BLOG TOUR - Meet Me in London

DESCRIPTION:

What do you do when your fake engagement starts to feel too real?

Aspiring clothes designer Victoria Scott spends her days working in a bar in Chelsea and her evenings designing vintage clothes, dreaming of one day opening her own boutique. But these aspirations are under threat from the new department store opening at the end of her road. She needs a Christmas miracle, but one is not forthcoming.

Oliver Russell’s Christmas is not looking very festive right now. His family’s new London department store opening is behind schedule, and on top of that his interfering, if well-meaning, mother is pressing him to bring his girlfriend home for a visit. A girlfriend who does not exist. He needs a diversion. Something to keep his mother from interfering while he focuses on the business.

When Oliver meets Victoria, he offers a proposition: pretend to be his girlfriend at the opening of his store and he will provide an opportunity for Victoria to showcase her designs. But what starts as a business arrangement soon becomes something more tempting, as the fake relationship starts to feel very real. But when secrets in Victoria’s past are exposed, will Oliver walk away, or will they both follow their hearts and find what neither knew they were looking for?

BUY LINKS:
BookShop.org |Harlequin |Barnes & Noble
Amazon | Books-A-Million | Powell’s

MY THOUGHTS:

 

Title:   Meet Me in London

Author:  Georgia Tofolo

Series:  Meet Me #1
Publisher:  HQN

Genre:   Romance

Format:  Kindle ARC

No. of Pages:   336

Date of Publication:   September 28, 2021

My Rating:   4 Stars

A fake girlfriend. But make it look real. Will Oliver Russell be able to appease his interfering but well-meaning mother? He is soon to find out when he meets Victoria Scott. WIll she pretend to be his girlfriend during the holiday season?

Perhaps she will but what will she get in return? What Victoria wants more than anything is to own her own boutique. Things are not going well on that end as a new department store soon to open might just wipe away all of her dreams.

Perhaps this story is light on substance but it was a true delight. Tropes work for me and this one definitely did just that. Strangers to fake dating to love in an enjoyable ride in this debut. I hope to read the other three books in this series.

Many thanks to HQN and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Please enjoy the following excerpt:

