USA Today bestselling author Jenny Holiday’s hilarious prequel to her acclaimed Bridesmaids Behaving Badly series!

Jay Smith likes to be in control. His every choice, every move, is made with his carefully planned future in mind. Sure, some people think that’s boring. But Jay knows who he is, and he makes no apologies for it. So when the lobby in his accounting firm needs a makeover, Jay takes charge—and quickly determines he needs a designer. What he does not need is a woman who tempts him to break all his long-held rules.

Elise Maxwell needs this job. After cutting off her overbearing, old-money family, she’s determined to establish a successful design business—all on her own. Independent for the first time in her life, Elise isn’t looking for a boyfriend. She certainly doesn’t want someone telling her what to do.

Until she meets Jay…

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Most of the time when guys did not look like their picture, it went in the opposite direction. Like when a guy’s Tinder profile showed him shirtless holding up a fish and you thought, Well, maybe I can excuse the stupid fish because look at those arms! … But then you met him in person, and it turned out that those arms were from six years and two gym memberships ago.

That was another cool thing about Jay. He could shift so effortlessly between filthy and funny.

In keeping with the animal metaphor, he felt like some kind of primitive ape beating its chest, pointing at his mate and claiming her. Mine.

She suspected he could do more for her with the crook of a finger than other men could with their full arsenals.

My Review:

I am as infatuated with this cleverly amusing, smartly written, and sexy series as well as the enticing and endearing characters that inhabit it. This delightfully entertaining novella was a quick and easy read, laced with witty levity, irreverent humor, and insightful and perceptive observations.   I enjoyed uncovering the beginnings of Jay and Elise, as their story provides the foundation for the rest of the series being that Elise is the bride and her friends are the badly behaving bridesmaids. Elise and Jay’s attraction was immediate, primal, and inconvenient; yet quickly developed from a working relationship into an easy friendship and although each was yearning for considerably more, Jay kept the brakes engaged until their project was complete. The holding pattern was leaning towards an extended and agonizing tease and weakening his resolve, but well worth the frustration as their sexual chemistry went nuclear once detonated.

Merrily Ever After

(Bridesmaids Behaving Badly, #2.5)

by Jenny Holiday

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

He was perfect. The perfect gentleman and the perfect… not gentleman, as the situation required.

Jay had never thought about sex having magical healing powers. That was for other people. Hippies. People doing breathing exercises and chanting mantras. But clearly there was some healing to do here.

But one thing she’d learned recently was that sometimes it was a good idea to expand your definition of perfection.

My Review:

I adore this couple and holy scorched sheets, Batman – they have world-class stamina! My beloved Kindle was in extreme danger from industrial strength grip I maintained.   Sigh, I am besotted with this quirky collection of friends and how perfectly this gifted wordsmith supplies them with unique and unconventional attributes and challenges. Jay was an unexpected yet highly interesting dichotomy, a sexy and dirty talking accountant. I had to marvel, and giggle-snort at that.

Just One Kiss

(Oh Tequila #4)

by C.A. Harms

Amazon 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

You confuse the hell out of me, and if I attempted to figure you out, half the time I would walk away with a migraine.

 Seconds, that’s all it would have taken between life and death.

 Please, Corbin, don’t be this version of you.

My Review:

Revenge pranks take on a whole new level with this unwieldy crew.   I was totally unprepared for Corbin, who was a major player and rather clownish, to have such a sweet and tender heart. His downward spiral was heartbreaking yet Ms. Harms kept the tone well-balanced with her own special blend of raucous levity, sensuality, and earthy observations. The feisty characters were endearing and enticing, the storylines were lively and well constructed, and the writing was magnetic, captivating, and hard to put down. Narrated in my favorite dual POV, Ms. Harms cleverly tapped all the feels more than once and kept me smirking with her playful smart-assery.

About The Author

C.A. Harms
Goodreads 
Website
Twitter

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.

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

Booktastic Link it up Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Jo Linsdell where book bloggers can link up their latest book related post.

Deception 

by C.A. Harms

Amazon 

Deception: The act of deceiving someone.

That became a pattern in my life. It was the way the chips fell. I’m destined to be that girl that fell for the wrong guy. If he was a liar and a cheat, I found him or he found me. It didn’t really matter how it happened, it just always did.

But when I met Jake, I thought he was different. He was just a guy trying to get by, much like me in a sense. He was happy with the little things in life…he made me feel safe and settled.

That was until I found out that his name, his life, and the man he pretended to be, were nothing but a fraud. He used me to get the answers he needed, and in the process, he managed to take my last ounce of hope and crush it.

I just wanted him gone. I wanted to forget the times we shared, the laughs we had. I wanted to ignore the fact that he’d so easily found a place in my heart.

Only there was one problem… I wasn’t allowed to forget.

I am reminded daily of him. Each morning, I have no choice but to look into the same, beautiful eyes he possessed. I see his smile, and that same shade of dark melted chocolate hair that at one point, I loved running my fingers through.

Every single day I reminded of the fact that the father of my child is nothing more than a man that truly never existed.

 

 About The Author 

C.A. Harms
Goodreads 
Website
Twitter

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.

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…

Author Kelly Collins takes you back to Aspen Cove where life is sweet, the tea is sweeter, and love is the sweetest of all.

Marina Caswell didn’t expect to find herself broken and alone with a four-year-old daughter. She could offer a hundred excuses as to why her marriage failed, but the truth was she’d chosen poorly. After a painful marriage and an ugly divorce, she flees with her little girl to Aspen Cove looking for a place to heal their wounded spirits and mend their broken hearts. What she doesn’t expect to find in the quirky little town is love in the form of Sheriff Cooper, a man who insists that everything including trust, love, and respect is grown like a garden. All it needs is a bit of attention and care, something Marina has never experienced.

As the local sheriff, Aiden Cooper can recognize trouble at a glance. It usually looks pretty, smells nice, and wears heels. After his last relationship failure, Aiden doesn’t expect love to bloom when single mom Marina Caswell plants roots next door, but when he sees the sadness in her eyes, he makes it his mission to plant seeds of hope and happiness in her heart.

The tiniest kernel of love can grow when the conditions are right, but a weed from Marina’s past threatens to choke out what they’ve cultivated together. Can Aiden and Marina’s love grow and thrive, or will the past seek its revenge causing their love to wilt and die before it can ever take root?

Find out in One Hundred Excuses

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

I’ve found few things grow without care—not a garden and not friendship. Anything worth having is worth cultivating.

He’d stood there staring at the drinks for minutes until the owner, Marge, asked him what the problem was. He explained that he didn’t know what a four-year-old liked. She handed him a six-pack of fruit punch and told him he couldn’t go wrong with sugar and red dye. Two things all kids seemed to love.

She leaned into Sage and whispered, “She doesn’t talk.” Sage smiled. “Sure she does, she just doesn’t use words.”

There were three flavors available. Honeycomb Your Hair, which was bits of honeycombs in vanilla ice cream served in a bowl of cotton candy. Beds Bugs, which was chocolate ice cream with chocolate covered peanuts, drizzled with caramel syrup. Princess and the Pooper, which was rainbow sherbet sprinkled with Pop Rocks and a dollop of fudge.

“I went to prom. I lost my virginity to Roxanne Belvedere under the bleachers at homecoming. I had game.” “Roxanne Belvedere? Sounds like a porn star.”

My Review:

Every time I have read one of these sweet and engaging Aspen Cove novels, I wistfully sigh and wish I knew of such a gentle and supportive community, as small-town living certainly wasn’t anything like that in the tiny inbred hillbilly enclave where I, unfortunately, spent my formative years. But isn’t that why most of us chose to read fiction? As with the other books in the series, the writing was easy to follow, observantly descriptive, deliciously steamy, and soul-satisfying.

I have adored each quirky character featured in this series and am now completely enamored with their swoon-worthy sheriff. Aiden was the consummate BBF and was uncommonly patient, insightful, thoughtful, and tender for a lawman. He was also the perfect match for the skittish Marina and her traumatized daughter. I appreciate the care and consideration Ms. Collins takes in establishing her uniquely appealing characters. Her storytelling never fails to hold my attention or interest. I especially admired and applauded the endowment of Marina’s affirmation and credo of “victor, not a victim,” words we should all live by.

 Love in Catalina Cove

by Brenda Jackson

Amazon | Books-A-Million | B & N

Mass Market Paperback: 480 Pages

Publisher: HQN; Original edition (November 1, 2018)

In her brand-new series, Brenda Jackson welcomes you to Catalina Cove, where even the biggest heartbreaks can be healed…

In the wake of a devastating teen pregnancy that left her childless and heartbroken, Vashti Alcindor left Catalina Cove, Louisiana, with no plans to return. Now, over a decade later, Vashti reluctantly finds herself back in her hometown after inheriting her aunt’s B and B. Her homecoming gets off to a rocky start when the new sheriff, Sawyer Grisham, pulls her over for speeding, and things go downhill from there.

The B and B, a place she’d always found refuge in when it seemed like the whole world was against her, has fallen into disrepair. When a surprising benefactor encourages Vashti to reopen the B and B, Vashti embraces a fresh start, and soon old hurts begin to fade as she makes new memories with the town—and its handsome sheriff…

But some pasts are too big to escape, and when a bombshell of a secret changes everything she thought was true, Vashti is left reeling. With Sawyer and his teenage daughter determined to see her through the storm, though, she’s learning family isn’t always a matter of blood—sometimes it’s a matter of heart.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Scott isn’t the only guy I’ve loved that let me down. Therefore I can’t be one and done. I’m two and through.

Ms. Gertie would also butt heads all the time with Sheriff Phillips, all generations of them, and was quick to remind them that she delivered them into the world and would have given them an extra whack on their rear end if she’d known they would grow up to be power-grabbing men.

My Review:

Oh what a tangled web vile and duplicitous snobs can weave just to save face. I enjoyed this cleverly knotted and intriguing tale, it progressed slowly yet I enjoyed every little twist and turn. The ending may seem far-fetched unless you understand the social influence and structure of small-town living, then it becomes all too plausible. The storylines were easy to follow, engaging, deliciously spiced, and pricked my curiosity. I am itching to uncover more about the secondary characters Ms. Jackson was taunting me with – she is such a clever tease! I was enamored with her large and varied cast and am primed for return trips.

About Brenda Jackson

Brenda Jackson is a New York Times bestselling author of more than one hundred romance titles. Brenda lives in Jacksonville, Florida, and divides her time between family, writing and traveling.

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