Category: 4-Stars

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Book Review: Edie Browne’s Cottage by the Sea by Jane Linfoot

 Edie Browne’s Cottage by the Sea

by Jane Linfoot

Amazon US / UK / AU / B&N

Those who don’t jump will never fly…

Hurtling through the sky was supposed to be Edie Browne’s flight of independence. But when she falls head over champagne bucket while celebrating her successful landing, her life is changed in an instant.

But starting over has its benefits, and as Edie relearns the basics under the watchful eye of her Aunty Josie and an entire Cornish village of new friends and neighbors, she finds love and joy she never could have imagined in the unlikeliest of places…

Come home to St Aidan and Periwinkle Cottage for a romance full of love, laughter, and friends for life!

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Marcus’s mates in creative media – and he had a lot – took male bonding to a whole new level… Mostly they swilled back craft beers with odd names and incinerated choice lumps of cow from the craft burger shops while they tried to channel their younger selves.

 

One of those moments where you wish the world would stop turning, because for this split second I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, or any other way.

 

But if you’re not ready it’s hard to listen, and even more impossible to hear.

 

And what the hell did you do to Malcolm while he was there? Since he got back he’s as antsy as an elephant with eczema, yet we can’t get him out at all.

 

 My Review:

 

I enjoyed this cleverly amusing women’s fiction tale. It was written from the first person POV of Edie Browne, who was a hot mess. She didn’t use to be, but a mild stroke had scrambled her brains leaving her with word finding problems, reduced reaction times, memory gaps, the inability to smell or taste, and horror or all horrors – she could no longer read or drink alcohol – gasp! What a nightmare! Edie was also easily addled as she couldn’t process information as well or as quickly she knew she should, which understandably left her in a frequent state of bewilderment and prone to frustration, irritation, and overreaction.

 

I admired the author’s creativity in plotting Edie’s gradual recovery and the modifications and adaptations she devised. When she couldn’t remember the correct names or words, her substitutions were often humorous, as were her embarrassing accidents when she became flustered, I laughed aloud several times at this clever author’s colorful and witty descriptions. The storylines tugged at the heart while also entertainingly engaging and were cast with likable yet realistically flawed and multi-layered characters. The writing was insightful, perceptive, and comically detailed and concluded with a highly satisfying HEA, as all books should.

 

About the Author

 

Jane Linfoot is a best selling author, who lives in a muddy cottage, up a steep hill in Derbyshire, with her family, their pets, and an astonishing number of spiders. Although she loves seeing cow noses over the garden wall, she’s happy she can walk to a supermarket.

Jane grew up in North Yorkshire where she spent a lot of her childhood avoiding horizontal gales blowing off the sea, and wrote her first book by accident while working as an architect, and renovating country houses. While she loves to write feelgood books that let readers escape, she’s always surprised to hear her stories make people laugh, admits to (occasionally) crying as she writes, and credits her characters for creating their own storylines.

Jane’s garden would be less brambly if she wasn’t on Facebook and Twitter so often. On days when she wants to be really scared, she rides a tandem.

Her latest books include a series of stand-alone novels, based around a seaside wedding shop in Cornwall. Cupcakes and Confetti – The Little Wedding Shop by the Sea, Sequins and Snowflakes – Christmas at the Little Wedding Shop, and Bunting and Bouquets – Summer at the Little Wedding Shop, and most recently, The Little Cornish Kitchen. These are all published by Harper Impulse, an imprint of Harper Collins.

Follow Jane on Twitter @janelinfoot, or find her on her Author Page Facebook or her Personal Page Facebook. She’s also on Instagram, and has lots of Pinterest boards relating to her novels.

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Book Review: The Dinner in the Sky by Anne John-Ligali

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Amazon US / UK / AU / CA 

 

After a shocking confrontation with an unexpected encounter, Constance tries to piece her life back together and is on a mission to finally move on.

The thought of having her friends near is comforting as they take time out of their busy online lives and meet up at their favorite place, A Cupful of Dreams Café. Everyone seems happy enough until cracks begin to show and all is not as good as it seems. Constance tries desperately to keep positive as there’s so much to look forward to shopping for posh frocks, dinner at The Shard and a movie premiere.

As things start to look rosy, a few odd tweets begin to pop up from nowhere. At first, they seem innocent, but as the weeks go by and premier night draws near, not only do the tweets increase but they become more obnoxious.

