Book Review: The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls by Jen Gilroy

The Wishing Tree in Irish Falls

by Jen Gilroy

 

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA 

Sometimes happily ever after is only a wish away . . .

There’s a wishing tree in Irish Falls. The bits of paper tied to its gnarled branches hold the hopes and dreams of everyone in town . . . except Annie Quinn.

Single mom Annie has spent years rebuilding her life and trying not to have regrets. After giving up her dream of music stardom, she returned to her Adirondack hometown—and convinced herself she’s content with a simpler life.

The last thing she needs is a man to remind her of the heartbreak she left behind.

A divorced dad, Seth Taggart used to be a successful LA songwriter. But now his reputation is in tatters, he’s burnt-out and estranged from his adult son. Inheriting a small-town radio station just might be the do-over he needs.

Although he always planned to go back to LA, when working with Annie turns into sharing music and more, Seth realizes second chances—and home—are where he least expects.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

“He’s got a face and body to match his voice, too. The word at yoga last night was he sent Lisa Drysdale into a hot flash when she bumped into him in the produce aisle at Nolan’s grocery. I can sure see why.” Holly grinned and fanned herself with a potholder.

 

“We don’t know for sure, but Duncan might have prostate cancer… Duncan doesn’t want anybody to know because he’s a man and, well . . .” Her cheeks went red. “He’d be uncomfortable with people, family even, talking about his . . . equipment.”

 

Hannah gave him a hopeful look, mixed with the kind of face Seth remembered Dylan making a few years back. Like adults were a different species and teenagers only tolerated them because they were a source of food, money, and rides to wherever the kid wanted to go.

 

My dad wouldn’t have wanted me to give up on a dream. He always told us to reach for the stars. Even if you didn’t get there, he said you had to try and maybe you’d catch the moon instead.

 

“The new bank manager seemed interested.” “Please. Although I might be able to overlook his Star Trek obsession, he wears white socks with brown sandals. That should be illegal.”

 

My Review:

 

Jen Gilroy is an expert storyteller, she quickly drew me into her small-town tale of contemporary romance with flawed yet endearing characters, relevant and compelling family issues, and interesting storylines. While I didn’t enjoy living in the tiny and inbred rural hamlet of my youth, I do seem to enjoy reading books featuring small-towns, albeit these small towns are far more entertaining and genteel than the harsh, backward, and uptight landscape of my childhood memories. Nor did it have a rich heritage or an imaginative draw like an epic and magical wishing tree. Ms. Gilroy’s engaging writing style and interesting story threads tapped all the feels and kept my curiosity primed while alternating between squeezing my coronary muscle and putting an amused smile on my face. I’m hoping this is just the start of a new series with more tales to come.

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About the Author

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Website

Growing up under the big sky of western Canada and spending summers in a little Ontario town, books were my passport to other worlds. Pioneering Laura Ingalls, Jo March and her sisters, the English girls in Noel Streatfeild’s books and L.M. Montgomery’s independent, nature-loving heroines all became friends.

I started writing poems and stories in elementary school and, as a teenager, reached the semi-finals in a local short story contest. Even after all these years, I still remember the thrill of the judge encouraging me to keep writing.

I earned undergraduate and graduate degrees, setting fiction writing aside to teach at universities, write and publish academic research and work in marketing communications and international business development.

Along the way, I read romances, escaping into a world where a happy ending was guaranteed. One day, though, I realized that by losing my creative writing, I’d also lost part of what makes me who I am.

Now I write the kind of stories I like to read–heartwarming romances about finding home, family and community–where ordinary women overcome sometimes extraordinary challenges to earn their happy ever after.

I’m an RWA® Golden Heart® finalist 2015 in Contemporary Romance, and that manuscript sold to Hachette Book Group USA, Grand Central Publishing, Forever. It releases on January 31, 2017, as THE COTTAGE AT FIREFLY LAKE.

I’m a member of RWA® and the Romantic Novelists’ Association (RNA). And despite a few detours along the way, I’m doing what I’ve wanted to do since childhood.

After many years in England with my husband, a tech guy who’s still a small-town boy at heart, and our tween daughter, an English rose, who teaches me to cherish the blessings in the every day, I’ve come home to my roots and live in a small town in Ontario’s Rideau Valley.

Book Review: CHRISTMAS INN LOVE by Kelly Collins

 

CHRISTMAS INN LOVE

by Kelly Collins

 

Amazon  US / UK AU / CA / B&N

Reputations are hard to come by in the big city and hard to lose in small towns…Celia Roberts, the owner of the Hummingbird Inn has it all … almost. She has a wonderful son and a business she loves. Though challenged to make ends meet, she’s come a long way from the tough times she endured as a teenage mom. With the busy Christmas season ahead, things are looking up, until Scrooge himself arrives intent on putting a huge resort next to her inn—a resort destined to put her out of business.

