Stay Home Readathon and Tag

The Reading Rush does a big readathon in July, but since we are all stuck at home the ladies that run it decided to host a mini readathon to encourage people to read and stay home.  Like the regular week long event there will be instagram challenges and badges.  I'm reading anyway, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.   The #stayhomereadingrush is running from April 16th-19th.

The Reading Rush Stay At Home Announcement Video or you can check out their website: https://thereadingrush.com/

Stay Home Reading Tag Questions:

How is your reading going while staying home?  I'm still reading, but I'm less focused.  I am reading less than I was with our hectic schedule when school and activities were going on.  Seems like it would be the other way around, but I'm working from home full time and my house is crazy loud all the time.  It's hard to find a quiet place to read and focus right now.

Where have you been reading at home? Usually on the couch, but because someone is always on the xbox, my focus isn't the best.  I can't focus when I read in bed, I usually fall asleep.  I have been listening to alot of audiobooks, thankfully can usually listen and work at the same time.

Best book you’ve read during isolation?

The Treble with Men by Piper Sheldon - This is kind of a Phantom of the Opera retelling.  It features an angry Maestro and a cello player who hasn't realized her full potential.  I really loved it.

What’s your favourite feel good book?  I'm not a big re-reader, so I'd say I typically turn to romantic comedies when I need a feel good book.  Penny Reid is a go to for me when I need a pick me up or I'm in a slump.

Book you wish you could buy or borrow from the library?  I don't really feel like this is an issue for me.  I shop online for books often and I've been borrowing ebooks and audiobooks from the library for ages so I don't feel like this is an issue for me.  I may or may not have made 2 large Book Outlet purchases during their recent sale.

Author you want to shout out during this time?  Colleen Hoover put up a bunch of her books for free at the beginning of the isolation period and she's been posting a lot of funny stuff on instagram.  Also all of the authors/staff over at Smartypants Romance.  I've been lucky enough to review for the spring launch and the books are awesome.  The authors and the PR staff are amazing.  They have all been posting great stuff, checking in, and if they can putting their books on sale/free for their readers.

What is your Reading Rush TBR? 

Since the readathon is only 4 days I'm planning to double up on the prompts.  

Reading Challenges Read a book with a house on the cover.  

Read a book in the same room the whole time. 

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson - I've wanted to read this forever.  It just happened to be on sale today, so I was finally able to grab it for my kindle.  I love scary stories and this has both a house on the cover and it is supposedly less than 200 pages.  Should be easy to finish in a few hours and in one place.  It is also touted to be one of the best scary stories ever written.  I'm looking forward to it.  I also have Hell House, but it's a lot longer.  I'll probably save that for Halloween time.

Read a book set somewhere you wish you could go. 

Read a book that will make you smile.

Batter of Wits by Karla Sorensen - This comes out on the 21st, but I have an ARC so I was going to be reading this week anyway.  If I could go to Green Valley and the Donner Bakery or Daisy's Nut House, I would.  I also know that all of these books are smile inducing.  Almost all of them are rom-coms and end with a happily ever after.  I really liked Karla's previous book in the series so I know this one will be great too.

Blog Tour: Been There Done That by Hope Ellis

Theirs was a forever kind of love, until it was stolen.

Been There Done That, an all-new second-chance romantic standalone by debut author Hope Ellis, is available now!

ZORA LEFFERSBEE’S once perfect life is no longer perfect. Her tenure at the University is in question, funding for her employees uncertain, and her faux-fiancé, Jackson James’s unpredictability is wearing on her last nerve. Just when Zora is convinced things can’t get more complicated, life proves her wrong.

What the heck is he doing here?

NICK ROSSI’s complicated life is still extremely complicated. He’s used to fighting for everything he has, but he’s also used to winning. Now a man of power and influence, his return to Green Valley after so many years hasn’t gone according to plan, especially with the woman he’s always wanted.

She can’t know why I left, or why I’m back.

A powerful woman intent on righting the wrongs of the world, Zora doesn’t have time or energy to deal with the man who broke her young heart.

A powerful man intent on righting the wrongs of the past, Nick can’t help wanting to protect Zora, even if his devotion is unrequited.

‘Been There Done That’ is a full-length contemporary romance, can be read as a standalone, and is book #1 in the Leffersbee series, Green Valley World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

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Excerpt

My Grandmother Leffersbee used to say, “Life isn’t perfect, but that’s what makes it so interesting.” Then she’d wink before adding, “Do you want interesting? Or do you want boring?”

Right now? I could use some boring perfection. Just a little. Just a smidge. Please.

“Zora.” A vaguely familiar-sounding voice said my name from someplace in the vicinity of my office doorway. I ignored it, hoping they’d take my silence as an invitation to go away.

You’re almost out of time.

