Tag Archives: Marcie

The Last Rule of Makeups by Nina Crespo – a Review

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The Last Rule of Makeups by Nina Crespo – a Review

 

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Description:
Cori Ross is thanking her lucky stars. Sure, her long-time boyfriend just dumped her, but that’s a good thing. In her rush to find Mr. Right, she realizes she almost settled for Mr. Just Okay. And that’s definitely not okay. So, tonight, she’s out with her friends at the Breakup Bash—a private party for women celebrating their break-ups—and she’s actually celebrating. Still, it was too close a call. So she makes a deal with herself—no guys for six months.

Unfortunately, just as she’s leaving the club, she runs into her old boyfriend, Grey Latham—the guy she’d always wanted to be Mr. Right. Great. What a time to swear off guys. Maybe she needs to change the deal—no relationships for six months. There’s no reason why she can’t have a fling, right? Because Grey still holds the title of the best sex she’s ever had. 

There’s no way this could go wrong. Grey is on his way to international DJ fame—he’s only in town for a short time, and then he’ll be gone again. No harm in burning up the sheets while it lasts. 

Too bad neither expected what happened next… 

 

Review:

The Last Rule of Makeups by Nina Crespo was a steamy fast read.  From the moment Cori runs into her ex Grey at the nightclub she’s attending with her girlfriends, sparks fly between them and they keep the fire burning through the rest of their adventure.  It’s quite obvious that they never completely fell out of love with each other or properly dealt with those feelings after their breakup.  The chemistry between them is electric, but their easy going friendship and what they mean to each other is what really shines through during their road back to each other.  Both are easy going, yet career driven and know what they want in a relationship.  It’s obvious they are meant to be together, but can they both over come the issues from their past together, and the demons that haunt their past from previous situations. 

Grey is sort of at a crossroads regarding his DJ career because of what happened to a fellow friend and DJ.  He feels responsible for his friend’s death and just doesn’t have the drive or interest in music anymore.  He decides maybe it’s best to join his father’s firm that he really isn’t interested in doing. Cori on the other hand is coming off another breakup and feels like maybe it’s time to just swear off men.  That is until Grey accidentally crosses paths with her one fateful night.  It’s almost like fate had this planned for a while and just needed the right time to have them cross paths again.  Cori helps Grey not only deal with his guilt over his friend and fellow DJ, but restores his faith in himself where his music and DJ’ing is concerned.  She always believed in him and knew he was destined for stardom in the DJ industry.  Grey in turns helps Cori to come to terms with her breakup, and restores her faith in them as a couple and that just maybe this time things will end differently for them.  Of course they have their little hiccups along the way, and once again Cori is faced with possibly loosing Grey to his career by not fully trusting in what they have and following him where his career will lead.  In the end with her family’s blessing Cori plans to go after Grey but he beats her to it by coming back to her and asking her to marry him.  I absolutely loved this part, it couldn’t have been written more perfectly.  Grey’s proposal was perfect and it was exactly what he’d have done for Cori. 

Nina Crespo writes a fun, flirty, fast steamy read in The Last Rule of Makeups.  Cori and Grey are a well written couple with personalities that grab the reader from the get go and carry you along on their adventure.  They never seem to miss a beat and their easy going nature and friendship with each other just moves from one scene to the next, and before you know it you’ve come to the last page.  If you enjoy you adventures fast and steamy then this one is for you.

Until next time, happy reading everyone.   

Reviewed by Marcie

Copy provided by Publisher

 

 

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The Dating Itinerary by Brooke Williams – a Review

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The Dating Itinerary by Brooke Williams – a Review

 

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Description:
As if it wasn’t bad enough to be deemed the “most single person” at her magazine’s office, budding reporter Penny has now been tapped to write a series of features called “The Dating Game.” From speed dating to Tinder, old-fashioned matchmakers to up-and-coming “dark dating,” Penny now has to go on a lot of dates. Silver lining: meeting new people should be fun, right? But running into her old rival, George, at her first dating event is decidedly not. Not only does the arrogant know-it-all have zero trouble attracting women, wherever Penny goes, somehow he just. Keeps. Showing. Up.

