Love Always, Damian by d. Nichole King

Love Always, Damian

(Love Always Series Book #2)

by d. Nichole King

Released: May 26th 2015

Publisher: Limitless Publishing

They say time heals all wounds. 
What a load of bull. It’s been four years, and Kate’s voice still echoes in my mind. 
Every. Damn. Day. 
I numb her memory when it taunts me. In college, I drown her out with booze and easy lays. 
I can’t do what she asked. 
I can’t let her go. 
Not even when Lia shows up, freaking ripping what’s left of me to shreds. Caring about someone isn’t worth the deadness that follows after they’re gone. I didn’t ask for this. Didn’t ask for her. 
And I sure as hell didn’t plan to miss her when she walked out of my front door. Now, if I want to keep her, I have to straighten myself out and earn her. I can’t screw this up. 
Because if I do, I’ll lose more than just Lia. 

I’ll lose my life…

My Thoughts...

Let me start by saying that I was lucky enough to get all three books in this series at the same time, I highly suggest reading them  in order, but Love Always, Damian can be read as a stand-a-lone.  With the first book I was in tears throughout so much of the story.   The second was just a short add on to the story from book one.   The second was the rest of the Kate, Damian, and Ellie’s story.  

Love Always, Damian is amazing.    D. Nichole King writes in such a heartfelt way.    I was pulled in from the very beginning.    There is nothing easy about writing a story that involves cancer, lost of love ones, and the grief that comes from losing them.    This story was written with such care, such understanding, and such grace that it was not as hard to read as I expected.  

I was entirely shocked when Lia came into his world and change him entirely.    The struggles he had were real.   He had to re-evaluate his entire life.   Lia truly saved his life.  I shudder to think of where he would have ended up without her.   The path to destruction was the only way he knew how to live his life after losing Kate, I prayed and hoped that something or someone would come along and change his path.   He had a lot to live for, yet could not see it without help.   

This is a book that I highly recommend.    It is a book that will open your eyes to how people handle grief, how one person can change your world, and how friends can make a difference.   

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••*´¨`*•.☆•Excerpt••*´¨`*•.☆•

It takes me an hour to get to the cemetery. After Mom and Liam died, I never stepped foot here. Not until Kate convinced me to come. It had been one of her five wishes. One through three I’d done because she was with me. Because I loved her. I promised her number four, so I followed through. Number five, though?

Number five is impossible.

I come here often now—day, night, whenever I need to be close to her. Even in death, Kate draws me in. To this place where she’d only trodden once when she was alive.

I grab the three bouquets of flowers from the passenger seat and swing the door open. When Kate brought me here four years ago, I barely managed to get out of the car. Now it’s easy.

Too fucking easy.

I don’t even think about coming anymore. It’s automatic. Routine, like my nightly shots of whiskey.

It shouldn’t be like this. In three short years I lost the three people I loved most. Death sucks, and I’ve had my fill.

I slam the door closed and tread over the grass. The three identical stones jut up from the ground, and even when I’m here after dark, I don’t have a problem seeing them. They’re etched into my memory.

The idea to have Kate buried here beside my mother and brother was entirely mine and entirely selfish. The Browdys had asked me to help with her funeral arrangements, and other than the time of the graveside service, this had been my only request. This way she’d be close to me.

Shade from the elder tree casts a shadow over them. I stand inside its cover from the sun, facing the cold memorials. These pieces of granite have no real connection with the people they were.

Hell, they didn’t even pick them out. Didn’t see them, yet their names, dates of birth and death are etched into them as if they’d been owned by those they claim to represent.

Cemeteries—these stones—aren’t for the dead.

No, they’re for the living.

My gaze trails over the Celtic symbols engraved at the center of each one. Identical to the tattoos inked into my body. Faith. Brotherhood. Hope.

My eyes linger on Kate’s as they usually do, and the memory of when I’d given her the trinity heart necklace pours over me.

“It’s the Celtic symbol for hope. Now you’ll always know where to find it,” I’d told her.

Damn. I’d given it to her so she’d think of me whenever she needed me, but really, it was I who needed her.

I take a deep breath to hold myself together. I lost everything the day Kate died.

I rake a hand through my hair and shut my eyes. Out here, away from everyone, I don’t have to pretend that I have a fucking clue how to live without her.

Out here, it’s just me.

In front of Kate’s gravestone, I lower myself to the ground, dropping the flowers at my side. My chest is empty, yet somehow, it hurts. It’s the same damn thing year after year—aching to see her smile at me just one more time. One more and I’d be satisfied, I tell myself.

I know it’s a lie because one more smile from her would never be enough. I need to touch her, run my fingers over her warm skin and protect the hell out of her.

But I’m a failure. I had the power within me, in my blood, to save her, and I failed.

I can barely see the inches in front of me as I break down. Four years ago, my father sat here with me and told me the pain would never go away, but it would lessen over time.

What a load of bullshit; the pain has only grown.

“I miss you so damn much, Katie,” I say even though she can’t hear me. And that thought kicks me in the gut as much as anything. No matter what I say to her now, she’ll never know any of it.

I slide my fingertips over her name: Kathryn “Katie” Browdy. Seventeen short years on this earth and I only had her last months. They were the best months of my life.

I sit with her until the sun begins to send streaks of gold over the horizon. Even though Kate would be disappointed, I need to pick up more liquor before I head home. I have to have something to get me through this pain.

A gust of wind rustles the dead flowers I left on their graves last week. I scoop them up and replace them with the fresh ones I brought. Daisies for my mother, some generic flowers he wouldn’t give a shit about for Liam, and red roses for Kate.

Always red roses for my Katie.

“Love you, Mom,” I murmur, fanning out the daisies in the vase beside her headstone.

Then I move onto Liam’s. “Take care of my girl, man,” I tell him, then I remember how I’d taken care of his. “But if you touch her, I’ll fucking kill you.”

I squat down and lay Kate’s roses at the base of her stone. There’s nothing I could say to her that I haven’t already said a million times. So I settle for the words I couldn’t say until just before she died. “I love you, baby. I’ll always love you.”

✯✯Meet d. Nichole King✯✯

Since I was born and raised in Iowa, I like to create stories where my home state is the setting. There's nothing like small-town Midwest scenery to create the perfect backdrop for an amazing tale!

I've always loved to read and write. I'll read anything: Classics, fantasy, contemporary, mystery, horror. It doesn't matter as long as it draws me in. As a kid, I was raised on authors such as Lurlene McDaniel, R.L. Stine, Danielle Steele, Mary Higgins Clark, Stephen King, and Shakespeare.

Writing-wise, my fondness lies in the YA/NA genre, though I do have a couple of women's fiction stories swimming around in my head. 

When not writing, I'm usually curled up with a book, scrapbooking, or doing yet another load of laundry.

Along with my incredible husband, I live in small-town Iowa with my four adorable (yet ornery) children and our dog, Peaches.

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The Sound of Glass by Karen White

Published May 12, 2015 by NAL

It has been two years since the death of Merritt Heyward’s husband, Cal, when she receives unexpected news—Cal’s family home in Beaufort, South Carolina, bequeathed by Cal’s reclusive grandmother, now belongs to Merritt.

Charting the course of an uncertain life—and feeling guilt from her husband’s tragic death—Merritt travels from her home in Maine to Beaufort, where the secrets of Cal’s unspoken-of past reside among the pluff mud and jasmine of the ancestral Heyward home on the Bluff. This unknown legacy, now Merritt’s, will change and define her as she navigates her new life—a new life complicated by the arrival of her too young stepmother and ten-year-old half-brother.

Soon, in this house of strangers, Merritt is forced into unraveling the Heyward family past as she faces her own fears and finds the healing she needs in the salt air of the Low Country.

My Thoughts…

Loralee and Merritt are the main characters in this story.   I felt for them both.   While Loralee had found her happy place, Merritt was still searching for hers.   Together they just worked.   I found it hard to remember that Loralee is Merritt’s step-mother.   Loralee seemed so young to me.   She was full of life and never let her situation pull her down or distract her from those around her.    Yet, she had been married to Merritt’s father.   Merritt had an old soul or maybe just had a rough enough life that she grew old quicker than she should have.   She had tough skin and a lot of fears to overcome.   Loralee is so good for her.   

Ten year old Owen, Merritt’s half brother and Loralee’s son, is a great character.   He is smart, almost too smart for his own good.   Yet he understands life.   He has lost his dad, has moved across the country to meet a sister for the first time, and still manages to be happy and accepting of life.   I felt like he ties all the characters together.   Everyone who meets him loves him, making them all have a connection to each other.  

Then of course there is Gibbes.  Sigh, a pediatrician who is good looking, understanding, and an all around good person.    I so wanted him to find his place in Merritt, Loralee, and Owen’s lives.    They were his family, whether he wanted them to be or not.    He understood that Owen needed a father figure yet didn’t push it.   He was there for Merritt even when she didn’t want him to be.   He kept Loralee’s secret.  

The Sound of Glass is a great story.  There is intrigue, a mystery, romance, and truth.  I would recommend this story to all  adult lit readers. 

Book Links

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Strike (Sphere of Irony #2) by Heather C. Leigh

Published June 7, 2015 by Shelbyville

Privilege, poverty, death, and self-loathing; these are the backgrounds of the men of the internationally famous rock band, Sphere of Irony.

Dax Davies has one job to fulfill in the Davies household. Earn money at the family business. The problem is that the family business is illegal underground fighting.

From a young age, Dax and his brothers are groomed to become money earners in their father's club. Broken bones and bruises are commonplace. Their father pits the brothers against each other to 'toughen them up' for the ring. His future is in the cage, not on stage where he dreams of being.

Kate Campbell loves one thing in life. Well, two. Soccer and Dax Davies. Growing up in the poorest part of London, soccer is her personal escape from reality and the fact that Dax doesn't seem to know she exists. She figures if she can be good enough at it, maybe she can get away from Hackney, and leave the poverty behind.

Kate doesn't plan on ever getting a chance to know Dax as more than an unattainable dream. After a mutual acquaintance brings them together, it only takes one ill-fated night at the fight club tear them apart.

My Thoughts….

I thought Heather C. Leigh outdid herself with Adam’s story and then she introduced me to Dax.    He is almost perfect, with some faults.   And oh what faults they are.   His toughness and stubbornness could drive a woman crazy, which is exactly what they do to Kate.     The sparks flew for Kate from the first time she laid eyes on Dax.   He didn’t seem to even know she was alive, but that didn’t matter.  She pined for him and adored him from afar.     Then they met, I mean really met, and the sparks flew.   Along with the sparks are all the insecurities they both have with each other and about themselves.  

I had a lot of favorite parts while reading Strike, but the best is the ending.   I have already been lucky enough to read Adam’s story so I knew what happen with him and Ellie, yet Heather brought their story into Dax and Kate’s story throughout the entire book.   I loved the ending when she really tied Adam’s story into Dax’s.  It seems like such a small thing, yet for me I went awww.   It brought back my thoughts and feelings for Adam (who is still my favorite). 

This is Dax’s story.   It is the story of how a boy who is pressured by his father to perform when he doesn’t want to and to live his life the way he isn’t comfortable with learns to stand on his own.   He takes his life and turns into what he wants.   Dax is a strong, alpha male, who is definitely use to getting his way with the women.   Until he meets Kate and she stands up to him.   She is a strong female who knows what she wants from life and is not going to let anything, including a man, get in her way.  The two of them together are wonderful.   They fight, they love, and they support each other.   Even apart they care about each other.

I love this series.   Each book can be read alone, but of course they are better when read together.    I cannot wait for the rest of the band members to tell their tales. 

Book Links

Amazon   |   Amazon UK    |   Goodreads

A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley

Published April 7, 2015 by Sourcebooks Landmark

For nearly 300 years, the mysterious journal of Jacobite exile Mary Dundas has lain unread — its secrets safe from prying eyes. Now, amateur codebreaker Sara Thomas has been hired by a once-famous historian to crack the journal's cipher. But when she arrives in Paris, Sara finds herself besieged by complications from all sides: the journal's reclusive owner, her charming Parisian neighbor, and Mary, whose journal doesn't hold the secrets Sara expects.

It turns out that Mary Dundas wasn’t keeping a record of everyday life, but a first-hand account of her part in a dangerous intrigue. In the first wintry months of 1732, with a scandal gaining steam in London, driving many into bankruptcy and ruin, the man accused of being at its center is concealed among the Jacobites in Paris, with Mary posing as his sister to aid his disguise.

When their location is betrayed, they’re forced to put a desperate plan in action, heading south along the road to Rome, protected by the enigmatic Highlander Hugh MacPherson.

As Mary's tale grows more and more dire, Sara, too, must carefully choose which turning to take... to find the road that will lead her safely home.

My Thoughts…

If asked to categorize A Desperate Fortune I would label it a romantic, historical, fiction book. 

The dual timelines are perfect.   The storyline set in 1732 is told through a diary that Sara is translating.   The historical part of this timeframe is wonderful.   I could picture the towns they were travelling through, the people they had met, and the way they interacted with each other.    The wonderful horses, the beautiful carriages, the horsemen, and of course the houses they stayed in were all brought to life through Susanna Kearsley’s wonderful writing style.  The romance part of 1732 was quiet and subtle.    It was not the main part of the book, yet it was the part I kept looking forward too. 

The current timeline is Sara’s story.  She lives with Asperger’s Syndrome and just wants to live a “normal” life.    She moves to start working on Mary Dundas’ diary and realizes that she can do more than what she thinks.  I enjoyed watching her figure out how to handle her different relationships with the other characters.    Everyone from the cat to Noah, a young boy, made a difference to how she acted and how she carried herself.   When Luc came into the story I was curious as to how she would react to him.   Their relationship was slow and steady.   It was a slow build to an ending that I was hoping for.  

This is my second book by Susanna Kearsley and I was so excited to read it.   I have to say I was not prepared for how much of a slow read it was.   The beginning was very slow and it did speed up a little as the story proceeded.   Do not get me wrong, I enjoyed this entire story.  I loved the characters, I loved the storyline, and I definitely recommend A Desperate Fortune.   

Book Links

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The Blow Off by Mickey J. Corrigan

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Genre:  Mainstream Mystery, Romantic Suspense, Crime, Noir, New Adult
Length:  51,577 words, 198 pages
ISBN: 978.1.5092.0104.4 digital; 978.1.5092.0104.7 paperback
Price: $4.99 digital

Sometimes a girl has to take a guy for all he's got.

One long, hard night of working the streets is more than enough for 25 year old Shea O'Grady, a Boston-based grad student. She just doesn't have the stomach for it. Or the lips. So she comes up with a better way to use her youthful sexiness to pay off her debts. When she shares her plan to seduce and rob johns with Cedrick7Z, her nasty tempered pimp, he agrees to fence her take for a generous cut. So Shea puts together a team of girls to work with her. And she convinces her downstairs neighbor, a hunky Rastafarian dealer dude, to help with the knockout drugs.

Based loosely on the exploits of a sexy set of bottle girls operating in South Florida, The Blow Off is a cautionary tale, a romantic black comedy, and a satirical look at student debt, prostitution, woman on man crime, and the things we do for love.

My Thoughts…

I love Mickey J. Corrigan.   Her short stories always entertain me.    The Blow Off has been added to that list.    I love when you can pick up a book that is under 200 pages and get the whole story.      Within the pages I managed to meet some incredibly interesting and smart women, find a guy who knew what he wanted and how to get it, and see people find their happy ever after.  

  

While Shea doesn’t have an easy life, she knows where she wants her life to head.   When she finds her partners in crime, her dreams become reality.   I love that she had a rough life, yet managed to work her way out of her problems.   She did not let her tough life pull her down and keep her in the gutters.    Shea also did not forget her friends and those that helped her along the way.    She was true to her friends, always having their backs, yet devious and unforgiving to those who did her wrong.  I definitely would not want to then someone who was on her bad side.   When she says she wants revenge, she means it.    

I have to warn future readers, there is sex, prostitution, drugs, foul language, and an all around tough world shown in The Blow Off.  If this would bother you, then I suggest you pass on this book.   If you are looking for a book that will entertain you, make you laugh, and that is readable in one sitting…this is the book for you.  

Book Links

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Praise for Mickey J. Corrigan's Books

For many readers, chick lit is like a comfy, well-worn security blanket. When you’ve had a long day and you just need to relax and unwind, it’s familiar and undemanding. You might even find it comforting to curl up with a story about familiar characters working their way through formulaic romantic conundrums. But author Mickey J. Corrigan spices up the same old short romance with a fun pulp fiction twist...quite possibly the best short e-book I’ve read in years.                                                                                         ~ Nights and Weekends 

 "I've only read three of her books and she is HILARIOUS! I know I will be highly entertained by her shenanigans."~Smardy Pants Book Blog

"One of the best things about being a reviewer for Romance Junkies is the vast number of new-to-me authors that I get to read. There is nothing more thrilling to me than finding a writer whose work I can instantly fall in love with. Mickey J. Corrigan is one of those authors for me."~Romance Junkies

"I'll read anything by Ms. Corrigan. All her short pieces I have read were vastly different, but no less entertaining."~Hearts on Fire Reviews

"Mickey J. Corrigan has a fabulous writing style that keeps the reader wanting more... ~Turner's Antics

 "(Her book) reminded me a lot of Jackie Collin's earlier works, which I found quite enjoyable."  ~ Primrose Musings

"Mickey J. Corrigan's work isn't so much a contemporary romance as a sexy thriller. This is a writer who isn't so much interested in the 'nice' side of life, her characters tend to walk on the wild side and on the darker side of romance. But her stories are oh-so-compulsive all the same. Judging by her name, the author seems to be Irish American. Well, that being the case, she's definitely inherited the Irish trait for telling a rattling good yarn." ~Contemporary Romance Reviews 

Every Fifteen Minutes by Lisa Scottoline

Published April 14, 2015 by St. Martin’s Press

Dr. Eric Parrish is the Chief of the Psychiatric Unit at Havemeyer General Hospital outside of Philadelphia. Recently separated from his wife, Caitlin, he is doing his best as a single dad to his seven-year-old daughter Hannah. His work seems to be going better than his home life, however. His unit at the hospital has just been named number two in the country and Eric has a devoted staff of doctors and nurses who are as caring as Eric is. But when he takes on a new patient, Eric's entire world begins to crumble. Seventeen-year-old Max has a terminally ill grandmother and is having trouble handling it. That, plus his OCD and violent thoughts about a girl he likes makes Max a high risk patient. Max can't turn off the rituals he needs to perform every fifteen minutes that keep him calm. With the pressure mounting, Max just might reach the breaking point. When the girl is found murdered, Max is nowhere to be found. Worried about Max, Eric goes looking for him and puts himself in danger of being seen as a "person of interest". Next, one of his own staff turns on him in a trumped up charge of sexual harassment. Is this chaos all random? Or is someone systematically trying to destroy Eric's life?       

                                                                           

My Thoughts…

Every Fifteen Minutes is a book that will stay with you throughout your day.   I started it and kept reading.  I just could not put it down.  I wanted to know what was happening with Dr. Parrish, his daughter Hannah, and of course Max.    I knew that there was more to the story than what met the eye and I enjoyed trying to put the clues together.    As the story continued I gathered the clues and kept guessing at who was causing all the chaos.  I am happy to say I was partially right, but did not put it all together until the end.  

Max is a great character.   He is an intelligent and intriguing young man.   I felt bad for the life that he was forced to live.    Having his grandmother in his life was a Godsend for him.   The relationship between them is the healthiest thing he has.  I was upset with his mother.  I have a rough time understanding parents who do not take care of their children.   The relationship between Dr. Parrish and Max was encouraging.   I thought maybe he would be the saving factor in Max’s life.  

Lisa Scottoline is an author that I always enjoy.   Her mysteries, relationships, and style of writing have never let me down.    Every Fifteen Minutes is amazing.    Definitely pick up a copy today. 

Book Links

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The Daughter by Jane Shemlit

The Daughter by Jane Shemlit

Published March 3, 2015 by William Morrow Paperbacks

How well do you really know those you love?

Jenny loves her three teenage children and her husband, Ted, a celebrated neurosurgeon. She loves the way that, as a family, they always know each other's problems and don't keep secrets from each other.

But when her youngest child, fifteen-year-old Naomi, doesn't come home after her school play and a nationwide search for her begins, secrets previously kept from Jenny are revealed.

Naomi has vanished, leaving her family broken and her mother desperately searching for answers. But the traces Naomi's left behind reveal a very different girl to the one Jenny thought she'd raised. And the more she looks the more she learns that everyone she trusted has been keeping secrets.

How well does she really know her sons, her husband? How well did she know Naomi? If Jenny is going to find her, she'll have to first uncover the truth about the daughter she thought told her everything

My Thoughts…

The Daughter is a book that I was nervous about reading.   A story about a teenage daughter that goes missing is never easy.  

This story is told from the mothers point of view.    The guilt and blame she has mirrors what any mother would feel when her daughter doesn't come home one night.    But add to that lose all the secrets she finds out about the rest of her family and her life should be shattered.    Yet, jenny stays strong and holds onto her belief that Naomi is out there and alive.    She never gives up and a year after the disappearance she is still finding clues and holding out hope. 

  

Daughter flashes between the present, the days before Naomi's disappearance, and the days immediately following her disappearance.      I loved that each part was labeled so there was never any question of the timing.     I also found that each part of the story gave me clues and insight into where Jane Shemitt wanted to lead the readers.   While I never solved the mystery until the very end, I enjoyed trying to put the clues together.  

Book Links

Amazon   |  Goodreads

Cape Cod Kisses By Bella Andrea and Melissa Foster & GIVEAWAY

NEW SERIES RELEASE....
Love on Rockwell Island is a Brand New Contemporary Romance Series by New York Times & USA bestselling authors Bella Andre & Melissa Foster.

Fall in love on Rockwell Island...Sink your toes into the sandy beaches at the heart of Cape Cod Bay, where family comes first, good friends are around every corner, and true love is waiting beneath the stars.

When Quinn Rockwell left Rockwell Island a decade ago to build a shipping empire, he never thought he’d return to live on Cape Cod Bay—that is, until his grandfather summons Quinn and his four siblings to take over the prestigious Rockwell Resort. Quinn is already working fifteen-hour days, and the last thing he has time for is his grandfather’s demands. But on his first night back, when Quinn finds a gorgeous and carefree woman skinny-dipping in his favorite cove, he’s tempted to ignore his work for a while...and focus on her instead.

As a free spirit who follows her heart and her dreams, Shelley Walters is not the kind of girl to wait around for Mr. Right, so she heads to Rockwell Island for the honeymoon of her dreams—a solo honeymoon. Ready for a week of sun and fun, she never expected to meet a man like Quinn Rockwell.

Wealthy and intensely driven, Quinn is everything Shelley swore she didn’t want. Refreshingly spontaneous and a true romantic, Shelley is everything Quinn never knew he needed. Drawn together despite their differences, during a week of sizzling-hot passion and deep conversations, they fall head over heels for each other. But when their perfect week on the island is over, will their love survive in the real world?

My Thoughts…

I am a huge fan of Melissa Fosters but am new to Bella Andre.  The excitement in these authors joining together was amazing.    I had heard such great things, I expected great things.   They did not let me down.    The writing style was familiar to me and meshed perfectly together.    I think this pairing is perfect.  

Cape Cod Kisses is a book I was waiting for.   When I received my copy I could not wait to dive right into it.   I did not take very long to get sucked in; hook, line, and sinker.    Quinn and Shelley both are ambitious, successful, and thought they knew what they wanted in life.  Until they didn’t.    They met each other and both their life plans changed for the better.    I loved that although the attraction was there, Quinn wooed Shelley.   He wanted her to like him and to make him a better person.    I also loved that Shelley held him accountable.   She did not forgive quickly when he ignored her and did not show her the respect that she knows she deserves.     I feel like that made both of them much better individuals and a much better couple.

The Cape setting is always one of my favorites.   This was a little different than others in that it had the exclusive, luxurious hotel and it also had every day houses.    It made the location realistic and “normal” to me.   The fact that Quinn’s parents have everything at their beck and call, yet still do dishes, cook dinner, and have regular family get togethers with stickball and rough housing made them seem so real.    I love the bays, the beaches, the clamming, and everything else that comes with living on an island.   

I cannot wait for more of the Rockwells.   This series is perfect.   

Available to buy from...

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About the Authors

Bella Andre is the New York Times, USA Today and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of “The Sullivans” and “The Morrisons” series.

Having sold more than 4 million books, Bella Andre’s novels have been #1 bestsellers around the world and have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists 18 times. She has been the #1 Ranked Author at Amazon (on a top 10 list that included Nora Roberts, JK Rowling, James Patterson and Steven King), and Publishers Weekly named Oak Press (the publishing company she created to publish her own books) the Fastest-Growing Independent Publisher in the US. Known for “sensual, empowered stories enveloped in heady romance” (Publishers Weekly), her books have been Cosmopolitan Magazine “Red Hot Reads” twice and have been translated into ten languages. Winner of the Award of Excellence, The Washington Post called her “One of the top writers in America” and she has been featured by NPR, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and TIME Magazine. Bella also writes the New York Times bestselling Four Weddings and a Fiasco series as Lucy Kevin.

If not behind her computer, you can find her reading her favorite authors, hiking, swimming or laughing. Married with two children, Bella splits her time between the Northern California wine country and a 100 year old log cabin in the Adirondacks.

Find the author on the following sites...

Website   Facebook   Twitter   Pinterest   Goodreads   Amazon

Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of the “Snow Sisters“, “The Bradens“, “The Remingtons” and “Seaside Summers” series.

She writes sexy and heartwarming contemporary romance, new adult romance as well as award winning contemporary women’s fiction, suspense, and historical fiction, with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Her books have been recommended by USA Today’s book blog, Hagerstown Magazine, The Patriot, MENSA Bulletin and several other print venues. She is the founder of the World Literary Café and Fostering Success. When she’s not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on Fostering Success. Melissa has been published in Calgary’s Child Magazine, the Huffington Post, and Women Business Owners magazine. 

Melissa hosts an Aspiring Authors contest for children and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Melissa lives in Maryland with her family. 

Melissa is available to chat with book clubs and welcomes comments and emails from her readers. Never miss a brand new release, special promotions or inside gossip again by simply signing up to receive your newsletter from Melissa.

Find the author on the following sites...

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The Guest Cottage by Nancy Thayer

Published May 12, 2015 by Ballantine Books

Sensible thirty-six-year-old Sophie Anderson has always known what to do. She knows her role in life: supportive wife of a successful architect and calm, capable mother of two. But on a warm summer night, as the house grows quiet around her and her children fall asleep, she wonders what’s missing from her life. When her husband echoes that lonely question, announcing that he’s leaving her for another woman, Sophie realizes she has no idea what’s next. Impulsively renting a guest cottage on Nantucket from her friend Susie Swenson, Sophie rounds up her kids, Jonah and Lacey, and leaves Boston for a quiet family vacation, minus one.

Also minus one is Trevor Black, a software entrepreneur who has recently lost his wife. Trevor is the last person to imagine himself, age thirty and on his own, raising a little boy like Leo—smart and sweet, but grappling constantly with his mother’s death, growing more and more closed off. Hoping a quiet summer on the Nantucket coast will help him reconnect with Leo, Trevor rents a guest house on the beautiful island from his friend Ivan Swenson.

Best-laid plans run awry when Sophie and Trevor realize they’ve mistakenly rented the same house. Still, determined to make this a summer their kids will always remember, the two agree to share the Swensons’ Nantucket house. But as the summer unfolds and the families grow close, Sophie and Trevor must ask themselves if the guest cottage is all they want to share.

Inspiring and true to life, The Guest Cottage is Nancy Thayer at her finest, inscribing in graceful, knowing prose matters of the heart and the meaning of family.

My Thoughts…

Let me start with the ending.   Oh My Gosh… I swooned, I had tears, I loved it.    Have you ever started a book and had a good idea of how it should end?   That is how I felt about this book.   I knew what I wanted to happen but who knows if the author followed the same thought line.   I got to about 75% done and knew I would get nothing else done. 

On to the story.  This story was simple and easy to follow.  I feel like that allowed me to really understand the characters and get to know their true feelings.   Even when the characters did not know their own feelings, I could see where they were heading.   I love that I was not always sure how Sophie and Trevor would work thinks out, but that I was sure that they would.  Somehow, someway, and in their own time.  

The Guest Cottage is a story of families and how their dynamics can change.    How the loss, whether in death or divorce, of one family member can tip their world upside down and how the families can come together to make their own happy ending.    Watching Trevor try to deal with the death of his wife and how his adorable son is dealing with it, broke my heart.   For a son to lose his mother at such a young age is difficult for anyone, much less a dad who doesn’t have much support.    Then there was Sophie.  I could not believe how strong she was while trying to come to terms with a cheating husband and the possibility of a divorce.     She kept herself strong for herself, but mostly for her children.   I am not sure I could have done that.   

This is a great summer read.  It is a Feel-Good story.   I recommend checking The Guest Cottage out.  

Book Links

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Lance by Chelsea Camaron Release Blitz and GIVEAWAY

Title: LANCE (Roughnecks, #3)

Author: Chelsea Camaron

Release Date: May 15, 2015

 

Blurb

Value, worth—these are things I don’t have. College degree, great job—none of that matters if you look in the mirror and can’t find anything to love. Structure, dedication, and determination are the traits that Candace Jones has survived and thrived on. When no one cares at home, it takes her self-drive to push and work her way through college. Life is funny while you’re growing up, and adulthood isn’t any easier than childhood. Little girl dreams are often destroyed before they can even begin. Lance ‘Rush’ Miller works hard and plays even harder. He lives life from one adrenaline rush to the next, from working as a roughneck to trick riding his street bike. He has it made and knows it. What happens when firm resolve crashes into wild abandon? Two complete opposites are thrown together when Candace finds herself in need of a quick escape that Lance is all too willing to give her.  

   

MAVERICK (Roughnecks Short, #1)

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HEATH (Roughnecks Short, #2)

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LANCE (Roughnecks Short, #3)

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About the Author

Chelsea Camaron was born and raised in Coastal North Carolina. She currently resides in Southern Louisiana with her husband and two children but her heart is always Carolina day dreaming. Chelsea always wanted to be a writer, but like most of us, let fear of the unknown grab a hold of her dream. She realized that if she was going to tell her daughter to go for her dreams, that it was time to follow her own advice. Chelsea grew up turning wrenches alongside her father, and from that grew her love for old muscle cars and Harley Davidson motorcycles, which just so happened to inspire the Love and Repair and Hellions Ride series. When she is not spending her days writing you can find her playing with her kids, attending car shows, going on motorcycle rides on the back of her husband’s Harley, snuggling down with her new favorite book or watching any movie that Vin Diesel might happen to be in.

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Million Dollar Question by Ellie Campbell

Published April 25, 2015 by Across the Pond Press

Just as a huge financial scandal throws New Yorker, Olivia Wheeler, from wealth and success to bankruptcy and shame, struggling impoverished single-mother Rosie Dixon wins an unexpected million pounds. Good luck? Bad luck? Who can tell? Both women have more in common than they realize. While Olivia struggles to survive her humiliations, fleeing broke and homeless to London, shy unassuming Rosie discovers sudden riches arrive with their own mega-load of problems.

Can workaholic career-obsessed Olivia find a passion for something earthier and warmer than power and prestige? And can Rosie sift through envy and greed to discover true friends, true family and even true love? Two strangers who’ve never met. Yet neither realises how each is affecting the other’s destiny or the places their paths touch and fates entwine.
But will they surmount the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune?

That is the million dollar question.

My Thoughts…

This could be a tough review to write, only because I have to watch what I say not to give away too much.   I wouldn’t want to ruin the book for anyone.   This is definitely a book that you want to pick up and not have any spoilers.   

Million Dollar Question is the story of two worlds.   The world of having money and the world of not having money.    Olivia came from a world of money and then lost it all.   Rosie came from the world of not having money and then received a huge winning.    It was interesting to see how their worlds changed when their circumstances changed.     Neither character was prepared to handle their new lives and struggle immensely.  

Rosie realizes that not everything is perfect and happy when you have money.  While Olivia realizes that not having money is not the end of the world.    I enjoyed both characters.    I felt sorry for Rosie.  Yes, she had money, but she lost so much with that money and quickly realized who her true friends were and that she did not have as many as she thought.    I loved Olivia.   Watching her struggle to make ends meet made her a more realistic person to me.    Seeing her find her true self and realize what is important was the perfect way for Olivia to come out on top of her life.  

When Ellie Campbell gave away the way these two characters were linked I was shocked.   I never saw it coming.  My only real complaint, or wish, is that they had explored that connection a little more.  Both characters accepted their link without much question and I felt that neither Olivia or Rosie would have been that easy.  

I love Ellie Campbell.  I have read a few of their books and have always been entertained by them.   I certainly recommend checking out Million Dollar Question and the rest of their books.    

Book Links   

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Heath (Roughneck #2) by Chelsea Camaron

Published April 18, 2015

“One day, I will be more than an item to be bought or sold, won or lost.”

At fifteen, she was helpless. At eighteen, she was ruined. LoraLeigh Riffel fights every day to hold on to herself as she is tossed from the loser to the next winner, time and again.
Heath ‘Hitman’ Thomas works hard and plays even harder. From tripping pipes to winning fights, his world is in his hands. 

When a battered and unstable woman is left at his doorstep for payment on a fight, every-thing changes in an instant. 

She is the prize, but is he willing to accept the payment? 

My Thoughts….

This is a short story, 52 pages.    I have grown to love a short story, when written correctly.   It has to be difficult as an author to get enough of a story into such few pages.   Chelsea Camaron is an expert at making the story fit into the pages.    There is enough background to understand what is going on in the story without adding all the extra fluff and there is enough of the story to get to know the characters and feel connected to them.  

This is a series, yet you could pick up each book on its own and not feel like you are missing something.  I love when a series is like this.   It is fun when past characters pop into the story, yet this story is truly about LoreLeigh (love the name) and Heath.  

LoreLeigh and Heath’s story is not easy.  Chelsea covers a tough and real subject.  It is not a subject for those under 18 and it is not even for all adults.   Yet, it is handled with grace and respect.  

I highly recommend this entire series.    Start with book 1, Maverick, (See my review HERE) and continue with Heath’s story.   

Book Links

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Maverick by Chelsea Camaron

Published April 6, 2015

He was the high school crush who never knew I existed. I am still the girl hiding against the wall.
Life for Kenzy Davis is far from easy right now. After ending a long term relationship, she is back in her hometown, starting over.

Maverick Collins works hard and plays even harder. An invisible illness shakes his world at its core as his father fights for his life. Everything he ever took for granted stares him in the face, including the shy girl from his past.

Watching someone you love battle an illness is never easy. When the ICU nurse caring for his dad is the one girl from his past he saw around but overlooked, does Maverick find comfort in her embrace? Does Kenzy find a new calm in the chaos of her life? Or do their feelings remain invisible yet again?

My Thoughts...

Oh, how I love Chelsea Camaron.  Maverick was the perfect short, hot, and sweet story for me.     I feel that short stories can be tricky.   It is hard to give enough detail to pull the reader in, without giving too much detail and make the book long.    Chelsea camaron did it exactly right with this one. 

