The Schemer / The Negotiator by Avery Flynn- reviews

THE SCHEMER / The Negotiator (Harbor City #1 & 3) by Avery Flynn-reviews

 

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 5 ,2018

Tyler Jacobson has a plan for everything—except how to handle his completely annoying, utterly frustrating, and totally sexy upstairs neighbor. He couldn’t care less if Everly Ribinski thinks he’s equally irritating—until he discovers she’s the only one who can help him land a business deal that will finally make him feel like he’s more than just a guy from the wrong side of the tracks.

Color him shocked when Everly refuses to help, insisting she should have run him over in the parking garage when she had the chance. Harsh. But possibly deserved. Tyler may have spent the last few months reveling in annoying the fiery gallery owner with a dark past, but he’s got secret leverage she can’t refuse.

If only one meeting didn’t turn into a fake date that turned into more. Way more. Like naked and hot as hell more.

The last thing either of them wants is to catch feelings for someone who is so obviously not their type. Good thing that will never happen. Right?

•••••••••

REVIEW: THE SCHEMER is the third instalment in Avery Flynn’s contemporary, adult HARBOR CITY romance series. This is real estate developer Tyler Jacobson, and art curator Everly Ribinski’s story line. THE SCHEMER can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story lines is revealed where necessary. Tyler Jacobson is the one-time best friend and nemesis of Sawyer Carlyle-THE NEGOTIATOR.

Told from several third person perspectives including Tyler and Everly THE SCHEMER follows the acrimonious relationship between real-estate developer Tyler Jacobson, and art curator Everly Ribinski. Everly has just moved into an upscale apartment to be closer to her beloved grandmother- Nunni-a woman suffering from age on-set dementia; and within steps of her up and coming Black Heart Art Gallery. Meeting Tyler Jacobson, a fellow tenant, finds our heroine on the receiving end of a seduction she had never intended to carry through. What ensues is the back and forth, one on one, face to face confrontations that pull together two people from the wrong side of town who have made it big in the world of high finance, art and real estate development; and the potential fall out as Tyler struggles with the connections to his past, and the social class where he feels he no longer belongs.

Throughout the story line the reader becomes a little more familiar with the fall-out between Tyler Jacobson and Sawyer Carlyle as Tyler’s ex-fiance renews a smear campaign against the man she destroyed years before. Everly refuses to allow Irena to continue her attacks against the man with whom she (Everly) is falling in love but sometimes remaining calm is the best defense against an embittered offense. Tyler carries a self-imposed burden and chip on his shoulder that tends to control everything in his life.

Everly and Tyler’s relationship is a series of sexually palpable confrontations; a one-upmanship of he said/she said sarcastic comments, grounded in a mutual attraction that is pushed ahead by a well-meaning but manipulating woman who wishes to see all of her children find their happily ever after. The $ex scenes are intimate, seductive, passionate and intense without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a side story developing between socialite Helene Carlyle (Tyler and Hudson’s mother) and Italian hotel magnate Alberto Ferranti. Helene never expected to find another love following the death of her beloved husband Michael but meeting Alberto Ferranti stirred something within the Carlyle matriarch-something she long thought buried and gone.

We are introduced to Everly’s best friend and caterer Kiki; Tyler’s ex-fiance Irena; and Alberto’s son Carlo Ferranti. I have not had the chance to read Hudson’s story (The Charmer book two) but I am looking forward to, one day, catching up with Sawyer’s brother.

THE SCHEMER is an intoxicating tale of as one man struggles to move on from his past, and one woman battles between her head and her heart. The premise is playful and edgy; the characters are colorful and impulsive; the romance is spirited and determined.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

_________________

THE NEGOTIATOR
(Harbor City #1)
by Avery Flynn
Genre: adult, contemporary, romance
Release Dat : April 24, 2017

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About the book: Release Date April 24, 2017

Wanted: Personal Buffer

Often snarly, workaholic executive seeks “buffer” from annoying outside distractions AKA people. Free spirits with personal boundary issues, excessive quirks, or general squeamishness need not apply. Salary negotiable. Confidentiality required.

Workaholic billionaire Sawyer Carlyle may have joked he needed a “buffer” from their marriage-obsessed mom, but he didn’t need a waiting room filled with “candidates” to further distract him. (Thanks, bro.) But when a sexy job applicant shoos his mom and the socialite in tow out of his office, Sawyer sees the genius of the plan. And the woman. In fact, Miss Clover Lee might just get the fastest promotion in history, from buffer to fake fiancé…

This “free-spirit” might look like hot sunshine and lickable rainbows, but she negotiates like a pitbull. Before Sawyer knows what hit him, he’s agreed to give up Friday nights for reality TV, his Saturdays for flea markets (why buy junk still baffles him), his Tuesdays and Thursdays for “date nights” (aka panty-losing opportunities if he plays his cards right). And now she wants lavender bath salts and tulips delivered every Monday?

Yup, she’s just screwing with him. Good thing she’s got this non-negotiable six-weeks-and-she’s-gone rule or Sawyer may have just met his match…

•••••••••••

REVIEW:  THE NEGOTIATOR is the first instalment in Avery Flynn’s contemporary, adult HARBOR CITY romance series. This is international construction billionaire Sawyer Carlyle, and ‘free spirit’ Jane ‘Clover’ Lee’s story line.

Told from dual third person perspectives (Clover and Sawyer) THE NEGOTIATOR is a fake fiancé trope that follows the building relationship between billionaire Sawyer Carlyle, and Clover Lee. Needing a ‘buffer’ between his mother and the copious number of single, available women Sawyer Carlyle finds himself ‘interviewing’ the least likely buffer he could have ever imagined. Enter feisty, take charge, free spirit Clover Lee, and the woman with whom he would fall in love. What ensues is the fake fiancé relationship that grows into something more, and the potential fall-out as Sawyer makes Clover an offer she refuses to accept.

Clover Lee is a bit of a ‘free spirit’ who likes to travel, never staying in one place too long, and a woman determined never to settle down. Meeting Sawyer Carlyle sees Clover take a step back from her preconceived notions about falling in love, and settling down but Sawyer’s reasons for making their arrangement permanent are not fraught from love but from a more sterile sense of obligation.

The relationship between Carlyle and Clover is a fake-fiance contract written out on a diner napkin. Carlyle never had plans to fall in love but meeting Clover Lee finds our hero looking forward to everything-one outing at a time. The $ex scenes are intimate, seductive and intense, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

We are introduced to Sawyer’s brother Hudson Carlyle, and their mother Helene; and Sawyer’s one-time best friend and nemesis Tyler Jacobson; Clover’s roommate and best friend Daphne, as well as Clover’s parents Laura and Phillip Lee.

THE NEGOTIATOR has a little bit of everything: humor, fun, romance, love, heartbreak and a happily ever after. The premise is sexy and inviting; the characters are energetic and dynamic; the romance is passionate.

Copy supplied by Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy 

USA Today bestselling romance author Avery Flynn has three slightly-wild children, loves a hockey-addicted husband and is desperately hoping someone invents the coffee IV drip.

She fell in love with romance while reading Johanna Lindsey’s Mallory books. It wasn’t long before Avery had read through all the romance offerings at her local library. Needing a romance fix, she turned to Harlequin’s four books a month home delivery service to ease the withdrawal symptoms. That worked for a short time, but it wasn’t long before the local book stores’ staffs knew her by name.

Avery was a reader before she was a writer and hopes to always be both. She loves to write about smartass alpha heroes who are as good with a quip as they are with their *ahem* other God-given talents. Her heroines are feisty, fierce and fantastic. Brainy and brave, these ladies know how to stand on their own two feet and knock the bad guys off theirs.

Find out more about Avery on her website, follow her on Twitter and Pinterest, like her on her Facebook page or friend her on her Facebook profile. She’s also on Goodreads and BookLikes.

Join her street team, The Flynnbots, and receive special sneak peeks, prizes and early access to her latest releases!

Also, if you figure out how to send Oreos through the Internet, she’ll be your best friend for life.

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The Negotiator (Games People Play 2.5) by HelenKay Dimon-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway Tour

THE NEGOTIATOR (Games People Play 2.5) by HelenKay Dimon-Review ,Excerpt and Giveaway Tour

The Negotiator Banner

THE NEGOTIATOR
Games People Play 2.5
by HelenKay Dimon
Release Date: November 14, 2017
Genre: adult,contemporary, romantic, suspense

The Negotiator

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

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date November 14, 2017

Lauren Gallagher’s life changed almost three years ago. After her husband disappeared at sea, she was left with a failing pleasure boat company and more than a few secrets. Now, after years spent rebuilding the business and paying off the pile of debts, she finally feels in control. But when she finds her husband, actually dead, on the floor, she becomes the leading suspect in his murder investigation.

Garrett McGrath wants Lauren in his bed, not his heart. He doesn’t do emotions, but every time he sees her, holding himself back gets harder and harder. When Lauren comes under suspicion for killing her previously presumed-dead husband, he knows he has to help her, any way he can.

But as the danger becomes more intense and Garret and Lauren grow closer than either planned, they’re in danger of losing everything…including their hearts.

••••••

REVIEW: THE NEGOTIATOR is instalment 2.5 in HelenKay Dimon’s contemporary, adult GAMES PEOPLE PLAY romantic, suspense series. This is former government Black Ops and professional negotiator Garrett McGrath, and pleasure boat operator Lauren Gallagher’s story line. THE NEGOTIATOR 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 (Lauren and Garrett) THE NEGOTIATOR follows in the aftermath of Lauren’s discovery that her husband Carl, a man declared missing and dead, has returned to the living claiming he wants a second chance with our story line heroine. Knowing that the man before has never been capable of telling the truth Lauren contacts the only person she knows who might be able to get the answers she so desperately needs. Enter professional negotiator and investigator Garrett McGrath, and the man with whom Lauren will fall in love. What ensues is the building relationship between our leading couple, and the fall out when Carl is found dead in our heroine’s home, and she becomes the prime suspect in her ex-husband’s murder.

For close to six months Garrett McGrath has desperately tried to convince Lauren to go with him but our heroine has steadfastly denied any attraction or feelings for the man in question preferring to rebuild the business that her husband’s disappearance singlehandedly destroyed. Garrett and Lauren’s attraction to one another is palpable; their sexual energy is seductive and provocative. The $ex scenes are intimate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

Wren and Emery (The Fixer #1), and Matthias and Kayla (The Enforcer #2) return for some familiarity and cohesion. We are introduced to Carl’s brother Jake; his business partner Bob, and his latest girlfriend Maryanne

THE NEGOTIATOR is a quick read; a sexy friends to lovers romance that focuses on the search for the truth when a man once thought lost at sea, dies not once but twice with a long line of questionable business decisions, as well as series of long running affairs. The premise is edgy and energetic; the romance is spirited and captivating; the characters are animated and passionate.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews
The Fixer
The Enforcer
The Negotiator
The Pretender (December 2017)

Copy supplied by Edelweiss

Reviewed by Sandy

Games People Play series

The Fixer

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The Enforcer

Kindle | Nook | iBooks | Google Play | Kobo | Avon Digital

The Pretender

Kindle | Nook | iBooks | Google Play | Kobo | Avon Digital

 

excerpt

He rose from the dead.
Lauren Gallagher couldn’t come up with any other explanation. Her once-dead husband was very much alive and standing on the other side of her front door…and she felt nothing but numbness spreading inside her.
For a man who supposedly washed overboard in the middle of a violent storm, he looked pretty healthy. Big smile. Bright white teeth. Khaki pants and deck shoes. She forgot how much she hated the deck shoes.
The wattage on his super smile dimmed a bit as he shifted his weight from foot-to-foot and rubbed his hands up and down his arms. “Aren’t you going to let me in?”
Her mind went blank. The world literally flipped sideways on her and her stomach rolled. The whole time she could hear him talking but the words didn’t make sense. None of this made sense. She opened her mouth but nothing came out but a tiny whirling gasping sound. That’s all she could muster as she blinked, trying to process what she was seeing.
“Lauren? Why are you just standing there? Open this door.”
An order. The sharp smack in his voice sounded far too familiar. That fast it brought her crashing back to reality.
She really wanted to say no to his command. Not that she hadn’t mourned him. Even with the dysfunctional state of their faltering marriage at the time he disappeared, she had. She’d grieved for what could have been and dreams that fizzled out early in their time together. She grieved for his loss as she would an old friend, not as a person she viewed as her soulmate, if there even was such a thing.
That was less than three years ago. The police arrived and she dropped to her knees feeling sick and hollow at the idea of Carl gasping for breath as the water he loved so much overtook him.
Months had passed slowly after that. She’d been locked in a perpetual state of shock, topped off with a wallop of guilt because she’d visited a divorce attorney for the first time just before he disappeared. With him gone she’d found about the lies. His hidden debts and how he’d taken their business to the brink of bankruptcy, all while showing her fake bank statements he’d manufactured. He’d gone to a lot of trouble to carry on the ruse of pretending their finances were fine.
And then things had gotten even worse. All those whispers about Maryanne, the girlfriend who seemed to be an open secret to everyone except Lauren. The one who, unlike Lauren, did not have any debts or an unpaid mortgage or a business and house on the verge of bankruptcy. Maryanne Lightwood, the same woman who mysteriously walked out on her rent and left town right as Carl’s boat disappeared.
Lauren prided herself on being practical. She was skeptical of coincidences and not stupid, so confusion had turned to fury in record time. As the cool December wind blew in the front door of the small cottage now she realized the fury still simmered inside her.
She lived far enough from the water that the breeze wasn’t frigid, but it carried a bite. For the past few years early winter in Annapolis, Maryland meant an unwelcome amount of snow. This year had been mild. As someone who ran a pleasure boat and fishing tour business and depended on tourists, she thought she might get lucky this year and only have to survive a short off-season.
Apparently her luck had just run out.
“Lauren, honey?” Carl pulled on the handle of the screen door. When it didn’t immediately open, he shook it, rattling it on the doorframe. Still, it didn’t move.
She’d never been so grateful for her lock-the-door paranoia. He should be happy, too, because the thin screen might be all that was saving his sorry lying ass right now.
Under the numbness and shock lurked a layer of bubbling resentment and rage. She’d kept up the outward farce of being fine for so long that she’d started to believe it. Now the mask slipped. She wanted to throw open the door and pound on his chest and make him apologize for every wrong.
But Carl had never taken responsibility for anything in his life. Even now he had the nerve to stand there with a stupid look on his stupid face, as if she were the unreasonable one in not welcoming him home with a big hug. So, yeah, the door stayed closed for his protection because she knew once she unleashed she would not stop.
“Hey, what is this?” Carl’s hand dropped to his side as he frowned at her through the mesh screen. “Honey, I’m back.”
Honey? What kind of man checked out of his life for almost three years and expected to step right back in it, no questions asked? It’s as if he were empty inside, without a conscience. And he was so close to getting a kick in his junk.
“Yeah, I can see that.” She tried to swallow but couldn’t choke down the lump of anger racing up her throat. “Tell me where have you’ve been.”
“Lauren, Jesus. It’s freezing out here. Let me in.” He pulled on the handle again as if he expected a different result than last time. The door made a thumping sound as it hit against the frame. “What’s wrong with you? Snap out of it.”
He kept up that tone. Short, dismissive, demanding. The only time he hadn’t been obnoxious was during the years when she thought he was dead. Even then…
That’s all it took. Something inside her snapped and wave after wave of uncontrolled, boiling hot rage raced through her. He wasn’t the only one filled with attitude who possessed an I’m-done tone. “Where the hell have you been, Carl? You don’t contact me at all and then you just stroll up to my door. You rip my life, my work – my everything – apart and now act as if you’ve only been gone for an afternoon. What is wrong with you? What happened?”
“I was left for dead.” His surfer boy good looks faded a bit as his eyes narrowed. “Thanks in part to you.” Wherever he was he must have forgotten how locks worked because he rattled the door one more time. “Now open this.”
He was blaming her. Of course he was. She likely was as fault for the fact his hair wasn’t the same sunny blond it once was and he now had a few wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. He was forty-one, having celebrated two birthdays while he was gone. She doubted he was taking the transition out of his thirties all that well.
She’d been thirty-three and inching very close to thirty-four when he went missing and already back then he’d mentioned “hip spread” to her more than once. Hers, of course. Not his. She’d expected him to battle aging as fiercely as he’d fought to be the only one in charge of handling the bills. Now she knew why…because he hadn’t bothered to actually pay any debt with her name on it.
“You disappeared.” Right there, in that moment, she kind of wished he’d do it again and had to push back a wave of guilt that came with that realization. She’d had no idea how much hate festered inside her until he popped up again. The frowning, his ridiculous summer shoes in winter, that voice – it all worked on her nerves and it had been less than ten minutes.
“A wave hit the boat. It tipped and I went overboard.” He shrugged. “Are you satisfied now?”
Not even close. A hundred questions filled her head. “Who could be satisfied with that? What’s the rest of the story?”
His body language and easy dismissal of how his terrible choices impacted her life only made her more determined to understand what his days looked like during the last few years. Then maybe she’d let him in, but probably no.
He waved her off. “None of that matters now.”
“It does to me.” His short non-answers ticked her off even more, and she wouldn’t have said that was possible. “I deserve an explanation. A real one. All of the facts, not just pieces.”
He leaned in closer as his jaw tightened. “I said later.”
Wariness surged through her. She wasn’t afraid. No, scared wasn’t the right word. Carl had never been violent, never raised a hand or threatened her. But near the end he’d been distant and that had turned into flashes of meanness. Snide comments about how he’d married a woman but got stuck with a fisherman. Sneak attacks of blaming her that they didn’t make more money in the boating business.
So much confusion swirled around him and his stories and all that deception. She’d convinced herself he ran off with his girlfriend. Not that she ever admitted that to anyone or said the words out loud. No, there had been too much at risk.
To save her house and business she’d needed the insurance and a final judgment from the court about Carl’s fate. A confirmation that he was legally dead. She had to pretend to believe it. It had taken her almost two years to persuade the court and wrestle the business and house away from the legal No Man’s Land it landed in when he disappeared. The insurance company still had refused to pay on the claim. That meant she’d had to salvage what she could with him gone.
Now he was back, and as much as she hated it, they needed to talk. She tried even though as her brain screamed for her to slam the door. “I think we should–”
“I can’t believe you’re being a pain in the ass.”
Her head snapped back at the fury lacing through his voice. “Me?”
“Jake warned me you’d gone from grieving to stone cold in a matter of months.” Carl shook his head. “I didn’t believe it. Not after everything we’d been through.”
She lost the thread of the conversation as soon as Carl mentioned his brother. “Jake?”
“That’s where I’ll be. At his house.” Carl started to shift away from the door. “But get your act together and do it fast, Lauren. I plan on being in this house and back at work by Christmas.”
“That’s two weeks away.”
“I’ll be back tomorrow.” He made a face that suggested he was sick of her again already. “Be over your shock and ready to talk by then.”
Lauren watched Carl walk back down the path to the car parked on the street. She recognized the dark sedan. It belonged to Carl’s brother, which meant Carl went there first.
Her mind spun with questions about where he’d been and why he was back. She had no idea how he planned to explain and argue his way out of this…or why he thought he could walk back into her life now without any real explanation or sign of remorse.
A gust of cold air got her moving. She slammed the front door closed and rested her palm on it. Tried to breathe in, to think.
Her usual calm detachment abandoned her. Jumbled thoughts crashed into her brain. Panic rose in her chest, threatening to swamp her. Finding a lost husband should be a good thing. For her, it amounted to a nightmare. Her world tilted and all she wanted was to tip it right again.
Help. She never asked anyone for help. Not ever. She’d learned long ago that needing someone, depending on them, lead to heartache and disappointment. But Garrett McGrath’s face kept flashing in her mind. Sarcastic, charming, sinfully handsome Garrett. They’d met in the summer and he’d been asking her out for two months. Hanging around, texting, insisting he’d wait for her to be ready to date again.
The guy honed his Tall, Dark and Smoldering look and for some reason he’d decided to aim it full force at her. Probably had something to do with the thrill of the chase. That was the only answer she could come up with. Because once he knew her, really knew her, he’d back off. Any sane person would.
But right now, as the walls closed in and she struggled to hold onto a coherent thought, all she could do was think of his face. The dark brown hair and those big green eyes. That firm chin…and his uncanny ability to solve complex problems while making a joke and without breaking a sweat.
She glanced around her cottage. It had a beachy vibe with weathered white beadboard walls overstuffed blue furniture. It consisted of two small bedrooms, a bathroom and a joint living and eating area. Her refuge. The place she rented when she lost everything else. The same place Carl for some reason thought he had a right to live in.
She grabbed her cell off the couch and dialed the number Garrett had put in there when they first met. The phone rang and his deep voice came on the line. Voicemail.
She waited a few minutes. Gave herself a bit of a pep talk and mentally insisted she could handle this, just like she handled everything else.
Instead of leaving a message she texted him. She tried to think of the right thing to say. She went with the only words that made sense to her… You were right. Carl is not dead.

About The Author

HelenKay DimonGoodreads /Website /Twitter /Facebook /

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HelenKay Dimon spent the years before becoming a romance author as a…divorce attorney. Not the usual transition, she knows. Good news is she now writes full time and is much happier. She has sold over forty novels and novellas to numerous publishers, including HarperCollins, Kensington, Harlequin, Penguin Random House, Riptide and Carina Press. Her nationally bestselling and award-winning books have been showcased in numerous venues and her books have twice been named “Red-Hot Reads” and excerpted in Cosmopolitan magazine. She is on the Board of Directors of the Romance Writers of America and teaches fiction writing at UC San Diego and MiraCosta College. You can learn more at her website: www.HelenKaydimon.com

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