Review: The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I'm torn between a 2 and a 3 star for this one.  I really liked parts of it and other parts were either over the top or repetitive.  Parts of this were really funny, and parts were really grotesque and gruesome.   Another reviewer said this was a mashup of the Stepford Wives and True Blood and I think that is a good way of describing this book.

There is definitely an overarching theme of southern ladies being kept in their place and minding their business.   This theme was exaggerated through the whole book to the point where I think it was supposed to be comical, but it just made the main character seem really dumb.  It was like watching old horror movies where the main female character is so stupid and has zero common sense, but she goes into the room where you know Jason or Michael Meyer is waiting.  I feel like that was what the author was going for, and he achieved that.  The male characters were not exactly likeable either, they were kind of ridiculous.  

While there is a paranormal aspect to the book, I wanted more of that.  Most of the book is centered around the coming and goings of the book club ladies and their daily chores.  Anything that doesn't fit in their nice, neat daily routine is brushed off and ignored.  The paranormal aspect takes a long time to develop and when we finally get to the horror part of the book it reads more like the true crime books the ladies of the book club like to read, again I feel like this was deliberate on the authors part.  In the end I thought the writing was good, but I wanted more of the paranormal and horror element, while this had more social commentary and the stuff I wanted took a long time to develop. 

The narration of the audio was excellent.  Bahni Turpin as always is amazing!

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Review: Hot Mess by Emma Hart

Hot Mess by Emma Hart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC in exchange for an honest review.  This was released on May 19, 2020.  I'm a bit behind on my reading and reviewing, but I  really liked this.

This was really fun and sweet.  Elle was hilarious and her banter with Theo was excellent.  I really appreciated that this dealt with a very real topic of the dangers of social media.  Not only does Elle have to deal with the adult version of social media drama and backlash, but she has a very real conversation about real life versus what influencers post for you to see with Theo's daughter.  I really loved that part and have similar conversations with my kids about reality vs social media all the time.  

Speaking of Theo's daughter, Ari is one of the awesome side characters in this book.  This books has some charming side characters, and Ari is one of them.  She one of Elle's superfans and has her dad wrapped around her little finger.  She is full of energy and like any little girl, she is full of energy and always into something.  She pretty funny and provides Elle with friendship and a distraction as she navigates her precarious internet fame situation.  

This was a little different than Emma's previous books as the romance is a little slower burn and sweet.  Most of her books are heavy on the romance and steam, but this one is alot sweeter and the characters take their time to get to know each other before taking things too far.  I really liked the way their relationship progressed as it didn't feel like insta-love and overly lustful.  Their relationship felt realistic and respectful.  I really loved this and highly recommend it if you are a fan of rom-coms but want one that is a bit less explicit.

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Blog Tour: Upsy Daisy by Chelsie Edwards

College, cookies, capers, Oh my!

Upsy Daisy, an all-new first love college romance from debut author Chelsie Edwards, is now available in Kindle Unlimited!

Daisy Payton has everything.

Exceptional grades.

Impeccable clothes.

Model family.

But perfection comes at a high cost, and Daisy is wilting. Determined to use college as her chance to bloom anew, she’s focused on only one thing, leaving the Payton name behind and forging her own path—even if she has to tell the teeniest of fibs to do it.

Trevor Boone has nothing.

Abandoned as a child.

Raised by distant relatives.

Constantly reminded he’s a burden.

Trevor’s lived at the edges of opulence for years, having all he’s ever desired dangled just out of reach. But his ambition is finally about to pay off and nothing will distract him from his goal—finishing college top of his class and starting life, on his own terms.

When Daisy and Trevor meet it’s clear from the start that they’ll tempt each other to distraction, can they learn to put their ambitions aside and fall or will they lose it all?

‘Upsy Daisy’ is a full-length romance, can be read as a standalone, and is book #1 in the Higher Learning series, Green Valley World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

Download your copy TODAY!

