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Saturday, July 1, 2017

Weekly Winners


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

Melanie B.
A Match Made in Texas by Margaret Brownley

Robin L.
Wolf Unleashed by Paige Tyler

Erin F.
A New Leash on Love by Debbie Burns

**Monthly Newsletter Giveaway Winners**

Gabrielle
Mystery Box of Books

Tracy F.
Swag Pack


All winners have been notified via email and are posted on the Rafflecopter form from that giveaway post. Thank you to everyone that stopped by and entered. =)

Feature and Giveaway: Fuel for Fire by Julie Ann Walker


New York Times and USA Today bestseller Julie Ann Walker delivers red-hot romantic suspense in Fuel for Fire!

Dagan Zoelner has always had his eye on spunky CIA agent Chelsea Duvall. When a mission throws them together, this could be his only chance to win her heart for good.

Dagan Zoelner has made three huge mistakes
The first two left blood on his hands.
The third left him wondering…what if?
What if he had told the woman of his dreams how he felt before his world fell apart?

Spitfire CIA agent Chelsea Duvall has always had a thing for bossy, brooding Dagan. It’s just as well that he’s never given her a second look, since she carries a combustible secret about his past that threatens to torch their lives...

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

Friday, June 30, 2017

ARC Review: The Day of the Duchess by Sarah MacLean


Ever since I started this series “Scandal & Scoundrel” I have been waiting for Seraphina and Malcolm Bevingstoke, Duke of Haven’s story. When I read “The Rogue Not Taken (Scandal & Scoundrel, #1) I thought “there is no way that Sera and Mal will end up together.” There is just no way. Needless to say I was wrong. However! MacLean really had a huge obstacle to accomplish. Throughout the series, the infamous Sera is known for her scandal and most importantly because she is missing. No one knows where the Duke of Haven’s Duchess can be found. When Sera re-emerges she has changed! Three years have gone by since Sophie Talbot dumped the cheating Duke in the pond and Sera is ready to take charge of her life. Everything is against her, but she is determined.

When we first hear of Sera and Mal’s story, it is filled with hurt, anger and pain. Much of that sentiment carries through the story. Sera and Mal have a lot of baggage. From the very beginning, their love is tainted with rumors, distrust and betrayal. It seems that one wound just opens and festers another. Sera is done with that. She wants a divorce and wants to be the boss of her own life. Women during that time could not petition for a divorce even if they were subject to cruelty at the hands of their husbands. Kudos to MacLean for bringing up the history of women during this time period and really how little they had in terms of rights! Well, Sera is done with her marriage, cheating husband and is ready to open her own tavern where she can fulfill her dream of singing to her hearts content. Sera has no way of knowing that throughout the last three years Mal has traveled all over the world trying to find his wife. He never gave up looking for her and he is determined to make their marriage work. Sera wants nothing to do with Mal and the past hurts and sorrows haunt their every conversation. Mal tries one last time to keep his wife. He makes a wager with her. If she can find him a replacement Duchess he will agree to the divorce. What Mal doesn’t anticipate is that Sera’s infamous sisters will come along and that Sera has a friend, a male one at that. Mal is more determined than ever.

First, I have to say how much I enjoyed Sera and my heart broke for her. She was young and naïve, inexperience in many ways and many of her choices were not the best. Malcolm pretty much followed the same path. It would seem that both were destined for disaster-which they both experienced. Sera fought so hard to win her independence and it was admirable considering nothing was really in her favor. I was lukewarm about Mal until the end when he finally comes to realize that Sera is not his to keep… and I have to confess I put the story down and wiped away my tears. Even though they do finally get their much deserved happily-ever-after it was far from easy. There are many funny and sweet moments. There is one scene that is both sweet and real for me-when the sisters are crammed in the carriage. I just thought that MacLean really captured their bond as sisters and in many ways the figurative distance that covered them emotionally. Physically the sisters are together, but Sera has not emotionally shared with her sisters the baggage she has been carrying. This story did not disappoint and I need to know more about Secily and her American. I am crossing my fingers and hoping that this is not the last time we hear about the “Dangerous Daughters.”

