Category: Blog Tour

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#TwelveDaysOfRomance #BlogTour: Stranded With Her Greek Husband by Michelle Smart

To kick off this Twelve Days of Romance blog tour series, we’re looking at a shorter tale that wasn’t quite what I expected – but was a solidly fun tale for what it actually was. For this blog tour, we’re looking at Stranded With Her Greek Husband by Michelle Smart.

Not What I Was Expecting, Still Good In Its Way. With the title and the description here, I was expecting some kind of boat emergency that left our leading lady stranded on an island where her husband happened to be. Instead, we get the husband essentially imprisoning the wife against her will – and openly bragging about it. I normally try to go wherever for whatever with a book, but this one was pushing even my (more tolerant than many) limits. That noted, if the reader is willing to simply go with this set up… the book is a fairly standard second chance romance in an exotic location, pretty well perfectly on brand. And yes, not exactly for the clean/ sweet crowd either – this one has some fairly significant steam, though at least here the husband is much more careful about forcing himself. The epilogue is fairly standard stuff for a romance, and mostly expected given the exact nature of this particular tale – but I personally was hoping for something a bit more courageous and genre bending. Which was probably setting my own expectations a bit too high, given how safely within genre most of the rest of the tale is. 🙂 Still, this is on the shorter side (under 200 pages) and perfectly timed in that week between Christmas and New Year’s when no one really knows what they want to do, but everyone knows they should be relaxing and having fun in whatever way they deem. This tale definitely fits that general mood, and is very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the various “publisher details” including book description, author bio, and buy links.
Continue reading “#TwelveDaysOfRomance #BlogTour: Stranded With Her Greek Husband by Michelle Smart”

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Featured New Release Of The Week: Why She Left by Leah Mercer

This week we’re looking at a solid family drama that has some elements of mystery and even a few of suspense – but is completely grounded within the family drama. This week we’re looking at Why She Left by Leah Mercer.

Solid Family Drama With Some Mystery. Reading through the Goodreads reviews (as I do before writing my own), a lot of the more negative reviews (anything less than 4* is considered by Goodreads/ Amazon to be negative, fwiw) tended to center around complaints that this book wasn’t a suspense/ thriller. And yet looking around through the description and other materials available, I find no claims from the publisher that this is a suspense or a thriller. The closest claim is that it is a “suspenseful family drama”, which is 100% accurate. There was an event years ago that caused one daughter to flee, and there are a few different events in the present day that build a decent amount of suspense (for a family drama, which is truly what this is, anyway). Yes, the years-ago event becomes rather obvious rather quickly – *hopefully* Mercer intended that. But there are many more wrinkles here that aren’t so obvious, and even my usually fairly perceptive reading didn’t actually catch some of the bigger reveals until they were actually revealed. Indeed, arguably the one true weakness here I can think of isn’t actually one anyone else has cited – it is never truly established just how bad the situation the returning daughter is fleeing from now actually was. Still, for what this tale *actually* is, and seems to *actually* be being marketed as, this is actually a fairly solid story that will trigger some in a variety of ways but which is a truly solid story for most everyone else. Very much recommended.

After the jump, the various “publisher details” including book description, author bio, and social media links.
Continue reading “Featured New Release Of The Week: Why She Left by Leah Mercer”

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#FallIntoChristmasRomance #BlogTour: Christmas In Rose Bend by Naima Simone

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a warm gingerbread cookie of a Christmas romance tale that someone thought needed some cilantro on it. For this blog tale, we’re looking at Christmas In Rose Bend by Naima Simone.

Christmas Romance With A Touch Of Preachy Politics. This is *mostly* a Hallmarkie Christmas Romance that would *mostly* fit right in with a typical Hallmark Christmas Movie. So for fans of that kind of story, you’re going to love this one. That noted, it does have a moment or two of getting particularly preachy about the author’s politics here – enough that when reading through that section (an extended one early and a few other comments here and there) there was debate within my head about a star deduction. But ultimately even the preachiness was more spice than actual substance here – kind of a cilantro. Some will LOVE it. Others will HATE it. No matter which side you’re on here, know that it truly doesn’t form the actual meat of the tale here, and the rest of the tale really is a solid story of the type described above. This is marketed as Book 2 in a series, and honestly with the various backstories provided it almost seems like it could be even deeper than that – and yet the story here still works as a standalone by itself. Ultimately a solid Christmas Romance, and very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt followed by the “publisher details” – book description, author bio, social media links, and buy links.
Continue reading “#FallIntoChristmasRomance #BlogTour: Christmas In Rose Bend by Naima Simone”

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#FallIntoChristmasRomance #BlogTour: The Christmas Escape by Sarah Morgan

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a more-realistic-than-Hallmark Christmas Romance. For this blog tour, we’re looking at The Christmas Escape by Sarah Morgan.

Here’s what I had to say on Goodreads:

Would It Be Christmas Without Family Drama? This book has a LOT going on, and yes, it does in fact more blend the women’s fiction and romance genres than play strictly by either one. (Though it *does* meet all of the “qualifications” for either even according to the strictest interpretations of the “rules” I am aware of, for those that care about such trivialities.) Your *basic* plot threads are these: married couple with problems working to reconcile, forced proximity romance, best friend issues between the two women in the aforementioned couples, long lost family/ traumatic secrets. Which in 350 ish pages is a LOT to work through, but Morgan does it well and never drags too much at any given point. The Lapland scenery is described beautifully (at least as I’ve seen the region on such shows as The World’s Most Amazing Vacation Rentals on Netflix, this American has never been further North than New Hampshire), and the cold and isolation provide some amazing (and “traditionally” – for northerners) “Christmassy” vibes. This story is a bit more serious and complex than a usual Hallmark Christmas movie, and doesn’t rely as heavily on “Christmas Magic”, but instead serves as a more realistic take on a Christmas Romance – which is needed in the overly saturated market. Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book description, author bio, social media links, and buy links.
Continue reading “#FallIntoChristmasRomance #BlogTour: The Christmas Escape by Sarah Morgan”

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#BlogTour: The Memory Bones by B.R. Spangler

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a book that I actually reviewed a month ago, in a weird situation I’ll detail at the end of this post. For this blog tour, we’re looking at The Memory Bones by B.R. Spangler.

Here’s a recap of the Goodreads review:

A Finale. Without going *too* deep into spoiler territory, by the end of this book the long-running mythos surrounding Detective White achieves a resolution – and not only that, but several other character arcs seem to be wrapped up as well. So much so that this book ends feeling like a series finale – until you hit the author note at the back, confirming that the author *is* working on the next book in this series. Which means that this book isn’t so much *series* finale as “season” finale, and I for one can’t wait to see what else the author cooks up from here.

As to this particular tale, yet again Spangler manages to craft a fairly inventive way to murder, and yet again the mystery here is quite wide ranging and explosive – and based on at least one real world situation that I am aware of, that went on at least as long before it was detected. (Though to be clear, I am not aware of any murders happening in the real world variant to preserve the secret… though it is at least theoretically possible.)

But the real stars of this series are White and her team, and here they yet again step up and provide much of what makes this series so great. Yes, Spangler is solid on the mysteries and murders, but it is in this part, in developing the entire cast of characters and their relationships, that Spangler truly excels and indeed (possibly arguably) overcomes the limitations and perceptions of this genre. Very much recommended.

After the jump, the various “publisher details”, including the book description, author bio, and social media and buy links. And the explanation. 😀
Continue reading “#BlogTour: The Memory Bones by B.R. Spangler”

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#BlogTour: The Christmas She Married The Playboy by Louise Fuller

For this blog tour, we’re looking at an entertaining romance featuring a bickering billionaire and an ice-queen iceskater. For this blog tour, we’re looking at The Christmas She Married The Playboy by Louise Fuller.

Entertaining Royalty/ Commoner Romance. He’s a dude that was burned years ago and reacts by pretty well sleeping with anything that moves. She’s a figure skater with a troubled past. When they happen to see each other in the airport where they both happen to be going to the same hotel… y’all, this is a Harlequin Romance. You know how this goes. I for one loved the bickering of the first half of the book, though I do wish the antics in Vegas had been shown. Instead, at the halfway point we fly (almost literally, in story) right past the Vegas wedding and suddenly we’re en route to the honeymoon. But here is where the sweeter side of the romance – and the steamier side – really kicks in and becomes arguably more in-line with what most Harlequin Romance readers expect. I love how both of our leads here make active choices to go against their nature – rather than it just happening, here Fuller actually has the characters’ internal monologues *showing* it happening – for the preservation of their new marriage. In that, it becomes atypical – and yet totally in line with the genre and publisher. Could have done without the last bit of the epilogue, but otherwise truly a great story here. Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book description, author bio, and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: The Christmas She Married The Playboy by Louise Fuller”

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#FallIntoChristmasRomance #BlogTour: A Little Christmas Spirit by Sheila Roberts

For this #FallIntoChristmasRomance blog tour, we’re looking at a strong amalgamation of A Christmas Carol, The Grinch, and Up – with a romance tacked on + an even stronger romance that “romance” purists will claim is just a love story. For this blog tour, we’re looking at A Little Christmas Spirit by Sheila Roberts.