By the time Constance and her chums arrive on the red carpet, she’s determined to work out who the troll could be and to keep them from spoiling her evening. However as Constance soon learns, the troll wants to destroy far more than that!

Breathtaking views of London.

Posh frocks and Paparazzi

But there’s definitely trouble in the air …

 

Spotify Playlist of the whole series –
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7lYuwzrSYvz77Iuq6NymVY?si=b7FFD0EURuy-jhIdr5amZQ

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

If he ever so much comes near you again and tries to play happy families with you and my grandson, I swear, I’ll fry his dangly bits.

 

‘I can also picture Adelios and me sipping wine,’ Karmel continues dreamily. ‘Playing footsie and crotchsie under the dinner table and —’ Estelle stares at Karmel in astonishment. ‘Crotchsie?’

 

Good heavens, not another complicated relationship. The Facebook “It’s Complicated” button must be exhausted.

 

One of her Facebook friends tagged her in a post, showing a huge picture of a cake with a massive 53 on it. She deleted that thing faster than a cheetah riding a bike.

 

My Review:

 

I enjoyed this first-person POV series, while a women’s fiction tale, there were elements of romance as well as several mysteries that folded in ways I never saw coming. The writing was lushly detailed and wryly detailed with a fairly even balance of humor, angst, common problems, family dramas, and puzzling and rather uncomfortable situations. The same odd grouping of online friends which were assembled in the short story The Big Event was more than met the eye and became a surprisingly cohesive and supportive unit and what she termed her “author family.” I was a bit conflicted with the ending as I would not have been nearly as forgiving as Constance and would have gladly assisted her mother in frying “his dangly bits.”

About the Author

Anne John-Ligali is a writer and found of Books and Authors UK, a website that features author interviews, cover reveals, blog posts, features, and reviews. She loves all things books, going to book events and meeting other book worms. She has written her first series and is currently writing her first novel.

When Anne is not writing she is likely to be playing with her kids, going for walks in the park, watching Netflix or thinking up more stories. Originally from Peterborough, Anne now lives in London. After moving to London she studies graphic design at the University of Arts and held a number of IT jobs in the city. Anne continues to write romantic comedies, women’s fiction and has the desire to write a non-fiction book and a few children’s books.

Author Social Media Links –

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anne_johnligali/

Author Twitter: https://twitter.com/AnneJohnLigali

Author FB: https://www.facebook.com/annejohnligali/

www.annejohnligali.com

Anne’s Book Blog Links – Books and Authors UK

Books and Authors UK: www.booksandauthors.co.uk

Books and Authors UK Twitter: https://twitter.com/BooksNAuthorsUK

Books and Authors UK Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Books-and-Authors-UK-674729805905507/

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Book Review: Waisted by Randy Susan Meyers

Waisted

by Randy Susan Meyers

 

Amazon US / UK / CA / AU / B&N

Hardcover: 288 pages
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Publisher: Atria Books (May 21, 2019)

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In this provocative, wildly entertaining, and compelling novel, seven women enrolled in an extreme weight loss documentary discover self-love and sisterhood as they enact a daring revenge against the exploitative filmmakers.

Alice and Daphne, both successful and accomplished working mothers, harbor the same secret: obsession with their weight overshadows concerns about their children, husbands, work—and everything else of importance in their lives. Scales terrify them.

Daphne, plump in a family of model-thin women, learned only slimness earns admiration at her mother’s knee. Alice, break-up skinny when she met her husband, risks losing her marriage if she keeps gaining weight.

The two women meet at Waisted. Located in a remote Vermont mansion, the program promises fast, dramatic weight loss, and Alice, Daphne, and five other women are desperate enough to leave behind their families for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The catch? They must agree to always be on camera; afterward, the world will see Waisted: The Documentary.

The women soon discover that the filmmakers have trapped them in a cruel experiment. With each pound lost, they edge deeper into obsession and instability…until they decide to take matters into their own hands.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

She, along with six other substantial women, stood in the parking lot avoiding each other, as though their abundance of flesh might transfer from body to body.

 

“I’m in shock at the number.” Daphne refused to state the actual number. “Shock without any baseline of knowledge. I don’t know what I should weigh. Last night, watching those men and women being weighed like heifers at market, I wanted to cry.”

