Book Review: Rescue Me (A Frazier Falls Novel) by Kelly Collins

 

Rescue Me
 (A Frazier Falls Novel)
by Kelly Collins

 

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA 

 

Her company is failing. His plan could save it. Will their partnership move from business to pleasure?
Carla “Carl” Stevenson takes a special joy in running the local timber mill. But when the economy takes a downturn, selling the family business may be her only heartbreaking option. After a prospective buyer takes an interest, she’s horrified by his plans to raze the Frazier forest to make room for cheap cattle farming. To protect her home, she reluctantly turns to the town’s most notorious player…Owen Cooper can’t believe Carl’s mill is for sale. But the construction company owner is even more shocked that “Carl” is actually a beautiful woman. Moved by feelings he never saw coming, Owen drafts an ambitious plan to save the mill owner’s livelihood… and maybe even win her heart.

Rallying their community around the audacious idea, Owen and Carl find their fates delightfully intertwined. But both their chemistry and the project hang in the balance when he suddenly walks away…

With the whole town at stake, will Carl and Owen save the mill and find their way to true love?

Rescue Me is the heartwarming first novel in the Frazier Falls romance series. If you like strong women, honorable men, and small-town love, then you’ll adore Kelly Collins’ charming tale.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

“God, you’re no fun,” Eli complained. “You’re like Dad in better clothes.”

 

“… my manners run too deeply for me to abandon them.” I always had this fear that my mother had some connection to the gods, and showing a lack of respect would earn me a heavenly lightning bolt straight to my ass.

 

John told me I’d have to kiss a lot of frogs to find a prince, but you’re the wartiest toad I’ve ever met.

 

I was sounding like our father, who used to tell us to think with our brains, not sit on them, which was a nice way of telling us to pull our heads out of our asses.

 

She pretended to look pained. “Look, there goes my self-esteem. Never again will I put myself out there. I’ll die a spinster.”

 

There was a time I thought giving my heart to a woman was suicide, but looking at her made me realize that death by Carla might be worth it.

 

A long time ago my mother gave me the best bit of wisdom a man in love could receive when she told me, you don’t marry someone you can live with. You marry the person you can’t live without.

 

My Review:

 

I adore Kelly Collin’s sweet and sexy small-town romances. Rescue Me starts a new series with a tie-in to her beloved Aspen Cove series, which I will never get enough of and hope she continues into perpetuity. The engaging storylines were relevant, easy to follow, laced with humor, and cast with distinctive yet immediately likable and assessable primary and secondary characters. I’m rubbing my hands together in anticipation of a return visit.

ABOUT KELLY COLLINS   

 

  Goodreads  / Website  / Amazon /

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: Zapata by Harper McDavid

Zapata

by Harper McDavid

AmazonUS / UK / CA / AU / 

B&N / IndieBound

 Paperback: 356 pages
Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing (September 25, 2019)

When engineer Avery McAndrews is offered a last-minute assignment to the rough and tumble border town of Zapata, Texas, she doesn’t think twice. Used to pushing past stereotypes, she’s sure this project will earn the long-awaited promotion.

Instead, she’s thrown in the crossfire between warring drug cartels and soon discovers that her captor, Javier Ramos, is more than just a power hungry drug lord. He’s crazy.

As lead attorney for the cartel, it’s Alejandro DeLeon’s job to manage Javier. But this time, Javier’s cruelty reaches epic proportions, and Alejandro finds himself wanting to risk everything to save Avery.

Running for their lives with Mexico’s underworld at their heels, Avery and Alejandro discover unintended and intensifying emotions, feelings neither sought and neither seem prepared to control…

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Gaudy was the second thing that came to mind. First was no way. No way was she spending a night in this room. Her skin itched just looking at it. She shot Alejandro a dirty look in the mirror headboard designed to resemble a Mayan temple. The base of the temple was a collection of greasy imprints from the heads of previous guests. The mattress slumped woefully in the middle. Any more sag and the thing could be mistaken for a canoe.

 

… she’d been rejected. She hated it. Rejection was agonizing hell. It made legends out of poets and filled psychology textbooks.

  

My Review:

 

I’m always astounded when a debut author produces a polished and well-honed tale; color me flabbergasted, as this is one of those times.   The storylines were uniquely intriguing, highly eventful, and advanced at an intermittent pace with rather unexpected bursts of activity, gunfire, daring and narrow escapes, cringe-worthy threats, brutal violence, kidnapping, betrayals, a blossoming romance with no future, and considerable subterfuge and duplicity on every level.

 

I was quickly sucked into Avery’s perilous vortex and was right there with her in the heat and grit, taut with tension. No one seemed at all trustworthy while those who should have been, weren’t; which only left the naïve yet feisty main character of Avery with the desperate and risky choice of depending on someone who shouldn’t have been, and waiting for the other shoe to drop.

