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Book Review: Been There Done That by Hope Ellis

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Theirs was a forever kind of love, until it was stolen.

Been There Done That, an all-new second-chance romantic standalone by debut author Hope Ellis, is available now!

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ZORA LEFFERSBEE’S once perfect life is no longer perfect. Her tenure at the university is in question, funding for her employees uncertain, and her faux-fiancé, Jackson James’s unpredictability is wearing on her last nerve. Just when Zora is convinced things can’t get more complicated, life proves her wrong.

What the heck is he doing here?

NICK ROSSI’s complicated life is still extremely complicated. He’s used to fighting for everything he has, but he’s also used to winning. Now a man of power and influence, his return to Green Valley after so many years hasn’t gone according to plan, especially with the woman he’s always wanted.

She can’t know why I left, or why I’m back.

A powerful woman intent on righting the wrongs of the world, Zora doesn’t have time or energy to deal with the man who broke her young heart.

A powerful man intent on righting the wrongs of the past, Nick can’t help wanting to protect Zora, even if his devotion is unrequited.

‘Been There Done That’ is a full-length contemporary romance, can be read as a standalone, and is book #1 in the Leffersbee series, Green Valley World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

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Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2sEcF4a

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My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

“You remind me of that stripper in the movie. The really big one? Dark hair?” I coughed. “Uh, stripper?” One corner of her mouth went up in a sly smile. “Don’t sound so shocked. I might look like an old lady to you, but this girl’s still got a little oil left in her can.”

 

By all rights, this guy should be a stooped-over accountant with the eyesight of a mole. Justice demands it.

 

I don’t want one of your conquests to brain me with a can of peas in the middle of the Piggly Wiggly and post the footage online.

 

Listen. The last time we were together, I was eighteen. My breasts had more ‘giddy-up’ and less ‘Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.’

My Review:

 

Laced with clever and biting humor this second chance romance was a solid performer in the continuation of the Green Valley Smartypants Romances. Told in my favorite dual POV, the storylines were heavier on the angsty and regretful inner musings and antagonized resistance when I would have preferred more of the irreverent and snappy levity that sparkled throughout.   However, Ms. Ellis more than made up for all that conflict once the rapturous warmth seeped back into the fated lovers’ relationship and their steamy sensual scenes charred the linens beyond repair. Kudos to a debut author for pulling a rabbit out of her hat. I am eager to see her next treatise featuring this quirky family.

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Excerpt

My Grandmother Leffersbee used to say, “Life isn’t perfect, but that’s what makes it so interesting.” Then she’d wink before adding, “Do you want interesting? Or do you want boring?”

Right now? I could use some boring perfection. Just a little. Just a smidge. Please.

“Zora.” A vaguely familiar-sounding voice said my name from someplace in the vicinity of my office doorway. I ignored it, hoping they’d take my silence as an invitation to go away.

You’re almost out of time.

My eyes stung, but I wasn’t going to cry. There is no crying in clinic communication research; there is only more research, more grant applications, more trying, more doing. But, damn, I really thought we had this one in the bag. Folks’ livelihoods depended on it. My tenure, my job, depended on it. Not to mention the research itself was important—so incredibly important.

“Zora,” that voice said again, firmer this time. Closer.

Given my present state of mind and eau de sweat fantastique, I can’t help barking out, “Now isn’t a good time.”

The man didn’t respond for a beat, but then once more said, “Zora,” this time with a hint of grit and impatience.

My glare cut away from the offending rejection email and I opened my mouth to volley something scathingly polite and dismissive, but then every nerve and muscle in my body seized. The clouds outside my office window parted at that very moment, emitting a biblical shaft of light that illuminated my overstuffed bookcases—and the breathtaking specimen of man standing in my office doorway on the fifth floor of the medical research building.

What the . . .?

Shock choked me. I couldn’t breathe. The cracked vinyl of the office chair’s armrests bit into the tender flesh of my palms.

I recognized him immediately even though he looked very, very different. All the awkward lankiness and unformed promise of his youth had been ruthlessly fulfilled in the intervening years. But after twelve years of empty, aching absence, of wondering and worrying, of resignation and sadness . . . he was here.

