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Book Review: Sergeant Sexypants by Tawna Fenske

Sergeant Sexypants

 by Tawna Fenske

Amazon / B&N  /  iTunes / Kobo

 

Bree Bracelyn doesn’t date cops. It’s a personal rule that quavers when Austin Dugan flashes his baby blues—and his badge—at Ponderosa Resort’s grand opening. Bree’s the family fixer, running the resort’s PR and her siblings’ lives with cheerful efficiency. But one thing in Bree’s past can’t ever be fixed, which is why she’s staying the hell away from Officer Hottie.

Austin’s heart tacks up a wanted poster with Bree’s name the instant he lays eyes on her. Okay, the no-cops rule is an obstacle, but not impossible for a guy ambitious enough to be a shoe-in as the next police chief. Besides, he knows Bree’s into him, whether they’re flirting over weird flatware or getting frisky in the front seat of his vintage Volvo.

As Bree and Austin bond over cupcakes and hot springs hookups, Bree knows it’s a matter of time before the skeletons in her closet topple into a messy heap on Austin’s squeaky-clean life. Is there hope for a happy ending, or will their love end up DOA?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

I’m a noble kinda guy… My sisters used to joke that I have a lousy sense of direction because my brain’s entire navigational system is made up of moral compass.

 

One second I’m standing there talking with him about the finer points of sunset dining, and the next second I’m polishing his tonsils with my tongue. I don’t know what happened.

 

I laugh at the idea of my mother having a job. “She marries rich men with commitment issues, then takes them to the cleaners when they cheat.”

 

I hold my breath like a teenager watching his first skin flick, praying someone doesn’t show up and change the channel.

 

My Review:

 

Going by the title and cover shot you would expect this book to be corny erotica – wrong. It was actually a cleverly amusing and sweet romance with thoughtful and sensitive storylines and some extra fun and spicy bits as a bonus. I adored these endearing and smirk-worthy characters.   Written in my favorite dual POV, I was enamored and fully engaged from start to finish. I dove into the series at book three with no difficulties following the plot, although I covet more time with the other characters and am scheming to find a time machine or just possibly revamp my calendar to include extra days so I can read the earlier installments, as well as every other book this crafty wordsmith has cranked out. But I’m greedy like that when I stumble upon treasure. I wants them all!

 

About the Author    

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: Painting Blue Water by Leigh Fossan

Painting Blue Water

by Leigh Fossan

Amazon US / UK / CA /  AU 

Barnes & Noble

 

Katherine Ross, a struggling artist-turned-successful-businesswoman, has a life many would envy. At only thirty-one years old, Katherine runs one of the top luxury real-estate firms in Manhattan, and she lives in a fabulous loft with her dreamy husband. That is, of course, until her marriage comes to a screeching halt, forcing Katherine to face the truths she’s been burying deep within her heart. She hasn’t been happy for a long time. And her life, while glamorous, is not the life she ever wanted.

 

Fighting through the fog of her confusion and pain, Katherine makes the daring, or possibly insane choice to start over somewhere new. She leaves her business, her friends, and the city behind, while she ventures alone to the mountains in hopes of rediscovering her artistic roots in a place surrounded by beauty, peace, and quiet.

  

But life in Bluewater isn’t as simple as it may seem, and when her art career suddenly begins to take off in this unlikely setting, Katherine finds herself torn between two worlds. Does she pursue her lifelong dream and become the world-famous artist she always wanted to be? Or does she open her heart to the possibility of new dreams and a life she never imagined?

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

As a kid, she’d fallen in love with the mountains. She found them gloriously exotic—colossal piles of earth and trees reaching higher than the empire state building. She had imagined that the dinosaurs must be buried beneath them. That, of course, was the only way to explain their massive size.

 

Oh my God, are you going to turn into one of those mountain people who don’t shave their legs or armpits and who, like, hunt for their food?!

 

Scattered thoughts would dance in her head and team up with the heartburn, teasing her. She felt like she was on a long trip and forgot to pack something very important or like she was nearing the end of a crucial semester at school only to realize she had missed several classes and would fail her exams.

