Wild for You by Kendall RyanMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
View all my reviews
Monday, April 6, 2020
Sunday, April 5, 2020
Review: Blue Umbrella Sky
Blue Umbrella Sky by Rick R. ReedMy rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
This was a beautiful story about healing and learning to give and accept love again following loss. Both Milt and Billy were flawed characters who are actively working on healing themselves and maintaining their balance.
This was a solid 3.5 star book for me. I loved both of the characters and felt that their journeys were natural and true to the way that Rick Reed developed them. The steaminess factor was low, with minimal descriptions of physical interactions focusing instead on the relationships and emotional connections between characters. The backdrop of Palm Springs was perfect for this story, and as a SoCal native who has frequently visited the area it was easy to picture the mobile home park, hiking trails and even the strip malls.
This was a beautiful story and I recommend to someone looking for a book that really focuses on emotional connections.
I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley and voluntarily give my review.
Review: Down and Dirty
Down and Dirty by Kendall RyanMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I read and reviewed this book as an ebook ARC, but was lucky enough to also win an audible code. Jacob Morgan and Emma Wilder gave a perfect performance of Aubree and Landon. And this story was even sweeter the second time around! Below is my original review.
This series keeps getting better and better! Landon is not only a hockey hottie, but also has been saving himself for the right girl. Avoiding the puck bunnies and committed to his sport, you know he has it bad for a Aubree, when they end up married in Vegas after a joint bachelor bachelorette party. Landon is wholesome, sweet, kind, caring but still with a bit of Alpha in him. He never pressures Aubree to do anything and constantly checks for consent, which is an extremely attractive quality in any person. Aubree, is not as sure about Landon as he is about her. She is 7 years older than him, is afraid of losing her independence by committing to a man, and has some big changes happening at work. There were times in this book where Aubrey was frustrating to me, withholding information and making decisions on her own. Overall though, this book was fantastic, I was instantly invested in these characters and couldn't put the book down
View all my reviews
Saturday, April 4, 2020
Review: A Secret for a Secret
A Secret for a Secret by Helena HuntingMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book got me out of my COVID-19 slump, probably not the best thing to lead with but 100% truth. Helena Hunting has a way with words and characters that instantly brightens my life. King and Queenie are nothing like I expected and everything I needed. Ryan Kingston is definitely the wholesome milk drinking "boy scout" that we expect from meeting him in previous books. His goodness (for lack of a better term) is reminiscent of Alex Waters in Pucked, asking for consent and being overly considerate of others. Where Alex was wholesome and Canadian and raised to be that way, King is just good, good down to his bones, and his background is colorful and really fun to read about (Don't worry I won't give any spoilers). Queenie as described in the book is a storm. She is a whirlwind and while we know from the blurb that she is the General Manager's daughter, she is so much more. She is a level of controlled chaos that King welcomes into his life and it is everything!
I loved this book so much and I tried to read slowly, take my time but like all of Helena Hunting's books I devoured it in less than 24 hours (would have been one sitting but sleep and work interfered- damn them). The peeks into Alex and Violet's life were present in this book, as they were in other books in the All In series, and I think there were some teasers to future books and future characters embedded into this story, I am crossing my fingers that I am right.
I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley and voluntarily give my review.
View all my reviews
Thursday, April 2, 2020
Dirty Chef Release
Title: Dirty Chef
Author: Cara Dee
Series: The Dirty Series, Book 2
Standalone: Yes
Genre: Erotica/Romance
Tropes: Friends-to-lovers, Close Proximity, Cooking, Humor
Available on Amazon: http://mybook.to/dirtychef-blog
Synopsis:
Alessia on Adam:
He’s a feeling. His energy is a force that makes an impact whether you want it to or not. He’s charming, easygoing, and loved by everyone. Especially me. He’s been the love of my life since I was a fifteen-year-old summer camper and he was a burned-out chef volunteering to make sloppy joes in the dining hall.
Unfortunately, he has a type. Tall, thin, and gorgeous. And I’m...none of those things.
I’m the friend. The roommate. The one he runs a restaurant with.
Adam on Alessia:
She’s my past, my present, and my future. She’s my muse. I cook with her tastes in mind. I cook for her. But, as my brother points out, she won’t be my future if I don’t come clean about the fact that I’ve been hung up on her for years.
Coming clean might not be a choice at this rate, though. If I see Alessia on another goddamn dating app, I’m gonna lose my shit. I physically can’t stay away from her any longer, even if I risk losing everything we’ve built together.
The Objective:
The sexiest Valentine’s Day menu ever created. And maybe, just maybe, fingers aren’t the only thing getting licked after this meal.
