Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Unwrapping a Review for SWEET LITTLE LIES, a Heartbreaker Bay novel by Jill Shalvis

Contemporary romance novels have to carry some mystery, danger, or a lot of steam for me to fall head over heels in love with them but occasionally, one comes along that blows me away. SWEET LITTLE LIES, new from the fabulous author Jill Shalvis, is one that has. I’m totally in love with Finn O’Riley and quite possible the rest of the men of this new series from Avon Romance.

***eARC provided by publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest and unscripted review.

Blurb for SWEET LITTLE LIES:

Choose the one guy you can’t have…

As captain of a San Francisco Bay tour boat, Pru can handle rough seas—the hard part is life on dry land. Pru loves her new apartment and her neighbors; problem is, she’s in danger of stumbling into love with Mr. Right for Anybody But Her.

Fall for him—hard…

Pub owner Finn O’Riley is six-foot-plus of hard-working hottie who always makes time for his friends. When Pru becomes one of them, she discovers how amazing it feels to be on the receiving end of that deep green gaze. But when a freak accident involving darts (don’t ask) leads to shirtless first aid, things rush way past the friend zone. Fast.

And then tell him the truth.

Pru only wants Finn to be happy; it’s what she wishes for at the historic fountain that’s supposed to grant her heart’s desire. But wanting him for herself is a different story—because Pru’s been keeping a secret that could change everything…

~*~               ~*~              ~*~               ~*~

Pru Harris is on a mission. After her parents were killed in an accident caused by their overindulgence in alcohol, and after that same accident took the lives of others and left others injured, she has made it her goal in life to make amends to those harmed directly or indirectly by the accident. Her heart is that big. Using funds from life insurance and the sale of the family home as well as calling in some favors, she’s managed to make sure all affected have seen better lives for her efforts. However, there’s one more thing she feels she needs to do and it involves seeing some happiness in the life of one tall, gorgeous pub owner named Finn O’Riley.

Finn has made the best of the life handed him. Having had to leave college and baseball to take care of his younger, wilder brother after their father’s death by a drunk driver, he’s made a success of O’Riley’s pub, tried to keep his brother in line but he hasn’t left much room for any fun in his life, and certainly not romance. When a sexy new tenant in the building becomes a regular in his pub, he finds her claim of being the fun whisperer too much to resist. When the truth of who she is and what she’s done comes out, he feels betrayed. Falling in love wasn’t something he planned to do, but then who does?

SWEET LITTLE LIES by Jill Shalvis is wonderful from page one to the last. The characters are so three dimensional that you can almost imagine yourself as part of the fun. Pru and Finn are fabulous together and Troy, an incorrigible mongrel, is as much a main character as the others. Comradery and a sense of belonging make this cast of characters more like family than just friends. I can’t wait to see what happens next for this is going to be a must read series. I can only imagine the secrets and fun that will come along in the Heartbreaker Bay series.

Jill never disappoints for her conjuring of characters, atmosphere, and emotion are exquisite. Always one to infuse plenty of humor as well as drama, there’s plenty of both to go around in SWEET LITTLE LIES. However, I trust you will laugh more than woe for there are more than a few times when you just find yourself grinning ear to ear.

I highly, highly recommend SWEET LITTLE LIES, book one in the new Heartbreaker Bay series because it’s probably my favorite sweet, funny, sexy as all get out contemporary romance that I’ve read so far this year. Finn O’Riley is a man that I only wish existed in real life. His little brother, Sean, ain’t so bad either…then again, there’s Archer and Spence. Oh my, well…you get the picture. There is a future of good stories coming our way and SWEET LITTLE LIES is an excellent start to what promises to be a wonderful series. 

Happy Reading Everyone!

SWEET LITTLE LIES, a Heartbreaker Bay novel by Jill Shalvis, Avon Romance, available now in print and ebook formats at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobobooks.

Monday, June 27, 2016

Spotlight for A GENTLEMAN NEVER TELLS, an Essex Sisters Novella by Eloisa James

A GENTLEMAN NEVER TELLS
An Essex Sisters Novella #4.5
by Eloisa James

Coming June 28, 2016 from Avon Impulse only 99¢


Eloisa James returns to the delicious world of the Essex sisters with her newest Regency romance novella: A GENTLEMAN NEVER TELLS.

