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Make Me Exhale (Oil Barrons 5) by Marie Johnston-review tour

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Make Me Exhale (Oil Barrons 5) by Marie Johnston-review tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 4, 2023

Trust fund? Check. Plans to restore an old train foundry into a brewery? Check. Grumpy project manager? Sigh . . . check.

If I wanted to deal with a man just like my uptight dad, I would’ve told my parents what my brewery plans were. Only I didn’t tell anyone. I waited for my trust fund to deliver once I turned twenty-five, and I bought the old train foundry I’d been eyeing for years. Then McCoy Cunningham shows up.

I’m told he’s the best. He’s older than me and knows both sides of the business—the restoration and the brewing. But all I’ve gotten from him are scowls and dismissive grunts. McCoy might think he’s the expert, he might look at me like I should be in diapers with pigtails, but he’s wrong if he thinks he can bulldoze me.

All it takes is one look. One time I catch him eyeing me with something other than disdain. One conversation where we’re geeking out over yeast strains and hops. One kiss that leads to more.

I promised myself I’d never settle for a guarded man who thinks he knows everything, especially one who won’t put me before business. And after what McCoy’s been through, he’s all about work. No personal entanglements. The last thing I need is to be left with flat beer and a broken heart.

Make Me Exhale is a standalone novel in the Oil Barrons series.

•••••

REVIEW:Book five in the Oil Barrons series, and we see McCoy and Isla take the leads in this book.

It’s not necessary to read any of the previous books, as each book stands on its own.

Isla Baron can finally fulfil her dream of owning a brewery. She waited, planned and dreamed of this moment for years. She plans to make it work by putting on events at her little brewery, it’s going to work, it has to!

She’s kept her plans to herself, not telling her family what she intends to do with her inheritance (I get the impression the family do a lot for Isla, they don’t give her enough credit!)

McCoy swore he’s never getting involved again after a nasty divorce! it’s work all day long. Older and definitely a little more wary of women, McCoy sees Isla as a flighty young thing who knows nothing about the business she wants to set up!

It’s suppose to be project manager and client relationship, but Isla feels like she’s being bossed about by said project manager and her family! Her dream is set back time after time with delays and she takes it out on family and friends!

She’s too young. He’s too grumpy….. So you know that once they admit their feelings it’s going to explode all over the page ? but you do have to wonder if it’s ever going to happen!

And even when they do admit their feelings for one another, McCoy keeps her at arms length! Not really letting her in! Isla feels frustrated! Does she give him more time, or is it time to walk away?

I have to admit, this is probably my favourite of the series. I really liked this couple. Isla was very sure of herself, she knew what she wanted to do, and how to go about it. I did think her family and friends could have had a bit more faith in her (they jumped in too quick with opinions and help, instead of letting Isla figure it out for herself) and even grumpy McCoy was a great character. After a messy divorce he was a work/work/work kind of guy. So to see him fall for little miss sunshine was fun to read.

So if you like grumpy/sunshine tropes, age gap tropes, then this is the book for you.

A highly recommended read from one of my favourite small town romance authors.

Previous Reviews

Make Me Whole
Make Me Dream

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Julie

FOLLOW: Goodreads/Website/Facebook/Twitter/Instagram / Bookbub/ Pinterest

Marie Johnston is a RITA® Finalist, and a best-selling and award-winning writer of paranormal and contemporary romance – and an avid reader of them both.

Several years ago, when kids started outnumbering adults in the house, Marie Johnston left her job as a public health microbiologist to stay at home. Settling into working part-time and shuttling kids around gave Marie the opportunity to think about what she wanted to be when she grew up. A die-hard science geek, she explored her previously thought to be non-existent creative side after much time spent making snowman crafts and coloring princesses. Having entertained thoughts of writing a book one day then subsequently deciding it would be too hard, she finally put the figurative pen to paper and began to type – and fell in love with storytelling.

The Sigma Menace is the first series by Marie with Fever Claim being her first book EVER. She is humbled by the fact that people are willing to read to her books and looks forward to keeping readers entertained for many years.

Marie lives with her husband and four kids in the Upper Midwest where the summers are gorgeous, the winters are brutal, and spring and fall are luxuries.

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Make Me Dream (Oil Barrons 4) by Marie Johnston-review tour

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Make Me Dream (Oil Barrons 4) by Marie Johnston-review tour

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Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3D11Pqd

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 6, 2022

Being ghosted by my best friend’s brother was easier to get over than the pink positive sign I got six weeks later.

