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Showing posts from March, 2017

strictly literary: but then i came back by estelle laure

eden jones doesn't know where she was when she was in a coma. she just knows she wasn't here. she knows she saw her family. she knows that her past was closer to her than ever before. she knows that the other girl in a coma in the hospital ward was there too. and she knows that jasmine is trying to tell her something. but then i came back   is about eden's recovery. it's about how trauma changes you. it's about how one thing can change everything about you, except it can't change who you really are. she's experienced something so outside of anyone's realm of understanding. her friends, her family, they are trying, but she can't help but feel closest to jasmine, the girl still in a coma and joe the guy who holds her fate in his hands. the book opens with eden's accident. an out of body experience told in the second person. and then we are in the during, as she comes back and figures out how to start living again. the hardest thing is figurin

something from the archives: say goodbye - part 13

parts 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 and 12 are all at the links. after the jump we have part 13 available for your reading pleasure.

simply all about confessions of a former puck bunny - a cover reveal

Today I’m revealing the cover for CONFESSIONS OF A FORMER PUCK BUNNY by Cindi Madsen!

seriously romantic: a fare to remember by opal carew

i'd never read an opal carew book before, but when i read other people's reviews i realized that it's apparently her thing to have her books appear to be normal contemporary romances and turn out to be something unexpected. i'm pretty open-minded about the kind of romance books i read, i'm not one to go about clutching my pearls because "oh my, erotica or bdsm or threesomes or homosexuality or bisexuality." i have hard limits, like pedophilia and bestiality, for example, but i don't think those would surprise anyone. but even though i'm open-minded, i also like to know what i'm getting myself into. and the blurb to a fare to remember barely touches what the actual romance is about. [n.b. i've noticed that the blurb has been updated on amazon to sort of hint of the actual story, but this was not the original blurb i read. the one i read actually had a different name for the main character and may have related to an earlier draft. but my

seriously romantic: crazy for you by rachel lacey

emma rush has loved ryan blake forever and always. and in crazy for you , she finally decides that the time has come to take a leap. ever since she lost her entire family before she turned 20 she's been in a holding pattern. she wants to get a degree in landscape architecture and design, she wants to own her own landscaping company, she wants to be with ryan blake and she wants to jump off a cliff with him by the end of the summer. ryan's best friend was emma's brother. and he promised to look out for her. and how can he break a promise to his dead friend? even if it's what emma wants, even if it's what he wants, the fact remains that a promise is a promise. but when emma calls his bluff and threatens to see other people, ryan can't stand back any longer. and once he stops holding back, there's nothing to stop the love and the passion and the sweet friendship that emma and ryan share from blooming into a full-blown relationship. but emma is leaving at

release week blitz: simply all about crazy for you

  ABOUT THE BOOK Title: CRAZY FOR YOU Author: Rachel Lacey Series: Risking It All, #2 On Sale: March 28, 2017 Publisher: Forever Mass Market: $7.99 USD eBook: $6.99 USD Add to Goodreads The second book in Rachel Lacey's irresistible contemporary romance series about three foster brothers who return to their hometown to open an extreme sports business, perfect for fans of Kristan Higgins, Rachel Gibson, and Jill Shalvis! SHE'S TAKING A WALK ON HIS WILD SIDE Emma Rush can't remember a time when she didn't have a thing for Ryan Blake. Haven's resident bad boy is just so freakin' hot-with tattoos, a motorcycle, and enough rough-around-the-edges sexiness to melt all her self-control. Now that Emma's over being a "good girl," she needs a little help being naughty . . . and she knows just where to start. Before Emma's brother enlisted in the military, he made Ryan promise that he would protect her from everyth

