life, Christina… You know too well what you’re missing when it’s gone.

 

The day we bury her is dreary: a colorless sky, gray-boned trees, old sooty snow. Winter, I think, must be tired of itself.

 

… I put my hand over his, and he lays his other hand over mine. I feel the way I do when I lose something – a spool of thread, say – and search for it everywhere, only to discover it in an obvious place, like on the sideboard under the cloth.

 

My Review:

 

This was my first exposure to Christina Baker Kline’s talents and I became an instant devotee. The writing was emotive and often tinged with melancholy, lushly descriptive, thoughtfully observant, cunningly crafted, and intricately detailed. A fascinating mix of fact and fiction, I have since spent far too much time Googling Christina Olson and Andrew Wyeth’s iconic artwork.   I was immediately immersed in this beautifully and insightfully written book from the first person POV of Christina, a girl/woman with few options and limited mobility. Christina lived her entire life in the same house with her slightly odd family in small-town rural Maine and had continued to live under extremely harsh conditions without indoor plumbing, running water, or electricity, long after others in her area were enjoying these luxuries.

Christina was possibly the most obstinate woman of her time. Unsteady on her weak limbs following an life-threatening and undiagnosed illness at the age of three, she despised pity, denied most offers of assistance despite frequent mishaps and injuries from falls, refused to seek medical assistance when offered, and in her later years when her legs were no longer of use to her she steadfastly refused to use a wheelchair and drug herself by her elbows, up and down stairs and even across fields to visit her neighbor. I ached for her and wanted to pop her in the back of the head at the same time for her stubborn pride.  I was provided with a review copy of this captivating book by  TLC Book Tours and HarperCollins.

About Christina Baker Kline

Photo by Jerry Bauer

Christina Baker Kline is the author of six novels, including the #1 New York Times bestseller Orphan Train as well as A Piece of the World. She lives outside New York City and spends as much time as possible on the coast of Maine. Learn more about Christina at www.christinabakerkline.com.

Connect with Christina on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Posted on

Book Review, Giveaway: The Lost Castle by Kristy Cambron

 

The Lost Castle

by Kristy Cambron

 

Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble | iBooks

Paperback: 384 pages

Publisher: Thomas Nelson (February 6, 2018)

Broken-down walls and crumbled stones seemed to possess a secret language all their own. What stories would they tell, if she finally listened?

Ellie Carver arrives at her grandmother’s bedside expecting to find her silently slipping away. Instead, the beloved old woman begins speaking. Of a secret past and castle ruins forgotten by time. Of a hidden chapel that served as a rendezvous for the French resistance in World War II. Of lost love and deep regret . . .

Each piece that unlocks the story seems to unlock part of Ellie too—where she came from and who she is becoming. But her grandmother is quickly disappearing into the shadows of Alzheimer’s and Ellie must act fast if she wants to uncover the truth of her family’s history. Drawn by the mystery surrounding The Sleeping Beauty—a forgotten castle so named for Charles Perrault’s beloved fairy tale—Ellie embarks on a journey to France’s Loire Valley in hopes that she can unearth its secrets before time silences them forever.

Bridging the past to present in three time-periods—the French Revolution, World War II, and present day—The Lost Castle is a story of loves won and lost, of battles waged in the hearts of men, and an enchanted castle that stood witness to it all, inspiring a legacy of faith through the generations..

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

“Don’t borrow trouble,” Grandma Vi had always said. “Don’t borrow— but be sure you don’t set out to buy it either.”

 

Tears, the real kind— the ones that meant everything was about to change and she must weather it all with newfound courage— refused to leave them be.

My Review:

 

The Lost Castle was not an easy or relaxing read, as the storylines were active and highly eventful while taut with tension, peril, infirmities, family drama, and three unexpected and inconvenient romances. Ergo, it required additional effort and attention to keep it straight; however, it was well worth the time and cranial investment. The book covered three different timelines and involved a French vineyard, the family who operated the vineyard, a ruined castle, and three different feisty females who made all the difference. I cannot imagine the staggering amount the research required to pull this one together.

The first two timelines were rife with wartime stressors occurring during the French Revolution and WWII, while the final timeline involved solving those lingering mysteries during the present day. The writing was atmospheric, highly emotive and deeply felt, scenically descriptive, and so vividly detailed that I fell right into each story feeling as if I could smell the flowers feel the vibrations of the bombs, and hear the gunfire. The characters were uniquely appealing, endearing, enticing, heroic, and continually intriguing to me. Their tales frequently squeezed my heart, although near the end it also stung my eyes, burned my throat, and had my chin quivering.

I enjoyed my time in France but I also picked up a few new words to add to my British Isles Vocabulary List, as one of my favorite characters was Irish. My first new addition was “chancer” a British term for an opportunist who takes advantage or manipulates others to their own benefit; then “olagonin’” meaning moaning/complaining; and finally “craicing” an Irish word for having fun. It’s always a bit of craic to pick up new slang.

 

Giveaway

Enter to win a copy of the book and a signed tote bag

About Kristy Cambron

Kristy Cambron has a background in art and design, but she fancies life as a vintage-inspired storyteller. She is the bestselling author of The Ringmaster’s Wife, named to Publishers Weekly Spring 2016 Religion & Spirituality TOP 10. Her novels have been named to Library Journal Reviews’ Best Books and RT Book Reviewers’ Choice Awards Best lists for 2014 & 2015, and received 2015 & 2017 INSPY Award nominations. Kristy’s first Bible studies, THE VERSE MAPPING SERIES, will release in 2018.

Kristy holds a degree in Art History/Research Writing, and has 15 years of experience in education and leadership development from a Fortune-100 Corporation. Kristy lives in Indiana with her husband and three sons, and could probably be bribed with a coconut mocha latte and a good read.

Visit Kristy online at www.KristyCambron.com, Twitter: @KCambronAuthor, Facebook: Kristy-Cambron-Author, Instagram: KristyCambron.

Connect with Kristy

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

 

 

Posted on

Book Review, Giveaway: Marrying Mr. Valentine by Laura Barnard

RELEASE DAY & GIVEAWAY! 

Marrying Mr Valentine is LIVE!

 

Amazon Bestselling author Laura Barnard brings you the follow on book from Adventurous Proposal, second standalone in the One Month Til I Do series.



Goodreads

Amazon UK – http://amzn.to/2CKUcW
Amazon US – http://amzn.to/2CBIFFz


Synopsis

 

Nadine Roberts smiles for everyone, but beneath it she hides a heartbreaking past that only a few know about. Throwing herself into her new career; wedding planner at The Duck & Goose, a property recently purchased by newlyweds Florence and Hugh, has helped distract her from her loneliness.

When a teary bride suddenly cancels her upcoming wedding Nadine looks to the two-year waiting list. Clara Blumenkrantz and Hartley Valentine. It’ll have to be a quick turnaround, but what’s the worst that can happen, right?

This should be like every other wedding she plans, but the magnetism she feels towards Mr. Valentine disrupts the orderly life she’s worked hard to carve out.

Can she ignore her intense desires and be a professional? Or will she open up her heart to the one person that has the power to break it? And in doing so endanger not just her job, but her venue’s reputation?


With reviews like this, what are you waiting for?
‘Another great read from Laura full of her usual quick wit and slapstick shenanigans.’

You don’t need to have read book one, but if you’d rather read in order you can download Adventurous Proposal:

Amazon Affiliate UK – http://amzn.to/2qxKSAk

Amazon affiliate US – http://amzn.to/2D5IhQK

.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Where the hell did she find him? He’s like a sexy Viking… He could be a model, but I doubt he is. He looks too manly to want to prance around in his underwear. What a shame for the UK population of women… he could be a lumberjack with a body like that. I’d watch him take down a tree any day.

It’s so different being in a high school compared to the old primary school I used to work in. I actually feel self-conscious. I walk past a group of boys rehearsing, when they start wolf-whistling… ‘You’re a right fitty, Miss!’ another one shouts. His mate barks out a laugh. Well, what the hell am I supposed to do in this situation? You don’t get this kind of crap with five-year-olds. I’m blushing before I can reason with myself to play it unaffected. And now I look like I’m enjoying it. They might even take it as encouragement. Think I’m a horny Mrs Robinson type…

 Oh and is there any chance you could look into plastic surgery for one of my bridesmaids? … My bridesmaid, my dear friend, Jessica, has a huge nose, and she’s been thinking about getting it fixed. I’ve offered to pay as long as it would heal before the wedding. We don’t want that honker getting in the way of the photos!

 Of course, Princess Clara has sensitive skin. I’m sure she only uses products made with unicorn tears and elf droppings.

My Review:

 

I have smirked and giggle-snorted my way through another of the madly talented Laura Barnard’s wittily written romantic comedies. Ms. Barnard’s cleverly amusing storytelling and irreverent and bawdy humor keep me eagerly awaiting each new release. Written from the first person POV of the detail-oriented and kind-hearted Nadine, wedding planner/manager extraordinaire who was prone to filthy language and comical thoughts in her inner musings. However, this story was not all giggles and cocktails as between drunken whine sessions with her friends and handling various wedding mishaps as well as dealing with the rushed planning of the worst of the worst Bridezilla in Clara who also happened to be a rich relative of her boss; snapshots of a less than idyllic and angsty backstory were glimpsed until Nadine’s life-altering tragic experience was exposed.

The oddly tasteless yet loftily wealthy Clara became increasingly demanding and bizarre in her accelerated wedding demands although she had started small with wanting an ice sculptor of the couple kissing before working up to swans, penguins, a ten-tier cake, and rushed plastic surgery for an unfortunately large snouted bridesmaid. But what of the adorable, swoon-worthy, and Viking sexy groom, Mr. Valentine? He didn’t seem in sync with Clara at all, but that was the crux of the story.

And lastly, rubbing my palms together with glee, I have a new addition to my Brit words and phrases list with “go spare,” which Mr. Google told me was to “become extremely angry or distraught.” And Clara definitely had Nadine going spare.

Giveaway

Head on over to Laura’s Facebook page (details below) to enter her release day giveaway to be in with a chance of winning a £10 Amazon Gift Card!

Stalk Laura

Laura Barnard lives in Hertfordshire, UK and writes romantic comedy or ‘chick lit’ as its so often described. In her spare time she enjoys drinking her body weight in tea, indulging in cupcakes the size of her face and drooling over hunks like Jamie Dornan, Ryan Gosling and Leo Dicaprio.

She enjoys wearing yoga pants and reading fitness magazines while sitting on the sofa eating chocolate. She’s a real fan of the power nap and of course READING!

She writes not to get rich or famous, but because she LOVES writing. Even if one person tells her they enjoyed her book it makes the midnight typing worth it!

Posted on

Book Review: Fool Me Twice by Lilliana Anderson

 

Fool Me Twice

by Lilliana Anderson

Goodreads

Amazon

B&N

 

‘Some husbands bought their wives flowers, others bought jewelry. Mine? He returned the things he stole.’

I should have known better. Hot guys didn’t hit on big girls without an agenda. They didn’t approach them in bars and talk their way into your bed. They also didn’t make you feel beautiful and proud of your curves. But I was going through a dry spell—actually, I’d kind of been going through a dry spell all my life—and dry spells sucked. Of course I slept with him.I was such a fool.

I believed his lines. Fell for his easy smile; the man swept me off my feet, rocked my world, then robbed me blind.

I really needed a three date rule.

Angry and embarrassed, I engaged the help of my best friend to track the thief down and make him return what he took. But when I found him, he wasn’t alone….

What does a girl do when she finds not one thief, but an entire family?

She marries into it, of course.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Guys often approached her, but she was painfully shy and socially awkward. The last time a hot guy spoke to her, he asked if he could buy her a drink and she just looked at him, then blurted, “I put make-up on dead people.” Yes, Alesha was a beautician at a funeral parlour—a fact I kept advising her to save for at least the second date, but her awkwardness always beat out her common sense.

