Book Review: Making Waves at Penvennan Cove by Linn B. Halton @LinnBHalton

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Making Waves at Penvennan Cove
by Linn B. Halton

Amazon  / B&N / Apple / GP / BB

For once, things are going well for thirty-year-old Kerra Shaw. She has a fulfilling job helping small businesses in the local community, she is within a few minutes walk of all the people she loves best, and most importantly, she has finally got together with her childhood sweetheart, Ross.

It’s not all plain sailing, though, because they have to keep their relationship a secret. The feud between their families still rages on, and Kerra doesn’t want to pour fuel on its flame and risk losing everything.

But Kerra should know better than anyone that secrets don’t stay hidden for long in a community like Penvennan Cove…

An uplifting and feel-good romance novel for fans of Lucy Coleman, Jessica Redland and Lisa Hobman.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

As Granddad would have said of idle gossip: ‘T’aint right, t’aint fair, t’aint proper,’ and he was spot on.

I’ve had enough. I’m like a firework and the fuse paper has been lit. I’m about to explode and that thought scares me, but it also makes me feel free.

 

 My Review:

 

This installment feels to be the middle of an ongoing story although capable of being read on its own with a happy for now ending while knowing there will be more to the tale. The realistic storylines were slowly unfolding and effusively detailed while thoroughly setting each scene. Each story thread highlighted and best and worst of small-town thinking and small-town living with gossip being the main course of every resident’s meal with the type of social and family issues that are likely happening on any street in any community. The characters were true to life and individually quirky as well as flawed and varying degrees of irksome.

 

 

About the Author

From interior designer to author, when Linn B. Halton’s not writing or spending time with the family, she’s either upcycling furniture or working in the garden. Linn won the 2013 UK Festival of Romance: Innovation in Romantic Fiction award; her novels have been shortlisted in the UK’s Festival of Romance and the eFestival of Words Book Awards. Living in Coed Duon in the Welsh Valleys with her ‘rock’, Lawrence, and gorgeous Bengal cat Ziggy, she freely admits she’s an eternal romantic. Linn is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Society of Authors. Linn writes feel-good, uplifting novels about life, love, and relationships.

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Book Review: The Village Inn of Secret Dreams by Alison Sherlock @AlisonSherlock @rararesources  @BoldwoodBooks

The Village Inn of Secret Dreams
by Alison Sherlock

Amazon  / B&NGP 

Brand NEW from the bestselling author of The Village Shop For Lonely Hearts.

After escaping her parents’ unhappy marriage to sleepy Cranbridge a long time ago, Belle Clarke dreams of staying at The Black Swan Inn forever.

But with the rundown Inn threatened with closure, Belle may be forced to leave, unless a buyer can be found … quickly.

So, when her oldest friend Pete Kennedy returns from working abroad with a plan to save the Inn, Belle should be overjoyed. The trouble is, Pete has some rather radical ideas for the renovation which Belle disagrees with.

But when a snowstorm hits, Belle and Pete are forced to put aside their differences and work together to help the village.

Can Belle realize her dreams to stay in Cranbridge and can Pete ever stop running from his past?

As they try to save The Black Swan Inn, secrets are revealed and just maybe they’ll finally find out how they really feel about each other.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Aunty Angie’s view of clothing, hair and make -up was that you needed to be seen from outer space. Preferably without the need of a telescope.

 

Angie’s cooking was legendary and, unfortunately, not in a good way. Her food was almost always revolting and was normally soggy, dry or inedible. Sometimes all three at once.

 

My Review:

 

The small village of Cranbridge sounds pleasant and gentle, despite the frigid weather and dodgy electrical service. I’m enjoying getting to know the quirky residents and uniquely appealing characters. Each tale in this series has involved rebuilding and strengthening not only the buildings but of the people residing in them as well as the village at large.   I appreciate the pleasant sense of satisfaction of a community finding camaraderie and pulling together to help those in need as well as the sweet love story blooming amongst the toil and sweat. The engaging storylines were easy to follow and populated with struggling yet likable and oddly endearing characters I can’t help but root for.

 

 

 

About the Author

Alison Sherlock is the author of the bestselling Willow Tree Hall books. Alison enjoyed reading and writing stories from an early age and gave up office life to follow her dream. Her new series for Boldwood is set in a fictional Cotswold village and the first title was published in July 2020.

