Book Review (459): One Wish (Thunder Point #7) - Robyn Carr

One Wish (Thunder Point #7)

by Robyn Carr 

Publication: 24th February 2015

Publisher: Mira

Pages: 366

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Age Appropriate: Adult

Buy It: Amazon        B&N       iBooks        Indie Bound       Book Depository

Grace Dillon was a champion figure skater until she moved to Thunder Point to escape the ruthless world of fame and competition. And though she's proud of the quiet, self-sufficient life she's created running a successful flower shop, she knows something is missing. Her life could use a little excitement. 

In a community where there are few eligible singles, high school teacher Troy Headly appoints himself Grace's fun coach. When he suggests a little companionship with no strings attached, Grace is eager to take him up on his offer, and the two enjoy…getting to know each other. 

But things get complicated when Grace's past catches up with her, and she knows that's not what Troy signed up for. Faced with losing her, Troy realizes Grace is more than just a friend with benefits. He's determined to help her fight for the life she always wished for but never believed she could have—and maybe they can find real love along the way.

My Thoughts.

What I really love about the Thunder Point series is that I know that when I pick one of these books up I know I'm guaranteed to have a  good time, they are quick, easy reads that are addictive and extremely hard to put down.

With a cast of characters that are both engaging and loveable, it's always a pleasure to re-immerse myself back into the small town of Thunder Point and it's residents.

Ex-Olympic gold medal winning figure skater Izzy Banks, now known as Grace Dillon and Thunder Point's florist, and local high school history teacher Troy Headly are both lonely, that's how they both find themselves spending New Year's Eve together, what started out as friends spending time together becomes something more, with Troy wanting nothing serious (or so he tells himself) and Grace hiding her world famous identity can these two get their act together and finally find their well deserved happily ever afters together.

With appearances from various characters throughout the series in this book including some subplots that worked into the story nicely, I eagerly await book eight and Ginger's book which I'm pretty sure will bring on the waterworks.

A great series that only gets better with each and every new release.

I give this 4/5 stars.

Robyn Carr is the RITA award-winning author of over 40 books. Set in small towns, her Virgin River, Grace Valley and Thunder Point series blend romance and women’s fiction, and often deal sensitively with issues including war-related injuries, PTSD, alcoholism, bullying, rape, and single parenthood. In 2010, she won RT’s Career Achievement Best Author Award for Contemporary Romance.

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Book Review (458): Manwhore (Manwhore #1) - Katy Evans

Manwhore (Manwhore #1)

by Katy Evans 

Publication: 24th March 2015

Publisher: Gallery Books

Pages: 272

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Age Appropriate: Adult

Buy It: • AMAZON • B&N • iBooks •

Is it possible to expose Chicago’s hottest player—without getting played?

This is the story I've been waiting for all my life, and its name is Malcolm Kyle Preston Logan Saint. Don’t be fooled by that last name though. There’s nothing holy about the man except the hell his parties raise. The hottest entrepreneur Chicago has ever known, he’s a man’s man with too much money to spend and too many women vying for his attention.

Mysterious. Privileged. Legendary. His entire life he’s been surrounded by the press as they dig for tidbits to see if his fairytale life is for real or all mirrors and social media lies. Since he hit the scene, his secrets have been his and his alone to keep. And that’s where I come in.

Assigned to investigate Saint and reveal his elusive personality, I’m determined to make him the story that will change my career.

But I never imagined he would change my life. Bit by bit, I start to wonder if I'm the one discovering him...or if he's uncovering me.

What happens when the man they call Saint, makes you want to sin?

My Thoughts.

The end of this book is just cruel, how can Katy leave us hanging like that?

O.K I'll admit right at the start that before Manwhore I had never read a Katy Evans book, while I do own most of her Marked Men series unless it's a review book it doesn't get read, that's why when I was given the opportunity to review this book I was so excited, it helped that the synopsis sounded amazing as well, and well I loved it!

