• Home
  • Book Review
  • Contest
  • Blog Tour
  • Sneak Peek
  • About

Romantic Reads and Such

~ thoughts on romances

Romantic Reads and Such

Monthly Archives: March 2021

Spotlight – The Bookstore on the Beach

31 Wednesday Mar 2021

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Sneak Peek

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Brenda Novak, The Bookstore on the Beach

For fans of Elin Hilderbrand and Mary Kay Andrews, comes New York Times bestselling author Brenda Novak’s newest standalone work of women’s fiction, a big, sweeping novel about family and the ties that bind and challenge us. In this novel, three generations of women from the same family share a house and work together at a bookstore in Colonial Beach over the course of a summer.

*****

The Bookstore on the Beach

by Brenda Novak

On Sale Date: April 6, 2021

9780778361053

Trade Paperback; $16.99 USD

448 pages

Blurb:

How do you start a new chapter when you haven’t closed the book on the last one?

Eighteen months ago, Autumn Divac’s husband went missing. Her desperate search has yielded no answers—she still has no idea where he went or why. After being happily married for twenty years, she can’t imagine moving forward without him, but for the sake of their two teenage children, she has to try.

Autumn takes her kids home for the summer to the charming beachside town where she was raised. She seeks comfort by working alongside her mother and aunt at their quaint bookshop, only to learn that her daughter is facing a life change neither of them saw coming and her mother has been hiding a terrible secret for years. And when she runs into Quinn Vanderbilt—the boy who stole her heart in high school—old feelings start to bubble up again. Is she free to love him, or should she hold out hope for her husband’s return? She can only trust her heart…and hope it won’t lead her astray.

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/books/the-bookstore-on-the-beach/9780778361053

IndieBound: http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780778361053

Barnes & Noble: http://barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?ean=9780778361053

Books-A-Million: http://www.booksamillion.com/product/9780778361053

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0778361055/?tag=brennova09-20

Indigo: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/the-bookstore-on-the-beach/9780778361053-item.html

Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/book/9780778361053

Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/ip/The-Bookstore-on-the-Beach-Original-ed-Paperback-9780778361053/930754084

Target: https://www.target.com/p/the-bookstore-on-the-beach-by-brenda-novak-paperback/-/A-80028510 

*****

Excerpt:

CHAPTER 1

Tuesday, June 8

Today her daughter was returning for the summer. Mary Langford gazed eagerly out at the street in front of her small bookstore, looking for a glimpse of Autumn’s car and, when she saw nothing except a large family going into the ice cream parlor at the end of the block, checked her watch. Three-thirty. Autumn had called at lunchtime to say that she and the kids were making good time. They probably wouldn’t be much longer.

“You’ve been quiet today,” Laurie commented from where she sat behind the counter, straightening the pens, tape, stapler and bookmarks.

Mary turned from the large front window she’d recently decorated with posters of the hottest new releases. “I worry when she’s on the road for so long.”

“She’ll make it, and it’ll be great to see her and the kids. They haven’t been back since Christmas, have they?”

“No.” She picked up the feather duster and began cleaning shelves—a never-ending job at Beach Front Books, which she and Laurie owned as 50/50 partners. Autumn lived in Tampa, Florida, far enough away that it wasn’t easy to get together when Taylor and Caden were in school. “And I doubt they’ll come back for the holidays this year.” Fortunately, they were more consistent about returning for the summer—except for last summer, of course, which was understandable. Mary hoped she’d be able to count on that continuing, but with the kids getting older, nothing was certain. Taylor had only one more year of high school before heading off to college. Caden had two. Mary feared this might be the last time, for a while, they’d all be together in Sable Beach.

“You could go visit them,” Laurie pointed out.

Autumn had invited her many times. Remembering the arguments her refusal had sparked over the years caused Mary’s stomach to churn. She wanted to go to Tampa, wanted to make it so that her daughter wouldn’t have to do all the traveling. Autumn had been going through so much lately. But the thought of venturing into unfamiliar territory filled Mary with dread. Other than to go to Richmond occasionally, which was the closest big city, she hadn’t left the sleepy Virginia Beach town she called home in thirty-five years. “Yes, but you know me. This is the only place I feel safe.”

Laurie rocked back on the tall stool. “Well, if the fear hasn’t gone away by now, I guess it’s not going to.”

“No. I don’t talk about it anymore, but the past is as real to me now as it’s ever been.”

Although the store had been busy earlier, what with the influx of tourists for the season, foot traffic had slowed. When that happened, they often talked more than they worked. Beach Front Books wasn’t Laurie’s sole source of income. Her husband, Christopher Conklin, was a talented artist. He painted all kinds of seascapes, and while he wasn’t in any prestigious galleries, he sold his paintings in a section they reserved for him in the store as well as online.

But Mary, who’d never been married, had no other support. Beach Front Books didn’t make a large profit, but no one loved the escape that books provided more than she did, and the store garnered enough business that she could eke out a living. That was all that mattered to her.

“Autumn gets so mad that I won’t go out and see the world. Visit. Travel. That sort of thing,” she murmured, wishing she didn’t have the scars and limitations that had, at times, put such a strain on their relationship. “She keeps saying I’m too young to live like an old lady.”

“She has a point.”

Mary sighed. “I’m not young anymore.”

“What are you talking about? You’re nine years younger than me. Fifty-four is not old.”

That was true, but she’d had to grow up far sooner than most people. “I feel ancient.”

“Next year, you should go to Tampa, if they ask you.”

She shook her head. “I can’t.”

“Maybe you’ll prove that you can.”

Mary couldn’t help bristling. She didn’t like it when Laurie pushed her. “No.”

“Autumn doesn’t understand, Mary. That’s what causes almost every fight you have with her.”

“I know. And I feel bad about that. But there’s nothing I can do.”

Laurie lowered her voice. “You could tell her the truth…”

“Absolutely not,” Mary snapped. “Why would I ever do that?”

“There are reasons. And you know it. We’ve talked about this before,” Laurie said, remaining calm, as always. That was one of the many things Mary liked about her—she was steady and patient, and that steadiness somehow helped Mary cope when old feelings and memories began to resurface.

In this instance, Laurie might also be right. Mary could feel the past rising up from its deep slumber. Maybe it was time to tell Autumn.

But there were just as many reasons not to—compelling reasons. And the thought of revealing the past, seeing it all through her daughter’s eyes, made Mary feel ill. “I can’t broach that subject right now, not with what she’s been dealing with the past year and a half. Besides, it’s been so long it’s almost as if it happened to someone else,” she said, mentally shoving those dark years into the deepest recesses of her mind. “I want to stay as far away from that subject as possible.”

Laurie didn’t call her out on the contradiction her statement created. And Mary was glad. She couldn’t have explained how it could be real and frightening and always present and yet she could feel oddly removed from it at the same time.

“Except that it didn’t happen to someone else,” Laurie responded sadly. “It happened to you.”

~

The scent of the ocean, more than anything else, told Autumn she was home. She lowered her window as soon as she rolled into town and breathed deeply, letting the salt air fill her lungs.

“What are you doing?” Taylor held her long brown hair in one hand to keep it from whipping across her face as she looked over from the passenger seat.

Autumn smiled, which was something she knew her children hadn’t seen her do enough of lately. “Just getting a little air.”

“You hate it when I roll down my window,” Caden grumbled from the backseat.

“I’m hoping I won’t be so irritable anymore.” For the past eighteen months, Autumn had been mired in the nightmare that had overtaken her life. She almost hadn’t come to Sable Beach because of it. But when her children had each pleaded with her, separately, to ask if they could spend the summer with “Mimi” like they used to, she knew they needed some normalcy in their lives—needed to retain at least one of their parents. Her grief and preoccupation with her husband’s disappearance had probably made them feel as though she’d gone missing, too—at least the mother they’d known before. She hoped by returning to the place that held so many wonderful memories for them all, they’d be able to heal and reconnect.

It wasn’t as if she could do anything more for Nick, anyway. That was the ugly reality. She’d exhausted every viable lead and still had no idea where he was. If he was dead, she had to figure out a way to go on without him for the sake of their children.

The second she spotted the bookstore, the nostalgia that welled up—along with memories of a simpler, easier time—nearly brought her to tears. When she was a little girl, she’d spent so many hours following her mother through the narrow aisles of that quaint shop, which looked like something from the crooked, narrow streets of Victorian London, dusting bookshelves or reading in the nook her mother had created for her.

She’d spent just as much time at Beach Front Books when she was a teenager, only then she was stocking shelves, ordering inventory, working the register—and, again, reading, but this time sitting on the stool behind the counter while waiting for her next customer.

God, it was good to be back. As hard as she could be on her mother for her unreasonable fears and idiosyncrasies, she couldn’t wait to see her. Until this moment, she hadn’t realized just how much she missed her mother. So what if Mary was almost agoraphobic with her unwillingness to leave her little bungalow a block away from the sea? She was always there, waiting to welcome Autumn home. Maybe Autumn had never had a father, or the little brother or sister she’d secretly longed for, but she was lucky enough to have the enduring love of a good mother.

“There it is.” She pointed to the bookstore as she slowed to look for a place to park.

“We’re not going to the beach house?” Caden asked, looking up from whatever he’d been doing on his phone.

“Not right now. First, we’re stopping to see Mimi and Aunt Laurie. Then we’ll take our stuff over to the house.”

A glance in the rearview mirror showed her his scowl. “I hope it won’t be too late to go to the beach,” he said.

“I’m sure we can manage to get there before dark,” she responded as she wedged her white Volvo SUV between a red convertible and a gray sedan and grabbed her purse.

Taylor spoke, causing her to pause with her hand on the door latch. “You already seem different.”

“In what way?” Autumn asked.

“Less uptight. Not so sad.”

“Coming here makes me happy,” she admitted.

“Then why were we going to skip it again?” Caden asked.

Autumn twisted around to look at him. “You know why.”

A pained expression claimed her daughter’s face. “Does this mean you’re letting go?”

“Of Dad? Of course she’s letting go,” Caden answered, the hard edge to his voice suggesting he considered the question to be a stupid one. “Dad’s dead.”

“Don’t say that!” Taylor snapped. “We don’t know it’s true. He could be coming back.”

“It’s been eighteen months, Tay,” Caden responded. “He would’ve come back by now if he could.”

“Stop it, both of you.” Autumn didn’t want them getting into an argument right before they saw her mother. They were at each other’s throats so often lately; it drove her crazy to constantly have to play referee. But she could hardly blame them. They’d lost their father, and they didn’t know how or why. And she had no explanation. “Life’s been hard enough lately,” she added. “Let’s not make it any harder.”

“Then you tell her,” Caden said. “Dad’s dead, and we have to move on. Right? Isn’t that the truth? Go ahead and say it—you are letting go.”

