RELEASE BLITZ: PARKS AND PROVOCATION by Juliette Cross

 

Parks and Provocation, an all new enemies-to-lovers small town romance from Juliette Cross, is LIVE in Kindle Unlimited!

Lola Landry stares through the window of her locked car with the keys in the ignition and the radio blaring Beck’s “Loser.” While standing there and sweltering in the soupy Tennessee humidity, she wonders how her orderly life had crashed and burned so badly. Then her high school nemesis saunters up in all of his tall, strapping, fireman-to-the-rescue glory, slapping her with the humiliating proof that it can always get worse.

When the uber-confident Jedediah Lawson requests a date in return for popping her lock, a lightbulb goes off. Revenge is sweet. He would make the perfect victim—guest, that is—for her next podcast episode on Kiss and Tell. What shocks her is the casual way he not only agrees to the post-date interview on air, but ends up hijacking her audience and wooing them with his swoony, southern charm. Not even a low score on the date-o-meter can dissuade the man or keep her fans from demanding more of the charismatic Jed.

What’s worse, she secretly wants a second date with this man who is so different from his teenage self. His unwavering patience and dimpled smile erodes her will, until she breaks the Kiss and Tell rules by agreeing to a second…and a third date. It’s a disaster. Not the date. They’re wonderful. The disaster is that she is falling for a man she once dubbed Jockstrap Jed.

'Parks and Provocation' is a full-length contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #2 in the Green Valley Heroes series, Green Valley Chronicles, Penny Reid Book Universe.

Grab your copy TODAY!

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About Juliette Cross

JULIETTE is a multi-published author of paranormal and fantasy romance & the co-host of the podcast, Smart Women Read Romance. As a native of Louisiana, she lives in the heart of Cajun land with her husband, four kids, her labs, Kona and Jeaux, and kitty, Betty. When she isn’t working on her next project, she enjoys binge-watching her favorite shows with her husband and a glass (or two) of red wine.

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Review: Omens Bite by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast

Omens Bite by P.C. Cast
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this from Wednesday Books an imprint of St Martin's Press) via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

I'm really enjoying this series, so far and I'm lookin forward to the next book. I'm not sure how many books are in the series but it is at minimum a trilogy if not more. This picks up where Spells Trouble leaves off, so I don't recommend reading this as a standalone. Mercy and Hunter are both still grieving the loss of their mother and events from the first book have split the twins sisterly bond. They spend much of the book angry at one another and acting like petulant teenagers. I did find myself rolling my eyes at some of their outbursts because they are so immature, but given that they are only 16 their actions and attitudes make perfect sense. Neither one of them is willing to take responsibility for their actions when it comes to her her sister, however they do take responsibility for their actions when said sister is not in the picture. I can see this not appealing to a more adult audience and appealing more to a YA audience.

The twins are both determined to continue in their mother's footsteps and protect the gateways, which have started to weaken. Torn by their grief and resent for one another, they are both determined to find a way to heal the trees that act as gateways to the other realms. Mercy has stayed true to her path as a Green Witch, while Hunter has taken a much darker path after pledging herself to the goddess Amphitrite. The more Hunter learns about her new goddess the more she comes to feel she has made a huge mistake in forsaking Tyr, the god she had previously pledge herself to.

We see alot of character development from both sisters in this as long as they aren't together. Hunter is on a dark path making questionable choices at the behest of Amphitrite to save herself, the gates, and the town. Mercy is coming into her powers and learning to stand on her own two feet. The second they get within 2 feet of each other all of that progress vanishes and they snipe at one another about how self centered and selfish one another is. There is clearly some resentment the two of them will have to work through before the end of the story, but it doesn't happen in this book. I expect it will come in the next installment as Mercy has found herself in quite the predicament and Xena and Hunter have to find her and rescue her. I enjoyed the side characters in this as well. There is a good supporting cast for both Mercy and Hunter to lean on and the villians are equally devious. I'm looking forward to seeing how things play out in the next installment. There are quite a few things left unresolved.

I enjoyed the magic system and world building. The setting is well described and you have a good idea of how the magic works. I especially enjoyed the touch of mythology that the authors chose to add to the story. I thought the Land of the Dead scenes were really well done and very creative.

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Release Blitz: Beauty and the Baller by Ilsa Madden-Mills

 

“In this un-put-downable romance, Madden-Mills skillfully balances the emotional with the physical to produce a love story that’s equal parts scorching and sweet.” —Publishers Weekly

Beauty and the Baller, an all-new emotional and steamy opposites attract, fake relationship standalone romance from Wall Street Journal bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills is available now!

An NFL quarterback turned small-town coach gets sacked by a Texas beauty queen in this swoony, passionate romance from Wall Street Journal bestselling author Ilsa Madden-Mills.

Gorgeous, talented, and brilliant, NFL quarterback Ronan Smith has the world in his hands. But after losing his career and his fiancée in a car accident, he falls into a pit of grief and bad choices. When a mysterious girl shows up to his party, he feels drawn to her and makes her his…for one night.

