RELEASE BLITZ: Beyond the Thistles by Samantha Young

 

A grumpy vs sunshine, age-gap, romantic suspense set in the Scottish Highlands.

Beyond the Thistles by Samantha Young is now live!

It's been a long time since Walker Ironside left behind Scotland and the memories that haunt him. Yet after years of traveling the world as a bodyguard, Walker misses his homeland enough to return. To a village in the Scottish Highlands that plays host to an exclusive members-only club, Ardnoch Estate. If not happy, Walker is content working with the elite security at the club and maintaining his bachelor lifestyle. What he doesn't need is distraction in the form of the enticing but too-young newcomer, single mother Sloane Harrow.

Sloane never imagined she'd get pregnant at sixteen. Or that a decade later she'd escape from California with her daughter, Callie, to start over in the Scottish Highlands. Hidden and safe from Callie's dangerous father, Sloane is satisfied with their new lives. Her daughter is happy. Sloane has a stable job, a quaint cottage, a passion for baking that might just be turning into a business, and a huge crush on brooding security guard Walker Ironside. Unfortunately, the grumpy Scot seems immune to Sloane's charm, but she can't help but try to seduce him with cupcakes and baked treats whenever the opportunity arises.

However, when someone arrives in Ardnoch intent on destroying Sloane's life, Walker is the first to step forward to protect her and Callie. Even if it means giving into temptation and awakening his own demons. Because in doing so, Walker faces failing not only to shield Sloane from her past, but to safeguard her against his own.

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Meet Samantha

Samantha Young is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. She's been nominated for several Goodreads Choice Awards. Samantha writes adult contemporary and paranormal romance, YA urban fantasy and YA contemporary fiction and is currently published in 31 countries.

She resides in Scotland.

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RELEASE BLITZ: TOUGH COOKIE by Talia Hunter & Smartypants Romance

 

Tough Cookie, an all-new heartfelt fake dating small-town romance from Talia Hunter, is LIVE in Kindle Unlimited!

Noah Malone is back in his hometown for a short break from his stunt work, but his mother’s set on convincing him to settle down in Green Valley so he can give her grandbabies like the good Lord intended. Not only is she pushing him to help out at the Donner Bakery decorating cookies, but her matchmaking is relentless.

To end his mother’s awkward set-ups, Noah needs a no-strings-attached pretend girlfriend. And who better than Carla, a mysterious recluse who seems to have taken an instant dislike to him? When she reveals she’s been isolated by illness, he proposes a fake relationship that’ll stop his momma’s shenanigans and help Carla ease back into the world.

Tech-geek Carla creates a spreadsheet of fake-date challenges. She’s serious and focused on her goal of slowly becoming more social… until daredevil Noah starts messing with her spreadsheet. He’s ridiculously charming, and his sexy additions may be even more appealing than the cookies he brings her, but Carla won’t let her resistance crumble.

Opposites may attract, but can such different people find a recipe for love?

‘Tough Cookie’ is a full-length contemporary romance, can be read as a standalone, and is book #3 in the Donner Bakery series, Green Valley Chronicles, Penny Reid Book Universe.

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About Talia Hunter

Talia Hunter likes to include her three favorite things in her novels: toe-curling romance, snort-laughs, and heart-warming friendships. She recently moved to Australia’s beautiful Gold Coast, where she's constantly amazed and not at all freaked out by the weird and wonderful critters. When she's not writing, you can usually find her with a glass of wine, a good book, at least one of her three cats, and a jumbo-sized can of bug spray.

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RELEASE BLITZ: DOUGH YOU LOVE ME? by Stacy Travis & Smartypants Romance

 

Dough You Love Me?, an all-new second chance small-town romance from Stacy Travis, is LIVE in Kindle Unlimited! 

First rule when returning to your hometown after storming out of sight: don’t fall for the guy who broke your heart.

Julia Browne should know better than to kiss where she bakes. She’s built a bread empire in California, and only plans to stay in Green Valley long enough to sell the family house.

She certainly won’t spend any more time with Shane Meadows than she has to…and she will not let him draw her in with his soft blue eyes or level her with his handsome smirk of a grin. 

The last thing she wants is a temporary gig at Donner Bakery, baking sourdough side-by-side with Shane and clashing with his ego. And he thinks the sassy baker should take her fancy bread and go back where she came from.

But that’s before they take a series of wrong turns on a road trip to look at wheat, leaving them stranded for the night. Out on the open road, neither of them can escape the sizzling attraction and old feelings that feel a lot more real this time around.

But life is complicated, and Julia’s life in California might derail their second chance at love. Will they wake up and smell the sourdough?

They say you should leave the past in the past, but what if it’s the winning recipe for love?

‘Dough You Love Me?’ is a full-length contemporary romance, can be read as a standalone, and is book #2 in the Donner Bakery series, Green Valley World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

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About Stacy Travis

Stacy Travis writes charming, spicy romance about bookish, sassy women and the hot alphas who fall for them. 

Writing makes her infinitely happy, but that might be the coffee talking.  

She's worked as a journalist, camp counselor, TV writer, SAT tutor, corporate finance researcher, education technology editor, and non-fiction author. When she's not on a deadline, she's in running shoes complaining that all roads seem to go uphill. Or on the couch with a margarita. Or fangirling at a soccer game. 

She's never met a dog she didn't want to hug. And if you have no plans for Thanksgiving, she'll probably invite you to dinner. 

Stacy lives in Los Angeles with her very tall sons and a poorly-trained rescue dog who hoards socks. And she's serious about the Thanksgiving thing.

Find Stacy online

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Review: Silver in the Bone by Alexandra Bracken

Silver in the Bone by Alexandra Bracken
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via Netgalley, however I did opt to listen to the final production audiobook via my library.  This is a bit on the longer side, the print book is just under 500 pages and the audiobook comes in just under 18 hours.  Sophie Amoss did a great job with the narration.  She tried to give each character a unique voice so you can tell who is who when there is dialogue and she also did a good job conveying emotion throughout the book.

This is the first book in a new YA fantasy focusing on Aurthurian legend and lore.  I'm a sucker for anything related to King Arthur and Avalon and the many people and places often mentioned in the stories so this was a fun read.  This follows Tamsin as she quests to find a lost ring that will hopefully cure her brother from a curse he's be plagued with all his life.  She is also searching for her guardian who abandoned them years ago searching for the very same ring.  There is a catch though, Tamsin unlike the other members of her order doesn't have magic and she isn't the only one searching for the ring.  To have the best chance at finding the ring Tamsin will have to team up with unlikely allies to save her beloved brother and herself.  In doing so she finds herself breaking down her carefully crafted walls in order to save her new team and a dying world.

This is a solid first book.  It does leave off on a bit of a cliffhanger, but I kept expecting that so I can't say I'm too surprised by the ending.  The book ends with alot of unanswered questions, but it does set us up nicely for book two.  I'm looking forward to the next book in the series and I'm anxious to find out what happens next.  I really loved all of the lore and legend that Bracken wove into the story.  There are alot of characters to keep track of and quite a few different plotlines to keep straight.  This is complex and is action packed; the fight scenes do get a little dark and gory.  There is some character development happening, but we are still missing alot of the backstory on many of the characters.  I suspect we will get to know more about Tamsin's origins as well as the other characters in the next book.  We see the most growth from Tamsin, which makese sense as she is the main character and she really makes alot of growth trusting the people around her and beginning to care about others.  The world building was really well done.  Bracken did a great job crafting a fantasy world that I don't want to spoil.

I found parts of this to be fairly predictable but it didn't make it any less enjoyable.  Part of the reason I enjoy YA fantasy is because it is fun and I know what to expect.  The tropes are familiar and I keep coming back for more.  I think they really work well here and I can't wait to find out what happens next.  This is a fun new take on the legend of Avalon and King Arthur and I'm looking forward to getting  my hands on book 2.

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Review: Dough You Love Me? by Stacy Travis

Dough You Love Me? by Stacy Travis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was provided both a print and audio arc of this book via the author and Smartypants Romance, all opinions are my own.   I really enjoyed the narrators, they did a wonderful job brining both Julia and Shane to life and giving emotion and passion to their story.  I switched back and forth between the audio and the print book and you can't really go wrong with either format.  The author did a wonderful job with this book and it translates well in whatever format you prefer.  I loved both equally!

First off, I need a recipe book with all of the yummy things Julia and Shane bake up in this book.  I really enjoyed living vicariously through them as they baked.  When I grow up I want to learn how to make homemade bread, it is the one thing I can't seem to master.

As you can tell this follows Julia and Shane as our main characters.  They knew each other in high school, but a lack of self confidence kept Shane from taking his shot back in the day, which in turn cause Julia a great hit to her own self-esteem.  With a broken heart and a desire to further her education love of baking, Julia attended culinary school and opened a very succesfful bread business and restaurant.  Now she's returned home to attend to family business and she's run into Shane again and it has brought up feelings she doesn't want to deal with.  Things aren't much different for Shane, he's not the same person Julia knew in high school and they both have to spend some time getting to know one another again.

I absolutely loved this small town, second chance romance.  This had great banter and a wonderful story about finding purpose in life and doing what makes you happy.  Sometimes that is a big fancy, fast paced job. that makes you lots of money, sometimes it is slower, smaller work surrounded by good people that fills your bucket.   This was the "comfort food" book that I needed.  

As with all of the Smartypants Romance offerings this book is a standalone and can be read without having read any of the previous books in the series.  You should read them though, they are awesome!  

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Review: Fluke (audiobook) by Adriana Locke

Fluke by Adriana Locke
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was provided an audio ARC of this book via the author, all opinions are my own. I read this in print and it was amazing, but the audiobook is even better in my opinion. The narrators do a wonderful job brining all of the emotions into play that make Jess and Pippa's story so wonderful. The dual narration was really well done, as it are all of Locke's audio books. I really loved this series and highly recommend the audiobooks!

This book is part of the Carmichael series, however you can read it as a standalone. Each of the books in the series are companion novels with each book reading as a standalone with interconnected characters. This one focuses on Jess one of many Carmichael brothers, and Pippa an old family friend who has moved back to town for work.

I'm a big fan of Adriana's family series. I love that we get glimpses into the other characters lives and we always get hijinks from Banks. His antics are laugh out loud funny. I can't wait for his book. This has all of my favorite things: friends to lovers, great banter, great conversations, humor, and great characters. Jess and Pippa have known each other for many years, but their attraction never worked out when they were younger. Now that they are adults, they have an opportunity to see if there is more to it than just attraction. Pippa has created a situation for herself at work where she needs an ex-husband to go on a couples retreat with to see if she can rekindle a spark with. This is where Jess, her long time crush come in to save the day. Fortunately for Pippa, he's been asking her out for years and jumps at the chance to actually have a chance with her.

Jess and Pippa's romance seems to develop a big quickly, but they have known each other for along time. It is a bit on the insta-love side of the romance spectrum, even with them knowing each other previously. I usually dislike insta-love storylines, but I didn't mind this one. Jess is patient and kind and was the kind of cheerleader Pippa needed to show her that not all relationships end in doom and gloom and disappointment. Pippa has had some pretty bad experiences when it comes to love in her life romantic and otherwise, so when Jess sweeps her off her feet she keeps waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop because that's all she knows.

Overall this is another home run romance in the series. It is one of the spicier books Adriana has written, but I didn't feel it was over the top or too much. The characters are fun and playful and this is a fun twist on the fake relationship trope. I love this series and can't wait for the next book in the series!

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Review: Tough Cookie by Talia Hunter

Tough Cookie by Talia Hunter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was provided both a print and audio ARC of this book via the author and Smartypants Romance, all opinions expressed are my own.  I bounced between the audio and the print version while reading and either choice is a good one.  Kay and Dunlap are great narrators and brought the story to life.  They had me laughing out loud at the funny bits, and feeling all of the other emotions where appropriate.

I really enjoyed this book.  I don't think I've ever read about a protagonist with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.  As someone who suffered from chronic fatigue after contracting mono in high school, I can relate to some of Carla's symptoms.  I was constantly sick and always tired, the stress of completing high school and entering college didn't help.  My experience was temporary and eventually went away for the most part.  It is certainly hell on your immune system and life, I can only imagine what severe and permanent cases are like.

This follows software developer Carla and stuntman Noah who are both taking a breaks from the fast-paced lifestyle that their chosen careers are known for.  Carla has been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, so she has relocated to Green Valley to work on her own software project in the hopes that the slower paced life will help her symptoms and the anxiety she has developed along with her diagnosis.  Noah is recovering from an injury on set, so he has come home to spend time with his mom and help out around the house.  Noah's mom is renting her farm house to Carla, and when the roof unexpectedly caves in, Noah is the perfect man for the job.  It also helps that his mother has an ulterior motive to set Noah up with a woman, any woman, as soon as possible.  Noah and Carla get off to a rough start, mainly because she has a bit of social anxiety, but soon they are settling into laugh out loud banter.  Noah is extremely charming, and while his is her opposite he is the perfect fit for Carla.  In a brilliant attempt to get his mother off his back about dating and Carla back into interacting with people, they begin to "fake date", but they quickly realize that they have actual feelings for each other.  

I didn't love that Carla didn't feel she was worthy of love or anyone's time.  I did love that Noah was kind and patient and willing to show her differently.   I'm not a fan of the trope where one half of the relationship decides what is better for the other half and takes that choice away from the other partner.  I can understand why Carla with her diagnosis doesn't want to be a burden, and through her past experience has made be been feel unwanted and unlovable because of if.  I'm glad that Noah stayed strong and fought for both of them.  It was worth waiting for Carla to come around and figure out her own feelings.

Overall this was a really fun and cute romance.  It has some sad and heavy moments that are well balanced by great banter and antics between our two main characters.  I really appreciate that the author put such a personal topic in to the book and learned alot about chronic fatigue.  This is a great addition to the Donner Bakery series and the Smartypants Universe.

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