Tag: Soraya Lane

What Are You Reading? (+ Contemporary Giveaway)

Posted March 9, 2018 by Rowena in Features, Giveaways | 6 Comments

WAYR-New

Casee: I’ve had a lot going on and am still reading Storm Gathering by Rebecca Zanetti. I almost put it aside and picked up The Woman Left Behind by Linda Howard, but I’m too anal to leave a book unfinished even if I eventually go back to it. Storm Gathering really picked up too, so I’m looking forward to finishing it. I always say that the weekend is coming up and I’ll be able to read, but that never happens. We have family birthdays for the next two weekends so I doubt I’ll have time until the summer. Ha.

Holly: I’m struggling to read this week. I want to read, but nothing is really holding my attention. I read Duke of Sin by Elizabeth Hoyt, which was really good. I love the anti-heroes and Val definitely fit the bill. I’m in the middle of Ocean Light by Nalini Singh, but it isn’t holding my attention. It isn’t often a book by Singh doesn’t immediately suck me in. I’m pretty sure I’m just in a weird reading funk.

I listened to On the Edge and Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews. Rowena said she was going to start reading them, so I figured I’d read them with her (a hardship, as I’m sure you can imagine..heh). Though to be honest, I wasn’t as invested in either one this time around. Again, I think it’s my reading mood. I don’t know what I’ll read next. Maybe Song of Blood and Stone by L. Penelope.

Rowena: At the moment, I’m deep into a book hangover after finishing Wildfire by Ilona Andrews. I wasn’t ready to be done with those books and instead of jumping into my next read, which is Hello Stranger by Lisa Kleypas, instead, I’m reading everything I can find online about all things Hidden Legacy and Ilona Andrews. In my quest to find all of the Hidden Legacy stuff, I came across this gem of a blog called Wicked Scribes and her Hidden Legacy character guide is a thing of beauty. If you haven’t checked her out, you should. I’ve been reading everything on her blog since Monday.

I’m hoping that over the weekend, I’ll finish up Hello Stranger and then start on On the Edge by Ilona Andrews because…I can’t get enough of her stuff.

Giveaway Alert

We are very fortunate here at Book Binge. We have loads and loads of books to read and we want to share the wealth so each week, we’ll be tacking on a Freebie Friday giveaway to our What Are You Reading posts. This week, we’re giving away…

What Are You Reading? (+ Contemporary Giveaway)Cowboy Stole My Heart (River Ranch, #1) by Soraya Lane
Series: River Ranch #1
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: January 2nd 2018
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Westerns
Pages: 304
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books

It takes true grit to build a billion-dollar dynasty like the Ford family ranch. But when it comes to finding love, all it takes is one handsome cowboy to steal a woman’s heart…

SHE’S RIDING SOLO

As one of the heirs to the River Ranch fortune, Mia Ford is practically Texas royalty. But that doesn’t mean she’s some pampered princess. She can saddle up and ride a horse as well as any man, even a hard-working cowboy like Sam Mendes. For years, she’s harbored a crush on the strong, silent horseman. But how can she make a move when she’s his boss?

HE’S TAKING THE REINS

Sam Mendes is through with love—or so he thought. Still recovering from a breakup, he’s doing everything in his power to resist Mia Ford. It’s bad enough she’s the kind of beauty who drives men wild with desire. It’s even worse she’s got him so worked up, aching to kiss her lips, when he’s supposed to be working her ranch. Is this lovestruck cowboy willing to risk losing his job—and breaking his heart—to win the girl of his dreams?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What are you reading this week? Any new favorites or books that drove you crazy? Share!

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TBR Challenge 2012 Review: The Army Ranger’s Return by Soraya Lane

Posted January 18, 2012 by Tracy in Reviews | 6 Comments

January’s Theme: Category Romance
A soldier’s second chance…
As nervous as a teenager about to go on her first date, Jessica Mitchell waits for Special Forces Ranger Ryan McAdams—her best friend for the past year— whom she’s never met! They’ve been pen pals while Ryan was away fighting for their country and Jessica was secretly fighting her own demons back home.
She knows widower Ryan’s fears of returning to civilian life and his hopes of reconnecting with his son. Now she can’t wait to meet him face–to–face—to hear his voice and see his smile…
Jessica and Ryan have been pen pals for a while. Now Ryan is returning from the Army and wants to meet Jessica. Jessica is determined to think of Ryan as just a friend but they had become so very close via their letters to each other that it’s hard for her – especially after she sees him.
Once the couple meet in person they find yet another connection to each other. Though Ryan is leery to talk about the cancer that took his wife he knows that he needs to discuss it with Jessica as it affects his relationship with his son. Jessica is hiding something too. Though her feelings for Ryan grow daily as they spend time together she’s keeping from him the fact that she is only but a year out from surviving cancer. Jessica knows Ryan doesn’t want to deal with anything cancer related so she knows the relationship must end.
I read the blurb of this book and it looked really great but unfortunately it didn’t quite work for me in all ways.
The book starts out with Jessica moments away from meeting the man that she’s been a pen pal with. We don’t find out until much later in the book how they became pen pals but that was ok. When the two meet they don’t quite know how to act around each other. They are both attracted to the other but they had been so emotionally intimate during their letters to each other it was kind of awkward to finally meet in person. I personally thought that the meeting would be less awkward because they had shared so much in their letters but that wasn’t the case here.
The couple start spending time together but throughout it all there was just this stilted talk and well, I’ll say it again, awkwardness. To me they never seemed to just flow together and feel comfortable with each other – even when they were in bed together.
I really liked that Jessica helped Ryan work on the relationship with his son but I hated that she was keeping her cancer from him when she knew he felt so strongly about it. I perfectly understand her reasoning behind it, I really do and I felt for her wanting to be treated as someone who was “normal” in her eyes. But that just made me think she didn’t trust Ryan fully and what is love without trust? IDK, I really went back and forth with this story and in the end it was good but not great. An interesting way to pass a bit of time, but nothing that knocked my socks off. Some may feel differently but that’s how I felt about it.
Rating: 3 out of 5

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What I Read Last Week

Posted January 16, 2012 by Tracy in Features | 7 Comments

Well it was another stressful week at work but I survived which was a good thing. 

We had a nice weekend as I headed out to my mom’s to help here with some computer stuff and then yesterday I got to see my grown & married nephew who lives in Pennsylvania.  Yay!  The local family got together for lunch and we had a great time just talking and catching up.  Here’s a picture that I took of my nephew and my youngest.  (I’d actually had one taken of him and me but apparently it turned out really blurry. I’ll have to take another before he heads home to PA.)

Don’t forget to enter the 2 contests I’ve got going.  One for a box of historical novels and one for a box of fantasy/UF.  The links are on the sidebar.

I read a really long novel at the beginning of last week and after that really felt the need to read a bunch of shorts.  Here’s what I devoured this week:

I started off the week with Season of the Shadow by Bobbi Groover.  This is an american historical that I read for The Book Binge and I really liked it but for a few items. The story was about a man (boy, really, as he was only 17) who was kidnapped, kept chained in a madhouse and treated like an animal for 6 years before he managed to escape with his life and most of his sanity.  He’s back in his hometown to destroy the person who did it all to him, his cousin.  He also is still madly in love with his first love but he thinks she might have had something to do with his abduction as well.  The man is confused and hurt emotionally but determined to get his life back from the man who stole it.  The book was very good but I did have a problem with the length which was 690 pdf pages.  Just too long imho.  I’ll let you know when my review posts at TBB. 4 out of 5

Here is where my short reading began:

First up was A Wedding Story by Dee Tenorio.  Ruth Ann and Bobby have been prankster enemies since they were young kids.  Ruth Ann isn’t thrilled when at her sisters wedding reception she is not only sat next to Bobby but they are at the kids’ table.  Ruth Ann and Bobby decide to make the most of it and decide to dance but that’s when things at the reception start going awry and when Bobby and Ruth Ann are left alone they realize that maybe they don’t hate each other as much as Ruth Ann thought.  Really cute and funny story. 3.5 out of 5 (free on Kindle)

Holding Out For A Hero by Stacey Joy Netzel was a short about a woman who is having a really crappy day.  When she’s at lunch, however, she sees something happen that makes her start looking at life a little differently and it changes everything.  A great story that has a little bit of a hopeful romance in it.   I did kind of a mini review that you can read here if you’re interested.  4 out of 5 (free on Kindle)

Next up was Fury by Anya Bast. This is part of her Otherkin series which is looks like there are only 2 of.  The story is about a woman who is in a “pack” of shifters but there are mostly wolven shifters.  She is a cougar but the elders want to make her their queen.  She runs but her mate comes looking for her.  This was an ok read.  I didn’t love the characters but the story was a good one and of course the sex was hot as is the norm with Bast’s books. 3 out of 5 (free on Kindle)

Without Mercy by Belinda Boring followed Darcy as she runs an errand for a pack bbq with the her future sister-in-law and best friend.  A crazed man who is on a mission ends up accosting the two and all hell breaks loose.  It was a sad story but it was so short that I just needed more.  More of the after effects of the whole situation, etc.  Maybe we were supposed to get that in future books but I never like being left hanging.  3 out of 5 (free on Kindle)

Four Kisses by Bonnie Dee was the story of two people who meet when they are 13 and share a kiss.  The pair meet about every 3 or 4 years due to odd circumstances and always share some form of a kiss.  It was a very sweet story and I really liked the whole scenario.  You can read my mini review here. 4.5 out of 5
So ended my short binge. lol

A Rose is A Rose by Jet Mykles tells the story of Carson who is in his early twenties.  He is a man used to be taken care of and when his “boyfriend” doesn’t want to take it to the next level it crushes Carson.  He finds out that he was just one of many who is man was seeing.  Carson befriends the owner of his building who is a shy manly man named Eddie.  Carson isn’t used to not being taken care of but Eddie helps him out with food and stuff but Carson knows that Eddie isn’t gay.  Of course Eddie will be gay for Carson as he just finds him beautiful and fascinating.  I really liked this book a lot.  Carson’s character was great but I just didn’t love the romance.  The story was told in third person but we never got to see things from Eddie’s pov.  When Carson decides that he needs to do things on his own we never get to see how that effects Eddie which I would have loved.  Overall a good story but I did have some issues with it. 3.5 out of 5

My next read was My Summer of Wes by Missy Welsh. Mal is friendless and lives in a vanilla world with no excitement until his new neighbors move in across the street. Wes is the neighbors son and though older than Mal they hit it off immediately.  Wes is gay and even though Mal has been called names and been accused of being gay for the past four years he is certain that he’s not.  Until Mal and Wes start spending more time together and Mal starts to see the truth in himself.  The story was very sweet with very little conflict.  The sex scenes were hot and I just loved Wes to pieces.  4 out of 5

A Night to Surrender by Tessa Dare is the first in the Spindle Cove series and I finally read it!  It was really good and I’m so glad I did.  Bram was hurt in the war and is looking to regain his position in the field.  He contacts Sir Lewis in Spindle Cove and heads there with the hopes that he will get what he wants.  Sir Lewis not only turns him down but makes him an Earl (via the king) and then asks him to get a militia ready in a month.  Bram is pissed but Sir Lewis’s daughter Susanna is a nice distraction.  Distraction being the key as he can’t seem to keep his mind on his work due to thinking of Susanna constantly.  It was a cute book about the inhabitants of Spindle Cove and how they come together to try to make their local field day the best there is.  Susanna and Bram’s relationship was wonderful and just thinking of the book makes me smile. 4.25 out of 5

Last on the list was my read for the monthly TBR challenge and that was An Army Ranger’s Return by Soraya Lane.  Pen pal’s Jessica and Ryan have written to each other constantly and now Ryan is returning home.  Jessica is nervous about what will happen and what DOES happen is not what she expects at all.  I’d tell you more but then I wouldn’t have to write my review for Wednesdays post. lol  

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
crickets chirping

Happy Reading!!

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Guest Review: Soldier On Her Doorstep by Soraya Lane

Posted July 18, 2011 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 0 Comments

Judith’s review of  A Soldier On Her Doorstepby Soraya Lane.

Soldier Alex Dane promised his dying comrade he’d make sure his wife and daughter were okay, and so he finds himself on a doorstep with his heart in his mouth.

Lisa Kennedy loved her husband, but she must focus on her daughter, Lilly, who hasn’t spoken since her daddy’s death. Still, the least she can do is offer this battle-weary hero a place to rest.
When Lilly’s little hand reaches for Alex’s big, strong one, for the first time Lisa feels her buried emotions begin to stir.…

This Harlequin novel is one that reaches out to our current consciousness of how the world is working right now, and especially America’s involvement in the Middle East conflicts that continue.  While there are now numerous novels and short stories about veterans and their families, this is rather unique in that it is highlighting the experience and anxieties of a man who must try to bring comfort to the family of one of his fallen buddies. Yet he himself is wounded in so many ways and on so many levels, and doing this for his friend is probably one of the most difficult tasks he has ever undertaken.

The characters in this story are not flamboyant and this is not a romance that is filled with erotic love scenes.  Rather, it is the pathos and hurt of love lost as a loving husband and father is now dead and his wife and child must find their way forward without him.  Alex’s discomfort and uneasy demeanor is apparent right from the start and while his friend’s wife seeks to comfort him with food and attempted conversation, it is the young Lilley whose open acceptance and immediate friendship which begins the long healing process in Alex’s heart and soul.

This is a kind and gentle story that does not back away from the realities of what war can do to our service personnel nor does it fail to deal honestly with the fact that so many come home without external wounds but who carry deep fissures of the spirit within.  Alex is doubly screwed in that he has no family or home to which he is returning.  Yes, he is home from the war, but now where does he go?  Who is waiting for him?  It is Lilley’s unwillingness to speak at all that begins to grab Alex and convinces him that he is needed.  And in the weeks he stays with Lilley and her mother, he begins the long journey toward wholeness he so desperately needs.

With the decade-long involvement of the United States in the Middle East, fiction writers are most certainly going to find stories to write set within the military genre.  Most of the novels and novellas I have read on this subject so far have been quite good, and I would have not difficulty adding this one to the list of really good novels that tell the stories of those who have returned from war and who need to rebuild their lives.  This is a story of love and loss, of hope and disappointment, of reaching out in a way that brings healing not only to those who are the object of the caring, but to the caregivers themselves.  It is the story also of a little girl whose open heart and curious mind wiggle under the defenses of a man who would always be alone if it were not for her kindness and genuine regard for this warrior.  It is also the story of a war widow who is not really ready to be a war widow and who is given the courage to move past those who would bind her in her grief and find a new start for herself that will bring love and renewal into her heart and that of her daughter.

This is a very substantive story and one that will be very uplifting.  It is entertaining, yes, but it is also one of those books that makes me glad that I took the time and made the effort to read it.  It is definitely one that I highly recommend.

I give this novel a 4.25 out of 5 rating.

You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.

This book is available from Harlequin. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

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Review: Soldier On Her Doorstep by Soraya Lane.

Posted July 5, 2011 by Rowena in Reviews | 0 Comments


Rowena’s review of Soldier on her Doorstep by Soraya Lane.

Hero: Alex Dane
Heroine: Lisa Kennedy

Soldier Alex Dane promised his dying comrade he’d make sure his wife and daughter were okay, and so he finds himself on a doorstep with his heart in his mouth.

Lisa Kennedy loved her husband, but she must focus on her daughter, Lilly, who hasn’t spoken since her daddy’s death. Still, the least she can do is offer this battle-weary hero a place to rest.

When Lilly’s little hand reaches for Alex’s big, strong one, for the first time Lisa feels her buried emotions begin to stir.…


The premise for this story caught my interest, especially since it involves a soldier coming home from the war. I adore military heroes and Alex just seemed like he’d be such a yummy hero. The story was short but while I was reading it, I kept waiting for the story to get better. For me, the story just dragged, took it’s time unfolding and I found that I was too anxious for the story to take off and when it didn’t, I put it down.

I put it down around the 100 page count and stepped away for a couple of days, thinking that I just wasn’t in the mood for this book but when I went back to it and finished it, I wasn’t blown away with the story as I had hoped I would be.

So we have Alex and Lisa coming together in this story. Alex served in the war with Lisa’s husband and when he dies overseas, Alex is there and promises the husband that he will deliver some stuff to Lisa and he’d take care of them however he could. So Alex gets debriefed and immediately sets out for Alaska where his buddy’s widow is living with their young daughter, Lilly. Alex has a lot of guilt running amock inside of him and going to see the woman who was married to the guy that he holds himself responsible for getting killed is very hard. When we first meet Alex, you can tell that he’s got a lot of emotional baggage from the war.

I enjoyed seeing the bond that grew between Alex and William’s daughter, Lilly. I thought it was a great addition to the story and it was the part of the story that I was most interested in reading. Lilly has stopped talking and the people in her life are starting to get worried but when Alex comes into the picture, Lilly starts to slowly come out of her shell. There’s a scene in the book where Alex and Lilly are out on the lake in the boat with Lilly’s dog Boston. It was a cute scene and when the scene was over, I was bummed because the book went back to being just okay.

I guess my issue with this book was that even though there’s the emotional angst that both Alex and Lisa go through after losing William, I didn’t really feel their grief. I didn’t feel like Lisa really felt lost without William and I thought she fell too quickly in love with Alex. It just didn’t seem natural or flow quite right with me.

Overall, the story felt flat for me and when I finally finished it, I was only too glad to move on.

Grade: 2.5 out of 5

This book is available from Harlequin. You can buy it here or here in e-format.

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