A Christmas Carol / The Grinch / Up Mashup. If you go into this book expecting a romance – how it was marketed to me – … ummmm…. yeah, this isn’t really that. The “romance” here is fully tacked on in the last 20% of the book, with the guy barely mentioned at all before that point (and even in the “romance” here, the rest of the plot of the book is still truly the driver). But if you go into this as more of a women’s fiction / Christmas type book, it works quite a bit better. The focus is largely on Stanley, who is an amalgamation of the memorable parts of Scrooge (from A Christmas Carol, including a Christmas Ghost in the form of his dead wife), The Grinch (and his too-small-due-to-pain heart), and Carl from Pixar’s Up (grump old widower who doesn’t really like kids… at first). Then we’re introduced to Lexie and her son Brock, and from that point on Stanley’s life will never be the same again. But the majority of the book really is spent on Stanley, Lexie, and Brock, with the edge to Stanley and his memories of his wife (and interactions with her ghost). Here, it really does work to be a heartwarming tale (or heartworming, for those adverse to stories that get a bit saccharine at times, and in nod to the word I originally wrote there :D) again in line with A Christmas Carol and The Grinch. A fun tale that could have gotten a lot more depressing than it ever did, this is a solid Christmas tale… just not a Christmas Romance. Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book description, author bio, social media and buy links.
Continue reading “#FallIntoChristmasRomance #BlogTour: A Little Christmas Spirit by Sheila Roberts”

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Featured New Release Of The Week: Snowbound With Her Mountain Cowboy by Patricia Johns

This week we’re looking at a nearly 400 page romance with lots of secondary love stories embedded within it that reads much faster than its page count suggests. This week we’re looking at Snowbound With Her Mountain Cowboy by Patricia Johns.

Slow Burn Clean Second Chance Romance – With A Disaster. This is exactly what I noted in the title – a slow burn romance where the couple never really gets together until the very end, clean in that there is barely any kissing and certainly nothing beyond that (sorry, fans of near-erotica level steam), and featuring a couple that has been divorced far longer than they were ever married… but who neither ever quite got over the other. This one also has a few other love story tales embedded naturally within the story, all of which contribute nicely to the primary romance of the story here. Not short at nearly 400 pages, but does actually read a bit faster than other books of its length I’ve encountered. Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” including book description, author bio, and social media and buy links.
Continue reading “Featured New Release Of The Week: Snowbound With Her Mountain Cowboy by Patricia Johns”

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#BlogTour: Nanny Dearest by Flora Collins

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a slow burn psychological suspense that could be incredibly difficult for some readers but which ultimately turns out to be a solid tale. For this blog tour, we’re looking at Nanny Dearest by Flora Collins.

Slow Burn Psychological Suspense. This is one psychological suspense that features a tremendous amount of active gaslighting, so be aware of that up front. The actual conflict here is slow, told in two perspectives in two different time periods – from the nanny’s perspective in the mid-late 1990s, and the child’s perspective as a now-adult circa 2020. In the present, we see the child as a sort of aimless, emo-chic drifter overwhelmed by recent events (personal, not global – the real-world insanities of the era are never mentioned here, thankfully) and the nanny appears to be perfect… at first. In the past, we see how non-perfect the nanny actually is… and discover quite a bit that ratchets up the tension for the reader in the present day scenes. Solid work that fans of the genre will likely enjoy. Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book description, author bio, social/ web links, and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: Nanny Dearest by Flora Collins”

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#BlogTour: Forever Home by Elysia Whisler

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a strong tale of second chances and taking risks… in more ways than one. For this blog tour, we’re looking at Forever Home by Elysia Whisler.

Lots Of Moving Parts And Yet It All Works. This book has a *lot* of moving parts with a primary romance, a secondary romance setup, two different tragic female backstories to encounter and mostly resolve, and a primary mystery and a secondary one to boot. And yet Whisler somehow manages to make all of that work, though the fact that she has 400 or so pages to play with here probably plays into this working as well as it does. The story is well paced – if you don’t mind a very slow burn primary romance. As in, not so slow that there is zero “piano playing” at all, but slow burn enough that this doesn’t actually happen until the last 15% or so of the book. So for the clean/ sweet crowd… eh, *all* of these characters have enough rough edges you’re likely not going to like this one. For those that *like* a bit more edginess… yep, this one is for you, particularly if you’re closer to the clean/ sweet side but like to get brave occasionally. 🙂 Overall a great tale that never overly feels like a “Book 2”, even though it is explicitly noted that this tale is, in fact, a “Book 2”. Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book description, author bio, and social media and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: Forever Home by Elysia Whisler”