 

My Review:

 

Painting Blue Water was a slowly developed character-driven story of healing and personal growth. It was lavishly detailed with vibrant and evocatively described scenes that smoothly scrolled through my cranium as if my gray matter were a movie screen.   The main character of Katherine was an anxious little bird with a trunk load of personal insecurities, an inability to speak up for herself, and an acid stomach as a bonus. Wishing to start her life anew and leave her humiliating failure of a marriage behind, she uproots herself across the country to a beautiful vacation spot that was a happy memory from her childhood, with the intent to hopefully find herself again and reawaken her love of painting.   I have no artistic abilities whatsoever and envied Katherine’s talents, but more so, I coveted her ability to completely lose herself in her art. The cast of characters was large, endearing, and small-town quirky, but my favorite was not the main character of Katherine but Eli Trust, the spry and precious octogenarian inn owner. I adored him.

 


Author Bio –

Painting Blue Water is the debut novel for Leigh Fossan. A creative soul at heart, Leigh grew up with a paintbrush in her hand and went on to study the arts in Florence, Italy. While abroad, Leigh was one of the few recipients of the Coluccio Salutati Award for Creative Writing. Today, Leigh is a professional artist and her paintings are collected around the world. She lives in Colorado with her artist husband, and their young daughter, who wants to be a scientist.

You can see Leigh’s paintings at www.lavfineart.com

Social Media Links –

WEBSITE: https://www.leighfossanauthor.com/

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/leighfossanauthor/

INSTAGRAM: @leighfossanauthor

TWITTER: @LeighFossan

 

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Book Review: Mistletoe Miracles (Ransom Canyon #7) by Jodi Thomas

 Mistletoe Miracles

 (Ransom Canyon #7)

by Jodi Thomas

Amazon | Books-A-Million | B & N

 

Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages

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

A small-town Texas Christmas story, where hearts are lost, love is found, and family always brings you back home.

Griffin Holloway is desperate: the Maverick Ranch has been in his family for generations, but lately, it’s a money pit. He’d sooner marry one of his horses than sell the ranch. Marriage, though, could be a solution. If he can woo a wealthy bride, he might save the ranch—just in time for Christmas.

Jaxon O’Grady likes his solitude just fine, thank you very much. But when a car accident brings the unexpected to his door, he realizes just how much one person can need another.

Crossroads is the perfect place for Jamie Johnson: avoiding nosy questions about why she’s single, she’s happy to keep to her lakeside home. So she’s baffled when she gets the strangest Christmas present of all, in the form of a Mr. Johnson, asleep on her sofa. Who is he, and why does everyone think he’s her husband?

In this uplifting novel, three unlikely couples discover just what Crossroads, Texas, can offer: romance, belonging, and plenty of Christmas spirit.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

If they had to carry all their shortcomings in a sack, they’d both be permanently bent over.

 

You’re the oldest, Griff. You go first. At thirty-four, you’re about to go from ripe to rotten anyway.

 

“You don’t believe in soul mates?” “Sure. Mom’s found three so far. Every time she leaves a husband, she rolls back her age like rewinding the odometer on a car. I’ve heard husband number three is closer to my age than hers.”

 

It must have been dark. She’s not the kind of girl you’d ever be able to pick up, so that means she picked you up. What I can’t figure out is why she didn’t put you right back down.

 

I had so many housekeepers growing up that I started calling them by their number. I think we were on about twenty-three by the time I was in college…They must be working through the alphabet now. The ones my father doesn’t run off, my mother fires when she flies by on her broom now and then.

 

My Review:

 

I snickered and giggled-snorted at the comical descriptions and wry humor throughout this narrative, although I wasn’t sure I was going to enjoy this book as I was initially appalled by the older brother Griffin’s presented plan of saving the family ranch. He instructed his brothers of the dire condition of their finances with their only foreseeable salvation being to find and marry wealthy women within two months and using said women’s resources to save them. Eww.   This proposed plan sounded extremely cold and mercenary, which it most certainly was, and I know this happens to varying degrees all the time across all cultures, but as a feminist, I envisioned applying a high degree of pain to a soft part of his anatomy. Griffin was sincere in his belief of love also, eventually, being an aspect to this plan… stupid man… but that did seem to take the edge of my pique and kept me reading.

