Monthly Archives: April 2021

Wright With Benefits by KA Linde-Review Tour

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Wright With Benefits by KA Linde-Review Tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 27, 2021

I shouldn’t have hooked up with my one night stand… again.

To be fair, I was having the worst day of my life. I was sure that nothing else could go wrong.

Then in walks Jordan Wright.

We have a heated history, and I’ve been avoiding him. Not least of all because he’s a hundred percent my type with those big brown eyes, a ripped body, and his blisteringly broody charm. I said I’d never go near him again.

But he’s there for me when I need him. And well, old habits die hard.

Only problem?

I’m leaving in a matter of months, and nothing is going to change my mind.

Maybe in the meantime, I can still have my Wright…with benefits.

••••••

REVIEW:WRIGHT WITH BENEFITS is a contemporary, adult, stand alone set in KA Linde’s erotic, romance WRIGHT WORLD series. This is Jordan Wright, and med-student Annie Donoghue’s continuing story line. Jordan and Annie’s story begins in the prequel novella ONE WRIGHT STAND (see below). You do not have to have read the original series to understand or follow the premise. WRIGHT WITH BENEFITS begins the latest arc of the author’s Wright World series.

Told in five parts, from dual first person perspectives (Annie and Jordan) WRIGHT WITH BENEFITS picks up three years after Jordan and Annie’s one night-stand. Jordan met Annie at a local café then again at the annual Wright pool party where a wild night together ended when Jordan walked out without looking back. Jordan claimed he was only in Lubbock, Texas for a very short time but much to Annie’s dismay Jordan moved to her home town a few weeks later, and as much as possible, she strategically avoided our hero for close to three years until the day from h*ll forced Annie to accept Jordan’s help when she needed it the most. Old feelings and emotions came to the surface but Annie was determined to keep their relationship a ‘friends with benefits’, a line Annie refused to cross as she was desperate to leave Lubbock in search for a more prestigious hospital to work. Jordan Wright knew he had hurt Annie but three years would pass and Annie continued to struggle with what she believed was betrayal, a betrayal that had broken all of her trust. What ensues is the rebuilding friendship and relationship between Annie and Jordan, and the potential fall-out as Jordan begins to push Annie out of his life, and Annie must come to a decision about her future with or without our story line hero.

Annie Donoghue is a feisty, determined heroine who battles between head and heart as it pertains to Jordan Wright. On one hand, she wants everything Jordan is willing to give but refuses to ‘name’ their relationship anything but a friends with benefits. Having no plans to remain in Lubbock Texas, Annie gives off mixed signals at every opportunity, signals that don’t endear the heroine to this voracious reader. Jordan Wright has fallen in love with our story line heroine and will do anything to keep their relationship together but a family crises forces Jordan pick sides, and our hero begins to push Annie out of his life.

The relationship between Annie and Jordan begins as a one-night stand but three years will pass before Annie accepts Jordan back into her life. Best friends with Jordan’s cousin Sutton, Annie struggled with each encounter with our story line hero until desperation forces Annie to accept Jordan back into her life. A distinct lack of communication, miscommunication and mixed signals does not bode well for this story line couple. The $ex scenes are intimate, passionate and intense.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including Jordan’s brother Julian, and his girlfriend Ashleigh, and their business partner /cousin Hollin Abbey, musician/cousin Campbell; Annie’s friends Sutton Wright, Cezanne and Jennifer, as well as Blaire, Piper and her brother Peter, Annie’s ex Chase Sinclair, and several characters from the author’s Wright World series including Jensen, Austin and Morgan Wright.

WRIGHT WITH BENEFITS is a story of family and friendships, relationships and acceptance, betrayal, misunderstanding, friendships, angst and love. The character driven premise is fast paced, entertaining and impassioned ; the chemistry is sizzling and hot; the characters are animated, stubborn, and energetic but it was Annie’s attitude, and back and forth, up and down reaction to EVERYTHING that involved our story line hero that quickly got old, very fast.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

________

ONE WRIGHT STAND
Wright World
by KA Linde
Release Date: April 16, 2021

FREE novella: Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Google Play

A one-night stand prequel romance to USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde’s Wright with Benefits…
I can’t tear my eyes away from the stranger.

He’s too hot for this small town. Too polished for this seedy bar. And a hundred percent my type. Tall, dark, and handsome in a suit with brooding eyes that say he’d lay waste to my body. And I’d let him.

Our connection is immediate. The desire is blatant. I’ve never felt anything like it.

Then I make the mistake of a lifetime: I let him walk out.

I’m still kicking myself when I show up to my best friend’s Wright family pool party. I walk outside and stop dead.

He’s here.

And he’s a Wright cousin.

My best friend’s brothers are off limits, but she never said anything about her cousin.