Former beauty queen Nova Morgan is on a mission. Scantily clad as a princess from a galaxy far, far away, she sneaks into a high-profile party to capture the attention of her favorite quarterback. But her hopes crash after an awful one-night stand.

Fast-forward two years. Broke and desperate, Nova returns home to Blue Belle, Texas, where, by a cosmic twist of fate, her broody neighbor is none other than Ronan, the shiny new football coach everyone adores. But he has no idea who she is.

The booster club keeps shoving women at Ronan to keep him in town. His solution? He proposes fake dating to Nova. But things heat up for real under these Friday-night lights when he realizes she’s the one who slipped away.

Has this jaded beauty found her forever baller, or will his past keep them apart?

Fall in love today FREE in Kindle Unlimited!
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About Ilsa Madden-Mills
Wall Street Journal, New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Ilsa Madden-Mills is best known for her angsty new adult romances and romantic comedies.

Eight of her eleven novels have placed in the Amazon Top 10 Best-seller List: Dirty English #1; Fake Fiancée and I Dare You #2; I Bet You, Filthy English, and Very Bad Things #6; Boyfriend Bargain #8; The Last Guy, her collaboration with Tia Louise, #4.

A former high school English teacher, she adores all things Pride and Prejudice, and of course, Mr. Darcy is her ultimate hero.

She's addicted to frothy coffee beverages, cheesy magnets, and any book featuring unicorns and sword-wielding females. Feel free to stalk her online.

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Review: Until the Last of Me

Until the Last of Me by Sylvain Neuvel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this second installment to the series.  This focuses mainly on astronomy and Mia's attempt to find what the Kibsu lost.  In the fist book Mia and her mother were involved in the space program and war efforts in WWII.  In this book Mia is traumatized by the loss of her mother and is doing everything she can to protect her own daughter, Lola from the Trackers.  Mia does what she can to nudge the space program in the right direction, but she and Lola stay out of the limelight and instead are trying to find the knowledge their ancestors lost.  Much like the first book the blend of history and science is done extremely well!  We learn quite a bit about the planets as Voyager 1 & 2 roam the cosmos and we learn about archeology as Mia and Lola search for a long lost artefact and decipher a forgotten language.

We also get insight from the Tracker side, Samael is one of the trackers, whose family has been hunting the Kibsu for generations.  He is not like his father or brothers.  He has compassion and plans out his actions.  I believe this is a trilogy and I'm looking forward to see how the rest of his story plays out if there is another book.  Overall I enjoyed this and I'm looing forward to reading more from the author.  I really enjoy how much time and effort he puts into researching his books and the amount of information he gives readers in a digestible way.

As with the last book I highly recommend reading the "Further Reading" section as it again gives insight into the research the author did to write the book.  It gives context to the scientific and historical context of the book and what he chose to change and why or what events he kept and why.  I love learning about the things that inspired an author during the creation of a book.  You can tell alot of time went into the research to write this book.  There are some really interesting facts in this section, I found it worth the read!  It also sounds like there may be a third book in the series.  

My only real issue was this was sometimes hard to follow.  This switches perspectives somewhat abruptly, and in the ARC the chapters don't indicate who is telling the story.  It isn't not always obvious for several paragraphs to figure out who the I is in the chapter.  Sometimes it is talking about Mia and Lola, while other chapters are about Samael and his brothers.  It isn't always obvious who the chapter is about.  There are chapter headings about when the chapter takes place.  This books comes out soon so perhaps in the final version there will be a label of who the chapter is about.   The Entr'actes are all about historical figures so those are easy to understand who they are about.  

Neuvel has a very unique writing style that will appeal to every reader's taste.  I actually like it, but again it will be a personal preference.  The writing switches from standard paragraph format to a dialogue format that almost looks like text messaging.  If you like books told in epistolary format or mixed media, you likely won't mind.  If you don't like a more mixed media format, it is something to consider.

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Review: Beauty and the Baller by Ilsa Madden-Mills

Beauty and the Baller by Ilsa Madden-Mills
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley and the author, all opinions are my own.  I'm a long time fan of the author's work, and this one is a knock out!  I loved every minute of Nova and Ronan's story.

This follows former NFL quarterback turned high school football coach Ronan, who is still grieving the loss of his fiancée.  The people of the small town of Blue Bell, Texas where he is coaching happens to be where our female lead Nova is from.  Nova and Ronan have met before, but when she moves home to take care of her sister and deal with her own grief, she finds Ronan is her new neighbor.  Not sure he remembers her from their brief but steamy one night encounter, they don't exactly make the best of impressions on one another.  Ronan has become the town's golden boy, and the town will do anything to make him stay as the coach.  They are willing to do just about anything to get him to settle down and make Blue Bell their coach and they encourage Nova to make nice with her neighbor.  The town's antics are kind of ridiculous.  Booster organizations can get kind of crazy in real life when you have a competitive team (not sure if they are this crazy though).

Ronan isn't really bought into the antics of the community and the boosters, and he has plans for this future that may or may not involve high school football.  He is undecided if his short term lies in Blue Belle.  What he does know is that he is attracted to Nova and he is tired of being asked to date and marry every eligible bachelorette in town.  He also needs an assistant to help him with his day to day responsibilities as coach.  Nova needs a job, so when an opening as a part time teacher and personal assistant to the Head Coach opens up she reluctantly takes it knowing that it might not be a good idea.  She has no formal teaching qualifications and she too is attracted to Ronan.  Spending time as his assistant might not be the best idea especially because he is always surrounded by an entourage of women trying to garner his attention.  They come to an arrangement that helps them both out, but it kind of backfires when their fake dating finds them having feelings for each other.

I love this!  I loved the banter between Nova and Ronan.  I loved Nova as a big sister to her neuro-diverse sister who is navigating being a teenager, dating, and the loss of their mom.  I really love the relationship that Nova and Sabine have with each other.  Nova has alot on her plate, but she figures it all out.  I really liked the growth we see between Nova and Ronan.  They both have to deal with grief and let go of past relationships to move on together.  This has great side characters and wonderful humor.  This also has some steamy scenes without being over the top.  I highly recommend this if you like fake dating, enemies to lovers, and sports romances.  

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COVER REVEAL: Flirt by Adriana Locke

 

FLIRT by Adriana Locke

Release Date: April 8th 

  Cover Designer: Kari March 

  Genre/Tropes: Contemporary Romance/Office Romance/Fake Dating/Friend to Lovers 

From USA Today and Amazon Charts Bestselling author comes a “fun and flirty!” fake dating situation between two coworkers that quickly straddles the line between friends and lovers. 

 

  Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59775481-flirt 

  PREORDER IS AVAILABLE! Amazon: https://amzn.to/3L1Nefm 

  Amazon Universal: https://geni.us/FLIRT

 

Blurb: 

  WANTED: A SITUATION-SHIP I’m a single female that’s tired of relationships ruining my life. However, there are times when a date would be helpful. If you’re a single man, preferably mid-twenties to late-thirties, and are in a similar situation, we might be a match. Candidate must be handsome, charming, and willing to pretend to have feelings for me (on a sliding scale, as the event requires). Ability to discuss a wide variety of topics is a plus. Must have your own transportation and a (legal) job. This will be a symbiotic agreement. In exchange for your time, I will give you mine. Need someone to flirt with you at a football party? Go, team! Want a woman to make you look good in front of your boss? Let me find my heels. Would you love for someone to be obsessed with you in front of your ex? I’m applying my red lipstick now. If interested, please email me. Time is of the essence.

 

  About the Author: 

  USA Today and Washington Post bestselling author Adriana Locke lives and breathes books. After years of slightly obsessive relationships with the flawed bad boys created by other authors, Adriana has created her own. She resides in the Midwest with her husband, sons, and two dogs. She spends a large amount of time playing with her kids, drinking coffee, and cooking. You can find her outside if the weather's nice and there's always a piece of candy in her pocket.

 

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Review: Kiss To Belong

Kiss To Belong by Anna B. Doe
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC via the author, all opinion are my own.

This is the long awaited story of best friends Alyssa and Maddox.  If you haven't been keeping up with the Blairwood series so far, I think you can get away with reading this as as standalone.  If you want to know more about the other couples mentioned in the book and Maddox and Aly's friends you will want to read those books as well but I don't really think they are necessary to get to the heart of this story.  Anna gives you the information you need to connect with the characters without having their full backstories.  I do recommend them though, they were all great reads!

Alyssa and Maddox have been best friends for as long as they can remember.  Their parents are wealthy and their social circles are elite.  Maddox has been in love with Aly since they were kids, but she is oblivious to his feelings.  She is kind of oblivious in general.  Like many college students approaching graduation, she has no idea what she wants to do when she grows up.  Throw in an unexpected pregnancy with an absentee father and unsupportive parents, and she really has no idea what to do with herself.  Fortunately, she has supportive friends who are willing to take her in and help her get on her feet during this crazy time in her life.  We do see her character grow up quite a bit in this book.   

I'm not a big fan of pregnancy tropes in general, but if you like them this is a good one to check out.  I do like friends to lovers and I think that trope is really done well in this book.  Maddox is a great friend.  While this focuses on his relationship with Aly, he is a great friend to all of the characters in the book.  He is the epitome of kindness and generosity.   Aly and Maddox suffer from a lack of communication throughout the book.  Lack of communication is always a trope I dislike a book, especially when dealing with more mature topics.  Maddox and Aly don't want to jeopardize their friendship, but their unconventional living arrangement leads to growing feelings.  This causes them to not talk to each other about their feelings or hide things from each other.  I did have a hard time connecting with Aly and Maddox, but after some reflection I think that is a me problem not a problem with the book.  I think I'm getting too old for new adult/college romances and YA.  I am finding it harder and harder to enjoy younger characters.  I do think Anna wrote them well, and their actions and conversations were realistic given where they were in college/life.

Overall, this is a great addition to the series.

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