 

I, on the other hand, was short and a little on the round side. Growing up, my aunt used to assure me that I was like a caterpillar, eating my way through all the leaves until I spun my cocoon and emerged a beautiful butterfly. She lied. I’m still a chubby caterpillar.

 

Um… please tell me that’s a tube of tennis balls you’re carrying in your pants… I, uh… think a baby elephant is missing a trunk somewhere…

 

Why would I be afraid? I stand in a refrigerated room and put make-up on corpses for a living. This is the most excitement I’ve had in years.

 

We’d gone to see the ballet at the Opera House and ridden the ferry to the zoo. I’d thrown up over the side and she’d laughed it off, telling me the fish would be grateful for the extra treat. I’d cried harder because we’d been eating fish and chips. I didn’t want the fish to be cannibals.

My Review:

 

I am conflicted about how to evaluate this book. On one hand, it had a sweet and highly erotic love story with an interesting premise, and the writing was often humorous and witty enough to bring a smirk to my lips, but… I struggled with some of the storylines as well as the characters. Nate was an erotic, filthy talking, porn-star worthy lover with a huge sacred member that was ultimately and aptly named Goliath. Yet Nate and his peculiar family were unapologetic criminals with a complicated family dynamic. They were sexy, crass, spoke with prolific profanity, and had a callous disregard for their victims or working people in general. I had initially liked the feisty Holland until a night of earth-shattering sex seemed to have the pernicious effect of obliterating all rational sense, as she devolved into an addled moron.

After their night of porn-star worthy sex, Nate had drugged her and stripped her apartment bare of all her worldly possessions while she slept, even took her purse and ID, and stole her car. The best sex she had ever had turned out to be costly on every level. But honestly, who would give a man a second chance after that? Or, a third chance after he did it again? But she did and he did, and then they oddly ended up married. Holland loved her husband and wasn’t afraid of him, but she feared his family, and for good reason. Most women often feel as if their mother-in-law would like to kill them off or see them gone, but this steely mother-in-law was no small menace, she informed the hapless Holland, more than once, exactly how she would slit her throat – yikes. I think I would have made tracks well before but most certainly would have after that, Goliath or not!

 

Author Bio

 

WEBSITE

BLOG

FACEBOOK

GOODREADS

TWITTER

NEWSLETTER

Bestselling Author of the Beautiful Series, Drawn, and 47 Things, Lilliana has always loved to read and write, considering it the best form of escapism that the world has to offer.

Australian born and bred, she writes New Adult Romance revolving around her authentically Aussie characters with all the quirks you’d expect from those born Down Under.

Lilliana believes the world should know Australia for more than just its beaches and outback. Book after book, she successfully brings to life city and suburban characters much to her readers’ delight.

When she isn’t writing, she wears the hat of ‘wife and mother’ to her husband and four children.

Before Lilliana turned to writing, she worked in a variety of industries and studied humanities and communications before transferring to commerce/law at university.

Originally from Sydney’s Western suburbs, she currently lives a fairly quiet life in suburban Melbourne.

Posted on

Book Review: Sunburn by Laura Lippman 

Sunburn

by Laura Lippman 

Goodreads

Amazon

B&N

 .

One is playing a long game. But which one?

They meet at a local tavern in the small town of Belleville, Delaware. Polly is set on heading west. Adam says he’s also passing through.

Yet she stays and he stays—drawn to this mysterious redhead whose quiet stillness both unnerves and excites him. Over the course of a punishing summer, Polly and Adam abandon themselves to a steamy, inexorable affair. Still, each holds something back from the other—dangerous, even lethal, secrets that begin to accumulate as autumn approaches, feeding the growing doubts they conceal.

Then someone dies. Was it an accident, or part of a plan? By now, Adam and Polly are so ensnared in each other’s lives and lies that neither one knows how to get away—or even if they want to. Is their love strong enough to withstand the truth, or will it ultimately destroy them?

Something—or someone—has to give.

Which one will it be?

 .

