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Book Review: The North Face of the Heart (Trilogía del Baztán #0) by Dolores Redondo, Michael Meigs (Translator)  @DoloresRedondoM @TLCBookTours

The North Face of the Heart
(Trilogía del Baztán #0)
by Dolores Redondo, Michael Meigs (Translator)

Amazon  / B&N /  BB

 

Hardcover: 496 Pages

Publisher: Amazon Crossing (June 1, 2021)

Amaia Salazar, a young detective from the north of Spain, has joined a group of trainees at the FBI Academy in Virginia. Haunted by her past and having already tracked down a predator on her own, Amaia is no typical rookie. And this is no ordinary student lecture at Quantico. FBI agent Aloisius Dupree is already well acquainted with Amaia’s skills, her intuition, and her ability to understand evil. He now needs her help in hunting an elusive serial killer dubbed “the Composer,” and in solving another case that’s been following him his whole life.

From New Jersey to Oklahoma to Texas, the Composer’s victims are entire families annihilated in the chaos of natural disasters, their bodies posed with chilling purpose amid the ruins. Dupree and Amaia follow his trail to New Orleans. The clock is ticking. It’s the eve of the worst hurricane in the city’s history. But a troubling call from Amaia’s aunt back home awakens in Amaia the ghosts from her childhood and sends her down a path as dark as that of the coming storm.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Bill and Bull. They’re with the Violent Crimes Unit. These fellas have arrested more criminals than all the rest of my officers combined. They know these streets better than anyone… If I had a son, I’d trust them with his life; if I had a daughter, I’d keep her out of their reach.

 

Juan had difficulty with words… he was overwhelmed by the very fact that every object had its own unique name. He was one of those who thought things existed only when they were spoken of, so he could exclude horrors from his life and home by refusing to put them into words.

 

Her first thought was to go to the nearest toilet. She didn’t care if it was filthy. She needed her privacy, even if she had to pee on the floor. This is teaching me a lesson, she thought. Comes a time, from one day to the next, when we find ourselves ready to accept things we swore we’d never put up with.

 

… it was far better to be nice to someone like her than to get on her bad side. As his late grandmother used to say— and she knew a lot about it— you don’t have to believe they exist, but don’t you dare go around claiming they don’t.

  

My Review:

 

This is a brilliant piece of writing and of superb quality. I was late getting to this one and thought I would give it a quick start before beginning my scheduled tasks but soon changed all my plans as I was bewitched and couldn’t put it down. Ms. Redondo sucked me into a baffling, disconcerting, complex, prickly, and distressingly compelling vortex that tossed me in several different directions without a playbook of the plethora of uncomfortably intriguing storylines that eventually connected and entwined.

It was heart-squeezing, ghastly, inconceivable, curiously addictive, gritty, twisted, riveting, and ingeniously paced and executed.   I’ll be processing and savoring this one for quite some time as the little pea in my brain is still unpacking and connecting all the dots. I consumed this book as quickly as my tired optical orbs and feverish brain could take in 500 action-packed pages, and oddly enough, I would have been thrilled with 500 more of the same.

 

About the Author

Dolores Redondo studied law and the culinary arts before writing The Baztán Trilogy, a successful crime series set in the Basque Pyrenees that has sold over 1.5 million copies in Spanish, has been translated into more than thirty-five languages and was adapted into a popular film series.

Twice nominated for the CWA International Dagger Award and a finalist for the Grand Prix des Lectrices de Elle, Redondo was the recipient of the 2016 Premio Planeta—one of Spain’s most distinguished literary awards—for her stand-alone thriller All This I Will Give to You, which has also been optioned for feature film and television development and will be translated into eighteen languages.

Connect with Dolores

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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Book Review: Angel of the Lost Treasure by Marie Laval  @rararesources 

 

Angel of the Lost Treasure
by Marie Laval 

Amazon  / B&N / Apple / GP / BB

 

An ancient secret hidden within a mother’s song …


When young widow, Marie-Ange Norton is invited to Beauregard in France by the mysterious Monsieur Malleval to collect an inheritance, she has no choice but to accept.


But when she embarks on the voyage with her fiery-tempered traveling companion Capitaine Hugo Saintclair, little does she know what waits for her across the sea in turbulent nineteenth-century France on the eve of Napoleon’s return from exile. When she arrives, she is taken aback by Malleval’s fascination with her family – seemingly inspired by his belief they are connected to a sacred relic he’s read about in coded manuscripts by the Knights Templar.


As it becomes clear that Malleval’s obsession has driven him to madness, Marie-Ange is horrified to realize she is more the man’s prisoner than his guest. Not only that, but Hugo is the only person who might be able to help her, and he could represent a different kind of danger.

 

My Rating:

My Review:

 

I have reveled in Ms. Laval’s rib-tickling rom/coms but this tense historical was not what I was expecting and I struggled to keep all the nefarious factions straight while the characters were battling with each other. There were many clever elements and twists but the storylines were densely packed, complicated, and stuffed to the rafters with unlikable characters with difficult names and unfamiliar titles. I got lost, many times. The little pea in my brain was not pleased with me! This type of historical is obviously not in my wheelhouse and I grappled with a few too many secret clandestine societies to keep track of while they deceived and assaulted each other through a slowly developing plot with occasional jumps of hyperspeed attacks.

My difficulty in fully appreciating this one was obviously down to my personal tastes and interests as the premise was original, the writing was lushly descriptive, and the characters were well-developed despite most being distressingly odious. I chaff at tales that have women treated like livestock. I know it happened but the feminist in me just doesn’t enjoy the reminder.

The various groups were all thundering around the French county side in carriages and on horseback in the freezing snow and fretting about the threatened impending return of Napoleon as well as his enemies and spies, while also trying to outwit and sabotage each other in competing attempts at locating a fabled supernatural relic hidden in a crypt that dated back to the First Crusades and sparked the founding of the Knights of Templar. I felt dashes of several Indiana Jones tales as well as pinches of The Da Vinci Code, and sprinkles of Angels and Demons. And I will confess, didn’t fully grasp all the historical and religious complexities and implications of those tales either.

 

 

 

About the Author

Originally from Lyon in France, Marie has lived in the Rossendale Valley in Lancashire for the past few years. She writes both contemporary and historical romance. Her novels include best-selling contemporary romantic suspense novels LITTLE PINK TAXI and ESCAPE TO THE LITTLE CHATEAU, which was shortlisted for the 2021 RNA Jackie Collins Romantic Suspense Awards, as well as A PARIS FAIRY TALE and BLUEBELL’S CHRISTMAS MAGIC. Her latest novel, ANGEL OF THE LOST TREASURE, was released in February 2021. Marie also contributes to the best-selling Miss Moonshine’s Emporium anthologies together with eight author friends from Authors on the Edge.

 

Social Media Links –

https://www.facebook.com/marie.laval.9/

https://twitter.com/MarieLaval1

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Book Review: Bubblegum and Blazers by Isabella May @IsabellaMayBks  @rararesources 

Bubblegum and Blazers
by Isabella May

Amazon  /  BB

When Ali, Blake, Charlotte, and Grant sign contracts to star in a Back to School reality TV show, LOVE is the very last thing on their minds:

Ali flies to the UK from New Zealand, intrigued by the golden opportunity to advance her amateur social media influencer career.

Blake carpe diems the moment with both hands after a constant flurry of bad luck.

Charlotte jumps at the chance to relive her sporting glories of the past – and take a hiatus from her humdrum marriage.

And Grant is just relieved to get away from his failing second-hand music shop.

But once the advances hit their bank accounts, it soon becomes apparent that producer Jock’s Pied Piper-style offer to change their lives is distinctly lacking in sherbet fizz!

In fact, the only sweet thing about this gig for the former students and the rest of their Bubblegum and Blazers competitors may just be the packet of candy in their pockets.

Re-enacting their past is a rollercoaster of revelations, retaliation, and an unlikely romance in a gold-fish bowl of mayhem where Raphael (Agony Uncle of the school sweet shop) and his rhubarb and custards reign supreme…

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Celeste Carey and her legs that went on forever and ever… and ever. Hell, no. Blake had never had the hots for her. The girl had reveled in spreading herself about like margarine ever since Year Four. But to Blake she was Marmite – and he’d never been a fan of the stuff.

 

He wasn’t cut out for things like this. If all the world was a stage, then he was part of the lighting crew behind it.

 

 My Review

 

 This was a fun, fast-paced, and highly eventful read with a clever and entertaining premise and multiple amusing storylines featuring a full slate of comically quirky characters to fill a reality show.   The writing was highly descriptive and laced with sharply-edged humor. Although, for the life of me, I cannot imagine doing the same, as it would take shackles at gunpoint for me to return to the small jerk-water town of my youth to spend any amount of time confined with the yahoos of my graduating class. Not even for a million smackers. My tactics would most likely result in massive bloodletting or incarceration and more shackles, so it is safer for mankind to remain an ocean away. I’m thoughtful like that 😉

 

About the Author

Isabella May lives in (mostly) sunny Andalusia, Spain with her husband, daughter, and son, creatively inspired by the mountains and the sea. Having grown up on Glastonbury’s ley lines, however, she’s unable to completely shake off her spiritual inner child and is a Law of Attraction fanatic, as well as a Pranic Healer.

After a degree in Modern Languages and European Studies at UWE, Bristol (and a year working abroad in Bordeaux and Stuttgart), Isabella bagged an extremely jammy and fascinating job in children’s publishing… selling foreign rights for novelty, board, pop-up, and non-fiction books all over the world; in every language from Icelandic to Korean, Bahasa Indonesian to Papiamento!

All of which has fuelled her curiosity and love of international food and travel – both feature extensively in her cross-genre novels, fused with a dollop of romcom, and a sprinkle of magical realism.

Social Media Links –

www.isabellamayauthor.com

Twitter – @IsabellaMayBks

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/IsabellaMayAuthor/

Instagram – @isabella_may_author

 

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Book Review: How Much Wine Will Fix My Broken Heart? (The Callaghan Sisters #4) by Kristen Bailey  @mrsbaileywrites @Bookouture 

 

How Much Wine Will Fix My Broken Heart?
(The Callaghan Sisters #4)
by Kristen Bailey 

Are you suffering from a broken heart? Searching for the right medicine? Staring down the barrel of being single and not knowing where to start? Learn from Grace Callaghan! She’s done it all:

    • Wine is the answer. Some serving-size suggestions include a glass the size of your head, a bathtub, an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Best served chilled, and with a straw.
    • Friends with benefits is always an option. Be prepared for side effects such as the guy saying ‘baby’, crying out his ex’s name, and preferring to keep his socks on.
    • Going ‘out out’ helps banish the blues. It may involve breaking into replica ships from the fifteenth century, screaming ‘Aye-aye, Captain!’ and accidentally falling off the plank.
  • Karaoke makes everything better. Best enjoyed singing Enrique Iglesias, followed by an extra-large serving of fries.

Three years ago, when Grace’s heart was blown to smithereens, she made a promise to protect herself. But has she gone too far? Has she played it too safe? Should she take a leap into the unknown, messy business of the heart? Because maybe, just maybe, she could learn to love again…

This hilarious and totally gripping tale is for anyone who’s questioned their qualifications at life, and learned that a little bit of wine goes a long way! Fans of Shari Low, Sophie Kinsella, and Why Mummy Drinks, be warned: prepare for odd looks when reading this in public due to the ugly laughing it induces.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

I could weave you a friendship bracelet made of hair. I decided against it. It has a serial-killer quality to it, though it’s useful if you want to go down the voodoo route.

 

‘The playground mafia has been around for years,’ Joyce carries on. ‘In my day it was Jeanie McGovern. I had her son round to play and he came to my house and crapped in a drawer. When I told her, and I was discreet about it, she told me I’d made it up and then spent years spreading rumours around about Tom.’ ‘What sort of rumours?’ I ask, mortified at the thought of someone defecating in a drawer. ‘It was such a bizarre reaction. She made him the centre of every nits outbreak for years. It ended with me slapping her in the playground.’

 

‘You joined the PTA?’ she asks. ‘Emma told me it would be a good way to make friends.’ ‘Never listen to Emma. Her girls are in a private school where everyone wears padded gilets and eats pheasant. Their PTA raffles off cars. Mine raffles off dusty bottles of cherry brandy. I won a bottle once that was half-drunk.’

 

You forget about the cascading effect of social media in these playground battles. One moment you tell a group that your son has a rash and the next he’s a social pariah with possible leprosy.

 

‘Gracie,’ she says, softly. ‘We lost Cam, her dear Olivier and our wonderful Tom. We will never replace them. That light has gone out. We shouldn’t replace them. But never think people can’t come in, that we’ve lost some capacity to love. We’re still alive, it does our loved ones no justice to be sitting here in darkness.’ And there it is. This is why I welcomed Linh into my world. Beautiful turns of phrase like that soothed my tired and confused soul; they still do. And she’s right. We lost three amazing people but, through their loss, our lives all became entwined.

My Review:

 

 I savored every perfectly chosen word of this riotously humorous yet poignant tale. I adore Kristen Bailey and of the handful of books I’ve read, this may be her best yet. The crisp storylines were rife with every type of rib-tickling humor from wry and acerbic wit to ribald comedy. I smirked, chortled, and giggle-snorted my way through although there were also just as many thoughtfully written, insightful, and heart-squeezing scenes of great loss, vulnerability, grief, anger, and betrayal. Ms. Bailey hit all the feels and plundered every emotion with agility and finesse.

As always, her characters were fully inhabited and enticingly intriguing and curiously alluring. I am eagerly anticipating Lucy’s story and cannot wait to see what this clever scribe does with the inner musings of the last remaining Callaghan sister’s tale. I had a feeling she would be saving the best, and most outrageous character of Lucy, for last.

One can only hope she is currently locked in the attic scribbling away. Please write quickly, Ms. Bailey, you won’t even need to leave home for sustenance as your devoted fangirl can have offerings of gin and Marmite winging your way.

 

Mother-of-four, gin-drinker, binge-watcher, receipt hoarder, enthusiastic but terrible cook. Kristen also writes. She has had short fiction published in several publications including Mslexia & Riptide. Her first two novels, Souper Mum and Second Helpings were published in 2016. In 2019, she was long-listed in the Comedy Women in Print Prize and has since joined the Bookouture family. She hopes her novels have fresh and funny things to say about modern life, love, and family.

 

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Book Review: Insider (Glass Family #2) by Owen Mullen @OwenMullen6 @rararesources  @BoldwoodBooks

Insider
(Glass Family #2)
by Owen Mullen

Amazon  / B&N / Apple / GP / BB

Someone’s playing both sides and now they have a score to settle…

When the family business is crime, you can never be sure who to trust. And when three of their businesses are hit in one night, the notorious Glass family close ranks. Either someone is sending them a message or a war is coming…

With trouble coming from all sides, the heads of the Glass family have more than enough to deal with, but all bets are off when a stranger from the past enters the game, causing division and mistrust.

Crooked cops, rival gangs, and old enemies are bad enough, but when the trouble comes from the inside, loyalties are tested, with deadly consequences.

Page-turning, gripping, gritty, Insider is perfect for fans of Martina Cole, Kimberley Chambers, and Mandasue Heller.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

He probably imagined he could handle himself because of the endless hours he spent at the gym. It took a lot more than that. Weights didn’t fight back.

 

The male ego at work once again, imagining he could satisfy a younger woman without bringing on a heart attack. Still – ten out of ten for effort. At one point, he’d made a sound in his throat like dolphins talking to each other and she’d thought he wasn’t going to survive. But he had. On Monday, Algie would be boasting to his colleagues about the foxy lady he’d tamed on Friday night.

 

With his gangly stride, from this distance he looked like a well-dressed stick insect on his way to the Ugly Bug Ball.

 

I was born at night, Kenny, but it wasn’t last night, you get what I’m saying?

 

My Review:

 

I continue in my fascination with Mr. Owen Mullen’s gift of words skills as found in his creation of the Glass crime family of London. And while they were a horrid collection of shared DNA, their adversaries are so much worse I caught myself admiring Luke Glass – say what now?   I had fallen so far into their criminal vortex I had lost my real-world perspective, which is a testament to Owen Mullen’s cunning skills in weaving a tale.

The storylines were just as intense, violent, amusingly snarky, and even more intriguing than the first book in the series as I was itching to uncover the mole and so very wrong in my hypothesis.   The pacing and plotting were shrewd and nothing short of brilliant. But after losing myself in two of Mr. Mullen’s tautly written and absorbing tales, I am in dire need of a vat of wine, rom/com reading material, and a spa day to soak and hammer out the residual tension.

 

 

About the Author

 

Owen Mullen is a highly regarded crime author who splits his time between Scotland and the island of Crete.  In his earlier life, he lived in London and worked as a musician and session singer. He has now written seven books and his first gangland thriller for Boldwood, Family was published in January 2021.

 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/owenmullen6/

Newsletter Sign Up Link: https://bit.ly/OwenMullenNewsletter

Bookbub profile: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/owen-mullen

 

 

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Book Review: Just Folking Around (Good Folk: Modern Folktales #0.5) by Penny Reid @ReidRomance

Just Folking Around
(Good Folk: Modern Folktales #0.5)
by Penny Reid

Amazon  / B&N / GP

One night? No strings? A sexy game of chess? No problem.

If you’ve never read a Penny Reid book before, this is the place to start! An all new series starter snack from the author of the WINSTON BROTHERS and KNITTING IN THE CITY series. . .

Raquel Ezra loves to fish. With so many fish in the sea, she’s never had a problem baiting the hook or reeling them in. Raquel is a good actress, she can be anyone’s fantasy for a single night as long as they agree to be hers. Which is why she doesn’t think twice about spending an evening in nowhere Tennessee with a smokin’ hot, well-mannered, and intriguing sheriff’s deputy by the name of Jackson James.

Except, when the time comes, Raquel discovers that reality might just be better than any fantasy, and maybe she’s not ready to release this catch.

JUST FOLKING AROUND is a 16k words, contemporary romance, a complete standalone, and is the prequel to TOTALLY FOLKED, book #1 in the Good Folk: Modern Folktales series.

My Rating:

 

Favorite Quotes:

 

God, he smells good. I loved me a good-smelling man. There was nothing on earth like it. Three things in life had no substitutions: a perfectly roasted marshmallow; the first cool, crisp day of fall after a long, hot summer; and the closeness of a warm, good-smelling man.

 

He unleashed a wide, pleased grin, but he might as well have released a kraken. I was stunned. Stunned.

 

This guy, he’s not a snack. Deputy James—Jackson—he was a meal. And not a Thanksgiving meal or a dinner party get-together. He wasn’t someone to be saved for special occasions. He was an everyday favorite. No matter how many times or how often you partook, you always looked forward to the next time. Jackson James is taco night.

 

 My Review:

 

This was a tasty and tantalizing amuse-bouche, a tease to taunt us and whet our appetites before the promised feast. And I am so ready for the full meal deal! I adore the clever and agile pen of Penny Reid, I am her devoted fangirl, a self-professed acolyte, a totally committed, and possibly committable, Reid-er. I have fully enjoyed the bearded denizens of Green Valley and cannot get enough of the oddly riveting Winstons, but the James clan are also a favorite and I have been waiting, impatiently I might add, biding my time for Jackson’s story.   The wait is almost over and I can tell it will be a treat well worth breaking my diet for.

 

About the Author

Penny Reid is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Best Selling Author of the Winston Brothers, Knitting in the City, Rugby, and Hypothesis series. She used to spend her days writing federal grant proposals as a biomedical researcher, but now she just writes books. She’s also a full-time mom to three diminutive adults, wife, daughter, knitter, crocheter, sewer, general crafter, and thought ninja.

Connect with Penny

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

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2lakzsD

Twitter: @ReidRomance

Mailing List: http://pennyreid.ninja/newsletter/

Website: www.pennyreid.ninja

 

 

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Book Review: Family (Glass Family #1) by Owen Mullen @OwenMullen6  @rararesources  @BoldwoodBooks

Family
(Glass Family #1)
by Owen Mullen

Family – might be the death of you…

The Glass family business is crime, and they’re good at what they do. Vengeance took Luke Glass behind bars – but now he’s free and he’s never going back. Luke wants out of the gangster life – all he has to do is convince his family to let him go.

His brother holds the reins of the South London underworld in his brutal hands – nobody tells Danny Glass no and expects to live – not even DCI Oliver Stanford, bent copper and one of the Met’s rising stars. The way Danny sees it, his younger brother and sister Nina owe him everything. The price he demands is loyalty, and a war with their arch enemy gives him the leverage he needs to tie Luke to the family once more.

Luke can’t see a way out, until Danny commits a crime so terrible it can’t be forgiven. Love turns to hate when secrets are unearthed which pit brother against brother. Left with no choice but to choose a side, Nina holds the fate of the family in her hands.

In the Glass family, Owen Mullen has created a crime dynasty to rival the Richardsons and the Krays. Heart-pounding, jaw-dropping with non-stop action, Family is perfect for fans of Martina Cole, Kimberley Chambers, and Mandasue Heller.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

If plunging to your death was an Olympic event, he’d have been in the medals for sure.

 

And the women… if ugly was contagious they’d be in quarantine. I’d move if I were you.

 

The phone dropped from his trembling fingers. Danny’s eyes bulged in his skull, his face so red I thought it might explode. Nobody did rage as he did: rising from his core, spewing like lava, scaring those around him to the bone.

 

Insanity explaining itself – the scariest thing I’d ever heard.

My Review:

 

I finished the book in a quandary as to how I felt about it, how to rate it, and even how to write a review. I was flummoxed until I perused my favorite passages, which removed all doubt. Mr. Mullen has mad skills! The book was superbly written with compelling characters and multi-textured and intriguing storylines that were intense and taut with tension. It was also cleverly snarky, distressingly violent, gruesome, gritty, heartbreaking, and oh, so, very, twisted.

I had trouble putting it down although I needed to walk away from it every so often when I found I was clutching my Kindle so tightly my hand was cramping. But even then, I continued to contemplate the characters’ dilemma in dealing with a vicious and unstable psychopathic criminal kingpin, and extra complications abound when all that mess is a sibling.

Twenty-four hours after being released from prison with the mindset to break from his family and start over clean, the main character of Luke had barely avoided death, had a massive hangover, been with a hooker, and was already drawn back into his vile brother’s brutal world of cruel and savage barbarism. The unsettling insights were brilliantly paced and shrewdly plotted. What a disturbingly cunning creature Mr. Mullen must be, I hope for their sake his neighbors take heed, keep the noise down, and frequently ply him with sweets.

About the Author

 

Owen Mullen is a highly regarded crime author who splits his time between Scotland and the island of Crete.  In his earlier life, he lived in London and worked as a musician and session singer. He has now written seven books and his first gangland thriller for Boldwood, Family was published in January 2021.

 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/owenmullen6/

Newsletter Sign Up Link: https://bit.ly/OwenMullenNewsletter

Bookbub profile: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/owen-mullen

 

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Book Review: All the Wrong Choices by C.A. Harms @Charms0814  @limitlessbooks

 

All the Wrong Choices
by C.A. Harms

Amazon  

 

A second chance romance packed with emotion!

Being left at the alter on your wedding day is devastating.

But when the man you are supposed to marry has run off with your younger sister, well, that’s an entirely new form of hell.

Everything I believed in, everything I envisioned for my future, was nothing more than a lie. I was a fool. The poor girl who couldn’t hold onto her man. Everyone pitied me, but I didn’t want nor need their pity.

Never again will I be the vulnerable one.

Never again will I allow myself to fall in love because let’s face it, love and commitment are nothing more than a waste of time.

Never again will I fall for a man’s lies.

I’ll remain distant and unattached and I will not falter. Not even when a tall, handsome, and incredibly hot man makes me question the plans I’ve made for myself.

I can’t give in, no matter how perfect he appears to be. I know better and all good things always come to a crashing, destructible finale. I know it will end and when it does, I’ll be the one left shattered.

I’m not sure I’ll survive another fall.

All the Wrong Choices, lead to heartbreak…

And my heart couldn’t take another hit.

My Rating:

 

Favorite Quotes:

 

When I say charming, I mean she looks as though she has itching power in her panties and is doing all she can to hide her discomfort.

 

I’m going home with Tony tonight… I’ve made the poor man wait long enough. And if I’m being honest, if I wait any longer, I’m going to attack him and most likely break him.

 

“He’ll come crawling back one day after he realizes what a mistake it was to walk away.” “And I’ll trip him as he moves on by…”

 

Reece is eyeing you like you’re a triple chocolate cake with cherries, and it’s been years since sweets have graced her tongue…

 

 My Review:

 

C.A. Harms is one of my go-to authors when I need a refreshing shot of sizzle and sass.   She populates her tales with primary and secondary characters who are endearing yet realistically flawed and packs her storylines with just the right balance of humor/angst/and sensuality to cure any funk I may have fallen into, whether it is a reading slump or external stressors. I enjoyed her latest missive featured a likable and accessible couple attempting to keep it casual when it was anything but.

 

 

About The Author

 

 

I am an Illinois girl, born and raised. Simple and true. I love the little things; they truly mean the most. I may have a slight addiction to my new Keurig—oh my, that thing is a godsend. And so fast too. I have two children who truly are the greatest part of my days, and their faces never fail to put a smile on my face. I have been married to my best friend for seventeen years and looking forward to many more.

I am one of those authors that adore my readers. I love to hear from you. After all, it is because of each one of you that I continue to write.
.

FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorCAHarms/
INSTAGRAM: Instagram.com/authorcaharms/
NEWSLETTER: http://bit.ly/1xsgHCS
AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/C.A.-Harms/e/B0…

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Book Review: Between You and Me by Carol Mason @CarolMasonBooks  @rararesources 

Between You and Me
by Carol Mason

Amazon  / B&N / BB

Is her new husband really who she thinks he is?

When young doctor Lauren Matheson meets Joe, an older divorced businessman, at a glittering poolside in California, it’s a chance encounter that seems life-changing for them both. Back home in London, their feelings only strengthen. But Lauren soon discovers that building a happy future with Joe is going to be an uphill struggle…

She’s determined to be a good stepmother to his children, four-year-old Toby, and complicated teen Grace. But under the watchful eye of Meredith, Joe’s intimidating ex-wife, Lauren can’t seem to do a thing right. Why won’t Joe ever take her side against Grace? And what really happened between him and Meredith?

As her husband retreats into a cold, secretive version of the dashing man she met in California, Lauren starts to wonder if she’s made a costly mistake. Was Joe ever the man she thought she married?

My Rating:

  

My Review:

 

This was one of those maddening tales that kept me reading well into the night while greatly annoyed with ALL the characters. They each needed a few firm pinches and even a swat or two to the back of the head. Ms. Mason excels at creating curiously compelling yet vile characters I love to hate. Her well-textured and shrewdly paced storytelling lures me into an interwoven trail of storylines, each with an itchy web of nebulous veracity and questionable sincerity, and I just can’t help myself.

About the Author

Carol Mason is the Amazon Charts and Kindle #1 bestselling author After You Left (more than 300,000 copies sold), The Secrets of Married Women, The Last Time We Met, The Shadow Between Us, Send Me A Lover, and Little White Secrets which hit the Bookstat digital bestsellers list top 3 in the week of its launch. She was born in the North East of England where most of her novels are set. She now lives in Canada with her Canadian husband, a rescue dog from Kuwait, and a three-legged cat. When not writing, Carol loves to read, cook, and binge-watch Netflix.

Social Media Links –

https://www.facebook.com/CarolMasonAuthor

https://twitter.com/CarolMasonBooks

https://www.instagram.com/carolmasonauthor/

 

 

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Book Review: The English Girl by Sarah Mitchell @SarahM_writer @Bookouture

The English Girl 
by Sarah Mitchell

Amazon  / B&N / Apple / GP / BB

He is German. She is English. Their countries are enemies. Can love bring them together? Inspired by an incredible true story, this is a sweeping tale about the power of hope in the face of war and the legacy of an impossible choice.

1946, Norfolk, England: Grief and fear spillover in Fran’s small village when German prisoners of war are sent to the nearby camp. After the death of her beloved brother on the front lines, Fran cannot see the new arrivals as anything but his killers.When one of the mines the Germans are clearing from the beach explodes, Fran is thrown into the path of prisoner Thomas as they rush to help the wounded. Thomas’s kind, artistic nature, and his bravery, putting himself in danger to save others, change everything for Fran. She realizes he is a boy just like her brother and was forced to fight in a war he never believed in.

From that day on, there is something powerful and unspoken connecting Fran and Thomas. But as battle lines are drawn across Europe and tensions within the village reach breaking point, they could be about to unleash something neither of them can control…

1989, Berlin: Tiffany arrives in Berlin from London, just as the wall that divided a nation finally falls. With only a few words of German, she celebrates with strangers in the streets and crosses the border between West and East. In her pocket is a crumpled letter addressed to her grandmother, yellowed with age, that has led her in search of a wartime secret with the power to change her future…

A book that you will carry with you long after having turned the final page. Fans of Fiona Valpy, The Forgotten Village, and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society will be absolutely gripped from the very beginning until the final, heart-stopping conclusion of this unforgettable wartime story.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

At the time everyone had said the agony of not knowing, the uncertainty, must be the worst thing of all, but it hadn’t been. Uncertainty had meant hope, seconds, sometimes even whole minutes of time when they had convinced themselves he was still alive. The worst thing had been when the letter finally came, hearing the wild sobs of her mother behind her bedroom door, a racking, animal-like keening that sounded unlike anything Fran had ever heard before.

 

Her husband has become a stranger. A silent stranger. Some days she hardly speaks to anyone apart from Alice. It’s like being less and less present in her own life, as if she’s been reduced to a chalk drawing on a blackboard to which someone has taken a duster, and finger by finger, toe by toe, is slowly obliterating.

 

It’s like… it’s like I’m staring at the sun. I can’t see anything but him.

 

 My Review:

 

 My first exposure to Sarah Mitchell’s agile storytelling and she took me right into their homes, offices, and lives. I was sucked right into their vortex and beside the various characters in an alley while breaking up a fight, in their kitchens during family meals, in their car when it slid off the road into a snowbank. I felt the bitter chill of their winter as well as their poignant heartbreaks, hopes, and soaring spirits.   The woman has mad skills and I look forward to another time slip by delving into her words again and again.   More, please!  

 

About the Author
Sarah grew up in Norfolk and studied law at Cambridge University which led to a career as a barrister, working mainly in the field of human rights. After nearly twenty years she was tempted off-track by a creative writing course at the Open University and fell in love with making up stories instead of constructing arguments. Three years later she completed, with distinction, an MA in Creative Writing – Prose Fiction at the UEA.

Now she lives in Norfolk again, this time with her husband and three almost-grown-up children, where she combines writing with some legal work – and thanking her enormous number of lucky stars.