BOOK REVIEW – Crosswinds – Elisabeth Naughton – Rising Storm, Episode 3

October 4, 2015 Leave a Comment

Crosswinds

5 STARS!

Best one yet!  I wanted this one to be longer because it was just getting good!

This episode centered mostly around the younger crowd.  Luis, Mallory, Lacey & Jeffry hanging out at Luis’s house and around town.  Lacey is spiraling out of control because she misses her brother Jacob, and her Mom is too busy fawning over Ginny during the times that she’s not floundering herself, and her Dad is not even around anymore.  She decides she wants Luis, and even though he’s dating her supposed best friend Mallory, she starts flirting hot and heavy and putting the moves on him.

Jeffry is working part time at the newspaper and finds out from Mallory that his Dad supposedly hit on her sister Dakota last year.  He doesn’t believe it, and warns Dakota to stay away from his family.

Ginny is upset after Lacey goes off on her about Jacob and walks to the park to calm down and sees that Logan Murphy is home from Afghanistan a week earlier than his family said he was going to be, and that he’s acting strange.

Can’t wait to find out more!

**  Received free in exchange for an honest review  **

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BOOK REVIEW – Calling the Play – Samantha Kane

October 4, 2015 Leave a Comment

Calling the Play

4 STARS!

HOT SEX ALERT!  Not for the faint at heart!  Must be okay with Male/Male and Menage!

Tyler Oakes heads into a bar in Birmingham, AL called Kitty Licks sure he’ll be getting laid that night.  As soon as he steps foot in the door, he realizes he’s in over his head in what looks like gang territory.  As the quarterback to the NFL Birmingham Rebels, he is in town early for some brainstorming sessions prior to the other guys showing up next week for preseason training.  Instead of the fun he was looking for, he has stumbled into the middle of under-cover cop Randi McInish’s drug bust about to go down.

Randi commandeers his Porsche to chase after the bad guys, getting it shot up, impounded and with a bullet grazing her arm, but that doesn’t stop her from taking Ty home with her for a hot night of sex!  Awkwardness almost derails their fun as they leave the police station and run into Brian Mason.  Brian is there checking on him for the Rebels and informs Ty that he’s his new coach.  Randi doesn’t know who he is, but there’s obviously some underlying tension between them.

Years earlier, they had fun together with various women, but Brian ducked and ran when Ty tried to get too serious.  Now he’s back because he can’t forget the one he let get away.  Will Ty decide to forgive him and trust him again?  And when they decide they want to enjoy Randi together, will she be game?

** Received free from Net Galley to review **

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BOOK REVIEW – His Texas Christmas Bride – Nancy Robards Thompson

October 3, 2015 1 Comment

His Texas Christmas Bride

5 STARS!

It wasn’t in her lifelong plan to be virtual strangers with the man she just found out she’s pregnant with twins with, but Becca Flannigan can’t make herself regret it either.  Who knew the one and only time in life she had a one night stand with a hot doctor, THIS would happen.

At the hospital with family one night, Becca meets Nick Ciotti, then runs into him again at a restaurant later that night and spends the night with him.  Three months later, she stumbles across him again and he finds out they are pregnant.  They start to spend time together to get to know each other, then sort of start dating.  Becca wants the fairy tale family, but Nick doesn’t think he has it in him to give it to her.  He had tragedy in his life as a kid and his family splintered.  He has no role model of what a father and family is supposed to be.  Can he find the strength to overcome his past and have a future with Becca, or will he set her free because he doesn’t think he’s worthy of her and their babies?

I loved this book!  I started reading and couldn’t put it down.  Both of these characters are scarred from the families they grew up with, but you can’t help but like them.  He’s standoffish when he feels cornered, but so sweet when he lets his guard down.  And she’s sort of meek when she lets her family walk all over her, but you find yourself rooting for her anyway.

** Received free from Nancy to review **

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BOOK REVIEW – Willow Brook Road – Sherryl Woods

October 3, 2015 Leave a Comment

Willow Brook Road

5 STARS!

Always a pleasure to read a novel by Sherryl Woods!  The way she interweaves a huge family and makes them all a part of the book is magical and makes you wish YOU were one of the O’Brien’s living in Chesapeake Shores. 🙂

Carrie Winters has been back in Chesapeake Shores among her extended family for 6 months.  She’s basically licking her wounds after a breakup with her former boss, fashion icon Marc Reynolds.  At a loss of what to do with her life, she is feeling pressure to make a decision just as she meets an interesting man.

