Wednesday, November 30, 2016

eARC Book review: The Hitwoman Plays Chaperone (Confessions of a Slightly Neurotic Hitwoman #16) by J.B. Lynn

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Available now!
eARC Provided by author 

Maggie Lee’s done a lot of questionable things that have made her question her own sanity. Chaperoning her niece’s class trip is one of them. 

Not only must she attempt to corral a bunch of energetic kids, but at the same time she has to argue with the talking lizard in her bra, avoid a mysterious doppelganger, and chase down runaway horses! 

And that’s just the beginning. 

With her relationships and alliances in flux, Maggie is uncertain of what her next steps should be. Caught between the family drama caused by the return of her sister, Darlene, and her own efforts to save an innocent boy, Maggie struggles to make the right decisions and protect lives that hang in the balance. 

Can Maggie navigate these latest landmines, or will relationships, or even a life, be lost?


JB Lynn knows just how to reel her readers in. Maggie Lee is one tough cookie but her cookie is always on brink on crumbling. She supposed to chaperone her nieces field trip but like everything with Maggie it's never that simple. On the edge of your seat most of the time when you read one of these books you never know where the author is going. There is simply nothing obvious about the plot. You can't see the twists and turns coming until they hit you. Keeping you guessing should be her tag line. Exciting and fun from beginning to end you are left waiting for the next books as soon as you read the last word. Amazing!

Find out more about this series and JB Lynn here www.jblynn.com

Wednesday, November 23, 2016

eARC Book review: Holiday with a Twist by Shannon Stacey

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Available Nov 21 2016
eARC provided by publisher through Netgalley
After a messy breakup, Leigh Holloway is ready to start her life over. Until her parents put the family home on the market and call her back for one final, memory-making Christmas. The last thing she wants to do is deprive her mom of the perfect holiday, so she'll lie her way through the visit and worry about her future in the New Year. Too bad the only bar in town is owned by a guy she seriously wronged in high school. 

Leigh's best friend broke Croy Dawson's heart, and Croy knows it was Leigh's fault. They've never liked each other, but Croy isn't cruel: he'd never turn away a pretty woman in need of some family-Christmas fortification. He doesn't expect her to drink just enough candy-cane martinis to tell him her secrets—and he definitely doesn't expect to get caught up in her holiday madness. 

Despite the surprising love and laughter, Croy and Leigh can't escape the truth: he can't walk away from his family obligations and she has a life and career to reboot. But anything is possible if your holiday comes with a twist…


You know Shannon Stacey never disappoints. In this holiday novella Leigh Holloway comes home for Christmas. The last one in the house she grew up in.  Her family has a lot of upheaval going on so she doesn't want to tell them she broke it off with her fiance and quit her job in the city. Wouldn't you know it when she walks into the only bar in town there stands the guy who she kind of is the blame for screwing some stuff up for way back out of high school. Croy      (short for Croydon, love it) is mostly over it all. He lends her his ear and gets himself in deep pretty quickly with Leigh. Watching these two navigate the holidays and a possible relation is fun. Is she leaving or staying? What really happened all those years ago and at this point does it even matter? Of course it kinds of all goes to hell for a bit but they get it right in the end. One thing about novella's is the story has to move fast. There are only so many pages to get it all in. If you can do that still make the reader feel like they got a good story that's pretty great but still leaving them wanting more even better. That was this story did for me.

Find out more about Shannon Stacy here www,shannonstacey.com

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

eARC Book review: In Mistletoe by Tammy L. Bailey

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Available Dec 2,2016
eARC Provided by author

At twenty-five, Grace Evans is steadily picking up the pieces of everyone else’s life. So, when her younger sister decides to turn into a runaway bride just four weeks before the wedding, Grace, drops everything to chase after her and bring her back home. Only, when the trail leads to Mistletoe, Washington, she finds herself at the mercy of the town’s most handsome and emotionally unavailable bachelor.

Ex-Army officer, Ayden McCabe, has three creeds in life: never make the first move, never fall in love, and never take anyone to Mistletoe’s Christmas Dance. Wanting nothing more than to keep his matchmaking sister from meddling in his personal life, he agrees to help Grace if she agrees to play his girlfriend. Too brunette and meek for his taste, Ayden believes Grace can’t tempt him enough to break any of his creeds. He could not be more wrong.
 


This is a new author for me. I wasn't sure what to expect but liked the blurb so decided it was worth a try. Grace is used to being the person who solves her sister and her moms's problems, to being in charge. When her soon to be married sister disappears she heads to the last place they think she was to find her and bring her back. Ayden is one of those guys who is not looking for a forever girl. His sister is determined to find him a wife. When he strikes a deal with Grace to pretend they are together to get his sister off his back and help find her Grace's sister things get a little murky. Loved Ayden and Grace although Ayden took a long time getting over himself. The secondary characters move the story along and add some fun to the mix. Overall a good quick read. The people of the town of Mistletoe make the story come alive.The wrap up at the end with the special Christmas Eve dance was sweet. 

Find out more about this book and Tammy L Bailey here www.tammylbailey.com

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

eARC Book review: The 24 Days of Christmas by Linda Lael Miller

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Available Now
eARC provided by publisher through Netgalley



Previously published in No Place Like Home and Jingle All The Way .

A holiday miracle to remember . . .

A matchbox advent calendar first brought Frank Rayner and Addie Hutton together. But that was years ago. Since then Addie has written herself out of her father’s will, gotten herself blacklisted as a reporter, and had her husband leave her for a younger woman. The only good decision she seems to have made is to move back home, even if Frank now owns that home and is renting the apartment over the garage to her. Not that she thinks there’s anything there. There’s no reason to get wrapped up in the holiday cheer. Because Christmas miracles are for the movies. Real life is about unexpected families—and the magic of true love—and could there be a happy ending after all?


This was a novella that has been published previously in two other books. I have never read it before and am a fan of Linda Lael Miller so i was interested in checking it out. It's a quick easy read at only 50 pages so you can definitely read it in one evening. This is a second chance romance. Frank and Addie were high school sweethearts and years later they both have had some difficult paths that lead them back to each other. This is a sweet story with some sad parts to overcome. Linda Lael Miller always has good characters and a way of putting you right in the story. Glad i got to read this one finally.

Find out more about Linda Lael Miller here www.lindalaelmiller.com/

Monday, November 14, 2016

eARC Book review: Wind River Wrangler (Wind River Valley #1) by Lindsay McKenna

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Available now!
eARC provided by publisher through Netgalley

WIND RIVER VALLEY
 
First in a new series by the author of Night Hawk and Out Rider
 
Still waters run deep . . .
 
From the moment  Roan Taggart picked up the pretty redhead at the Jackson Hole airport, his training and experience told him she was spooked. She’s left New York City to visit the Wind River Ranch, where Roan is a wrangler, and just as he can pick up a horse’s mood, he can feel the tension coming off her body.  And that vulnerability is triggering all his protective instincts...
 
Shiloh Gallagher likes the gray-eyed cowboy’s dry humor—and the Special Forces background that lends him a stoic, powerful presence. But she’s been scarred by trauma and her mother’s murder . . . and knows a strong man can be dangerous. She came to wide-open Wyoming to flee a threat that’s left her unable to write her novels. Now, as she rides horses with Roan and helps him build an isolated cabin, she’s slowly letting down her guard. But danger has followed her west, and they won’t have a future together unless they defeat a killer from her past…


Shiloh Gallagher has a stalker. Whoever he is he has been slowly cutting her off from everything and terrorizing her. She has one place she can go to escape, a ranch in Wyoming to a dear of her mothers. Roan Taggert is a ranch hand and a former military operator. I really liked the blurb for this book and that's what made me want to read it. The cover is also a attention grabber. The idea for the book was really good.  I loved the two main characters. The story itself for me was riddle with problems. I don't know when i last skimmed a book as much as i did this one. So many details were repeated over and over again. Some of the dialogue was drawn out and over descriptive. I found myself not caring and just wanting to find a good section in the book. It was really close to a do not finish for me. This would have been a much shorter and better book if some of the extra stuff i just mentioned had been removed. It also seemed there should have been more secondary characters and the ones who were introduced weren't heard from for  pages and pages.  The owners of the ranch Maud who was Shiloh's moms good friend and her husband Steve were only sparsly spread through the book. Overall it just didn't work for me and there was so much potential here with the plot. The bad guy stalker was obvious and he was never looked into by Roan which he is portrayed at a protector of Shiloh and with his military experience he never checks it out. Not sure I will read this author again if her writing is all like this one.

Find out more about Lindsay McKenna here www.lindsaymckenna.com

Tuesday, November 8, 2016

eARC Book review: Holiday Baby Scandal (Mafia Moguls #3) by Jules Bennett

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Available now!
eARC Provided by author through Publisher

'Tis the season…for an unexpected baby surprise… 

Taken in at a young age, Ryker Barrett owes the O'Shea family everything. Which means his "little sister" Laney is way off-limits…no matter how seductive the brunette beauty is! She's the one woman he can't have a casual fling with…so how in the hell did he end up in her bed? 

Laney knows the dangerous Ryker is the perfect man for her no matter how hard he resists. But when one night of unbridled passion leaves Laney pregnant with his child, she'll need a Christmas miracle to convince him that loving her won't destroy his place in her overprotective family.

Finally the last O'Shea is going to get her man. Even if the man in question is kind of her brother. What? Ok he's not really her brother but he did spend part of his childhood growing up with her brothers and her as the little sister he mostly ignored. Well she's not a little girl anymore. There are 10 years in age and a different family background between them but Laney and Ryker are attracted to each other. Ryker has been fighting it for years but with one slip up Laney ends up pregnant and that's when he starts to unravel. He still doesn't make it easy for her. Loved these two and the build up from previous books makes you salivate to finally see what happens when they do get together. Ryker thinks he owes everything to the O'Shea's for taking him on when he was 12 and he's done a lot for them. They've fully accepted him as part of the family but even still he thinks he isn't worthy of Laney. Love the push pull is takes to get him to see the light. There is a thread of suspense in this book and the series as they've been on search for missing scrolls and someone is hacking in their computers for the business. Enjoyable and thrilling read from cover to cover. A great evenings worth of reading.

Find out more about Jules Bennett and this series here www.julesbennett.com


Friday, November 4, 2016

eARC Book review: Hold Me (Cyclone #2) by Courtney Milan

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Available October 25th 2016
eARC Provided by publisher through Netgalley


Jay na Thalang is a demanding, driven genius. He doesn’t know how to stop or even slow down. The instant he lays eyes on Maria Lopez, he knows that she is a sexy distraction he can’t afford. He’s done his best to keep her at arm’s length, and he’s succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.

Maria has always been cautious. Now that her once-tiny, apocalypse-centered blog is hitting the mainstream, she’s even more careful about preserving her online anonymity. She hasn’t sent so much as a picture to the commenter she’s interacted with for eighteen months—not even after emails, hour-long chats, and a friendship that is slowly turning into more. Maybe one day, they’ll meet and see what happens.

But unbeknownst to them both, Jay is Maria’s commenter. They’ve already met. They already hate each other. And two determined enemies are about to discover that they’ve been secretly falling in love…


This was a new author for me and i loved the blurb so i decided to give this book a try. I enjoyed the idea if the blog and the main characters not realizing they knew each other. It sounded like it would be a fun read. While i liked parts of story it never took off for me. The first chapter was kind of fun  and interesting then it was for me just to dark and serio
us. To much techy sciencey stuff that was just plain boring. While i get that the relationship between these two characters is intense and complicated it just made me feel sad. I didn't feel the connection between Jay and Maria unfortunately. I will say the book boasts a lot of diversity with the characters but it might have been a little to much for readers to digest.  The romance was just not there. It might work for someone else but for me it just made me feel conflicted and confused. 

Find out more about Courtney Milan here www.courtneymilan.com