"Any Time, Any Place" by Jennifer Probst - Teaser Alert!

 

Today we are showing off some teasers from ANY TIME, ANY PLACE by Jennifer Probst. This is the second title in the Billionaire Builders series. The book will be released on January 24th and it is currently up for pre-order everywhere.

 

Amazon | iBooks | B&N | Kobo | GooglePlay

Purchase in Paperback

 

--------------------------

ANY TIME, ANY PLACE by Jennifer Probst

Billionaire Builders, #2 - Coming January 24, 2017

BLURB:

HGTV’s Property Brothers meets The Marriage Bargain in this second volume in the Billionaire Builders series, an all-new heart-wrenching and sexy contemporary romance from New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Probst.   When she was a teen, Raven Bella Stratton’s father was killed in a horrible car crash. The bigger shock was the discovery of a woman with him—Diana Pierce—and their two fully packed suitcases with airline tickets to Paris. Devastated by her father’s betrayal, Raven went to live with her aunt, never truly overcoming the traumatic event. When she discovers that the mysterious woman had a family with a husband and three boys, Raven vows to leave the memory of her father behind.   Until Dalton Pierce visits one night and suddenly her past challenges her future...   Leaving his life in California behind to run Pierce Construction with his two older brothers, Dalton Pierce has enjoyed returning home and studying his passion of woodworking. But when he visits the local bar with his brothers one evening, he’s immediately drawn to the smart-mouthed, badass, sexy bartender who sets his body on fire. Unfortunately, she doesn’t seem as intrigued by him, and his multiple advances are met with rejection. When he offers to restore the bar back to its original glory, he begins to work with her on a daily basis, and falls harder. His plan of seduction slowly weaves a web around them both, until they are caught up in the spell. But Dalton doesn’t know the secret that can either destroy them both...or finally mend two broken hearts.  

PRE-ORDER IT NOW

Amazon | iBooks | B&N | Kobo | GooglePlay

Purchase in Paperback

 

PURCHASE THE PREVIOUS BOOK IN THE SERIES

PURCHASE EVERYWHERE AND EVERY WAY NOW

Amazon | iBooks | B&N | Kobo | GooglePlay

 

---------------------------------------------

 

AUTHOR INFORMATION:

Jennifer Probst - Bio: Jennifer Probst wrote her first book at twelve years old. She bound it in a folder, read it to her classmates, and hasn’t stopped writing since. She took a short hiatus to get married, get pregnant, buy a house, get pregnant again, pursue a master’s in English Literature, and rescue two shelter dogs. Now she is writing again.

She makes her home in Upstate New York with the whole crew. Her sons keep her active, stressed, joyous, and sad her house will never be truly clean.   She is the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of sexy and erotic contemporary romance. She was thrilled her book, The Marriage Bargain, was ranked #6 on Amazon's Best Books for 2012. She loves hearing from readers. Visit her website for updates on new releases and her street team at www.jenniferprobst.com.

AUTHOR LINKS:

 

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Newsletter

Happy Birthday to Me, with a Guest Post and Giveaway!

Hey, everyone, I'm so excited today because, well, first it's my birthday, but second, I have author Merrie Destefano, author of "The Lost Girls", here to do an exclusive guest post! So first of all, a bit about the book, but make sure you read to the end of this post, because I have an extra special surprise in store!!!

Book Info:

Book Title: Lost Girls

Author: Merrie Destefano

Release Date: 1/3/17

Genre: YA contemporary, YA psychological thriller, YA dark contemporary

Purchase Link: http://entangledpublishing.com/lost-girls/

Synopsis: Yesterday, Rachel went to sleep listening to Taylor Swift, curled up in her grammy’s quilt, worrying about geometry. Today, she woke up in a ditch, bloodied, bruised, and missing a year of her life.

She doesn’t recognize the person she’s become: she’s popular. She wears nothing but black.

Black to cover the blood.

