Caught Between a Lie and True Love by Sheila Seabrook

Posted August 22, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance / 2 Comments

Caught Between a Lie and True LoveTitle:  Caught Between a Lie and True Love
Series:  Caught Between
Author:  Sheila Seabrook
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  April 24, 2015
Publisher:
My Rating:  4 stars
Source:  NetGalley
Cover Description:

Paige Calhoun has spent years concealing the truth about her family. She’s got a new life now, centered around her daughter and her career, and there’s no room in it for anything—or anyone—else. But when instincts honed at the side of her con-artist dad warn her that her grandma is in trouble, she returns to Serendipity Island…where the web of lies she has told are in jeopardy of being uncovered.

Brody Jackson always thought of Paige Calhoun as the little girl next door. Three years her senior, his sights were set on a football scholarship, and fame and fortune as a pro quarterback. But now he’s back home, his career down the tubes, battling the grandma from hell for permanent custody of his teenage daughter…all because of one careless mistake.

Brody’s got no time for one hot woman who’s messing with his mind and his future. And Paige can’t afford to let one gorgeous man distract her from saving the residents of the island from her dad’s latest scam. All they both want is a life free from the past. Instead, they’re caught between the truth and true love.

Read on for my thoughts on Caught Between a Lie and True Love.  No true spoilers, promise.

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Caught Between an Oops and a Hard Body by Sheila Seabrook

Posted August 21, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Series / 2 Comments

An Oops and A Hard BodyTitle:  Caught Between an Oops and a Hard Body
Series:  Caught Between #1
Author:  Sheila Seabrook
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  July 5, 2015
Publisher:
My Rating:  5 stars
Source:  Borrowed, Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

Stephanie Goodwin has never met a prince who didn’t turn out to be a frog, but she’s never allowed her personal feelings about men and relationships to interfere with her job as a wedding planner. Instead, she focuses on giving her clients their dream wedding, a magical day to get them through the trials and tribulations of the years ahead—before everything turns to dust.

Hotshot divorce lawyer, Stone Kincaid, has an aversion to marriage. His experience has taught him that wedding vows only lead to a broken heart that never really heals and an empty bank account. But when he returns to his family’s Serendipity Island estate to stop his irresponsible sister’s wedding, he encounters the wedding planner from hell—the gorgeous, sexy woman he met and bedded a month ago.

Can a woman with a history of picking the wrong kind of guy find a forever kind of love with a man who fears commitment almost as much as she does?

This story includes a marriage-phobic wedding planner, a hunky divorce lawyer whose attitude toward wedded bliss—and family—is about to change, one really big OOPS, afternoon naughtiness, peanut butter cookies, messy family relationships, and a battle-of-the-sexes secondary romance.

Read on for my thoughts on Caught Between an Oops and a Hard Body.  No true spoilers, promise.

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Review: Hidden Treasure by Melody Anne

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

Hidden TreasureTitle:  Hidden Treasure
Series:  Billionaire Bachelors #9, Lost Andersons #2
Author:  Melody Anne
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  May 19, 2014
Publisher:
My Rating:  4 stars
Source:  Borrowed, Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

Brielle Storm inherits a dilapidated ranch in the wilds of Montana and she isn’t happy about her situation in the least. She may be moving to her new home, and she may be planning on doing whatever it takes to make her billionaire father happy, but she certainly won’t be doing it with a smile on her face.

No. Brielle plans on coming to Montana, hiring some ranch hand to do all the work, and then getting out of there before the first winter snow has a chance to hit.

Montana isn’t a state that offers predictable weather and Brielle is going to find out that the land isn’t the only thing she has to fear.

When her hotter than any city boy ever dreams of being, cowboy neighbor shows up on her doorstep, Brielle decides that maybe Montana isn’t so bad after-all.

That is until he laughs openly at her city girl ways. Then, she has something to prove.

Read on for my thoughts on Hidden Treasure.  No true spoilers, promise.

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Loving The Chase by Sharla Lovelace

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

Loving The ChaseTitle:  Loving The Chase
Series:  Heart of the Storm #1
Author:  Sharla Lovelace
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  August 25, 2015
Publisher:  Montlake Romance
My Rating:  5 stars
Source:  NetGalley
Cover Description:

Charming, adventurous Zach Chase has always craved the spotlight, and now he’s on the hunt for publicity for his family’s storm-chasing business. So when a reality TV network approaches him with the idea for a show profiling their work, he can’t resist. But the last person he expects to walk into the meeting is the former love of his life.

Production assistant Maddi Hayes was once engaged to Zach—until she was almost killed by a tornado he was out chasing. She walked away from her fiancé and their future together, convinced she’d always come second to his dangerous career.

Dreading the show and anxious over working so closely with Zach, Maddi also knows this project could mean big things for her career. If only Zach weren’t still so infuriating…and so infuriatingly sexy. Can they finally let go of their stormy past? Or will the passion still raging between them win in the end?

Read on for my thoughts on Loving The Chase.  No true spoilers, promise.

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Not Quite Enough by Catherine Bybee

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

Not Quite EnoughTitle:  Not Quite Enough
Series:  Not Quite #3
Author:  Catherine Bybee
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  October 8, 2013
Publisher:
My Rating:  5 stars
Source:  Borrowed, Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

Monica Mann has made it her life’s work to save lives. After an earthquake and tsunami hit the shores of Jamaica, she volunteers her trauma skills with Borderless Nurses. Calculating and methodical, Monica creates order out of whatever chaos she finds.

Until she finds the perpetually barefoot, impossibly masculine Trent Fairchild. No one can pin him down. No, really. He’s a pilot and manages a small fleet of choppers on his adopted island home. Hopelessly drawn to one another, they manage to slip away from the wreckage to get a little closer. And they get a lot closer than expected when aftershocks from the earthquake trap them in a life-or-death scenario. Paradise has brought them together. Now will it tear them apart?

Read on for my thoughts on Not Quite Enough.  No true spoilers, promise.

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Unexpected Treasure by Melody Anne

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

Unexpected TreasureTitle:  Unexpected Treasure
Series:  Billionaire Bachelors #8, Lost Andersons #1
Author:  Melody Anne
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  June 30, 2013
Publisher:
My Rating:  5 stars
Source:  Borrowed, Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

The Andersons are back in this exciting new line of the bestselling series everyone is talking about. In this new series, you will meet Richard Storm and his five children, and the circumstances that ripped him away from his brothers, Joseph and George Anderson. See how they finally meet. The bonds of an Anderson bloodline are too strong to keep their family apart forever.

Richard Storm is saddened that his children are throwing away their lives, and offers them an ultimatum. They have two years to take a failing business and make it a success or they lose their trust funds, and are on their own. His stubborn children think he’s gone insane, but they don’t know the powerful secret that can knock them to their knees and tear their family apart. Will they come together as they should, or will self-centeredness consume their hearts, ripping their family apart forever?

Crew Storm opens an exclusive resort in the Catalina Islands off the coast of California, and pride swells within him as he accomplishes the impossible. Everything is going on track until a blonde steps into his life and asks him to teach her how to be the perfect seductress.

Haley Sutherland is done with her fears, done being a wallflower and done being invisible. She comes up with a brilliant idea to find the perfect person to teach her how to seduce the man she truly wants. Though, the person she’s chosen to be her teacher is Crew Storm, soon she finds she’s forgetting her first love’s name.

This story will take you on a journey through the heart as Crew teaches Haley more than she ever imagined, and finds himself gaining more than he thought he needed.

Reunite with the Andersons as they discover new relatives and meet this new branch in the Anderson line. Will love truly conquer all, or will stubbornness make them lose everything they never knew they had.

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

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Review: The Billionaire’s Final Stand by Melody Anne

Posted August 19, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 0 Comments

The Billionaire's Final StandTitle:  The Billionaire’s Final Stand
Series:  Billionaire Bachelors #7
Author:  Melody Anne
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  October 4, 2012
Publisher:
My Rating:  5 stars
Source:  Borrowed, Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

When the head of the Anderson family, Joseph, gets into a life-changing automobile accident, his family struggles to find a way to survive if he doesn’t come out of the coma the accident has placed him in.

Austin Anderson is used to being single, but slowly he’s watched his siblings and cousins find true love, leaving him the final Anderson without a spouse. That’s all about to change when he meets Kinsey, who has him chasing her all across town. This couple has passion, love, and excitement, and both are determined to make it on their own, though, they are so much better together.

Listen to the heartfelt reminiscing of Katherine as she tells the story of her romance with Joseph as she sits by his bedside, never losing faith that he’ll come back to her.

Laugh along with the large family as they turn the tables and start plotting
against George as he tries to hide his growing feelings for Esther.

This final chapter in the Anderson family will leave you laughing, crying, and on a roller coaster of emotion as you once again step back into the world of the Anderson’s.

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

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Men Under Fire by Jacki Delecki

Posted August 19, 2015 by Marsha in Mystery / 0 Comments

Men Under FireTitle:  Men Under Fire
Series:  Grayce Walters #3
Author:  Jacki Delecki
Genre:  Romance, Mystery
Published:  May 25, 2015
Publisher:  
My Rating:  4 stars
Source:  NetGalley
Cover Description:

Hollie Thomas, the feisty, tattooed office assistant to Grayce Walters, has come a long way from living on the streets. Along with finding a job she loves, she’s found friends and safety. When her new life unravels, she faces dangers that dwarf her troubled past. Fighting to survive, she discovers that sometimes what you need the most might be found in the one person you failed to see coming.

Returning home from the war and struggling to find his way, Sergeant Nick Welby, and his bomb-sniffing golden lab, use their skill set in the last place he’d ever imagined—Seattle’s Waterfront. To protect the one woman who matters, Nick and his trusty canine partner will risk everything to rescue her and Seattle from disaster.

Embroiled in Grayce Walters’ most perilous case—a terrorist plot with the threat of deadly explosives—can Nick and Hollie work together to save themselves and each other before it’s too late?

Read on for my thoughts on Men Under Fire.  No true spoilers, promise.

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Undone By His Kiss by Anabelle Bryant – Blog Tour

Posted August 19, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 0 Comments

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There are times when a novel comes along that invites you to sit back, relax and allow yourself to be transported to another time, another place.  Undone By His Kiss by Anabelle Bryant is such a novel.

Undone By His Kiss Story Description

Undone by His KissA most delicious challenge…

Experience has taught Emily Shaw that men are best avoided, so she’s determined to take her place in society alone and unrestrained by marriage. Renting a room in the heart of London, she establishes a Women’s League to promote equality between the sexes and teach women to be independent.

Jasper St David isn’t looking for distractions, but he’s fascinated by beautiful, fiercely opinionated Emily when she moves into the office above his. And when he learns of her determination never to succumb to male charms, he can’t help but see it as a challenge! After all, Jasper’s always found nothing more tantalising than the thrill of the chase…

Buy links:

Amazon UK    Amazon US    Nook   Goodreads 

 

A Mini-Review

Emily and Jasper may each seek independence in their own ways, but it certainly has set off sparks and disagreements between them.  Sharing spaces in the same building will bring them into each other’s paths often, and with interesting results.  Jasper has never been a man to back down from a challenge.  Emily has never desired a man enough to change her mind about the confusing creatures.  Put these two stubborn, intelligent, independence seeking people together and you will have fireworks of the most splendid explosions.

I enjoyed Undone By His Kiss tremendously.  And I have to admit that I enjoyed the secondary characters almost as much as the main couple.  There is a mystery here, as well as eccentric relatives, strong friendships and a love that will work hard to get beyond issues and events of the past in order to bring Jasper and Emily together.  And our couple have enough sparks going on between them to set a pile of fireworks ablaze.  Emily will discover that not every action of a man is a bid to strip away her own thoughts or her independence.  Jasper will find that what once was a challenge became a need that will not end until the stubborn woman he loves is at his side for a lifetime.

This is the second novel in Ms Bryant’s series, Regency Charms.  I adored the first, Defying the Earl, and I have no doubts at all that I will love the next novel in this series.  It is always an enjoyable touch to encounter characters from previous novels in a series.  For me, it ups the believability of the entire series, as no couple exists in a vacuum.  And a hint of who the next couple will be is also a winning point for me.  A series is a continuation of an overall arch that needs to include all of the characters, in some small way, to make it a true connecting series – to me.  That is just one of the reasons that I follow Ms Bryant’s series.  I get exactly what I’m looking for.. a believable story, endearing characters, a touch of mystery and a very, very good story. What more can a reader ask for?

My full review for Undone By His Kiss can be bound here:  My Review

A Bit About Anabelle Bryant

8131174Anabelle began reading at age three and never stopped. Her passion for reading soon turned into a passion for writing and an author was born. Happy to grab a suitcase if it ensures a new adventure, Anabelle finds endless inspiration in travel, especially imaginary jaunts into Regency England, a far cry from her home in New Jersey. Instead, her clever characters live out her daydreams because really, who wouldn’t want to dance with a handsome duke or kiss a wicked earl?

Though teaching keeps her grounded, photography, running and writing, counterbalance her wanderlust. Often found with her nose in a book, Anabelle earned her Master’s Degree and is completing her Doctorate Degree in education. Thrilled to be an author for Harlequin’s Carina line, Anabelle’s historical romances are character driven. She strives to provide a heartfelt connection between her hero, heroine, and the reader, believing the emotional journey on the path to true love is the most important bond. Clever secondary characters and lively conversation keep the pages turning.

Links for Ms Bryant:   Facebook    Twitter   Website

Final Thoughts

If you love Historical or Regency Romances this is a novel written for you.  Are series your passion?  Then hop on to this one because the stories are lively, the characters believable and the love flows from the pages.

My thanks to Anabelle Bryant and Jenny of  Neverland Blog Tours  for inviting me to be a part of this amazing blog tour.  Hope you found a great story to read and amazing new blogs to follow.
 

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Runaway Heiress by Melody Anne

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

Run Away HeiressTitle:  Runaway Heiress
Series:  Billionaire Bachelors #6
Author:  Melody Anne
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  July 4, 2012
Publisher:
My Rating:  5 stars
Source:  Borrowed, Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

Joseph and George Anderson are once again back to match-making in the sixth book in The Billionaire Bachelors Series.

Bree has had enough of over-protective brothers and a meddling father, so she decides to run to a small town, where she can prove she can make it on her own. The only thing wrong with that situation is there’s a stalker after her, determined to make her his – or else end her life.

George hires Chad, Mark’s best friend and ex-Navy Seal to guard Bree. She is furious about her father sending her a babysitter.

Read on for my thoughts on Runaway Heiress.  No true spoilers, promise.

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Teaser Tuesday #13

Posted August 18, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 10 Comments

teaser tuesdayOne of the fun parts of taking part in blog hops (aside from getting to visit new to me blogs) is finding great ways to interact with other book lovers.  This is one:

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm.

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers

Put Up Your Duke“We have invested a lot of time and capital with the promise that Isabella would one day be the Duchess of Gage.”  The countess spoke with a confident, arrogant tone that made Nicholas’s skin crawl even as he admired it.  She would not be distracted or deterred by anything he might do.

“You can see my predicament,” Nicholas replied, spreading his hands out.  “I have just found out that not only am I the duke, but that there is an impending duchess.  That’s a lot to digest within a mere twenty-four hours.”

“Of course,” the countess said, “but the truth of the matter is that this agreement was done in good faith and we expect the terms to be fulfilled, even if the representative has changed.”  He hoped to God that the countess’s daughter wasn’t nearly as terrifying.

 

 

I enjoy Historical or Regency Romance, and have a friend who supplies me with bags of them.  Last night I picked this novel off the top of the pile and was immediately charmed.  It’s good to have friends who love to read as much as you do.  🙂

Here is the story description should you find this taste interesting.

He was once happily bedding and boxing, but in the newest Duke’s Behaving Badly novel, Nicholas Smithfield has inherited a title and a bride . . .

To keep his estate afloat, the new Duke of Gage must honor an agreement to marry Lady Isabella Sawford. Stunningly beautiful, utterly tempting, she’s also a bag of wedding night nerves, so Nicholas decides to wait to do his duty—even if it means heading to the boxing saloon every day to punch away his frustration.

Groomed her whole life to become the perfect duchess, Isabella longs for independence, a dream that is gone forever. As her husband, Nicholas can do whatever he likes—but, to Isabella’s surprise, the notorious rake instead begins a gentle seduction that is melting every inch of her reserve, night by night . . .

To his utter shock, Nicholas discovers that no previous exploits were half as pleasurable as wooing his own wife. But has the realm’s most disreputable duke found the one woman who can bring him to his knees— and leave him there?

Mmmm… I love a reformed Rake, guess I just have a soft spot for bad boys no matter the era.

So, what are you reading?

 

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