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Saturday, April 6, 2013

Weekly Winners

Below is a list of all of the winners from the past week.

Karen
A Fine Romance by Christi Barth

Cassey
AKM Goodies from Donya Lynne

Rebe
Identity Crisis by Eliza Daly

Filia
Secrets of a Runaway Bride by Valerie Bowman

Mary
Protecting What's His by Tessa Bailey

Olga
Lily
Crystal
Darius by Grace Burrowes

Sue
Book of Choice from Heather Snow

Leanne
Wrecked by Shiloh Walker

Kim 
Kiss of Midnight by Lara Adrian

Leanne
Book of Choice from Stephanie Rowe


All winners have been notified via email. Thank you to everyone that stopped by and entered. =)

My Favorite Book Boyfriend with Darynda Jones and Giveaway


NYTimes and USA Today Bestselling Author Darynda Jones has won numerous awards for her work, including a prestigious Golden Heart®, a Rebecca, two Hold Medallions, a RITA ®, and a Daphne du Maurier, and she has received stellar reviews from dozens of publications including starred reviews from Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist, and the Library Journal. As a born storyteller, Darynda grew up spinning tales of dashing damsels and heroes in distress for any unfortunate soul who happened by, annoying man and beast alike, and she is ever so grateful for the opportunity to carry on that tradition. She currently has two series with St. Martin’s Press: The Charley Davidson Series and the Darklight Trilogy. She lives in the Land of Enchantment, also known as New Mexico, with her husband of almost 30 years and two beautiful sons, the Mighty, Mighty Jones Boys.

Places to find Darynda:

Friday, April 5, 2013

ARC Review: Wrecked by Shiloh Walker


If I'm completely honest, I'm bummed that I'm finished with this book. I was not ready to be done with Abby and Zach. They had such great chemistry with one another that it was a pleasure to read their story.

I'm a sucker for the friends to lover's troupe and this one was done oh so well. This is one of my favorite books that I've read in a while and I can't wait to read more. I seriously hope that this book is part of a series because I loved the world and the characters that encompass it. Shiloh Walker introduced us to many characters that I definitely would love to see more of.

The sparks between Abby and Zach are explosive and their scenes tend to jump off the page. I liked that there really weren't any mind games or plots twists. It's a story of two best friends finally realizing that the love they have for one another transcends friendship and becomes so much more than either bargained for.

What makes Wrecked such a great story is the characters. Abby is great and I loved seeing her transformation from an uptight chick to someone that is able to let loose and become comfortable in her own skin.

And Zach...oh Zach, how I love him. He really made the book for me. I'm so glad that he got his HEA. Zach has been in love with Abby for seventeen years. Yes, seventeen years. In that time he has been Abby's best friend and confidant. All the while always wanting to more and waiting for his chance to make his move. What I like the most about Zach, is that he doesn't make excuses and isn't ashamed of his feelings or the fact that he's been in love with his best friend for so long. There is nothing that he wouldn't for Abby and I loved that about him. He never wavers in his feelings though I do wish he didn't have to wait so long for his chance to make a move.

Yes, parts of this story are predictable but it's such a charming read that you forget all about that. I had a smile on my face through the whole book and I found I never wanted to put the book down. I simply adored this book from beginning to end.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository |




My Favorite Book Boyfriend with Kieran Kramer and Giveaway


Double Rita®-finalist and USA Today bestseller Kieran Kramer is the author of the lighthearted Regency historical romance series, The Impossible Bachelors, published by St. Martin's Press. She has a new six-book contract with St. Martin's for another Regency series called The House of Brady, which premeired in August 2012 with LOVING LADY MARCIA. A former CIA employee, journalist, and English teacher, Kieran's also a game show veteran, karaoke enthusiast, and general adventurer. Without doubt her greatest adventure, which she's taken hand-in-hand with her husband of 23 years has been mothering their three children.

Places to find Kieran:

Thursday, April 4, 2013

My Favorite Book Boyfriend with Olivia Cunning and Giveaway


Combining her love for romantic fiction and rock 'n roll, Olivia Cunning writes erotic romance centered around rock musicians. Raised on hard rock music from the cradle, she attended her first Styx concert at age six and fell instantly in love with live music. As a teen, she discovered her second love, romantic fiction -- first, voraciously reading steamy romance novels and then penning her own. Growing up as the daughter of a career soldier, she's lived all over the country and overseas. She currently lives in Galveston, Texas.