 

The adrenalin and activity levels were often high with a large cast of compelling yet slippery and tersely spoken characters who were edgy and tightly wound, which kept ratcheting up that ever-present sense of jeopardy and danger lurking around every corner. The plot was complex, multi-layered, and loaded with intriguing and unusual situations as well as confounding and disheartening obstacles such as language barriers, corruption at every level, a large bounty, unstable yet powerful and well-connected criminals, significant injuries, and Avery’s conflicted feelings and perplexity over the role and motivation of the person helping her and her bewildering feelings toward him – was he her savior or another level of captor. I wasn’t sure about him myself and seemed unable to put my Kindle down until I knew for sure.

About the Author

As a child, Harper McDavid watched her mother ride the rollercoaster of writing books, swearing she’d never do it herself. But some things are just hardwired, and luckily for Harper the world has moved on beyond typewriters and ten-pound manuscripts.

Harper’s gritty romantic suspense incorporates her own background in science and engineering and work experience along the border. The result is a collection of brainy hard hat-wearing heroines that occasionally swap out their coveralls for the little black dress.

Harper is the mother of three daughters and lives in the foothills of Colorado with her husband, two dogs, and a fat cat. Her free time is spent traveling the world in search of that next story and perusing her local library for funny book covers.

Find out more about Harper at her website, and connect with her on InstagramTwitter, and Facebook.

Book Review: Coming Home to Merriment Bay – Part Four – Starry Skies by Emily Harvale

 

 Coming Home to Merriment Bay 

Part Four – Starry Skies

by Emily Harvale

 

Amazon US / UK / AU CA 

 

Part Four of this heartwarming four-part serial about finding the strength to put the past behind you and to reach out for a future filled with happiness and love.

Cat is reeling from the unexpected events of Christmas and as Merriment Bay prepares to toast in the New Year, she’s facing choices she never thought she’d have to make. Her head and her heart are pulling her in very different directions.

Bailey is sitting by Viola’s bedside, regaling everyone with tales from the past but is there any chance he’ll get to see a smile on the lips of the woman he still loves?

Having realized she has made mistakes, will Mary finally tell Cat what she really wants to know?

And what will the New Year bring for Kyra? Will she fulfill the plans she made before she came to Merriment Bay?

When distressing events end more than one person’s dream, can Cat find the strength to fight for the love she deserves? Sometimes it takes a crisis to make someone realize what they truly want. And Cat has decided what – and who – that really is. But is she too late?

 

My Rating:

My Review:

 

I finally know the secret, that clever tease Emily Harvale had enticed, baited, and taunted me with her intriguing and classified paternity issues and cliffhangers. Not only had she tickled my curiosity and continued to taunt, tantalize, and nettle me for three more installments; she also had me completely fooled as my theory was in error, thank goodness as it would have been a bit icky.   I sighed contentedly after concluding this satisfying HEA with a vexing itch mercifully scratched.

 

About the Author

Emily writes novels, novellas and short stories about friendship, family and falling in love. She loves a happy ending but knows that life doesn’t always go to plan. Her stories are sure to bring a smile to your face and a warmth to your heart.

Emily loves to connect with her readers and has a readers’ group in which many have become good friends. To catch up with Emily, find out about the group, or connect with her on social media, go to her website at www.emilyharvale.com.

Having lived and worked in London for several years, Emily returned to her home town of Hastings where she now writes full-time. She’s a member of the SoA and the RWA, an Amazon bestseller and a Kindle All Star. When not writing, she can be found enjoying the stunning East Sussex coast and countryside, or in a wine bar with friends, discussing life, love and the latest TV shows. Chocolate cake is often eaten. She dislikes housework almost as much as she dislikes anchovies – and will do anything to avoid both. Emily has two mischievous rescue cats that like to sprawl across her keyboard, regardless of whether Emily is typing on it, or not.

Social Media Links

https://www.facebook.com/emilyharvalewriter

https://www.twitter.com/emilyharvale

https://www.instagram.com/emilyharvale

 

Book Review: THE LAST AFFAIR by Margot Hunt

THE LAST AFFAIR

by Margot Hunt

 

 

Amazon  US / UK / AU / CA / 

B&N / Kobo / Google / 

Walmart / Target / Apple

 

ISBN: 9780778309222

Publication Date: November 26, 2019

Publisher: MIRA BOOKS

Gwen Landon—poster woman for perfect wife, mother, and suburban bliss—is found brutally bludgeoned to death behind her Floridian McMansion. Beautiful and beloved by her community, Gwen makes an unlikely victim. But just a scratch below the surface of her perfectly curated world reveals one far more sinister. When looking back over the six months leading up to her death, the question of, “who would do this?” quickly shifts to, “who wouldn’t?”

