Tag: Forever Books

Review: Maggie Moves On by Lucy Score

Posted May 8, 2023 by Holly in Reviews | 2 Comments

Review: Maggie Moves On by Lucy ScoreReviewer: Holly
Maggie Moves On by Lucy Score
Narrator: Emma Wilder
Publisher: Forever
Publication Date: June 21, 2022
Format: Audiobook
Source: Library
Point-of-View: Alternating First
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 416
Length: 13 hours and 41 minutes
Add It: Goodreads
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Can these opposites turn up the heat… without burning down the house?
House-flipping sensation and YouTube star Maggie Nichols can’t wait to dig into her next challenge. Arriving in tiny Kinship, Idaho, with only a cot and a coffeemaker, Maggie is prepared to restore a crumbling Victorian mansion in four months or less. She has her to-do lists, her blueprints, and her team. What she doesn’t have is time for sexy, laid-back landscaper Silas Wright.
The man takes flirtation to a whole new level. And he does it shirtless…sometimes pants-less. He and his service school-dropout dog are impressively persistent. But she’s not interested in putting down roots. Not when fans tune in to watch her travel the country turning dilapidated houses into dream homes. A short-term fling on the other hand could fit nicely into her calendar. After all, Maggie remembers what fun is like. Vaguely.
As their summer gets downright steamy, Silas manages to demolish the emotional walls she’s spent years building, sending Maggie into a panic. He’s the wrench in her carefully constructed plans. With the end of the project looming, she has a decision to make. But how can she stay when her entire career is built on moving on?

Maggie Moves On is a single-title romance by Lucy Score. I wanted something to listen to on my daily commute, so I requested the audiobook from the library. I ended up purchasing the ebook because I got impatient to finish the story. I didn’t love the narrator. Her voices for secondary characters were amazing, but I didn’t love her regular narration.

Maggie Nichols has made a name for herself as a YouTuber who flips houses. Her latest project is a crumbling Victorian in a small town in Idaho. She’s not the type to settle down, but she can’t deny her attraction to the sexy landscape architect she’s hired to help get the grounds in order. Silas is bowled over by Maggie from the start. He’s determined to break down her defenses and get her to see that they could have a future, even if neither of them knows what that looks like right now. Between his adorable dog, some feisty older folks and a bit of teenager angst, the town soon works its magic on Maggie…even if she isn’t quite convinced she doesn’t have to move on.

This was an adorable romance. I enjoyed both MCs. They both had humor and heart, which made for an engaging read. Their banter was especially fun and I literally laughed out loud a couple times at Silas. The whole town really came to life and I loved the relationship Maggie had with her business partner, Dean.

I did think the book was a bit long and there were times I was frustrated with the lack of communication, but overall I enjoyed it. I was sad when it ended.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5

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Third Base by Heidi McLaughlin Release Day Blast

Posted June 7, 2016 by Rowena in Promotions | 0 Comments

Third Base by Heidi McLaughlin is being released by Forever and we’re excited to share an excerpt and some teasers to get you even more excited for this book.

Third Base by Heidi McLaughlin
Boys of Summer #1
Releases on June 7, 2016 by Forever

Ethan Davenport is already Boston’s most eligible bachelor. In his second season with the Boston Renegades he has set his eyes on the girl behind the visitors’ dugout.

That girl is Daisy Robinson, a journalism student at the University of Boston and a die-hard Renegades fan.

But with new found love comes challenges and Ethan and Daisy have to deal with his crazy schedule, school finals and his presence on her campus for some much needed media training.

For Ethan nothing can come between him and Daisy, until a secret that she’s been keeping threatens to destroy them both.

Order the Book:

AMAZON || BARNES AND NOBLE || GOOGLE || iBOOKS || KOBO

Excerpt

I look at the scoreboard from the on-deck circle. It’s the bottom of the ninth with two outs. Unless we go on some miraculous run, the game is over and we’ve lost, giving us our second loss in a row.

The Orioles coach calls for a time-out and approaches the mound. This gives Meyers, our right fielder, the opportunity for us to talk. Actually, it gives me the ability to stare at the girl that has held my attention all night. After my home run, I thought I could focus on the game, but each time I came up to bat or went out to the field, I was looking to see if she was staring… and she was, which really stroked my ego.

I meet Meyers halfway between the on-deck circle and home plate. Usually, we’d stand back or talk to the third base coach, but there’s no coming back from this defeat. When I reach him, I can tell he’s frustrated; we all are. We’re a far better team than what our record shows. Even though it’s still very early, our expectations are much higher, and with the road trip coming up, we have got to get out of this funk, fast… before it’s too late.

