King of Diamonds by K.M. Penemue

March 11, 2016 By Leave a Comment

DIAMONDS
King of Diamonds by K.M. Penemue
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Historical
Length: Short Story (42 pages)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Rhen makes his living two ways: performing card tricks for passing crowds, and thievery. Every four years, Vis-a-Vis, a four day festival, celebrates life and happiness, where all classes can be equal behind their masks. It’s a prime opportunity for thieves, but Rhen’s plans change when Lelan, his former lover, says they need to talk.

Though still feeling bitter with Lelan for leaving him, Rhen agrees, because if there’s one thing he’s good at, it’s playing the odds.

Sometimes love doesn’t work out the first time around. Maybe a second try will make things turn out differently this time.

The dialogue often made me chuckle. I enjoyed seeing what quips the main characters would come up with next as some of them were pretty clever. My favorite scenes in this tale were the ones that showed these exchanges between Rhen and Lelan. They were a lot of fun to read and also gave me valuable glimpses into their personalities and romantic history.

Unfortunately, the chemistry between Lelan and Rhen never felt right to me. They didn’t seem to particularly like each other as friends anymore, so it was hard for me to imagine how they’d work out if they decided to get back together. While I liked them a lot as individuals and definitely wanted both of them to be happy, it was hard for me to imagine how they’d find that happiness together because of this. It would have been helpful to have more information what about their relationship was like before they broke up so I could have had a better sense of what they’d originally seen in each other.

Festivals are magical for many reasons. Not only do they provide a break from our daily routines, they give people a chance to do things and go places that they wouldn’t normally think about trying. There was a lot of magic to be found in the Vis-a-Vis festival. The food and drinks sold there sounded nearly as amazing as all of the sights and sounds the characters experienced during those four days. I really liked the scenes that described what it would be like to be there because of how many of the senses the narrator used to describe what takes place during it.

I’d recommend King of Diamonds to anyone who really enjoys romantic fantasy stories.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Mr. March Names the Stars by Rivka Aaron-Hughes

March 11, 2016 By Leave a Comment

mARCH
Mr. March Names the Stars by Rivka Aaron-Hughes
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Short Story (74 pages)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Wes loves his life traveling the Pagan festival circuit, but he loved it more when he wasn’t harangued by women a little too fond of his picture in a popular charity calendar—a calendar that mucked up his bio by stating that he’s single, but leaving out that he’s not straight.

Wes’s appeals to the company to change the bio come to nothing until Nash, a lawyer from the company, shows up and promises to do all he can to fix the problem. But though Wes quickly grows fond of Nash, and the interest seems mutual, the calendar problem shows no signs of being fixed…

Being famous – even on a small scale – isn’t always all its cracked up to be.

I liked how playful the dialogue was. There were times when the plot wandered into much less lighthearted territory, so it was nice to balance those more serious scenes out with the kinds of joking around that Wes and Nash were so good at. I giggled a few times while I was reading, and that wasn’t something I was expecting to do at all.

There were character development issues. One of the main characters made a decision that completely contradicted everything I knew about his personality and code of ethics. Learning about this was so jarring that I actually briefly wondered if he’d been lying about everything else he shared with the audience as well. That was how out of character this choice was for him. It abruptly pulled me out of what was otherwise a great book. This arc might have worked better if it had been gradually explored over the course of a full length novel, but it didn’t work for me in its current form.

The various festivals that the main character talked about working at sounded so interesting. I’ve never been to a festival before, so I had to rely on the author’s descriptions of what they’re like to picture what was going on. Ms. Aaron-Hughes described them so well, though, that by the end of the storyline I could imagine what it would be like to sleep in a tent in the woods for a week and attend all kinds of lectures and special events. It sounded like fun!

Give Mr. March Names the Stars a try if you like romances that don’t always unfold as planned.

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Alpha Wolves by DJ Swykert

February 26, 2016 By Leave a Comment

ALPHA
Alpha Wolves by DJ Swykert
Publisher: Master Magic Minds
Genre: Historical
Length: Short Story (139 pages)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Orchid

Maggie Harrington is deeply in love with Jeremy Paull and they become engaged. Maggie feels as if she has found her prince. Strong and protective Jeremy loves her to his core. It appears they are a perfect match and a long and loving marriage lies  straight ahead.

