Author: Empress DJ

Empress DJ AKA Honolulubelle is a Rabid Reader, Unabashed Reviewer, and All-Purpose Goddess
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Book Review: One Hundred Choices (Aspen Cove #12) by Kelly Collins

One Hundred Choices
(Aspen Cove #12)
by Kelly Collins

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA

Kelly Collins welcomes you back to Aspen Cove where acceptance is found in the eyes of a stranger, and love is found in his heart…

Horse trainer Trinity Mosier never looks for trouble, but it finds her at every turn. After losing her job, she packs up and moves to Aspen Cove, hoping her brother will take her in. However, when she arrives, he makes it clear that one wrong move will have her out on her ear. Things are starting to look up when a bully from her past comes back to taunt her. Just as she readies for battle, Wyatt Morrison steps in and redirects her fury, but can he keep her storm on its new trajectory, or will she leave destruction in her wake once more?

Wyatt Morrison came to Aspen Cove looking for an opportunity. But instead of becoming the foreman of The Big D Ranch, he finds out he’s been hired to be a glorified assistant to a man who doesn’t know his chaps from his Chapstick. To make things worse, he’s been banned from living on the property because the owner’s young daughter has taken a shine to him. He needs to find a new job, and fast. Unfortunately for him, when his dream job arrives, it comes at the cost of losing the woman he loves.

What will Wyatt choose—his love or his dream?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Cade is like Chernobyl. I may have avoided the worst of the disaster, but it’s the fallout I fear.

 

“I’ve never worked with anything but horses.”… “You’ll feel right at home because many of my customers can be a horse’s ass.”

 

What a bunch of idiots… It’s a wonder we evolved past pounding chests, pulling hair, and caves. I’m tempted to bring them a box of matches and show them fire for the first time.

 

That went over like a pregnant pole vaulter.

 

He was dressed all in black from his boots to his hat. This wasn’t his regular wear. This was the cowboy equivalent of a tuxedo.

 

Sweetheart, I want to experience life with you, and that comes with babies and wrinkles and gray hair and arthritis.

 

My Review:

 

I have a new BBF and his name is Wyatt, what a tender sweetheart! I always enjoy my time in Aspen Cove and this installment provided updates on several of the previously featured residents at their thoughtful best, all except for the idiocy of Cade who had an even larger problem of his empty cranium being firmly lodged even higher in his colon than he had previously experienced in his own story.

 

I relish the quirkiness and spirit of community shared by the citizens of this unusual small town.   The storylines alternated from angst-ridden inner musings to amusing levity with Ms. Collin’s clever pen filled with wry and snarky wit being put to good use. The new character of Trinity was a prickly pear but she had good reason to be, although why would she harbor such hatred for delicious raisins? That was just crazy talk!

 

ABOUT KELLY COLLINS   

  Goodreads  / Website  / Amazon /

International bestselling author of over 30 novels, Kelly Collins writes with the intention of keeping the love alive. Always a romantic, she blends real-life events with her vivid imagination to create characters and stories that lovers of contemporary romance, new adult, and romantic suspense will return to again and again.

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Book Review: The Things We Always Wanted (A Café Chronicles Novella) by Megan Mayfair

The Things We Always Wanted
(A Café Chronicles Novella)
by Megan Mayfair

Amazon  US / UK / CA / AU / B&N 

How far do we go for love when worlds collide?

Clare Harrison has always felt invisible to everyone other than her grandmother. While she has everything she wants in her career, something is missing: someone to love and a family of her own.

Pete Fitzgerald has family. Too much. The Fitzgeralds are loud, intrusive and always trying to set him up with the daughters of family friends. As he completes his Ph.D. and contemplates moving back to his hometown, he’s determined to meet ‘the one’ and hopes she can cope with his overbearing family.

When Clare and Pete meet, they are instantly drawn to one another. They want the same things in life, but as Pete’s family unwittingly intrudes on his relationship and Clare’s worries for her grandmother’s health mount, their worlds begin to seem further apart than either of them thought.

Can they juggle the needs of their families to give them everything they always wanted, or are there too many differences to overcome?

The Things We Always Wanted is a romantic prequel novella to the Café Chronicles series by award-winning author, Megan Mayfair.

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My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

He’d never been sure why there was a mirror in their office. Most of his colleagues usually looked like they’d gotten dressed in the dark and had never seen a hairbrush before, but it was coming in handy to check he didn’t have anything between his teeth…

 

There was something a little ‘jumble sale’ about the whole office. Was that a sword crafted out of foam sticking out a milk crate? What on earth went on in this office?

 

It had been rather remarkable, but not long after Granny Fitzgerald passed away, Sharon had turned up at their house with a cat under her arm, swearing it was Granny Fitzgerald reincarnated. Or ‘reincatinated’ as their brother Luke had suggested. Despite Luke’s joking, oddly enough, the cat did look like his late grandmother. As much as a feline could look like a human, that was.

  

My Review:

 

This was a sweet and predictable novella that was chaste enough for my elderly mother’s Sunday School Book Club. The characters were likable and varied with a large family and open-ended storylines to set the stage for a new series.

About the Author

Megan’s stories are about families, intrigue and love. Every book contains a bit of humor and a lot of heart.

Megan lives in Melbourne with her husband and three children and has a background in public relations and higher education.

She drinks far too much coffee and has an addiction to buying scarves. She interviews with other authors for her blog series, Espresso Tales, and loves a bit of #bookstagram.

Her debut novel, The Things We Leave Unsaid, was released by Crooked Cat Books in 2018, followed by Tangled Vines. The Problem with Perfect is her third novel.

Social Media Links 

Https://www.instagram.com/meganmayfairwrites

https://www.facebook.com/meganmayfairwrites

Https://www.twitter.com/mayfairmegan

https://www.meganmayfair.com

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/megan-mayfair

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Book Review: Mercy House by Alena Dillon

Mercy House
by Alena Dillon

HarperCollins | Amazon | B & N

 384 pages
William Morrow Paperbacks (February 11, 2020)

“Never underestimate the power of a group of women. Fierce, thoughtful and dramatic—this is a story of true courage.” —Susan Wiggs, New York Times bestselling author

She would stop at nothing to protect the women under her care.

Inside a century-old row house in Brooklyn, renegade Sister Evelyn and her fellow nuns preside over a safe haven for the abused and abandoned. Gruff and indomitable on the surface, warm and wry underneath, little daunts Evelyn, until she receives word that Mercy House will be investigated by Bishop Hawkins, a man with whom she shares a dark history. In order to protect everything they’ve built, the nuns must conceal many of their methods, which are forbidden by the Catholic Church.

Evelyn will go to great lengths to defend all that she loves. She confronts a gang member, defies the church, challenges her own beliefs, and faces her past. She is bolstered by the other nuns and the vibrant, diverse residents of the shelter—Lucia, Mei-Li, Desiree, Esther, and Katrina—whose differences are outweighed by what unites them: they’ve all been broken by men but are determined to rebuild.

Amidst her fight, Evelyn discovers the extraordinary power of mercy and the grace it grants, not just to those who receive it, but to those strong enough to bestow it.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Ever since Evelyn entered the convent fifty years ago and was required to rise with the sun, she worshipped sleep like it was a false god.

 

She’d never been to Rome, she’d never met the current Pontiff, and she had virtually no desire to do so. Pope Benedict XVI wore red velvet capes with ermine fur trim. He commissioned his own cologne, which Evelyn called Pope-pourri. He was chauffeured around in a Mercedes… That lavish lifestyle bore little resemblance to her experience in Bedford-Stuyvesant…

 

She spread her lips into a smile so artificial it insulted her cheeks.

 

The evangelical minister Pat Robertson said Haitians are paying for their sins with that 7.0 magnitude quake. I am terrified that he is right. Sister Evelyn came downstairs in the middle of the night and found me in the living room rewatching clips of Pat Robertson,… “Don’t you listen to that giant-eared moron. He’s equal parts hate and insanity,” she said.

 

Desiree’s current johns were low-income, most surviving on government subsidies. She aspired to move up the ranks and become a high-class call girl, a corporate lady of the night, from streetwalker to Wall Street. You couldn’t claim Desiree wasn’t ambitious.

 

“I’m like a Cadillac. This ride is built for comfort.” Desiree swiveled her hips and then took a comically large bite of her sandwich. “More like a Lincoln Town Car. Room for the whole family,” Lucia said and slapped Desiree’s backside.

 

My Review:

 

My heart was seriously bruised and battered while reading this highly evocative and stunningly crafted tale of an elderly hard-working yet disillusioned nun. She had been repeatedly sexually abused by a priest as a novice and never told anyone, now fifty years later he was the Bishop who was sent to investigate and interrogate with the singular purpose of closing down her abused women’s shelter.   Oh, the irony. And I do loves me some clever irony. This was my first exposure to the brilliant wordcraft of Alena Dillon and I was quickly caught up in her mesmerizing and powerful word voodoo and sucked into a heart-squeezing vortex that transported me to a run-down dwelling with an angel knocker on Mercy Street in Brooklyn, New York. I inhabited that residence with an oddly and uniquely compelling hodgepodge of residents, each with a troubling and heartbreaking past as well as an equally challenging present.

 

The storylines were gripping and taut with tension, frustration, disheartening circumstances, despair, and eye-opening revelations. I was continually struck by the quality and perceptiveness of the writing, which was staggeringly emotive, skillfully assembled, and laced with insightful observations and descriptions of the various types of pain – body, mental, emotional, and of the psyche. I grew to appreciate each of these complicated women, especially the mouthy ones. And going forward, I will never look at a can of Lysol the same way ever again.

I was provided with a review copy of the poignant book by TLC Book Tours and HarperCollins.

About the Author

Alena Dillon’s work has appeared in Slice Magazine, The Rumpus, and Seventh Wave, among others. She earned her MFA from Fairfield University. Mercy House is her debut novel. She lives on the north shore of Boston with her husband, son, and their black labrador, Penny.

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

 

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Book Review: New Beginnings at Wynter House by Emily Harvale

 

New Beginnings at Wynter House
by Emily Harvale

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA

The New Year brings unexpected revelations at Wynter House.

Neva Grey’s Christmas brought several surprises. Now a shocking secret has life-changing consequences for the Wynters, as the New Year brings revelations … and relatives to Wynter House.

It also brings Hazel Smart and Amelia Goodbody. And it’s not just Adam and Rafe Wynter who are pleased Hazel and Amelia have come to stay. Olivia Wynter will enjoy bossing nurse Hazel around and she also makes it clear Amelia – who is handling the marketing for Rafe’s new business venture – is far more suited to be her grandson’s girlfriend than Neva will ever be.

Whilst Amelia is ensconced at Wynter House, Neva is busy with her new hair and beauty salon in Merriment Bay. Perhaps she should enlist her niece, Sasha’s help because just when she thought she had found the love of her life, old secrets, ghosts from the past, and new arrivals might shatter all her dreams.

At least she has her best friend, Jo Duncan to lean on. But newly single, Jo is determined to have some fun, both at Wynter House and in Merriment Bay. And so is Adam Wynter.

This is book two in the Wyntersleap series but it can be read as a standalone. The Wyntersleap series is interlinked with the Merriment Bay series and several characters appear in both series.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

‘Sending her to live in the village is a bit harsh, isn’t it?’ He forced a grin. ‘I thought you liked the villagers.’

 

… the woman looked as if she was knocking on death’s door and waiting for an answer.

 

My Review:

 

This was a sweet and entertaining installment of the ongoing Wyntersleap series, and although the book could be read as a standalone, it would be better enjoyed having read the first book in the series which introduced the reoccurring characters.   I always enjoy Emily Harvale’s light, easy flowing, and engaging tales peppered with amusing humor, colorful descriptions, vile villains, and oddly appealing yet uniquely peculiar characters.

