Month: November 2022

‘A heartwarming read, full of friendship and fun’ Heidi Swain

What would you wish for if you were granted three wishes?

For the first time she can remember, Poppy is dreading Christmas. Unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend after moving across the country for him, there’s nothing cheery about the festive season this year.

Dragged to a Christmas ball by best friend Layla, Poppy meets gorgeous actor Gabe, who stars as a genie in a play. When he asks her what three wishes she would make, she realises it’s quite simple: love, a job she’s happy in and, just once in her life, to do something extraordinary.

Gabe and Poppy make a pact to help each other make their dreams come true. As they tick off their wishes, their friendship blossoms… But, as they discover, sometimes, what you want for Christmas isn’t necessarily what you need…

A delicious romance to snuggle up with this festive season from the author of Wedding Bells at the Signal Box Café and The Cosy Little Cupcake Van.

Purchase Links:

Amazon UK – https://www.amazon.co.uk/Poppys-Christmas-Wishes-Annette-Hannah-ebook/dp/B09KXYGM36
Amazon US – https://www.amazon.com/Poppys-Christmas-Wishes-Annette-Hannah-ebook/dp/B09KXYGM36

Before I begin my review I quickly have to thank Rachel’s Random Resources for allowing me to be a part of this blog tour and for graciously providing me with a copy of the ebook for my review stop today.

I really enjoyed this. It was a fairly quick read for me.

This is Annette’s third book; I believe they are all stand-alone stories. Her previous books are Wedding Bells at the Signal Box Cafe and The Cosy Little Cupcake Van. They all take place in Bramblewood. I definitely want to check them out.

Our main character is Poppy and she is moving in with her boyfriend Ed well at least she thinks he is. He managed to convince her this move was good so she left behind friends, family, and a job she loved because Ed was supposed to have a new job only it’s not true. Poppy finds out that Ed is not moving because the job fell through and he managed to get the job he really wanted. Unable to return home she tries to make the best out of the situation she is in.

I have to say right from the get-go I didn’t like Ed and he knew as she was moving in that he wasn’t going to be joining her. I think he took the cowardly way out of the situation from the start and Poppy had to find out from another co-worker. So right away I didn’t like him.

Thankfully her best friend Layla comes to visit and is all ready to celebrate Christmas little does she know Poppy isn’t in the festive mood. Layla is determined to make sure Poppy enjoys the holiday. The first stop is the company holiday party. It’s here that she meets Gabe. I love Gabe, he is exactly the right person for Poppy to have in her life. Gabe is fun and kind and he manages to pull Poppy out of her slump. He is determined to bring Poppy back to what she was before Ed. But can he?

This was just the perfect book to read. As you are reading you could feel how authentic this book is and it literally could happen to anyone in real life. There were so many aw moments for me. This is another book that  I recommend you read this holiday season.

Author Bio

Annette Hannah is a Liver Bird who relocated to leafy Hertfordshire in the 80’s and now lives near a river with her husband, two of their three grown up children and a crazy black cocker spaniel. She writes Romantic comedies in settings inspired by the beautiful countryside around her and always with a nod to her hometown.

She worked in Marketing for many years as a qualified Marketeer which she loved as it tapped into her creative side.

As an avid reader, she began to review the books she read, became a book blogger and eventually plucked up the courage to fulfil her life long dream of writing a book.

For four years she was a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s new writers’ scheme, during which time she wrote a book a year.
After signing a two book deal with Orion Dash in 2020 she graduated to full member of the organisation and is also their Press Officer.

She loves long walks along the river, travelling to far-flung places and spending time with her friends and family.

Social Media Links –
https://twitter.com/AnnetteHannah
www.sincerelybookangels.blogspot.com
www.annettehannah.com
https://www.instagram.com/annette.hannah/
https://www.facebook.com/AnnetteHannahAuthor

Book Info:
Friends Like These by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez
Genre: Young Adult Thriller
Publishing Date: November 1, 2022

Synopsis:
Twisted secrets that will have readers guessing with every flip of the page. Perfect for fans of GONE GIRL and Karen M. McManus.

Tegan Sheffield’s annual end-of-summer beach party is the only way to start their senior year. At least that’s what Jake Healy tells his girlfriend Jessica Sanchez.

But when a video prank from the party goes viral and a body is discovered at the beach, Jake and Jessica find themselves at the centre of a national media storm and a police investigation.

