Bombshell (Whiskey Dolls 1) by Jessica Prince-Review tour

BOMBSHELL (Whiskey Dolls 1) by Jessica Prince-Review tour

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

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Add to your TBR: https://smarturl.it/BombshellGR

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 10, 2021.

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After ending the world’s worst relationship, Marin Grey had sworn off men. So it was rather inconvenient that she couldn’t seem to keep her eyes and thoughts off the Ice King himself, Pierce Walton—also known as her ex-boyfriend’s older, much hotter brother.

He was cold, callous, and rude. He was also the most gorgeous man she’d ever laid eyes on, which made the fact that he’d hated her from first sight all the more unfair.

When circumstances dictate they put their swords away so Marin can help Pierce take care of his son, that ice-cold hate suddenly takes a turn into something much hotter. And if they aren’t careful, they could both be burned alive.

••••••

REVIEW: *Dancing in my chair happy*

The beautiful Ladies of The Whiskey Dolls have arrived! When I heard that JP was coming out with a spin off of the Hope Valley series, but with a similar small-town vibe, I was floored! I had high hopes for the series, and I was not disappointed, Bombshell was a great book to start this series off.

Marin Grey is too funny! She’s sassy, she’s flirty, she’s fun in the sun and down to Earth, she’s the girl everyone would want to be friends with. Well this Bombshell has sworn off men. With an ex as bad as hers, there’s no question as to why her faith in men has all but floated away. That was all men…except him. The one that she can’t keep her eyes…or mind off of.

Pierce Walton.

None other than her trash bag of an ex’s brother. Too bad, even though he’s hotter than any other man she’s ever seen, he’s also the Ice King.

Cold and rude.

What could bring these two together? You guessed it, little Eli, the cutest little chicken nugget of the story. When things come up, and Pierce turns to Marin for a little help, things get sweet and saucy. The plot of the story is fun and easy to keep up with, while it’s not overly serious, there are moments that are serious and give the story that “family serious”.

Reading the different characters was so much fun, Pierce was my favorite to read about, not just as the guy of the story, but because he’s also a single dad doing his best to raise his son well and that is so cool to see portrayed. When you get deeper into the book, we delve deeper into the relationship between Pierce and his family, which I’m sorry to say comes off as toxic.

Nevertheless, Pierce and Marin are amazing together, their attraction is hot, their chemistry is even better, their little moments of fun are my most favorite. I’m a sucker for small town romance, but when a cold, up-tight fella finally pulls the stick out…..lol there isn’t anything better. It was also a great time visiting with characters from Hope Valley, I will forever love Ms. Weatherby.

Way to go JP for kicking off the Whiskey Dolls series with a bang! I can’t wait to see the rest of the Dolls get their HEA!

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sarah S

Born and raised around Houston Texas, Jessica spent most of her life complaining about the heat, humidity, and all around pain in the ass weather. It was only as an adult that she quickly realized the cost of living in Houston made up for not being able to breathe when she stepped outside. That’s why God created central air, after all.

Jessica is the mother of a perfect little boy–she refuses to accept that he inherited her attitude and sarcastic nature no matter what her husband says.

In addition to being a wife and mom, she’s also a wino, a coffee addict, and an avid lover of all types of books–romances still being her all time favs. Her husband likes to claim that reading is her obsession but she just says it’s a passion…there’s a difference. Not that she’d expect a boy to understand.

Jessica has been writing since she was a little girl, but thankfully grew out of drawing her own pictures for her stories before ever publishing her first book. Because an artist she is not.

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We’ve Let Her Know by Etienne Bijnens-a review

We’ve Let Her Know (The You Are Interested) by Etienne Bijnens-a review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.au / B&N paper /

Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date March 27, 2021

Lyam is about to be relocated to big city London and fears loneliness the most. But there is online dating, and in a mere ten-kilometre radius from where he will live, an app promises nine-hundred and twenty-eight potential remedies.

Even before he gets on a plane, Lyam swipes right for Anna and is convinced that he has found ‘the one’.

Yeah right! What a flipping joke!

Flanked by two friends, Brett and Richard, Lyam plunges into the world of online dating. By the time he has optimised the app’s response rate, Celine, gorgeously French, enters his life… but so does Caitlin.

••••••

REVIEW:Very enjoyable rom-com style of a book.

