Publisher: Lovestruck

Guest Review: The Attraction of Adeline by Lisa Wells

Posted April 13, 2017 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: The Attraction of Adeline by Lisa WellsReviewer: Tracy
The Attraction of Adeline by Lisa Wells
Series: Off-the-Wall Proposal #2
Publisher: Entangled, Lovestruck
Publication Date: April 10th 2017
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three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

The Proposal: Adeline Rigby will live with Accountant Jack Foster and pretend to be his fake fiancée for one month in order for him to seal a promotion to partner. In return, Accountant Jack Foster will intimately tutor Adeline Rigby in French before she leaves for Paris where she will fulfill her dream of attending Le Cordon Bleu.

The Terms:

1. Maintain distance. Three get-to-know-you dates before announcing their engagement will be tempting enough.

2. No kissing. Okay, fine. Three kisses. Maybe four. And neck kisses don’t count.

3. No touchy feely stuff. Or at least not too many public displays of touchy-feely stuff.

4. No sex.

5. All right, all right. One night of sex in order to be a believable engaged couple.

6. Two nights of mind-blowing sex to make sure first night wasn’t a fluke.

7. Absolutely, positively, no falling in love.

Adeline’s best friend introduces her to her brother, Jack.  Adeline falls and hits her head and has a mild concussion so Jack stays with her to make sure things are all good.  While they’re together they talk and Adeline finds out that Jack is up for a promotion. Jack says he probably won’t get it as his boss is really old-fashioned and believes that any partner needs to be married.  Jack is single so that counts him out.  Jack really wants that promotion as he’s a hard worker so he ends up asking Adeline to be his fake fiancé.  When her landlord decides to sell her condo she moves in with Jack and it’s the perfect time to try and sell their fake engagement to his boss and co-workers.

Adeline has agreed to be the fake fiancé but has no desire to go any further with it…at first. She immediately takes sex off of the table but is soon changing her tune.  Jack was left at the altar at one point in his life and has no desire to ever get married.  That’s until he gets to know Adeline better and ends up falling in love with her.  Soon Jack is saying things that are supposed to be fake but are he really means them.  Adeline thinks that Jack is incredibly hot but she has plans for her future and none of those include a man.

This book was part fun and funny and part heart-breaking.  The fun and funny part were when Jack and Adeline were together.  I loved that they could laugh at each other and have a good time.  Adeline was a bit of a stick in the mud but she was so fearful of getting off of her life track that she couldn’t bend.  The heart-breaking part was Adeline’s life.  She had been put into foster care at the age of 5 and had had 6 foster families until finally the 7th family stuck.  She loved her foster mother, Dottie, but Dottie not only had Alzheimers but breast cancer and was dying.  The cancer treatments were making her Alzheimers worse and she seemed to be stuck in one memory and unfortunately that memory of Adelilne was not a good one.  Adeline would go to Dottie’s house every Saturday night but Dottie wouldn’t let her in or even be nice to her.  In the end things were worked out between them but it was very sad and I definitely cried when Dottie was dying.

Overall I thought the book was a good one and will most likely pick up another Lisa Wells book in the future.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

three-half-stars

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Guest Review: Her Scottish Mistake by Michele de Winton

Posted April 11, 2017 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Her Scottish Mistake by Michele de WintonReviewer: Tracy
Her Scottish Mistake by Michele de Winton
Publisher: Entangled, Lovestruck
Publication Date: April 10th 2017
Genres: Contemporary Romance
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three-stars

Aspiring blogger Janie Milan is finally on her dream trip to Thailand. But when an unfortunate piña colada incident lands her in the path of a hot Scotsman, Janie finds herself dying to find out what's under his kilt. Only the frustratingly sexy man isn't who he's pretending to be…

After cutting a deal to keep his brother safe, Scottish heartthrob Blaine Galloway is hiding from the press. But his secret identity starts to slip the second he meets small-town blogger, Janie. Now the press is hot on their heels and Blaine’s life is tumbling into a tabloid-sponsored hell. Coincidence? He’s not so sure.