A perfect amuse-bouche of a romance, A GENTLEMAN NEVER TELLS is a witty and sparking standalone novella from one of the brilliant diamonds of romance!


Eighteen months ago, Lizzie Troutt’s husband died in his mistress’s bed, leaving her determined to never marry again….and unfortunately virginal.

Eighteen years ago (give or take a few) the Honorable Oliver Berwick blackened his own soul, leaving him hardened and resolutely single.

When the chance for redemption in the form of a country house party invitation comes his way, Oliver is determined to prove himself a gentleman.

Until he breaks all the codes of gentlemanly behavior…once again.


Excerpt from A GENTLEMAN NEVER TELLS:

August 13, 1826
Telford Manor
Fontwell, Sussex

“I would prefer to take supper on a tray.” Lizzie didn’t look up from her book, because meeting her sister’s eyes would only encourage her.
She should have known Catrina wouldn’t back down. “Lizzie Troutt, your husband died over a year ago.”
“Really?” Lizzie murmured, turning a page. “How time flies.” In fact, Adrian had died eighteen months, two weeks, and four days ago.
In his mistress’s bed.
“Lizzie,” Cat said ominously, sounding more like an older sister—which she was—with every word, “if you don’t get out of that bed, I shall drag you out. By your hair!”
Lizzie felt a spark of real annoyance. “You already dragged me to your house for this visit. The least you could do is to allow me to read my book in peace.”
“Ever since you arrived yesterday, all you’ve done is read!” Cat retorted.
“I like reading. And forgive me if I point out that Tolbert is not precisely a hotbed of social activity.” Cat and her husband, Lord Windingham, lived deep in Suffolk, in a dilapidated manor house surrounded by fields of sheep.
“That is precisely why we gather friends for dinner. Lord Dunford-Dale is coming tonight, and I need you to even the numbers. That means getting up, Lizzie. Bathing. Doing your hair. Putting on a gown that hasn’t been dyed black would help, too. You look like a dispirited crow, if you want the truth.”
Lizzie didn’t want the truth. In fact, she felt such a stab of anger that she had to fold her lips tightly together or she would scream at Cat.
It wasn’t her sister’s fault. It wasn’t anyone’s fault except her late husband’s, and he was definitely late—i.e., dead.
“I know you feel ashamed to be in company,” her sister continued, energetically digging her own grave, as far as Lizzie was concerned. “Unfortunately, most people are aware the circumstances of your marriage, not to mention the fact that Adrian was so imprudent as to die away from home.”
That was one way of putting it.
Imprudent.
“You make it sound as if he dropped a teacup,” Lizzie observed, unable to stop herself. “I would call the fact that Adrian died in the act of tupping Sadie Sprinkle inconsiderate in the extreme.”
“I refuse to allow you to wither away in bed simply because your husband was infatuated with Shady Sadie,” Cat said, using the term by which the gossip rags had referred to Adrian’s mistress. “You must put all that behind you. Sadie has another protector, and you are out of mourning. It’s time to stop hiding.”
“I am not hiding,” Lizzie said, stung. “I take fresh air and moderate exercise every day. I simply like reading in bed. Or in a chair.”
Or anywhere else, to tell the truth. Reading in a peaceful garden was an excellent way to take fresh air.
“Moderate exercise,” her sister said with palpable loathing. “You used to ride every day, for pleasure. We would practice archery on a fine day like this, or roam about the countryside, not sit inside reading.”
“Adrian’s stables were part of the entail, and went to his cousin,” Lizzie said, turning the page. She hadn’t read a word, but she was hoping that a show of indifference would drive her sister from the room.
“Not the mare that Papa gave you when you turned fourteen!” her sister gasped.
Showing masterly control, Lizzie didn’t roll her eyes. “A wife has no true possessions,” she said flatly. “Under the law, they belong to her husband, and Perdita was, therefore, transferred to the heir.”
“Oh, Lizzie,” Cat said, her voice woeful.
“It wasn’t so terrible,” Lizzie said, meaning it. “I went to the auction, and Perdita went to a family with a young girl. I’m certain that she is well cared for and happy.”
“Do you realize that by staying home and wearing black, you give the illusion that you are grieving for your husband?”
Lizzie’s hands tightened around her book. “Do you know what being a widow entails, Cat?”
“Wearing ugly black dresses for the rest of your natural life?”
“It means that I never again need put myself under the control of a man—any man. So, no, I have no interest in joining you at dinner. I know perfectly well that Lord Dimble-Dumble has been summoned to audition as my next husband. I don’t want him. I’d be more likely to come to dinner if you had invited the butcher.”
“I couldn’t do that,” Cat said, in a sudden digression. “Mr. Lyddle has developed a most unfortunate addiction to strong ale, and he’s regularly found lying about in the gutter singing, rather than butchering meat.”
“Who does the butchering now?” Lizzie asked, deciding to take a walk to the village and see this interesting musical event herself.
“His wife. My housekeeper says that she can get better cuts at a lower price these days. You’re trying to distract me with talk of singing drunkards,” Cat said, unfairly. “Let’s discuss your future.”