Commercially successful food blogger and mother of three, Nora Holliday never imagined she would have the nerve, let alone time, to get involved in an affair. Trapped in an unhappy marriage, she does whatever it takes to keep it all together. But when Nora runs into Gwen Landon’s husband at a hotel in Orlando, his easy kindness and warmth prove too tempting to resist. As their affair spirals dangerously out of control, it seems things can’t get more complicated—until Gwen turns up dead.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

It was the very picture of suburban domestic bliss. It could have been the set for a commercial advertising anything from laundry detergent to allergy medicine… except for the dead body.

 

Even though Josh didn’t touch her or make a single inappropriate comment, there was an energy between them. It shimmered there, almost like a separate entity, a third party sitting at the table with them.

 

They’re very sporty. In fact, they own one of those CrossFit places where people go and torture themselves flipping tractor tires and whatnot, and the women all end up looking like linebackers.

 

She’s as deep as a puddle and about as interesting. She’s not the kind of person you ruin your life over.

 

Nora is the kind of person who always does the right thing. It’s deeply important to her. It’s like she wants to live in a world of straight lines and squared corners.

 

I thought his crippling shyness was adorable, and evidence that he was so in love with me, it rendered him speechless. It was only later I realized that he simply didn’t have anything to say.

 

My Review:

 

This marks my third time enjoying the nimbly written works of Margot Hunt, who appears to possess quite a clever and impressive toolkit of words and perceptive observational skills, as well as a big honking brain. The story begins with a dead body, and we aren’t informed of the culprit of the deadly deed until the last few pages. I had spun and discarded various theories while I made my way through this slowly building and deftly penned tale of betrayal, family tension, addiction, personality disorders, and spiteful vengeance; with characters that became incrementally darker and increasingly twisted as the storylines and threads unfurled in all directions. Despite my best efforts, I did not foresee this ending in my calculations and I found the last few pages to be the most chilling of all. Margot Hunt has more than earned my undying respect for her wordcraft, as well as a bit of fear.

About the Author

TWITTER: @HuntAuthor

FB: @AuthorMargotHunt

Insta:@margot_hunt

Goodreads

 Margot Hunt is a critically acclaimed author of psychological suspense. Her work has been praised by Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist and Kirkus Reviews.

Book Review: Shelf Awareness by Katie Ashley

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Shelf Awareness

by Katie Ashley

Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/33YjLhr

Amazon Worldwide:

 http://mybook.to/ShelfAwarness

“Don’t miss this hilarious and sweet adventure in the Green Valley Library series. Five Stars!”–Aleatha Romig, New York Times bestselling author

Shelf Awareness, an all-new hilarious romantic comedy from New York Times bestselling author Katie Ashley is available now!

 

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After catching her husband in a compromising position, Finley Granger finds herself in a new hell: reentering the dating world. When she moves in with her grandmother, her great-aunt, and their best friend, Finley finds herself surrounded by a trio of well-meaning yet bumbling matchmakers.

In spite of their efforts, Finley only has eyes for one person, and that’s Zeke Masters—the 6’4”, impossibly built, and ridiculously good-looking new man in town. Along with her nether regions, Finley’s journalistic spidey-senses tingle as to why he’s on sabbatical from Seattle. Is he on the lam or escaping a bad breakup? What’s his story?!?!

As Finley finds herself reluctantly drawn to the gorgeous IT guy, she can’t help but wonder: should she indulge in a rebound tryst with the mysterious Zeke, or has she finally met her match?

‘Shelf Awareness’ is a full-length contemporary romantic comedy, can be read as a standalone, and is book #4 in the Green Valley Library series, Green Valley World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

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Except

As Zeke worked on uploading the census records, I hoisted one of the many boxes from the Henderson’s donation onto the table. It kicked up an epic dust cloud. I reached inside to pluck out one of the moldering tomes of historical literature. Wrinkling my nose, I fought the urge to sneeze. Instead, I cleared my throat. When it still felt like I had swallowed a wad of sawdust, I coughed. And that was my grievous mistake.

 

The force of the cough dislodged the Ben Wa ball, sending it into an epic downward dive. Yes, ladies and gentlemen the Ben Wa ball had left the building. Whirling away from Zeke, I used my hand to try an inconspicuous crotch shuffle to send the ball back to its point of origin. What happened next was truly against the laws of motion. Because the universe apparently hated me, the ball escaped the confines of my thong. As it started its descent down my thigh, I squeaked and clamped my knees together.

 

“Are you all right?” Zeke asked behind me.

 

I threw a glance at him over my shoulder. “Uh, yeah, I . . .” Okay, I had no idea how I was going to get out of this one. It wasn’t like I could say, “Well, here’s the thing. The Ben Wa ball I was using to strengthen my pelvic floor muscles to keep my vagina healthy for the D just slipped out and is about to make a very unhappy trail down my leg.”