Was she? Is that what this trip signified? If not, how much longer should she hold on? And would holding on be best for them? She couldn’t imagine her kids would want to spend another eighteen months swallowed up by grief and consumed with seeking answers they may never find. Taylor was seventeen, going to be a senior and starting to investigate colleges. Caden was only a year behind her. Surely, they would prefer to look forward and not back.

Regardless, Autumn wasn’t sure she could continue to search, not like she had. She was exhausted—mentally and physically. She’d put everything she had into the past year and a half, and it hadn’t made a damn bit of difference. That was the most disheartening part of it.

“I’m continuing to hold out hope,” she said, even though everyone she’d talked to, including the FBI, insisted her husband must be dead. It was difficult to see the idyllic, two-parent upbringing she was trying to give her kids—something she’d never had herself—fall apart that quickly and easily, and the heartbreak, loneliness and frustration of looking for Nick, with no results, created such a downward spiral for her. She knew it had been just as painful for her children. That was why maybe she should let go—to provide the best quality of life for them as possible.

“What does that mean? Are you going to keep looking for him?” Caden pressed. “Is that how you’re going to spend the summer?”

He could tell something had changed, that coming here signified a difference, and he wanted to reach the bottom line. But Autumn wasn’t ready to admit that she’d failed. Not with as many times as she’d tried to comfort them by promising she’d have answers eventually.

She opened her mouth to try to explain what she was thinking in the gentlest possible way when she spotted her mother. Mary had come out of the store and was waving at them.

“There’s your grandmother,” she said.

Thankfully, her children let the conversation lapse and got out of the car.

“Hi, Mimi.” With his long strides, Caden reached Mary first. Although he wasn’t yet fully grown, he was already six-one. And Taylor was five foot ten. They were both tall, like their father.

Mary gave each of the kids a big hug and exclaimed about how grown-up they both were and how excited she was to see them before turning to Autumn.

“You’ve lost weight,” she murmured gently, a hint of worry belying her smile before they embraced.

“I’m okay, Mom.” Autumn could smell a hint of the bookstore on Mary’s clothes and realized that was another scent she’d never forget. It represented her childhood and all the great stories she’d read growing up. She’d once hoped to read every book in the store. She hadn’t quite made it, thanks to new releases and fluctuating inventory, but she’d read more books than most people. She still considered books to be a big part of her life. “It’s good to be home.”

“Laurie’s dying to see you. Let’s go in and say hello,” Mary said and held the door.

As soon as the bell sounded, Laurie hurried out from behind the register. “There you are! It’s a good thing you came when you did. I was afraid it would drive your mother crazy waiting for you. She’s been so anxious for you to arrive. We both have.”

Taylor allowed her aunt to give her an exuberant squeeze. “I’m glad we got to come this year. Where’s Uncle Chris?”

“Probably on the beach somewhere, painting. You know how he is once the weather warms up—just like a child, eager to get outdoors.”

They took a few minutes to visit the small section of the store dedicated to Christopher’s work so they could admire his latest paintings. Autumn was especially enamored with one he’d done of the bookstore that portrayed a child out front, hanging on to her mother with one hand and carrying a stack of books with the other. That child could’ve been her once upon a time. She almost wondered if his memory of her had inspired it, which was why she decided, if that painting didn’t sell before she left, she’d buy it herself and take it back to Tampa.

Fortunately, she had the money. As a corporate attorney, Nick had always done well financially. After the first few years of their marriage, which he spent finishing school, they’d rarely had to scrimp. But it was what he’d inherited when his father passed away that’d really set them up. After Sergey’s death, Autumn had quit working as a loan officer for a local bank and, for the past ten years, had focused on her family, her home, gardening and cooking. Her financial situation was also one of the reasons she rejected the idea that Nick might’ve left her for another woman, a possibility that had been suggested to her many, many times. Why would he leave his children, too, and walk away without a cent? Sure, they’d had their struggles, especially in recent years, when his work seemed to take more and more of his time and attention, but neither of them had ever mentioned separating.

“This is amazing,” she exclaimed as she continued to study the little girl in the painting. “I love Chris’s work.”

“The last original he donated to charity went for six thousand dollars,” Laurie announced proudly.

“Who bought it?” Autumn asked. If whoever it was lived in Sable Beach, chances were good she’d know him or her.

“Mike Vanderbilt, over at The Daily Catch. He was drunk when he got into a bidding war for it, and now it’s hanging in his restaurant. I think he’s glad to have it, but I imagine he also sees it as a reminder not to raise his paddle when he’s been drinking.”

They all laughed to think of the barrel-chested and good-natured Mike letting alcohol bring out his competitive nature.

“His wife must be doing well, then,” Autumn said. “She’s still in remission?”

Laurie shot Mary a surprised glance, and it was Mary who answered. “I’m afraid not. She was when he bought that painting, but they received word just a couple of months ago that Beth’s breast cancer has come back.”

“Oh no,” Autumn cried. Everyone knew the owners of The Daily Catch. They did a lot for the community. And it was her favorite restaurant. When she was home, she ate there all the time. “What’s her prognosis?”

“Not good. That’s why Quinn has moved home from that little town in upstate New York. He helps his father with the restaurant these days. I’m sure he’s also here to spend time with his mother before…well, before he has to say goodbye to her for good.”

“Quinn’s home?” Autumn said. She wasn’t expecting that; the mention of his name knocked her a little off-kilter. When he was a senior and she was a junior, she’d given him her virginity in the elaborate tree house that was in his backyard, even though he hadn’t been nearly as interested in being with her as she was him. And then he’d broken her heart by getting back together with his girlfriend, the same woman he married five years later. “So his wife and kids are here now, too?”

“No, he doesn’t have any kids,” Laurie said, chiming in again. “And he and Sarah—what was her maiden name?”

“Vizii,” Autumn supplied.

“Yes. Vizii. They divorced almost two years ago. You didn’t know?”

“How would I?” She’d seen nothing about it on social media, but then, Quinn had never been on social media, and she’d never been able to find Sarah, either—not that she’d checked recently because she hadn’t. “I haven’t seen him since he was working as a lifeguard at the beach after his first year of college and he had to swim out and save me from drowning.” She didn’t add that she’d faked the whole episode just to get his attention. She was mortified about that now and cringed at how obvious it must’ve been to him.

“I’m surprised the gossip didn’t reach you all the way down in Tampa,” Laurie said. “For a while, it was about the only thing anyone around here could talk about.”

But who would tell her? Her mother wasn’t much for gossip, which was ironic, considering she’d lived in Sable Beach for so long. The town where Autumn had been raised took talking about their friends and neighbors to a whole new level.

“Why would his divorce be such big news?” she asked. Besides being one of the most popular boys in school, Quinn had been handsome, athletic and at the top of his class—undoubtedly one of Sable Beach’s finest. But still. Divorce was so commonplace it was hardly remarkable anymore. And Quinn was thirty-nine. He’d been gone from this place—except for when he visited his folks—for twenty-one years. How could what was going on in his life be such a hot topic?

Laurie tilted her head toward Taylor and Caden in such a way that Autumn understood she was hesitant to speak in front of them. “There were some…extenuating circumstances. Have your mother tell you about it later.”

“I want to hear,” Caden protested.

“Why? We don’t even know him.” Taylor jumped in before Autumn could respond, then Caden snapped at her to shut up and they started arguing again.

“Don’t make Mimi regret inviting us.” Autumn rolled her eyes to show how weary she was of this behavior.

“Should we go over and get you settled in?” Mary asked. “Laurie offered to close the store tonight, so I’m free to start dinner while you unpack.”

“Sure,” Autumn said. Once Caden and Taylor got to the beach, maybe they’d mellow out and fall into the same companionable rhythm they usually achieved when they came to Sable Beach.

Her mother’s house seemed the same, except that its shingle siding was now white instead of green. It had needed a fresh coat of paint, and the white looked clean and crisp. But as much as she loved the update, Autumn was relieved to find that nothing else had changed. Visiting Mary was like going back in time. Not many people could do that twenty years after they’d left home.

Because it was such a small cottage, Caden had to sleep on the couch, Taylor took Autumn’s old room next to Mary’s, and the three of them shared the only bathroom, which was off the hallway. Autumn slept above the detached garage, where she had her own bed and bath, thanks to Nick. Because he’d typically had to work when she brought the kids, he’d never spent more than a few days at a time in Sable Beach. That had caused more than a few arguments over the years, so she’d readily agreed when he’d insisted they have their own space for when he did come. She’d thought it might mean he’d accompany them more often, or stay a little longer when he did. It made no difference in the end, but he was the one who’d hired an architect to create the plans to finish off the top of the garage, even though it had been Autumn who’d picked out the finishes and colors.

A wave of melancholy washed over her as she left the kids with her mother to get settled in at the main house, let herself into the garage and climbed the narrow stairs at the back to the apartment, where she’d be living for the next few months, by herself. As often as she’d been here over the years, it felt strange to know that Nick would not be visiting. At times, she was still so lost without him.

“Where are you?” she whispered as she walked around, touching the things he’d touched. She’d come for Christmas without him, but she and Taylor had shared her old room in the house. They could do that for a week or so but not for three months—not without wanting to turn around and head straight home.

She stopped in front of the dresser, where her mother had put a picture of her family. She’d known her husband was getting involved in something secretive, that a friend who was with the FBI had recruited him for his knowledge of Ukraine. Because his parents had emigrated from there, he’d known the language, was familiar with the customs and still had a few relatives in the country. That made him useful in what had become a very troubled region.

Although he couldn’t tell her exactly what he was doing for the government, she guessed he was working in counterterrorism, probably trying to infiltrate various radical groups. She’d read that the FBI sometimes used civilians who were particularly adept with computers, or had some specific knowledge or ability, to assist them.

Maybe he’d become a full-fledged spy, and whoever was on the other side had discovered his activities. The FBI claimed they hadn’t sent him to Ukraine to begin with, but she’d discovered that he’d flown into Kyiv before disappearing and had no idea why he’d go there if not at their request. If he wanted to reacquaint himself with his uncle and cousins, he would’ve told her. Besides, the family he had there claimed they hadn’t heard from him. She’d traveled halfway across the world to speak to them face-to-face—not that the long, tiring trip had accomplished anything.

She lifted her suitcase onto the bed and was unpacking her clothes when her mother came up. “The kids would like to go to the beach before we have dinner, but I told them I’d rather they not go alone.”

“Mom, they’re sixteen and seventeen,” she said. “Kids that age go to the beach by themselves all the time.”

“Still. I don’t mind walking down with them.”

That was her mother’s polite way of saying she was afraid they wouldn’t be safe and felt the need to watch over them. Mary had always been overprotective. But Autumn managed not to say anything. What would it hurt for their Mimi to walk down to the water with them? There was no need to transfer the suffocation she’d felt to her children, especially because they’d had to put up with so much less of it. “Okay.”

“Would you like us to wait for you?”

