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

Monday Book Review: Today, Tomorrow, Always, by Peggy Jaeger

Today, Tomorrow, Always, (A Match Made in Heaven, Book 2) by Peggy Jaeger
Published December 2019 by The Wold Rose Press

About the Book:

Lawyer Cathleen O'Dowd wants to break free from her boring image. Widowed young, she's toed the good-girl line but now wants a little fun and laughter in her days...and nights. Living in a small town, though, she can't do anything that would tarnish her professional reputation. Mac Frayne's tragic past has turned him into a sullen loner. In town to write a book on the city's founder, his plan is to get it done, then head home to his solitary existence. When circumstances force them to work together, their opposing personalities clash, but the sexual attraction between them is palpable. Can a simple affair with an end date be just the thing to brighten up their lives?

My Take:

Peggy Jaeger has done it once more, proving why I keep returning to her stories again and again. The vivid portrait of small town life, the depth of the characters and the breadth of emotions... I love escaping to the worlds this author creates on the pages.

Ms. Jaeger writes in a first person point of view that drags the reader along on a sometimes chaotic ride with Cathy O'Dowd, a small-town lawyer and the eldest O'Dowd sister in the small town of Heaven, New Hampshire. She took over her father's practice and responsibilities when her parents retired, one of which was sitting on the board of the local Historical Society. When a well-known author comes to town to research his new book, the pair are thrown together and sparks begin to fly.

Okay, none of that sounds terribly exciting, does it?  

Small town lawyer. Author doing research. Historical Society.

It all reeks of dusty pages and yawns hidden behind polite hands. And yet...

This story crackles with emotion and tension, as the main characters are instantly drawn to each other but trying desperately to ignore the electric connection. The stubbornly broken characters kept me glued to my Kindle rooting for them to give into their feelings, to get over their sad pasts and find a happily ever after with each other. The scenes with Cathy's grandmother, Nanny Fee, add comical humor and lightness to the overall story. Ms. Jaeger does a wonderful job of creating real characters we can relate to and root for, with the strong background themes of family and forgiveness running throughout.

I finished this book in a day, and loved escaping into the world Ms. Jaeger created. The first book in this series, Dearly Beloved introduced the town of Heaven and the sisters... And I know there's one more O'Dowd sister whose story has yet to be published (I can't wait!)

Five stars for this fun read! Grab your copy 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

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

Monday Book Review: Runaway Love Story, by Sadira Stone

Runaway Love Story, by Sadira Stone (The Book Nirvana 2)
Published June 2019 by The Wild Rose Press

About the Book:

She hates average...he's as average as they come.

High school history teacher Doug Garvey is trying to enjoy his last few weeks of summer vacation, but receiving his final divorce decree hits him harder than expected. After a brief fling fizzles, he fears love just isn't in the cards for him. If only he could find someone who's real, someone interested in something beyond herself…maybe a new running partner who can keep up with his more carnal appetite. When sexy, straight-talking Laurel runs across his path, he dares to hope again.

He's done with social-climbing posers...she's ambitious and has big dreams

Fired from an art gallery, Laurel Jepsen shelves her pursuit of an art career in San Francisco to help her beloved great aunt Maxie move into assisted living. While out on a morning run, she's harassed by a group of teens until a tall, broad-shouldered hottie steps in, pretending to be her boyfriend with a kiss that makes her wish it were true. But she's only passing through, not looking for a relationship.

Their fierce chemistry burns up the sheets—and the couch, the shower, the forest—but falling in love would ruin everything. Laurel can't stay in Eugene, and he can't leave. Doug's only hope is to convince her the glittery life she's after could blind her to the opportunities already in her path.

My Take:

Laurel has big dreams for her life, but so far nothing is working quite the way she wants it to. She wants to work in the art world and live in a big city, but when she loses her gallery position, her parents arrange for Laurel to stay with her great aunt Maxie for the summer to help the older woman transition into assisted living. She still dreams of saving enough money to move to San Francisco with her friend and join the big-time art scene.

While living in Maxie’s small town she meets a fellow runner named Doug, who lives in town and teaches at the local high school. His mother is in the same assisted living facility that Maxie is moving into, so Laurel and Doug run into each other a few times – and then literally decide to become running buddies. One thing leads to another and Oh! My! The chemistry crackles between them and the sex scenes are steamy good! And yet, Laurel still isn’t sure she’s ready to give up her dreams and settle for a small town guy and a small town life – no matter how right things are between them.

The author writes with humor and heart, giving us a country mouse / city mouse relationship, where the two aren’t as different as they might think, and Laurel needs to open her eyes to the possibilities right in front of her. The secondary characters were lots of fun to read as well - I adored the colorful great aunt, and her gaggle of young artistic friends. The author sends the readers through a rollercoaster of emotions before giving us our happy ending, but it’s well worth the journey! 

5 sparkling stars for this one, and I look forward to reading more from this author!

Grab a copy now on AMAZON 

...And come back Wednesday for a visit with the author!

Friday Feature: Excerpt from Runaway Love Story, by Sadira Stone

About the Book:

She hates average...he's as average as they come.

High school history teacher Doug Garvey is trying to enjoy his last few weeks of summer vacation, but receiving his final divorce decree hits him harder than expected. After a brief fling fizzles, he fears love just isn't in the cards for him. If only he could find someone who's real, someone interested in something beyond herself…maybe a new running partner who can keep up with his more carnal appetite. When sexy, straight-talking Laurel runs across his path, he dares to hope again.