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Men have always done things for her… It is a special art, asking people to do things, yet making it seem as if you never asked at all… but it’s the skill she was given, the hand she has to play.

 

Cath couldn’t find her way out of a room with no walls.

 

In her black dress, black gloves, and retro heels, she looks like Joan Crawford or Bette Davis. She feels like them too. Tough, yet brittle. That’s the thing about being really hard. When you do break, you shatter.

 

My Review:

 

I was immediately sucked into the powerful vortex of this enthralling and cleverly paced tale.   Written from the third person omniscient point of view, the storylines were fully textured, multi-layered, and ingeniously crafted. The characters were all hues of shady and mysterious while endlessly fascinating and alluring. But Ms. Lippman’s superlative writing tops all other elements as it was first class and kept me riveted and resentful of interruption. I despised the need for sleep and begrudgingly put my book down only when necessary. This author is a recent discovery for me and I am greedy to amass and hoard all of her mesmerizing arrangements of words.

About The Author  


 
 
 

Laura Lippman was a reporter for twenty years, including twelve years at The (Baltimore) Sun. She began writing novels while working fulltime and published seven books about “accidental PI” Tess Monaghan before leaving daily journalism in 2001. Her work has been awarded the Edgar ®, the Anthony, the Agatha, the Shamus, the Nero Wolfe, Gumshoe and Barry awards. She also has been nominated for other prizes in the crime fiction field, including the Hammett and the Macavity. She was the first-ever recipient of the Mayor’s Prize for Literary Excellence and the first genre writer recognized as Author of the Year by the Maryland Library Association.

Ms. Lippman grew up in Baltimore and attended city schools through ninth grade. After graduating from Wilde Lake High School in Columbia, Md., Ms. Lippman attended Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Her other newspaper jobs included the Waco Tribune-Herald and the San Antonio Light.

Ms. Lippman returned to Baltimore in 1989 and has lived there since. She is the daughter of Theo Lippman Jr., a Sun editorial writer who retired in 1995 but continues to freelance for several newspapers, and Madeline Mabry Lippman, a former Baltimore City school librarian. Her sister, Susan, is a local bookseller.

Posted on

Book Review: Trusting The Vine (Romancing the Vine #3) by Gemma Brocato

 

Trusting The Vine

Romancing the Vine #3

by Gemma Brocato

Goodreads

Amazon

 

 

Brynn Dormir spends her day tidying up after guests at her wine country bed and breakfast inn, a job she prefers over cleaning up her mother and sister’s messy affairs. Unlike her family, business-minded Brynn never believed in love, a notion solidified after her ex tries to kill her. She understands the formula to make homemade scouring products much better than any recipe for romantic happiness.

Looking for a fresh start, psychologist Josh Hart has ended a disastrous partnership and relocates to Hopland to cover his mentor’s practice. Checking into the Carlysle, he can’t fight his attraction to the B and B’s lovely owner. Although she’s not a patient, he longs to get her on his couch for entirely different reasons.

But Josh’s crazy former partner wants him back at work and in her bed . . . and Brynn’s criminal ex wants to finish the job.

Josh and Brynn will have to learn to trust each other in order for love to conquer all.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

She’d never married, but had indulged in a string of disastrous affairs over the last ten years. As a psychic, she should have known things wouldn’t work out with the man she was with at the time.

My Review:

While it was an entertaining, quick and easy to follow read, I struggled some with this book as the broody rigid personality traits of Brynn are not among my favorites, needless to say, she wouldn’t be on my invite list of gal pals for Wino Wednesdays as she was a bit tiresome, although the poor thing had cause to be cautious. Luckily her flaky family and vivacious friends helped to restore some balance to her world. I adored Josh and marveled at his patience. The premise was interesting and the storyline held a bit of intrigue and peril from a pair of unstable exes, as well as the slow burn romance while the ever kind and indefatigable Josh endeavored to win Brynn’s trust before the steamy bits fogged up my tablet.