1 OLIVER RUSSELL COULD wrangle a wayward balance sheet back into the black, take failing stores apart and breathe new life into them, make difficult calls on staffing and personnel issues, make his shareholders happy and very, very rich. But he had never managed to curb his mother’s meddling in his private life. Some things were just impossible. Earth to Oliver. This is your mother asking about your Christmas Day plans. Will I need to set an extra place at the dinner table? Hint, hint. Your mother xx Sitting on a stool at the bar in the upmarket wine bar The Landing, Oliver groaned as he interpreted the “hint” as yet another badly veiled attempt to discover his relationship status. Great one, Mum. Way to put pressure on a guy. Could this week get any worse? He threw his mobile phone onto the sticky, beer-stained counter, gripped the tumbler in front of him and took a sip of a much needed fifteen-year-old Scotch. As the honey-colored syrup oozed down his throat and hit his stomach with a warming buzz he silently counted all the ways things had gone wrong in such a short space of time. First mistake: allowing his mother to believe he was finally settling down when in reality his love life could only be described as...nonexistent. And now having to think up all the ways he could appease his parents over the holidays without going quietly insane. Whereas other families had jolly traditions of games and church on Christmas Day, his parents’ idea of fun was to corner him in the living room, pin him down with laser stares and interrogate him for signs of commitment, a potential wife and progeny. A grandchild, or preferably many grandchildren, to spoil and give meaning to their later years, someone to carry on the family name and also an heir to entrust the business to. As an only child Oliver was expected to do so, as his father had done before him. Trouble was, after his last romantic failure, settling down was not on Oliver’s bucket list. At least, not for a very long time. Second mistake: in the spirit of keeping the family business afloat he’d agreed to clean up the mess his cousin was making of the new build. Ollie should have let him fall on his sword, but that would have meant his parents suffering too and there was no way he was going to allow that. So, here he was in a rowdy bar in Chelsea at ridiculous o’clock at night—or was it early morning?—having only just finished work, with the prospect of another seventeen-hour day tomorrow and the next day, and the next... He took another sip of whiskey but almost choked as someone bumped into his hip, jolted his arm and sloshed the Scotch, rich but burning, down his throat. “Hey, gorgeous.” A woman old enough to be his mother—and even though deep down he loved his mum, Lord knew he didn’t need two of them—appeared at his shoulder and beamed at him. Her eyes were wine-glazed and the lipstick smudged over her mouth almost up to her nostrils made her look like a startled fish. “I’ve got mistletoe, you know what that means, right?” “That it’s time I left?” Scraping his stool back he stood, steadying the woman as she swayed, and then handed her into the waiting arms of her friends who were all dressed as...well, he wasn’t entirely sure, but there were glitter wings and feathery haloes involved, so he imagined they were supposed to be Christmas angels. In November? As if knowing all about his work stress and family dilemmas even the music in the bar seemed to mock him. Too loud and too cheery and all about being home and in love at Christmas. He shuddered. No thanks. Which brought him to his third mistake: choosing the bar from hell to drown his sorrows in. It wasn’t even December and yet here they all were screeching Christmas carols at the top of their tone-deaf voices. Christmas was everywhere. In the glittery tinsel that hung in loopy garlands across the ceiling and the fake tree in the corner. The soundtrack to the evening. The clothes people were wearing. Christmas was hurtling fast towards him and he was running out of time. He had so much to do to fix his first mistake before the doors of the new Russell & Co. department store opened, way behind schedule, but in time for the busiest, and therefore most lucrative time of the year. He just needed some kind of miracle to make it happen. On the counter his phone vibrated. He picked up and grimaced at another text, knowing what was bound to be coming but also knowing if he ignored her it would only get worse: Oliver? It’s a simple question. Blink once for yes. Twice for no. Are we finally going to meet your new girlfriend? Your mother xx. Uh-oh. She was dropping the veiled interest and taking a more direct approach. This was serious. He flicked a text back: When your message flashes onto my screen it identifies you as my mother. There is also a little photo of you smiling at me at the top of your texts. You don’t need to tell me who you are. He added two kisses, because, well, she was his mother: Ollie xx. A pause while he watched three gray dots dance on his screen and then: Not a single blink. How do I interpret that? We just want to see you happy. Your mother xxx By happy, she meant married. As if you couldn’t be otherwise. Although he knew just as many people who were married and miserable as married and happy. How was he even meant to send a blink by text anyway? He rolled his eyes instead. Nothing confirmed as yet. Before he could say “Bah Humbug” her reply flashed on his screen: When will you know? Your mother xx Oliver: I don’t know. If he told her the delightful Clarissa had moved on to a more malleable boyfriend his mum would be trying to arrange dates for him. As if on cue another text arrived: Is there something you’re not telling us? Is it over? So soon? Again? Oh, Oliver. He could feel the disappointment coming through the airwaves as her next text quickly followed: Perhaps I should invite the Henleys over on Christmas Day. I heard Arabella’s back from her Indian ashram trip and SINGLE. And stop rolling your eyes at me. Your mother xx He couldn’t help but laugh at that, despite his growing frustration. He tried to stay noncommittal. Apparently, according to his ex, noncommittal was a strength of his: Do NOT set any more dates up for me. Nothing’s confirmed re Xmas. I’ll let you know when I know. Mum: At the new store opening then? Just a matter of weeks away. She clearly wasn’t giving up. She never gave up. She wouldn’t give up until she was holding his first child. Or maybe his second—his second set of triplets. That was the problem; she wasn’t giving up. He just needed to appease her. Or ignore her. So, he chose the latter. Realizing he hadn’t finished his drink and grateful that the bar staff were now shuffling the off-tune singers outside, he sat back down and resumed his contemplation of the whiskey in front of him. At some point the staff would shuffle him out too, but for now he craved this brief peace and quiet, save for his mother’s infuriating but well-meaning texts and a muted conversation between the servers coming from a little room off to the side of the bar. He could hear Paul, the guy who’d served him earlier say, “Hey, Vicki, are you OK to close up tonight? I promised Amanda I’d get home early. It’s our anniversary.” “Of course.” A soft voice filtered through. “You helped me out by taking the early shift so I could teach my class, so I’m more than happy to hang around here for the stragglers. Sara said she’d stay on and help me clear up.” Stragglers? Was that what he was now? Ollie looked around the bar at the three other solo drinkers—all male, all staring hopelessly into glasses of alcohol. He laughed to himself. Yeah, damned right he fitted that description; moving slowly. He didn’t want to hurry because the sooner he went home, the sooner tomorrow would arrive bringing with it all his problems. “So how did class go today?” he heard Paul ask the owner of the soft voice. “Any more visits from the local cops?” Police? Interesting. Ollie leaned forward to hear the mystery woman’s answer. “Oh, that was all just a misunderstanding. Her brother gave her the iPad, Jasmine didn’t know it was stolen.” A pause. “Um. By her brother.” A rumble of soft laughter that sounded so free and bright had Ollie straining to see who the voice belonged to. It wasn’t the other woman who worked here because she was now collecting glasses from empty tables and her accent was Cockney through and through. This Vicki woman was from somewhere else. Southwest maybe, a tiny hint of something he recognized from holidays down in Cornwall. Laughter threaded through her intonation. “We sorted it out. The police dropped the charges against her.” “So, one of the kids you’re teaching is harboring stolen goods. Great. You really need to stay away from trouble like that, Vicki.” Paul came back into the bar and started to wipe down the counter with a dishcloth. The woman followed. “If I stayed away there’d be even more trouble for her, I’m sure. She’s so talented. You should see her designs, they’re stunning. Really fresh ideas. She could go a long way with the right guidance. I’m pulling out all the stops.” “You’re too good to those kids.” Paul frowned. “Instead of focusing on your own career you’re spending all your energy on a bunch of no-hope teenagers who probably have never even heard the word gratitude.” The Vicki woman turned and put her hands on her hips, giving Ollie full view of her face. Wow. She was wearing a dress that looked like it had come straight out of the nineteen fifties; all slash neck and cinched waist in a fabric of cream and scarlet flowers. Her glossy, dark hair was loosely tied into a ponytail that was pulled forward over one shoulder. She had bright red lipstick on full lips—not smudged in the slightest, and the most intense dark eyes he’d ever seen. In stark contrast her skin was pale; he wasn’t sure whether it was makeup or natural and he didn’t care. Oliver Russell had known a lot of beautiful women in his time, but she was next level. Quite simply, she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. That gorgeous red mouth curled into a smile, but a little frown appeared over her eyes. “Paul, honestly, they’re struggling in so many ways. They have so much hope and potential and no one else seems to care. If I don’t help them, then who will?” “I’m just saying, be careful, that’s all. Your heart’s too soft, Vicki, you’re going to get hurt.” “It’s a fashion design class for underprivileged kids, Paul. Not target practice in the ’hood. Trouble is, we’re fast running out of opportunities for them to showcase their work. All the design schools have organized shows already and we’re lagging behind. I’m going to have to be creative with my thinking.” Her eyes wandered over the bar and settled on Oliver, just for a moment. Instinctively, he smiled. She gave him the faintest of smiles back and didn’t look away immediately. A look of surprise flickered behind her eyes. Even from here he could see the flush of her cheeks as their gazes met and, as if someone had flicked a switch, a rush of heat hit him too. Interest. The flicker of awareness. Brief. So brief he checked himself; maybe he’d imagined it? Excerpted from Meet Me in London by Georgia Toffolo. Copyright © 2021 by Georgia Toffolo. First published in 2020 by Mills & Boon. This edition published in 2021 by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Georgia Toffolo is a broadcaster and TV personality. She has been a firm favourite with the public right from the start of her TV debut, Made in Chelsea, all the way to winning over the hearts of I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here in 2018.

Georgia turned her eye to fashion and has curated two sell out collections with fashion retailer Shein. An ambassador for many British brands, both large and small, Georgia has also collaborated with Dyson, Baileys, Emma Bridgewater, Great British Racing, Foreo and Malibu amongst many more.

Most recently, Georgia has dived into the world of fiction by publishing her debut novel Meet Me in London with publishing house Mills and Boon. This is the first of an original series of four books following a group of lifelong friends and bringing personal anecdotes to life with humour and charm.

Social Links:
Author Website
Facebook: @ToffTalks
Twitter: @ToffTalks
TikTok: @georgiatoffolo
Instagram: @georgiatoffolo
Goodreads

BLOG TOUR - Rodeo Christmas at Evergreen Ranch

DESCRIPTION:

Gold Valley’s rodeo champion is facing the toughest challenge of his life – a Christmas wedding!

Legendary bull-rider Jake Daniels has only one plan this holiday season – to ignore the pain it always brings. Until his best friend Callie Carson shows up on his ranch with a marriage proposal! Jake has lived so close to the edge it’s a miracle he’s still alive – he knows all about risk. But marrying the woman he craves more than anything feels like the biggest risk of all.

Callie Carson might be rodeo royalty, but to fulfil her dreams of riding saddle bronc, she needs her inheritance. And to access that, she needs a husband. But Jake the husband is deliciously different from Jake the friend, especially after the wild heat of their wedding night! He was only supposed to be her cowboy for Christmas, but Jake’s every heart-stopping touch has Callie questioning how she’ll ever be able to walk away…

BUY LINKS:
BookShop.org | Harlequin | Barnes & Noble
 Amazon | Books-A-Million |Powell’s

MY THOUGHTS:

 

Title:   Rodeo Christmas at Evergreen Ranch

Author:  Maisey Yates

Series:  Gold Valley #13
Publisher:  HQN Books

Genre:   Romance

Format:  Kindle ARC

No. of Pages:   384

Date of Publication:   October 26, 2021

My Rating:   4 Stars

Jake Daniels was a very successful bull rider. He has had his reasons for giving up something that he dearly loved. Shocked by his best friend's sudden marriage proposal, Jake cannot say no. Callie Carson has dreams for a rodeo career. Marrying Jake seems like the only way to reach those dreams.

