Review: Animal Prints by May Williams

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

Title: Animal Prints
Series: Michigan Moonlight #1
Author: May Williams
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: June 15, 2015
Publisher: Penner Publishing
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

Photographer Ian Kroft’s dream is to finish his book on fellow veterans. When his father offers him the funds he needs in exchange for persuading a family to sell their farm, it sounds simple. Then Ian meets Colette and in a flash everything changes.

Cherry Ridge Farm is home to Colette’s family—and to her animal rescue center. The slim, gorgeous veterinarian has no intention of selling. Soon Ian’s chasing after her runaway dog and laughing at her jokes, and he knows that if he lets slip his real purpose, she’ll never forgive him. Ian’s torn between his book and his new romance…all while his father is clamoring for him to seal the deal.

Colette can trust a dog to come back when she calls, but a man? Colette’s been burned more than once. Then a sweet, athletic photographer pops into her life and makes her wonder if it’s time to picture a new future.

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

Review: Deadly Strain by Julie Rowe

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

Title: Deadly Strain
Series: Biological Response Team #1
Author: Julie Rowe
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Military Romance
Published: June 15, 2015
Publisher: Carina Press
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

Major Grace Samuels, a trauma surgeon deployed to Afghanistan, spends her life helping her fellow soldiers overcome disease and combat injuries. But her own wounds are harder to heal. Wracked with guilt over the death of a fellow soldier, she finds comfort in her only friend and appointed bodyguard, weapons sergeant Jacob “Sharp” Foster.

Sharp feels more for Grace than a soldier should, more than he wants to admit. When the team discovers a new, quick-to-kill strain of Anthrax, he tries to focus on the mission to find its source. He knows he can help Grace defeat her demons, but first they must defeat the deadly outbreak.

Sharp is Grace’s most loyal ally, but in close quarters, he starts to feel like more. She can’t watch someone else she cares about die—but she might not have a choice. The closer they get to finding the source of the strain, the closer it gets to finding them.

Read on for my thoughts on Deadly Strain. No true spoilers, promise.

Happy National Bourbon Day!

Posted June 14, 2015 by Marsha in Discussion Post / 0 Comments

June 14th is National Bourbon Day. Yeah, it’s true… this amazing booze has it’s own personal day of celebration.

I don’t know why – but for me when I think of bourbon I think of steamy Southern nights – a mystery – or simply sitting on the deck enjoying the sunset.

There’s no bad reason to love bourbon – after all there’s a very famous street named after it. *wink*

Remember, enjoy National Bourbon Day – and always drink responsibly.

Cheers!

Review: Filtered Through Blue by Jennifer Bramseth

Posted June 14, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance / 0 Comments

Title: Filtered Through Blue
Series: Bourbon Springs #2
Author: Jennifer Bramseth
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: June 14, 2015
Publisher:
My Rating: 5 star
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

Hannah Davenport, the blonde bombshell belle of Bourbon Springs, Kentucky, and part owner of Old Garnet Distillery, catches her husband cheating in the marital bed and promptly dumps him. But new hope flows into her life in the form of an old flame, Craig County Sheriff Kyle Sammons. Their last relationship, a college summertime romance, ended in disaster. Kyle has never revealed the reason for the breakup, nor has Hannah, although Bourbon Springs has always been filled with rumors–rumors which both Hannah and Kyle know are wrong.

Hannah and Kyle strive to move beyond a painful past, but it will be difficult if she goes to work for the distillery, as her brother and co-owner, Bo Davenport, begs her to do after two key employees leave. Hannah takes up her brother’s challenge and the mantle of the Davenport name as she becomes a working owner of the legendary distillery, and crucial to growing the brand her late father had worked himself into an early grave to build.

But as her romance with Kyle deepens, so do her conflicts with her brother at work. And caught between her brother and her lover, she fears that the truth will come out about what happened years ago—a secret she’s buried and carried for years, unable to think about it because of the pain it still causes to this day…

FILTERED THROUGH BLUE is the second book the Bourbon Springs Series, a nine-book series of smooth, sensual, sexy, slow-burn contemporary romances set amidst the lush and rolling Land of Bourbon and Bluegrass of central Kentucky.

