Review: Born To Be Bad by Carol Marinelli

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

Title: Born To Be Bad
Series: International Bad Boys #3
Author: Carol Marinelli
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: October 1, 2014
Publisher: Tule Publishing
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: Borrowed, Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

Innocent Milly Harper knows that it would be foolish at best to get involved with billionaire bad boy, Roman Zaretsky. He’s a guest at the hotel where she works, so she knows his reputation only too well.

One night, when all the other guests have left, Milly finds herself dancing with the Devil himself. His touch, his kiss, even his words seduce.

Being in his arms is pure passion and delight, but she’d never anticipated the shame of being paid.

Read on for my thoughts on Born To Be Bad. No true spoilers, promise.

Review: Wife by Wednesday by Catherine Bybee

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

Title: Wed by Wednesday
Series: The Weekday Brides #1
Author: Catherine Bybee
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: October 5, 2011
Publisher:
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: Borrowed, Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

Blake Harrison:
Rich, titled, and charming…and in need of a wife by Wednesday. Blake turns to Sam Elliot, who isn’t the businessman he expected. Instead, Blake is faced with Samantha Elliot, beautiful and feisty with a voice men call 1-900 numbers to hear.

Samantha Elliot:
Owner of matchmaking firm Alliance and not on the marital menu…that is, until Blake offers her ten million dollars for a one-year contract. And there’s nothing indecent about this proposal. The money will really help with her family’s medical bills. All Samantha will need to do is keep her attraction to her new husband to herself and avoid his bed.

But Blake’s toe-curling kisses and sexy charm prove too difficult for Sam to resist. It was a marriage contract that planned for everything…except falling in love.

Read on for my thoughts on Wed by Wednesday. No true spoilers, promise.

Review: Death Sentence by Sheryl Browne

Posted July 17, 2015 by Marsha in This one's a Keeper / 2 Comments

Title: Death Sentence
Series:
Author: Sheryl Browne
Genre: Thriller, Crime
Published: June 1, 2015
Publisher:
My Rating: 5 stars
Source: Borrowed, Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

He’s killed your child and kidnapped your wife. What would you do?

Detective Inspector Matthew Adams and Patrick Sullivan, drug dealer, pimp, murderer: two men on opposite sides of the law. A history that goes way back. A bully even in his youth, Sullivan had made it his mission in life to make the goody-two-shoes copper’s life a misery. Now Matthew has made it his mission in life to make sure the pimping scum responsible for prostituting young girls, abusing them, and beating them to death, is locked up for life.

When Matthew’s child becomes a casualty of the war between them, does Matthew want justice? Or does he want retribution? When Patrick’s brother is shot down like a dog in a drug bust gone wrong, Patrick wants payback. He wants Matthew. Or the copper loses his pretty, pregnant wife. As far as Patrick is concerned, it’s quid pro quo.

Read on for my thoughts on Death Sentence. No true spoilers, promise.

Review: Snow Prints by May Willians

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

Title: Snow Prints
Series: Michigan Moonlight #2
Author: May Williams
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: July 13, 2015
Publisher:
My Rating: 5 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

With a successful career, and his dream house under construction, the only thing missing from Adrien Peterson’s life is love. Since high school, Adrien’s heart has belonged to the irresistible Gracie Sinclair. If only he could make the her see it…

Single mother Gracie’s worked hard for everything she’s got. Between her son, her nursing job, and violin playing, she’s built a life that, if not a dream, is something she can be proud of. She’s had enough lovers and family walk out on her to know not to want more. But then Adrien moves next door while his house is being built, bringing with him a tempting charm she remembers all too well.

Adrien is determined to break down the walls around Gracie’s heart. When she reluctantly agrees to a six-week trial relationship, he has one shot to show her just what a dream love can be.

Read on for my thoughts on Snow Prints. No true spoilers, promise.

Review: Terms of Surrender by Sheila Seabrook

Posted July 16, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance / 3 Comments

Title: Terms of Surrender
Series: Rocky Mountain Romance #2
Author: Sheila Seabrook
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: October 2, 2013
Publisher:
My Rating: 5 stars
Source: Borrowed, Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

A woman in need…
ER nurse Harley Jane Davis has dedicated her life to helping others. Now she’s the one in trouble, and the only person she can rely on is Gage Toryn—the man she’s secretly been in love with for years.

A man on the edge…
Gage would do anything for Harley, except give in to the hungry passion that sparks between them. He’s hiding a terrible secret, one guaranteed to destroy any chance at a relationship. And even though Harley haunts his dreams and makes him want to be a better man, he knows she could never love him if she learned about his ugly past.

Family, future, forever…
When a situation with Gage’s brother endangers Harley and his nieces, Gage offers them refuge in his home—and the battered pieces of his heart. But can he overcome his fear of commitment and open up about the past? Or will his secret destroy his last chance to have a relationship—and a real family—with the only woman he’s ever loved?

Read on for my thoughts on Terms of Surrender. No true spoilers, promise.

Review: Barefoot in White by Roxanne St. Claire

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

Title: Barefoot in White
Series: Barefoot Bay Brides #1
Author: Roxanne St. Claire
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: May 2014
My Rating: 5 stars
Source: Owned
From the Cover:

Destination wedding consultant Willow Ambrose has fought a battle with the scale for much of her life, but she has finally won the war. By putting her past behind her and cutting off all contact with anyone who knew her before and, of course, controlling everything she can, Willow has carved out a new body and a new life. But when she comes face to face with someone who left an indelible mark on her heart years before, all that threatens to crumble.

Navy SEAL Nick Hershey is on medical leave, doing a friend a favor as a stand in “man of honor” at a beach wedding. He might not be that interested in the nuptials, but the wedding planner catches his eye the minute they meet. When he realizes Willow is really a girl he knew in college—and a girl he unintentionally hurt to the core—he knows he has some making up to do.

Willow has learned how to beat every temptation…but Nick’s sweet-as-candy kisses just might be the one thing she can’t resist. But the closer they get, the more the past threatens to tear them apart. Can they finally let go of a painful past in order to find a forever future?

Read on for my thoughts on Barefoot in White. No true spoilers, promise.

Review: Outlaw’s Bride by Nicole Snow

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

Title: Outlaw’s Bride
Series: Grizzlies MC Romance #3
Author: Nicole Snow
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Erotica
Published: June 29, 2015
Publisher: Ice Lips Press
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: Borrowed, Kindle Unlimited
Cover Description:

SALLY

He’s going to kill me when he finds out. I should’ve left Roman behind after our unforgettable fling two summers ago. I wasn’t supposed to end up having his kid, always looking over my shoulder for the last man in the world meant to be a father.

But danger has a funny way of betraying a woman’s best kept secrets, and reigniting old flames that should’ve died on a hot summer night.

Now, he’s hellbent on claiming me in all the explosive ways that make my heart stop and my head spin. I’m losing it, or maybe just my panties. Every single pair.

An arranged marriage with the Grizzlies MC’s biggest badass? I shouldn’t want this so bad…

ROMAN

Forgive and forget? F*ck no.

I tried like hell to push her away, spent every waking minute on whores and booze. Then I found out what she’d hidden, and I lost my damned mind.

Sally’s lies stole more years off my life than prison did. She owes me big. I’m taking her for payment, and I don’t care what she’s got to say about wearing my brand.

No chick makes a fool outta me. And I’m not fooling when I tell her I’ll get my perfect wife, even if we’re faking it all the way to the altar.

Give me a week. I’ll conquer her spitfire tongue and remind her what it’s like to ache desire. I’m not stopping ’til her lips are on mine, making her squirm the way she used to, begging me for more…

The Outlaw Love books are stand alone romance novels featuring unique lovers and happy endings. No cliffhangers! This is Roman and Sally’s story in the Grizzlies MC series. This novel is for 18+ readers, mature content ahead.

Read on for my thoughts on Outlaw’s Bride. No true spoilers, promise.

Review: La Fleur de Blanc by Lexi Maxxwell

Posted July 16, 2015 by Marsha in Women's Fiction / 0 Comments

Title: la Fleur de Blanc
Series:
Author: Lexi Maxxwell
Genre: Romance, Women’s Fiction
Published: February 14, 2015
Publisher:
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

A young woman with a little girl’s dream. Two handsome suitors. And an adversary determined to crush her before she stands a chance.

Lily Whistler has a dream, birthed from the most fanciful Parisian memories of her late mother: to open a floral shop called La Fleur de Blanc, selling only white flowers. Back home in Kansas, such a fairy tale notion could never survive … but in the fashionable seaside town of Cielo del Mar, California, Lily has gambled her inheritance that it will.

At first, the upscale shopping center of the Palms Couture seems fertile soil for Lily’s dream. The weather is beautiful; the vistas of the ocean are breathtaking; the customers are elegant and wealthy. There are even two men who’d suit Lily’s fancy if she had time for such things: charming Len, who operates a fine food cart, and dark and brooding Matthew Vitale, who runs Bella by the Sea — an elite restaurant that hosts only a few couples per night at an exorbitant price — with his father Marcello.

But the one thing Lily didn’t anticipate standing in her way was a nemesis: Kerry Barrett Kirby, who owns nouveau house across the courtyard. Kerry seems determined to crush Lily into the dirt for a reason Lily can’t imagine … and wields a power and seniority at the Palms that Lily (new, naive, and out of her element) can’t hope to fight.

Lily only has one chance to make her shop work — a tall feat, considering the prior shops Kerry has driven out of business, and the way the Palms always bows to Kerry’s will. But Lily’s charm has bought her a handful of unlikely allies … and as Kerry will find out, quiet little Lily Whistler has more than a few country girl tricks up her sleeve.

La Fleur de Blanc is women’s fiction with an edge: part coming of age story, part underdog tale, part romantic comedy, plenty hilarious, and stuffed to the brim with empowerment.

Read on for my thoughts on la Fleur de Blanc. No true spoilers, promise.

Review: His Love by Jennifer Gracen

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

Title: His Love
Series: Summer in New York #3
Author: Jennifer Gracen
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: July 14, 2015
Publisher: Tule Publishing
My Rating: 5 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

Toni Westmore doesn’t do relationships. She has a demanding boss at her high end Soho art gallery job and an even more difficult and critical mother – who needs the mess of a relationship?

Enter Irish Doctor Gavin McKinnon, her friend’s brother, also known as the perfect summer fling: tall, muscled, smart, funny, definitely ready for a good time and stamped with an expiration date. He’ll go back to Ireland and his family medical practice in a few weeks and she’ll return to her real world and plan her next career move.

Gavin’s in town not only to visit his sister, but to try and heal his broken heart. He gets a little help when Toni, his sister’s friend and roommate, enters the picture. Inexplicably drawn to her, Gavin tries to remind himself to look but not touch, but Toni is hard to resist… and when she offers him a no strings fling, how could he say no?

But as Gavin’s departure date looms, Toni realizes that her sexy summer fling is anything but. And she was sure she could kiss Gavin goodbye with no regrets…

Will she attempt to break their no strings rule? Or will Gavin leave Long Island without looking back?

Read on for my thoughts on His Love. No true spoilers, promise.

Review: Angels’ Share by Jennifer Bramseth

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

Title: Angels’ Share
Series: Bourbon Springs #3
Author: Jennifer Bramseth
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: July 14, 2015
Publisher:
My Rating: 5 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

After the deaths of her parents and husband, high school history teacher Lila McNee inherits her family’s land and retreats to her childhood home in search of safety and solitude in Bourbon Springs, Kentucky. Yet instead of the peace she needs to heal, she discovers her neighbor to the north, Bo Davenport, the owner-distiller of Old Garnet Distillery, desperately wants a big chunk of her land along the property line which has been subject to dispute for years. Bo wants land to expand the distillery, one of his father’s last wishes, and sees the property as rightfully belonging to Old Garnet. But the land is Lila’s refuge against a world that has only brought her heartbreak, and is the home to her beloved and historic springs–the very spot from which Bourbon Springs derived its name over two centuries earlier.

After months of fruitless negotiations, Bo sues Lila. And she sues him back. Drawn together by conflict born of love of the same place, the two find themselves falling for each other. But if they can’t find a solution to the land dispute and figure out a way to share that which is most dear to them, they not only risk losing the lawsuit, they also risk losing their chance at love.

Read on for my thoughts on Angels’ Share. No true spoilers, promise.

Review: Maggie’s Turn by Deanna Lynn Sletten

Posted July 15, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance / 2 Comments

Title: Maggie’s Turn
Series:
Author: Deanna Lynn Sletten
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Women’s Fiction
Published: July 14, 2015
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
My Rating: 5 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

Maggie has always put her family’s needs in front of her own, until one day—without forethought—she drives away, leaving behind her indifferent husband and two sulking teenagers.

As she begins a quest of self-exploration, she meets new people, enjoys new adventures, and rediscovers long-neglected passions. For the first time in years, Maggie contemplates what she wants from life and soon realizes that her deteriorating marriage can no longer continue as it is. Can she and Andrew repair their broken relationship, or is their marriage over?

Left to his own devices, Andrew is forced to take over the household responsibilities and bridge the growing divide between himself and his children. Slowly, he begins to understand what drove Maggie away—and how he can’t bear to live without her. But is it too late? Will Andrew lose Maggie forever?

Read on for my thoughts on Maggie’s Turn. No true spoilers, promise.