Book Review: Will They, Won’t They? by Portia MacIntosh  @PortiaMacIntosh  @rararesources  @BoldwoodBooks

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Will They, Won’t They?
by Portia MacIntosh 

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When life goes off track sometimes the only thing you can do is go back to where it all began…

Emmy Palmer is the star of Bragadon Forest, the biggest fantasy series on TV; adored by the public, living the life of glamour and luxury in London.

But when scandal strikes, Emmy must escape the city and return to her seaside hometown to lie low and wait for the storm to pass.

Emmy’s agent decides it would be a good look to star in the community Christmas pantomime, but who else could be playing her leading man but her ex-boyfriend who she may or may not have ditched to move to London a decade ago…

As the show approaches, love and friendships blossom and the real question is – Will they? Won’t they?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Off the record, it’s one of those places where everybody knows everything about everyone. No matter how quick you are to clean your dirty laundry, there will always be a gaggle of locals who remember the stink, and you can see the repulsion on their faces.

 

Mum and the aunties are talking funeral arrangements… It’s absolute mayhem. Honestly, there is just no defusing them, if I had a gun with two bullets my only option would be to shoot myself twice. The last woman standing would probably argue with herself.

 

Oh boy, is her face red. So red and puffed up it’s as though I can hear the blood boiling underneath her skin. The kids are just paralysed with fear, they know they’re in big trouble for this.

 

‘So, what do you do?’ I ask Mike, changing the subject, hopefully dispelling some of the awkwardness. ‘I make the little things count,’ he replies. ‘Mate,’ Karl interrupts. ‘ That is so cheesy. He’s a maths tutor for kids.’

 

‘Well, you know what they say, what doesn’t kill you makes me disappointed,’ I reply. I look at the watch I’m not actually wearing. ‘There’s a bus back to London in half an hour, why don’t you go lie under it?’

 

 My Review:

 

I revel in this author’s wry wit and cunningly amusing yet insightful observations. Her writing style  is pleasantly familiar and easy to fall into with amusing characters that are also a bit edgy and more than a bit quirky. Written from a first-person POV, the comedy rolls through every scene while laced with clever perceptions and inner musings that pull at the feels.

During an extended trip home, the character of Emmy was secretly dealing with personal and career displacement during a “what now?” life transition and was hit with every type of family drama including grief for her beloved grandfather, unabashed cougar aunties, snarky and surly step-siblings, and manipulation to share the shine of her fame. She also found time to reconnect with her nerd friends and an unresolved crush from high school while participating in a fund-raiser one-night-only comedic production of Cinderella, which sounded brilliant. I would have loved to attend but had to settle for adoring the cleverly crafted storylines this skilled and wily wordsmith wove together for a highly satisfying and contented sigh-provoking conclusion.

 

 

About the Author

Portia MacIntosh is a bestselling romantic comedy author of 16 novels, including The Plus One Pact and My Great Ex-Scape. Previously a music journalist, Portia writes hilarious stories, drawing on her real-life experiences.

 

 

Book Review: Snowflakes Over the Starfish Café  @JessicaRedland @rararesources  @BoldwoodBooks

Snowflakes Over the Starfish Café
by Jessica Redland

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Welcome to The Starfish Café – where you will find stunning views, delicious food, and lifelong friendships.

Two broken hearts.

Since she inherited The Starfish Café, Hollie has poured her heart into the business, striving to keep her mother’s traditions and warm-hearted spirit alive. But behind closed doors, Hollie is searching for true happiness, as she grieves the tragic loss of her family who was once the beating heart of the café…

An unexpected meeting.

Jake lives by two rules: don’t let anyone get close and don’t talk about what happened. Little does he know that a chance meeting at The Starfish Café, facilitated by a fluffy lost dog, is about to turn his world upside down…

The chance to love again.

Can Hollie and Jake break down the barriers that have been holding them back from finding love and happiness, before Christmas comes around? After all, with courage, nothing is impossible…

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

‘Mr Pickles? Is that really his name?’ Jake grimaced. ‘You think Mr Pickles is bad? His full name is Mr Piccalilli Marmaduke Fluffington the Third.’ I had no idea how to respond to that. That was surely bordering on animal cruelty.

 

People can still be in love but not like each other very much and sometimes they can like each other but not be in love.

 

My Review:

 

I adore Jessica Redland’s books. She is a master storyteller and has a knack for thoroughly enmeshing me into her poignant tales during perusal.   At one point, I looked up and felt a bit muddled as I was expecting to see the snow the characters were experiencing, rather than the tropical plants in my yard. So imagine my delight in beginning a new series laced together with endearing and admirable characters who find each other to be exactly what they needed, yet the timing was a bit off with a few complications tossed in to be considered and worked through. The writing was thoughtful, observant, and perceptively insightful with a comfortable balance in emotional tone, and of course, my highly prized and required HEA. I am looking forward to my next visit with my new friends in the quaint British resort village by the sea of Whitsborough Bay.

And score, I found an addition to my Brit Words and Phrases List with “bricking it” which is an informal and nice way of saying they were so anxious or panicky they were shitting bricks. I’ve certainly been there and find this phrase highly useful!

 

Jessica Redland writes uplifting stories of love, friendship, family, and community set in Yorkshire where she lives. Her Whitsborough Bay books transport readers to the stunning North Yorkshire Coast and her Hedgehog Hollow series takes them into the beautiful countryside of the Yorkshire Wolds.

 

 

Book Review: The Dating Game by Sandy Barker  @sandybarker  @rararesources 

 

The Dating Game
by Sandy Barker

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‘Hilarious and highly original’

Julie Houston, bestselling author of A Village Affair

Once upon a time, twelve women joined the hottest reality TV show looking for love. Except one had a secret identity . . .

Abby Jones is a serious writer. Or at least she will be, one day. Right now, she spends her time writing recaps of reality television under a secret identity.

When a recap for The Stag – the must-watch dating show – goes viral, her editor thinks she should be on set, writing the drama as it happens. The good news: the next season will be filmed in Sydney. Sun, sea, and a glamorous trip abroad, this could be Abby’s big break.

The bad news: the producers don’t just want Abby to write the recaps, they want her to be on the show. Abby can’t think of anything worse than being undercover and followed around by cameras. But her career depends on it, and when she meets gorgeous producer Jack, Abby begins to wonder if this job might not be so bad after all . . .

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

…your laugh sounds like a donkey going through menopause…

 

I’m not one of those women who gets a natural blush of pink on the apples of her cheeks. When I blush ―or flush, as in the case of a near-panic attack― my cheeks could be used to guide the aeroplanes landing at Heathrow.

 

My mind wants to grasp onto words like ‘adventure’, ’escapade’, or ‘jaunt’, but settles on ‘utter debacle waiting to happen’.

 

All things considered, I would make a terrible spy. I’d be given a state secret and be busting with it before I left MI6, blurting it out to the security guards in the lobby.

 

Aunty Lo took one look at him and said in an incredibly loud stage whisper, ‘Ooh, he’s a bit of all right.’

 

My Review:

 

This was an endlessly entertaining, enjoyable, and relatable tale with well-fleshed characters, keenly honed and cleverly amusing storylines, and well-detailed scenes that evoked sharp imagery and smoothly flowing visuals through my gray matter. This was only my second time indulging in this skilled wordsmith’s craft and I snickered and smirked my way through her cunningly insightful and perceptive observations hidden in snarky levity.

Ms. Barker has a rapier wit that I connect with on all levels. The fiendishly clever shenanigans she came up with for the contestants on and off camera, which her character equated to “The Hunger Games,” was a constant delight woven into a rich and vibrant narrative of snarkalicious inner musings. I am now one of Ms. Barker’s most avid fangirls and quite eager to see what she conjures next.

 

About the Author

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Sandy is a writer, traveler, and hopeful romantic with a lengthy bucket list, and many of her travel adventures have found homes in her novels. She’s also an avid reader, a film buff, a wine lover, and a coffee snob. She lives in Melbourne Australia with her partner, Ben, who she met while traveling in Greece. Their real-life love story inspired Sandy’s debut novel One Summer in Santorini, the first in the Holiday Romance series with One More Chapter, an imprint of HarperCollins.

 

 

Book Review: One Last Kiss by A. S. Kelly  @AKelly_Writes @rararesources  @BoldwoodBooks

 

 One Last Kiss
by A. S. Kelly 

Amazon  / B&NGP / BB

 

Allow me to introduce myself.

My name is Rian Kerry, and Im in huge trouble.

This is how it happened: I had a crush. You know those teenage crushes, which Im sure youve all experienced, too. It was that kind of crush that makes your knees tremble, that makes you blush violently and stammer when youre with that person. One of those crushes that you assume youll just grow out of, the way the seasons change.

The problem is that my crush didnt go anywhere. Actually, it only got worse, transforming into something absurd and unbearable, which no one could seem to understand.

Especially not him.

Because hes off-limits. Hes barricaded himself within his walls, from a sense of fear and guilt. Hes locked up his heart forever, and seems to have no intention of letting anyone in ever again.

My friends, Jordan, Anya, and Holly, say that he just needs a little push. They say that he needs to learn to believe again.

But I dont think hell ever be ready, because he simply doesnt want to be.

He doesnt want to believe.

Not in something like us.

Allow me to introduce myself.

My name is Parker Hayes, and Im an idiot.

Yep, you heard me right. Im a real idiot. And, I swear, thats putting it lightly.

But Im a lot of other things, too. Im a fireman, and a single father to two cheeky, hyperactive six-year-old twins. Im a brother to Tyler, another fireman and another idiot who always seems to stick his nose into my business. Im a kind of friend to Niall, yet another idiot with nothing to do but barge into my life, uninvited.

Let’s get back to the point, here: the reason Im an idiot.

Well, its pretty simple. Ive lost my mind. Literally. It happened again. I fell for it. With my head, with my body, and with the heart I was sure Id never be able to piece back together after another inevitable disaster.

The problem is that shes not like the others.

She bakes cakes with my daughters, laughs with them, and shows them her magic bag. Theyre crazy about her.

And so am I.

And now she knows it, and I know it, and everyone around us knows it. But I cant take that step. I cant let everything go to start over.

I cant live through this again because this time, I wont be left standing.

Not if shes the one to break my heart.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Niall brings his hand to his chest in a dramatic flourish. “I can’t get any more black marks against my name. I’m getting old and I won’t have time to make up for it.”

 

He couldn’t be more handsome if he tried, and I couldn’t be in more trouble even if I’d dug myself the hole with my own two hands.

 

I’m nervous. Not because I don’t want to be here, but because I wanted to be here so badly.

 

Plan? What plan? Come on. You know I’m not some plotting evil genius. I just let things run their course and waited patiently for the stars to align.

  

My Review:

 

I wasn’t sure about this one since I was jumping into a series on book number three, and while I’m sure I probably would have enjoyed it even more had I read the previous two, I found the installment to have strong enough legs to stand well on its own. The storylines were original and engaging and I adored all the characters by the end of the book, although they often annoyed me with their indecision, anxious fears, and alternating periods of cowardice.

There were hefty servings of tormented and debilitating angst, yet the emotional tone balanced out overall due to the smirk-worthy and rapid-fire levity provided by the highly amusing banter and witty barbs tossed back and forth between the main and secondary characters of friends and family.   The romance was sweet and tender and I fell for the grumpy single-dad fireman myself by the time the steamy sensuality was added to the mix and the sexy fireman was no longer cranky but a romantic silver-tongued sex god instead.

This was my first foray into A.S. Kelly’s work and I landed well indeed. Having gotten to know the characters, I feel the pull to read the previous books in the series as well. I have added this clever wordsmith to my list of favorites.

 

 

 

About the Author

A. S. Kelly was born in Italy but lives in Ireland with her husband, two children, and a cat named Oscar.

​She’s passionate about English literature, she’s a music lover and addicted to coffee.

​She spends her days in a small village North of Dublin, looking for inspiration for her next stories.

Rainy Days was her debut novel.

 

Book Review: Give Love a Chai (Common Threads #2) by Nanxi Wen 

Give Love a Chai
(Common Threads #2)
by Nanxi Wen 

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Tia Wang’s Wedding Planning To-Do List:

1. Find the perfect dress

2. Win her future mother-in-law’s approval

3. Divorce her not-so-ex husband, Andrew Parker

When she fell in love and married her childhood best friend on a whim in Vegas, Tia innocently thought love conquered all. Turns out, that was a crushing lie. Her world shattered as she and Andrew were torn apart by secrets and mistakes.

Ten years later, Tia has left the pain behind and carved out a new life with Mr. Perfect. The only thing standing between her and happily ever after? A divorce from Andrew.

It should have been easy for Andrew to sign his name on the dotted line. Independent, prickly, and always in control, Andrew has done everything to escape his past. But seeing Tia on his doorstep after all these years? He can’t help wondering what might have been. Andrew has never forgotten Tia and vows to fight for their relationship this time around. If he has to hold those divorce papers hostage to get his second chance, he will.

Feelings resurface, stronger and more complex than ever. But Tia and Andrew have more than Mr. Perfect between them. Can they overcome past mistakes to forge a future together, or will new threats ruin their second chance at forever?

‘Give Love a Chai’ is a full-length contemporary romance, and can be read as a standalone. Book #2 in the Common Threads series, Seduction in the City World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Her dress probably cost more than my monthly salary, and I didn’t even have to look down to know that her nails had been buffed and polished more than even her wine glasses at home. And those were meticulously polished daily with silk cloths and steam from filtered water by housekeepers wearing gloves.

 

Clayton may be eye candy, but Andrew was some weird whole-person candy for me.

 

One thing that I had learned while dating Clayton— you didn’t need to be best friends with someone to share gossip. Drama was the most infectious of diseases, and no amount of social distancing could eradicate it, only slow the rate of spread.

 

I hadn’t realized until now how exhausting it was to argue with yourself. You knew all about your own weaknesses and, unlike arguing with others, you couldn’t slam the door and leave.

 

My Review:

 

I struggled with this one and am waffling in how to rate it as while I enjoyed the clever lashings of humor and sensual steam, the emotional tones were far from balanced due to the overload of angst and constant conflict, which is just not my jam. But if angst is your friend, you would most likely be a happy camper and bouncing in your chair. Amongst the angst, poignant heart-squeezing threads were noted and Ms. Wen’s smoking hot sensual scenes had me gasping during their happier phases.

The storylines were original and the writing was easy to follow, colorfully described, and pulled sharp visuals to my mind’s eye throughout perusal. The main characters were likable but as a couple, they took turns annoying me with their on-again/off-again, back and forth, and panic modes became a bit tedious, yet I remained invested in the story and curious about the mysterious secrets they each hid from the other.

 

About the Author

Nanxi Wen thought she was going to write the greatest historical novel. Turns out, her characters decided that they want to be in the 21st century with modern plumbing, online shopping, and reality TV shows. Her first book comes out in February 2021 – Give Love a Chai.

She lives in New England with her husband and two clingy monkeys (aka toddlers). When she is not despairing over word count, she enjoys reading, snacking, drinking coffee, sitting by the fireplace, hanging out with friends (far apart and with masks), and daydreaming.

Find Nanxi Wen online

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Book Review: Mad About Ewe (Common Threads #1) by Susannah Nix @Susannah_Nix  @SmartyPantsRom

Mad About Ewe (Common Threads #1) by Susannah Nix

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Dawn Botstein is doing just fine after her divorce, thank you very much.

She’s got her yarn store to run, her house to herself for the first time in her life, and no use for men anymore. That is until the hottie silver fox who walks into her store turns out to be her old high school crush—the guy who rejected her 30 years ago.

No way is she going to lose her head over him this time, no matter how well he wears that salt-and-pepper lumberjack beard. Okay, so he’s the opposite of her ex in every way, and his attention gives her a thrill she thought she’d never feel again. She’s not risking her heart again.

Mike Pilota is having a mid-life crisis.

Only instead of buying a red sports car he can’t afford and dressing like a 25-year-old who’s time-traveled from the 1990s, he quit his job after his second divorce to move closer to his recently widowed mother.

He didn’t expect to run into Dawn again, but as soon as he lays eyes on her he’s utterly smitten. So he sets out to make up for past mistakes and prove he can be the kind of man she deserves.

But is it too late for second chances? Or will these two lonely hearts find a way back to each other?

‘Mad About Ewe’ is a full-length contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #1 in the Common Threads series, Seduction in the City World, Penny Reid Book Universe.  

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

  … before Mike went off to college in Ohio— I screwed up my courage to ask him out on a date. It did not go well. His expression in response to my proposal that we catch a showing of Turner & Hooch was not unlike that of Janet Leigh when Norman Bates pulled back the shower curtain. The sight of Mike’s face frozen in shocked surprise still haunted me occasionally in my anxiety dreams.   I’d catch a heady whiff of her perfume. It was floral, but not like just any old flowers. She smelled like the kind of flowers that only bloomed deep in a mysterious woodland fairy realm.   It looks a lot easier when you do it. Your fingers are so small and graceful. Mine are as ungainly as a pack of Oscar Mayer wieners.   “As you wish.” My heart melted a little more. A man who quoted The Princess Bride in the middle of a make-out session? I had to reach up and touch his face to assure myself he was real.

 

My Review:

  This was a crisp, enjoyable, and breezy read, I was having so much fun the day just flew by. The storylines were entertaining and engaging and packed with amusing smirk-worthy levity as well as insightful observations and inner musings. I adored this couple together, it only took them thirty years to get it right but they sizzled like rabid teenagers despite the passing of time. I certainly picked a winner to introduce myself to the clever craft of one Ms. Susannah Nix, but I knew I couldn’t go wrong with a Smartypants Romance.
 

About Susannah Nix

Susannah Nix is an award-winning author of contemporary romances featuring smart women and swoony men, including the Chemistry Lessons series of romcoms about women who work in STEM fields and the Starstruck series of movie star romances. Susannah resides in Texas with her husband, two ornery cats, and a flatulent pit bull. When she’s not writing, she enjoys reading, cooking, knitting, watching stupid amounts of television, and getting distracted by Tumblr. She is also a powerlifter who can deadlift as much as Captain America weighs. .  

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

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Book Review: Lil’s Bus Trip by Judy Leigh @JudyLeighWriter  @rararesources  @BoldwoodBooks

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Lil’s Bus Trip
by Judy Leigh

 

Amazon  / B&N / GP / BB

It’s always a good time for a road trip…

When 82-year-old Lil decides to book herself, her 65-year-old daughter, Cassie, and her friend Maggie on a bus trip across Europe, she hopes for a little adventure to counteract the monotony of life in sheltered accommodation.

Along with three members of the Salterley Tennis Club and the Jolly Weaver five-a-side football team, whose ideas of a good time are rather different to Lil’s and strikingly at odds with each other’s, the merry band of travelers set out on their great adventure.

From moving moments on the beaches of Normandy, outrageous adventures in Amsterdam, to the beauty of Bruges and gastronomic delights of France, the holiday is just the tonic Lil, Maggie and Cassie needed.

And as the time approaches for them to head home, Lil makes an unexpected discovery – even in her advancing years, men are like buses – there isn’t one for ages then two come along at once. Is Lil ready to share her golden years, and can the ladies embrace the fresh starts that the trip has given them? Or is it just too late to change…

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Denise wrinkled her nose. ‘This is hardly a booze cruise, Cassie. I think it’s a mistake to imply that it is. While we’re enjoying the cultural richness of each place we visit, our interest in the alcohol is purely intellectual.’ She held up her beer, then took a deep draught. Her glass was almost empty.

 

Lil caught her breath. ‘Maggie, we’re in the middle of the red-light area.’ Maggie stopped and stared at her friend. ‘Oh, no – should we go back?’ ‘Why ever would we do that?’ ‘Someone might proposition us.’ Maggie was aghast with fear. Lil laughed. ‘I’m eighty-two and you’re only a few years younger, Maggie. We’d have more chance of being propositioned if we paid the clients.’

 

‘Fifty euros for fifteen minutes?’ Maggie marvelled. ‘And I’ve done it for nothing all my married life.’

 

Lil pressed her lips together, trying not to burst out laughing. It was most entertaining, the way others’ secret lives and liaisons were unfolding on this trip. Lil was enjoying it almost as much as her romance novels.

 

My Review:

 

What fun! Every time I pick up a book by this clever wordsmith I find a new favorite octogenarian. I want to be just like her Lil when I grow up, she is eighty-two years young and proudly and unapologetically reads “bonking books,” performs random acts of kindness, is up for all types of shenanigans, and flirts outrageously every morning with the much younger tattooed man who owns her favorite breakfast eatery.

 

The writing was well-honed and shrewdly paced with original and engaging storylines that were relatable and entertaining while packed with wry smirk-worthy humor. The book featured an interesting cast of oddly beguiling characters of various ages and walks of life from common to snooty while traveling together on a coach tour of Europe.

 

I adore and revere this author’s skills as she covers all the feels with smart observations and keen perceptions while keeping a smile on my face during the vast majority of my perusal. Plus, she had me Googling a giggle-snort-worthy exchange between the elderly ladies involving a “posing pouch.”

 

About the Author

Judy Leigh is the bestselling author of A Grand Old Time and The Age of Misadventure and the doyenne of the ‘it’s never too late’ genre of women’s fiction. She has lived all over the UK from Liverpool to Cornwall, but currently resides in Somerset.

Social Media Links –

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Bookbub profile https://www.bookbub.com/authors/judy-leigh

 

Book Review: We Belong Together by Beth Moran  @bethcmoran @rararesources  @BoldwoodBooks

We Belong Together
by Beth Moran

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Eleanor Sharpley has been living a lie…

Needing to escape her London life quickly, Eleanor throws her things into the back of her car and heads to her erstwhile best friend Charlie’s family farm.

But Charlie isn’t there. Instead, she finds Charlie’s grieving brother Daniel, her eight-month-old daughter Hope (a daughter Eleanor had known nothing about), and a crumbling and unloved Damson Farm.

Damson Farm lies at the edge of the village of Ferrington, with the river Maddon flowing at its heart. But Ferrington is a village divided by more than just a river – it is split in two by an age-old feud – between the Old Side and the New Side. Eleanor has run from her problems, straight into a family and a world that has problems of its own.

But Damson Farm has magic too, and as winter gives way to spring, the old farm starts to come to life under Eleanor’s love and care. The orchard starts to blossom with daffodils and bluebells, and the sound of bees busy in their hives fills the warming air. Can Eleanor bring Daniel and the feuding village of Ferrington back to life too, or will her secrets catch up with her first?

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

After an initial glance in the mirror I had to steel myself before I could face a closer inspection… if you could find a foundation to match this skin-tone it would have been called ‘hint of corpse’.

 

Kathy deigned to glance across at me. ‘That hair tone is upsetting. I didn’t think they sold such dismal shades outside Eastern Europe.’ ‘This is my natural hair colour!’

 

I could feel him smiling against my hair. How could one moment be so full of horror and so deliciously lovely all at the same time?

 

My heart was flapping like a demented chicken.

  

My Review:

 

Oh, happy, day!  I have a new author to fangirl and add to my favorites list. Beth Moran was found treasure and I have entered her entire Goodreads listing to my TBR.   Her characters were exceptionally endearing while her writing style was easy to fall into, shrewdly paced, engaging, and poignant.   But it was her well-crafted storylines that ticked all my boxes, as they were relatable, realistic, and unfailingly entertaining while touching on several prickly social issues with generous servings of wry levity, internal tension, perceptive inner musings, clever humor, a blossoming romance, and a bit of peril and intrigue to round out all the feels. I enjoyed her uniquely quirky villagers as they waged a decades-old and pointless feud but I reveled in Eleanor finding her footing while also helping everyone she met find theirs as well.

 

About the Author

Amazon
Goodreads
Website
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Twitter

 

Beth Moran is the author of three previous romance novels, including Making Marion. She regularly features on BBC Radio Nottingham and is a trustee of the national women’s network Free Range Chicks. She lives on the outskirts of Sherwood Forest. Beth’s first novel for Boldwood, Christmas Every Day, was published in September 2019.

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

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Bookbub profile https://www.bookbub.com/authors/beth-moran

 

Book Review: A Dollop of Delight (A Recipe for Love Novel Book 5) by Kelly Collins  @kcollinsauthor

A Dollop of Delight
(A Recipe for Love Novel Book 5)
by Kelly Collins

 

She’s tired of coming in second. He needs to be first. Will a baking competition chill the air or bring heat to the kitchen?


Pastry chef Chloe Mason is always chosen last, so when she has to fill a space for a no-show contestant on the popular reality cooking show The Big Bake-off, she vows to settle for nothing less than first place. With her and Luxe Resorts’ reputations on the line, she puts all distractions aside—that is until fellow competitor Mark McMillan kicks things up a notch in the kitchen. Before she knows it, the attraction between them moves from a slow bake to a full broil!

Baker Mark McMillan is about to lose everything—his home, his business, his self-respect. Winning The Big Bake-off is his last-ditch effort to save it all. Victory should be as easy as pie, but Chloe Mason could ruin everything with her sweet-as-spun-sugar smile. She’s one teaspoon of trouble, a tablespoon of frustration, and a whole lot of competition.

Will rivalry ruin the passion stirring inside them, or will they each bring the perfect ingredient to make a winning recipe for love?

Find out in A Dollop of Delight …

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

On the outside, she was smiling, but inside she was cussing like a sailor— a drunk sailor who’d stubbed his toe.

 

All this woman was missing was a wart on her nose and a broom.

 

I heard about his disappointment all my life. Pleasing Dad was like petting a porcupine. It was impossible and painful.

 

She remembered her grandma Mavis once telling her that love is defined not by what you get but by how much love makes you want to give.

 

My Review:

 

This was a tasty treat from beginning to end and I was smacking my lips and savoring every sweet and amusing morsel. The storylines were entertaining and easy to follow with the perfect mix of levity and external tension. The characters were relatable and quick-witted and gave good banter as they teased and flirted their way into a blossoming and supportive romance.   They were also endearingly earnest humans and people I’d enjoy spending time with, even if only to sample their outstanding culinary skills. Their conflicts were seldom with each other, which is always a refreshing change. I adored Gage and wish men like him existed outside of a book but alas, he was far too perfect to exist out in the wild so I enjoyed him while I could and will keep him on my Kindle.

ABOUT KELLY COLLINS   

 

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International bestselling author of over 30 novels, Kelly Collins writes with the intention of keeping the love alive. Always a romantic, she blends real-life events with her vivid imagination to create characters and stories that lovers of contemporary romance, new adult, and romantic suspense will return to again and again.

Book Review: A Midwinter Match by Jane Lovering @janelovering @rararesources  @BoldwoodBooks

 

A Midwinter Match
by Jane Lovering 

Amazon  / B&N  / GP

Ruby Oldbridge needs to learn to take her own advice.

A brilliant counselor at work in York, she is however floundering in her own life. Her romantic track record is woeful, her finances are in a pickle, and she’s back in a house-share after splitting up with her useless ex.

But one thing Ruby is brilliant at is helping other people find a way through their problems, and she excels at the job she loves, doing just that.

Happy-go-lucky, Mr. Positivity, Zac Drewe also loves his job – the trouble is, it’s the same as Ruby’s, and the management has decided to ‘rationalize’ their department. There’s only room for one of them.

As the snow and winter close in on York, Ruby and Zac have everything to lose, and Ruby starts to wonder if the happy face Zac shows the world, might be disguising a sadder secret.

Set against one another, they are unlikely friends. But perhaps, if they could take the time to understand each other, they might discover that rather than rivals, they could be the best thing that ever happened to one another…

My Rating:

 

Favorite Quotes:

 

The meeting room was a swirl of people, all milling about on the static-filled carpet like restless wild ponies before the roping started.

 

Although office gossip has it that Zac is fancied by over half the female staff, and his going may cause a backwash of oestrogen and eyeliner that carries us to the brink of destruction.

 

‘I hope he gets syphilis and his willy rots off!’ Sophie called back cheerily, and went back to her phone call.

 

It gave me a chilly feeling in the pit of my stomach. As though we were being picked off, one by one, vanishing one day never to be seen again. It was either a ruthless management style at work or ritual sacrifice.

 

Unresolved sexual tension. The air was so thick with it in here that I could only get in with scissors.

 

You disappoint me. I thought I was going to have to fight off hordes of disappointed women, I was going to buy a special stick.

 

My Review:

 

I adored this cleverly perceptive and wittily written tale. I guffawed and chortled as I dove between the pages laced with Ms. Lovering’s smirk-worthy levity, sharp comedic visuals, and head-nod inducing snark. I was totally engaged and fully present with them in the midst of their office chaos, clearly hearing the shuffling of papers and squeaking of office chairs over the drone of Christmas carols. The characters were endearingly quirky and struggling to do their best while in a difficult squeeze whilst in competition with each other for the same desperately needed job. The storylines were relatable as well as entertaining while striking all the feels and eventually igniting an unexpected fledgling romance. I reveled in the perfection of the epilogue.

About the Author

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Jane Lovering is the bestselling and award-winning romantic comedy writer who won the RNA Novel of the Year Award in 2012 with Please Don’t Stop the Music. She lives in Yorkshire and has a cat and a bonkers terrier, as well as five children who have now left home. Her first title for Boldwood will be published in September 2020.

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