“Let’s not.”
“We might begin with the fact that you were never in love with Adrian.” Cat began walking around the bedchamber, waving her hands as she waxed eloquent about her late brother-in-law’s flaws.
She was preaching to the choir, so Lizzie stopped listening and just watched Cat pacing back and forth. How could it be that her older sister was positively frothing with life and energy and passion, while Lizzie felt like a tired, pale shadow?
Her hand crept toward her book. It wasn’t the most interesting novel in the world, but it had the inexpressible charm of being new.
Over the last eighteen months, Lizzie had read every novel she owned three times over. She would be quickly bankrupted if she bought more than two books a week, so one of the best things about visiting Telford Manor was access to her sister’s library.
Cat appeared to be hopeless at arranging a refurbishment of the manor—which desperately needed it—but she was very good at ordering novels. And clothing. If Lizzie looked like a black crow, Cat was a chic French peacock.
Lizzie raised her knees, surreptitiously propped her book against them, and slipped back in the story of Eveline, a sixteen-year-old girl being forced to marry an old man. She herself had been twenty when she walked down the aisle.
On the shelf.
Beggars can’t be choosers, her father had told her.
Her book suddenly vanished. “No reading!”
Cat was holding the novel above her head, for all the world as if they were children again. Lizzie used to hope that someday she’d grow up to be as commanding as her sister, but she had given up that idea long ago.
It wasn’t just a question of height. Her sister was the type of person who gathered everyone in a room around her, and Lizzie was the type of person whom they walked over on their way to be with Cat.
That sounded resentful, but Lizzie didn’t actually feel bitter. She would hate to be the center of attention. She wound her arms around her knees and propped her chin on them. “Cat, may I have my book back, please? It was a hard journey, and I’m tired.”
“What do you mean, a hard journey? It can’t have been more than a day and a half!”
“My coach is over twenty years old and the springs are worn out. It bounced so hard on the post road that I couldn’t keep my eyes on the page, and my tailbone still hurts.”
“If your jointure won’t extend to a new vehicle, Joshua or Papa would be happy to buy you a coach.”
Lizzie turned her head, putting her right cheek on her knees, and closed her eyes. “No.”
She heard her sister drop into the chair by the side of the bed. Then she heard a sigh. “Papa is getting old, Lizzie. He made a terrible mistake, and he knows it. He misses you. If you would just pay him a visit . . .”
“No.”
Why would she visit the father who had turned her away when she ran to him in desperation? The father who had known precisely what a disaster her marriage would be, but didn’t bother to warn her?
An hour or so after their wedding ceremony, Adrian had brought Lizzie, still wrapped in her bridal veil, to his mother’s faded, musty house, and informed her that he had no intention of living with her.
Not only that, but he was late to meet his lover for tea.
It had happened almost six years ago, but she could still remember her stupefaction. She’d been such a silly goose.
“But where do you live?” she had stammered.
“I bought Sadie a house, and we live there,” Adrian had said casually. When she frowned in confusion, he had added impatiently, “Sadie. Didn’t your father tell you her name?”
“Sadie? ”
For the first time—and in her experience, the last time—her husband had been a little defensive, even a trifle ashamed. “I never lied. He knows perfectly well that we will lead separate lives.”
“Perhaps you should explain to me,” Lizzie had said, “because my father unaccountably forgot to mention it. As did you, I might add.”
Adrian had unemotionally laid out the terms of her marriage. It seemed her father had paid a great deal of money to buy his daughter the title of Lady Troutt. For his part, Adrian had wed her for her dowry, and because he needed someone to care for his mother.
“The estate is entailed,” he had told her, glancing around the musty sitting room. “It goes to some distant cousin, along with the title, of course. I told your father that I wouldn’t be averse to trying for a child, once we’ve had time to get used to each other.”
Lizzie had just gaped at him.
“But we can’t bother with that now,” Adrian had told her briskly. “Sadie is upset about this mess, naturally enough. I promised her I’d be home by four. My mother takes her luncheon on a tray. There are a couple of maids, but it would be good if you could bring it in yourself. She complains of being lonely.”
After that, he left.
A few minutes later, Lizzie left as well. She went home.
Only to be sent back to her husband’s house.
There was no point in revisiting her father’s line of reasoning. Suffice it to say that no woman—even one who had abundant sensuality and beauty, which Lizzie did not— was capable of seducing a man who didn’t return to the house for a fortnight.
A man who doesn’t bother to consummate his marriage until he’s suffered a heart seizure and has, as the vulgar might put it, been given notice to quit.
A man who despises his lower-class wife, and never bothers to hide it.



