Author: Marsha

Two Turtle Island Doves by Kim Law

Posted December 26, 2015 by Marsha in Christmas Romance / 0 Comments

Title: Two Turtle Island Doves
Series: 12 Days of Christmas #2 & Turtle Island #2.5
Author: Kim Law
Genre: Christmas Romance
Published: December 4, 2013
Publisher:
My Rating: 4 snowy stars
Source: Borrowed, Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

Kelly and Becky Griffin can’t seem to keep their hands off each other—which would be fine if they weren’t divorced. Every few months, looking for “closure”, they fall into bed together.

To keep his mind off of Becky and his foundering acting career, Kelly heads to Turtle Island, Georgia, to be a contestant in the Yummy Santa contest. But when Becky shows up, winning the title is suddenly the last the thing on his mind.

Becky has arrived with more than hot ex-sex on the agenda. She’s got a big secret to get off her chest, if she can only get Kelly to listen. Will these two finally get the closure they need, or will their reunion spark a second chance at first love?

Read on for my thoughts on Two Turtle Island Doves. No true spoilers, promise.

To Catch His Mate by Savannah Stuart

Posted December 25, 2015 by Marsha in Series / 0 Comments

Title: To Catch His Mate
Series: Crescent Moon #5
Author: Savannah Stuart
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Published: December 15, 2015
Publisher: KR Press
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

When she ran, she didn’t think he’d follow…

Pack princess Alyssa Clare was trying to come up with ways to get out of her arranged mating to alpha wolf Reece O’Shea—until she meets the powerful male. After getting to know him, mating doesn’t seem like such a bad idea anymore. But when he makes it clear she’s just a business arrangement for him and his pack, she calls off the mating and heads south to stay with a friend to lick her wounds in private.

But he’s not willing to let her go without a fight.

Reece can’t let Alyssa go, not when he’s completely fallen for the sweet, sexy female. He doesn’t care about the arranged mating deal, he just wants her and has no idea why she ran. To win her back he infiltrates another alpha’s territory, knowing it could mean his death. Luckily Grant Kincaid allows him in his domain—as long as Alyssa is okay with it. Convincing her that she’s all he wants is a bigger challenge than he imagined. But he’s not giving up, because he knows she’s the one he’s meant to be with forever.

Read on for my thoughts on To Catch His Mate. No true spoilers, promise.

A Partridge in the Au Pair’s Tree by Susan Donovan

Posted December 25, 2015 by Marsha in Christmas Romance / 0 Comments

Title: A Partridge in the Au Pair’s Tree
Series: 12 Days of Christmas #1
Author: Susan Donovan
Genre: Christmas Romance
Published: December 4, 2013
Publisher:
My Rating: 5 snowy stars
Source: Borrowed, Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

British nanny Noelle Clarke finally gets a break when her wealthy employers and their two high-maintenance children go to Aspen for the holidays.

Despite feeling a little homesick, Noelle can’t wait to kick back and relax with a bottle of wine and some telly. But when she accidentally trips the family’s alarm system and the dashing American cop Ryder Partridge comes to her aid, Noelle may get a far more satisfying Christmas than she’d hoped for.

Read on for my thoughts on A Partridge in the Au Pair’s Tree. No true spoilers, promise.

Jessica’s Christmas Kiss by Alison May

Posted December 24, 2015 by Marsha in Christmas Romance, Contemporary Romance / 0 Comments

Title: Jessica’s Christmas Kiss
Series: Christmas Kisses #3
Author: Alison May
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Christmas Romance
Published: December 12, 2015
Publisher: Choc Lit
My Rating: 5 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

Real Christmas miracles only ever happen in the movies – don’t they?

When Jessica was fifteen, she shared the perfect kiss with a mystery boy at a Christmas party. It might have only lasted a moment, and the boy might have disappeared shortly afterwards but, to Jessica, it was just a little bit magic.

Fourteen years later, and Jessica is faced with a less than magical Christmas after uncovering her husband’s secret affair. And, whilst she wouldn’t admit it, she sometimes finds herself thinking about that perfect Christmas kiss, back when her life still seemed full of hope and possibility.

But she never would have guessed that the boy she kissed in the kitchen all those years ago might still think about her too …

Read on for my thoughts on Jessica’s Christmas Kiss. No true spoilers promise.

A Soldier’s Love by Tammy Godfrey

Posted December 24, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Series / 0 Comments

Title: A Soldier’s Love
Series: A Soldier For All Seasons #2
Author: Tammy Godfrey
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Military Romance
Published: December 1, 2015
Publisher: Booktrope / Entice
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

Melody and Jason are stationed in Fort Jackson, counting down the days both until their wedding and the birth of their baby. Neither one can even begin to imagine the chaos that’s in store for them when their families arrive to celebrate with them.

Looking to cause trouble, Melody’s older sister soon reveals a devastating family secret that threatens to rip everything apart. Life for this new couple is about to be anything but easy. If Melody and Jason are ever going to make it down the aisle during the season of love, they’re going to need to forget the past in order to look to the future and their life together.

Read on for my thoughts on A Soldier’s Love. No true spoilers, promise.

A Beary Sweet Holiday by Lia Davis

Posted December 24, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 1 Comment

Title: A Beary Sweet Holiday
Series: Bears of Blackrock #3
Author: Lia Davis
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Published: December 8, 2015
Publisher: after Glows
My Rating: 5 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

The kitchen isn’t the only thing heating up this winter…

Tiffany Black, culinary artist and owner of Beary Sweets Café, is determined to make this year’s Winter Solstice celebration one to remember. Especially since it will also be the mating ceremony for her brother, Anthony, and soon-to-be sister-in-law, Connie. She wants everything to be perfect. Unfortunately, you can’t always get what you want. When she falls off a ladder in her café and breaks her ankle, she fears her plans are doomed. Until the sexy bear Healer, Holt, comes to the rescue–stirring up more than just recipes.

Mating has never been at the top of Holt’s to-do list, and he’s known Tiffany all her life. So when the mating urge slams into him after mending her ankle, he’s taken aback–unsure and intrigued at the same time. The girl he watched grow up is now a curvy, sensual woman, and his bear wants to claim her. He wants to claim her.

The stubborn female refuses to follow Healer’s orders and allow her ankle to heal, and she’s hell-bent on catering the winter celebrations. In order to do what needs to be done, she insists that he help her. Since it gives him an excuse to stay by her side, he’s all right with that. As they work side by side to make the Solstice unforgettable, their passions ignite, and things turn utterly delicious.

Read on for my thoughts on A Beary Sweet Holiday. No true spoilers, promise.

Wild Cowboy Ways by Carolyn Brown

Posted December 22, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Series / 0 Comments

Title: Wild Cowboy Ways
Series: Lucky Penny Ranch #1
Author: Carolyn Brown
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: December 22, 2015
Publisher: Forever
My Rating: 5 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

Allie Logan isn’t the type to land a hot hunk of cowboy. Truth is, she’s given up on dating since shedding her no-good ex. But the new owner of the most ramshackle ranch in Texas might just change her mind about that. He’s six-foot-plus of tall, dark, and charming—the kind of guy who could make a girl throw caution to the wind . . . or the kind of guy who could break her heart.

Blake Dawson hopes he can make Lucky Penny Ranch finally live up to its name, but the property needs a ton of work. Allie and her carpentry skills are his best shot at getting things in order. Besides the fact that her brown eyes and dangerous curves have him roped and tied. Now Blake only needs to convince her that a wild cowboy can be tamed by love—and she’s just the one to do it.

Read on for my thoughts on Wild Cowboy Ways. No true spoilers, promise.

Eve’s Christmas Wedding by Caroline Mickelson

Posted December 22, 2015 by Marsha in Christmas Romance / 0 Comments

Title: Eve’s Christmas Wedding
Series: a Christmas Central novella
Author: Caroline Mickelson
Genre: Christmas Romance
Published: November 28, 2015
Publisher:
My Rating: 5 stars
Source: Owned, Kindle Edition
Cover Description:

Wedding planner Eve Bennington has her Christmas all thought out, down to the last Mai Tai she plans to savor once she reaches Hawaii. But her plans quickly go awry when her very pregnant business partner insists that Eve do a favor for Santa’s niece.

The problem? Santa isn’t real. Or so Eve believes until she and her ex-boyfriend Hunter find themselves on a sleigh pulled by eight shaggy reindeer. Their destination? The North Pole. Their mission? To pull together a very last minute Christmas Eve wedding.

Eve’s problem? Finding out that Santa Claus really does exist challenges everything Eve thinks she knows, including her belief that she and Hunter don’t belong together.

Read on for my thoughts on Eve’s Christmas Wedding. No true spoilers, promise.

A Chance of a Lifetime by Marilyn Pappano

Posted December 22, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Series / 0 Comments

Title: A Chance of a Lifetime
Series: Tallgrass #5
Author: Marilyn Pappano
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: December 22, 2015
Publisher: Forever
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

Sometimes love finds you when you least expect it…

To Benita Ford, Tallgrass, Oklahoma, will always be home. It’s where her beloved grandmother raised her and where she rode bikes with her two best friends—the man who became her husband and Calvin. And Tallgrass is where she stayed, even after her husband died while serving his country. Now Calvin is home from that same war, and the sensitive, mischievous boy she once knew is today a man scarred by wounds no one else can see. Falling in love with him is something Bennie never imagined.

Tallgrass still haunts Captain Calvin Sweet. Yet it’s where he must go to see Bennie—the one woman he always loved but could never have. Calvin regrets so much about what happened years ago. Still he can’t deny being with Bennie makes his future feel bright, like anything is possible. But the demons of his past won’t be quieted that easily. As old hurts linger, threatening to pull them apart, Calvin and Bennie must take the ultimate risk for the love of a lifetime.

Read on for my thoughts on A Chance of a Lifetime. No true spoilers, promise.

In The Company of Wolves by Paige Tyler

Posted December 21, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance / 0 Comments

Title: In The Company of Wolves
Series: SWAT: Special Wolf Alpha Team #3
Author: Paige Tyler
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Published: December 1, 2015
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
My Rating: 5 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

He opened his mouth to order her to drop the MP5 she had aimed at him, but nothing would come out. It was like she’d robbed him of the ability to speak. Shooting her wasn’t an option, though. And the idea of arresting her didn’t make him feel any better.

There’s a new gang of criminals in town who are organized and ruthless in the extreme. When Eric Becker, along with the rest of the Dallas SWAT team, ends up in the middle of a shootout, he immediately senses werewolves-a lot of them. Turns out, the new bad guys are a pack of wolf shifters.

In a spray of gunfire, Becker comes face-to-face with the most gorgeous woman he’s ever seen. Becker does the logical thing. He hides her and leaves the scene with the rest of his team.

Jayna Winston has no idea why that SWAT guy helped her, but she’s glad he did. Ever since she and her pack mates got mixed up with those Eastern European mobsters, everything had pretty much fallen apart.

So what’s a street-savvy thief like Jayna going to do with a hot alpha-male wolf who’s a police officer?

Read on for my thoughts on In The Company of Wolves. No true spoilers, promise.

Operation White Christmas by Nicki Edwards

Posted December 21, 2015 by Marsha in Christmas Romance, Contemporary Romance / 0 Comments

Title: Operation White Christmas
Series: Escape To The Country #2.5
Author: Nicki Edwards
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Christmas Romance
Published: December 17, 2015
Publisher: Momentum Books / Moonlight
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

Hollie Douglas has dreamed of a White Christmas ever since she was a child, but her dream implodes when her fiancé breaks her heart two months before their big day. Convinced by her best friend to go ahead with her planned honeymoon anyway, Hollie doesn’t expect to find herself stuck in a snowstorm in rural Canada two days before Christmas.

Jim Bell has been dreading another Christmas without his wife. When one of his orphaned animals goes missing in the middle of a snowstorm, he didn’t expect he’d be rescuing a stranded Australian tourist as well. He quickly realizes Hollie is carrying as much emotional baggage as him, and when she accepts his offer to seek shelter at his farm, he wonders if he’s doing the right thing.

As Jim helps Hollie fulfill her White Christmas dreams, the winter wonderland and spirit of Christmas work their healing magic on both of them.

Read on for my thoughts on Operation White Christmas. No true spoilers, promise.

Emma and Her Daughter by Linda Mitchelmore

Posted December 21, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance / 0 Comments

Title: Emma and Her Daughter
Series: Emma Le Goff #3
Author: Linda Mitchelmore
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: January 9, 2016
Publisher: Choc Lit
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

Can ‘second love’ be true love?

It’s 1927 and Emma has returned to England from Canada with her teenage daughter, Fleur. After the tragedies of the past, Emma is ready to start again in Devon, the place she used to call home – despite the bittersweet memories it brings back.

But memories are not the only thing that she has to contend with. There’s also the secret she’s been keeping from her daughter; the secret that’s revealed when an unwelcome visitor comes back and threatens to turn their lives upside down.

Throughout it all Matthew Caunter is rarely far from Emma’s thoughts and, as it happens, much closer than she thinks. Could he be the key to her finally finding happiness, or will Emma discover the hard way that some people are just destined for heartache?

Read on for my thoughts on Emma and Her Daughter. No true spoilers, promise.

Her Sworn Enemy by Theresa Meyers

Posted December 20, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Series / 0 Comments

Title: Her Sworn Enemy
Series: Men of the Zodiac #12
Author: Theresa Meyers
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: December 7, 2015
Publisher: Entangled / Indulgence
My Rating: 3 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

Money doesn’t matter when what you want is revenge.

Self-made millionaire and family black sheep Tucker McCormack has one goal—payback. He’s planning a hostile takeover of the McCormack empire, but his latest roadblock is too beautiful to resist…and she’s his brother’s ex.

Headstrong antiquities expert Belladonna Dupre has put every asset she has on the line to recover her family’s fortunes from a shipwreck in the Gulf of Mexico, but she needs a dive salvage operator to make it happen. Enter Tucker McCormack. He’s smart, good with his hands, and sexy as hell in a dive suit, but he demands joint credit for the discovery as a condition to work with her.

Bella won’t be bullied into giving up what’s rightly hers. Tuck won’t take no for an answer. It’s a battle on the high seas, where sparks fly, attraction smolders, and anything can happen.

Read on for my thoughts on Her Sworn Enemy. No true spoilers, promise.

This Is Why I Try To Make My Reviews Spoiler Free

Posted December 20, 2015 by Marsha in Discussion Post / 0 Comments

Hawn Leia Mature Unless you’ve been living under a rock recently you might have heard of a pretty big movie release – a little film called Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Yeah, pretty big deal for us Star Wars fans.

I was lucky enough to see it this past Thursday, December 17th thanks to my son staying online for about 4 hours to get tickets to the day before release viewings.

The Force Awakens is, in my opinion pretty amazing. The new adventures, the chance to catch up with old friends. It met my every hope and then some.

I will be the last person to talk publicly about the film. Yes, I absolutely loved it. Would recommend it to fans and new to the franchise movie goers who want to see what all the fuss has been about all these years.. But I won’t talk about it. For one main reason.

Why would I (or anyone) want to spoil this movie for those that haven’t seen it yet? I do not understand that concept. Especially when there are parts of this film that even Disney managed to keep under wraps right up until release. Why would I mess that experience up for anyone?

Yet there are already headlines and Twitter comments, Facebook posts, blog posts, television reports and media of every sort out there ready to spoil the experience for any person who happens to run into those comments. I have friends who have shut themselves off from social media in order to try to not hear tidbits about the film before they get to the theater themselves this weekend.

So what does Star Wars have to do with book reviews you ask… well, everything. I feel about books the same way I feel about people blasting the entire plot of a movie I haven’t seen yet. I don’t want to know. I want to experience it for myself – not have someone, a reviewer (be it movie or book reviewer) tell me the entire story in minute detail. That SPOILS IT FOR ME.

Come back in say… a year, and we can discuss plot twists until we’ve exhausted every tidbit of the movie or book. But right now – on launch day, on release day… let me experience it myself. Please.

A SEAL Forever by Anne Elizabeth

Posted December 20, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Series / 0 Comments

Title: A SEAL Forever
Series: West Coast Navy SEALs #3
Author: Anne Elizabeth
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Military Romance
Published: December 1, 2015
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
My Rating: 3 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

Special Operator Declan Swifton was a dedicated U.S. Navy SEAL, a known player, and daredevil who loved pushing the limits. But on his last mission, an IED leaves him injured and angry as hell—and it changes everything.

When a loud crash disturbs his neighbor, Maura Maxwell, she assumes the sailor next door is up to his usual bad behavior. But the man she finds covered in glass is far from the cocky ladies’ man she’d grown to tolerate. Lying before her is a man fighting to rediscover his place in the world—and he can’t do it alone.

Read on for my thoughts on A SEAL Forever. No true spoilers, promise.