It’s a race to uncover the truth before the killer strikes again.

Content Warning: Toxic friendships, sexual assault, rape, mentions of various types of abuse

Book Links:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59811806-friends-like-these
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Friends-Like-These-Jennifer-Alvarez/dp/0593309677/
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/friends-like-these-jennifer-lynn-alvarez/1140956747
Book Depository: https://www.bookdepository.com/Friends-Like-These-Jennifer-Lynn-Alvarez/9780593309698
Indigo: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/friends-like-these/9780593309674-item.html
IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780593309674

Before I begin my review I quickly have to thank TBR and Beyond Tours for allowing me to be a part of this tour and for graciously providing me with an eArc of the book to read for my tour stop today.

This is Jennifer’s second thriller. Her previous thriller was Lies Like Wildfire and if that is anything like what I just read then I definitely need to pick it up to read. These are stand-alone books.

This was one heck of a roller coaster ride. So many twists and turns you didn’t know what was coming next. I thought at one point I knew what was going on and quickly realized that I was completely wrong. I really enjoy books like this, books that keep you on the edge of your seat wondering who did it and then being blindsided in the last quarter of the book, wondering how did I miss that? In the end, Jennifer wraps everything up leaving nothing unanswered, everything gets explained and why it happened. I actually like when things are gradually revealed instead of it all happening at once.

Once I started I had a hard time putting this down and pretty much read it in one sitting which is pretty typical for me when it comes to psychological thrillers.

The book is told from three points of view, Jessica, Jake, and Tegan. They are all high school students enjoying their last year of high school. What better way to end the summer and start their last year than a killer summer house party.

Jessica is your basic high school girl who is focused on getting good grades and getting into a great college and her boyfriend, Jake is the exact opposite, he is enjoying life. Jessica isn’t that party girl like Jake wants her to be. My only beef with Jake was I found him to be a bit clingy with Jessica. Yes, she was there when he lost his dad and he break up with Tegan.

Jake manages to convince Jessica to go to Tegan’s party which is the last thing she would rather do. Jake convinces her saying they will just stay for a little bit and he won’t drink. Sadly he does the exact opposite. She and Tegan don’t have that friendship like they did years ago when they were kids. Jake is Tegan’s ex and let’s just say that Tegan isn’t over Jake (everyone knows this) and will do just about anything to get him back. This was another thing that I didn’t like about Jake, he couldn’t even keep his promise to Jessica about not drinking. Did he really care about Jessica?

What happens next makes you wonder that. From that point on things get worse and turn into the night from hell. What was supposed to be a fun summer wrap-up party turns into something much worse and rocks everyone’s friendships. A viral video goes wild, someone goes missing, and police and the FBI get involved.

The actions from this night will change the course of everything for those involved. There is no going back from that night.

Friends like this who needs enemies is what I kept thinking throughout the book. With that being said I would definitely read Jennifer’s future books. If you like a really good psychological thriller then I recommend this one, I don’t think you will be disappointed.

About the Author:

I received my B.A. in English from the University of California at Berkeley. I’m fascinated by underdogs and power dynamics between groups of people.

I’m the author of LIES LIKE WILDFIRE, a teen thriller soon-to-be published by Delacorte Press, and two middle grade book series, each published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, THE GUARDIAN HERD (a quartet) and RIDERS OF THE REALM (a trilogy). Before this, I self-published a middle-grade fantasy called THE PET WASHER.

When I’m not writing, you’ll find me galloping my little black mare through the foothills of Sonoma County or teaching free creative writing workshops to kids and adults at various branches of our local library system.

The Healdsburg Literary Guild selected me as their 2019/2020 Literary Laureate for my work in building literacy in my community. It is an honor I hold dear. I am also the current SCBWI Sonoma County Coordinator and a volunteer on the Sonoma County Library Advisory Board.

​I live in Northern California with my husband, three children, and more than my fair share of pets!

Author Links:
Website: https://www.jenniferlynnalvarez.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenniferDiaries
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jennifer_lynn_alvarez/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5348132.Jennifer_Lynn_Alvarez
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JenniferLynnAlvarez/?ref=hl
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC50LaHt4Uj4Vhn2nRTWxgmg
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jendiaries/

Tour Schedule:
https://tbrandbeyondtours.com/2022/10/04/tour-schedule-friends-like-these-by-jennifer-lynn-alvarez/

Tempting Wilder
T.L. Mahrt
(Cottonwood Creek)
Publication date: January 31st 2023
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
I only need one night, one night is all I need…

Summer Grant practices psychology in the inner city of Chicago, specializing in post childhood trauma. Living at the hand of an estranged alcoholic husband, Summer’s worse fear becomes a reality after her daughter witnesses her husband‘s cruelty causing her to flee with her two children to the small town of Loveington, Kentucky.

Summer comes along an abandoned house that she can’t seem to walk away from. Wanting to set roots in the tranquility of small-town life, Summer works to rebuild her family within the home she has longed for.

Wilder Williams always dreamed of was raising a family in his grandparents’ home. After his grandmother refused to sell the homestead to family because of a feud between his siblings, his grandmother turns around and sells it to a newcomer. The timing couldn’t have been worse, with Wilder’s painful divorce, the homestead was all he had to look forward to. And as much as he loves his grandmother, she insisted Wilder to be the contractor causing a conflict of emotions for him.

Will Summer find the happiness her family deserves? Or will Wilder create havoc, turning the remodel into a nightmare? Will a spark cause destruction within the homestead that they both never see coming?

Add to Goodreads / Pre-order

Author Bio:

T. L. Mahrt is a former business owner, where she utilized her education in cosmetology, barbering, and massage therapy for several years. She was raised on and is currently living on a farm in Nebraska, where you can find her running barefoot in the countryside with her loving husband, inspiring children, and massive dogs.

After having her son, who was born with Cerebral Palsy and DYRK1A Syndrome, she made the life-altering decision to stay home to care for her two children and pursue her love of writing. She has a passion for romance and poetry where her overactive imagination, along with her adventures and upbeat lifestyle drives her motivation for her writing.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram

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Things I Should Have Said
Kelsey Humphreys
Publication date: November 1st 2022
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Contemporary, Romance
When an introverted artist catches feelings for an extroverted executive, exactly how sweaty, awkward and embarrassingly painful will her fall be? (Spoiler alert: very.)

Skye Canton is focused on her goals: Make it as an artist in New York, quit her dayjob, finally prove herself to her family back in Oklahoma. Noise canceling headphones on, brush in hand, #livingherbestintrovertlife.

All of which gets blown to bits by a gorgeous, smart, magnetic Texas boy turned Manhattan man-about-town.

Matthew James is full of surprises, tempting Skye to give in and reveal her own secrets. Her bestie, her sisters and even her grumpy cat are on TeamMatt. But he doesn’t fit into her well-drawn plans.

Plus, he’s so smooth and so hot…he reminds her of her past, where she learned the hard way – when there’s this much heat, she’s bound to get burned.

This standalone is a smart, steamy, full-length lovers to enemies to lovers, contemporary romance. It’s a reverse grumpy-sunshine with surprise twists, laugh-out-loud banter, a happily ever after, and a sisters group text thread you’ll wish you could join. This is the first book in the Heartlanders Series.

Goodreads / Amazon

Author Bio:

After tens of millions of video views, comedian Kelsey Humphreys has captured her hilarious, heart-warming characters in book form. Her steamy stories dig into deep truths about love, identity, purpose, and family. When she’s not writing romance or creating comedy videos, she is reading, running, mom-ming and wife-ing in Oklahoma. Follow her funnies on Facebook, Instagram and Tiktok

Giveaway!
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Temporarily In Love
Danica Flynn
(MacGregor Brothers Brewing Company, #3)
Publication date: October 31st 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

I’ve never loved someone quite like my high school sweetheart. But she shattered my heart to pieces when she moved to California for college and never came back.

Now she’s back in Drakesville and for the first time in sixteen years, I’ve come face-to-face with the only woman I’ve ever loved. Kissing her was a bad idea. Spending countless nights tangled in my sheets was an even worse idea.

She’s only here long enough to make sure her parents’ bar stays afloat. I can’t get attached, when I know she’s just going to leave again.

And I know I’m not reason enough to make her stay.

Temporarily In Love is a small-town second chance autumn-themed romance book. If you love fall and Halloween, you’ll love this book.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Google Play / Eden Books / Smashwords

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SNEAK PEEK:

Declan’s dark eyes seared across the length of my body like he remembered all the times he had stripped me out of my clothes. He always did like the knee-high boots I wore during the fall.

“You cold?” he asked.

I nodded. “Been in California too long.”

He shed his zip-up hoodie and put it over my shoulders. “Here.”