With our ten-year age difference, I didn’t think I was more to Stetson Barron than his little sister’s quirky best friend, the one with store-bought hair color and thrifted clothing. Until one hot summer night at his cousin’s wedding when I climbed him like a water tower.

And then he didn’t talk to me for weeks afterward.

A pink plus sign and a panic attack later, the trailer house I share with my mom burns down. Stetson shows up at the ER like a country knight on a diesel-powered steed, arranges a place for my mom to stay, and takes me home with him.

The weeks of radio silence after our hookup have left me wary. Being with Stetson should be a fantasy come to life, but I’m waiting for my prince to ride away. I’m not the type of woman his parents want him to be with, and they’d rather pretend there’s no baby than welcome me to the family. My mom was in the same situation once, and I’ve learned her lesson—alone is better than abandoned.

When Stetson is forced to choose between his new family unit and old family expectations, will he prove to be the man of my dreams? Or am I in for a heart-breaking wake-up call?

••••

REVIEW: This book can be read without reading the previous books (that’s what I’ve done) I don’t think it makes a lot of difference (but apparently this couple gets together in the last book) Unexpected pregnancy/age gap romance/small town romance/forbidden romance (best friends brother) 

I’d heard about Stetson in a previous series (?) and to be honest I wasn’t too enamoured with, he’d seemed like a self centred type of guy! And as I began to read this book, my opinion of him wasn’t too high! (His mother dictates all of his actions!) But give it a chance….. it turns out to be a really good read. 

The Barron family are treated like royalty in their home town, and that gives Stetson the appearance of a spoiled rich kid! But underneath the facade is a man who wants to be seen and loved for who and not what he is! It’s easier to give into family notions and pressures than buck the trend……

Lyric isn’t from the right side of the tracks, she might (just) be good enough for Stetson’s little sister to be friends with, but dating/marriage, no, definitely not good enough! 

But an unexpected problem has occurred from their hot night together….. an unexpected pregnancy!! How will Stetson react when Lyric finally plucks up the courage to tell him? 

I grew to like the couple as I read the book. They’ve both had a hard time pulling away from their families. Lyric has a carefree attitude to life which is the complete opposite of Stetson, he really was a jerk sometimes, and you just wanted to shake some sense into him.. 

So can this couple overcome their own insecurities, his families interference and the town’s expectations? Or will it all be just too much for them? 

I’m going to go back and read this series and there is a few things that apparently roll through this series ? I love the author’s paranormal series, but her contemporary books are becoming a one click. 

Click HERE for Julies review of book one MAKE ME WHOLE

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Julie B ?

FOLLOW: Goodreads/Website/Facebook/Twitter/Instagram / Bookbub/ Pinterest

Marie Johnston is a RITA® Finalist, and a best-selling and award-winning writer of paranormal and contemporary romance – and an avid reader of them both.

Several years ago, when kids started outnumbering adults in the house, Marie Johnston left her job as a public health microbiologist to stay at home. Settling into working part-time and shuttling kids around gave Marie the opportunity to think about what she wanted to be when she grew up. A die-hard science geek, she explored her previously thought to be non-existent creative side after much time spent making snowman crafts and coloring princesses. Having entertained thoughts of writing a book one day then subsequently deciding it would be too hard, she finally put the figurative pen to paper and began to type – and fell in love with storytelling.

The Sigma Menace is the first series by Marie with Fever Claim being her first book EVER. She is humbled by the fact that people are willing to read to her books and looks forward to keeping readers entertained for many years.

Marie lives with her husband and four kids in the Upper Midwest where the summers are gorgeous, the winters are brutal, and spring and fall are luxuries.

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MAKE ME WHOLE (Oil Barrons 1) by Marie Johnston-Review Tour

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MAKE ME WHOLE (Oil Barrons 1) by Marie Johnston-Review Tour

 

 

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 18, 2022

I had a perfect life. Schoolteacher. Married to my high school sweetheart. Little starter house that we called charming but was really just old. All I needed was the two-point-five kids and I’d be living my perfect dream. Then my husband died.

After the funeral, I had a breakdown that lasted for a month…or twelve. But now I’m reemerging, healing, finding my way. It’s time to learn who I am now, and whether or not I can fix a leaky sink. And by my side, the entire time, is my husband’s best friend, Liam. The single dad knows a thing or two about personal struggles, and about how to replace faucets.

With Liam, I feel alive again. Confident. Capable. Liam has become my best friend too. Except if my parents, my in-laws, and the rest of the town had any say, I’d stay far away from him and his bad boy reputation.

How do I admit to them what’s so hard to admit to myself? That I’m starting to look at him like he’s more than a friend. That the heat in his eyes when he looks at me is far beyond friendly. That like it or not, Liam makes me feel whole again.

••••••••••

REVIEW: I throughly enjoyed the author’s King’s Series, and when I found out that she’d done a spin off I couldn’t wait to read it.

Kennedy is a widow, she’s still mourning the loss of her husband. It’s only been a year and a half, but slowly she returning to the land of the living. And she owes that mainly to her husbands best friend/cousin Liam. He checks up on her regularly, and she feels like the only one who really understands (Derek’s parents are still grieving and expect her to remain the same way.)

Liam is a single parent (a relationship that ended badly) he dotes on his boys, but wants a better life for hiss kids away from the town he grew up in.
Liam is the illegitimate child of the local oil/farming baron, he’s never been made to feel welcome, in fact if his father had his way the whole town would be against Liam and he’s be forced to move away!

This is a friends to lovers trope, and the author has done a great job of dealing with both the grief that both characters feel and the animosity that Liam faces living in the town he doesn’t feel like he belong too.

Liam has always fancied Kennedy, but when his cousin/best friend made a move on Kennedy, Liam was relegated to the friend zone! But ha’d rather have her as a friend than not in his life at all. After losing Derek, looking after Kennedy seemed second nature.
Kennedy begins to look at Liam in more than just a friend way, she notices how he cares and how he looks, that then makes her feel guilty at betraying her dead husbands memory.

And when they finally admit how they feel about each other, they have to face the gauntlet of emotions and the backlash from other people!

I’m hoping it’s the start of a new series. We get to meet some of Liam’s siblings in this book, so there is plenty to write about.

Really well thought out and written in a way that you connect with the characters.

So can Liam and Kennedy really be happy in Coal Haven? Or would it be easier to move away and start somewhere fresh?

? Reviewed by Julie

Copy supplied for review

 

 

 

Blinking to adjust to the dimmer light, it wasn’t hard to find Liam. Sparks flew from the far corner, where the light from the open door had the hardest time penetrating.
The torch Liam held went dark. He flipped his face shield up so it rested on top of his head. “Hey. That time already? The afternoon got away from me.”
He set his equipment on the work bench by the hunk of metal he’d been working on. He slapped his thick gloves down and took the face shield off. Then he shrugged out of his well-worn leather apron.
I blinked again, but it had nothing to do with lighting. His long-sleeved blue T-shirt with the logo of a bar and grill in Williston was plastered to his chest and back. A smattering of singe holes gathered around the collar and a few tiny ones on the sleeves where the apron didn’t reach. Liam adjusted his shoulders like he was trying to dislodge the fabric from his skin, but all the move did was make his muscles ripple.
I’d known Liam wasn’t the same lanky kid from high school, but I’d never had proof like this.
He ran a hand through his hair—same effect. Biceps bulging and rippling muscle.
My brain snapped a picture, like someday I might need to reference the type of man that could get my libido going again.
Which I wasn’t looking for. Dating wasn’t on my radar, much less…activities beyond that.
Although recently I’d been thinking… I gave myself a mental shake. My therapist said there was nothing wrong with thinking about dating someday. Nothing wrong with dating itself. Nothing wrong with not being ready. Nothing wrong with dating while still not feeling ready. I hadn’t reached that point yet. And I didn’t have to think about it at Liam’s.

 

FOLLOW: Goodreads/Website/Facebook/Twitter/Instagram / Bookbub/ Pinterest

Marie Johnston is a RITA® Finalist, and a best-selling and award-winning writer of paranormal and contemporary romance – and an avid reader of them both.

Several years ago, when kids started outnumbering adults in the house, Marie Johnston left her job as a public health microbiologist to stay at home. Settling into working part-time and shuttling kids around gave Marie the opportunity to think about what she wanted to be when she grew up. A die-hard science geek, she explored her previously thought to be non-existent creative side after much time spent making snowman crafts and coloring princesses. Having entertained thoughts of writing a book one day then subsequently deciding it would be too hard, she finally put the figurative pen to paper and began to type – and fell in love with storytelling.

The Sigma Menace is the first series by Marie with Fever Claim being her first book EVER. She is humbled by the fact that people are willing to read to her books and looks forward to keeping readers entertained for many years.

Marie lives with her husband and four kids in the Upper Midwest where the summers are gorgeous, the winters are brutal, and spring and fall are luxuries.

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