Between a Rock and a Mad Woman/The Throwbacks by Stephanie Queen-2 reviews

Between a Rock and a Mad Woman by Stephanie Queen

I was actually quite surprised with this book. When I read the first couple pages and found it was about a political election, I was feeling the beginning pangs of doubt if I was going to like the book. So the story is about Madeline Grace and Peter John Douglas in which they are running against each other for governor; but what is interesting about this political rivalry is that they have a history together. The history is that they were engaged to be married 6 years ago. I mean can you imagine the tension and having to run against your ex-fiancé? Awkward…

So the election race is pretty much an adventure in itself. The stakes are even raised higher when Madeline and their party decides to run independently. Madeline and PJD provide such entertainment when they push each other’s buttons by politically means. At times Madeline would pull ahead on votes while PJD would pull ahead. They ran a close race. On top of all this political intrigue, there is some steamy action going on in the book and for some reason Stephanie somehow made politician sex well…hot.

Judging from the steamy scenes between Madeline and PJD, you can definitely tell the fire and chemistry is very much there. Once you get past the halfway mark, it is hard to put the book down. As the election approaches, things get very interesting and well there is a twist! A good read and one I would recommend.

LINKS TO ORDER: Amazon / Barnes and Noble / KOBO /

Reviewed by Xtina X.

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The Throwbacks by Stephanie Queen

This is another book I enjoyed though I felt like I enjoyed Between a Rock and a Mad Woman a little bit more than this one but I still liked this book.

The Throwbacks is about decorator Grace Rogers and David Young who is a detective from the Scotland Yard on exile. A huge turn of events where a false murder has taken place and artifact smuggling is going on throws David, Grace, Dan and other characters together in an effort to crack this case. As they work together to get leads, the stakes are raised to keep the case from reaching the public and then David’s career is put on the line.

Like any other story, when Grace and David meet each the chemistry instantaneous. As they go on the crack the case, they get more and more entangled with each other no matter how much David keeps pulling away from her and Grace continually putting herself out there. The thing is David keeps pulling away due to the fact that he thinks Grace is too young for him since he is close to 50 is and she is about 30. Grace has always dreamt of having a husband, children, and a white picket fence type of home and David is always afraid with his line of work that he can’t give her want she wants.

The whole hot and cold thing going on with Grace and David’s relationship did create a frustration for me but kept me on my toes when David would let go of his baggage and commit to Grace. At times I felt like the chase was very one sided at times where it seemed like Grace was always the one who did all the chasing only to be told by David what he thought was good for her. It was only then that he spoke with his friend’s wife that he realized he can indeed make things work with Grace after he treated her so coldly. One thing that really stuck out to me was what the wife of David’s friend said which was, “Nothing worthwhile is easy.” So true every relationship is going to have a hardship and the fight to keep it upright it is worth it. The mystery was also a lot of fun to follow as well. Not only did I fall in love with Grace and David but all the characters involved. If you love mystery laced with a little mystery then this book is worth trying.

LINKS TO ORDER: Amazon / Barnes and Noble / KOBO

Copy supplied by author

Review by Xtina X