Reviews

Books I’ve read and reviewed

A Sexy Chance: PLAY ME–Review and Giveaway!

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Hi there! I’m back with a review for the second book in the Steele Brothers erotic novella series from Jennifer Probst. Last week I told you all about CATCH ME, but today I”m sharing my review for PLAY ME. It’s a one-night affair for Roman Steele and the poker ace of his dreams.

Make sure to drop down and enter the giveaway for two of Ms. Probst’s best sellers!

PLAYMe(Final)About the book:
Professional gambler Sloane Keller is tired of dating weak willed men and longs to meet a man who challenges her dominant personality and forces her to submit. As the Queen of Cards, she’s used to making her own rules and craves the excitement of Vegas. But her inner heart cries out for someone who can be her match, both inside the casino and in the bedroom.

As the new dealer in town, Roman Steele is burnt out on women looking for a quick penny and a man to follow. He craves a woman with fire in her soul and a keen intellect who can challenge him. When his brother recruits Madame Eve to help, Rome is amazed at the complicated woman he gets to spend the night with. But when the evening is over, will she be gutsy enough to offer him forever?

My Review:
Roman Steele is a man who knows what he doesn’t want: a tease. He wants a strong woman who will bend to his will, so he can worship her. He’s frustrated that his brother talked him in to arranging a one night stand through FANTA C, but he’s not one bit disappointed when he picks World Poker Tour ace Sloane Keller up at the gaming tables.
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Sloane is so tired of men who won’t go the extra mile to satisfy her. She’s used to manipulating men, and dominating them out on the Tour, so a pushover of a partner is not who she’d respect. Rome is not that guy. He beats Sloane at her own game, time and again, wringing some serious pleasure from her high strung body. There’s a dash of domination in their bedplay and it’s exactly what Sloane needs: to give over control of herself in a safe space. Of course, their one night ends, and that’s not nearly enough to satisfy.

I liked how Rome didn’t give up, and also how Sloane recognized that letting go didn’t mean she was weak. They make a fun couple, one that will constantly clash for power and pleasure.

As this is an erotic novella, it’s a quick read. Perfect for a sexy distraction while you wait to pick up a kid from practice!

Interested? You can get your copy of PLAY ME on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes and Kobo.

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Available now! CATCH ME on Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes and Kobo.

Pre-order DARE ME on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes and Kobo.

Pre-order BEG ME on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes and Kobo.

****GIVEAWAY****

Click the Rafflecopter link below for your chance to win a signed paperback of SEARCHING FOR ALWAYS and SUMMER SINS by Jennifer Probst. (US Only.)
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Good luck and keep reading my friends!

Jennifer ProbstAbout the Author:
Jennifer Probst wrote her first book at twelve years old. She bound it in a folder, read it to her classmates, and hasn’t stopped writing since. She took a short hiatus to get married, get pregnant, buy a house, get pregnant again, pursue a master’s in English Literature, and rescue two shelter dogs. Now she is writing again.

She makes her home in Upstate New York with the whole crew. Her sons keep her active, stressed, joyous, and sad her house will never be truly clean. She is the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of sexy and erotic contemporary romance. She was thrilled her book, The Marriage Bargain, was ranked #6 on Amazon’s Best Books for 2012. She loves hearing from readers.

Visit her website for updates on new releases and her street team. You can also find her Facebook, twitter, and Goodreads.
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Love: FOUND AT THE LIBRARY–A Review

Hi there! Today I”m sharing a sweet contemporary M/M romance from Christi Snow. FOUND AT THE LIBRARY is a sexy and sweet story about growing past ones misconceptions and being true to your passion. It features a best-selling author and a man who “destroys” his books.

Found At the Library (Found, #1)About the book:
His entire life, Tommy Garrett has dealt with self-doubts. He thought he’d conquered the majority of them until a chance meeting with an author brought his illiteracy to the forefront…again. Growing up with un-diagnosed dyslexia has left Tommy barely able to read, but books are his Nirvana. Now he spends his life creating art dedicated to the love of those “untouchable” items.

Robert McIntyre, Mac, is a best-selling, highly celebrated author. But his point of view has become a little bit too narrow…until Tommy opens his eyes. That chance meeting has changed everything about his world. He has no idea how to find the beautiful man he met, and offended, at the library book sale. But when he does, Tommy’s life is in crisis-mode. It’s the holidays and Mac can’t just standby when Tommy needs help, whether Tommy wants it or not.

Two artistic men. One shared passion for books.

Life is hard, and sometimes when conflict arises you have to write your own plot twist to pull yourself out of the fray.

My Review:
Robert “Mac” MacIntyre is a best-selling sci-fi writer who helps out at Denver’s library rummage sale, well, because he loves books. He loves writing them, reading them, selling them, smelling them. He’s called in to assist a man move the several boxes of hardcovers he purchased out to his car. Mac’s attracted to Tommy, and wants to put some moves on him, but they have an immediate problem. When Mac comments how he’ll surely have a great time reading them, Tommy tells him he doesn’t read at all, he turns the books into art. The horror!

Mac is dumbfounded and furious, but he can’t get the intriguing man out of his head. Their brief encounter becomes a bit obsessive, for both men. Mac begins writing a book that’s completely outside his genre (Male/Male romance!!) Meanwhile, Tommy takes a Rob MacIntyre book and transforms it into a centerpiece of his gallery showing. I received a review copy via NetGalley.

Mac’s unhappy to be entering his ex’s (Stig’s) art gallery a couple months later, only to find the new showing his agent dragged him to is of Tommy’s book art. He’s captivated and vexed to learn that the piece made from his own book is not for sale. He can’t find the artist anywhere, and hasn’t learned that Tommy is the artist, but he needs to buy his piece, and he cons his way into getting Tommy’s info. Their second meeting is even more revealing than their first…

This is a well-told love story. Tommy is a mystery that Mac is desperate to unravel. He becomes an unacknowledged hero to Tommy, making it possible for Tommy to provide important medical care to his brother and also to keep his business running, all at Mac’s great expense. There are some consequences to Mac’s (dubious) knightly behavior, in that he’s overstepped and needs to be brushed back, and that seemed reasonable, and also the reconnection seemed reasonable. I think the second separation was a bit abrupt, and without the same logic.

There are some nice sexytimes, and real emotion here. The book-within-a-book thing is a trope I can occasionally appreciate, and the vignettes were not so long to be terribly distracting. I liked the reasoning behind Tommy’s art, and I liked that Mac adored it, once he understood. I did find that some of the language felt stilted to me, and I was stunned to learn this is an American author, as the formal diction, at times, was akin to Queen’s English. I also wondered about the “Federal pension” business, and the weird “State Hospital” scenario, because, again, these seemed to be something outside of American experience. (I do know that there are state-run facilities for the criminally insane, but this is not the place a suicidal patient would be sent, even if he was completely broke, nor would a physician at one of these places attempt to cover-up a patient assault. That’s grounds for dismissal and license suspension, so it troubled me…)

That said, I did like the book, and found it entertaining. I wanted Mac and Tommy to get together, for real, and I appreciated their HEA. Also, there was great character set-up for the sequel which will feature two secondary characters finding a match. So, something to look forward to reading!

Interested? You can find FOUND AT THE LIBRARY on Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

Christi SnowAbout the Author:

As an avid reader my entire life, I’ve always dreamed of writing books that brought to others the kind of joy I feel when I read. But…I never did anything about it besides jot down a few ideas and sparse scenes.

When I turned 41, I decided it was time to go after my dream and started writing. Within four months, I’d written over 150,000 words and haven’t stopped since. I’ve found my passion by writing about sexy, alpha heroes and smart, tough heroines falling in love and finding their passion. I’m truly living the dream and loving every minute of it.

My tagline is…

Passion and adventure on the road to Happily Ever After. I have to admit, I am loving this adventure!

You can find Christi on line on her website, Goodreads and twitter.

Thanks for popping in and keep reading my friends!

Getting All The BEHR FACTS–Review & Giveaway

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Hi there! Today I’m reviewing a newly released contemporary M/M romance from Pat Henshaw. BEHR FACTS, is the third book in her Foothill Pride series. This is an odd couple match-up between a burly, overworked construction company owner and the svelte forensic accountant who helps him discover the fraud in his company.

Check out the author fun fact, my review, and enter to win one of three Starbucks gift cards below!

BehrFacts-PreviewAbout the book:
Big, burly CEO Abe Behr is dismayed to discover someone—possibly a family member—is stealing from Behr Construction, which primarily employs Behr relatives. Abe takes the unprecedented step of hiring an outsider, likeable CPA Jeff Mason, to go over the books and help find the culprit. They are drawn to each other as they talk to workers, including Abe’s two younger brothers and their shifty cousin.

Since he has sacrificed romance all his life to build the business, Abe’s surprised by his feelings for the handsome Jeff. He’s even more shocked when they are confronted by bigotry in the Sierra Nevada foothills community, which is being inundated by gays moving from the San Francisco area. As he and Jeff get closer, Abe must come to grips with coming out to a family and community that aren’t very tolerant. Fortunately, being the head Behr helps him find his footing and grab onto love when it bites him.

Here’s a fun fact from author Pat Henshaw:

Six foot six Behr Construction CEO Abe Behr hires CPA Jeff Mason to help balance the books and find the employee who’s ripping off the company. What big, burly Abe finds is happy, golden Jeff can not only settle the books, but can be the honey Abe needs in his life. Behr Facts, like the previous Foothills Pride stories, is loosely based on a fairytale—this time Goldilocks!

My review:
This is the third book in a series that can be fully enjoyed as a standalone.

I will preface this review with a couple misconceptions that I brought with me when I opened the book:

1. I thought it would be sexy. It is a contemporary M/M romance, featuring an out-gay man and an asexual man. This is a romance, but do not expect any sex. Any.

2. I thought it would be a paranormal/shifter story. I mean, Abe Behr (pronounced “Bear”) is a six and half foot tall, grizzly of a man, who is gruff and loves to spend time in his isolated cabin, fishing. He’s inordinately drawn to sweets. Like, he could (and does) eat a whole three-course dessert meal. Abe is a bear, but he is NOT the bear shifter I thought I’d find. (More’s the pity, alas). Disclaimer: My review isn’t based on the the lack of shifterness, however. I’m totally cool with non-paranormal stories.

Okay, so what happens is this: Abe’s been running his family’s construction company since the ripe age of 16 when his no-account, alcoholic dad died of liver disease. He is now 32 y/o, a steadfast family man, very concerned about his two remaining younger brothers, Ben and Connor who work in the company, along with any of a number of uncles, cousins and in-laws. Behr Construction is a profitable company, but the books aren’t lining up with the kind of profit that should exist. Abe hires Jeff Mason, a young, svelte accountant with great recommendations to go over his finances.

Aside: Jeff Mason’s father and Abe’s father did not like each other, and Abe’s father had a particular hate for all the Masons.

Bringing a “Mason” into the Behr lair is tantamount to mutiny, for some of the Behrs, but Jeff does a great, and somewhat convoluted, espionage job with Abe at his side to learn who is scamming the company. It seems that the fraud is a team effort and the worst of the bunch are weeded out.

Being in close proximity with Jeff awakens new feelings within Abe. He’s never had an attraction before, and he’s frustrated to find he’s very much attracted to Jeff. Add to that, their cloistered area of California has a firebrand of a minister that’s rallying the townsfolk against the Gays, who are moving into this area due to skyrocketing prices in San Fran. (Clearly The Gays don’t like Oakland…)

So, Abe is beginning to notice all the anti-gay sentiment and it angers him. He pushes back, hard, against his vendors and sub-contractors who are flying their bigot flag. It’s a rough deal, because he’s trying to come to terms with his own sexuality, and people he’s known his whole life are newly homophobic.

I’m going to say that I’d have liked this story a lot more if there had been a little less frenetic pacing. Abe spends a good bit of time pondering his three issues: dwindling company profits, same-sex attraction, and homophobic townsfolk. The crescendo for these issues came too fast, however. I had little time to savor the results of all the tension. Also, no sex. Abe has a wild night, his first I’m led to believe, and I got nothing. #HugelyDisappointed I love me a virgin hero, and Abe had all the makings of this, based on his asexual history. Like a teen boy busting his first nut, it was all over too quickly to suit me.

I am sure this will appeal to readers who like low-steam romances. Abe is an admirable hero, and Jeff is a doll. There’s a good lesson in there about family and loyalty and being the very best person to do a tough job, too. The characters are interesting and I wanted more of their soft side on the page.

Interested? You can find BEHR FACTS on Goodreads, Dreamspinner Press, Amazon, Amazon UK, Kobo, and All Romance Ebooks.

****GIVEAWAY****

Click the Rafflecopter link below for your chance to win
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Good luck and keep reading my friends!

About the Author:
Pat Henshaw, author of the Foothills Pride Stories, was born and raised in Nebraska and promptly left the cold and snow after college, living at various times in Texas, Colorado, Northern Virginia, and Northern California. Pat enjoys travel, having visited Mexico, Canada, Europe, Nicaragua, Thailand, and Egypt, and Europe, including a cruise down the Danube.

Now retired, Pat has spent her life surrounded by words: Teaching English composition at the junior college level; writing book reviews for newspapers, magazines, and websites; helping students find information as a librarian; and promoting PBS television programs.
Her triumphs are raising two incredible daughters who daily amaze her with their power and compassion. Fortunately, her supportive husband keeps her grounded in reality when she threatens to drift away while writing fiction.

You can find Pat online on her website, Facebook, twitter, Amazon, Pinterest, Tumblr, and Goodreads.
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Digging THE LIBBY GARRETT INTERVENTION–Review & Giveaway

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Hi there! I’ve got another contemporary YA romance to share today. THE LIBBY GARRETT INTERVENTION by Kelly Oram is a compelling story about a gal who has let a user/player ruin her friendships and her self-esteem. It’s an honest read with real characters who mess up and make amends.