“No, I’ll find you in a few minutes.”

With a nod, her mother turned to leave but paused before descending the stairs. “It can’t be easy for you to stay out here, knowing that Nick won’t be coming. Would you rather we make other arrangements, like we did at Christmas? Have you stay in the house with us?”

Unless Nick suddenly showed up, she’d have to brave it at some point, wouldn’t she? It might as well be now. “No. There’s not enough room. Taylor and I both need our space.”

“If you’re sure.”

“Mom?”

She looked up. “Yes?”

“Before you go, tell me what Laurie was referring to at the bookshop.”

“About…”

“Quinn and Sarah,” she said.

“Oh. No one really knows exactly what happened,” her mother said.

“There must’ve been a story circulating.” And she was eager to focus on something besides her own troubles for a change. She could see Nick’s rain boots in the corner of the room and knew there would probably come a time—in the not-too-distant future—when she would have to make the difficult decision about what to do with them.

She couldn’t even imagine that. But she had a whole houseful of his belongings in Tampa, and if he didn’t come back, she’d have to decide what to do with all of it. Should she box it up and put it in storage? Stubbornly continue to wait? And if so, for how long?

Her mother seemed as reluctant as ever to repeat gossip, but she must’ve understood that what’d happened to Quinn might create a good distraction, because she finally relented. “Sarah claims he was having an affair, which caused her to fly into a jealous rage and stab him.”

This was not what Autumn had expected. “Did you say stab him?”

Her mother frowned. “I’m afraid so.”

“But…he must be okay. Laurie said he was here, helping his father run the restaurant.”

“She didn’t hit anything vital, thank goodness. But I heard he spent a few days in the hospital, so his wounds weren’t superficial, either.”

Autumn whistled as she imagined how bad their marriage must’ve been for something like that to happen. “I thought they’d be happy together. They dated for so long before they got married. It’s not as if they didn’t know each other well.” She sank onto the bed next to her suitcase. “Did he admit to cheating?”

“Not that I know of.”

“But you think he did—cheat, I mean.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. Something had to have made her react so violently.”

Mary never gave the benefit of the doubt to a man. Autumn had noticed this before and assumed her father was to blame. Although Mary refused to talk about the past—went rigid as soon as Autumn mentioned her father—there were times, more of them as she got older, when she found herself wondering who he was and what he was like. Before Nick went missing, she’d told her mother that she was tempted to try to look him up, and Mary had been so appalled—that Autumn would have any interest in him when he was such a “bad person”—that she’d dropped the idea.

It was something she thought she might like to revisit, though. Times had changed. Nowadays, a simple DNA test could possibly tell her a great deal. And there were moments when she felt she should be allowed to fill in those blanks.

But she hated to proceed without her mother’s blessing. She owed Mary a degree of loyalty for being the parent who’d stuck with her.

Finished unpacking, she put her empty suitcase in the closet while trying to ignore Nick’s snorkel gear, which was also in there, changed into her bathing suit and cover-up, slipped on her flip-flops and grabbed her beach bag. She was on her way down the stairs when she heard her phone buzz with an incoming call.

Assuming it would be her mother or one of her children, wondering what was taking her so long, she dug it out of her bag so that she could answer. But according to Caller ID, the person attempting to reach her wasn’t a member of the family. It was Lyaksandro Olynyk, the Ukrainian private investigator she’d hired to look for Nick.

It was seven hours later in that part of the world. Why would he be calling her in the middle of the night?

Excerpted from The Bookstore on the Beach by Brenda Novak, Copyright © 2021 by Brenda Novak, Inc. Published by MIRA Books.

*****

Author Info:

Brenda Novak, a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, has penned over sixty novels. She is a five-time nominee for the RITA Award and has won the National Reader’s Choice, the Bookseller’s Best, the Bookbuyer’s Best, and many other awards. She also runs Brenda Novak for the Cure, a charity to raise money for diabetes research (her youngest son has this disease). To date, she’s raised $2.5 million. For more about Brenda, please visit http://www.brendanovak.com.

TWITTER: @Brenda_Novak

FB: @BrendaNovakAuthor

Insta: @authorbrendanovak 

Goodreads

*****

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Book Review – Always

30 Tuesday Mar 2021

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Book Review

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Always, Book Review, RJ Scott, Single Dads series

I always look forward to a new Single Dads book and Scott once again gives readers all the feels!

*****

Always

Single Dads #4

by RJ Scott

Release – March 29th, 2021

Blurb:

Lives change in an instant, but with family found and forever love, there is always hope.

Impetuously putting his life on the line, Adam saved a child trapped in a car wreck and suffered career-ending injuries. Living with chronic pain, and at his lowest moments, he had friends who wouldn’t let him give up, a family who had his back, and even though his future was different from what he’d always planned, he at least had hope. When Cameron and Finn land on his doorstep, he never dreamed that he would fall in love with the small family or that maybe he’d get to be a hero again. 

Cameron goes from being a devoted husband to a single dad overnight. With his neatly planned future in ruins, he will do anything to make a new life for his son, even if it means moving to the other side of the country. Renting a room from Adam is the first step in making a home for him and Finn, but falling for the former firefighter was never part of the plan.

The shadows from Cameron’s past might take a long time to touch this fragile future, but will he have to face the consequences alone when they do? Or will there always be hope?

All buy links will be here: rjscott.co.uk/Read-Always

SINGLE DADS series

Single – rjscott.co.uk/Read-Single

Today – rjscott.co.uk/Read-Today

Promise – rjscott.co.uk/Read-Promise

Always – rjscott.co.uk/Read-Always

Listen (Coming late Summer)

Pride (Coming Christmas)

*****

Review:

Scott delivers a slow-burn story that isn’t big on action but has tons of emotion. Both Cam and Adam are struggling to find a path that works for them and meeting each other, spending time together and growing closer, could lead them to a wonderful future … if they can trust in themselves and each other.

Adam is still trying to figure out what his new normal is, and dealing with overly concerned friends and family is just making it worse. Living with constant pain and the devastation of losing his career is bad enough, but the pity and kid-glove treatment from those that love him just adds to his troubles. He hurts, emotionally and physically, but maybe new people to help is just what he needs.

Cam is dealing with the aftermath of his husband’s criminal activity and betrayals. An old friend from his past has found him a place to lie low until things calm down and he can figure out his next steps. He’s a good dad and a good man, who just got taken in by the wrong person, and he needs time to remember who he used to be. But a strong, undeniable attraction to Adam was not part of the plan.

I have enjoyed every book in this series and Scott once again delivers are winner. Adam and Cam are likable and caring people, who find themselves a bit battered by what life has thrown at them. But Adam’s house proves to be a place where they can get their feet under them, relax and learn to believe in themselves and others again. Their growing closeness, slowly developing into a supportive and caring family, makes the heart happy and leads to a HEA epilogue that gives all the smiles.

*****

Author Info:

RJ Scott, author of M/M romance.

Writing love stories with a happy ever after – cowboys, heroes, family, hockey, single dads, bodyguards

USA Today bestselling author RJ Scott has written over one hundred romance books. Emotional stories of complicated characters, cowboys, single dads, hockey players, millionaires, princes, bodyguards, Navy SEALs, soldiers, doctors, paramedics, firefighters, cops, and the men who get mixed up in their lives, always with a happy ever after.

She lives just outside London and spends every waking minute she isn’t with family either reading or writing. The last time she had a week’s break from writing, she didn’t like it one little bit, and she has yet to meet a box of chocolates she couldn’t defeat.

Website – http://rjscott.co.uk

Newsletter – http://rjscott.co.uk/rjnews

Email – rj@rjscott.co.uk

BookBub – http://bookbub.com/authors/rj-scott?follow=true

Amazon – http://amazon.com/author/rj-scott

Pinterest – http://pinterest.com/RJ_LoveLane/

Goodreads – http://goodreads.com/rjscott

Instagram – http://instagram.com/rjscott_author/

Twitter – http://twitter.com/Rjscott_author

Facebook Group – http://facebook.com/groups/Rjscott

Facebook Profile – http://www.facebook.com/author.rjscott

~

 

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Spotlight – The Trouble with Picket Fences

29 Monday Mar 2021

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Sneak Peek

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Lovestruck Vermont series, Teri Wilson, The Trouble with Picket Fences

Will this fence make good neighbors into something more in the latest installment of award-winning author Teri Wilson‘s Lovestruck, Vermont series!

*****

The Trouble with Picket Fences

Lovestruck, Vermont series

by Teri Wilson

Price: ebook $4.99 USD / MMP $5.99

On sale date: Ebook April 1, 2021 / MMP March 30, 2021

ISBN: 9781335404800

Blurb:

She could teach him to turn lemons into lemonade.

All her life, Melanie Carlisle knew how to succeed in the face of failure. So when she finds herself pregnant—and her ex-boyfriend bows out, claiming he’s not the “picket fence type”—Melanie is on her own. Now she has a house—with a picket fence she wants gone. Cap McBride is dealing with his own problems, what with a potentially career-ending hearing loss and his surly teenager. So the last thing he wants to do is get involved with a single pregnant woman. As for fences? The only thing he knows how to do is put them up!

Lovestruck, Vermont
Book 1: Baby Lessons
Book 2: A Firehouse Christmas Baby
Book 3: The Trouble with Picket Fences

From Harlequin Special Edition: Believe in love. Overcome obstacles. Find happiness.

Harlequin: https://www.harlequin.com/shop/books/9781335404800_the-trouble-with-picket-fences.html

IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781335404800

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Trouble-Picket-Fences-Lovestruck-Vermont/dp/1335404805

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-trouble-with-picket-fences-teri-wilson/1137915399

Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lovestruck-Vermont-3-The-Trouble-with-Picket-Fences-Paperback-9781335404800/477069231 

Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/ca/book/the-trouble-with-picket-fences/id1536267994

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Teri_Wilson_The_Trouble_with_Picket_Fences?id=xaQDEAAAQBAJ

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-trouble-with-picket-fences

*****

Excerpt:

Melanie stood at her kitchen counter, stirring a pitcher of fresh-squeezed lemonade with her favorite wooden spoon while she gazed out the window and watched the man she’d met at the hardware store systematically disassemble her white picket fence. She didn’t normally coerce strange men into doing her favors like this. Melanie was more of a do-it-herself kind of girl. But desperate times called for desperate measures and all that. As much as she didn’t want to think of herself as geriatric—ugh, why couldn’t she forget about that mortifying word? — she was well aware that any pregnancy after forty was considered high-risk. She couldn’t go around wielding sledgehammers anymore. 

Not that she’d had much occasion to do so in the past, but still. 

The muscles in Cap’s broad shoulders flexed beneath his LFD T-shirt as he added another white board to the pile of discarded lumber in her front yard. Melanie wondered if he was a firefighter. Probably so, given his attire and also given his proficiency at manual labor. He was making quick work of the fence. She could definitely picture him chopping away at a smoldering pile of rubble with an ax or carrying a baby away from a burning building. 

Melanie blinked. Hard. She didn’t want this man darting around her imagination, no matter how heroic he seemed. And she was really getting tired of the annoying habit she’d developed of trying to picture every man she met interacting with a child. She blamed it on Greg. Once a man told you that he had absolutely zero interest in having children—ever—it was hard not to wonder if other men felt the same. How had she failed to realize that in the eleven years she and Greg had dated, she’d never seen him hold a baby? Not once. It seemed statistically impossible, but alas, it was true. In the wake of their breakup, Melanie had done a thorough inventory of both her memories and her photo al- bums. Across the board, Greg’s arms remained notably baby-free. 

Now, whenever she set eyes on a man, Melanie couldn’t help but wonder about his infant- holding history. She refused to get caught off guard again, although she wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t as if she were looking for a husband. Or even a boyfriend—been there, done that, got the T-shirt. She had a new baby to think about. A new business. A new home. Her plate was beyond full as it was. 

Even so, she would have bet money on the fact that Cap had held his fair share of babies. Probably his share plus Greg’s neglected share combined, a fact that didn’t sway Melanie in the slightest. She liked to think of her baby-holding scale as an odd science experiment of sorts, not a measure of attractiveness. But the man had agreed to do her a massive favor without knowing anything about her other than her name, so the least she could do was whip him up a pitcher of lemonade. 

It was her specialty, after all. And being America’s unofficial lemonade queen, she’d carefully labeled her kitchen boxes to ensure that her juicer, wooden spoon and glass pitcher were readily accessible. 

Heartfelt or thrilling, passionate or uplifting—our romances have it all. Visit TryHarlequin.com to sample FREE books from among 12 different series. It’s just a taste of the new books published each month—every story a journey guaranteed to leave you with That Harlequin Feeling.

*****

Author Info:

USA Today Bestselling Author Teri Wilson writes heartwarming romance with a touch of whimsy. Three of Teri’s books have been adapted into Hallmark Channel Original Movies, including UNLEASHING MR. DARCY (plus its sequel MARRYING MR. DARCY), THE ART OF US and NORTHERN LIGHTS OF CHRISTMAS, based on her book SLEIGH BELL SWEETHEARTS. She is also a recipient of the prestigious RITA Award for excellence in romantic fiction for her novel THE BACHELOR’S BABY SURPRISE.

Website: https://teriwilson.net/index/ 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2853419.Teri_Wilson?from_search=true&from_srp=true

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TeriWilsonauthr

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teriwilsonauthor/

*****

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Spotlight – Weights of Wrath

26 Friday Mar 2021

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Sneak Peek

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Cipher Office series, M. E. Carter, Penny Reid Book Universe, Seduction in the City World, Weights of Wrath

Weights of Wrath, an all-new surprise pregnancy romantic comedy from M.E. Carter, is now available in Kindle Unlimited!

*****

Weights of Wrath

Cipher Office series

by M. E. Carter

Blurb:

Rosalind Palmer was blessed with the perfect stage name. Or so she’s been told. There are just a few problems with it:

1) Her family doesn’t know she’s a stripper

2) She’d like to keep it that way

3) She got over the nickname somewhere around seventh grade.

Unfortunately—because she likes her job and she really likes her independence—her unexpected pregnancy means Rosalind’s days on a pole are numbered. Even so, she’s determined to make this co-parenting thing work.

Joey Marshall never thought much about having kids until he got the text announcing his impending fatherhood. Now it’s all he can think about. But there are a few concerns:

1) He doesn’t know anything about babies.

2) Adulting usually leads to disaster.

3) It’s his best friend’s cousin he knocked up.

First things first, making sure his baby’s mama is in this for the long haul. Because now he’s got baby on the brain, he can’t wait to make this co-parenting thing into so much more.

Now all he has to do is convince Rosalind, which shouldn’t be too hard . . . right?

Join us at Weight Expectations. You never know what to expect.

‘Weights of Wrath’ is a full-length contemporary romance, and can be read as a standalone. Book #4 in the Cipher Office series, Seduction in the City World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

Read for FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2J54LIZ

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3602Tdz

Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2UVOsk8

Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/35XNBGc

Amazon Print: https://amzn.to/3tqxieJ

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/3rOFrJ4

Audiobook: Coming later this year!

*****

Excerpt:

My door opens quietly, and I immediately sit up, knowing there’s only one person it could be.

“Rosalind? Are you okay?”

Seeing me awake, she quickly slips in and shuts the door behind her. Her long legs are bare, ass barely hidden by an oversized t-shirt that’s sliding off one shoulder. Her hair is pulled up so I can see the gracefulness of her neck. She looks beautiful in the moonlight and I can’t help wondering if this is a good time to finally kiss her again.

But no. We need to build a solid relationship. I don’t want to pressure her into anything she’s not ready for.

Gliding up to my bed, she pulls the covers back. “Move over.”

“What?” Okay, I don’t think she’s ready for anything sexual, but now I’m not so sure.

She sighs sounding as exhausted as my body feels. “My bed is uncomfortable. And my room has shitty ventilation. I am the baby mama. Move over.”

“Isn’t it the same bed you’ve been sleeping on for years? Suddenly, it’s uncomfortable?” I poke playfully. Really I don’t mind her being in here. I just can’t resist the chance to see the fire in her eyes.

“I don’t make my body hurt,” she retorts as she slides under the sheets. “I just try to accommodate whatever it wants right now.”

Admittedly, she’s not wrong. I got a preview of her mattress when I flopped down on it after moving it up two flights of stairs. It is pretty shitty. “Okay.” I move out of the middle and onto the far side of the bed as she moans her appreciation for a quality pillowtop. I may not be domestic at all, but a man knows the benefit of a good night’s sleep after a hard day at the gym. Still, I’m not positive of her intentions, and she’s been staring in my dreams for weeks now, so I need to clear something up.

“Does this mean we get to have sex now?”

Rosalind snorts a laugh and punches the pillow as she settles in. “No.”

“What? You’re moving into my bed, and I don’t get any of the benefits?” I joke back.

“You get the benefit of my presence and knowing your baby and I are both getting a good night’s rest.”

She’s got me there. At this point, their safety and well-being are my biggest priorities. I suddenly understand why Abel is such a worry wart when I babysit.

Don’t give her too much sugar, Joey.

Don’t let her stay up too late, Joey.

Don’t burn the house down trying to cook spaghetti, Joey.

One time. It was one time that I blew up the spaghetti pot.

I make a quick mental note never to make spaghetti around my child.

“Hey, Rosalind?” I clasp my hands behind my head, staring up at the ceiling again.

“Hmm.”

“Are you nervous?”

She takes a deep breath, and I get the feeling she’s been up all night, wrestling with her thoughts, too. “About which part?”

“I think… maybe, all of it?”

Rosalind rolls over, putting her hands under her cheek as she stares me dead in the eye. “I’m terrified. What if I’m not cut out for this, Joey?”

“What do you mean? I saw you with Mabel and Ainsley at Thanksgiving. They love you. You’re a natural with kids.”

“Mabel and Ainsley are easy,” she retorts. “I smile and laugh and talk to them like real people. I don’t have to keep them alive. I don’t know how to keep a baby alive.”

Shit. She’s right. “Neither do I.”

We lie there some more, lost in our own thoughts again. I’m so excited to become a dad and I’m equally as terrified, which is such a weird feeling. There is so much that can go wrong. So much I don’t know how to do yet. So much to expect that I haven’t even thought of. Babysitting Mabel and Ainsley is easy. Pop in a Wii game and let them go nuts. But a baby? That’s a whole different thing I’ve never done before.

*****

Author Info:

My name is M.E. Carter and I have no idea how I ended up writing books. I’m more of a story teller (the more exaggerated the better) and I happen to know people who helped me get those stories on paper. I love reading (read almost 200 books last year), hate working out (but I do it anyway because my trainer makes me), love food (but hate what it does to my butt) and love traveling to non-touristy places most people never see. I live in Houston with my four kids, Mary, Elizabeth, Carter and Bug, who was just a twinkle in my eye when I came up with my pen name. Yeah, I’ll probably have to pay for his therapy someday for being left out.

Facebook: http://bit.ly/2ly7Fu3

Twitter: http://bit.ly/2lzBqdQ

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2k4SZCf

Instagram: http://bit.ly/2k1O4Sx

Website: https://www.authormecarter.com/

*****

Connect with Smartypants Romance

Facebook: http://bit.ly/2kvDnb4

Twitter: http://bit.ly/2lzyduO

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2lGdIMQ

Instagram: http://bit.ly/2kwKsYK

Website: https://smartypantsromance.com/

Newsletter: https://smartypantsromance.com/newsletter/

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Spotlight – Under Pressure

25 Thursday Mar 2021

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Sneak Peek

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Educated Romance World, Lessons Learned series, Penny Reid Book Universe, Under Pressure

Under Pressure, an all-new opposites-attract new adult romance from Allie Winters, is now available in Kindle Unlimited!

*****

Under Pressure 

Lessons Learned series

by Allie Winters

Blurb:

Mia knows stress. She’s dealt with it her whole life. So when she gets an opportunity to run a psychology study to help her get into grad school, it should be no problem dealing with the prickly guy she suddenly finds herself paired with.

The one she had a secret crush on last year. The one who refuses to let anyone close. The one she’s discovering by the day may have a softer side than he lets anyone else see…

Tyler knows stress. He’s grappled with it for as long as he can remember. And just because he has to share credit with this girl on his new psychology study doesn’t mean he has to be friends with her. Except she somehow keeps worming her way into his life. In school. In the boxing gym.

In his bed.

But everyone knows it’s safer to keep to yourself. You can’t hurt anyone that way. Even if it means giving up the best thing that’s ever happened to him.

As things heat up in the Stress Lab, will this match be able to work together without disruption, or will this growing attraction between them eventually… combust?

‘Under Pressure ‘ is a full-length new adult contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #1 in the Lessons Learned series, Educated Romance World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

Read for FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2UWgtIl

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3fz1uxK

Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/3kXrkMM

Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/375X9hs

Amazon Print: https://amzn.to/2N0kknf

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/3b5GnTw

Audiobook: Coming Soon!

*****

Excerpt:

“Close your eyes,” he says in that beautifully deep voice, “and take a deep breath. Focus on relaxing each muscle of your body and slowing your breaths. Inhale and exhale with me.” He counts to three steadily, bringing air in, then releases it on the same count of three.

I do all I can to concentrate on his words, the rhythm of it more than anything else, just trying to get out of my own mind. If I can just breathe with him, everything will be okay. This crushing weight will release.

I clutch at his arms like he’s a lifeline and he lets me, wrinkling the sleeves of his soft cotton shirt, taking in shaky breaths next to his strong ones.