 

Mirrors engulfed them, mirrors sharper and brighter than Daphne imagined existed… Mirrors courtesy of Satan.

 

“Alive is a story— decades old, but true— of plane crash survivors in the Andes Mountains,” Daphne explained. “The passengers who lived survived by eating the flesh of the dead.”   A week ago, Hania would have groaned in disgust. Now she looked as though she understood cannibalism.

 

Fat women looked more naked than normal-weighted women. Clothes made the woman. Naked made the shame.

 

When they learned that Susannah worked as a nursery school teacher, Daphne imagined toddlers climbing up onto her giant lap as though scaling the Matterhorn.

 

Daphne snuck up on the scale as if approaching it slowly would trick the machine… Like the smuggest of men, the scale mocked her.

  

My Review:

 

Oh what wickedly clever insights Randy Susan Meyers skewered me with, it was as if she has been spying from my pantry. I could have easily been a character in this book. I was blessed (overly so) with a curvaceous body shape and am a life-long expert dieter (yoyo) and as one who counts vacuuming as strenuous exercise (begrudgingly done), I saw my crazy on several pages of this revealing tale and had a fleeting worrisome thought of whether I should possibly check my home for hidden cameras. I will confess to having fervently thrown myself into countless fad diets and “lifestyle programs” as well as begged a few (numerous) doctors for the latest magic pill being advertised, all while keeping fingers crossed it will be as promised – the last one I’ll ever need. I know I’m not unique, and imagine 90% of women have suffered from similar concerns at least once in their lives.

 

Ms. Meyers’ narrative raised several interesting points and provided thoughtful if not a bit painfully reflective entertainment as to the extreme measures (including soul-shattering humiliation, deprivation, and degradation) that women would willingly allow being perpetrated upon them for the goal of quick weight loss. She had me there. While the plot and storylines were relevant and topical, I also deeply appreciated how this perceptive author craftily navigated the nuances and complications of racial and cultural quirks toward these issues with the use of clever wry humor and insightful observations. While many of the characters’ revelations and inner musings were markedly profound, my favorite combination of all the words used in this book was a notation of “the secret obese of France,” snort, you know there has to be at least a few hidden away.

About the Author

Randy Susan Meyers is the bestselling author of Waisted, Accidents of Marriage, The Comfort of Lies, The Murderer’s Daughters, and The Widow of Wall Street. Her books have twice been finalists for the Mass Book Award and named “Must Read Books” by the Massachusetts Center for the Book. She lives with her husband in Boston, where she teaches writing at the Grub Street Writers’ Center.

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

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Book Review: GOLD DIGGER – The Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor by Rebecca Rosenberg 

GOLD DIGGER 

The Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor

by Rebecca Rosenberg 

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA / B&N

GOLD DIGGER, The Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor!

One look at Baby Doe and you know she was meant to be a legend! She was just twenty years old when she came to Colorado to work a gold mine with her new husband. Little did she expect that she’d be abandoned and pregnant and left to manage the gold mine alone. But that didn’t stop her!

She moved to Leadville and fell in love with a married prospector, twice her age. Horace Tabor struck the biggest silver vein in history, divorced his wife and married Baby Doe. Though his new wife was known for her beauty, her fashion, and even her philanthropy, she was never welcomed in polite society.

Discover how the Tabors navigated the worlds of wealth, power, politics, and scandal in the wild days of western mining.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

You have the attention span of a squirrel. Maybe I should bring acorns next time.

 

“I prefer women with a past.” Wilde winked. “They’re always so damned amusing.” Peter inserted a long skeleton key into the dressing room door. “Don’t give up on love, darling,” Wilde advised her. “One should always be in love. That’s the reason one should never marry.”

My Review:

 

Ms. Rosenberg has an entertaining and commanding writing style that squeezed my heart while raising my awareness. I have to choose carefully when picking up historical fiction, as the poor treatment of women tends to cause me dental damage from grinding my teeth. This entertaining and enlightening blending of fact and fiction was often tragic, as was undoubtedly the life of most women of the time, rich or poor. I was unfamiliar with the history and notoriety of the featured characters and having my curiosity sparked, I found myself hitting up Mr. Google for more information, which in turn led me to YouTube videos – which always results in me losing hours of time. Funny how that happens…

About the Author

 

California native Rebecca Rosenberg lives on a lavender farm with her family in Sonoma, the Valley of the Moon, where she and her husband founded the largest lavender product company in America. A long-time student of Jack London’s work and an avid fan of his daring wife, Charmian, Rosenberg is a graduate of the Stanford Writing Certificate Program.