A memory of this exact scene played through my mind’s eye. Of me not wearing proper attire because I wanted to dress cute for him and him giving me his jacket. But that was sixteen-year-old Declan and Lila; we weren’t those people anymore.

“Dec…”

“Come on, love, let’s go on the zipper,” he said and took my hand.

I didn’t question his slip up. The old pet name rolled off his tongue like it hadn’t been sixteen years since I broke his heart. Like I hadn’t stood in his driveway all those years ago and told him I got accepted to Stanford and wasn’t going with him to Penn State. I told him I wanted to break up, because long-distance relationships never worked, but I’d always love him. That part had been true, was still true, but I never came back to him. I went to California and stayed there while he stayed in our gossipy small town and made a name for himself.

The pad of his thumb brushed against the back of my palm. “Love?”

“Right. Let’s go on the zipper!” I said excitedly, pulling myself away from the trip down memory lane.

We walked over to the ride and waited in line for a few minutes, but neither of us wanted to sever the connection of our hands. I wondered if he was thinking about all the times we had done this before. Of those times back in high school when he was the one dragging me toward the rides. Adult Declan was quiet and reserved, and I couldn’t get a read on him. He wasn’t the boy I fell in love with, but yet, at the same time, he was.

He led me into the cage and made sure I was seated before he slid in next to me. We pulled the lap bar down, and the ride operator clicked us in before shutting us inside the metal cage. We were pressed so close together, I felt his thigh against my own.

I didn’t know why I did it, but I turned to him and found he was staring back at me intensely. He didn’t jerk back when I brushed my lips against his. He threaded his hands through my hair, one of them gripping my neck possessively as he deepened the kiss. We kissed like we hadn’t forgotten, like it hadn’t been years since we were pressed together. We still fit so perfectly.

Then the ride lurched, and I pulled away to grab onto the handlebar above my head as we moved upwards. We screamed our heads off as our cage flipped us around. I held onto Declan’s arm when the ride took us up to its full height and then brought us back down to the ground, all the while flipping us upside down in our cage.

I felt dizzy by the time we were back on the ground, and the ride operator opened the cage for us. Declan got out first, then offered me a hand when I stumbled out.

He studied me. “Okay, love?”

I could only nod.

My heart was doing somersaults, and it wasn’t because I was motion sick from the ride. It was singing with the way this man still turned me inside out. But I couldn’t get ideas like that. I didn’t deserve him after what I did. Not after I had been such a coward and cut him out of my life.

Author Bio:

Danica Flynn is a marketer by day, and a writer by nights and weekends. AKA she doesn’t sleep! She is a rabid hockey fan of both The Philadelphia Flyers and the Metropolitan Riveters. When not writing, she can be found hanging with her partner, playing video games, and reading a ton of books.

Visit her at danicaflynn.com for the latest news.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / Bookbub / Amazon / Newsletter

Giveaway!
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How To Rope A Barbaric Cowboy
Anya Summers
(Silver Springs Ranch, #8)
Publication date: November 29th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Penelope has always been a ‘good girl’. Never colored outside the lines. Never did anything to rock the boat. But when her ex-boyfriend blows back into town, she decides to take a ride on the wild side with a sexy stranger who has ‘bad boy’ written all over his rock hard body.

He’s dangerous, smoking hot, and more than willing to give her what she wants—a night of uninhibited pleasure. But she could never fall in love with a military man, not with the pain of her past.

Navy SEAL Eli is only too happy to help the gorgeous Penelope make her ex jealous. When he’s not on a black ops mission, he takes his pleasure where he can find it. What he didn’t count on was that a single night would awaken a forbidden craving for a woman and a life that can never be his.

How can they hope for a future together when honor, duty and history work together to tear them apart?

Add to Goodreads / Pre-order

Author Bio:

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Anya grew up listening to Cardinals baseball and reading anything she could get her hands on. She remembers her mother saying if only she would read the right type of books instead binging her way through the romance aisles at the bookstore, she’d have been a doctor. While Anya never did get that doctorate, she graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-St. Louis with an M.A. in History.

Anya is a bestselling and award-winning author published in multiple fiction genres. She also writes urban fantasy, paranormal romance, and contemporary romance under the name Maggie Mae Gallagher. A total geek at her core, when she is not writing, she adores attending the latest comic con or spending time with her family. She currently lives in the Midwest with her two furry felines.

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