Category: 5-Stars

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Book Review: A Better Man (The Heartbreak Brothers Book 3) by Carrie Elks @CarrieElks

 

A Better Man
(The Heartbreak Brothers Book 3)
by Carrie Elks

 

She’s his addiction. He’s her escape.

Logan Hartson is gorgeous, successful, and has a smile that’ll knock a woman off her feet. And from the moment Courtney Roberts meets him on a dirt road, the chemistry sizzles between them.

Everything about them is wrong. He’s city, she’s country.

He owns expensive restaurants. She runs a small farm.

None of that matters when they’re tangled together in her bed, his body promising things her heart shouldn’t want.

Until people start to talk, and things get rough, and after one last, sweet night together they agree to part.

She never thought she’d see him again. But nature has other plans. The serious kind.

Now she just has to tell him the truth.

So how do you tell somebody their life will never be the same again?

She takes a deep breath, her wide eyes meeting his. “Logan, I’m pregnant.”

*A Better Man is the third book in the Heartbreak Brothers series of emotional standalone romances, set in the small town of Hartson’s Creek. Find out why readers are falling in love with these handsome and brooding brothers!

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

She’d been called Poor Courtney so many times she wondered if it was her new name.

 

“The downsides of small town living.” Lainey sighed. “If the gossip doesn’t kill you, waiting for it will.”

 

Courtney Roberts is having a baby, even though her husband’s cold in the ground. It’s like an early Christmas gift for the town gossips.

My Review:

 

I am infatuated with this series of handsome, swoon-worthy, and successful brothers; they have all been my favorite brand of catnip. Each of the three installments could easily standalone yet they have been so much fun I advise anyone who hasn’t read them to start at the beginning. The storylines and writing style are engaging, witty, amusing, well-conceived, and expertly paced. There are two more endearing siblings to go in this quirky small-town family, although maybe if we beg the author enough she could be bribed to extend the series to in-laws, friends, and friends of friends.

 

Carrie Elks writes contemporary romance with a sizzling edge. Her first book, Fix You, has been translated into eight languages and made a surprise appearance on Big Brother in Brazil. Luckily for her, it wasn’t voted out. Carrie lives with her husband, two lovely children, and a larger-than-life black pug called Plato. When she isn’t writing or reading, she can be found baking, drinking an occasional (!) glass of wine, or chatting on social media.

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Book Review: Still The One (The Heartbreak Brothers #2) by Carrie Elks  @CarrieElks


Still The One
(The Heartbreak Brothers #2)
by Carrie Elks

Nobody expects to meet the love of their life on their first day at school, but from the moment Tanner Hartson set his eyes on Savannah Butler, she stole his breath away.

She was beautiful, wild and free. And though her life was hard, she made everything feel easy.

As they grew up, they were best friends.
Then sweethearts.
And finally lovers.

Until he broke her heart in the worst way.

They haven’t spoken for the last ten years. But now she’s returned to their small home town and he can’t fight the intense attraction that keeps pulling them together.

He wants her back. And this time he won’t take no for an answer.

Doesn’t true love deserve a second chance?

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

She’d always been obsessive about saving. Maybe somewhere deep inside she’d known her mom was a ticking time bomb. It was a matter of when, not if, she’d detonate.

 

“I have a sprinkle next weekend. Would you like to come?” “A sprinkle?” Van asked, biting down a smile. It sounded like some kind of incontinence problem. “What’s that?” “It’s like a baby shower, but without all the gifts.” Regan shrugged. “After three kids I have almost everything I need. And anyway, Mrs. Fairfax said it would be bad form to ask for gifts for the fourth time around.” She blinked, then forced a smile on her face.

My Review:

 

I am enjoying this series, but then I always enjoy reading Carrie Elk’s work. She implants me so easily into her characters’ vortex, I was so thoroughly engaged I could smell the popcorn and taste the smores. The storylines were entertaining and smirk-worthy and cast with a bevy of quirky yet complicated characters who rippled with wit and snark. I seemed to have inhaled this tale and feel more than ready for even more Carrie Elk goodness with her latest missive idling on my Kindle.