And she can fight. Tell no one.
She’s not the only girl to go missing within the last year…but she’s the only girl to come back. She desperately wants to unravel what happened to her, to try and recover the rest of the Lost Girls.

But the more she discovers, the more her memories return. And as much as her new life scares her, it calls to her. Seductively. The good girl gone bad, sex, drugs, and raves, and something darker…something she still craves—the rush of the fight, the thrill of the win—something she can’t resist, that might still get her killed…

The only rule is: There are no rules.

Author Bio:

Born in the Midwest, magazine editor Merrie Destefano currently lives in Southern California with her husband, two German shepherds, a Siamese cat, and the occasional wandering possum. Her favorite hobbies are reading speculative fiction and watching old Star Trek episodes, and her incurable addiction is writing. She loves to camp in the mountains, walk on the beach, watch old movies, and listen to alternative music—although rarely all at the same time.

Author Links:

Website: merriedestefano.com

Blog: merriedestefanoauthor.blogspot.com                                                   

Tumblr: http://merriedestefano.tumblr.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MerrieDestefano

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/merrie.destefano

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

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/816280.Merrie_Destefano

Newsletter: http://merriedestefano.weebly.com/newsletter.html

So I asked my guest author, Merrie Destefano, if she could put a playlist of songs together for me for this post. It could be either songs that inspired her during her writing process, or songs that she thought her characters would love, or songs that reminded her of certain scenes in the book, or even just her favourite songs of the moment. Merrie was happy to oblige, and here is what she said:

Music and headphones are two of the Must-Have items I need when I’m going to write. In fact, having the perfect playlist is so important I’ve been known to search through my existing songs for almost an hour, sometimes even hunting through iTunes for new music, before I can even begin writing. I need the right tempo, the right voice, the right intensity and just the right combination of songs that meet all three of those criteria. Below are some of the songs I listened to over and over again while writing Lost Girls. If you listen carefully to these songs, you’ll hear the angst in the main character, Rachel Evans’ heart as she is desperately searching for clues to her past, clues that will help her understand the person she has mysteriously changed into during the past year—for this is a person even she doesn’t recognize. Imagine Dragons’ Dan Reynolds wrote “I Bet My Life” about his relationship with his parents and, to me, this is the song Rachel Evans would sing to her father.

1.       “West Coast” by Lana Del Rey

2.       “Ultraviolence” by Lana Del Rey

3.       “I Come With Knives” by IAMX

4.       “The Last High” by The Dandy Warhols

5.       “Bohemian Like You” by The Dandy Warhols

6.       “Ordinary Love” by U2

7.       “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” by Raign

8.       “Red” by Taylor Swift

9.       “Seven Devils” by Florence & The Machine

10.    “Hurricane Drunk” by Florence & The Machine

11.    “You’ve Got The Love” by Florence & The Machine

12.    “Blinding” by Florence & The Machine

13.    “Letters From The Sky” by Civil Twilight

14.    “Counting Stars” by One Republic

15.    “I Bet My Life” by Imagine Dragons

Wow, thanks so much Merrie! I've heard of some of these songs, but not all, so I'll be checking them out really soon!

And now for the icing on the cake (which I'll hopefully be eating later tonight, heehee!): Merrie and the folks at Entangled Teen are allowing me to give away a finished copy of "The Lost Girls" to one lucky commenter! Isn't that INCREDIBLE???!!! All you have to do is leave me a comment, answering Merrie's question to you:

Have you ever read a book that reminded you of a song? If so, which book and which song?

Contest open to US/National

Review: "All the Ways You Saved Me" by Jamie Howard

Bianca Easton is the perfect senator’s daughter. Law school? Check. Camera-ready smile? Check. A dull and boring existence? Double check. But that was before. Before she lost her best and only friend in a tragic accident. Before she found that friend's unfinished bucket list. Definitely before she turned her life upside-down by deciding to stay in New York for six months to finish it. It's while she's checking off her first item on the list--buy coffee for a stranger--that she meets Ian Mathis. Between the tattoo sleeve curling up his right arm, his guitar-roughened fingertips, and the secrets shadowing his past, he's a complication Bianca doesn't need but desperately wants. With every item they cross off the list together, Bianca uncovers a piece of herself that she's buried under what's expected, all the while breaking her own rules by falling hard for Ian. But when her six months run out, Bianca has to decide if she's willing to risk her empty but picture-perfect life for a chance at real, messy love.