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2G2FwlO

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Excerpt

My room was small with pale yellow walls, one window on the far wall, two closets, two raised beds, and a single dresser. I’d beaten my roommate there and claimed the bed closest to the window. We’d made quick work of the cleaning and had gotten a good way through the decorating and hanging my clothes before Dolly flopped on the bed and called me to sit next to her. I knew what was coming next. It was one of my favorite Dolly speeches. It was the “Today You Become a Woman” speech. My conservative guess was I’d become a woman twenty-three times in the last few years. It’d happened when I’d gotten my driver’s license, when I’d gotten asked to the junior prom, when I’d gone to the senior prom, graduation day … you get the drift. Dolly was good with marking milestones with big speeches. She’d begin gently but I knew it wouldn’t stay gentle for very long, she would poke and pry and try to get me to cry and suddenly I was tired and ready for her to go. “Do you like your room?” she asked innocuously. I nodded, because I knew she hated when I nodded. Instead of reacting she simply stared and stared until I said, “Yes, it’s nice, a bit small for two people but I’m sure my roommate will be nice and we will make do,” I said it more hoping than knowing. Dolly smiled, and then after a moment said, “Don’t be angry with your father …” I stared at her confused, waiting for her to go on. She seemed to be struggling for words and so I patted her leg reassuringly. “Don’t worry, I’ll write him a letter. Or better yet, I think I saw a pay phone at the end of the hall, I’ll call him and tell him I’m not angry he couldn’t make the trip.” She sighed. “No, Daisy, I know you’re not angry over that.” There was another pause and she took a deep breath. “Daddy wanted to surprise you. He thought you might be more comfortable in your own room here since you have your own room at home.” I continued to stare at her. “He called in a favor with one of his friends at the Alumni Association and they made special accommodations for you … someone will be by to collect the extra bed—” “No,” I said more forcefully than I intended. I wasn’t angry with Dolly. Although she had kept this from me until now, so maybe I should’ve been. In fact I definitely should’ve been. “Dolly, why didn’t you tell me?” “I knew it would make you upset. There is no use trying to change what’s done.” “No use? Would make me upset? I am way past upset. I don’t want special accommodations. I don’t want my own room. I don’t want to be treated differently,” I hollered. “Daisy, calm down. This isn’t the end of the world.” How could I explain that it wasn’t the end of the world, it was a continuation of the same world. And that was the problem. I wanted to be Daisy Payton here, not Daisy Payton. Because Daisy Payton played a mean game of spades, and knew how to cornrow in every direction. She had a natural head for figures, and could even do three digit multiplication in her head. She loved the Temptations and could cut a rug on the dance floor with the best of them. She could bake better than your eighty-five-year-old granny. She studied geography for fun. She got a four-point-oh during the worst year of her life. She was good with potted plants but terrible in the garden; weeds were foes she could not defeat. She’d been kissed twice. Once was awful and once was amazing, so amazing that she did it again, and then again—so really four times, but three of the kisses happened in one session. And she wanted opportunities to roll that fifty-fifty dice again to find out how the next kiss would be. But Daisy Payton? Daisy Payton had a powerful father. (That poor man.) Daisy Payton was a rich girl. (She’s not but it doesn’t matter if people think you are.) She had a dead brother, who got murdered in Vietnam. (What a useless war.) Daisy Payton had a mother who was there and then *poof* was gone from breast cancer. (Poor Daisy.) Daisy Payton went from rich girl to poor girl. Poor little rich girl that everyone looked at with pity. And she hated it. She hated that everyone, everyone thought they knew her. She hated the assumption that if they hurt with her, or worse, for her, then it made the pain better, as if that made it the entire community’s pain; when it absolutely didn’t. She hated that she still read and reread the letters from her brother. Some of the pages had wrinkles from being crumpled in fits of anger because oh, she was so angry when he left. And then she felt guilty and stupid and horrified that she’d almost destroyed his letters when they were all that was left. Some were starting to show signs of age, yellow in some spots and the ink fading in others, and she hated that too because how could so much time have passed without him? And she hated that her mother had been helping her shop for homecoming dresses and was buried before Thanksgiving. It had spread so fast. No junior prom dress shopping. No junior prom. She barely remembered her senior year. She hated that her friends and family and perfect strangers spoke to her in hushed tones and assumed she was broken. She hated that they were right. Because the ache inside her was relentless. It constantly missed her brother. It constantly missed her mother. It would not abate. It could not be moved. She was thoroughly, horribly, broken and all that brokenness was put up for examination by an entire town. That just couldn’t happen here. For the whole of her life, the whole of Green Valley had treated her differently, and she absolutely hated it. But she wasn’t in Green Valley now. And Daisy Payton had a plan.

About Chelsie Edwards

Chelsie Edwards’ mother declared her a smarty-pants at 4 years old; now she gets to be one professionally. She manages project timelines by day and book timelines by night. She resides in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. and has no dogs, fish, or birds, but her neighbors cat “Buddy” keeps her company by sunbathing on her porch. Her debut novella is scheduled to be released Spring 2020 on Smartypants Romance and will chronicle Daisy and Trevor’s journey.

Find Chelsie Edwards online

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Blog Tour: Black Tangled Heart by Samantha Young

"Readers are in for a thrilling and emotional ride with this one! The storyline is engrossing, the characters are complex,  and the chemistry is off-the-charts palpable. It's my favorite book by Samantha Young to date." -- K.A. Tucker, international bestselling author of The Simple Wild

Black Tangled Heart, by New York Times bestselling author Samantha Young, is LIVE!

To my siblings, Jane was a friend. A pseudo-sister, the girl we grew up with.

To me? She was everything.

Our passion consumed us.

When our world fell apart, I thought our love would be the thing that held us together. 

She was the love of my life. But she abandoned me when I needed her most.

And I’ll never forgive her.

For years I’ve been planning my revenge against the people who took everything from me. 

Jane won’t be an exception. I’m coming for her. 

She knows it. 

She says she wants to help me serve my version of justice on the people who hurt me. 

I’ll let her.

She probably thinks it will save her from me. 

It won’t.

Download your copy today or read for free in Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2WWVjuo

Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/SYBTH 

 

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Excerpt: 

I stared dully at my painting. My creative mood had left the building, under the weight of the many questions going around and around in my head. Adrenaline made it hard for me to sit still. Cursing Jamie under my breath, I grabbed my laundry basket and headed toward the front door. Peering through the peephole, I double-checked his door was shut before I left my apartment. Glowering at his door as I passed, I hurried downstairs. How the hell had he maneuvered himself into my building? And why?

To my gratitude, the laundry room was empty as I crashed around inside it. I hauled out my stash of detergent and softener from my allocated locker and started separating my whites. That rat bastard. My heart raced, sweat gathered under my arms, and it agitated me. An encounter with Jamie was the equivalent of fifteen shots of caffeine.

And I hated that he knew I was lying to Asher. Something he could easily hold over my head.

“You are a very angry laundry doer.”

Jamie’s deep, rich voice startled me. Trying to control my breathing, I glared over at him standing in the doorway. Arms and ankles crossed as he leaned casually against the jamb. He wore a T-shirt and jeans. Nothing had changed there.

He was still the sexiest man I’d ever seen.

God, I hate him.

“What the hell are you doing in this building?” I turned my back on him, marching over to the stacked washers and dryers.

“I had no idea you lived here,” he lied, his voice growing closer as he crossed the room toward me.

Attempting not to react physically, to not hunch my shoulders in tension, I stared unseeing at the machines. What was I in the middle of doing again?

“What a surprise to find out you’re my neighbor.”

I snorted in disbelief and turned around, shocked to find him already in my personal space. “Liar.” I dragged my gaze insolently down his body and back up. “Move away. And I mean that in more ways than one.”

“Oh, does my presence bother you?” His wicked smile caused somersaults in my belly. 

“What are you doing here?” I ignored his proximity. Okay, I tried to ignore his proximity.

In answer, he stepped into me and I stumbled against the machines at my back. Jamie pressed the palms of his hands on the dryer, caging me in. My breath caught and held as his scent flooded me. That dark, earthy scent was enticing, and my body betrayed my emotions.

Feeling panic rise, I pushed at his chest, but he wouldn’t budge. “Jamie?” 

Those ocean eyes wandered over my face, cold, calculating. “He doesn’t know who I am. You haven’t told him.”

I lowered my hands. Touching him was even more discombobulating. “No.”

He bent his head toward mine until our noses almost touched. I sucked in a breath. “I wonder why you’re keeping it from him?”

Determined not to let him see how much he affected me, I glared up at him. He’d only have to touch me, hold my hand, to realize I was trembling. His face was so familiar. His lips were lips I’d thought I’d kiss for the rest of my life. Why did the pain of it never dull? Why did it still feel like a shard of glass through my chest? “Did you leak those tapes of Foster Steadman to Asher’s mom?”

Something menacing flashed in his eyes before he banked it. “And if I did?”

“Are you being smart, Jamie?”

“Are you asking out of concern for me or for your billionaire boy toy?”

“Jamie.”

“Never mind. I don’t care.” The bastard dipped his nose to my throat, and I tensed against the stacked machines. He inhaled, his nose brushing my skin, and my fingers bit into the washer behind me. “You smell different,” he whispered, lifting his head to my ear. “Expensive perfume. You’ve come up in the world.”

I felt his breath caress my skin seconds before his teeth touched my earlobe. Gasping, I instinctively pushed my palms against his stomach as he bit down hard, causing a flush of heat between my legs.

With a dark chuckle, Jamie released my ear after one last nibble and whispered, “Is he the jealous type, Jane?”