Geo knows he’s right on the cusp of writing success with the chance to have his own syndicated column. All he has to do is follow his agent’s ideas for showcasing different dating avenues, and he’ll pull in enough to help his sister’s non-profit women’s shelter get off the ground. Sure, his itinerary is starting to look strangely similar to his old rival Penny’s, but all’s fair in love and syndication, right?

The more they look for love in all the wrong places, though, the more they start to wonder if it was right in front of their noses all along. Still, the brutal dating scene just might end them, if these two don’t kill each other first. 

 

Review;

The Dating Itinerary by Brooke Williams is a quick, fun, flirty, charming and comical read.  I loved the main couple of Penny Coyne and George “Geo” Monais.  Fist I have to say I love Penny’s name, as well as all her sister’s names.  That was genius I will say to give them all names after our various coins.  Bravo Miss Williams. 

As for the story itself, I quite enjoyed it.  For anyone who has, or is in the process of trying to find love through all the different avenues offered these days this book will relate.  There were many times I found myself chuckling out loud, or just shaking my head over some of the dates that Penny and George found themselves on.  You see, both Penny and George are attempting the dating market for work purposes.  Penny to score the cover at the magazine she works for, and George to finally make it big on tv and get a syndicate show, which in turn he plans to use the funds to help his sister with her new foundation for women she’s just set up. 

Both Penny and George are following this ‘dating itinerary’ that work has laid out for them, but unbeknownst to each other they are on the same schedule.  When they both wind up at the first dating scene, Speed Dating, the sparks fly and just continue to fly between Penny and George to the very end of the book.  You see, both have a history together and did like each other at one time, but due to a work issue where Penny thought George scooped her job up they haven’t seen eye to eye. That is until they decide to put bygones to rest and work together on this ‘dating itinerary’.  When they decide to do this, this is where the fun begins.  As they continue to go on various dates, they keep finding themselves being drawn closer and closer together until boom, they realize that what they are looking for is right in front of their noses. It doesn’t matter how many dates they go on, they just can’t seem to keep their minds from wandering back to each other.

It was fun to watch our couple embark on this adventure and have to deal with their past before they could move onto a future together.  I laughed many times, cheered them on, and yes I even related to many of the issues to dating in this day and age. In the end, The Dating Itinerary is an enjoyable read that lets you forget about your troubles and enjoy the adventure that is Penny and George. 

Until next time, happy reading my friends. 

Reviewed by Marcie

Copy provided by Publisher

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The Player’s Game by Alice Gaines – a Review

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The Player’s Game by Alice Gaines – a Review

 

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Description:
I’ve got to admit, life is sweet these days. As a starting NFL quarterback, I do okay, and I haven’t been lacking for female companionship. But I’d give it all up in a heartbeat if I could get back the woman I loved and lost—my ex-wife, Katy. Now I’m at a wedding, watching one of my best friends tie the knot. I’m happy for him—really. I just wish things had turned out better when I’d taken that walk down the aisle. Still, those days are over. I’m on my way up to my room when I run into my ex in the elevator. It’s like karma. Has to be. Only she’s with some random guy, who’s getting a little too handsy for my liking. I can’t help myself—I have to say something. Something that ruins her night…and mine, too. Now, I’m sitting alone in my hotel room, when suddenly, Katy’s at my door, complaining that I ruined her 30th birthday. Her solution—that I give her the night of sexual adventure I’d derailed in the elevator. I never was very good at saying no to her…

 

 Review:

