Cover Reveal: One & Only by Karla Sorensen

ONE AND ONLY

Karla Sorensen

Release Date: May 16

    

 You are cordially invited to my fake wedding. 

 Marrying Beckett Coleman is the best idea I've had in years. I can grant my sick dad’s wish to walk one of his daughters down the aisle, and Beckett has my help solving a custody situation with his daughter. Our plan is to spend a year together, then part ways. Easy, especially since I'm not his type, and he's not mine either. He’s too quiet and too serious. And while he’s distractingly gorgeous, he’s also my brother’s teammate. Beckett is fake husband material, not the real deal. I just have to remember that. Until I move in with him. Get to know him. Share a bed with him. Turns out, the line between fake and real isn't just blurry, it's almost impossible to uphold when he looks at me the way he does. This marriage is a whole lot more complicated than we bargained for. We’re threatening to destroy everything we’ve built, something neither of us can risk. Marrying Beckett might’ve been the best idea in years. But falling in love with him would be the worst.   

  Pre-Order Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BW6HW3M6

    

  Meet Karla Sorensen:

Karla Sorensen is an Amazon top 20 bestselling author who refuses to read or write anything without a happily ever after. When she's not devouring historical romance or avoiding the laundry, you can find her watching football (British AND American), HGTV or listening to Enneagram podcasts so she can psychoanalyze everyone in her life, in no particular order of importance. With a degree in Advertising and Public Relations from Grand Valley State University, she made her living in senior healthcare prior to writing full-time. Karla lives in Michigan with her husband, two boys and a big, shaggy rescue dog named Bear. 

 For more information on  Karla Sorensen and her books visit: http://www.karlasorensen.com/ 

  Connect with Karla Sorensen: http://www.karlasorensen.com/message         

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Review: The Poison Season by Mara Rutherford

The Poison Season by Mara Rutherford
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received a finished copy of this book via Bookish First, however I opted to listen to the audiobook  As always all opinions expressed in my reviews are my own.

This is in interesting dark YA fantasy.  I thought the world building was well done and the storyline is fraught with secrets that are slowly revealed as the book progresses.  The magic system is interesting and not overly complicated.  The inhabitants of Endla possess a certain kind of magic that have a somewhat symbiotic relationship with the magical forest that they live within.  The forest is located on an island and is protected by a poisoned lake.  Those who do not develop magic in Endla are cast out, and the people that live across the poisonous lake are seen as dangerous and a threat to the Endlan way of life.  There are some complex family relationships that develop slowly, and they add a nice tension to the plot

Leelo our main character is coming of age and learning harness her magic and protect the land as all adults are expected to.  At the end of her training year she will be trusted with all of the secrets of her people and the ways in which they protect the island and the forest.  She is a bit too kind hearted for her cousin and Aunt who will do anything to protect their home, and often shy's away from the bloodier tasks that she is expected to perform as part of the rituals their people perform.  It is her kind heart that puts her in danger when she saves an outsider boy who doesn't seem to be impacted by the magic of the island.  She loves her home but begins to questions everything she has been taught about the outsiders as she gets to know him.  She also begins to question all of the secrets that are being kept within her own family and is determined to get to the bottom of it not only to save the boy she has come to care about but to save herself and her home. 

Overall I enjoyed this.  It was an entertaining YA read with familiar tropes that I enjoy.  It is a bit on the dark side and not everyone is going to enjoy the way the magic system works.  There are some fade to black romance scenes, but the overall romance subplot doesn't overpower the main storyline.  

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Review: Pieces of Me by Kate McLaughlin

Pieces of Me by Kate McLaughlin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netfalley, all opinions are my own.

This follows Dylan after waking up in a strange place and not being able to remember the last few days.  She has lost time before, but never days at a time.  Dylan has always struggled with her mental health, but she thought she had it under control.  She stopped drinking and the people she was with over the weekend assure her she wasn't drunk, so what happened that made her forget and why does she hear voices inside her head?   Fortunately for Dylan she has the support of her mom and best friend to help her navigate things as they try to get a diagnosis from a neurologist and therapist.  Eventually they pursue DID or Dissociative Identity Disorder, which Dylan has many of the markers for and it seems to fit all of the strange behaviors she has exhibited throughout her life.  Dylan has to embark on a journey to not only uncover  the trauma that caused her to dissociate but get to know each of her alters and learn how each of them functions within the larger system,

I enjoyed this.   I know DID is still a questionable diagnosis in the mental health community and it is hard to get diagnosed with it.  This has some tough moments as Dylan has to face her trauma and there are some content warnings that the reader should be aware of before undertaking this read (attempted suicide, sexual abuse of a child, mental illness).  Learning about her different alters and how all of them work together was insightful.