Wealthy business developer Rob McKenna is coming back home to the tiny town of Pinetop, Colorado to tie up loose ends. After the death of his mother, he’s inherited her Victorian home, her dog, and hundreds of acres of land he plans to develop into a resort and sell. It all seems so simple until he runs into Celia Roberts. In high school, she was the “it” girl, and he was nobody. She dated the bully, and he was the target. Now he’s back, and she’s single, and as beautiful as ever. However, she’s the only thing standing between him and his plan to get in, get rich, and get out of town. He wants to move the small town into the future. She wants to preserve the past.

Can the magic of Christmas leave them both with full hearts and bright futures or will one of them end up with nothing under the tree?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

He needed a place to stay and his mother’s house would never do. Every wall held the voices of contempt and disappointment.

 

He’d probably make someone a nice boyfriend or even a husband. Sometimes Celia longed for one or the other, but she was glad she had neither. She came from the camp of once burned, always shy because twice shy wasn’t enough.

 

He thought it was too good to be true that Pinetop would have no memory of him being bullied for being a bastard. Reputations were hard to come by in the big city and hard to lose in small towns, but he wouldn’t lose sleep over it.

 

He knew a little something about moms. He’d had one too, but she was what they’d call a helicopter parent. A damn Military Apache Guardian. Quick and deadly. She saw everything. Knew everything. Her temper was like a heat-seeking missile. Never missed a thing except his unhappiness.

 

My Review:

 

This was a relatively light, quick, sweet, and easy to follow holiday read with an interesting mix of heart squeezes, snarky levity, family issues, and a sprinkling of romance. I enjoyed the mix of small-town characters and relevant and realistic family issues and backstories. I find myself sliding into a holiday frame of mind early this year.

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: The Christmas Calendar Girls by Samantha Tonge

The Christmas Calendar Girls

by Samantha Tonge

 

Amazon US / UK / CA / AU 

Apple Books  / GPKobo

This Christmas fall in love with the town of Chesterwood…

Christmas is meant to be a time of giving, so with Chesterwood food bank under risk of closure Fern knows just what to do to save it. She’s going to get the town to create a living advent calendar.

Fern and her best friends call for help from the local community to bring this calendar to life. When Kit, the new man in town, offers his assistance Fern’s heart can’t help but skip a beat (or two).

As they grow ever closer, Fern must admit that Kit’s breaking down the barriers she built after the death of her husband. But his past is holding him back and Fern doesn’t know how to reach him. No matter how hard she tries.

In this town, Kit’s not the only one with secrets. Domestic goddess Cara is behaving oddly, burning meals in the oven and clothes whilst ironing, and Davina’s perfect children are causing trouble at school leaving her son, Jasper, desperately unhappy.

Can the Christmas Calendar Girls find a way to bring the community together in time to save the food bank, while still supporting their families and each other? Can Fern find love again with Kit?

This is a story about kindness and letting go of the past. It’s about looking out for your neighbors and about making every day feel like Christmas.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Davina stood up and gave me a piercing stare that only a mother of twins could master.

 

The best sorts of friends were good at turning me into we.

 

It felt as if a light bulb switched on in my chest whenever I saw him, like that magical sensation as a child when you discover the tooth fairy has visited.

 

I took out my phone, brushed my hair and took a selfie. The strained smile made me look like a convict. So I took twenty more and finally created one that didn’t suggest I’d turn up to a date hiding an axe. Then I created a profile on Tinder. Not words I ever thought I’d be saying…

 

 My Review:

 

This was a fun and easy read with relevant real-world issues, heart-squeezes, insightful observations, and clever levity in equal measure. While battling overwhelming odds to raise funds to continue a charitable operation, the overall tone of the story was decidedly upbeat with hard-won lessons and positive outcomes all around. I enjoyed the creativity and everydayness of the characters as well as the entertaining storylines, and relatable conflicts and concerns. Ms. Tonge’s poignant writing is laced together with such perceptive watchfulness; her stories are a learning experience as well as an entertaining one.

About the Author

Samantha Tonge lives in Manchester UK and her passion, second to spending time with her husband and children, is writing. She studied German and French at university and has worked abroad, including a stint at Disneyland Paris. She has traveled widely.

When not writing she passes her days cycling, baking and drinking coffee. Samantha has sold many dozens of short stories to women’s magazines.

In 2013, she landed a publishing deal for romantic comedy fiction with HQDigital at HarperCollins and in 2014, her bestselling debut novel, Doubting Abbey, was shortlisted for the Festival of Romantic Fiction best Ebook award. In 2015 her summer novel, Game of Scones, hit #5 in the UK Kindle chart and won the Love Stories Awards Best Romantic Ebook category.

