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.

Sand Dollar Cove by Nancy Naigle

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

Title: Sand Dollar Cove
Series:
Author: Nancy Naigle
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: July 8, 2015
Publisher: Crossroads Publishing House
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

Growing up, Elli Eversol spent nearly every summer in Sand Dollar Cove at her grandparents’ beach house, working at their shops on the old fishing pier. After a hurricane and a Nor’easter damage the pier and the shops nearly beyond repair, Elli returns to town to help rebuild. She even launches the Buy-A-Board campaign to raise funds for the plight. Holden Moore is back in Sand Dollar Cove, too. He broke Elli’s heart years ago, but he’s pulling every Romeo trick in the book to win her back now. Yet there’s more to Holden’s agenda, and it doesn’t include saving the pier.

Brody Rankin is eager to scout the location for his company’s new mega-warehouse near a quaint North Carolina beach town. The online request for handyman assistance for the Buy-A-Board campaign in Sand Dollar Cove gives him the perfect reason to head to the east coast, check out the area, and contribute to a good cause. He’d only have to leave half of his playboy-surfer lifestyle behind for a little while—there are plenty of waves in the Atlantic. But when he meets Elli Eversol, she really gets the surf up, and he’s tempted to toss his playboy ways out with the tide.

Read on for my thoughts on Sand Dollar Cove. No true spoilers, promise.

A Day I Wish I Didn’t Have To Remember

Posted September 11, 2015 by Marsha in Discussion Post / 0 Comments

September 11, 2001. A day when the world we knew… changed forever.

Did I know anyone in the Towers? Yes. Perhaps more than I am aware of since at that time much of my non-working hours were in the gaming world. There were many people who simply never logged into games after September 11, 2001. So, those… I can only assume.

But it doesn’t really matter if I personally knew anyone directly involved or not. It was a normal, everyday kind of day – no one knew when they woke up that morning that by nightfall everything they understood would be in chaos.

Everyone has their memories and thoughts about September 11, 2001.

Today, to acknowledge that day when so many innocent lives were lost so senselessly I will remember in my own way.

Instead of images of airplanes crashing into towers or building crumbling or firemen holding lifeless children I am sharing the official video of the haunting song that became associated with that day.

And I remember and honor in my own heart.

The Billionaire’s Betrayal by Karen Robards Thompson

Posted September 10, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Series / 0 Comments

Title: The Billionaire’s Betrayal
Series: Amalfi Night Billionaires #3
Author: Karen Robards Thompson
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: September 7, 2015
Publisher: Tule Publishing
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

As heir of Dei Fiori Enterprises, Matteo De Luca‘s single focus after his father’s untimely death is rebuilding his family legacy and hotel empire. After two years, he’s close to achieving his goal, but there’s one person standing in his way… A sexy distraction he’d never anticipated.

Two years after her beloved husband’s death, Helena Von Lienz knows it’s finally time to let go. With her share of a hotel business, Helena heads to the Amalfi Coast in search of closure, and a portrait created for her by her late husband. What she doesn’t anticipate to discover during those hot Amalfi nights are some unexpected truths about her late hubby, and a strong sensual shared desire with Matteo, the sexy and ambitious CEO of Dei Fiori…

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

Her Secret Protector by Roxanne Snopek

Posted September 10, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Series / 0 Comments

Title: Her Secret Protector
Series: Secrets of Cherry Lake #4
Author: Roxanne Snopek
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: September 8, 2015
Publisher: Tule Publishing
My Rating: 5 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

Cherry Lake’s official photographer has a problem. The boudoir photos Carrie Logan used to do, long ago and far away, have come back to haunt her. So she turns to Ethan Nash, the mysteriously gorgeous guy with big dogs and a bad attitude, for help containing this secret and the scandal it will cause.

Ethan takes one look at the photo of young Carrie and his harsh cyber-security specialist exterior begins to melt. For some reason, he feels the need to help this beautiful photographer. He’s pretty sure she’s stuck– once something’s on the internet, it’s there forever- but he offers her his assistance anyway. There’s something about her he finds irresistible…

What Ethan doesn’t realize is that he might need Carrie’s help far more than she needs his… Will she prove to be the one he needs?

Read on for my thoughts on Her Secret Protector. No true spoilers, promise.

Buying A Series Blind – And Proud Of It

Posted September 9, 2015 by Marsha in Discussion Post / 4 Comments

For some odd reason I missed the launch of Carole Mortimer’s sexier series ALPHAs. Being a reader of Ms Mortimer’s works for many years now – I honestly don’t know how that happened. I suspect just too many great books undiscovered as yet.

Christmas ALPHA So, today I went and picked up the first one, Christma Alpha, and figured I’d get it read and on the schedule for the Christmas Season reviews. Then I looked at the second story, okay 1-Click, then the third story another 1-Click… and you get the idea. By the time I was done I’d bought the entire series and will pick up the next release as well.

And I’m glad I did. I didn’t plan on it all at once, but I knew I’d end up reading and reviewing the whole series and just went with the trust that I have in the author when I bought every one before even reading the first story.

That is a classic example of a reader who believes in an author’s works from past experiences to know that sight unseen the stories are going to be enjoyable… because I trust what I’ve read in the past. Blind trust? Maybe. But some writers deserve that kind of trust.

And now… I’m not sure I can wait to start reading. *sheepish grin* If I know me, I’ll probably just start diving right in to this particular pile of books that won’t have time to get dusty on my TBR Tower of Books.

Of course, like every reader I have favorite authors works on release. But I rarely buy an entire series in one shot. No regrets, I’ll be posting reviews on this series soon.

Christmas Alpha
Dark Alpha
Shadow Alpha
Midnight Alpha
Renegade Alpha
(and to come) Warrior Alpha

Have you bought an entire series, sight unseen? I can’t be the only one out here. *grin*

Blog Ahead Starts October 1st

Posted September 9, 2015 by Marsha in Discussion Post / 0 Comments

It’s time again for the Blog Ahead Challenge from herding cats & burning soup and Caffeinated Book Reviewer. This is a great opportunity to get your blog posting done ahead and ease some of the stress of blogging. And I am all for getting rid of some of the stress in my life.

The “rules” are so easy. If you already schedule posts for your blog simply add 31 posts to that total number to get done in the month of October. Should you normally schedule 9 blog posts every month – next month write and schedule a total of 40 posts. Those additional posts would appear on your blog in November and beyond.

If you haven’t gotten into the habit – and it is honestly a habit – of prewriting and scheduling posts to be automatically dropped then this is a great chance to make doing that a habit. Having reviews, discussion posts or even memes done ahead of time and scheduled to post opens up so much time for other things. More reading perhaps? *grin*

I suggest that you click on the Blog Ahead graphic in this post – or either Anna’s or Kimberly’s links on the first line of this post and check it all out for yourself. The “rules”, explanations and even buttons for your sidebar are available there.

This is the perfect time to blog ahead and free up time for the upcoming holiday season. I’d rather be decking the halls than getting a last minute review up on time – wouldn’t you? Go on check it out, you’ll be glad you did.

One Last Promise by Sydney Bristow

Posted September 8, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Series / 0 Comments

Title: One Last Promise
Series: Bedford Falls #2
Author: Sydney Bristow
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: January 23, 2015
Publisher:
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

Damon Durant is not your average bad boy; sure, he has a wicked smile that flaunts an unpredictable nature and more than a hint of danger, but if growing up shuffled from one dysfunctional foster family to another has taught him anything it’s that love is hard to come by. So when he flirts with a sexy, young restaurateur named Kelsey Lawford, he can’t help but think that he’s finally found the one.

When it comes to romance, Kelsey has always trusted her heart, and it has led to more than a bit of heartache and regret. Now she’s ready to concentrate on what she wants twenty years down the road, instead of twenty minutes into the future. So when she banters with a romance novelist who exudes enough blistering sex appeal to leave her breathless, Kelsey ignores her feelings. Because if her past has taught her anything, it’s that men like Damon can’t be trusted, especially when she learns that this irresistible man has left a trail of broken hearts in his wake.

Kelsey wants to trust the longing Damon evokes in his books and the adorable relationship he shares with his cute Beagle, thinking there’s more to the Harley-riding bad boy everyone says is only out for one thing. But will it be enough to convince Kelsey to overlook her past and trust a man that everyone says can’t be trusted?

Read on for my thoughts on One Last Promise. No true spoilers, promise.