Monday Book Review: My Only One, by Charlotte O'Shay

 

About the Book:

My Only One, Book One of the Fortunato Family series, is a friends to lovers, romantic suspense that’s chock full of feels.

Esme:
We grew up in side-by-side New York City tenements. Shane was my first friend, my first crush, and when he enlisted, my unforgettable heartbreak. When fate brings us back together after ten years, I’m in a world of danger. But I’m not a kid anymore and I know what I want. Shane and I have a second chance at forever and there’s no way I’ll lose him again.

Shane:
Brilliant, beautiful, bound for success, Esme was the girl next door and a temptation I had to resist. I was too old for her, but I couldn’t forget her. When we meet again after ten long years, she’s caught in the crosshairs of a deadly drug kingpin. But I wear a badge now. Nothing will stop me from protecting the woman who claimed me—heart and soul—so long ago. I’ll keep Esme safe or die trying.

Time’s running out for Esme to pay her father’s debt to the cartel.

 

MY TAKE:

 

Charlotte O'Shay is a master storyteller, grabbing the reader on page one - hook, line and sinker. I've read her previous books and really enjoyed them all... but with MY ONLY ONE, O'Shay hits her stride as an author. I expect great things from this series, especially if this first book is any indication.

 

This story starts in fifth gear with the heroine running for her life, and the pace never slows, dragging you headlong through emotional highs and lows and everything in between. From the moment Esme and Shane reconnect, sparks are flying. Told in first person with alternating viewpoints, the reader gets all the feels right along with the main characters. The romance progresses quickly, but then again, this couple has been waiting ten years to act on all the suppressed feelings they had for each other as teens. Having Esme's life literally on the line means everything is in stark focus for them both, and they need to make every moment count.

 

I loved the secondary characters as well, from Shane Fortunato's large, warm family to the drug lord who oozes evil with every word and action. I also loved Esme's grit and spirit, and the fact that she never gives up. She's no fainting princess waiting to be rescued, she's determined to rescue herself, even if she has to run barefoot through the streets of Manhattan. Gotta love a heroine with spunk, which she keeps up throughout the story (and no, no spoilers here.)

 

Totally recommend adding this fast-paced page turner to your fall reading list. 5 bright stars for this story, and hope the author hurries up with the next installment of the Fortunato series.

Grab your copy on AMAZON and get reading!

  

 

Monday Book Review: Home In Your Arms, by Charlotte O'Shay

 

About the Book:

After her sweetheart Joe dies in a road accident, twenty-four hours after he returns from Army service, grieving Karla Payne slams the door on love. Five years later, Karla's tavern business is booming, and she owns her home, but she knows forever love has no part in her future.

Headed to interview for his first civilian job, retired career Army 1st Sgt. Zane Blackthorne can't resist visiting his late buddy's beloved Vermont hometown. He also can't resist looking up Joe's sweetheart, Karla, who is an alluring mix of brains, beauty, and bravery.
Loyalty to his brother-in-arms demands Zane fight his attraction to Karla. Besides, even if Karla wants him, she'll never love him.

Can Zane say goodbye to the woman he has no right to call his own?

Even if his only true home is in her arms?

 

MY TAKE:

I love second chance romance! And I love Vermont settings, so the Deerbourne Inn series has a lot going for it, especially this newest installment in the series. Published by the Wild Rose Press, each Deerbourne Inn book is written by a different author and different romance genres, but I love a story of second chances.

Charlotte O'Shay writes believeable, down-to-earth characters with such heart and emotion, you can't help but root for their Happily Ever Afters right from the start. Home in Your Arms, however, gets off to a rockier than usual start.

Karla and Zane met only once before, at her fiance's funeral. Joe made it through an overseas deployment, only to be killed in an early morning car accident when he returned to his small Vermont hometown. Five years later, his Army buddy Zane comes to pay his respects to the town and the sweetheart he feels like he knows from so many stories and conversations. If he's honest with himself, he probably fell in love with her from the stories alone, but the reality of seeing the strong, beautiful, take-charge woman in person blows Zane away.

Karla has only ever dated or loved one man. When Joe dies, she decides fate meant her to be alone for the rest of her life, and throws her energy into work. The feelings Zane stirs in her surprise her on so many levels, but she studiously avoids labeling them since she doesn't want to betray Joe's memory. When he finally pushes to define their relationship, she completely panics. 

Can she let herself love again? That's the million dollar question at the center of any good second chance story, and at the heart of the book. And the way Ms. O'Shay handles all the nuances of Karla's emotional upheaval is brilliant.

If you enjoy small town, second chance romance you've got to grab this one. It will tug your heart strings and make you smile. 5 well-deserved stars.

Available on AMAZON

Friday Feature: EXCERPT from Their No Strings Affair, by Charlotte O'Shay

About the Book:

Honey packs everything she owns and heads to NYC to jumpstart her art career. Her cheating boyfriend is history, and she finally acknowledges the truth of her mother's mantra: Careers are forever and happily ever after isn't in their DNA.

All she needs is a job and a place to live. What she doesn't need is a taciturn, sexy, ballbuster but she's woman enough to know the difference between need and want. Isn't she?

Jake's childhood was marred by tragedy and his future hijacked to a promise born of guilt. His failure drove him to a career as a SEAL and a security expert.
But it's not enough. Now he'll give up his freedom in reparation for the life he lost. Honey may be the last sweet stop on the road to a joyless future. If it's what they both want, where's the harm in a no-strings affair?

EXCERPT:

Honey’s curiosity spiked when the car left Manhattan and entered the Bronx. There hadn’t been time yet to see much of Manhattan, and the only other part of the city she knew a little about was the part of Brooklyn where the ceramic co-op was.

Then she saw the lights and the sign: Bronx Botanical Garden Holiday Train Show. The driver pulled up to the curb. “We’re here,” Jake said, and then, “Surprised?”

“Yes, and intrigued.” Eyes wide, Honey scrambled from the car.

His smile was just as wide and almost boyish. “Good. Let’s go in.” He took her hand as they followed the sign toward the Enid Haupt Conservatory.

“Are we joining a tour?” Honey scanned the swathes of people milling about the entrance to the gardens.

“Nah, I have our tickets, and I know my way around. When I was talking to you about what you do around the holidays, it came to me that the only thing I did with any consistency was come up here with my dad to see the trains.”

Her heart—it stopped, then jumpstarted in a painful rhythm. Jake was sharing a personal memory with her, a tradition.

“We came here most of the years I was in prep school. Dad was fascinated by the work of the artist, a guy named Paul Busse who builds these. The track is about a half mile long. The whole train and all the surrounding New York City landmarks are made up of stuff you might find in a garden—twigs, leaves, acorns.”

“Wow. This is so cool. Look! A mini Statue of Liberty. This is really stunning, and then when you add the lights everywhere...” She spun in a circle, sighed. “I love it.”

“I know. I can’t believe the detail. I thought you’d appreciate what went into creating something like this.”

“This miniature version of iconic New York landmarks. It’s amazing.”

“And then there’s the train. I loved it here, so I wanted you to see. Whenever I would come up here with my dad, it was just the two of us. I could forget...everything else.”

Honey pictured the younger Jake, lanky like her brothers, wide-eyed, caught up in the coolness of what the artist built, but in the end happy to be with his dad doing something just with the two of them. Thankfully it was clear the elder Mr. Ricco, er, Riccobono, had had a positive relationship with his remaining son.

“They have a fire pit and a place to buy drinks. There’s also a shop. Do you want to check out the ornaments?”

Couldn’t he tell? Her heart was in her eyes. Oh, Jake.

“Sure, all of the above,” she said.

He wrapped his arm around her side as they meandered around the grounds of the gardens, under the holiday lights, weaving between families and carolers.

They wandered around for an hour before Jake called a halt.

“Part two of the evening is dinner on Arthur Avenue, which is the Bronx’s Little Italy. But they don’t take reservations at most of the restaurants, so...”

“Say no more. I’m ready. You had me at Little Italy.”

Grab your copy on AMAZON

Writing Wednesday: Charlotte O'Shay and her City of Dreams series

Today my guest is Charlotte O'Shay, chatting about her new book Their No Strings Affair. It's the third in her City of Dreams series for The Wild Rose Press (which I reviewed HERE), and even though it's set during the Thanksgiving/Christmas season, it was just released last month... but I have to admit, I'm one of those people who can read a Christmas story any time of year!  

Christmas in July? No problem! Especially in New York City - where the holiday season is so bright and full of lights and hope! Welcome, Charlotte!

Thanks Katie. I’m so happy to visit you today to chat about my latest steamy romance, Their No-Strings Affair, (Book 3 in the City of Dreams series).

So, there’s a wedding.

Okay… weddings are pretty standard fare in romance novels but in the City of Dreams series each book overlaps with the SAME wedding. It’s Sabrina and Vlad’s wedding from Book 1, the very steamy The Marriage Ultimatum. (Yes, all three of these stories are standalone reads.)

I’ve always been fascinated by the varied people who come together at weddings, from the happy couple to friends and family, who can be true blue or the toxic variety. And of course, the behind the scenes hired folks who make sure the whole thing goes down smoothly.

Jake and Honey are in the last category, the hired help. He’s a by the rules, ex-military guy with a ton of baggage and head of security at the high-profile wedding. Honey is a smart, wide-eyed, new to the city artist who fills in for a friend as a server at the wedding for some quick cash. And yes, in this enemies to lovers story, the sparks do fly immediately between this pair!

The other common theme of this series?—all three stories are set in NYC, which I call the City of Dreams.