There were actually three well-nuanced and engaging storylines occurring at the same time, with each one being quite active, highly entertaining, observantly insightful, cleverly crafted, and involved varying degrees of duplicity. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I adored this large and vast cast of quirky characters and the real-life issues they encountered. I need to work this crafty spinner of tales into my reading calendar with regularity.

About Jodi Thomas

New York Times and USA Today’s bestselling author Jodi Thomas has published over 30 books in both the historical romance and contemporary genres, the majority of which are set in her home state of Texas. Publishers Weekly calls her novels “Distinctive…Memorable,” and that in her stories “[tension] rides high, mixed with humor and kisses more passionate than most full-on love scenes.” In 2006, Romance Writers of America (RITA) inducted Thomas into the RWA Hall of Fame for winning her third RITA for THE TEXAN’S REWARD. She also received the National Readers’ Choice Award in 2009 for TWISTED CREEK (2008) and TALL, DARK, AND TEXAN (2008). While continuing to work as a novelist, Thomas also functions as Writer in Residence at the West Texas A&M University campus, where she inspires students and alumni in their own writing pursuits.

Connect with Jodi

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

 

 

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Book Review: No One Cancels Christmas by Zara Stoneley

No One Cancels Christmas

by Zara Stoneley

Amazon UK / US / B&N

 

It’s the most magical time of the year, and for travel agent Sarah it’s also the busiest! But this year one man threatens to ruin Christmas for Sarah’s customers – Mr. Grinch, Will Armstrong.

The Shooting Star Mountain resort is a magical place, and Sarah has fond memories of Christmas here as a little girl – visits to Father Christmas, husky rides in the snow and hot chocolate by a roaring fire. But as the resorts new owner, Will refuses to play snowball or to deck the halls with anything remotely resembling tinsel!

With customers complaining their Christmas is ruined, Sarah decides it’s up to her to convince Scroogey Will just how magical Christmas can be….

But getting Will into the Christmas spirit is hopeless – he is Bah Humbug personified! But as Sarah gets to know him better, she realizes that underneath all the gloom is a man struggling with a pain of his own.

With the big day approaching, Sarah realizes that the magic and sparkle can wait. This year, she’s going to spend Christmas day with someone special her very own Mr. Scrooge…

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

I try and blow the crumbs out of the keyboard. The letter ‘T’ is already a bit dodgy; if this ruins W and A I’ll have lost one of my favourite words.

 

She had Dad on his bike, towing her through the park on her skies every night. It was so embarrassing. Then at the fete, she cannoned out of control into the cake and homemade jam stall and ended up looking like a murder victim.

 

She is about two feet taller than me, and she has boobs. At a guess, they’re surgically enhanced, because I am absolutely positive that gravity would have a firm handle on anything that big. If it can cope with an apple, these wouldn’t stand a chance.

 

My Review:

 

Sharing several of the same characters and following in timeline to Wedding Date, this tale also showcases Ms. Stoneley’s clever wit and penchant for observant and insightful storytelling. The storylines were entertaining, thoughtfully written, and well-balanced between heart-squeezing family drama and angst, and smirk-inducing levity. My favorite character among the cast continues to be the colorful and confident Ruth, although Aunt Lynn has also earned my utmost respect for her enviable cougar style and skills. I am eager to see what Ms. Stoneley comes up with next.

 

Author Bio 

Born in a small village in Staffordshire, I wanted to be a female James Herriot, a spy, or an author when I grew up. After many years, and many different jobs, my dream of writing a bestseller came true. 

I write about friendship, dreams, love, and happy ever afters, and hope that my tales make you cry a little, laugh a lot, and occasionally say ‘ahhh’.

I now live in a Cheshire village with my family, a lively cockapoo called Harry, and a very bossy (and slightly evil) cat called Saffron.

Where you can find her-

Website: http://www.zarastoneley.com
Twitter: @ZaraStoneley
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ZaraStoneley 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zarastoneley/

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Spotlight : Must Be Crazy (Darling Cove #3) by Deborah Garland

 

Having it all means risking everything…

By Deborah Garland

Release Date: October 23, 2018

ASIN: B07JW2TWY6

Print ISBN- TBD

275 Pages

Amazon US 

Goodreads 

 

How much can one person take?

Skye Mallory’s brother and sister have found true love and now her father expects her to be next. Except, she’s keeping a secret that will devastate her family.

Edward Mendelsohn has been a patient man, secretly desiring a woman he can’t have. Running his architecture business, raising his son by himself and volunteering for the fire department has left no room in his life for romance.

When a fire wipes out Skye’s apartment and business, the woman Edward wants so badly ends up in his arms.

As quick as Edward and Skye discover their scorching desire is quite mutual, a bizarre conflict of interest swiftly tears them apart. Can their love survive without everything else going up in flames?

Having it all means risking everything…

 

 

Short Excerpt

Once Edward came out of search and rescue mode, he had to think about next steps. A working fire meant a Fire Marshal had to be called out. Luckily it wasn’t too late in the evening and he would get there soon. The power and gas had to be cut off, and those representatives needed to come out as well. Plus, Julian was somewhere close by.

He turned to focus on where Heather might be with him. He looked down the block, and froze, catching the silhouette of a little boy. Bright red hair. Running. In the other fucking direction. “Jules!” he yelled and forgetting everything else, ran to chase down his son.

Where the hell was Heather?

Reality slammed into his thoughts, calming him down. This was Darling Cove. There were firemen and policemen everywhere. Nothing was going to happen to Julian. But where was he going?

Edward skidded to a stop when he figured it out.

Skye.

Julian had reached the ambulance. From a distance, Edward saw her family part to let him through. Skye, who was sitting up, reached out her hands for him.

What the…?

He picked up his speed and ignored the look of shock on all the Mallory faces as he burst past them. “Julian, what are you doing?”

“Making sure Casey’s okay, Daddy.” Julian stroked the Golden Retriever, which was on the gurney with Skye.

In a flash, Edward’s worlds collided. Heather. Casey. Skye. Casey was Skye’s dog.

“Oh, thank God.” Heather came up behind Edward, out of breath. “Julian, I told you Casey was fine.” Shaking, she pulled on Edward’s jacket, turning him around. “I’m so sorry. He just took off.” She sounded like she was ready to cry.

“It’s okay.” Edward touched her arm.

When he turned back, Skye was looking right at him. The moment slammed him as if he’d been hit by one of his fire trucks. He had to talk to her now. He took a step back, ready to bolt as he’d been doing for the past year, but a foot was blocking him. Greg.

Edward was trapped. He opened his mouth to speak, but Skye beat him to it.

“Edward, this is your son?” She held Julian’s hand.

Despite the humidity in the air, heat soared through his body when she said his name. “Yeah.” He tipped his helmet back, feeling the sweat on his forehead. The last time he checked his reflection, there was soot around his mouth and eyes. He probably looked like a wreck. “I’m sorry he bothered you.”

“He’s not bothering me at all.” She released a small cough and looked at Heather. “I didn’t realize you and Edward…”

“Oh no.” Heather put up her hands and waved away the allegation. “I rent an apartment in his house and I watch Julian from time to time.”

“I see.” Skye fluttered her eyelids and returned her gaze to Edward. She flicked her head back, like a thought had hit her in the face. She leaned forward and pulled at his jacket. With the slimy bottom fisted in her hand, she cried out, “Was that you? Did you save me?”

“Um.” He hated this part.

Deborah Garland  

Deborah Garland is a versatile author of women’s fiction, contemporary and paranormal romances. Her books are about love and the struggles of complicated relationships. The heroines are strong and witty and the heroes fall hard for them.

She lives on the North Shore of Long Island with her husband and two pugs, Zoe and Harley. They like to vacation up and down the East Coast, but her favorite place is on a bar stool on a Friday night with a Grey Goose cosmopolitan, listening to her husband tell her the same stories over and over.

Connect with the Author

 

Website: http://www.deborahgarlandauthor.com/blog/

Facebook: Deborah Garland Author

Twitter: @deborah_garland

Goodreads: Deborah Garland

BookBub: @deborahgarland52

Newsletter Sign-up

 

Coming 11.19.18

A Must for Christmas

(A Darling Cove Novella)

It was supposed to be perfect…

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Book Review: Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners by Gretchen Anthony

Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners

by Gretchen Anthony

Amazon | Books-A-Million | B & N

Paperback: 368 pages

Publisher: Park Row; Original edition (October 16, 2018)

A formidable matriarch learns the hard way that no family is perfect in this witty, sparkling debut novel

Dearest loved ones, far and near—evergreen tidings from the Baumgartners!

Violet Baumgartner has opened her annual holiday letter the same way for the past three decades. And this year she’s going to throw her husband, Ed, a truly perfect retirement party, one worthy of memorializing in her upcoming letter. But the event becomes a disaster when, in front of two hundred guests, Violet learns her daughter Cerise has been keeping a shocking secret from her, shattering Violet’s carefully constructed world.

In an epic battle of wills, Violet goes to increasing lengths to wrest back control of her family, infuriating Cerise and snaring their family and friends in a very un-Midwestern, un-Baumgartner gyre of dramatics. And there will be no explaining away the consequences in this year’s Baumgartner holiday letter…

Full of humor, emotion and surprises at every turn, Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners brings to life a remarkable cast of quirky, deeply human characters who must learn to adapt to the unconventional, or else risk losing one another. This is the story of a family falling to pieces—and the unexpected way they put it all back together.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Barb was steeped in the classics, but the only literary references Cerise knew came from the mandatory hours spent next to her mother watching Masterpiece Theatre on PBS. All that time invested and the only things she had to show for it were a decent British accent and a canny ability to let her thoughts wander behind open eyes.

 

If the Hesse family were birds, we’d be California condors… No, members of the vulture family and nearly extinct.

 

He watched as his soon-to-be-former boss, a toad of a guy who kept his dermatologist busy with retinol treatments and mole removal, straightened the pin tethering his Dolce & Gabbana tie to his Burberry shirt… I hope you croak, Richard wanted to say. I hear that’s what toads do.

 

My Review:

 

I loved this book from the start and was soon smirking as I relished the smartly written and clever humor, which quickly led to giggle-snorting and then on to full-on laughing aloud, which occurred several times before I finished. I adored the full slate of fascinatingly quirky and odd characters, but the winner, by far, of the most expertly crafted and deftly depicted character sweepstakes was the petty, shallow, and highly manipulative Violet. Violet was a meddlesome helicopter parent who was ridiculously intrusive, arrogant, judgmental, and an exacting perfectionist with everything she did, whether it was controlling the various committees she spearheaded or in keeping her home surgically clean. Violet’s to-do list was never-ending as she was constantly scheming and often had several going at once, although in her rationalizations it was always for the betterment of her family; her inner musings were comedic gold and highly entertaining. The storylines were ingenious and highly eventful while the writing was laced with insightful observations and packed with lip twitching levity. I couldn’t put my Kindle down, as I couldn’t wait to see what outrageous situation would pop-up next. I was stunned and awed to realize this was the author’s debut; it was a delight to read and a treasure to have discovered. Gretchen Anthony is definitely one to watch and has a new fangirl.

This was chosen for my Review of the Month for the review collection on LovelyAudiobooks.info

 

About Gretchen Anthony

Gretchen Anthony is a Minnesota-based writer and humorist whose work has been featured on scarymommy.com, medium.com and thewritelife.com. She’s also spent decades as a ghostwriter and has written for some of the best personal brands in the United States, from CEOs to doctors and start-up superstars to BBQ pros. Evergreen Tidings from the Baumgartners is her first novel.

Connect with Gretchen

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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Book Review: The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter by Hazel Gaynor

The Lighthouse Keeper’s Daughter

by Hazel Gaynor

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks

 

From The New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Came Home comes a historical novel inspired by true events, and the extraordinary female lighthouse keepers of the past two hundred years.

“They call me a heroine, but I am not deserving of such accolades. I am just an ordinary young woman who did her duty.”