Places to find Olivia: 
| Site | Blog | Facebook | Twitter

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

ARC Review: Sweet Madness by Heather Snow


Sweet Madness is the third book in Heather Snow’s Veiled Seduction series. It is a warm story of healing and redemption. Both the hero and the heroine are damaged by their past and struggle to believe that they can build a new life together. Snow brings us a well-written book that any historical romance reader would enjoy.

Gabriel Devereaux, Marquess Bromwich, is locked in a sanatorium because of his fits of mania. It might be caused by battle fatigue since Gabriel barely escaped the Napoleonic War with his life. But it’s been four years since the war and the episodes of mania are unlike those of other soldiers. Gabriel has lost hope of recovery and his family is preparing to remove him from the marquessate by having him declared insane. Penelope Bridgeman, Lady Manton, is a young widow. He dead husband was Gabriel’s cousin. She has been working with her cousin, Liliana, and her husband who run a program to help ex-soldiers rebuild their lives. Pen has developed techniques to deal with battle fatigue. Gabriel’s mother has asked her to go to the sanatorium to see if she can help him.
Gabriel and Pen fight a growing attraction to each other as she attempts to determine what is causing his troubles (actually, he has secretly yearned for her for years). Their relationship develops as they peel back the layers of their dark memories. Both of them have things they would like to forget and both need to overcome guilt about the past.

I enjoyed Sweet Madness very much. Gabriel and Penelope were sympathetic characters with a lot of depth. Both were reluctant to embrace their relationship because they did not think they deserved it. Snow’s writing is solid. She knows how to construct a story and clearly describe the characters and situations. At times the twists of the plot were a little coincidental or somewhat unbelievable, but most readers will forgive this in a romance. I don’t usually like crazed villains, but the one in this story made sense. Overall, a very satisfying read.

**ARC copy provided by Author**

Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository |





My Favorite Book Boyfriend with Stefanie Sloane and Giveaway


A native Northwesterner with the pale skin to prove it, Stefanie Sloane credits her parents’ eclectic reading habits—not to mention their decision to live in the middle of nowhere—for her love of books. A childhood spent lost in the pages of countless novels led Stefanie to college where she majored in English. No one was more surprised than Stefanie when she actually put her degree to use and landed a job in Amazon.com’s Books editorial department. She spent over five years reading for a living before retiring to concentrate on her own stories. Stefanie currently resides with her family in Seattle.

Places to find Stefanie: 

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

My Favorite Book Boyfriend with Macy Beckett and Giveaway


Macy Beckett writes hot and humorous romance set in Sultry Springs, Texas: where first loves find second chances. Her debut novel, SULTRY WITH A TWIST, released in October, and book two, A SHOT OF SULTRY, is now available in stores and online. A third Sultry Springs novel will release in August. Additionally, Macy writes young adult science fiction under the name Melissa Landers. Her debut, ALIENATED, is coming in February, 2014 from Disney-Hyperion. You can learn more about her books—for adults and teens—on her website.

Places to find Macy:
Site | Facebook | Twitter |

Monday, April 1, 2013

Review: The Practice Proposal by Tracy March


Shhh, don’t tell the other ~600,000 people in my baseball-obsessed city… but I don’t actually like baseball in real life! I love reading sports romances, however: all that drive and determination and top-notch physical fitness makes for some hot heroes, and those overblown egos are the perfect setup for being hilariously shot down by the heroine. I love it when the hero can’t figure out why his intended lady love isn’t impressed with his fame and fortune and tripping over herself to date him, like every other woman he’s ever encountered. And boy, can those elite athletes pull out all the stops in a big way!

Tracy March’s THE PRACTICE PROPOSAL is a lighthearted romp through three quintessential romance tropes: the sports romance, the (pseudo)-reunion romance, and the fake relationship. The fake relationship setup can be very hit-or-miss for me: it’s rife with great emotional conflict, but it can easily cross the line into excessive angst or be unrealistic and ho-hum. In this case, it’s just so much fun and the characters are so enjoyable that it works, even if the time frame from pretending to true love is incredibly short. Womanizing bad-boy-off-the-pitch first baseman Cole Collins is up for contract negotiations and needs to give the impression that he’s giving up his wild ways and is ready to settle down. All-around good-girl Liza Sutherland needs to meet her fundraising goal or she’ll be ousted from her job organizing baseball camps for disadvantaged youths. The perfect solution (engineered by Cole’s agent, Frank)? A fake relationship on both sides, without the other party knowing about the arrangement. Both believe they have valid reasons for entering into the fake relationship and neither expects it to turn into anything more—but that’s exactly what happens almost from the get-go. One date with Liza is enough for Cole to realize that she’s everything he never thought he wanted. Spending time with her former teenage crush makes Liza feel things she never thought she’d feel again after the death of her fiancé.

Their courtship is ridiculously sweet and fun (he plays for the Washington Nationals, she’s the daughter of the owners of the Baltimore Orioles—divided sports loyalties are always a source of great fun!), there’s no drama until the end (and a ‘big reveal’ about Cole that had me rolling my eyes), there’s nary a plot, and all love scenes occur behind closed doors, but what makes the book work so well is the characters. Cole initially comes across as your typical sports hero: successful, cocky, a little wild, and with a long line of casual hookups with actresses and Victoria’s Secret models. But while he’s confident, he’s not a jerk, his success has come after many years of struggling with self-worth despite innate athletic skill, and his wild ways are his way of not dealing with abandonment issues from his youth. Once he reconnects with Liza, the only person who’s always seen him for who he truly is since he was an eighteen-year-old nobody, we start to see the swoon-worthy hero he can be. He’s incredibly sweet and adorable, and watching him strive to impress her with their dates and get her to notice him like an eager puppy is ridiculously cute and will leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy inside and wishing you had a Cole of your own. Those tweets? That scene at the cemetery? The seventh-inning stretch in Game 7 of the World Series? Be still my heart! He’s such a likeable character that watching him overcome his issues and fall in love is incredibly enjoyable.

Liza is a great character as well. The wholesome, formerly-awkward-but-now-gorgeous-goody-two-shoes heroine can be hard to pull off because she can come across as too perfect—and as a woman reading romance, I prefer a too-perfect hero to a too-perfect heroine. But Tracy March does wholesome goodness well with Liza, balancing the girl-next-door appeal with the right amount of angst to give her character depth. Having lost her fiancé to violence, Liza has spent the past two years in a ‘comfort zone’ of grief, family, and baseball that has kept her from experiencing any real feelings. Her growing attraction to Cole makes her struggle with the overwhelming guilt of feeling things for another man and hesitate to take a chance on the relationship, and watching the two of them work to resolve that is really heartwarming. She’s also fun, independent, incredibly knowledgeable about baseball, and has always seen Cole for the man he is rather than a superstar athlete, which makes her so relatable that you can’t help but like her and root for the two of them.

If you like your romance of the short, super-sweet, ultra-tame, and lighthearted persuasion with a hot sports hero, THE PRACTICE PROPOSAL is the perfect quick read for you.

Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo |



My Favorite Book Boyfriend Event Kickoff and Giveaway


Welcome to the My Favorite Book Boyfriend Event. Ramblings From This Chick is turning 2 and I couldn't think of a better to celebrate than to ask a bunch of awesome authors to come by and share who their all-time favorite book boyfriends were. Not only is each author that comes by sharing their choice of boyfriend, but they will also be giving away the book said boyfriend is from along with a book of their own. But that's not all! Each participating author as donated goodies to go towards a grand prize. So you will have lots of chance and opportunities to win some pretty awesome books!

Sounds like fun right?

Sunday, March 31, 2013

Interview with Author Anna Randol and Giveaway


Today I would like to welcome back to the blog, author Anna Randol. Anna is celebrating the recent release of her book Sins of a Ruthless Rogue and has stopped by to answer a few questions. Please give Anna a warm welcome.

Anna Randol was raised in Southern California. When she was eight, she decided her diary was too dull and decided to write as if she lived on a raft in the Amazon with her imaginary dog, Cream Puff. At twelve, Anna decided racing down rapids with only a dog for company might get rather lonely. Handsome British heroes began to appear on her raft, and her love of adventure-driven romance was born. Her novel, Sins of a Ruthless Rogue, is available now! She loves to hear from readers.

Places to find Anna:

Interview with Author M. Leighton and Giveaway

Today I would like to welcome author M. Leighton to RFTC. M. Leighton is celebrating the print release of her book The Wild Ones and has stopped by to answer a few questions. Please give M. Leighton a warm welcome.

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author, M. Leighton, is a native of Ohio. She relocated to the warmer climates of the South, where she can be near the water all summer and miss the snow all winter. Possessed of an overactive imagination from early in her childhood, Michelle finally found an acceptable outlet for her fantastical visions: literary fiction. Having written over a dozen novels, these days Michelle enjoys letting her mind wander to more romantic settings with sexy Southern guys, much like the one she married and the ones you'll find in her latest books. When her thoughts aren't roaming in that direction, she'll be riding horses, swimming in ponds and experiencing life on a ranch, all without leaving the cozy comfort of her office.

Places to find M Leighton: