Book Review: LOATHE TO LOVE YOU (The STEMinist Novellas #1-3) by Ali Hazelwood @EverSoAli

LOATHE TO LOVE YOU
(The STEMinist Novellas #1-3)
by Ali Hazelwood 

 

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Under One Roof: An environmental engineer discovers that scientists should never cohabitate when she finds herself stuck with the roommate from hell—a detestable big-oil lawyer who won’t leave the thermostat alone.

Stuck with You: A civil engineer and her nemesis take their rivalry—and love—to the next level when they get stuck in a New York elevator.

Below Zero: A NASA aerospace engineer’s frozen heart melts as she lies injured and stranded at a remote Arctic research station and the only person willing to undertake the dangerous rescue mission is her longtime rival.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Under One Roof

Honestly, your boss is a shit nugget and he doesn’t deserve you and you should quit and leave him to stir in his shit broth!

“Could it be that we’ve just been exceptionally unlucky?” There is some noise on Hannah’s side of the line. Maybe she is sharpening a shiv. “Could it be that the tides will turn and we’ll finally meet dudes who don’t deserve to be fed a bowl of thumbtacks?”

Stuck with You

Wait. What you’re saying is that all this time we’ve been doing weekly summoning circles to give this guy disfiguring genital warts and toenail funguses and those giant subcutaneous pimples people get surgically removed on YouTube . . . but he did not, in fact, deserve any of it?

I missed you… I only knew you for twenty-four hours, but I’ve never missed anyone so much.

Below Zero

Mara and Sadie have managed to worm their way into my heart, causing me to amend my previous I did not come here to make friends stance to a slightly altered I did not come here to make friends, but hurt my weird Cheez-It friend or my other weird soccer friend and I will beat you up with a lead pipe till you piss blood for the rest of your life. Truculent? Perhaps. I feel little, but surprisingly deeply.

“Hey, he’s my cousin-or-something.” Sadie pats her on the shoulder. “It’s the or something that gets me every time. You can really feel the unbreakable family ties.”

 

My Review:

 

This collection was my introduction to the amusing and clever scribblings of Ali Hazelwood and I couldn’t have picked a better selection to start with. I gleefully smirked my way through all three wittily written novellas and sighed contently upon completion. Each character was uniquely contrived yet authentic, as well as endearingly awkward and socially inept. I adored them all. I have a new favorite author and have added her entire listing to my TBR.

 

Ali Hazelwood is the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis, as well as a writer of peer-reviewed articles about brain science, in which no one makes out and the ever after is not always happy. Originally from Italy, she lived in Germany and Japan before moving to the US to pursue a PhD in neuroscience. She recently became a professor, which absolutely terrifies her. When Ali is not at work, she can be found running, eating cake pops, or watching sci-fi movies with her two feline overlords (and her slightly-less-feline husband).

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Book Review: One Hundred Dreams (An Aspen Cove Romance Book 22) by Kelly Collins  @kcollinsauthor

One Hundred Dreams
(An Aspen Cove Romance Book 22)
by Kelly Collins

 

He’s a man trying to keep things under control.
She’s a woman yearning to break free.
Is this a disaster waiting to happen or a love story in the making?

Actress Cameron Madden is sick and tired of being tired. With her last movie failing at the box office and her career in question, she heads to Aspen Cove to lick her wounds. The small mountain town is the perfect place to escape the prying eyes of a critical public, the demands of her career, and the rules set by her team. Expecting a female bodyguard named Valery, she’s shocked to find the script has been flipped and Valery is a tall, dark, and annoying man who goes by Val. The first thing he does is hand her a set of rules—his rules. And she plans to break every one of them.

The last thing bodyguard Valery Armstrong wants to do is babysit an actress, but when the job comes in, he is the only one available. Saving the day and picking up the pieces is what he’s been doing since his father passed away. That single event ten years ago taught him one thing—prepare for every possibility. Before agreeing to take on Cameron, he asks himself how difficult could one woman be? When he arrives, he hands her the list, then watches as she gifts him with a heart-stopping smile—right before tearing the page to pieces. How difficult could one woman be? Cameron Madden is about to show him.

Aspen Cove, where rules are made to be broken…

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Cameron never knew her father. According to her mom, she was an angel’s gift. Her mother simply woke up pregnant one day. All Cameron could think was the night before had to be a doozy.

The director yelled cut, and he did just that… he cut one that cleared the set. I nearly fainted from methane poisoning. Seriously, he has digestive problems. The man stinks any way you cast him.

Time is a precious commodity. It’s like money. You have to know where you’re going to spend it.

I know what I see. That man cares about you, and you look at him like he’s the last steak you’ll eat before you go vegan.

My Review:

 

I have relished each amusing installment of this sweet series and adored this couple, they were lovely together. The storylines were engaging, realistic, insightfully observant, and easy to follow while populated with the endearing and ever-quirky characters of the tiny town of Aspen Cove. Every time I’ve finished one of these satisfying tales, I’ve started looking forward to the next.

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:  One Last Secret by Adele Parks @adeleparks

One Last Secret
by Adele Parks 

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Everyone has secrets, don’t they?

One last client
A week at a beautiful chateau in the south of France—it should be a straightforward final job for Dora. She’s a smart, stunning, and discreet escort, and Daniel has paid for her services before. This time, all she has to do is to convince the assembled guests that she is his girlfriend. Dora is used to playing roles and being whatever men want her to be. It’s all about putting on a front.

One last chance
It will be a last, luxurious look at how the other half lives before Dora turns her back on the escort world and all its dangers. She has found someone she loves and trusts. With him, she can escape the life she’s trapped in. But when Dora arrives at the chateau, it quickly becomes obvious that nothing is what it seems…

One last secret
Dora finds herself face-to-face with a man she has never forgotten, the one man who really knows her. And as old secrets surface, it becomes terrifyingly apparent that one last secret could cost Dora her life…

From the Sunday Times number one bestseller Adele Parks comes a blisteringly provocative novel about power, sex, money, and revenge.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

I turn back to the students; I marvel at their verve, their carelessness. It’s beautiful and painful to watch the very young people. Like looking at a photo of your favorite place but knowing you’ll never visit there again.

I’m used to walking into rooms and dealing with whoever and whatever I find. Every time I arrive at a hotel or a villa or a party, it’s like the first day in a new office and I don’t know where the photocopier is, but I can never let the client know that.

He thinks I’m better than I am. And maybe, just maybe because he thinks it, I can be. Now and in the future.

My Review:

 

Soon after starting this tale, I fell into an intense, all-consuming, and prickly vortex that left me unwilling and incapable of putting my Kindle down for love or money; the phone went unanswered, kittens rampaged and created chaos unchecked, and I told my husband to forage for his own food. The writing was exceptionally perceptive with taut and itchy storylines full of uncomfortably realistic twists, explosive reveals, and heart-wrenching insights.

Adele Parks navigated brutal, excruciating, and harrowing events with breath-stealing agility. She has mad skills and I often marveled and greedily coveted her word voodoo throughout perusal.

 

About the Author

Author Website

Twitter: @AdeleParks

Instagram: @adele_parks

Facebook: @OfficialAdeleParks

Goodreads

 

Adele Parks is the #1 Sunday Times bestselling author of twenty novels, including Lies Lies Lies and Just My Luck, as well as I Invited Her InJust My Luck is currently in development to be made into a movie. Her novels have sold 4 million copies in the UK alone, and her work has also been translated into thirty-one languages. 

Book Review: Snowed In for Christmas by Sarah Morgan @SarahMorgan_

Snowed In for Christmas
 by Sarah Morgan

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A family gathering

This Christmas the Miller siblings have one goal—to avoid their well-meaning family’s endless stream of prying questions. Ross, Alice and Clemmie have secrets that they don’t intend to share, and they are relying on each other to deflect attention.

An uninvited guest

Lucy Clarke is facing a Christmas alone and the prospect of losing her job. Unless she can win a major piece of business from Ross Miller, the season promises to be anything but festive. She’ll just deliver her proposal to his family home and then leave. After all, she wouldn’t want to intrude on the Miller family’s perfect Christmas.