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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


Feature and Giveaway: Prom Queen by Katee Robert



Jake Davis had it all in high school—a scholarship to his college of choice, a promising football career, and the gorgeous prom queen for a girlfriend. And then he lost it all when he was injured right after graduation. Ten years later, he’s mostly made his peace with that, and now runs a company that provides women with dates for special events. Imagine his surprise when he discovers that the ex who left him in the dust needs a fake boyfriend for their high school reunion…

Jessica Jackson used to be the mean girl to end all mean girls. But life didn’t turn out like she’d thought it would, and now she’s twenty-eight, single, and works as an insurance agent to A-listers instead of being the A-lister like she’d always dreamed. She can’t go back to her hometown and admit just how thoroughly she’s failed, so she lets her friends set her up with a fake date for the reunion.

The second Jessica realizes that her fake date is Jake, she tries to call the whole thing off. The problem is the chemistry between them is even hotter now than it was when they were teenagers. Against her better judgment she lets herself get drawn into Jake’s arms again—and into his bed. But time doesn’t heal all wounds—sometimes, it actually makes them worse—and if Jessica and Jake can’t learn to forgive each other, their second chance might not last the weekend.

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

Thursday, June 29, 2017

ARC Review: The Drowned Girls by Loreth Anne White


This author is brilliant period. These books are for lovers of mystery/suspense and romance that has a gritty dark edge. It is hard for me to even encapsulate how good the writing and story building is in these books. To be clear, this is not one of a series but I have read three other books by this author from this same genre and they were all outstanding.

In a whodunit suspense, it’s difficult to give you the kind of synopsis that I ordinarily provide because there are too many ways to spoil something. That is particularly true in White’s books because the mystery is layered. The multiple dimensions of the mystery are what make these books so good. In this book, young women are being brutally assaulted and murdered. That’s the overall whodunit issue but then there are all the other things that are occurring in the story. Angie, the heroine, is either going crazy or something else from her past is back in a very unexpected way. All throughout the book there are pieces of that issue woven into the fabric of the story. Maddox, the hero, as it were, is struggling with an adult daughter who kind of hates him. He’s trying to solve the murders but also solve his life issues. There are subplots involving the other detectives working the case and you never quite know how those are going to turn out. Hell, there’s a subplot involving the entire town and police force that you’ll be on the edge of your seat over. And the brilliance of this author is that the subplots are perfectly consistent with the main plot and don’t at all overshadow it. They simply make every single page of this book worth reading.

And then there are the characters. Oh my Gosh! Every single character is so well depicted. Angie is a hot ass mess of emotional turmoil and confusion. I love an imperfect heroine and this author specializes in them. Maddox is all conflicted too. He needs to help Angie, be a Dad and catch a killer and none of those things go hand in hand. The Maddox and Angie story is so so good.  It’s not typical romance stuff so if that’s what you’re looking for, look elsewhere. But if you like the romance stories with the more effed up characters who don’t know if they want to kill each other or bang each other’s brains out, this is a good story for that.

The POV in this book rotates between several characters including the killer and the victims. This novel completely sucks you in and it’s hard to put it down until you know every single thing.  I know this review is not doing the book justice but I’m telling you, if you were a Lisa Gardner, Dean Koontz, Mary Higgins Clark etc. reader who now loves romance, you really have to read this book.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

Purchase: | Amazon | B&N |


Guest Post with Author Annie Seaton and Giveaway


Annie Seaton lives on the edge of the South Pacific Ocean on the east coast of Australia She is fulfilling her lifelong dream of writing and has been delighted to discover that readers love reading her stories as much as she loves writing them. Annie lives with her own hero of many years. Their two children are now grown up and married, and two beautiful grandchildren have arrived. Now they share their home with Toby, the naughtiest dog in the universe, and two white cats. When she is not writing she can be found in her garden or walking on the beach... or most likely on her deck overlooking the ocean, camera in hand as the sun sets. Each winter, Annie and her husband leave the beach to roam the remote areas of Australia for story ideas and research. In 2014 Annie was voted Author of the Year and in 2015 was voted Best Established Author in the AusRomToday.com Readers' Choice Awards. Readers can contact Annie through her website annieseaton.net or find her on Face Book, Twitter and Instagram.

