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Showing posts from July, 2018

seriously romantic: courting carlyn by melissa chambers

courting carlyn  is a perfect summer ya contemporary. carlyn is an aspiring tennis pro, she's gunning for a position at a division i school, but her coaching has not been aggressive and at tryouts she chokes with nerves. when vaughn, one of the stars of the amateur circuit, approaches her about co-leading a youth tennis summer camp her first question is "why her?" but vaughn is desperate and offers her time with his coach and help on the court to get her ready to make the team at her dream university. when his coach offers even more tips in exchange for carlyn working to convince vaughn to turn pro, she's conflicted but ultimately accepts. there's a strict no-fraternization rule to follow, so there's no way vaughn and carlyn are going to get close. except this is a romance and of course they get close. and the way these two open up to each other and face their baggage is really sweet and tender. ultimately this is a really heartwarming read. **courti

seriously romantic: the highland chieftain by amy jarecki

the lords of the highlands series is just going to keep going, which is amazing because i think there are so many stories to tell about these scots whose loyalties are torn up and whose cause will ultimately fail. the highland chieftain  picks up threads first hinted at in the highland guardian . lady mairi mackenzie was supposed to marry her cousin reid, but he fell in love with his ward audrey, and lady mairi was basically jilted by the man she had been promised to since birth. in the void, duncan macrae steps in to ask for her hand, but is soundly rejected. he thinks it's because mairi thinks he isn't good enough for her. but the truth is, she thinks he's only asked out of pity. she doesn't want a man to pity-marry her. she wants to be wanted. but she's been conditioned not to see it. when duncan rescues her from an attack by english soldiers, they are forced to run away. her father decides to accuse duncan of kidnapping, and in order to evade capture and a

seriously romantic: the warrior of clan kincaid by lily blackwood

when derryth macclaren is sent away for her own protection given the likelihood that her sister's keep is about to be held under seige by troops representing the dreaded wolf, it is exceedingly unlucky that she ends up in enemy hands. the warrior of clan kincaid  is one of those sweeping highland stories that has it all, sexy scotsmen and political intrigue and swooning. saved from assault by a commanding officer named cull. derryth fights to escape, even as everything cull does is intended to keep her safe at the army camp. she's a beautiful young woman, one whose strategic value he isn't even aware of, and cull who only memories of childhood are of being a slave and having no name, is sensitive to her plight.  sharing a tent means that the crazy sexual tension between them is pretty much off the charts. but she's an innocent, and cull isn't the type to take advantage.  and then everything goes haywire and the way these two characters commit to each o

superbly suspenseful: darkest night by megan erickson

the wired & dangerous series continues with darkest night , with hitman/hacker jamison "jock" bosh on duty protecting fiona madden. fiona's past as a victim of human trafficking makes her a target for the men the wired & dangerous crew are trying to take down. when jock's cover is blown, fiona is at first shocked by the idea that someone would consider her worth protecting, but she's also grateful that once in her life she doesn't have to do all the worrying alone. for the first time in a decade fiona feels safe. and for the first time in a decade, she also feels something other than fear or panic when she's with a man. jock was half in love with fiona before he got the job of being her bodyguard. he knows her trauma. he's seen the tapes. but he doesn't see her as damaged or broken or as something that needs to be fixed. he sees something precious and beautiful and worth protecting. and navigating those feelings while fiona's li

seriously romantic: handle with care by nina croft

the o'connor boys drew an unlucky lot at childhood. none more than middle brother tanner, who after two years in prison for manslaughter has returned to saddler cove and set up a respectable business with his brothers selling and customizing motorcycles. as handle with care opens, emily towson's (meddling) grandmother, mimi, decides to buy a motorcycle for her 70th birthday, she correctly anticipates that this will force emily and tanner into contact with each other. emily goes to tanner's shop to yell at him. and somehow ends up sleeping with him. and when it turns out that those expiration dates on condoms do actually matter, suddenly emily is faced with dealing with an outdated morality clause in her teaching contract and raising a baby with a guy she isn't sure is all that interested in her. both emily and tanner have a lot of baggage and insecurities from their childhood. emily is always afraid of being someone's unwelcome responsibility. and tanner f

simply all about until we're more by cindi madsen - a cover reveal

i've got some cover reveal goodness from entangled embrace and cindi madsen when you click the link below...

seriously romantic: dominate by amy daws

with dominate  the harris brother series ends. and the way it closes out this family's story is utter perfection. of course, gareth had to be the one to end things. he's the glue that holds the harrises together. he's the one who pulled them out of the grief and allowed them to grow and live and become all they could be. and sloan and him together are perfection. how he loves her, it's just so beautiful. he's all-in. he's all surety. he's so strong and steadfast and i love it. i love him.  i spent the entire book savoring every second i could bask in gareth. seriously he is like my number one book boyfriend. his strength and baggage and overall amazingness has me crazy in love. this is the most epic conclusion that daws could have come up with. it's the end of the series, but these characters will live on in my heart. i just love them. **dominate will publish on july 27, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of give me books/a

seriously romantic: warnings and wildfires by autumn jones lake

warnings and wildfires  is set in the same world as the lost kings motorcycle club books, but stands alone and apart enough from the mc universe. sully is a mma gym owner and aubrey is at first a client and then an employee. she's younger than he is, but he finds he can't stop himself from taking care of her. aubrey and sully both have some baggage, sully has a nearly teenaged daughter that he'd like to see more than he does. and aubrey's dealt with some serious trauma in her past, where the people who should have taken care of her did not. but sully is there. even when he doesn't always understand what is happening, he is there for her. and being taken care of is exactly what aubrey needs, but he also lends her his strength in a way that allows her to be strong. **warnings and wildfires published on july 24, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of candi kane pr in exchange for my honest review. keep reading for more information on the book

simply all about big mountain by penny wylder - a cover reveal

Cover Reveal: July 25th Release Date: August 2nd Add to Goodreads

seriously romantic: coming home by audrey wick

in coming home ,  mallory fredrick finds herself on a forced sabbatical after a student makes threats against her online. her confidence shaken and her sense of security seriously disturbed, mallory decides to move back to seguin and live with her sister, paige for the semester. prepping for the move is a logistical nightmare as it has to come together quickly and before the holidays. when mallory calls the four guys moving company, the last thing she expects is for one of the guys to become her guy. alec o'donnell doesn't know what it is about mallory. when she first calls him in tears and later as he spends time with her, he wants to know her better. he wants to get closer. but she's leaving town and his home is in santa fe. and who starts a long distance romance based on a week's acquaintance. she's a client. he was her mover. but the heart wants what the heart wants. and mallory and alec can't stop thinking about each other. when a wrench is thrown i

superbly suspenseful: assassin games by sidney bristol

the latest tarnished heroes novel has cia contractor anderson gratney working to protect cia analyst carol sark from the group within the cia that has been leaking and compromising government missions for years. carol has a program that might connect all the dots, but she's not a true coder. andy, however has skills. he's got assassin skills, he's got covert spy skills, and he's got hacker skills. he's the full package. and so assassin games  kicks off in high gear. with carol, andy breaks protocol in small ways. when they first make contact he pretends to be a flirtatious guy named mark. and he wants to believe that mark isn't real. that the guy carol falls for isn't him. but over time carol sees that mark is andy and andy is mark. that underneath the badass super spy there is a sweet guy who she could easily love. and that to be loved by that guy, the badass super spy with the sweet guy buried deep, would be life-affirming. given the stakes, life-aff

seriously romantic: one wedding, two brides by heidi betts

one wedding, two brides is a laugh-out-loud style rom-com. monica blair is the kind of heroine who is her own kind of crazy. and when she meets up with ryder nash, somehow he gets swept up in her plans even as he tells her she's off her rocker. but she promises money, and that's the one thing he needs to get his ranch back in the black. he wants to set up an equine therapy for children, and the equipment is expensive and he's already in debt up to his eyeballs. but the money she promises was already stolen by her no-good ex-fiancé, a.k.a., the jerk who married ryder's sister. monica has a plan to get the money back and ryder is desperate enough to go along with it. but he's not letting monica out of his sight, so he holds her to the marriage vows they spoke hours after meeting each other. the more time they spend together, the more they become part of each other's lives. and soon the promise of money isn't the only thing holding them together. for a

seriously romantic: surrender by amy daws

the truth is i fell in love with gareth harris in that one moment . There was something about the mysterious older harris sibling that has intrigued me. and i'm so, so thrilled that we finally get to see the man behind the enigma. the harris brothers books are all standalones, but to understand who each of these men are as characters, it's best to read them in order. the other truth is that i have a lot of emotions and feelings and words about surrender but all of them are garbled and crazy-sounding because i don't think i know the right way to express how much i loved this story. i beyond love this story. sloan and gareth are... ...they are just mind-blowing together. i love their relationship. i love how they touch each other. i love how they communicate and don't communicate, it's complicated and emotional and just absolutely perfect. they are messily perfect together, and because it's a duet, the story isn't over by the end of surrender . we a

seriously romantic: playing hurt by kelly jamieson

when hockey player chase hartman starts tweeting at pop star jordyn banks the last thing either of them expects is to find themselves in the middle of a big romance. she's la-based and he plays for chicago. their lives are not easily intertwined, but their emotions are. in playing hurt  kelly jamieson again has another winning romance. i loved this book so much. chase and jordyn are absolutely fantastic, relatable characters. how their relationship deepens over twitter, over time is really sweet. but the aces hockey books also know how to pack just the right emotional punch. this one is so good. this series is an auto-buy at this point. **playing hurt will publish on july 17, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/random house publishing group (loveswept) in exchange for my honest review. 

seriously romantic: rock legend by tara leigh

rock legend continues tara leigh's nothing but trouble series and follows publicist piper who has a past with drummer, landon cox. landon is a mess in the present day. and piper is the one person who can get him focused. she's the girl he let slip away. their past heartbreak informs their present. and getting things on track is not a straight path. there are misunderstandings aplenty, but at the end of the day, piper and landon have something special between them. landon is a mess, but you really come to understand his demons. and piper's issues are just as deep, and landon works hard to overcome them. in the end, the story is a really lovely second-chance at love. **rock legend will publish on july 17, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/grand central publishing (forever yours) in exchange for my honest review. 

seriously romantic: once upon a player by christina phillips

when violet fills in for her mom on a house cleaning gig as once upon a player opens, she doesn't expect to run into lucas carter. he just happened to be her teenage crush. and he's still super hot. and he's flirting with her. but she's sworn off footballers. lucas is used to girls that fall all over him. but it's been a long time since he's been interested in hooking up. he sees what his twin brother has with his girl and wants that too. and he thinks that he can find that with violet. but first, he has to get past the barriers she's built up around her heart. and apart from some silly miscommunications, this story is really a sweet love story between two characters who can't stay away from each other. **once upon a player will publish on july 16, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/entangled publishing (embrace) in exchange for my honest review. 

something from the archives: another sunset - part 14

and so it ends...

seriously romantic: the real deal by lauren blakely

the real deal  is basically my favorite romance trope catnip. i love a good fake relationship becomes real story, and that's what we get here. from the moment theo and april meet they click. maybe a little too well, if they intend to follow through with this plan to have theo play her good bad boy boyfriend at her family's annual family reunion/competition. but theo doesn't just click with april. he clicks with her whole family. and keeping away from each other is probably going to make them crazy. so from everything fake, it becomes real. but theo has some baggage he's carrying around, and he's not open about it april. as much as they share, he can't stop himself from holding back. and holding back will definitely get him in trouble. although if we're honest, and that is my job, the thing that upsets her is kind of trivial, and it's one of those things that i'm not entirely sure i understand why anyone would get so upset about. but i think tha

seriously romantic: free fall by emmy curtis

i loved the latest elite ops novel, i put   free fall  on my tbr pile as soon as i finished wingman and it did not disappoint. the chemistry between duke and casey has been palpable throughout the series and it really sizzles in this book. duke and casey find themselves on the run, knowing that the company casey works for is out for their blood and will stop at nothing to find and destroy them both for whatever intel they might have inadvertently gathered. it's intense and the way the tension spills over into an attraction that can't be resisted just works for me. i love casey and duke together. i love that they've always noticed each other. i love that they are on exactly the same wavelength from the get-go. even if they are too shy to acknowledge it. these two are #relationshipgoals. anyway, i really enjoyed this series as a whole. while we get a nice epilogue here, it's also possible that there are more stories set in this world, though perhaps not all so close

something from the archives: another sunset - part 13

getting closer to the end on this one... after that i'm not sure if i have any fics left. which feels crazy!

seriously romantic; an affair with a spare by shana galen

an affiar with a spare  is the third book in the survivors series, and rafe beaumont might be my favorite hero. her's charming and kind and sensitive. he's not maybe the smartest or most savvy but when he falls for collette he falls heart and soul and he will do everything to protect her. so much of this story is built around the plot of the animosity between the french and british post-napoleon. but how collette and rafe build their relationship really builds on the emotional and physical attraction between these two characters. it ends up being super romantic and swoony and of course, it's exactly what you want to read. or maybe it's exactly what i want to read. **an affair with a spare will publish on july 3, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/sourcebooks casablanca in exchange for my honest review. 

strictly literary: alpha by jus accardo

alpha is the final book in the infinity division series. dylan granger has been the antagonist throughout the series, but his doppelgänger g is not quite that. he's not necessarily all good. he's volatile and just as in love with a version of ava, except she's known as sera. g and sera have escaped from the hold of an evil version of cora anderson. one who has experimented and tortured both g and sera. and to get out from under her influence they need to complete a specific set of tasks. the suspense and the danger that they face continues to draw them together, but g pushes against this because he feels so unworthy. he has enough of the bad dylan in him that he worries about being worthy. alpha  ties up the loose ends and closes out the series on a good note. a very enjoyable read, but i would recommend picking up infinity and omega . **alpha will publish on july 3, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/entangled publishing (entanglted tee

seriously romantic: sweet home highland christmas by may mcgoldrick

previously released in a highland christmas anthology, sweet home highland christmas  is a sweet novella that continues the pennington family story. captain gregory pennington has been commissioned by his brother to accompany family friends back home. penn doesn't know who to expect, but a little sprite named ella and her guardian freya sutherland isn't quite it. because meeting freya and her young charge changes everything. freya is set to meet with ella's grandmother and has to prove that she has the stability and the means to provide for her. to that end she's convinced that she must marry her cousin in a marriage of convenience that she dreads. that everyone dreads for her, because her cousin isn't a good man. penn realizes quickly that he needs to make things right for freya. and while he does swoop in and fix everything, he does so without expectations. but his kindness, his friendship, his ability to see the freya before all the responsibility she bears m

simply all about surrender and dominate by amy daws - a cover reveal

click the link for the big cover reveal!

seriously romantic: the kiss of the royal by lindsey duga

kiss of the royal   tells the story of ivy, a princess of the legion, one who bears the mark of myriana and who’s kiss is magic. when her fifth partner is killed, a partnership is proposed to the swordsman of the west, of whom rumors and tall takes abound. zach is exceptional but he is half royal and half romantica and he believes that the royal kisses are causing more problems in their world than saving it. ivy doesn’t know what to believe. but when zach agrees to be bound to her, he doesn’t fully realize the implications of bonding. on a quest to stop the kingdom from falling to the greatest darkness it has fced yet. but on this quest, everything ivy has been taught is called into question. and what she feels for zach and what he feels for her might be what saves them all in the end.  i so enjoyed this fantasy story. ivy and zach’s relationship is enjoyable to watch develop.  **kiss of the royal will publish on july 3, 2018. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of