Category: General Blog Posts

#BookReview Right after the Weather by Carol Anshaw @carolanshaw @SimonSchusterCA

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#BookReview Right after the Weather by Carol Anshaw @carolanshaw @SimonSchusterCA Title: Right after the Weather

Author: Carol Anshaw

Published by: Atria Books on Oct. 1, 2019

Genres: General Fiction, Women's Fiction

Pages: 288

Format: Paperback, ARC

Source: Simon & Schuster Canada

Book Rating: 7/10

The author of the “graceful and compassionate” (People) New York Times bestseller Carry the One presents a new and long-awaited novel exploring what happens when untested people are put to a hard test, and in its aftermath, find themselves in a newly uncertain world.

It’s the fall of 2016. Cate, a set designer in her early forties, lives and works in Chicago’s theater community. She has stayed too long at the fair and knows it’s time to get past her prolonged adolescence and stop taking handouts from her parents. She has a firm plan to get solvent and settled in a serious relationship. She has tentatively started something new even as she’s haunted by an old, going-nowhere affair. Her ex-husband, recently booted from his most recent marriage, is currently camped out in Cate’s spare bedroom, in thrall to online conspiracy theories, and she’s not sure how to help him. Her best friend Neale, a yoga instructor, lives nearby with her son and is Cate’s model for what serious adulthood looks like.

Only a few blocks away, but in a parallel universe we find Nathan and Irene—casual sociopaths, drug addicts, and small-time criminals. Their world and Cate’s intersect the day she comes into Neale’s kitchen to find these strangers assaulting her friend. Forced to take fast, spontaneous action, Cate does something she’s never even considered. She now also knows the violence she is capable of, as does everyone else in her life, and overnight, their world has changed. Anshaw’s flawed, sympathetic, and uncannily familiar characters grapple with their altered relationships and identities against the backdrop of the new Trump presidency and a country waking to a different understanding of itself. Eloquent, moving, and beautifully observed, Right after the Weather is the work of a master of exquisite prose and a wry and compassionate student of the human condition writing at the height of her considerable powers.

Review:

Slow burning, sobering, and forlorn!

Right after the Weather is an affecting, perceptive novel that takes us into the life of Cate, a middle-aged, lesbian, set designer whose life is riddled with disappointment and multiple, complex relationships that are strained and never fully satisfying.

The prose is edgy and raw. The characters are multilayered, frustrated, and dissatisfied. And the somber plot is a reflective tale with a side of violence that’s full of life, loss, infidelity, forbidden love, familial dynamics, friendship, assault, and the instability caused by the 2016 US election.

I have to admit this was a really hard one for me. There is no doubt that Anshaw can write and write beautifully about how hard, gritty, and even depressive life can truly be. And even though I am confident that some readers will absolutely love the tragic gloominess of Right after the Weather, unfortunately for me I couldn’t quite connect with the characters and the story was a little too dispiriting to enjoy it as much as I would have liked.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                                            

 

 

Thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Carol Anshaw

Carol Anshaw is an American novelist and short story writer. Her books include Carry the One, Lucky in the Corner, Seven Moves and Aquamarine. Her stories have been anthologized in The Best American Short Stories in 1994, 1998, and 2012. She has an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts (1992). She has won a National Book Critics Circle Citation for Excellence in Reviewing, an NEA Grant, an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, a Carl Sandburg Award and Society of Midland Authors Award. Her newest novel, Right after the Weather, is forthcoming in October from Simon & Schuster.

Anshaw is also a painter. She divides her time between Chicago and Amsterdam.

Photography courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

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#BookReview #BlogTour Notting Hill in the Snow by Jules Wake @Juleswake @0neMoreChapter_ @rararesources

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#BookReview #BlogTour Notting Hill in the Snow by Jules Wake @Juleswake @0neMoreChapter_ @rararesources

#BookReview #BlogTour Notting Hill in the Snow by Jules Wake @Juleswake @0neMoreChapter_ @rararesources Title: Notting Hill in the Snow

Author: Jules Wake

Published by: HarperImpulse on Oct. 11, 2019

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction

Pages: 308

Format: eBook, ARC

Source: HarperImpulse, NetGalley

Book Rating: 10/10

It’s mayhem in Bethlehem…unless they can work together!