Her books include: GOLD DIGGER, the Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor, The Secret Life of Mrs. London, Lavender Fields of America, and the Champagne Widows series (2020).

You can follow her upcoming book news:
https://www.rebecca-rosenberg.com

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7652050.Rebecca_Rosenberg

https://www.amazon.com/Rebecca-Rosenberg/e/B075WGKJ3Y/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1547329543&sr=8-1

https://www.facebook.com/rebeccarosenbergnovels/

https://www.bookbub.com/profile/rebecca-rosenberg

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Book Review: Captivate (Brooklet Dream #2) by C.A. Harms

Captivate (Brooklet Dream #2) 
by C.A. Harms

 

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA / B&N

I was back in Brooklet Georgia and things were far from how they were when I left years ago.

Maddison used to be one of the guys, but that was definitely not the case anymore…

She had changed and damn if it didn’t make my heart race. With each passing second she began to consume me. Her smile made my knees weak and the way she looked at me took my breath away.

She captivated me, but she was forbidden. She was the one girl I had no right to crave.

Things became messy, and fast, but to hell with the consequences…she was worth it.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Trouble never looked so good.

 

This entire thing has been so that you can prove that you hold the upper hand in this relationship… Truth is you’ve always had the power over me… Damn, Mad, you’ve always been the one girl I could never say no to… I’m at your mercy. You could crush me, though I hope you never will.

 

I’m eighteen and still a virgin. I’ve never even kissed a guy unless you count little Jimmy Jones slobbering on my cheek in the fifth grade. But even then, Rhett threatened to beat him up when he found out, and he and my daddy have made sure no other boy has come within a foot of me since. At this rate, they’ll be doing a remake of the 40 Year Old Virgin, starring yours truly.

 

I felt for the girl, I truly did, because Reed and Rhett were for sure gonna drive her insane for years and years to come. But the guy had my most sympathy; I just hoped whoever she ended up with, he was strong enough to survive.

 

My Review:

 

Angst and conflict are not my friends – I find them extremely tiresome. As such, the first half of this book was a tedious slog for me, but it was worth it to get to all the good stuff found in the second half. I was just about to give up when the stubborn girl finally stopped playing games and regained her facility for sassy and mischievous taunting. Thank the goddess of ink, I was growing increasingly concerned that Ms. Harms had lost her mojo, but she redeemed herself with delicious slices of sizzle and playful levity. Written in my favorite dual POV, the storylines evolved slowly with many of the same lively cast of irreverent and endearing characters found in Allure.   Mike was simply delectable.

 About The Author 

 

I am an Illinois girl, born and raised. Simple and true. I love the little things; they truly mean the most. I may have a slight addiction to my new Keurig—oh my, that thing is a godsend. And so fast too. I have two children who truly are the greatest part of my days, and their faces never fail to put a smile on my face. I have been married to my best friend for seventeen years and looking forward to many more.

I am one of those authors that adore my readers. I love to hear from you. After all, it is because of each one of you that I continue to write.

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorCAHarms/
INSTAGRAM: Instagram.com/authorcaharms/
NEWSLETTER: http://bit.ly/1xsgHCS
AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/C.A.-Harms/e/B0…

 

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Book Review: A Bakery at the Little Duck Pond Cafe by Rosie Green

 

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA 

 

Ellie’s dreams of opening a bakery in Sunnybrook are finally coming true and best friends Fen and Jaz are happily rallying round, helping her to plan a fabulous grand opening day. Everything in their garden seems to be rosy – until the arrival of a newcomer brings chaos to the village and tests relationships to the limit. Can the bakery succeed in the face of such upheaval? And more importantly, can firm friendships survive?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Gran might be seventy-six but she’s as sharp as a spine on a sea urchin.

 

I haven’t felt this self-conscious since I was climbing a tree for a dare when I was nine and a sharp branch ripped a hole in the seat of my trousers, revealing Mickey Mouse knickers.