Site | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads |

Feature and Giveaway: Love with a Scottish Outlaw by Gayle Callen



Catriona Duff can’t remember who she is. Discovered in the midst of a raging thunderstorm, she has no recollection of how she came to be there or how the guards around her ended up dead. She certainly doesn’t remember that the handsome Highlander who saves her is her family’s sworn enemy. All she does know? She’s starting to fall in love with him.

Duncan Carlyle couldn’t believe his luck when he found Catriona, the daughter of the man who made him an outlaw and forced him from his ancestral home, stranded on the road with nothing to her name--including her memory. Speaking out against Aberfoyle’s evil practices of stealing poor and orphaned children to sell to the highest bidder has cost him everything, but now he has the opportunity to make the man understand the true price of a missing child. But as Duncan begins to know Cat, guilt over his actions wars with his irrepressible desire for her.

When Cat discovers the truth of her identity, she decides she can teach the outlawed clan chief a lesson, but in love, there’s more than one way to win.

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

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

ARC Review: Lost Love by Kelly Elliott


Lost Love is the first book in the new Cowboys & Angels series by Kelly Elliott. I was really excited to read this one as it happens to be one of my favorite tropes, second chance romance. While there was a lot to enjoy here, there were a few things that didn't work as well for me and while I liked Lost Love, I didn't love it. I think that it had a lot of promise, but for me it just didn't quite deliver on that. 

Steed Parker never expected to wind up back at home on his parents cattle ranch in Texas, but now that he is back he knows it is where he belongs. He left town after breaking his high school girlfriend's heart, but he has never stopped loving her. When he finds himself face to face with Paxton, he knows he will do whatever it takes to win her back. But Paxton has never been able to get over how he hurt her and left her when she needed him the most. Can Steed show Paxton that he is around for good and that he will never hurt her again?

I will admit that part of my problem here was Steed. It was hard for me to get over a few of the things he did, and I really felt like he had dug this huge hole that he was trying to dig himself out of right from the very first page here. While I did feel like he was able to redeem himself for the most part, a part of me still struggled with everything that had happened. I really felt for Paxton and unfortunately I don't know that I would have been able to forgive and move forward as easily as she did which made it hard for me to relate here. These two did have chemistry and a connection, but I just found it hard to get over some of what had happened.

The other thing that I had some issues with was that there really wasn't a lot of conflict here, and at times it felt like things were simply too easy to be entirely believable. There was really only one incident that could have created some conflict and it was resolved almost as quickly as it had started. I just felt like after everything that had happened Paxton let go of it all far more easily than I would have or what I felt like most people would have. While it was clear that there were still feelings there and that she loved him, he had done something that was really hard to move past and the consequences of that continued to have ramifications on their future and I felt like Paxton just let it go really easy. I did like them together and there were some really sweet moments here, and I do think that there are a lot of readers who will love this one. While this one wasn't my favorite of Kelly's, I will definitely read more from her in the future.

**ARC Provided by Inkslinger PR**

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





Feature and Giveaway: A Most Unlikely Duke by Sophie Barnes



He never thought he'd become a duke, or that the secrets of his past would cost him his greatest love...

Raphe Matthews hasn’t stepped foot in polite circles since a tragedy left his once-noble family impoverished and in debt. The bare-knuckle boxer has spent the last fifteen years eking out an existence for himself and his two sisters. But when a stunning reversal of fortune lands Raphe the title of Duke of Huntley, he’s determined to make a go of becoming a proper lord, but he’ll need a little help, and his captivating neighbor might be just the woman for the job…

After her sister’s scandalous match, Lady Gabriella knows the ton’s eyes are on her. Agreeing to tutor the brutish new duke can only lead to ruin. Although she tries to control her irresistible attraction to Raphe, every day she spends with him only deepens her realization that this may be the one man she cannot do without. And as scandal threatens to envelop them both, she must decide if she can risk everything for love with a most unlikely duke.

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

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Feature and Giveaway: On the Plus Side by Alison Bliss



Big girls don't cry. They go after what they want.

Thanks to her bangin' curves, Valerie Carmichael has always turned heads-with the exception of seriously sexy Logan Mathis. Just Valerie's luck that the object of her lust-filled affection is also best friends with her overprotective brother. But Valerie's determined to get Logan's attention…even if it means telling a teeny little lie to get a job at his new bar.

Logan can't remember a time when Valerie didn't secretly fuel all his hottest fantasies. Now the curvaceous she-devil is working behind his bar, tempting him every damn night. It's only when he finds Valerie's naughty things-to-do list that Logan decides to break every rule in the book-by making each red-hot deed a reality.

No one warned them that they were going to fall this hard. And no one warned them that sometimes the smallest secrets can have the biggest consequences.

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

Feature and Giveaway: Roaming Wild by Tracey Devlyn



She’s loved him forever…

The last thing traveling nurse Evie Steele expects to find aboard the RV housing her mobile health clinic is her brother’s best friend. As always, Deke’s close proximity stirs her forbidden desires and long-suppressed dreams. But his sudden reappearance in her life and curious interest in her patients makes Evie wonder what he’s hiding.

…but now his secrets could destroy them both.

Special agent Deke Conrad is in big trouble. Not only does he have a thing for his friend’s little sister, but what should be a routine mission is turning into a tour of temptation and survival. He fooled himself into thinking he could keep the beautiful and dynamic Evie in the dark while he used the cover of her Med Mobile to track down a merciless wildlife trafficker. But he didn't anticipate the lure of her scent or the warmth of her smile…or the string of dead bodies littering their path.

When Evie winds up in his enemy’s crosshairs, Deke must unleash every weapon in his arsenal to save her, including his heart. But will he be too late?

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

Monday, June 26, 2017

ARC Review: At His Mercy by Shelly Bell


I like Bell as an author. I've read one or two of her books before and she knows how to do erotic romance right. Despite my history with this author, when I first started this book, I wasn't sure I was going to like it. There is a dramatic age difference between Isabella and Tristan (9 years) and there is a lot of background information and super kinky sex packed into like the first 20% of the book. I just wasn't sure if I was feeling the connection between the main characters when it seemed to come from absolutely nowhere. But I have to say, perseverance paid off because things really did make more sense later in the book and I found myself really liking this couple.

Isabella is 19 when she meets Tristan at a "play party." It's Isabella's first time experimenting with the BDSM lifestyle but it's something she's really drawn too. Isabella, although young, was in a really bad situation with her high school ex. Long story short, he was crazy and tried to kill her. Isabella sees a D/s relationship as a way to take back power over her life even though she is the submissive. Tristan has grown bored with parties and the life when he meets Isabella. Tristan was a bright star who got involved with a toxic woman early on. He was married and wealthy and is now divorced and decidedly not wealthy. His ex continues to harass him because she's spent up all of his money. Tristan takes a job as a college professor to bridge his financial gap. Right before leaving for the job he is intrigued by the young sort of innocent red head who shows up at a play party.

On their very first night together Isabella and Tristan connect to each other in a way that neither of them ever expected. Both leave the night wanting more but committing themselves to look for that in the future. So you can imagine both of their shock when they run into each other 12 hours away from their original meeting spot at a University where Isabella is a freshman in Tristan's business class. Not only is Isabella in the class but she is supposed to be Tristan's teaching assistant. And to me, this is where things really get interesting. 

From this point forward, I really started to like Isabella and Tristan. Isabella is a very old 19. Everything she has been through has caused her to grow up. She is completely grounded, assertive and has a life plan she is determined to stick to. Isabella wound up being one of my favorite depictions of a submissive. Tristan also turns out to be a strong character who is my favorite flavor of bossy/big D/protective- basically everything I love in my book boyfriends. The whole time you are reading this book, you know the past is lurking around the corner for both of these characters and that adds suspense to the plot line. In the end this is a really sexy, entertaining novel that I highly recommend for all you erotic romance lovers.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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


Guest Post with Author Ingrid Paulson and Giveaway


Ingrid Paulson does not, in fact, loathe anyone. Although the snarky sense of humor and verbal barbs in Why I Loathe Sterling Lane might suggest otherwise (and shock those who think they know her best).

Ingrid lives in San Francisco with her husband and children and enjoys long-distance running, eavesdropping, and watching science documentaries. She has always loved books and writing short stories, but was surprised one day to discover the story she was working on wasn’t so short any more. Valkyrie Rising, a paranormal girl power story was Ingrid’s first novel. Expect another humorous contemporary romance to join the list soon.

Sunday, June 25, 2017

ARC Review: On the Plus Side by Alison Bliss


On the Plus Side is the first book that I have read from Alison Bliss, but it won't be my last. This is actually the second book in her Perfect Fit series, but each is a standalone story. Not only is this book one of my personal favorite tropes (brother's best friend!) but I loved that it was about a woman with some curves. I am always interested in reading a story about someone I can relate to and the fact that Valerie is sassy and not a size 0 was what had me wanting to read this one more than anything else. 

Valerie has always turned heads with her curves, except for when it comes to her brother's best friend Logan. Determined to finally get his attention, Valerie knows she needs to do what it takes. Logan has always fantasized about Valerie, yet he has also known that she was off-limits. So when she lands a job at his new bar, and Logan finds her naughty to-do list Logan knows that he can't resist her anymore.

I liked these two a lot. Logan was sexy and protective, and the kind of hero that is impossible not to fall for. He was caring and a great guy. Valerie was determined and sassy, and I really felt like I could relate to her. She was a ton of fun and I enjoyed the chemistry and connection between her and Logan. There was an interesting dynamic between these two with them being slightly forbidden and that just made this one that much more enjoyable for me. 

I will say that I had a few issues and those are what kept me from rating this one higher. There were times that Val's brother was just too over the top protective. He went a little crazy and that drove me nuts. The other thing that bothered me was something that Val did and it affected Logan. I felt like things were just kind of flipped and swept under the rug and she wasn't really held accountable for it. She might not have known everything, but she did know that it wasn't a good choice and that had me struggling to move past it. Still a good story, and this won't be the last I read from Alison Bliss.

**ARC Provided by Publisher**

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





Feature and Giveaway: The Impossible Vastness of Us by Samantha Young



“I know how to watch my back. I’m the only one that ever has.”

India Maxwell hasn’t just moved across the country—she’s plummeted to the bottom rung of the social ladder. It’s taken years to cover the mess of her home life with a veneer of popularity. Now she’s living in one of Boston’s wealthiest neighborhoods with her mom’s fiancé and his daughter, Eloise. Thanks to her soon-to-be stepsister’s clique of friends, including Eloise’s gorgeous, arrogant boyfriend Finn, India feels like the one thing she hoped never to be seen as again: trash.

But India’s not alone in struggling to control the secrets of her past. Eloise and Finn, the school’s golden couple, aren’t all they seem to be. In fact, everyone’s life is infinitely more complex than it first appears. And as India grows closer to Finn and befriends Eloise, threatening the facades that hold them together, what’s left are truths that are brutal, beautiful, and big enough to change them forever…

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