We continue that way for long minutes until it’s safe for me to open my eyes, my chest finally rising and falling in an even tempo. My lashes and cheeks are still wet as I look up at him and he slowly brings a hand up to wipe the moisture away, his thumb featherlight on my skin.

He moves to tuck an errant curl behind my ear, brushing my neck as his hand wanders down, leaving shivers in its wake, then cups the back of my head, cradling it tenderly. The warmth of his fingers relaxes the muscles there, even more so when he gently massages the area, loosening the still lingering tension.

He’s silent, his eyes flicking back and forth between my eyes and mouth, and it takes me a moment to realize what he’s signaling. I’m unable to move, to think, to focus on anything but his face gradually coming closer.

I shut my eyes at the first gentle press of his lips. I didn’t know he was capable of such softness, such tenderness. My stomach dips in anticipatory delight as his other hand slides into my hair, holding me more securely to him as he moves his head a fraction, changing the angle of the kiss so it’s deeper now, but still just as slow and exquisitely soft.

I sway toward him, relaxing my hold on his shirt, kissing him back with enthusiasm. I had no idea he felt this way, that he likes me—

A sharp burst of laughter from the hallway outside the lab has us breaking apart, like we were caught doing something wrong…

*****

Author Info:

Allie is the author of the Suncoast University series, the Bishop Brothers series, and the Lessons Learned series. She lives in sunny Florida with her husband, daughter, and two cats. A librarian by day, she spends her nights writing happily ever afters. She enjoys reading, playing video games, and all things Disney.

Website: http://bit.ly/357VYOr

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/389mnNO

Facebook: http://bit.ly/3b5KJdk

Instagram: https://bit.ly/3pOJNhB

*****

Connect with Smartypants Romance

Facebook: http://bit.ly/2kvDnb4

Twitter: http://bit.ly/2lzyduO

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2lGdIMQ

Instagram: http://bit.ly/2kwKsYK

Website: https://smartypantsromance.com/

Newsletter: https://smartypantsromance.com/newsletter/

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Spotlight – Path to Sunshine Cove

24 Wednesday Mar 2021

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Sneak Peek

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Raeanne Thayne, The Path to Sunshine Cove

Ooooh, this one just looks SO good!

*****

The Path to Sunshine Cove

by RaeAnne Thayne

ISBN: 9781335665430

Publication Date: March 30, 2020

Publisher: HQN Books

Blurb:

She knows what’s best for everyone but herself…

With a past like hers, Jessica Clayton feels safer in a life spent on the road. She’s made a career out of helping others downsize—because she’s learned the hard way that the less “stuff,” the better, a policy she applies equally to her relationships. But a new client is taking Jess back to Cape Sanctuary, a town she once called home…and that her little sister, Rachel, still does. The years apart haven’t made a dent in the guilt Jess still carries after a handgun took the lives of both their parents and changed everything between them.

While Jess couldn’t wait to put the miles between her and Cape Sanctuary, Rachel put down roots, content for the world—and her sister—to think she has a picture-perfect life. But with the demands of her youngest child’s disability, Rachel’s marriage has begun to fray at the seams. She needs her sister now more than ever, yet she’s learned from painful experience that Jessica doesn’t do family, and she shouldn’t count on her now.

Against her judgment, Jess finds herself becoming attached—to her sister and her family, even to her client’s interfering son, Nate—and it’s time to put everything on the line. Does she continue running from her painful past, or stay put and make room for the love and joy that come along with it?

Harlequin | Indiebound | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Books-A-Million | Walmart | Google | iBooks | Kobo

*****

Excerpt:

Chapter One

If not for all of the emotional baggage cluttering up her Airstream, this wouldn’t be a bad place to park for a few days. 

As Jess Clayton drove through the quiet streets of Cape Sanctuary on a beautiful May afternoon, she couldn’t help being charmed anew by the Northern California beach town vibes. 

She had been here before, of course. Several times. Her sister lived just down that street there, in a large two-story cottage with gables, a bay window and a lush flower garden. Rachel loved it here. Every time Jess came to town, she was reminded why. What was not to love? Cape Sanctuary was a town defined by whimsical houses, overflowing gardens, wind chimes and Japanese fishing balls. 

And, of course, the gorgeous coastline, marked by redwoods, rock formations, cliffs.

She drove past Juniper Way, her sister’s street, but didn’t turn down. Not yet. She would see Rachel, Cody and the kids soon, after she was settled.

They were the whole reason she was here, after all. She didn’t see her nieces and nephew enough, only on the rare holidays and birthdays that she could arrange a visit. When a prospective client reached out from the same town as Rachel and her family, Jess saw it as a golden opportunity to spend more time with the kids. 

And her sister, of course.

She sighed as she made her way to her destination, Sunshine Cove, still a mile away, according to her navigation system.

Rachel was the reason for all that baggage she was towing along. Jess loved her younger sister dearly but their relationship was like a messy tangle of electric wires, some of them live and still sparking. 

She would be in Cape Sanctuary for two weeks on this job. Maybe she would finally have the chance to sort things out with Rachel and achieve some kind of peace. 

The road rose, climbing through a stand of redwoods and coastal pine, with houses tucked in here and there before the view to the ocean opened up again. In five hundred feet, your destination is on the right: 2135 Seaview Road. 

She couldn’t argue with Siri on this one. That was a spectacular view. The Pacific glistened in the afternoon sunlight, with only a few feathery clouds above the horizon line. She turned at the orca-shaped mailbox Eleanor Whitaker had told her to seek. Through more coastal pine, she could see the house. She recognized it from the pictures her client had sent. One level, made of stone and cedar, the house looked as if it had grown out of the landscape fully formed. 

She knew the house was more than five thousand square feet, built at the turn of the century by a wealthy ranching and logging family in the area. It featured seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms, all of which she would come to know well over the next two weeks. 

From the picture Eleanor had sent, Jess knew Whitaker House was beautiful. Elegant. Comfortable. Warm.

The kind of place where Jess had once dreamed of living, free of shouting, chaos, pain.

She could see, tucked into the trees overlooking the ocean, a smaller house on the property that was almost a miniature of the big house, with the same cedar and stone exterior as well as windows that gleamed in the afternoon sun. 

A big dark blue pickup truck was parked there but she couldn’t see anyone around. 

Jess pulled her own rig over to the side of the driveway in case anyone needed to come in and out, then scouted around for a place she could unhitch.

From their phone call earlier that morning as she was driving, she knew Eleanor wouldn’t be here, that she had taken her teenage granddaughter into a nearby town to an orthodontist appointment and then to catch a movie they had both been wanting to see. 

Make yourself at home and set up anywhere that works, Eleanor had said. 

As she cased the property, she instantly found the spot a hundred yards from the house that would give her a perfect view of the water, almost as if it had been created exactly for her twenty-four-foot 1993 Airstream, affectionately nicknamed Vera by Jess’s business partner. 

This job was meant to be. She had already bonded with Eleanor Whitaker over their weeks of email and phone correspondence. This view sealed the deal. 

When she was done working each day, she could go to sleep to the restful sound of the ocean. She climbed back in her pickup and backed the trailer with the ease of long practice. Some people struggled with trailering but Jess didn’t. The seven years she had spent as a driver in the military still served her well. 

When the Airstream was in a good spot, she hopped out and was reaching in the back of the pickup for the chocks when an angry male voice drifted across the manicured lawn to her. 

“Hey. This is private property. You can’t park that here!” 

She instinctively wrapped her hand around the chock. Angry male voices always brought out the warrior princess in her. She could blame both her childhood and those years in the army when she had to go toe to toe with people twice her weight and a foot taller. 

The chock was heavy and could do real damage in the right hands. 

Hers. 

“I have permission to be here,” she said, her voice cool but polite.

He frowned. “Permission? That’s impossible.” 

“I assure you, it’s not.” 

“This is my mother’s property. She would have told me if she had given somebody permission to camp here.”

Ah. This must be Nathaniel Whitaker, Eleanor’s son. Her client had mentioned that he lived in another house on the property and would probably be in and out as Jess went about her work.

Hadn’t Eleanor told him Jess was coming? 

She relaxed her grip on the chock but didn’t release it. “You must be Nathaniel. Eleanor has told me about you.” 

Her words didn’t have an impact on his expression. If anything, his glower intensified, his frown now edged with confusion that she knew his name. 

Despite his sour expression, she couldn’t help noticing he was an extraordinarily good-looking man. Eleanor hadn’t mentioned that her son had dark hair, stormy blue eyes, a square jawline. Or that his green T-shirt with a logo over the right breast pocket that read Whitaker Construction clung to his muscles. 

Jess found it extremely inconvenient that Nathaniel Whitaker happened to hit every single one of her personal yum buttons.

“Who are you?” he demanded. “And how do you know my mother?”

Ah. This was tricky. Eleanor was her client. She must have had her own reasons for not telling her son Jess was showing up. Jess felt compelled to honor those reasons. Until she could talk to the woman, Jess didn’t feel right about giving more information to Nate than his own mother had. “My name is Jess Clayton. Your mother knows I planned to arrive today. I have her permission to set up anywhere. I thought this would work well.”

Beautifully, actually. The more time she looked around, the better she liked it. A twisting path down to the ocean started just a few yards away, leading down to what looked like a protected cove. 

“Set up for what? Why are you here?”

“You really should ask your mother,” she said. It would be so much better if he could hear the explanation from Eleanor.

“I just tried to call her when I saw you pulling in. She’s not answering.” 

“Probably in the middle of the movie. She told me she and Sophie were going to a matinee after the orthodontist.”

If she thought this further knowledge about his family would set Nate’s mind at ease, she was sadly mistaken. His gaze narrowed further. “How the hell do you know my daughter had an orthodontist appointment?”

“Your mom happened to mention it.”

“Funny, the things my mother told you. I talk to her several times a day, every day, and she hasn’t said a word to me about a strange woman setting up a trailer in the side yard. Tell me again what you’re doing here?”

She wanted to be finishing her trailer setup so she could unhitch and go into town for groceries. She would rather not be engaged in a confrontation with a strange man, no matter how hot, who didn’t need to know every detail of his mother’s life. 

Why hadn’t Eleanor told him already? It’s not as if the woman could keep their efforts a secret for long.

Still, it was not up to Jess to spill the dirt. 

“I’m afraid that’s between me and your mother. You really need to get the answer to that question from her.”

“Sorry, ma’am, but that’s not good enough. Right now, you’re trespassing. If you don’t move this out of here, I’m calling the police. The chief happens to be a good friend of mine.” 

“Yes, I know.” Done with this discussion, Jess reached down to wedge the chock behind the passenger-side wheel. “You play poker with him every other Friday night. Your mother told me.” 

“What else did she tell you?” He had moved beyond suspicion to outright hostility. She probably shouldn’t have said anything about the poker. She certainly wouldn’t want someone she didn’t know poking into her business. If he hadn’t been so blasted good-looking, she might have been able to handle this whole thing better. 