The Player’s Game by Alice Gaines is a fast, flirty, and sexy as hell adventure between Katy and Grant.  Their adventure begins from the beginning of the story and the chemistry between the two characters immediately flies off the pages. I honestly thought my e-reader was going to overheat a few times 😉 It’s obvious the two still have it bad for each other and probably never should’ve got divorced.  It’s over the course of their adventure we find out just what derailed their marriage and that no matter how much they try to keep it just physical between them, you can see how feelings start to sneak up on both Katy and Grant.  Before long it’s very clear they never got over the other and are still deep down where it counts in love with each other.  The fun, well they’ve been having fun with each other since chapter one, but the real fun of having to deal with these feelings again and figure out just what they plan to do with them is what creates a ‘can’t put the book down, need to find out what they do’ kind of feeling and what do you know, before I knew it I was done the book.  Yes, Grant and Katy’s adventure flew through the pages of this one.  It was one hot and fun rollercoaster that you couldn’t put down until you knew how it ended.  

Grant and Katy are both fun characters, with strong, big personalities and yes sometimes they clash, but in the end they work as a unit.  Grant is protective, giving and so loving with Katy, and Katy just loves Grant and wants to do right by him and make him happy.  She’s the type of character who can get into some sort of trouble just from staring at someone wrong and then the antics begin. I loved 2 scenes with Katy, the first where she’s pounding on hotel room doors hunting down Grant for ruining her 30th birthday plans, and then at the hospital when she’s sneaking into the ER, nabbing a workers swipe card and racing around the ER looking for an injured Grant. Seriously the girl needs to stop attracting trouble, lol!  If you love sports themed stories with a main couple that brings the heat the whole time and keeps you entertained from beginning to end. Then this one’s for you, just make sure to have a fan and a glass of ice water with you!! 

Until next time, happy reading everyone.

Reviewed by Marcie

Copy provided by Publisher

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Small Town, Big Secrets by Elsie Davis – a Review

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Small Town, Big Secrets by Elsie Davis – a Review

 

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Description:
To save her son, shy but determined waitress Becky McAllister would do just about anything. But she never expected “anything” to include the brother of the man who broke her heart.

Steve Parker needs a wife, now, if he has any hopes of winning his local DA election and becoming the advocate for the underserved he’s always dreamed of being. The sweet waitress seems like just the person—if he can get her to agree.

One year of marriage—no strings, no personal attachments. Becky gets the insurance funds she needs for her son’s surgery while Steve’s poll ratings soar. Neither planned on a commitment in their future, so they should have no problem making it through the year without getting emotionally involved, right?

Except Becky’s holding on to a secret from her past—one that would change everything.

 

Review:

I quite enjoyed Small Town, Big Secrets by Elsie Davis.  It’s a quick read with a good pace of storytelling.  Both Becky and Steve, even though they come from different sides of the tracks, wind up really complimenting each other.  They brought a nice balance to each other’s live and the story. I was really happy to see that Steve was nothing like his brother Jack.  These two are complete opposites and his brother is a complete jackass, for lack of a better word.  Even though the story is about Becky and Steve I found that Becky’s son Byron just stole the show every time he was in a scene.  Byron is one of those characters you wind up adoring from the instant you meet him. We learn that Byron is really Jack’s son, but no one has ever learned the truth because Mr. Jackass has blackmailed poor Becky into keeping the secret of Byron’s paternity.  However, the moment he and Steve meet, you see that instant connection.  Steve has his suspicions but doesn’t push Becky for answers right away and this allows for him and Bryon to really bond and get to know each other.  Their relationship is so stinking cute you can’t help but root for Steve to win over Becky in the end. 

Steve and Becky’s road to happiness doesn’t happen over night. I liked that Ms. Davis keeps these characters real and makes them deal with real problems and fears going down the path they decided upon to help each other out. Both Steve and Becky make a deal to pretend to be in love for the benefits that a deal like this can be for both of them, not realizing that they would really develop feelings and fall in love for each other.  Yes there was some angst, drama, and bumps in the road for our couple along the way, but in the end Ms. Davis somehow managed to tie it all together in a sweet and charming way that only Steve could pull off, and deliver that HEA they all deserve including Byron. 

If you like the small town story-line theme, with solid characters and storytelling then this one’s for you.  Just grab your favourite cup of tea or glass of wine and settle in outside on a beautiful day and enjoy the adventure that is Becky and Steve. 

Until next time, happy reading everyone!

Reviewed by Marcie

Copy provided by Publisher

 

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Accidentally Family by Sasha Summers – a Review

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Accidentally Family by Sasha Summers – a Review

 

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Description:
Welcome to Pecan Valley, where the town may be small but the townspeople will always lend a helping hand or a shoulder to lean on. Where good times, good humor, and good people will always lead to happily ever after.

Life for Felicity, and her teen children, is finally back on track. After her divorce, she wasn’t sure if her sweet family would ever be the same. But things are good––right up until her ex’s spirited toddler lands on Felicity’s doorstep. If the universe is going to throw lemons at her, thank God she has her best friend, Graham, to help her make lemonade out of them. How did she never notice how kind and sexy he is?

Graham is still recovering from his wife’s death years ago and trying to help his teen daughter get her life together. Who is he kidding? His daughter hates him. Forget lemons––he’s got the entire lemon tree. So when Felicity suggests they join forces and help each other, he’s all in. And suddenly he can’t stop thinking about her as more than just a friend. Too bad their timing couldn’t be worse…

Because life rarely goes as planned. Luckily there are many different kinds of family to hold you together and lift you up…plus maybe even a little love between friends.

 

Review:

Accidentally Family by Sasha Summers is a good solid read.  It has a little of everything in it; drama, romance, ups and downs of life, teen issues, humour, and even death.  I think it’s safe to say this one runs you through the gauntlet of life but in the end love does triumph over all.  Miss Summers writes her story as if she is actually walking down the streets of Pecan Valley and knows each character personally.  As I got more and more into this one, that’s exactly how I felt, as if I were a part of Pecan Valley and I was watching the events of friends and family unfold before my very eyes. It’s the type of story you get invested in for not only the main characters, but the secondary characters as well, and you want everyone to wind up in a good place by books end. 

Both Graham and Felicity are very real characters with real lives, and real life issues.  Felicity and Graham are both struggling with putting their lives back together after they each find themselves single for different reasons; Felicity her husband left her and their children for another women, Graham his wife passed away from cancer leaving him to raise their teen daughter.  Neither have had it easy, but they were always there for each other, but never thought they’d find love again, yet alone finding love with each other.  Their journey to their HEA isn’t easy as it meets with restraints in the form of Felicity’s son Nick, where as Graham’s daughter Dianna  sees right away that they have feelings for each other and thinks they’d be great together and she’d love to be a part of Felicity’s family.  Thanks to Felicity’s son their romance falls off the tracks for a bit but thanks to his aunt Charity, his sister and Dianna, he finally sees what they all see and realizes he needs to help fix the situation and does so in the end with everyone’s help.  Along the way Nick also comes to terms with his new baby brother and winds up loving him even more then he thought.  Yes I know the main focus of this story is about Felicity and Graham, but seeing Nick go through his transformation from hating is dad for everything he did and caused to his family brought a raw and realness to the story that once again made you connect to another character in the story on a different level.  There were also a few other mini stories going on beyond Nick’s.  You had Honour and Owen’s young love story, Felicity’s sister Charity coming back home single and pregnant and reconnecting with her old flame Officer Martinez, just what was up with them in the past and where could their story go??  One can only guess until their story is hopefully written.

As I said at the beginning of my review, Accidentally Family is a good solid read from beginning to end.  It’s the kind of story that gets you invested in not only the main couple but everyone else involved.  Yes there we some very raw and serious moments in this one, but Miss Summers balanced everything out with some humourous and fun scenes as well. 

Until next time, happy reading everyone!!

Reviewed by Marcie

Copy provided by Publisher

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Betting on Love by Jennifer Hoopes – a Review

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Betting on Love by Jennifer Hoopes – a Review

 

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Description:
Whitney Carroll is back home in Gatlinburg, Tennessee after divorcing her low-down, cheating husband. First thing on the to-do list: Get a job. Second thing: Just say no to men. Third thing: Don’t fall for the boss. One out of three’s not too bad, right?

For Sam Ellis, his to-do list is always work, work, work, trying to keep his family’s legacy alive. Now, out of concern, his siblings bet he can’t keep a girl happy for thirty days, and if he loses he’s out as CEO. No problem, he can fake a relationship. And he knows just who to ask…his new man-vegan assistant.

Yet Whitney’s sexy boss—secret singer and Skee-Ball champion—is definitely NOT boring, and their connection is undeniable. But when a disaster strikes at work, Sam will have to decide if he’s willing to trade in his job for his heart.

 

Review;

Betting on Love by Jennifer Hoopes is a charming, sexy, flirty fast read.  Ms. Hoopes drops the reader into the dynamic that becomes Whitney and Sam from the first chapter and the sparks fly from there.  Whitney and Sam have a flirty, sexual, yet friendly chemistry that’s apparent from the get go and it just leaps off the pages.  You can’t help but notice the attraction between these two characters and it catapults their adventure from beginning to end.  It’s this instant connection and attraction between the two characters that make the reader dive in, not putting the book down till you’ve read everything there is to know about Whitney and Sam.  It doesn’t hurt that Ms. Hoopes adds a wonderful secondary cast of characters in the form of Sam’s interfering siblings to only add to the already fun and crazy adventure between Whitney and Sam. 

I enjoyed both characters, yes they each have a back story that propels them to agree to the crazy bet made by Sam’s siblings, but in the end both realize that the chemistry and relationship that they’ve formed through working together goes far beyond a silly bet.  Both have fallen in love with the other, but don’t know if the other is on the same page.  Instead of just being honest with their feelings and talking to each other they allow work and the bet to get in the way, almost destroying something good between them.  In the end of course love prevails and it all works out but not before a little misunderstanding and anger at one another and themselves gets in the way. However, thanks to Sam’s siblings the two are brought together in the end and when Sam finally shows his secret talent to the whole city by getting up on stage and singing his apology to Whitney for basically being a donkey, I swooned and nearly fell off my chair.  I absolutely loved that scene, I think it was my favourite in the whole story and there were a few funny scenes along the way as well. 

Betting on Love by Jennifer Hoopes a perfect book for sitting back with and getting comfortable as we all deal with these uncertain times.  Yes it’s a fast fun read, but it’s also a story that lets us forget what’s happening outside around us and escape for a few wonderful, sexy and fun hours following Sam and Whitney along their adventure. 

Until next time, happy reading everyone!!

Reviewed by Marcie

Copy provided by Publisher

 

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Matzah Ball Surprise by Laura Brown – a Review

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Matzah Ball Surprise by Laura Brown – a Review

 

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Description:
This Passover is starting to feel like the ten plagues might be coming back to haunt them before the weekend is over…one hilarious misstep after the next.

Gaby Fineberg just wants to get through Passover Seder without her “well meaning” family playing matchmaker. She needs a date, just for one simple meal—that includes singing, the history of her forefathers, and not one bit of yeast. The hot guy at her gym would be perfect. He probably hates bread, anyway, with a body like that. But when she finally works up the nerve to ask him…he doesn’t hear a word she said.

Levi Miller is deaf and happily single. Initially, he doesn’t know why this beautiful woman is talking to him, but it’s clear she needs help—and suddenly so does he. In a very complicated situation, Levi finds a simple solution. Gaby will pretend to be his new girlfriend to bail him out, and he’ll return the favor. But he didn’t bargain for a family dinner quite like this one…

 

Review;

I really enjoyed Matzah Ball Surprise by Laura Brown.  It was a cute, charming, and sexy fast read with two characters who just stole the show from beginning to end.  Levi and Gaby are two complex characters that are real, relatable and have their own drama/baggage in their lives that they haven’t properly dealt with. It isn’t until they meet each other and start to fall for each other that they are able to fully deal with the drama in each of their lives.  Gaby and Levi both inadvertently wind up helping the other see just what it is that’s missing from their respective lives.

I enjoyed the pace of this story, I didn’t find it rushed at all. I thought Ms. Brown took the necessary time to set the back-stories for both characters to allow us the reader to fully get to know them.  We also get to know more about both Gaby and Levi as their romance develops and Levi tries to teach ASL to Gaby to pull off their fake relationship for her family.  The scenes with Levi trying to teach Gaby and the two of them using their phones to communicate were sweet and just downright adorable.  It’s through these scenes that we really get to see the real Levi and Gaby emerge.  Levi’s deafness never hampered their relationship at all, if anything I found it wound up elevating it and making it something more.  They found a way to communicate and know each other in way no one else could. It created a bond that only the two of them could ever have, which made their romance that much more special and sweet. 

If you enjoy a sweet solid romance with just the right amount of charm, humour, and sexual chemistry all mixed together with some drama/angst, then Matzah Ball Surprise is just the book you’re looking for.  Sit back, relax, pour a glass of wine and enjoy Gaby and Levi’s adventure.  Trust me you won’t be disappointed. 

Until next time, happy reading everyone!!

Reviewed by Marcie

Copy provided by Publisher

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Wild Nights by Katherine Garbera – a Review

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Wild Nights by Katherine Garbera – a Review

 

Amazon / Kobo / Google Play / Apple

 

Description:
Master illusionist Nicholas Pine has learned the hard way that nothing—and nobody—is what they seem. So when he runs into sexy antique shop owner, Zelda Quincy, he knows there’s more to her than meets the eye. Still, what he sees is very, very intriguing…and he can’t get her out of his head.

Zelda has spent her whole adult life running away from her family’s reputation. She’s changed her name and tried to move on. The last thing she wants is to return to the world she left behind, even with someone as hot as Nicholas by her side.

But after one hot night––she’s addicted––and so is he.

Too bad the skeletons in Zelda’s closet won’t stay hidden for long…

 

Review:

Wild Nights by Katherine Garbera is just that for Nicholas and Zelda.  From the moment the two meet the sparks fly and it just keeps getting better and better.  The two characters had chemistry that just burned through the pages.  Then add in the Vegas setting, some magic and illusion and you have yourself one hell of a story. 

I really liked both characters from the get go. In Nicholas and Zelda Ms. Garbera writes two very solid and real characters.  You get where they are coming from and their backstories only add to their personalities and storylines.  You can’t help but love both of them and want to see them move on from their pasts and find love and happiness with each other. 

Once again Ms. Garbera does a great job of creating the secondary characters who help to add some humour and spark to both Nicholas and Zelda’s stories. I love the friendship between Zelda and Molly, as well as her relationship with Molly’s son Stetson.  It’s so cute and touching, it melted my heart a few times.  As for Nicholas and his buddies, once again it was fun to see them altogether again in Vegas at their casino.  I really liked seeing more of Nicholas and Dare’s friendship in this one.  I know it was Nicholas’ story this time, but I really do like Dare and want to read more about him one day.  

I really enjoyed Wild Nights by Katherine Garbera.  It had all the right elements for me to keep me entertained and intrigued. From the Las Vegas landscape, to the elements of magic and illusion making me feel as though I was right there in the audience, along with some fun and flirty moments between Nicholas and Zelda. If you are a fan of magic, illusion, Las Vegas, with some bad boy friends who run a Casino then this one’s for you. 

Until next time, happy reading!!

Reviewed by Marcie

Copy provided by Publisher

 

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