Tag Archives: romance book reviews

Review ~ Montana Maverick – Debra Salonen

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Be careful what you wish for-
Meg Zabrinski wants a child. She’s a successful scientist, a well-known environmental advocate, and a tenured professor. She doesn’t need a man in her life to make this happen. But having a baby alone is a weighty decision, so she retreats to her isolated mountain cabin to write and think. When Henry Firestone–an old foe from her distant past–drops out of the sky on Christmas Eve with three young children and a baby, Meg tells herself she’d be crazy not to consider all her options–especially when she’s always nursed a secret crush on the handsome rancher. Although the sparks between them ignite a mutual passion, Henry makes it clear he’s done having children. Falling in love with Henry Firestone and his beautiful family would require Meg to give up her dream. Can the Lone Wolf assimilate into a new pack, or was this Big Sky Maverick meant to be alone?

They say timing is everything-
Henry Firestone doesn’t recognize the “angel in snowshoes” who comes to his rescue in the middle of a blizzard, immediately, but Meg Z. knows him. Twenty years earlier, the media paired them as rivals to the death. Meg championed the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone, while Henry argued just as passionately that wolves would put ranchers on the Endangered Species List. She’s still beautiful, independent and headstrong, and Henry’s now free to admit that he always had a thing for her. Unfortunately, he’s fighting for sole custody of his late daughter’s four children. They are his biggest priority. He’d do anything to keep his family together–even sleep with the enemy in hopes that she might join his cause.

I have been looking forward to reading Meg’s story since I started reading the Big Sky Maverick’s series. She was the strong one, the older one. The one who was a little bit gruffer than her siblings so I knew when she fell it would be spectacular.

Meg and Henry Firestone have a long history of disagreeing on a matter that impacted both of their respective careers. She spent her career fighting to re-introduce wolves into the wild which of course meant that animals on surrounding ranches and farms were in greater danger of being eaten by those wolves. So when his helicopter full of children crashes near her cabin I was ready for sparks to fly. Continue reading Review ~ Montana Maverick – Debra Salonen

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

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!

Review ~ Her Fated Cowboy – Donna Michaels

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~ Harland County Series…Unruly cowboys and the women who tame them.

L.A. cop, Jordan Masters Ryan has a problem. Her normal method of meeting a crisis head-on and taking it down won’t work. Not this time. Not when fate is her adversary. Having kept her from the man she thought she’d always marry, the same fickle fate took away the man she eventually did. Thrown back into the path of her first love, she finds hers is not the only heart fate has damaged.

Widower and software CEO, Cole McCall fills his days with computer codes and his free time working the family’s cattle ranch. Blaming himself for his wife’s death, he’s become hard and bitter. When his visiting former neighbor sets out to delete the firewall around his heart, he discovers there’s no protection against the Jordan virus. Though she understands his pain and reawakens his soul, will it be enough for Cole to overcome his past and embrace their fated hearts?

Don’t you just love it when you bought a book ages ago and never read it and then you find it, like a favorite dress or book you didn’t realize you still had?

Her Fated Cowboy has a nice ebb and flow to the story. It starts off fun and fast-paced as Jordan and her sister Kerri head back home to Harland County, Texas. When they Continue reading Review ~ Her Fated Cowboy – Donna Michaels

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.

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!

Review ~ Statistically Improbable – Jennifer Peel

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Two professional matchmakers. One fake relationship. He’s a playboy. She’s a good girl. What could possibly go wrong?

According to Binary Search’s matchmaking service, Meg and Zander’s odds of ever having a successful relationship are statistically improbable. Meg has run the numbers and knows the probability, but for some reason she can’t quit thinking about her coworker, Zander–the self-proclaimed eternal bachelor.

To make matters more interesting, Zander approaches her with an unusual proposition. He’s in need of a pretend girlfriend. Meg thinks this could be the answer to get him out of her system, and maybe knock the arrogant man down a few notches in the process. But what she doesn’t realize is there is more to this man, something he carefully hides behind his arrogant exterior. And when her feelings begin to be anything but pretend, she knows the odds of getting hurt are more than probable.

Will they let the odds over come them, or will they find that all the reasons they are wrong for each other are exactly what make them a perfect fit?

I received a free copy of this book from Readers Favorite for an honest review.

What do you do when the very algorithm you use to help find your customers the perfect match tells you who your imperfect match is? Well if you’re matchmaker Meg, you use the perfect opportunity get the intriguing but imperfect man out of your system. In Statistically Improbable Meg’s coworker Zander is in need of a pretend girlfriend so he approaches her because, who else? Jennifer Peel has created a fun environment featuring two characters with hidden depths. The story starts with Meg and Zander’s usual banter but from there we learn what makes them tick and who they are beyond the work facades they put on each day.

My favorite part of Statistically Improbable is the basic premise. All the science and math says that Meg and Zander are all wrong for each other. If they start something the Binary Search pretty much guarantees it won’t end well. But the pull is too strong to resist. It doesn’t matter that he’s an arrogant player, what matters is that she wants him and he wants her, even if he doesn’t want to. These two are much more than they appear and it makes their journey that much more entertaining. You knew right away that they had explosive chemistry and I had so much fun watching the fireworks.

I truly enjoyed that there wasn’t much mystery about their feelings from the reader. There wasn’t a lot of back and forth that can get annoying. They wanted each other and both have valid reasons for not going there, and watching them try to resist had me laughing out loud and flipping the pages eagerly.

NOTE: This is the second book in the series. The first book, His Personal Relationship Manager, is available but I have not personally read it…yet.

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!

Review ~ Forbidden Kisses – Annie Rains

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!

Review ~ Confessions of a Reformed Tom Cat – Daisy Prescott

Source: Review ~ Confessions of a Reformed Tom Cat – Daisy Prescott