What is holding Callie back? It certainly is not talent. It is her inheritance. Or lack of it. Can she get away with marrying Jake, staying married for three months, fool her family and claim her inheritance and fulfill his rodeo dreams?

Well, it is not gifted to her in a neat little package. For one thing, both she and Jake are very drawn to one another. They love one another as best friends, but have never gone any further. More than that, Cal has her family to deal with. Having lost her sister even before she was even born, Cal never felt like enough. Then her several brothers. They all seem to be doing what they want. So, Cal will do the same and thus she literally takes the bull by the horns.

There is a hitch in her plans, however. A huge one. Feelings. Love. Then there is Jake and his own baggage and Cal just might wonder if she went to far trying to fulfill hear dreams.

What a delightfuly story of two hearts destined to be together, all while facing what appear to be insurmountable obstacles.

Many thanks to HQN Books and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Please enjoy the following excerpt:

1 CHAPTER ONE JAKE DANIELS HAD grown up knowing that life was short. When he was in high school, he’d lost his parents, and along with them, the sense that anything in this world was guaranteed. That kind of thing changed a man. It could make him afraid of his own shadow, worried about taking risks and filled with a sense of self-preservation. It was either that, or he realized since there were no guarantees, he might as well go all in. Push those chips out to the center of the table and see if the gamble paid off. He’d done some admittedly dumb stuff as a kid. Not gambling so much as acting out. But the rodeo had changed him. It had saved him. He’d spent the last eighteen years gambling and doing pretty damn well for himself, it had to be said. Years spent in the rodeo, flinging himself around on the back of enraged bulls, had netted him a decent amount of money, and now that he was more or less ready to get out of the game, those winnings, and the amount of money his parents’ life insurance had left behind, had gotten him a big spread in Gold Valley. He was going to be a rancher. Not cattle, like his cousin Ryder. No. He was getting into horses. High-value breeds. Another gamble. It would either pay off, or ruin him. That was the kind of life he liked. That was the kind of thing that made him feel alive. And if this was retirement, hell, he was pretty damn into it. Thirty-two years old, and wealthy enough to figure out a way to live his dream. Not bad at all. Of course, there were things he would miss about the rodeo. The people on the circuit were practically family now. So many years traveling around the same venues, getting busted up together, competing fiercely and going out for a beer after. But it had been time to leave, and all it had taken was one fierce accident to teach him that. And Gold Valley was his home, so this had been the place to go to when his time in the rodeo was done. The day his parents had died, his aunt and uncle had also died, along with the mother of one of his closest friends. That had left a passel of orphaned children, a big old ranch that had once been run by their parents and a whole lot of chaos. But it had been a good life. Other than all the crushingly sad parts. His cousin Ryder had taken care of all of them, since he was the only one who’d been eighteen when the tragedy had happened. He often wondered how they’d made it through without Ryder punching them all in the damn face. He was sure that Ryder had wanted to from time to time. Hell. Jake and Colt had been absolute assholes. Neither of them had handled losing their parents well. Well, was there a good way to handle that? He didn’t know. But at seventeen and fifteen, he and his brother had been mad at the world, and kicking against the one person who had been doing his best to help them. They’d both left home and joined the rodeo, the Western take on running away and joining the circus. It had taken some years and some maturity for him to fully appreciate what he’d had. Because what Ryder had given to them had been bound up in his loss, and until he’d been in his midtwenties probably, he hadn’t fully been able to separate those two things and think of home, and his cousin, without a measure of pain and anger. Even now, when he pulled into Hope Springs Ranch, a strange sensation took hold of him. Nostalgia, grief and home, all rolled into one. He’d been contending with it a lot lately, because his—for lack of a better word—retirement was still fairly new, and being in one place and not on the road was unusual for him. But that was a choice he’d made, and one that was taking a bit of time for him to settle into. It had been just over three months, and it still felt...wrong in some ways. It was easier to pretend that all your demons were dealt with when you just spent a good portion of the time running from them. Made things simple. At least as simple as they could be. The problem was his demons had done a decent job of catching up to him on the circuit, and that was when he’d decided it was time to move on. When Cal had fallen... How could he live with something happening to his mentee? Cal was his best friend and with his guidance had gotten hurt. No, that had brought him back to a dark, raw place. One he didn’t want to visit again. That calm before the storm. That bright ray of sunshine revealed to be the headlights of a Mack truck bearing down on him. He’d read that poem that said nothing gold could stay. In his experience, it turned out gold was fleeting. And revealed to be fool’s gold on top of it. Good never lasted. And it was rarely real, anyway. He’d been... Well, he hadn’t been thrilled about Cal wanting to come for Thanksgiving, but he felt responsible for the accident so in the end he hadn’t been able to say no. He pulled his truck up to the front of the farmhouse, and the door opened, three dogs spilling out the front and down the front steps. “Back, mutts,” he muttered when he got out of the truck, smiling affectionately at the creatures as he bent down and scratched them behind the ears. He looked up and saw Sammy standing on the top step of the porch, her baby on her hip. Sammy was married to his cousin Ryder now, but she was another member of their ragtag family. She hadn’t lost her parents, but her situation at home, as he understood it, had been unacceptable, and when she was sixteen she’d come to live with them. She’d never left, and she and Ryder had gotten married a year earlier. Finally, in his opinion. The two of them had spent way too long dancing around the truth. Not that he could blame them. Nothing in his life had ever made marriage look particularly appealing. His parents... His parents had been unhappy, slaves to a ranch and their children, to marriage vows they’d said to each other and had always seemed like they might regret. For just a moment it had seemed like it might all be fixed. For just a moment it had seemed like they’d be okay. Then it had all been destroyed. That bright spot of hope swallowed by reality. After years of unhappiness, his parents had just died. Jake couldn’t imagine that kind of life. “How you doing?” he asked. Sammy shifted the baby from one hip to the other, the little girl reaching out and grabbing her mom’s blond hair. Sammy laughed and unwrapped the chubby fist from her curls. She looked happier than he’d ever seen her before. He supposed for some people there was something to be said for this life. God knew Ryder seemed happier. But then, it was impossible for Ryder to seem more grim. Jake felt pretty guilty about that with the benefit of age and wisdom. “Great,” Sammy said. “We’ve been seeing so much of you lately. I feel spoiled.” “Well, that’s good, because it won’t take long for you to just feel sick of me.” “Never,” Sammy said, coming down the steps and offering him a hug. Sammy was like that. Effortless, easy affection with people around her. He admired it, but he’d never much understood it. There was only one kind of touch he was free with. Sex was simple. And being a champion in