I did think that it came together in a nice neat package, but that comes with being YA I find.  Dylan suffered a terrible trauma as a child, but her diagnosis came fairly easily and everyone around her accepted it.  Her relationship with Connor fell into place pretty easily as well, and he is a little too perfect sometimes.   

Overall, this was an enjoyable and quick read.  I read this in a few hours and found it hard to put down.  

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Review: Girl In Ice

Girl In Ice by Erica Ferencik
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was send a physical ARC of this book by the publisher, however I opted to listen to the final publication version of the audiobook.

The premise of this book was really quite interesting. This is a bit of a sci-fi thriller. This follows Val, a successful linguist who is grieving the loss of her twin brother. She gets a call from the team lead, Wyatt, from the Artic expedition her brother was on when he unexpectedly comitted suicide. Wyatt has a job for Val that she can't turn down. A girl was found frozen in the ice, and she has thawed, alive, and no one can understand what she is saying. Val happens be be an expert in the esoteric dialects of the region and Wyatt hopes she can help understand where the girl came from and how she survived being frozen alive. Val suffers from anxiety and doesn't wholly trust Wyatt and the circumstances around her brother's death, but she is curious about the girl and takes on the task of trying to unravel the mystery of who she is and where she came from.

This thriller has a bit of a sense of an unreliable narrator to it. You aren't really sure if Val is letting her personal fears and anxiety get to her as the story progresses or if there is something more sinister going on and she has cause to be paranoid of her surroundings. As she works on connecting with the little girl from the ice, she knows that she has to protect her and that she wants to learn about her origins. You also get a bit of a madness feeling from the research team, as if they've been left alone in the cold too long and have gone a bit mad from being isolated, you aren't sure if there is something to that or not for much of the story. As for the girl, she tries to communicate, but the grown ups can't fathom her survival in the ice. It is too far fetched and the science doesn't back it up. I thought the conclusion and reveals were clever and unique.

I thought the world building was well done. I felt like was with Val in the ice an the cold of the island. I thought the author did a good job describing the landscape and the harrowing conditions. I felt the fear and the madness that the characters were experiencing come through on the page.

Overall this was an interesting story with a unique plot.

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Review: Wings Once Cursed & Bound by Piper J. Drake

Wings Once Cursed & Bound by Piper J. Drake
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided both a print and audio ARC of this book via Netgalley.  

I really enjoyed this!  It has a huge cast of fantastical and mythical beings that work together to find magical artifacts.  This follows Peeraphan aka Punch on a magical adventure after she steps into the famous cursed "red shoes" from the Andersen fairy tale at dance practice.  Punch is able to resist the curse of the shoes for a time, but they begin to take a toll on her and no one is sure when she will break.  Enter the Dark Consortium and their representative Bennet, who not only wants to collect the shoes but is also interested in protecting Punch and help her explore her not quite human side.  Bennet agrees to help Punch break the curse of the shoes and in doing so he introduces her to a world filled with magic, supernatural artifacts, and beings she never knew existed.

I thought this was a fun take on a retelling mixing the Red Shoe fairy tale with a bit of urban fantasy. mythology/folklore, and some paranormal romance.  This sets up a solid foundation for the series and I'm excited to see where the author takes Punch and Bennet next.  There are quite a few side characters to keep track of, but the main focus is on Punch and Bennet.  I look forward to getting to know all of the characters more as the series develops as we only get to know them on a surface level.

This has some mild steamy scenes toward the end.  They aren't super graphic and detailed but they aren't closed door/fade to black either.  You certainly know what is going on.  I actually thought this book was fine for a YA audience until we got to those parts then it was definitely suited for the more mature/adult reader.  The romance between Punch and Bennet does develop kind of quickly, but that isn't uncommon in urban fantasy type of books.

I love anything with a mythology and folklore background and I hope to see more of Punch's kinnaree heritage explored and explained in the next book.  I haven't come across Thai myths previously and I'd really like to learn more about the kinnaree and the bird princess lore.  We get a bit of it in this book, but I hope the author delves more into it as Punch learns more about herself and her abilities as the series progresses.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to more books in the series!

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Review: Einstein in the Attic

Einstein in the Attic by Dana Dargos
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via the author, all opinions are my own.

I thought this book was going to be a sci-fi adventure story based on the synopsis, which I was very excited to read. This compares itself to Ted Chiang's Stories of Your Life and Others which is one of my favorite short story collections. I was expecting a fast paced adventure, but the synopsis is a bit misleading. This is a philosophical story that I found neither fast paced or adventurous. I appreciated the conversation about evolution vs an intelligent designer (aka God or a religious deity), but I found that the book took too long to get to the actual debate.

This follow Adam Reemi, a professor who has struggles with the questions of "Is there a God?" or "as a man of science can I only believe in evolution?" Adam has seen and lived through things that would make the most devout question their faith and beliefs in a higher power and Adam's own questions have caused a rift between himself and his father who never waivered in his beliefs despite living through some very tough situations. Adam finds himself in a sticky situation in a professional debate debating the existence of an intelligent designer vs evolution to save his job and reputation. I feel like the debate portion of the book which happens at the very end and the parts where Adam and his entourage are researching the debate points were well done and interesting, however that doesn't occur until about the 50% mark through the end of the book. I wanted more of the science and religion debate, but much of this book was spent leading up to that.

I found it really hard to connect to this book. I didn't really connect with any of the characters and the writing style was not my taste. I think that there is definitely an audience for this book, but this is a case of I was expecting a sci-fi adventure story and this is more of a philosophical, self-discovery journey with some sci-fi. This book would be a great conversation starter and makes you think. The concept is certainly unique.

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Blog Tour: Fluke by Adriana Locke

 

    

  FLUKE BY ADRIANA LOCKE 

  Release Date: April 10th 

  Genre/Tropes: Fake ex-husband / Small Town Romance / Friends to Lovers / One Bed / He Falls First

Fluke, an all-new small-town romance, by USA Today bestselling author Adriana Locke is NOW LIVE!

Grab this fake ex-husband, small-town romance TODAY! https://geni.us/FlukeLocke

Add to Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61946841-fluke

        

  Blurb:  

SEEKING AN EX-HUSBAND   I need a fake ex-husband. Let me explain … I may have let it slip to my new co-workers that I have an ex-husband. Now they’re fascinated with the details, specifically with him. Why wouldn’t they be? He’s gorgeous, has exceptional skills in the bedroom, and is determined to win me back. But there’s a problem. He doesn’t exist. The bigger problem? I have to produce him to save my job. This is where you come in. I’m seeking someone to play a smitten ex-husband for two weeks. You’ll need to remember our love story—details matter when it comes to romance! Please be prepared to travel in-state at a moment’s notice. We may be in close proximity and sharing a bed may be required. One more thing—kisses are required for optics as necessary. If this sounds interesting or, at the very least, entertaining, let me know. Signed, Your Future Ex-Wife   

Buckle up for a steamy adventure between friends-turned-lovers in this new “fresh twist on a favorite trope!” take on fake dating, close proximity, and romance in the workplace from USA Today Bestselling author Adriana Locke.    

      

  About the Author: 

USA Today Bestselling author, Adriana Locke, writes contemporary romances about the two things she knows best—big families and small towns. Her stories are about ordinary people finding extraordinary love with the perfect combination of heart, heat, and humor.   She loves connecting with readers, fall weather, football, reading alpha heroes, everything pumpkin, and pretending to garden.   Hailing from a tiny town in the Midwest, Adriana spends her free time with her high school sweetheart (who she married over twenty-five years ago) and their four sons (who truly are her best work). Her kitchen may be a perpetual disaster, and if all else fails, there is always pizza.   Learn more at adrianalocke.com.

 

Connect w/Adriana: 

  Website: https://adrianalocke.com 

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witter: https://twitter.com/authoralocke 

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