in

Sunday, December 31, 2017

ARC Review: Defenseless by Elizabeth Dyer


Defenseless is the first book of Elizabeth Dyers Somerton Security series. The one thing that called me to this book aside from it being romantic suspense was the role reversal, how the main characters Georgia is the retired marine and now in private security and Parker is the uber-smart tech specialist in need of security. What I like when I started reading was the technical aspect of it, I love smart books and the effort the author goes through to research it. I enjoyed the bits of pop culture geeky stuff that was there. The beginning of the book and the introduction to the characters was definitely the best part of the book, the interaction between Georgia and Parker was hysterical. Once the action started the story became more serious and at about the halfway point or so it kind of dragged on a little bit. It really goes in detail about their pasts and motivations and Parker explaining his program and that’s all broken up by some action scenes and sex, really hot sex. 

What was only supposed to be a short job until Georgia and Parker get swept up in an Eagle Eye, you know that one movie, type adventure. The program Parker wrote for the government which he is supposed to be the only one in charge of it starts to target Parker and the rest of his black ops teammates. It all started when Parker noticed certain files which he was not privy to, files that he is should have full access to, and he hacked into them to discover someone has been using his program for profit. When he alerts his team leader, Ethan who is also his best friend and owner of a private security firm, about it sets off security protocols and triggers an alarm setting into motion a chase for their lives until Parker can figure out how to fix it.

Overall, I really did enjoy this it was well written aside from previous stated issue, and I kind of wish the humor carried throughout the whole book more than it did. Parker is a delightful complex guy who is both cocky and slightly insecure and Georgia tries so hard to be the toughest and the strongest she doesn’t see how much stronger she can be if she lets in Parker. She is also a complex character with her past and everything with her brother it’s a wonder she didn’t lose it. Parker and Georgia are so different but their similarities out weight the differences and it going to be an interesting life for those two. There is so much more to this story and it has seeds planted for the next book, I’ll definitely keep a look out for it.

**ARC Provided by Publisher**

Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle | B&N | iTunes | 




Saturday, December 30, 2017

A Naughty New Year with Samanthe Beck


USA Today bestselling author Samanthe Beck lives in Malibu, California, with her long-suffering husband, their turbo-son, and a furry ninja named Kitty.

When not dreaming up fun, fan-your-cheeks sexy ways to get her characters to happily-ever-after, she searches for the perfect cabernet to pair with Ambien.

Friday, December 29, 2017

A Naughty New Year with Amy Andrews


Amy is an award-winning, best-selling Aussie author who has written sixty plus contemporary romances. She writes books featuring lots of sex and kissing and likes to make her readers tingle, laugh and sigh. She loves good books, frequent travel and great booze although she'll take mediocre booze if there's nothing else. She lives on acreage in a sunny part of Australia with a gorgeous mountain view but secretly wishes the ocean lapped the back fence.

Thursday, December 28, 2017

A Naughty New Year with Tawna Fenske


Tawna Fenske is a USA Today bestselling author who writes humorous fiction, risqué romance, and heartwarming love stories with a quirky twist. Her offbeat brand of romance has received multiple starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, one of which noted, “There’s something wonderfully relaxing about being immersed in a story filled with over-the-top characters in undeniably relatable situations. Heartache and humor go hand in hand.”

Tawna lives in Bend, Oregon with her husband, step-kids, and a menagerie of ill-behaved pets. She loves hiking, snowshoeing, standup paddleboarding, and inventing excuses to sip wine on her back porch. She can peel a banana with her toes and loses an average of twenty pairs of eyeglasses per year.

Site | Facebook | Twitter |

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

A Naughty New Year with Brynley Blake


A lifelong reader with a taste for adventure, Brynley Blake writes the kind of books she likes to read: steamy contemporary romances featuring smart, sassy heroines with a sense of humor and strong, dominant alpha males who love their women a little feisty. She loves rainy days, books, worn-in jeans, hot coffee, cold beer, red wine, exploring new places, and happily ever afters. When she’s not writing, you can usually find her cheering on her kids at their activities, hanging out with friends, or crossing things off her bucket list. She writes contemporary and erotic romance as Brynley Blake and Brynley Bush.

