Recommended Reading – Page 15

Friday Free For All

Five From Olivia Hardin

March 27, 2015 1 Comment

Welcome to Five From Friends Friday!

Each week, I’ll share with you five quick and quirky questions and answers

from some of my favorite author friends.

I think you’ll see some familiar faces in here, too.

Quickies from Olivia Hardin

I met my dear friend Olivia through a writer support group on Facebook, which eventually pared down to eight of us who formed Romantic Edge Books. We discovered we had a great deal in common, including a love of history, a inquisitive spirituality and a wickedly irreverent sense of humor. Because we also realized that both of us had somehow missed on certain cultural phenomenon others in group had experienced, we like to joke that we lived under the same rock. It’s a very funny, safe and educational rock, let me tell you. I’m blessed to have Olivia in my life, both as a friend and as a fellow author. Here are her five quickies. . .

Q: Your sweet dog Bonnie Sue is given the gift of speech for five minutes. What is she most likely to say to you?

A: That little dog is probably the “loving-est” animal I’ve ever seen. In the mornings when we wake up she cuddles up and nuzzles our necks and whines and moans to us. I always imagine she’s saying something like: “Good morning, mom. Good morning, dad. I love you. I love you. Promise we’ll always be together. Promise I’ll always be your baby. Now can we get up and go outside? I love you mom and dad. Can we go outside now? Do you love me too, mom? Let’s go, let’s go! Yes, scratch my ears just like that, daddy. Its time to get up! Come on! Let’s go!”

Q: You win the HGTV Dream Home, which is in Martha’s Vineyard this year. Will you move there or sell it?

A: Uhm… I’m thinking I’d sell it. I’m a Texas-gal. I don’t see myself moving anywhere else. Although, maybe I need a second home…

Q:The zombie apocalypse is here, and you can only fit 3 books in your backpack (no Kindles). What books will make the cut?

A: Aztec by Gary Jennings, Glory Road by Robert Heinlein, and The Life and Times of the Thundergbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

Q: You’re granted the ability to live in the world of a television show for one day. Which one will you choose?

A: Hmmm… Probably Downton Abbey… that’s my absolute favorite show. The real question, is would I want to live upstairs or downstairs… decisions, decisions…

Q: Ina Garten (the Barefoot Contessa) appears at your door and offers to cook you any meal. What’ll be on the menu?

A: Well… I like to try new things, so I probably would let her choose a meal for me… Probably something with chicken or beef (no fish), some kind of a exciting potato or vegetable side and then a dessert that hopefully includes chocolate… oooh… and some sort of exotic beverage too!

***

When Olivia Hardin started having movie-like dreams in her teens, she had no choice but to begin putting them to paper. Before long, the writing bug had bitten her, and she knew she wanted to be a published author. Several rejections plus a little bit of life later, she was temporarily “cured” of the urge to write. That is, until she met a group of talented and fabulous writers who gave her the direction and encouragement she needed to get lost in the words again.

A native Texas girl, Olivia lives in the beautiful Lone Star state with her husband, Danny and their puppy, Bonnie.

Follow Olivia here: Website/Newsletter/Twitter/Facebook/Youtube

JUSTICE FOR ALL

Coming March 31st

Kay Rawley has plans. She might be the second child of an earl, but she wants a life away from her father’s estate in New Durma. She wants a life apart from her family’s name. Becoming a lawyer was a bright, shiny object she just couldn’t resist grabbing. Her classes are complete, and all she has to do is pass the bar to get permanent employment at the Dallas law firm where she’s been interning for the past year.

Kay’s been on Audrick Van Buren’s radar since the day she walked into his classroom two years ago. That admiration only grew when she came to work for his firm. But if there’s anything he recognizes, it’s a woman who’s driven–and Kay is definitely one. It’s all he can do to keep his distance and allow her the chance to come into her own. What Van doesn’t know is that someone else is watching Kay, too, and if he doesn’t step between them, that person might not only derail her career but threaten her very life.

Things aren’t always what they seem, and Kay’s about to learn that the best laid plans are so much better when they go astray.

What I'm Reading Wednesday

I’m Reading The Deal by Elle Kennedy

March 25, 2015 No Comments

All right, confession time: I’m really in a sort of reading slump. While I was wrapping up the writing of The Only One, I did my traditional ‘read good quickies as I fell asleep every night’ deal. This time, I happened to find some really good books, which I enjoyed. Unfortunately, I can’t find anything to read right now, when I’m in a writing vacation and need some juicy words!

I want to talk about four books I read during the last week: The Deal by Elle Kennedy, Confess by Colleen Hoover, When Joss Met Matt by Ellie Cahill and The Distance Between Us by Kasie West.

My two favorites by far were The Deal and When Joss Met Matt. The Deal was another of the college-tutor-falls-for-jock-she’s-tutoring books. It’s quickly becoming one of my favorite tropes. I really enjoyed this book in particular, because the characters were so insanely well-drawn. Hannah and Garrett may become one of my favorite couples of all time: Hannah is a survivor, but her past trauma doesn’t define her. She’s gotten beyond it. And when hockey player Garrett pursues her because he desperately needs her help to pass a test, she doesn’t want to help him. How he convinces her to do it is original, funny and endearing. Her slow evolution to inclusion in his world–and his into hers–is realistic and sweet. I can’t for the follow up to this book.

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When Joss Met Matt was a book I wasn’t sure I’d like. Remember a few weeks ago when I read The Way We Fall? I’d gotten burnt by flashbacks, and this book seemed chock full of them. However, I was pleasantly surprised, because this book did the backward looks very, very well. Set against the backdrop of one evening in the present, we learn how Joss met Matt, how they became each other’s Sorbet Sex partners–again, a cute idea–and how it worked out for them over the years. There’s nothing unpredictable here; as my daughter said when I described the books, it’s a little like Friends with Benefits. You know what’s coming. But the resolution was a slow and steady build-up to a satisfying and awww-inducing conclusion. I really enjoyed this one.

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Close runners-up were Confess and The Distance Between Us. You know I’m still nursing a little resentment against Ms. Hoover after the hole Never, Never deal, but this was a decent story, a little dark and a little tragic, but a few little twists. I liked the resolution, but felt a tad heavy. TDBU is a YA, which I seldom read anymore, but it was well-written, even if the story was a teeeny bit trite and a lot of loose ends were left untied. Again, it was the characters who grabbed me; both were well-constructed and likable.

So I’m off now to the beach for the day, and I need a read. I’m bringing my Kindle. . .who can give me a good, well-written, light and funny romance? Mama needs a good love story!

I’ll report back next Wednesday.

Friday Free For All

Five From Rochelle Paige

March 20, 2015 No Comments

Welcome to Five From Friends Friday!

Each week, I’ll share with you five quick and quirky questions and answers

from some of my favorite author friends.

I think you’ll see some familiar faces in here, too.

Quickies from Rochelle Paige

I was lucky enough to meet Rochelle last year at Indie BookFest and then again at Indie MashUp Tampa. I fell in love with her Blythe College series–fun New Adult romance. Rochelle also has a writer son. . .it’s all in the family. Let’s see what she has to share with us today. . .

Q: Easter is coming! What’s your favorite Easter candy?

A: Jelly Belly jelly beans

Q: A terrible spell has been cast on the world: only ONE song will play, 24/7, for eternity. You get to choose the song. What will it be?

A: Now that’s just evil! Hmmm… I think I’d go old school and pick Hotel California by the Eagles.

Q: Your fairy godmother is going to bring one of your characters to reality for one day. Which one will you choose?

A: But… but… but… that’s like picking my favorite child! Okay… fine! If I had to pick just one, then I think I’d choose Faith Quinn. I’m planning to release her & Dillon Montgomery’s story in late May or early June and it’s near and dear to me because it touches upon organ donation and transplants.

Q: Which romantic couple in literature absolutely makes you swoon?

A: This is a tough question because there are so many amazing romantic couples from which to choose. I think I’ll have to say Buttercup and Westley from The Princess Bride. Westley loved Buttercup all of his life and was willing to endure any kind of pain for her, while Buttercup was willing to give herself to a loveless marriage in order to save his life.

Q:You just typed the magical words THE END on your latest MS. What’ll you do to celebrate?

A: My favorite way to celebrate the completion or release of a book is with a bottle of Moscato and a Dairy Queen ice cream cake. 🙂

Rochelle Paige is the Amazon bestselling author of the Blythe College, Bachelorette Party and Black River Pack series. She absolutely adores reading and her friends growing up used to tease her when she trailed after them, trying to read and walk at the same time. She believes in insta-love, hot sex and happily ever afters. She is the mother of two wonderful sons who inspired her to chase her dream of being an author. She wants them to learn from her that you can live your dream as long as you are willing to work for it.

Follow Rochelle here: Facebook/Twitter

Meet the Tate brothers… and the mates fate has in store for them.

Crying Wolf
Grace Shaw is on the run from her crazy ex-boyfriend who refuses to believe their relationship is over. He’s a cop and is willing to use police resources to track her down. So Grace comes up with a plan and tricks his fellow brothers in blue into thinking he is crying wolf a couple of times when he’s reported her missing. Little does she know she’ll go running into the arms of a real wolf when she finally makes her escape for real.

She just wants to be left alone, but then she meets Hunter Tate – the alpha of the Black River Pack. Grace tries to hold Hunter at arm’s length, but there’s just no reasoning with an alpha male werewolf who insists she’s his mate.

Shoot for the Moon
Eliza Reve knows that her ability to dream of future events sets her apart from others. Her gift became a curse when she wasn’t able to save her mother or the alpha’s son and she found herself exiled – a lone wolf. When she joins the Black River Pack, Eliza vows never to reveal her talent to anyone. Not even the man who has walked in her dreams for years.

Spencer Tate is her mate, but her visions have told her that he will renounce her. When he doesn’t recognize her as his mate, she agrees to the no-strings-attached affair he offers because she thinks it’s the most she can hope for. Although her heart breaks as she falls deeper in love with him, she wants to spend as many days with Spencer as possible before he kicks her out of his life.

When Spencer finally comes to his senses, he has his work cut out for him to convince Eliza that he wants her forever. When another she-wolf insists she’s his mate instead, things get even more complicated. But Spencer isn’t the alpha’s second and enforcer because he isn’t willing to fight for what’s his, and he refuses to settle for anything less than Eliza as his marked and claimed mate.

Thrown to the Wolves
Annora Channing’s entire world changes the moment she discovers she’s a bear shifter. With mated wolves for parents, she should have been a wolf also. When the man she grew up thinking was her father realizes she isn’t his daughter, he devises a plan to use her existence to his advantage in a way that will get her out from under his roof.

When her situation goes from bad to worse, Annora escapes but is badly injured in the process. Luckily, Elias Reve comes to her rescue while on his way to Wolf’s Point and the daughter he lost years ago. With nowhere else to go and nobody to turn to, Annora joins him on his journey and ends up running smack-dab into the arms of her mate.

Parker Tate knows Annora is his the moment he lays eyes on her. When he manages to mate and mark her within hours of when they meet, he considers himself lucky. Then the trouble nipping at Annora’s heels finds her and Parker realizes the path to claiming his mate won’t be as easy as he thought – especially not with the bears involved.

Pre-order here at the special price of 99 cents!

What I'm Reading Wednesday

I’m Reading #Nerd, #Hater, #Player

March 18, 2015 No Comments

The indie community is not without its drama, and last fall, some of it involved two authors who apparently were both writing books with a similar main idea. I don’t know details, I don’t know people involved; I only heard buzzings here and there. For some reason, the topic in question stuck in my head.

So when I saw the titles of Cambria Hebert’s series, it rang a bell. I might’ve just slid past it, but the blurb of the first book (#Nerd) struck a chord, and I downloaded it.

<br /> I’ve said before that I find some New Adult books somewhat formulaic. It doesn’t bother me, necessarily, as long as the characters are strong and the storyline doesn’t take itself too seriously. A few extra twists never hurt anyone, either.

#Nerd definitely has the formula element. The nerd is the girl, Rimmel (and it’s never addressed where her name came from. . .which I found interesting and a little maddening. If I knew a girl named Rimmel, the first thing I’d ask is where she got her name). She’s not only a nerd, she’s actually a very shy, withdrawn, almost-hermit girl, who dresses in clothes five sizes too big, wears her hair around her face and keeps everyone at arm’s length. As a matter of fact, in my school days, she wouldn’t have been termed a nerd, necessarily, as much as just ignored. In Buffy-lore, Rimmel would’ve gone invisible long before our story begins. But I digress.

She’s at a college in Maryland on scholarship, and of course part of that scholarship is the requirement to tutor her less-academically-minded students. And to whom is she assigned as a tutor? You guessed it. Hot, rich, popular football player, with heavy emphasis on PLAYER. Dude gets around. During their first study session in the library, he slinks off with a random chick and our poor little nerd spies him getting some action in the stacks.

(Side note to girls in college: if popular literature is accurate, get yourself on staff as a tutor to meet the man of your dreams. Apparently it never fails. You’re welcome.)

But our player, Roman, aka Romeo (and it’s a testament to how much I really liked his character, because I had a hard time taking him seriously with that nickname) turns out to have a heart of gold. He sees the sweet vulnerability in Rimmel, and something in him harkens to something in her. Deep cries unto deep, one might say.

Unfortunately, before this can really develop, there’s a complication in the form of a fraternity rushing initiation. Although this is not a belabored point, thankfully, it does play into both the rest of this book and the second one. There’s the twist, see?

I gobbled up all three books in about three days, so you can tell I enjoyed them. The characters were compelling, well-written and likable. The plot wasn’t shocking or earth-shattering, but it was viable and interesting. The use of the fictional college’s BuzzFeed, a texting gossip network work that uses way too many hashtags, was cute and added to the background.

If I had any reservations about these books, it would be the speed with which Rimmel transforms from hermit-girl to girlfriend of popular dude. We find out why she’s hiding under all those clothes fairly quickly after she and Romeo begin dating, and while I am all for the theory of love-cures-all, I needed her to be a little more real in her reservations. Then again, maybe in real life, any girl who was full-court-press pursued by our man Romeo would cave fast, too.

A fourth book is coming out in May, about one of the side characters. I really enjoyed the supporting cast in these books, including Romeo’s parents. I like this new trend in NA of letting the parents play a bigger role. It feels more realistic to me.

So if you enjoy New Adult romance with a little humor, some heaty heat (oh, yeah!) and some intense love. . .if you liked Beautiful Disaster, for instance. . .check out Cambria Hebert’s Hashtag series.

I’m off to skulk for something else to read. Oh, yeah. . .and write the book that’s under deadline right now.

Friday Free For All

Five From Josie Bordeaux

March 13, 2015 No Comments

Welcome to Five From Friends Friday!

Each week, I’ll share with you five quick and quirky questions and answers

from some of my favorite author friends.

I think you’ll see some familiar faces in here, too.

Quickies from Josie Bordeaux

I met Josie last summer at Indie BookFest 2014 and then again at Indie MashUp Tampa. She’s funny, smart and talented. . .and I really enjoyed hanging out with her a bit. I was thrilled when I got the chance to corner her for five quickies!

Q: A friend is about to get on the airplane and asks for a fast-read book recommendation. What do you tell her?

A: Aside from my erotic romance novella (I’m assuming since this is my friend she’s already read it!), I would recommend Strictly Off-Limits by Jessica Hawkins. It’s a quick, erotic romance that was a part our limited time Forbidden Fruit Anthology. I fell in love with her writing.

Q: A genie appears and offers to bring one of YOUR characters to life. Who do you choose?

A: Ohh! Definitely Matt from Romantic Promises. Believe me, I love my other characters, but Matt is a nice mix of alpha, sweet and most definitely sexy!

Q: Your significant other offers to take you to any restaurant you want for your birthday dinner. Where will you go?

A: Anywhere? I’m assuming – anywhere in the world? Mmm, that would definitely be Le Chalet de Gruyeres for some amazing fondue in the world! Oh wait, you mean locally? Columbia Restaurant! Their 1905 Salad and Sangria are to die for!

Q: What’s the most surprising part of being an author?

A: The amazing friends I’ve made. Between readers, authors and bloggers, the Indie community is absolutely supportive and amazing to be a part of.

Q: Your car’s being repaired at a shop next door to a Target. You have an hour to kill. In which department will we find you?

A: Gah! Please don’t ask me that! I’m so embarrassed. It would be the toy department. Yes, even when my kids are in school, I find myself wandering around there. Legos are my favorites and I’m just a little jealous that they have girl Legos now. My favorite thing to do on a rainy day is break out my daughters’ Legos and start building! Sometimes I’ll even let them play! 😉

***

Josie Bordeaux is the author of the Alluring Promises series. Her romance novels revolve around friendships, sizzling attraction, and steamy sex scenes. Lust, passion, and love are all entwined with a lot of drama and fun-filled friendships. Josie lives in the sunshine state with her best friend (AKA – husband) and two sweet (and very creative) daughters. When she’s not driving her kids around town, she’s usually clicking her fingernails on her keyboard or down at the beach where her eyes are glued to her kindle app reading.

Follow Josie here: Website/Facebook/Twitter/Goodreads/Google+/Tsu/Amazon/Newsletter (by signing up for my newsletter, readers will receive The Naughty Au Pair, an erotic romance novella for free!)

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**Each Book in the Alluring Promises Series can be read as a stand-alone.**
Adult Content for 18 and over.

Clark leaves heartache in his wake at every turn. He’s perfected the art of a well-oiled one-night stand. Banging a girl in record time in the back room at his favorite bar has always been his M.O.

Aubrey should know this better than anyone. After all, she was one of his one-night stands. Even though she has fond memories of that night, she adheres to her own set of rules when it comes to using a guy–One time only.

But, when Aubrey willingly moves in with Clark, the most attractive, annoying womanizer she’s ever met, their living situation forces the pair into an unlikely, and at times, unusual friendship…and what develops from that is something they never could have predicted.

The walls they both spent their lives trying to construct start to crumble beneath the power of friendship and lustful attraction.

When those walls come down, will either of them be able to handle what’s happened to their hearts?

Buy today!!

Goodreads/Amazon/BN/Kobo/GooglePlay

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