Read on for my thoughts on Filtered Through Blue. No true spoilers, promise.

Review: Secret Blend by Jennifer Bramseth

Posted June 14, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance / 0 Comments

Title: Secret Blend
Series: Bourbon Springs #1
Author: Jennifer Bramseth
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: June 4, 2015
Publisher:
My Rating: 5 stars
Source: Owned, Kindle edition
Cover Description:

Sexy secrets have serious consequences in Bourbon Springs, Kentucky—in the heart of the Land of Bourbon and Bluegrass…

When longtime courtroom rivals Rachel Richards and Brady Craft get appointed to the bench in Bourbon Springs, Kentucky, tempers flare as they are forced to share chambers.

Working closely with the obstinate-yet-sexy Brady is not an attractive idea to Rachel—although she has to admit that Brady himself is pretty damned attractive.

Rachel doesn’t have to run for office to keep her judgeship, but Brady does. He draws a formidable opponent, Hannah Davenport, a wealthy co-owner of Old Garnet Distillery, where some of the finest Kentucky bourbon is crafted north of town along Old Crow Creek and near the historic springs which gave the town its unique name.

And Hannah just happens to be Rachel’s best friend.

As the judicial race heats up, so does the relationship between the judges—so they decide to keep it a secret.

But can any secret be kept in little Bourbon Springs, Kentucky?

SECRET BLEND is the first book in the Bourbon Springs Series, an upcoming nine-book series of smooth, sensual, sexy, slow-burn contemporary romances set amidst the lush and rolling Land of Bourbon and Bluegrass of central Kentucky.

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

Review: Again, Alabama by Susan Sands

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

Title: Again, Alabama
Series:
Author: Susan Sands
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: June 12, 2015
Publisher: Tule Publishing
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

Cammie Laroux is back in Alabama—again.

Dragged back to her small town to help her mother recover from surgery while rescuing the family event planning business should be a cinch. Even for a disgraced television chef, right? Wrong.

Among the many secrets Cammie’s family’s been hiding is the fact that their historic home is falling down. Oh, and the man hired to restore the house, Grey Harrison, is the same high school and college love of her life who thrashed her heart and dreams ten years ago. Yeah, that guy.

Grey, a widower with a young daughter, has never stopped loving Cammie, and when they are face to face once again, the chemistry is off the charts. Cammie may be in full-blown denial, but letting go is no longer in Grey’s vocabulary, even when winning Cammie’s forgiveness and renovating their love may seem like an impossible build even for a master architect and carpenter.

As Cammie finds herself forgetting all the reasons she can’t trust Grey or love again, he finds himself remembering all the reasons he wants her to stay with him in Alabama… forever.

Read on for my thoughts on Again, Alabama. No true spoilers, promise.

Review: The Ugly Stepsister by Aya Ling

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

Title: The Ugly Stepsister
Series:
Author: Aya Ling
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary Romance, Retelling
Published: June 12, 2015
Publisher:
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

When Kat accidentally rips apart an old picture book, she’s magically transported into the world of Cinderella–as Katriona, one of the ugly stepsisters!

Life turns upside down now that she’s a highborn lady and must learn how to survive the social season, including how to get through the door in a huge metal hoop skirt.

To get back, she’ll have to complete the story, right to the end of happily ever after. But the odds are huge: the other stepsister is drop-dead gorgeous, the fairy godmother is nowhere to be found, and the prince, despite being insanely hot, openly dislikes balls. Can she ever return to the modern world?

Read on for my thoughts on The Ugly Stepsister. No true spoilers, promise.

Review: Midsummer Dreams by Alison May

Posted June 12, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance / 3 Comments

Title: Midsummer Dreams
Series:
Author: Alison May
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Retelling
Published: June 12, 2015
Publisher: Choc Lit
My Rating: 5 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

Four people. Four messy lives. One night that changes everything.

Emily is obsessed with ending her father’s new relationship – but is blind to the fact that her own is far from perfect.

Dominic has spent so long making other people happy that he’s hardly noticed he’s not happy himself.

Helen has loved the same man, unrequitedly, for ten years. Now she may have to face up to the fact that he will never be hers.

Alex has always played the field. But when he finally meets a girl he wants to commit to, she is just out of his reach.

At a midsummer wedding party, the bonds that tie the four friends together begin to unravel and show them that, sometimes, the sensible choice is not always the right one.

A modern retelling of Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Read on for my thoughts on Midsummer Dreams. No true spoilers, promise.

Review: Breaking Love by M J Summers

Posted June 11, 2015 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance / 0 Comments

Title: Breaking Love
Series: Full Hearts #2
Author: M J Summers
Genre: Erotica, Contemporary Romance
Published: October 28, 2014 – May 27, 2015
Publisher:
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

Luc Chevalier is a satisfied man – or so he thinks. His businesses are thriving, he has all the excitement, money and beautiful women any man could want. He dines at the best restaurants and stays at the most luxurious hotels as he makes his way around the globe. So why does he suddenly find himself so restless?

Megan Sullivan is a single mom with a rather ordinary life. She is comfortable with things just the way they are. She has a six-year-old son, Elliott, a cozy house in Boulder, Colorado, and a photography business to put food on the table. Her ex lives hours away in Florida, providing enough space for him to feed his drug addiction without exposing Elliott to his father’s illness. Megan is on her own and she intends to keep it that way.

Megan is convinced by her best friend to take a trip to Paris for a few days. Little does she know she is about to be thrust into the arms of Luc Chevalier, the sexiest man to ever set foot on the Eiffel Tower. They agree to one night together and no more. In those few short hours he manages to draw out the passionate woman that Megan has carefully hidden way for years. Once she has a taste of what she’s been missing, she finds it almost impossible to go back to her life as it was.

Will two people who don’t believe in happily-ever-after manage to put aside their doubts and find their forever?

Join Luc as he discovers that everything he never wanted is the only thing he will ever need.

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

Review: The Warning Sign by Mia Marlowe

Posted June 10, 2015 by Marsha in Mystery / 0 Comments

Title: The Warning Sign
Series:
Author: Mia Marlowe
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Romance
Published: August 14, 2014
Publisher:
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: Owned, Kindle edition
Cover Description:

Sara’s been hurt. Badly. Her cheating ex has her doubting everything about herself. But after graduating from Boston College, she’s trying to start fresh with a new job. A new guy in her life seems more complicated than she needs right now.

But Ryan’s too hot, too insistent and too tempting to pass up. Too bad he has some pretty dark secrets as well. Which is something Sara totally doesn’t need–especially after she figures out an accidental drowning wasn’t so accidental and ends up on a mob hitman’s “to do” list.

And the only cop who’ll believe her is her cheating ex.

Read on for my thoughts on The Warning Sign. No true spoilers, promise.

Review: Last Shot by Eve Gaddy

Posted June 10, 2015 by Marsha in Mystery / 0 Comments

Title: Last Shot
Series:
Author: Eve Gaddy
Genre: Mystery, Romance
Published: April 30, 2015
Publisher:
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: NetGalley
Cover Description:

Love is a dangerous choice.

Murder is the last thing homicide Detective Nick Sheridan wants to deal with when he retreats to the small, coastal town of Freedom, Texas. His last case–possibly his last ever–was the most horrific he’d ever seen. No, he wants to drink, forget, and find a warm, willing woman.

The Last Shot Bar & Grill seems like the perfect place to do that.

Della Rose, single mother and waitress at the Last Shot, is anything but warm and willing. Della has baggage; she pegs Nick as a cop the moment she sees him, and no matter how hot he is, she’s not interested. When her boss, Charlie Banks, is murdered and the local police chief writes it down as a robbery gone bad, Della is forced to turn to Nick for help.

Soon, Nick is unwillingly drawn in to the mystery of why Charlie was murdered and what the gunmen wanted. As Nick and Della enter a red-hot affair, Nick falls hard for Della, but Della has no intention of a serious relationship.

Della and her family are in danger. Nick’s instincts are to protect and serve, but Della’s are to push away anyone who might hurt her. Even him.

Can they catch a murderer and solve the mystery without Della’s life being torn apart once again? And can they put aside their past long enough to trust their love?

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