Weekly Winners

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

Marcy
Spare Hearts by Dorothy F. Shaw & T.D. Hoffman

Tracey
Truth or Date by Susan Hatler

Lindsey
Skies of Gold by Zoe Archer

Karen
Bittersweet Junction by Ivy Sinclair


**Replacement Winners**

Damaris
Not Until You Dare by Roni Loren

Lisagk
Book of Choice from Jennifer Labelle

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

ARC Review: Bikers and Pearls by Vicki Wilkerson

I’m generally not the biggest fan of super-tame, sweet romances—I read them and end up with a huge smile on my face, but always crave the extra sizzle of sexual tension and steamy love scenes. But every once in a while I’m in the mood for one, and the blurb for Vicki Wilkerson’s Entangled Bliss release, BIKERS AND PEARLS, immediately caught my eye: I’m a sucker for the good girl meets bad boy with a heart of gold, opposites attract, and small-town romance contemporary tropes. While I found it just a tad too preachy for my tastes, it’s a thoroughly enjoyable, heartwarming read with a good message, and a good start to what will surely be a delightful collection of sweet contemporary romances.

BIKERS AND PEARLS is all about not judging a book by its cover and overcoming one’s preconceived notions and stereotypes—and it is not subtle about driving this point home. Kudos to Ms. Wilkerson for tackling this issue head on and making it an integral part of the storyline and the characters’ development, but I personally did not need to be hit over the head with it quite so overtly and frequently. The story centres around risk-averse, Ann Taylor-wearing good girl April Church and former-bad-boy biker with a chip on his shoulder and a heart of gold Bullworth “Bull” Clayton, forced by untoward happenstance to work together to organise a benefit for a cancer-stricken child in their small Southern town of Summerbrook. The sweater set and leather chaps? Oh my! A childhood incident with a drunken and violent motorcycle gang left April with a bone-deep fear of motorcycles and several deeply ingrained unfavourable misconceptions about bikers, and has also coloured how she lives her adult life: seeking to avoid risks, wanting to fit in with the ‘acceptable’ crowd, and looking to please her overprotective parents. While she definitely has a big heart for doing anything in her power to help the sickly Ben—including working with the dreaded bikers to organise the benefit—and I can understand what motivates her perceptions and behaviour, I found her to be a bit of a shallow snob and had a hard time liking her until she realised how superficial she was being. I appreciated her willingness to recognise she had issues and her efforts to correct her misconceptions about the biker lifestyle, but her conviction that the motorcycle + her parents thing was an insurmountable obstacle to her HEA with Bull drove me a little nuts.

Bull, on the other hand, I quite liked from the get-go. He’s got his own reasons to be prejudiced against the sweater set April so desperately wants to be a part of and has a bit of a dodgy past with a motorcycle gang, but he’s now a successful mechanic and genuinely wants to help out in the community. I really liked that he’s worked hard to distance himself from his past and doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him, even if people in a small Southern town are slow to forgive and forget his youthful transgressions. His attraction to April—the furthest thing from the smart, sexy, adventurous motorcycle mama of his dreams—baffles him initially, but the way he goes about courting her and helping her overcome her hang-ups is incredibly sweet (even if I did find the whole “I could never be with a woman who won’t ride in the back of my Harley” thing a bit autocratic). And the way he wins over April’s ultra-protective, motorcycle-hating parents? I wanted to take him home and give him a hug, if not necessarily jump him (this is a sweet romance after all!). The relationship is definitely on a slow simmer throughout the entire book rather than boasting scorching chemistry that leaps off the page, but that works just right with April’s hang-ups to make it believable. The two of them as a couple are really adorable.

Overall, BIKERS AND PEARLS is a sweet, quick read with a cute story and a lovely HEA. The story is beautifully written (albeit a bit on the preachy side) and really brings the lush Southern setting to life. Fans of Entangled’s Bliss line and sweet contemporary romances will likely enjoy this and subsequent Summerbrook novels—but I need more sizzle and less sweetness for full enjoyment.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

Purchase: | Amazon | Barnes & Noble |

Feature and Giveaway: Wicked Firsts Box Set

Six New York Times and USA Today Bestselling authors bring you six all-new contemporary and super sexy suspense stories of first loves, first attractions, first temptations, first times and first obsessions.