••••••••

REVIEW:ONE WRIGHT STAND is the prequel novella to KA Linde’s contemporary,adult WRIGHT WITH BENEFITS erotic, romance story line. This is the introduction to Jordan Wright, and pre-med student Annie Donoghue’s story line.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Jordan and Annie) ONE WRIGHT STAND focuses on the introduction and one-night stand between Wright cousin Jordan Wright, and Sutton Wright’s best friend and pre-med student Annie. Jordan Wright lives in Vancouver, Canada but his mother and brother are moving to Lubbock, Texas, and Jordan is only in town for a limited time. Meeting Sutton’s best friend Annie at the Wright’s annual pool party stirred something deep within our story line hero, and a one-night stand wasn’t going to be enough. What ensues is the quick building, instant attraction between Annie and Jordan, and the potential fall-out as Annie learns there is more to Jordan’s arrival in Lubbock than she could have ever imagined.

ONE WRIGHT STAND is a quick read; a story of instant, palpable sexual attraction between two people whose time together ends all too fast.

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K.A. Linde is the USA Today bestselling author of the Avoiding Series, Wrights, and more than thirty other novels. She has a Masters degree in political science from the University of Georgia, was the head campaign worker for the 2012 presidential campaign at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and served as the head coach of the Duke University dance team. She loves reading fantasy novels, binge-watching Supernatural, traveling, and dancing in her spare time.

She currently lives in Lubbock, Texas, with her husband and two super-adorable puppies.

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Finding Ashley by Danielle Steel – a Review

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Finding Ashley by Danielle Steel – a Review

 

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Description:
Melissa Henderson is leading a quiet life. Once a bestselling author, she now pours all her energy into renovating a Victorian house nestled in the foothills of rural New England. Six years ago, she lost her young son to cancer, and her marriage dissolved. She stopped writing. It was only when she bought the old house that Melissa found a purpose, and came alive as she made it beautiful again.

After a wildfire that threatens her home appears on the news, Melissa receives a call from her sister, Hattie. They were close once, but that was before Melissa withdrew from the world. Now Hattie, who became a nun at twenty-five, is determined to help Melissa turn a new page, even if it means reopening one of the most painful chapters of her life.

At sixteen, a pregnant Melissa was sent to a gloomy convent in Ireland to have— and give up—her baby, to spare the family shame. All these years later, Hattie feels compelled to embark on a journey that will change both their lives forever, and track down the child Melissa gave up.

Finding Ashley is a masterpiece of contemporary drama and tells a gripping story of the strength of the human spirit to chase an impossible dream. It is the story of two strong, brave women turning wrenching loss into reconnection, and a family reunited after bringing dark secrets into the light.

 

 

 

Review:

Finding Ashley by Danielle Steel is a wonderful emotional standalone novel.  We meet Melissa Henderson, our heroine in this story, who is content as she renovates her Victorian house, which she bought a few years ago that was in bad shape.  We learn quickly that Melissa’s life fell apart 6 years earlier, when her 10-year-old son, Robbie died of Cancer. Her and her husband, devoted everything to try and save him, and after he died, their marriage fell apart, and they divorced; Melissa was devastated, moving to New England, giving up her writing career, and became a loner.

Though she does most of the work, she does have workers for difficult tasks (like a roof), with a local contractor, Norm helping her occasion.  When there is a wild fire that threatens the area, Melissa is lucky that it was put out before it reached her home.  Melissa’s estranged sister, Hattie is a nun, and especially since the death of her son, she rarely sees her; but learning about the fire, Hattie comes to visit her, and slowly their reunion will help rekindle their relationship and become closer.  Melissa opens up to Hattie about how she became pregnant at 16, and their mother forced her to travel to a convent in Ireland; to have the baby, and give it up for adoption.  Melissa talks about her grief and how terrible the nuns were to her, another reason why she hated when Hattie became a nun

Unbeknownst to Melissa, Hattie decides to get permission from her Mother Superior  to travel to Ireland to see what she could find out, since all records were destroyed years ago.  Hattie’s journey will not only bring her to the convent in question, and learn about the conditions at that time, and how the rich paid the convent for adopting the babies.  But when she travels to meet a woman who wrote a book (baby mills) about the deplorable times back then, who happens to be a nun who left her vocation.  Hattie heads back to America, with the name of three women who may have adopted Ashley. 

What follows is a wonderful heartwarming journey, when Hattie will find Melissa’s daughter, and it is so emotional, I had tears in my eyes.  We meet Michaela Ashley, who tried to find her real mother years ago to no avail; her adopted mother is a world-famous actress, who supported her search.  Michaela was a fantastic heroine in her own right, as she was so happy and loving toward Melissa, as well as her family (husband, two kids, and adopted mother) who all open their arms to Melissa.   

Beside the background story of the convent, making lots of money adopting out the babies, and treating the young girls badly, there was another background storyline.  This was very much like the ‘me-too’ movement, as the Hollywood stars started accusing the men who made their lives difficult.  There was also a tragedy that also brings Melissa and Michaela even closer.

Finding Ashley was a fantastic and engrossing story that pulled on many emotions.  I loved seeing Melissa and Hattie reunited and together again after all those years.  Melissa finding happiness again with a family, as well as a possible relationship. Danielle Steel once again surprises me with a different kind of story that was a masterpiece.  You need to read this book.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 

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Heart on a Leash by Alanna Martin – Review & Giveaway

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Heart on a Leash by Alanna Martin – Review & Giveaway

 

 

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Description:
Taylor Lipin has made it her life’s mission to leave her hometown and its ridiculous, century-old feud with the Porters behind. But when her sister needs help running the family inn, Taylor agrees to return to Helen, Alaska on a temporary, definitely not longer than two weeks, basis. Or so she thinks, until she’s quite literally swept off her feet and into enemy territory by three happy huskies and their drool-worthy owner, Dr. Josh Krane.

