Cupcakes and Crushes by Keri Ford

CRUSHES
Cupcakes and Crushes by Keri Ford
Turtle Pine Book 1
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (160 pgs)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Sorrel

Sometimes there is enough sweet to make up for the bitter.

Years ago, a broken heart sent Annie Cookie running from home, and she’s never looked back—until now. Her grandpa’s broken wrist means the family bakery is at risk of losing two big orders.

Reluctantly, Annie returns to Turtle Pine to help out, only to discover it’s not just seven hundred cupcakes she has to bake, but also a wedding cake for the half-sister who stole her high-school sweetheart. Annie left town to get away from her sister. No way is she getting mixed up with her again. Once the cupcakes are done, she’s outta there.

That implies that mama http://djpaulkom.tv/dj-paul-attends-icon-manns-third-annual-pre-oscar-dinner/ cialis prices and papa had to induce you to and from class and driving follow. Take at least two cups of tea viagra online store daily, once at bedtime and another in the morning. Basically, buy tadalafil australia the more the level of cGMP the penis will be affected. This kind of treatment has not been approved because there can be viagra pills wholesale embarrassing side effects of this medicine to keep yourself safe from them. Back in high school, Cade Revlin hid his crush on his brother’s girl, but when his brother dumped Annie for another Cookie sister, Annie slipped through his fingers and out of town. Now that she’s back, he’s determined to give her a reason to stay.

He’s got one week to change her mind. Or she’ll be gone in a cloud of powdered sugar.

Cupcakes and Crushes is aptly named.

Though Annie has some very fond memories of childhood and school, there are some people she has no intention of meeting with after she graduates and moves away to not only start her career but also to protect her heart from more damage.

When Annie left town Cade was left with a broken heart which Annie had no idea of and when she returns to help her grandfather, Cade has resolved to give Annie cause to stay in town this time around.

Cupcakes and Crushes is not only about a budding romance but it is also about family and community. Miss Ford created characters each so different and yet so perfect for each other.

Annie has three half-sisters, two of them whom live in town. All the sisters are different from each other but I would have liked to know more. Annie despised Tina (one of her half-sisters) and does not seem to think that there are any redeeming qualities in her compared to the others. At times I felt that Annie’s mind is stuck in child mode when it came to her sisters, however I would say that the ending was beautiful and made up for any of that. This is the first book in the series so hopefully the other books to come will feature the other sisters.

Annie and Cade had chemistry and a lot of it but they also had a lot of understanding between them, their relationship was well balanced in every way.

I would recommend it to any contemporary romance lover.

Echoes by Laura K Curtis

ECHOS
Echoes by Laura K Curtis
Publisher: Penguin
Genre: Action/Adventure, Contemporary, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (282 pgs)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Aloe

Who is she?

A single photo of herself as an infant on a beach, taken before the date on her birth certificate, throws everything Calliope Pearson knows about herself into question. Hoping to find answers, she takes advantage of her job as a travel writer to make a reservation at the Caribbean island resort in the picture.

Several users of easy calm have proved that easy calm is effective and they’re buy tadalafil australia now capable to ease their anxiety in having sexual intercourse with their partners. If you have erectile problems, you can go to any buy generic cialis online supplier. It’s necessary to know if you need to stop this kind of problem, you need to understand about what are sexual problems? Sexual problems are the problems during any phase of sexual response cycle that creates problem for any individual or couple to have satisfactory sexual activity. cialis line prescription Now I teach my students to always ignore guys in the field. free tadalafil sample Resort security chief Mac Brody distrusts Callie on sight. After all, she looks exactly like his deceitful missing wife, Nikki, who owns half the resort. But when Nikki’s found dead, Mac’s facing murder charges, and he’s sure that Callie must hold the key to proving his innocence.

The deeper Callie and Mac dive into the mystery of her past, the more bodies surface. And they’ll have to learn to trust each other, or become victims of a dark danger neither could’ve imagined…

After her father’s death, Calli finds a photo hidden behind another when she changes frames. The problem she has with it is that it shows her as a baby in her mother’s arms and it predates her own birth certificate. How did that happen? Were her parents lying to her? Why would they be at that Caribbean resort anyway? She has the perfect excuse to visit the resort; she’s a freelance writer that does articles about vacation spots.

Ms. Curtis writes a fast paced story with a complex plot. She combines gun running, genetics, a secret agency, and a madman all together in a mix of a search for answers and danger. Her characters are real, some a little too real. It didn’t take me long to read this entire book. I didn’t want to set it down and do something else, I wanted to see what was going to happen.

Calli didn’t expect to make an enemy as soon as she stepped in the hotel, but that’s what happened. The chief security guard thought his wife had sent her. After all, she looked like her but was a bit more filled out. Callie had no idea what Mac was talking about, but she knew she didn’t like him and his pushy ways.

As the story goes along, Ms. Curtis introduces you to the madman. You don’t know who he is and you aren’t quite sure what he’s trying to do but he still manages to scare you.

The author paces the story well, keeps spiking your adrenaline with the close misses, and it’s only with the help of the high level security agency that they have a fighting chance. She gives you strong characters and a romance to keep the story interesting. Ms. Curtis did a very nice job on this one.

My Mother’s Journals by Suzanne Whitfield Vince

JOURNALS
My Mother’s Journals by Suzanne Whitfield Vince
Publisher: Self-published
Genre: Contemporary, Historical, Paranormal
Length: Full Length (260 pages)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Before her mother’s shocking deathbed confession, before her father’s stroke, before a long string of miscarriages, Olivia Hunter’s life had gone exactly according to plan. But lately, no matter how hard she tried, nothing was working out the way it was supposed to. And it’s about to get worse.

After losing her job and her marriage in the same day, a mysterious woman delivers a box containing a set of her mother’s journals. As she begins to read, Olivia unearths her mother’s secret life. Stunned by her mother’s secrets and betrayals, Olivia’s life begins to spiral even more out of control.

But as she continues to read, she comes to see that her mother’s journey was not so unlike her own. Will the parallels help her to piece her own life back together? Will she learn to forgive the people who have betrayed her? Or will she leave the past behind and forge a new life from the seemingly irresistible opportunities that lie before her?

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Marriage isn’t always about grand romantic gestures and mushy notes. Sometimes relationships are strained to their breaking points by circumstances that show absolutely no signs of improvement. One of the things I enjoyed the most about this novel was how sensitively and compassionately it explored this subject matter. It was by far my favorite subplot.

There was a great deal of telling instead of showing in this book. This happened when describing the character’s reactions to certain events in their lives. It also occurred when the narrator talked about how those events unfolded. The narrative contained plenty of opportunities for the these things to be explored in great detail, but I had trouble emotionally connecting to what was going on in the plot because of how they were described.

Olivia’s mother lived through a tumultuous time in American history. The flashbacks that showed what it was like to be a young adult during those years were almost as fascinating as seeing how the choices she made so long ago would eventually come to affect her daughter. I looked forward to every single one of these sections.

The character development wasn’t very strong. At times Olivia made decisions that seemed completely out of character for her based on what I thought I’d figured out about her personality. The hints about what she was like were so subtle, though, that I was never entirely sure if I’d interpreted them correctly. This problem also showed up with some of the other characters as well.

I was pleased by how much time was spent focusing Olivia’s quest to carry a pregnancy to term. It was a heartbreaking, tension-packed subplot that made me ache for a happy ending for her. She had so many obstacles in her path that I really wasn’t sure how the author would resolve all of them, but I was quite interested in seeing how it all might happen.

My Mother’s Journals is a good choice for anyone who enjoys romantic stories about people who must juggle several serious life problems at once.

Girl Underwater by Claire Kells

GIRL
Girl Underwater by Claire Kells
Publisher: Penguin/Dutton
Genre: Action/Adventure, Contemporary
Length: Full Length (300 pgs)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Hawthorn

Nineteen-year-old Avery Delacorte loves the water. Growing up in Brookline, Massachusetts, she took swim lessons at her community pool and captained the local team; in high school, she raced across bays and sprawling North American lakes. Now a sophomore on her university’s nationally ranked team, she struggles under the weight of new expectations but life is otherwise pretty good. Perfect, really.

That all changes when Avery’s red-eye home for Thanksgiving makes a ditch landing in a mountain lake in the Colorado Rockies. She is one of only five survivors, which includes three little boys and Colin Shea, who happens to be her teammate. Colin is also the only person in Avery’s college life who challenged her to swim her own events, to be her own person—something she refused to do. Instead she’s avoided him since the first day of freshman year. But now, faced with sub-zero temperatures, minimal supplies, and the dangers of a forbidding nowhere, Avery and Colin must rely on each other in ways they never could’ve imagined.

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Girl Underwater is a suspenseful mix of the struggle to survive and the gentle, but strong emotions that can only develop in the most extreme situations.

The switching back and forth between the days after the plane crash and Avery’s present day effort to cope with the psychological consequences of the trauma propels the story forward. The reader keeps guessing about what will happen next or what exactly happened in those five days of terror that affected Avery so much that she still can’t let go.

This story is much more than just a romance. It’s a novel about growing up, about coming to terms with a horrific event and with life in general. It’s also a story populated with strong characters that are likeable and realistic and that we care for since the very beginning. Despite the focus being on Avery and her struggle, first to survive, and later with PTSD, the author also managed to write very detailed scenes in the wilderness of the Rockies that evoked the desperation of the five survivors. Those chapters were filled with tension, but also with hope and warmth because of the genuine relationships that developed between Avery, the boys and Colin.

A little less convincing were Avery’s reasons for avoiding Colin at the beginning of the story and I kept waiting to read a deeper, more unpleasant reason behind it, but apart from that first meeting of theirs, nothing else was offered as an explanation. Similarly, the ending felt a bit disjointed. Towards the end, Avery changed her mind about how she felt a few too many times, so the epilogue came a bit out of the blue, although it offered a satisfying ending after the harrowing tale.

The descriptions of Avery’s PTSD were very vivid and I could feel her struggle throughout the novel. It made me really feel for her. I admired her strength, but also her parents for raising her to be the independent, strong woman that she was. The family scenes, both Avery’s and Colin’s, were very precious and infused the novel with a feeling of hope.

Girl Underwater is a gripping tale of survival, growing up, friendship and the most epic sort of love. You just have to dive in and let it knock the air out of you by its intensity and optimism.

Cross Keys by Ally Shields

KEYS
Cross Keys by Ally Shields
An Elvenrude Novel
Publisher: Etopia Press
Genre: Contemporary, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: Full Length (445 pgs)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Poinsettia

Conspiracy, murder, and magic…and the death of all they hold dear.

When the first wanderer—a common elf who isn’t authorized to use the portal—is spotted on the streets of New Orleans, the king assigns Kameo Ryndel to assist in the elf’s capture. But before she can intervene, humans with guns shoot the wanderer and steal his body. When Seth Lormarc, an Elite elf from a rival guild, appears at the scene, Kam suspects he is involved.

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As their paths cross during their investigations, they develop an irresistible attraction, although there’s little time for romance. The portal breach is tied to an illegal smuggling operation that has come to the attention of the human CIA. But the stakes are raised when Kam and Seth discover a band of conspirators and a rebellion deep in Elvenrude that promises nothing except destruction of their world.

Kam is prepared to do anything to protect Elvenrude, but can she protect her own heart?

Kam has all the traits of a likable heroine. She is smart, strong, caring, and loyal. Her devotion to Elvenrude is absolute and she’s willing to break a few rules in order to protect her home and the people she loves. However, I found it interesting that she is not willing to take the same risks in regard to her heart. Even though her attraction to Seth is clear to everyone around them, Kam stubbornly refuses to acknowledge her own feelings. I did appreciate Seth and Kam’s antagonistic banter, but at a certain point, I just wanted her to be honest about her feelings.

Whether Kam wants to admit it or not, Seth is a good match for her. He’s every bit as smart and strong as she is, and he’s willing to let her have the freedom she craves regarding her career. I must give Seth credit for his patience with Kam. He never pressures her, but he wasn’t shy about letting her know how he felt. I found his direct manner refreshing, and it was easy to hope that he and Kam would find a way to be together.

Elvenrude sounds like a beautiful place secluded from the noise and pollution of the human world. I could clearly picture the tree houses and the natural beauty of the land. I found the elves obsession with human gadgets amusing. Things like coffee, bikes, and electronics are commonplace in the human world, but are novelties for the elves. It was interesting to watch the elves try to maintain a balance between their world and the human world and see what they deemed acceptable and what they thought had the potential to corrupt.

I do think the ending was a little odd. After so much build up concerning who was behind the portal disturbances, I think the reveal of the mastermind was rushed and a bit anticlimactic. I also wanted more explanation concerning this character’s motivations. Despite this issue, I still found it satisfying to see the villain brought to justice.

Overall, I think Cross Keys is a good book. Kam and Seth make a good team, and I enjoyed watching them work together to solve the mystery. I recommend Cross Keys to anyone who likes fantasy with a modern twist.

Avoiding Alpha by Aileen Erin

ALPHA
Avoiding Alpha by Aileen Erin
Publisher: Ink Monster, LLC
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal
Length: Short Story (148 pgs)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 4.5 stars
Reviewed by Xeranthemum

Seventeen-year-old Tessa McCaide has come a long way since her abrupt entrance into the world of werewolves, but she still has just as far to go before she’s comfortable with turning full wolf. In the meantime, she’s avoiding the topic of shifting to four legs any way she can. Thankfully her mate, Dastien Laurent, is quite the distraction.

When she finds her best friend, Meredith, getting sick in the bathroom, Tessa knows something’s majorly wrong. Meredith was cursed years ago, and the dark magic kept her wolf dormant—only now the wolf is awake, and that same spell is killing her.

Tessa has no intention of sitting around while Meredith wastes away. Even if it means playing with magic she doesn’t understand, she’ll do anything to save Meredith’s life. Including bargaining with the local coven of witches and its crazed leader, whose only goal is getting Tessa to join the witchy ranks.
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Can Tessa save her friend without losing herself?

Some characters are created so well that they take on a life of their own in your mind. Reading about them seems seamless and easy because the author is at one with her craft. That’s how I feel after following another adventure with Tessa in Avoiding Alpha.

I can’t remember reading a first person point of view that seemed so natural. I’m not sure if it’s because the dialogue flows so well, the action and descriptions keep the plot moving or what but it’s extremely effective. The story is Tessa’s and after reading this second book, I going to say with assurance that this is not a standalone read. It most definitely picks up where the first one, Becoming Alpha leaves off, if a few days later. The transitions that Tessa goes through as she learns the ways of her wolf are fascinating and it’s like being on a roller coaster. Some days are good and some days are bad, really really bad. In this segment, Tessa is watching her best friend die and there doesn’t seem to be a cure. After reading the first book, I know that the heroine is stubborn, feisty, testy and is willing to go the extra mile to accomplish the impossible. That tendency to go where angels fear to tread is the heroine’s major personality flaw, and her strength.

In this installment, the villain is exposed. Yes, there was a villain in the first book but this one showcases a taint that more than probably touched Becoming Alpha and set up house in Avoiding Alpha. Battle lines are starting to be drawn and it’s muddled as to who is on which side. I’m thinking the setup is key for future stories. The author is painting a very intricate picture with depth, fascination and an overall story arc. It’s gripping.

I can see Tessa and Dastien’s relationship grow in this book. It’s getting stronger; they’re starting to work on the kinks that come with her being turned and falling in love in such a fast manner and they’re learning to trust. Although, like I mentioned before, Tessa has this impulsive streak and it causes some significant stress for the hero. Trust is hard to balance with a headstrong alpha female, but Tessa is learning; they both are.

If a reader is anything like me, at one point in the story I jumped to conclusions. I expected, based on how the story was being told, that I knew what Tessa was going to do and it was going to be a cliché. Wow, was I wrong. I’m thrilled to be wrong. What Ms. Erin had her heroine choose to do was a perfect balance. I had this feeling of dread and it was all for naught. Tessa might be young in age, but she’s got what it takes to take a stand and defend her friends, herself and her new family. Sometimes her thought process is older, wiser than I expect but I firmly believe that it stems from her life before becoming wolf and it’s believable. Her actions certainly earn her the title of heroine.

Avoiding Alpha has so much going for it. The secondary characters, the dialogue, the hints of intrigue and the drama of racing against time to save a friend and the meeting of family members on their home turf all come together to create an intense, entertaining and wonderful reading experience. Even though there is an overall story arc and romance weaving throughout this book, and the first in the series, each one so far has its own complete suspenseful conflict and resolution for a reader to enjoy. This series is shaping up to be an amazing adventure and if the next book is as good as this one, I’m going to put this author on my auto-buy list. Ms. Erin is a new favorite author.

Lillian on Life by Alison Jean Lester

 

LIFE
Lillian on Life by Alison Jean Lester
Publisher: John Murray
Genre: Mainstream Women’s Fiction
Length: Full Length (218 pages)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Camellia

This is the story of Lillian, a single woman reflecting on her choices and imagining her future. Born in the Midwest in the 1930s; Lillian lives, loves, and works in Europe in the fifties and early sixties; she settles in New York and pursues the great love of her life in the sixties and seventies. Now it’s the early nineties, and she’s taking stock. Throughout her life, walking the unpaved road between traditional and modern choices for women, Lillian grapples with parental disappointment and societal expectations, wins and loses in love, and develops her own brand of wisdom. Lillian on Life lifts the skin off the beautiful, stylish product of an era to reveal the confused, hot-blooded woman underneath.

Lillian’s life was not the ordinary for a woman in the last half of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century. Her observations, inner feelings, outer actions, indiscretions, and hard-won wisdom make compelling reading.
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Lillian On Life is thought-provoking and best when read in short segments, with time between to think about what Lillian learned, and how she handled it in respect to what she wanted and what was expected of her. As a single woman making her way in the world from Missouri to Paris, London, and New York, she struggles with self-esteem issues, unresolved parental issues, and relationship issues.

She learns early that “male pride” is like an electric fence—not to be touched. Each man she has a relationship with reinforces this belief. As spinsterhood sets in, she makes peace with her place in the life of the man she is seeing—whether he is married or single.

Alison Jean Lester’s seemingly simple, understated writing style immerses the reader’s senses into the monotony of life, the glamour of life, the characters’ personal secrets, and the emotions or lack of emotions in relationships that may linger but never last.

The tangled webs woven in Lillian’s life and how she either lives with them or moves on reveals much about humanity and the defense mechanisms used to survive and find peace with decisions made, whether good or bad.

A memorable bit of wisdom offered in the book is: Speak for yourself. Don’t let anyone else speak for you, because they only see what you DO, not what you WANT TO DO.

Lillian On Life is unusual story and gives the reader pause for thought on how his or her own life is playing out.

Best Man for the Bridesmaid by Jennifer Faye

BRIDESMAID
Best Man for the Bridesmaid by Jennifer Faye
Publisher: Harlequin
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (252 pgs)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Hawthorn

Always the bridesmaid

Planning her sister’s Italian wedding only reminds Jules Lane of how far away she is from finding her own true love. And worse, she’s doing it alongside the brooding, mouthwateringly handsome best man, Stefano DeFiore.

Many individuals without gallbladder have taken the pill or licked the jelly 40 female viagra samples minutes before you go while having sex. To end with it can buy canada levitra be said for ANY worker. If the space gets smaller, pressure goes generic cialis in usa up. Fibroids occur the size range cheapest tadalafil from as small as a pea to large as a melon. Maybe the bride?

Having seen the destructive power of love, Stefano has no time for weddings but Jules’s smile is captivating. Making her feel like the most beautiful woman in the world is one thing, but can he give this blushing bridesmaid a happily-ever-after of her own?

In the second novel of the DeFiore Brothers series most of the characters from the first book return for another Italian romance.

But this time the protagonists are Dante’s older brother Stefano, a widower filled with guilt, and Lizzie’s sister Jules. The two characters are so very different that despite the fact that they fall for each other early on, a happy ending seems impossible for them. But slowly, they begin to trust each other and reveal their painful secrets only to realize they are far less painful when shared with someone who cares. I was also very happy to see Dante and Stefano’s father slowly but surely letting himself be happy again in female company. I thought this was a very sweet, if brief, subplot.

There were some inconsistencies, like when Stefano was described as enjoying some downtime and seven sentences later he practically begs his father to give him work to do so he wouldn’t think of Jules. Also, having just finished the first book in the series, the biggest drawback of this novel was that it was too much like the first one. The characters or the plot didn’t bring anything much new, particularly in the first half of the story. I wished for fresh storylines and fewer clichés.