 

 My Review:

 

I have read every installment in this sweet and wryly amusing series and each one has given my heart a squeeze and put a least 3 smiles on my face. The tone of this story was rather tense as Katja/Kate was struggling with several issues and had an uncomfortably big secret. She was also in contention for a new bakery job with the same spiteful and competitive person she was forced to room with, although her roomie had a rather unexpected and embarrassing secret of her own. The engaging storylines were easy to follow and quite relatable with an interesting cast of characters dealing with real-life issues. I only needed to Google one unfamiliar Brit reference for my word list; Yodel vans – which is a delivery service like Fed Ex or UPS to those of us living in the USA.

About the Author

Rosie Green has been scribbling stories ever since she was little. Back then they were rip-roaring adventure tales with a young heroine in perilous danger of falling off a cliff or being tied up by ‘the baddies’. Thankfully, Rosie has moved on somewhat, and now much prefers to write romantic comedies that melt your heart and make you smile, with really not much perilous danger involved at all, unless you count the heroine losing her heart in love.

​​Rosie’s brand new series of novellas is centered on life in a village café. Confetti at the Little Duck Pond Cafe will be the sixth in the series

Twitter – https://twitter.com/Rosie_Green1988

Breaking News – Coming Soon 

Confetti at the Little Duck Pond Café

With Ellie and Zak’s Big Day on the horizon, the sun is shining brightly on the Little Duck Pond Café community. But as dark clouds begin to roll in, threatening more than one close relationship, will the wedding of the year take place at all?

Follow Rosie Green on Amazon to hear when its published and available for purchase – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rosie-Green/e/B07CZYV7DW

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Book Review, Giveaway: Covering Ollie by Freya Barker

Title: Covering Ollie (On Call #2)
Author: Freya Barker
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Release Date: May 14, 2019
Hosted by: Buoni Amici Press, LLC.

Living in Durango, Colorado for the past eighteen years allowed Ollie Rizzo to build her own business and carve out a quiet existence for her and her teenage daughter. She’s used to going it alone. However, their new silver-haired neighbor might present a problem—not only is he handsome—he’s also Durango’s new chief of police; a complication she can’t afford.

For recently widowed Joe Benedetti, the job offer as Durango’s new chief of police came at the right time. With life, the new job, and his two young sons settling into a comfortable routine, he does his best to ignore the beautiful and intriguing woman across the street. Yet when he discovers she’s caught the attention of the FBI, there is no way he can stay away.

Their worlds collide with the appearance of FBI Special Agent Cruz Livingston. The agent has a warning to deliver, one that spins life in Durango out of control, giving Joe a crucial mission—keep Ollie alive.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Had I known law enforcement apparently comes with a prerequisite hot factor here in Durango, I might’ve gotten myself in trouble sooner. Holy Hannah, they have them in all shapes and colors here, but so far —without exception— all very handsome.

 

In my twenties I still had a firm body that could snap back into shape like that. At forty-three all the damn elastic is gone.

 

She’s been a burr up my butt since I knocked her off her damn throne last week. Spreading rumors that I’ve been sneaking into Mr. Costello’s room at night… He’s in 2D. Ninety-three years old and can barely lift his eyelids, let alone anything else. I swear that woman is killing my rep… That’s why I’m calling. I’m plotting revenge, but I can’t remember if it was the calla lily or the daffodil that can make you sick enough to shit your pants… Can’t take this lying down, Ollie. In just one week, any gains I’ve made in beating her ass at Bingo have gone down the toilet. Best payback to send her there as well.

 

…there’s no limit to the love we have to give. It’s not like shoes, where you can only wear one pair at a time.

 

 My Review:

 

I always enjoy Freya Barker’s hard-working heroes and romantic suspense tales full of sizzle, sass, and sexy and protective alpha lawmen.   Her characters tend to be admirable and inspirational survivors, endearingly tattered, and assisting others as best they can while also dealing with their own challenges and limitations.   Covering Ollie was classic Barker with generous slices of humor, sensuality, and intrigue while featuring single parents juggling jobs, parenting, work stress, and threats of a violent criminal element while navigating a new relationship minefield littered with snoopy family members and the unsolicited yet well-meaning opinions and advice of co-workers. The engaging storylines were easy to follow, held my attention, kept me guessing, and had several unexpected twists I never saw coming.

 

Freya Barker inspires with her stories about ‘real’ people, perhaps less than perfect, each struggling to find their own slice of happy.

She is the author of the Cedar Tree and Portland, ME Series, the Northern Lights Collection and the Rock Point Series. She is also co-author of the SnapShot Series.