Janie is on the trip of her life in Thailand.  She needed to get away from her small town in Texas where her cheating ex was getting married to her ex-best friend.  Soon after she arrives she accidentally spills her piña colada onto a man who happens to be incredibly good looking.  She helps him clean up and they go their separate ways.  When they meet each other at breakfast the other day and find out at the same time that they’ve each been booked into a couples resort they take advantage and book a day trip together.  They get closer as they spend the days together and start to fall in love.

Blaine Calloway is a Scottish actor who needed to get away from his life and the press.  He’s taken a trip to Thailand because he figures it’s as far from the UK as he can get.  He ends up having a great time with Janie as he loves how down to earth she is.  She treats him like a real person, not an actor, even after he comes clean about who he is.

Unfortunately the press get wind of his getaway and come after him.  Blaine blames Janie and the shit hits the fan.  Can these two people be together when they feel they can’t trust each other?

This was an interesting little romance.  The idea of small town meeting foreign actor was a cute one and seemed to work at times during the book.  Unfortunately I didn’t feel like the H/h were suited to each other and had a hard time reading about them falling in love.  It wasn’t so much that they were different but that the way they were written I couldn’t feel it. Even when they were fighting with each other I didn’t feel the emotion between them and that was my biggest issue with the book.  If you can’t feel the love between characters how can you truly love their romance? You can’t.

Despite the lack of emotion I felt I thought that the Thai scenery was written really well.  I almost felt like I was there and I loved that.  It seemed like Blaine and Janie were going to wonderfully romantic destinations that were incredibly described.

The story is about not only two people falling in love but finding out where they belong in the lives they live.  Blaine needed to find out what he was doing with his acting career and Janie needed to find her place in her little town of Little Acre as it seemed as if she’d be stuck there the rest of her life.  She loved her family but she wanted to do more.  I thought this part of the book was well done as well and I liked seeing Janie with her little family that was a bit dysfunctional.

Overall it was a decent read but again, didn’t feel the love/romance at all.

Rating: 3 out of 5

three-stars

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Guest Review: Betting on the Wrong Brother by Cathryn Fox

Posted February 2, 2016 by Tracy in Reviews | 2 Comments

Guest Review: Betting on the Wrong Brother by Cathryn FoxReviewer: Tracy
Betting on the Wrong Brother by Cathryn Fox
Series: What Happens in Vegas
Publisher: Lovestruck
Publication Date: February 8th 2016
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three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

He may be at a romance readers’ convention, but a naked woman in the elevator is not what horror writer Ryan Wheeler expects. Now he can’t take his eyes off of her—and not just because he saw her naked, though her luscious curves certainly aren’t helping the matter. She’s beautiful, funny, snarky…and a complication he doesn’t need.

Running into her teen heartthrob while naked wasn’t exactly part of romance novelist Andi Palmer’s weekend plans. Worse, he doesn’t recognize her and gives her a fake name¬. Years ago, he shot her down in the worst possible way, and now this? It’s time for a little down-and-dirty revenge.

Ryan’s more than a little turned on by this good girl who wants to be bad. But things aren’t what they seem, and the secrets they’re keeping from one another might just end this sexy little rendezvous before it ever begins…

When Andi Palmer was younger she was overweight and had a crush on her brother’s friend Nolan. He thought she was a sweet girl and kind enough but she took his kindness as interest and made a move on him. Nolan was a bit of an ass back then and when she made her move he laughed at her.

When Andi gets stuck in an elevator with an all-grown-up Nolan she plots her revenge. She plans to come on to him again, get him all hot and bothered, and then leave him that way without following through. The problems are two-fold: Andi doesn’t have any idea that Nolan isn’t Nolan but actually his older brother Jack (who goes by the name Ryan); and she’s so attracted to the man so she can’t actually leave him hot and bothered when the time comes.

Ryan is incredibly attracted to Andi right from the start. He loves that she seems like a sweet girl… and she is, but with a bit of a bad girl thrown in there for good measure. He loves it when she shows up unexpectedly at his hotel room and the rest, as they say, is history. Unfortunately, Ryan figures out that Andi thinks he’s Nolan and doesn’t know how to tell her the truth about his identity nor what he truly does for a living. Andi finds herself falling for the man but once she finds out some truths about him she’s not sure she can get past the lies when she thought they might be headed for an HEA.

This was a very cute book. I liked Ryan and Andi together almost immediately and I loved that she was a good girl who had a bit of a bad side. I truly wish that Ryan would have come clean about who he was because as a writer herself, Andi would have understood his reasons for being incognito.

The romance was sweet and I enjoyed the story.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

three-half-stars

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Review: Kissing Her Crazy by Kira Archer

Posted December 10, 2015 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Review: Kissing Her Crazy by Kira ArcherReviewer: Rowena
Kissing Her Crazy by Kira Archer
Series: Crazy Love #2
Publisher: Macmillan
Publication Date: October 12th 2015
Genres: Fiction
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three-stars
Series Rating: three-stars

Sometimes a kiss is so much more...

Single mom Lena Oserkowski just wants to relax at the 5-star resort where her brother is getting married. Oh, and figure out how to make one of her businesses successful enough to support her son. Her focus is thrown out of whack when Elliot Debusshere, twin brother of her new sister-in-law, swims to her rescue at the hotel pool.

Elliot is disillusioned with his wealthy, playboy lifestyle and wants nothing more than to bring some meaning and purpose to the charity he runs. When he rescues Lena from a case of heat exhaustion and meets her son Tyler, he has no idea the answer to his problems might have just fallen in his lap. Literally.

With Lena's ideas and Elliot's know-how, they might just be able to make their ventures a success. Except pleasure has a sneaky way of mixing with their business, leaving both dazed and confused. Charming as he is, Elliot isn't father material. And there's no room for a single mom and her child in his life. While the attraction between them isn't easily squashed, there's no telling the lengths his family will go to prevent a relationship.

Lena Oserkowski is a struggling single Mom and Elliot Debusshere is a playboy who wants to do more with his life and his work. They meet at the hotel resort where their siblings are getting married. Yep. Lena’s brother is marrying Elliot’s sister. Lena has a fear of swimming and Elliot comes to her rescue at the resort pool. When Lena passes out, Elliot takes her and her young son to recuperate in his hotel room. He didn’t know what else to do with her but when he figures out who she is, he sets her up in his bed and waits for her to wake up. While she’s passed out, he gets acquainted with her young son Tyler.

I don’t know, if I were to panic and then black out and wake up to find out that my sister-in-laws twin brother rescued me then took care of not only me, but my son as well…I would say thank you for everything you did. I would not judge the guy for feeding my son junk. I would not make a big deal of the guy playing video games with my son.

I would say thank you.

Lena, on the other hand? She comes off as snooty and judgmental because she does bring all of this up. Oh, she’s thankful to him for everything but I don’t know, I didn’t like how she wakes up and is so worried about her son, finds him to be okay and safe and then she brings up all of the things she wouldn’t or doesn’t do with her son.

If I was Elliot, I would have been like….

Over the course of the book, we see Lena and Elliot get closer and closer. Lena has a whole lot of business ideas but no real way to bring them to life. Elliot has the means to bring those ideas to life but lacks the ideas himself so they work together. With Lena’s ideas and Elliot’s financing, what else do you need?

This book wasn’t some long, drawn out romance but really short and sweet. I didn’t take to Lena at first but she came around for me. I liked seeing her with her son and seeing her do her thing and not give one hoot what anyone thought. I liked the romance between her and Elliot and I enjoyed the chemistry that was evident from the first with these two. There were times when the story dragged and when I wanted to strangle Elliot’s parents but overall, this was a solid read.