Buon Appetito!
Excerpt:
She’d meet someone soon. They’d get married and she would squeeze out a few runts, and I would never see her again. It would start out slow, of course. First, we’d stop living together because her new man would find that weird. Then, she’d miss a few shifts at work. Dates and whatnot. Eventually, she’d hire someone—maybe a hostess or bartender. She’d come to work one day with a rock on her finger, and she would burst with excitement as she announced she was pregnant.
I wanted to fucking hurl.
“Oh, look,” she gasped softly.
I raised a brow at the babies. The boy yawned.
“So cute,” Alessia whispered. “I know I’m being silly, but I’m just so happy for Isla and Jack.”
Yeah, everyone was pleased as punch, from grandparents and siblings to friends and even the freaking nurses.
Aforementioned family members also knew how to go home and catch some rest.
“I’m gonna check in with the new parents,” I said. “Then we’re outta here, all right?”
Alessia nodded, probably thrilled to get another few minutes of staring at the babies.
Yup, I was definitely losing her.
Fuck.
I found my brother in the next hall. Isla was asleep in the hospital bed, and Jack was in the uncomfortable chair next to her, checking his phone.
I knocked lightly on the doorframe, and he glanced up and smiled sleepily.
“Mom just texted and asked if you’d managed to drag Alessia out of here yet.” He kept his voice down and stood up, walking over so we could let Isla sleep. I stepped out into the hall and removed my ball cap. “You okay?”
“Sure.” I nodded with a dip of my chin. “I talked to Alex and Jamie. We’re doing a Grady Night this weekend at Mom and Dad’s. You know that means free babysitting.”
Jack chuckled quietly and scrubbed a hand over his face. Then he flicked a glance through the window to Isla’s room. “I’ll talk to Isla,” he murmured. “I’m not so naïve that I don’t believe we’ll be tired.”
“Fucking exhausted,” I agreed.
He slid his gaze back to me. “Why the rush, though?”
I shrugged and scratched my bicep. “We gotta celebrate, don’t we?”
He drew a deep breath and saw straight through me. He didn’t even bother narrowing his eyes, something he was great at when he sniffed out bullshit. Maybe he was too tired. Or maybe I was so goddamn pathetic in my quest to fill Alessia’s calendar with family shit that it was too easy, too obvious.
“Are you never going to talk to her?” Jack asked curiously, and I tensed up. “Be honest with me, Adam. You’re seriously just going to let her run off with someone she’ll be content with at best.”
“Don’t.” I clenched my jaw. I’d hidden my feelings for Alessia for longer than I cared to admit, and no one had so much as suspected anything until Isla barged into Jack’s life and assumed Alessia and I were together the very first time she met us. “You don’t know what it’s like,” I told him.
He hiked his brows. “Oh, I don’t?”
I shook my head. “No, you don’t, and I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking about her—” I gestured to the room where Isla slept “—and the babies, but it ain’t the same. Alessia is in every part of my life. We live together, we run Coho together—she’s my best friend. She’s my past, my present, and my future. If I lose her, I have nothing.” An invisible noose tightened around my neck, and I hauled in a breath. The mere idea of not having Alessia in my life was fucking crippling. “I won’t risk it,” I stated. “I live and breathe that girl.”
Something softened in my brother’s gaze. “She might not be your future, though.”
I didn’t need a reminder.
About Cara:
I'm often awkwardly silent or, if the topic interests me, a chronic rambler. In other words, I can discuss writing forever and ever. Fiction, in particular. The love story—while a huge draw and constantly present—is secondary for me, because there's so much more to writing romance fiction than just making two (or more) people fall in love and have hot sex. There's a world to build, characters to develop, interests to create, and a topic or two to research thoroughly. Every book is a challenge for me, an opportunity to learn something new, and a puzzle to piece together. I want my characters to come to life, and the only way I know to do that is to give them substance—passions, history, goals, quirks, and strong opinions—and to let them evolve. Additionally, I want my men and women to be relatable. That means allowing room for everyday problems and, for lack of a better word, flaws. My characters will never be perfect.
Wait…this was supposed to be about me, not my writing.
I'm a writey person who loves to write. Always wanderlusting, twitterpating, kinking, and geeking. There's time for hockey and cupcakes, too. But mostly, I just love to write.
Social Media Links:
Website: https://www.caradeewrites.com/
Website: https://www.camassiacove.com/
Amazon: https://amzn.to/cdw-amazon-profile
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/caradeewrites/
Facebook Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/caradeewrites/
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cara-dee
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CaraDeeWrites
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carawrites/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6936449.Cara_Dee
Wednesday, April 1, 2020
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