I was so addicted to this book that I couldn't stop thinking about it, I was anxiously awaiting my break at work so I could pick it up again, only to be utterly disappointed when break was over and I had to put it down and countdown to home time so I could finish it uninterrupted.

The main reason for my obsession with the story can be explained in two words MALCOLM SAINT, for those of you who have read the book I don't need to explain myself at all, for the people who haven't picked this book up yet you need to get on that pronto!

Malcolm Saint is a single, gorgeous hunk of a man who also happens to be a billionaire, Rachel Livingston is a columnist for Edge magazine which is slowly going under, they need a big story to help raise the readership, when she's given the job of doing an expose on Saint she's excited to finally get a story to work on which she's dreamed of since she joined the magazine, her only trouble is getting close enough to Saint to learn some secrets which she can use in her story.

Using his new business Interface as an excuse to score an interview, her first meeting with him certainly leaves an impression, and over the next few meetings Saint becomes intrigued with Rachel and she with him,

As feelings develop between the two, what will happen if and when Saint ever finds out that she betrayed his trust something that he doesn't give out so easily.

There may have been a screamed out noooooooooooooo when I got to the last page of Manwhore, I may even have had some weird looks shot my way because of it, its just one of the worst cliffhangers ever!

You can bet your ass that I'm dying to get my hands on the next book, I need it now!!!!!

I'm so glad I was sent this book, it was steamy, sizzling and sure to leave you hot under the collar, there will be no question that Manwhore will be in my top five books of the year, once you start you won't want to put it down.

Recommended to everyone that has a pulse.

I give this 5/5 stars.

About Katy Evans

About Katy Evans: Katy Evans is married and lives with her husband and their two children plus three lazy dogs in South Texas. Some of her favorite pastimes are hiking, reading, baking, and spending time with her friends and family. She is the author of the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling The REAL series: REAL, MINE, REMY, ROGUE, and RIPPED.

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Book Review (457): Finding Mr Brightside - Jay Clark

Finding Mr. Brightside

by Jay Clark 

Publication: 24th March 2015

Publisher: Henry Holt And Co (BYR)

Pages: 224

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

Buy It: Amazon | B&N | The Book Depository 

Abram and Juliette know each other. They’ve lived down the street from each other their whole lives. But they don’t really know each other—at least, not until Juliette’s mom and Abram’s dad have a torrid affair that culminates in a deadly car crash. Sharing the same subdivision is uncomfortable, to say the least. They don’t speak. 

Fast-forward to the neighborhood pharmacy, a year later. Abram decides to say hello. Then he decides to invite Juliette to Taco Bell. 

To her surprise as well as his, she agrees. And the real love story begins.

My Thoughts.

There are some books that capture you from just the synopsis, Finding Mr Brightside was one of those books, I was fascinated by the way that Juliette and Abram know of each other, Juliette's Mom and Abram's Dad were having an affair and subsequently died together in a car accident, and while they've lived down the street from each other all of their lives they've avoided personal contact, until the night they run into each other at a pharmacy, it's from this encounter they begin to spend a lot of time together and ultimately find kindred spirits in each other having both gone through the same thing.

This story was so funny, heartwarming and cute, I adored it and finished it in one sitting and wanted to reread it immediately then and there it was just so good.

This may just be one of my favourite books of the year so far.

For those who love their contemporary romances with an original storyline, then you need to pick this one up.

I give this 5/5 stars.

About the Author

Jay Clark is the author of The Edumacation of Jay Baker, which was named a Bank Street College Best Book. He’s also a random blogger. Surprisingly popular entries like “How to stop hating people in 21 minutes” and “8 tips for posting your best selfie yet!” can be found on his website: jayclarkbooks.com. He lives in Columbus, Ohio.

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(ARC) Book Review (456): The Cemetery Boys - Heather Brewer

The Cemetery Boys

by Heather Brewer

Publication: 30th March 2015

Publisher: Harper Collins

Pages: 288

Genre: Paranormal

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

Buy It: Amazon, IndieBound, Book Depository, Barnes & Noble

When Stephen is forced to move back to the nowhere town where his father grew up, he’s already sure he’s not going to like it. Spencer, Michigan, is like a town straight out of a Hitchcock movie, with old-fashioned people who see things only in black-and-white. But things start looking up when Stephen meets the mysterious twins Cara and Devon. They’re total punks–hardly the kind of people Stephen’s dad wants him hanging out with–but they’re a breath of fresh air in this backward town. The only problem is, Cara and Devon don’t always get along, and as Stephen forms a friendship with the charismatic Devon and something more with the troubled Cara, he starts to feel like he’s getting caught in the middle of a conflict he doesn’t fully understand. And as Devon’s group of friends, who hang out in a cemetery they call The Playground, get up to increasingly reckless activities to pass the summer days, Stephen worries he may be in over his head.

Stephen’s fears prove well-founded when he learns of Spencer’s dark past. It seems the poor factory town has a history of “bad times,” and many of the town’s oldest residents attribute the bad times to creatures right out of an urban legend. The legend goes that the only way the town will prosper again is if someone makes a sacrifice to these nightmarish creatures. And while Stephen isn’t one to believe in old stories, it seems Devon and his gang might put a lot of faith in them. Maybe even enough to kill for them.

Now, Stephen has to decide what he believes, where his allegiances lie, and who will really be his friend in the end.

My Thoughts.

I was so intrigued with the concept of The Cemetery Boys, the idea of a town that has it's own folklore, an urban legend that Stephen who has moved to the town of Spencer with his Father gets involves in when he befriends twins Devon and Cara and their friends.

The legend is to be rid of the bad times in the small town a human sacrifice is to be made to the Winged Ones, and the good times shall prevail, the residents of Spencer take this lore seriously, Stephen takes the stories with a grain of salt but the more he hears and the beliefs of his new friends gradually has him believing in the possibility of the Winged Ones.

With a burgeoning relationship with Cara and his new friendships, Stephen finally feels like he has a place in Spencer but things aren't want they seem, and when odd things begin to happen that point to Devon, Stephen must decide how involved he wants to become and whether he can overlook the disturbing  events that seem to be occurring.

Full of suspense, mystery and a sense of eerieness this book will have you on the edge of your seat as we discover whether the Winged Ones are real or just a figment of the towns imagination.

I really enjoyed this story, this was the first book of Heather's that I've ever read and I hope to pick up some more books of hers at some point, a great and original standalone,

I give this 4/5 stars.

Heather Brewer grew up on a diet of Twilight Zone and books by Stephen King. She chased them down with every drop of horror she could find—in books, movie theaters, on television. The most delicious parts of her banquet, however, she found lurking in the shadowed corners of her dark imagination. When she’s not writing books, she’s skittering down your wall and lurking underneath your bed. Heather doesn’t believe in happy endings . . . unless they involve blood. She lives in Missouri with her husband and two children.

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(ARC) Book Review (455): A Ghostly Grave (Ghostly Southern Mysteries #2) - Tonya Kappes

A Ghostly Grave: A Ghostly Southern Mystery(Ghostly Southern Mysteries #2)

by Tonya Kappes 

Publication: 31st March 2015

Publisher: Witness Impulse

Pages: 288

Genre: Mystery/Paranormal

Age Appropriate: Adult

Buy It: Amazon, Barnes & Noble

There's a ghost on the loose--and a fox in the henhouse

Four years ago, the Eternal Slumber Funeral Home put Chicken Teater in the ground. Now undertaker Emma Lee Raines is digging him back up. The whole scene is bad for business, especially with her granny running for mayor and a big festival setting up in town. But ever since Emma Lee started seeing ghosts, Chicken's been pestering her to figure out who killed him.