Grade: 3 out of 5

three-stars

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Guest Review: The Perfect Bargain by Julia London writing as Jessa McAdams

Posted July 6, 2015 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: The Perfect Bargain by Julia London writing as Jessa McAdamsReviewer: Tracy
The Perfect Bargain by Julia London
Series: How to Marry a Highlander #1
Publisher: Entangled, Lovestruck
Publication Date: June 30, 2015
Genres: Contemporary Romance
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three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

American lass seeks brawny Scot...

As if being newly single isn't brutal enough, Sloane Chatfield's friends are getting obnoxious about setting her up. When Sloane insists she's waiting for a certain sexy fictional Highlander to come along, her friends surprise her with a trip to Scotland to find her a new boyfriend. She'd rather have a root canal. But if she can find a Highland hunk to "break her heart" before her friends arrive...

In a remote Highland village, Galen Buchanan is struggling to keep the family pub afloat. Everything is falling apart, he's running out of money, and now there's an opinionated American lass parked at his best table, driving him mad. But then Sloane asks Galen to be her pretend Highland boyfriend...and offers him enough money to save the pub. It's only for a few days, he figures. What's the worst that could happen?

Tracy’s review of The Perfect Bargain (How to Marry a Highlander #1) by Julia London writing as Jessa McAdams

Sloan Chatfield wants her friends off her back. They mean well but since her break up with her fiancé, they’ve been setting her up with every Tom, Dick and Harry and she was done with all of it. One night while they were all watching Outlander on TV she came up with a brilliant idea. She said that she was waiting for her very own Jamie Fraser – a highlander who is a real man – one who is brawny and protective of his family, etc. When the friends jump on that and say that they’ll find her a Scot in Chicago she says she can’t because she’s heading to Scotland. And the lies just keep coming…she had no intention of meeting a Scot or even going to Scotland but when her friends jump on it and decide that they’ll meet her in Scotland she has to go.

Sloane ends up in Gairloch – a little village in the highlands. She heads to the Black Thistle pub every day as it’s the only place with cell reception and free wi-fi. She plans on calling her friends, telling them that she’s met “the” guy and then by the time they show up she’d have dumped the fictitious man. Unfortunately her friends move up their arrival time and Sloane finds herself in a bind. Even though she’d become a thorn in the side of the pub owner, Galen Buchanan, she heads to him for his assistance. He’s may be a bit of an ass but she thinks he’s hot and knows her friends would like him. She propositions him to be her fake boyfriend and after much haggling he accepts.

The two spend time together as Sloane insists that they get to know each other as a boyfriend and girlfriend would. Galen is at first frustrated with Sloane but that doesn’t stop himself from liking her more each day – and he’s very much attracted to her. They end up in bed together and as time goes on Sloane realizes that there’s more to their relationship than friendship and sex. Too bad Galen wants nothing to do with a relationship and besides – what will happen when she heads back to Chicago? He’s not willing to get his heart broken when she leaves.

There were quite a few things to like about The Perfect Bargain. The humor that Galen showed toward the whole situation was wonderful. I loved that he could look at it and take it all with a grain of salt. Sloane was no easy woman to love so had to give him points for dealing with her.

Sloane wasn’t a bad person at all. She was very driven in her career and had been hurt terribly by her former fiancé (who showed up in the book which I felt was completely unnecessary) and took what he said to heart. She put on a good show but deep down she was lacking in confidence. Being with Galen certainly brought her out of her shell. I wish she could have been a bit less of a ball buster when it came to getting Galen to admit his feelings for her. She didn’t constantly prod him but she gave it the old college try.

I loved the descriptions of the village in Scotland where she stayed and frankly loved that it was a highlander story set in modern times. It was a pretty lighthearted story overall and I found it enjoyable.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

This title is available from Entangled Publishing. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

three-half-stars

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