In Their No-Strings Affair the reader gets to experience life in NYC as seen through the eyes of a New Yorker, our alpha hero Jake as well as Honey, a sassy newcomer with stars in her eyes. We go along for the ride as Jake and Honey discover the city while they also explore their seriously fiery chemistry.

Just to make my hometown even more enticing, I set the latter part of the story in the Christmas season. Honey is a ceramic artist and some of her first and favorite creations are ceramic Christmas ornaments. She cajoles Jake into helping her put up a Christmas tree—something he’s never done before and Jake takes Honey on a surprise date to one of his favorite NYC holiday venues: The Holiday Light & Train Show at the Bronx Zoo.

* * *

I love the way Charlotte writes, and how she brings her hometown to life for her readers. Come back on Friday to read an excerpt from the story - or go grab a copy now and start reading! Here's the full blurb and buy links:

Honey packs everything she owns and heads to NYC to jumpstart her art career. Her cheating boyfriend is history, and she finally acknowledges the truth of her mother's mantra: Careers are forever and happily ever after isn't in their DNA.

All she needs is a job and a place to live. What she doesn't need is a taciturn, sexy, ballbuster but she's woman enough to know the difference between need and want. Isn't she?

Jake's childhood was marred by tragedy and his future hijacked to a promise born of guilt. His failure drove him to a career as a SEAL and a security expert.
But it's not enough. Now he'll give up his freedom in reparation for the life he lost. Honey may be the last sweet stop on the road to a joyless future. If it's what they both want, where's the harm in a no-strings affair?

About the Author:

Author Charlotte O’Shay was born in New York City into big family and then married into another big family.

Negotiating skills honed at the dinner table led her to a career in the law.

But after four beautiful children joined the crowded family tree, Charlotte traded her legal career to write about happily ever afters in the City of Dreams.

Charlotte loves to challenge her heroines and heroes with a crisis and watch them figure out who they are while they fall in love.

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Monday Book Review: Their No Strings Affair, by Charlotte O'Shay

Their No Strings Affair (City of Dreams, Book 3), by Charlotte O'Shay
Published June 2019 by The Wild Rose Press

About the Book:

Honey packs everything she owns and heads to NYC to jumpstart her art career. Her cheating boyfriend is history, and she finally acknowledges the truth of her mother's mantra: Careers are forever and happily ever after isn't in their DNA.

All she needs is a job and a place to live. What she doesn't need is a taciturn, sexy, ballbuster but she's woman enough to know the difference between need and want. Isn't she?

Jake's childhood was marred by tragedy and his future hijacked to a promise born of guilt. His failure drove him to a career as a SEAL and a security expert.
But it's not enough. Now he'll give up his freedom in reparation for the life he lost. Honey may be the last sweet stop on the road to a joyless future. If it's what they both want, where's the harm in a no-strings affair?

My Take:

Okay, right up front I'm just going to say it. I don't like the cover. It's too brown, and makes it look like a period story from the 1930s or 40s. I also don't like the blurb (which I already mentioned to the author. If I hadn't loved the first two books so much (so much) I wouldn't have given this story a second glance.

But I loved the first two stories. And I love the way this author writes, with emotions that bleed off the pages, so I did give the story a chance. And once I got going, I couldn't put it down.

The "City of Dreams" from the series title is New York, a place big where small town kids go to make it big. The main character's name is Honeysuckle Hill, Honey for short, a small town girl who dreams of being an artist living and working in NYC. (Yes, she's embarrassed about her name too, since she's actually not a porn star. The girl's mother has a lot to answer for, the least of which is the silly given name.)

Honey's a complicated character, which Ms. O'Shay excels at creating. She's brash and sassy but also vulnerable, smart but gullible, streetwise and naive at the same time. At "five feet nothing" she's a bundle of kinetic energy moving at breakneck speed until she runs into Jake Ricco. Ex-Navy SEAL and human brick wall. Jake runs his own security firm, and they meet at a society wedding reception where Honey is filling in for a friend and Jake is running security. The wedding, coincidentally, is the same one from Book One in the series, tangling the story lines together rather nicely.

Jake has a host of his own issues and insecurities, not the least of which is the looming deadline on his arranged marriage in Italy. Honey's tendency toward chaos doesn't fit in with Jake's neat and tidy lifestyle, but he's inexplicably drawn to her -- opposites attract, after all. The more time he spends with her, the more he loosens the tight grip he's got on his buttoned-down life, and the more he begins to realize he wants more than the future he's mapped out.

The back and forth between the characters is such fun to watch, as is the transformation of Jake's character as his walls begin to crumble, his assumptions about life tangled into a knot and unraveled in new ways, thanks to Honey. Ms. O'Shay writes with heart and humor and keeps the pages turning.

This is a standalone story, and although the other characters and events are mentioned here you can read the series in any order without spoiling the underlying plots. Although the story starts after Halloween and runs through Christmas, this makes a great read for the beach or poolside. Grab a copy for your summer reading on AMAZON