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press - Swerve for the opportunity to read and review this book!

I can't tell you how excited I am for this new author! Well, maybe I can...I'll try, anyway. I've already read two books by Ms. Howard, and I really enjoyed them both, but "All the Ways You Saved Me" has really upped her game! The characters here were fantastically believable, and I ended up loving them both, even though I wasn't sure I would - Ian does something during their first date that I wasn't sure I could forgive, but once I learned more about him, I could understand where he was coming from.

I really liked the way that this book was written from both points of view, with Bianca's being the present timeline and Ian's being the past timeline. This really helped draw me into Ian's mystery, and I wanted nothing more than to find out what had happened to mess him up so badly. I probably wasn't quite as drawn into Bianca's storyline as much as Ian's, but I still enjoyed her character's gradual development from doormat to "babe-in-total-control-of-herself".

The pacing here was great, a little bit of a slow burn at first, but I appreciated how Bianca and Ian's relationship started off as more of a friendship before it moved into something romantic. I also appreciated the fact that Ian is not a "manwhore", for lack of a better word. I won't get into his romantic past here, but I will say that it's surprisingly refreshing!

So absolutely, if you're searching for a great new talent in contemporary romance writing, I would recommend picking up any of Jamie Howard's books, but especially this one - "All the Ways You Saved Me" is sweet, sexy, and memorable, and I'm looking forward to reading more from this author!

My rating:

Cover Reveal: K.A. Tucker's "Until it Fades"

About UNTIL IT FADES:

​A sexy new romance about a small-town woman who saves the life of a mysterious man, and finds herself unexpectedly thrown into a whirlwind love affair, featuring bestselling author K. A. Tucker’s signature “well-constructed, pulse-pounding suspense” (USA TODAY).
Twenty-four-year-old truck stop waitress and single mother Catherine Wright has simple goals: to give her five-year-old daughter a happy life and to never again be the talk of the town in Balsam, Pennsylvania: population three thousand outside of tourist season.

And then one foggy night, on a lonely road back from another failed attempt at a relationship, Catherine saves a man’s life. It isn’t until after the police have arrived that Catherine realizes exactly who it is she has saved: Brett Madden, hockey icon and media darling.

Catherine has already had her fifteen minutes of fame and the last thing she wants is to have her past dragged back into the spotlight, only this time on a national stage. So she hides her identity. It works.

For a time.

But when she finds the man she saved standing on her doorstep, desperate to thank her, all that changes. What begins as an immediate friendship quickly turns into something neither of them expected. Something that Catherine isn’t sure she can handle; something that Catherine is afraid to trust.

Because how long can an extraordinary man like Brett be interested in an ordinary woman like Catherine…before the spark fades?

Amazon US:https://www.amazon.com/Until-Fades-Novel-K-Tucker-ebook/dp/B01J1XU87G
Amazon UK:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Until-Fades-Novel-K-Tucker-ebook/dp/B01J1XZ3XK
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/Until-Fades-Novel-K-Tucker/dp/1501133381
Barnes and Noble:http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/until-it-fades-ka-tucker/1124286600?ean=9781501133381
iBooks:https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/until-it-fades/id1137741016?mt=11
Kobo:https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/until-it-fades
BAM:http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Until-Fades/KA-Tucker/Q501537433?id=6084478593599
Indigo: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/until-it-fades-a-novel/9781501133381-item.html

About K.A. Tucker:

K.A. Tucker writes captivating stories with an edge.