1838: Northumberland, England. Longstone Lighthouse on the Farne Islands has been Grace Darling’s home for all of her twenty-two years. When she and her father rescue shipwreck survivors in a furious storm, Grace becomes celebrated throughout England, the subject of poems, ballads, and plays. But far more precious than her unsought fame is the friendship that develops between Grace and a visiting artist. Just as George Emmerson captures Grace with his brushes, she in turn captures his heart.

1938: Newport, Rhode Island. Nineteen-years-old and pregnant, Matilda Emmerson has been sent away from Ireland in disgrace. She is to stay with Harriet, a reclusive relative and assistant lighthouse keeper, until her baby is born. A discarded, half-finished portrait opens a window into Matilda’s family history. As a deadly hurricane approaches, two women, living a century apart, will be linked forever by their instinctive acts of courage and love.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

“Mam was at her snoring again. Thought it was the cannons firing from Bamburgh to signal a shipwreck.” He opens one eye. “Don’t tell her I said that.”

 

I’ve seen how often women marry and become less of themselves, like scraps of pastry cut away and reused in some other, less important way.

 

She is utterly in thrall of him and I am ashamed to feel a prick of jealousy as I observe her, knowing she will never look at me that way. Daughters never hold their mother’s affection the way their sons do. Daughters are dutiful, dependable and disposable. Sons are brave and admirable, essential to the continuation of the family line.

 

But it isn’t just her face he can’t forget. It’s the particular sense of purpose and determination that dripped from her like honey from a spoon. So slender in form and yet so immense in personality and character.

 

She gazes up at me with eyes the color of winter seas and I see in her some greater wisdom; as if she understands that she is not just my daughter, but the sum of generations of strong courageous women who came before her, an echo of them all lingering in her soul.

 

My Review:

 

It wasn’t until I had finished reading that I noticed that this epic and poignant book was based on true events, and while I was already impressed by the artistry and quality of the book, that little nugget just blew me away. The writing was beautifully rendered, lushly detailed, and emotively crafted to hit all the feels.   The storylines were complex and well woven, yet felt authentic from beginning to end. I cannot imagine the massive amount of research required for such an undertaking. I – am – in – awe.  I was provided with a review copy of this thoughtfully written book by HarperCollins and TLC Book Tours.

 

 

About Hazel Gaynor

HAZEL GAYNOR is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of A Memory of Violets and The Girl Who Came Home, for which she received the 2015 RNA Historical Novel of the Year award. Her third novel, The Girl from the Savoy, was an Irish Times and Globe & Mail Canada bestseller, and was shortlisted for the BGE Irish Book Awards Popular Fiction Book of the Year. In 2017, she has published The Cottingley Secret and Last Christmas in Paris. Hazel was selected by US Library Journal as one of ‘Ten Big Breakout Authors’ for 2015 and her work has been translated into several languages. Hazel lives in Ireland with her husband and two children.

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

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Book Review, Giveaway: One Wild Ride by A.L. Jackson and Rebecca Shea

One Wild Ride

The second sexy, stand-alone romance from bestselling authors A.L. Jackson and Rebecca Shea…

TITLE: ONE WILD RIDE
SERIES: A Hollywood Chronicles Stand-Alone Novel
RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 22ND, 2018
.

Goodreads

Amazon / Paperback / Audio  Coming Soon!

Elle Ward, daughter of Hollywood’s hottest director, has sworn off actors for life.
She knows their games and she refuses to play them.
That is until the day she collides with one of LA’s most promising actors.
Kas Cowen isn’t looking for love until it literally runs him down.
One look at Elle and he’s hooked.
He crashes into her life and flips it upside down.
Now he has to convince Elle he’s more than just a pretty face.
Little did they know they were up for one wild ride . . .

.

.

My Rating:

Favorite Quote:

 

Did you really think you could bring him here and I wouldn’t recognize that face? Or that body? Hello, abs. Goodness, Elle, I don’t know how you left the house…

 

My Review:

 

While considered a stand-alone installment, this story runs concurrently and shares characters and parallel storylines with the first in the series, One Wild Night. Both stories were smoking hot and written in my favorite dual POV, although One Wild Ride was painfully angsty, which is just not one of my favorite things.   I adored the sweet and swoony Kas, who was hot new face and body in underwear ads. Elle, on the other hand, was a difficult character for me to warm up to, and in fact, I was only able to muster a lukewarm result toward the rather tiresome and distrusting princess.