the world of rodeo meant there was no shortage of buckle bunnies lining up to see if the rumors were true. His bull rides lasted eight seconds, and a ride in his bed lasted the whole night. He took a lot of pride in the fact that he had staying power. That he gave a damn for the pleasure of the women who passed through his hotel rooms. But that was as deep as he got. “Come on in,” Sammy said. “Logan and Rose are already here. Iris and Griffin are on their way.” It was strange to him that everybody had paired off now. Everybody except for himself, and his brother, Colt, who would rather take a stick between the eyes than settle down. Jake was confident that would be his brother’s stance. His brother was still going out hard in the rodeo. As far as Jake knew he wasn’t even interested in coming back to town and settling down the way Jake was, let alone getting married. He walked into the living room, and noticed all the little changes. Since Ryder and Sammy had gotten married, the place, which had actually been basically the same in all the years since their parents had died, had gotten a bit of a facelift. Sammy had added a whole lot of real grown-up touches to it. Pretty things. It was weird. Weirder that he cared. Ryder came through from the kitchen and offered a greeting. “Good to see you.” “You, too. Hey, Sammy,” Jake said. “Would it be all right if my buddy Cal came for Thanksgiving?” “Sure,” Sammy said. “The more, the merrier.” He was glad Sammy was thrilled. He was less thrilled. But there were a spare few things on God’s earth he saw as sacred. His friendship with Cal was one of them. The accident might have been a catalyst for Jake deciding to leave the rodeo, but it was just damned cowardly to then deny his friend’s request to come visit. Why? Because he felt guilty about the fall? Hell, yeah, he did. But that didn’t mean he had to be happy about the visit. Though even just being away and out of the game, knowing he was just out of it now for good... There were things he missed. He was looking forward to having a few beers and talking about old times. “Good,” Jake said. Eventually, Iris and her new husband arrived, followed by Pansy and her husband, West, and West’s teenage brother, Emmett. West and Pansy had taken over the raising of the kid, since West’s mother wasn’t hugely into the maternal thing. Putting it mildly. And while everything with his family was good—it always was—there was an indefinable feeling of...change. Right. Well, you haven’t been here very much, so you don’t have the right to have an opinion about how things have changed. That thought galled him a little bit. And it was true enough. He’d been gone, seen to his own affairs all this time, and something that had given him a small measure of comfort was the fact that he could come home at any time and things would be roughly the way that he left them. But not so much anymore. There were new people. New plates. The house was fuller than it had ever been, but that made it a little bit unrecognizable, too. It was a whole damn thing. He finished eating, and hung out for a while. Then he bid everybody farewell, got in his truck and started on the road back to his ranch. Settling in Gold Valley. There was a time when he’d been sure he’d never do that. And as he drove down the familiar highway he had a strange sense of...dread. He hated that. He chased dread. The kind of fear that held other people down, he pursued it. He’d spent years riding bulls because he’d figured why not give fate the biggest middle finger of all. It was the quiet moments that seemed to bring the fear. The still moments. The golden hour, when the sun lit up the world around him and everything looked new. And there would be a moment. A breath. Where peace rested in his soul. And right on its heels came the hounds of hell. The arena had stopped it. The pounding of hooves, the danger. It was just that it had followed him to the arena now so he’d figured he’d take his chances here. Maybe that had been a mistake. Too late now. He drove through town, trying to get a look at how it might seem if he were an outsider. If he was someone who hadn’t grown up here. The brick facades were the kind of thing tourists lost their shit over. But he lost the ability to see them a long time ago. For him... For him, Gold Valley had just represented everything he lost. He’d been running when he’d left. He’d run for a long time. And he’d achieved a hell of a lot. But whatever he thought he’d feel when he got here... He didn’t. And so he was trying to see everything with new eyes, like he was a new man, because he felt just so damned much like the old one. And he wasn’t the biggest fan. Hope Springs always put him in this kind of mood. So he shrugged it off and started mentally going over the timeline that he had in place for getting his ranch going. His first five horses were coming at the new year. It was a new challenge. And it reinvigorated him. That was the problem. The rodeo had gotten stale. He’d won everything twice. You didn’t get better than that. He’d done it twice in a row, and he didn’t want to get to the point where he wasn’t winning anymore. He’d peaked. Basically. So now he had to go find somewhere else to do that. That was something, anyway. It was one reason he’d backed his cousin Iris when she had decided to open her bakery. He knew all about needing a change. Maybe that meant he actually was still running. None of it mattered now, though. He hadn’t had enough to drink tonight because he’d needed to get his ass home, but he was going to open some whiskey the minute he got in the door. The place was out about ten miles from town, a nice flat parcel of property with the mountains behind it. The house itself was a big, white farmhouse with a green metal roof. Different to the rustic place at Hope Springs, but he liked it. The driveway was gravel, long and winding, with tall, dense trees on either side of the road. But when he came through the trees into the clearing where the house was, there was a surprise waiting for him in front of the house. An old, beat-up pickup was parked there, and he could see a lone figure leaning up against the hood. He parked the truck and got out, making his way over to the figure. In the darkness, he couldn’t quite make it out, but he had a feeling he knew who it was. Early and unannounced. Entirely in keeping with what he knew of his friend. “Cal?” And two wide, brown eyes looked up at him from beneath the brim of a white cowboy hat, long, glossy brown hair shifting with the motion. “Jake. I’m really glad to see you. Because... I don’t just need a job. I need a husband.” Excerpted from Rodeo Christmas at Evergreen Ranch by Maisey Yates, Copyright © 2021 by Maisey Yates. Published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Maisey Yates is a New York Times bestselling author of over one hundred romance novels. Whether she's writing strong, hard working cowboys, dissolute princes or multigenerational family stories, she loves getting lost in fictional worlds. An avid knitter with a dangerous yarn addiction and an aversion to housework, Maisey lives with her husband and three kids in rural Oregon.

Social Links:
Author Website
Facebook: @MaiseyYates.Author
Instagram: @maiseyyates
Twitter: @maiseyyates
Goodreads

BLOG TOUR - One Christmas Wish

DESCRIPTION:

It’s Christmas in Catalina Cove, a time of promise and second chances. But when you’re starting over, love is the last thing you’re wishing for…

Vaughn Miller’s Wall Street career was abruptly ended by a wrongful conviction and two years in prison. Since then, he’s returned to his hometown, kept his head down and forged a way forward. When he is exonerated and his name cleared, he feels he can hold his head up once again, maybe even talk to the beautiful café owner who sets his blood to simmering.

Sierra Crane escaped a disastrous marriage—barely. She and her six-year-old goddaughter have returned to the only place that feels like home. Determined to make it on her own, Sierra opens a soup café. Complication is the last thing she needs, but the moment Vaughn walks into her café, she can’t keep her eyes off the smoldering loner.

When they give in to their attraction, what Sierra thought would be a onetime thing becomes so much more. Vaughn knows she’s the one. Sierra can’t deny the way Vaughn makes her feel, but she’s been burned before. With Christmas approaching, Vaughn takes a chance to prove his love, and it will be up to Sierra to decide if her one Christmas wish—true happiness—will come true.

BUY LINKS:
BookShop.org | Harlequin | Barnes & Noble
 Amazon | Books-A-Million | Powell’s

MY THOUGHTS:

 

Title:   One Christmas Wish

Author:  Brenda Jackson

Series:  Catalina Cove #5
Publisher:  HQN

Genre:   Romance

Format:  Kindle ARC

No. of Pages:   304

Date of Publication:   October 26, 2021

My Rating:   5 Stars

Vaughn Miller's Wall Street career came to a screeching halt when he was wrongfully convicted and served two years in prison. Although fully exonerated, Vaughn still has to prove himself. What better place for him to do that than to return to his hometown in Catalina Cove.

Vaughn is not the only one starting over. Sierra Crane is doing the same thing, for altogether different reasons. Her marriage had imploded after she caught her husband cheating. Sadly due to the death of her best friend Rhonda, Sierra Crane is now guardian to her four-year-old goddaughter Teryn. She is running a small restaurant called The Green Fig. Business is going well and Sierra loves her role as a mother.

Seirra and Vaughn soon meet and their lives will soon forever be changed. Although they both grew up in the same town, a few years difference in ages meant that they never had actually met. Furthermore, Vaughn's family was one of wealth and Sierra's was completely opposite. The two are rather immediately drawn to one another and begin to spend time together.

However, Vaughn is still dealing with his past and Sierra's previous broken relationship has left her with a lot of baggage. Will the pair be able to get past their differences and the challenges they face and find their way to a love everlasting?

Although this is the fifth book in the Catalina Cove series, it did very well as a standalone. However, this story, the members of the town and the love story as developed in this book make me want to go back and read the first four books in the series.

Many thanks to HQN and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Please enjoy the following excerpt:

1 SIERRA CRANE CRINGED every time her ex-husband called. Their marriage had ended almost two years ago, so why couldn’t he get on with his life the way she had gotten on with hers? She hadn’t heard from him since the divorce and now this was the second phone call in a month. And why did he always manage to call her at the worst time? The dinner crowd was arriving at her soup café, the Green Fig, and she was short a waitress tonight. The last thing she needed to be doing was talking on the phone to her ex. “What is it now, Nathan?” she asked, trying to keep her voice low to avoid being overheard by the customers coming in. “You know what I want, Sierra. We rushed into our divorce and I want a reconciliation. We didn’t even seek counseling.” She rolled her eyes. It wasn’t as if counseling would have helped their marriage. She had put up with things for as long as she could, and had to remove herself from that toxic environment. His infidelity had been the last straw, and then there had been his total lack of sensitivity when her best friend Rhonda Andrews was dying. “Why are we even discussing this, Nathan? You know as well as I do that no amount of counseling would have helped our marriage. You betrayed me. I caught you in the act. Look, I’m busy,” she said when she saw customers waiting to be seated. “And do me a favor and don’t call back. Our divorce is final, and I intend for it to stay that way. Goodbye.” She clicked off the phone and, for good measure, she blocked his number. Moving from behind the counter, she assisted her staff in seating customers and taking orders. It was an hour later when the dinner rush had ended that she found the time to go into her office and work on tomorrow’s menu. The monitor screen on her desk was connected to a video camera showing the perimeters of the dining area. If she was needed to assist her staff again, she would know it. She sat in the chair behind her desk thinking about Nathan’s call. The nerve of him thinking they could get back together. Not only had he cheated on her but he had resented all the trips she’d taken from Chicago to Houston to spend time with Rhonda in her final days. It hadn’t mattered to him that Rhonda was terminally ill and there had been so much to do and so little time left. The main focus had been the well-being of Rhonda’s four-year-old daughter, Teryn, who’d lost her father two years earlier in Afghanistan. Without family on both sides, Sierra was Teryn’s godmother and Rhonda had made Sierra promise to take care of Teryn when the time came. Nathan, who’d never wanted children, had been resentful of that, too. It had been one of those weekends she’d visited Rhonda in Houston and she’d returned home early to find another couple, namely her neighbors, in bed with her husband. That’s when she’d found out about his swinging lifestyle. He’d confessed it was something he had tried during his college days but thought he had put behind him...until he had discovered their new neighbors had enjoyed doing that sort of thing. When Sierra had filed for divorce, Nathan assumed if he kept sending her flowers, calling her all the time, and showing up unexpectedly at her new residence with chocolates, designer purses and jewelry, he could wear down her resistance and she would call off the divorce. He finally saw that wasn’t happening. An hour later Sierra left her office to return to the dining area. It was time for her only waitress on the floor tonight to take her break. Sierra had just stepped behind the counter when the sound of the bell above the door alerted her that she had a customer. The Green Fig, which served lunch and dinner Mondays through Fridays, had been open for business for only a year. The restaurant closed every night at eight. Most of her customers were locals who’d known her grandmother and were happy that Ella Crane had passed her delicious soup recipes on to her granddaughter. Sierra had a good staff. She’d hired Emma, who’d been a friend of her mother’s for years, as head cook and Maxine, who’d graduated from the New Orleans cooking school last year, as Emma’s assistant. Normally there were two waitresses, Iris and Opal, who handled the dining room, and Sherri took care of the take-out orders. On any given day there were more take-out orders than sit-down orders, especially during lunch. She’d hired Levi Canady as the assistant manager. An ex-cop who’d retired early from the force due to an injury, he was also a good friend of Sierra’s father from their elementary school days. Levi was a godsend and would take over for Sierra whenever Teryn came home from school. He managed the restaurant every night except on Wednesdays. He also opened and closed for her on Saturdays, when the restaurant was open only for lunch. Whenever Teryn had gymnastics practice Sierra would help out in the café until she got home. Today was one of those days. Sierra glanced at the door and saw Vaughn Miller walk in, dressed in a business suit. On any other man the outfit would probably look like just regular professional attire, but on him it appeared tailor-made. He was a very handsome man and looking good in anything he wore was just part of who he was. Sierra didn’t know Vaughn personally, although they had both been born in Catalina Cove and had attended the same schools. She hadn’t had the right pedigree to be in his social circles since his family had been one of the wealthiest in town. They had come from old money, probably as old as it could get in the cove when you were a descendant of the town’s founder. When Vaughn Miller took a seat at one of the booths, she grabbed a menu out of the rack and headed to his table. He’d come in once or twice before, but it had always been for takeout. It appeared that today he intended to dine in. “Welcome to the Green Fig.” He looked up when she handed him the menu. “Thanks.” This was the closest she had ever been to Vaughn Miller and she couldn’t help noticing things she hadn’t seen from a distance. Like the beautiful hazel coloring of his eyes. He had sharp cheekbones and she liked the way his nose was the perfect size for his face and the full lips beneath it. And speaking of lips...did his have to be of such sensual perfection? And then she couldn’t miss the light beard that covered his lower jaw and how it enhanced those lips but didn’t hide the dimple in his chin. Vaughn’s skin was a maple brown and he wore his thick black hair long. It wasn’t down past his shoulders like Kaegan Chambray’s, but it was long enough to touch his collar. To her the long and tousled hairstyle did much to highlight his French Creole ancestry. The Creoles derived from free people of color from Africa, France and Spain, as well as other mixed-heritage descendants. Those blended races and cultures were a large population of Louisiana, and more specifically, New Orleans, Catalina Cove and other surrounding cities. Sierra had to concur with the feminine whispers around town that Vaughn Miller was a very handsome man and a sharp dresser, yet she noted he had a definite rugged masculine appeal. Even dressed nicely in a suit, all you had to do was add a tricorne hat on his head and a loop earring in his ear and he would instantly become a dashing pirate. A look that no doubt would make his great-great-great-great-grandfather, the cove’s founder, Jean Lafitte, proud. She knew six years ago he’d been sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Three months ago, articles appeared in numerous newspapers reporting on his exoneration and how those who were guilty had been brought to justice. He had been cleared of all charges. “What’s the special for today?” She blinked upon realizing she’d been standing there staring at him the entire time. Clearing her throat, she said, “Today’s special is the broccoli and cheese soup and it’s served with a half sandwich. Turkey or chicken.” He smiled up at her and that smile made his features even more beguiling and clearly showed that dimple in his chin. “That sounds good. I’d like a bowl with a chicken sandwich.” She wrote his order down on the pad and noticed his French accent. She recalled overhearing her parents say that his mother had been French and his father mixed French and African American, and that French had been the primary language spoken in the Miller household. She also remembered hearing while growing up he would spend his summers in France as well with his grandparents. That was probably the reason the accent was still strong after all this time. “What would you like to drink?” “Brown ale.” Sierra nodded. “Okay, I’ll put in your order and get your ale.” “Thanks.” She turned and walked toward the kitchen. When she knew she was out of his sight and that of customers and staff, she fanned herself with the menu. Vaughn Miller had definitely made every hormone in her body sizzle. One Christmas Wish by Brenda Jackson. Copyright © 2021 by Brenda Streater Jackson. Published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Brenda Jackson is a New York Times bestselling author of more than one hundred romance titles. Brenda lives in Jacksonville, Florida, and divides her time between family, writing and traveling.

