Monthly Archives: March 2023

Happy Publication Day – 21 March 2023

A Novel Proposal By Denise Hunter

When western novelist Sadie Goodwin must pen a romance novel to rescue her lackluster sales, there’s only one tiny problem: she’s never been in love.

Desperate to salvage her career, Sadie accepts an invitation to hole up at her friend’s beach duplex for the summer and devote herself to this confounding genre. After all, where better to witness love than on the beautiful South Carolina shore?

But Sadie soon finds many ways to procrastinate the dreaded task—like getting to know the beach regulars and installing a Little Free Library on the property. She even attempts conversation with Sam Ford, the frustratingly stubborn neighbor on the other side of the duplex. But things take an unexpected turn when Sadie finds inside her library an abandoned novel with a secret compartment—and a beautiful engage­ment ring tucked inside.

Suddenly, locating the ring’s owner becomes the perfect way to put off writing that romance. Sadie draws a reluctant Sam into her mission. And as the two close in on an answer to the mysterious proposal, she discovers a tender side to him. She begins to wonder if he just might make the perfect hero for her romance novel—or maybe even her heart.

Book Review – The Sandcastle Hurricane By Carolyn Brown

Cousins Tabby and Ellie Mae are due for a change. Running their aunt’s beachfront bed-and-breakfast in Sandcastle, Texas, is just the thing to shake things up…though their lives spin out of control in more ways than one when a hurricane barrels into the coastline. It’s a miracle it didn’t carry them off to Kansas. Not so lucky are the assisted-living center and a small eclectic group of local folks who take shelter with the cousins.

Two estranged sisters, rowdy as a circus, need a referee for a battle that goes back decades. And a pair of veterans, best friends for years, hash out bittersweet old times. There’s also handyman Alex LaSalle and his business partner, Ricky, experts at repairing the hurricane’s damage—and at making Tabby’s and Ellie Mae’s hearts beat a little faster.

As unpredictable, crowded, and stormy as it gets, the Sandcastle B and B is still the perfect harbor for healing past wounds, finding romance, and making up for lost time. Add in Tabby’s homemade pecan pie, and the Texas shore feels like a little slice of paradise.

Published Date: 8 November 2023

My Review

This is a story of 2 cousins: Ellie and Tabby needed a change in their life decided to manage the family Bed & Breakfast which they inherited from their Great Aunt Charlotte. A hurricane was about to hit them and Aunt Charlotte requesting them to take in 4 elderly guests; Maude, Chloe, Frank and Homer. The story thereafter continue with what the days together as they wait out the hurricane.

This story is about love, second chances and families. in This book come as a surprise for me as there are multiple layer within the story. I feel heartbreaking especially for Ellie and Tabby when their story was revealed.The storyline is very well written and is full of laughters and tears as they learn to coexist with each other and romance blooms too!

My Rating

Review Card – The Sandcastle Hurricane By Carolyn Brown

Cousins Tabby and Ellie Mae are due for a change. Running their aunt’s beachfront bed-and-breakfast in Sandcastle, Texas, is just the thing to shake things up…though their lives spin out of control in more ways than one when a hurricane barrels into the coastline. It’s a miracle it didn’t carry them off to Kansas. Not so lucky are the assisted-living center and a small eclectic group of local folks who take shelter with the cousins.

Two estranged sisters, rowdy as a circus, need a referee for a battle that goes back decades. And a pair of veterans, best friends for years, hash out bittersweet old times. There’s also handyman Alex LaSalle and his business partner, Ricky, experts at repairing the hurricane’s damage—and at making Tabby’s and Ellie Mae’s hearts beat a little faster.

As unpredictable, crowded, and stormy as it gets, the Sandcastle B and B is still the perfect harbor for healing past wounds, finding romance, and making up for lost time. Add in Tabby’s homemade pecan pie, and the Texas shore feels like a little slice of paradise.

About The Author

Carolyn Brown is an award-winning author who has published 85 historical and western romance novels. New York Times and USA Today bestselling author was born in Texas and raised in southern Oklahoma. These days she and her husband make their home in Davis, Oklahoma, a small town of less than three thousand people where everyone knows everyone, knows what they are doing and with whom, and read the weekly newspaper to see who got caught.
She has been married almost half a century to a retired English teacher that she calls Mr. B and he does not read her books before they are published because she cannot afford a divorce. They have three grown children.—and enough grandchildren to keep them busy and young.

Link To Purchase

Book Review – A Sister’s Promise By Caroline Finnerty

Sisters Laura and Penny were once close, bonded together after the early death of their mother. Laura always had her younger sister’s back until one day everything changed and Penny disappeared.
Twenty years later Laura finds herself alone and at a crossroad in her life; questioning her marriage and her future.
Meanwhile Penny has spent her whole life running away from her problems until one day she is forced to stop and face the shocking truth.
When Penny turns up on Laura’s doorstep late one stormy night, holding the hand of a shivering little girl, Laura is immediately suspicious of her sister’s motives. Just what does Penny want and who is this little girl?
Penny carries a devastating secret that will test their bond as sisters and is forced to make an impossible choice.
Can the sisters find it within their hearts to forgive and unite before it’s too late?

Published Date: 22 November 2023

My Review

This is a story of 2 sisters who have not be in contact for many years. The story started with Penny who lives in Australia, struggle to take care of her small daughter Willow after she fled from her abusive husband. To make thing worst, she discover that she have cancer. She realise that she have no support and she can’t let Willow to go back to her husband. With no alternative available, she did the only that she can think of, she went home and seek her estranged sister for help.

Laura live a more comfortable wife and have a lovely home. From the perspective of an outsider, she may have it all but with her 2 adult children, she become increasingly notice the fragility of her marriage. Being betrayed before, she discover that her husband is having an affair. She asked him to leave and determine to face the future alone. Until she found her long lost sister appeared at her doorstep together with her niece.

Both Laura and Penny have their own flawed and the way they mend back their relationship is fascinating to read. They had different challenges and truly love the way they pulled thru together. It showed to the reader how precious family unit is. Overall, it is an emotional book to me that had me sobbing hard at the end of the story.

My Rating

Happy Publication Day – 17 March 2023

Shopping With The Enemy By Carmen Reid

The opponents: mothers vs. daughters

The battle scene: a boutique changing room

Fashion-guru Annie’s well-dressed world is falling apart – first she has lost her legendary sense of style, and now her daughter Lauren seems to have become her worst enemy. Even her multi-millionairess friend, Svetlana, is having daughter trouble – she’s at war with Elena over their business in New York.

A trip to a luxurious Italian spa seems like the perfect way for Annie to forget her problems. But celery juice and Pilates can’t solve the disasters that are about to strike . . .

Will Annie rescue her passion for fashion?

And can mothers and daughters ever truly be friends?

Happy Publication Day – 16 March 2023

Finding Love At Roseford Blooms By Fay Keenan

Escape to the beautiful, idyllic English countryside with Fay Keenan. 

After a rough year, the last place Lizzie Warner wants to be is Roseford. It may be a picture-postcard country idyll, but for Lizzie it will always hold difficult memories from her past. But when the alternative to staying with her Aunt Bee, owner of Roseford Blooms, is moving back in with her controlling parents – well, the choice is easy.

Simon Treloar was born and raised to be the Lord of the Manor, but now he’s had to hand over his beloved Roseford Hall to a heritage charity, he begins to question his usefulness. Can he find a way to make his mark, or is it better to walk away from generations of history and strike out on his own?

When Lizzie and Simon meet, they recognise kindred spirits in each other. But with both questioning their futures, can one magical summer in Roseford help Lizzie and Simon move on from what is holding them back? Or is there too much history on both sides for them ever truly to be happy together?

Review Card – A Sister’s Promise By Caroline Finnerty

Sisters Laura and Penny were once close, bonded together after the early death of their mother. Laura always had her younger sister’s back until one day everything changed and Penny disappeared.

Twenty years later Laura finds herself alone and at a crossroad in her life; questioning her marriage and her future. Meanwhile Penny has spent her whole life running away from her problems until one day she is forced to stop and face the shocking truth.

When Penny turns up on Laura’s doorstep late one stormy night, holding the hand of a shivering little girl, Laura is immediately suspicious of her sister’s motives. Just what does Penny want and who is this little girl?

Penny carries a devastating secret that will test their bond as sisters and is forced to make an impossible choice.
Can the sisters find it within their hearts to forgive and unite before it’s too late?

About The Author

Caroline Finnerty is an Irish commercial fiction author. She had the idea for her first book In a Moment after she became a mother for the first time and has since gone on to write The Last Goodbye, Into The Night Sky and My Sister’s Child. Her 5th novel The Last Days of Us will be published by Boldwood.

She lives on the banks of the Grand Canal in County Kildare with her husband, four young children and their dog. She also writes as Izzy Bayliss

Link To Purchase

Happy Publication Day – 14 March 2023

Faking It With The Grump By Kate O’Keeffe

He’s grumpy, boring, and thinks it’s okay to wear a suit and tie to a small town bar full of lumberjacks. But when I kiss him? Let’s just say I wasn’t expecting THAT.

Harper
It’s one thing to be dumped by the huge Hollywood star you thought you were going to marry. It’s quite another to move back to the small town you’re both from.

As a booby prize for being shown the door by Dex Ryder, everyone is trying to set me up with their son, their nephew, or their long-lost cousin’s gardener. Either that or they’re throwing me pitying looks that say, “You’re a big loser.”

I’m not going to put up with their patronizing sympathy anymore.

So, when I spot new-guy-in-town Christopher Young, I set out to make him mine. Or you know, pretend to make him mine. I’m still in a horrible funk over Dex, and Christopher is an uptight grump. Not exactly my type.

The fact that despite appearances, he’s gorgeous and doing weird things to my blood pressure doesn’t mean a thing.

Really.

Not. A. Thing.

Christopher
Hunter’s Creek, population next to nothing, is the reason I work all the time. I’m solely focused on buying the town’s lumber mill so I can go back to NYC and get my big promotion. This small town is a means to an end. Nothing more.

That is until the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen superglues her lips to mine in an unexpected and very public way. She’s not the kind of woman I usually go for with her boho dress and ankle boots, but that kiss…

I’m disappointed when she comes up for air and tells me it’s all for show. But if Harper Cole wants me to be her fake boyfriend while I’m here in town, who am I to turn her down? Being attached to a local might ingratiate me to the townsfolk and make my job that much the easier.

After all, dating Harper can only be make believe. Not when my entire future is at stake.

Fantasies Of My Best Friend’s Dad ByLavender Skye

An enemies-to-lovers romance that will leave you breathless!

What happens in Tuscany, stays in Tuscany: A sizzling hot romance that defies age and expectations…

When Emmy’s best friend ditches her for a whirlwind romance in Paris, she’s left to explore the hills of Tuscany with the last person she ever expected – Lyla’s enigmatic and devilishly handsome father Nathan. Trapped in a cozy cabin during a snowstorm, Emmy discovers that Nathan is more than just a billionaire banker, but a man with a past…and a burning desire for her.

As the snow melts and their time in the cabin comes to an end, Nathan and Emmy must decide if their fiery passion is just a temporary fling or if it’s the start of a steamy love affair that will last a lifetime.

Book Review – The Three Loves Of Sebastian Cooper By Zoe Folbigg

As friends and family gather for the funeral of charming and charismatic Seb Cooper, three women sit in the congregation, mourning his loss.

First there is Clair, Seb’s wife and partner of twenty years, and mother of his two children. Furious at Seb for dying and leaving their children without a father, Clair isn’t sure of her place, and has been left baffled and bemused by the conflicting stories of Seb’s last days.

Then there’s Desiree, the woman Seb left Clair for. Heartbroken, self-conscious, and wondering if she made a mistake coming today. 

And the third and noisiest mourner of all is Noemie – Seb’s lover and the last woman to see him alive. 

Three women who loved Seb in their own different ways.

Three women whose lives have now changed forever.

But only one woman knows what really happened at the end…and only one truly had his heart…

Published Date: 27 September 2022

My Review

The story started with Sebastian’s family gathered at his funeral with everyone have in the same question in their ind, how does it happened. As the story progresses, we were introduced to the 3 women in his life; Claire, Desiree and Noemie. The story was told from these 3 women’s perspective and essentially the story of Seb’s life. Claire is his ex wife and partner for 20+ years and mother of his 2 children. Desiree is the women he left Claire and Noemie, Seb’s lover and the last women who the last saw him alive.

Honestly, from the title and synopsis of this book, it was not something i would pick for myself but i m glad that i did. It is a family drama and i love the narrative alternating from present to past and from each character’s point of view which allow the reader to understand how thing really are which unfortunately the character is not privy do. Overall it is a well constructed story that weaves between the main characters.

My Rating

Happy Publication Day – 12 March 2023

A Summer Changes Everything By Isabelle Grace

When his wife died, Reese was sure he’d never love again. Then he met Shelby. 

Widowed horse and cattle farmer Reese Blackwood does not need a keeper. Not for himself or his two sons. They can manage just fine on their own. At least that’s what he keeps telling everybody, especially himself. 

Elementary school teacher Shelby Corbett is no pushover. Just ask anyone who has seen how easily she handles a classroom full of boisterous kids. So spending the summer break looking after Reese’s two energetic boys is totally within her wheelhouse. 

Which shocks Reese completely. 

That’s only the first surprise, though. The second is the undeniable attraction that sparks between them. An attraction that’s totally unexpected but becomes increasingly difficult to ignore. As she helps Reese reconnect with his boys, Shelby shines a light into his dark and lonely world, bringing hope to his broken and grieving heart. 

Hope that Reese fears will be lost again when Shelby’s six-week stay at Lone Oaks is over. 

Unless he’s willing to risk everything by asking her to stay.