She forced a smile, trying to take a different tack. “I assure you, Eleanor knows I’m coming, as I said. She told me to settle in and make myself comfortable until she gets home. You can try calling her again.”

Or you can accept that maybe I’m telling the truth and give me a break here. I’ve been driving for hours. I’m tired and hungry and I would really like to make a sandwich, which I can’t do with you standing there like a bouncer at a nightclub in a bad part of town. 

“I’ve tried multiple times. She’s not answering. You’re probably right, her phone is probably on silent.”

“Look, when Eleanor and Sophie come back from the movie, she can tell you what’s going on. Until then, I would really like to finish setting up here.” 

“No matter what I say?”

She didn’t want to challenge him but she was starving. 

“This is your mother’s house and she invited me here,” she said simply. “It will be easy enough to prove that once Eleanor returns. If I’m lying for some unknown reason and just happened to make an extraordinarily lucky guess about your mom and a daughter named Sophie who had an orthodontist appointment today, you and the entire Cape Sanctuary police force can boot me out.”

He didn’t look at all appeased, his features still suspicious. She couldn’t really blame him. He was only trying to protect those he loved. She would probably do the same in his shoes.

“Would you like a sandwich?” she said, trying another tack. “I make a mean PB and J.” 

For the first time, she saw a glimmer of surprise on his expression, as if he couldn’t quite believe she had the audacity to ask. “No, I wouldn’t like a sandwich.” 

“Suit yourself. I’ve had a long day already and I’m ready for some food. And I need to see how Vera survived the drive.” 

As she might have expected, his frown deepened. “Who is Vera?” 

She patted the skin on the Airstream. “It was, um, a pleasure to meet you, Nathaniel.”

“Nate,” he muttered. “Nobody but my mother calls me Nathaniel.” 

“Nate, then.” 

She nodded and without waiting for him to argue, she slipped into the trailer and closed the door firmly behind her.

The curtains were still closed from the drive and she didn’t want to open them yet to the afternoon sunlight. Not when Nate Whitaker might still be lurking outside.

Instead, she sank onto the sofa that doubled as her office, dining room and guest space, astonished and dismayed to find her hands were shaking.

What was that about? She had a familiar itchiness between her shoulder blades and could feel a little crash as her adrenaline subsided. 

Nate Whitaker wasn’t a threat to her. Yes, he might be angry right now but he wouldn’t hurt her. She already felt like his mother was an old and dear friend. Eleanor surely couldn’t have a son who was prone to random violence.

Instinct told her he wouldn’t physically hurt her, yet Jess still had the strangest feeling that Nate posed some kind of danger to her. 

Ah well. She likely wouldn’t have much to do with the man. She was here to help Eleanor, not to fraternize with the woman’s gorgeous offspring. 

She only had to make sure she didn’t lose sight of her twin objectives here in Cape Sanctuary—spending time with her sister’s family and helping her client—and she would be fine. 

Excerpted from The Path to Sunshine Cove
by RaeAnne Thayne Copyright © RaeAnne Thayne.
Published by HQN Books.

*****

Author Info:

New York Times bestselling author RaeAnne Thayne finds inspiration in the beautiful northern Utah mountains where she lives with her family. Her books have won numerous honors, including six RITA Award nominations from Romance Writers of America and Career Achievement and Romance Pioneer awards from RT Book Reviews. She loves to hear from readers and can be reached through her website at www.raeannethayne.com.

Author Website

Twitter: @raeannethayne

Facebook: @AuthorRaeAnneThayne

Instagram: @raeannethayne

Goodreads

*****

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Spotlight – Eat Your Heart Out

23 Tuesday Mar 2021

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Contest, Sneak Peek

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Eat Your Heart Out, Middle Ageish, Shirley Goldberg, Starting Over series

I absolutely love a good friends-to-lovers romance and Goldberg’s newest looks to be a definite winner!

*****

Eat Your Heart Out 

Starting Over Book 2 

by Shirley Goldberg 

Genre: Romantic Women’s Fiction, Chick-Lit, RomCom

Blurb:

When a tyrant in stilettos replaces her beloved boss, and her ex snags her coveted job, teacher Dana Narvana discovers there are worse things than getting dumped on Facebook. Time for the BFF advice squad, starting with Dana’s staunchest ally, Alex—hunky colleague, quipster, and cooking pal extraordinaire. But when the after hours smooching goes nowhere, she wonders why this grown man won’t make up his mind.

Alex Bethany’s new lifestyle gives him the confidence to try online dating. What he craves is a family of his own until a life-altering surprise rocks his world. He knows he’s sending Dana mixed messages. Alex panics when he thinks he’s blown his chance with his special person. From appetizers to the main course will these two cooking buddies make it to dessert?

Funny and bittersweet, Dana and Alex’s story will have you rooting for them. 

Add to Goodreads

Amazon * Apple * B&N

~

Middle Ageish 

Starting Over Book 1 

Sunny Chanel’s marriage is circling the drain when her husband marks his colonoscopy on the calendar and ignores their anniversary. With divorce papers instead of roses on the horizon, she says “au revoir” Paris and croissants, and “hello” cheap New Haven apartment and ramen noodles.

Encouraged by her friends, Sunny jumps into online dating, twenty-three years and twenty pounds after her last date. To her surprise she discovers dating might require a helmet, and occasionally armor to protect her heart, but after years of being ignored, her adventurous side craves fun and conversation. She’s middle-aged not dead. Then suddenly, on the way to reinventing herself, life takes a left turn when the one man she can’t forget calls with an unexpected request. 

**Only .99 cents!!**

Add to Goodreads

Amazon * Apple * B&N * Google * Kobo

*****

Excerpt:

In front of the monitor again, I took another sip of wine, clicked on a drop-down menu and filled out search criteria, then began my man-troll. Ten photos to a page. Third from the top, Monty55, athletic body, his photo the size of a postage stamp. I clicked on his profile, the better to examine the goods.

“Okay, ladies,” Marc announced coming up the stairs and sticking his head in the room. “Ten minutes and dinner’s ready. So, quick pick, a man who can cook,” he called in my direction. “Someone who’s into wine. Can’t go wrong.”

“Your father and I cooked together. Every night.” I eyed a second photo of Monty lounging under a weeping willow, the drooping branches framing him, one dog in his lap, another at his side gazing up with adoration. Had to be a female.

“I know, Mom, and you still got divorced.” Sam was tired of hearing the old stories. “Marc means well, but it’s a numbers game. You can’t pick just one.” She looked to Noelle for approval. “Online dating is good for the old self-esteem, don’t you think?”

“Self-esteem? Uh, Sam, honey,” Noelle said. “It’s obvious you haven’t done any internet dating.”

I was deep into Monty55, drinking in his profile as if it were a superior zinfandel. Here was a man with sensibilities close to mine, who’d choose a quiet, intimate place for our first meet. My chest expanded with expectation.

“How do I write him?” Hands curled over the keyboard. Ready.

Noelle showed me how to grab a sentence or two from his profile, weave it into the email message, add a question at the end. “Make it easy. Most men hate writing.”

I could do this, entice this man with my email wit. Monty’s middle paragraph was all about cooking with his honey after hiking a few trails, a love of the outdoors, the smell of the forest. Searching for four leaf clovers. Clever thoughts skipped ahead. So this was what all the excitement was about and why had no one told me?

“Stop!” Noelle and Sam shouted behind me.

“What?” I jerked mid-word. “You wanted me to do this. I’m doing it.” I wheeled the chair back allowing them a clear view.

Sam breathed out in relief, hand over heart. “You can’t tell this guy you’re ready for an adventure.”

“You can but it’s a lousy idea,” Noelle added.

“Why not?” Folded arms across my chest, the surge of energy evaporating. “Now you’re grading my writing? You said I should have an adventure.”

Sam and Noelle exchanged looks. Noelle made a face.

“Well, Mom, we hate to let you in on the secret code of internet daters, but telling strangers you want adventures? It’s a sexual come on.”

I opened my mouth to respond and shut it.

Sam patted my head. “Hey, nothing we can’t edit.”

“Why can’t I just meet a man in my dance class or at the supermarket fish counter? Like Sunny.” Now I was whining.

“What dance class?”

“You hang out at the fish counter?” Noelle peered at the screen, laid her hand over mine on the mouse and clicked. “Where is that email?”

“It’s right there,” I drained my wine glass, noting the email disappearance with little concern. “Maybe I minimized it.”

“Your message to Monty55 has been sent,” Sam read from the screen in a Bugs Bunny voice.

*****

Author Info:

Shirley Goldberg is a writer, novelist, and former ESL and French teacher who’s lived in Paris, Crete, and Casablanca. She writes about men and women of a certain age starting over. Her website http://midagedating.com offers a humorous look into dating in mid life, and her friends like to guess which stories are true.  Middleageish is her first book in the series Starting Over. Her character believes you should never leave home without your sense of humor and Shirley agrees.

Website * Facebook * Twitter * Instagram * Bookbub * Amazon * Goodreads

*****

Giveaway:

$20 Amazon or B&N Gift Card + e-copy of 1st novel Middle Ageish – 1 winner 

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/23d974a92813/

*****

Click on the banner below to check out the rest of the tour!

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Spotlight – The Setup

22 Monday Mar 2021

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Sneak Peek

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

A Kyra and Jake Investigation series, Carol Ericson, The Setup

From Harlequin Intrigue: Seek thrills. Solve crimes. Justice served.

*****

The Setup

A Kyra and Jake Investigation series

by Carol Ericson

Price: Ebook $4.99 USD / MMP $5.75

On sale date: Ebook April 1, 2021 / MMP March 30, 2021

ISBN: 9781335401656

Blurb:

With a serial killer on the loose…

Secrets get you killed.

Detective Jake McAllister isn’t aware Kyra Chase is connected to a twenty-year-old unsolved murder. He sees his new case partner only as an unwelcome distraction. But with the body count rising, they’ll need to trust each other to help them catch a killer who seems to know more about Kyra than Jake does.

Harlequin: https://www.harlequin.com/shop/books/9781335401656_the-setup.html

IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781335401656 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Setup-Kyra-Jake-Investigation/dp/1335401652/ 

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-setup-carol-ericson/1137756370

Apple Books: https://books.apple.com/ca/book/the-setup/id1533523061

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Carol_Ericson_The_Setup?id=NIH_DwAAQBAJ

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-setup-15

*****

Excerpt:

“Good thing she was already dead when he took her finger.” Detective Jake McAllister lifted the victim’s wrist and grimaced. He called over his shoulder, “Tire tracks at the trailhead? We know this isn’t the kill site.” 