Social Links:
Author Website
Facebook: @BrendaJacksonAuthor
Twitter: @AuthorBJackson
Goodreads

BLOG TOUR - Forever Home

DESCRIPTION:

If home is where the heart is, Dogwood County may have just what Delaney Monroe needs.

Newly retired from the Marine Corps, Delaney is looking for somewhere to start over. It's not going to be easy, but when she finds the perfect place to open her dream motorcycle shop, she goes for it. What she doesn't expect is an abandoned pit bull to come with the building. The shy pup is slow to trust, but Delaney is determined to win it over.

Detective Sean Callahan is smitten from the moment he sees Delaney, but her cool demeanor throws him off his game. When her late father's vintage motorcycle is stolen from Delaney's shop, Sean gets to turn up in his element: chasing the bad guy and showing his best self to a woman who's gotten under his skin in a bad way.

Delaney isn't used to lasting relationships, but letting love in - both human and canine - helps her see that she may have found a place she belongs, forever.

BUY LINKS:
BookShop.org | Harlequin | Barnes & Noble
 Amazon | Books-A-Million | Powell’s

MY THOUGHTS:

 

Title:   Forever Home

Author:  Elysia Whisler

Series:  Dogwood County #2
Publisher:  MIRA

Genre:   Romance; Women's Fiction

Format:  Kindle ARC

No. of Pages:   400

Date of Publication:   November 30, 2021

My Rating:   5 Stars

Tough on the outside, that is for certain. She proved herself while she was in the Marines. She is about to the same yet again when she purchases a rundown motorcycle shop. This has always been her dream and Delaney plans on making it a reality.

She is not alone from the very beginning, however. There is a resident pit bull along for the ride. Well, mostly. He is a free spirit and comes and goes at will. Not sure why she is even trying, Delaney is determined to win the chocolate pittie over. She starts out by learning his name from a tag on his collar, Sinbad. 

There is a mystery from the outset, however. Delaney's most treasured possession, her father's classic motorcycle, has been stolen and Sean Callahan is the detective on the case. More than that for Sean, as he is immediately drawn to Delaney. 

I loved this story. Whether it was Sean trying to win over Delaney, or Delaney trying to win over Sinbad. Whether Delaney planned it or not, she is now a dog owner.

This story was just so touching. I loved how Delaney took slow and gentle steps towards Sinbad. I also enjoyed the intrigue in the story when it came to the goings on at the motorcycle shop. Also, as this is the second book in the series, with the equally touching first book, Rescue You, it was a delight to see Constance and Sunny again in this book, Forever Home.

Many thanks to MIRA and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Please enjoy the following excerpt:

ONE Three Rebels Street. Delaney should’ve known that this was where she’d end up. This was the kind of street a woman went down when all the big changes in her life were happening at once. You simply couldn’t hit a retirement ceremony, the road and a funeral all in one week and not end up on Three Rebels Street. “Small is not the right word. I prefer quaint.” The real estate agent, Ronnie, gazed around the studio apartment situated on Three Rebels Street, and nodded her head in approval. “You said it was just for you, right? Which means it’s the perfect size.” Stop trying to sell me on the apartment. Ronnie had described it as an “alcove studio”—not just a studio—because even though the living room and kitchen were all in one large space, the bedroom was situated in a little nook, with its own door. Delaney didn’t care. The living quarters didn’t really matter. Right now the place was dumpy. Dust everywhere, the ceiling fan hanging crooked with exposed wires, and debris in the corners, like the previous tenants hadn’t taken care of the place and then left in a hurry. “We didn’t have a chance to get this cleaned before your showing,” Ronnie said, following Delaney’s gaze. “Remember, I suggested waiting until Friday.” But Delaney hadn’t been able to wait. Ronnie lowered her voice to a near whisper. “They were evicted. But this place cleans up nice, I promise.” “Can we go back down to the shop?” Delaney ran her hands through her hair, rubbing the weariness from her scalp. Ronnie had whisked them through the front bay door and up the stairs, like the apartment was the prize inside the cereal box. And Delaney supposed it was—small, an add-on, not really the point. For Delaney, the shop downstairs was the entire point. “Of course.” Ronnie’s voice was bright, forced, like she didn’t give two shits. This was probably her last showing of the day and she wanted to get home, into a hot bath with a glass of red as soon as possible. She clacked down the stairs in her high heels. Delaney followed, the earthy clunk of her motorcycle boots the bass drum in the cacophony of their feet. “The shop.” Ronnie swept out her arm. “Look how much space.” There was no enthusiasm in her voice. Ronnie, who probably did mostly living spaces, had no idea how to sell the garage. Didn’t matter. Delaney sized up the shop herself: concrete floor, perfect for working on bikes. It was kind of dinged up, but that was okay, she was already envisioning painting it beige with nonslip floor paint. Modern fluorescent lighting. Large bay door, wide-open to the cool air, excellent for ventilation. A countertop with a register. Empty shelves on one side for parts and motor clothes. Showroom space for custom bikes, and enough room for at least two workspaces out front. The rest, Delaney would provide. Hydraulic lifts. Workbench. Parts tank. Tools. Parts. Bikes. She wanted to pinch herself, but chose a poker face. Ronnie stood in the center of the floor, like she was trying to avoid touching anything, to avoid getting any grease or oil on her smart red suit. The shop was in better condition than the apartment, but it still looked like the last occupants had left quickly—or, if they’d truly been evicted, perhaps reluctantly was a better word. Nothing important remained, but the place hadn’t been swept or washed or readied for sale in any manner. “I’ll consider this.” Delaney rubbed her chin as she strode through the shop. “It’s a little small.” It was actually larger than she’d expected. “Light’s good, but might get a little cold in the winter.” It was winter now, technically. Mid-March. Delaney loved this time of year, when winter and spring intersected, like lovers making up after a nasty fight, the weather edgy and unpredictable. “There’s a lot of interest in this space.” Ronnie clutched her clipboard to her chest as she looked around. She could be looking at the inside of a spaceship and hold that same expression. Motorcycle shops were going out of business, all over the place, including the one that had recently vacated. After suddenly finding herself on Three Rebels Street last week, in front of a shop-apartment combo for sale, Delaney had done her research. The previous tenants, who she now knew had been evicted, were brothers who ran a shop by day and lived upstairs by night. They sold mostly new bikes and motorcycle gear. Repairs and maintenance were basic. Their website was still up, despite the fact that Dude’s Bikes had closed. Dude’s appeared to focus mostly on male riders, leaving Delaney to wonder if Dude’s was just about dudes or if one of the owners was, indeed, named Dude. “What’s the story on this place?” Ronnie glanced at her clipboard. “The owner wants to sell. After the last renters’ lease ran out, they were given the option of buying or moving. I don’t think their shop was doing well, because they couldn’t afford to buy. They weren’t even paying their rent. And they weren’t quick about moving. The rest, as they say, is history.” If the last motorcycle shop had failed, buying would be a gamble. But any business venture was a gamble. Life was a gamble. “There are a couple of people looking, after you.” Ronnie continued, “About five.” Delaney could respect white lies in the sales biz but seriously? Five? Five or so people were waiting to check out the bike shop with an overhead apartment suitable for one small, low-maintenance tenant? She had no idea how two brothers had managed up there. She strolled through the space, wanting a good feel. She needed to touch things, inhale the shop, draw its molecules into her lungs and taste its history before she could decide on the symbiosis of her dream space. Triple M Classics—short for Martin Monroe’s Motorcycles, named after her father—would own her as much as she would it, so this relationship was going to be deep and mutual. Through the front window, she could see the parkway that ran the length of the county. At just past eighteen-hundred hours, rush hour was a jam of red taillights in the waning daylight. No amount of time would erase Delaney’s memory of her last tour here, when she had to commute to work every day. Pure hell. It would be nice to go right upstairs to her cozy little apartment after closing, rather than having to sit in that mess. Across the street was a row of shops, including a grocery story and an Italian restaurant. Food. Check. On the south side, the shop butted up to the woods, which had a downward slope of grass and weeds that led to the trees. Privacy. Double check. Plus, Delaney figured if there was a tornado, that slope could count as a ditch, and would probably be the safest place to run. She laughed at herself. This wasn’t Omaha. Virginia tornado season consisted of a few warnings that rarely panned out. Delaney withdrew the listing, printed from the internet, from her back pocket, crammed together with a grocery receipt for extra firm tofu, Tater Tots and Ben and Jerry’s Cherry Garcia. “This is the price, right?” She handed over the paper. Money would be tight, but Delaney should be able to manage for a little while until things got going. That is, if she was going to do this. Was she really going to do this? All her adult life Delaney had moved around, from station to station. Forts, camps, bases. Not shops. Not homes. She’d never put down roots. Never had anything permanent other than her childhood home with Dad. Never owned a thing she couldn’t cram into a duffel bag. Ronnie looked at the paper. “No.” She sniffed. “There’s a newer listing.” She flipped through her clipboard, laid it on the counter and pointed. “Here we go.” Delaney looked at the asking price, choked a little bit, almost thanked Ronnie for her time and left. That would be the smart thing to do. Sometimes childhood dreams just needed to stay dreams. She strode around once more, mentally saying goodbye to everything that she’d never even made hers. Even though all of this had been a panster move, it felt like all the blood in her veins had been replaced with disappointment. She stopped by the far wall, where a ratty piece of paper hung by a sliver of tape. Delaney smoothed out the curled edges and read the flyer. Fiftieth Annual Classic Motorcycle Show. Dogwood County Fairgrounds. The event was in July. There was a contest, including prizes. The grand prize for the winning classic cycle was five grand plus a feature article in Ride magazine. The disappointment started to drain away. Five grand wouldn’t pay all the bills, but exposure in a major motorcycle magazine would be a boon for business. Plus, there was something about that poster, just hanging there like that. It seemed like a sign. Excerpted from Forever Home by Elysia Whisler, Copyright © 2021 by Elysia Whisler. Published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Elysia Whisler was raised in Texas, Italy, Alaska, Mississippi, Nebraska, Hawaii, and Virginia, in true military fashion. If she's not writing she's probably working out, coaching, or massaging at her CrossFit gym. She lives in Virginia with her family, including her large brood of cat and dog rescues, who vastly outnumber the humans.

Social Links:
Author Website
Twitter: @ElysiaWhisler
Facebook: @ElysiaWhisler
Instagram: @Elysiawhisler
Goodreads

BLOG TOUR - The Lost Promise of Ireland

DESCRIPTION:

A completely gorgeous story about lost loves and small-town secrets that will sweep you away to the Irish coast.

Maggie remembers her summers in the village of Sandy Cove in Ireland like they were yesterday. She and her family would swim in the crystal-clear waters, collect beautiful seashells and relax on the sand. So when she sees that her family’s old coastguard cottage is available, she wonders if renting it for the summer will finally help her move on from the man who just broke her heart.