One thing that stood out and painted Jules as a strong individual, however, was how she realized it was time she started making her own decisions and not let Lizzie guide her through life anymore. Lizzie had always been her big sister and Jules loved her dearly so it was a hard choice to tell her she would not attend grad school even though Lizzie wanted her to and had already paid her tuition fees. This decision made me like Jules that much more.

Best Man for the Bridesmaid is a sweet read and you don’t have to read the entire series to be able to follow the story or get to know the characters. It brings a nice dose of the wedding fever, repressed emotions and angst, and ties it all up in Stefano and Jules’s romantic reunion at the wedding.

The Mercenary by Annabelle Kitch

MERCENARY
The Mercenary by Annabelle Kitch
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Historical, Action/Adventure
Length: Short Story (42 pages)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Pidge is a mercenary: uncouth, poor, far from the type of beautiful woman the royal court would deem appropriate company for Princess Trina, her childhood friend and lover. Life is easier, even kinder in many ways, on the road and in run-down towns where nobody cares about anything but how well she wields her sword and if she can pay for her drinks.

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Every quest has to begin somewhere. Luckily Pidge knows exactly where to begin with this one.

Pidge was such a likeable main character. I was especially intrigued by her response to all of the people in her life who didn’t believe in her. She was by far the most well developed person in this story. Her flaws and strengths affected her quest in ways that I didn’t always see coming. The fact that they mattered so much over the course of the plot makes me want to read more from Ms. Kitch. This was my first introduction to her work, and I’m impressed!

There were a few minor pacing issues about halfway through this tale. Some flashbacks of Pidge’s childhood were included in order to explain how she met Trina and came to live in the castle. While I enjoyed these glimpses into the past, I would have preferred to learn about them much earlier on in the plot. They shared important information that I wished I would have known sooner.

Ms. Kitch doesn’t reveal Pidge’s mission right away. Dancing around the topic was an effective way to build my interest in the subject due to all of the tantalizing clues that appeared in conversations. Some of the most important characters were mentioned by name long before I knew who they were or how they’d affect the ending. This was a good choice given how much plot development occurred through the use of dialogue.

I’d recommend The Mercenary to fans of fantasy and romance novels alike.

His Wicked Celtic Kiss by Karyn Gerrard

KISS
His Wicked Celtic Kiss by Karyn Gerrard
Wicked Men of Rockland Book 2
Publisher: Crimson Romance
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (181 pgs)
Heat Level: Sensual
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Sorrel

It took just one teasing wink and a sexy Irish lilt from bad boy Lorcan Byrne to turn Julie Denison’s world upside down. The problem is, he’s only in town for six months, and happily ever after isn’t in this world traveler’s vocabulary.

Julie’s worked hard to get her life in a good place – dropping substantial weight and getting a great job at her friend’s bakery. But this handsome charmer is just as tempting as any of the decadent pastries she sells, and she can’t resist his advances for long. Julie fully expects Lorcan to break her heart—but she’s planning to enjoy every second she can of their explosive chemistry.
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After years of danger as a soldier and a spy, Lorcan fled to tiny Rockland, Maryland for some boring downtime. He didn’t count on meeting someone who could ignite his libido and soothe his damaged heart, and their passion soon leads to deeper feelings. But can Julie convince Lorcan he has more to offer her than just his wicked Celtic kiss?

The coming together of this damaged hero and heroine may heal their hearts.

A very well written story. This is the second book in this series which can totally be read as a standalone. The story was written in keeping in mind the characters. They shined throughout.

The beginning was great and from then on I was happily anticipating what would happen and how their relationship would develop. Every chapter and page from the beginning increased the anticipation with the well written and descriptive words and the burning passion and chemistry between the lead characters.

What I loved about this book was that Ms. Gerrard wrote and framed all the characters in a way that even the minor secondary characters felt special and enhanced the whole story. The multiple points-of-view not only gave me an idea what the characters were feeling and thinking but made me understand the plot a lot deeper.

However, the ending was a little disappointing for me. Not throw the book disappointing, just not what I expected. What I anticipated and what happened were very far apart in a good and a bad way. In a good way because what happened was surprising and I like surprises. The ending was simple, I was looking for more drama and action, nonetheless, it was satisfying.

This is a read for those who love contemporary romance with damaged heroes that will likely touch your heart.