Was he real?

“I thought . . . I thought you were dead.” The whispered words left my mouth at the same time they formed in my brain.

Nick Armstrong stood silent and unmoving, a stolid sentry, looking at me. Just . . . looking.

The width of his shoulders filled the doorway, leaving scant space between his head and the door frame. I couldn’t help devouring the sight of him, half-wondering if he were a mirage. Despite being as fashion challenged as I was, I easily identified the perfect fit of a bespoke suit, noting how the high-quality fabric closely followed the muscled bulk of his shoulders and arms. The unassuming dark jacket, white dress shirt, and trousers did little to hide his tapered waist and well-developed thighs.

His hulking presence alone ensnared my attention, but his face arrested it. He was striking. Thick, ink-black hair just starting to curl over his collar matched the dark stubble shadowing his square jaw. His slightly off-center nose, likely the result of a break, ruined the pure symmetry of his features. But his eyes were a startling shade of green, the same showy, verdant hue of summer leaves under an ominously gunmetal sky.

So unsettlingly familiar. And yet . . . No, it couldn’t be him. There was no way it was Nick. Not after all these years.

This isn’t possible.

I lurched up and made a spectacle of myself as I struggled to stand. Panic weighted my feet. Disbelief severed any connection with my brain’s higher processing, leaving me stuck to my chair with my mouth hanging ajar. “Letting in flies,” as my Grandma Leffersbee would have said.

I blinked back confusion as I stared at him, captured by a whisper, an echo of a memory. “Who . . . ?”

His mouth moved, like maybe he was going to introduce himself. But instead, he repeated my name for a fourth time, “Zora . . .”

This voice was different from the Nick I had loved. Deeper. But the way he said my name, slowly, as if savoring the taste of something rich? I could never forget that.

It is him.

About Hope Ellis

Hope Ellis is a health outcomes researcher by day and writes romances featuring sexy nerds by night. She hopes to one day conquer her habit of compulsively binge-watching The Office.

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Find Hope Ellis online

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Book Review: The Ancestor by Danielle Trussoni

The Ancestor
by Danielle Trussoni

Amazon US / UK / CA / AU / 

B&N / HarperCollins /GP

 Hardcover: 368 pages
Publisher: William Morrow (April 7, 2020)

From the New York Times, USA Today, and internationally bestselling author of the Angelology series comes a bewitching gothic novel of suspense that plunges readers into a world of dark family secrets, the mysteries of human genetics, and the burden of family inheritance.

It feels like a fairy tale when Alberta ”Bert” Monte receives a letter addressed to “Countess Alberta Montebianco” at her Hudson Valley, New York, home that claims she’s inherited a noble title, money, and a castle in Italy. While Bert is more than a little skeptical, the mystery of her aristocratic family’s past, and the chance to escape her stressful life for a luxury holiday in Italy, is too good to pass up.

At first, her inheritance seems like a dream come true: a champagne-drenched trip on a private jet to Turin, Italy; lawyers with lists of artwork and jewels bequeathed to Bert; a helicopter ride to an ancestral castle nestled in the Italian Alps below Mont Blanc; a portrait gallery of ancestors Bert never knew existed; and a cellar of expensive vintage wine for Bert to drink.

But her ancestry has a dark side, and Bert soon learns that her family history is particularly complicated. As Bert begins to unravel the Montebianco secrets, she begins to realize her true inheritance lies not in a legacy of ancestral treasures, but in her very genes.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Listen to me, child. I saw it. The beast came for me on the mountain pass like a ghost with its white hair and devilish blue eyes. Its teeth were sharp as razors. But worst of all, it was so like us. Monstrous and yet so human. The legends were true.

 

… inheritance is a trickster. One generation may hide its genetic treasures, while the next will put them fully on display.

 

Leopold had described the village as a seed pressed into a rocky furrow, and it seemed exactly that: a furtive garden in a fold of stone.

 

How strange it felt, to sit there so openly, my feet exposed. A lifetime of hiding them had made me self-conscious to the point of neurosis. But there was no reason to hide my feet from these people.

 

My Review:

 

The Ancestor was a bracing and chilling tale of an epic legacy of dark secrets and unknown wealth hidden in the ice and snow.   While not my typical read, I was quickly pulled into an oddly captivating vortex of unnerving and itchy intrigue. It was easy to follow, highly creative, monstrously eerie, and the most distressing part was that it was conceivably plausible. Despite feeling edgy, unsettled, and nibbling on my cuticles – I was enslaved by my curiosity and unable to put my Kindle down.

The narrative was richly textured, cunningly conceived, and maddeningly paced. I was engrossed and conflicted while I cycled between feeling appalled and entranced.   To illustrate Ms. Trussoni’s exceptional word voodoo, I was mentally frostbitten by her descriptive depictions of the harsh Alpine weather that entrenched the beset characters while in reality, I was barefoot, clad in shorts, and comfortably lounging with an open window and ceiling fan on a balmy day in the tropics. She has mad skills.

I was provided with a review copy of this oddly compelling tale by TLC Book Tours and HarperCollins.

About the Author

Danielle Trussoni is the New York Times, USA Today, and Sunday Times Top Ten bestselling author of the supernatural thrillers Angelology and Angelopolis. She currently writes the Horror column for the New York Times Book Review and has recently served as a jurist for the Pulitzer Prize in Fiction. Trussoni holds an MFA in Fiction from the prestigious Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where she won the Michener-Copernicus Society of America award. Her books have been translated into over thirty languages. She lives in the Hudson River Valley with her family and her pug Fly.

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

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Book Review: The Silent Treatment by Abbie Greaves

The Silent Treatment
by Abbie Greaves

HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Hardcover: 304 pages

 Publisher: William Morrow (April 7, 2020)

For readers of The Light We Lost and Me Before You, a life-affirming, deeply moving story about lies, loss and a love that is louder than words.

“The premise alone had me, but The Silent Treatment itself is just heartrendingly lovely. It’s beautiful, so moving and clever. I truly adored it.”   — Josie Silver, #1 New York Times bestselling author of One Day in December

A lifetime together.
Six months of silence.
One last chance.

By all appearances, Frank and Maggie share a happy, loving marriage. But for the past six months, they have not spoken. Not a sentence, not a single word. Maggie isn’t sure what, exactly, provoked Frank’s silence, though she has a few ideas.

Day after day, they have eaten meals together and slept in the same bed in an increasingly uncomfortable silence that has become, for Maggie, deafening.

Then Frank finds Maggie collapsed in the kitchen, unconscious, an empty package of sleeping pills on the table. Rushed to the hospital, she is placed in a medically induced coma while the doctors assess the damage.

If she regains consciousness, Maggie may never be the same. Though he is overwhelmed at the thought of losing his wife, will Frank be able to find his voice once again—and explain his withdrawal—or is it too late?

“A remarkably assured debut which doesn’t go where you expect it to go. I very much look forward to seeing what she writes next.” — Jojo Moyes, #1 New York Times bestselling author

 

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My Rating:

Favorite Quote:

 

I have no intention of being cruel, really I don’t, I never do. The sad reality is that often our behavior will do it for us, unwilled and unwilling. My silence is the very best example.

My Review:

 

Never have I read prose so elegantly detailed with an uncommon poignancy of tiny movements that continually plucked at my heartstrings while taunting my inquisitive nature to an unbearable level. The characters were devastatingly fractured, highly idiosyncratic, and oddly captivating.   Narrated from a dual POV in two separate sections, each was evocatively written in an arresting style that held me transfixed to my Kindle while growing increasingly fretful and taut with tension. Ms. Greaves is a crafty and cunning wordsmith who kept me ensnared and suspended in an eager and avid state of curiosity. I was engaged, engrossed, and intrigued by the characters, their history, and the prickly and precarious unfolding story of their guarded present. And all this from a debut author. I am in complete and utter awe.

I was provided with a review copy of this insightfully observant book by TLC Book Tours and HarperCollins.
 

About the Author

Abbie Greaves studied English Literature at Cambridge University. She worked in publishing for three years before leaving to focus on her writing. She now lives in Edinburgh, Scotland. The Silent Treatment is her first novel.

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

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Book Review: My Greek Island Summer by Mandy Baggot

My Greek Island Summer
by Mandy Baggot

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA /

 B&N / GP / Kobo

Two weeks. One unforgettable trip to Corfu. A chance to change her life.

Becky Rose has just landed her dream job house-sitting at a top-end villa on the island of Corfu. What could be better than two weeks laying by an infinity pool overlooking the gorgeous Ionian waters while mending her broken heart.

Elias Mardas is traveling back to Corfu on business whilst dealing with his own personal demons. Late arriving in Athens, Becky and Elias have to spend a night in the Greek capital. When they have to emergency land in Kefalonia, Becky’s got to decide whether to suck up the adventure and this gorgeous companion she seems to have been thrown together with or panic about when she’s going to arrive at Corfu…

Finally reaching the beautiful island, Becky is happy to put Elias behind her and get on with her adventure. Until he turns up at the villa…

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

He could imagine the raised eyes in the village… the not-so-whispered gossip of the village’s president like a rally bullhorn. Greek men didn’t get left like that. Greek men absolutely never got left for a woman… if it didn’t happen in mythology it didn’t exist.

 

Are you a prostitute? You know, not one of those ones who stand on street corners wearing clothes that look like the 1980s threw up all over them. I mean one of the ones who suck off politicians and pop stars in classy hotels… Oh my God! I guessed it right, didn’t I?! Well, you’re a dark horse. I didn’t really have you pegged for that when you said you hadn’t ever had sex in a plane toilet.

 

‘The army?’ Petra said, screwing up her face as if ‘the army’ was gone-off chicken no longer fit for human consumption. ‘To be honest the sex trade was more believable. What are you? A captain or something? Sitting behind a desk all day planning assaults?’

 

Only me. My mother will tell you that as I was ten pounds in weight and it felt like she was evacuating a watermelon. There was no way she was going to repeat the experience… You laugh at me? Being a child on my own growing up. No one to play with because my head was too large?… You are now thinking of me with a watermelon for a head, are you not?

 

My Review:

 

At five-hundred-twenty-eight pages, this slowly developing story was cleverly interwoven with humorous yet emotive subplots and secondary story threads that provided vibrant strokes of color and a great deal of texture to the uniquely quirky and oddly captivating characters. I was pleasantly surprised how all the sneakily placed little tidbits skillfully merged together at the end for my highly prized HEA. I smirked, giggle-snorted, and gasped my way through this gastronomical delight, which teased and taunted my various appetites and was rather destructive to my dieting efforts – but any excuse will do 😉

About the Author

Mandy Baggot is an international bestselling and award-winning romance writer. The winner of the Innovation in Romantic Fiction award at the UK’s Festival of Romance, her romantic comedy novel, One Wish in Manhattan, was also shortlisted for the Romantic Novelists’ Association Romantic Comedy Novel of the Year award in 2016. Mandy’s books have so far been translated into German, Italian, Czech, and Hungarian. Mandy loves the Greek island of Corfu, white wine, country music, and handbags. Also a singer, she has taken part in ITV1’s Who Dares Sings and The X-Factor. Mandy is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and the Society of Authors and lives near Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK with her husband and two daughters.

Follow Aria

Website: www.ariafiction.com

Twitter: @aria_fiction

Facebook: @ariafiction

Instagram: @ariafiction

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Book Review: One Moment Please by Amy Daws

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the doctor is in

That awkward moment when an ER doctor has to inform you that you’re pregnant…with his baby. Download Now

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That awkward moment when an ER doctor has to inform you that you’re pregnant…with his baby.

Three things Lynsey Jones knows about the hot doctor: he’s grouchy, an arrogant jerk, and strangely obsessed with pie.

Three things Dr. Josh Richardson knows: he doesn’t talk about his past, he doesn’t do relationships and the crazy girl in the hospital cafeteria who ate a fistful of French silk pie…is annoyingly irresistible.

After a chance meetup at a bar and a heated cab ride together, things come to a head and now instead of hating each other, they’re horizontal in a bed.

Three months later, the weird cafeteria stalker who crept out of Josh’s house like a thief in the night, winds up as his patient in the ER after her Tinder date from hell.

The doctor is prepared to keep it cool and professional. That is until her bloodwork reveals she’s pregnant.

What really throws him for a loop…is the surprise baby…is his.

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What happens when the seriously hot and growly ER doctor who kicked you out of a hospital cafeteria turns into an epic one-night-stand? Well, for starters, a surprise pregnancy. Dr. Josh Richardson never wanted a family, but Lynsey’s about to give him one. And if they have any hope of co-parenting, they need to learn how to co-habituate…and try not to kill or kiss each other in the process.

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My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

The closest I’ve come to sparks flying at my writing hangout was when an elderly man’s portable oxygen tubes fell off his face while he was reaching for a piece of pie. I bent over to pick them up for him, and when I attempted to hand them over, our fingers brushed, and I felt a gust of air blow right between my legs. The moment was ruined when I looked down to see that I had yanked the tubes out of the tank, and it was blowing fresh O2 right in my special place.

 

“Glad to see your narcissism is still fully intact, Dr. Dick,” she grumbles under her breath. “It’d be a shame if you debunked my theory that you were hatched from a pod.”

 

Oh, my God, I was drinking Birds and Bees cocktails that night. No wonder I got knocked up. My parents never sat me down to tell me about the birds and the bees. They just always said Jesus was watching.

  

My Review:

 

Amy Daws continues to delight and amuse with yet another clever installment to her Wait With Me series, which have all been massively entertaining and brimming with sassy and saucy humor while her endearing characters are scorching the sheets.   Crisply written in my favorite dual POV, I eagerly absorbed this humorous yet emotive and well-crafted tale featuring a fated couple who went from argumentative bickering to being a fire hazard with their heat and magnetic chemistry.   I adored them and also learned a new phrase when a consult with Mr. Google was required for “elevator pitch.”

 

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binge the series

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If you’re looking for laughs…this series of waiting room meet cutes is the perfect escape. Binge these standalones in Kindle Unlimited in preparation for April 9 release!

Wait With Me
(recently optioned for film by Passionflix)
When romance novelist, Kate Smith, finds her long lost writing mojo in the customer waiting area of a tire store, the complimentary coffee isn’t the only thing that’s hot. But sexy mechanic, Miles Hudson, is just up for a friendly test-drive of her new book idea.
At least, that was the agreement…
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Next In Line
What happens when the cute mountain man you made out within an ice fishing shack turns out to be your brother’s best friend?


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Check out Amy’s Facebook page for an awesome giveaway!

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Amy Daws is an Amazon Top 25 bestselling author of sexy, contemporary romance novels. She enjoys writing love stories that take place in America, as well as across the pond in England. When Amy is not writing in a tire shop waiting room, she’s watching Gilmore Girls, or singing karaoke in the living room with her daughter while Daddy smiles awkwardly from a distance. For more of Amy’s work, visit: http://www.amydawsauthor.com

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Book Review: Why It’s Real by S. Moose & C.A. Harms

Why It’s Real
by S. Moose & C.A. Harms

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA 

No matter how hard you try to put your past behind you, it always manages to catch up with you and make you question your decisions. Those unexpected events that leave you feeling as though there’s nowhere to turn, nothing can change the outcome.

Aimee’s life hasn’t always been easy. She made a choice a long time ago to make a difference. She wanted to prove to those who doubted her that she was strong and could survive anything. The youngest in her firm, she was made partner, and her life was exactly as she wanted it to be.
Or was it?

Remy was strong and confident. He lived a life most men would die for. Dominating the corporate world during the day and partying with socialites at night, he had everything he needed.
Or so he thought.

One changing moment.
One drastic decision.

Together, would they truly be able to discover why it’s real?

My Rating:

Favorite Quote:

 

I’m worried. A man packing a woman’s bag with what he feels is deemed necessary can only lead to disaster.

 

My Review:

 

I struggled, and valiantly I might add, but this story just wasn’t my cup of Darjeeling as it was a full-on angst fest with painful and OTT wallowing, and angst is not, and will never be, my friend. As such, the first 30% was bordering on torture, but that was nothing compared to the tragedies that later befell the deeply mired characters and tossed the story into a listless stall. Sigh, the storylines were heaving with devastation, loss, family dysfunction, depression, and keening grief. However, I was rewarded for making it to the end as the satisfying HEA that was all the sweeter.

 

About The Authors

S. Moose is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author of new adult romance. She writes emotional and romantic stories that will make you swoon, cry, yell, laugh, and love.

When she is not writing you can find her hanging out with her family, and friends, getting lost in romantic books and indulging in Starbuck lattes.

Contact Stephanie with SBR Media for rights information: Stephanie@SBRmedia.com

To keep up with the latest from S. Moose be sure to visit her social media sites:
Website: smooseauthor.com
Facebook: facebook.com/S.Mooseauthor
Twitter: twitter.com/S_Moose060912
Instagram: instagram.com/s_moose0609
Bookbub: bookbub.com/profile/s-moose
Newsletter: eepurl.com/2Gm5b

 

 

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: Snowbound Squeeze (Ponderosa Resort Romantic Comedies #8) by Tawna Fenske

 by Tawna Fenske

Amazon US / UK / CA / AU / B&N

 

Gable Judson needs a hideout. A safe place to escape the shambles of his Hollywood life. When college pal James Bracelyn offers a secret cabin an hour from Ponderosa Resort, Gable’s got the car pointed toward Oregon faster than paparazzi pouncing on a nip slip.

Gretchen Laslo needs a retreat. Not just to work on her Ph.D. dissertation, but to flee the messy breakup that left her inner critic shouting “duh, girl.” Meeting sexy, mysterious Gabe the night before she leaves is just another reminder to stay focused on her brain, because her heart’s kind of a dumbass.

When a Bracelyn family mix-up collides with the worst storm to hit Central Oregon in years, Gretchen and Gable end up accidental roommates. Roommates without internet or TV or—God forbid—an ice cream maker. With both hiding secrets they’d rather not reveal, whatever will they do to pass the long winter nights?

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

He looks like the product of a cloning experiment between a hot professor and an underwear model…

 

I nod at the bread machine tucked next to the fridge. “Well, Giancarlo made bread… I name all my household appliances. It makes me feel rich and exotic to say, ‘Giancarlo is home baking bread,’

 

The Sweary Coloring Book for Adults. “Your family’s Christmas presents beat the hell out of mine”

 

You’re the one who gets to decide. Holding on to betrayal is like swallowing poison and waiting for the other person to get sick.

 

My Review:

 

I adore Tawna Fenske’s irreverent and clever wit and deft comedic style with the same level of fanatical fervor as I do her vibrant, quirky, and highly endearing characters. Her agile storylines are easy to fall into and keep me smirking and fully engaged from beginning to end while also observantly and thoughtfully tapping on relevant real-world issues and concerns. I have reveled in each of the smartly plotted and keenly crafted installments in this series and am already eagerly anticipating the arrival of the next one. I do believe I am irrevocably and zealously addicted.

 

About the Author    

Website 

Amazon

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: New Year, New Guy by Angela Britnell

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New Year, New Guy
by Angela Britnell

 

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA / 

B&N / Kobo / GP/ Apple

 

Out with the old life, in with the new …

When Laura’s bride-to-be sister, Polly, organizes a surprise reunion for her fiancé and his long lost American friend, Laura grudgingly agrees to help keep the secret. And when the plain-spoken, larger-than-life Hunter McQueen steps off the bus in her rainy Devon town and only just squeezes into her tiny car, it confirms that Laura has made a big mistake in going along with her sister’s crazy plan.

But could the tall, handsome man with the Nashville drawl be just what reserved Laura Williams needs to shake up her life and start something new?

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

He was a perfect example of the theory that surgeons didn’t need a good bedside manner because their patients were generally asleep.

 

‘What time is your wedding overhaul session anyway?’ ‘Overhaul? You make Polly and I sound like a couple of old cars in need of a tune up.’

 

That’ll put a glow on your face and make the spa’s job much easier. You’ll need less make-up to fool people you’re not past your sell-by date yet.

 

Laura’s mouth gaped like a fish, although he wasn’t stupid enough to make that comparison out loud.

 

 My Review:

 

I was initially quite concerned I’d made a mistake with this book as I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to warm up to the main character of Laura, she seemed like the perfect example of a dried-up priggish snob who needed to save up for that all-important surgery to have the stick removed, and hers seemed to be so deeply embedded it could have been fatal.   Luckily her soon to be married sister placed a huge and oddly insightful wedding guest in her charge, and though he annoyed the uptight Laura to no end, he also intrigued her as well. His thoughtful and perceptive manner gradually thawed her iciness until the sparks could ignite.

This is my third time delving into Ms. Britnell’s wryly written work and I am quite taken with her amusing and vibrantly descriptive style as she manages to easily entertain my gray matter while smoothly slotting me into the sidelines of each scene. I was tucked in and part of the background yet could smell their perfume and charred attempts at meal preparation. Her storylines were engaging, easy to follow, and agilely managed to effortlessly yet thoughtfully tap on all the feels. I’m not sure how she does that but I’d like to have a ready supply of some of that on my shelf.

About the Author

Amazon
Goodreads
Website

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I was born in the beautiful county of Cornwall in southwestern England and grew up in a small village there. I return frequently to visit family and friends but especially to savor the cool rainy weather and hot tea. After school, I joined the Royal Navy and served for nearly six years. I held varying jobs from being the only woman in the staff of a sports center to arranging social engagements for the Captain of the base. My last assignment was to Denmark where I thought I would spend a wild two years in Copenhagen only to discover I was being sent to a NATO Headquarters in a quiet town on the Jutland Peninsula. I was only disappointed for a while as I met my own tall, dark, handsome stranger there – a US Naval Officer named Richard who became my husband.

I have always been a voracious reader, even at 5 years old my school reports show a keen interest in English and very little in math – some things never change! Although I enjoyed writing in school it wasn’t until 2001 that I was tempted to take a creative writing class at a local recreation center which has sparked my new career.

When I’m not busy writing I enjoy spending time with family and friends. I try to grow English flowers in the Tennessee heat and succeed some of the time. I belong to the wonderful Red Bandanas Writing Group, Jubilee Readers Book Club, and volunteer at my local library so you can see that words are important to me.

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Book Review: The New Guy by Kathryn Freeman

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The New Guy 
by Kathryn Freeman

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA / B&N

 

Sam Huxton doesn’t do one-night stands, especially not with men she’s just met! But the hot guy at the bar was hard to resist and their one night together is one she’ll never forget.

But one night is all they share – no names, no numbers, just some much-needed fun…

Until the same guy walks into Sam’s life the next day as her new employee.  Sam never mixes business with pleasure and makes it clear an office fling with Ryan is off-limits.  But after-hours…one thing can lead to another. Can Sam trust her heart and her business with the new guy?

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Then he peeked at him over his shades. ‘Admit it, big man. You’ve got a soft spot for me.’ ‘It’s soft all right,’ Ryan muttered, causing Lucas to burst into laughter.

 

I’ve got a bit of heartburn, that’s all. Probably the sausage sandwich I had for lunch from that mobile greasy spoon on the market. Haute cuisine it isn’t. More like haute coli.

 

 My Review:

 

This is my fourth time reading the clever arrangements of words of Kathryn Freeman and each time I pick one up, I aspire to read her entire backlist, I am enamored with her smooth and engaging writing style, wry humor, and perceptive insights. Her unique and quirky characters tend to be hard-working and admirable yet flawed, struggling, and more than a bit short-sighted at times while still more enjoyable than most people I know. I adored this couple as they traversed the challenging minefield of working together during the day while secretly doing the slap and tickle after-hours. They smoothed and soothed each other’s damaged psyches.

In addition to providing me with an entertaining diversion, Ms. Freeman also added to my Brit Word and Phrases list with lampin – Midlands-speak for a beating, sussed – UK slang for understood or figured out, and bobby dazzler – a person who is considered remarkable or excellent in some way. As such, I’ve astutely sussed Ms. Freeman to be a complete bobby dazzler and will hand out a serious lampin to anyone who dares dis my gal.  

About the Author

A former pharmacist, I’m now a medical writer who also writes romance. Some days a racing heart is a medical condition, others it’s the reaction to a hunky hero.

With a husband who asks every Valentine’s Day whether he has to buy a card (yes, he does), any romance is all in my head. Then again, his unstinting support of my career change proves love isn’t always about hearts and flowers – and heroes come in many disguises.

Social Media Links 

Website:  http://kathrynfreeman.co.uk

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

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/KathrynFreeman1

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Book Review: THE SEA GLASS COTTAGE by RaeAnne Thayne

THE SEA GLASS COTTAGE
by RaeAnne Thayne

ISBN: 9781335045164

Publication Date: 3/17/2020

Publisher: HQN Books

Harlequin  / Indiebound  / Amazon / Barnes & Noble  /

Books-A-Million / Target / Walmart / Google / iBooks / Kobo

From the New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne comes a brand-new novel for fans of Debbie Macomber and Susan Wiggs. RaeAnne Thayne tells the story of an emotional homecoming that brings hope and healing to three generations of women.

The life Olivia Harper always dreamed of isn’t so dreamy these days. The 16-hour workdays are unfulfilling and so are things with her on-again, off-again boyfriend. But when she hears that her estranged mother, Juliet, has been seriously injured in a car accident, Liv has no choice but to pack up her life and head home to beautiful Cape Sanctuary on the Northern California coast.

It’s just for a few months—that’s what Liv keeps telling herself. But the closer she gets to Cape Sanctuary, the painful memories start flooding back: Natalie, her vibrant, passionate older sister who downward-spiraled into addiction. The fights with her mother who enabled her sister at every turn. The overdose that took Natalie, leaving her now-teenaged daughter, Caitlin, an orphan.

As Liv tries to balance her own needs with those of her injured mother and an obstinate, resentful fifteen-year-old, it becomes clear that all three Harper women have been keeping heartbreaking secrets from one another. And as those secrets are revealed, Liv, Juliet, and Caitlin will see that it’s never too late—or too early—to heal family wounds and find forgiveness.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

… she had seemed jumpier than a bag full of frogs.

 

Don’t make any jokes, but I really did fall and couldn’t get back up.

 

We’re all afraid, Olivia… You can’t make it through life without it. The trick is figuring out that the thing you need is just on the other side of that fear. The only way you can reach it is by going right through the center of it.

 

 My Review:

 

While the premise of the story was interesting and topical, I struggled with this book and not that the writing wasn’t up to par, as the author’s writing style was easy to follow. My issue is more to do with my personal preference as high angst and constant discord just isn’t my jam, and this tale was heavily loaded with both internal and interpersonal conflicts as well as annoyingly stubborn characters. The storylines were relevant and relatable yet developed ever so slowly with considerable repetition and retreading of the five characters’ inner turmoil and protracted grief, which had me tapping my little foot while waiting for the tale to progress and the storylines to advance. It was at the 90% mark when all systems finally hit their boiling point and – Whoa Nelly! The secrets were uncovered and feelings were revealed at a rather furious and frantic rate as I thankfully hurdled toward that highly prized HEA conclusion.

About the Author

Author Website

Twitter: @RaeAnneThayne

Facebook: AuthorRaeAnneThayne

Instagram: @RaeAnneThayne

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/116118.RaeAnne_Thayne

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New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne finds inspiration in the beautiful northern Utah mountains where she lives with her family. Her books have won numerous honors, including six RITA Award nominations from Romance Writers of America and Career Achievement and Romance Pioneer awards from RT Book Reviews. She loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website at www.raeannethayne.com.