Sam Winslow had barely been a resident of the town, when tragedy struck his family and he’s now the guardian to his orphaned 6 year old nephew.  He’s trying to get settled with Bobby, as well as get to work at his new job as the web designer/tech expert at the local paper.

Carrie manages to always be close by when Sam needs help with something and a friendship develops.  Carrie finally has an idea of a business that she thinks will make her really happy, and Sam supports her idea and keeps her secret as she explores it.  As time passes and their lives interweave, Carrie and Sam admit they are having feelings for each other.  Will Carrie decide she’s going to make a go of a business in town, or will her old life in the luxurious fashion industry world woo her back?

** Won in a Facebook giveaway **

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RELEASE BLAST – REVIEW/PROMO/GIVEAWAY – Dances Under the Harvest Moon – Joanne Rock

October 1, 2015 2 Comments

Dances_Cover

5 STARS!

Heather Finley has spent her life taking care of others.  Her sick mother, her siblings, residents of Heartache, TN, etc.  Now at age 28, she has a big audition opportunity and just wants to go after her dream of being a country music singer for once, but circumstances keep getting in her way.

First she is struck with a sudden illness, then she hangs around town longer so her sister Erin’s wedding is perfect, then something from her Dad’s past pops up, and last but not least, she’s falling in love with current Mayor Zach Chance.

Zach was a year ahead of Heather in school and had a crush on her even back then, but his own family circumstances led him to keep his distance and eventually leave town.  His dad now in prison for securities fraud, and his sister recovered and living a new life after surviving being attacked by a stalker and attempting suicide years ago, he’s finally able to come back to town.

Zach and Heather start to see each other and grow close, but she’s still keeping her health crisis a secret.  He knows from past experience with his sister how much secrets can endanger a person, so he won’t stand for being kept in the dark about things.  When it comes to light that another teenage girl, Megan,  is being stalked in town and certain things are similar to his sister’s case, Zach calls in help to try to figure out who is doing it.  Will he be able to save Megan and Heather when they fall into a trap set by the stalker?

** Received free in exchange for an honest review **

Enter to Win a
Jet-Setter Prize Pack
DANCES UNDER THE HARVEST MOON
Heartache, TN #3
Joanne Rock
Releasing Oct 1st, 2015
Harlequin Superromance
Heartache—the
best place to heal
Chance
of a lifetime
It’s finally Heather Finley’s
moment. After spending years looking after her mother in the tiny town of
Heartache, Tennessee, Heather’s about to follow her dream of singing country
music. She can nearly hear the audiences hollering…until the town’s handsome
mayor, Zach Chance, comes to her with troubling questions about her late father’s
past. Once again, Heather has to choose: protect her family or chase her
heart’s desire? Zach is determined to help, and to convince Heather that she
belongs in Heartache—with him. But is he just another distraction? Or could he
be the one to show Heather how a small-town love can make her big-time dreams
come true?
 
BUY NOW
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& N | iTunes | Kobo

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Three-time RITA nominee Joanne Rock has never met
a romance sub-genre she didn’t like. The author of over seventy novels enjoys
writing contemporary romance and medieval historicals alike, recently exploring
Young Adult romance under a pseudonym. An optimist by nature and perpetual
seeker of silver linings, Joanne finds romance–in all its forms– fits her life
outlook perfectly. When she’s not writing, Joanne enjoys travel, especially to
see her favorite sports teams play with her former sports editor husband and
three athletic-minded sons.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads
 
Filed Under: Blog Tour, Book Reviews

BOOK REVIEW – Seducing Seven – MK Meredith

September 30, 2015 1 Comment

Seducing Seven

4 STARS!

Sexy, sweet and adorable … lots of fun to read!

Just after arriving for the Romance Lovers Convention in Las Vegas, author Sevannah Michaels is being sort of stalked by an over-zealous fan.  She tries her best to politely distance herself from him, but when he’s following her to the elevator when she’s heading to her room just after checking in, she has to find some way to get out of this situation!