Viola Smith plays the viola in an orchestra (yes really!), but this year she’s been asked to stretch her musical talents to organising Notting Hill’s local nativity.

Nate Williams isn’t looking forward to Christmas but as his small daughter, Grace, has the starring role in the show, he’s forced to stop being a Grinch and volunteer with Viola.

With the sparks between them hotter than the chestnuts roasting in Portobello market, Nate and Viola can’t deny their feelings. And as the snow starts to fall over London, they find themselves trapped together in more ways than one…

Review:

Captivating, romantic, and festive!

Notting Hill in the Snow is a delightfully heartwarming novel set in the idyllic Notting Hill in wintertime that takes us into the lives of two main characters. Viola, a young woman who is thoughtful, hardworking and always ready to help out, and Nate, a loving father who tries to spend as much time as he can raising his daughter while his wife is away and his career is booming.

The writing is warm and light. The characterization is spot on with a cast of characters that are dependable, kindhearted, sentimental and endearing. And the plot is an irresistible blend of heart, humour, family, friendship, tension, attraction, chemistry, support, understanding, tender moments, and spirited shenanigans.

Overall, Notting Hill in the Snow is an enchanting, humourous, magical treat by Wake that I absolutely devoured, highly recommend, and is hands down one of my favourite holiday reads of the year! 

This book is available now. 

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from the following link.

 

 

About Jules Wake

Jules Wake announced at the age of ten that she planned to be a writer. Along the way she was diverted by the glamorous world of PR and worked on many luxury brands and not so luxury brands. This proved fabulous training for writing novels as it provided her with the opportunity to hone her writing and creative skills penning copy on a vast range of subjects from pig farming and watches, sunglasses and skincare through to beer and stationery.
She writes best-selling warm-hearted contemporary fiction for One More Chapter as Jules Wake and under her pen name Julie Caplin, she writes the Romantic Escapes series.
Between them, the two Js have written twelve novels, Notting Hill in the Snow being the latest.

Website | Instagram

 

Thank you to Jules Wake, HarperImpulse, and Rachel’s Random Resources for providing me with a copy in an exchange for an honest review.

 

I Can’t Wait For . . . #CWW #WOW (Can’t-Wait Wednesday/Waiting on Wednesday) A Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh @NaliniSingh @BerkleyPub @PenguinRandomCA

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Can’t-Wait Wednesday hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings is a weekly post

to spotlight books we’re excited about that we have yet to read.

 

This week the book I’m waiting on is …

 

 

New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh welcomes you to a remote town on the edge of the world where even the blinding brightness of the sun can’t mask the darkness that lies deep within a killer…

On the rugged West Coast of New Zealand, Golden Cove is more than just a town where people live. The adults are more than neighbors; the children, more than schoolmates.
 
That is until one fateful summer—and several vanished bodies—shatters the trust holding Golden Cove together. All that’s left are whispers behind closed doors, broken friendships, and a silent agreement not to look back. But they can’t run from the past forever.
 
Eight years later, a beautiful young woman disappears without a trace, and the residents of Golden Cove wonder if their home shelters something far more dangerous than an unforgiving landscape.
 
It’s not long before the dark past collides with the haunting present and deadly secrets come to light.

 

What do you think? It sounds so good, doesn’t it! 

 

Have you had a chance to read A Madness of Sunshine or any other books by Nalini Singh?

 

Will it be added to your TBR shelf?

 

#BookReview Moonlighter by Sarina Bowen @SarinaBowen @ninabocci

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#BookReview Moonlighter by Sarina Bowen @SarinaBowen @ninabocci Title: Moonlighter

Author: Sarina Bowen

Series: The Company #1

Published by: Independently Published on Oct. 22, 2019

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense

Pages: 370

Format: eBook, ARC

Source: Nina Bocci

Book Rating: 9/10

Only in my family could a professional hockey player earning seven million dollars a year be considered a slacker.

I’m at the height of my athletic career. Yet my arrogant brother is always trying to recruit me into the family business: a global security company so secretive that I don’t even know its name. 

Pass, thanks. I don’t need a summer job. 

But the jerk ambushes me with a damsel in distress. That damsel is Alex, the competitive, sassy girl I knew when we were kids. Now she’s a drop-dead gorgeous woman in deep trouble.