“This ump is calling shit.” Meyers kicks the dirt around his feet.

“Has been all night.” On any given night it’s either in your favor or not. Some umpires come into a game with a chip on their shoulder. They remember everything, and they don’t let you forget it. They say once the game is over, it’s over. Umpires don’t feel that way.

“Play ball!” the umpire yells.

Meyers goes back to home plate and settles in for what could be his last pitch. If he gets on base, I’m up. If he strikes out, my night is over. I rest my bat on my shoulder and watch – not Meyers, but the girl in the hat. She’s leaning forward, resting her elbows on the dugout. I had every intention of finding an usher during the seventh inning but lost my nerve. I don’t know how that’d be received if our manager was to find out, and short of going into the stands the second the game is over, I’m running out of options.

It’s a swing and foul ball for Meyers, still giving me hope. The girl hasn’t moved, and something tells me that she’s focused on me. I should be focused on the game, but I’m not.

I lean over to the usher who stands by the field and whisper, “There’s a girl in section sixty-five, row c, seat one. I’d like to talk to her after the game.”

He nods and says something into his really cool CIA walkie-talkie-type thing. When I first arrived, I asked if I could play with it. I was told no. It was a total buzz kill. I asked my agent to get me one, and he told me to grow up… not one of my finer moments.

Meyers goes down swinging and just like that, the game’s over. We lost three to eight. I wait for him to walk by before returning to the dugout, but not without one last look at the girl in row c. Another usher is walking down the aisle toward her. I climb down the stairs and pause where she can’t see me. The usher approaches her and talks wildly with his hands. She looks around, reaches for her bag, and follows him up the steps. I can only hope she’ll be in the lounge when I get there.

Right now I’m thankful I’m not allowed to give interviews yet because it means I can shower and get upstairs quicker. The reporters call my name, asking about my home-run. They know I’m not allowed to speak with them, but they try anyway. I keep my head down, my classic move after we’ve lost, and rush into the clubhouse. There will be no after-game meeting; our manager will save that for tomorrow.

I shower quickly and slip into jeans and a t-shirt. My hair is still wet and dripping down onto my shirt, but I don’t want my third base girl waiting too long. I take the back stairs two at a time and enter the lounge. This is where the wives and girlfriends hang out, and now that I think about it, it’s probably not the best place to have sent her. It’s like vulture prey in here for new girlfriends… not that she’s my girlfriend. I just want to know her name.

As soon as I enter the hallway, I find her sitting outside the door. She stands up when she hears me coming and keeps her hands behind her back, watching me closely. I come to a halt in front of her, and all I can see is the top of her hat. She’s about a foot shorter than me, and I like that.

“I wanted to apologize for giving you the ball.” I keep my hands clasped to avoid the nervous twitch I have. The last thing I want to do is scare her away.

“Oh… do you want it back?” Her voice is soft, sweet, and completely Boston. Hearing her speak makes me feel like I have something to look forward to, like I’m home.

“What? No, I thought I embarrassed you… It’s just…”

My knees go weak when she looks at me. Her light green eyes are the color of sea glass, and she has a dimple that compliments her smile. I find myself wanting to rub my thumb over it so I can feel it.

“You didn’t embarrass me. It was nice.”

“What’s your name?” I ask, needing to know because calling her ‘third base girl’ or ‘girl in row c’ isn’t going to cut it.

“Daisy.”

Daisy, I repeat in my head so I don’t forget. Daisy… like the flowers that my mother loves.

“I’m Ethan,” I stupidly tell her but feel like I should introduce myself. “Wanna get out of here and grab some dinner?”

She eyes me and then the ground, making me wait what feels like an eternity for her answer.

About the Author

Heidi McLaughlin is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in picturesque Vermont with her husband and two daughters. Also renting space in their home is an over-hyper Beagle/Jack Russell, Buttercup and a Highland West/Mini Schnauzer, Jill.

When she isn’t writing one of the many stories planned for release, you’ll find her sitting courtside during either daughter’s basketball games.

Website: http://www.heidimclaughlin.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorHeidiMcLaughlin/?fref=ts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeidiJoVT
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/heidijovt/

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Review: Seven Nights to Surrender by Jeanette Grey

Posted December 29, 2015 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Review: Seven Nights to Surrender by Jeanette GreyReviewer: Rowena
Seven Nights to Surrender by Jeanette Grey
Series: Art of Passion #1
Also in this series: Eight Ways to Ecstasy
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: November 3rd 2015
Pages: 368
Add It: Goodreads
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four-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

By day, he'll show her a side of Paris not found in any guidebook. By night, he'll introduce her to a passion beyond her wildest dreams. In this sensuous story of indulgence and desire, Jeanette Grey delivers one of the most romantic reads of the year and proves why she is fast becoming a must-read star.

SEVEN NIGHTS TO SURRENDER

Kate arrives in Paris hoping to find inspiration. Instead she finds Rylan. In a swirl of stolen kisses and hot, tangled sheets, Kate is quickly swept away by the sexy stranger, longing to surrender to his expert touch. With Rylan, nothing is forbidden-except the truth.

An American ex-pat worth millions, Rylan never flaunts his fortune. Rather, he guards his identity from everyone, especially women. No strings, no commitments, no complications. But the second his lips taste Kate's soft, sweet skin, everything changes. For the first time, Rylan has found someone to share his every want and need. Yet he knows that secrets stand between them. To keep her, he'll need to confess the truth before it's too late . . . even if doing so could mean losing Kate forever.

What a lovely book this turned out to be.

It was a sweeping romance that hooked me from the beginning and had me swooning here and there throughout the entire book. It was filled with good times, laughter and a complicated romance with secrets and a whole lot of passion. I loved it!

Kate just graduated from college and is trying to figure out if she’s going to take that desk job waiting for her back home or if she’s going to follow her passion for art and continue on to graduate school, pursuing some more art. In an effort to figure her shit out, she takes a trip to Paris and spends her days sketching the city of love but her trip takes a detour once she meets ex-pat, Rylan.

Rylan sweeps her off her feet and promises to show her the real Paris and not just the stops on a tour. He shows her the Paris that she longs to capture in her art and he also shows her a passion that she wasn’t prepared for. Not that he was any more prepared for the passion that ignites between them.

I loved seeing these two grow closer and closer together with each passing page. I was swept up in the romance that was Rylan right alongside Kate. I fell for the sights he shared with her, the romance of the city, the bits and pieces that we find out over the course of this book. I was completely swept away with all things Rylan. I wanted to know more about him, what his big secret was and when the shit hits the fan, my heart broke right along with Kate’s.

It’s not perfect because there were times when Rylan’s secret threatened to do me in but I never wanted the story to end. I wanted to know everything and I wanted Rylan to fix everything. I understood where Kate was coming from so I wasn’t even mad that she was so stubborn in her madness toward Rylan. I’m glad that things turned around though.

This was a great romance. A story that hooked me right from the beginning and even though it ends with a bit of a cliffhanger, I’m not even mad. I’m just anxious for more but I’ll wait for more Rylan. He’s worth the wait.

Such a good story.

Grade: 4.5 out of 5

four-half-stars

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Review: Ride Steady by Kristen Ashley

Posted July 21, 2015 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Review: Ride Steady by Kristen AshleyReviewer: Rowena
Ride Steady by Kristen Ashley
Series: Chaos #3
Also in this series: Wild Fire , Wild Wind
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: June 30th 2015
Genres: Suspense
Add It: Goodreads
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four-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

The ride of her life . . . Once upon a time, Carissa Teodoro believed in happy endings. Money, marriage, motherhood: everything came easy---until she woke up to the ugly truth about her Prince Charming. Now a struggling, single mom and stranded by a flat tire, Carissa's pondering her mistakes when a vaguely familiar knight rides to her rescue on a ton of horsepower.

Climb on and hold tight . . . In high school, Carson Steele was a bad boy loner who put Carissa on a pedestal where she stayed far beyond his reach. Today, he's the hard-bodied biker known only as Joker, and from the way Carissa's acting, it's clear she's falling fast. While catching her is irresistible, knowing what to do with her is a different story. A good girl like Carissa is the least likely fit with the Chaos Motorcycle Club. Too bad holding back is so damned hard. Now, as Joker's secrets are revealed and an outside threat endangers the club, Joker must decide whether to ride steady with Carissa---or ride away forever . . .

What a book!

I’m not sure why I keep dragging my feet when reading Kristen Ashley books because I always end up loving the heck out of them. Yeah, they can go on forever but I don’t even care, I love these motorcycle men!

