Category Archives: New Releases

book reviews, New Releases, Romance

NEW RELEASE!!! Review ~ Eye Candy – Jessica Lemmon

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Jacqueline: As an adult woman–and the vice president of a marketing firm–I shouldn’t be waiting by my office window to ogle the mystery man who jogs by every morning at 11:45. Sure, he’s a gorgeous, perfect specimen of the human race, but I can’t bring myself to hit on a total stranger. However, my best friend-slash-colleague Vince Carson thinks I should do more than talk to the guy. In fact, he’s borderline obsessive about “getting me laid.” (His words.) But the more time we spend together, the more it’s clear: The one I’m falling for is Vince.
 
Vince: Jackie Butler’s got it bad for some pompous, over-pumped A-hole who struts his stuff past her window. That doesn’t bother me. I know she deserves nice things. What does bother me is that she friend-zoned me big-time last year, so I can’t ask her out myself. But what if I set her up with Mr. Steroids? Then, when he breaks her heart, I can swoop in and save her like the nice guy I am. Everything’s going according to plan . . . until we share a ridiculously epic kiss. And suddenly anything is possible.

I do love a friend’s to lovers story and Jackie and Vince’s story had me very excited. Although I’m not a huge fan of stories written in the first person I dove into Eye Candy and found the story engaging. Continue reading NEW RELEASE!!! Review ~ Eye Candy – Jessica Lemmon →

book reviews, New Releases, Romance

Review ~ It Started With A Kiss – Marina Adair

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With a kidney transplant behind her, Avery Adams is determined to channel her inner adventurer and explore everything life has to offer. Only problem is, the closest she’s ever come to a real-life adventure was sixth-grade science camp. So to seize the summer in her rustic Sierra Nevada town, she takes a job as a guide at the local adventure lodge. But Avery doesn’t realize her biggest challenge will register at six-plus feet of rugged good looks and alpha-male charm.

As a member of the Sequoia Elite Mountain Rescue team, Tyson Donovan has made a life out of cheating death and rescuing weekend warriors from the treacherous terrain. “The world is my home” is more than just a motto; it’s what scares off women who would otherwise try to tie him down. When his dad’s health lands the family’s adventure lodge in serious danger of going up in flames, he moves home—and quickly remembers why he left. Until he meets Avery, the irresistible new guide who makes him want to stay.

Tyson gives the inexperienced Avery a lesson in romance that her books could never teach her. And with her undeniable spirit for life, Avery shows Tyson the healing power of love. But with one misstep, everything comes crashing down, and they’ll both have to take the biggest leap of all—into the kind of adventure that lasts a lifetime.

I really enjoyed It Started With A Kiss. There was something about this novel, written by Marina Adair that reminded me of one of my favorite authors, Jill Shalvis. Maybe it was the wilderness or maybe it was the big wild mountain man who was a walking, talking ad for sex. The story pulls you right in starting with a horny old senior and a half-written but suggestive note left in lipstick.

On a windshield. Continue reading Review ~ It Started With A Kiss – Marina Adair →

book reviews, New Releases, Romance

Review ~ Going Down Easy – Carly Phillips

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Meet Kaden Barnes.

Alpha-licious in the most unexpected ways, Kaden Barnes always gets what he wants.

Enigmatic and exacting, he’s unable to keep an assistant for long. Until Lexie Parker arrives. She’s no-nonsense, efficient and all business… She’s also hot as sin and soon starring in Kaden’s dirtiest fantasies.

When their passion for each other reaches a boiling point, Kaden may think he’s calling the shots, but for this billionaire bad boy, going down easy has never felt so good.

Let me start this by saying that I am  Carly Phillips fan. I love her Dare to Love series, Dare NY, Serendipity’s Finest, those sexy Chandler brothers books and Hot Zone. Wow, that’s a lot of Carly Phillips, right?

As you can see it’s not a hard sell to get me to pick one up even though some of the latest ones have been hit or miss for me. But from the moment I picked up Going Down Easy it had me hooked. Kade is delicious. Commanding and brilliant. But he’s also a little bit broken and I don’t mean his idiosyncrasies that make keeping an assistant impossible. His back story is tragic and I guarantee it will piss you off. It will make you want to hunt down the woman who gave birth to him and go after her Sons of Anarchy style.

Enough about her. Continue reading Review ~ Going Down Easy – Carly Phillips →

book reviews, New Releases, Romance

Review ~ Sweet Water – Laurie Lewis

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Love and money don’t mix when three college friends launch a fledgling business, and two impulsively elope. When Hudson Bauer hears the wedding news he leaves town, stealing the company’s first big contract and Olivia and Jeff’s dreams.

Olivia McAllister has spent eight years blaming Hudson for all her losses, including her anemic marriage to Jeff and a recent, tragic accident that leaves her body battered and her dreams of a family shattered.

Widowed, and in desperate straits, she is forced to accept Hudson’s offer to recuperate at his parents’ empty house on Oregon’s Cannon Beach, but her return to the place where the three friends once summered casts new light on her hasty marriage and on the enemy she once called friend.

When Hudson offers Olivia a job doing humanitarian work, something hopeful and familiar awakens in Olivia, giving rise to long-denied feelings for Hudson. Stuck between grief and the promise of new love, Olivia must make peace with her confusing past, and forgive the man she once hated, before Hudson walks away again, closing the door on their possibilities forever.

Sweet Water is an emotional second chance romance between former friends and business partners Olivia and Hudson. The story begins with a horrendous car accident that leaves Olivia a widow but not necessarily a grieving one. Her marriage to Jeff was not at all what it was cracked up to be and throughout the course of the novel we learn a lot about the dynamics between the trio when they were younger and getting their business off the ground. Hudson and Olivia had always had a thing for one another when they were younger but instead of simply going for it, SHE waited while HE planned. They couldn’t have known that outside forces were plotting against their burgeoning romance.

Today Hudson is a big deal. A really big deal. A billionaire and a philanthropist that would put Bono to shame, and Olivia is not. By playing the role of dutiful wife to a starry eyed dreamer of a husband she’d put her dreams on hold, and that is the beauty of Laurie Lewis’ storytelling.

My initial impressions of Olivia weren’t all that great and they were even worse of Jeff. As the story progressed I felt bad for her but I still hadn’t warmed up to her. But as Sweet Water drew closer its climax and ending and everything was laid out bare, holy hell did I feel for the woman. Sure she made her choices but her baggage made it very hard to make any choice other than the one she did.

In fact the most impressive skill Laurie Lewis showed throughout this novel is character development. Each member of the threesome, even the long gone Jeff, were redeemed at the end. Instead of holding onto grudges and what ifs everyone simply takes the past for what it was and vows to do better. That’s the story of our lives, learning from the past without letting it completely define our future, and that’s why Sweet Water had me smiling like a lovesick fool at times, crying and others and cursing the younger versions of Olivia and Hudson.

All in all this was a surprisingly good read and I’d love to read more of the Destination Billionaire series. There was no sex in this story and I don’t think it took away from the romance at all.

book reviews, New Releases, Romance

Review ~The Baby Bombshell – Victoria James

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Lily Cookson has a few rules for the New Year, the most important being don’t fall for Jack Bailey. The gorgeous, rugged man returned with a new look and a determination to win her back, catching her off guard. After a forbidden night in his arms, she vows never to let it happen again. But when morning sickness kicks in a few weeks later, Lily realizes staying away from Jack just got a whole lot harder.

Jack Bailey left Shadow Creek behind five years ago when his world imploded around him, knowing it would be best for everyone if he was gone…including Lily. It took him a long time to get his life back on track and grow into the kind of man she needs him to be. Now he’s determined to prove to Lily that he’s back for good and ready to commit, but the secrets she’s holding onto are nothing compared to the bombshell he drops…

I only recently discovered Victoria James but I like her writing style and the small town stories she weaves so I decided to give The Baby Bombshell a try. Plus this story contains two of my favorite tropes! Continue reading Review ~The Baby Bombshell – Victoria James →

book reviews, New Releases, Romance

Review ~ Mann Cakes – Mysti Parker

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Love makes men do desperate things, if desperate things means opening a rival cupcake shop to drive your ex-girlfriend crazy.


Twin brothers and Air Force vets, Tanner and Garrett Mann, return from deployment to find their thriving business burned to the ground. Time for Plan B: Move back to their hometown of Beach Pointe to start over.

But that means running into Paige and Morgan Baxter –gorgeous, curvy, and owners of Two Sisters Cupcakes.

There’s an old diner for sale across town, Garrett’s a great cook, and Tanner has an idea. They’ll make savory cupcakes that men would like. We’re talking bacon and Cheez Whiz. Even better? They’ll call it Mann Cakes. Problem is, they end up attracting an unexpected crowd.

Paige is furious. Every man in her life has left her behind, including Tanner. She’s sacrificed everything for her shop. She won’t lose it over some egotistical ex-boyfriend, even if he does have an Air Force-chiseled body. Her younger sister, Morgan, isn’t helping matters. She’s been gaga over Garrett since high school.

To hell with that. If it’s a fight Tanner wants, it’s a fight he’ll get. But how much is Paige willing to risk to win a cupcake war?

Mann Cakes tells the story of two brothers, Tanner and Garrett and two sisters, Paige and Morgan. Tanner and Garrett had a PC business in the big city but during their final deployment it burned to the ground with a good friend inside. So they return to their hometown of Beach Pointe and right back on the radars of the two women they can’t seem to forget. But when the boys open up Mann Cakes to compete with, what else, Two Sisters bakery the heat is on! Mysti Parker has created a wonderfully interesting romance between two sets of siblings with two very different pasts.

Morgan and Garrett were just friends back in high school, both nursing unrequited crushes on the other that they never acted on. But now they’re older and Morgan isn’t quite as shy as she used to be so one coffee date kicks off their sort of second chance romance. I loved watching these two because Garrett who may or may not be a genius, still has that quiet geeky thing going on that makes him stumble over his words or get lost staring at her lips. He was so adorably shy but sweet and kind of bossy at times that he quickly won me over.

Now Paige and Tanner were a different matter altogether. It took me awhile to warm up to them both because he’s kind of a cocky playboy with no problem taking off his shirt to sell a few cupcakes (not that I mind a little six-pack action, I in fact encourage it!) and Paige sometimes acted like a wounded bird or an angry teenager. While I understood where Paige was coming from to an extent, they both took their little rivalry too far in my opinion.

Once they cleared the air, which admittedly did take awhile, I was eager to see if this was a romance that could be rekindled.

I liked that Mann Cakes was kind of a two-in-one romance and Mysti Parker did a great job of giving us all four perspectives without being confusing or pulling the readers out of the story. It also was a great way to keep the story moving forward without adding a lot of unnecessary content. This is a straight up romance with a dash of mystery, not a crash course in owning or operating a bakery which this reader totally appreciated!

This book is definitely a 4.5 cocktail read. So good you’ll get tipsy on it!

*Just $0.99 at time of this review!

book reviews, New Releases, Romance

Review ~ Apoca(hot)lips – Paula Houseman

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Up yours! It’s a ballsy attitude for a child, and one that served Ruth (Roth) Gold well back then. It’s one she desperately needs to revive now. 
After her divorce, Ruth finds the love of her life: Herself. And she’s in a happy place … until a geeky, sexy, god-like man fronts up and fulfils her forgotten little-girl fantasies. He tells her she’s ‘The One’.
Talk about screwing everything up!
A romance with him seems so wrong, yet—mmm, mmm— feels so deliciously right. 
With those around her inflaming her doubts, though, Ruth remains trapped in a do-I-don’t-I mindset. But she rallies! She kind of breaks up with her carping mother, and succumbs to Mr Hotlips’ charms.
This Romeo ’n’ Juliet-esque couple engages in epic battles with the knockers, and triumphantly rattles their cages (from where, it appears, they’ve all escaped).
Still, Ruth’s man can’t vanquish the conflicts in her mind. Or the ones in his own. And when an earth-shattering revelation causes him to give her grief, the question on her hot lips is no longer ‘Can our love survive?’ It’s … ‘Do I want it to?’

When I first dug into Apoca(hot)lips by Paula Houseman my eyes bugged out and laughter bubbled up out of me. The main character, a divorcee called Ruth has a somewhat tenuous relationship with her ‘cousin’ Ralph and yes I mean a romantic relationship. Once you get past that, which is easy to do once you realize Ralph is on a journey of his own to find out what he can about his birth mother because. So you see, they’re only sort of cousins. But it isn’t just Ralph making Ruth’s life more difficult than she’d like it. Her mother is a piece of work, her neighbors are making life difficult and in general, Ruth has the entire world conspiring to turn her life upside down. Sounds like a lot of drama, right? Well it is but in the best possible way.

It took awhile for me to warm up to Apoca(hot)lips and it had nothing to do with whether or not Ralph had a legit spot on the family tree. Paula Houseman has a unique writing style that took time to get used to, but the story telling and character development were solid. I truly appreciated Ruth’s tough as nails, “I ain’t no damsel’ way of looking at the world. The way she takes on the people screwing with her own acceptance of her distorted fairytale was priceless and so true to her character you couldn’t help but cheer her on.

Ruth was unapologetic in her new approach to life and I found it admirable as well as highly entertaining.

Houseman added a few plot twists that tested Ruth’s strength and commitment to being a more positive force in her own life. I love the way the author explored the idea that sometimes it’s us who are our own worst enemies. The constant nagging in her own mind was her, though the voice might have belonged to another. This was for me, the most endearing part of the story because as women age and their romantic relationships shift, that kind of negativity can really have an impact on future or current happiness.

If one were to judge this book by its cover you’d come away missing out on a lot because this is an engaging story that was a surprisingly good find.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book by Reader’s Favorite in exchange for an honest review.

Book 1, Odyssey in a Teacup is available for #free at the time of this posting.

book reviews, New Releases, Romance

Review ~ Slow Burn Cowboy – Maisey Yates

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In Copper Ridge, Oregon, a cowboy’s best friend might turn out to be the woman of his dreams… 

If Finn Donnelly makes a plan, he sticks to it. After his brothers left Copper Ridge, Finn stayed behind, determined to keep their ranch going by himself. And when he realized his feelings for Lane Jensen were more than platonic, he shoved that inconvenient desire away. It was easy…until it wasn’t. Suddenly his brothers are coming home to claim their share of the property. And Lane is no longer just in his fantasies. She’s in his arms, and their friendship is on the line…

He’s been her buddy, her handyman, her rock. But until that one breathtaking kiss, Lane somehow overlooked the most important thing about Finn Donnelly—he’s all man. They’re right together, no matter how much his volatile past has bruised him. Finn wants to hold Lane’s body, but he doesn’t want to hold her heart. But Lane is falling fast and now she’s got a plan of her own…to show Finn there’s nothing hotter than friendship turned to slow-burning love.

I am an unabashed Maisey Yates fan and a Copper Ridge super fan so it’s safe to say that I loved Slow Burn Cowboy. Finn and Lane have been friends almost from the moment she landed in town to live with her brother. One of the things I liked most about this book was that they had real baggage, which is usually something I try to stay away from because I don’t need a lot of angst with my romance. And of course there wasn’t a lot of angst for the sake of it, because Lane and Finn both had some MAJOR baggage.

The third star of this novel was their friendship. They were basically a married couple who didn’t live together or have sex. She kept him fed and bought clothes when he needed them and Finn, well he killed spiders, changed light bulbs and all the other things that were ‘male jobs’.

Things were going just fine until Finn’s life is shaken, first by the death of his grandfather and then when he learned he wasn’t the sole heir for the ranch he’d worked since he was sixteen. Yep, old grandpa screwed it and split it among the estranged brothers.

Okay so here my mini rant about one particular part of Slow Burn Cowboy. Everyone, including Lane, acted like Finn should just be okay with their grandfather splitting the ranch between all the brothers when the other three hadn’t been completely absent for years. Not just absent but they hardly ever even visited. He had a right to be pissed and hurt, and for them to just brush it off, well it didn’t endear any of the brothers to me. At all. (But I’m sure that will change when we get their stories!)

Okay, rant done!

All the stress in Finn’s life makes it impossible to keep resisting his attraction to his best friend. He’s a guy who likes control and right now nothing in his life is within his control. So he risks it and holy smokes is it so worth it! To me at least. J It wasn’t just the sex and chemistry that was hot, it was watching them both shed their baggage so they could go after what they both wanted.

There’s always a family element to Copper Ridge stories and this one has the big hunky brothers. Although right now they’re kind of in my doghouse, I can’t wait to watch them all fall.

In fact I’m calling it now…Cain & Allison!

book reviews, New Releases, Romance

Review ~ Royal Affair – Marquita Valentine

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Online muckraker Brooks Walker has a reputation for exposing the political elite. Now he’s set his sights on the Sinclair siblings, who’ve been embroiled in their fair share of drama ever since their exile to North Carolina. But Brooks has never been afraid to get his hands dirty—until he meets a royal wallflower at a charity ball who makes him reconsider everything. Is Brooks feeling guilty because he knows all the sordid details of her family’s history? Or because he’s putting their relationship first, before his journalistic integrity?

As the “spare” twin, Princess Charlotte has always been the responsible one. So when her sister finally agrees to fulfill her duty as queen, Charlotte gives herself permission to break a few rules by flirting with the very off-limits CEO of Walker Media. Brooks is the worst sort of man to start an affair with, but Charlotte just can’t help it. The trouble is, since she’s no good at playing games, soon she’s tiara over heels in love. And when Brooks comes clean, Charlotte must decide whether his confession is worth a royal pardon.

NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Loveswept provided me with an ARC of Royal Affair by Marquita Valentine for my honest review.

Princess Charlotte is the lonely maiden in the tower though she didn’t come by it naturally. Thanks to an awful nanny before their exile she has horrible anxiety which leaves her feeling nothing but relief that she’s the ‘spare’ heiress. Though she is a royal, she longs for a more normal life with a “squad” of her very own.

Brooks Walker is a wannabe king of media but really he runs a glorified gossip rag that has the distinction of often getting the gossip right. Of course that’s not much consolation to Charlotte and the Sinclair family. Though she blames him for upturning her world she also finds him irresistible.

A few flirty jokes over the punch bowl and a Royal Affair is born!

I liked both Charlotte and Brooks, who both—adorably—are twins! But I did find them both to be a little…much but that’s why we still read stories about royals isn’t it? She was sweetly naïve and Brooks was a cynical as they came, but watching them grow as they fell was truly a delight.

I have to say that so far Colin and Della are my favorite but this is another feel good story from Marquita Valentine!

Now…I cannot wait to read Theo’s story!

book reviews, New Releases, Romance

Review ~ Forbidden Kisses – Annie Rains

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Source: Review ~ Forbidden Kisses – Annie Rains

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For years, Jack Sawyer’s family has been running their upscale seafood business like a finely tuned machine. But every machine breaks down eventually, and suddenly Jack needs a new office manager, a new kayak launch, and a new lease on life. Then Grace Donner shows up again. She’s smart, motivated, and perfect for the manager position, but if she’s anything like her mom, she can’t be trusted. And Jack has never been able to trust himself around Grace.

Grace hasn’t seen her former stepbrothers since their parents’ messy divorce, but she never forgot them—especially Jack. She misses being part of the big rambunctious Sawyer clan, and if there’s an opportunity to set things right, she means to do it. But she can’t ignore Jack’s irresistibly kissable lips, or the searing way he looks at her when he thinks she’s not looking. Their chemistry is more explosive than ever. And if the Sawyers can forgive and forget, anything is possible.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

When I first saw the blurb for this book I rolled my eyes and groaned. Oh no, not another stepbrother romance. As someone who grew up with a blended family I was pretty grossed out. Until very early on when the relationship between Jack and Grace was clarified. Once that pesky thing was out of the way, for me, Forbidden Kisses really gets going.

Grace’s mom Tammy did a horrible, horrible thing that from the perspective of the Sawyer men was unforgivable. Her behavior cost Grace the only real family she’s ever had, which makes life more than a little tricky when she gets a job working for her former family. And former crush.

Once Jack and Grace started spending time together I feel like I had this big smile on my face the whole time. They were funny, steamy and full of chemistry it jumped off the virtual page.

While I understood Jack’s beef with Tammy, I wanted to strangle him for not at least trying to get over it. People change sometimes and if it means being with the woman you love…duh. Overall I loved them and I loved the Sawyer brothers, especially Noah. But now I am so curious to know Sam and Abby’s story!