Enter Blake Turner.  Blake is in Vegas for an interview.  He’s a luxury salesman and is angling to get the VP of Sales position.  Though startled when Seven wraps herself into his arms and calls him her boyfriend, he plays along and gets rid of her fan.  Seven is appreciative of Blake’s help, but his cocky attitude and put downs to her industry, really irritate her.  She winds up placing a bet with him … if she can seduce him by the end of the weekend, he will buy 10 copies of her book and pass them out, selling them to his clients and coworkers … if he wins, she will announce to all of her fans and coworkers at the end-of-convention banquet that she’s a fraud and there’s no such thing as love.

It doesn’t take long for them both to be feeling more than they want to for each other.  In the end, will they take a chance on love or let their pride send them in separate directions?

** Received free from Entangled/Net Galley to review **

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BLOG TOUR – REVIEW / EXCERPT – The Drowning Game – LS Hawker

September 30, 2015 Leave a Comment
Cover
4 STARS!

Filled with bizarre twists and intrigue!  By the end of the book, your take on the characters has taken a roller coaster ride back and forth.

Charlie Moshen has died in his bed at age 51.  His daughter Petty, was trained to call his friend Randy King if anything ever happened to him.  Randy shows up at the house with the police and coroner, and Petty stresses over letting them in the house.  No one’s allowed in the house, and Petty isn’t used to being around strangers.  She works up the courage to open the door and call off the dogs so they can come in.  Sheriff Bloch questions Petty about what happened with her Dad and she answers like a soldier giving report.  While upstairs, they can’t help but notice 6 deadbolts on the outside of Petty’s door and ask her about it.

Her father has been locking Petty up at night for most of her 21 years.  She hasn’t been allowed to go to school, she doesn’t interact with people, she’s never been inside another building other than her house.  She’s been taught to be suspicious of everything, trained to protect herself, trained to kill.

**  Received free from Edelweiss to review  **

 
 
Genre: Thriller/Suspense
Release Date: September 22, 2015
BLURB:
 
They said she was armed.
They said she was dangerous.
They were right.
Petty Moshen spent eighteen years of her life as a prisoner in her
own home, training with military precision for everything, ready for anything.
She can disarm, dismember, and kill—and now, for the first time ever, she is
free.
Her paranoid father is dead, his extreme dominance and rules a
thing of the past, but his influence remains as strong as ever. When his final
will reveals a future more terrible than her captive past, Petty knows she must
escape—by whatever means necessary.
But when Petty learns the truth behind her father’s madness—and
her own family—the reality is worse than anything she could have imagined. On
the road and in over her head, Petty’s fight for her life has just begun.
Fans of female-powered thrillers will love debut author LS Hawker
and her suspenseful tale of a young woman on the run for her future…and from
the nightmares of her past.
 
 
COME CELEBRATE WITH LS HAWKER AT HER RELEASE PARTY https://www.facebook.com/events/856594864448466/
 
 
Purchase links  $1.99
 
 AMAZON *  B&N  *   iBooks  *   
Harper Collins  *  Google Play  *  KOBO
 
 
 

AUTHOR BIO:

LS HAWKER grew up in suburban Denver, indulging her worrisome obsession with true-crime books, and writing stories about anthropomorphic fruit and juvenile delinquents. She wrote her first novel at 14.
Armed with a B.S. in journalism from the University of Kansas, she had a radio show called “People Are So Stupid,” edited a trade magazine and worked as a traveling Kmart portrait photographer, but never lost her passion for fiction writing.

She’s got a hilarious, supportive husband, two brilliant daughters and a massive music collection. She lives in Colorado but considers Kansas her spiritual homeland. Visit her website at LSHawker.com. 
 
 
 
 
 
EXCERPT:
Since he’d died on his stomach, the EMTs had turned Dad onto his back. He was in full rigor mortis, so his upper lip was mashed into his gums and curled into a sneer, exposing his khaki-colored teeth. His hands were spread in front of his face, palms out. Dad’s eyes stared up and to the left and his entire face was grape-pop purple.
What struck me when I first saw him—after I inhaled my gum—was that he appeared to be warding off a demon. I should have waited until the mortician was done with him, because I knew I’d never get that image out of my mind.
I walked out of Dad’s room on unsteady feet, determined not to cry in front of these strangers. The deputy and the sheriff stood outside my bedroom, examining the door to it. Both of them looked confused.
“Petty,” Sheriff Bloch said.                             
I stopped in the hall, feeling even more violated with them so close to my personal items and underwear.
“Yes?”
“Is this your bedroom?”
I nodded.
Sheriff and deputy made eye contact. The coroner paused at the top of the stairs to listen in. This was what my dad had always talked about—the judgment of busybody outsiders, their belief that somehow they needed to have a say in the lives of people they’d never even met and knew nothing about.
The three men seemed to expect me to say something, but I was tired of talking. Since I’d never done much of it, I’d had no idea how exhausting it was.
The deputy said, “Why are there six deadbolts on the outside of your door?”
It was none of his business, but I had nothing to be ashamed of.
“So Dad could lock me in, of course.”
 
 
 




Filed Under: Blog Tour, Book Reviews

BOOK REVIEW – High Country Hideout – Elle James

September 28, 2015 Leave a Comment

High Country Hideout

5 STARS!

If you’re looking for lots of intrigue, with some feel-good romance to boot, I highly recommend this book!  I’m always a big fan of Elle James novels, but the characters in this one were especially endearing.

Angus Ketchum is fresh out of the Army after a 6 month hospital and rehab stay for injuries sustained in Afghanistan.  He’s been hired by CW Reinhardt, the foreman of Last Chance Ranch in Fool’s Fortune, CO to be a ranch hand secretly posing as a body guard for the ranch owner.

Ranch owner, Reggie Davis lost her husband last year and is raising their 5 year old son Tad with the help of CW and his wife Jo.  Too many convenient accidents around the ranch in recent months have CW worried that something sinister is going on.

Angus and Reggie are attracted to each other from the moment they meet and brush against each other during a fall from a horse.  As the days go by and they work the ranch together, they grow closer.  Tad also grows attached to Angus and his dog Ranger.  When the mystery all comes to a head and they catch who is sabotaging the ranch, will Angus be able to leave to head on to his next job with Covert Cowboys Inc, or will he decide he wants to stay on and enjoy this ready made family?

**  Received free from Elle to review **

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REVIEW – White Lightning – Lexi Blake – Episode 2 Rising Storm

September 26, 2015 Leave a Comment

White Lightning

4 STARS!

Episode 2 of the Rising Storm serial soap opera picks up where Episode 1 left off with Hector Alvarez’s family realizing he has packed his belongings and left while they were at the funeral for Jacob Salt.  His favorite daughter Dakota, who he has spoiled rotten all of her life, is heartbroken and can’t believe he would leave her.  She is sure her Mom did something to make him go.  She goes off looking for him and runs into Senator Rush at a seedy bar.  Sebastian has been hitting on her for years, and since she’s feeling low, she starts to get drunk with him and allows his advances.

Sheriff Dillon Murphy smooth talks Marylee Rush into hiring Joanne Alvarez as her new assistant so she’ll be able to earn some extra money now that Hector isn’t there to support her.

Ginny Moreno gets settled in with Celeste and Travis Salt now that she’s out of the hospital, and her best friend Brittany Rush is staying with her for awhile now that finals are over and she’s back home for the summer.  We get some insight into Sebastian Rush’s twisted head in this episode as well.

And finally, we are introduced to nurse Francine Hoffman who is good friends with Payton Rush.

**  Received free in exchange for an honest review  **

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REVIEW – Bossy: A Stepbrother Romance – Kim Linwood

September 23, 2015 2 Comments

Bossy

4 STARS!

HOT!!!  Don’t read if you’re timid and straight-laced!  🙂

Declan Riordan is attending an alumni party at his old college fraternity when he sees her across the room.  Gorgeous red hair flowing, Claire Anderson storms past him to blast her ex-fiance who is making a scene at the front door.

Claire just dumped her cheating, good-for-nothing man and is looking to forget him.  Declan offers to give her one night of hot sex to wipe all images of catching her ex screwing some bimbo in her bed right out of her mind.  After lusting after his muscles and tattoos, she decides to take him up on that offer.

Four months later, Claire is starting as an Intern at her soon-to-be stepfather’s law firm before starting law school at Stanford in a few months.  When she’s shown into the office of soon-to-be stepbrother, who she is to meet for the first time that day, she’s shocked to find Declan, her one night stand from months ago there.  Awkward!

Watch as the sparks fly between them as they learn how to work together and support each other as life hits them with one thing after another.  I started out thinking it was going to be just a hot sexy read, but I ended up liking these characters and rooting for them as their stories were told!

** Received free from Kim in exchange for an honest review **

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