“Too many to identify just one.” His partner, Billy Crouch, impressive in a dark gray tailored suit, purple pocket square and wing tips, strode down the trail to join Jake where he crouched beside the body. “No tire tracks, no cameras. I had one of the officers check with the park rangers.” 

“No cameras at the other dump site, either. He’s being careful.” Jake rose to his feet, inhaling the scent of pine from the trees and locking eyes with an ambitious squirrel who’d been busy scurrying up and down the large oak that provided a canopy over the body. 

Griffith Park was an oasis of rugged, untamed land in the middle of the urban sprawl of LA. It housed the zoo, the observatory, a concert venue, a carousel, pony rides and acres of wilderness crisscrossed with hiking trails. It had also hosted several dead bodies in its day, including the Hillside Strangler’s first victim. 

Jake pointed at the card inserted between the victim’s lips. “Queen of hearts, missing finger—looks like we have a pattern here.” 

Billy whistled as he pushed his sunglasses to the end of his nose. “It’s The Player all over again.” 

“Copycat.” Jake raised his hand to the crime scene investigators who had just arrived at the park and waved. “The Player was working twenty years ago and abruptly stopped. He’s gotta be dead or in prison.” 

“Maybe he just got paroled.” Billy picked an imaginary speck of lint from the arm of his jacket. “He could’ve been twenty when he was operating before, spent twenty years behind bars for armed robbery, as- sault, rape. Now he’s forty, tanned, ready and rested.” 

“Could be. They never got his DNA back then. Never left any—just like these two murders.” 

Billy whipped the handkerchief, which Jake had believed was just for show, out of his front pocket and dashed it across the shiny tip of one of his shoes. “Damn, it’s dirty out here.” 

Jake rolled his eyes. “It’s the great outdoors. Most people don’t take hikes in Italian suits and shoes.” 

Shaking his head, Billy clicked his tongue. “Only the shoes are Italian, man. The suit’s from England.” 

“Excuse me, Cool Breeze.” Jake bowed to his partner. He’d given Billy the nickname Cool Breeze, and it had stuck. The man knew his fashion, his fine wines and his women. 

Jake had warned him about the women because Billy already had a fine woman, Simone, at home. They needed only one divorce in the partnership, and Jake had that covered—not that he had run around on his wife, unless you counted the job as the other woman…and a lot of cops’ wives did. 

Someone cleared his throat behind him. “Finger- prints?” 

Jake jerked his head toward Clive Stewart, their fingerprint guy in Forensics, his shaved head already sporting a sheen. “Yeah, you can check, Clive. He didn’t leave the knife or box cutter behind that he used to slice off the finger. You might try the playing card, her neck. You know your job, man. I’ll let you and the others do it.” 

As CSI got to work, Jake shuffled away from the body on the ground and eyed the crunch of people beyond the yellow crime scene tape. Although still morning, the air possessed that quiet, suffocating feel that heralded a heat wave, and the tape hung limply, already conceding defeat. 

Jake pulled out his phone. Holding it up, he snapped some pictures of the looky-loos leaning in, hoping to catch a glimpse of…what? What did they hope to see? Did they want to ogle the lifeless body of this poor woman dumped on the ground? 

Maybe one of them was already familiar with the position of the victim. Killers had been known to re- turn to the scene of the crime and relive the thrill. 

He swung his phone to the right to take a few more pictures from the other side of the trail. As he tipped up his sunglasses and peered into the viewfinder to zero in on his subjects, he swore under his breath. 

What the hell was she doing here? 

Billy stepped into his line of fire. “He wanted some- one to discover her quickly. She’s not that far off the trail, but no purse or ID, so he doesn’t want us to identify her right away.” 

“You’re blocking my view.” Jake nudged Billy’s shoulder and framed the crowd at the edge of the tape again…but she was gone. 

*****

Author Info:

Carol Ericson lives in southern California, home of state-of–the-art cosmetic surgery, wild freeway chases, and a million amazing stories. These stories, along with hordes of virile men and feisty women clamor for release from Carol’s head until she sets them free to fulfill their destinies and her readers’ fantasies. To find out more about Carol and her current books, please visit her website at http://www.carolericson.com, “where romance flirts with danger.”

Website: https://www.carolericson.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1001588.Carol_Ericson

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

*****

Heartfelt or thrilling, passionate or uplifting—our romances have it all. Visit TryHarlequin.com to sample FREE books from among 12 different series. It’s just a taste of the new books published each month—every story a journey guaranteed to leave you with That Harlequin Feeling.

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Book Review – Heart Smart

19 Friday Mar 2021

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Book Review, Sneak Peek

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Book Review, Emma Lee Jayne, Heart Smart, Work For It series

Heart Smart, an all-new enemies to lovers contemporary romance from Emma Lee Jayne, is now available in Kindle Unlimited! 

*****

Heart Smart

Work For It #2

by Emma Lee Jayne

Blurb:

Dr. Maximillian Ramsey has a problem ….

I’m a jerk. Everyone I know or have ever worked with agrees. “Misanthropic asshole” is the term I hear most often. 

I don’t care what other people think as long as they leave me alone to focus on my research on soil microbiology. Plus, I walk with a cane thanks to a childhood accident. I have scars on my face. And if that isn’t enough to scare people off, my bad attitude and general grumpiness seal the deal. Which is just the way I like it.

Except, I’ve been short listed for one of the most prestigious academic fellowships around. To win it, I’ll have to give a series of speeches. On a stage. With an audience. While being filmed.

Yeah. None of that is going to happen.

Unfortunately, my boss has a plan. He brings in one of the communications lecturers to give me a “make over,” help me write the speeches, and manage my social media. 

But the last thing I need is some nosy, bossy, gorgeous woman meddling in my life. 

And Holly is the solution…

I’m a mere communications lecturer at a prestigious research university. I’m used to being outclassed and under-educated compared to the PhDs who surround me. 

But I’m good at what I do. Brilliant, actually.

When Max’s boss (who happens to be my ex-husband) begs me to help transform this beast of a man into someone worthy of the fellowship, I have my work cut out for me. 

It’ll take a lot of badgering, blatant manipulation, and some outright thievery to get Max to cooperate. All of which I handle with the enough professionalism and restraint that should earn me a fancy grant. 

What I can’t handle is how unexpectedly attractive I find the stubborn and brilliant man.   

This is a battle of wills and wits, and neither is prepared to admit defeat …

“Okay, people, you do not want to miss Heart Smart by Emma Lee Jayne! It’s fun and flirty and the chemistry crackles. Warning, though! It will keep you up past your bedtime!”  – New York Times bestselling author J. Kenner

‘Heart Smart’ is a full-length contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #2 in the Work For It series, Educated Romance World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

Download your copy today!

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2IYAhYZ

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/3m020af

Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2J1C8g0

Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/3fpR6YQ

Amazon Print: https://amzn.to/3joCMlj

Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/3b0S9yw

Audiobook: https://bit.ly/389p15L

*****

Excerpt:

He stands up and shrugs out of his wet duster. I take it from him. It’s still dripping, so I walk into the back to hang it up in the work area where it can drip on the linoleum instead of the wood floors. When I turn back, I see Max has also shucked his jacket and draped it over the back of a nearby chair.

And he’s unbuttoning his shirt.

My steps slow. Then stop.

He’s looking down, so he doesn’t see my mouth drop open as he shrugs out of his oxford shirt. He’s wearing a white T-shirt on under his oxford.

I never, not in a million years, would have thought wearing a white shirt under a dress shirt would be inherently sexy. It shouldn’t be.

It’s oddly formal. It calls up images of old-world elegance and cuff links.

But it’s also just . . . hot.

Because while all of Max’s other clothes are ill-fitting—including the pants he’s still wearing—the crisp white undershirt is snug. It highlights every one of those perfect muscles I’ve been trying not to think about since I saw them at his house that day.

Every. Single. One.

From his stupidly broad shoulders to that narrow waist.

I’m still staring—who am I kidding? I’m still drooling—when he looks up from carefully draping his shirt over this jacket.

I must look like a pervy cartoon with bugging eyes and a long, dangling tongue, because he clears his throat and says awkwardly, “I don’t like having hair caught in my collar.”

I nod mutely.

“So I took off my shirt.”

I nod again. Still dumbstruck.

But surely I’ll be able to speak again sometime in the next couple hours.

“I hope that’s okay.”

I clear my throat.

Because the whole struck-dumb-by-his-muscles thing is starting to get ridiculous.

“Yes.” I swallow. “Absolutely. Whatever you need.”

God, I hope that didn’t sound like a proposition.

I clear my throat again and quickly add, “To feel comfortable. You should do whatever you need to feel comfortable. That’s the point, right? You should be comfortable and I should be . . .”

Silent.

I should be silent.

Because, oh my God. Dumbstruck was so much better than this rambling mess.

“Firmer is better,” he blurts.

“Excuse me?”

He blushes and presses his lips together, before saying, “When you’re washing my hair. Or touching me. A firmer touch is better than a light one.”

I nod, the pieces falling into place. I had read that people with sensory issues and people on the spectrum sometimes find light touches over-stimulating.

“Thank you for telling me.” I want to say more. Something that will get him to open up to me. But is that really a good idea? Do I really need more ideas about how Max likes to be touched?

Um . . . that is a big, fat no. No, I do not. Because I’m only touching him to cut his hair and trim his beard. I do not need to be getting ideas beyond that.

*****

Review:

Max is grumpy, anti-social, impatient, and too smart for his own good. And more often than not he comes across as a jerk. But he also has a kind heart, when he grasps the social cues, and has a passion for helping the world. With the understanding of the right person, he’s definitely a keeper.

While Holly develops a pretty good grasp of what makes Max tick most of the time, she also realizes she’s pretty much his opposite. While she also has a passion for helping others, she also considers herself majorly flighty and of pretty normal intelligence. She’s definitely no match for uber-smart and overly organized Max.

I love these two together. Holly does a great job of poking Max just a little bit out of his norm but still appreciating the way he’s wired. And Max fully embraces Holly’s enthusiasm and heart, even when she’s irritating him. Adorably fun, and funny, Heart Smart had me til the very end.

(There are some complaints that the main point of the book – Max’s makeover – is mostly glossed over. Holly cleans him up and gets him an easy to understand speech to give but there really isn’t a lot of time spent between Holly & Max actually helping him be better at interacting with people. While I admit that’s true, the interactions between them that we do get a fun and lead to a satisfying HEA so, for a light-hearted romance, I cant complain too much. There’s also some concern for how Jayne handles the neurodiverse in the story but I’m not familiar enough with it to be able to comment. If that’s a possible trigger, please be aware.)

*****

Author Info:

I write the kinds of books I want to read. Fast-paced books with lots of world-building, snarky heroines, and swoony heroes. I love story, pop culture, gossip, and baked goods. I’m a modern-day hippy and certified LEGO nerd.