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Book Review:  Reckless Hart (A Cross Creek Small Town Novel Book 4) by Kelly Collins   @kcollinsauthor

 

Reckless Hart
(A Cross Creek Small Town Novel Book 4)
by Kelly Collins

 

Amazon  / BB

I knew she was trouble from the start.

Too bad I fell for her.

Because I was right … about everything.

I might be the youngest Lockhart brother, but I’m not stupid. When Noah goes behind my back and hires Lauren, my gut tells me something isn’t right about the beautiful, intelligent woman.

When she uncovers a company secret, I rethink my doubts about her.

When her ex pops back into her life, I’m on guard again.

When her adorable daughter and snaggle-toothed, one-eyed dog melt my heart, I lose sight of what’s important.

In the end, I should have gone with my gut. She’s trouble with a capital T. The question is, what do I do when I’ve fallen for her, already love her daughter, and my company needs her expertise?

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

It’s not up to you to make him into the man he should already be.

  

My Review:

 

This was a quick and entertaining story that took the final Lockhart brother off the market. Quinn had been a somewhat bitter holdout after a bad relationship and had been watching his brothers succumb to love from the sidelines while being envious yet leery. The storylines were easy to fall into and unfolded with a smooth and steady progression as the realistically flawed yet likable characters fell for each other while Lauren was also dealing with and enabling her manipulative waste of skin ex-husband, a loathsome villain worthy of a triple hex. Sweet moments and amusing humor were provided by an adorable preschooler and her faithful snaggletoothed dog.

 

ABOUT KELLY COLLINS   

 

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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.

 

Book Review, Excerpt: Code of Ethics (Cipher Security #3) by April White @ahwhite @SmartyPantsRom

“April White writes the kind of books I love to read: romantic but suspenseful, smart yet so consuming. And you’ll love this cast.” – Amy Harmon, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and New York Times bestselling author

Code of Ethics, an all-new enemy to lovers romantic suspense standalone in the Cipher Security series from April White, is available now!

There are three things you need to know about Oliver Curran:

1) He’s a privileged playboy who happens to be a code-writing genius

2) For once in his life he’s trying to do the right thing

3) Someone wants him dead.

Dallas is a close protection specialist at Cipher Security whose bodyguard skills have already saved Oliver’s life once. But when the assassin gets too close to her uncooperative client, Dallas takes the party boy away from the city where he’s the social king, to the Yukon wilderness where she’s a master of survival.

If Dallas has to put her life on the line for a self-absorbed guy she doesn’t respect, then Oliver has to take orders from the too-serious woman he can’t charm. But living wild brings out their true natures, and suddenly funny is hot, capable is dangerous, and trust is the strongest survival skill of all.

‘Code of Ethics’ is a full-length enemies-to-lovers romantic suspense and can be read as a standalone. Book #3 in the Cipher Security series, Seduction in the City world, Penny Reid Book Universe.

Read Code of Ethics TODAY!

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Excerpt

“Is there something else I can help you with, Mr. Curran?”

“Oliver,” I said automatically, my eyes still looking in the direction Quinn had gone.

“Excuse me?”

“My name is Oliver,” I said, my eyes finally meeting hers, and I dug for my nicest-guy-in-the-room default. “Yours is Dallas, right?”

“Correct.”

She started walking toward the elevators again, and I couldn’t think of a reason not to follow. I assumed it wouldn’t get me anywhere to go after Quinn, and Dallas seemed to be the only one who cared that I was still in the building.

“Proprietary tech is the only game in the marketplace right now. If my code leaks, my program turns into the equivalent of generic drugs—worth pennies instead of millions.”

We’d reached the elevators, and she turned to face me. I was surprised that she wasn’t taller, because her vibe was all ferocity and overbearing disapproval. “You didn’t ask for my opinion, but I’m going to give it to you anyway,” she said.

Of course she would. Women like her couldn’t help themselves. They had to be right—all the time—out loud. I sighed, too exhausted to bother to dig up more charm for her.

“Millions are just zeroes and ones in an account,” she continued. “This is your life, and I think the Russian will do a lot worse than try to knife you if he manages to catch you alone.”

I’d just hit the button, but I whipped around to face her. “The Russian? What are you, partners?”

The woman almost rolled her eyes at me, and I was glad to get a rise out of her. It was way more fun than panicking, which was my other option.

“I heard him swear in Russian,” she said in a voice that was back to ice queen inflection.

“You speak Russian,” I scoffed.

“Enough,” she said. The elevator doors opened behind me, and Dallas reached a hand past me to hold them.

“What did he say, then?” I asked. She took a step forward, crowding me back into the elevator.

Ty moy, suchka.”

“Which means?” I asked, taking a step forward when I realized that she’d managed to make me move with just her body language.

She let go of the elevator doors. “You’re my bitch,” she said, and I had to jump back as the doors closed between us.  

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

He also had the kind of manners that Europeans and old-money people had— like they automatically knew which fork to use without getting a raised eyebrow from whichever parent might have been home.

 

It makes him laugh every time I wear it, so I make sure he catches me in it when I’m naked.” Shane burst out laughing. “Naked Baby Yodanna!” Anna flapped her Yoda ears. “When I can make Darius laugh, he looks at me like I’m chocolate and movie night and browned butter all rolled up in one.”

 

His voice is like a thick, creamy salve you put on sunburns when you don’t want to be touched, and when I get sunburny like that, his voice feels like fingers running through my hair—which he does too, by the way.”

 

She wanted me, and being wanted by this woman suddenly felt more than physical. It felt like something that mattered.

 

My Review:

 

Written from a dual POV, this tale had a multiple-layered, slowly paced, and complex plot with uniquely complicated characters, heaping helpings of angst, peril, and a lot of inner dialog and conflict while building to a slow-burn romance. The storylines were intricately woven around the nucleus of a thorny and dangerous threat to a new client with tentacles that spread into family drama, predatory tracking, facial recognition hacking and fraud, and survivalist training and living off the grid in the frozen Canadian Yukon territory.    

It was an interesting twist to use the female main character as the protector and trained survivalist, although I initially found her difficult to fully appreciate, as she was rather rigid, emotionally distant and a cold fish. However, once her background was revealed I was greatly impressed by the author’s thoughtful and perceptive character building. I adored her family yet I was outraged to learn of the past and present discriminatory practices and arrogant attitudes toward Canada’s indigenous tribes, which is as shameful as what occurred and continues to proliferate in the USA towards our own. Then I thought about the similar horrors that occurred in India, Australia, Africa, etc. The arrogance of the British Empire has a lot to answer for.

 

About April White

** Vivian Award Nominee, 2021 **

APRIL WHITE has been a film producer, private investigator, bouncer, teacher, and screenwriter. She has climbed in the Himalayas, survived a shipwreck, and lived on a gold mine in the Yukon. She and her husband share their home in Southern California with two extraordinary boys and a lifetime collection of books.

Her first novel, Marking Time is the 2016 winner of the Library Journal Indie E-Book Award for YA Literature, and all five books in the Immortal Descendants series are on the Amazon Top 100 lists in Time Travel Romance and Historical Fantasy. Code of Conduct was an RWA Vivian Award finalist for romantic suspense, a Next Generation Award finalist for romance, and RONE Award finalist for suspense. And Death’s Door is a Grand Prize winner of the Next Generation Award, and a Foreword Reviews Award finalist. More information and her blog can be found at www.aprilwhitebooks.com.

Find April White online

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Book Review: Show Down (Juniper Ridge #3) by Tawna Fenske @tawnafenske

Show Down
(Juniper Ridge #3)
 by Tawna Fenske

Amazon / B&N / GP/ Apple / BB

They called me America’s smartest entrepreneur. So how was I dumb enough to let my dream girl get away?

Blame ego, blame my need to prove I could build a business all on my own. Hell, blame my parents—God love ‘em—for thinking I’d have problems prospering with a hammer instead of a law degree.

Turns out I’m doing just fine with a chain of luxury resorts bearing my name, but it’s a cold comfort when the woman I love hates my guts. Can’t say she’s wrong, considering how things ended.

I set out to win Lauren back, scoring a spot on her family’s reality show social experiment, or whatever it’s called when someone buys an old cult compound to build a tiny town. Works for me, since I’m a builder who loves a challenge.

But getting Lauren to forgive me proves way more than challenging. Between a botched baking class, sexy bumper car battles, and a bizarrely hostile fish, it’s clear she’s in no hurry to pick up where we left off.

Good thing I’m no quitter, especially when it comes to her.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

You’d have thought I’d confessed to killing kittens while wearing white after Labor Day.