My eyes stung, but I wasn’t going to cry. There is no crying in clinic communication research; there is only more research, more grant applications, more trying, more doing. But, damn, I really thought we had this one in the bag. Folks’ livelihoods depended on it. My tenure, my job, depended on it. Not to mention the research itself was important—so incredibly important.

“Zora,” that voice said again, firmer this time. Closer.

Given my present state of mind and eau de sweat fantastique, I can’t help barking out, “Now isn’t a good time.”

The man didn’t respond for a beat, but then once more said, “Zora,” this time with a hint of grit and impatience.

My glare cut away from the offending rejection email and I opened my mouth to volley something scathingly polite and dismissive, but then every nerve and muscle in my body seized. The clouds outside my office window parted at that very moment, emitting a biblical shaft of light that illuminated my overstuffed bookcases—and the breathtaking specimen of man standing in my office doorway on the fifth floor of the medical research building.

What the . . .?

Shock choked me. I couldn’t breathe. The cracked vinyl of the office chair’s armrests bit into the tender flesh of my palms.

I recognized him immediately even though he looked very, very different. All the awkward lankiness and unformed promise of his youth had been ruthlessly fulfilled in the intervening years. But after twelve years of empty, aching absence, of wondering and worrying, of resignation and sadness . . . he was here.

Was he real?

“I thought . . . I thought you were dead.” The whispered words left my mouth at the same time they formed in my brain.

Nick Armstrong stood silent and unmoving, a stolid sentry, looking at me. Just . . . looking.

The width of his shoulders filled the doorway, leaving scant space between his head and the door frame. I couldn’t help devouring the sight of him, half-wondering if he were a mirage. Despite being as fashion challenged as I was, I easily identified the perfect fit of a bespoke suit, noting how the high-quality fabric closely followed the muscled bulk of his shoulders and arms. The unassuming dark jacket, white dress shirt, and trousers did little to hide his tapered waist and well-developed thighs.

His hulking presence alone ensnared my attention, but his face arrested it. He was striking. Thick, ink-black hair just starting to curl over his collar matched the dark stubble shadowing his square jaw. His slightly off-center nose, likely the result of a break, ruined the pure symmetry of his features. But his eyes were a startling shade of green, the same showy, verdant hue of summer leaves under an ominously gunmetal sky.

So unsettlingly familiar. And yet . . . No, it couldn’t be him. There was no way it was Nick. Not after all these years.

This isn’t possible.

I lurched up and made a spectacle of myself as I struggled to stand. Panic weighted my feet. Disbelief severed any connection with my brain’s higher processing, leaving me stuck to my chair with my mouth hanging ajar. “Letting in flies,” as my Grandma Leffersbee would have said.

I blinked back confusion as I stared at him, captured by a whisper, an echo of a memory. “Who . . . ?”

His mouth moved, like maybe he was going to introduce himself. But instead, he repeated my name for a fourth time, “Zora . . .”

This voice was different from the Nick I had loved. Deeper. But the way he said my name, slowly, as if savoring the taste of something rich? I could never forget that.

It is him.

About Hope Ellis

Hope Ellis is a health outcomes researcher by day and writes romances featuring sexy nerds by night. She hopes to one day conquer her habit of compulsively binge-watching The Office.

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Release Blitz: Cutie and the Beast by M.E. Carter

Welcome back to Weight Expectations, where the unexpected is likely to happen.

Cutie and the Beast, an all-new hilarious romantic standalone from M.E. Carter, is LIVE!

Living with her mother seemed like a good idea at the time. But Elliott Donovan’s living arrangements are not working for her anymore. Desperate to get back on her financial feet after a divorce and out from under her mother’s thumb, Elliott takes a job in the child care center at Weight Expectations, a local gym.

It has everything she needs – family friendly hours, more pay than she expected, and a super cute trainer who just happens to have part of his house for rent.

Abel DiSoto was living the good life until his wife walked out taking half of the family income with her. The blow to his ego was bad enough, but after a fire at the gym scattered Abel’s clients, and consequently his commissions, he’s stuck figuring out how to make ends meet, too. Renting out the master suite of his house to his new co-worker seems like an easy solution. They’re both mature adults, they both have eight-year-old daughters, and their work schedules coordinate so they can lend each other a helping hand to ease the burden of single parenthood.

The only downside? Living like a blended family when you’re not actually a family can present some challenges.

Welcome back to Weight Expectations, where the unexpected is likely to happen.

‘Cutie and the Beast’ is a full-length contemporary romantic comedy, can be read as a standalone, and is book #3 in the Cipher Office series, Knitting in the City World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

Download your copy TODAY!

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Coming to Kindle Unlimited April 20th!

About M.E. Carter

My name is M.E. Carter and I have no idea how I ended up writing books. I’m more of a story teller (the more exaggerated the better) and I happen to know people who helped me get those stories on paper. I love reading (read almost 200 books last year), hate working out (but I do it anyway because my trainer makes me), love food (but hate what it does to my butt) and love traveling to non-touristy places most people never see. I live in Houston with my four kids, Mary, Elizabeth, Carter and Bug, who was just a twinkle in my eye when I came up with my pen name. Yeah, I’ll probably have to pay for his therapy someday for being left out.

Find M.E. Carter online

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Review: Cutie and the Beast by M.E. Carter

Cutie and the Beast by M.E. Carter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is the 3rd installment of the Cipher Office series, but it reads as a standalone.  We meet the main character in [book:Weight Expectations|51558050] and [book:Sticking to the Script|52973190] is unrelated to this story completely.  You don't have to have read either of the previous books in the series in order to jump right in to Abel's story.  Abel is a single dad and personal trainer at a local gym.  He is still trying to pick up the pieces after  a run of back luck.  His wife left him and their daughter a bit abruptly, a fire took out the original gym he worked at and he's slowly building back his clientele, his 8 year old is a handful, and like most parents he's just trying to keep it all together.  Elliott is a similar situation, she's a single mom, also recently divorced, trying to find a job and a new place to live before she ruins her relationship with her mother.  When she lands a job as the new child care manager at Abel's gym, someone recommends she check out Abel's room for rent.  It seems like a great opportunity for both of them.  They can help each other out with their daughters, rent, housework.  Abel and Elliott have very different parenting styles, and raising two daughters is hard enough when you are on the same page.  When they realize they have feelings for each other things get even more complicated when the girls and the co-parents get involved.

This was really cute.  I loved Abel in Weight Expectations and I'm glad he got to play a starring role in this book.  I really liked that we had two older characters with kids as main characters.  I'm happily married with two kids of my own, and my husband and I don't always see eye to eye on what to do with the kids.  We have to talk it out until we come to some sort of common ground about things.  This brings up good discussion on what a real relationship looks like.  It takes work, especially when kids are involved.  It also portrays children in a very realistic light, they don't always do what you tell them and they have thoughts, opinions, and emotions just like adults.  You have to remember to ask them about what they think and what they feel in difficult situations.

I were a few opportunities for social issues to be discussed, but I felt they were kind of just glossed over.  I wanted them to be discussed or handled in more depth.  That's just my opinion though.  There were other issues that were handled really well and the discussions were really great!  I won't give examples as they might be spoilers.  Overall, I really enjoyed the characters.  I thought their romance, while it developed slowly from a friendship to something more was really sweet.  This isn't the steamiest of steamy romances if that is what you are looking for.  The characters have good banter and a great friendship, but if you are looking for some great bedroom scenes this doesn't actually have that many.


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Blog Tour: Code of Honor by April White

Code of Honor, an all-new fun and flirty romantic standalone in the Cipher Security series from April White, is available now in Kindle Unlimited!

A painting, a panic room, a thief, and her lover … whose job is to catch her.

There are three things you need to know about Anna.

1) She’s a bounty hunter with adrenaline junkie habits,

2) She’s the “awkward” twin, and

3) She’s a thief – kind of.

Darius designs security systems for Cipher Security, and the strange and remarkable woman he met the night the painting was stolen is as intriguing a mystery as his hunt for the thief is.

But the lady has no filter, and she knows she can’t lie to the man who looks like a Disney Prince and kisses like fairytales are true, so she runs from the one person who may actually see her as the heroine of her own story.

‘Code of Honor’ is a full-length contemporary romantic suspense, can be read as a standalone and is book #2 in the Cipher Security series, Knitting in the City World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

Download your copy TODAY or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

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Excerpt

She was waiting for me to run away.

The woman in front of me, with whom conversation was akin to playing barefoot hopscotch on hot asphalt, who walked like shoes confused her, and who smelled of a spring breeze through a field of wildflowers, expected me to turn tail and bolt.

I rarely did the expected, however, and often made choices that flew directly in the face of convention. And as nothing about this woman or this conversation was conventional, I stayed.

And I laughed.

This startled her, and she suddenly dropped to the floor in what seemed at first to be a defensive maneuver, but was actually a crouch in order to pet the cat. Her posture put her face at approximately groin height, and for the space of exactly one half-second, I considered remaining in place to see if she would notice. But chivalry got the better of me, and I knelt down beside her.

Her face flamed bright red, and for a moment I thought she was ill.

“I was just staring at your penis, wasn’t I?” she said in a tone of complete chagrin.

Rarely did I meet someone even more straightforward than myself, and I attempted a benign expression. “Were you?”

The delightful woman sighed. “I was. I’m sorry.” But then a mischievous glint came into her eyes, and she said in a perfectly benign tone, “So, what do you think about my pussy?”

I choked on a startled bark of laughter, and she allowed herself a small grin as she deliberately ran her hands through the fur of the very contented cat.

“On that note, I believe it’s time for me to find something red to drink to match the color of my face,” she said, as she rose to her feet. She wasn’t graceful about it, but she was strong and didn’t wobble until she tried to take a step. She’d managed to stand on the hem of the pink silk gown she wore and winced at the sound of her heel tearing the fabric.

“Well, now I’ve officially hit my humiliation quota for the night. Enjoy the party, Mr. Masoud,” she said brightly, as she hurried away across the room. I let her go without further comment, though my eyes tracked her as she plucked a glass of red wine from a passing tray and finished half of it in one large gulp.

About April White

April White has been a film producer, private investigator, bouncer, teacher and screenwriter. She has climbed in the Himalayas, survived a shipwreck, and lived on a gold mine in the Yukon. She and her husband share their home in Southern California with two extraordinary boys and a lifetime collection of books.

Her first novel, Marking Time is the 2016 winner of the Library Journal Indie E-Book Award for YA Literature, and all five books in the Immortal Descendants series are on the Amazon Top 100 lists in Time Travel Romance and Historical Fantasy.

Find April White online

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Release Blitz: The Treble with Men by Piper Sheldon

The Treble With Men, an all-new standalone contemporary romance from Piper Sheldon, is LIVE!

As far as Green Valley is concerned, Kim Dae disappeared into the Wraiths a decade ago. They were sort of right. Kim has spent her life since Jethro fighting her curious nature and trying to blend into the background. Unfortunately for her, a mysterious Maestro comes to town and takes quick notice of her for reasons unknown to anybody.

The masked conductor, known simply as Devlin, was already a source of much gossip thanks to his reputation for getting fired. Now, his sudden interest in the quiet fourth chair cellist has added fuel to the rumor fire. The new conductor of the symphony needs to learn to control his temper and finish his latest musical masterpiece and only the reluctant star of his symphony can help him do that. If Devlin can’t convince Kim to help to finish his latest composition he’ll lose everything.

Can Devlin and Kim compose without losing composure?

‘The Treble with Men’ is a full-length contemporary romance, can be read as a standalone, and is book #2 in the Scorned Women’s Society series, Green Valley World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

Download your copy TODAY!

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Coming to Kindle Unlimited on April 14th!

About Piper Sheldon

Piper Sheldon writes Contemporary Romance and Magical Realism books that hope to be New York Times bestsellers when they grow up. For now, she works as a technical writer during the day and writes about love the rest of the time. Of course she also makes room for her husband, toddler, and two needy dogs at home in the Desert Southwest.

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Review: The Treble With Men by Piper Sheldon

The Treble With Men by Piper Sheldon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If you are a fan of The Phantom of the Opera (the musical) you will love this!  I've seen the Broadway production several times and listened to the music on repeat about a zillion times.  I even played the Music of the Night as a flute solo in 8th grade.  I wanted to be Christine when I listened to the music, and I secretly kind of always wanted Christine to pick the Phantom.

This is sort of a retelling of Phantom, and I found it hard to put down.  It follows Kim Dae/Christine Day, a fourth chair cellist at the local symphony and Devlin, the iintimidating masked Maestro known for his anger management problems.  When Devlin personally asks Kim to help him with his latest composition she is utterly confused.  First, she isn't quite sure how he knows her real name, she has been going by Christine Day since she put her wild days of running around with Jethro Winston behind her.  Second, she isn't the first chair, aka the best cellist in the symphony, she could be but she lets her demons of her past hold her back.  Devlin has his own secrets and demons but he isn't ready to let Kim know them yet, what he does know is that she is better than she is and he only accepts 150% from all of his musicians.  He pushes her and all of the musicians at the SOOK to their limits.  His methods aren't exactly the most endearing, but he's extremely talented.  As he lets his guard down with Kim, she is able to let go of some of her past and let the music in.

I loved this!!!  Kim and Devlin were amazing together.  Their relationship was as slow burn as it gets.  They are both stubborn, vulnerable, and the moments between them sizzle and burn.  I also loved that both of them had great sounding boards when they needed support.  Kim had the women of the SWS to help her and Devlin had the most wonderful family.  They may not have taken their advice, but they had people who loved them as they were and not for what they could do for them, and they would call them out for being ridiculous.  I loved watching these characters develop as individuals and as a couple.  There are great side characters as well.  The pace was great, when I wasn't reading this I was trying to find ways to get back to this book. 

Piper Sheldon's writing keeps getting better and better and I can't wait to see what she has in story for the rest of the Scorned Women Society. 

I was provided and ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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