🍷🍷.5 #Review of Something to Talk About by Meryl Wilsner

Title:  Something To Talk About
Author: Meryl Wilsner
Format: Paperback/eBook, 333 pages
Publication: May 26th 2020 by Berkley
ASIN:    B07YRSHX5K    
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N
Source: Edelweiss
Reviewer: Kimberly
Rating: 🍷🍷.5 out of 5 Wine Glasses

Hollywood powerhouse Jo is photographed making her assistant Emma laugh on the red carpet, and just like that, the tabloids declare them a couple. The so-called scandal couldn't come at a worse time--threatening Emma's promotion and Jo's new movie.

As the gossip spreads, it starts to affect all areas of their lives. Paparazzi are following them outside the office, coworkers are treating them differently, and a "source" is feeding information to the media. But their only comment is "no comment".

With the launch of Jo's film project fast approaching, the two women begin to spend even more time together, getting along famously. Emma seems to have a sixth sense for knowing what Jo needs. And Jo, known for being aloof and outwardly cold, opens up to Emma in a way neither of them expects. They begin to realize the rumor might not be so off base after all...but is acting on the spark between them worth fanning the gossip flames? 

Kimberly's Thoughts:
Jo was a childhood actor who is making the transition to director and about to take on a new tv show. When a moment on the red carpet with her assistant Emma has gossips wondering if there is more between them, she goes with her standard “no comment”, not wanting anything to jeopardize her career.
Emma is an aspiring director herself and getting to work for Jo has been a dream come true, even when she has to keep her childhood crush she had on Jo a secret. Jo's her boss, there's an age difference, but Emma can't help but think she isn't the only one having feelings that go beyond friendship.

🍷🍷🍷.5 #Review of Love Hard by Nalini Singh

Title:  Love Hard
Series:  Hard Play #3
Author: Nalini Singh
Format: Paperback/eBook, 320 pages
Publication: Mar. 10, 2020 by TKA Distribution 
ASIN:    B083STVJTZ    
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N
Source: NetGalley
Reviewer: Kimberly
Rating: 🍷🍷🍷.5 out of 5 Wine Glasses

Jacob Esera, star rugby player and young single father, has worked hard to create a joyous life for his six-year-old daughter. After the death of his childhood sweetheart soon after their daughter’s birth, all Jake wants is safety and stability. No risks. No wild chances. And especially no Juliet Nelisi, former classmate, scandal magnet, and a woman who is a thorn in his side.

As a lonely teenager, Juliet embraced her bad-girl reputation as a shield against loneliness and rejection. Years later, having kicked a cheating sports-star ex to the curb, she has a prestigious job and loyal friends—and wants nothing to do with sportsmen. The last thing she expects is the fire that ignites between her and the stuffed-shirt golden boy who once loved her best friend.

Straitlaced Jacob Esera versus wild-at-heart Juliet Nelisi? Place your bets.

Kimberly's Thoughts:

Juliet and Jacob knew each other in high school but only tolerated each other for the sake of Calypso, Juliet's bestfriend and Jacob's girlfriend. When mutual friends bring them back together, Jacob is a now a single father and Juliet has managed to become vice president of a lingerie company. They get thrown even more together when Jacob's celebrity as a star Rugby player has him modeling for Juliet's company. These two still rub each other the wrong way but now the friction is starting to cause sparks.

Read an #Excerpt from The Highlander's Unexpected Proposal by Heather McCollum

 

About the Book

The Highlander's Unexpected Proposal
(The Brothers of Wolf Isle #1)
by Heather McCollum 
ebook, 150 pages
Published October 19th 2020 by Entangled: Scandalous
ISBN1649370598 

A lass begging to marry him might top the list of “oddest things to happen,” but Chief Adam Macquarie is desperate. And no matter how much he hates to do it, he’s not above lying to get what he wants. Starting with the fact that he just omitted the truth about the situation back at his home—where there are no women and only a handful of other people. Because he has a secret need for a wife himself, one she won’t be too happy about when she finds out.