I live in the Austin, Texas hill country, with my geeky husband and two extremely geeky kids. We have dogs, chickens, cats, and more LEGOs than should be allowed by law. Oh, and I stress bake. So if my characters talk about food a lot, that’s why.

Emma also writes as Rita award winning author Emily McKay.

Find Emma Lee Jayne online

Website: http://emmaleejayne.com/

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/3aWXAhO

Facebook: https://bit.ly/3aYlucC

Pinterest: http://bit.ly/3866I1W

Instagram: https://bit.ly/3523Y3x

*****

Connect with Smartypants Romance

Facebook: http://bit.ly/2kvDnb4

Twitter: http://bit.ly/2lzyduO

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2lGdIMQ

Instagram: http://bit.ly/2kwKsYK

Website: https://smartypantsromance.com/ 

Newsletter: https://smartypantsromance.com/newsletter/

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Spotlight – Street Smart

18 Thursday Mar 2021

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Sneak Peek

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Aly Stiles, Street Smart, Work For It series

Street Smart, an all-new workplace romantic comedy from Aly Stiles, is now available in Kindle Unlimited! 

*****

Street Smart

Work For It series

by Aly Stiles

Blurb:

What could go wrong—four words MBA student Marcos Oliveira ignored when he accepted a prestigious internship at Reedweather Media, a subsidiary of the legendary Sandeke Telecom empire.

What did go wrong? Everything.

And when Marcos stumbles upon incriminating documents that signal corporate espionage against Sandeke’s son Martin, he suspects his strange intern wormhole has just exploded into chaos. When his alluring boss Eva draws him in to thwart the plot, he knows it.

After spending their lives overcoming adversity, can Marcos and Eva handle this latest threat? Even more perilous might be their losing battle against forbidden attraction.

His Ivy League education didn’t prepare him for spy games and illicit flames. Good thing he has the street smarts to work for it.

“Street Smart is a laugh-out-loud, hand-over-heart swoon fest that will have you cheering for the good guy to get it all in the end. One of my favorite reads of the year!” -Bestselling Author Ginger Scott

‘Street Smart’ is a full-length workplace romantic comedy and can be read as a standalone. Book #1 in the Work For It series, Educated Romance World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

Download your copy today!

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/39avw9W

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/35XP67i

Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/3l1Gctw

Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/3m2imPU

Amazon Print: https://amzn.to/3twktiY

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/2ZYuPdS

Audiobook: Coming Soon!

*****

Excerpt:

We straighten in alarm at the click of the lock on the main door. Crap! On instinct, I yank his shirt to pull him to the far end of the closet-like room and shove him behind one of the giant racks. Here’s to hoping whoever this person is doesn’t need to access whatever this thing is.

The clatter of the door closing, followed by the squeak of sneakers on the floor tell us someone entered, but we can’t see them through the wall of computer junk obstructing our view. This also means they can’t see us, so yay for that.

Initially, adrenaline keeps my attention fixed on the action at the other side of the room. Soon, though, hormones interrupt our regularly scheduled caper to parade neon signs of awareness that I’m pressed tightly against Marcos Oliveira. Yes, my brilliant, urgent spy maneuver was to crush him into the wall. To press my body against his in an invisible cocoon of stealth. Except this cocoon is suddenly hot. And hard. And electrified with the current of a thousand server racks. It’s inhabited by a sun god who stares down at me with blistering, intelligent eyes and full, tempting lips. Those lips spread into a smile—nay—a challenge, when they catch me gawking. An I-dare-you-not-to-touch-me-right-now message. His hard chest joins the taunt, molding solid muscle to my soft curves. His hips, gah, I can’t decline that invitation. It’s not my fault. They just—react, aligning with his of their own accord. And when his chest swells with a labored inhale at the friction, a shudder runs through me. My hands don’t know what to do either, and soon they’re exploring belt loops at his lower back. Fingers coil around fabric, hooking in until they have no choice but to pull our hips into a firmer embrace. His eyes clench shut, his breathing rapid like mine. His heart—I can feel the raging pulse, or maybe that’s mine. Where does he end and I begin right now? We’re not ourselves. We’ve melded into that new entity—that throbbing, scorching cocoon. My lips burn with a hunger to explore his neck. I grip the belt loops tighter, needing to breathe soon so I don’t lose control of a gasp and give us away.

Somehow, I manage to break one hand away, but it gets sidetracked on the return journey. Instead of safety, it seeks his chest, palm opening wide for a full, greedy experience as it slides from his waist, up solid, mouth-watering planes. My touch absorbs his heat as it travels, tingling from the contrast of the soft fabric of his shirt and the hard angles of muscle beneath. I take extra time exploring his pecs, sinking in and enjoying the way his breathing changes as I rake his skin with my nails. My hand should stop when it reaches his collar, but it doesn’t. No, it keeps moving, skimming over his neck and curving behind until my fingers tangle in his hair. My thumb glides over light stubble, locking below his jaw and angling his perfect face right where I want it. Where I need it as I lick my lips and stare at his mouth. My genius stripper intern who couldn’t be more accessible and forbidden in this moment.

“No freaking way,” a voice echoes through the room.

Marcos and I snap our gazes toward the sound. Neither of us move as we wait, our breaths coming heavy from fear now, in addition to desire. Gosh, this is pretty much the most addicting sensation I’ve ever experienced. No wonder James Bond is a thing.

*****

Author Info:

From angsty and dark to snort-laugh funny, Aly writes romance from her soul to yours.

Find Aly Stiles online

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/author/alystiles

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/3n3XBCP

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

Facebook Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/AlysBreakfastClub/

Newsletter: http://www.subscribepage.com/r4a5s1

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authoralystiles/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/aly_stiles

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/authoralystiles/

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2BThWpZ

Website: http://www.alystiles.com/

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3

*****

Connect with Smartypants Romance

Facebook: http://bit.ly/2kvDnb4

Twitter: http://bit.ly/2lzyduO

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2lGdIMQ

Instagram: http://bit.ly/2kwKsYK

Website: https://smartypantsromance.com/ 

Newsletter: https://smartypantsromance.com/newsletter/

 

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...
← Older posts

Recent Posts

  • Review – Small Town Hero
  • Spotlight – The Honeymoon Cottage
  • Review – Kiss My Giraffe
  • Spotlight – The Marquess of Magic
  • Spotlight – The Alphahole’s Guide to Marrying The Enemy
  • Review – Beach House Summer
  • Spotlight – Temptation in Istanbul
  • Review – Rule Breaker

 

 

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Follow Romantic Reads and Such on WordPress.com

Facebook

Facebook

Twitter

Follow @romanticread

Email me

romanticread@gmail.com

Goodreads

 

 

Tru Blue

Archives

  • May 2022 (11)
  • April 2022 (15)
  • March 2022 (13)
  • February 2022 (7)
  • January 2022 (17)
  • December 2021 (21)
  • November 2021 (12)
  • October 2021 (20)
  • September 2021 (14)
  • August 2021 (10)
  • July 2021 (7)
  • June 2021 (14)
  • May 2021 (23)
  • April 2021 (19)
  • March 2021 (21)
  • February 2021 (11)
  • January 2021 (14)
  • December 2020 (13)
  • November 2020 (13)
  • October 2020 (13)
  • September 2020 (5)
  • August 2020 (10)
  • July 2020 (4)
  • June 2020 (13)
  • May 2020 (11)
  • April 2020 (12)
  • March 2020 (14)
  • February 2020 (11)
  • January 2020 (10)
  • December 2019 (5)
  • November 2019 (10)
  • October 2019 (12)
  • September 2019 (14)
  • August 2019 (6)
  • July 2019 (13)
  • June 2019 (18)
  • May 2019 (13)
  • April 2019 (16)
  • March 2019 (20)
  • February 2019 (19)
  • January 2019 (14)
  • December 2018 (12)
  • November 2018 (18)
  • October 2018 (22)
  • September 2018 (20)
  • August 2018 (17)
  • July 2018 (15)
  • June 2018 (21)
  • May 2018 (16)
  • April 2018 (21)
  • March 2018 (20)
  • February 2018 (21)
  • January 2018 (22)
  • December 2017 (21)
  • November 2017 (19)
  • October 2017 (25)
  • September 2017 (22)
  • August 2017 (21)
  • July 2017 (21)
  • June 2017 (29)
  • May 2017 (29)
  • April 2017 (23)
  • March 2017 (25)
  • February 2017 (23)
  • January 2017 (22)
  • December 2016 (22)
  • November 2016 (27)
  • October 2016 (28)
  • September 2016 (20)
  • August 2016 (23)
  • July 2016 (21)
  • June 2016 (24)
  • May 2016 (26)
  • April 2016 (25)
  • March 2016 (24)
  • February 2016 (39)
  • January 2016 (24)
  • December 2015 (25)
  • November 2015 (27)
  • October 2015 (27)
  • September 2015 (27)
  • August 2015 (36)
  • July 2015 (31)
  • June 2015 (21)
  • May 2015 (24)
  • April 2015 (30)
  • March 2015 (30)
  • February 2015 (26)
  • January 2015 (22)
  • December 2014 (21)
  • November 2014 (32)
  • October 2014 (34)
  • September 2014 (28)
  • August 2014 (34)
  • July 2014 (45)
  • June 2014 (44)
  • May 2014 (44)
  • April 2014 (38)
  • March 2014 (42)
  • February 2014 (38)
  • January 2014 (36)
  • December 2013 (32)
  • November 2013 (35)
  • October 2013 (33)
  • September 2013 (24)
  • August 2013 (19)
  • July 2013 (20)
  • June 2013 (18)
  • May 2013 (19)
  • April 2013 (19)
  • March 2013 (22)
  • February 2013 (14)
  • January 2013 (17)
  • December 2012 (8)
  • November 2012 (16)
  • October 2012 (12)
  • September 2012 (11)
  • August 2012 (13)
  • July 2012 (3)

 

 

NetGalley Professional Reader

Professional Reader

NetGalley Top Reviewer

Reviews Published

NetGalley 80% Feedback

80%

NetGalley Frequently Auto-Approved

Frequently Auto-Approved

NetGalley 500 Book Reviews

500 Book Reviews

NetGalley Challenge 2016

2016 NetGalley Challenge

NetGalley Challenge 2015

Challenge Participant

 

 

sign up to have great new reads sent right to your email

Pump Up Your Book
Book Unleashed

Featured Book Reviewer

FTC Disclaimer

I have received ARCs of books free from BookTrib.com to review but the majority of the stories are either bought by me or provided for free from the publisher. The opinions I share are my own and in no way are influenced by an author or publisher. There is no promise of a positive review by any party and there is no additional compensation. Unless otherwise noted, I am not affliated with any contest or other event mentioned on this blog and I do not receive a paid endorsement for any posts.

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Romantic Reads and Such
    • Join 1,499 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Romantic Reads and Such
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    loading Cancel
    Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
    Email check failed, please try again
    Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
    %d bloggers like this: