Taming The Italian Bad Boy by Joanne Walsh

Posted September 18, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Series / 0 Comments

Title: Taming The Italian Bad Boy
Series: International Bad Boys
Author: Joanne Walsh
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: September 17, 2015
Publisher: Tule Publishing
My Rating: 5 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

Wealthy, incredibly sexy Italian entrepreneur Danilo Spinozzi zooms into Lucy Luxton’s life on a motorcycle one quiet afternoon, and she can’t keep her mind or eyes off him. The people of Ravello, a small town on the Amalfi Coast where she is studying jewelry design, warn her that he is the town’s bad boy and a ruthless womanizer, but how can Lucy keep her distance when he is the one man who looks beyond her shy, plump exterior and sees the sensuous and creative woman about to bloom?

Devastated by the one woman in his life who should have loved and protected him, Danilo Spinozzi has had good reason to avoid long-term commitment. But after he takes one look at Lucy and basks in her kindness and unassuming, voluptuous beauty, he needs to make her his for more than a handful of nights. She’s a girl who deserves to be treated right, a tall order when he’s left a trail of broken female hearts behind. He’s going to have to do something he’s never done before—stay and woo her.

Even though Lucy knows she’s due to return home to England at the end of August and that Danilo will move on to his next conquest, she can’t resist him… Or has Danilo really changed his ways for good?

Read on for my thoughts on Taming The Italian Bad Boy. No true spoilers, promise.

The Secret Bride by Jeannie Watt

Posted September 18, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Series / 0 Comments

Title: The Secret Bride
Series: Secrets of Cherry Lake #5
Author: Jeannie Watt
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: September 15, 2015
Publisher: Tule Publishing
My Rating: 5 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

After a decade away, Jacie Rose has returned with her daughter to Cherry Lake to renovate a historic hotel…and to lay some ghosts to rest. She knows she’ll have to confront mistakes she made in the past, but she didn’t expect to be living right next door to the guy she once asked to be her husband.

When Brett Jackson was approached ten years ago by Jacie Rose with the wild scheme of marrying her to help her out of a jam, his white knight instincts kicked in and he agreed to be her emergency groom. The only problem was that the bride didn’t show up for the wedding. How’s he supposed to get used to seeing the woman he’s never forgotten every day now that she’s his neighbor?

Determined to provide the secure home life for her daughter that she never had, Jacie is not about to bring a man into her life—even one that she sometimes thinks should have been there all along. But Brett and Jacie soon discover the spark between them is even stronger than before… Now that their paths have crossed again, will they lead them back to the wedding that almost was?

Read on for my thoughts on The Secret Bride. No true spoilers, promise.

The Comfort of Favorite Things by Alison Kent

Posted September 17, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Series / 0 Comments

Title: The Comfort of Favorite Things
Series: Hope Springs #5
Author: Alison Kent
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: September 15, 2015
Publisher: Montlake Romance
My Rating: 5 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

No matter how many years Dakota Keller has spent trying, he can’t outrun his past, so when a private investigator tells him his sister needs him, he travels to the small Texas town of Hope Springs to start a new life with the support of his siblings. When he arrives to do a routine construction job at the town’s new espresso bar, he’s shocked to discover that the owner is Thea Clark—the girl he couldn’t resist in high school and whose memory kept him sane in prison.

Recovering from an abusive relationship, Thea decides that her past is off-limits for discussion, even with Dakota. After all, it feels like a lifetime since she last saw him. But when Dakota’s brother’s firm is tapped to renovate the women’s shelter Thea runs out of her home, old feelings quickly reignite. Could a casual affair from high school turn out to be the one connection neither of them can live without?

Read on for my thoughts on The Comfort of Favorite Things. No true spoilers, promise.

Bliss and the Art of Forever by Alison Kent

Posted September 17, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Series / 0 Comments

Title: Bliss and the Art of Forever
Series: Hope Springs $4
Author: Alison Kent
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: April 7, 2015
Publisher: Montlake Romance
My Rating: 5 stars
Source: Borrowed, Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

Now that she’s committed to leaving Hope Springs, she’s falling for the wrong man…but he just might give her all the right reasons to stay.

Two years after her husband’s death, kindergarten teacher Brooklyn Harvey is leaving Hope Springs for her in-laws’ vineyard in Italy—with no plans of coming back. That is, until she meets a disarmingly sexy biker-turned-chocolatier. He might be the man of her dreams, but he’s also the father of one of her students; as such, he’s strictly off-limits.

Callum Drake knows a good thing when he sees one, and he doesn’t want to let Brooklyn get away, even if his rival for her affection is the ghost of her dead husband. He’ll do whatever it takes to win her over, including making chocolates concocted just for her—chocolates that evoke memories of their time together. But can he create a second love bright enough to pull her, and her heart, out of living in the past?

Read on for my thoughts on Bliss and the Art of Forever. No true spoilers, promise.

The Sweetness of Honey by Alison Kent

Posted September 16, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Series / 0 Comments

Title: The Sweetness of Honey
Series: Hope Springs #3
Author: Alison Kent
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: October 7, 2014
Publisher: Montlake Romance
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: Borrowed, Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

Dark-haired beauty Indiana Keller buys a property in Hope Springs, Texas, for three reasons: to expand her vegetable business, to harvest and sell delicious honey from the property’s established bee colony, and to reunite with her estranged siblings. But her older brother Tennessee keeps his distance, even after Indiana hires his construction crew to fix up her cottage. It’s almost as if he shares her guilt over the disappearance of Dakota, their missing brother…

While Indiana tries to reconnect with Ten and find Dakota, two local men begin vying for her heart. Handsome, laid-back Will Bowman has a checkered past, but now he’s determined to get what he wants out of life…and he wants Indiana. Meanwhile, refined Oliver Gatlin can’t fight his own attraction to Indiana, especially since his brother also fell victim to tragic circumstances. Amid the raw natural beauty of Hope Springs, can Indiana’s broken heart finally heal enough to love?

Read on for my thoughts on The Sweetness of Honey. No true spoilers, promise.

Beneath the Patchwork Moon by Alison Kent

Posted September 16, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Series / 0 Comments

Title: Beneath the Patchwork Moon
Series: Hope Springs #2
Author: Alison Kent
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: March 4, 2014
Publisher: Montlake Romance
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: Borrowed, Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

Transforming the old Caffey property into Hope Springs’s new community arts center won’t be easy for celebrated weaver Luna Meadows, but she sees it as a labor of love.

The center will honor Sierra Caffey, the best friend Luna lost years ago in a car crash. But when Angelo Caffey—Sierra’s older brother and Luna’s first love—returns to his family’s former home demanding answers, Luna must also face her long-buried feelings for him.

Angelo left Hope Springs—and Luna—eight years ago. Handsome and headstrong, he suspects the beautiful Luna harbors a secret about the accident. Yet despite his best efforts, he can’t resist the heat that still simmers between them. Will the untold truth shatter their future? Or could a new beginning lie within the tangled threads of their past?

Read on for my thoughts on Beneath the Patchwork Moon. No true spoilers, promise.

The Billionaire’s Secret by Kathleen O’ Brien

Posted September 15, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Series / 0 Comments

Title: The Billionaire’s Secret
Series: Amalfi Night Billionaires #4
Author: Kathleen O’Brien
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: September 14, 2015
Publisher: Tule Publishing
My Rating: 5 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

High School art teacher Sophie Smith is usually the most honest of women. But when her dearest friend and mentor asks her to be her stand-in on a two-week vacation at an Amalfi Coast luxury resort, she won’t let her down… even if it means posing as a rich, pampered socialite.

As it turns out, Sophie could get used to this, especially handsome, enigmatic gardener Declan Muldoon who’s strangely more thrilling than any of the billionaires buzzing around. She ends up falling for him—hard.

Then Sophie discovers she’s not the only one pretending. Declan’s gardener gig is temporary. He’s actually the black sheep of a very wealthy, powerful family, a man who appears to be in need of an heiress….

An heiress exactly like Sophie is pretending to be.

Read on for my thoughts on The Billionaire’s Secret. No true spoilers, promise.

Her Unexpected Detour by Kyra Jacobs

Posted September 15, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Series / 0 Comments

Title: Her Unexpected Detour
Series: Checkerberry Inn #1
Author: Kyra Jacobs
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: September 14, 2015
Publisher: Entangled Bliss
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

Sometimes it’s not the destination, but the detour…

Kayla has the perfect strategy for a broken heart: work, work, and more work. Then a storm sends her car skidding off the road, stranding her in Mount Pleasant. Fortunately, rescue comes in the form of the incredibly handsome but gruff Brent Masterson. And he’s hot enough to tempt Kayla into doing something she never thought she could do…

Brent Masterson swore he would never give into the fierce attraction that’s been sizzling between him and Kayla since they first met. He has his own demons, and he won’t risk his heart again. Not even for someone as gorgeous and amazing as Kayla. So…how exactly did he end up in Kayla’s bed last night?

But sometimes all it takes is an ice storm to show two broken hearts the way home.

Read on for my thoughts on Her Unexpected Detour. No true spoilers, promise.

Getting In The Christmas Spirit

Posted September 12, 2015 by Marsha in Discussion Post / 0 Comments

I know, it’s not even Halloween or Thanksgiving yet — but, I’ve got lots of wonderful Christmas novels to be reviewed that start coming out later this month so I need to start getting my Christmas spirit on.

This is how I start my Christmas, musically. I toss on the CD and let the music blast – Trans Siberian Orchestra. If you’ve never had the amazing experience of watching their Christmas concert live, then I can highly recommend it to any music lover. The show is a shower of sounds, sights, special effects and amazing artists. If you ever get the chance, go. I know I’m going back this year, can’t wait.

Here is how I kick off my Christmas Season… enjoy.

Claimed By The Warrior by Joss Wood

Posted September 12, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Series / 0 Comments

Title: Claimed By The Warrior
Series: International Bad Boys
Author: Joss Wood
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: September 10, 2015
Publisher: Tule Publishing
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

Bad boy Jed Hamilton is ex-special Forces and a current undercover recovery agent who’s mentally and physically tough, a lone wolf and, above all, violently allergic to commitment, permanence, and anything wedding related.

So when he learns, in the very sexy McKenna Dixon’s bridal salon, that his younger sister is getting married and wants him to be her “man of honor”, Jed wishes he was anywhere but in Cape Town. Especially now that he’ll be spending more time around the one woman who makes him consider perilous phrases like “what if” and “maybe”…

McKenna Dixon loves bad boys, but her past experience with the species has led to nothing but pain and heartbreak. Jed Hamilton is exactly the type of man she should avoid, but when a nasty incident threatens her and her daughter, Jed immediately appoints himself as their protector, even though it’s not a part of his job description.

McKenna is determined not to allow another bad boy to flip her life inside out, and Jed is determined to retain his bachelor status and to keep travelling and working. But, as they both discover, love does its best work when they are busy making other plans.

Read on for my thoughts on Claimed By The Warrior. No true spoilers, promise.

Please Release Me by Rhoda Baxter

Posted September 12, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance / 0 Comments

Title: Please Release Me
Series:
Author: Rhoda Baxter
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: September 10, 2015
Publisher: Choc Lit
My Rating: 5 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

What if you could only watch as your bright future slipped away from you?
Sally Cummings has had it tougher than most but, if nothing else, it’s taught her to grab opportunity with both hands. And, when she stands looking into the eyes of her new husband Peter on her perfect wedding day, it seems her life is finally on the up.

That is until the car crash that puts her in a coma and throws her entire future into question.

In the following months, a small part of Sally’s consciousness begins to return, allowing her to listen in on the world around her – although she has no way to communicate.

But Sally was never going to let a little thing like a coma get in the way of her happily ever after.

Read on for my thoughts on Please Release Me. No true spoilers, promise.