A Christmas to remember

When Lucy appears on the Miller family’s snow-covered Highland doorstep, she’s mistaken for Ross’s girlfriend. By the time the confusion is cleared up, they’re snowed in—she can’t leave, even if she wants to! But does she want to? As secrets spill out like presents from an overstuffed stocking and the chemistry between her and Ross ignites, this is going to be either Lucy’s worst Christmas ever or the best mistake of her life.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

This was the fairy tale, but she’d never liked fairy tales. Occasionally growing up she’d read them to Clemmie, but her sister had been unimpressed by Alice’s version of the stories. The princess doesn’t punch the prince, Alice, and she doesn’t cook the frog in garlic butter.

Look at that. He’s as handsome as his car. Dark hair. I used to love a man with dark hair, although of course as you grow older your standards change. Now I love a man with any hair.

I want to spend all my todays with you.

My Review:

 

I love reading Sarah Morgan’s enticing and evocative tales any day of the year, but I have to admit that her holiday books are extra special. No one does Christmas better with contemporary women’s fiction. Snowed In For Christmas achieved the perfect balance of humor and tension with well-textured, complicated, and multi-faceted characters each with their own struggles, secrets, and family friction. My favorite character was the sassy and spry Nanna Jean, whose cleverness I can only aspire to emulate.

 

USA Today and Sunday Times bestselling author Sarah Morgan writes romance and contemporary women’s fiction and her trademark humor and sensuality have gained her fans across the globe. She is a 3-time winner of the prestigious RITA® Award from the Romance Writers of America and has been nominated five times. Sarah lives near London, England, and when she isn’t reading or writing she loves being outdoors.

 

 

Book Review: Drama King (Three Kings #2) by Penny Reid @ReidRomance  @SmartyPantsRom

Drama King
(Three Kings #2)
by Penny Reid

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She’s his bodyguard. Nothing more.

Until it starts to snow.

Drama King, an all-new swoony, hilarious, opposites attract standalone holiday romp from New York Times bestselling author Penny Reid, is now available!

Stuck with her off-limits, taciturn, hunky movie star client during a sudden snowstorm on Christmas Eve, an extremely capable and highly professional bodyguard must keep him alive and warm without letting the tension building between them get too hot.

Bathsheba (Beth) Ryan can’t thank her best friend enough for helping her land the job of her dreams. After being relegated to second-string security for politicians in DC, being hired as an undercover personal security specialist by a giant Hollywood studio is exactly the kind of action she’s always wanted.

Until she meets her first assignment.

Cyrus Malcom can’t thank his agent enough for arranging a blind date with seemingly the woman of his dreams. After spending the past several years playing all the parts and climbing all the ladders, the lonely mega-movie star finds himself actually enjoying a night on the town for the first time in ages when he meets the gorgeous, funny, and genuine Ryaine O’Rourke.

Until she shows up at his studio meeting the next day with a completely different name.

A worldwide press tour and too many late-night parties later, Beth simply needs to get through a short, one-day visit during the Christmas holiday, and then she’ll be free of Cyrus Malcom’s confusing hot looks and cold shoulders for good.

But just as they leave the airport, it starts to snow . . .

My Rating:

Favorite Quote:

 

You socialize like it’s a biological imperative despite being the loneliest person I know.

My Review:

 

I adored every character and enjoyed every word in this book. Penny Reid stays at the top of my list of Ride or Die Chicks and continues to earn her well-established spot with every bewitching and cleverly penned tale she spins. This one kept a smirk on my face throughout perusal and I couldn’t have loved it more.

Each character was authentic, insightfully detailed, and well cultivated; but I will confess that I was utterly and thoroughly besotted with Cyrus. He was a constant source of delightful surprises.

 

 

Penny Reid is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of the Winston Brothers and Knitting in the City series. She used to spend her days writing federal grant proposals as a biomedical researcher, but now she writes kissing books. Penny is an obsessive knitter and manages the #OwnVoices-focused mentorship incubator/publishing imprint, Smartypants Romance. She lives in Seattle Washington with her husband, three kids, and a dog named Hazel.