With her handsome boyfriend, Sheriff Jack Henry Ross, busy getting new forensics on the old corpse, Emma Lee has time to look into her first suspect. Chicken's widow may be a former Miss Kentucky, but the love of his life was another beauty queen: Lady Cluckington, his prize-winning hen. Was Mrs. Teater the jealous type? Chicken seems to think so. Something's definitely rotten in Sleepy Hollow--and Emma Lee just prays it's not her luck.

My Thoughts.

A Ghostly Grave is the second book in the Ghostly Southern Mysteries series, fun, action-packed mysteries that are sure to keep you guessing as we follow along with Emma Lee who's family owns the towns local funeral parlour, she sees the spirits of people who have been murdered, and they have come to her to help them find their killers before they are able to move on into the afterlife.

Focusing on one spirit per book, this time around we have Chicken Teater who died four years ago who's body is exhumed following information Chicken gives Emma Lee in regards to his death, the love of his life was his show winning hen Lady Cluckington, his wife Marla Marie who always played second fiddle to the hen is the main suspect after details come to light of a half a million dollar block of land is discovered belonging to Chicken that Marla Marie wants to get her hands on.

With Emma Lee's boyfriend Sherriff Jack Henry on the case, can they solve the murder before another victim is found dead?

A wonderful series who's books are so engrossing that you'll find yourself reading them in just one sitting.

I look forward to seeing what's next for Emma Lee, Jack Henry and the town of Sleepy Hollow, Kentucky.

I give this 4/5 stars.

Here is my author page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authortonyak...

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Tonya has written over 15 novels and 4 novellas, all of which have graced numerous bestseller lists including USA Today. Best known for stories charged with emotion and humor, and filled with flawed characters, her novels have garnered reader praise and glowing critical reviews. She lives with her husband, three teenage boys, two very spoiled schnauzers and one ex-stray cats in northern Kentucky and grew up in Nicholasville. Now that her boys are teenagers, Tonya writes full time but can be found at all of her guys high school games with a pencil and paper in hand.
Become a member of Tonya's STREET TEAM! It's a gathering place of readers who love Tonya Kappes novels and Tonya gives away prizes! To sign up for Tonya's STREET TEAM, newsletter, view book trailer, and upcoming news, check out Tonya's website, Tonyakappes.com. 

Website – http://www.tonyakappes.com/

Book Review (454): Return To Me (Covington Cove #1) - Kelly Moran

Return to Me (Covington Cove #1)

by Kelly Moran

Publication: 3rd March 2015

Publisher: Berkley

Pages: 304

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Age Appropriate: Adult

Buy It: Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Kobo / The Book Depository / BAM

With every beat of the heart comes a memory of what could have been…

Ten years ago, Cole Covington was just another rich kid who got everything he wanted—including young and trusting Mia Galdon. Then one night everything changed, and two hearts were shattered. Cole buried his guilt in the military, where love was just part of the past. Now Cole has come back home, emotionally damaged, guarded, and unprepared for what’s waiting for him…

At the urging of Cole’s sister, Mia has returned to the Covington family’s coastal home in Wilmington as a private nurse to help Cole recover. With her uncertain personal life at a crossroad, Mia doesn’t have the luxury of saying no to the job. And she soon finds out that the attraction is still alive. So are memories of betrayal. But Mia will discover more than the power of resilience. She’ll discover a secret Cole has held for years, one that will force them to confront the past and give new meaning to letting go, forgiveness, and a future worth fighting for.

My Thoughts.

I absolutely adored this book, it had so many elements that I love in a story that there was no question in my mind that I wasn't going to fall in love with it and it's characters, a wonderfully written romance, with a heartbreaking storyline that will leave even the cold-hearted trying their best to not end up emotionally involved as we traverse through the past and present of Cole and Mia.

I love a book where for some reason or other our couple have broken up under tragic circumstances when they were younger and then find themselves years later reunited, the fact that Cole was injured while serving his country makes for an even more interesting plot, when his sister Lacey hires Mia who became a nurse to look after him at home that's when the memories both painful and sweet are dredged up and living in such close quarters together they have no choice but to finally deal with their past and what really happened all those years ago.

I'm not going to go into too much detail about the book, I want everyone to experience the storyline themselves, but let me just say that it involves a very wealthy family the Covington's, the father is running for Senator and their son Cole has fallen for one of the maid's daughters Mia, needless to say Cole's mother is not too pleased at the fact that he's spending time with a trailer trash harlot in Mia (her words), add in the fact that Mia's mom is an alcoholic and she's left looking after her younger sister Ginny who has down syndrome and the odds are against her ever impressing Cole's mother, and let's leave it at that!

I shed quite a few tears whilst reading Return To Me, it's about second chances, first love and overcoming the physical and psychological effects of being a soldier at war, the guilt, the grief and the believe that you will overcome your injuries if you just believe in yourself.

I cannot wait for the second book in this series, Kelly has got me so anxious to continue on with this story, I loved it, loved it, loved it.

I can't recommend this highly enough.

I give this 5/5 stars.

About Kelly Moran

Kelly Moran is a romance author of enchanting ever-afters. She is the winner of the 2013 Catherine Award, a RT Magazine Readers Choice Finalist, and a 2014 Award of Excellence Finalist through RWA, plus she earned one of the 10 Best Reads of 2013 by USA TODAY’s HEA.

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(ARC) Book Review (453): Shadow Scale (Seraphina #2) - Rachel Hartman

Shadow Scale (Seraphina #2)

by Rachel Hartman 

Publication: 10th March 2015

Publisher: Random House Children's Books

Pages: 608

Genre: Fantasy

Age Appropriate: Young Adult

Buy It: Amazon * Barnes and Noble 

Seraphina took the literary world by storm with 8 starred reviews and numerous “Best of” lists. At last, her eagerly awaited sequel has arrived—and with it comes an epic battle between humans and dragons.

The kingdom of Goredd: a world where humans and dragons share life with an uneasy balance, and those few who are both human and dragon must hide the truth. Seraphina is one of these, part girl, part dragon, who is reluctantly drawn into the politics of her world. When war breaks out between the dragons and humans, she must travel the lands to find those like herself—for she has an inexplicable connection to all of them, and together they will be able to fight the dragons in powerful, magical ways. 

As Seraphina gathers this motley crew, she is pursued by humans who want to stop her. But the most terrifying is another half dragon, who can creep into people’s minds and take them over. Until now, Seraphina has kept her mind safe from intruders, but that also means she’s held back her own gift. It is time to make a choice: Cling to the safety of her old life, or embrace a powerful new destiny?

My Thoughts.

Shadow Scale is the last book in the Seraphina duology, a monster of a book at six hundred pages, it's here in the length of the book that I had problems, for the amount of pages that there is there was not a whole lot of story and not a lot happened until towards the end, I struggled getting through this book, normally I can finish a book this size in about two days, but Shadow Scale took me over a week, I just wasn't in a rush to pick it up once I'd put it down.

The other problem I had was with the way the book and the series ended, the whole romance situation that was hinted and teased about was a major disappointment, I was invested in the relationship between Seraphina and Kiggs and I don't understand why the author decided to do what she did, the absence of Orma throughout most of the book was greatly missed, I liked the idea of this series but sadly it didn't blow my mind, I wonder if maybe my expectations were perhaps a bit too high.

I really wanted to love this series more than I actually did, I do recommend this series to all fans of the fantasy genre.

I give this 3/5 stars.

About the Author:
As a child, RACHEL HARTMAN played cello, lip-synched Mozart operas with her sisters, and fostered the deep love of music that inspired much of her award-winning debut novel, SERAPHINA. Born in Kentucky, Rachel has lived in Philadelphia, Chicago, St. Louis, England, and Japan. She now lives with her family in Vancouver, Canada. A New York Times bestseller, Seraphina won the William C. Morris Award, received eight starred reviews, and was named to multiple “best of” lists. To learn more, please visit SeraphinaBooks.com or RachelHartmanBooks.com.

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