Lark Montgomerie is thrilled the brawny chief agrees to save her from her drunken father’s machinations of wedding her off to the first fool that agrees. He’s easy on the eyes and no one can be worse than her current options. Now a new life awaits her, on an exciting Scottish isle no less, and nothing will dampen her spirits. That is, until she arrives in her new homeland and realizes more than a few things are amiss…

AMAZON | B&N 

Read an #Excerpt from Empire High Elite by Ivy Smoak

 

About the Book

Empire High Elite
(Empire High #2)
by Ivy Smoak 
Kindle Edition
Published October 11th 2020
ASINB08L389STS

Welcome to the world of the elite.

My mom fell in love with a monster. I know he’s dangerous. And I know my mom never wanted him in my life. I don’t want him in mine either. But I’m being forced to live with him.

I’m stuck in his haunting apartment in a world where I don’t belong. A world full of beautiful people with ugly souls. A world filled with secrets.

And the one person that I thought I could rely on was Matt. But he says my new family is a disease. Does that make me toxic too? Is that why Matt wants to keep me his dirty little secret?

I should have known that all the secrets would come crashing down soon. I just never expected more to break than Matthew freaking Caldwell breaking my heart.

AMAZON | B&N 

🍷🍷 #Review of Leave Me Breathless by Jodi Ellen Malpas

Title:  Leave Me Breathless
Author: Jodi Ellen Malpas
Format: Paperback/eBook, 401 pages
Publication: Nov. 5, 2019 by Forever
ASIN:     B07PCPVQVZ     
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N
Source: Publisher
Reviewer: Kimberly
Rating: 🍷🍷 out of 5 Wine Glasses

Ryan Willis has spent years in the protection business, a job that requires constant vigilance and quick thinking. His only chance to truly relax is at his secluded cabin in a small town where there are never any surprises. So when Ryan returns after an assignment and encounters a beautiful stranger, he isn't only surprised, he's also instantly intrigued.

Hannah Bright is a breath of fresh air, and Ryan is soon completely consumed, unable to stop from falling for her. As the two grow closer, his instinct tells him something is amiss. Yet nothing could prepare him for what he discovers when he starts digging into her past.

Hannah spends her days painting, running her arts and crafts store...and hiding too many secrets. It's why she won't let the ruggedly handsome bodyguard get too close. But their chemistry is undeniable, and Hannah quickly finds herself caught up in a whirlwind romance with Ryan. He is peace personified, a balm to her battered soul. Yet the gorgeous, captivating man who has swept Hannah off her feet doesn't even know who she really is. And the moment he finds out, both their lives are at risk.

Kimberly's Thoughts:
Former MI5, Ryan has been working for an exclusive protection agency for the last couple years and he is weary. Deciding that it is time to retire, he can't wait to get home and spend more time with his daughter but a new woman in town is disturbing his peace.
Hannah is constantly on the move and knowing she is only going to spend six months in this new town, she doesn't want attachments. When the town hottie almost runs her over though, all kinds of complications arise, the biggest starting with her heart.

🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷 #Review of Don't Hex and Drive by Juliette Cross

Title: Don’t Hex and Drive
Series: Stay a Spell #2
Author: Juliette Cross
Format: Kindle, 346 pages
Published: September 8th 2020 (Amazon.com Services LLC)
ISBN: ASIN B085CMZH7X
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N
Reviewer: Linda
Source: NetGalley
Rating: 🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷 out of 5 Wine Glasses

Notoriously bad at peopling, Isadora Savoie spends most of her time in the greenhouse or at the local animal shelter, using her Conduit powers of growth and healing. Content to remain in the background of the Savoie sister shenanigans, she’s reluctantly roped into the mystery of missing neighborhood girls. Now, she’s partnered with a flashy, flirty vampire to find them before it’s too late.

Devraj Kumar has seen and done it all. Three hundred years roaming the earth as a Stygorn—a legendary vampire warrior who operates in the shadows—has its perks. But ennui has set in. That is, until he has a run-in—literally—with an intriguing witch while on a new assignment in New Orleans. Fascinated by her resistance to his charms, Devraj can’t help but push her buttons in an effort to get to know the shy witch. Fortunately for him, she’s been recruited by the Lord of Vampires to assist Devraj on the case.

Between a Bollywood marathon, supernatural dating app, secret package, and sexy driving instruction, Isadora is in over her head. And Devraj? After just one taste, he’s playing for keeps.

Linda's Thoughts:

I have been dying to read Juliette Cross’ Don’t Hex and Drive since I inhaled the series’ opening salvo, Wolf Gone Wild, and I’m thrilled to report that it has lived up to all of my high expectations! I adored this wonderful paranormal romance from its hilarious start. It’s sweet and sexy with lots of magical, laugh-out-loud moments generously infused throughout. It is the second yummy installment in the author’s Stay a Spell series about the powerful Savoie sisters, a close family of quirky witches living in New Orleans. 

Read an #Excerpt from The Gritty Truth by Melissa Foster + #Giveaway

 

The Gritty Truth
(The Whiskeys: Dark Knights at Peaceful Harbor #7)
by Melissa Foster 
Paperback, 356 pages
Published October 7th 2020 by World Literary Press
ISBN1948868474

A fun, sexy, and emotionally riveting new standalone romance by New York Times bestselling author Melissa Foster. THE GRITTY TRUTH is the perfect love story for those who enjoy fiercely loyal and insanely sexy alpha heroes, smart, sassy heroines, strong family bonds, bikers, babies, and more!

Recovering drug addict Quincy Gritt has fought his demons. He’s confessed to his crimes and conquered his addictions. He’s finally ready to go after sweet, sexy Roni, the gorgeous brunette who won a date with him in a charity auction five months ago and has been putting him off, and driving him wild, ever since.

Dancer Veronica “Roni” Wescott worked hard to escape the seedy area where she was raised and followed her dreams to Julliard, only to have them shattered in the blink of an eye. She fought hard and regained her footing, but then the rug was pulled out from under her again when the grandmother who raised her passed away, leaving Roni feeling adrift in a world she knows very little about outside of dance. And then there's Charlie Hunnam–lookalike Quincy Gritt—the man whose late-night texts pulled her through her grief and have been setting her heart aflutter for months.

Quincy pulls out all the stops, determined to prove that their friendship is only the beginning of what’s destined to be so much more. Romantic nights lead to smoldering passion and a deep connection too strong to be denied. But when Quincy’s past comes back to haunt him, can he and Roni accept their new gritty truth, or will Quincy spiral back into the darkness and lose the future he fought so hard to have?

AMAZON | B&N 

Read an #Excerpt from Ship-Wrecked by Cassie Cross

 

Ship-Wrecked 
(Love Is..., #6)
by Cassie Cross
ebook
Published October 8th 2020

Skye McLane is Hollywood’s newest It Girl. Between the film offers flying in and the ever-present awards buzz around her, Skye seems to have everything, until pictures of her heartthrob boyfriend cheating on her are splashed all over the internet. Heartbroken, Skye just wants to focus on her work and lick her wounds in private, but her publicist has another plan.

His name is River Holloway.

River’s a rising star with a penchant for finding trouble wherever he goes. He has a new movie coming out and some career-making deals in the works, but River’s getting the wrong kind of attention after a couple of fights captured by the paparazzi. What he needs is an image rehab, and his publicist thinks Skye is just the girl who can give it to him.

America’s newest sweetheart and a bad boy in need of a little TLC seems like the perfect recipe for some positive press. It’s strictly a showmance with a pre-determined expiration date, until a trip to a tropical paradise leaves them shipwrecked, and their time alone together makes them realize that their feelings might not be for show after all…

AMAZON

Happy #BookBirthday to The Last Rule of Makeups by Nina Crespo + #Giveaway

 

The Last Rule of Makeups 
(Breakup Bash Book 3)
by Nina Crespo 
Kindle Edition
Published October 12th 2020
ASINB08GZZ62S9

Cori Ross is thanking her lucky stars. Sure, her long-time boyfriend just dumped her, but that’s a good thing. In her rush to find Mr. Right, she realizes she almost settled for Mr. Just Okay. And that’s definitely not okay. So, tonight, she’s out with her friends at the Breakup Bash—a private party for women celebrating their break-ups—and she’s actually celebrating. Still, it was too close a call. So she makes a deal with herself—no guys for six months.

Unfortunately, just as she’s leaving the club, she runs into her old boyfriend, Grey Latham—the guy she’d always wanted to be Mr. Right. Great. What a time to swear off guys. Maybe she needs to change the deal—no relationships for six months. There’s no reason why she can’t have a fling, right? Because Grey still holds the title of the best sex she’s ever had.

There’s no way this could go wrong. Grey is on his way to international DJ fame—he’s only in town for a short time, and then he’ll be gone again. No harm in burning up the sheets while it lasts.
Too bad neither expected what happened next...

AMAZON | B&N

🍷🍷 #Review of All Scot and Bothered by Kerrigan Byrne

Title:  All Scot and Bothered
Series:  Devil You Know #2
Author: Kerrigan Byrne
Format: Paperback/eBook, 689 pages
Publication: Sept. 29, 2020 by St. Martin's Press
ASIN:    B08472FB6T     
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N
Source: NetGalley
Reviewer: Kimberly
Rating: 2 out of 5 Wine Glasses

He is first and foremost—at everything. A man who's made his own way in the world through ruthless cunning and sheer force of will. A strong and imposing Scot who can turn on the charm but does not suffer fools. His title: Lord Chief Justice of the High Court. His name: Cassius Gerard Ramsay. His mission: To investigate the goings-on at London's most notorious gaming hell, owned and operated by one of the most intriguing and desirable women he's ever met.

IN THIS GAME OF LOVE, THE RULES DO NOT APPLY

Cecelia Teague was an orphan facing a rather dire future—until a secret benefactor from her mother's scandalous past swept into her life. Sent to prestigious boarding school and later to university, Cecelia believed high society was at her fingertips...Then, from out of nowhere, she became the inheritor of a gambling establishment. Now Cecelia must live two lives: one as a proper lady who finds herself undeniably drawn to Lord Ramsay and the other as a savvy gaming hell owner trying to save her business from the very same man. He has no idea she is both women...and Cecelia would like to keep it that way. But what happens when consuming passion and escalating danger threaten to reveal the truth?

Kimberly's Thoughts:
For in the eyes of her father, the sin was hers. The original sin. She’d been born a girl.

Read an #Excerpt from A Golden Fury by Samantha Cohoe

 

A Golden Fury
by Samantha Cohoe
Hardcover, 352 pages
Expected publication: October 13th 2020 by Wednesday Books
ISBN1250220408

While combing through her mother’s notes, Thea learns that there’s a curse on the Stone that causes anyone who tries to make it to lose their sanity. With the threat of the French Revolution looming, Thea is sent to Oxford for her safety, to live with the father who doesn’t know she exists.

But in Oxford, there are alchemists after the Stone who don’t believe Thea’s warning about the curse—instead, they’ll stop at nothing to steal Thea’s knowledge of how to create the Stone. But Thea can only run for so long, and soon she will have to choose: create the Stone and sacrifice her sanity, or let the people she loves die. 

Thea Hope longs to be an alchemist out of the shadow of her famous mother. The two of them are close to creating the legendary Philosopher’s Stone—whose properties include immortality and can turn any metal into gold—but just when the promise of the Stone’s riches is in their grasp, Thea’s mother destroys the Stone in a sudden fit of violent madness.

AMAZON | B&N 

#Spotlight on Daimon by Felicity Heaton

 

New York Times best-selling paranormal romance author Felicity Heaton has just released, DAIMON, the latest paranormal romance novel in her epic Guardians of Hades series.  If you love dark, alpha Greek gods and strong heroines who bring them to their knees, together with epic action, sizzling passion and high stakes drama, then this series is definitely for you. Plus, each book has a happily forever after and there are no cliff-hangers, because there’s nothing worse than a cliff-hanger!

Daimon
(Guardians of Hades #6)
by Felicity Heaton
Kindle Edition
Published September 29th 2020
ASINB08CBCV5YY

Leap back into the Guardians of Hades paranormal romance series in this next thrilling instalment. Join Daimon and Cassandra as they fight the desire that blazes between them, struggling against their feelings and the rising tide of danger closing in on the seven sons of Hades, their world and ours.

AMAZON | B&N 

Read an #Excerpt from HER SWEET TEMPTATION by Nina Crespo + #Giveaway

Her Sweet Temptation
by Nina Crespo 

Paperback, 288 pages
Published September 29th 2020 by Harlequin Special Edition
ISBN133589487X

When good things come in bad-boy packages.

She vows to find the right kind of guy.

A tempting stranger challenges everything.

“Bad Choices” should have been Rina Tillbridge’s middle name and it’s time to turn over a new leaf. But when stuntman Scott Halsey struts onto her property for his latest film, her impulsive alter ego threatens to make a comeback. The quintessential thrill-seeking stuntman has no designs on commitment. So why are all his red flags igniting white-hot passion…and inspiring dreams of a Hollywood ending? 

AMAZON | B&N 

#Giveaway of Wolf Den Hollow by Donna Murray

Wolf Den Hollow

by Donna Murray

Kindle Edition

Expected publication: October 6th 2020 by She Writes Press

ASINB083VWCPK4

It's the dead of winter, and Sila, a bewitching Cherokee teenager, has just fled her marriage to a brutal drunk. Desperate for work, she finds herself knocking on the door of a mill office in the Missouri Ozarks. There she meets the handsome owner, Charley Barclay.

Despite the fact that Sila and Charley have virtually nothing in common and thirty years between them, a spark ignites. Their passionate love affair quickly intensifies, and for Charley, there is no going back to his loveless marriage—especially after Sila is with child. They marry, and his empire expands as they face tragedy and treachery along the way. Just as their lives seem perfect, Charley falls victim to cancer. Sila's devastation is compounded by the onset of the Great Depression. She loses her inheritance and is faced with losing her home. As her situation grows increasingly dire, Sila—determined to protect herself and her family—is forced to make a desperate decision.

Inspired by a true story, and replete with natural healing, glimpses of the logging boom, and heartbreaking drama, Wolf Den Hollow brings to life this unlikely, captivating romance of the early 1900s.

AMAZON | B&N 

Read an #Excerpt from Lethal Temptation by Kaylea Cross

 

Lethal Temptation

(Rifle Creek #2)

by Kaylea Cross

Kindle Edition, 210 pages

Published September 29th 2020

ASINB086CXN4LT

She’s got her guard up.

Detective Avery Dahl finally has her life back on track after a painful divorce. She’s not going to risk her heart again, especially to a sexy veteran with heartbreak written all over him. Due to extenuating circumstances at an upcoming family wedding, she reluctantly agrees to bring him as her fake boyfriend—and soon realizes her mistake. Because Mason is as lethal with seduction as he is with a weapon, and keeps pushing her boundaries until her carefully constructed walls begin to crumble. Her instinct is to push him away, but when a mysterious enemy targets her, Avery has a choice to make. Face it alone, or take a risk and let him in.

He’s determined to get past it.

After a horrific accident ended his military career, Mason Gallant has struggled to fit into the civilian world. Now that he and his buddies are opening a business together in Rifle Creek, he’s finally found his footing again. But he never counted on meeting a woman like Avery. He can’t stop thinking about her, so when she needs help, he steps up. Except posing as her boyfriend makes things even worse—because he soon realizes he wants way more than just her body. Now that he’s seen the caring, sensual woman inside the tough cop, he wants to protect her from whoever is threatening her. As the attraction between them heats up, the danger escalates. Mason must prove to her that she can trust him with her heart as well as her life—or risk losing her to the bullet of a stone-cold killer. 

AMAZON | B&N