She is the USA Today bestselling author of 14 books, including Ten Tiny Breaths and Burying Water, and her latest Adult Suspense novel, He Will Be My Ruin. Her books have been featured in national publications including USA Today, Globe & Mail, Suspense Magazine, and Publisher's Weekly.

K.A. Tucker currently resides in a quaint town outside of Toronto with her husband, two beautiful girls, and a Chug.

Links:

Website ** Twitter ** Facebook ** Novel Goodreads ** Author Goodreads ** YouTube ** Pinterest ** Instagram

Review: "Searching for Disaster" by Jennifer Probst

The next highly anticipated novella in the Searching For series, a romantic spin-off of the Marriage to a Billionaire series from New York Times bestselling sensation Jennifer Probst. When Isabella MacKenzie tries to move on from her disastrous past, Officer William Devine is determined to show her that love is the only way to heal. This sexy enovella, the final installment in Jennifer Probst’s heartwarming Searching For series, follows the high-powered women of the popular matchmaking agency Kinnections, located in the small, picturesque town of Verily, NY.

Thank you kindly to Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books for the free review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is the first novella I've read in Jennifer Probst's "Searching For" series, but seeing that I really enjoyed the three full length novels I've already read, I figured I would enjoy this one as well. My expectations were set high, but Probst surely delivered here - I absolutely loved every moment of this short, sweet read!

I really liked the first meet up between Izzy and Liam. It's evident right off the bat that Izzy is a walking disaster, which I loved! So many times, the heroines in contemporary romances are just a bit too sweet and saccharine to be believed, and I just can't identify with that. Izzy, though? She's my type of gal - previously messed up, but working on it, and all the more interesting because of her past.

And Liam, what can I say about Liam? He's kind of a doll, actually! Pretty much the exact opposite of Izzy, he is so patient and understanding, but without being a complete doormat. I don't know how Probst does it, but I swear, every book of hers I read, I love each hero more than the last - I'd be hard pressed at this point to choose a favourite.

But it's not all just Izzy and Liam - we get to see all the previously matched couples from Kinnections, too, as well as their cute pets! And then there's this scene between Izzy and her dad that had me tearing up, just a wee bit...So many emotions packed into a small package! You know, sometimes with novellas that go along with a series, I could probably take them or leave them, but in the case of "Searching for Disaster", I'd say this is a must-read for fans of the series, the absolute perfect culmination.  And if you haven't started this series yet, then you absolutely must remedy that right away! Roxy's orders!

My rating:

Review: "His Best Mistake" by Diane Alberts

One night with a stranger… Security expert Mark Matthews has loved, and lost, and has no intention of ever loving again—especially not a woman who thrives on her life being in danger. Now, hot, meaningless sex with strangers he had no intention of ever seeing again? That’s a whole other story. And it’s all life as a single father allows him to enjoy. But when he meets a woman who refuses to tell him her real name, the game is on, because she’s everything he swore to stay away from. Daisy O’Rourke has bad idea written all over her, but he’s in too deep to walk away now…

Thanks to Entangled Publishing via Netgalley for the free review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I've read quite a few of Diane Alberts/Jen McLaughlin books now, and I always find them enjoyable, but I think "His Best Mistake" is my favourite so far. Everything about this book was done just right, from the realistic characters and their dilemmas, to the pacing of the plot. I think this is exactly the steamy, well written series I've been looking for!

When Mark and Daisy first meet, sparks fly, but of course neither are looking for anything more than a quick and easy distraction. They even mutually decide to go by fake names, which they base off of comic book characters. It might sound a bit silly, but it was actually kind of cute, and it also gave me a more clear picture of what these characters might look like in real life.

After a night of passion, their covers are blown out of the water when they show up at the same wedding. Turns out, they've each heard of the other through mutual friends, and by all intents and purposes, probably should have met months ago! They decide to keep their previous night's encounter on the down low, and although neither of them have intentions of turning their rendezvous into a second occurrence, they just can't keep their hands (and other body parts, ahem) off each other.

