My Gift is You

(Risking It All #3.5)

by Rachel Lacey

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SOMETIMES THE BEST GIFTS CAN’T BE WRAPPED

All Mandy Carson wants for Christmas is a distraction…and maybe a date to her friend’s New Year’s Eve wedding. Ghosts from the past always loom larger this time of year, and Mandy’s having a hard time faking her usual fun-loving demeanor. But when her much-needed distraction arrives in the form of the man who rocked her world the long-ago night of their junior prom, she’s forced to confront the painful scars that caused her to bolt back in high school.

Wildlife rescuer Calvin Rocha always regretted letting Mandy slip out of his life, so when fate brings them together on a snowy mountain road with an injured hawk on Christmas Eve, he’s determined to make the most of this second chance. He agrees to be her wedding date, hoping the romantic weekend will bring them back together. And as the clock counts down to midnight, Cal and Mandy might just discover that the best gift they’ll receive this season is each other.

This novella closes out my Risking It All series. It crosses over into my new Almost Royal series, because much of it takes place at a wedding held at the castle introduced in If the Shoe Fits. But you definitely don’t need to have read that book to enjoy My Gift is You! Like all her books, it stands alone.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Their kiss was tentative but familiar, like rediscovering a favorite song, one he hadn’t heard since high school. She tasted like scotch and nostalgia, melting the winter night around them with memories of a red-checked blanket and the scent of warm grass.

Did you know I was voted ‘Most Likely to Get Arrested’ in our senior yearbook?

My Review:

This sweet and sexy story just flew by – I was rather surprised to realize I had finished it in one sitting. Despite its brief duration, the narrative was eventful, active, and enjoyable engaging while blending two popular series and crossing several genres. Impressive! This was a small-town, second chance, holiday, adult contemporary romance with a rockstar wedding and rescue animals in an English lord’s castle in Virginia, and completed in only eighty-four pages.   Wow, I’m still trying to wrap my mind around all of that goodness.

About the Author

Rachel Lacey is a contemporary romance author and semi-reformed travel junkie. She’s been climbed by a monkey on a mountain in Japan, gone scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef, and camped out overnight in New York City for a chance to be an extra in a movie. These days, the majority of her adventures take place on the pages of the books she writes. She lives in warm and sunny North Carolina with her husband, son, and a variety of rescue pets.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads 

Fierce Grace

by Jess B. Moore

Amazon US / UK / CA / AU

Annabelle Dare is in a good place. She landed a sweet job, teaching at the quaint Fox River Elementary School. She has everything she needs: teaching music and sharing an apartment with her best friend. A simple life, she’s convinced, is all she needs.    

Asher Grace knows who he is and what he has to offer. Nothing. A poor boy from the wrong side of town, steelworker, with too much weight on his shoulders as he is trying to hold his family together. The best choice is avoiding too-sweet-for-her-own-good Annabelle at all costs.    

Annabelle falls in love with the way she comes to life with Asher. He awakens a hunger for life and love in her that she didn’t know she possessed.  

Asher must learn his worth beyond his upbringing and his past. Annabelle must learn to stoke the fire of life as it burns within her and learn how close she can get before the flames lick her. 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

He was six-two to Kendra’s five-eleven and three-quarters. She didn’t claim six foot when we all knew it was closer to the truth.

I couldn’t recall his ever having said my name. Some combination of sleepiness and the dark of nighttime had me swooning over silly nonsense like the way my name sounded coming off his delectable lips. Modern women did not swoon. The word shouldn’t be in my vocabulary. Yet, there I sat, swooning.

The world blurred past us, but not so fast I couldn’t catch it. In no time I realized I was having fun. Shocking to my system as it was, I realized I enjoyed the ride. I was awake. Alive. When was the last time I was fully awake and alive in my life? I couldn’t remember. For the first time it didn’t seem like a good thing to expend so much time on being safe.

He offered me his hand and a smile… A smile that promised a lack of safety, only fire and a strong risk of getting burned.

Messing up the important things seems to be imprinted in my DNA.

My Review:

Jess B. Moore’s second verse was as good as the first. Fierce Grace features the same small-town southern community as her stunning debut Guilt of a Sparrow, but with a mostly new cast of players. I was fascinated, intrigued, and enamored with all of them.   Despite my typical tendency to eschew angsty reads, I don’t seem to mind hers, as Ms. Moore’s artful arrangements of words constitute a unique and special art form that is well tempered with humor and thoughtful insights. The writing was emotive, with captivating characters and intriguing and engaging storylines. My curiosity for one brother remained unquenched and left me with an itch for more. This will require further study and in-depth research of all future offerings from this incredibly talented scribe.

Author Bio 

Jess B. Moore is a writer of love stories.  When she’s not writing, she’s busy mothering her talented and stubborn children, reading obscene numbers of books, and knitting scarves she’ll likely never finish.   

Jess lives in small-town North Carolina with her bluegrass obsessed family.  She takes too many pictures of her cats, thinking the Internet loves them as much as she does.  She is a firm believer of swapping stories over coffee or wine, and that there should always be dark chocolate involved.   

Please leave a review to tell other readers what you thought.  Reviews are everything for writers! 

Look her up on social media @authorjessb – she’d be thrilled if you followed her on Twitter, overjoyed if you visited her on Facebook, and filled with glee if you liked her Instagram posts.  

Social Media Links –
Website:  https://jessbmoore.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/authorjessb
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/authorjessb
Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/authorjessb/

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Faith failed him.

Ambition drove her.

Serendipity brought them together

They’ve never met, but their paths run in the same direction—home for the holidays.

Yet their reasons for leaving are as different as the reasons they return.

Meeting by chance along a 1400 mile stretch of highway when a snowstorm grinds traffic to a halt, they have no choice but to jointly ride it out.

Exposing a common thread, leading them from the past to the present, it’s through the innocent eyes of a toddler, they discover a future.

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Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories.

Driven to make her books about ‘real’ people; with characters who are perhaps less than perfect, but just as deserving of romance, thrills and chills, and some hot, sizzling sex in their lives.

A recipient of the RomCon “Reader’s Choice” Award for best first book, “Slim To None”, and Finalist for the Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, Freya has not slowed down.

She continues to add to her rapidly growing collection of published novels as she spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!

Don’t miss any upcoming releases!  Sign up for release notifications today >>
https://www.subscribepage.com/FreyaBarkerReleaseNotification

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 You Were Always Mine

by Nicole Baart

Amazon | BAM | B&N

 384 Pages

 Atria Books (October 16, 2018)

The acclaimed author of Little Broken Things returns with another “race-to-the-finish family drama” (People) about a single mother who becomes embroiled in a mystery that threatens to tear apart what’s left of her family.

Jessica Chamberlain, newly separated and living with her two sons in a small Iowa town, can’t believe that a tragedy in another state could have anything to do with her. But when her phone rings one quiet morning, her world is shattered. As she tries to pick up the pieces and make sense of what went wrong, Jess begins to realize that a tragic death is just the beginning. Soon she is caught in a web of lies and half-truths—and she’s horrified to learn that everything leads back to her seven-year-old adopted son, Gabriel.

Years ago, Gabe’s birth mother requested a closed adoption and Jessica was more than happy to comply. But when her house is broken into and she discovers a clue that suggests her estranged husband was in close contact with Gabe’s biological mother, she vows to uncover the truth at any cost. A harrowing story of tenacious love and heartbreaking betrayal, You Were Always Mine is about the wars we wage to keep the ones we love close, perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty and Jodi Picoult.

“Tense, emotionally-charged, and at times frightening, You Were Always Mine opened my eyes to the dark side of adoption.  With characters that are true to life and a tremendous depth of knowledge into a shocking subject matter, this is Baart’s best book yet.  Completely engrossing!”–Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of The Good Girl

“Mothers everywhere will recognize and celebrate the fierce, imperfect strength of Jessica Chamberlain as she tries to parent her sons—one birthed and one adopted—in the wake of her estranged husband’s death. A startlingly authentic mix of suspense, grief, and family drama, You Were Always Mine reconstructs the pieces of a shattered life to reveal the darkness that destroyed it. You will never look at adoption the same way again.”–Mindy Mejia, author of Everything You Want Me To Be and Leave No Trace

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

The night was black, the sky cast iron. It was hard and cold and jealous, swallowing up the glow of their headlights so that they had to squint at the dark road. At some point, they had passed from prairie to forest, and the starless sky above them had filled with the shadows of twisted branches. They were bare and peculiar, gnarled fingertips that seemed to reach for them. But when Jess turned her attention to the gloom, they were nothing more than wood and wind, hollow with the echo of silence.

The Deputy led them inside the building, past the reception desk and down a long hallway into a waiting room that seemed poised for bad news.

Apparently grief and anger were secret lovers because Jess tipped into blind rage so quickly it left her teetering.

For a split second, Max’s tough boy facade cracked. It was a hairline fracture, but Jess could just glimpse the child beneath. Her Max was in there somewhere, the tow-headed little boy who used to sit on her lap with his head against her chest and tap out her heartbeats with his fingertips. “I can feel your heart, mama,” he used to say. “It’s singing to me.”

Jess had been dreaming. No, not a dream, a nightmare, and she remembered it in ribbons that seemed to float just outside her vision. When she thought she caught a glimpse, it was gone. But the feeling remained, the sense that something, someone was just behind her, reaching.

My Review:

This may well be the most superbly written book I have picked up all year. I was torn while reading. While I was fully invested in the heart squeezing mystery and eager and desirous of absorbing every clue and solving the murder; I was totally in awe of the depth, power, and beauty of the writing and noticed my pace had significantly slowed in order to savor all the lovely words and descriptive observations. Ms. Baart is a skilled and clever wordsmith; her brilliantly crafted story was thoughtfully written, highly evocative and profoundly poignant. I was enthralled and will be raving about this one for months. Pinky swear!

About Nicole Baart

Nicole Baart is the mother of five children from four different countries. The co-founder of a non-profit organization, One Body One Hope, she lives in a small town in Iowa. Her books have been featured in Southern Living, Country Woman, Book Page, Glam, Brit & Co., and on Yahoo Lifestyle, and her latest release, Little Broken Things, was a People Magazine Editor’s Pick. Nicole is the author of nine critically acclaimed novels, including You Were Always Mine (available 10/16/18 from Atria Books).

Connect with Nicole

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

  Bagging Alice

(Babes of Brighton Book 3)

by Laura Barnard

Amazon US / UK / CA / AU

Synopsis:

Alice is used to taking photographs for a living – not having intimate pictures of herself posted for all the world to see, thanks to a disgruntled ex-boyfriend. Now her clients are canceling appointments, and she’s almost out of cash. What else could go wrong? Oh yeah, her roommate has scarpered leaving Alice completely out of luck.

Enter Tom ‘man-whore’ Maddens. Having disappointed his father one time too many, he moves to Brighton, ready for a new start. And where better to begin it than in Alice’s newly-vacant spare room? And if he tries to seduce her at the same time? Well he’s just living up to his reputation, isn’t he?

But then he didn’t bank on actually falling for her. Will his reputation as a commitment-phobe put a stop to any sparks between the pair? Or can Alice put aside her trust issues and take a leap of faith for Tom?

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

Suddenly it dawns on me. What the hell am I doing with this tool? I’m only twenty-six and I’m acting like he’s the last Neanderthal on the planet. I can do so much better.

But this woman doesn’t like me. I could tell it the moment she laid eyes on me. Bernice Shuttlecock. That’s right. Her surname is shuttlecock. And she insists on everyone calling her Mrs Shuttlecock. Every time I say it I can’t help but get a stupid grin on my face and have to literally bite my tongue to stop from laughing. Maybe that’s why she doesn’t like me?

He lays down on the pebble beach and immediately starts posing like Zoolander, pouting his lips ridiculously… ’‘What? You don’t like my blue steel?’ he asks, as if genuinely offended.

‘So, do you have any Irish in you?’ he asks… ‘Do you want some?’ he asks, throwing his head back on a chuckle.

Who knew I’d ever imagine Tom ‘Manwhore’ Maddens being a keeper? I suppose stranger things have happened. Like dinosaurs.

When you look at us on paper we’re opposites, but when you put us together we’re forced towards each other like magnets.

My Review:

This was a fun and saucy tale, I have enjoyed reading the two earlier books featuring this irreverent group of friends living in Brighton, they got into and up to the most ridiculous antics. Alice had self-esteem problems and devastatingly poor taste in men and learned the hard way about revenge porn. Snap, that was a new one for me as well. So dear Alice had learned not to trust her judgment when she found herself attracted to her sexy new roommate Tom, a known sex machine in her group of friends. Tom was a blindingly handsome, cocky, thoughtless, and arrogant womanizer who was well-known for his sexual skill set. Tom also proved hard to resist and more so when he brought home a cute but trouble-making puppy. The characters were endearingly flawed, foul-mouthed, and entertainingly quirky; yet with real-life problems. Written in my favorite dual POV, the storylines were well-balanced between angst and levity while dealing with career, family, and relationship issues.   I’m curious to see what Ms. Barnard does next with this vibrant group of friends.

 

Although a standalone, if you’d like to check out the first two books in the Babes of Brighton series here they are:

Excess Baggage (Book 1) – mybook.to/ExcessB

Christmas Camp

by Karen Schaler

HarperCollins | Amazon | B&N

Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

From the screenwriter of the Netflix Original viral hit, A Christmas Prince, comes another heartwarming holiday story about a beautiful Grinch who’s determined to get her dream job even if it means spending a week at a Christmas Camp where she discovers an unexpected love.

Haley Hanson’s idea of the perfect Christmas is escaping to the Caribbean to work so she can avoid all the traditional Christmas distractions. Over the years, she’s sacrificed her personal life to climb the corporate ladder at a prestigious Boston advertising agency. Now she just needs to land a coveted Christmas toy company account to make partner. But first, her boss, Larry, thinks she needs a holiday attitude adjustment, so he ships her off to a Christmas Camp at Holly Peak Inn to help her find her Christmas spirit.

Arriving at the charming mountainside inn, Haley meets the owner’s handsome son, Jeff, and feels an instant spark, but resists the attraction, refusing to be distracted from her goal of doing all the required Christmas tasks as fast as possible so she can get back to work.

At first, Haley struggles with all the traditional Christmas Camp activities. It’s not until she finally allows herself to slow down, live in the moment, and let Christmas back into her heart, that she begins to grow closer to Jeff. But when he finds out Haley’s come up with a plan to help his dad save the struggling inn while he’s been trying to convince his dad to sell it, their relationship takes a serious holiday hit. Now it will take the magic of the season to bring these two hearts together.

My Rating:

Favorite Quote:

Since she traveled a lot to visit her clients, she took pride in the fact that she never checked any bags, going with the philosophy that there were two kinds of luggage, carry-on and lost.

My Review:

I enjoyed this mild and sweet holiday storyline of a female workaholic named Haley. The writing was insightful and finely tweaked with those humorous and thoughtful touches that kicked the narrative up from good to cleverly exceptional. The main character of Haley wasn’t exactly a grinch but a mild female version of Scrooge.   She was exceptionally driven and prone to be selfish and thoughtless in what she said and did in her eagerness to get accounts and make partner. She worked all the time and didn’t make time to relax, date, or socialize outside of work.   She wasn’t vile, just obnoxiously ambitious and work-obsessed. Her boss staged a covet intervention as “a holiday attitude adjustment,” by sending her to “Christmas Camp,” an inn with traditional activities geared to bring families together during the holidays. This is one of those rare books that is chaste enough for my elderly mother’s Sunday School book club and Hallmark Channel wholesome, yet still entertaining to me. My favorite character in the story was the exceptionally clever Max – the Wonder Dog, whom I believe was largely responsible for Haley’s transformation.  I was provided with a review copy of this sweet tale by   HarperCollins and TLC Book Tours. 

About Karen Schaler

Karen Schaler is a three-time Emmy Award-winning storyteller, author, screenwriter, journalist and national TV host. She has written original screenplays for Netflix and Hallmark and Lifetime Christmas movies. Her travels to more than sixty-five countries as the creator and host of Travel Therapy TV inspired Christmas Camp. All of Karen’s stories are uplifting, filled with heart and hope.

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