He's done with social-climbing posers...she's ambitious and has big dreams

Fired from an art gallery, Laurel Jepsen shelves her pursuit of an art career in San Francisco to help her beloved great aunt Maxie move into assisted living. While out on a morning run, she's harassed by a group of teens until a tall, broad-shouldered hottie steps in, pretending to be her boyfriend with a kiss that makes her wish it were true. But she's only passing through, not looking for a relationship.

Their fierce chemistry burns up the sheets—and the couch, the shower, the forest—but falling in love would ruin everything. Laurel can't stay in Eugene, and he can't leave. Doug's only hope is to convince her the glittery life she's after could blind her to the opportunities already in her path.

Excerpt from Runaway Love Story:

                “I’m sorry she called you the S word.” 

                “Huh?” 

                “Sensible.” 

                She laughed. “Yeah. That’s a curse word, as far as I’m concerned.” She leaned her head on his shoulder.  

                “I’ll strike it from my vocabulary. Your S word is sparkle.” He traced her jawline with a feather-light touch. “Look at you, Laurel. You’re blinding.” His twilight-blue gaze made her heart dance—a steamy tango with swirls and dangerous dips. He kissed her, and, for a moment, she forgot all about caution, about cutting things off before they became too serious, about San Francisco. Her focus narrowed to his lips on hers, his nearness heating her whole body, opening her like a blossom, soft and willing. Ripe for the plucking. 

                “God, I’ve missed you.” He scooped her legs across his lap. One hand cradling her nape, the other gripping her thigh, he kissed her senseless. His velvet tongue teased her lips apart. He tasted of sugary coffee. The world around them faded—just two bodies, calling and answering, breathing in sync, their pulses beating the same rhythm.

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Writing Wednesday: Sadira Stone and the Inspiration behind her Book Nirvana series

Today I'm pleased to welcome Sadira Stone, another Wild Rose Press author who writes steamy contemporary romance. The second book in her Book Nirvana series comes out next Monday and I was lucky enough to read an ARC - whooo boy! Is it a spoiler to say I'm giving it 5 sparkling stars?

Anyway, the common theme in her series is a small town bookstore named Book Nirvana (thus the series title!) She's here today to talk about her writing inspiration. Welcome, Sadira!

Until recently, I was one of those readers--literary snobs who look down their noses at romance for the usual stupid reasons: too corny, too predictable, too fluffy. Then I read a few online articles about how fun and lucrative writing erotica can be. I thought, what the heck? Let's try.

I have never had so much fun with a writing project! My first steamy romance, Through the Red Door, nearly wrote itself, though it damned sure didn't edit itself. I've totally immersed myself in the world of romance, gobbling books like popcorn, filling my ears with romance podcasts, and joining the Romance Writers of America. From skeptic to romance mega-fan in two short years, I’m totally addicted to passionate, heartfelt stories with happy endings.

Why set the series in a bookshop? Ever since I was a wee lass, I dreamed of owning one. Add to that my fascination with historical erotic art and literature, and you’ve got the Book Nirvana series, set in an indie bookshop with an extensive erotica collection behind a locked red door.

I love stories in which a couple’s powerful physical attraction leads them to consider a partner outside their usual M.O.—one who just might turn out to be their perfect match. That’s how it happened for my husband and me, and my romance fiction contains that element.

I sort of pulled the setting out of a hat. I wanted to set my series in a college town. I’d heard that Eugene, home of the University of Oregon, has a lively arts scene and a rich counterculture legacy from the hippie era. After much online research, correspondence, and hours on Google Earth, I finally made the trip. Eugene is even lovelier than I’d imagined. Kate Rock, a resident author, kindly shared her knowledge of the city’s history and the flavor of the different neighborhoods. I look forward to many return trips.

About the Book:

She hates average...he's as average as they come.

High school history teacher Doug Garvey is trying to enjoy his last few weeks of summer vacation, but receiving his final divorce decree hits him harder than expected. After a brief fling fizzles, he fears love just isn't in the cards for him. If only he could find someone who's real, someone interested in something beyond herself…maybe a new running partner who can keep up with his more carnal appetite. When sexy, straight-talking Laurel runs across his path, he dares to hope again.

He's done with social-climbing posers...she's ambitious and has big dreams

Fired from an art gallery, Laurel Jepsen shelves her pursuit of an art career in San Francisco to help her beloved great aunt Maxie move into assisted living. While out on a morning run, she's harassed by a group of teens until a tall, broad-shouldered hottie steps in, pretending to be her boyfriend with a kiss that makes her wish it were true. But she's only passing through, not looking for a relationship.

Their fierce chemistry burns up the sheets—and the couch, the shower, the forest—but falling in love would ruin everything. Laurel can't stay in Eugene, and he can't leave. Doug's only hope is to convince her the glittery life she's after could blind her to the opportunities already in her path.

PREORDER A COPY ON AMAZON

About the author:

Ever since her first kiss, Sadira’s been spinning steamy tales in her head. After leaving her teaching career in Germany, she finally tried her hand at writing one. Now she’s a happy citizen of Romancelandia, penning contemporary romance and cozy mysteries from her home in Washington State. When not writing, which is seldom, she explores the Pacific Northwest with her charming husband, enjoys the local music scene, belly dances, plays guitar badly, and gobbles all the books. Visit Sadira at www.sadirastone.com.

Author Website: http://www.sadirastone.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sadirastone/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SadiraStone

Goodreads author page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18568049.Sadira_Stone

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/sadira-stone