Make sure to drop down and enter the book and $30 gift card giveaway!

the libby garrett coverAbout the book:
Libby Garrett is addicted to Owen Jackson’s hot lovin’. But the sexy, popular college basketball player doesn’t appreciate all of Libby’s awesomeness. He refuses to be exclusive or even admit to people that they’re dating. The relationship is ruining Libby and she’s the only one who can’t see it.

When Libby’s behavior spirals completely out of control, her best friend Avery Shaw and the rest of the Science Squad stage an intervention hoping to cure Libby of her harmful Owen addiction. They put her through her very own Twelve Step program—Owen’s Anonymous—and recruit the help of a sexy, broody, hard as nails coffee man to be her official sponsor.

Adam Koepp has watched Libby Garrett for years. How could he not notice the sassy girl with the purple skateboard and helmet plastered with cat stickers? But in all the years he’s crushed on her, Libby has failed to take notice of him. Why would she when he was just a nobody high school drop out who served her apple cider several times a week? Especially when she was hooking up with a guy like Owen Jackson—a guy with a college scholarship and more abs than Kyle Hamilton.

Adam finally gets the chance to meet Libby when his co-worker Avery Shaw recruits him to take Libby on the journey of a lifetime. With his ability to play Bad Cop and his experience with the Twelve Step program he’s the perfect candidate to be Libby’s sponsor. But will he be able to keep his personal feelings out of the matter and really help her the way she needs? And will Libby hate him when he forces her to take an honest look at herself?

My Review:
This is the second book in a series, but can be enjoyed on it’s own. 4.5 Stars for this contemporary YA romance.

High school senior Libby Garrett is a big girl. She has some hormonal issues that keep her from losing weight, though she’s on a strict diet and exercises regularly. She’s a math whiz, and part of the Science Squad at her high school in Utah, but she’s gotten involved with a college boy who does her wrong. Owen, may be “all that” on the basketball court, but he’s been hooking up with Libby on the super down-low for a year now. He’s never met her parents, never gone out on a date with her, and won’t even accept her social media friendships. He even arranges hotel stays for their trysts to keep Libby out of his dorm room.

In the past year, Libby has changed her wardrobe–eschewing her witty cat t-shirts and jeans for (unflattering) lycra and mini-skirts. She’s flaked on all her friends, multiple times, and hurt their feelings. Because, when Owen calls, Libby answers.

Her besties, Avery and the rest of the Science Squad stage an Owen intervention, mediated by Adam–Avery’s tattooed skater manager at the coffee shop. Adam’s had a hard life and he knows all about addiction, thanks to his mother’s alcoholism. He is the legal guardian for his younger sister, and sacrificed his high school diploma in order to work enough to support them both. He’s always had a crush on Libby, but he’s disappointed to see how her personality has changed since Owen arrived.

Libby wants nothing to do with the intervention, or Adam, but a week after some hard truths, she decides to try. Adam and Avery continue to tell her that she’s worth more than Owen’s leftovers, but it’s hard quitting him cold turkey. Libby’s never had a boyfriend, and doesn’t fell worthy of love due to her weight problem. Still, she wants her friendships back, and healthy, and she’s tired of being a booty call. Adam agrees to be her “sponsor” and their close proximity brings Libby to a place she never anticipated.

This is a refreshing YA romance. Adam’s such a decent guy, and Libby begins to see herself as more than a “fat” girl. Her self-image has been low for a long, long time, and it’s hard for her to accept compliments, especially from Adam. Adam tries to guard his heart, but he’s a goner for Libby. That said, he’s not trying to make moves on her. He’s hoping that she’ll find the strength to love herself, and then (hopefully!!) him.

Expect the usual slow bond and misfire scenario. Owen’s not eager to give up his feisty kitten, and he regularly tests Libby’s resolve. I totally enjoyed the slow burn between Libby and Adam, and I felt that Libby learned a lot about herself, and friendship, in this story. Some grand gestures and humorous situations kept the pace rolling along. There’s only kissing on the page, though we know Libby is a sexually active teen. There’s a real HEA here, for both Libby and Adam, who are great characters to tag along with. It’s a dual POV story so we get to peek inside both Libby and Adam’s brains. A real treat!

Interested? You can find THE LIBBY GARRETT INTERVENTION on Goodreads, Amazon, iBooks, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble.

****GIVEAWAY****

Click the Rafflecopter link for your chance to win a copy of THE AVERY SHAW EXPERIMENT and a $30 GC!
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Good luck and keep reading my friends!

kelly oramAbout the Author
Kelly Oram wrote her first novel at age fifteen–a fan fiction about her favorite music group, The Backstreet Boys, for which family and friends still tease her. She’s obsessed with reading, talks way too much, and loves to eat frosting by the spoonful. She lives outside of Phoenix, Arizona with her husband and four children.

You can catch up with Kelly online on her website, Goodreads, Twitter, and Facebook.
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Heartbreak and Healing: THE REVOLUTION OF IVY

Hi there! Today, I’m sharing my review for Amy Engel’s second novel in the Book of Ivy series, THE REVOLUTION OF IVY. This is a YA dystopian adventure/romance. Much higher on the adventure, and lower on the romance. I loved THE BOOK OF IVY, and was eagerly expecting the sequel. I wasn’t disappointed!

Check out my review, and get in on the prize pack giveaway below.

5a544-rev2bof2bivy2bfront2bcover_for2bentangled_500About the Book:
**Spoilers if you haven’t read book one**
Ivy Westfall is beyond the fence and she is alone. Abandoned by her family and separated from Bishop Lattimer, Ivy must find a way to survive on her own in a land filled with countless dangers, both human and natural. She has traded a more civilized type of cruelty–forced marriages and murder plots–for the bare-knuckled brutality required to survive outside Westfall’s borders.

But there is hope beyond the fence, as well. And when Bishop reappears in Ivy’s life, she must decide if returning to Westfall to take a final stand for what she believes is right is worth losing everything she’s fought for.

My Review:
This is a sequel and the books should be read in sequence. For readers who do not like cliffhangers, the series ends here. (Well, there could always be another adventure, but there are no unresolved plot questions.)

If you have NOT read BOOK OF IVY, some spoilers below.

When last we left off:
1. The world is in ruins due to war 50 years ago and collectives have endured these lean times.
2. Westfall is a town divided. One side is wealthy the other, not. At age 16 children from one side of the town are married to spouses from the other side, to prevent rebellion and foster amity.
3. Ivy Westfall’s family founded Westfall, but the Lattimer family stole the power and maintains the government. Ivy has grown up in the bad side of Westfall, and has been diligently trained to hate the Lattimers. Her elder sister, Callie, was supposed to be married to Bishop Lattimer, son of President Lattimer, two years ago, but he refused. Bishop wanted Ivy.
4. Ivy’s father and sister want Ivy to murder Bishop.
5. Ivy falls for Bishop.
6. Ivy refuses to kill Bishop.
7. Stuff happens and Ivy is put outside of the barrier fence that protects Westfall’s territory and water supply. This is, essentially, a death sentence.

In Ivy’s case, she has little to no chance of surviving, but she manages to fend off two specific dangers, acquires a canteen and walks until she collapses. She is rescued by Caleb and Ash (Ashley) who tend her wounds and bring her into their settlement. They do not trust her, but she’s identified as Ivy Westfall, and there are enough refugees of Westfall around to ensure Ivy a welcome. She is afraid they will learn that she married, and (gasp!) loved Bishop Lattimer, as these people are outside the fence due to Bishop’s father’s “justice”. BTW some of them were put out for just cause, but many others were set out because they refused to accept their arranged marriages; they think Ivy was set out for this very reason and are sympathetic.

During the weeks, Ivy, Ash and Caleb become friends. Caleb knows that Ivy is not telling the truth, but he cannot prove it. In the meantime, Ivy proves herself to be a quick learner and a hard worker. She gains other friendships, and feels a part of a community as she never did in Westfall–either side. Naturally, this all falls apart when Bishop arrives in the camp.

There is animosity, but a steady growth of respect as Bishop sets out to prove he is “not his father’s son” (figuratively, peeps). Ivy can’t bear to be parted from Bishop again, but she also can’t get close to him, fearing that she’ll lose him all over again in this even harsher world than Westfall. I applaud Bishop’s patience, because I wanted to hit Ivy in the face for all her tentativeness. Live in the NOW, Ivy! LOL.

Anywho, Caleb and Ash find that Bishop is awesome, and Bishop gets Ivy to do what she never has done: tell the truth, of herself and her feelings. It builds a strong bond that is tested when Ivy learns that Westfall’s in disarray and her family is at extreme risk.

Ivy feels the need to make as much right as she can, and is disgruntled with Bishop, Ash, and Caleb who decide to assist. This seemed like a truly madcap enterprise, and I cannot say that I would have done what Ivy did, but I believe that Ivy did what she needed to do. (Even if I think it was utter foolishness!) That girl does love with her whole heart, even if she is hesitant to reveal it…

The end is a naturally gruesome affair, though it was a better situation than I did predict. I was satisfied in the reading. I still like Ivy, and adore Bishop and hope that this future world nevah-evah comes to pass.

Funny thing, Ivy and Bishop’s marriage was annulled when she was put outside the fence. It struck me that Bishop never discarded the ring, nor did he ever plan to let Ivy go. His steadfast love was fairy tale in origin, and it made me (and Ivy) swoony. He never tries to dissuade her from her plans, and always seeks her counsel in decisions. He’s an excellent partner, a rock really, who only wants to love Ivy as she is, whoever she is. That was heart-warming. They do consummate their love, but it’s all off the page.

As with all dystopian stories, I’d love a little more world-building, and some deeper survivor hardship on the page, but that’s not the biggest issue for me.

Interested? You can find THE REVOLUTION OF IVY on Goodreads, Amazon, Kobo Books, and Barnes & Noble.

The Book of Ivy (The Book of Ivy #1)
About the book:
After a brutal nuclear war, the United States was left decimated. A small group of survivors eventually banded together, but only after more conflict over which family would govern the new nation. The Westfalls lost. Fifty years later, peace and control are maintained by marrying the daughters of the losing side to the sons of the winning group in a yearly ritual.

This year, it is my turn.

My name is Ivy Westfall, and my mission is simple: to kill the president’s son—my soon-to-be husband—and restore the Westfall family to power.

But Bishop Lattimer is either a very skilled actor or he’s not the cruel, heartless boy my family warned me to expect. He might even be the one person in this world who truly understands me. But there is no escape from my fate. I am the only one who can restore the Westfall legacy.

Because Bishop must die. And I must be the one to kill him…

I really enjoyed this dystopian YA romance. Both Ivy and Bishop are excellent characters and I totally rooted for their HEA. (Didn’t happen, but I respected the heck out of Ivy. Check out my review for more details.

Amazon│Barnes & Noble│Kobo Books│iTunes│Google Books

****GIVEAWAY****

Click the Rafflecopter link below for your chance to win a signed copy of THE REVOLUTION OF IVY, and a necklace! A second winner will win a signed copy of the book.
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Good luck and keep reading my friends!

About the Author
Amy Engel was born in Kansas and after a childhood spent bouncing between countries (Iran, Taiwan) and states (Kansas; California; Missouri; Washington, D.C.), she settled in Kansas City, Missouri, where she lives with her husband and two kids. Before devoting herself full-time to motherhood and writing, she was a criminal defense attorney, which is not quite as exciting as it looks on TV. When she has a free moment, she can usually be found reading, running, or shoe shopping.

Find Amy online on her website, Goodreads, and twitter.

Coming soon! SECOND CHANCES-Review and Giveaway!

Hi there! Today I’m sharing a review for SECOND CHANCES, the first part of a contemporary M/M serial romance from Rain Carrington. This is an erotic series with a definite slant to become a menage. I’ve enjoyed the first installment, and look forward to the next. You can have a free copy of this one, just for commenting below. (I get to give away 5 copies!)


About the book:
Having everything he needed and wanted in his life for the first time, Brian Lauder was perfectly happy. He had a career that he loved, a home, friends and a submissive that he adored. One he thought he’d held at a big enough distance from to protect his heart. That was all before Morgan stepped back into his house and his life.

Morgan Cherik was everything a man could want. Beautiful, driven and eager to kneel for his Master, but he’d left without a word two years before to follow his dream, leaving Brian to pick up the pieces of a shattered heart.

Now he was back and Brian was torn between wanting to feel that love he’d never been able to shake for Morgan, or punish him and let him go. Then there was Pez, the young college student who had helped him heal. How could Brian let him go?

As Morgan begins to make amends, Brian knows that he cannot get over the other man who’d left his life for Brian’s happiness. Will the memory of Pez come between them, or bring them closer together?

A note from Author Rain Carrington:
This book is part of a serial, the following installments coming out every four to six weeks. They are part of a larger collection I lovingly call the Denver Diaries. Each serial in the Denver Diaries will focus on a new couple or triple, and will play out over the next year or so. I hope you enjoy this first book!

Coming November 4th, Second Chances, Book One. Starting at the introductory price of .99 cents, this deal and the beginning to this series can’t be missed!

My Review:
Brian is a clinical psychologist working in a women’s prison. He’s tasked with helping the inmates find the root cause of their problems and helping them grow past their fears. It’s a stressful job and he relishes unwinding with some spicy BDSM scenes with his regular partner, Pez, a graduate student who moonlights as rentboy. Pez and Brian have been getting together twice a week for two years, and their relationship is really one that is more loving than a john and his hooker. In truth, they each have feelings for the other, but are afraid to reveal this. Brian, because his heart has been broken before, and Pez, because being in love with Brian means he’ll have to give up his lucrative escort business.

Morgan, the stylish underwear model that broke Brian’s heart returns from his two year absence, begging for a second chance. Brian doesn’t want to give it to him, but Pez thinks he needs to–to see if their spark exists. If it doesn’t Pez is willing and able to take a permanent place in Brian’s life. Brian reluctantly allows Morgan to move back in, as long as he submits to Brian’s Dom games. Meanwhile, Pez nurses his broken heart by taking riskier jobs than ever before. As Brian and Morgan grow closer, Brian recognizes his love for Pez and Morgan is equal, and he needs to let Pez know–if he can track him down.

This is a bittersweet read when considering Pez, but I think the story arc allows for Pez to found and redeemed, by Brian and Morgan. This book is really the base of a continuing story, and while it ends satisfactorily, it’s clear that there’s tons of heat and steam in the offing. I liked the interactions between Brian and Pez and also Brian and Morgan. Brian’s a very thoughtful protagonist and is a creative Dom. He breaks Morgan’s defenses into rubble, and this allows for Morgan to be less selfish and more accepting of Brian’s needs, even if that includes Pez. It’s an interesting and often sexy story.

Interested? Youc an NOW find SECOND CHANCES on Amazon!

About the Author:
Hi I’m Rain and I write contemporary M/M romance some with a BDSM slant. My book Honky Tonk, is the first I am publishing but not the first I’ve written. I have a whole library full that are about to be rewritten and revamped a bit and published as well. Please enjoy my books and let me know what you think!

You can catch up to Rain online on her website, Facebook, and twitter.

Thanks for popping in, and don’t forget to tell me if you’d like a FREE copy of SECOND CHANCES in the comments!

His Heart is CHROME, Forged In Steele–A Review

Hi there! Today I’m sharing a review for Rie Warren’s latest release in the Carolina Bad Boys series, CHROME: WITH A HEART FORGED IN STEELE. You all know how much I’ve enjoyed bad boys STONE, LOVE and STEELE, and Boomer is a lovable giant hooked on a feisty dirt-biking mechanic with a sordid past.

Chrome: With a Heart Forged in Steele (Carolina Bad Boys #4)About the book:
Boomer Steele is big. He’s bad. He’s the Retribution MC pres. He’s been dealt the worst hand imaginable and bears the scars inside and out. Not that anyone knows it. He’s watched his younger brother and sister hook up and hitch up with the loves of their lives, and now he’s the last Steele standing alone. Maybe he should keep it that way.

Then one feisty honey makes him feel, gets in his grill, pisses him off.

She goes by the name of Rayce. And that’s exactly what she does on her motocross bike when she’s not busy getting her hands dirty with her fellow grease monkeys as the only female mechanic at Stone’s Garage. She’s into fixing bikes, racing hers, and making Boomer’s life a living hell just for the fun of it. Oh, and she hates being treated like a girl.

Sparks flying? That’s an understatement where these two are concerned. Yet when Rayce needs a place to live, and Boomer offers her a room in his house, their unquenchable attraction wins out over antagonism. Sometimes. Rayce’s crappy upbringing makes her think love is for stupid fools asking for heartbreak. She’s not willing to go there for any man. Not even Boomer Steele.

The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
Note to readers: this book addresses the issue of domestic abuse.

How about a little taste?

Liked it so much I was considering banging her against the bathroom door. “Yeah.” I rubbed a hand over my mouth. “You could say that.”

Then she did something entirely feminine, a side of her I’d never truly seen before, and performed a little twirl that lifted the skirt up her firm thighs before she stopped in front of me, her face glowing.

I started sweating, right then and there. “Jesus. You’re gonna give me a heart attack.”

“Serves you right, old man.”

“I wanna be your old man.” Growling, I scooped her into my arms. “Been missing you.”

I wouldn’t say I was at an impasse with Rayce, but I’d hardly seen her in several weeks. That was going to end tonight, after I watched Hunter either crash and burn or end up a happily married man.

My lips slid up the curve of Rayce’s neck, and her skin tasted like hot womanly sweetness. I licked the shell of her ear, ghosted to the corner of her mouth, and touched the point of my tongue against the seam of her lips.

She parted them with a gasp.

I looked down at her with heavy eyelids, our mouths separated by just a breath of space. “Been dreaming about kissing you. Feeling your lips on mine.”

“Why don’t you?” she asked, all throaty and sultry.

“You don’t want it enough yet.” I backed away from her.

My Review:
Boomer has crushed on Rayce for a good long time. He’s seen his sister and brother settle down with lovers and he’s lonely in his big empty home. Boomer witnessed the fear in Rayce’s eyes and her embarrassment over the ramshackle trailer she shares with her father. A father who’s drunk more nights than not, and also has a right nasty mouth on him.

Rayce seems to want to be with Boomer, but she’s reluctant to let any one help her out. She works hard at Stone’s garage and is fearless on the racetrack, so why is she holding back against his sure love? When Rayce pulls a disappearing act, Boomer goes to find her–and finds his worst fears confirmed. It’s not a pretty home life, that’s for sure. So Boomer does what he does best, takes care of Rayce. Moves her into his empty home and treats her with care and respect. They’re roommates, without the sexy benefits. That’s what Rayce needs, to prove that she and Boomer can co-exist and she isn’t bartering her body for a place to live. Truth is, that scenario has happened before and it might happen again, if Rayce isn’t careful. Her filthy “father” has a whole new set of humiliations in store for Rayce, and Boomer’s the muscle that lifts her out of the darkness and the rock she needs to stand on.

I was glad to see Boomer get his happy ending. He’s such a caretaker, and deserves to have a partner who loves him with her whole heart. Rayce is a good woman in a bad situation, used and abused by the one man she believed should love her. It’s not as gory as some of the Retribution stories, or even Brodie STEELE’s book, but it does involve verbal, emotional, and even physical abuse of a woman–though some of this is off the page. It’s clear that Rayce’s father has no love for her, and the reason was plain to me early on. That said, I liked how this one was all tied up. It’s not a sunshine and roses upbeat story, but there’s a lot of love and a definite HEA. Also, it’s a dirty dirty read when the sexytimes get going.

Interested? You can find CHROME: WITH A HEART FORGED IN STEELE on Goodreads and Amazon. It’s free on Kindle Unlimited and a $.99 special for release day.

Rie WarrenAbout the Author:
Badass, sassafras Rie Warren is the author of Sugar Daddy and the Don’t Tell series—a breakthrough trilogy that crosses traditional publishing boundaries beginning with In His Command.

She lives in gorgeous Charleston, South Carolina with her small family where she basks in the sunshine during the day, and adjourns to her woman cave at night. A nocturnal creature, she stays up way too late talking to herself, her characters, and anyone who will listen. She’s all about writing with heat, heart, and a hint of the dark, and she doesn’t shy away from the impossible.

Rie’s work has been called “edgy”, “daring”, and “some of the sexiest smut around”.

You can find Rie online Goodreads, Facebook and twitter.

Thanks for popping in and keep reading my friends!

 

Seduced in SEVEN NIGHTS TO SURRENDER

Seven-Nights-Launch-Day-Blitz copy
Hi there! Today I’m sharing my review for SEVEN NIGHTS TO SURRENDER a contemporary new adult romance from Jeanette Grey. You’ll recall how much I liked WHEN THE STARS ALIGN, so I was excited to get a sneak peek at this new release. I can tell you RIGHT NOW, this book has burning sheets.

Ma Gawd. The sexytimes are off the charts.

Check out the excerpt below and make sure to enter BOTH book giveaways–one is a simple as commenting on this post.

SNTS
About the book:
Kate arrives in Paris hoping to find inspiration. Instead she finds Rylan. In a swirl of stolen kisses and hot, tangled sheets, Kate is quickly swept away by the sexy stranger, longing to surrender to his expert touch. With Rylan, nothing is forbidden-except the truth.

An American ex-pat worth millions, Rylan never flaunts his fortune. Rather, he guards his identity from everyone, especially women. No strings, no commitments, no complications. But the second his lips taste Kate’s soft, sweet skin, everything changes. For the first time, Rylan has found someone to share his every want and need. Yet he knows that secrets stand between them. To keep her, he’ll need to confess the truth before it’s too late . . . even if doing so could mean losing Kate forever.

By day, he’ll show her a side of Paris not found in any guidebook. By night, he’ll introduce her to a passion beyond her wildest dreams. In this sensuous story of indulgence and desire, Jeanette Grey delivers one of the most romantic reads of the year and proves why she is fast becoming a must-read star.

How about a little taste?

Kate stayed firmly planted in her seat as he offered to help her up. Trying her best to appear unaffected, she arched one eyebrow. “Does this usually work for you?”
The guy didn’t pull his hand back or in any other way appear to alter his strategy, and Kate had to give him points for that. “Yes, actually.”
“Interesting.”
The sad truth was, his offer was beyond tempting. The attention was nice, especially after her self-esteem had been beaten down the way it had in the past year. Hell, in the past twenty-two. It wouldn’t hurt to have someone who spoke fluent French showing her around, either. That he was as attractive as he was just made the deal sweeter.
“Not working so well on you, then?” he asked as she considered him.
“Not so far.”
His smile only widened. “Good. I like a girl who’s hard to crack.” Standing up straighter, he held his palms out at his sides. “Come on, what have you got to lose?”
“I’d say my wallet, but that’s already gone.”
“See? Low stakes. Listen, you don’t trust me.” That was an understatement. Was there a man left on Earth that she did? “I don’t blame you. Devilishly handsome man wanders into a café and buys you a drink without asking? Offers to show you around town? Very suspicious.”
“Very.”
“So let’s make this safe. You said you wanted to see the Louvre? Let’s go to the Louvre. I’ll show you all my favorites, and then if I haven’t murdered you by supper time, you let me take you someplace special. Someplace no guide book in the world would ever recommend.”
She was really running out of reasons to say no. It was a good plan, this one. They’d be in a public place. She’d have time to feel him out a little more. And if he wasn’t too much of a psycho, well, everyone had to eat, didn’t they?
Still, she kept up her air of skepticism. She rather liked all his efforts to convince her. “I don’t even know your name.”
The way his dimples shone when he lifted up one corner of his mouth was completely unfair. Extending his hand again, he offered, “Rylan. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”
Rylan. That was unusual. She liked it.
“Kate,” she volunteered in return, and with no more real excuse not to, she accepted the handshake, slipping her palm into his. Warm fingers curled around hers, his thumb stroking the side of her hand, and oh. The rake. He bent forward as he tugged on her hand, twisting ever so slightly so he could press his lips to the back of her palm.
“Charmed.”
“I’ll bet you are.” But her pulse was racing faster, and the kiss felt like it seared all the way to her spine.
This man was dangerous.
He straightened up but he didn’t let go. Sweeping his other arm toward the door, he asked, “So?”
She hummed to herself as she gazed up at him, as if there was any question of what she was going to do. His blue eyes sparkled, like he already knew her answer, too.
“Well.” She rose from her seat, feeling taller than usual. More powerful. Maybe it was all the flattery of a guy like this hitting on her. Maybe it was the headiness of making this kind of a decision. Either way, it made her straighten her shoulders and insert a little sway into the movement of her hips.
“Well?”
“Lead on,” she said.
He didn’t let go of her hand. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say.” With a squeeze of her fingers, he took a step toward the door. “Let’s go look at some art.”
External pressures aside, she had come to Paris to be inspired by beauty. She could find it on the walls of a famous museum. And she could find it in the lines of this man’s shoulders and throat. The latter might not have been what she’d had in mind when she’d set out, but what was a little bit of a diversion?
You couldn’t find yourself without taking a couple of side trips, after all.

My Review:
4.5 Stars for this contemporary New Adult (erotic) romance.

Kate is a woman filled with self-doubt, mostly because men (her father and ex-boyfriend) have put her down, a lot. She’s never had an orgasm with a man, and she’s not sure she can ever fall for a man–not after witnessing her mother’s destructive marriage, and her own disastrous single foray into dating.

Kate’s an artist spending a week in Paris hoping to learn what to do with her life–she has been accepted for her MFA in art, and she has a job offer at an ad agency. School, or work? If she can’t get a better sense how to do her art, she’s got to take the job, right.

Naturally, for Kate, her vacation/vision quest begins badly. Her purse is snatched at a cafe. Her coffee is picked up by a sexy stranger, Rylan, who entreats Kate to spend some time together, as her guidebook is now stolen, and he knows the city intimately. Kate gets the idea that Rylan knows a lot of women intimately, and this idea is verified by Rylan–who, let’s face it–is a lazy trust-fund brat having an extended temper tantrum. I do like Rylan, but he’s exactly that. He let his father dictate his life, and he was seriously disappointed and unhappy with the result.

Rylan convinces Kate to hang out, and also to let him seduce her–he’s sure he can satisfy her sexually and he spends several nights doing just that. There is a lot of sex, most of which is non-penetrative. Kate is initially nervous about having intercourse, so Rylan satisfies her in other ways, and he’s not specific about reciprocity. In fact, he counts his lack of action to be a penance for all the half-truths he reveals to Kate. He’s led her to believe that he’s a struggling ex-pat, though this is far from true. His father’s tarnished legacy has fallen into his lap, and he wants nothing to do with it. He has a lot of self-hate, which makes him more sympathetic. Plus, he lives to get Kate off, which is kinky fun.

Rylan wants nothing more than to spend these perfect days with Kate, but that gets snipped when she learns she’s just another lying liar, like her cheating ex and her cheating dad. Expect a frosty break-up, and a chance at redemption. Expect a whole lotta sexytimes, and a fragile ego to become a burnished self-esteem. Kate and Rylan have serious daddy issues, and they deal with them in similar ways. By the end, neither of them is running, which was good. The planned sequel looks to be just as sexy, and will provide the end of this story, though there was enough closure here for the story to rest.

Interested? You can find SEVEN NIGHTS TO SURRENDER on Goodreads,
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, GooglePlay, Kobo, and BAM.

****GIVEAWAY 1!****

Click the Rafflecopter link below for your chance to win onE of TEN copies of SEVEN NIGHTS TO SURRENDER
a Rafflecopter giveaway

****GIVEAWAY 2!****

Comment on this post to be entered to win a paperback copy of SEVEN NIGHTS TO SURRENDER of your very own. I’d love to hear the most exotic place you have been and found a connection with someone–doesn’t have to be a sexy tale! If you went to Palm Springs and made a friend with a gardener, I’d love you to share…  This giveaway closes Tuesday Nov 10th at 5pm giving you…7 NIGHTS to get your comments in!!

Good luck and keep reading my friends!

Jeanette GreyAbout the author:
Jeanette Grey started out with degrees in physics and painting, which she dutifully applied to stunted careers in teaching, technical support, and advertising. When she isn’t writing, Jeanette enjoys making pottery, playing board games, and spending time with her husband and her pet frog. She lives, loves, and writes in upstate New York.

Catch Jeanette online on her website, Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads

Cephalopod Coffeehouse Oct 2015–WHEN A SCOT TIES THE KNOT-A Review

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Hi there! Welcome one and all to the Cephalopod Coffeehouse, a cozy gathering of book lovers, meeting to discuss their thoughts regarding the tomes they enjoyed most over the previous month. Pull up a chair, order your cappuccino and join in the fun.

When a Scot Ties the Knot (Castles Ever After, #3)This month I’m reviewing an historical romance from Tessa Dare. I’ve enjoyed some of her books in the past and ran across a recommendation for this new release, WHEN A SCOT TIES THE KNOT, from a friend on Goodreads. I must say I enjoyed it.

I picked up this book on the review/recommendation of Khanh, who rarely finds a 5-Star gem, and gushed over this historical romance. Thanks, Khanh!

Madeline Gracechurch is a proper young Englishwoman whose stepmother and father wish to have settled favorably with a husband. At 16, Maddie is unable to mix in company, however, She suffers intense agoraphobia and knows that she will disgrace her family if pressed into London’s social marriage network. She’s a devoted penpal to her “afianced” however, one Captain Logan MacKenzie, A Highland Scot fighting the French–who happens to be entirely fictitious. She sends him letters and sketches, and arranges to have return letters from him delivered from him.

This charade continues for years, Maddie feeling bad, but not entirely. She expects that her letters are being trashed somewhere, entertainment for anonymous troops who think her a flighty girl. Remorse does set in when her godfather gifts her a Highland estate so that she and Captain MacKenzie will be comfortable upon his return. She decides to end this ruse, now some eight years old, by reporting the death of the valiant Captain. She mourns him properly, vows to never wed and decamps form her father’s home to her Highland estate, in the company of her “ruined” spinster Aunt Thea.

Maddie has been comfortable in her estate for two years now. She has a tidy income from her scientific drawings and the working farm. She is a good mistress, knowing her tenants and ensuring their welfare. What she is not is a woman looking for a man, and one appears on her doorstep out of the bonny blue sky: Captain Logan MacKenzie.

Not just the good captain, he has brought some of his displaced soldiers with him. To stay. Yes, Logan exists, and he received many a letter from a foolish English lass he expected to be decrepit or club-footed or have some gross malformation that rendered her unsuitable for marriage. The young, delicate comely woman who is terrified by his brawn (and assertion that they be married posthaste) is not at all whom he expected to find.

Logan has has a bad time of life. Abandoned by his parents, left as an orphan and pressed into His Majesty’s service by his “adoptive” family, Logan has never known a real home, nor real love. He doesn’t believe in it, and figures that the spoils young Maddie received by conning her family ought to suit him and his cast-off men who have nowhere to live after all their sacrifices for the Crown.

Aunt Thea is overjoyed, and canny. She wants her Maddie to have a love-filled life, and this rugged Highlander seems to fit the bill. Maddie, for her part, is attracted and intrigued, but she agrees to handfast her captain only because he threatens to reveal her subterfuge to all of London’s society.

It’s a big mess, of Maddie’s own creation as she acknowledges, and she womans up. She makes her vows, but allows herself some time to adjust to married life. In particular, she forestalls the consummation of their marriage in the hope that she can locate MacKenzie’s cache of her letters and destroy the evidence thereby unsealing their deal. In the meantime, they spend quite a bit of time together, managing the estate. Maddie’s even prepared to hand this over to Logan, in return for him letting her be, but Logan knows how the English change their minds and take back what they give in Scotland. So he won’t be having any of her deals.

Plus, he’s mighty attracted. His initial lust tempers into admiration when he sees how compassionate she is to all those around her estate. A true affection blossoms between Maddie and Logan, one that is fierce. It scares both Logan and Maddie, but Maddie takes steps to protect her heart–until she recognizes that Logan’s armor guards him too closely for very good reason.

Maddie and Logan are two excellent characters. While Logan is a battle hardened man, he’s not a brute. He’s educated and appreciates Maddie’s peculiarities. Maddie practically swoons when she find him reading her treasured copy of Pride and Prejudice, yet she can’t allow herself to believe such a beautiful physical specimen could truly love her. In fact, she very much believes Logan when he tells her he cannot.

There are some delightful sexytimes. Maddie is a virgin, and Logan has been celibate ever since Maddie’s letters began arriving. He lived a model life to give his men hope, and when the letters started he couldn’t set a bad example of carousing when the men believed he had a steadfast sweetheart. It has created a serious (10 years!) back-up of lust for Logan to carry. The sexual tension is delicious with a constant build and excellent resolution. Logan’s selflessness is a problem through the story–all the way to the very end, and yet, it’s his most endearing quality.

Where can I find me one of those magic mirrors or circles of standing stones? I need me a sexy Highlander, toot sweet.

Interested? You can find WHEN A SCOT TIES THE KNOT on Goodreads, Amazon, All Romance, and Barnes & Noble. This is a mass market paperback so it’s probably in Target and other convenience booksellers–and try the library, too.

Thanks for stopping in, and don’t forget to dash in and see what all my fellow Coffeehouse readers picked as their fave book for the month. Oh, and Happy Halloween!

Serial Marriage: WILL & PATRICK-Review, Book Blast And Giveaway

Wake Up Married Banner
Hi there! Sharing a review in the book blast for a new serial from Leta Blake and Alice Griffiths. WILL & PATRICK is a rom-com romp, and sure to be spicy. Each book will come out every three weeks or so, until all six episodes are published. I’ve already read the first one, WAKE UP MARRIED and I’m eager to read more.

Check out the excerpt and be sure to enter the giveaway for your copy!

Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000038_00075]About the Book:
Join the wild ride in this vibrant and fun first installment of the new romantic comedy serial by best-selling author Leta Blake and newcomer Alice Griffiths!

After a drunken night of hot sex in Vegas, strangers Will Patterson and Dr. Patrick McCloud wake up married. A quickie divorce is the most obvious way out—unless you’re the heir of a staunchly Catholic mafia boss with a draconian position on the sanctity of marriage.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Will and Patrick don’t like it, or each other, but they have to make the best of it until they can find another way out of their marriage. To ensure the trust fund Will’s charitable foundation relies on isn’t revoked by his mobster grandfather, he and Patrick travel to Will’s hometown of Healing, South Dakota, posing as a newlywed couple in the throes of true love at first sight.

Complicating their scheme are Will’s unresolved feelings for his all-too-recent ex-boyfriend Ryan, and Patrick’s desire to get back to the only thing that really matters to him in life: neurosurgery. Will they fool everyone? Or will the mafia get wind that their marriage is a fake? Throw their simmering attraction into the mix and all bets are off!

Episode 1 of 6 in the Wake Up Married Serial.

How about a little taste?

Patrick sits down beside Will and rubs his hands together in anticipation. “So, what did Granny say? Can she free me from the shackles of our loveless union?”

Will puts his head in his hands. “It’s not going to be as easy as I hoped initially. It might take some time.”

“We knew that. How much time? A week? Two?”

“Maybe a month?”

“What?” Patrick’s voice is loud.

“Maybe more than a month? Possibly up to a year?”

Patrick’s eyes grow dark with anger. “Don’t tell me the all-powerful Eleanora Molinaro you were going on about so enthusiastically when you were convincing me of this half-baked scheme can’t make a little inadvertent marriage disappear.”

“Could you hold it down?” Will whispers. “Or do you want someone to hear?”

“Oooh, right, the Molinaro spies. Might have the place bugged. Guess I shouldn’t yell then? I’m not your toy, Will. I want a divorce and I want one now,” Patrick hollers.

Will glares at him. He raises his own voice, saying, “Don’t be so dramatic, baby!”

He stares Patrick down, daring him to say something else. “You know I love you more than life!”

Patrick looks daggers at him. “Who do you think you’re fooling, Will? The bellhops? The maids?” He wipes a hand across his face and rises. “You know, no. I can’t believe I’ve let your paranoia and insanity drag me across the country into this hornet’s nest of absurdity and—”

Patrick rants on, but Will’s not paying attention anymore, because Patrick’s tossing his new clothes onto the bed, and getting out his suitcases.

“Wait,” Will says, putting his hands on Patrick’s arms. “Wait, don’t.”

Patrick throws a shirt into the bag and sighs. “What do you want from me? I gave your plan a chance, but there is no way in hell I’m going to hang around this town for a year. Not when I could be at the Mayo Clinic or Cedars-Sinai or Vandy. Not when I can be honing my skills and expanding my practice. I am not small-town material, Will. I’m the big-time. I have absolutely no desire to play your loving spouse indefinitely and if
your grandmother can’t get us out of this mess? Well, I sure as hell can.”

“Look,” Will says. “I know you can. I just need you…no, no, stop that. You’re not going anywhere.” Will pushes Patrick, trying to move him away from the bags.

Patrick lurches toward him, gripping his forearms and shoving him back with surprising strength. “I’ve been pushed around enough in my life, Will. Now, if you’ll excuse me. I’m going to take care of this my way.”

Will breathes in hard. Terror and attraction jolts through him at once. He swallows and backs away from Patrick, his hands shaking, and his throat dry. Blood rushes in his ears.

Patrick picks up his bag and heads for the door. Will tries to block Patrick from getting it open.

“Really? It’s come to this? Holding me against my will?”

Will pushes the barely open door shut with a hard slam. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Patrick. This is just our first lover’s spat. That’s all. The first of many to come in our long, wonderfully happy marriage.”

Patrick stares at him like he’s kind of impressed by this level of insanity. “Good God, you’re drinking your own Kool-Aid.”

“Yeah, well, it’s a very, very expensive drink.”

“You think you’re so clever don’t you?”

Will shrugs. “I think I don’t know what else to do.”

My Review:
This is the beginning of a serial M/M romantic comedy, but this episode is, uh, not romantic. At all.

Will Patterson is a diabetic and a recovering alcoholic with a lousy (new) ex. He’s also the eldest son of Tony Molinari, incarcerated head of a mobster family. Will’s been raised outside of that syndicate realm in tiny Healing, South Dakota, with his mother, step-siblings and paternal Nonna but he’s in possession of the Molinari trust as the eldest grandchild. He’s using the millions of blood money to fund Good Works, a charitable foundation that provides free and discounted medical care all over the world. He’s just financed the expansion of the Healing Hospital, and is at a medical conference in Las Vegas to recruit neurologists and Neurosurgeons to the hospital when he gets a call from Ryan, his on-again/off-again boyfriend of the past 6 years. Ryan lets Will know, via telephone, that they are through. For good.

We learn all of this when Will wakes up from a killer bender, naked, in a strange hotel room, and married to a man he doesn’t remember. As it all comes back into focus, Will is horrified by his actions. He’d been sober a number of years, and he adores Ryan, and he stands to lose all the monies in the Molinari trust if he divorces the now-surly and soon to be unemployed Dr. Patrick McCloud.

Patrick is a sexy, demanding Neurosurgeon. He’s the epitome of a prima donna surgeon and his ego and big mouth make him zero friends. While freaking out over his newly-married state he supremely pisses off his chief of staff, and is summarily dismissed.

Will convinces Patrick to visit Healing, and help him sort out the possibility of getting the trust amended to allow for a divorce without all the money being given back to the mob.

This predicament is rife with issues, and Will and Patrick are angry with themselves and each other for a good deal of the book. I liked Will, as he’s easily likable. Patrick’s a prickly one. I’m reserving my thoughts on him for the moment, on account of they aren’t especially flattering, and I suspect he’s going to have an epiphany in the very near future. He does show elements of compassion, especially when helping manage Will’s diabetes.

Throughout I was holding out hope for some actual tenderness to pop up between Will and Patrick, but it’s too soon, I think. This episode was truly only the first 36 hours in the aftermath of waking in their debacle. They are both hungover and freaked the heck out. There are some clear elements of Molinari menace in the background, and it’s likely that this will become more prominent in the next episode. Also, I think Patrick’s cockiness is going to get soundly trimmed soon–likely due to having fewer career options than he suspects.

I’m intrigued to read on, and hoping there will be some romantic elements in the near future.

Interested? You can find WILL & PATRICK WAKE UP MARRIED on Goodreads, Amazon, and Amazon UK.

****GIVEAWAY****

Click the Rafflecopter link for your chance to win one of two copies of WILL & PATRICK Episode one.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good luck and keep reading my friends!

About the Authors:
Leta Blake
Author of the bestselling book Smoky Mountain Dreams and the fan favorite Training Season, Leta Blake’s educational and professional background is in psychology and finance, respectively. However, her passion has always been for writing. She enjoys crafting romance stories and exploring the psyches of made up people. At home in the Southern U.S., Leta works hard at achieving balance between her day job, her writing, and her family.

You can find out more on her website, Facebook and twitter.

Alice Griffiths
A long-time reader of romance novels, Alice Griffiths finally took the plunge into writing, teaming up with best-selling author Leta Blake for the ‘Woke up Married’ serialized comedy. A lover of tropes, Alice enjoys mining old ideas and putting a fresh, funny spin on them. Formerly working in the newspaper industry, Alice is now an art curator. She lives in Sydney, Australia.

You can find out more about her by following her on Twitter and Facebook.