** Book Review ** LUC by J.M. Stewart

Luc

4 STARS!

A sweet, sexy story of healing and moving forward after great loss!  I enjoyed the characters, I just would have liked a little more of them together at the end instead of skipping forward so much. Overall, a nice read with some nice sexiness to it and a sweet family backing it.  I look forward to reading his brother’s story!

Liz Anderson lost her husband two years ago and moved back home to lick her wounds.  She’s been at a standstill ever since, so her best friend takes it upon herself to drag her out of her rut and make her get out into the world again … in the form of setting her up with a hunky man 10 years her junior!

Luc Rossi is working hard to raise his little girl and to help run the family restaurant and doesn’t have much time for anything else, but when his co-worker sneakily sets him up with Liz, he can’t deny he’s attracted to her in a big way!

Luc offers to teach her how to cook, and opens the door for a sexy fling!  She’s not looking to forget her dead husband, and he’s not looking to get over his ex’s betrayal and trust again, but life has a lot more in store for them than they know.  Will he be able to convince her that moving on isn’t deserting the love she had with her husband?  And will she prove to be a woman worthy of his heart?

ARC received via the Author

** Book Review ** A DARE WITHOUT REGRET by Wendy S. Marcus

Naked man and woman hugging

5 STARS!

From tragedy to love in a sweet novella in the Dare to Love Kindle World!  I often feel the story is rushed or feel like something is missing to make me happy when reading a novella length story, but that was not the case with this one by Wendy S. Marcus.  She brought sadness, hope and love to life with her story and I was enthralled.  I’ll have to go back and read Ren’s story too now that I’ve met him! 🙂

Ryan Monighan is an all-star running back for the Miami Thunder football team.  He’s a fan favorite, and he goes out of his way to always give the fans what they want, but when one gal is persistent in asking for something he’s not willing to do, he just keeps saying no.

Kiley Ivers is at the end of her rope!  She’s overwhelmed with trying to handle her bakery on her own and trying to be there 24-7 for her injured nephew, and then there’s the unbearable grief she’s torn apart with over losing her family in a horrible accident recently.  She really needs something to give … and that something is Ryan!

When Ryan finally meets the pest who keeps stopping by to try to get something out of him, he finally hears her story and agrees to try to help her nephew … and if he can get a sexy fling with the hot baker out of it too, all the better!

ARC received via the Author

** Blog Tour / Book Review ** RETURN TO MARKER RANCH by Claire McEwen

Return to Marker Ranch

4 STARS!

In Book 2 in her Sierra Legacy series Claire McEwen takes us back to Marker Ranch to bring us Wade’s story.  It was fun to see Nora & Todd again and to see Wade continue on his journey to healing from his PTSD that we saw him start in Book 1.

Wade Hoffman broke Lori Allen’s heart all those years ago when he left town, so she’s not happy to see that he’s back  … especially when she finds out that he ran her well dry!  She’s working hard to prove herself now that she’s taken over her dad’s ranch, and she doesn’t need any more roadblocks than she’s already had.

Wade is happy to see Lori again.  In all those years that he was serving his country, he never forgot about her, or his need to apologize for how he left.

Can Wade put his life back in order enough to feel like he’s a complete enough man to have anything to offer Lori?  And will Lori be able to forgive him for leaving her high and dry?

ARC received via Prism Book Tours

 

 

 

On Tour with Prism Book Tours.

Return to Marker Ranch (Sierra Legacy)Return to Marker Ranch
(Sierra Legacy #2)
by Claire McEwen
Adult Contemporary Romance
Mass Market Paperback & ebook, 384 pages
July 1st 2016 by Harlequin Superromance

This is one reunion both of them could do without

This is the chance she’s been waiting for to prove she can run her family’s ranch. And despite her many doubters, Lori Allen knows she’s doing a good job. Until the man who once broke her heart—Wade Hoffman—runs her well dry! And it turns out he’s got as much to prove as she does. After serving his country, Wade’s back to rebuild his family’s reputation and win his battle with PTSD.

With so much to lose, neither can afford to give in to temptation. But to succeed they must let go of old heartache and face up to bringing out each other’s worst, along with the best. And what doesn’t kill them…

GoodreadsAmazonBarnes & NobleHarlequin

The First Book in the Series

Wild HorsesWild Horses
(Sierra Legacy #1)
by Claire McEwen
Adult Contemporary Romance
Mass Market Paperback & ebook, 384 pages
March 1st 2016 by Harlequin Superromance

This wild stallion can’t be tamed

Todd Williams is still the naive idealist he was in college. Only now he’s endangering lives—Nora Hoffman’s to be exact. Nora hasn’t seen Todd since he decided that saving the rain forest was more important than their relationship. Until the night she’s nearly crushed by the stampede he causes. Now Todd is determined to make amends, for everything.

She may not agree with his methods, but even Nora can’t deny the importance of his fight to save the wild horses. With the attraction between them still sizzling and the fate of the horses in the balance, Nora must decide just how much she’s willing to risk.

Claire McEwen lives by the ocean in Northern California with her family and a scruffy, mischievous terrier. When not dreaming up new stories, she can be found digging in her garden with a lot of enthusiasm but, unfortunately, no green thumb.

Claire enjoys discovering flea-market treasures, walking on the beach, dancing, traveling, and reading, of course! She loves to write complex heroes and heroines, who grow and find themselves through their search for love.

Tour Schedule

July 1st: Launch
July 3rd: Becky on Books & Nicole’s Book Musings
July 5th: Mythical Books
July 6th: Brooke Blogs
July 7th: EskieMama Reads
July 8th: Thoughts of a Blonde & 23 Review Street
July 10th: underneath the covers
July 11th: Colorimetry
July 12th: deal sharing aunt
July 13th: Wishful Endings
July 14th: Harlie’s Books
July 15th: Beck Valley Books
July 17th: Grand Finale

Tour Giveaway

$25 Amazon eGift Card
1 copy of the first book in the series, Wild Horses (print if US, ebook if outside the US)
Open internationally
Ends July 22nd

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** Book Review ** THE MARRIAGE HE MUST KEEP by Dani Collins

The Marriage He Must Keep

4 STARS!

In this first side of a baby swap story, Dani Collins bring us a feisty take on an arranged marriage!  It starts with some good drama that we have to decipher to figure out how she wound up in the predicament she is in.  I enjoyed the main characters, but felt there were a few too many supporting characters that we didn’t hear much from other than a snarky line or two.  I liked the story and look forward to reading the 2nd side of the baby swap when I read Sorcha’s story.

Octavia Ferrante is in labor and desperately wanting her husband by her side.  He arrives later, just as she’s realizing something is not as it should be with her newborn son … this isn’t her baby!

Alessandro Ferrante isn’t sure if she’s just overwhelmed or if there is something more wrong with his wife.  Upon her insistence that something is wrong, they investigate and find that their son WAS swapped … and by a member of his family!

Octavia doesn’t want to forgive Sandro for how she feels she was treated during her pregnancy, but he persuades her with his intoxicating touch to give him another chance to show her that he cares. Will she regret giving in to him or will he turn over a new leaf and give her the type of marriage she wants?

** Book Review ** ONE WEEK TO SCORE by Kate Meader

One Week to Score

4 STARS!

A sexy friends to enemies to lovers story!  It was a pleasure to see these characters again and to watch them make their way through their passion and turmoil.

Olivia Kane planned for the perfect wedding day, but instead it all blew up and she’s left sitting alone at the bar drinking away her sorrows!  She decides she’s going to take her honeymoon for one and go find some sexy man to while away her heartache!

Flynn Cross might be her brother’s best friend, but he’s also the man that broke her young heart seven years ago and she does NOT want to make nice with him!  His interfering ways are getting on her nerves and she just wants him to disappear.

Flynn decides he doesn’t want Olivia throwing herself at some stranger, so he decides to follow her on her honeymoon and offer himself up for a week of all the passion she needs to heal her heart! Liv doesn’t want to forgive him and like him again … but her body finds it hard to resist his touch!  When she finds out his role in ruining her wedding, will she turn away from him again?

ARC received via NetGalley

** Book Review ** WRONG BED REUNION by Candy Sloane

Wrong Bed Reunion

3 STARS!

The plot could have been feasible enough, but I just wasn’t feeling it the way it was written.  The characters were flat, there was some filler in there that really didn’t do anything for the story, and I just wanted more!

Georgia Cahill is at her 10 year high school reunion with one goal in mind … seduce the quarterback boyfriend she left behind 10 years ago!  With some liquid courage behind her, she heads off to slip into his bed, but a key mix up has her pressing herself against the class nerd instead!  Before she realizes she’s in the wrong bed, she’s being seduced by a sexy, dirty talking man!

Gideon Neill is only at the reunion to show up his classmates who did nothing but ridicule him back in the day with how successful he is now!  When Georgia climbs naked into his bed, he doesn’t realize until way too much groping has gone on that she thinks she’s in bed with someone else!

They definitely feel the pull from their hot encounter for the remainder of the reunion, and eventually agree to help each other out.  He is supposed to help her make the quarterback jealous, and she’s got to pretend to be his girlfriend for the deal of a lifetime meeting he has coming up!

ARC received via NetGalley

** Book Review ** HIS TO PROTECT by Stacey Lynn

His To Protect

4 1/2 STARS!

A sexy hot guy shows his tender side when his protective streak comes out blazing!  Really great characters!

Declan James swore off women as anything but a quick release when his wife left him to handle their struggling business on his own several months ago.  He’s not looking to complicate his life at all, but that is exactly what happens when he happens upon a woman and her dog digging through the dumpster in the alley behind his restaurant!

Katrina Morgenson finally got up the guts to leave her abusive husband after one too many trips to the ER.  She’s struggling to survive and is just cutting some corners to feed her hungry dog when Declan comes upon her.  He offers her help without strings as soon as he realizes what’s going on.

As Trina leans more on Declan and starts to trust him, he shows her how a real man treats a lady.  Will he be able to keep her safe when her ex tracks her down?

ARC received via NetGalley

 

** Book Review ** COMMANDING HER SEAL by Kat Cantrell

SEALs of Summer 3

4 STARS!

Reviewing COMMANDING HER SEAL by Kat Cantrell

In this sexy fun novella, we learn the back story for the beginning of how the ASSIGNMENT: Caribbean Nights series former SEAL characters wound up starting their tourist business in the Caribbean.

Charlie St. Croix needs some downtime during his two week leave from the Navy, so he heads to a resort owned by a buddy of his in the Caribbean.  He’s going to relax and decide whether to reenlist when this tour is over, and find some sexy company along the way.  Little does he know he’ll find her on his first excursion of his vacation!

Sexy redhead Audra Reed catches his eye, and it turns out she enjoys being caught!  She’s a self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie happy to enjoy some of the activities the resort has to offer … and hot to take Charlie up on the after hours fun he wants to share as well!

ARC received via Author

** Book Review ** HIGH HOPES by Sue Lilley

High Hopes

4 STARS!

A fun read!  It’s a fairly serious book, but there are a lot of laughs in it as well when she meets a new friend on her journey to setting things right!

Grace Cavendish is blown away when she’s contacted 20 years later by the daughter she gave up for adoption at birth.  She was a broke college student, and she was conceived during a drunken one night with a good friend who got back together with his girlfriend the next day.  She had never told Sam she even got pregnant that night because she didn’t want to come between he and Dixie.

She travels for a visit with the plan to tell Sam and Dixie the truth about the child, because she’s asking about her birth father, but the longer she’s there, the harder it gets to tell them.  They have some turmoil going on in their life right now, and Grace is also at a changing point in her life, so she’s terrified they will never forgive her and she’ll be without her two best friends.

When life changing things happen on this trip, how will it all play out?  Will Sam and Dixie forgive her, will they forgive each other for the secrets they have held, and what will the future hold for them all?

ARC received via Author/VA

** Book Review ** ALWAYS MY GIRL by Samantha Chase

Always My Girl

4 STARS!

In Book 3 of Samantha Chase’s The Shaughnessy Brothers series, she brings us Quinn’s story.  I love this family!  They are always there for each other through thick and thin.  I found it hard to love Quinn quite as much as I did Hugh when I read Book 2, but I still enjoyed the story a lot!

Quinn Shaughnessy has always been sure of himself and what he wants out of life and he enjoys having a good time.  He’s happy for his older brothers that they have found love and seem happy, but it’s not for him!

Anna Hannigan has been best friends with Quinn since they were 5 years old.  They tell each other everything, always have each others backs and have no secrets … well, except that Anna has been in love with him for years!  She finally decides she has wasted too much time life waiting around on him and makes some changes in her life.  Quinn isn’t happy to see Anna distancing herself or changing how she dresses, and he hates the possibility of her dating someone even less!

Happenstance gets them to take a chance on each other and become more than friends, but will they be able to make it last despite their differences?

ARC received via NetGalley