Carson Steele grew up in a bad way. His Mom left him before he started crawling. His Dad was a piece of shit who beat him and did all manner of bad things to him and around him so by the age of eight, Carson had a plan. To get out. He just had to survive until he was old enough to get away, but he was determined to get away. He was a loner at school because he wasn’t much of a talker and didn’t want to make friends and then have to fend up their attempts at wanting to come over and do normal friends things. So because he was a loner, people talked, they saw his bruises from the beatings and they talked some more. He was used to sneers and looks of pity but the one bright spot in all of the madness was his crush on the golden girl, Carissa Teodoro.

Carissa came from a loving family. Her parents doted on her, they loved her and she was popular at school even though she didn’t feel like she fit in with her friends. When tragedy struck her family, she didn’t let the loss of a loved one change who she was at her core. A kind-hearted girl. But as she grew up and the happily ever after she thought was hers goes south, Carissa is stuck in a bind. Her husband left her for someone younger while she was pregnant with his baby and keeps taking her to court for custody of their son. Her debt keeps mounting but her slimy lawyer ex-husband keeps bleeding her dry until one day, a knight in shining armor pulls over to help her change her tire. She didn’t know how much her life was going to change after running into the biker known as Joker.

Oh how I loved this story. I loved Joker. I loved Carissa. I loved Baby Travis and the love that Joker came to have for that little boy. I loved the romance between Carson and Carissa. I loved the family that Carson brings into Carissa and Travis’ life and I loved the easy-ness that came with the love between Carson and Carissa. I loved Mrs. Heeley. I loved Linus and Kamryn. I loved Elvira and her crazy shopping sprees and every crazy thing that came out of her mouth. I especially loved the scene where Carissa tries to get back at Carson’s terrible Dad after everything he did to Carson. I loved that Carissa cared enough about Carson to want to avenge him and just love him. I loved Mr. Robinson and the talk he had with Carson when Carson was in high school.

There is a lot that I loved about this book but there were things that drove me crazy too. The descriptions for some things confused me and kept taking me right out of the story. Like when Carson’s in high school and he’s planning on getting his degree but didn’t see himself going to college (according to his talk with Mr. Robinson), that confused me. The description of Joker when he shows up to change Carissa’s tire.

He had a full black beard on his face. It was trimmed but not trimmed enough (as in, the beard being nonexistent).

Huh?

The nickname Joker. This is actually what kept me from reading the book for so long. His name was freaking Joker. I kept seeing images of the Joker from Batman and well, that’s not a good thing to think about when reading about a hot biker in a bad ass motorcycle club.

But even after all of those times where I thrown out of the story for weird descriptions and weirder nicknames, that did nothing to dim my love that I came to have for the MC, Tack and Tyra, Shy and Tabby, Laney and Hop, High, Snapper, Big Petey and the rest of the club (cause you know, they’re NOT a gang). I just loved this book to pieces and can’t say enough good things about it.

The romance was fantastic. I enjoyed getting to know both Carson and Carissa. I loved that their relationship was an open communications kind and that Carissa was finally able to get the easy she deserved. Especially with all of that drama with her ex. I loved that Joker was by her side when she needed him and that they talked their issues out and had a grown ups relationship. No petty fights over stupid things. No immaturity. Sure, Joker was an ass when Carissa first started coming around but once he put his insecurity shit away, he was all in. Loved that.

I loved seeing that Carson realized that he may have had a shitty home life as a kid but he had good people in his life as well. I loved seeing him reconnect with Mrs. Heeley and Linus and Mr. Robinson. I loved seeing him try to take care of them now the way that they took care of him then. He didn’t turn out too bad. He was a pretty fantastic hero.

Carissa won me over from the very beginning. When she spoke up for Carson with her so-called friends in high school. I loved that she had a crush on him and wanted to take him to Dairy Queen and he turned her down. I loved seeing her rise from the ashes and fight for her life against her punk ass ex-husband. I loved seeing how strong she became over the course of the book and how close she became to the Chaos family. She wormed her way into their hearts and I just loved it all.

This was another fantastic addition to the Chaos series and I’m pretty anxious for the next book. At first, I didn’t have a clue who the hell Logan Judd was but after some digging I found out. We’re getting High’s book next guys. Yippy skippy! I can’t wait. If you’re looking for a great contemporary romance with a motorcycle club in it, look no further. This is the book for you.

Grade: 4.5 out of 5

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

four-half-stars

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Review: The Destiny of Violet & Luke by Jessica Sorensen

Posted January 15, 2014 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments

Destiny of Violet and Luke
Rowena’s review of The Destiny of Violet & Luke (The Coincidence #3) by Jessica Sorensen.

Luke Price’s life has always been about order, control, and acting tough on the outside. For Luke, meaningless relationships are a distraction-a way to tune out the twisted memories of his childhood. He desperately wishes he could forget his past, but it haunts him no matter what he does.

Violet Hayes has had a rough life. When she was young, she was left with no family and the memory of her parents’ unsolved murders. She grew up in foster homes, living with irresponsible parents, drugs, and neglect, and trying to fight the painful memories of the night her parents were taken from her. But it’s hard to forget when she never got closure-and she can’t stop dreaming about what happened that tragic night. To make it through life, she keeps her distance from everyone and never allows herself to feel anything.

Then Violet meets Luke. The two clash instantly, yet they can’t seem to stay away from each other. Although they fight it, they both start to open up and feel things they’ve never felt before. They discover just how similar they are. But they also discover something else: The past always catches up with you . . .

This is the third book in the Coincidence series by Jessica Sorensen and it follows Kayden’s best friend Luke and Callie’s college roommate Violet as they fumble their way to that happily for now.  Only because this is a Jessica Sorensen, shit didn’t get resolved in this book because there’s going to be another freaking book in this series where Luke and Violet will hopefully get some resolutions but if I’m honest, I’m not holding out any hope for that since I didn’t feel The Redemption of Kayden and Callie got much resolution but whatever.

Luke Price has always been a mysterious character.  In the previous books, he is the guy that is always there for Kayden.  He plays a pretty small part in the other books but in those books, we learn things about Luke.  Like he’s diabetic but not very many people in his life know that and he’s had a pretty messed up childhood (but we don’t know what).  So going into this book, I was glad to finally get that back story that I’ve always craved for Luke.  Now that I know what it is, I can’t even imagine what living in his shoes must have been like.  Everything that he feels for his Mom is justified because after I found out what the hell he was forced to do for his Mom, it made me hate her and want her to die a slow death.  Luke was so young to have to deal with that and knowing what he lived through made me want to beat his Dad up too.  Luke is a private man and he keeps to himself.  He doesn’t form attachments but when Callie and Seth come into his life, attachments are formed any way and I was glad for him.  He needed a support system and I’m glad that he had that in the little family they formed at college.

In this book, we really meet Callie’s roommate Violet. And holy cow, she’s had it pretty bad too.  She’s a Foster kid who has dealt with a whole lot of bad things in her short life.  She went from foster home to foster home and while her story is pouring out with each page, your heart is put through the wringer.  With each new thing that we learn about Violet’s life, my heart went out to her.  I can’t imagine having to deal with the loss of both her parents at such a young age let alone dealing with the way that her parents died.  It wasn’t enough for her to have to live through that, the rest of her life up until now hasn’t been a cake walk either.  She just keeps getting dealt one bad card after another.  One of those bad cards was having to live with Amelia the bitch and Amelia’s junior bitch daughter, Jennifer.  Those two pissed me off but their interaction with Violet left me exasperated because Jennifer is a bully.  Jennifer likes to run her mouth and tell everyone that Violet is a psycho bitch who killed her parents and everyone at school likes to point and laugh at Violet because she’s a psycho killer.  How in the world does that make sense?  When I was in high school, the kid who was rumored to be a psycho killer was not bullied.  He was feared.  And rightly so.  If he killed someone before, wouldn’t he kill again if someone pissed him off? So why in the world are people bullying Violet when she supposedly killed her parents?  How real is that? I don’t buy it.  Still, Violet had it rough growing up.

So when she runs into Luke and they strike up a friendship of sorts, I knew that the good stuff was finally coming around for Violet.  She was finally going to get a support system and seeing her struggle with trusting Luke and then trying valiantly to not depend on him made for good reading.

Jessica Sorensen does a great job of bringing these two characters together and I was loving the read until we got to the end.

*sigh*

Why? Why oh why can’t we get a full story in just one book?  Why do we keep having to wait months for the end of a story?  These cliffhanger endings piss me off.  There’s no kind of resolution and the reader is left hanging for months on end.  I hate, hate, hate them.  What I hate most of all? Is that even though I hate these damn endings, I know that when that next book comes out, I’m going to read it but know this, even when I’m reading the next book, I’m going to hate that I’m letting myself be dangled by the end of the stupid “wait months for the next installment” rope.

With all of that said, I still enjoyed this book.  I enjoyed getting that look into Luke Price’s background and I enjoyed getting to know Violet so even though I hate the ending, this was still a solid read which is why I gave it a 4.

Grade: 4 out of 5

This book is available from Forever Books. You can purchase it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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