To see Freya’s complete backlist, or to find out what is coming down the pipe, visit freyabarker.com.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Book Review: How (Not) To Date A Prince by Zoe May

How (Not) To Date A Prince

by Zoe May

 

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA 

 B&N / Kobo

 

Surely fairy tales don’t happen in real life?

After being jilted at the altar, high-flying journalist Sam doesn’t believe in love anymore – and she certainly doesn’t believe in fairy tales! So, when she’s asked to cover the Royal Wedding, it’s the last thing she wants to do.

And when she crashes into a ridiculously handsome stranger, Anders, things go from bad to worse. But as the big day draws closer, Sam finds herself being swept up in the excitement – as well as swept off her feet by Anders!

But there’s something that Anders is hiding from her – and when he finally reveals his secret, might Sam just have the happy-ever-after she never thought she wanted…?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Trust me, I am not normally a head-turner. At least not for the right reasons. There was one time at work when I noticed that people’s eyes were following me across the office and then I realised I was trailing a six-foot long piece of loo roll from my shoe. I was a head-turner that day. And then there was another time when people kept glancing at me on the tube. I thought maybe they were checking me out. It was only when I got off that I realised I had bird shit in my hair. I was definitely turning heads that day.

 

There are five images of my butt in total, bulging in white lace. My bum looks so big that I’m beginning to wonder if the photos have been edited or taken with a fish-eye lens or something… ‘Someone has described me as a “cheeky mare”,’ I say, reading one of the comments aloud… I look down to find another comment, with hundreds of up-ratings. ‘That’s ANUStonishing view!’

 

My Review:

 

I enjoy the engaging manner in which Zoe May spins a tale while generously weaving in clever levity, endearingly quirky and awkward characters, insightful observations, and wryly-comical descriptions and inner musings. I enjoyed the storylines as well as all the creative extra touches tossed in as added treats, such as the witty puns used in the creation of greeting cards by Samantha’s friend and roommate.

 

Samantha was a political reporter who was well acclimated to covering Westminster with no interest in the royals but when a co-worker went on maternity leave, Samantha’s boss reassigned her to cover all the hoopla and madness leading up to and following the upcoming nuptials of a British reality star and a Norwegian prince. Samantha was greatly annoyed by the switch to fluffy news as well as the extravagance and ridiculousness of how her fellow associates in the press rapturously swooned over each minuscule detail of the event. However, she kept running into one particularly appealing and charismatic reporter who always seemed to have an inside scoop as well as familiarity with all the wedding vendors. And then she really ran into him, with her car.

About the Author

Zoe May lives in Oxford and writes romantic comedies. Zoe has dreamt of being a novelist since she was a teenager. She spent her twenties living in London, where she worked in journalism and copywriting before writing her debut novel, Perfect Match. Having experienced the London dating scene first hand, Zoe could not resist writing a novel about dating, since it seems to supply endless amounts of weird and wonderful material!

Perfect Match was one of Apple’s top-selling books of 2018. It was also shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Joan Hessayon Award, with judges describing it as ‘a laugh out loud look at love and self-discovery – fresh and very funny’.

As well as writing, Zoe enjoys walking her dog, painting and, of course, reading.

Social Media Links –

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/zoe_writes/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zoe_writes/

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

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Book Review: Summer at the Lakeside Resort (Lakeside Resort Book #2) by Susan Schild

Summer at the Lakeside Resort

(Lakeside Resort Book #2)

by Susan Schild 

 

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA / B&N

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

I think I’ll go slather myself with Ben Gay so my muscles won’t freeze up on me like the tin man.

 

Australians had been credited with inventing the black box flight recorder, the cochlear implant, and the electronic pacemaker. She groaned internally as she read on. Son of a biscuit. They’d also invented box wine. That was genius.

 

I hope you remember the girl you were, the one who rode bikes fearlessly, got dirty, and didn’t give a fig about how you looked.

 

“My legs and arms are white as rice, and I still have my winter weight.” Her thighs reminded her of rice pudding.

 

When she got back to their campsite, Charlotte was outside frying bacon on an electric skillet. Jenny sniffed. “Someone should make a perfume that smells like that.” “Men and dogs would just follow you around,” Charlotte said.