About the Author

Emily writes novels, novellas and short stories about friendship, family and falling in love. She loves a happy ending but knows that life doesn’t always go to plan. Her stories are sure to bring a smile to your face and a warmth to your heart.

Emily loves to connect with her readers and has a readers’ group in which many have become good friends. To catch up with Emily, find out about the group, or connect with her on social media, go to her website at www.emilyharvale.com.

Having lived and worked in London for several years, Emily returned to her home town of Hastings where she now writes full-time. She’s a member of the SoA and the RWA, an Amazon bestseller and a Kindle All Star. When not writing, she can be found enjoying the stunning East Sussex coast and countryside, or in a wine bar with friends, discussing life, love and the latest TV shows. Chocolate cake is often eaten. She dislikes housework almost as much as she dislikes anchovies – and will do anything to avoid both. Emily has two mischievous rescue cats that like to sprawl across her keyboard, regardless of whether Emily is typing on it, or not.

Social Media Links

https://www.facebook.com/emilyharvalewriter

https://www.twitter.com/emilyharvale

https://www.instagram.com/emilyharvale

 

 

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Book Review, Giveaway: Erotic Fiction? by Hannah Lynn

Erotic Fiction?
by Hannah Lynn

 

There’s nothing sexy about her humdrum life as a mum. But is her husband’s crazy scheme a bit too exciting?


Sarah’s mind-numbing housewife’s existence is turning her brain to mush. With her third bun in the oven, this British mum is drowning under a mountain of playdates, bills, and head lice checks. But her man’s get-rich-quick idea of writing steamy
novels aren’t her ideal way to dial up life’s passion.


Drew desperately wants a break from Sarah’s whinging. And if that means researching how to write racy books all by himself, then he’ll make the sacrifice. But as he finally warms Sarah up to the sultry side hustle, their R-rated private project
gets publicly exposed…


With an office scandal brewing, it’s only a matter of time before gawking workers and a perfectly nosy PTA president turn them into social pariahs.


Can Sarah and Drew earn some extra income from sizzling lit without falling prey to stiff gossip?


Erotic Fiction is a charming comedy for fans of humorous fiction. If you like sweet
love stories, endearing characters, and dry British humor, then you’ll adore Kindle Storyteller Award Winner Hannah Lynn’s delightful tale.


Buy Erotic Fiction to slip into something a little more lovable today!

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

All the underwear she owned that could have been considered even remotely sexy was now either ripped or stained or just so small that pulling them on was likely to cut off the circulation to somewhere.

 

‘Mind Birthing?’ ‘Uh-huh.’ Nelly drank her tea with her eyebrows raised. ‘You know, it’s one of those hippy things. Birth isn’t painful. It’s just a manifestation of all the love we are squeezing out of our vagina type bullshit.’ ‘That does sound like bullshit.’ ‘But it’s free.’ Sarah’s head cocked with interest.

 

My Review:

 

This fun and sassy tale kept me smirking, which combined with an occasional bark of irrepressible gleeful laughter that was escaping my mouth while in a public waiting room led to a total stranger inquiring as to the title.   Um, should I have been embarrassed to call up a title such as Erotic Fiction? Nope, not this girl. Although I did take pity and clarified it was the actual title of a humorous story and not the genre when she blanched and blinked.

 

The engaging storylines were entertaining and relatable with highly amusing inner musings, snarky observations, and comical scenarios from the POV of an exhausted married couple living through the less than glamorous aspects of childrearing and family life while ensconced in a tiny sticky house with small tenacious children who tend to bring home pestilence from their school mates as well as cause an ever-increasing level of credit card fatigue and school activity fees as insurmountable as the national debt.

 

This was my first time reading the beguiling scribblings of Hannah Lynn and I adored her crisp and savvy style and reveled in her wry wit with unbridled delight.   Her secondary characters were as deftly written and just as much fun to read as her primary protagonists. I am besotted with her irreverent and clever humor and have added her entire listing to my wish list.