 

If it makes you feel better, my mother asked me last week when I’m scheduling a baby. Like I might pick one up at the grocery store on my way to spin class.

 

Clean hankies, holding the door, getting nailed in a closet full of Purina? It’s the stuff every woman dreams of.

 

 My Review:

 

I will never tire of the smooth wordcraft used in the creation of Tawna Fenske’s deftly written and irreverently amusing characters as well as their delightfully sizzling and romantic entanglements. I enjoyed this couple although I wasn’t sure I was going to, as they weren’t all that likable or relatable to me at first blush. But I could relate to their humbling experiences and the insights of their inner narratives as they found their way back to each other for a second chance at mitigating the regrets of the humiliating public drama that punctuated their first go-round. Every installment of this series has been easy to fall into, cleverly entertaining, perceptively observant, and enticingly salacious. I have learned to preemptively keeps fans on high and cool drinks close for hydration.

 

About the Author   

Website 
Amazon
Goodreads

 Facebook
Twitter 

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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.

 

Book Review:  Rule Breaker by Kelly Collins  @kcollinsauthor

Rule Breaker 
by Kelly Collins

Amazon / B&N/ BB

 

She grew up privileged. He grew up poor. Will their differences bring them together or tear them apart?

To an outsider, attorney Danielle Stratton has it all— a high-powered position at the family’s firm and a monthly stipend that provides all of life’s luxuries. What they don’t see is the man behind the scenes pulling the strings—her overbearing father, The only way to free herself of her bonds without losing it all is to hire a husband and collect her inheritance. But will the boy who abandoned her in high school a decade ago be the man who can save her today?

Jason Moran wants more, but Rock Creek certainly isn’t Aspen, and the doors that have opened to others because of wealth and influence have been slammed in his face. When his high school nemesis shows up looking for a husband for hire, it’s the perfect way to get what he needs … revenge and connections. But will igniting an old flame get him burned?

She’s a pampered princess looking for a way out. He’s a poor man seeking a way in. Will breaking all the rules divide them even more, or can they meet in the middle for love?

 

My Rating:

My Review:

 

Second chance romance is one of my favorite tropes so it was a pleasant surprise to fall into one with Rule Breaker. The trope may be common but storylines were fresh, engaging, and easy to follow with an evenly balanced cast of villains and likable humanity.   I adored Jason, I’d marry him without a monetary reward, allow the cash would definitely be a bonus.

ABOUT KELLY COLLINS   

 

  Goodreads  / Website  / AmazonFacebook / Twitter / Pinterest /  Bookbub

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.

Book Review: Mystery at the Church (An Eve Mallow Mystery # 6) by Clare Chase  @ClareChase_ @Bookouture

Mystery at the Church
An Eve Mallow Mystery # 6
 by Clare Chase

Amazon  / B&N  / GP / BB

When a TV drama crew descends on sleepy Saxford St Peter, Eve Mallow joins the excited throng of extras in a funeral scene. But then a real body is found… and Eve gets a starring role as sleuth!

Eve Mallow is looking forward to her fifteen minutes of fame when Saxford St Peter is chosen as the location for a new drama series. A devoted people-watcher, Eve is thrilled to learn that TV stars are just as glamorous – and tempestuous – as she’s always imagined.

But then someone delivers a bouquet of poisonous flowers to the director Rufus Beaumont, making Eve worry that some of the rivalries she’s noticed are deadly serious. And when Rufus’s body is found in the church where the funeral scene took place, it’s clear that someone’s out for the kill in real life.

Eve and dachshund Gus have been on the ground from the start, and now they’re on the case, interrogating the suspects one by one. Is it the devastating diva whose relationship with Rufus was far from professional? The cameraman who caught Rufus doing something he shouldn’t? Or the groupie groundskeeper who’s in the background of every shot? One thing’s for sure – Eve must catch the killer before she stars in their next murderous production…

A completely unputdownable page-turner, perfect for fans of Faith Martin, Agatha Christie, and Betty Rowlands.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

There was a distasteful, meditative look in his eye as though she was a fly on his bowl of trifle and he was working out how best to swat her.

 

If a man had been unfaithful once, why would you assume it wasn’t his habit? Saskia struck her as someone who’d been on cloud nine and failed to look down.

 

His ego was like a cobweb: painstakingly constructed but easily destroyed.

  

My Review:

 

This tale had a slow and maddeningly meandering progression to the well-crafted head-scratcher of a mystery, with oddly unlikable and prickly victims and a multitude of suspects as nearly everyone in the cast had cause to snuff out these vile players. The writing was lively, light with storylines that were entertaining and easy to follow.

Amongst a nest of entertainment professionals, it proved to be even more difficult to determine if reactions and statements were real or an act.   The little village was abuzz with gossip and rumors, and Eve was still working to keep her relationship under the radar. The intrepid Eve and her lovable little Gus were on the case from the beginning being extras on the set where the murders occurred and Eve being the very one to find the first body. I wasn’t the only one having a hard time narrowing down the guilty party, Eve was flip-flopping as well, but luckily she had little Gus and the lovely Robin to talk things through.

 

About the Author

Clare Chase writes classic mysteries. Her aim is to take readers away from it all via some armchair sleuthing in atmospheric locations.

Her debut novel was shortlisted for Novelicious’s Undiscovered Award, as well as an EPIC award post-publication, and was chosen as a Debut of the Month by LoveReading. Murder on the Marshes (Tara Thorpe 1) was shortlisted for an International Thriller Writers award.

Like her heroines, Clare is fascinated by people and what makes them tick. Before becoming a full-time writer, she worked in settings as diverse as Littlehey Prison and the University of Cambridge, in her home city. She’s lived everywhere from the house of a lord to a slug-infested flat and finds the mid-terrace she currently occupies a good happy medium.

As well as writing, Clare loves family time, art and architecture, cooking, and of course, reading other people’s books.

You can find Clare’s website and blog at www.clarechase.com

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Book Review: Delia Suits Up by Amanda Aksel @AmandaAksel

Delia Suits Up
by Amanda Aksel 

Amazon  / B&N / GP / BB

If you had one day to rewrite the rules you live by, would you? Delia Reese takes the financial world by storm in this breakout novel that’s 13 Going on 30 meets She’s the Man.

Just once, Delia Reese wants to be the one calling the shots—not the one waiting to be called. Despite her stellar resume, hiring managers at the big banks won’t give her a chance.Following yet another failed interview, Delia commiserates with her roommates and drunkenly finds herself wishing she had the advantages that come with being a man. If society wasn’t locked into gender roles, she’d be climbing the corporate ladder in designer heels with no apologies. By morning, her mirror reflects a surprising makeover.

Now that the world sees her as a man, Delia’s determined to double down on society’s double standards. With a smart suit and powerfully pink necktie, she hits New York’s financial district with a big gamble in mind.

My Rating:

 

Favorite Quotes:

 

I watch his reflection on the sleek mahogany desk scan my resume up and down. Up and down. What’s he looking for? Waldo?

 

I hand him my New York driver’s license, which I use more for drinking than driving.

 

I raise my arm and take a whiff. “Ugh.” It’s like Old Spice and old onions had an all-out battle. Old onions won.

 

My Review:

 

I enjoyed this uniquely quirky tale of a women’s frustrated birthday wish to be someone else coming true. The storylines were laced together with snarky wry humor, amusing observations, and interesting insights as the character encounters and withstands the perspective of and reactions to themselves as different genders. It was an interesting and thought-provoking education as the character contemplated the freedom, challenges, constrictions, and limitations experienced by both extremes of our species.   Learning the art of snake charming of the capricious trouser anaconda alone was smirk-worthy and made my afternoon.

 

Amanda Aksel loves anything that’s smart, sexy, and funny. She’s the author of Delia Suits Up, The Marin Test Series, and The Londonaire Brothers Series. You’ll often find her writing novels about fabulous, independent heroines, pretending to be Sara Bareilles at the piano, watching reruns of Sex and the City, or sprinkling a little too much feta on her salad.

Get FREE short story and smart, sexy, funny updates from Amanda. Just sign up at www.amandaaksel.com

 

Book Review: Her Previous Self (The Guernsey Novels #8) by Anne Allen @AnneAllen21

Her Previous Self 
(The Guernsey Novels #8)
by Anne Allen

Amazon  / B&NApple / BB

 

Mary, miserable in her marriage to Thomas Carre, a merchant and privateer, and living in the new family mansion in Georgian Guernsey.

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Lucy, separated from her husband after a tragic loss and now acting as an unwilling sitter for her elderly grandfather, Gregory Carre, who has inherited the same mansion.

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Lucy is haunted by Mary’s continued presence in the house and finds herself being pulled more and more back in time.  
How is it possible for her to live as Mary? To experience scenes from her tragic life? Lucy is forced to come to terms with Mary’s grief as well as her own.

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The more enmeshed she becomes the more anxious Lucy is to discover the truth. Why is Mary still restless? What caused her mysterious disappearance two hundred years ago?
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And can Lucy move on from her own loss to find happiness again?

My Rating:

Favorite Quote:

 

Marriage and motherhood had given Lucy a different view of family and after losing her child and the subsequent breakdown of her marriage, her view had sharpened.

 

My Review:

 

This book was a unique hybrid of genres including women’s fiction, family drama, mystery, historical fiction, and a budding romance; and I enjoyed them all. While not my typical read, I enjoyed the tale as well as the variation from my usual habits. Ms. Allen has woven quite a chronicle with writing and storylines that were easy to fall into and featured a cast of likable and relatable characters and detestable villains, an intriguing mystery, and an unusual predicament with tragic and paranormal aspects. It ended a bit too soon for me, I would have liked a bit more, but then I always do when reading a good tale.

 

About the Author
Anne Allen lives in Devon, by her beloved sea. She has three children, and her daughter and two grandchildren live nearby. Her restless spirit has meant a number of moves which included Spain for a couple of years. The longest stay was in Guernsey for nearly fourteen years after falling in love with the island and the people. She contrived to leave one son behind to ensure a valid reason for frequent returns. By profession, Anne was a psychotherapist, but long had the itch to write. Now a full-time writer, she has written The Guernsey Novels.

 

Book Review: One Hundred Whispers (An Aspen Cove Romance #18) by Kelly Collins  @kcollinsauthor

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One Hundred Whispers
(An Aspen Cove Romance #18) 
by Kelly Collins

 

Amazon  / BB

Welcome back to Aspen Cove, where everything is safe, including your secrets…

 

After being booted from her hit renovation show, Reno or Wreck It, for a mistake that wasn’t hers, Jewel Monroe moves to Aspen Cove to lick her wounds. No one seems to know who she is, and that’s a secret she wants to keep. When that old familiar need to renovate burns inside her, she buys a rundown house, but is the deal too sweet to be true? She can have it at cost if she helps sexy real estate agent Mason Van der Veen turn the property from pitiful to profitable in two months.

Mason Van der Veen is in trouble. He scooped up several properties in Aspen Cove, hoping to turn the town into the next Colorado vacation mecca. But when that plan fails, he’s told by his father that if he can’t renovate two properties in Aspen Cove for a profit in sixty days, he’ll lose his job and his thirty-five-million-dollar trust fund. Jewel is his secret weapon and has the notoriety to bring him the attention he needs, but she can’t help him if she stays a secret. Mason must choose between her wishes and his needs.

Can they work together and build a relationship out of the remnants of a rundown house, or will greed get in the way of a custom-built love made to last?

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Marrying Matt was like saying I do to a friend. I’d always heard you should marry your best friend. I just didn’t think he’d start sleeping with mine.

 

“Oh, to be a fly on the locker room wall of the high school gym.” “Smells like sweat and bad attitudes. I swear testosterone smells like a skunk.”

 

Matt did as he was told. He seemed like a guy who’d had his manhood cut off, and by the looks of it, Sylvia was wearing it.

 

“Get the sutures and bandages ready. Blood is about to spill.” “Not right now. I’m busy. It’s time for Days of our Lives, and Lovey will murder me if I miss it. You’ll have to schedule your murderous rage another time.”

 

She’s the one who looks like a librarian with a secret room for naughty boys.

  

My Review:

 

Reading this series is like dropping in on a fun and familiar friend, I adore this crafty author and always revel in my time at Aspen Cove. Each engaging installment can stand alone yet provides updates on the odd little community’s beloved and endearing characters featured in previous volumes.   The main characters of this chronicle were newcomers to the tiny frozen hamlet and while thinking they were flying under the radar, both were well known and being held under the ever-watchful and speculative eye of the small-town’s residents. The emotional tone was perfectly balanced between angsty inner musings, family drama, snarky humor, amusing observations, and a blossoming attraction. I always start looking forward to a return trip the minute I finish one of these tasty treats.

 

ABOUT KELLY COLLINS   

 

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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.