This is different in many ways to what I read on a day to day basis, in both the way it’s written and the content it contains. That being said, I really enjoyed it. It was fun, different and interesting to read. I met my husband online through a dating app, and as someone that went through some of the same things these individuals did, it was somewhat like a trip down memory lane.

This is the real deal, not the fluffy romance reads that I normally read. -not that that isn’t real, this is just different- As for the first-person writing style, I’m not overly fond of that, but the story does flow well, and the topic is fun to read about. It’s very rare to see what or I guess read, what a guy is thinking and feeling when they love or are falling in love from their point of view. I think that is what I found most unique about this book.

I would recommend it to other reader friends, I’m not sure if I would reread unless I was in the mood for it again, but it was different and fresh for sure.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sarah

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Wet and Reckless (Private Pleasures 4) by Samanthe Beck-a review

Wet and Reckless (Private Pleasures 4) by Samanthe Beck-a review

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

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date My 10, 2021.

She’s a walking, talking disturbance of his peace…

When former Navy SEAL West Donovan trades covert ops for small-town cop, he craves calm and order. Rescuing a sexy, law-bending hitchhiker during a rainstorm raises his gut-level trouble detector—plus a few things south of his gut—into the red zone. He vows to help this particular tumbleweed find her way and keep it professional, but when she becomes his downstairs neighbor, professionalism is sorely tested. He’s got red lingerie infiltrating his laundry, sultry songs invading his bedroom, and suddenly he’s the one in need of rescue.

Aspiring singer/songwriter Roxy Goodhart ventures to Bluelick, Kentucky to outrun her latest mistake. It’s a doozy, involving a lying ex-manager, a dire lack of cash, and a teensy bit of grand larceny. Landing in the long, strong, entirely too tempting arms of the law is no way to keep a low profile while she re-builds her “L.A. or bust” fund. Taking an apartment that—oops—puts her under West…er…in his path every day doesn’t help. Testing his impressive reserve is beyond reckless, but she’d love to test it…all…night…long.

••••••

REVIEW: WET AND RECKLESS is the fourth instalment in Samanthe Beck’s contemporary, adult PRIVATE PLEASURES erotic, romance series focusing on the men and women of Bluelick, Kentucky. This is former US Navy SEAL and NYPD police officer West Donovan, and singer/song writer/waitress Roxy Goodhart’s story line. WET AND RECKLESS 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 (West and Roxy) WET AND RECKLESS focuses on the arrival of twenty-two year old Roxy Goodhart to the small town of Bluelick, Kentucky, the town where her mother and grandmother once lived. Spying a young woman hitchhiking on the side of the road, police officer West Donovan offers our heroine a ride, a ride she struggles to accept in the face of West’s profession, as our heroine is on the run, with no where to go. Hoping to reconnect with the grandmother she has never met, Roxy will soon discover that her grandmother has passed, and our heroine is out on her own but the people of Bluelick, Kentucky welcome Roxy as one of their own especially police officer West Donovan who is hoping Roxy is only in town for a short time. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Roxy and West, and the potential fall-out as Roxy’s past demands payment and more.

The relationship between Roxy and West begins acrimoniously when West picks up a hitchhiking stranger on the side of the road. Roxy battles between head and heart knowing that her past is about to catch up, and her legal troubles may destroy the building love between our leading couple. West Donovan doesn’t do relationships, and struggles with his attraction to our story line heroine but the town has accepted Roxy as one of their own, and West refuses to lose the woman that calls to his heart. The $ex sense are erotic, passionate and intense.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including West’s friend and former Navy SEAL Shaun Buchanan and Mayor Ginny Boca: Dr. Ellie Swan and Tyler Longfoot; Melody Merritt and Josh Bradley, LouAnn Doubletree; Randy and Uncle Billy.

WET AND RECKLESS is a story of friendships and relationships, revenge and secrets; happiness and love. The last instalment in the series was close to seven years ago, so I had to look back to refresh my memory. The premise is captivating; the romance is seductive; the characters are energetic and sassy. The ‘conflict’ resolution is quick and easy; the angst level was limited to our heroine’s unease of what was to come.

Previous reviews
Private Practice
Light Her Fire
Falling for the Enemy

Copy supplied by the publisher

Reviewed by Sandy

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Fate of Storms by Meredith Wild / Angel Payne-Review tour

Fate of Storms (Blood of Zeus 3) by Meredith Wild / Angel Payne-Review tour

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

Goodreads: bit.ly/GR_FateofStorms

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 4, 2021

A stolen destiny. An impossible quest.

Kara Valari has broken one of the underworld’s highest laws and is serving the ultimate sentence. But nothing—not even the impossible quest of breaching the boundaries of hell and facing off with Hades himself—will keep Maximus Kane from rescuing her. The journey will demand all of Maximus’s courage…and help from an unlikely guide. Driven by love, he sets off into a dark realm he only knows from the tattered pages of Dante’s Comedy.

In hell’s bleak world, every part of Kara’s soul is subjected to Hades’s morbid fascination and merciless assault. Giving in to his demands means sharing the intimate details of why she dared to disobey him—a love for Maximus that, even now, burns on in her heart. Just when Kara resolves herself to an eternity of her nightmare, she discovers a glimmer of hope…a way to glimpse her beloved. Could her visions of Maximus unite them once more, or are they just another twisted punishment for her in a kingdom designed for agony?

In those fleeting moments of light and passion, Kara rekindles her fight to survive. Darkness may still separate her from Maximus, but they’re connected by fate. But can their love survive this storm?

•••••••

REVIEW:FATE OF STORMS is the third instalment in the contemporary, adult BLOOD OF ZEUS paranormal/fantasy/ mythological romance series co-authored by Meredith Wild and Angel Payne. FATE OF STORMS is the continuing saga of university student Kara Valari and professor Maximus Kane. FATE OF STORMS should not be read as a stand alone as it picks up immediately after the events and cliff hanger of book two HEART OF FIRE.

NOTE: If you have not read the previous instalments, there may be spoilers in my review.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Kara and Maximus) FATE OF STORMS follows Kara Valari as she is abducted by Hades, for breaking his laws but Kara is no simple mortal but a demi-demon whose heritage is much more than anyone could have imagined. Desperate to find the woman he loves, Professor Maxiumus Kane, aka the son of Zeus, taps Kara’s grandfather for help in an effort to enter through the gates of H*ll but Hades isn’t willing to give up Kara without a fight, or a soul in exchange for her hard fought, yet magically induced freedom. As Maximus and Kara struggle to reconnect in the Underworld, Hades is ensuring that upon their return to the Earth plane, nothing will be as it once was.

FATE OF STORMS blends the mythology of the Greek gods with modern day romance. Hades is not happy that his world has been invaded but the gods and goddesses are set to ensure that Maximus and Kara escape with their lives. Meredith Wild and Angel Payne pulls the reader into an intriguing, fast paced and energetic journey of love and desperation, betrayal and revenge, power and control wherein a sacrifice will be made but our heroine will discover that she is more than the daughter of a demon with powers of her own.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
Blood of Zeus
Heart of Fire

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

ANGELA PAYNE: USA Today bestselling romance author Angel Payne has written for four publishing houses, and is also independently published. She loves to focus on high heat romance starring memorable alpha men and the women who love them.

She has numerous book series to her credit, including the Suited for Sin series, the Cimarron Saga, the Temptation Court series, the Secrets of Stone series (with Victoria Blue), the Lords of Sin historicals, and the rebranded Honor Bound series, as well as several stand-alone titles.

Currently, she is serving as the Vice President of Romance Writers of America’s Passionate Ink Chapter.

She lives in Southern California with her soul-mate husband and beautiful daughter.

https://www.facebook.com/authorangelpayne/
https://twitter.com/AngelPayneWrtr
https://www.instagram.com/angelpaynewriter/
http://angelpayne.com/

•••••••••

MEREDITH WILD:

Meredith Wild is a #1 New York TimesUSA Today, and international bestselling author. After publishing her debut novel Hardwired in September 2013, Wild used her ten years of experience as a tech entrepreneur to push the boundaries of her “self-published” status, becoming stocked in brick-and-mortar bookstore chains nationwide and forging relationships with the major retailers.

In 2014, Wild founded her own imprint, Waterhouse Press, under which she hit No. 1 on the New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers lists. She has been featured on CBS This Morning, The Today Show, the New York TimesThe Hollywood ReporterPublishers Weekly, and The Examiner. Her foreign rights have been sold in over 23 languages.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/meredithwild
Twitter: www.twitter.com/wildmeredith
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/meredithwild
Instagram: www.instagram.com/meredithwild

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These Tangled Vines by Julianne McLean-a review

These Tangled Vines by Julianne McLean-a review

 

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au / B&N Paper /

Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 1, 2021

If Fiona has learned anything in life, it’s how to keep a secret—even from the father who raised her. She is the only person who knows about her late mother’s affair in Tuscany thirty years earlier, and she intends to keep it that way…until a lawyer calls with shocking news: her biological father has died and left her an incredible inheritance—along with two half siblings.

Fiona travels to Italy, where the family is shocked to learn of her existence and desperate to contest her share of the will. While the mystery of her mother’s affair is slowly unraveled, Fiona must navigate through tricky family relationships and tense sibling rivalries. Fiona both fears and embraces her new destiny as she searches for the truth about the fateful summer her mother spent in Italy and the father she never knew.

Spilling over with the sumptuous flavors and romance of Tuscany, These Tangled Vines takes readers on a breathtaking journey of love, secrets, sacrifice, courage—and most importantly, the true meaning of family.

••••••

REVIEW:THESE TANGLED VINES by Julianne MacLean is a stand alone story of romance focusing on thirty year old Fiona Bell, and her journey of discovery.

Told from first person (Fiona) and dual third person (Sloane, Lillian), following two times lines (1986 and 2017) THESE TANGLED VINES follows thirty year old Fiona Bell as she discovers that everything she thought she knew about her life and her family is predicated upon a lie. At the age of eighteen, at her mother’s deathbed confession, Lillian revealed Fiona’s biological father is a wealthy vintner who owns and operates a vineyard in Tuscany, Italy. Fast forward to 2017, wherein, Fiona will be called ‘home’ to Tuscany upon the death of her biological father, where she will learn that she has inherited the bulk of her father’s estate but her half-siblings (Sloane and Connor) are none too happy, and Fiona is left struggling to prove she is her father’s heir, and that her mother was the love of Anton’s life.

Flashback to 1986, Lillian Bell and her wanna be author husband Freddie, travel to Italy in an effort to find Freddie his writing muse but left alone for extended periods of time, Lillian, now living and working on the Maurizio Wine Estates, is seduced by, and falls in love with owner Anton Clark, where they will embark on love affair that will end when disaster all but destroys everyone involved.

THESE TANGLED VINES is first and foremost a love story; an impassioned tale of enduring love, loss, and betrayal; of secrets, lies, revelations and regret. Julianne MacLean pulls the reader into a heart breaking, passionate, intoxicating and sorrowful story of beauty and destruction, of tragedy and regret. An emotion-filled love affair THESE TANGLED VINES will leave you haunted by what was and what could have been.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

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The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton-a review

The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba by Chanel Cleeton-a review

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

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date May 4, 2021

A feud rages in Gilded Age New York City between newspaper tycoons William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer. When Grace Harrington lands a job at Hearst’s newspaper in 1896, she’s caught in a cutthroat world where one scoop can make or break your career, but it’s a story emerging from Cuba that changes her life.

Unjustly imprisoned in a notorious Havana women’s jail, eighteen-year-old Evangelina Cisneros dreams of a Cuba free from Spanish oppression. When Hearst learns of her plight and splashes her image on the front page of his paper, proclaiming her, “The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba,” she becomes a rallying cry for American intervention in the battle for Cuban independence.

With the help of Marina Perez, a courier secretly working for the Cuban revolutionaries in Havana, Grace and Hearst’s staff attempt to free Evangelina. But when Cuban civilians are forced into reconcentration camps and the explosion of the USS Maine propels the United States and Spain toward war, the three women must risk everything in their fight for freedom.

•••••••

REVIEW:THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN CUBA by Chanel Cleeton is an historical and fictionalized account of three women during the 1896-1898  Cuban revolution, and the prelude to the Spanish-American war.

Told from three first person perspectives- twenty five year old American journalist, Grace Harrington, Cuban courier/ revolutionary Marina Sandoval, and nineteen year old, Cuban heiress Evangelina Cisneros, following three intersecting paths THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN CUBA takes liberty with historical fact blending fiction into a story line where three women will change the course of history.

Based in fact, Cuban heiress Evangelina Cisneros, the niece of the former president of the Cuban Republic, is imprisoned on trumped up charges for refusing the advances of Colonel Berriz. Hoping to secure the release of her father, Evangelina finds herself caught between Berriz and prison, opting for prison as the lesser of two evils. When American newspaper giant William Hearst hears of our heroine’s plight, he sets into motion a rescue mission that will change the course of history, rescuing a woman he comes to call The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba.

Meanwhile, Marina Sandoval, and her husband Mateo are sympathetic to the revolutionary cause but shortly after Mateo leaves to fight on the front lines, Marina, her daughter Isabella, and her mother-in-law Luz, are sent to a reconcentration camp, where Marina and her family will struggle to survive. Cleaning laundry for the rich and powerful, Marina will quickly discover that she is of more use as a messenger, couriering important documents and notes for the people working to help make a better Cuba. One of Marina’s final acts of defiance is to courier notes between Evangelina and the revolutionary sympathisers, as they prepare to rescue the imprisoned heiress.

Back in America, twenty-five year old journalist Grace Harrington, desperate to work for Joseph Pulitzer, reluctantly agrees to spy on William Hearst, Pulitzer’s competition in the world of journalism, a task that involves working for Hearst, and researching the events in the Republic of Cuba. As the revolution in Cuba begins to take on a life of its’ own, Grace finds herself up close and personal with sympathetic supporters in America, supporters that will soon include the man with whom she will fall in love.

THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN CUBA is a complex, detailed, revealing and intriguing story blending fact and fiction into a romanticized version of revolutionary events. Chanel Cleeton reveals some of the atrocities that the prisoners and those in the reconcentration camps had to endure, including the rampant disease and deaths for those struggling to survive. The premise was real and inviting; the characters were sympathetic and captivating. An entertaining and powerful story, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN CUBA is a fascinating and sensational tale of tragedy and survival.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

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Sweet Collateral (Collateral) by LP Lovell-review tour

Sweet Collateral by LP Lovell-review tour

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 30 , 2021

Anna

I’m a whore. A slave. A possession.
Freedom is so close I can almost taste it, only to have it snatched away under the guise of protection. A gilded cage is still a cage. Rafael D’Cruze is a bad man. I hate him, so why do I feel safe with him?

Rafael

She’s a favor. A pretty slave. Sweet collateral.
I have no interest in Anna beyond keeping her alive for the man who now owns her and paying off a debt. And yet, I’m fascinated by the little slave. I find myself willing to bleed for a willing touch, a trusting glance…

A broken little bird. The big bad wolf. A longing that could heal or destroy.

Hate me or hold me?

••••••

REVIEW:SWEET COLLATERAL by LP Dover is a contemporary, adult, organized crime, dark romance story line focusing on crime lord /Mexican cartel head Rafael D’Cruze, and twenty-two year old, sex slave Anna Vasiliev. Anna was first introduced in the Kiss of Death Trilogy. Some of the events of SWEET COLLATERAL run parallel to and cross over with a number of events in the KISS OF DEATH TRILOGY.

NOTE: SWEET COLLATERAL was originally released as a three book Collateral Trilogy (Hate Me, Hold Me, Have Me).

WARNING: Due to the extreme graphic nature of the story line premise there may be triggers for more sensitive readers.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Rafe and Anna) SWEET COLLATERAL follows Rafael D’Cruze when a favor is called in by the Italian Mafia wherein Rafe is ordered to rescue and protect our story line heroine. Anna Vasiliev, along with her sister Una, were raised in a Russian orphanage but at thirteen years of age Anna was sold as a sex slave to the Russian Bratva, who eventually sold her to the Sinaloa Mexican cartel. Fast forward to present day wherein Rafe finds himself protector and guardian of a young woman, so damaged and broken, he battles between head and heart knowing that to keep Anna for himself could mean a war with the Italian mob. As Rafe continues as head of the Mexican cartel, Anna finds herself often the target of any number of attempts to get her back, attempts wherein lives are lost, often too close to home. What ensues is the building friendship and relationship between Rafe and Anna, and the potential fall-out as Anna continues to struggle with issues of trust, including with the man with whom she will fall in love.

Anna Vasiliev has been so abused at the hands of many men that our heroine considers herself nothing more than a slave and a wh*re. Willing to risk her life for the freedom she has never known, our heroine struggles with issues of trust including the truth behind the reason she is currently under Rafael’s protection and control. Rafael D’Cruze is not an easy man. He is a killer who never hesitates but something about Anna threatens all of his control, a control he is going to need when both the Sinaloan cartel and Russian Bratva come seeking revenge and the return of our story line heroine.

The relationship between Rafe and Anna begins as a rescue but Anna is broken both inside and out, and struggles with a history of abuse at the hands of many men. Always running without any place to go, Anna’s embattled relationship with Rafe eventually pushes our heroine out of Rafe’s life, a push towards the family she wants to know. Rafael D’Cruze knows he is supposed to return Anna to the head of the Italian mob but when the truth is revealed Rafael becomes guardian, protector and lover to a woman who has never known love, kindness, friendship or hugs but Rafe struggles with the constant danger his lifestyle presents to our story line heroine, a lifestyle he is hoping to not have Anna involved. The $ex scenes between Rafe and Anna are intimate and passionate.

There is a large ensemble cast of secondary and supporting characters including Anna’s sister Una and her love Nero (Kiss of Death Trilogy), as well as a number of members of Rafael’s cartel, and household employees. The requisite evil has many faces.

SWEET COLLATERAL is another dark, gritty, haunting and powerful story line of control, abuse and betrayal, conflict and vengeance, family and love. The premise is twisted and tragic; the romance is provocative; the characters are broken, flawed, shattered and twisted.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Lauren Lovell is a ginger from England. 

She suffers from a total lack of brain to mouth filter and is the friend you have to explain before you introduce her to anyone, and apologise for afterwards. 

Lauren loves a mildly…or not so mildly psychopathic hero, and a dark, twisted tale. 

If you like like your boys very very bad, then hop on in.

Connect w/LP:

Websitehttp://lplovell.co.uk

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lplovellauthor

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/308860072628711

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lp_lovell/

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Authorlplovell

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7850247.L_P_Lovel

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3b04aBV

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lp-lovell

NL Signup: http://lplovell.co.uk/newsletter

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From the Embers by Aly Martinez-Review & Excerpt Tour

From the Embers by Aly Martinez-Review & Excerpt Tour

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 28, 2021

In the aftermath of tragedy, it’s strange the things you remember.
The deafening boom as the house exploded.
The paralyzing fear as I searched for my wife.
The blinding smoke burning my eyes as I carried her out.

But carved into my soul for the rest of my days would be the earth-shattering realization that the woman in my arms wasn’t my wife.

Bree and I were the only survivors—not that either of us were truly living after that night. As a single dad with nowhere else to go, I moved into her guest house. And somehow, through the guilt and grief, we forged an unlikely team.

It took years, but I watched the gradual return of her smile—slow and life-altering.
The two of us could sit outside for hours, talking about nothing, and it filled the massive hole in my chest with new life.

I may have carried her out of that fire, but the truth was, Bree saved me.

As we healed, the secrets and lies of the past smoldered in the ashes, threatening to ignite again.

Our love was born from the embers, and together we would go up in flames

•••••••

REVIEW:FROM THE EMBERS by Aly Martinez is a contemporary, adult, stand alone, romance story line focusing on struggling musician Eason Maxwell , and stay at home mother Bree Winters’ story line.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Eason and Bree) FROM THE EMBERS follows in the aftermath of an explosion that took the life of Eason’s wife Jessica, and Bree’s husband Rob. Rob and Eason had been best friends since college, and along with their significant others had formed a friendship that they thought would last forever but a house explosion killed Eason’s wife Jessica Maxwell, and Bree’s husband Rob Winters, and in the ensuing year, Eason would become the stay at home dad while Bree went back to work, as owner and CEO of the family owned company Prism Bedding. As Bree and Eason settled into a domestic routine, feelings and emotions would give way to a mutual attraction that would be destroyed once again, when betrayal forces our couple to take a closer look at what was, and what will never be. But…all is not well at Prism Bedding, and Bree finds herself and the company facing a government audit, and the realization that another betrayal is to be added to a long list of secrets and lies. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Eason and Bree, and the potential fall-out as the past comes back demanding everything and more.

Eason Maxwell is struggling musician having had a successful career in the early 90s but fame is a fickle thing, and Eason had to make a change in his path, going forward. Falling in love with his best friend’s widow was never in the cards but Eason soon discovered that a shared mutual grief is the starting point for a chance at another happily ever after. The possibility of reinvigorating his music career lands Eason on the fast climb to fame, taking his new found family along for the ride. Bree Winters had only ever loved one man but in the months following his death, Bree would discover that not everything was as it had appeared to be with the man she once loved. With Eason by her side, our couple would have to come to terms with the deceit and lies that reveal the potential for more heart break and grief.

The relationship between Bree and Eason begins reluctantly as friends, then the mutually shared grief of losing their spouses and best friends. Eason, with no place to live, accepts Bree’s invitation to live, along with his young daughter, in her backyard pool house, an invitation that finds Eason playing Mr. Mom while Bree went back to work, in an effort to keep the family owned business, afloat. A secret revealed would threaten their building romance, a secret where years of lies were about to implode. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are introduced to Bree’s husband Rob Winters; Eason’s wife Jessica; Rob/Bree’s assistant Jillian; neighbour/ part time sitter Evelyn, Bree’s children Asher and Madison, and Eason’s daughter Luna.

FROM THE EMBERS is a story of family, friendships, relationships and love; a story of secrets, lies, betrayal and revenge. The premise is heart breaking, tragic, raw and haunting; the romance captivating and tender; the characters are broken, spirited and wounded. Aly Martinez writes a richly dramatic and impassioned tale of betrayal and second chances.

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Using my arm to block my face, I carried her lifeless body to the door. The knob seared my palm as I yanked it open, but the pain didn’t even register through the adrenaline. The sound of my feet pounding down the driveway echoed in my ears as the fire crackled behind me. Our closest neighbor was over half a mile away, but there was no way they hadn’t heard the explosion. The fire department would be there soon.
Once I got Jessica safe, I’d go back for Bree. They’d find Rob. Everyone would be okay.
“Eason,” she croaked in my arms.
My feet were still moving as I sprinted away, but time stopped as her voice permeated my senses.
It wasn’t possible.
She was covered in soot, and my eyes were caked with ash and what I would later learn to be blood, but I could still make out the large flowers on her yellow—
“Uh, no. It’s my dress that your wife borrowed and I had to do an entire Tom Cruise Mission Impossible thing to get it back last week.”
Oh, God.
I kept running until the wind changed direction, clearing the smoke. With my heart in my throat, I prayed that my still ringing ears had deceived me. I set her down and used the inside of my shirt to clear my face.
“Eason,” she croaked.
But once again, she wasn’t my wife.
“Oh, God,” I breathed, watching as she rose on unsteady legs. Tears carved twin riverbeds through the ash on her cheeks.
“What happened?” Bree asked, her green eyes focused on the blazing inferno behind me.
Acrid guilt devoured me. “I…”
I saved the wrong woman.
I left the mother of my child in a burning building.
My final broken promise to the woman I’d vowed forever to was, “I’ll be right back.”
Bile crawled up my throat. “I don’t know.”
I glanced back at the house, the heat of the roaring fire scorching me even from yards away. Overwhelming grief hit me as I realized there was no way I could get back through those flames.
Oh, God. Jessica.
In the middle of tragedy, it’s strange the things that become engrained into your memories. Years later, I wouldn’t be able to tell you how long it took the firetrucks to get there. I couldn’t tell you what time it was or what I had been wearing. But I would never be able to forget the absolute devastation on Bree’s face when she realized we were the only two standing outside the burning house.
“Where’s Rob?” she rasped, her voice sounding like it had traveled over a mile of gravel before exiting her throat. “And Jessica. Where are they?” She took an urgent stride toward me.
“I tried…” I doubled over into a fit of coughing. It was probably for the best. There was no way I could have finished that thought.

Originally from Savannah, Georgia, USA Today bestselling author Aly Martinez now lives in South Carolina with her husband and four young children.

Never one to take herself too seriously, she enjoys cheap wine, mystery leggings, and baked feta. It should be known, however, that she hates pizza and ice cream, almost as much as writing her bio in the third person.

She passes what little free time she has reading anything and everything she can get her hands on, preferably with a super-sized tumbler of wine by her side.

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