About S. Young:

Samantha Young is a New York Times and #1 International bestselling author from Stirlingshire, Scotland. On Dublin Street was Samantha's first adult contemporary romance series and has sold in thirty countries. She has since published over thirteen romance titles including the New York Times Bestsellers Into the Deep, Hero, and her most recent contemporary romance Fight or Flight. When writing Adult Paranormal romance she writes under the pen name S. Young. 

Connect with Samantha. Young:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSamanthaYoung/

Website – http://authorsamanthayoung.com

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Review: Stranger Ranger by Daisy Prescott

Stranger Ranger by Daisy Prescott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

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

This was another fun offering from the Smartypants Romance spring line up.  The main characters both have some baggage from their past, leaving them both a little socially awkward.  We have Odin the farmer who keeps to himself and walks his pig on a leash through town, but he also looks like the Viking god he is named for.  Then we have Daphne, the newest park ranger who lets whatever she is thinking come right out of her mouth, is a picky eater, and wants to see the world.  When Daphne suspects that Odin might be up to nefarious activities in her beloved park, she checks into him and finds out that there might be some skeletons in his closet.  Odin and Daphne keep running into each other at the park, and when she finds herself in need of a friend he's there to take care of her.  As they get to know each other, they realize that there is more than just a physical attraction between them.  

I really enjoyed these characters together.  They had great banter, and the more time they spent together the more they opened up.  There were some really funny parts, which balanced out the  more serious personalities of Daphne and Odin.  It takes almost the entire book, but eventually we learn about each of the character's backgrounds. 

This was a feel good story with two great main characters.  I highly recommend it.

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Blog Tour: Hot Mess by Emma Hart

Have you grabbed Hot Mess yet?

What do you do when the whole world has seen you getting down and dirty in a broom closet? I, Elle Evans, am on the run. Not from the fuzz—although that would be more exciting. No, I’m on the run from the four-year-old private tape that, thanks to my vengeful ex, has probably already ruined my vlogging career. There’s nothing like the entire world knowing what you look like mid-O. Creek Keys, Florida, is a million miles away from NYC and the perfect place for me to hide for the rest of summer until I can figure out what I’m going to do. Something that’s easier said than done since my new landlord’s daughter thinks you’re God’s greatest gift. Even better? Their beach house is right next to the one I’m renting, so there’s no getting away from her—or her hot, British dad. Who most definitely does not think I’m role model material. He might be right. The problem is that neither of us can say no to her. Or each other. 

  

Buy now, or read for free in KU Amazon US → https://amzn.to/2NK2tyd Amazon UK → https://amzn.to/368OJ6I

About Emma

Emma Hart is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over thirty novels and has been translated into several different languages. She is a mother, wife, lover of wine, Pink Goddess, and valiant rescuer of wild baby hedgehogs. Emma prides herself on her realistic, snarky smut, with comebacks that would make a PMS-ing teenage girl proud. Yes, really. She's that sarcastic.

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Release Blitz: Black Tangled Heart by Samantha Young

"Black Tangled Heart is AMAZING! So many twists and turns - this story is intense! I loved every minute of it!" -- New York Times bestselling author Monica Murphy

Black Tangled Heart, by New York Times bestselling author Samantha Young, is LIVE!

To my siblings, Jane was a friend. A pseudo-sister, the girl we grew up with.

To me? She was everything.

Our passion consumed us.

When our world fell apart, I thought our love would be the thing that held us together. 

She was the love of my life. But she abandoned me when I needed her most.

And I’ll never forgive her.

For years I’ve been planning my revenge against the people who took everything from me. 

Jane won’t be an exception. I’m coming for her. 

She knows it. 

She says she wants to help me serve my version of justice on the people who hurt me. 

I’ll let her.

She probably thinks it will save her from me. 

It won’t.

Download your copy today or read for free in Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2WWVjuo

Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/SYBTH 

 

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/2y7DmRe

About Samantha Young:

Samantha Young is a New York Times and #1 International bestselling author from Stirlingshire, Scotland. On Dublin Street was Samantha's first adult contemporary romance series and has sold in thirty countries. She has since published over thirteen romance titles including the New York Times Bestsellers Into the Deep, Hero, and her most recent contemporary romance Fight or Flight. When writing Adult Paranormal romance she writes under the pen name S. Young. 

Connect with Samantha Young:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AuthorSamanthaYoung/

Website – http://authorsamanthayoung.com

Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/authorsamanthayoung/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/AuthorSamYoung

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Email – authorsamanthayoung@gmail.com

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Bookbub - http://bit.ly/2D241eO