seriously romantic: the highland duke by amy jarecki

akira ayres is a dedicated healer, even if most her patients are ready to toss her off the british isles due to her gypsy heritage, she has a duty to uphold. after a jacobite uprising, akira is helping the wounded when she comes across an injured jacobite, our titular highland duke , with a musket ball buried in his leg. with the local lord in the redcoat's pockets, helping this man could have devastating consequences for akira and her family, but she does not hesitate. even when he refuses to tell her his name. geordie, the duke of gordon, isn't sharing his identity for akira's own safety. he's worried she'll be in greater danger if she ends up being questioned by the redcoats. and he needs her to stay safe, if only to repay her for her assistance in escaping the battlefield. it would have been disastrous for his family if he had been caught. from the battlefield, geordie and akira travel across scotland to geordie's main seat. and the close quarters they

release week blitz: simply all about the highland duke

  ABOUT THE BOOK Title: THE HIGHLAND DUKE Author: Amy Jarecki Series: Lords of the Highlands, #1 On Sale: March 28, 2017 Publisher: Forever Mass Market: $7.99 USD eBook: $3.99 USD Add to Goodreads Indie author Amy Jarecki makes her print debut with a brand-new series about rugged Highland lords. She'll put her life on the line for him . . . When Akira Ayres finds the brawny Scot with a musket ball in his thigh, the healer has no qualms about doing whatever it takes to save his life. Even if it means fleeing with him across the Highlands to tend to his wounds while English redcoats are closing in. Though Akira is as fierce and brave as any of her clansmen, even she's intimidated by the fearsome, brutally handsome Highlander who refuses to reveal his name. Yet she can never learn his true identity. Geordie knows if Akira ever discovers he's the Duke of Gordon, both her life and his will be forfeit in a heartbeat. The only way to

seriously romantic: forever mine by erin nicholas

forever mine is book 2 in the opposites attract series from erin nicholas, and our opposites trying to resist their crazy attraction are ex-cop and risk-taker, maya goodwin, and a risk-averse, world-renowned pediatrician, dr. alex nolan. alex first comes across maya at a demonstration for her self-defense classes. from the moment he sees her, he can't keep his eyes off her. and she notices him too. his presence is enough of a distraction that she loses focus, which is not a good thing to happen in a staged battle. and every time she runs into him it's as if their bodies have some sort of magnetic attraction because she can't keep her eyes off him. honestly, she can barely keep her hands off him. and since maya is the jump first, ask questions later kind of girl, she's ready to go all-in. but alex isn't like that. and he has reasons to stay away from maya, even if they are hard to remember in the moment. he only recently learned that he has a nine-year-old dau

release week blitz: simply all about forever mine

ABOUT THE BOOK Title: FOREVER MINE Author: Erin Nicholas Series: Opposites Attract, #2 On Sale: March 28, 2017 Publisher: Forever Mass Market: $7.99 USD eBook: $3.99 USD Add to Goodreads The second book in New York Times bestselling author Erin Nicholas's series about three geeky girls and the hunky guys who fall for them. Maya Goodwin doesn't believe in holding back. Ever. As a cop, she never hesitated to throw herself into harm's way to save someone. Even after an injury on the job forces her to retire, she's not afraid to keep risking it all to get the life she wants. With a new career teaching martial arts to kids already underway, she's looking forward to the future - and taking a chance on the unbelievably hot Dr. Alex Nolan. Maya - daring and spontaneous - is the exact opposite of what Alex always thought he wanted. But when a nine-year-old daughter he never knew existed shows up on his doorstep, Maya is the on

seriously romantic: take me back by meghan march

dane and kat have one last chance to save their marriage. in take me back , they start out not at all on the same page but for one thing. in spite of all the lies and half-truths, in spite of the anger and the disappointment and loss, they want to be together. so they take a ten-day vacation to belize to see if their marriage is something they can save. and you know it's going to take a lot of heartache before they can even decide if that's possible. these characters are hiding some pretty big secrets, from us, from each other, maybe even from themselves. and maybe in order to find what it will take to fix things they have to break it all apart completely. every confession, every memory, every lie, every truth chips away at the walls they've built in their marriage, the walls they've built around their hearts. and this is painful, it's emotionally devastating, but it's also renewal. but to get to that renewal they have to fight like hell. because everyth