Though Josh didn’t grow up in Helen with the rest of his Porter cousins, he’s heard the stories: Porters rescue huskies. The Lipins are cat people. Keep to your pack. But Taylor is too tempting to give up—plus, his dogs love her.

As Taylor and Josh grow closer, tensions in the town escalate and the need for secrecy starts taking a toll. Soon they’ll need to decide whether their newfound love is just a summer fling or if they’ve found their forever home.

 

 

 

Review:

Heart on a Leash by Alanna Martin is the first book in her new Hearts of Alaska series.  Taylor Lipin, our heroine, having recently lost her job, goes home to Helen, Alaska temporarily to help her sister run the family B&B, since their mother left town.  Taylor left Helen 10 years ago, coming back home occasionally, because she hated the horrible feud between her Lipin family and the Porter family.  She quickly meets a handsome hunk, who happens to be doctor and owns three wonderful huskies, who immediately fall all over Taylor.

Dr. Josh Kane, moved to Helen to open his own clinic, and be near his mother’s family, and enjoy the small-town atmosphere.  Josh walking with his three huskies, meets a beautiful girl, who is fawning all of the huskies, and decides to ask her on a date.  What Josh doesn’t know is that Taylor is a Lipin, whom he has heard about during his time in Helen; which is because his cousins are all Porters.

Josh and Taylor find themselves enjoying each other’s company, neither knowing that they are consorting with the enemy.   Eventually, they discover the truth, and decide that they like each other too much, and plan to try to keep their relationship a secret. But in a small town, secrets are hard to keep, and tensions escalated as each family makes threats against the other to break the two of them up.  But both Taylor and Josh think this century old feud is ridiculous, and despite the various sabotage attempts, they decide they are going to stay together, as they are both falling hard for each other.

I really loved Taylor and Josh together, as they made a great couple, who were willing to fight their families, in order to stay together.  Taylor’s sister is willing to give Josh a chance, until there are a few attacks at the B&B; and when Josh learns that someone from his family poisoned wine to make the guests sick, he begins to worry if Taylor’s life is at risk.   Will Josh break up with Taylor to keep her safe?  Will Taylor leave and go back to L.A.?

What follows is a fun and sexy romance between Josh and Taylor, and those adorable huskies, who made this story even better.  Taylor’s relationship with the three dogs was fun and adorable.  I loved the scenes with both Josh, Taylor and the dogs, as they were fun and cute.  Heart on a Leash was a sweet romance, but the feuding of both families added an element of being complex, tense and very destructive. I liked that Josh and Taylor were determined to not let their family destroy their love for each other, but when things get dangerous, will they walk away?

Heart on a Leash was a wonderful steamy romance, great couple, three fantastic dogs amidst a terrible family feud that created a tense background.  Alanna Martin did a great job writing this book. I suggest you read Heart on a Leash. 

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

 

Alanna Martin’s publisher is graciously offering a paper copy of HEART ON A LEASH to (1) lucky commenter at The Reading Cafe.

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8. Giveaway open to USA only

9.. Giveaway runs from April 27 to May 1, 2021

 

 

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CHAOS AND LOVE (Campus Hotshots 2) by Michelle A Valentine-review

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CHAOS AND LOVE (Campus Hotshots 2) by Michelle A Valentine-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 22, 2021

He’s chaos–on and off the field…

For hotshot quarterback, Luke Finnegan, Love and Chaos are always intertwined, and when he decides he’s through with relationships, a blonde artist with pink streaks in her hair convinces him sometimes love is worth the madness.

Miley St. Claire doesn’t do relationships. She’s seen the chaos they cause for those around her and she wants no part of that drama, which is why taking Luke Finnegan up on his offer to be friends with benefits is her ideal non-relationship. Trouble is, when she gets to know Luke, she finds herself missing him when he’s not around and quickly realizes, to her absolute horror, she’s falling for the sexy quarterback.

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Chaos and Love is a stand-alone college football romance with a lot of sass and sexy times. No cliffhanger. No Cheating. There’s definitely a HEA.

••••••

REVIEW: CHAOS AND LOVE is the second instalment in Michelle A Valentine’s contemporary, new adult CAMPUS HOTSHOTS erotic, romances series. This is college quarterback Luke Finnegan, and graphic design student Miley St. Claire’s story line. CHAOS AND LOVE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary. There is a slight cross over with the mention of the author’s Black Falcon series.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Luke and Miley) CHAOS AND LOVE follows the building romance and relationship between college quarterback Luke Finnegan, and graphic design student Miley St. Claire. Luke Finnegan is failing marketing and is desperate in the face of losing his starting position with team, and finds himself asking graphic design student Miley St. Claire for help but Miley is his brother’s girlfriend’s best friend, and in this Luke doesn’t want to cross the line where he doesn’t belong. Our heroine will surprise Luke Finnegan when she suggests a relationship outside of school, a surprise that involves a friends with benefits relationship as our heroine does not believe in love or happily ever after. What ensues is the building friendship, relationship and love between Miley and Luke, and the potential fall-out as Miley’s issues of trust threaten any future happiness for our story line couple.

Miley St. Claire doesn’t do relationships having witnessed the volatile and unfaithful marriage of her parents but something about Luke has our heroine reconsidering her stand on relationships, a relationship that is about to prove that love is temporary, and trust must be earned. Luke Finnegan knows betrayal first hand but that doesn’t stop him from hoping for his own happily ever after. Miley St. Claire is a means to an end but falling in love is one of the best side-benefits to needing a college tutor.

The relationship between Miley and Luke begins as a student-tutor relationship wherein Luke is immediately attracted to his our story line heroine but Miley lets Luke know that she has no desire to fall in love but a friends with benefits relationship is all she is able to handle. As their relationship begins to develop, Luke’s past is determined to destroy any hope for a happily ever after. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The secondary and supporting characters include Luke’s brother Baker and his girlfriend Sky (Rebellious and Reckless 1), and their father Morris Finnegan; Miley’s roommate Kaylee; Luke’s friend and fellow football player Milo; and mean girl/ sorority sisters Veronica and Nadalee.

CHAOS AND LOVE is a story of family, relationships, betrayal and love; a story of vengeance, jealousy, retribution and heart break. The premise is engaging and emotional; the romance is seductive; the characters are dynamic, energetic and charismatic but I struggled with the YA (young adult) feel to the story line premise including the vindictive mean girls, and immature and over emotional parental units. The epilogue fast forwards the story line five years.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one REBELLIOUS AND RECKLESS

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

FOLLOW: Goodreads / Website / Facebook/ Twitter

Michelle A. Valentine is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Rock the Heart. Wicked White is the first novel in her Wicked White romance series. She attended college as a drafting and design major, but her love of people soon persuaded her to join the nursing field. It wasn’t until after the birth of her son that she began her love affair with romance novels, and she hasn’t looked back since. When she’s not writing, she feeds her music addiction, dabbles in party planning, and expresses herself by working with arts and crafts. She currently lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, son, and two beloved dogs

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Merciless Saints by Michelle Heard -Review Tour

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Merciless Saints (St. Monarch’s Academy #1) by Michelle Heard -Review Tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 24, 2021

At St. Monarch’s Academy, you’re either a predator, a pawn, or prey. It’s the only neutral territory where heirs of the wealthiest rival crime families learn underworld skills.

Alliances are made. Loyalty is owned. Love is taken.

As the best protector in training, I will be paired with the top assassin.
Because I’m unbeatable, everyone fears me.
Even her, Winter, Mafia Princess of the Hemsley family.
Every time she looks at me with fear in her eyes, desire burns through my body. When she doesn’t back down it only makes exhilaration rush through my veins.

Training with Winter comes at a price. The more time I spend with her, the more I want to claim her for myself.

When blood is shed, it’s up to me to protect Winter, and it places her at my mercy. Perfect for a predator like me.But there’s a price to pay for my protection, and the only payment I’ll accept is her body, heart, and soul.

•••••••

REVIEW:Merciless Saints is the first book in a new series by Michelle Heard. St. Monarch’s Academy is neutral territory for the heirs of the cities elite crime famalies. This is where protectors are made and loyalties are cast.

This book brings us to Dimitri younger brother Damien. We previously met Dimitri in another series – The Heir’s.

Damien Vetrov was born to be an elite protector. He is currently at St. Monarch’s to hone his skills and accept his place in the underworld of crime.

His time at St. Monarchs is about done when in walks the Blood Princess, Winter Hemsley. Winter is the Mafia Princess of the Hemsley family. Winter is beyond strong. She has already survived one assassination attempt that took her mothers life, and there seems there is more danger in her future. When she does find herself in deadly danger again, Damien steps in to rescue her and protect her. But there is a price to pay for the protection he offers…

Will Winter be able to give Damien what he wants and needs? Will she choose him when he is all she has left?

What an amazing start of a new series.

It bears mention that this can be read as a stand alone but why would you want to do that, when this world is delicious and terrifying. You can cut the chemistry between the two main characters with a knife. And it’s definitely a world you will get completely lost in!

Can’t wait for more in this series!
Highly recommend!

Copy Supplied for review

Reviewed by Erin K

Michelle Heard is a Bestselling Romance Author who loves creating stories her readers can get lost in. She might have a slight obsession with alpha heroes who are not afraid to fight for their women.

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The Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin – a Review

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The Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin – a Review

 

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Description:
Forty-four-year-old Alice Holtzman is stuck in a dead-end job, bereft of family, and now reeling from the unexpected death of her husband. Alice has begun having panic attacks whenever she thinks about how her life hasn’t turned out the way she dreamed. Even the beloved honeybees she raises in her spare time aren’t helping her feel better these days.

In the grip of a panic attack, she nearly collides with Jake–a troubled, paraplegic teenager with the tallest mohawk in Hood River County–while carrying 120,000 honeybees in the back of her pickup truck. Charmed by Jake’s sincere interest in her bees and seeking to rescue him from his toxic home life, Alice surprises herself by inviting Jake to her farm.

And then there’s Harry, a twenty-four-year-old with debilitating social anxiety who is desperate for work. When he applies to Alice’s ad for part-time farm help, he’s shocked to find himself hired. As an unexpected friendship blossoms among Alice, Jake, and Harry, a nefarious pesticide company moves to town, threatening the local honeybee population and illuminating deep-seated corruption in the community. The unlikely trio must unite for the sake of the bees–and in the process, they just might forge a new future for themselves.

Beautifully moving, warm, and uplifting, The Music of Bees is about the power of friendship, compassion in the face of loss, and finding the courage to start over (at any age) when things don’t turn out the way you expect.

 

 

 

Review:

The Music of Bees by Eileen Garvin is a standalone heartwarming novel focusing on a beekeeper, and two flawed young charges she helps.  Alice Holtzman, our heroine in this story, is a bee keeper in her farm in Oregon, something she loves, as well as having responsible job working for the town planning.  Alice is still reeling over the loss of her beloved husband, and every time something reminds her of her husband, or his family, she has anxiety attacks.  On the way home from picking up bees, Alice suffers another anxiety attack, where she narrowly missed hitting a young man in a wheelchair.

Jake Stevenson is eighteen, and a paraplegic living at home with his mother and father (a nasty man).  He has the biggest mohawk, which is the only thing that keeps him active, but other then doing weights for upper body, he is very unhappy. Being frustrated, he pushes his wheelchair onto the road, and is almost hit by a truck driving by.  When Alice takes him to his house, she is met with the mother and father, who threatens Alice.  Jake, who is intrigued by Alice and the bees, decides to get away from his father and goes with Alice (to her surprise). In a short time, Jake will become obsessed with learning all about the bees, allowing him to find a purpose in his life.  Alice trains him, and automatically sees that he has a calling even more so than her, and becomes a lifesaver for her.  Alice still needs more help, hires another young man part time to is very good at building things in the house and in the bee hives.

Harry Stokes is 24 years old, and continues to run from place to place, until he finds his uncle living in a trailer.  When his uncle dies, Harry is desperate to make some money and a place to stay.  He is afraid of bees, but is able to build things to help on the farm, and he befriends Jake.

What follows is a story of three broken people, with anxiety and grieving issues, who in time bond together to help each other heal. Their friendship pits them to fight a bad pesticide company that is destroying the bee community in town; and together they will bring the whole town to fight.  I did like all of our three main characters, as well the wonderful secondary characters we meet along the way. I also enjoyed learning all about how the bees live, grow and survive.  I will say that early on, it was a bit slow, introducing our heroes, but the last half of the book was sensational.

The Music of Bees was very well written by Eileen Garvin.  This was a heartwarming, poignant, emotional story of friendship and healing.  I suggest you read this beautiful wonderful story.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

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The Wolf Wore Plaid by Terry Spear-Review Excerpt & Giveaway tour

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THE WOLF WORE PLAID (Highland Wolf 6 / Heart of the Wolf) by Terry Spear-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway Tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 27, 2021

This Highland lass is a little too unpredictable, but maybe that’s exactly what an overprotective Highland wolf needs in his life.

Enrick MacQuarrie has no time in his life to worry about anything beyond the duties of being the second-in-command of his Highland pack. Work always comes first. Until a movie being filmed at Enrick’s castle results in an enemy clan bent on revenge, and Enrick is tasked with keeping his longtime packmate Heather MacNeil safe.

Impetuous Heather MacNeil has had a crush on Enrick for as long as she can remember, but never any hope he’d reciprocate her interest. But a battle between the clans turns into something deeper between the two wolves, and Heather’s wildness might be just the thing to teach Enrick that all work and no play makes for a very frustrated alpha.

•••••••

REVIEW: THE WOLF WORE PLAID is the sixth instalment in Terry Spear’s contemporary, adult HIGHLAND WOLF paranormal, romance series. This is Highland wolf shifters Enrick MacQuarrie, and bakery /café owner Heather MacNeill’s story line. THE WOLF WORE PLAID can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Heather and Enrick) THE WOLF WORE PLAID follows the building romance and relationship between Highland wolf shifters Enrick MacQuarrie, and bakery /café owner Heather MacNeill. Heather MacNeill’s fiancé Timothy was killed two years earlier by two other wolf shifters for sins of the past, and Enrick MacQuarrie bided his time in an effort to let the shifter lassie grieve but the wolves who killed our heroine’s fiancé begin to hassle Heather MacNeill, and Enrick is all about protecting the she-wolf with whom he will fall in love. When a movie production rents out the MacQuarrie castle to film a time-travel romance, Enrick, Heather and their extended family find themselves a part of the crew but also find themselves the target of the wolves who had taken aim at our story line heroine. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Heather and Enrick, and the potential fall-out as the threats against Heather and Enrick become more dangerous and deadly.

The relationship between Heather and Enrick is slow to build. Enrick has always thought Heather would one day be his mate but she fell in love with another wolf, a wolf Enrick believed wasn’t good enough. Heather’s attraction to Enrick did not go unnoticed, and behind the scenes everyone was hoping for our couple to mate. Keeping Heather protected placed our couple together, and in the ensuing days and weeks, a mating would befall Enrick and Heather. The $ex scenes are intimate and seductive without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including Heather’s cousin Cearnach MacNeill (A Highland Werewolf Wedding 3), Enrick’s brother Grant and his mate Colleen (Hero of a Highland Wolf 4); Heather’s friend and co-worker Lana Cameron; American actor Guy McNab Robert and Patrick Kilpatrick; alpha Paxton McKinley, Catherine McKinley, as well as several members of the crew and pack.

THE WOLF WORE PLAID is a story of family and relationships, betrayal and revenge. The premise is engaging and exciting; the romance is captivating ; the characters are energetic, colorful and charismatic.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

 

“We’ve heard so much about your shop that we had to come and check it out,” Robert said, leaning against her counter.
She didn’t believe him for an instant. Her phone was sitting on the ledge below the high counter and out of his sight, so she started to text Ian to see if he could send some backup, other than her three brothers—Oran, Jamie, and Callum, who would just as likely kill the men and ask questions afterward—if she needed the help.
The doorbell jingled again, and she looked up to see who it was, afraid it would be more of the Kilpatricks’ kin. Instead, Enrick MacQuarrie pulled the door closed behind him, and a bit of relief washed over her. Now he was a welcome sight. Not for his supposed interest in dating her. That was so far-fetched, she couldn’t believe Lana would even think it. But Heather knew he would be all protective when it came to her or any other she-wolf of the MacNeill pack.
She didn’t send the text message to Ian, figuring Enrick would deal with the Kilpatricks if they gave her any trouble.
Not that she was totally reassured. Anything could go wrong, and she sure didn’t want Enrick hurt either.
He looked so much like one of the men wearing a New York T-shirt while they waited for their steak pies that he could have been his double. Ever since Guy McNab had made it big as a film star in America, Enrick had been mistaken for him whenever he ventured out of the area.
Enrick was the middle triplet brother of Grant and Lachlan MacQuarrie, tawny-haired and good-natured—except if he was defending the pack members or his friends, then watch out. He had a warrior’s heart, yet Heather had seen a real soft side to him too—playing tug-of-war with the Irish wolfhound pups, chasing the kids around the inner bailey in a game of tag, growling as if he were a wolf in his fur coat and making the kids squeal in delight. She’d seen him playing with his brothers as wolves and he was totally aggressive then, not wanting either of his brothers to win the battle between them. And in a snowball fight, he was the fastest snowball maker and thrower she’d ever seen. If they played on teams, she wanted him on hers.
So he did let his hair down, so to speak, with the kids and with his brothers and others. With her? He clearly thought she was trouble.
At least he was a wolf with a pack friendly to her own, and she smiled brightly at him, glad he was here in case she needed him.
There was no smile for her, his look instead dark and imposing as he glanced from her to the Kilpatrick brothers, still trying to figure out what they wanted to buy. She hoped Enrick wouldn’t start a fight. They had so many customers, and she didn’t want to see a brawl break out in front of them. It surely wouldn’t help business.
Robert pointed to the sign on the wall listing the kind of pies they sold. “We’ll take a couple of the steak and kidney pies to go.”
Okay, so they weren’t causing trouble. Yet. They hadn’t noticed Enrick’s arrival, and she hoped he wouldn’t cause things to get ugly when the other men were behaving…for the moment. Enrick was observing them with a do-anything-I-don’t-like-and-you’ll-die look.
Robert leaned against the oak countertop. “We hear there’s supposed to be a movie filmed at one of the castles nearby.”
As her heartbeat quickened, Heather’s gaze darted to Enrick’s, and he raised his brows at her. Man, she was about to give the secret away in that one little glance at him. She knew he would question her next, once the men left. He could probably hear her heart suddenly beating way too fast.
“We had a movie filmed at our castle a few years back, but that’s it.” Heather placed their order with Rush stamped on it. She’d never used the stamp before, but this was certainly one of those times it came in handy.
“Not that film. A new one. More of a…fantasy,” Patrick said, “featuring wolves, even.”
“At the MacNeills’ castle? No,” she said, shaking her head. She wasn’t lying. Ian MacNeill swore they would never have another film shot at their castle. At the time they’d been in dire straits financially, and the only way to keep the castle solvent was to do the film. Wolf packs had to keep their identity secret. Having tons of nonwolves traipsing through Argent Castle and the grounds could be problematic. Her pack had had to send a couple of newly turned wolves to stay with the MacQuarries, just so the human cast and crew wouldn’t have the surprise of seeing the newbies shift during the full moon.***
Excerpted from The Wolf Wore Plaid by Terry Spear. © 2021 by Terry Spear. Used with permission of the publisher, Sourcebooks Casablanca, an imprint of Sourcebooks, Inc. All rights reserved.

 


 

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Love, love, love romance, the paranormal, hunky Highlanders with their delicious brogue and hot kilts, so Terry Spear writes about those hunky Highlanders both in medieval times and as wolves in contemporary times. Jaguar shifters too! And young adult urban fantasy. And romantic suspense. She grew up reading mystery, adventure, mythologies from around the world, ghost stories, the paranormal, fell in love with Dracula and Wolfman, and felt they needed loving too. Everyone should have someone to love. Which means her stories always have a HEA. USA Today Bestseller residing in Central Texas from Sacramento, California who creates award-winning teddy bears too!

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Lover Unveiled by JR Ward-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

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Lover Unveiled (Black Dagger Brotherhood 19) by JR Ward-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway

LOVER UNVEILED
Black Dagger Brotherhood 19
by JR Ward
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, paranormal, vampire, romance
Release Date: April 20 2021

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / Chapters Indigo / Google Play

Meet Sahvage: a powerful MMA fighter with a buried secret that could change the world of Caldwell forever…

Sahvage has been living under the radar for centuries-and he has every intention of staying ‘dead and buried.’ But when a civilian female sucks him into her dangerous battle with an evil as ancient as time, his protective side overrides his common sense.

Mae has lost everything, and desperation sets her on a collision course with fate. Determined to reverse a tragedy, she goes where mortals should fear to tread- and comes face to face with the Brotherhood’s new enemy. She also discovers a love she never expected to find with Sahvage, but there can be no future for them.

Knowing they will part, the two band together to fight against what Mae unknowingly unleashed- as the Brotherhood closes in to reclaim one of their damned, and the evil vows to destroy them all.

••••••••

REVIEW:LOVER UNVEILED is the nineteenth instalment in JR Ward’s contemporary, adult BLACK DAGGER BROTHERHOOD paranormal, vampire, romance series focusing on the elite group of vampire warriors known as the Black Dagger Brotherhood. This is Sahvage, and Mae’s story line. LOVER UNVEILED can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary.

Told from numerous third person perspectives following several intersecting pathways LOVER UNVEILED follows Sahvage, a forsaken and ostracized member of the vampire race in the aftermath of another near fatal attempt on his life but for the female savior who reluctantly aids our story line hero. Mae is a female vampire who is desperate to locate a long lost artefact but in doing so reveals an ancient evil, who they themselves, is determined to possess that which does not belong. Having saved our story line hero, Mae is now connected by blood to the man who would one day claim her as his mate.

Sahvage has been abandoned by the vampire race, lost to the ravages of betrayal and power. Believed to have committed atrocities against his own kind, and long since dead and buried for his sins, Sahvage is neither dead nor buried, and is determined to stop the female that calls to his in her search for the secret of ever lasting life.

Meanwhile, several other story line arcs begin to take shape in the aftermath of the crash of a meteorite in Caldwell, New York:

The demon Devina, whom we met in previous story lines, has returned with a vengeance pulling in both the BDB and the Band of B*stards in her search for the ultimate book of power and magic. As the number of murder victims increase in the city of Caldwell, Devina is one-step closer to locating the book and all of its’ secrets.

Balthazar ‘Balz’, son of Hanst, and a member of the Band of B*astards finds himself in a precarious situation when his latest robbery comes with a bonus tag along. Believing himself possessed, Balz begins to pull away from the only family he has ever known, and into the direct line of fire by the local police.

Nate, adopted son of Muhrder and Sarah, finds Elyn, a young female vampire who claims to be lost and without family or support. Taking her to the BDB run Luchus House for troubled and recovering vampires, Nate struggles with issues back home but refuses to reveal the source of his pain.

LOVER UNVEILED is a story of betrayal and vengeance; power and control; desperation, secrets, grief and love. JR Ward pulls the reader into the familiarity of the BDB family, their unwavering support, and need to protect the Brothers they love. Not all of the Brothers make a cameo appearance but for one fallen angel, his future is about to unfold. The premise is haunting, complex and detailed; the characters are edgy, spirited, tragic and strong.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

LOVER MINE (Black Dagger Brotherhood 8) ebook is currently on sale for $1.99

John Matthew and Xhex

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO /

Excerpt courtesy of Simon and Schuster

Trade Street and 30th Avenue
Downtown Caldwell, New YorkForty-eight minutes before Ralphie DeMellio got murdered, he was living the life.
“You got this,” his buddy was saying as he rubbed Ralphie’s bare shoulders. “You fucking got this, you’re a monster, you’re a motherfucking monster!”
Ralphie and his crew were on the sixth level of a parking garage that was all about the oil stains and litter, rather than any Oldsmobiles and Lincolns. The abandoned facility was just a fucking concrete bureau with nothing in its drawers, and in this part of Caldie, any kind of structure on-its-lonesome didn’t last long. Hello, BKC. Bare Knuckle Conquests was the only legit underground fighting circuit in the south-ern part of New York State, and the bout held tonight was the reason why he, his bros, and five hundred clout-chasing Insta-famers were here.
Any more selfies and it’d be the driver’s license lane at the DMV.
BKC was big-ass business, and Ralphie, as the reigning champ, was making big-ass fucking bank—provided none of these dumbasses with the camera phones gave their location away. And like, what were the chances of that.
“Where’s the coke.”
He put his hand out, and when the brown vial was slapped into his palm like a surgical instrument, he went to town. As he honked two kilos of powder deep into his sinuses, his eyes went jumping bean over the crowd. Down at the other end of the level, they were antsy, drug-ging, and putting their bets in with the organizer’s bookies. Nothing but three rounds of bare-knuckle minutes between them and the killing they expected to make.
Ralphie was a very good bet.
He hadn’t lost a fight yet, even though he had Slim Jim muscles and smoked a lot of weed. But here was the fucking thing. The bouncer- types with the boulder biceps and the jelly bellies were only impressive when they were standing still. Get them moving and they had no bal-ance, no speed, and follow-throughs like they had double vision. Long as Ralphie kept buzzing around like a fly on shit, he was unhittable as his right hook went to work.
“You good, Ralphie. You fucking good!”
“Yeah, that’s right, Ralphie, you the best!”
His crew was five guys from the neighborhood. They’d grown up together and were all related, their families having come over on the boat to Ellis Island a couple generations ago and gotten out of Hell’s Kitchen soon as they could afford it. Little Italy in Caldie was little different than the one in Manhattan, and as his father always said, don’t trust someone you don’t know and don’t know someone if you can’t walk to their house.
And there was one other person on Ralphie’s team.
“Where is she.” Ralphie looked around. “Where is—”
Chelle was back by the G wagon, posed like a Pirelli girl, her elbows on the hood, one heel stabbed into a tire rim. Her head was back, the pur-ple ends of her black hair licking the metallic paint, her pink lips parted as she stared up at nothing. The night was chilly because April was still a bitch in this zip code, but she didn’t give a fuck. Her bustier was all she had on up top, and the bottom half of her wasn’t covered much better.
Fuuuuuuck. Those tattoos on her upper thighs were showing. And the ones on the swells of her breasts. And the sleeve on her left arm.
She’d always refused to get one of his initials.
She was like that.
As if she caught his drift, Chelle slowly turned her head. Then she licked her lips with the tip of her tongue.
Ralphie’s hand went to the front of his jeans. She was not the kind of woman you brought home to mother, and at first, that was the rea-son he’d fucked her. But she was smart and she had her own hair salon. She didn’t check his phone. She didn’t care if he went out with the boys. She had her own money, she never asked him for a goddamn thing, and she had options, lotta options.
Men wanted her.
She was with him, though. And no matter what she looked like, she didn’t come on to his crew. She was not a pass-around, and anybody rubbed up on her? She was one slap away from knocking their fucking teeth out.
So yeah, after a year, Ralphie was way into her.
To the point where he didn’t care about what anyone else thought, including his traditional Italian mother. As far as he was concerned, Chelle was wifey material and that was all that fucking mattered.
“—got this, Ralphie—”
To kill the ass-kissing all up in his face, Ralphie put his hand on the center of his boy’s chest and pushed the guy back. “Gimme a minute.”
His crew knew what was up, and they turned around and faced the crowd, closing shoulder to shoulder.
And Chelle was well damn aware of what he was after.
The G wagon was parked ass in, with a couple of feet of space be-tween the rear bumper and the garage’s nasty concrete wall. Chelle went around and assumed the position, leaning back on the Benz’s boxy rear door and arching her shit. In her heels, she was as tall as Ralphie, and as her lids lowered and her breasts strained against the lace trim of the bustier, she met him right in the eye.
Ralphie’s heart was going fast, but his smile was slow as he put his hands on her little waist. “You want it?”
“Yeah. Gimme it.”
Ralphie unzipped his jeans and stroked himself as he kissed her throat. ’Cuz she wouldn’t want him to mess up her lipstick. That kinda shit would come later, after he beat the ass of whoever was going to try him tonight. But he wasn’t about to drive his truck through mud, and he wasn’t about to mess up his female in public.
Chelle moved her thong aside, and as she put a stiletto against the concrete, he pumped into her while she grabbed onto his bare shoulders.
The sex was hot as fuck. Because it turned out that if he respected the female? It made everything hotter.
As Ralphie lifted her up so she could put both her legs around his hips, he closed his eyes. The pre-fight rush, the coke, Chelle, the new G wagon from the cake he was earning at BKC, it was all power in his veins. He was the man. He was the monster. He was—
Ralphie started to come, and he would have yelled out, but he didn’t want people catching his girl like this. Instead he gritted his teeth and held on tight, dropping his head into Chelle’s perfumed neck and squeezing out curses through his locked jaw.
And then he had to say it.
“I love you, I fucking love you,” he grunted.
He was so into his girl, so into the coming, so into the feel of her coming with him . . . that he didn’t notice who was watching them from the shadows about twenty feet away.
If he had, he would have packed up his true love and his crew, and left rubber on the road as he got the fuck out of the parking garage.
Most of destiny was on a need-to-know basis, however.
And sometimes, it was best that you didn’t get a heads-up on the inevitable that had your name on it.
Way too fucking horrifying.


 

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J.R. Ward is the author of more than thirty novels, including those in her #1 New York Times bestselling Black Dagger Brotherhood series. There are more than fifteen million copies of her novels in print worldwide, and they have been published in twenty-six different countries around the world. She lives in the South with her family.

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