So guess who’s on a flight to Hawaii?

It’s going to be a long week in paradise. My job is keeping Alex safe, while her job is torturing me with her tiny bikinis. Or maybe we’re torturing each other. It’s all snark and flirting until the threat against Alex gets serious. And this jock must become her major league protector. 

Moonlighter is a stand-alone novel. No cliffhangers, no prior experience necessary. Contains: hackers, hockey players, and a hotel room with only one bed.  

Review:

Humorous, romantic, and suspenseful!

Moonlighter is a smart, seductive tale that features the cocky, handsome, hockey player Eric who reluctantly turns amateur protector for an old friend, and the driven, independent Alex whose new tech project has suddenly made her a large target for hackers worldwide.

The prose is witty and light. The characters are spirited, amusing, and lovable. And the plot is an entertaining combination of family, friendship, temptation, desire, sizzling chemistry, palpable attraction, sexy times, and a sliver of danger.

Overall, Moonlighter is a fresh, fun, steamy start for this new series by Bowen that will not only please fans of her previous Brooklyn Bruisers novels, but will also warm the heart, have you laughing out loud, and will without a doubt leave you eager for more.

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                                       

 

 

 

Thank you to Sarina Bowen and Nina Bocci for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Sarina Bowen

Sarina Bowen is the RITA® Award winning author of over two dozen contemporary and LGTB romance novels. She most recently hit the USA Today bestseller's list in February, with Brooklynaire. Formerly a derivatives trader on Wall Street, Sarina holds a BA in economics from Yale University.

Sarina Bowen is a New Englander whose Vermont ancestors cut timber and farmed the north country since the 1760s. Sarina is grateful for the invention of indoor plumbing and wi-fi during the intervening 250 years. On a few wooded acres, she lives with her husband, two boys, and an ungodly amount of ski and hockey gear.

Sarina's books are published in a dozen languages on four continents. In 2016, The Romance Writers of America honored HIM by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy with a RITA award for Best Contemporary Romance, Mid-Length.

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram | Pinterest

 

It’s Monday (October 21, 2019)! What Are You Reading! #IMWAYR #Books #Reading #TBRList

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? hosted by Kathryn at Bookdate is a weekly post to share what you’ve recently finished reading, what you’re currently reading, and what you plan on reading this upcoming week.

 

So here is what I just read, am reading, and what I plan to read next:

 

What I Read Last Week:

 

Title: The Family Upstairs

Authors: Lisa Jewell

Immediate Thoughts: Creepy, dark, and unsettling!

Rating: 9/10

Publication Date: November 5, 2019

 

 

Title: The Butterfly Girl (Naomi Cottle #2)

Authors: Rene Denfeld

Immediate Thoughts: Poetic, horrifying, and beautiful!

Rating: 8/10

Publication Date: September 15, 2019

 

 

Title: Verity

Authors: Colleen Hoover

Immediate Thoughts: Dark, disturbing, and absolutely gripping!

Rating: 10/10

Publication Date: December 7, 2018

 

 

Title: Nothing More Dangerous

Authors: Allen Eskens

Immediate Thoughts: Impactful, atmospheric, and hauntingly real!

Rating: 9/10

Publication Date: November 12, 2019

 

 

Title: This Earl of Mine (Bow Street Bachelors #1)

Author: Scarlett Jameson

Immediate Thoughts: Scandalous, seductive, and entertaining!

Rating: 8.5/10

Publication Date: October 29, 2019

 

 

What I’m Currently Reading:

 

The Sun Sister is the sixth epic story in the Seven Sisters series by the number one international bestseller Lucinda Riley.

To the outside world, Electra d’Apliese seems as though she is the woman who has everything: as one of the world’s top models, she is beautiful, rich and famous. But beneath the veneer, and fuelled by the pressure of the life she leads, Electra’s already tenuous control over her mental state has been rocked by the death of her father, Pa Salt, the elusive billionaire who adopted his six daughters as babies from around the globe. Struggling to cope, she turns to alcohol and drugs to ease the pain, and as those around her fear for her health, Electra receives a letter from a complete stranger who claims to be her grandmother . . .

In 1943, Celia Arundel arrives in Nairobi, Kenya, to join her new husband on his family coffee plantation. After a sheltered upbringing in England, she is astounded and horrified by the antics of her fellow ex-pats in the infamous Happy Valley set. Then Bertie, her husband, brings home the daughter of the Chieftain of the local Maasai tribe to live under his protection due to kidnap threats from a neighbouring tribe, and a strange bond begins to form between them . . .

 

What I’m Reading Next:

 

The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: a job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, a world-class planner and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book.

When the father Nina never knew existed suddenly dies, leaving behind innumerable sisters, brothers, nieces, and nephews, Nina is horrified. They all live close by! They’re all—or mostly all—excited to meet her! She’ll have to Speak. To. Strangers. It’s a disaster! And as if that wasn’t enough, Tom, her trivia nemesis, has turned out to be cute, funny, and deeply interested in getting to know her. Doesn’t he realize what a terrible idea that is?

Nina considers her options.

1. Completely change her name and appearance. (Too drastic, plus she likes her hair.)
2. Flee to a deserted island. (Hard pass, see: coffee).
3. Hide in a corner of her apartment and rock back and forth. (Already doing it.)

It’s time for Nina to come out of her comfortable shell, but she isn’t convinced real life could ever live up to fiction. It’s going to take a brand-new family, a persistent suitor, and the combined effects of ice cream and trivia to make her turn her own fresh page.

 

Have you read any of my upcoming reads? What do you have coming up?

#BookReview #BlogTour #Giveaway Reach for a Star by Kathryn Freeman @KathrynFreeman1 @ChocLituk @rararesources

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#BookReview #BlogTour #Giveaway Reach for a Star by Kathryn Freeman @KathrynFreeman1 @ChocLituk @rararesources

#BookReview #BlogTour #Giveaway Reach for a Star by Kathryn Freeman @KathrynFreeman1 @ChocLituk @rararesources Title: Reach for a Star

Author: Kathryn Freeman

Published by: Choc Lit on Sep. 24, 2019

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 321

Format: eBook, ARC

Source: Rachel's Random Resources

Book Rating: 8.5/10

What if your dreams were so close you could reach out and touch them? 

How could anyone resist Michael Tennant, with his hypnotic blue eyes and voice like molten chocolate? Jessie Simmons certainly can’t. But Jessie’s a single mum who can’t sing to save her life – there’s no way she’ll ever cross paths with the star tenor. 

At least that’s what she thinks until she’s unexpectedly invited to take part in a new reality TV show. The premise? Professional singers teach hopeless amateurs how to sing. The surprise? Jessie’s partner is none other than Michael Tennant!

As she becomes better acquainted with the man behind the voice, will Jessie find out the hard way that you should never meet your idols? Or will she get more than she bargained for?

Review:

Dreamy, enchanting, and sweetly romantic!

Reach for a Star is a delightfully funny tale that takes you into the life of the lonely, single mum Jessie as she is given the chance of a lifetime and the opportunity to meet her celebrity crush, the devilishly handsome, successful singer Michael Tennant when she becomes a contestant on a reality singing contest.

The writing is heartwarming and light. The characters are mature, understanding, and genuine. And the plot is an entertaining mix of family, friendship, life, love, jealousy, miscommunication, stardom, and the ins and outs of reality tv.

Overall, Reach for a Star is an uplifting, charming, engaging tale by Freeman that reminds us that life is for living and sometimes dreams really do come true.

 

This book is available now. 

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from the following link.

 

 

Giveaway:

Win a PB copy of Oh Crumbs by Kathryn Freeman (Open INT)

 

 

Rafflecopter giveaway

 

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

 

Thank you to Kathryn Freeman and Rachel’s Random Resources for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Kathryn Freeman

A former pharmacist, I’m now a medical writer who also writes romance. Some days a racing heart is a medical condition, others it’s the reaction to a hunky hero.
With two teenage boys and a husband who asks every Valentine’s Day whether he has to buy a card (yes, he does), any romance is all in my head. Then again, his unstinting support of my career change proves love isn't always about hearts and flowers - and heroes come in many disguises.

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#BookReview The Summer Queen by Margaret Pemberton @PGCBooks @panmacmillan

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#BookReview The Summer Queen by Margaret Pemberton @PGCBooks @panmacmillan Title: The Summer Queen

Author: Margaret Pemberton

Published by: Pan Macmillan on Sep. 3, 2019

Genres: Historical Fiction

Pages: 512

Format: Paperback

Source: Publishers Group Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

The Summer Queen is an evocative and grand historical novel from Margaret Pemberton, the bestselling author of A Season of Secrets and Beneath the Cypress Tree.

August 1879, Osborne House. Queen Victoria has occupied the British throne for over forty years. Bringing together her extended family from across Europe offers a chance for old alliances to be strengthened and new unions to be forged.

May Teck, daughter of a Duke and Princess, is constantly reminded that she lacks the pedigree to be a true royal. Considering herself an outsider, she finds comfort in meeting two kindred spirits at Osborne; creating a bond with them that she thinks will last forever.

Alicky lives in the shadow of her older siblings and has never recovered from the death of her mother. Until she meets Nicky, heir to the Russian throne, who sweeps her off to his homeland where life will never be the same again.

And then there is Willy, destined to be the future Kaiser of Germany. Suffering from a birth defect, he’s always kept his true feelings locked away and all the world sees is the bombastic persona he projects. As shifting forces of power send warning ripples across Europe, an unavoidable war looms on the horizon . . .

Review:

Fascinating, complex, and compelling!

The Summer Queen is an informative, immersive story set in the UK and Europe from the late 1870s until 1918 that tells the story of Queen Victoria’s descendants, primarily three of her grandchildren; May Teck, an educated, Serene Highness who after living a life of exclusion and heartbreak ultimately becomes Queen Mary; Alicky of Hesse, a shy, religious young woman whose enduring love for Nicky Romanov leads her to become Empress Alexandra; and Willy of Prussia, the Queen’s oldest grandchild who after his father’s death becomes Kaiser Wilhelm, the last emperor to rule Germany.

The prose is vivid and perceptive. The characters are multilayered, stalwart, and resilient. And the plot is a sweeping saga that gives us a unique view into the struggles, sacrifices, hopes, fears, politics, and entangled relationships of the most powerful monarchy of the time.

The Summer Queen is, ultimately, a story about life, love, loss, politics, perseverance, power, war, and sacrifice. It’s an exceptionally well written, rich, thoroughly absorbing story by Pemberton that does a remarkable job of highlighting her considerable research and impressive knowledge into the royalty that existed and ruled the British Empire during this exceptionally important period in European history.

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                   

 

 

 

Thank you to Publishers Group Canada for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Margaret Pemberton

Margaret A. Hudson was born on 10 April 1943 in Bradford, Yorkshire, England, UK, of German extraction. She was daughter of Kathleen (Ramsden), an artist, and George Arthur Hudson, an architect. Married with Londoner Mike Pemberton, they have five grown children, today she lives with her husband and four small dogs in Whitstable, Kent. Apart from writing, her passions are tango, travel, English history and the English countryside.

Published since 1975, she is a bestselling romance writer as Margaret Pemberton, and under the pseudonyms Carris Carlisle; Maggie Hudson and Rebecca Dean. Having travelled extensively, her novels are set in different parts of the world. She was the fifteenth elected Chairman of the Romantic Novelists' Association (1989-1991), she has also served on the Crime Writers' Association Committee.

Photograph courtesy of Author's Goodreads Page.

Goodreads

#CoverReveal Crossing the Line by Kendall Ryan @KendallRyan1 #hotjocks

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Today I am excited to bring you the Cover for the next novel

 from New York Times bestselling author Kendall Ryan.

 

Crossing the Line

Releasing on January 13th!

 

 

Hello, rock?
Meet hard place.

Recuperating from a pulled groin muscle isn’t exactly how I planned to spend my much-needed summer vacation.

But I’ll admit, being nursed back to health by my gorgeous friend Bailey, who’s just graduated from medical school, doesn’t exactly sound like a hardship.

We spend a week together at my family’s beach house, a week of swimming and barbecues, a week of entertaining my little cousins and sleeping right across the hall from each other. A week of watching Bailey grow closer with my mom and sisters, and my wacky but lovable grandma. A week of enjoying Bailey tending to me—which is saying something, because it involves a lot of shoving ice packs into my underwear and taping up sore muscles.

She’s funny and kind, and after just being myself for the first time in a long time, my walls come tumbling down. But when Bailey says she’s not looking for a relationship, I’m bound and determined to be more than just the fun hookup who sprained his groin a second time—this time with her.