Book Review: The Christmas Trip (Christmas Romance series Book2) by Sandy Barker  @sandybarker

The Christmas Trip
(Christmas Romance series Book2)
by Sandy Barker

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Another year has passed and it’s Christmas again. This year best friends Chloe, Jules, and Lucy are all loved up but living worlds apart.

Chloe is madly in love with her celebrity beau, Archer, but after a whirlwind year in Hollywood’s limelight, she’s desperate to get away and spend some quality time together.

Jules loves her Melbourne life – and gorgeous winemaker Matt – but a crowded flat share has her longing for a place of her own.

Meanwhile, Lucy is stuck in a long-distance relationship, jetting back and forth between Colorado and London to see Will.

When Archer’s plan to whisk Chloe to Paris goes awry, he surprises her by bringing her friends together for a Christmas to remember…

The perfect feel-good holiday romance for fans of Sarah Morgan, Jo Thomas, and Holly Martin.

 

My Rating:

 

Favorite Quotes:

 

God, this was like having a conversation underwater. With a turtle.

Chloe thought any occasion was worth a toast. She’d actually toasted toast once.

My Review:

 

Another fun and breezy installment of the May Ladies on holiday, I adore this sassy trio of gals as much as I do their wittily written series. I am enamored with Ms. Barker’s smooth and captivating storytelling. She craftily pulls me into a cleverly constructed vortex of smart, funny, gorgeous, and multi-layered characters who are endearing, successful, realistically flawed, and adorable, yet complicated. I want to be a May Lady as an additional member of their exclusive group but will have to settle for joining their holiday escapades and amusing adventures on my Kindle.

About the Author

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I’m a writer, traveler, and hopeful romantic with a lengthy bucket list. I love exploring new places, outdoor adventures, and eating and drinking like a local when I travel, and many of my travel adventures have found homes in my novels. I’m also an avid reader, a film buff, a wine lover, and a coffee snob.

My first novel, a romantic comedy set in Greece and inspired by my real-life love story, was published in June 2019 by One More Chapter (HarperCollins). In 2020, two follow-ups in the Holiday Romance series hit the shelves: That Night in Paris and A Sunset in Sydney. My novel, The Christmas Swap, is a stand-alone inspired by some of my own Christmas adventures, and I am currently writing my 5th book (the 4th in the Holiday Romance series) and 6th book (a stand-alone), with plans for 7 and 8!

I am represented by Lina Langlee of The North Literary Agency.

Book Review: Murder in an Irish Castle (A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery #12) by Verity Bright  @BrightVerity  @Bookouture 

Murder in an Irish Castle
(A Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery #12) 
by Verity Bright

 

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Irish whiskey, rolling green hills, a traditional Christmas feast and… a murder? Lady Swift will need the luck of the Irish to survive this holiday season!

Christmas, 1924. Lady Eleanor Swift has received a rather unexpected invitation to the village Christmas party in the tiny, rural hamlet of Derrydee in the west of Ireland. Eleanor is thrilled about exploring her ancestral roots at her late uncle’s estate and spending the festive season in a castle. Packing Gladstone the bulldog’s coziest Christmas jumper, they set off to the Emerald Isle with her butler Clifford in tow.

Arriving late at night, Eleanor and Clifford are shocked when they find a body sprawled in the snow on the winding country lane outside the estate. The local constable is immediately suspicious and all but accuses the pair of murder. This isn’t the warm Irish welcome Eleanor imagined!

Clifford is certain he recognizes the poor fellow from the funeral of Eleanor’s uncle – but what was their connection? Undeterred by the villagers’ lack of gossip on the matter, Eleanor is determined to get justice for the victim. The man’s pockets are suspiciously empty of personal effects, but closer inspection reveals an old key hidden in the heel of his boot. Could this unlock more than one mystery for Eleanor?

But when a fire breaks out at the castle on Christmas Eve, an even bigger question looms: is someone out to ensure the family line dies with Lady Swift? And will Eleanor’s first Irish Christmas be her last?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quote:

 

Even those born with no ears has heard of it, miss.

My Review:

 

I continue with my infatuation with Lady Swift, Gladstone, her irreparably spoiled elderly bulldog, and Clifford, and her always prepared, highly astute, and perfectly impeccable butler. I adore this series, it has been as comically amusing as it has been deviously clever with murder mysteries that the little pea in my brain has never seen coming. This one was completely unsolvable, brilliantly plotted, and shrewdly paced. I’m already primed for their next escapade.

About the Author

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Verity Bright is the pseudonym for a husband-and-wife writing partnership that has spanned a quarter of a century. Starting out writing high-end travel articles and books, they published everything from self-improvement to humor, before embarking on their first historical mystery. They are the authors of the fabulous Lady Eleanor Swift Mystery series, set in the 1920s.

Book Review: Two Wrongs Make a Right by Chloe Liese @Berkley @chloe_liese

Two Wrongs Make a Right
by Chloe Liese

 

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Opposites become allies to fool their matchmaking friends in this swoony reimagining of Shakespeare’s beloved comedy, Much Ado About Nothing.

Jamie Westenberg and Bea Wilmot have nothing in common except a meet-disaster and the mutual understanding that they couldn’t be more wrong for each other. But when the people closest to them play Cupid and trick them into going on a date, Jamie and Bea realize they have something else in common after all—an undeniable need for revenge.

Soon their plan is in place: Fake date obnoxiously and convinces the meddlers they’re madly in love. Then, break up spectacularly and dash their hopes, putting an end to the matchmaking madness once and for all.

To convince everyone that they’ve fallen for each other, Jamie and Bea will have to nail the performance of their lives. But as their final act nears and playing lovers becomes easier than not, they begin to wonder, what if Cupid’s arrow wasn’t so off the mark? And what if two wrongs do make a right?

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Jamie smiles. It’s soft and small and crooked, but it’s there. I watch it unfurl, and my heart morphs into a gilded balloon that bursts, a shower of gold-leaf glitter sparkling in my chest.

“Don’t downplay your work,” she says fiercely. “Don’t make yourself small just because someone else has.”

He’s stuck around. Like a bug on fly paper.

…you are exquisitely precious to me.

My Review:

 

I delighted in this cleverly penned tale and have added this crafty author’s entire listing to my TBR as I have become her most rabid and fervent fangirl. Her deft storytelling kept a smirk on my face and caused the little pea in my brain to spark as I fell into her bewitchingly engaging tale which featured deliciously quirky yet authentic characters that were well-textured and are now indelibly etched on my gray matter. I adored them and their amusing vengeance plot of having an “Instagrammable romance”/fauxmance that quickly morphed into something much more carnal and delightfully steamy. I have a new favorite author to add to the top of my To Do list.

 

Chloe Liese writes romances reflecting her belief that everyone deserves a love story. Her stories pack a punch of heat, heart, and humor, and often feature characters who are neurodivergent like herself. When not dreaming up her next book, Chloe spends her time wandering in nature, playing soccer, and most happily at home with her family and mischievous cats.

Book Review: Murder Under A Bridal Moon (Mona Moon Mystery #10) by Abigail Keam  @AbigailKeam

Murder Under A Bridal Moon
(Mona Moon Mystery #10)
by Abigail Keam 

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Mona Moon is planning her wedding to Robert Farley, Duke of Brynelleth, when her preparations go haywire after one of her maids is found murdered. With just days before the blessed event, unwanted guests invade Moon Manor throwing a wrench into Mona’s plans and making it more difficult to seek the truth. Now Robert is a suspect in the maid’s murder. A missing gold brooch and twenty five-dollar bills are the only clues Mona has to find the murderer. She must clear Robert from suspicion or he will call off the wedding, saying he refuses to taint Mona’s good name. Can she discover the killer before the wedding, or will the murderer witness the breakup between Mona and Robert? Was that the intention all along? 

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

That red head of his is so bright, it looks like his head is on fire from a distance.

Get ready, old chap. Marriage is less about love and more about who is right.

There are men in this world, who can’t stand the regular Joe having a good life. These men have always gotta be stepping on someone. Makes them feel important, and they are usually standing behind a flag or a Bible to knock the other guy down. Don’t let these people take your dreams away.

It was a gut feeling she couldn’t explain except that it felt right— like thread going through a needle.

Envy is a horrible taskmaster. It turns the nicest people into snakes.

My Review:

 

My second Mona Moon adventure and I continued to be delightfully enamored with the moxie entrepreneur/sleuth. In this entertaining installment, Ms. Moon was dealing with errant family members, a sneaky yellow journalist, wedding preparations, a hotel full of guests, and an eccentric and infamous gate-crashing wedding guest named Georgia O’Keeffe; all of whom required a bit of special handling while she was also trying to solve the latest murder. People seem to drop dead around her with regularity.

Ms. Keam’s writing style and storylines were unfailingly engaging, flowed smoothly at a good pace, and were easy to follow. The characters were colorful, authentic, and well-detailed with brain-tickling descriptions and amusing quirks and observations. I’m primed for more Moon adventures.

 

 

About the Author
One thing Miss Abigail loves to do as an author is to write real people and events into her stories. “I am a student of history and love to insert historical information into my mysteries. My goal is to entertain my readers, but if they learn a little something along the way—well, then we are both happy. I certainly learn a lot from my research, and I hope my readers come away with a new appreciation of beekeeping from my Josiah Reynolds Mysteries.”

Book Review: A Forest Between Us (Crescent Pass Book 1) by Allie Winters @alliewintersauthor

A Forest Between Us
(Crescent Pass Book 1)
by Allie Winters

Amazon   / BB

 

 

A steamy new contemporary romance, A Forest Between Us, is available now on Amazon and free to read in Kindle Unlimited!

– Owen –
Harper Calloway is the one who got away.
Gorgeous. Vivacious. Witty. Everything my introverted self could never be. And though that single night five years ago is all I had with her, there’s no forgetting the girl who steals your heart.
So when the woman in question shows up on my doorstep demanding an annulment for a drunken Vegas wedding I don’t fully remember, it seems like a sign. A second chance to make good on that connection I’ve never felt with anyone else.
Except she doesn’t have any interest in reconnecting, even as things between us heat up the longer she stays in town. What will it take to convince her I want forever?

– Harper –
Owen Taylor is not who I expected.
Protective. Thoughtful. Humble. And the sexy lumberjack vibe he’s got going on? Who knew I was such a sucker for that?
I didn’t come to Crescent Pass to start anything up. My life is in Chicago, not the forests of the Pacific Northwest. But the longer I stay here waiting for an annulment, the harder it is to resist this rugged mountain man who shows me for the first time what it’s like to be understood. Cherished. Worshipped.
We both knew from the beginning this couldn’t last. So why has he gone and stolen my heart?

My Rating:

Favorite Quote:

 

You are the one impulsive thing I’ll never regret.

 

My Review:

 

Having only recently discovered the delight of reading Allie Winters’ unique blend of humor and spice, I continue to revel in her clever wit and amusing storylines. It also doesn’t hurt that her tales are not only peppered with crisp levity but sheet-scorching sensuality as well. Once obtained, her stories tend to be gleefully devoured like a failed dieter on a binge.

I adored this endearing couple, they were both people I would enjoy knowing and spending time with. Both were smart, successful, witty, well-meaning, and hard-working, and while they were also opposite personality types, once they were finally in sync, they fit together with perfection. And oh, happy, day. This tasty missive was only the start of a new series, there is more of this delicious goodness yet to come!

 

About the Author

Allie is the author of the Suncoast University series, the Bishop Brothers series, and the Lessons Learned series. She lives in sunny Florida with her husband, daughter, and two cats. A librarian by day, she spends her nights writing happily ever afters. She enjoys reading, playing video games, and all things Disney.

Find Allie Winters online

Website: http://bit.ly/357VYOr

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/389mnNO

Facebook: http://bit.ly/3b5KJdk

Instagram: https://bit.ly/3pOJNhB