About the Author

Hannah Lynn is an award-winning novelist. Publishing her first book, Amendments – a dark, dystopian speculative fiction novel, in 2015, she has since gone on to write the multi-award-winning The Afterlife of Walter Augustus – a contemporary fiction novel with a supernatural twist, Fiona and the Whale – a thought-provoking romantic comedy and the delightfully funny and poignant Peas and Carrots series.

While she freely moves between genres, her novels are recognizable for their character-driven stories and wonderfully vivid description.

She is currently working on a YA Vampire series and a reimaging of a classic Greek myth.

Born in 1984, Hannah grew up in the Cotswolds, UK. After graduating from university, she has spent twelve years as a teacher of physics, first in the UK and then around Asia and Europe. It was during this time, inspired by the imaginations of the young people she taught, she began writing short stories for children, and later adult fiction. Now as a teacher, writer, wife, and mother, she is currently living in Jordan.

Social Media Links –

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/HannahLynnAuthor/
Twitter @HMLynnauthor
Goodreads – https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13830772.Hannah_M_Lynn
Bookbub – https://www.bookbub.com/profile/hannah-lynn

Giveaway

Your chance to win one of two $25 Amazon Gift Cards

Facebook link: http://gvwy.io/v3x06gs

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

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

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Book Review: Home Truths by Susan Lewis

Home Truths
by Susan Lewis

Amazon US / UK / CA / AU /

B&N / HarperCollins

 Paperback: 480 pages

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks (January 28, 2020)

 

International bestselling author Susan Lewis’s riveting, unforgettable novel of a woman determined to protect her children—at all costs.

A mother’s worst nightmare becomes a reality…

Angie Watts once had what seemed like an idyllic life: a house in a small town in the English countryside with her beloved husband Steve and their three adored children. She never could have predicted how her life would one day turn out.

When her oldest son, Liam, grows from a sweet-natured boy to a troubled teen, Angie’s world begins to crumble. Expelled from school and disappearing from home for days on end, Liam falls in with a notorious local gang. After arriving home one day to find their 5-year-old son with a syringe Liam has left lying around, Steve makes a rash decision that will have lasting repercussions on their family.

Two years later, Steve is gone, Liam is missing, and with money running out, Angie and her other two children are on the brink of eviction. Then Angie is called into the police station and informed that there’s been a murder—and Liam is a suspect. As Angie’s desperation to save her family leads her to take drastic measures, her daughter secretly devises her own plan to save the family…which could put everyone in danger.

Alternating between Angie’s blissful life as a young mother and her present-day nightmare, Home Truths is a searing exploration of the lengths one mother will go to survive and protect her children.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Maybe she could talk to Ivan… but no sooner had the thought entered her head than she dismissed it… he’d just channel the vicar and start spouting passages from the Bible, as if holy words were some sort of universal panacea that held the answer to everything.

 

Angie started to speak, but only a sob came out.   “Please don’t be kind to me… it’s making me cry and I’ve already made a big enough fool of myself.”

 

My Review:

 

This emotive, heartbreaking, and thoughtfully written book has ruined me. I was emotionally gutted and thoroughly shattered. It took four days to get through it as I was occasionally compelled to put the book down and walk away from it and do some horrible and thankless task (like house cleaning) while I contemplated and digested the insightfully written words. It was wretchedly realistic and reeked of disheartening despair and distress, and happens repeatedly, every day and everywhere. This was only my second time experiencing the intense and profound storytelling mastery of Susan Lewis, and while I am emotionally drained it was well worth the discomfort and I sense I just may be a better person going forward having done so.

 I was provided with a review copy of this perceptively written book by TLC Book Tours and HarperCollins. 

About the Author

 Susan Lewis is the internationally bestselling author of more than forty books across the genres of family drama, thriller, suspense, and crime. She is also the author of Just One More Day and One Day at a Time, the moving memoirs of her childhood in Bristol during the 1960s. Following periods of living in Los Angeles and the South of France, she currently lives in Gloucestershire with her husband, James; stepsons, Michael and Luke; and mischievous dogs, Coco and Lulu.