You would think it would be easy, smooth sailing from here, but what kind of book would that make? Neither Mark nor Daisy want to enter into anything more committed than the casual hook ups they've got going on, because they've each got a hundred tons of baggage that I won't go into. How they work through all that, though, is what makes this an endearing story, and one I'd recommend to anyone looking for a romantic read with strong, lovable characters, real problems, and a minimal to moderate dash of angst.

My rating:

Music Monday! A Playlist Inspired by "The Bad Boy Bargain" by Kendra C. Highley

Hey everyone, I'm really excited for this post, because I have author Kendra C. Highley here as a guest! Woohoo! Read on for more info about her new book, "The Bad Boy Bargain", an excerpt, and an exclusive playlist she's put together especially for my blog!!!

Baseball player Kyle Sawyer has many labels: bad boy, delinquent, ladies’ man, fearless outfielder… Only one of them is actually true. But then sweet ballet dancer Faith Gladwell asks him to help wreck her reputation, and everything goes sideways. Faith knows a thing or two about love, and what she had with her cheating jerk of an ex wasn’t it. When he starts spreading rumors about her being an Ice Queen, Faith decides it’s time to let a little bad into her life. Lucky for her, Kyle Sawyer–dark, dangerous, totally swoonworthy Kyle Sawyer–is landscaping her backyard over Spring Break. Shirtless. And if she can convince him to play along, ” dating” Kyle will silence the rumors. But Faith’s plan threatens to expose Kyle’s biggest secret of all…and that’s a risk he’s not willing to take. Disclaimer: This book contains drop-the-book-and-fan-yourself kisses…and touches. Fall in love with a bad boy at your own risk.

Excerpt:

By the time she made it home, took a smoothie from Mom’s outstretched hand, and went upstairs to shower, six Snapchat notifications, all from different people, had popped up on her phone:

A sad-faced Skye: I’m so sorry about last night. I should’ve warned you. I feel awful.

An angry Piper: I’m at the mall and there’s some asinine shit coming out of Cameron’s mouth right now. Should I punch him?

A gossipy Fiona: Is it true that Cameron dumped you?

A sneering Mitchell: You as cold as Cam says?

A dumbfounded Katrina: Holly is telling everyone at the mall that she stole Cam from you because you don’t put out. Want me to dump a Slurpee in her hair?

A smirking Jackson: My car overheated. I heard you could cool it down for me. How about it, ice queen?

Tears of rage filled Faith’s eyes, especially when a new Snapchat chimed: Cameron, sending her a picture of Holly sitting in his lap at the party last night.. The message read: Trading up.

She squeezed her phone in her hand. What was she going to do? She had half a mind to tell Kat to pour that Slurpee down Holly’s shirt and Piper to punch Cam in the throat. But that wouldn’t solve anything. Not at all.

No, she needed something bigger. Faith wandered to her window, to stare outside and organize her thoughts. Except, when she caught sight of the ripped, shirtless guy in her backyard, she forgot what she’d been thinking about.

“Who’s that?” she whispered, touching the glass.

His back and shoulders flexed under tanned skin. A black tattoo—was it a bird?—was on one of his shoulder blades. There was a bruise on his side, too, but she couldn’t make herself wonder about it. The guy’s dark hair was in his face as he tugged hard at a holly bush, yanking it from the ground.

Look at those arms. Faith stared, her mouth open. Who was he?

The holly bush gave way and he tipped back, dirt flying. Faint laughter drifted up through her window as he climbed to his feet with his prize, and she caught a look at his face.

She gasped. Holy crap, that was Kyle Sawyer. The stories she’d heard about him were numerous, and if a quarter were true, he was not the kind of guy she’d want to talk to. He shoplifted, vandalized buildings, drank, hung out with college students—girls. College girls. And rumor had it he ran illegal street races with his Charger.

So why did he look like he was having a blast ransacking her backyard? He had an awfully nice smile for such a bad boy.

A thought exploded in her brain—wait a minute…bad boy. Kyle was the one guy at Suttonville High who’d seen enough action to have his own lore. His exploits were darker than sin, and being with him was an instant reputation killer for any girl at Suttonville.

This was it. Kyle would be her revenge.

The Songs of The Bad Boy Bargain

Music is one of the most important “must-haves” of my writing process (well, that and dark chocolate M&Ms). Faith is a ballerina, and music is the palate for her art. But, more than that, this entire book germinated from a song my editor heard by a young man on The Voice: Sawyer Fredericks, “Please.” Here’s “Please” and the other songs that inspired The Bad Boy Bargain:

1.      “The Fall” by Imagine Dragons

2.      “Please” by Sawyer Fredericks

3.       “Cecilia and the Sattelite” by Andrew McMahon in the Wilderness

4.      “Renegades” by X Ambassadors

5.      “People Will Say We’re in Love” from Oklahoma, Rogers and Hammerstein

6.      “Up&Up” by Coldplay

7.      “Something” by The Beatles

8.      “Captain” by Dave Mathews Band

9.      “Fade Into You” by Mazzy Star

10.  “Beautiful” by Moby

11.  “Burning Bridges” by One Republic

12.  “Who Are You, Really?” by Mikky Ekko

13.  “How Do You Like Me Now?” by The Heavy

14.  “How Soon Is Now?” by The Smiths

15.  “Feel Again” by One Republic

Kendra C. Highley lives in north Texas with her husband and two children. She also serves as staff to four self-important and high-powered cats. This, according to the cats, is her most critical job. She believes in everyday magic, extraordinary love stories and the restorative powers of dark chocolate.

Find her on:
Twitter
Facebook
Tumblr
Pinterest

"Fire In You" by Jennifer L. Armentrout - Trailer Reveal

Some are born with fire in them.

✮✮✮ SECOND CHANCES, HOPE, & RED-HOT CHEMISTRY… FIRE IN YOU is coming! The final book in the #1 New York Times bestselling Wait For You World, don’t Miss Brock and Jillian’s passionate and richly moving story in this standalone contemporary romance releasing November 28, 2016! And check out the amazing trailer created by Book Candy Studios below! ✮✮✮

Let the FIRE IN YOU burn and preorder your copy today!

 

About FIRE IN YOU (Standalone Contemporary Romance Releasing November 28, 2016): From the # 1 New York Times and International bestselling author comes a richly moving story about heartbreak and guilt, second chances and hope. Full of familiar, fan-favorite characters and no two people more deserving of a happy ending, Fire In You will burn bright beyond the last page… Jillian Lima’s whole world was destroyed in a span of a few hours. The same night her childhood love, Brock ‘the Beast’ Mitchell, broke her heart, her life was irrevocably altered by the hand of a stranger with a gun. It takes six years to slowly glue together the shattered pieces of her life, but Jillian is finally ready to stop existing in a past full of pain and regret. She takes a job at her father’s martial arts Academy and she’s going out on her first date since a failed relationship that was more yuck than yum. Jillian is determined to start living. She just never expected Brock to be a part of her life again. But he’s firmly back in her life before she knows it, and not only is he older, he’s impossibly more handsome, more teasing and more everything. And when he sees Jillian, he’s no longer capable of thinking of her as the little girl who was his shadow growing up or the daughter of the man who gave him a second chance at life. He sees the woman who’d always been there for him, the one person who believed in him no matter what. Brock knows she’s the one he should’ve made his, and what begins as a tentative friendship quickly turns to red-hot chemistry that sparks a flame that burns brighter than lust. Falling for Brock again risks more than her heart, because when the sorrow-filled and guilt-ridden past resurfaces, and a web of lies threatens to rip them apart, the fallout could lay waste to everything they’ve fought to build together, and destroy the dreams of those they care most about.

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2bxxrst 

Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/2bVLCXB 

iBooks: http://apple.co/2bdWMWy

Pre-Order a digital or paperback copy of FIRE IN YOU by Jennifer L. Armentrout, writing as J.Lynn, AND fill out THIS FORM, and get an exclusive bonus scene-an Epilogue featuring POVs from all the major couples throughout the Wait For You World!

FIRE IN YOU will be available in paperback and eBook November 28th, 2016!

Just enter your name, age, email address, and the order number from your digial or paperback pre-order receipt at https://a.pgtb.me/M7KhMC to receive your exclusive FIRE IN YOU bonus scene! All entrants will receive the bonus scene on December 5th, 2016 through email using the email given when the entrant filled out THIS FORM.

 

   

About Jennifer L. Armentrout:

# 1 New York Times and # 1 International Bestselling author Jennifer lives in Martinsburg, West Virginia. All the rumors you’ve heard about her state aren’t true. When she’s not hard at work writing. She spends her time reading, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and her Jack Russell Loki.

Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories….which explains her dismal grades in math. Jennifer writes young adult paranormal, science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary romance. She is published with Spencer Hill Press, Entangled Teen and Brazen, Disney/Hyperion and Harlequin Teen. Her book Obsidian has been optioned for a major motion picture and her Covenant Series has been optioned for TV. Jennifer has won numerous awards, including the 2013 Reviewers Choice Award for Wait for You, the 2015 Editor’s Pick for Fall With Me, and the 2014/2015 Moerser-Jugendbuch- Jury award for Obsidian. Her young adult romantic suspense novel DON’T LOOK BACK was a 2014 nominated Best in Young Adult Fiction by YALSA.

She also writes Adult and New Adult contemporary and paranormal romance under the name J. Lynn. She is published by Entangled Brazen and HarperCollins.

Website: https://jenniferlarmentrout.com/ 

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/jlarmentrout 

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4476934.Jennifer_L_Armentrout

   

Review: "Unsportsmanlike Conduct" by Sophia Henry

The author of Delayed Penalty returns with the story of a free spirit who believes she’s found forever with a playboy on a singles cruise. Discover why Kelly Jamieson calls the Pilots Hockey series “fun and flirty, warm and sweet.” Kristen Katsaros wants a life full of adventure and laughter. After a difficult childhood, her motto is to live each day like it’s her last—because it just might be. So when Kristen’s parents send her on a post-grad singles cruise in the Caribbean to meet a Greek husband, she promptly hooks up with the hottest guy she’s ever met. Pasha’s decidedly not Greek, but Kristen gives him a pass because he’s got fun written all over his rock-hard abs. Pavel Gribov, the cocky playboy of the Detroit Pilots hockey team, can score any girl he wants. But when a teammate drags him on a singles cruise, he can’t resist the chance to help out a drop-dead gorgeous damsel in distress by pretending to be her boyfriend. Before long, the fake fling turns intimate, fueled by something much deeper than lust. Kristen and Pasha both agree to walk away once the cruise is over, but reality hits like a slap shot when Kristen finds out Pasha lied about everything. Just when she’s ready to start living again, the two stubborn survivors must decide if they can bear to lose the best thing that ever happened to either of them.

Thanks so much to Random House Publishing Group-Flirt for the free review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This will be sort of a stream of consciousness review, which I've never really tried before, so here goes:

When I first started reading this book, I didn't think I would really like it. The two main characters literally crashed into each other, which was how they first met - how cliche is that? And really, how realistic is it for someone to feel instant attraction when they crash into someone? I've crashed into people, probably more than I rightfully should have, and I have felt instant attraction to exactly... none of them. I have felt irritation, embarrassment, and downright pain, but lust? Nada! I should really start a poll, because I would love to know what percentage of married couples out there met from crashing into each other. And is there a higher likelihood of crashing into the love of your life if you live in a more densely populated country, like the Netherlands, than if you live in a more sparsely populated country like Canada? I've been to the Netherlands, and they have a much smaller "space bubble" than we have here. It is weird to have people constantly all up in your grill or breathing down your neck, when here, if I accidentally bump someone with my elbow, we're both instantly apologizing. Maybe that's where Canadians get the reputation for being polite, come to think of it! We don't typically crash into each other because there's so much space, and if we do, we feel like an idiot, because what kind of dumbass crashes into things when there's so much friggin' space?!    

Okay, enough of that. Now I have a thesis topic, if I ever needed to write one in the future. Actually, I'm pretty sure that will never happen, so go ahead and use this thesis topic if you feel the need, I won't hold it against you for stealing my idea. 

Back to the book. So yeah, not impressed with the "meet cute", or the fact that the two main characters enter into a "fake" relationship to scare off Kristin's potential suitor - isn't this idea getting a little overdone, too? Fortunately, things got better from there. I've never read a book where one of the main characters has a genetic disorder like cystic fibrosis. I genuinely felt empathy for Kristin and what she was going through with her disease, the idea of living life to the fullest and not getting tied down due to the inevitability of her early death. What I didn't really like was how the author kept repeating Kristin's thoughts on this. After she went on about her disease and how it affected her outlook on life during her inner monologues, oh, ten or so times, I felt like I had it figured out. 

Ditto with Pasha. He kept telling himself that he wasn't a good person, he wasn't good enough for Kristin, she'd be better off without him, she'd hate him when she found out what he'd done, and on and on. I get it, don't beat me over the head with it.

Still, something about these characters had me rooting for them, hoping that they would find their happily ever after. They had quite a few fun adventures during their cruise, and I enjoyed the banter between them. The steamy parts were also pretty good!  I would have loved a bit more background in regards to Kristin and Pasha's mutual friends, but then again, now I'm curious and want to go back and read the first books of the series.  I guess this will not be my last read from Sophia Henry!

My rating: 3.5 stars

Review: "Playing it Cool" by Amy Andrews

Harper Nugent might have a little extra junk in her trunk, but her stepbrother calling her out on it is the last straw… When rugby hottie, Dexter Blake, witnesses the insult, he surprises Harper by asking her out. In front of her dumbass brother. Score! Of course, she knows it’s not for reals, but Dex won’t take no for an answer. Dexter Blake’s life revolves around rugby with one hard and fast rule: no women. Sure, his left hand is getting a workout, but he's focused on his career for now. Then he overhears an asshat reporter belittle the curvy chick he'd been secretly ogling. What's a guy to do but ask her out? It’s just a little revenge against a poser, and then he'll get his head back in the game. But the date is better than either expected. So is the next one. And the next. And the heat between them…sizzles their clothes right off. Suddenly, this fake relationship is feeling all too real…

Thank you very much to Entangled Publishing via Netgalley for the free review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Wow, this book was so much better than I expected it to be! It was funny (hilarious, actually!) sweet, romantic, steamy, and well written, plus it had a whole bunch of Aussie slang thrown in that I loved! Honestly, I couldn't ask for more in a contemporary romance!

I really loved Harper, if I'm being truthful! Dex was great, but Harper is someone I want to hang out with. She would make a great bestie, and that's shown over and over throughout the book. She knows she's a bigger gal, and she's mostly okay with it, but she still has moments of self-consciousness, especially when her family gets on her case about her weight. I hated the way her stepmother and stepbrother treated her, but I was also able to understand why she couldn't simply break all ties with them.

Because this book is written with both Dex and Harper's points of view, the reader really gets a good look inside Dex's mind. For us, the readers, it's very obvious how he feels about Harper. I really wanted Harper to believe that Dex's feelings for her were true, but at the same time, I could understand why she was hesitant and needed to hold back a bit, especially when Dex was trying to keep everything on the down low! He had his reasons, and they were legitimate, but still...let's just say that I'm glad Harper laid down the law in the end!  

If you love contemporary sports romances (and I'm starting to think this might be a new favourite genre for me!) something along the lines of Elle Kennedy's "Off Campus" series, then you definitely need to check out these Sydney Smoke Rugby guys - I guarantee, if the rest of the series is anything like this one, you will love it!

My rating: