Review: The Place on Dalhousie by Melina Marchetta

 

Title: The Place on Dalhousie
Author: Melina Marchetta
Publishing Date: April 2, 2019 (Viking)
Genre: Fiction, Contemporary
Source: bought Kindle ebook
Buy Links: Paperback | Ebook 

‘You look the type to break your father’s heart.’
‘Yeah, but he broke mine first.’

When Rosie Gennaro first meets Jimmy Hailler, she has walked away from life in Sydney, leaving behind the place on Dalhousie that her father, Seb, painstakingly rebuilt for his family but never saw completed. Two years later, Rosie returns to the house and living there is Martha, whom Seb Gennaro married less than a year after the death of Rosie’s mother. Martha is struggling to fulfil Seb’s dream, while Rosie is coming to terms with new responsibilities. And so begins a stand-off between two women who refuse to move out of the home they both lay claim to.

As the battle lines are drawn, Jimmy Hailler re-enters Rosie’s life. Having always watched other families from the perimeters, he’s now grappling, heartbreakingly, with forming one of his own . . .

An unforgettable story about losing love and finding love; about the interconnectedness of lives and the true nature of belonging, from one of our most acclaimed writers.

 

e-ARC Review & Giveaway: HOW FOREVER FEELS by Laura Drewry

Title: How Forever Feels (Friends First #4)
Author: Laura Drewry
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Publication Date: October 13, 2015
Source: eARC from publisher
Buy Links: Amazon | B & N | iTunes | Kobo

From USA Today bestselling author Laura Drewry comes a warm and witty new Friends First novel—perfect for readers of Jill Shalvis and Susan Mallery. How Forever Feels is a sweet tale about the one that got away . . . and the one that came back.

Maya McKay’s heart is as big as Jack Rhodes’s shoulders are broad. Their chemistry is out of control, but it could never work between them because Jack is more than just best friends with her cheating ex-husband—they’re like brothers. Maya, the sensitive, practical florist, has given up on love and is ready to settle for like. But now that Jack’s around again, he’s stirring up old feelings—and turning Maya’s fantasies into irresistible reality.

Jack blew his chance with Maya years ago when he stepped aside for his best friend, Will, and he’s still kicking himself about it. Maya was promised forever once before, and she got burned. But when Jack realizes that second chances aren’t going to fall out of the sky, he seizes the moment—and the woman he’s always loved—to show her how forever truly feels.

 

Follow the Tour HERE.

 

e-ARC Review, Excerpt, & Giveaway: ROCK REDEMPTION by Nalini Singh

Title: Rock Redemption (Rock Kiss #3)
Author: Nalini Singh
Release Date: March 10, 2015
Source: e-ARC from publisher via TRSoR
Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | iTunes | B & N | Kobo

Kit Devigny could have loved rock guitarist Noah St. John. Their friendship burned with the promise of intense passion and searing tenderness…until the night Noah deliberately shattered her heart.

Noah knows he destroyed something precious the night he chose to betray Kit, but he’d rather she hate him than learn his darkest secret. All he has left is his music. It’s his saving grace, but it doesn’t silence the voices that keep him up at night. Chasing oblivion through endless one-night-stands, he earns a few hours’ sleep and his bad boy reputation.

When a media error sees Noah and Kit dubbed the new “it” couple, Kit discovers her chance at the role of a lifetime hinges on riding the media wave. Wanting—needing—to give Kit this, even if he can’t give her everything, Noah agrees to play the adoring boyfriend. Only the illusion is suddenly too real, too painful, too beautiful…and it may be too late for the redemption of Noah St. John.

 

e-ARC Review: CRAZY ABOUT CAMERON by Katy Regnery

 

Title: Crazy About Cameron (The Winslow Brothers #3)
Author: Katy Regnery
Publishing Date: September 22, 2015
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Source: e-ARC from publisher
Buy Links: Amazon 

Crazy about Cameron is the third of four books about the Philadelphia-based, wildly-handsome Winslow brothers who are all on the look-out for love.

(Say what? Not so much…Brooks and Pres are OFF. THE. MARKET, and Chris is so distracted with his campaign, he can’t see what – or who – is right under his nose.)

With her stiff posture, black-rimmed glasses and chestnut waves in a tight bun, Cameron Winslow’s downstairs neighbor, Margaret Story, has long been the unaware star of his filthiest dirty-librarian fantasies. But with a floundering business eating up all his time, Cam doesn’t have the open road he’d need to date a lady like Margaret.

Margaret, who grew up down the road from Cameron, has always thought of him as a cross between a bully and a tease, as likely to pull her braids as pull her leg. But he’s grown up to be a smokin’ hot businessman, and Margaret can’t help daydreaming about what it would feel like to be under, um, with someone like him.

When hot-headed Cameron and buttoned-up Margaret start using the same shady contractor for apartment renovations, Margaret may find herself in some unexpected trouble, which forces long-hidden feelings to come out of hiding…and might just make way for two unlikely fantasies to finally come true.

Return to the world created in the English Brothers books with this fresh foursome of scorching hot Winslow Brothers!

 

e-ARC Review: ANTICIPATION by Sarah Mayberry

 

Title: Anticipation (Brothers Ink #2)
Author: Sarah Mayberry
Publishing Date: April 1, 2015
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Source: e-ARC from author
Buy Links: Amazon | B & N | Kobo | iTunes | Smashwords

Blue Sullivan knows a player when she sees one. And Eddie Oliveira—charm and sex personified—was born to play. She never wanted him to say goodbye, so for the last ten years she’s ignored the sizzling attraction between them and focused on being the best sidekick a guy could have. Smart girl, right?

Then Blue has a serious accident, and overnight Eddie changes. Suddenly he’s more intense and singularly devoted…to her. With all this sexy attention, it’s hard to stay within the boundaries she’s scrupulously drawn. The temptation, the anticipation builds and, finally, she has to have what he’s offering. Of course Eddie proves to be brilliant. Now, she worries he’s ruined her forever…and she might regret leaping from friends to lovers.

 

Review: NECESSARY RESTORATIONS by Kate Canterbary

Title: Necessary Restorations (The Walshes #3)
Author: Kate Canterbary
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Publication Date: April 15, 2015
Source: bought
Buy Links: Amazon 

They liked to call me names. Manwhore. Slut. Player. But I make wrong look so right…

He’s a flawed perfectionist…
I can read women better than any blueprint. I understand their thoughts and feelings, their secret desires and insecurities, and I know how to get rid of them once I get off.

But all bets are off when Tiel Desai slams into my life. She redefines what it means to be friends, and she makes it sound like the filthiest thing I’ve ever heard.

I can’t read the gorgeous conservatory-trained violinist, but she’s the only one keeping me from shattering by small degrees, and I can’t let her go.

She’s wildly independent…
My past—and New Jersey—are far behind me, and now my life is blissfully full of music: playing, teaching, and lecturing, and scouring Boston’s underground scene with an annoyingly beautiful, troubled, tattooed architect.

I’m defenseless against his rooftop kisses, our nearly naked dance parties, the snuggletimes that turn into sexytimes, and his deep, demanding voice.

I have Sam Walsh stuck in my head like a song on repeat, and I’m happy pretending history won’t catch up with me.

The one thing they have in common is a rock-solid disregard for the rules.
They find more in each other than they ever realized they were missing, but they might have to fall apart before they can come together.

It’s the wrongs that make the rights come to life.

 

e-ARC Review: IT STARTED WITH A SCANDAL by Julie Anne Long

Title: It Started With A Scandal (PennyRoyal Green #10)
Author: Julie Anne Long
Genre: Historical, Romance
Publication Date: March 31, 2015
Source: eARC from publisher via Edelweiss
Buy Links: Amazon | B & N 

Lord Philippe Lavay once took to the high seas armed with charm as lethal as his sword and a stone-cold conviction: he’ll restore his family’s fortune and honor, no matter the cost. Victory is at last within reach–when a brutal attack snatches it from his grasp and lands him in Pennyroyal Green.

An afternoon of bliss brings a cascade of consequences for Elise Fountain. Shunned by her family and ousted from a job she loves, survival means a plummet down the social ladder to a position no woman has yet been able to keep: housekeeper to a frighteningly formidable prince.

The bold and gentle Elise sees past his battered body into Philippe’s barricaded heart…and her innate sensuality ignites his blood. Now a man who thought he could never love and a woman who thought she would never again trust must fight an incendiary passion that could be the ruin of them both.

 

e-ARC Review: BLURRED LINES by Lauren Layne

 

Title: Blurred Lines
Author: Lauren Layne
Publishing Date: August 28, 2015 (Loveswept)
Genre: Romance, Contemporary, New Adult
Source: e-ARC from publisher
Buy Links: Amazon | B & N | iTunes | Kobo | BAM | Google Play

In a novel that’s perfect for fans of Abbi Glines and Jessica Sorensen, USA Today bestselling author Lauren Layne delivers a sexy take on the timeless question: Can a guy and a girl really be “just friends”?

When Parker Blanton meets Ben Olsen during her freshman year of college, the connection is immediate—and platonic. Six years later, they’re still best friends, sharing an apartment in Portland’s trendy Northwest District as they happily settle into adult life. But when Parker’s boyfriend dumps her out of the blue, she starts to wonder about Ben’s no-strings-attached approach to dating. The trouble is, even with Ben as her wingman, Parker can’t seem to get the hang of casual sex—until she tries it with him.

The arrangement works perfectly . . . at first. The sex is mind-blowing, and their friendship remains as solid as ever, without any of the usual messy romantic entanglements. But when Parker’s ex decides he wants her back, Ben is shocked by a fierce stab of possessiveness. And when Ben starts seeing a girl from work, Parker finds herself plagued by unfamiliar jealousy. With their friendship on the rocks for the first time, Parker and Ben face an alarming truth: Maybe they can’t go back. And maybe, deep down, they never want to.

Praise for the novels of Lauren Layne
 
“Lauren Layne writes characters I want to tackle and keep as my best friends, woven into smart, sexy, utterly romantic tales of love in all its glorious facets.”—New York Times bestselling author Violet Duke
 
“Fresh and authentic, Isn’t She Lovely packs intelligence, wit, and an addictive romance into one fantastic read!”—New York Times bestselling author Cora Carmack

“Isn’t She Lovely is full of complex characters you want to root for—and a hero that will make you swoon.”—New York Times bestselling author Monica Murphy
 
“Spunky, flirty, and full of sass, Love the One You’re With is everything a romance should be! Lauren Layne has a winner.”—New York Times bestselling author Christie Craig
 
“Sexy, sassy, and surprisingly sweet, Lauren Layne’s Just One Night is a total page-turner!”—New York Times bestselling author Donna Alward

 

e-ARC Review & Giveaway: EVEN THE SCORE by Kate Meader

Kate Meader just published her first Brazen novel! Who else is excited like me?

Title: Even the Score (Tall, Dark, and Texan #1)
Author: Kate Meader
Publishing Date: July 21, 2015
Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Source: e-ARC from publisher
Buy Links: Amazon | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | B&N | Kobo | iBooks

He’ll make her an offer she can’t refuse…

Actress Tess McKenzie is performing in the Tenth Circle of Showbiz Hell—dinner theater. All she really wants is to start a theater of her own. Then Tess receives an offer she can’t refuse. She’ll get her funding…if she pretends to be the fiancée to her nemesis, Texan property tycoon Hunter Dade. If she’s going to pull this off, she’ll need all the luck she can get.

Break a leg, indeed.

On the verge of a big business deal, Hunter needs to hire a fiancée. He hasn’t quite forgiven Tess for ruining his wedding, but when their chemistry goes from combative to straight-up lust, the “no sex” clause in their mutually beneficial arrangement is tested. Which is a serious problem, because if Tess isn’t careful, she’ll go from breaking a leg to breaking her heart…

 Follow the tour HERE.

 

e-ARC Review: CRUSHED by Lauren Layne

 

Title:  Crushed (Redemption #2)
Author: Lauren Layne
Publishing Date: April 14, 2015 (from Loveswept)
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Source: e-ARC from publisher via Netgalley
Buy Links: Kindle | Nook | iBooks | Kobo | Books-a-Million | GooglePlay

Lauren Layne’s latest novel about the healing power of redemption tells the story of a crush gone wickedly wrong, proving that what you want isn’t always what you need.

Growing up in New York, Michael St. Claire never expected to spend his twenties wearing cowboy boots. But that was before he learned about his real father, a total stranger with a family in Cedar Grove, Texas. Once in the Lone Star State, Michael meets Kristin Bellamy, who is exquisitely refined and everything Michael always thought he wanted in a woman. The only problem is that Kristin is dating Michael’s new half brother, Devon.

Kristin’s mouthy, curvy sister Chloe has always been in love with Devon Patterson. So when Michael offers to help Chloe break up Devon and Kristin, Chloe agrees to a deal that seems too good to be true. Before long, Chloe finally gets her man, only to make a startling discovery: She no longer wants the guy she had to fight for—she wants the one who stood by her side.

After all he and Chloe have been through, Michael swears he’s damaged goods. Can Chloe convince him that love is worth the risk?