 

 

PRE-ORDER NOW

               

 

 

 

About Kendall Ryan

A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of more than two dozen titles, Kendall Ryan has sold over 1.5 million books and her books have been translated into several languages in countries around the world. She’s a traditionally published author with Simon & Schuster and Harper Collins UK, as well as an independently published author. Since she first began self-publishing in 2012, she’s appeared at #1 on Barnes & Noble and iBooks charts around the world. Her books have also appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists more than three dozen times. Ryan has been featured in such publications as USA Today, Newsweek, and InTouch Magazine.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Amazon | Pinterest | Newsletter

 

I Can’t Wait For . . . #CWW #WOW (Can’t-Wait/Waiting on Wednesday) Woman on the Edge by Samantha M. Bailey @sbaileybooks @SimonSchusterCA

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Can’t-Wait Wednesday hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings is a weekly
post to spotlight books we’re excited about that we have yet to read.

 

This week the book I’m waiting on is …

 

 

A moment on the platform changes two lives forever. But nothing is as it seems…

‘Take my baby.’

In a split second, Morgan’s life changes forever. A stranger hands her a baby, then jumps in front of a train.

Morgan has never seen the woman before and she can’t understand what would cause a person to give away her child and take her own life.

When the police question Morgan, she discovers none of the witnesses can corroborate her version of events. And when they learn Morgan longs for a baby of her own, she becomes a suspect.

To prove her innocence, Morgan frantically tries to retrace the last days of the woman’s life. She begins to understand that Nicole Markham believed she and her baby were in danger. Now Morgan might be in danger, too.

Was Nicole a new mother struggling with paranoia?

Or was something much darker going on?

Pulse-pounding, heartrending, shocking, thrilling. This is one book you won’t be able to stop thinking about.

 

What do you think? It sounds so good, doesn’t it! 

 

Have you had a chance to read Woman on the Edge?

 

Will it be added to your TBR shelf?

 

#BookReview A Family by Christmas by Viv Royce @VivWrites @entangledpub

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#BookReview A Family by Christmas by Viv Royce @VivWrites @entangledpub Title: A Family by Christmas

Author: Viv Royce

Series: Little Shops on Heart Street #1

Published by: Entangled Publishing on Oct. 14, 2019

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 200

Format: eBook, ARC

Source: Entangled Publishing, NetGalley

Book Rating: 8/10

Chocolatier Emma Miller has a new business selling bonbons to the residents of the quaint town of Wood Creek. When a tiny visitor stops by her shop with an interesting request, Emma is intrigued. The young girl needs chocolates that will help her widowed dad fall in love, preferably with her teacher. What Emma didn’t count on was Casey’s ever so charming and handsome dad, Grant, stepping into her life. She has to remind herself to be cautious because the one thing she learned in foster care is that people always leave.

Pilot Grant Galloway is touched by his daughter’s gift and is curious about the person who made the world-class chocolates. But when he steps into Emma’s shop full of delicious smells and tasty morsels, he forgets to breathe. And it has nothing to do with his favorite dessert. She’s pretty and kind, and when she has to deal with a difficult client, his protective instincts kick into high gear. But he risked his heart once. When his wife died, it left him broken. He’s just now beginning to pick up the pieces, and he and his daughter will be leaving town once the holidays are over.

Thanks to some Christmas wishes, though, these two might discover that their carefully laid plans are about to change.

Review:

Amusing, sweet, and delightfully festive!

A Family by Christmas is a cosy, heartwarming, holiday read set in the quaint town of Wood Creek that takes us into the lives of two main characters. Emma, a young, hardworking woman struggling to start a new business and make a new home for herself, and Grant, a grieving, single father whose main focus is raising his daughter and resuming his career.

The prose is atmospheric and light. The characters are lonely, friendly, and thoughtful. And the plot is an engaging tale full of tender moments, friendship, family, community, self-discovery, merry preparations, and of course a touch of romance!

Overall, A Family by Christmas is a clean, fun, uplifting, wintery treat that will have you believing in the magic of Christmas and daydreaming of snowflakes, decorated trees, twinkling lights, and scrumptious chocolatey treats.

 

This book is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

                                           

 

 

Thank you to Viv Royce and Entangled Publishing for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.