 

My Review:

 

Jenny was highly focused and working hard to get her resort fully operational but being a one-woman operation, she was anxious about balancing her money, time, and energy and was grateful to have her new love for support – but did she? Luke was called away on business to Australia and highly distracted by his new project during the rare phone connections. Luke was a kind and gentle man but he wasn’t much for discussing feelings and seemed to be as attentive and romantic as a frozen fish stick.

After reading several taut thrillers, I enjoyed the leisurely pace, real-world issues, subtle levity, rustic feel, and down-home flavors such as the name of the general store – Gus’s Gas-N-Git -, which was, smirk-worthy.   While slow in pace, the storylines were easy to follow, realistic, wryly written, and chaste enough for my elderly mother’s church ladies’ book club, which is indeed a rare find on my reading list.  😉

About the Author

Goodreads
Amazon

Susan Schild writes heartwarming and funny novels about women over 40 having adventures. falling in love, and finding their happily ever afters.

Susan is a wife and a stepmother who enjoys weekend getaways with friends, reading fiction, and rummaging through thrift stores and antique stores for treasures like four dollar cashmere sweaters and amateur watercolor paintings. A dog lover, Susan is especially fond of Lab mix rescue dogs.

With a professional background as a psychotherapist and a management consultant, Susan has used her professional background to add authenticity to her characters.

Susan and her family live in North Carolina where she is busy writing her next novel.

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Book Review: Code Name – Genesis (Jameson Force Security #1) by Sawyer Bennett

Code Name: Genesis (Jameson Force Security, Book #1)
Sawyer Bennett
Release Date: May 7, 2019

 

Synopsis:

Years ago, they were in love. She was an up-and-coming superstar and he was the devilishly handsome security professional hired to keep her safe. They fell hard and fast, no matter how they tried to resist one another. But not everyone around them was happy about their relationship, and a string of lies and deceit destroyed what they once had.

Having just taken the helm of a nationally renowned protective services company, Kynan McGrath is looking to rebrand and revamp his career. The newly crowned Jameson Force Security is moving from the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas to the mountainous steel town of Pittsburgh, and the last thing Kynan has time for is to deal with his past.

More than a decade has passed since their split, but even a bruised and battered heart remembers its first love. So when Joslyn Meyers comes to him for help, Kynan reluctantly agrees to keep her safe from a terrifying stalker who keeps threatening her life.

As the danger they face continues to intensify, Kynan realizes he’ll stop at nothing to protect the woman who turned her back on him all those years ago. Because one thing is certain—no matter how hard he tries to convince himself otherwise, Joslyn still has his heart.

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My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

We named him after Tony Stark.” “You’re kidding me?” “I never kid about the Avengers,” she says in all seriousness.

 

My mind races, trying to remember if I ever learned anything from watching MacGyver about how to help me out of this situation. Without a paper clip, it seems hopeless.

 

 My Review:

 

Joslyn had it all, a successful career, a bank full of money, lovely homes, a dangerous stalker, a bitter ex, and a deceitful stepmother. Yikes, I’ll stick to my quiet life of obscurity, thank you very much. The storylines alternated between suspense and sensual romance, with a side order of family drama for additional flavor.   The book was written from a dual POV of the two main characters of Kynan and Joslyn, who honestly, were not totally likable. Kynan may have been a sexy Brit with a swoony accent yet he was also a crass prick, and Joslyn was all too gullible. I did pick up a new word for my Brit Vocabulary List with a word I’ve noticed often but never actually knew exactly what it meant – duffer – which according to Kynan means a useless person. Silly me, all this time I thought it was a bad golfer.

About the Author:

Since the release of her debut contemporary romance novel, Off Sides, in January 2013, Sawyer Bennett has released multiple books, many of which have appeared on the New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestseller lists.

A reformed trial lawyer from North Carolina, Sawyer uses real-life experience to create relatable, sexy stories that appeal to a wide array of readers. From new adult to erotic contemporary romance, Sawyer writes something for just about everyone.

Sawyer likes her Bloody Marys strong, her martinis dirty, and her heroes a combination of the two. When not bringing fictional romance to life, Sawyer is a chauffeur, stylist, chef, maid, and personal assistant to a very active daughter, as well as full-time servant to her adorably naughty dogs. She believes in the good of others, and that a bad day can be cured with a great work-out, cake, or even better, both.

Sawyer also writes general and women’s fiction under the pen name S. Bennett and sweet romance under the name Juliette Poe.

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