Tag: Kristen Proby

Review: Easy Charm by Kristen Proby

Posted July 2, 2019 by Casee in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: Easy Charm by Kristen ProbyReviewer: Casee
Easy Charm by Kristen Proby
Narrator: Sebastian York, Rachel Fulginiti
Series: Boudreaux #2
Also in this series: Easy Love, Easy Melody, Easy Kisses
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: July 3, 2015
Format: Audiobook
Source: Audible Escape
Point-of-View: Alternating First
Content Warning: View Spoiler »
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 280
Length: 7 hours and 56 minutes
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Casee's 2019 GoodReads Challenge, Goodreads Challenge
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Gabrielle Boudreaux, the youngest of the Boudreaux clan, is a single mother of her young son, Sam. Running a Bed and Breakfast at the family plantation house at the edge of the Mississippi River, Gabby loves her inn, her boy and her family. She meets new people every day, and takes pride in the house and land that has been in her family for more than five generations. Blessed beyond measure, she’s also lonely, although she would never admit that to anyone. Until Rhys O’Shaughnessy walks through her door, brooding and wounded and the sexiest thing she’s ever laid eyes on.

Rhys has been at the top of his game as a major league pitcher for the Chicago Cubs for more than ten years. Baseball is in his blood. But when he tears his rotator cuff and has to sit a season out, he retreats to Inn Boudreaux at the recommendation of his cousin, Kate, to heal and work toward building his shoulder back to perfect shape with only one goal in mind: to return to the game he loves. But he didn’t plan on being utterly charmed by a devastatingly beautiful woman and her baseball-loving son.

When Rhys’ shoulder has healed and he’s given the chance to return to his team, will he leave the family he’s come to love behind, or will he stay with Gabby and Sam?

Easy Charm is book 2 in Proby’s Boudreaux series. The Boudreaux’s are an extremely close knit family. Their father, the patriarch of their family died several years past, leaving a gaping hole in all of them. Each sibling has dealt with his death in their own way. For Gabrielle, she has thrown herself into running her Bed and Breakfast out of the family plantation house. She has her hands full with running that and keeping up with her little boy, Sam. She has zero time for anything outside her B&B or Sam. Then Rhys O’Shaughnessy shows up at her door.

After Rhys O’Shaughnessy (Kate’s cousin from Easy Love) is injured during a major league baseball game, he has to get out of Chicago. He’s told his chances of returning to playing are slim to none, but Rhys is determined to show the trainers, doctors, and his coaches what he is made of. Going to New Orleans to be near his cousin Kate is just what the doctor ordered. When he lays eyes on Gabby Boudreaux, things get even better. The problem is how wary Gabby is of men because she was burned so badly by Sam’s dad.

Gabby wants Rhys, she won’t deny it. But she has Sam to think about. Sam is her life and she is aware that she has no life outside of him and her family. What would be bad about taking a little something for herself as long as she kept it from Sam? Sam is already getting attached enough to Rhys. Rhys is Sam’s favorite baseball player and he has a serious case of hero-worship going on. Before too long Gabby herself has a serious case of hero-worship. It seems that Rhys returns her feelings. Gabby just doesn’t know how they can ever work out. She knows that he’s headed back to Chicago to play ball while she will never leave New Orleans.

This was a fast, cute read. Or listen I should say. For some weird reason, Proby had a story line going on where Sam’s bio dad came back into the picture to extort money from the Boudreaux’s. It seemed like such an afterthought. It just didn’t fit. At first it was a la Kristen Ashley. Then I realized that it was just page filler. A little disappointing, but I just shrugged it off, finished the book and moved onto the next one in the series.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5.

Boudreaux

three-half-stars


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Review: Easy Love by Kristen Proby

Posted June 27, 2019 by Casee in Reviews | 0 Comments

Review: Easy Love by Kristen ProbyReviewer: Casee
Easy Love by Kristen Proby
Narrator: Sebastian York, Rachel Fulginiti
Series: Boudreaux #1
Also in this series: Easy Charm, Easy Melody, Easy Kisses
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: February 18, 2015
Format: Audiobook
Source: Audible Escape
Point-of-View: Alternating Third
Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
Content Warning: View Spoiler »
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 268
Length: 8 hours and 10 minutes
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges: Casee's 2019 GoodReads Challenge, Casee's 2019 New to Me Challenge
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Eli Boudreaux’s family has built ships and boats in Louisiana for generations. He comes from a hard working, wealthy family and his empire is growing by leaps and bounds. At thirty, he is the youngest CEO to ever head Bayou Enterprises, co-chairing with his eldest brother. His head for business and his no-nonsense work ethic is also quickly making him the best the company has seen in generations. His staff admires him, women adore him and Eli’s family is solid. But he’s recently discovered that someone on the inside of his business is stealing from him and he’s determined to find out who.

Kate O’Shaughnessy is hired by companies all over the world to slip inside and investigate every member of the organization from the CEO down to the custodial staff to find the person or persons responsible for embezzling. She’s excellent at blending, becoming part of the team, and finding the weakest link. She’s smart, quick-witted, and she’s now been hired by Bayou Enterprises, specifically Eli Boudreaux. The attraction is immediate and the chemistry is off the charts, but Kate has heard all about Eli’s playboy past and she has a job to do. Sleeping with the boss isn’t a part of that job, even if just the sound of her name rolling off that Cajun tongue and the way he fills out a designer suit does make her sweat.

Eli’s southern charms surprise Kate. The man whose reputation labels him as a ruthless, callous womanizer is not the man she’s coming to know intimately. He’s generous, protective and makes her smile. Cracking through Kate’s cool, reserved demeanor and discovering her love of sexy, expensive lingerie is a challenge Eli can’t resist, but her sweet nature, love of family and sense of humor pull at him in ways no one else ever has.

But when the person responsible for trying to single-handedly dismantle Eli’s empire comes to light, and it’s time for Kate to move on, to what lengths will Eli go to keep the woman he’s fallen in love with by his side?

This is my first book by Kristen Proby and I really, really liked it. I downloaded it from the Audible Romance Package. The narrators were good, although when the female narrator talked from the hero’s perspective in the southern accent, it was sort of cringy. I did get used to it.

Eli Boudreaux is the CEO of Bayou Enterprises, his family’s company. He-co chairs the company with his oldest brother. He felt that he was a disappointment to his father his entire life which was why he was surprised when, on his deathbed, his father asked him to run the company. Eli is determined to honor his father in his last request.

After it is discovered that someone is embezzling from Bayou Enterprises, the siblings bring in Kate O’Shaughnessy. Kate is a friend of some of the siblings and has a special background is forensic accounting and discovering corporate secrets. Although she was college roommates with Savannah and Declan Boudreaux, Kate has never met Eli. When they do meet, sparks fly all over the place. The problem is that Eli promised all five of his siblings that he wouldn’t get romantically involved with Kate. See, he has a reputation and a love-em-leave-em type. They need Kate for the business, not to mention she is a friend.

Even his promise can’t stop Eli’s intense attraction to Kate. Kate is just as attracted to Eli. There is of course the big misunderstanding but everything is resolved quite nicely. The suspense plot was easily solvable and quite laughable. Even with that, it added something to the story which I felt was necessary. This book intrigued me enough to move onto book two. The Boudreaux’s are a family that love and watch out of each other. They will all be there in a heartbeat if one of them needs anything. It was very nice to read.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Boudreaux

four-stars


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Review: All the Way by Kristen Proby

Posted September 12, 2018 by Rowena in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: All the Way by Kristen ProbyReviewer: Rowena
All the Way (Romancing Manhattan, #1) by Kristen Proby
Series: Romancing Manhattan #1
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication Date: August 21, 2018
Point-of-View: First
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 288
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
two-half-stars
Series Rating: three-stars

In New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kristen Proby’s brand new Romancing Manhattan series, three brothers get more than they bargain for as they practice law, balance life, and navigate love in and around New York City.

Finn Cavanaugh is known for being a force to be reckoned with in the courtroom. He owns a successful law firm with his brother and brother-in-law in Manhattan. On the rare occasion that he has down time, he spends it at his home in Martha’s Vineyard. But when Finn’s troubled niece goes to stay with him for the summer in Martha’s Vineyard, he’s reluctant to take time off from work. That is, until he meets his beautiful new neighbor, London.

London Watson is a Tony Award winning actress on Broadway. When tragedy strikes her family, leaving her alone and injured, she flees Manhattan for Martha’s Vineyard. Hoping she can figure out how to pick up the pieces of her life, London is convinced that she’ll never be able to return to the stage. But when she meets the charming young girl next door and her sexy uncle, they soon lure London out of her shell as she finally begins to heal from the wounds of her past.

But when London feels confident enough to return to the spotlight, she’s dealt another devastating blow. Will the newfound love between London and Finn be enough to conquer all? Or will it be over before it has a chance to grow…?

I’m going to be completely honest with you guys and tell you that I picked up this book because of that gorgeous cover. When I decided that I was going to read and review this book, it was because the book cover caught my eye and I wanted to love this book as much as I loved the cover. I hadn’t even read the blurb before deciding that I had to have this book. I was so excited to jump into a New York romance between an actress and her late parent’s lawyer.

I should also note that this is my very first read from Kristen Proby and I’m sad to say that I spent most of the book bored. I didn’t really connect with London, I liked Finn well enough though he was really controlling so while I liked him, he’d never be a favorite hero of mine and I wanted to spank the shit out of his niece. Don’t even get me started on London’s brother.

So the book centers on London, who lost her parents in a house fire where she barely escaped. She is a Broadway actress who has to take time off to recuperate and so when she inherits all of her parent’s properties, she heads to the place she called home in the summer to try to figure some shit out. She’s surprised when she finds out that her parent’s lawyer is her next door neighbor and she’s still a little annoyed that he tried hitting on her right after the reading of her parents will.

Finn is interested in London and is still kicking himself for his ill-advised attempt to ask her out after reading her parent’s will to her. His niece is staying with him because she’s going through some stuff and not dealing with her mother’s death so well so he’s got his hands full but he’s drawn to London and he’s not really going to question it.

There’s a lot going on this book but not a lot of it was interesting to me. I’m not sure if I didn’t connect with Proby’s writing style or if it was the characters that I couldn’t connect with it but I spent much of this book bored. Now, it wasn’t all bad. I did enjoy London’s friendship with Sasha and I liked Finn’s interactions with his brothers and the niece came around in the end but for the most part, I was just uninterested. It took me a lot longer to read this book than it should have and in the end, I was ready to move on.

I’m not sure if I’ll continue this series and I’m even more unsure if I want to go back and read other books by this author but who knows, maybe another book will be a better fit for me.

Grade: 2.5 out of 5

two-half-stars


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Sunday Spotlight: All the Way by Kristen Proby

Posted August 19, 2018 by Rowena in Features, Giveaways | 4 Comments

Sunday Spotlight is a feature we began in 2016. This year we’re spotlighting our favorite books, old and new. We’ll be raving about the books we love and being total fangirls. You’ve been warned. 🙂

Sunday Spotlight

Kristen Proby is one of those authors that I have wanted to read for ages but for some reason or another, I keep not reading her stuff. The cover for All the Way caught my eye and then the blurb captured my attention so I’m really looking forward to reading this book and I’m super thrilled to be featuring this book on today’s Sunday Spotlight.

Sunday Spotlight: All the Way by Kristen ProbyAll the Way (Romancing Manhattan, #1) by Kristen Proby
Series: Romancing Manhattan #1
Also in this series: All the Way (Romancing Manhattan, #1)
Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication Date: August 21, 2018
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 288
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
Series Rating: three-stars

In New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Kristen Proby’s brand new Romancing Manhattan series, three brothers get more than they bargain for as they practice law, balance life, and navigate love in and around New York City.

Finn Cavanaugh is known for being a force to be reckoned with in the courtroom. He owns a successful law firm with his brother and brother-in-law in Manhattan. On the rare occasion that he has down time, he spends it at his home in Martha’s Vineyard. But when Finn’s troubled niece goes to stay with him for the summer in Martha’s Vineyard, he’s reluctant to take time off from work. That is, until he meets his beautiful new neighbor, London.

London Watson is a Tony Award winning actress on Broadway. When tragedy strikes her family, leaving her alone and injured, she flees Manhattan for Martha’s Vineyard. Hoping she can figure out how to pick up the pieces of her life, London is convinced that she’ll never be able to return to the stage. But when she meets the charming young girl next door and her sexy uncle, they soon lure London out of her shell as she finally begins to heal from the wounds of her past.

But when London feels confident enough to return to the spotlight, she’s dealt another devastating blow. Will the newfound love between London and Finn be enough to conquer all? Or will it be over before it has a chance to grow…?

Order the Book:

AMAZON || BARNES AND NOBLE || KOBO

Excerpt

If I didn’t know better, I’d say I had a crush on the sexy Finn Cavanaugh.

Strike that. I do have a crush on Finn. What’s not to like? He’s kind, funny, loves his family, and looks like that.

So I’m going to spend as much time as I can with him, since he’s been the best thing to come into my life since the fire, since the day in his office with my brother, since trying to heal from it all.

He brings a smile to my face and makes me want to climb him like a damn tree, and that’s a good feeling.

I take a deep breath and, with a smile, walk into the house to get breakfast started. I had planned to just have a bagel and some egg whites, but now that’s changed up a bit. I love to cook, especially for others, so I pull my hair up in a messy bun and stand in the middle of my white kitchen, getting my wits about me.

I could make omelets, or pancakes, or biscuits and gravy.

I buy way too many groceries.

I smirk at myself and decide on biscuits and gravy with home fries and scrambled eggs. It’s a heavy breakfast, but it’s also delicious, and I want to feed him something especially delicious.

“Like me,” I mutter, and then laugh. Oh, the dreams I’ve been having about Finn the past few nights have been one hundred percent pornographic. I wake up hot and bothered, and not just a little sexually frustrated.

Damn him.

I jump at the soft knock on the back glass door, and turn to find Finn standing there in another pair of cargo shorts and a T-shirt, his hair wet from a shower, grinning at me through the glass.

Hot damn.

I motion for him to come in, and stir the biscuit batter.

“I hope you worked up an appetite on that run,” I begin as he walks toward me. “I’m making a feast.”

“I’m hungry,” he says in a gruff voice, making me glance up at him. He’s staring at me with hot eyes. Not just hot. Scorching. Like he wants to do me on the kitchen counter.

I’m not against that in the least.

“Hungry for biscuits and gravy?” I swallow hard.

“We can start there,” he says. “You’re making it from scratch?”

“Of course.” I set the batter aside and gather more supplies. “Isn’t that how everyone does it?”

“No, I buy those biscuits in the roll that always scares the shit out of me when I bust it open.”

I chuckle as I roll the dough out and cut it into circles. “Well, no scaring the shit out of you today. These don’t take long.”

“Do you need any help?”

“Nope.” I pop the pan in the oven and get started on cutting potatoes. “Actually, yes. How are you at cutting potatoes?”

“I’m a champion potato chopper,” he informs me, and takes the knife from me. “I’ve got this.”

“Do you like to cook?” I try to keep my eyes off of his strong hands and muscly forearms as he chops up the potatoes. Why is it that everything he does is sexy?

It’s not exactly fair.

“I do,” he replies. “I just don’t always have time for it.”

“I don’t either, but it seems I have nothing but time lately.” I shrug and throw the potatoes in a pan so they can start frying while I get the gravy going. “I’ve been cooking way more than I can eat.”

“How are you feeling?” he asks casually.

“Better,” I reply, happy to be able to finally say that truthfully. “I still have moments when it hurts, but I think the walking is better, and my range of motion is coming back. My physical therapist is happy with the progress, but I think it’s too slow.”

“You’re too hard on yourself,” he says, and I just shake my head.

“That’s what he says too. Being physical is what I’ve always done. Dance, theater, is physically demanding, and I’ve always been in excellent shape. So having lost so much of my endurance is disappointing.”

“You’ll get it back,” he says with confidence, and I look up to find him smiling at me, his brown eyes happy. “You’re too stubborn to do otherwise.”

“Boy, that’s the truth.” I pull the biscuits out of the oven. “I know that I probably won’t be able to work the way I used to. They’ve already recast my old part, which, let me tell you, will tear your heart right out of your chest.”

“I can’t even imagine.”

“And I’m not young, Finn.” I’m just talking now, talking about my career, my fears, and it feels like the easiest thing to do with him. I haven’t confided like this with anyone. Not even Sasha.

“You’re only thirty-two.”

“That’s old for theater. Especially in musicals. There are girls more than ten years younger than me fighting for the same parts, and they’re in better shape, and it’s easier for them to keep up with the rigorous schedule.”

“Have you seen Hugh Jackman in the musical movies he makes?” Finn asks. “That guy’s almost fifty.”

“He’s a man,” I reply simply. “Men are given better roles, longer into their lives. It sucks, but it’s true. But I’ve changed my attitude a bit. I was convinced before that I wouldn’t be able to get back to work, but now I’m determined to do exactly that.”

“Would you consider doing film? I don’t know anything about show business, but I would think that might be less rigorous.”

“I hadn’t before.” I stop and lean my hip against the countertop, irritated that my leg is starting to ache from being on it too long. “But I could talk to my agent and see what she thinks. She’s come to me before with scripts, but I have always had a steady job in New York.”

“Might be something to consider,” he says casually. “You’re hurting right now.”

“Not too badly.”

“Look at me.” He grips my shoulders and makes me look him in the eyes. “You’re hurting.”

“Yeah, it’s aching.”

“Sit.” He leads me to the stool on the other side of the island. “I’ve got this handled.”

Romancing Manhattan

Giveaway Alert

We’re giving one lucky winner their choice of one of our Sunday Spotlight books. Use the Gleam widget below to enter for one of this month’s features.

Sunday Spotlight: August 2018

Are you as excited for this release as we are? Let us know how excited you are and what other books you’re looking forward to this year!

About the Author

Kristen Proby

WEBSITE | TWITTER | GOODREADS

Kristen was born and raised in a small resort town in her beloved Montana. In her mid-twenties, she decided to stretch her wings and move to the Pacific Northwest, where she made her home for more than a dozen years.

During that time, Kristen wrote many romance novels and joined organizations such as RWA and other small writing groups. She spent countless hours in workshops, and more mornings than she can count up before the dawn so she could write before going to work. She submitted many manuscripts to agents and editors alike, but was always told no. In the summer of 2012, the self-publishing scene was new and thriving, and Kristen had one goal: to publish just one book. It was something she longed to cross off of her bucket list.

Not only did she publish one book, she’s since published close to thirty titles, many of which have hit the USA Today, New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestsellers lists. She continues to self publish, best known for her With Me In Seattle and Boudreaux series, and is also proud to work with William Morrow, a division of HarperCollins, with the Fusion Series.

Kristen and her husband, John, make their home in her hometown of Whitefish, Montana with their two pugs and two cats.


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