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

ARC Review: Beautiful Lawman by Sophie Jordan


I’ve read a few of Sophie Jordan’s historical romances and really enjoyed them. I’ve had “Beautiful Lawman” on my Kindle app for a while to read but hadn’t gotten around to it. I saw a little blurb about this book and I was intrigued by the enemies to lovers’ storyline. Although this is the fourth book in the “Devil’s Rock” series it is easily a standalone. I especially liked that in this story the heroine, Piper Walsh was the outcast. The hero, Hale Walters is not only the “good” guy but the sheriff of a very small town. A town where Hale and Piper both grew up and where they both experienced very different childhoods.

Piper’s last name “Walsh” has been like a noose around her neck. People judge her because of her family’s short comings. Even though she has not ever had any problems with the law, her family members have. Piper is the guardian of her little sister and she is determined to give her a good childhood and the chance to go to college. She wants for her little sister what she could never have for herself. Piper is working at a strip club as a waitress when she gets an alarming phone call-her younger sister has been arrested. With her older brother in jail for murder, this is a nightmare come true for Piper. When she runs to find her sister she loses her job as her scumbag boss gives her an ultimatum “leave and you lose your job.” Although Piper is the bread winner for her family, her choice is clear-get her sister out of jail. When She goes to pick up her sister she runs into the good Sheriff-Hale. Hale is immediately interested in Piper and her problems with her little sister and is ready to offer up some advice. Piper is not having any of it. Her and Hale have run into each other before and it was clear to Piper that Hale was passing judgement on her like everyone else. Hale has very clear rules about not getting into long-term relationships and also about not getting involved with anyone that he works with. When Piper is in trouble Hale steps in to help her and ends up breaking all of his own rules.

Ok, so first I LOVED the chemistry between these two! For me, once I am invested in a couple I want to know what happens and yes, there were some elements of the story that were a little off but for me where not a big deal. So Hale has been carrying around a big secret her entire life. When her past comes back to hunt her she is forced to come clean even if it means losing everything she has now, which includes her freedom. I thought that this element of the story was really squeezed in there and for most of the story it was Hale and Piper bickering and fending off their attraction for one another. However, I do think that the little element will be very interesting in the upcoming book which is about Pipe’s in jail brother- Cruz. The characters from the previous book also make an appearance and it was fun to see how their stories were all connected. So despite the plot holes or plot squeezes, I gave this four star because I loved the chemistry between Piper and Hale and once I started reading I couldn’t put the book down. Bring on Cruz!

**ARC provided by Publisher**

Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle | B&N | iTunes |


Naughty New Year Event with Cathryn Fox


New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cathryn Fox is a wife, mom, sister, daughter, and friend. She loves dogs, sunny weather, anything chocolate (she never says no to a brownie) pizza and red wine. Cathryn has two teenagers who keep her busy and a husband who is convinced he can turn her into a mixed martial arts fan. When not writing, Cathryn can be found laughing over lunch with friends, hanging out with her kids, or watching a big action flick with her husband.

Sunday, December 24, 2017

A Historical Christmas Event with Pamela Mingle


As a teacher and librarian, Pam fell in love with Shakespeare and Austen. So, naturally, as writer, she turned to the Elizabethan and Regency periods as the settings for her novels. She and her husband live in Colorado, but visit and walk the countryside of England, Scotland and Wales as often as they can. These trips have given her an ideal way to discover new locales for her books, and with friends along, they’re a lot of fun besides! 

Saturday, December 23, 2017

A Historical Christmas Event with Heather Snow


Heather Snow is an award-winning historical romance author with a degree in Chemistry who discovered she much preferred creating chemistry on the page rather than in the lab.

Her books have been published in seven languages around the world and have won numerous awards, including: The Golden Quill, The National Excellence in Romance Fiction Award, The Write Touch Reader's Award and the Book Buyer's Best Top Pick.

She lives in the Midwest with her husband, two rambunctious boys, three insanely huge dogs and two new rescue kittens who are doubtless wondering just what they’ve gotten themselves into.

Friday, December 22, 2017

A Historical Christmas Event with Janna MacGregor


Janna MacGregor was born and raised in the bootheel of Missouri. She credits her darling mom for introducing her to the happily-ever-after world of romance novels. Janna writes stories where compelling and powerful heroines meet and fall in love with their equally matched heroes. She is the mother of triplets and lives in Kansas City with her very own dashing rogue, and two smug, but not surprisingly, perfect pugs. She loves to hear from readers. 

Thursday, December 21, 2017

Review: Dear Aaron by Mariana Zapata


Dear Aaron is the first book that I have read from Mariana Zapata, but I have heard nothing but good things about her and this book really grabbed my attention. While it wasn't my favorite book, it won't be the last I read from her. I really love penpal romance stories, and throw in a sexy soldier and this one sounded like it was made for me. While I enjoyed parts of it though, there were things here I struggled with. 

After her brother served time overseas, Ruby signed up for the help a soldier operation. They pair you with a soldier and you write a letter/email a week, sending care packages if you choose to. While Aaron is reluctant to participate at first, eventually they hit it off and a friendship begins to form. But what they never expected was to fall in love through their letters and conversations.

I loved the letters and emails, and as they got closer that those transitioned to IMs. What I didn't love though was that they went on for as long as they did being the entire story. I wanted some story outside of just those conversations and yet that is all there was for the first half of the book! I almost gave up a few times but stuck with it because I knew eventually something had to give. It took a bit longer than I would have liked though. I also felt like Ruby was on the immature side, and that had me rolling my eyes a lot of the time. While I liked Aaron, he was a bit one dimensional. I wanted to get more of who he was, but I never felt like we really did. He was a bit bland. I did like these two and the connection they formed, but I just wanted more. 

I knew going in that Mariana Zapata is known for writing slow burn stories with little steam, and that was okay with me. I do feel like the pacing was beyond slow here though, and the letters (while I did like them to some extent) went on for far too long as the only thing happening in the story. I think that once we got past the first half and it only being email/letter correspondence, the story picked up and at that point I was hooked. The second half was so much better for me than the first half and I am glad I didn't give up. I will read more from Mariana, and I am really looking forward to reading The Wall of Winnipeg and Me. I have heard nothing but great things about it, and while I didn't love Dear Aaron, it is clear that Mariana Zapata is a talented writer.

Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle | B&N | iTunes




A Historical Christmas Event with Alyssa Alexander


Despite being a native Michigander, Alyssa Alexander is pretty certain she belongs somewhere sunny. And tropical. Where drinks are served with little paper umbrellas. But until she moves to those white sandy beaches, she survives the cold Michigan winters by penning romance novels that always include a bit of adventure. She lives with her own set of heroes, aka an ever-patient husband who doesn’t mind using a laundry basket for a closet, and a small boy who wears a knight in a shining armor costume for such tasks as scrubbing potatoes.

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Review: Written in the Scars by Adriana Locke


Written in the Scars is the first book I have ever read from Adriana Locke, though she has been on my TBR for awhile now. I really enjoyed this book, though it wasn't an easy read. This story was emotional and heartfelt and while I liked it a lot, it also made me cry. I definitely want to read more from Adriana Locke now though.

Ty and Elin knew when they met in school that they were meant to be together. They got married and started planning their life together. But when an accident and hard times happened, Ty left leaving Elin with a broken heart. Now Ty is back, and determined to get his family and future back. But can she let him back in knowing that he can is the one that can hurt her the most? What happens when life throws them more obstacles that can destroy everything that they are working towards rebuilding? 

I loved Ty and Elin. Both of them had been through a lot, and were proof that sometimes love isn't enough to ensure a marriage works. Marriage takes hard work and these two were both struggling with everything that had happened. Ty didn't make the best choice in leaving, though I did understand his point of view and why he did it. But while both Ty and Elin had been hurting, their connection and love had never died or dimmed. They had chemistry and were great together, and I really believed in their love. I couldn't get enough of them.

I also really loved their group of friends/family. Elin and Ty's best friends were her twin brother Jiggs, her best friend Lindsay (she was married to Jiggs) and their other best friend Cord. I really felt the strong bond and connection between the five of them and I adored them all. They all made this book enjoyable to read, even though there were tough times. There was one thing that happened that broke my heart and really upset me and honestly that was the only thing that kept this one from being a five star book for me. I know that this was the author's vision and that she had her reasons for it happening the way it did, but for me it was really hard to swallow and made the ending a bittersweet one for me. I wish she hadn't gone there, but that is probably a personal thing and might not bother most readers the way it did me. This is still a great read though, and I am looking forward to reading more from Adriana Locke in the future.

Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle | B&N | iTunes |




A Historical Christmas Event with Katharine Ashe


Katharine Ashe is the USA Today bestselling, award winning author of historical romances reviewers call “intensely lush” and “sensationally intelligent,” including The Duke, one of Amazon’s Best Romances of 2017. A professor of history and popular culture, she writes romance because she thinks modern readers deserve grand adventures and breathtaking sensuality too. 
Site | Facebook | Twitter |