Links

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamTongeWriter

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

Website: http://samanthatonge.co.uk/

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Book Review: Snowflakes at Mistletoe Cottage by Katie Ginger

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Snowflakes at Mistletoe Cottage

by Katie Ginger

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA /

 B&N / Kobo

On a grey, London day, Esme’s world crumbles around her when she loses her glitzy job on a top TV program, her gorgeous, city-slicker boyfriend and her stunning apartment, all in one fell swoop just before Christmas.

Esme is forced suddenly to move back to her sleepy hometown of Sandchester, and despite the snow blanketing the roof and the fairy lights that twinkle in her rustic little cottage, everything is looking bleak. That is until she reconnects with an old crush and finds herself unexpectedly getting swept away.

But Joe, handsome and charming as he is, is not all he seems. Esme soon realizes that he has a tragic past which he just might not be able to overcome…

Surrounded by her loving, if harebrained, family and with the support of her hilarious friends, Esme is determined to have a go at forging her own path, even if it all comes to nothing. But one question still lingers in her mind: will she find someone to kiss under the mistletoe this Christmas?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

It’s one thing to steal a recipe but another to steal a grandma. She probably doesn’t even have one anymore. I bet she devoured hers like a praying mantis.

 

I bet I’m still in shock. At some point I’ll come out of it, realise what’s happened and walk to London to destroy Leo’s flat and put raw fish behind his radiators.

 

‘What exactly are you doing there?’ asked Helena pointing at the screen. ‘I’m creaming the butter and sugar together till it’s light and fluffy.’ ‘Your boobs look like they’re having some kind of fight. You need a better bra before you go doing that again.’

 

It is quite dark. We can see down your top, but not much else. They look like whoppers by the way so you’d probably get some followers but maybe not the type you want.

 

‘What a callous idiot. If I lived near him I’d key his car and—’ ‘He doesn’t own a car, Mum. No one does in London.’ ‘Well then, I’d put itching powder in his underpants and cut the arms and legs off all his suits.’ Esme suppressed a smile.‘ Has Dad only stayed married to you all these years because he’s too scared to leave?’ ‘Probably.’

 

 My Review:

 

This was a fun and highly amusing read with storylines shot through with clever levity and delicious food taunts. I should be highly annoyed that Ms. Ginger has completely derailed my dieting efforts with her mouthwatering descriptions that I could almost smell and taste, what a brutal tease for a weak and starving woman trying to shed some excess tonnage. I said I should be annoyed, but I’m not as it was more than worth a few, oh all right… a lot of extra calorie consumption.

The storylines were engaging, the characters were vibrant and quirky, and the writing was delightfully clever as well as giggle-snort and smirk-worthy. This was my maiden voyage with the lovely Ms. Ginger and I hope to sail with her every time she leaves the shore from now on.

Don’t hate me but I don’t watch much reality television and required the services of Mr. Google to look up Bear Grylls, and he looks worthy of a bit more exploration… I also gleaned an addition to my Brit Word List with saddo – which is British slang for a socially inadequate or pathetic person; something the intrepid and adventurous Mr. Grylls certainly is not.

 

About the Author

KATIE GINGER lives in the South East of England, by the sea, and apart from holidays to very hot places where you can sit by a pool and drink cocktails as big your head, she wouldn’t really want to be anywhere else. Snowflakes at Mistletoe Cottage is her third novel. She is also the author of the Seafront series – The Little Theatre on the Seafront, shortlisted for the Katie Fforde Debut Novel of the Year award, and Summer Season on the Seafront.

When she’s not writing, Katie spends her time drinking gin, or with her husband, trying to keep alive her two children: Ellie, who believes everything in life should be performed like a musical number from a West End show; and Sam, who is basically a monkey with a boy’s face. And there’s also their adorable King Charles Spaniel, Wotsit (yes, he is named after the crisps!).

For more about Katie, you can visit her website: www.keginger.com, find her on Facebook: www.facebook.com/KatieGAuthor, or follow her on Twitter: @KatieGAuthor.

Book Review, Giveaway: Beard With Me by Penny Reid

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“This is Penny Reid at her finest.” — L.B. Dunbar, author

Beard With Me, an epic and breathtaking story from New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Penny Reid, is available now!

 

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No one is better at surviving than Scarlet St. Claire and making the best out of circumstances beyond her control is Scarlet’s specialty. In an apocalyptic situation, she’d be the last person on earth, hermitting like a pro, singing along to her CD Walkman, and dancing like no one is watching.

Scarlet is clever, Scarlet is careful, and Scarlet is smart . . . except when it comes to Billy Winston.

No one is better at fighting than Billy Winston and raging against his circumstances—because nothing is beyond his control—is Billy’s specialty. In an apocalyptic situation, he’d be the first person on earth to lead others to safety, overcome catastrophe, or die trying.

Billy is fearless, Billy is disciplined, and Billy is honorable . . . except when it comes to Scarlet St. Claire.