I was pulled in and made to care for the Kenzy and Maverick.   I was invested in them finding happy ever after.    I was hoping and praying that it would be with each other.   

Kenzy was truly a life saver.    She took it upon herself to give extra care to maverick's dad when she didn't have to.    She gave advice and support to maverick when he didn't have any where else to turn to.    

I am so excited for this series.   I cannot wait for more.  

Book Links

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Addicted to You (FlameSmith in Love Book 2) by Laura Kitchell

Published February 7, 2015

Odsbody goes home to Manchester, England for the holidays only to have his family subject him to an intervention for his addiction. To make matters worse, the members of his band, FlameSmith, are in collusion with his family to get him into rehab. With reluctance and a great deal of denial, he is admitted to the rehab center. Everyone is against him, but there’s nothing new in that. He’s a loner and always has been.

Izzy Potts has nursed temperamental, spoiled, and addicted celebrities before, so she hardly blinks when she’s assigned to the care of FlameSmith’s front man. Never mind that she’s a fan. Never mind that even emaciated and racked with the pain of withdrawals, V Odsbody is gorgeous.

Despite her professional demeanor, Izzy has a nurturing and kind way that reaches V through his agony and soothes him to his soul. He’s warned her he’ll have her when he feels human again, and she doubts she’ll have the willpower to deny him. But he’s always lost interest in a woman once he’s had her in his bed, and thanks to the diligence of gossip media, she knows it. They don’t stand a chance. 

My Thoughts…

I am a Laura Kitchell fan.  Her stories are have hot, alpha males partnered with strong, confident females.   I love a strong female character and who doesn’t love an alpha male? 

Izzy is a nurse who knows what her job is and does it to the best of her ability.  She protects her patients and understands their need for privacy.  Especially the need for privacy when they are a mega rock star.   When V Odsbody is admitted to the rehab facility she works at and she is asked to take care of him, she takes the job knowing that this will be a challenge.

 I loved how the romance between V and Izzy goes.   While Izzy is attracted to V, she understands he is a patient.  V is use to getting his way and even goes as far as to threaten Izzy that when he is better she is his.   The going back and forth between these two had me giggle, sigh, and cover my mouth in shock.  I struggled with when the relationship started and how it was carried on.   I guess I thought it was too soon and not quite in the right location.   That being said, I loved how much they respected each other and understood what was going on with them.  

There is something to be said for being rich, famous, and finding true love.   V comes out of rehab a changed and better man.   Izzy comes out with a new career, the love of her life, and a stronger person.  

I recommend checking out this series.   Want to read my review of the first book?   Click here…

Book Links

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The House of Hawthorne by Erika Robuck

Published May 5, 2015 by NAL

Beset by crippling headaches from a young age and endowed with a talent for drawing, Sophia is discouraged by her well-known New England family from pursuing a woman’s traditional roles. But from their first meeting, Nathaniel and Sophia begin an intense romantic relationship that despite many setbacks leads to their marriage. Together, they will cross continents, raise children, and experience all the beauty and tragedy of an exceptional partnership. Sophia’s vivid journals and her masterful paintings kindle a fire in Nathaniel, inspiring his writing. But their children’s needs and the death of loved ones steal Sophia’s energy and time for her art, fueling in her a perennial tug-of-war between fulfilling her domestic duties and pursuing her own desires.

Spanning the years from the 1830s to the Civil War, and moving from Massachusetts to England, Portugal, and Italy, The House of Hawthorneexplores the tension within a famous marriage of two soulful, strong-willed people, each devoted to the other but also driven by a powerful need to explore the far reaches of their creative impulses. It is the story of a forgotten woman in history, who inspired one of the greatest writers of American literature.

My Thoughts…

Nathaniel Hawthorne and his wife lived a very interesting life.   I was enthralled with how they stayed connected to each other through so many trials.  They were rich, poor, separated, living in foreign lands, sick, and so much more yet they managed to keep their love alive and live fulfilling lives together.    I have heard stories of true love before, yet this is a real story of true love.  It is not a live wrapped up in a pretty bow where all is easy and happy.  The House of Hawthorne is a story of real true love.   Nathaniel and Sophia are in physical pain when they are separated, they need each other, live off being with each other.  

I loved Sophia.   From the first time she met Nathaniel and knew of her sisters care for him, she tried to do the right thing but the heart knew better.   The pulled between them was undeniable.   As her life moves forward with her family, Sophia puts her own art on hold and raises her family.   This is a typical mother, she has to.   She does it without complaint and understands that her time for art is not over, she is just making a different form of art.  She had a contentment about her that made her a great example for mothers, even in today’s world, of how unselfish you have to be to raise your children and keep your family safe.

The timeframe of The House of Hawthorne was of great interest to me.  Not only did I see how life in America was in the 19^th century, but I was taken across the ocean to places that I dream of visiting.    Each place that was visited was brought to life with the descriptions of the towns, the buildings, the surroundings, and also the people and their lifestyles.   The details were evident that Erika Robuck did her research. 

This is my first novel by Erika Robuck and I cannot wait to read more.  I will recommend this book.

Book Links   

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