strictly literary: paper and fire by rachel caine

the second book in the great library series picks up about a month after ink  and bone  with everyone scattered to their work assignments, morgan locked away with the obscurists and thomas (it is revealed early on) held captive by the artifex in a mysterious location. the first third of paper and fire involves jess, glain, dario and khalila putting together the clues to lead them to where thomas is being held. the second third of the book involves them figuring out how to get him out and the last third sets us up for the conclusion of the series. the action really dragged in this one, at least until the characters are all together in the roman catacombs and later when they are in the tower occupied by the obscurists. unlike the first book where there was a lot of focus on the relationships between the characters, this book is all action with minimal character development. we do get some additional information on the characters' backgrounds, but nothing that would alter our und

strictly literary: blood rose rebellion by rosalyn eves

inevitably, blood is spilled in revolution and in blood rose rebellion   things are no different. there is blood, but also magic, love, loss, anger. anna arden has always believed she understood her place in the world. not that she was happy with it. growing up in a well-established luminate family, she was expected to wield magic, her bloodline promised powerful magic. but her confirmation was a disaster. and so she was raised as a barren, one devoid of magic. this would affect her social standing, and in this version of victorian london, society and it's mores are much the same as our version of victorian london. even still she was different. she could feel magic. it called to her. and yet, something always went awry when magic was performed in her presence. it was as if she had the power to break spells, a talent that shouldn't be possible. a talent not easily explained by the teachings of luminate society. when anna breaks the magic of her sister's spell during h

seriously romantic: it started with a kiss by ella quinn

the attraction between gideon, duke of rothwell, and lady louisa vivers is intense and immediate. they cross paths on horseback one morning, and without exchanging more than a glance they can't stop thinking about each other. it started with a kiss  follows gideon and louisa as they navigate their courtship and the london season and their respective families, who happen to be the ones getting in the way of things. because from moment one, gideon and louisa are pretty obviously "it" for one another. that one moment in the park and it was like their souls recognized their other half. and the more time they spend together, the more they share with each other, the more obvious it is that there is no other end to their story than love and marriage and happily ever after. it's not all smooth sailing, of course, gideon is dealing with the consequences of his late father's descent into what society at the time called dementia, but was more likely alzheimer's dis

seriously romantic: a perfect gentleman by candace camp

graeme parr, earl of montclair, has always been a perfect gentleman , at least until his wedding night where he behaves like a total jerk to his young bride. he is upset and angry because her father has forced him into this marriage, and when he tells abby that he intends to never consume their marriage, that he has no respect for her or her father's way of capturing husbands, he doesn't realize how he is shattering her illusions. because his truth is that he is in love with someone else, but for his family's sake, he has been forced to marry for money. so abby and her father can keep the title they've paid for, but they can't take anything else from him. he has nothing left to give. abigail thought he was her knight in shining armor. saving her from a life with an overbearing, tyrannical dad. she had no idea what machinations her father employed behind her back. and when she realizes that her husband isn't the man she thought he was, she runs away, first to

something from the archives: say goodbye - part 12

catch up with parts 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , and 11 . read part 12 after the jump.

seriously romantic: a small town bride by hope ramsay

in a small town bride , there is no reason that we should like amy lyndon. it's not a crime to be rich, but the level of entitled is appalling. and when a fight with her dad ends with him cutting her off because he's tired of supporting her it's hard to be upset on her behalf. until you realize, that he's only cutting her off because she isn't marrying the guy he's picked for her. and that's kind of gross. but amy lyndon is plucky and stubborn and smarter than she realizes. because soon enough she's got a job working the grounds at the local resort. even though her boss, dusty mcneil, thinks she's just another rich bimbo. but when he realizes that she's actually in a desperate situation and he sees how she works hard and finds ways to succeed at building a new life for herself outside of her family's sphere of influence, he can't help but change his mind about her. this is one of those small town romances where everyone knows everyo