 

Carrie Elks writes contemporary romance with a sizzling edge. Her first book, Fix You, has been translated into eight languages and made a surprise appearance on Big Brother in Brazil. Luckily for her, it wasn’t voted out. Carrie lives with her husband, two lovely children, and a larger-than-life black pug called Plato. When she isn’t writing or reading, she can be found baking, drinking an occasional (!) glass of wine, or chatting on social media.

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Book Review: Take Me Home (The Heartbreak Brothers #1) by Carrie Elks @CarrieElks

Take Me Home
(The Heartbreak Brothers #1)
by Carrie Elks 

 

A grammy-winning rock star falls for a small-town girl in this all-new standalone romance from author Carrie Elks.

Gray Hartson is coming home. After years of playing to sold-out stadiums around the world, the tattooed singer is determined to build bridges with his sick father and reconnect with the family he left behind.But then he meets her . . . the beautiful waitress with the smart mouth who makes him laugh more than he has in years.

One small problem. She’s his ex-girlfriend’s sister. The only woman he can’t have.

Maddie Clark was an awkward teenager when Gray left. Now she slings hash in a backwater diner, her dreams of being a famous concert pianist left in tatters.

Don’t ask her why. She’ll never tell. Strong women do what it takes to keep a roof over their heads.

Until he walks through the door and complicates everything.

Their attraction is wrong.

But foolish hearts never listen to reason.

Maybe he should write a song about that.

Take Me Home is the first book in the Heartbreak Brothers series of emotional standalone romances, set in the small town of Hartson’s Creek.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

“I’m sending the dogs out,” Della Thorsen shouted. “Sic ’em, Dodger.” “Dodger’s seventeen years old and incontinent,” Cora muttered to him. “Ignore her.”

 

Every day feels like one of those days sometimes, you know? Like you’re swimming against the tide when everybody else is on a motorboat, and right when you think you’re making progress, they circle around you and make sure their wake sends you under the surface.

 

“I only had a couple drinks.” “Four.” She held her fingers up. “A couple of couples.”

 

According to Mrs. Chilton, he looks like a ‘Beatnik’… I asked her what that meant, and it turns out he wears jeans that hang below his underwear, which is some kind of a crime around here.

 

I do kind of like her. The same way I kind of like Hannibal Lecter.

 

 

My Review:

 

This was a yummy, fun, and eventful read featuring a successful yet tired rocker returning to his small town after a ten years absence to check on his frail yet heinous father. The storylines were engaging, entertaining, and generously sprinkled with amusing wit, family drama, and a steamy romance.   I enjoyed every word and am eager to continue on to the second and third installments, which are thankfully already locked and loaded on my beloved Kindle.

 

Carrie Elks writes contemporary romance with a sizzling edge. Her first book, Fix You, has been translated into eight languages and made a surprise appearance on Big Brother in Brazil. Luckily for her, it wasn’t voted out. Carrie lives with her husband, two lovely children, and a larger-than-life black pug called Plato. When she isn’t writing or reading, she can be found baking, drinking an occasional (!) glass of wine, or chatting on social media.

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Book Review: Just A Little Bet (Smokejumper #2) by Tawna Fenske @tawnafenske

Just A Little Bet
(Smokejumper #2)
by Tawna Fenske

After a night of too many drinks, smokejumper Tony Warren and his best friend, photographer Kayla Gladney, come to the realization that they’re both bad at love. They even tried dating each other, but that crashed and burned, too. Now he’s got the hangover from hell and the certain conclusion he’s just a shit boyfriend. But Kayla thinks he’s a straight-up commitment-phobe.

So they make a bet—they’re going to hunt down his exes and decide once and for all why he’s so unlucky in love. Terrible boyfriend or commitment-phobe. Why does either answer feel like he’s still losing?

But between roadside burgers and late-night detours, they discover some fires never burn out—like the one slowly smoldering between them. And suddenly losing feels a whole lot like winning again.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

What woman wouldn’t want a chance to tell a guy how he screwed up? … If an ex came to me and asked me to list all the ways he’d messed up, damn straight I’d share. Hell, I’d build PowerPoint presentations for some of them.

 

“Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat— everyone screws up. Your doctor screws up. Your hairstylist screws up. Your accountant screws up.” “I can’t decide if this is reassuring or terrifying.”

My Review:

 

While still a humorous romantic comedy at its core, considerable family drama, angst, and delicately handled issues of domestic abuse were also found on the pages of this insightfully written missive. I was enthusiastically rooting for Tony and Kayla and intrigued by the premise of visiting ex-girlfriends to unravel the underlying causes of relationship failures and following the not so woo-woo advice of a self-help guru. It was entertaining, smirk-worthy, and deliciously steamy between Tony’s angsty bouts of self-doubt. I’m ready for more sexy smokejumpers in my life and already looking forward to the next installment.

About the Author    

Website 

Amazon

Goodreads

 

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

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

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Book Review: The Two-Date Rule (Smokejumper #1) Tawna Fenske @tawnafenske

The Two-Date Rule
(Smokejumper #1)
Tawna Fenske

“Complete with hot sex scenes, snarky double-entendres, slapstick humor, and quirky girlfriends, this comedic romp through modern-day dating checks all the romance boxes.” -Kirkus Reviews

Willa Frank has one simple rule: never go on a date with anyone more than twice. Now that her business is providing the stability she’s always needed, she can’t afford distractions. Her two-date rule will protect her just fine…until she meets smokejumper Grady Billman.

After one date–one amazing, unforgettable date–Grady isn’t ready to call it quits, despite his own no-attachments policy, and he’s found a sneaky way around both their rules.

Throwing gutter balls with pitchers of beer? Not a real date. Everyone knows bowling doesn’t count.

Watching a band play at a local show? They just happen to have the same great taste in music. Definitely not a date.

Hiking? Nope. How can exercise be considered a date?

With every “non-date” Grady suggests, his reasoning gets more ridiculous, and Willa must admit she’s having fun playing along. But when their time together costs Willa two critical clients, it’s clear she needs to focus on the only thing that matters–her future. And really, he should do the same.

But what is she supposed to do with a future that looks gray without Grady in it?

Each book in the Where There’s Smoke series is STANDALONE:
* The Two-Date Rule
* Just a Little Bet
* The Best Kept Secret

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

“Yes, please.” Kayla’s attention was fixed on Tony, and Grady couldn’t tell if her response was for the beer or for the tall smokejumper with rumpled black hair and dark eyes that seemed to make women crazy.

 

Sometimes I feel like I’m wearing a gorilla suit and trying to tread water in a pool filled with molasses.

 

My Review:

 

I adore Tawna Fenske and am greedy to amass every clever word she has and will ever scribble. Her wit is sharp, fathomless, and cleverly irreverent; who else would come up with a male stripper group named “The Bone Yard Gang,” or would give the main character a trio of special needs pets and name the three-legged cat Wheelbarrow and her deaf cat Earmuff? I eagerly ripped through this engagingly amusing missive and am licking my lips in readiness for the next in the series. I was quickly enamored with the featured couple and deeply infatuated with the secondary cast of characters and can’t wait to see what the wily minx has in store for the rest of them.

 

About the Author    

Website 

Amazon

Goodreads

 

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

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

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Book Review, Giveaway: Take A Number by Amy Daws

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When Norah needs a date for her parent’s anniversary party and Dean needs a date for his best friend’s wedding, the two agree to something that can help them both out of a bind: Fake Dating.
The only problem? Highly flammable chemistry.
Download Now
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Title: TAKE A NUMBER
Author: Amy Daws
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Release Date: October 15, 2020
Cover Designer: Amy Daws
Cover Photographer: Wander Aguiar
Cover Model: Philippe Belanger

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Take A Number-front-no apple

Fake dating the cute owner of a bakery Dean is an investor in sounds kind of messy…but messy can be fun.

Norah Donahue wants bakeries not babies, but her matchmaking mother won’t stop trying to play Cupid.

Dean Moser is a cocky stock market savant whose friends are all settling down, leaving Boulder’s infamous ladies’ man all alone.

When Norah needs a fake date for her parents’ anniversary party, her new silent investor is the perfect guy for the job. It seems like a foolproof plan…

That is until Norah decides to break her biggest rule and lock lips with Dean in the middle of the party to spite her meddling mother.