 

“I think a bug bit me or something.”

 

“Oh no. Want me to take a look?”

 

“No!” When Zeke’s eyes widened at my outburst, I said, “Sorry. I’m okay.”

 

“If you’re sure.”

 

“Totally.”

 

“I think I might’ve found something interesting for your research.”

 

The only thing I was interested in at the moment was getting the Ben Wa ball out of my pants without Zeke seeing it. “Oh?”

 

“I definitely see some Native American female names.”

 

Damn him for being enthusiastic about my research. The last thing I wanted to do was walk the couple of steps back over to him while trying to keep a Ben Wa ball from rolling down my pants leg. Since I couldn’t see any other way out of it, I nodded. Gritting my teeth, I started shuffling over to him.

 

When I started lurching like Frankenstein’s monster, Zeke tilted his head curiously at me. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

 

“Yep. Totally fine,” I muttered.

 

Just as I reached his chair, my knee shifted because of what I imagined was panic sweat overtaking me. As the ball became dislodged, I bit down on my lip to keep from squealing again. There was no saving the ball now or my humiliation for that matter.

 

As soon as it plopped onto my shoe, I flung my foot, sending it ricocheting into the desk. Of course, it’s size caused it to make a tremendous ching-ching noise, which in turn caused Zeke to rip his attention away from the screen. “What was that?”

 

“What was what?” I questioned innocently.

 

He furrowed his brows at me. “You didn’t hear that noise?”

 

“Uh, no.” Plastering a smile on my face, I said, “I’m sorry. I was just so into what you were saying.”

 

Ignoring my response, Zeke quickly assessed the area around us. After I’d flung the ball away, it had come to a rest to the right of his desk chair. When he bent over to examine the ball, I inwardly began screaming noooooo while at the same time cursing Estelle for even bringing the Ben Wa ball into my orbit.

 

Since the universe hadn’t tortured me quite enough yet, Zeke picked up the ball. “Interesting,” he murmured as he twisted it between his fingers.

 

I decided it was best to play absolutely and completely clueless in this situation. “What is it?” Silently, I prayed he wouldn’t respond with, “It looks like one of those sex balls you shove up your cooch.”

 

“I don’t know. Maybe a part off one of the desks or chairs. I should probably give it to maintenance, so they can check all the furniture in here.”

 

Oh hell no. Without a second thought, I snatched the ball out of his hands. Since I did it rather abruptly, Zeke’s surprise was apparent on his face. Waving my free hand dismissively, I said, “Don’t bother yourself with that. I’ll take it to them.”

 

“Thanks, Finley.”

 

After wheezing out a breath, I replied, “You’re welcome.” I jerked my thumb over my shoulder. “I’ll go do that right now.”

 

I didn’t bother waiting for Zeke to reply. Instead, I power walked right out of the history room. I’m sure if he was watching me he would have been puzzled at my miraculous recovery, considering I’d been limping earlier.

 

At the first trash can I could find, I deposited the Ben Wa ball. It seemed abundantly clear that neither I nor my vagina were quite ready to handle the responsibility.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

It was after watching one of my favorites, Waiting to Exhale, that I had a breakthrough. Sure, one might say rounding up your husband’s clothes to cut the crotches out of them was more of a breakdown than a breakthrough, but I didn’t care. I had a purpose.

 

“GramBea, while I might have an English degree, I’m a journalist and an editor, not a librarian.” In my mind, I couldn’t imagine a more depressing prospect. Nothing screams spinster like a librarian. I could literally feel my vagina shriveling at the sexless years ahead of it. Next, GramBea would be suggesting I go with her to The Beauty Mark to get my hair teased before joining her for shuffleboard.

 

Oh, no. There it was. The opening of the ex-files. I’m pretty sure bringing up the ex on a date was some sort of faux pas. Although I could have told the waitress to nix the wine out of respect for Marcus and his pain, I decided against it. My sixth sense told me I was going to need all the alcohol I could get.

 

Considering Estelle’s profession, I couldn’t imagine what kind of man she would come up with. Probably one who was vegan, wore sandals, and considered placing crystals on my body as foreplay.

 

My mouth gaped open. I glanced around waiting for the impending apocalypse brought on by Dot using the word hussy.

 

 My Review:

 

This was a fun read and my first outing with the delightful Katie Ashley and I was enamored with her naughty wit, clever humor, and oddly beguiling characters. I adored the gentle giant of Zeke most of all. But I never would have imagined three eighty-something women would be providing a considerable share of the levity and comic relief, but they were exceptionally keen octogenarians and gifted with purse skills – think Golden Girls but in small-town Tennessee. Ms. Ashley is a wily minx.

 

Written in the first person POV of a painfully betrayed and heading for divorce thirty-year-old woman the narrative sang with levity, humorous inner musings, volcanic sensuality, and highly amusing observations. Even Finley’s more painful insights came with humorous notes. I frequently smirked and was pleasantly engaged and well entertained throughout.

About the Author

Katie Ashley is a New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon Top Five Best-Selling author of both Indie and Traditionally published books. She lives outside of Atlanta, Georgia with her daughter, Olivia, her two rescue dogs named for Disney Princesses, Belle & Elsa, an out-numbered cat, Harry Potter, and one Betta fish. She has a slight obsession with Pinterest, The Golden Girls, Shakespeare, Harry Potter, and Star Wars.

Connect with Katie Ashley

Facebook: http://bit.ly/2kuMzMP

Twitter: http://bit.ly/2m3rWrH

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2kxkPqK

Instagram: http://bit.ly/2klaIWg

Website: http://bit.ly/2lXWIlu

Connect with Smartypants Romance

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Book Review: Coming Home to Merriment Bay -Part Three – Christmas by Emily Harvale

Coming Home to Merriment Bay

Part Three – Christmas

by Emily Harvale

 

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA 

 

Part Three of this heartwarming four-part serial about finding the strength to put the past behind you and to reach out for a future filled with happiness and love.

Cat and Kyra have finally traced the man in the photo they found in Viola’s trunk – thanks to Amias. But Bailey Mitchell lives thousands of miles away and is almost ninety-eight, so meeting him in person is never going to happen. Which is just as well. Exchanging Christmas cards and chatting on social media leads to revelations Cat had not expected.

At least Christmas is looking promising. It may be freezing outside but things have definitely thawed between Cat and her mum, Mary. They’re actually getting on, especially now that Mary is dating Jeremy Stone, the builder working on Viola’s house.

Cat’s also hopeful that Viola’s situation may improve. And when a surprise visitor brings more than just well wishes, Cat’s Christmas takes a delightful turn.

With the festivities in full swing, and snow falling on Merriment Bay, the future’s looking bright. Christmas is a time for miracles and Cat believes she may get one of her own this year if she’s prepared to put the past behind her and open her heart to Love once more.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

He’s stolen my dreams and made them his. But he hasn’t included me. And somehow, that’s the worst betrayal of all.

 

Just nice? Didn’t you feel your heart beat faster, or get tingles up and down your spine? Or hear a choir of angels, or even Santa’s elves playing violins, or something?

 My Review:

 

Gah! This was an eventful installment but I’m getting whiplash from these indecisive and wishy-washy characters. I am indignant and tetchy with impatience for an actual conversation between the two as they take a tiny step forward and three steps back. The secrets remain untold but I have several theories percolating in the tiny pea that resides in my skull. Manipulative and magniloquent Mary deserves to be drawn and quartered several times over for her contemptible and selfish behaviors over the years.

Cliffhangers are the handiwork of Satan himself and have left me itchy to pinch and maybe even give a good smack to the bedeviling minx Emily Harvale with my beloved Kindle for vexing me so! One more installment to go and two long weeks to wait for gratification. I fear I am just not equipped to read serials. I beseech you; please write quickly, Ms. Harvale.

About the Author

 

Emily writes novels, novellas and short stories about friendship, family and falling in love. She loves a happy ending but knows that life doesn’t always go to plan. Her stories are sure to bring a smile to your face and a warmth to your heart.

Emily loves to connect with her readers and has a readers’ group in which many have become good friends. To catch up with Emily, find out about the group, or connect with her on social media, go to her website at www.emilyharvale.com.

Having lived and worked in London for several years, Emily returned to her home town of Hastings where she now writes full-time. She’s a member of the SoA and the RWA, an Amazon bestseller and a Kindle All Star. When not writing, she can be found enjoying the stunning East Sussex coast and countryside, or in a wine bar with friends, discussing life, love and the latest TV shows. Chocolate cake is often eaten. She dislikes housework almost as much as she dislikes anchovies – and will do anything to avoid both. Emily has two mischievous rescue cats that like to sprawl across her keyboard, regardless of whether Emily is typing on it, or not.

Social Media Links

https://www.facebook.com/emilyharvalewriter

https://www.twitter.com/emilyharvale

https://www.instagram.com/emilyharvale

Book Review: WHERE WINTER FINDS YOU (Black Dagger Brotherhood #17.5) by J.R. Ward

WHERE WINTER FINDS YOU
(Black Dagger Brotherhood #17.5)
by J.R. Ward 

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA /

 B&N / Apple / GP

 

About WHERE WINTER FINDS YOU:

When Trez lost his beloved to a tragic death (The Shadows, Black Dagger Brotherhood #13), his soul was crushed and his destiny seemed relegated to suffering. But when he meets a mysterious female, he becomes convinced his true love has been reincarnated. Is he right? Or has his grief created a disastrous delusion?

Therese has come to Caldwell to escape a rift with her bloodline. The revelation that she was adopted and not born into her family shakes the foundations of her identity, and she is determined to make it on her own. Her attraction to Trez is not what she’s looking for, except the sexy Shadow proves to be undeniable.

Has fate provided a grieving widower with a second chance…or is Trez too blinded by the past to see the present for what it really is? In this sensual, arresting book full of the themes of redemption and self-discovery, two lost souls find themselves at a crossroads where the heart is the only compass that can be trusted…but that may require a courage that neither of them possesses.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Honestly, he hadn’t just been born under a bad star; he’d been born under one that kicked him in the nuts so badly, he’d coughed them out in his hand.

 

Clapping a hand over her mouth, the absurdity of it all struck her bell so hard, she nearly snorted. And as she vowed to stop— because he was clearly not in a good mood— she really wished she was a good giggler, one of those females who managed to express oh-that’s-funny in a melodic, pretty way. But nope. Not even close. She was a grunter. A chortler. A water buffalo crossed with an army tank backfiring.

 

My Review:

 

I was a late convert to the Brotherhood, I’ve only read two so far but I was quickly hooked. This world and characters are all new to me so I’m several football fields behind the eight-ball in understanding how they all fit together with their backstories and special language, but I don’t care, I am completely blown away by the stellar quality of the writing.

 

J.R. War obviously loves words and she knows how to use them and arrange them in the most arresting and entertaining manner. I find her lore intriguing and her characters uniquely fascinating and complicated with complex histories and rich interior lives. Her narratives are densely packed with profoundly wordy insights and inner musings that dissect each thought and observation into intensely detailed minuscule pieces that captivate and enthrall. The storylines are multifaceted, highly sensual, and surprisingly amusing with unexpected outbursts of humor, such as an angel who boogies and swears. I wonder if I would live to tell the tale if I cleared my calendar for a month and read the entire series sequentially? At the very least, I would definitely need to stock up on wine and underwear before attempting such a daring feat.

About the Author

J.R. Ward is the author of more than thirty novels, including those in her #1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series. There are more than fifteen million copies of her novels in print worldwide, and they have been published in twenty-six different countries around the world. She lives in the South with her family.

Book Review: Break the Rules (Loveless Brothers #3) by Roxie Noir

BTR - BT banner.jpg

 Break the Rules
(Loveless Brothers #3)
by Roxie Noir

Some lines shouldn’t be crossed.

Some rules shouldn’t be broken.

June is one of them, and I know it.

Break the Rules, an all-new hilarious, brother’s best friend romance from Roxie Noir, is available now!

RN_BreaktheRules_Ebook

As a forest ranger, I believe in the simple life. I prefer cabins to apartments, trails to freeways, and trees to people. My life is orderly, predictable, and quiet.

Until it’s hit by a woman I never saw coming — Hurricane June.

She’s fierce. She’s feisty. She has a laugh like the first day of spring, and she’s so pretty that I can’t breathe when I look at her. June will only be in town for a few months—just while job-hunting. She won’t last until winter, but how can I resist?

Except I have to. She’s my best, oldest, and most loyal friend’s baby sister.

Betraying him would be the worst thing I’ve ever done. Not betraying him might be the hardest.

Especially once we start working together on a secret project. All this spending time together, sneaking around at night, and lying to her brother about what we’re doing sure feels like more than friendship.

June might break my heart. Her brother might break my nose.

But I guess some things were made to be broken.

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My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Levi is a mystery wrapped in an enigma stuffed into a crate labeled puzzle, and I don’t think he likes me.

 

There are reasons besides loyalty and friendship that June is a bad idea for me. Reasons like Silas has extensive combat training and Silas is not a reasonable human being when it comes to his little sister.

 

“June, there’s a bottle of your father’s pizzazz sauce on the door if you’d like some for the chili,” my mom says. “And I think there’s still some of his butt burner if you want to go ahead and use that up.” I make a face, because your father’s pizzazz sauce is a phrase I could happily go a lifetime without hearing, and that goes double for your father’s butt burner. He’s turned to making hot sauces in his retirement, because everyone needs a hobby…

 

“It’s not hoarding if it’s books,” Charlie says. “Then it’s knowledge collection, and that makes you fancy.”

 

“There are animals who won’t breed in captivity,” he says. “Is that why you’re not married?”

 

“Give me more advice, please,” I say. “Fart before you go into the interview room,” he says instantly. “Don’t hold it in, because then you’ll end up gassing everyone in there, and they’ll know it was you, and you will not get hired at that job. You will not.”

 

“Who is this?” I demand…”You’re being nice and my brother Silas once held me down and farted into my mouth, so you’re obviously an imposter,” I say.

 

 My Review:

 

I barked with laughter and giggle-snorted repeatedly while reading this delightfully clever tale. This was my first experience reading the feisty and talented Roxie Noir but I plan to be hitting her page like a binge dieter at the all-you-can-eat buffet on cheat days.

 

I was euphoric over this adorable couple and well enamored with most of the secondary characters as well; they were smart, sweet-natured, witty, well suited, funny, sexy, and thoughtful and kind with each other.   Levi and June’s harmonious relationship was gentle, supportive, and considerate, as well as atomically sensual and gasp ~ hot enough to melt my Kindle.

 

Swoon, Levi is my forever BBF. The storylines and writing style were highly amusing, unfailingly engaging, fun, lively, easy to follow, and laden with sharp wit and comical observations.   I have a new favorite author to fangirl, I need more of her stellar arrangements of words in my life.

Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2O8ej5K

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RN_BreaktheRules_T4.jpg

Excerpt

I like this side of Levi. It’s a side I’ve only ever seen glimpses of before in the past two weeks — sweet, slightly goofy, teasing and funny, different from the serious, quiet man I thought he was. It’s a strange revelation, but a good one, even if I wish I liked it less.

“One minute,” I tell him, and pull back from the window.

I shut it. I pull the curtains closed.
I wonder what I’m doing and why on earth Levi has shown up beneath my bedroom window at twelve-thirty in the morning. I wish that the sight of him down there had made me feel differently, that I was indifferent and vaguely curious instead of suddenly buzzing and feeling like I’m being lifted aloft by several large birds.

I tiptoe down the stairs and through the living room, still wondering. I haven’t heard from him at all since we ate pizza in the back of his truck two nights ago, and I wish that didn’t bother me. I wish I thought less about him sitting there, as night fell, laughing and showing me his cell phone or telling me that he’s an alien.

I wish I thought less about him, period.

When I get outside, Levi’s leaning against his truck, his shoulder-length hair out of its usual knot.

I’m not sure I remember seeing him with his hair down before. He looks different. Relaxed. Like himself.

“I named the dog,” he says as I walk up to him.

I don’t know what I was expecting him to say, but that wasn’t it.

“You do know that the last time a man came to my window, I called my brother to get rid of him,” I say. “I’m sure he told you about that.”

“He certainly did,” Levi said. “And if I were in my right mind, it might have deterred me.”

“You’re in your wrong mind, then?” I ask, tilting my head slightly, keeping my voice down.

“You didn’t ask what I named the dog,” he says.

“Did you come here at twelve-thirty in the morning to tell me you named your dog?” I ask.

Levi smiles, holds out one hand. I step forward and take it, his skin warm and he enfolds my fingers in his.

“No,” he says. “I came here to say that I think you should come back to my place for a nightcap.”

“A nightcap?”

“Yes,” he says. “I’d like to take you home, fix you a drink, and seduce you, and I’d like to do it without thinking even once of your brother.”

22780591_1188339054599440_1276039985320359281_nAbout Roxie

I love writing sexy, alpha men and the headstrong women they fall for.

My weaknesses include: beards, whiskey, nice abs with treasure trails, sarcasm, cats, prowess in the kitchen, prowess in the bedroom, forearm tattoos, and gummi bears.

I live in California with my very own sexy, bearded, whiskey-loving husband and two hell-raising cats.

Connect with Roxie

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http://roxienoir.com

Book Review: Every Stolen Breath by Kimberly Gabriel

 

 Every Stolen Breath
by Kimberly Gabriel

 

 

Amazon US / UK / CA / AU B&N 

Hardcover: 336 Pages

Publisher: Blink (November 5, 2019)

The Swarm is unrecognizable, untraceable, and unpredictable—random attacks on the streets of Chicago by a mob of crazed teens that leaves death in its wake. It’s been two years since the last attack, but Lia Finch has found clues that reveal the Swarm is ready to claim a new victim.

Lia is the only one still pursuing her father’s killers, two years after attorney Steven Finch’s murder by the Swarm. Devastated and desperate for answers, Lia will do anything to uncover the reasons behind his death and to stop someone else from being struck down. But due to debilitating asthma and PTSD that leaves her with a tenuous hold on reality, Lia is the last person to mount a crusade on her own.

After a close encounter with the Swarm puts Lia on their radar, she teams up with a teen hacker, a reporter, and a mysterious stranger who knows firsthand how the mob works. Together, they work to uncover the master puppeteer behind the group. Though if Lia and her network don’t stop the person pulling the strings—and fast—Lia may end up the next target.

Inspired by the real-life “flash mob” violence that struck Chicago in 2011, Every Stolen Breath by debut author Kimberly Gabriel is a fast-paced and immersive thriller that shows just how hard one girl will fight back, knowing any breath might be her last.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Then she hung up before I could think of an articulate rebuttal, leaving me sitting there, mouth gaping like some taxidermized fish.

 

It’s the side effect of attending a pretentious private school, where people treat Everybody’s Business like it’s a class they can ace and add to their transcripts.

 

I can’t help but wonder if I’m caught in some sick and twisted Alice in Wonderland dream where my world has turned upside down and nothing is as it seems.

 

Strength isn’t defined by who can hit the hardest in a fight, but by who’s still standing at the end.

  

My Review:

 

I rarely read YA and to be honest, I purposely avoid it, but I’m thrilled I had the foresight to make an exception for Kimberly Gabriel’s brilliantly plotted debut. I couldn’t seem to resist the intriguing synopsis and a colorful book cover that required a full stop and several minutes to thoroughly examine.

 

Ms. Gabriel’s storylines were diabolically clever and fiendishly crafted while populated with uniquely compelling and intriguing characters of all ages and levels of mistrust and suspicion. I was immediately sucked into Lia’s mono-focused and quivering vortex of distrust and dramatic catastrophic thinking. This mesmerizing tale was written from the first-person POV of an angsty sixteen-year-old asthmatic who proved to be rather unstable with significant features of PTSD including panic attacks, auditory and visual hallucinations, paranoia, delusions, and crippling anxiety and self-consciousness. She was also stubbornly persistent, grief driven, highly resourceful and had the arrogance of youth in her toolkit.

 

With cunning and deftly written twists and turns, Ms. Gabriel has made a stunning and flawless debut. As I was making my way through this tautly penned and complex tale, I had a striking epiphany of why I tend to eschew this genre while simultaneously realizing this book was well worth the disheartening and stark reminders of the painful sense of powerlessness and nettling subjugation and disregard experienced as a teenager with two XX chromosomes.   While I vastly enjoyed her work, I still haven’t decided whether I should thank the author for the personal insight or swear a pox on her instead.

 

About the Author

Kimberly Gabriel is an English teacher who writes every chance she gets and struggles with laundry avoidance issues. When she’s not teaching or writing, she’s enjoying life with her husband, her three beautiful children, and a seriously beautiful boxer in the northern suburbs of Chicago.

Connect with Kimberly

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Book Review: All Fired Up (Road to Love #3) by Lori Foster

All Fired Up 
(Road to Love #3)
by Lori Foster

ISBN: 9781335505071

Imprint: HQN Books

Categories: Contemporary Women’s Fiction, Contemporary Romance

Harlequin  / Amazon / Apple Books

Barnes & Noble / Books-A-Million

Google Play / IndieBound / Kobo

He’s tantalizing trouble she can’t resist…

Charlotte Parrish has always wanted a certain kind of man: someone responsible, settled, boring. Bad boys need not apply. But when her car leaves her stranded and a mysterious stranger with brooding eyes and a protective streak comes to her rescue, she can’t deny how drawn she is to him. In town searching for family he’s never met, Mitch is everything she never thought she wanted—and suddenly everything she craves.

Finding his half brothers after all these years is more than Mitch Crews has allowed himself to wish for. Finding love never even crossed his mind…until he meets Charlotte. She’s sweet, warmhearted, sexier than she knows—and too damn good for an ex-con like him. But when his past comes back to haunt him, putting Charlotte—and the family he’s come to care for—in danger, Mitch isn’t playing by the rules. He’s already surrendered his heart, but now he’ll risk his life.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Howler’s good with other animals. Basically, he’s an affectionate grandma in a loose suit of fur. If he could bake biscuits, he would.

 

Good times or bad, family hangs on like a too-tight shirt. You don’t get to outgrow it, you can’t wash it when it’s dirty and it clings even worse when you sweat.

 

My Review:

 

This was only my second experience reading the prolific Lori Foster, but I plan to make perusing her engaging stories a frequent habit. I enjoyed her curiously endearing yet flawed characters as much as her compelling storylines with a heinous villain everyone had reason to revile and despise due to his repeated and unthinkable cruelty toward women, children, and animals. The overall emotional tone held a steady thrum of tension and sense of impending peril due to the lurking dangers that were constantly and incrementally building; yet there were also liberal sprinkles of levity, a blossoming romance, curiously tantalizing backstories, steamy sensuality, and captivating family drama interspersed throughout. I had not read the previous books in the series but I adored this extraordinary family and know I would enjoy going back to fully feast on their storylines as well.

About the Author

Lori Foster is a New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author with books from a variety of publishers, including Berkley/Jove, Kensington, St. Martin’s, Harlequin and Silhouette. Lori has been a recipient of the prestigious RT Book Reviews Career Achievement Award for Series Romantic Fantasy, and for Contemporary Romance. For more about Lori, visit her Web site at www.lorifoster.com.

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