 

We have a $25 GC up for grabs, so you can get a ton of books 😉

A.L. Jackson and Rebecca Shea are bestselling authors residing in Arizona. After being writing partners for five years, it only made sense that they’d put their minds together to bring their readers something fun, flirty, and sexy.
Connect with A.L.
Newsletter: http://smarturl.it/NewsFromALJackson
Facebook: http://smarturl.it/ALJacksonPage
Reader Group: http://smarturl.it/AmysAngelsRock
Amazon: http://smarturl.it/ALJacksonAmzn
Bookbub: http://smarturl.it/ALJacksonBookbub
Twitter: @aljacksonauthor
Instagram: @aljacksonauthor
Snapchat: @aljacksonauthor
Connect with Rebecca
Newsletter: https://goo.gl/VX1w4U
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rebeccasheaauthor
Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/527432567356595/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Rebecca-Shea/e/B00E4RIUQ6
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/rebecca-shea
Twitter: @beccasheaauthor
Instagram: @rebeccasheaauthor
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Book Review: Aphrodite’s Closet by Suzy Turner

 

 

Aphrodite’s Closet

by Suzy Turner

Amazon US / UK / CA / AU

Agatha Trout didn’t even know she had a Great Aunt Petunia, so imagine her surprise when she finds Petunia left her a corner shop in her will. But it’s not just any old corner shop—it’s a corner shop that needs something unique, something the town of Frambleberry has never seen before.

Influenced by her confident best friend, Coco, Agatha is soon convinced that there’s only one way to go: an adults-only sex shop.

 

While some of the townspeople are clutching their pearls in horror, others are open to the new experiences this shop offers. But not everyone in Frambleberry is convinced. Will the women soldier on in the face of violent threats or will their fears get the best of them—and their new venture—before it even gets off the ground?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Honey, Amelia is the town gossip. You know that. She knows you’re going to fart before you do.

 

It is a thought, babe, but I can’t work full-time… I’ve got my weekly appointments to go to. I can’t possibly miss having my hair done, and my mani-pedis. Are you insane? It takes effort to look this good you know…

 

“Remember little Tommy? Little shit cornered me in the changing rooms, had a feel of my boobs when I was eleven and then told everyone I’d snogged him and felt his willy. And then a few years later he had the cheek to try again. Do you remember, I whacked him in the nuts?” Aggie nodded, “Did you know he’s now a surgeon?” With her eyes wide, Christie snorted. “A surgeon? What kind?” “Plastic,” Aggie laughed. “Wow, still likes playing with women’s boobs then.”

 

My Review:

 

Aphrodite’s Closet was a delightful and cleverly amusing read that kept a smile on my face while reading. After losing her job and inheriting an empty retail property, Agatha Troat, an uptight nebbish book nerd, with her feisty sparkplug of a friend named Coco, joined forces to establish a lingerie and adult toy shop as, well, everyone knows the saying – sex sells!   I adored these fun characters.   Agatha attending her first buying trip to an erotic fair with a red face and large hat, but quickly grew into her confidence, and a makeover, new hairstyle, and a Wonderbra significantly helped things along. But her mother was appalled, so were the ladies who lunch as well as a much scarier faction of the community who quickly began to make their disapproval known.   Humorous touches and quirkily endearing characters filled this genre-crossing tale of chick-lit, cozy mystery, and contemporary romance.

 

Author Bio 

Born in England and raised in Portugal, Suzy lives with her childhood sweetheart Michael, their two crazy dogs, and three cats.


Shortly after completing her studies, Suzy worked as a trainee journalist for a local newspaper. Her love of writing developed and a few years later she took the job of assistant editor for the region’s largest English language publisher before becoming editor of a monthly lifestyle magazine. Early in 2010 however, Suzy became a full-time author. She has since written several books: Raven, December Moon, The Lost Soul (The Raven Saga), Daisy Madigan’s Paradise, The Ghost of Josiah Grimshaw, The Temporal Stone, Looking for Lucy Jo, We Stand Against Evil (The Morgan Sisters), Forever Fredless,  And Then There Was You, Stormy Summer and her latest, Aphrodite’s Closet.

 

In 2015 she launched her popular 40+ lifestyle blog which continues to go from strength to strength, while just over a year later, she trained to become a yoga instructor. Suzy continues to write, blog and teach yoga in one of Portugal’s loveliest settings – the Algarve.

 

Social Media Links –

 

Lifestyle Blog: www.suzyturner.com  

Instagram: www.instagram.com/suzyturner

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/suzyturner

Facebook: www.facebook.com/suzyturnerbooks

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/suzy_turner

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/suzyturnerbooks

 

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Book Review: Pictures in the Sky by Amanda Paull

Pictures in the Sky

by Amanda Paull 

Amazon US / UK / CA / AU

She gave up on romance years ago. He’s going through the motions. Their lives change forever when he makes contact out of the blue. 

With her daughter leaving the nest, Michelle Cameron would rather spend her time with good friends, a glass of fizzy and a box set, than with another idiot bloke chipping away at her self-esteem. But when childhood friend Daniel Helmsley gets back in touch, the years roll away on a tide of laughter and friendship, which soon gives way to another roller coaster of love, excitement and panic. Can Michelle let herself trust again? What if Dan is just another idiot bloke, disillusioned with the present and nostalgic for the past?

If you like cozy romance that makes you laugh as well as cry, then you’ll love this feel-good tale of past disappointment, renewed friendship and finding true love. 
Download Amanda Paull’s Pictures in the Sky today to discover if Michelle dares to love again.

‘Your lively style and humor are exactly right for this genre.’ Susan Davis.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Michelle had tried Pilates… but she kept dozing off during mat work, and couldn’t face going back after the snoring episode.

 

She knew she tended to see her glass as half empty, and she really did try to do the half full thing, but sometimes she just felt like she didn’t even have a glass.

 

I’m going to sue Walt Disney… All lies. There are no castles or princes, just hard graft and twats.

 

Audrey also wanted her ashes to be mixed into a firework, to be set off one dark night, with all the family gathered around, gasping in awe and wonder as she soared up in one final blaze of glory. She had cried with laughter at Michelle’s and Gary’s horrified faces. But she was adamant that she wanted to go out with a bang.

 

The men Mingle had matched her with resembled a Crimewatch line-up. It was all very different to the free trial search. That had yielded some tasty-looking men in their forties, with interesting profiles, decent jobs and socially acceptable reasons for being single. They were all looking for monogamous relationships, and none of them looked as if they might play with themselves on a first date in a car park. Not that you could really tell from a dating profile –poor Joan hadn’t suspected anything dodgy about her car park pervert.

 

My Review:

 

I alternated between smirking at Michelle’s comical visualizations and sighing at her ridiculous choices, she was a difficult character for me to like as she was spineless and often exasperated me, yet she also squeezed my heart. Michelle’s biggest problem was being a hopeless turd-magnet with men, although she had lots of issues, lots! She was highly anxious, prone to catastrophizing, always on alert for gloom and doom while visualizing the worst-case scenarios, and with mounting stressors from family and work she was slowly edging into the land of dysfunctional, yet she was also intelligent and witty.

Ms. Paull’s writing was highly descriptive, evoking keen visuals.   I also enjoyed her clever wit and biting humor. She has also greatly expanded my Brit Vocab list with the introductions of blaggard (scoundrel, untrustworthy, contemptible person); quiff (hairstyle brushed upward and backward from the forehead); winklepickers (a style of shoe “reminiscent of medieval footwear” and re-popularized again in the 1950s by British rockers and has a very sharp and long pointed toe); yonks (a very long time); and flapjack (a sweet baked oat bar), although in American flapjacks is another word for pancakes. I’ll pass on the winklepickers but find I now have a taste for flapjacks of both varieties.

 

Author Bio –

Amanda Paull is a writer of humorous romantic fiction. She lives in the North East of England with her husband and works in the public sector. The inspiration for her stories comes from real life, which she tries to show the funnier side of by embellishing to the hilt.

Amanda’s Website: http://www.amandapaull.co.uk

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/Apaullfiction/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Apaullfiction