‘Beard With Me’ is the origin story of Billy Winston and Scarlet St. Claire (aka Claire McClure) and is just the beginning of their epic love story.

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Cletus had the decency to squirm in his seat. “Lie is such an ugly word. I prefer fiction.”

 

I was the only child of Razor Dennings that he’d claimed. His recognition of me as his spawn meant I would forever be followed by a cloud in the shape of a tornado with horns.

 

Billy Winston had somehow tapped into the thermostat of my body and set it to Arizona in the summer. I’d never been to Arizona, but I was pretty sure they had those days where it got so hot the thermometers broke.

 

As my momma’s friend Ellie Leffersbee said whenever she saw or heard or experienced something she found momentous, I was stirred like a gin and tonic and shaken like a martini.

 

I would’ve called him a sonofabitch, but his mother was a nice lady.

 

Cletus, looking thoughtful and not an ounce afraid, scratched his jaw as best he could given the fact his arms were being held. “No, Darrell. You are my role model, obviously. It has always been my sincerest desire to be an aging impotent biker with dysentery and the laughingstock of East Tennessee. Teach me your ways, Diseased-Wang Kenobi. You’re my only hope.”

 

My Review:

 

I adore Penny Reid and would worship at an altar of her discarded printer ink cartridges. Her writing has a distinct and perceptive eloquence with a perfect blend of entertaining levity, thoughtful insights, compelling drama, heart squeezes, looming peril, and extra quirky and highly endearing characters. She gives each unique character a profound depth, which illuminates their strengths as well as exposing their vulnerabilities. Beard With Me ranks as one of her best and is one of those rare books that warrant a ten-star rating, despite the lack of closure for the main characters’ storyline. I am eagerly awaiting the next installment.

 

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Download your copy today!

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Enter the giveaway for a signed paperback set of The Winston Brothers Series!

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Excerpt

*Scarlet*

“Do you want me to leave?”

Yes. That would be best, a wise voice said between my ears.

So of course I inhaled deeply and said as calmly as I could manage, “I thought we were going to go get firewood.”

“Okay. Good.”

“But then,” I blurted, flustered and irritated with myself for not speaking wisdom, “You should go. You can’t tell me carting firewood back and forth between your house and here is how you want to spend the last of your Thanksgiving weekend.”

“I didn’t say it was.” He began making his way up the incline.

“But you just said—”

“How about we make a deal.” Billy dropped the kindling next to my little woodpile, dusting his hands off on his pants. “I’ll cart the firewood, and you sing.”

“You want me to serenade you while we carry firewood?”

He smiled, slow and easy as he walked to me and reached out his hand. On autopilot, I accepted it and allowed him to help me up.

As soon as I was standing, his gaze moved from my hairline down to my nose, lips, and then chin, saying quietly, “I’ll take a serenade from you anytime.”

Thunk ka-thunk. That was my heart. It had been doing the thunk ka-thunk quite a lot around him. I ignored it, because what else could I do?

“And you’re not carrying the wood.” He tugged on my hand, pulling me out of my daze and past my tent.

“I will too carry wood.” Struggling to find my bearings, I stumbled after him. “I can carry logs just fine.”

“You’ll carry a log.” Billy fit his fingers between mine, pressing our palms together and grinning at me like he was waiting for me to argue and he couldn’t wait.

Snapping my mouth shut, I glared at him.

“Nothing to say?”

Maintaining my glare, I walked next to him. I wasn’t being led anywhere I didn’t wish to go. Not anymore. He wasn’t talking me into anything else.

“That’s an awfully mean look, Scarlet.” His grin grew, his brutally attractive eyes glowing happily as he peered down at me.

“Well, you deserve it. Always trying to tell me what I can and can’t do. I’m not arguing with you about this. I’m carrying as much wood as I want and you can take your stupid, chauvinistic opinions and shove them up your pretty-boy ass.”

Goodness. Where had that come from?

Billy’s steps faltered and his mouth fell open, his eyebrows rising high on his forehead. He stared at me, looking shocked as hell. And then in the next moment, he threw his head back and laughed. But he did not let go of me, instead bringing my knuckles to his chest as his deep, rumbly laughter filled the empty spaces between the trees, surrounding us.

Crushing me.

Yes. I was well and truly crushed as I could only watch Billy Winston laugh, desperately basking in the image of him so delighted and relaxed. I had the odd sense that his laughter also filled the empty spaces inside of me, the neglected, vacant rooms, and even a few places that felt brand-new, like he’d created them.

All that noble honesty he carried around like a boulder abruptly lifted, revealing him. Just him. Carefree and young and happy. Someone he might’ve been if his burdens hadn’t been so heavy, his responsibilities so broad.

It lasted only a minute, maybe two, maybe less, but I had the sense of being caught afterward. Billy’s laughter had receded, but he’d spun a web while I’d been staring at him, holding his hand.

His grin became smaller and he bit his bottom lip, his gaze dropped to my mouth. “You think I’m pretty?”

“You know you’re pretty,” I said, bizarrely out of breath, rattled, needing to anchor my focus to a tree beyond him and waging war against the heat climbing up my neck to my cheeks. Oddly, my eyes stung. I blinked.

His attention was still on me. I felt it, but I didn’t dare look at him. I couldn’t handle one of Billy Winston’s intense stares right now. He’d probably use my scattered wits to his advantage, talk me into something I shouldn’t want to do, and then I’d be kicking myself later.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice deep with concern, all trace of his earlier humor gone.

I huffed, trying half-heartedly to steal my hand back from him. He didn’t let it go, instead taking my tugging as a signal to step closer, filling my vision.

“Scarlet—”

“Are you ever going to teach me how to play the guitar?” I closed my eyes.

He didn’t answer right away, and I felt him hesitate, his mind work before he muttered, “It’s only been a week.”

A quality to his voice made me think he wasn’t answering the question I’d asked, but rather he was reminding himself that it had only been a week since we’d struck the deal.

Was that only last week? Why does it feel like so much has changed?

Then he said, “Don’t be angry.”

“I’m not angry.” I was muddled, my head and heart hurt, I was incredibly confused, but I wasn’t angry.

The air shifted and I felt him move closer. A second later, the fingers of his free hand were at my ear, tucking my hair behind it, his fingertips lingering at my neck, sending wave after wave of goose bumps every which way. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t swallow. I couldn’t think. Every nerve in my body strained toward him and I didn’t understand it. What is happening?

“Have you ever been kissed, Scarlet?”

 

Meet Penny Reid:

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.

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Connect with Penny:

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

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

Twitter: @ReidRomance

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

www.pennyreid.ninja

Book Review: The Widow of Pale Harbor by Hester Fox

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 The Widow of Pale Harbor

by Hester Fox

Genre: Domestic suspense, historical, gothic

Imprint: Graydon House

ISBN: 9781525834264

Pages: 352

Amazon  US / UK / AU / CA / B&N

 

From the author of the buzzed-about THE WITCH OF WILLOW HALL comes an atmospheric follow-up novel set in historic New England, about a minister who takes a position in a small Maine town plagued by strange occurrences that resemble the stories of Edgar Allan Poe, and the woman–rumored to be a witch and a murderer–presumed to be behind them.

Maine, 1846. Gideon Stone is desperate to escape the ghosts that haunt him in Massachusetts after his wife’s death, so he moves to Pale Harbor, Maine, where there is a vacancy for a new minister. Gideon and his late wife had always dreamed of building their own church, and Pale Harbor is the perfect opportunity.

But not all is as it seems in the sleepy town of Pale Harbor. Strange, unsettling things have been happening, and the townspeople know that only one person can be responsible: Sophronia Carver, a widow who lives with a spinster maid in the decaying Castle Carver on the edge of town. Sophronia is a recluse, rumored to be a witch who killed her husband.

When Gideon meets her, he knows the charming, beautiful woman cannot be guilty of anything. Together, Gideon and Sophronia realize that the mysterious events have one thing in common: they all contain an element from the wildly popular stories of Mr. Edgar Allan Poe. And when the events escalate to murder, Gideon and Sophronia must find the real killer, before it’s too late for them both.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Tonight, she and Helen would eat a small supper in silence— they had few words left to say that weren’t old and stale, used up over the years…

 

If he was going to be an even half-convincing minister, he was going to have to curb his vulgar habit of cursing.

 

But then the conversation took an even more horrifying turn. “Are you married, Gabriel?”

 

Suspicion had followed her about like a cloud threatening rain…

 

 My Review:

 

This clever wordsmith is exceptionally skilled at creating and maintaining an eerie and smoky atmosphere that was taut with tension and unease yet pregnant with an odd and incongruent mixture of hopeful anticipation and nightmarish dread.   Strange incidents, ghastly crimes, and gruesome discoveries were occurring at an advancing rate, it quickly became quite clear that something vile and sinister was settling over the narrow and backward little hamlet of Pale Harbor.

The elements of mystery and suspense were well-crafted and exceptionally well-paced as the creepiness factor zigged and zagged unexpectedly with sudden leaps and abrupt interruptions. I was riveted to my Kindle. And amid all these alarming and bizarre occurrences, a romance blossomed between the new minister who frequently swore and delivered abysmal sermons – although not at the same time – and the town outcast and suspected witch/murderess. It was divine. In addition to an engaging read and a day’s worth of entertainment, I also gleaned new knowledge as I was compelled to consult Mr. Google about transcendentalism and Unitarianism, which apparently resulted in falling through a wormhole and losing track of a significant chunk of time, funny how that happens.