 

About Gemma Brocato 

 

Gemma’s favorite desk accessories for many years were a circular wooden token, better known as a ’round tuit,’ and a fortune from a fortune cookie proclaiming her a lover of words; someday she’d write a book. All it took was a transfer to the United Kingdom, the lovely English springtime, and a huge dose of homesickness to write her first novel. Once it was completed and sent off with a kiss even the rejections, addressed to ‘Dear Author’, were gratifying.


After returning to America, she spent a number of years as a copywriter, dedicating her skills to making insurance and the agents who sell them sound sexy. Eventually, her full-time job as a writer interfered with her desire to be a writer full-time and she left the world of financial products behind to pursue an avocation as a romance author.
Her gamble paid off when she was a 2012 Finalist in the prestigious Golden Pen contest for Romantic Suspense and she received contracts for her first and second book.

Weaving Adventure and Romance Together

 Facebook  | Web  |  Goodreads  |  Blog  | Twitter 

Posted on

Book Review: The Test (The List #2) By Tawna Fenske

The Test

 (The List #2)

by Tawna Fenske 

 

“The hottest, sexiest, most hilariously fun opposites attract story I’ve ever read!” – USA Today bestselling author Samanthe Beck

This is a test. A test of every life decision Lisa Michaels has ever made.

Lisa thought she’d gotten everything right: The nicest condo, the right career, the best hair, and a perfectly adequate sex life with her stockbroker fiancé. But when the fiancé ditches her at the altar, Lisa’s left questioning every decision she’s ever made. What if her instincts have been steering her wrong all along? And what if she tested that theory by spending one month doing the exact opposite of what she’d normally do?

A crazy-hot fling with a tattooed steelworker from the wrong side of the tracks seems like a good starting point…

Each book in The List series is STANDALONE:
* The List
* The Test

 .

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

I can’t see his face, but his shoulders look like he spends his spare time bench-pressing SUVs.

 

Is this foreplay? I have no idea. Gary’s idea of foreplay was muting the ten o’clock news and patting the mattress beside him. Don’t think I didn’t notice how he’d peer at the stock market crawl over my shoulder.

 

Did I ever tell you I used to volunteer at this museum?… There’s an exhibit on the third floor called Oregon Adventure… My first month here, I caught a couple going at it on one of the bunks in the Lewis and Clark exhibit… They were buck naked, right there between the bearskin rug and the display of nineteenth-century muskets.

 

Does anyone else feel self-conscious shopping for cucumbers? Like you’re standing there squeezing them and checking out the length and girth to make sure you get the best one, and you look over to see every creepy guy in the produce section is staring at you.

 

Her T-shirt is emblazoned with an electric guitar, the logo for the National Down Syndrome Association, and the words, “I’m rockin’ this extra chromosome.”

 

For future reference, most people bring cans of beer and Dinty Moore stew when they camp… Not an entire Riedel stemware set and an eighty-dollar bottle of port.

 

My Review:

 

I smirked and gasped my way through this delightfully naughty and amusingly clever and steamy tale of opposites. The premise was interesting, the storylines were entertaining, the characters were appealing and enticing, and the writing was witty and engaging. And if you just heard someone yell, “Home run!” – that would be me.

.
Lisa was a fussy and pretentious socialite wannabe who was overly concerned about appearances and having or being the best. However, she felt an itch to sample or “test” the grittier or less refined sides of life, which included experimenting with the many unfulfilled items on her sexual bucket list by going against her instincts and doing the exact opposite of what she had or would have considered doing for the next thirty days. It was to be sex only with no relationship or emotional involvement, and she found the perfect specimen with which to do so.
.
Dax was a heavily tattooed and dirty-talking hottie whom Lisa had met in a bar, although she had no idea he was also a wealthy and successful business owner, as being a shallow snob, Lisa hadn’t taken the time to look past his delectable and colorfully inked surface. I adored the witty and profane Dax; although I couldn’t quote much of his dialogue as he words were typically laced with obscenities. His sexual dynamics, lubricity, and bawdy banter were some of the many turn-ons for Lisa, who was quickly softening during their association with blooming relationship thoughts working their way in, which wasn’t supposed to be part of the plan.
 .