Turns out that Dean and Norah’s chemistry is sizzling hot, and mixing business with pleasure could turn out to be a recipe for disaster.

Or maybe they can have their cake and eat it too

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Download Now

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My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Books are my life. Of course I want the book nerd to end up with another book nerd. That is basically porn in my world.

 

But that girl had nothing going on upstairs. She thought Ebola was a country.

 

You look so put together and professional, and then you open your mouth and ruin everything.

 

He’s made my mother stop speaking to me for five blissful days, so he deserves free croinuts for life.

 

Trust me, I write erotica for a living… I’m basically a doctor of boning.

 

I’ve heard good things about Kegels. I, on the other hand, am really hoping for a C-section situation for our future children so I can keep it all high and tight down yonder. I’m not a fan of cardio, and Kegels seem dangerously close to cardio.

  

My Review:

 

I giggled-snorted and smirked my way through this crisply written wit-fest, it was stuffed with many of my favorite things like quirky characters, clever storylines, delectably volcanic chemistry, snarky banter, and delightfully irreverent humor.   Shortly after starting my perusal, the room fell away and I was sucked right into Ms. Daws’s cleverly contrived vortex of sugar, flour, and copious servings of delicious spice. I was reluctant to return to my banal life, which is sadly devoid of the main character’s ingenious baked signature creation of scrumptious croinuts. I have enjoyed imbibing in every installment of this lively series and while each could be read as a standalone, you’d be crazy to miss out on a single word this vivacious scribe has scribbled.

 

 

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paperback giveaway-genericCheck out Amy’s Facebook page for an awesome giveaway!

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Amy Daws is an Amazon Top 13 bestselling author of sexy, contemporary romance novels. She enjoys writing love stories that take place in America, as well as across the pond in England. When Amy is not writing in a tire shop waiting room, she’s watching Gilmore Girls, or singing karaoke in the living room with her daughter while Daddy smiles awkwardly from a distance. For more of Amy’s work, visit: http://www.amydawsauthor.com

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Book Review, Giveaway: Hiding Cracked Glass (Perceptions of Glass #2) by James J. Cudney @jamescudney4 @Shalini_G26

Hiding Cracked Glass
(Perceptions of Glass #2)
by James J. Cudney 

 

Amazon  / B&N 

 

An ominous blackmail letter appears at an inopportune moment. The recipient’s name is accidentally blurred out upon arrival. Which member of the Glass family is the ruthless missive meant for?

In the powerful sequel to Watching Glass Shatter, Olivia is the first to read the nasty threat and assumes it’s meant for her. When the mysterious letter falls into the wrong hands and is read aloud, it throws the entire Glass family into an inescapable trajectory of self-question. Across the span of eight hours, Olivia and her sons contemplate whether to confess their hidden secrets or find a way to bury them forever. Some failed to learn an important lesson last time. Will they determine how to save themselves before it’s too late?

Each chapter’s focus alternates between the various family members and introduces several new and familiar faces with a vested interest in the outcome. As each hour ticks by, the remaining siblings and their mother gradually reveal what’s happened to them in the preceding months, and when the blackmailer makes an appearance at Olivia’s birthday party, the truth brilliantly comes to light.

Although everyone seemed to embrace the healing process at the end of Watching Glass Shatter, there were hidden cracks in the Glass family that couldn’t be mended. Their lives are about to shatter into pieces once again, but this time, the stakes are even higher. Someone wants to teach them a permanent lesson and refuses to stop until success is achieved.  

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Pilar wasn’t fond of the woman, especially after Olivia scanned her from head to toe in petulant judgment the previous day. When Olivia traced a finger along the fireplace mantle and blew dust into the air, Pilar realized things would change drastically in the Glass home. She’d heard various stories while Olivia was away and researched the family many times before accepting the job. Experiencing Olivia Glass differed from hearing about Olivia Glass…

 

Caleb always hated having unreliable gaydar, as in Halley’s-Comet-once-every-seventy-five-years gaydar. It’d been a curse since he was a teenager and stuck in the closet with six different kinds of professional-grade locks. Mostly, he had wannabe gaydar, the kind where he wished every hot guy he saw was interested in jumping his bones. It rarely worked out. What happened in the movies and on television never occurred in reality. Well, almost never.

 

Hurry up, it’s as frigid outside as Leona Helmsley before she got herself incarcerated and consented to turn slightly nicer than a pit of vipers.

 

If you ever ask me that again, papi, the only handy you’ll get again is a vengeful nurse swabbing the cauterized wound where your manhood used to be.

 

Children aren’t an opportunity to fix your past. They’re a chance to improve the world’s future.

 

Emma had once suggested to Teddy that people were like clocks. They came in all different shapes and sizes. Some were wound up; others needed a source of powerful energy to keep them running. In the end, they all functioned for the same reason—a slow and careful passage of time…

My Review:

 

I am delighted to report that I continue to be impressed by this wily wordsmith, his latest tale involved several intriguing and well-paced storylines while also richly textured with compelling and prickly character development. His Glass family serves as a cautionary tale and puts a new spin on the definition of dysfunctional. After three years and with a staggering seven other novels in between, Mr. Cudney has produced a wry and clever sequel to his striking debut novel of Watching Glass Shatter. And as extraordinary and remarkable as his debut was, this follow-up was even better.

Giveaway:

Hiding Cracked Glass eBook (2 winners)

About the Author

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James is my given name, but most folks call me Jay. I live in New York City, grew up on Long Island, and graduated from Moravian College, a historic but small liberal arts school in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with a degree in English literature and minors in Education, Business, and Spanish. After college, I accepted a technical writing position for a telecommunications company during Y2K and spent the last ~20 years building a career in technology & business operations in the retail, sports, media, and entertainment industries. Throughout those years, I wrote some short stories, poems, and various beginnings to the “Great American Novel,” but I was so focused on my career in technology and business that writing became a hobby. In 2016, I refocused some of my energies toward reinvigorating a second career in reading, writing, and publishing.

 

Author

Writing has been a part of my life as much as my heart, my mind, and my body. At some points, it was just a few poems or short stories; at others, it was full-length novels and stories. My current focus is on family drama fiction, cozy mystery novels, and suspense thrillers. I think of characters and plots that I feel must be unwound. I think of situations people find themselves in and feel compelled to tell the story. It’s usually a convoluted plot with many surprise twists and turns. I feel it necessary to take that ride all over the course. My character is easily pictured in my head. I know what he is going to encounter or what she will feel. But I need to use the right words to make it clear.

 

Reader & Reviewer

Reading has also never left my side. Whether it was children’s books, young adult novels, college textbooks, biographies, or my ultimate love, fiction, it’s ever-present in my day. I read 2 books per week and I’m on a quest to update every book I’ve ever read on Goodreads, write up a review and post it on all my sites and platforms. 

 

Blogger & Thinker

I have combined my passions into a single platform where I share reviews, write a blog, and publish tons of content: TRUTH. I started my 365 Daily Challenge, where I post about a word that has some meaning to me and converse with everyone about life. There is humor, tears, love, friendship, advice, and bloopers. Lots of bloopers where I poke fun at myself all the time. Even my dogs have had weekly segments called “Ryder’s Rants” or “Baxter’s Barks” where they complain about me. All these things make up who I am; none of them are very fancy or magnanimous, but they are real. And that’s why they are me.

 

Genealogist & Researcher

I love history and research, finding myself often reaching back into the past to understand why someone made the choice he or she did and what were the subsequent consequences. I enjoy studying the activities and culture from hundreds of years ago to trace the roots and find the puzzle of my own history. I wish I could watch my ancestors from a secret place to learn how they interacted with others; and maybe I’ll comprehend why I do things the way I do.

 

Genres, Formats & Languages

I write in the family drama and mystery genres. My first two books are Watching Glass Shatter (2017) and Father Figure (2018). Both are contemporary fiction and focus on the dynamics between parents and children and between siblings. I’m currently writing the sequel to Watching Glass Shatter. I also have a light mystery series called the Braxton Campus Mysteries with six books available.

All my books come in multiple formats (Kindle, physical print, large print paperback, and audiobook) and some are also translated into foreign languages such as Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and German. 

Goodreads Book Links

 

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Book Review: Watching Glass Shatter (Perceptions of Glass #1) by James J. Cudney @jamescudney4 @Shalini_G26

Watching Glass Shatter
(Perceptions of Glass #1)
by James J. Cudney

 

Amazon  / B&N / GP

After 40 years of marriage, Olivia’s husband unexpectedly passes away. But when Ben’s will reveals a life-altering secret, she suffers a blow no widow should ever experience.

Olivia learns that she gave birth to a baby who later died in the nursery. Instead of telling his wife what happened, Ben switched the child with another. And as if that’s not enough, Ben’s will doesn’t reveal which of their five sons is truly not hers.

Olivia visits each of her sons to share a final connection before facing the truth that will change their family and discovers that each of them has been harboring a painful secret, just like their father. But will the secrets destroy their family, or bring them closer together?

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

None of those ugly cows would even fit in this couture. It would be as if we asked Miss Piggy to model a new petite line of muumuus.

 

He knew at the root of the disdain lurked their similarities— neither one would ever acknowledge it. But he also valued his balls, planning never to tell either of them what he really thought.

 

Are any two men sitting close to one another a couple? Do I need to learn gaydar? How do you tell if they’re just friends? Or more? Is it different than when a man and a woman are dating? What kind of wedding did they have? How do you raise a child in that kind of household? Who makes the bed in the morning if you don’t have a housekeeper?

 

The Glass family has become a caricature of who we once were.

 

My Review:

 

This was my initial foray in perusing Mr. James J. Cudney’s scribblings and I was immediately taken with his enviable word skills and style, as well as being quite astonished to recall that I was reading his debut novel. His writing style had a unique elegance to the prose and was profoundly perceptive and emotive, yet easy to follow.

I tumbled right into this tale as if being pulled into the matchless Glass family vortex of oddly compelling characters with each one as slyly crafted as the next and imbued with compounded issues and a unique complexity. I knew them all so well I felt I had been living in their pockets and had completed an extended stay in each of their homes. My interest and curiosity were fully engaged from beginning to end. I feel compelled to extol his mad skills to the masses – if only I knew masses to tell.

End result – Mr. Cudney has a new and fully rabid fangirl to contend with, I hope he doesn’t startle easily…

About the Author

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James is my given name; most call me Jay. I grew up on Long Island and currently live in New York City, but I’ve traveled all across the US (and various parts of the world). After college, I began working in technology, program management, and business operations in the retail, sports, entertainment, and media industries. Although I enjoyed my job, I began focusing on my passion in 2016: telling stories and connecting people through words. My debut novel is ‘Watching Glass Shatter,’ a contemporary fiction family drama with elements of mystery, suspense, humor, and romance. To see samples or receive news from my current and upcoming books, please subscribe with your email address at my website: https://jamesjcudney.com
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Book Review: Just One Glance (Oh Tequila #5) by C.A. Harms @Charms0814 @limitlessbooks

Just One Glance
(Oh Tequila #5)
by C.A. Harms

The quiet one. Yep, that was me. The brother that rarely said anything and instead, stood back and observed. That is until too much tequila and very little thought had me swinging my junk around in the middle of a crowded college party. Hell, I even wore tassels in areas tassels should never be placed. Let’s just say, the hashtag #dicksaswinging will follow me around forever. You may have heard it a time or two already.

In my defense, things like that happened all the time because I lived in more of a zoo than an actual fraternity house. It just never happened to me. Suffice to say, I learned my lesson.

Seeing Ruby amidst all the chaos was certainly unexpected and it stopped everything around me. The room suddenly went quiet and everyone else disappeared. She stood out—the timid way she worried her hands and the way she looked around, almost as if she was ready to run away.

As I got to know her, I realized she was nothing like the girls I normally dated. She was quiet, innocent, and sweet. She was the complete opposite of me and if I was a better man, I would walk away. But I’m not and I can’t.

And to think, all it took was Just One Glance and everything changed.

My Rating:

Favorite Quote:

 

… you are wound so flipping tight you squeak when you walk.