About the Author:

New York Times bestselling author Eloisa James writes historical romances for HarperCollins Publishers. Her novels have been published to great acclaim. A reviewer from USA Today wrote of Eloisa's very first book that she "found herself devouring the book like a dieter with a Hershey bar"; later People Magazine raved that "romance writing does not get much better than this." Her novels have repeatedly received starred reviews from Publishers' Weekly and Library Journal and regularly appear on the best-seller lists. After being a finalist for a RITA—the top award in the genre of romance fiction awarded by the Romance Writers of America—over ten times, she won in 2013.

After graduating from Harvard University, Eloisa got an M.Phil. from Oxford University, a Ph.D. from Yale and eventually became a Shakespeare professor, publishing an academic book with Oxford University Press. Her "double life" is a source of fascination to the media and her readers. In her professorial guise, she's written a New York Times op-ed defending romance, as well as articles published everywhere from women's magazines such as More to writers' journals such as the Romance Writers' Report.




Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Unwrapping a Cover Reveal for SAM, book seven in The Men of Clifton, Montana series by Susan Fisher-Davis

 
SAM
A Men of Clifton, Montana novel #7
by Susan Fisher-Davis


An honest man wants an honest woman to love. But when a lie comes between them, can their love be saved?

Everyone tells Sheriff Sam Garrett to find a good woman and settle down. When he sets his sights on Clifton’s veterinarian, he fears she despises him yet he’s desired her from the first moment they met. She is quite possibly the only woman in town who isn’t attracted to him which might be why he wants her even more.
Tessa McGuire has a secret and she fears anyone learning it, especially Sam who she can’t seem to resist even though she knows she should. After arresting her for outstanding warrants, desire fuels their mutual needs to the point where neither can resist its pull. Once they start seeing each other, she’s happier than she’s ever been but knows she should tell him the truth.
Tessa wants Sam to be happy, but wanting him for her own is dangerous because her secret could change everything… When her secret comes out, Tessa’s life and hopes fall apart, possibly putting everyone around her in danger. What once was a hopeful relationship with Sam comes to a heartbreaking end. Now can she win him back and save what they had?

About the Author:
Susan Fisher-Davis writes steamy, hot, sexy books that women love to read. Her stories always have a happily ever after and isn’t that what romance is about? After starting out with Secret Cravings Publishing, she decided to go indie when SCP closed their doors in August 2015. Now she writes and publishes with Blue Whiskey Publishing.
She currently has two series out, The Men of Clifton, Montana and The Bad Boys of Dry River. Cowboys and bad boys...what more could any woman want? Her newest series, The Callahans, a series about four cousins, begins with A COWBOY FOR CHRISTMAS, a novella, which is now available but the following books in the series will be full-length.
Susan was born and raised in a small town in the western part of Maryland surrounded by the Appalachian Mountains. She moved to Tennessee in 1996 with her husband and two children where she enjoys walks in the woods, fishing, and dreaming about hot men to share with us.



***yours truly created this cover and I'm quite proud of it. xox

Monday, June 20, 2016

Unwrapping a Review/Promo for JUST PEACHY, a Twilight Teahouse Novella by T. J. Michaels

JUST PEACHY
A Twilight Teahouse Novella
by T. J. Michaels

available now at


Meet Desreé Shaw—self-made woman, bona-fide shoe whore, lover of cowboys, kink and karma. Come to Mile High Ranch and Orchards for a visit. She’ll supply the rope.

* * * * *

When Desreé Shaw, a self-made woman, learns she is the new CEO of Shaw Mile High Ranch and Orchards, she heads off to Colorado to take over the family business.

However, upon arrival to her new home, the heiress discovers that there were a few things left out at the reading of her grandparent's will. Not only is the news unexpected...but so is the man who delivers it.

Warning: This title includes sky-clad moonlight run-ins, shoe whore shenanigans and Colorado kinksters.

~*~              ~*~              ~*~               ~*~

My Review:

Reading JUST PEACHY by T. J. Michaels is like enjoying a quickie, or snacking on a delicious, sweet peach or perhaps even better, indulging in a bit peach schnapps. You get a fast read that will capture your attention immediately with just hint of sexy naughtiness and then later, grab hold of you for a very sexy, very hot ride with Desreé and Scot. The characters are wonderful, I totally connected with all of them immediately, and the story is quite complete considering the brevity as it’s just a novella. However, it was enough to tell me that I want very much to delve into the Twilight Teahouse series and learn more about the characters and their world of kink clubs. There’s nothing better than some saucy characters and BDSM styling to capture my attention, and entice me to read a series.

I wish I could tell you more about this story so that I might demonstrate to you how wonderfully T. J. Michaels packed a whole lot of punch into such a small space but if I did that, I might ruin things. All I can say is READ IT!

Happy Reading Everyone!

***I purchased my own copy at the suggestion of the author’s publicist and before you balk at the idea of spending a whole $2 for a novella, trust me—you get your money’s worth. Don’t be spoiled and think only good romance comes in length and for 99¢…good romance is worth any price. I’m sharing my honest and unscripted review, and you know I don’t pull any punches.

About the Author:

USA Today and New York Times bestseller, T.J. Michaels, is also an award-winning author of several romance genres, including paranormal, fantasy, sci-fi and urban fantasy romance.
No matter the genre TJ is penning, her favorite thing to do is build worlds. To take you somewhere extraordinary. To transport you to a place where you can close your eyes and slip into your fantasy...



Friday, June 17, 2016

Q & A Promo for THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTO by Mary Hogan

THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTO
by Mary Hogan

Available now from William Morrow at

From the author of the critically-acclaimed Two Sisters comes THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTO, a compulsively-readable historical novel of two young women--one America’s Gilded Age, one in scrappy modern-day California--whose lives are linked by a single tragic afternoon in history.

1888: Elizabeth Haberlin, of the Pittsburgh Haberlins, spends every summer with her family on a beautiful lake in an exclusive club. Nestled in the Allegheny Mountains above the working class community of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, the private retreat is patronized by society’s elite. Elizabeth summers with Carnegies, Mellons, and Fricks, following the rigid etiquette of her class. But Elizabeth is blessed (cursed) with a mind of her own. Case in point: her friendship with Eugene Eggar, a Johnstown steel mill worker. And when Elizabeth discovers that the club’s poorly maintained dam is about to burst and send 20 million tons of water careening down the mountain, she risks all to warn Eugene and the townspeople in the lake’s deadly shadow.

Present day: On her eighteenth birthday, genetic information from Lee Parker’s closed adoption is unlocked. She also sees an old photograph of a genetic relative-a 19th Century woman with hair and eyes likes hers-standing in a pile of rubble from an ecological disaster next to none other than Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross. Determined to identify the woman in the photo and unearth the mystery of that captured moment, Lee digs into history. Her journey takes her from California to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, from her present financial woes to her past of privilege, from the daily grind to an epic disaster. Once Lee’s heroic DNA is revealed, will she decide to forge a new fate?


Q & A with Mary Hogan, author of
THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTO...

What’s the story behind THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTO?  How did the book come to be?
I first had the idea for this book 24 years ago! I’m not kidding. In 1992, my husband, actor Robert Hogan, was in an off-Broadway play called On the Bum, also starring Cynthia Nixon and Campbell Scott. The play was set in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, several years after the epic flood. The characters talked about a “lake in the sky” which piqued my curiosity. A few days later, I went to the library to read about such strange geography. That’s when I read the real story of the Johnstown disaster. Wow. I was blown away. What a great story! I held my breath for 24 years worrying that someone would write my book before I got a chance to. There are other books out there about the flood, but nothing like mine.

How did you conduct your research for the book?  Are any of the characters in the book inspired by real-life people?
While on book tour in Pittsburgh for my first young adult novel, THE SERIOUS KISS, I had a free afternoon. So, I rented a car and drove two hours to Johnstown to see it for myself. I could have stayed there for two weeks. There was so much of interest for this Californian girl. Over the years, I would visit twice more. Generously, the President of the Johnstown Heritage Association gave me a day-long tour of everything I needed to tell a compelling tale, including access to the inside of the private Clubhouse which is still standing! Aside from the very real members of the exclusive club: steel titans Andrew Carnegie and Henry Clay Frick, bankers like Andrew Mellon, U.S. Senator and Attorney General Philander Knox, all the characters are fiction.

How was the writing experience for THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTO different from your experience writing your previous novel, TWO SISTERS?
TWO SISTERS was a process of opening up my heart and spilling its contents onto the page. Inspired by the early death of my older sister, I told a tale of family secrets that I knew all too well.  Writing THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTO was a completely different experience. First, I read a gazillion historical novels. Then, I read every book I could find about Johnstown. I even read a novel called, ANNIE KILBURN that was written in 1889 to get a feel for the language of the day. Research, research, research. I was told that women who read historical fiction are fiends about accurate detail. So, my biggest fear about creating a main character who was an upper class woman of the nineteenth century was getting her many corsets right.

Both THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTO and TWO SISTERS center around female relationships.  Why do you think readers are so fascinated by the bonds between female family members?
Ah, yes. Those bonds are complicated, indeed. I have yet to meet a woman who didn’t have a knotty relationship with her sister or her mother. Even when they are smooth, they are bumpy. In my case, my mother and I were very much alike, and my sister and I were very different. So there were a lot of crossed wires. We hurt each other even when we didn’t know it. My dad and my brothers sort of kept their heads down and watched sports. :-)
For me, the best characters are flawed, striving, loving, selfish, feeling, reacting, deep, curious, furious, and worried—mostly—about their hair. In other words: women. 

Is there a particular message you hope readers will take away from THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTO?
One of the themes of this novel is: Is DNA your destiny? Are you born to be who you are? Or, can life itself mold you? I would love for readers to finish THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTO with the sense that we are all on this earth to be kind to one another. To live together. Even on bad hair days.

***My thanks to the folks at William Morrow for permitting me to share this interesting Q & A with the author with my readers, and to Ms. Hogan for allowing us a peek into the inspiration behind the story and the mind of the author - thank you, Mary. 


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Nappa Award-winning author of seven Young Adult novels, Mary Hogan’s first adult novel, TWO SISTERS, tells the gripping, emotional story of a family, sisters and secrets. Mary lives in New York City with her husband Bob and their dog, Lucy.



PRAISE for THE WOMAN IN THE PHOTO:

“Mary Hogan expertly uses the tragic story of the Johnstown Food as background for a fascinating tale of two women, generations apart, who defy expectations to find their own paths to happiness and purpose. Awash in historical detail, this book is a real page-turner.”
Melanie Benjamin, New York Times Best Selling author of THE SWANS OF FIFTH AVENUE and THE AVIATOR’S WIFE

“A fascinating snapshot of two women separated by time—each compelling in her own right - who together make for a novel so appealing you can’t stop reading. Well-researched history and modern intrigue, original and heartfelt....a thoroughly captivating novel”
—New York Times Bestselling author, MJ Rose

“Mary Hogan tells a wonderful story of two young women coming into their own…A beautiful work of historical fiction that pulls you into a distant time and place and makes it feel like home. Hogan does a brilliant job at weaving their two stories together to make one fabulous novel about growing up and discovering who you are in more ways than one.”
—NY Daily News

“…An excellent piece of historical fiction…” —Library Journal


“A great historical selection…with relatable and charming characters and an interesting historical event” —Booklist

***Having been to Johnstown, Pennsylvania and seen the monuments and tributes to those who lost their lives that fateful time in history, and for someone like me who has seen her face reflected back in old pictures of relatives generations long gone, this sounds like an exciting and intriguing read. I hope to fit it into my reading schedule soon and bring you my thoughts. - Amy

Happy Reading Everyone!

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Unwrapping a Review of TORN, a LOST novel by Cynthia Eden

I love a good suspense thriller. When it's also a romance, I get an extra bonus so I got it all in TORN, book four of the LOST series by Cynthia Eden. She never disappoints and this time, she had me on the edge all the way to the reveal of the bad guy…she got me!

***purchased for my own personal reading but sharing my honest and unscripted review

Blurb for TORN:

In New York Times, bestselling author Cynthia Eden’s latest novel featuring the Last Option Search Team (LOST), one agent’s investigation entices a killer into making her his prey.

PARTNERS…FRIENDS…

Forensic anthropologist Victoria Palmer has always been better with the dead than the living. Shutting down her emotions, she lets few people in. But then Victoria’s latest investigation takes her and agent Wade Monroe to Savannah, Georgia. Handsome, dangerous, and more than ready to play dirty on any case, Wade weakens Victoria’s aloofness with just one glance.

…LOVERS

Wade knows their recent cases have pushed Victoria beyond her limits. But her skills are crucial to finding a college student who went missing five years ago. Victoria is able to determine she was murdered, and that the killer is still on the loose.

And when the vicious murderer targets Victoria, Wade must do everything in his power to protect her…because he refuses to let a woman he loves be torn from him…again.

~*~               ~*~               ~*~               ~*~

Victoria Palmer, forensic expert for the Last Option Search Team (LOST), has been the victim of both her father and a suspect, and carries a deep, dark secret. She keeps her secret and stays to herself. So when she and Wade Monroe are assigned to a missing person case in Savannah, she fights her attraction to this man who wants to know her better. The sex with him is great but the closer he gets, the more she worries he’s in danger—from her.

Wade Monroe has been attracted to Victoria for quite some time but when he saw her closed up in a body bag and covered in blood, he feared losing her forever so he’s determined to make her his. He knows she’s attracted to him but something—something dark and fearful—is keeping her from opening up to him and giving in to her heart.

Their mission is to follow-up on a woman who disappeared five years ago. Her boyfriend has never given up hope that Kennedy is still alive somewhere but if she isn’t, he needs to know so he can move on with his life. When Victoria and Wade start looking into things once more, it stirs things up just as another girl goes missing. Are the two connected and when Kennedy’s decomposed body turns up right where she disappeared, is this a message to Victoria and Wade? When the killer starts communicating with Victoria and her alone, he tells her he knows her secret but if she trades herself for the missing girl, they can play together. Wade is not going to let anything happen to Victoria, now or ever.

TORN by Cynthia Eden is edge of your seat, nail biting intense suspense that will have you turning the pages eager to find out what happens next and who the bad guy is—and Cynthia doesn’t disappoint. As usual, her LOST characters are intriguing, carrying deep dark secrets, and sexy as hell—Wade and Victoria steam up the pages. The men are protective and in charge, but the women aren’t shrinking violets, not by a long shot. Action packed, the mystery abounds, and Victoria adds a level of angst and introversion that makes you want to reach into the book and hug her. She carries such guilt, remorse, anger, and a need for someone to love her that she is as much a victim as the missing women. Wade is the man to do the job though and do it well. Both broken and guilt ridden, they come together to help each other and that makes this story so much more satisfying even beyond the engrossing mystery.

I highly recommend TORN, book four in the LOST series by Cynthia Eden to absolutely everyone who enjoys a good thriller. As with all of the books in this series, I do recommend starting from the beginning and reading them in order but each can easily be read as a standalone. But please…just read them. This is one of the best series out there and I hope it continues for a long time. TORN rocks! If I were giving stars, I'd give it double.

TORN, a LOST novel by Cynthia Eden, Avon Romance, available in print or ebook formats at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobobooks.

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

99¢ Sale Blitz! for LET ME, an O'Brien Family novel by Cecy Robson with #teasers & #excerpt

LET ME
The O’Brien Family Book Two
by Cecy Robson

available now for only 99¢ at
Amazon | B & N | iTunes | Kobo

Limited Time Only

Once, he was broken beyond repair. Now this MMA contender is fighting to be a better man—for her. RT Book Reviews proclaims that the O’Brien Family series from award-winning author Cecy Robson “has the hottest brothers ever!” And in LET ME, it is Finn’s turn to discover how love can heal the deepest wounds.

A mixed martial arts star on the rise, Finn O’Brien dismantles his opponents with brutal precision. And yet beneath his fierce persona, Finn is raw from a trauma he’s buried for years . . . until the day his deep-rooted rage erupts and lands him in court-mandated therapy. Finn’s not one to bare his soul, but if talking it out means meeting beautiful women like Sol Marieles, he’ll give it a shot.

Sol is working toward her master’s degree in psychology, and already she feels like she’s in over her head. With an important internship on the line and a scary family situation demanding her attention, the last thing Sol needs is Finn around to distract her. The man is ripped and seriously sexy yet it’s his troubled side that warns her to keep her distance. But their attraction is intense, and he clearly has the heat to see how far and fast their passion takes them.

Alone, Finn and Sol have been fighting to find happiness in their lives. Together, there’s no stopping them as they face their greatest challenges—not in the ring, but in their hearts. 




EXCERPT:

The heavy door to the lobby opens with a loud smack, drawing attention to those waiting to be seen. The counseling center is private and held in high regard. The majority of our clients come from money, but a few of our therapists work pro bono, counseling those from working class backgrounds similar to mine. Some are like Loretta, suffering from eating disorders and mild anxiety issues. But the majority are severely damaged individuals with suicidal tendencies. I catch sight of one of our more heartbreaking cases sitting in the corner beside his father. Poor kid, he can’t be more than fifteen. And there he waits with his wrists bandaged down to his elbows.
I want to walk over and give him and his dad a hug. Both look like they could use one. Those people on the street who offer free hugs to strangers? I’m one of them. I always have been.
Today though, I refrain, staying focused on Loretta. “Good job,” I tell her, knowing how hard she’s trying. “I’ll see you next week.”
“Sol?”
I turn my head. I know that voice. Loretta doesn’t bother with a goodbye, leaving me instead with a “Mm, yummy” when she sees who called to me.
“Yummy”. Yes, that about sums up Finn.
Finn O’Brien, damn. You know those cute guys . . . those really hot kind of cute guys? Finn blows them away. I’m not typically attracted to redheads, but I make the exception for Finn. Oh, and Jamie from Outlander.
Finn has the whole bad boy thing going on, tats crawling along his muscular arms, hair buzzed on the sides and short on top. A modern Mohawk, it think that’s what it’s called. Oh, and don’t get me started on that dimple on his right cheek that appears when he grins, just like he’s doing now.
“Hi, Finn,” I say. His brother is with him, the one that looks the most like him. He’s older by a few years, handsome, polished, perfect. Well, if you like that sort of thing. Me? Did I mention how sexy Finn is?
His light blue eyes sparkle as I pass Zorina, the poor girl trapped in her own world following a brutal assault on the train. She pretends to play instruments that aren’t there, reality slipping so far from her grasp, it’s almost out of her reach.
I tilt my head in the direction of Finn’s brother because by now it’s obvious I’m gawking at Finn. “You’re Seamus, right?” I ask.
“No, I’m Declan,” he answers in a deep voice.
Oh, right. The district attorney. “Sorry. I know that Finn has a few brothers,” I offer. I should be impressed seeing how Declan has made quite a name for himself in the political arena, and I am. But Finn is who lures my attention and keeps it, despite my best efforts to appear more relaxed. “What are you doing here?” I ask.
He shrugs. “Waiting for you.”
Declan sighs, moving away from us and reaching for his phone. I grin even though I’m sure Finn is feeding me a line. The last time I saw him was at my cousin Sofia’s wedding. I’d brought my friend Alex as my date and Finn, well, he showed up with some girl with big breasts and very little clothes. And funny enough, I still had a hard time keeping my eyes off him.
“Really?” I ask.
“Yeah. Really,” he answers, leaning back on his heels and making a show of checking me out. “Don’t forget, you still owe me a kiss.”

LET ME




ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Cecy Robson is a new adult and contemporary author of the Shattered Past series, the O’Brien Family novels and upcoming Carolina Beach novels, as well as the award-winning author of the Weird Girls urban fantasy romance series. A 2016 double nominated RITA®finalist for Once Pure and Once Kissed, Cecy is a recovering Jersey girl living in the South who enjoys carbs way too much, and exercise way too little. Gifted and cursed with an overactive imagination, you can typically find her on her laptop silencing the yappy characters in her head by telling their stories.