About the Author    

Goodreads

When Tawna Fenske finished her English lit degree at 22, she celebrated by filling a giant trash bag full of romance novels and dragging it everywhere until she’d read them all. Now she’s a RITA-nominated, USA Today bestselling author who writes humorous fiction, risqué romance, and heartwarming love stories with a quirky twist. Publishers Weekly has praised Tawna’s offbeat romances with multiple starred reviews and noted, “There’s something wonderfully relaxing about being immersed in a story filled with over-the-top characters in undeniably relatable situations. Heartache and humor go hand in hand.”

Tawna lives in Bend, Oregon, with her husband, stepkids, and a menagerie of ill-behaved pets. She loves hiking, snowshoeing, standup paddleboarding, and inventing excuses to sip wine on her back porch. She can peel a banana with her toes and loses an average of twenty pairs of eyeglasses per year. To find out more about Tawna and her books, visit www.tawnafenske.com.

Posted on

Book Review, Giveaway: Mr. Blakely by K. Webster

 

 

 

 

Mr. Blakely

by K. Webster

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

 Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Kobo | Apple | Barnes & Noble

The Dirty Bits from Carina Press give you what you want when you want it. Designed to be read in an hour or two, these sex-filled microromances are guaranteed to pack a punch and deliver a happily-ever-after.

It started as a job.

It turned into so much more.

Mr. Blakely is strict with his sons, but he’s soft and gentle with me.

The powerful businessman is something else entirely when we’re together.

Boss, teacher, lover…husband.

My hopes and dreams for the future have changed. I want—no, I need—him by my side.

This book is approximately 33,000 words

Editor’s note: All characters in this story are over eighteen and all sexual interactions are fully consensual.

One-click with confidence. This title is part of the Carina Press Romance Promise: all the romance you’re looking for with an HEA/HFN. It’s a promise!

The Dirty Bits from Carina Press: what you want, when you want it. Over-the-top sexy microromances designed to be read in an hour or two.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quote:

 

Love is an animal you must capture and keep. Name it and own it. Allow yourself these things…

 

My Review:

 

Sizzle and snap, I wasn’t paying attention and had no idea what I was in for when I started this saucy little story, oh, my! Mr. Blakely was a freshly betrayed and divorced father of teenaged twin boys and in dire need of domestic help. His sons were not adapting as well as he had hoped and were in need of tutoring as well as attention and supervision after school and in the evenings while he was working late at his business or wooing clients. He was given Ava’s name and number and told she was a smart and helpful tutor, and the lovely young woman named Ava was hired to do just that the same day. A lovely young woman that stirred something deep and impossible as she was sweet and kind and an innocent eighteen-year-old high school senior and he was… significantly older than that, like twenty-five years older than that.

Given the common porno premise, I was bracing myself for cheesy or creepy, thankfully, it wasn’t. Other than a few cringe-worthy scenes this was actually a sweet and thoughtful romance with lots of naughty bits and a little bit of high school drama. There was an interesting and engaging plot with supportive relationships established among all the characters after a bit of a rocky start. Ava took good care of his sons and succeeded where Mr. Blakely could not as they improved in school as well as in their family interactions.   She studied French and was working toward saving for a trip to France, he softly spoke French endearments to her, bought her gifts including a car to ferry his sons home from school, and other trinkets, as she was always on his mind, as he was on hers. Mr. Blakely took special care of Ava, much better than her own family had, and after hours he tutored her in all manner of adult culinary games like hiding the sausage, find the pearl, and tickle the pickle. And it worked out very well for them, very well indeed.

About K. Webster

K Webster is the author of dozens of romance books in many different genres including contemporary romance, historical romance, paranormal romance, and erotic romance. When not spending time with her husband of twelve years and two adorable children, she’s active on social media connecting with her readers.

Her other passions besides writing include reading and graphic design. K can always be found in front of her computer chasing her next idea and taking action. She looks forward to the day when she will see one of her titles on the big screen.

Website | Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Goodreads |

 Newsletter

a Rafflecopter giveaway