Purchase: | Amazon | Barnes & Noble |

ARC Review: High Passion by Vivian Arend

I love Vivian Arend—I think she writes fantastic character-driven and emotional erotic (or highly sensual) romance. Put that talent against the backdrop of the pulse-pounding, heightened emotions of the search and rescue world and add a dash of mystery, and you have the winning combination that is her new Adrenaline series. I had thoroughly enjoyed the first entry in the series (HIGH RISK) and jumped at the chance to read the second book (HIGH PASSION) early. While I enjoyed the characters and relationship dynamics (both romantic and non-romantic), the voice and writing style, and the scorching love scenes in HIGH PASSION, the light mystery subplot felt contrived and a tad over the top and detracted from my enjoyment of what is otherwise another great book by Ms. Arend.

The series centres on the lives and trials & tribulations of the members of Lifeline, an elite private search and rescue team based in Banff in the Canadian Rockies. Since the team members are introduced and the base relationship dynamics established in the first book, this is definitely a series where the reader benefits from reading the books in order—though the story in HIGH PASSION technically stands on its own. Devon Leblanc and Alisha Bailey are Lifeline’s youngest members and lead climbers, hotshots from their recent school days where they were always competing with each other to be the best. That competition has bled over into their Lifeline work as good-natured bickering and teasing… and, as Lifeline helicopter pilot Erin puts it, the longest verbal foreplay in history, since the competitiveness and quips are partly a front to hide their attraction to each other. That undercurrent of attraction is palpable throughout the first book in the series (making us readers wonder WHEN and HOW, not IF, they’ll give in) and comes to a head in HIGH PASSION, when Alisha’s moment of panic during a rescue forces her and Devon to work closely together to identify any potential triggers for that panic without the rest of the team knowing. As tends to happen when two adults who’ve been denying their sexual attraction for years spend even more time together, they finally give in and start burning up the sheets. And, boy, do they burn—in typical Arend fashion, the love scenes are frequent and hot enough to melt your e-reader (if perhaps more ‘vanilla’ than those in HIGH RISK). I’d really liked both Alisha and Devon in the first book, so watching these laid-back, fun-loving but incredibly devoted characters go from sexually frustrated rivals to lovers to forever after was great fun. The fact that both of them have serious family issues—Alisha is the daughter of a rich Toronto businessman who insists she’s just playing at search and rescue and sowing her wild oats before settling down into her life as a socialite and Devon’s (also wealthy) family keeps hounding him to grow up and get a ‘real’ job and a family—adds another layer of complexity to their characters and their relationship and makes them real and relatable.

I liked the characters, I liked the build-up and execution of the romantic relationship and the sense of camaraderie within the team that gets stronger in each book, I enjoyed the steamy love scenes, and I loved Ms. Arend’s writing style (as always). But what didn’t really work for me was Vincent, the ‘villain’ in the story: a wealthy Bailey family friend who works for Alisha’s father and will go to any length to get controlling interest in the company. He felt like a cardboard supervillain simply added in to add a layer of intrigue to the storyline, and his actions felt a tad extreme and unrealistic. I love some good suspense mixed in with my romance and read a lot of thrillers and romantic suspense, but I found myself rolling my eyes a bit at Vincent’s antics and felt that that entire subplot didn’t contribute much to the story. Likewise with Lana, the new member coordinating the Lifeline call-outs and pushing for a place on the team. I found myself enjoying the bits with Devon and Alisha and their budding relationship much more than anything else.

HIGH PASSION is a solid entry into the series (though, in my opinion, not as good as HIGH RISK) and has everything one has come to expect and love from Ms. Arend’s contemporaries. I really enjoy the Lifeline team, and I’m looking forward to reading chopper pilot Erin’s story in 2014.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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

Guest Post with Author Kathy Lyons and Giveaway

Welcome Kathy Lyons, author of the novella, One Night in the Spa.

Kathy Lyons is the fun, contemporary side of USA Today Bestselling author Jade Lee. She loves sassy romance with lots of laughter and sex. Spice is the variety of life, right? Okay, so maybe two kids, two cats, two pennames, and writing over 40 books has messed with her mind, but she still keeps having fun. And in her new Dream Nights series couples share erotic dreams that lead to a sizzling reality. Check her out at www.KathyLyons.com Or hang out with her sexy historical half, Jade Lee. Titled heroes with dark secrets are Jade’s passion. Especially when they fall for women who add more than just spice to their lives.

Places to find Kathy: 

| Site | Blog | Facebook | Twitter |