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About the Author

Amazon
Goodreads
Website

 Hester Fox is a full-time writer and mother, with a background in museum work and historical archaeology. Most weekends you can find Hester exploring one of the many historic cemeteries in the area, browsing bookshops, or enjoying a seasonal latte while writing at a café. She lives outside of Boston with her husband and their son.

 

Book Review: Baking Me Crazy by Karla Sorensen

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Baking Me Crazy

by Karla Sorensen

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2kwvT7z

AppleBooks: https://apple.co/2ku8Pq7

Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/BakingMeCrazy

Nook: http://bit.ly/2lEMEh0

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2lU7066

Google Play: http://bit.ly/2klKiUj

 

Friends to lovers at its best– a sweet indulgence I couldn’t put down!” – R.S. Grey, USA Today Bestselling Author

Baking Me Crazy, the first in the romantic comedy Donner Bakery Series of standalones, from Karla Sorensen is available now!

I’m Levi Buchanan, and until five years ago, I thought the legend of my family’s curse was a load of crazy, Southern nonsense.

No curse can make you fall in love at first sight. No curse can force a true, deep, passionate, all-consuming love that will haunt you all the days of your life.

Then I met Jocelyn Abernathy and I realized how completely wrong I was.

The problem is, Jocelyn guards her feelings like well-armed soldier. She’s the most beautiful, stubborn, infuriating woman I’ve ever met. Every time she talks, I want to kiss the living daylights out of her. But I can’t.

Because when we met, she didn’t need true love. She needed a best friend. And that’s what I’ve been to her… for five years.

But when Jocelyn meets a handsome stranger her first day working at Donner Bakery and she lets him buy her a dill pickle cupcake, I realize with ominous regret that I may have missed my window with my best friend.

If I can’t get her to see past our friendship, my new curse may be to watch the love of my life move on with someone else.

‘Baking Me Crazy’ is a full-length contemporary romantic comedy, can be read as a standalone, and is book#1 in the Donner Bakery series, Green Valley World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

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My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Joy’s face morphed. Gone was the sweet, ebullient young woman who’d been my co-worker for the past couple of hours. Gone was the happiest person in the world. In her place was determined, scheming Joy. She narrowed her eyes, and I actually sat back in my chair from the force of it.

 

“There’s a wild dog sitting outside.” Her voice was shaky, but her eyes were unflinching. The skin around them was wrinkled and translucent, spotted with age. “Oh, that’s my dog.”… “He looks scary.” I smiled at her. “He’s very sweet, I promise.” “What’s his name?” “Nero,” I answered. She glanced over her glasses at me. “After the Roman emperor who burned people alive?”

 

Joy can’t figure out how I learned so many swear words during my young life, and I had to try to explain how spending my impressionable teen years with the Buchanans gave me the vocabulary of a drunken pirate.

 

For as different as I felt on the inside, it was strange that it didn’t reflect anywhere else. Shouldn’t there be a sign above my head? Beware of the twenty-one-year-old virgin with repressed sexual feelings. Explosion imminent. Touch with extreme caution. May spontaneously combust with prolonged eye contact and cupcake purchasing and/or casual swimming sessions.

 

 My Review:

 

I will confess to a complete lack of awareness of Karla Sorensen’s genius before picking up this delightful book, but as she was Penny Reid’s pick to blaze the trail and be the first rattle out of the box to kick off her new Smartypants Romance, Green Valley World, Penny Reid Book Universe, well, that was all I needed to know. And I wholeheartedly concur with the mastermind’s brilliant choice. Ms. Sorensen has produced an excellent lead-in for a new series and her contribution fit seamlessly into the oddly alluring and ever-appealing microcosm of Green Valley.

 

Written in my favorite dual POV, the storylines were relevant, engaging, and absorbing. The main character of Joss spent much of her time in a wheelchair and I was quite taken with the care, thoughtful observation, and sensitivity used in enlightening the reader of the impact her medical and mobility issues had on her social-emotional development and the energy and concentration required to complete even the most simple of tasks of day-to-day life that ambulatory bipeds take for granted.

 

Ms. Sorensen’s humor was well-honed and witty, her characters were endearing and assessable, and to my gleeful amusement, their captivating tale effortlessly rolled through my gray matter with an even balance of emotional tone, with heart-squeezes and giggle-snorts aplenty. I was besotted with sweet Levi and adored how he perceived and cataloged Joss in vivid Technicolor in his inner musings. Levi current reigns as King, occupying the top spot on my list of BBFs. Does it even need saying that Karla Sorensen has a new fangirl?

About Karla Sorensen

Karla Sorensen has been an avid reader her entire life, preferring stories with a happily-ever-after over just about any other kind. And considering she has an entire line item in her budget for books, she realized it might just be cheaper to write her own stories. It doesn’t take much to keep her happy…a book, a really big glass of wine, and at least thirty minutes of complete silence every day. She still keeps her toes in the world of health care marketing, where she made her living pre-babies. Now she stays home, writing and mommy-ing full time (this translates to almost every day being a ‘pajama day’ at the Sorensen household…don’t judge). She lives in West Michigan with her husband, two exceptionally adorable sons and big, shaggy rescue dog.

Connect with Karla

Facebook: http://bit.ly/2lU6xAS

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

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2k0Yp0T

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

Website: http://www.karlasorensen.com/

Connect with Smartypants Romance

Facebook: http://bit.ly/2kvDnb4

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

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

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

Website: https://smartypantsromance.com/

Book Review: Make It Up To You by Lucy Keeling

Make It Up To You

by Lucy Keeling

 

Amazon US / UK / AU / CA / B&N

 

What do mascara wands and gardening shears have in common? 

Absolutely nothing! At least that’s what wannabe beauty influencer Sophie Timney thinks when her friend Polly suggests involving her brother Marcus in Sophie’s make-up tutorials. She needs more views, Marcus needs promotion for his gardening business – in Polly’s mind joining forces will help them both. Sophie isn’t so sure. 

Because Marcus Bowman has a habit of getting under her skin in a way that no exfoliating face scrub ever could. But, as the views and comments on her videos begin creeping up, it becomes increasingly obvious that Sophie’s subscribers like Marcus, and what’s even worse is that Sophie might be starting to feel the same way …

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quote:

 

‘He seemed really lovely. When we spoke online he was really polite, really attentive… When we met up he was in a smart outfit and really well put together… I hadn’t noticed the woman he came in with and didn’t notice her for ages as she was sat behind me. Anyway, long story short, it was his mother. It was also his mother I’d been chatting with online and she coached him through the entire date by signalling behind me… and I know all of this because afterwards she came up to me and explained who she was and would I give feedback on his performance. On the plus side, he paid for both drinks, well presumably with his pocket money.’ Sophie was speechless for a minute. ‘Oh, Jesus, Pol how the hell do you find them?”

 

My Review:

 

I enjoyed this amusing book, the humor was crisp, the majority of characters were interesting and appealing, and the storylines held my interest and piqued my curiosity – I am eaten up with it to know Mya’s secret career. This wily author is such a tease and cleverly left lots of breadcrumb trails for subsequent books.   Yet I found myself tapping my little foot in consternation, as I had no love for the main character of Sophie.   Sophie’s tedious self-involvement and mono-focus with her social media profile and YouTube videos were annoying to me, she was driven, selfish, and a rather thoughtless user. I did, however, enjoy most of the other characters and I fell into a swoon for the sweet, patient, and sexy Marcus. I coveted Marcus’s adoration and attention to Sophie as I wanted to steal him for myself.

In addition to providing my entertainment for the day, Ms. Keeling added to my Brit Word List with hench – Brit informal for a man with well-developed muscles; and mither – to fuss over or pester someone. I would most definitely mither over a sexy hench.

About the Author

Lucy Keeling is an author writing fun, sexy, stories with all of the happily ever afters. When she’s not typing at the kitchen table, she’s arranging and then rearranging to see her friends for the occasional spot of day drinking. Lucy is currently writing the third book in a Contemporary Romance series, the first of which has been Shortlisted by Choc-Lit ‘Search for a Star’ Competition. 

Facebook Page: @lucykeelingbooks 

Twitter: @Lucy_K_Author

Instagram: @lucy_k_author

 

Book Review, Giveaway: Special Delivery by Abby Tyler

 Special Delivery

by Abby Tyler

 

Amazon  US / UK / AU / CA / B&N

 

She brought him pizza. He delivered a family.

Police Officer Jack Stone hasn’t been able to leave the house in seven days. His wreck of a sister gave birth in prison, and baby Ella has been discharged into his care.

He has no idea what to do with her.

When Louisa arrives at his door with her final pizza delivery before she quits, Ella is crying, the house is a disaster, and Applebottom’s senior police officer is completely lost.

He could solve her problem, and she could solve his.

Too bad they’ve hated each other since high school.

It will take the entire town to end the twenty-year feud between Jack and Louisa and remind them that people do grow up, and in a crisis, you often grow together.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

This was Louisa Temple after all, and she was famous for her “gossip pizza.” Louisa knew from the toppings a person chose who it was for, where it was going, and probably if it was grounds for divorce.

 

Jack’s face could have scared an evil clown.

 

There was emotion in Jack Stone somewhere. She and Ella would have to find it, even if it would be like digging into rock with a spoon.

 

Jack was not the sort of man who just hoped for the best. He would set goals and accomplish them. But he was learning that babies didn’t quite work that way.

 

My Review:

 

I have enjoyed all the fun and amusing books in this sweet series of small-town romances featuring quirky characters with real-life problems, gossiping townspeople, matchmaking elders, and cranky shop owners. Each standalone book has been a pleasantly light, entertaining, quick, and easy to follow read. This installment showcased Louisa the pizza baker and Officer Jack Stone who weren’t actually enemies but were far from friends.

 

Louisa had been a rather mean prankster in her youth, she had pulled monkeyshines on many in her small home town but the stalwart Officer Stone still considered her his least favorite person and maybe even his main nemesis as she had humiliated him in front of the entire school during his big moment to shine, even though they were both now over forty.

 

Louisa was not an exceptionally endearing character as she was still rather immature and prone to shenanigans, gossip, and being meddlesome, although she had a good heart and was beginning to realize the trouble she caused others with her attention-seeking behaviors and I cared for and about her, nonetheless. The need to care for a sickly infant relative of Jack’s softened them both and forced them to spend time together, which brought many perks as well as a few hiccups before yielding to a satisfying HEA.

 

Enter To Win

This Abby Box has a super-soft plush blanket with autumn leaves, a Dia de Los Muertos spatula set, cute kitchen towels, a cinnamon-vanilla candle, a signed copy of the book, and lots of pumpkin spice treats plus Harry and David chocolate moose munch!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/61c7273930/

About the Author

Abby Tyler loves puppy dogs, pie, and small towns (she grew up in one!) Her Applebottom Matchmaker Society books combine the sweet and wholesome style of romance she loves with the funny, sometimes a-little-too-truthful characters she remembers from growing up in a place where everyone knew everybody’s business.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

Book Review: THE AMENDMENT  (The Contract Series #3)  by Melanie Moreland

THE AMENDMENT 

(The Contract Series #3) 

by Melanie Moreland

 October 7, 2019

Amazon USUK / AU / CA 

 B&N / Kobo / iBooks

 

Richard VanRyan has it all.

 A loving wife, a beautiful family, great friends, and a career he excels at.

 He is riding high on the crest of life.

What happens when the ride stops?

When the unthinkable becomes reality and life may never again be the same?

The Contract has changed.

Can Richard and Katy overcome The Amendment?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Love is filled with second chances, Richard. If I didn’t think so, I wouldn’t have answered the phone.

 

It’s amazing how clear the view can be when one pulls his head out of his ass.

 

Perks of being Gramps. I turn them over to you when they smell or get too loud.

 

My Review:

 

I adore this loving couple, they bring the sizzle to the sheets and when things are good, the fire department needs to be on standby.   But we all know that Richards can also be Dicks, and this Richard past and present definitely fit every definition of that moniker.

 

This book started with the family man and loving husband Richard, on top of his game, successful in his career, newly promoted, and happily married with an intelligent, supportive, and spunky wife; but a drunk driver put a pin in that Richard. When he awoke from a coma, he discovered he had been in a horrific accident, which would put him in a wheelchair and in turn, conjured up an angry and obnoxious Dick who appeared hell-bent on imploding Richard’s perfect life.   Richard would have to put in a lot of groveling and hard work to find his way back from Dicklandia. Luckily those tasty and enticing boys from BAM flew in and had his back.

 

Ms. Moreland’s engaging storylines were well-balanced in emotional tone and written from my favorite dual POV. Her writing was laced with perceptive insights, a sweetly precocious child, witty levity, heart-squeezes, a large cast of endearing characters, and steamy sensuality that had me gasping and nudging up the speed on the ceiling fan.

 

Series Synopsis:

The Contract Series

Follow Richard VanRyan and Katy as they hate, love, and grow in this gripping, deeply emotional series.

 

Book #1

What do you do when the one person you loath becomes the one person you can’t live without?

Book #2

Richard VanRyan just added another description to his resume.

Daddy.

How will he handle it?

Book #3

When the life you know becomes the life you had, how do you cope?

How will Richard and Katy overcome The Amendment?

Excerpt on Book+ Main Bites: https://bookandmainbites.com/story/40727

About the Author

New York Times/USA Today bestselling author Melanie Moreland, lives a happy and content life in a quiet area of Ontario with her beloved husband of twenty-seven-plus years and their rescue cat, Amber. Nothing means more to her than her friends and family, and she cherishes every moment spent with them. 
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While seriously addicted to coffee, and highly challenged with all things computer-related and technical, she relishes baking, cooking, and trying new recipes for people to sample. She loves to throw dinner parties, and also enjoys traveling, here and abroad, but finds coming home is always the best part of any trip. 
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Melanie loves stories, especially paired with a good wine, and enjoys skydiving (free-falling over a fleck of dust) extreme snowboarding (falling down stairs) and piloting her own helicopter (tripping over her own feet.) She’s learned happily ever afters, even bumpy ones, are all in how you tell the story.
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Melanie is represented by Flavia Viotti at Bookcase Literary Agency. For any questions regarding subsidiary or translation rights please contact her at flavia@bookcaseagency.com
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