 

My Review:

 

Oh swoon, I was enamored this sweet couple and relished their tender romance that turned a timid and quiet nebbish of a girl into a confident takes what she needs hottie. This lovely pair could have been in a contest for who had the world’s worst dad, but she would win as her dad was a total waste of skin. Written in my favorite dual POV, the storylines were easy to follow, well-balanced between angst, humor, family drama, and a thoughtful and solicitous blossoming relationship that even involved a session of kissing and dancing in the rain – sigh.

The tale held my attention despite the tease and slow burn of their sensual attraction with a plethora of pranks and frat boy hijinks to keep me entertained. Given his startling and infamous performance in earlier installments, Jay was not at all as I would have expected him to be. I adored him and his hero tendencies. And given the taunt Ms. Harms threw down on the final pages for the couple featured in the next installment, I am already impatient and greedy for the next book.

 

 

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: What If? by Shari Low  @sharilow @rararesources  @BoldwoodBooks

What If?
by Shari Low

Amazon  / B&N / Apple / GP/

The book that started it all! A classic retro rom-com from #1 bestselling author Shari Low.

1999.
Carly Cooper is 30, single, and after coming close to saying ‘I Do’ to six different men, she’s wondering if she accidentally said ‘goodbye’ to Mr. Right.

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But there is a problem.

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Her ex-boyfriends are scattered all over the world and Carly lives in 1999; an era before Facebook, Google, smartphones, 4G, and Broadband, when it was impossible to track people down with a few clicks of a mouse.

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On a mission to discover if she walked away from her ‘happy ever after’, Carly quits her job, her flat, her whole life and sets off on a quest to track down all the men she has ever loved.
Her Mr. Right is out there, but can she find him?


And what if he’s moved on from the ex-girlfriend who said goodbye?

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A wonderful classic 20th-anniversary re-release.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

I can’t help thinking, ‘What if this is it?’ What if this is the way my life is going to be until I’m having Zimmer races up and down the corridor of my retirement home, flirting with old men and cheating at bingo?

 

I once overheard a woman on a bus saying that he’s the guy that she would nominate to look for her G-spot and not care if he didn’t find it.

 

He’s been chucked more times than an Olympic javelin… when girls look at Michael, they see a tall, almost good -looking guy, with an eccentric dress sense and ‘Sucker’ tattooed on his forehead… His goddess is definitely out there, I tell him, he’s just going to the wrong temples.

 

Every time my mother cast eyes on me, she clasped a damp cloth to her brow and muttered that I had obviously inherited my lack of scruples from my dad’s side of the family. She even took to praying for me at mass. I tried to console her with the thought that Mary Magdalene had been a bit of a tart and God forgave her, but it fell on deaf ears.

 

Carol looks at her watch. ‘I do believe it’s happy hour,’ she exclaims. ‘Carol, it’s only two o’clock.’ ‘Well, I’m happy and two o’clock is as good an hour as any.

 

They can’t decide on names for the babies. We suggested ‘American’ and ‘Express’; at least then she’ll bond with them immediately.

My Review:

 

I adored this irreverently amusing and cleverly crafted book and am now totally enamored with the vastly witty and agile writing style of the wordsmith Shari Low. I had read her work once before and now I remember why I had added to my list of favorite authors and placed every book on her Goodreads listing to my clinically obese TBR.

Written from the singular POV of the ever-resilient and appallingly fickle yet infinitely endearing Carly Cooper who was in the midst of a midlife crisis while facing down multiple issues including her single status, a tattered litany of failed relationships, and the approaching milestone of age-thirty while in the throes of the millennium bug.   This being a re-release of Ms. Low’s first book and written in 1999, there were popular culture references and levity that anyone born in this century may not fully grasp that involved the media, Betamax tapes, CDs, Margaret Thatcher, the Y2K bug, 80’s hair and shoulder pads, and huge cell phones. Being so old that I rode to school on a dinosaur while the earth’s crust was cooling, I had no such problem and lapped it up like a graceless glutton at an all you can eat buffet. I continue to covet my bloated TBR listing of her page, as I am a chronically relapsing dieter with a sweet tooth for clever wit.

About the Author

Shari Low is the #1 bestselling author of over 25 novels, including One Day In Summer and My One Month Marriage and a collection of parenthood memories called Because Mummy Said So. She lives near Glasgow.

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