Book Review, Giveaway: DANGEROUSLY DELICIOUS by Denise Swanson

DANGEROUSLY DELICIOUS

by Denise Swanson

 

 Amazon | B&N | Kobo  

 

From New York Times best-selling author Denise Swanson comes DANGEROUSLY DELICIOUS, the second installment in her Delicious Love series. It takes one dedicated wildlife veterinarian, plus an impossibly handsome nightclub manager to prove that love always wins. Fans of Jill Shalvis, Bella Andre, and Susan Elizabeth Phillips will devour this sweet and sexy romance.

 

Synopsis:

 

Marco Thorne was hired by Club Wilde’s owner to open up the newest, most outrageous venue yet. He is absolutely certain that he can handle all the competition Las Vegas has to offer until his overbearing boss contracts with Lions and Tigers and More sanctuary to have live exotic animals present in the jungle-themed club. Still, he has no choice but to go along with his boss’s idiotic scheme, even if he thinks it’s the worst idea he’s ever heard.

Dr. Sage DeSantis’s entire life is devoted to keeping the animals under her care in the sanctuary healthy and happy. After the sanctuary’s owner announces that he’s renting out some of Sage’s babies to Club Wilde, she’s sickened that they will once again be exploited.

 

When Marco and Sage meet, the chemistry between them nearly knocks them off their feet. Although they both have experiences in their past that make them leery of love, and Sage is determined to guard her heart, Marco is all in. But will Marco be able to convince Sage to give them a chance?    

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

You’re perfect. I like women with a little meat. Bones are for dogs.

 

By noon, she was ready to do something rash—like clean the bathrooms or iron the stack of clothes that had been sitting in the laundry basket for at least a couple of years.

 

He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and the only cutlery in my parents’ house was stainless steel. He’s beef Wellington and I’m a microwave dinner.

 

Smokey needs to be tranq-ed so his handler can give him an enema. Apparently he hasn’t shit in the woods lately.

 

My Review:

 

I was drawn to the premise of this one and while the interesting ideas were all there and the storylines were easy to follow with hits of humor and sizzle, the execution was just not my cup of tea.   It wasn’t badly written, just a bit too tropey for my taste.

 

 

Enter to win a signed set of Delicious Love books + $15 Amazon Gift Card!

Nine will win DANGEROUSLY DELICIOUS ebooks!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

About Denise Swanson:

New York Times Bestseller author Denise Swanson was a practicing psychologist for twenty-two years. She writes the Delicious Love and Change of Heart contemporary romance series, as well as the Scumble River, Devereaux’s Dime Store, and Chief-to-Go mysteries. Her books all feature small-town heroines with lots of heart.

 

Denise’s books have been finalists for the Agatha, Mary Higgins Clark, RT Magazine’s Career Achievement, and Daphne du Maurier Awards. She has won the Reviewers Choice Award and was a BookSense 76 Top Pick.

 

Denise Swanson lives in rural Illinois with her husband, classical composer David Stybr.

 

Follow:  Website | Reader Group | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Amazon | BookBub | Pinterest

 

Book Review: Fierce Grace by Jess B. Moore

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/

 

 

Book Review: LuLLaY (Portland ME Series – Christmas Novella) by Freya Barker

Title: LuLLaY
Series: A Portland ME Christmas Novella
Author: Freya Barker
Genre: Contemporary Romance (Stand alone)
Release Date: November 1, 2018
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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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My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

My jawline is definitely softening, and I don’t even want to get going on what’s happening under my original chin. Since I discovered a long hair where it most definitely does not belong, I’ve avoided getting too close to a mirror.

 

There are so many reasons anything between us would not be a good idea, but with his tongue in my mouth, I couldn’t think of a single one.

 

Montana Memphis Romer… My full name… My father’s dream has always been to go fly-fishing in Montana, and Mom is a big Elvis fan, with a wish to visit Memphis before she dies. I’m my parents’ walking, talking bucket list.

 

“We’ll make it work,” I promise her, lifting my head to look her in the eye. “I can’t tell you where this road is taking us, but I can assure you I don’t want to get off.”

 

My Review:

 

LuLLay was an endearing and entertaining early holiday read with a precious toddler and an arduous and icy road trip that led to a spicy romance and crusty family drama and ended with a highly satisfactory HEA and a brief visit with my old friends at Scully’s. It also yields my new BBF named Matt, I seem to be quite fickle lately but I’ve been lucky in my book selections. One method of ensuring an enjoyable read is to follow skillful authors I adore and Freya Barker is near the top of that list as her easy to follow and engaging writing has never let me down. I wasn’t familiar with the peculiarities of the Laestadian Lutheran religion and can now boast to my prissy mother of yet another educational experience, and a religious one at that, which was gleaned from my silly hobby. So much for her claim that reading fiction was a waste of time ~ smirk.


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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Book Review: You Were Always Mine by Nicole Baart

 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

 

Book Review: One Hundred Excuses (Aspen Cove #5) by Kelly Collins

One Hundred Excuses

 (An Aspen Cove Romance Book 5)

by Kelly Collins 

Goodreads

Amazon

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.

ABOUT KELLY COLLINS   

Kelly Collins writes with the intention of keeping the love alive.

Always a romantic, she is inspired by real-time events mixed with a dose of fiction. She encourages her readers to reach the happily ever after but bask in the afterglow of the perfectly imperfect love.

Kelly lives in Colorado with her husband of twenty-five years. She loves hockey, shiny objects and has a new-found appreciation for green smoothies.

Book Review: Bagging Alice (Babes of Brighton Book 3) by Laura Barnard

  Bagging Alice

(Babes of Brighton Book 3)

by Laura Barnard

 

Amazon US / UK / CA / AU

Head on over to Laura’s Facebook and Instagram pages (below) to enter her HUGE giveaway!

 

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

Love Uncovered (Book 2) – mybook.to/LoveUncov
Stalk Laura
Website – www.laurabarnardbooks.co.uk
Facebook – www.facebook.com/laurabarnardbooks

 

Book Review: Christmas Camp by Karen Schaler

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 FacebookTwitterInstagram, and YouTube.

Book Review: Love in Catalina Cove by Brenda Jackson

 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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Connect with Brenda

Website | Facebook | Twitter

 

Book Review: Someday My Witch Will Come by Daisy Prescott

Someday My Witch Will Come

by Daisy Prescott

Amazon US / UK / AU/ CA

 

You know those little girls who dress up as Disney princesses in the bright, shimmery costumes and dream about their prince rescuing them?

That was never me.

In this story, it’s the witch who saves the prince.

Ever since I joined the Wicked Society, my tarot readings are always about sacrifice for the greater good and martyrdom. In other words, any day now I’m going to lose something or someone I love. Evidently, my spirit guides are the ride or die types.

For years, I’ve asked the cards the same question about my crush. Will Tate Winthrop fall in love with me? The answer is always someday.

As in someday Tate will love me back.

Someday there won’t be a group of witches using dark magic to destroy our coven.

Someday I’ll stop having the same dream about a handsome prince with long blond dreadlocks kissing a woman wearing a sparkly, poofy, ball gown.

Someday my witch will come.

 

This is book two in the Wicked Society series of interconnected lighthearted paranormal romances with a cozy mystery twist.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

If we had to face off in hand-to-hand combat, I know I could take her. I have at least four or five inches on her in height and she’s all spindly where I’m built like a German beer calendar girl. In other words, she better not come at me unless she wants the bratwurst. Or something. And I know she can’t handle my schnitzel.

I might look like a freewheeling hipster, but beneath all of this is the heart of an old man who carries hard candy in his cardigan’s pockets and enjoys an early dinner hour.

 

My Review:

 

I don’t often read paranormal as I am far too lazy for all the world-building and endless rules, but I don’t seem to mind the extra work required to follow Daisy Prescott’s Wicked Society – a super secret supernatural society of generations of witches, which seems to include much of the movers and shakers and Who’s Who of Boston society.   This installment has them on a caper for stolen witch bones and the rather gruesome trick for their use – eww. Family curses, a ghost, and a constipated love life were front and center. The writing was laced with levity, banter, Sam-isms, and her humorous inner musings.

About the Author

USA Today Bestselling Author Daisy Prescott writes romantic comedies about real love.

Her Modern Love Stories feature characters in their thirties and forties finding and rediscovering love in unexpected and humorous ways. Her Wingmen books star regular guys who often have beards, drive trucks, and love deeply once they fall. Daisy’s Love with Altitude latest small town, rom-com series is set in Aspen, Colorado. Bewitched is a magical serial set in Salem, Massachusetts. Don’t miss her standalone, Tinfoil Heart, a rom-com about love, letting go, and little green men.

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Book Review: A Christmas Date by Camilla Isley

A Christmas Date

by Camilla Isley

Amazon US  /   UK  /  Amazon Geo-linked  

iBooks  /  B&N  / Kobo / Google Play 

 

No one wants to be single at the holidays.

Even Little Miss Grinch, Nikki, a successful and independent woman, must face her bachelorette status at the most horrible time of the year.

December is her personal version of holly-jolly hell: a merry torture made of couples kissing at every corner, forced vacation days, and an inescapable family reunion.

And when her baby sister announces she’s engaged—to Paul, the man Nikki is secretly in love with—and that he’s spending the holidays with them, Christmas starts looking bluer than ever.

Nikki can’t possibly survive an entire week trapped home as the family’s spinster. But she has no time to meet men or to try the newest dating app, she’s too busy working as a video producer for an advertising agency.

So what’s a girl to do?

Nikki has the perfect solution: to hire a fake boyfriend.

Luckily, her job gives her access to an endless catalog of gorgeous actors to choose from.

But Nikki will soon discover that keeping business and pleasure from mixing isn’t so easy and that she might not be immune to a little mistletoe magic. Especially not when she picked out the perfect man as her Christmas date…

A fun, festive romantic comedy with lots of bad behavior and Christmas spirit. Like a creamy hot chocolate with marshmallows, you won’t want to put this deliciously hilarious novel down. Perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella, Sally Thorne, and Jo Watson.

First Comes Love is a series of interconnected romantic novels. However, each book in the series can be read as a standalone.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Oh, come on… You sleep in the candy shop every night, and you want me to believe you’ve never thought of tasting the candies?

 

If Diego was a real boyfriend, and not one paid to endure my family, I’d be dying of shame at their ill-concealed eagerness. Mom and Julia look like wolfhounds with the scent of a bone fresh in their nostrils.

 

“Your mom and your old crone of an aunt always complain you’re never going to find a man. But I told them how wrong they were, and bet Dora a pie you’d be married before forty, which is the new thirty.”… I’m not sure what makes me angrier: the fact that my mom openly discusses my dating life with the whole town; or that, apparently, the prize of my happiness is a pumpkin pie.

 

 “…that doesn’t justify her calling me fat and old. She’s so petty.” “I don’t remember Julia calling you fat or old.” “But she did, in female code language.” “You girls have a secret language?” “All gals do; it’s Bitchenglish.”

 

My Review:

 

My first exposure to the witty comedic style of Camilla Isley and I am an instant fangirl. I smirked my way through this lively and clever tale that sure, it has been done before, but this version was much more fun. While they may have been adults, sleeping in their childhood beds seemed to harken them back to their surly teen and childish whining behaviors. The characters were competitive, stressed to a toxic level, and nearing the obnoxious register on the pettiness scale with life-long sibling rivalries reaching a scalding level. But what family holiday gathering isn’t complete without several meltdowns and a messy food skirmish? It’s not even Halloween yet and I’m already in the Christmas spirit and dreaming of the heavily laden table – bring on the pie.

 

 

Author Bio –

Camilla is an engineer turned writer after she quit her job to follow her husband on an adventure abroad.

She’s a cat lover, coffee addict, and shoe hoarder. Besides writing, she loves reading—duh!—cooking, watching bad TV, and going to the movies—popcorn, please. She’s a bit of a foodie, nothing too serious. A keen traveler, Camilla knows mosquitoes play a role in the ecosystem, and she doesn’t want to starve all those frog princes out there, but she could really live without them.

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