Find out more on her website, and connect with her on Facebook.
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Book Review: Has Anyone Seen My Sex Life? by Kristen Bailey

Has Anyone Seen My Sex Life?
by Kristen Bailey

Amazon /B&N/ Kobo/ Apple/ GP 

It’s normal for your washing machine to get more action than you, right?

I wake up, bleary-eyed. It’s been two years, six months and three hours since I last shaved my legs, and the llama-patterned knickers I’m wearing have seen better days.

We have seven minutes before the kids wake up, and my husband shuffles closer. ‘Ouch,’ he says, a piece of Lego sticking into his back.

Then, a light comes on in the landing. Small footsteps creep down the stairs. A little voice screams, ‘IS SOMEONE COMING TO MAKE BREAKFAST?!’

All hope of having some ‘alone time’ is replaced with wondering if we’ve run out of Cheerios, thinking about the overflowing laundry, and remembering that I forgot to take out the recycling. Again.

Just a typical Monday morning for the Morton family…

Except today, when I go downstairs in my dressing gown, I find something. Something belonging to my husband. Something that definitely wasn’t in the wedding vows. And it’s either going to make us… or break us.

An utterly hilarious and unmissable novel for anyone who has ever felt like they spend more time washing the dishes than getting lucky. Fans of Why Mummy Drinks and The Unmumsy Mum, and rom-coms by Sophie Ranald and Sophie Kinsella, will ugly laugh at this gloriously funny and relatable read.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Nothing is more sobering than looking at yourself in your underwear under a fluorescent bathroom glow. My stomach looks like a collapsed cake. My thighs look like rolled pork joints. I poke at them to see if I can carve out a thigh gap… I look down. Jesus, where are my boobs and stomach going? It’s like they’re trying to flee from me in different directions – gravity is not my friend.

 

I have a Morton brother either side of me: my brother-in-law to my left, to my right my husband, who keeps adjusting the tartan gown to protect my modesty… ‘Careful there, Meggers. Don’t need the whole world seeing your growler…’ I laugh hysterically at the mention of the word and do a lion impression.

 

She told people I had implants put in me arse. Who the heck wants their bum to look bigger?

 

‘There’s no such thing as heaven,’ Eve informs me. ‘ He’s just dust now and his dog ghost lives in the hills and will gallop around and sleep in the bushes scaring the squirrels.’

 

 My Review:

 

I smirked, giggle-snorted, and barked with gleeful mirth throughout this cleverly penned and superbly crafted tale. This was my first exposure to the beguilingly wondrous wit of Kristen Bailey and I became a rabid fangirl halfway through page one.   Her engaging writing style was crisp, rib-tickling, rife with smart edgy banter and humorous innuendo, and called up delightfully amusing visuals that danced behind my eyes.   I am greedy for all her past and future words and have added her name to the top of my List Of Favorite Cool Beings.

About the Author

Mother-of-four, gin-drinker, binge-watcher, receipt hoarder, enthusiastic but terrible cook. Kristen also writes. She has had short fiction published in several publications including Mslexia & Riptide. Her first two novels, Souper Mum and Second Helpings were published in 2016. In 2019, she was long-listed in the Comedy Women in Print Prize and has since joined the Bookouture family. She hopes her novels have fresh and funny things to say about modern life, love, and family.

You can find out more about her on Twitter (@mrsbaileywrites), Instagram (@kristenbaileywrites) and Facebook.

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Book Review: Been There, Married That by Gigi Levangie Grazer 

Been There, Married That
by Gigi Levangie Grazer

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 Amazon US / UK / AU / CA / B&N / GP

A hilarious new novel full of Hollywood glitz, glamour, and scandal.

When he changes the locks, she changes the rules.

Agnes Murphy Nash is the perfect Hollywood wife – she has the right friends, the right clothes, and even a side career of her own as a writer. Her husband Trevor is a bigshot producer, and from the outside it looks like they’re living a picture-perfect celebrity life, complete with tennis tournaments and lavish parties.

But the job description of a Hollywood wife doesn’t cover divorce, which is the way Agnes’ life is headed after she comes home one day to find her credit cards cancelled and the security passwords to get into her enormous LA home changed. Oh, and there’s a guy there whose job it is to tase her if she tries to enter…which she does. Needless to say, Agnes’ husband is dead set on making sure she loses big time, but Agnes isn’t the type to just lie down and take it. In a world of fremenies and hot nannies, personal psychics and “skinny” jello shots, Agnes may be losing her husband, but could that mean getting her own life back?

Been There, Married That is a drop-dead hilarious battle of wills that will make you laugh out loud, cringe, and keep turning the pages to see what crazy disaster will happen to Agnes next…and how she’ll rise from the ashes.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

So hard to make cogent arguments against a smart tween while driving in LA; I needed to concentrate on swearing and shaking my fist at all the illegal left turns.

 

We all knew, deep inside, our kids were probably growing up to be entitled, overeducated blobs. We were raising hothouse flowers, unequipped to climb a fence or fry an egg or spend five minutes bored… “When the revolution comes,” I said, “our kids will be food.”

 

Lip filler lemmings… I’d tell them to jump off a cliff into the Pacific, but we all know silicone floats.

 

“No one’s reading like they used to. Have you ever considered hosting a YouTube channel?” “Yes! A lifestyle channel,” I said. “‘ Agnes’s Spectacular Guide to Failing.’ I’ll invite people who’ve failed miserably— our advertisers will be firearms, funeral homes, and pharmaceuticals.”

 

“Who’s opposing counsel?” she asked. “Ulger Blecks.” She whistled. “Why is it everyone whistles when they hear his name? Is he a dog?” “A pit bull that frightens rabies.”

 

“Let me tell you something, dearie,” Dad said and lowered his voice, which was how I knew he was heated. “The world was a better place when we settled matters with fists rather than lawyers.” I opened my mouth to object and found that I couldn’t argue with him. I would’ve loved to have popped Ulger in the mouth, but I feared he would eat it.

 

My Review:

 

This amusing tale was shot through with clever wit and razor-sharp snark while cast with mainly vapid, vile, exasperating, entitled, arrogant, shallow, and obliviously bone-headed characters who were of the type of ilk that I would never willingly share air.   The storylines had me rife with consternation and I was often simultaneously amused and intensely annoyed by the characters’ behaviors and poor choices. I will admit to being unfamiliar with many of the pop-culture references lavishly sprinkled throughout, so a considerable amount of the author’s cleverness flew right over my tiny pea-brained inhabited cranium and left me feeling more than a bit cretinous and imbecilic. The premise had such promise and the story threads had good bones with glimpses of cunning perceptiveness and sharp-edged humor that kept me reading to the end, but all in all, the odd pacing and unlikable characters consistently whittled at my enjoyment and rating.

About the Author

Gigi Levangie is the author of six prior novels, including The After Wife and the New York Times bestseller The Starter Wife, which was adapted as a miniseries for USA Network.

She is the original writer of the screenplay for Stepmom and has written for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Glamour, and other publications. Levangie lives in Los Angeles.

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Book Review: My Geeky Valentine by Jeanne McDonald

My Geeky Valentine
by Jeanne McDonald

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA / B&N

It is often said that love is blind. It goes beyond normal conventions, and true love sees a person for the soul within. Love is finding that perfect someone even when they don’t necessarily meet your preconceived notions for your perfect match. In this charming collection of short stories by Jeanne McDonald, three couples discover that love is more than what meets the eye, and to never judge a geek by their cover.

Three short stories in one sweet and spicy book.
Included: Love Wanted, All of Me, You’re the One

*note: not all stories are Valentine’s day themed. This book was named as a tribute for Jeanne’s dearly departed mother who was a Valentine’s Day baby and married and loved her own geek until the day she died.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Life doesn’t always adhere to storybooks. Sometimes love isn’t all fireworks. Sometimes the one you need isn’t the one you seek. Sometimes love takes us by surprise and never lets us go.

 

I have to know more about a man who can use the term bumbling buffoonery in a sentence.

 

His voice! Good God, it was like angels singing. The choirs of Heaven opened up, and I was somehow lucky enough to get a live performance.

 

My Review:

 

This quick and easy to follow book consists of three unrelated yet amusing and engaging short stories that were very easy to fall into and provided three satisfying HEAs, which is what I always want from any story and no less from those with a Valentine’s Day theme.

About the Author

 Twitter

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Jeanne McDonald enjoys writing contemporary romance filled with spice, drama, and humor. As JM Dodd, Jeanne explores the supernatural, relishes in the world of fantasy, and dabbles in contemporary fiction.

Jeanne is the founder of the author co-op, Enchanted Publications, and is an avid supporter of autism awareness.

When she’s not spending time with her amazing son or her dog, Bacon, she can be found reading, writing, enjoying a great film, or cooking for friends. In her house, there’s always music or a podcast playing.

A proud Texan, Jeanne currently resides in the Dallas/Fort Worth area with her son and Bacon.

You can learn more about Jeanne and her books at www.jmdodd.us

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Book Review: New Beginnings At Glendale Hall (Glendale Hall #2) by Victoria Walters

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New Beginnings At Glendale Hall
(Glendale Hall #2)
by Victoria Walters

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA / Kobo / Apple

Two weddings and a baby…but who will get their happy ever after?

Emily Prescott’s life isn’t going to plan. Her dreams of starting a family with fireman boyfriend Greg and opening up her own bakery in London feel like they will never come true. So when a wedding
invite arrives from her oldest friend, Beth Williams, Emily is thrilled. Not only will she get to return to her childhood home in Scotland, but best of all – Beth wants her to bake the wedding cake!

However, her excitement is cut short when she discovers that Greg has cheated on her. Devastated by his betrayal, Emily flees to Glendale Hall, Beth’s grand estate in the Highlands, and tries to distract herself with helping with the wedding plans, but that’s not easy when Greg keeps hounding her to forgive him. Then she’s introduced to Glendale’s new young and handsome vicar Brodie, and things become even more complicated.

When Emily discovers that Greg’s betrayal runs deeper than she imagined, she finds herself with a whole host of decisions to make, especially when she discovers her long-awaited dream is finally being fulfilled – at exactly the wrong time…

Escape to Scotland and fall in love with this gorgeous and inspiring romance from the bestselling author of Coming Home to Glendale Hall! The perfect feel-good read for fans of Holly Martin, Heidi Swain, and Jill Mansell.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

I can only hope you never have any problems in your life, Hazel, because no one will be at all sympathetic if this is how you treat other people going through a tough time.

 

I think that if you’re the kind of person who worries about not being good enough then you have nothing to worry about. The people who think they can do anything and everything are not always the people you want to be around, are they?

  

My Review:

 

This story needs a warning label for dieters as the delicious descriptions of divine baked goods had my mouth watering and ample stomach area groaning for sugar and butter.   The tale was insightfully written from the first person POV of Emily, a character I often wanted to give a pinch and swat to the back of the head for being so indecisive, lily-livered, and easily manipulated by her selfish boyfriend, even after knowing he had betrayed her.   ARG!  But then again, maybe I’m too harsh, as I do tend to espouse to the Lorena Bobbitt School of Revenge. The engaging storylines were relevant, slowly paced, heartfelt, and highly caloric. But be aware – this book is a bane to dieters everywhere and apt to cause diabetes 😉

 

About the Author

Victoria Walters writes up-lifting and inspiring stories. Her moving debut novel THE SECOND LOVE OF MY LIFE was chosen for WHSmith Fresh Talent and shortlisted for an RNA award. Victoria was also picked as an Amazon Rising Star. Her heart-warming new novel SUMMER AT THE KINDNESS CAFE is available to download now.

As well as being an author, Victoria also works as a Waterstones bookseller and buys far too many books there. She lives in Surrey with her cat Harry (named after Harry Potter). Victoria is not only obsessed with books but loves buying slogan tops, mugs, and notebooks, and posting them all on Instagram.

You can discover more about Victoria – and find pictures of Harry the cat – by following her on Instagram at @vickyjwalters, on Twitter at @Vicky_Walters or by visiting her blog at https://victoria-writes.com/