As soon as Maggie arrives she is delighted to find her childhood best-friend Sorcha and Sorcha’s cousin Brian still living in town. They enjoy cosy nights in the local harbour pub, with its stunning views across the ocean, as if no time has passed. And when Brian reveals he had a fierce teenage crush on Maggie, she can’t help but notice just how handsome he has become.

But then Maggie finds a worn metal box hidden in the attic of the house, full of love letters she exchanged with a sweet American boy she met one summer. During their last night together, star-gazing on the beach, they promised to find each other again. Soon it becomes clear that Maggie is not the only one returning to Sandy Cove.

Torn between her growing feelings for Brian and the romance she’s held in her heart for many years, Maggie realises that her summer may be more complicated than she’d expected. Will Maggie finally find a true love who can sweep her off her feet or will this holiday in Sandy Cove be her last?

Fans of Mary Alice Monroe, Sheila O’Flanagan and Debbie Macomber will fall head over heels for this enchanting, feel-good romance.

BUY LINKS:
Amazon: https://geni.us/B09FY24WHKsocial
Apple: http://ow.ly/xgFS50GaeQr
Kobo: http://ow.ly/R4yh50GaeMY
Google: http://ow.ly/FKQs50GaeRZ

MY THOUGHTS:

 

Title:   The Lost Promise of Ireland

Author:  Susanne O'Leary

Series:  Starlight Cottages Book 3
Publisher:  Bookouture

Genre:   Women's Fiction; Romance

Format:  Kindle ARC

No. of Pages:   272

Date of Publication:   December 17, 2021

My Rating:   5 Stars

In this heartwarming story by Susanne O'Leary, Maggie plans on spending her summer months in the village of Sandy Cove, Ireland. She has very fond memories of the lovely village and the time away will give her a chance to reboot. Her marriage has ended, and her children are out on her own. Maggie hopes that her time away will help to heal her heart.

When she spots old friend Sorcha, Maggie knows she made the right decision. The two hit it off as if their thirty years apart never happened. Maggie also sees Sorcha's cousin Brian again, who is now the village vet. But, who she really wants to see again is someone from America named Paul. When she was a teen the two grew very close and even wrote letters for quite a while. Will returning to Sandy Cove somehow make it possible for Maggie to truly go home again? To reawaken feelings of love for Paul?

Maggie truly begins to enjoy herself, especially when her teen love comes back in her life for a time. However, Maggie also finds herself drawn to Brian. Meanwhile, as a teacher, Maggie knows her summer months won't last forever. 

This lovely story is rather light at romance as it explores Maggie and the discontent that led her to Sandy Cove. There is also a bit of drama about the village and its inhabitants. As this is the third book in a delightful series, I did enjoy the cameos from characters in previous books. However, as this is about Maggie, it would do very well as a standalone. Maggie was a true delight and I loved seeing her evolve in the pages of this well-written book. 

One thing I really enjoyed about this book - and everything else I have read by this prolific author - is how she is so adept at pulling readers into her stories. I really felt like I was there with Maggie. Whether she was remembering the first time she stepped into the cottage where she would be spending her summer, or as she rekindled old friendships. Even with her trying to find that long-ago love. I also enjoyed the way the villagers all rallied about when it came to common goals. In all, this was a wonderful story and I cannot wait to read whatever comes next for Ms. O'Leary.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Susanne O’Leary is the bestselling author of more than 20 novels, mainly in the romantic fiction genre. She has also written three crime novels and two in the historical fiction genre.

The wife of a former diplomat, she has also been a fitness teacher and a translator. She now writes full-time from either of two locations, a rambling house in County Tipperary, Ireland or a little cottage overlooking the Atlantic in Dingle, County Kerry. When she is not scaling the mountains of said counties, or doing yoga, she keeps writing, producing a book every six months.

Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authoroleary

Twitter: https://twitter.com/susl

Website: http://www.susanne-oleary.co.uk/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susanne.olearyauthor/

BLOG TOUR - Her Dying Wish

DESCRIPTION:

Kerstin is wide awake. While her family sleeps around her, the devastating secret her husband just told her is spinning through her mind. Does she really know the man she married? And are her children still safe in this small town?

She jumps as she hears a sound from outside. Peering into the inky darkness, her eyes focus on movement at the bottom of the garden. Someone is out there.

She watches as the figure strikes a single match. Kerstin gasps at the sight of the face staring back at her, smiling, as if enjoying her fear.

A car door slams and the figure makes a dash for the trees, leaving something behind – a small memorial candle. As it flickers in the darkness, Kerstin knows exactly what it means. Someone is coming for her, and her family is in terrible danger…

Fans of Angela Marsons, Cara Hunter and Clare Mackintosh will love this utterly gripping crime novel. Her Dying Wish will keep you up all night!

BUY LINKS:

Amazon: https://geni.us/B09KM8JM4Gsocial
Apple: http://ow.ly/JStj50GBl6a
Google: http://ow.ly/feb950GBl69
Kobo: http://ow.ly/mbrO50GBl67

MY THOUGHTS:

Title:   Her Dying Wish

Author:  Carla Kovach

Series:  Detective Gina Harte #10
Publisher:  Bookouture

Genre:   Mystery/Thrillers

Format:  Kindle ARC

No. of Pages:   356

Date of Publication:  December 16, 2021

My Rating:   5 Stars

DI Gina Harte is facing a very difficult case. At the same time she is being hounded by a reporter about her tragic past. If it were in his power, the reporter would ruin her. Gina discovers that he is being driven by her former brother-in-law. As disturbing as this is to Gina, she must focus on the case at hand. 

The case that needs to garner all of Gina’s attention is that of arson. A husband is dead and his wife and children were not at the scene. There is a very specific clue that alerts Gina and her team that this is something very personal. Could the wife have killed her husband? When another attack occurs a pattern starts to appear. When a conflict of interest occurs, Gina can’t help but worry about the pressure she is receiving from the journalist. 

I came into this thrilling series at book three and have really gotten to feel for Gina and for the past that never seems to leave her behind all while she fully invests herself into the victims that suffer terrible crimes. As Gina pushes hard when it comes to the case at hand a young child goes missing and Gina is certain that all of the crimes are connected. Will she find the arsonist from the first murder and will she find the boy before it is too late?

Carla Kovach has written yet another compelling addition to an exciting series. Indeed, what a cleverly written book that not only revealed the disturbing past that the victims experienced but Gina’s past might be the catalyst that could cause her life and career to be completely derailed. This played into Gina’s  incredible level of compassion towards the victims while she struggled to deal with conflicting emotions and decisions that she might be forced to make.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Carla Kovach is a crime and horror author from Worcestershire. Her most popular work, the DI Gina Harte series is published by Bookouture. As well as books, she also writes stage and screenplays.

Social Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarlaKovachAuthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ckovachauthor?lang=en
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carla_kovach/
Website: https://griffbuck.wordpress.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7771329.Carla_Kovach