Just before the wedding Maggie’s past comes back to haunt her in the form of Tommie Stetter. Maggie and Tommie shared a powerful love until he abruptly left her after their adventure in the wilderness trying to save a pack of young wolves from a bounty hunter. Maggie can’t help herself when love comes around again with Tommie.

Her love for both men complicates the simple life she desired at Central Mine on Michigan’s wild Keweenaw peninsula of the early twentieth century.

Set in the mining country of Michigan, this is the tale of the descendants of Cornish miners. In particular Maggie Elizabeth Harrington.

Maggie is caught between two loves. Jeremy who has always been there for her; and Tommie her childhood sweetheart who got sent away when they tried to save some wolf cubs. Maggie has always loved Tommie but is her love for him stronger than what she feels for Jeremy?

The setting in Michigan, a place I have never been to, came across as beautiful and mysterious and the Central Mine area just the sort of place to live a peaceful, quiet life.

However, I have to admit I found this book slightly confusing. To begin with the blurb is completely different to the actual story and this made me wonder why it was there at all. Being written in the first person meant it was all in Maggie’s point of view, which ended up being a bit dull. When the mine collapsed trapping those she loved, Maggie seemed to come alive. More of this type of emotion would have enlivened the story.

Wolves brought Maggie and Tommie together when they were younger. Jeremy also brings a wolf into her life when he gives her a wolf hybrid and this gift seals Maggie’s love for the tall miner. With no female kin in her life, and a father who seldom speaks, Maggie tends to rely on Mrs Daume, the village schoolteacher to give her advice.

On the whole this is a reasonably sweet romance story, although I could have done with a bit more excitement from Maggie, although I suppose her character is fitting for the location and the time period of the story.

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Valentine Pets and Kisses Anthology

February 23, 2016 By 7 Comments

MediaKit_BookCover_ValentinesPetsAndKisses
Valentine Pets and Kisses Anthology by by Rachelle Ayala, DelSheree Gladden, J.L. Campbell, K.L. Brady, Jade Kerrion, Hope Welsh, Sydney Aaliyah Michelle, Caroline Bell Foster, Suzette Riddick, Tina D.C. Hayes, Jeanne Bannon, Susan Oloier, Aubrey Wynne, Cindy Flores Martinez
Publisher: IndieWrites, Inc
Genre: Contemporary, Holiday (Valentine’s Day)
Length: Full (300 pages)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rated: 4 Stars
Review by: Rose

Something for Everyone!

Each story features a sweet romance, tender kisses and hugs, and precocious pets—all brought to you by USA Today bestselling, national/international bestselling, and award winning authors who have crafted heartwarming heroes and heroines that will make you laugh, cry, swoon, and sigh.

Candy and canines. Flowers and felines. Celebrate this Valentine’s Day with your sweethearts of the human and fuzzy varieties!

Nothing is more heart-warming than kisses from the pet who adores you and the man who loves you, so snuggle up with VALENTINE PETS & KISSES and strike the perfect mood for moonlit walks and candlelight dinners with your pet and sweetheart.

Valentine Hound Dog – Rachelle Ayala
Fashion icon Jenna Hart, along with her basset hound puppy, tries to convince a burned former fireman that beauty is never skin deep and love’s arrow strikes not only the beautiful, but the bold.

The Crazy Girl’s Handbook – DelSheree Gladden
Spending the weekend babysitting her two nephews and a puppy was supposed to be fun. Sweating to death at a baseball game while getting gum in her hair, soda down her shirt, and an ice cream pedicure wasn’t part of the deal. Neither was finding out the best guy she’d ever missed a blind date with had witnessed it all. Longest. Weekend. Ever.

The Vet’s Valentine Gift – J.L. Campbell
Matthias Laing has snagged the woman of his dreams, but his job as a vet keeps getting him into trouble. The situation is past complicated because of the growing assortment of animals in Toni’s house and to top it all, the conflict between Matthias and her ex-husband. Can Matthias and Toni’s budding romance survive their challenges and if it doesn’t, will Jade, her precocious five-year-old find a way to play Cupid and fix things by Valentine’s Day?

Her Perfect Catch – K.L. Brady
Nerdy, struggling sports writer Melanie Vincent needs a miracle when her dream of running a nationally recognized blog hits a snag due to low readership. After Mel is gifted a pair of Super Bowl tickets for years of faithful dog sitting, she has a chance encounter with her favorite football player that leads to the inside scoop on the biggest story of her career…and maybe the love of a lifetime.

Inflamed – Jade Kerrion
Debra Martinez doesn’t believe in happy endings, until Sean Orr, Havre de Grace’s newest firefighter, shows her and her son, Aidan, a new and beautiful kind of “normal.” But the happiness can’t last—not for Sean who is on the run from his own past.

Remember When – Hope Welsh
Laura and Brent really tried to make their marriage work, but in the end, it just wasn’t meant to be. Or was it? When they meet to discuss joint custody of their Akita, they discover they have much more to talk about other than the dog.

Your Biggest Fan? – Sydney Aaliyah Michelle
Noah Patrick, NFL bad boy, has sworn off women, who only seem to want him for his fame and his money. Callie James is such a big Noah Patrick fan, she named her energetic Chihuahua after the man of her dreams. When they find themselves hiding out in the same Brooklyn Brownstone, a crazy blizzard, a never-ending supply of spaghetti, and a dog with identity issues bring them together even though they both have secrets that would tear them apart.

The Feline Fix – Caroline Bell Foster
Meeting Police Constable Callum Forde on the worse day of her life, makes cat lover and scientist Wendy Wilde question all that she values, her cat’s loyalty and the role science plays in love.

Trembling Hearts – Suzette Riddick
Recluse Jason Carr is living in rural Virginia after an accident leaves him physically scarred. While taking a stroll and minding his business, the spunky Lezlie Sharpe literally crashes into his life, stealing the heart of his beloved pooch, Trooper. Now, forced to share living quarters, will Lezlie capture Jason’s heart too?

Valentino, Be Mine – Tina D.C. Hayes
Kaylee Rose is thrilled when a neighbor moving out of the country asks if she’ll consider taking in her teacup Yorkie, Valentino, but there are a few strings attached. When she finds out a man she can’t stand is the other caretaker, she’s forced to deal with the arrogant jerk until they decide who gets the pampered pooch permanently . . . or risk losing the dog to a heartbreaking fate.

Lost and Found – Jeanne Bannon
Lexie is so distraught after long-time boyfriend, Josh, dumps her, she takes a leave of absence from her teaching job. Josh leaves behind the puppy he bought for her just before things fell apart even though she’s not a dog person. Lexie contemplates giving it away but decides keep the little mischief-maker and get her some training.

While at puppy obedience school, Lexie meets Tommy, the happy-go-lucky type she could give her heart to if only she was ready. But Lexie gives Tommy the brush off and they lose touch. However, a series of events, some unfortunate, bring them together again.

Surviving San Francisco – Susan Oloier
When 23-year-old Leah Newland accepts a job in San Francisco and runs away from her small-town Illinois life, she expects things to change for the better. What she doesn’t expect is to lose her job, adopt a cat she hit with her car, and fall for a sexy and seemingly unavailable veterinarian. Suddenly, going back to the Midwest seems better than surviving San Francisco.

19 Ivy Lane – Aubrey Wynne
Eloise Kolby steps off the bus and greets Hollywood with high expectations and a smile. Two months later, she’s broke, hungry and rethinking her dream. An offer to house sit provides her with too much time alone, an adopted family of kittens and a sexy postman waiting at her gate.

Victor Burnham can’t stop thinking of the beautiful, mysterious woman who just moved into his hometown. She meets him each day at the mailbox, waiting for a letter.
When the envelope finally arrives, they both must face decisions that could make their dreams come true or jeopardize their relationship forever.

Three Plus Three – Cindy Flores Martinez
A year after losing her husband, a grieving widow, Violet, and their beloved bichon frise visit their favorite place the day before Valentine’s Day. While they are there, Violet meets a handsome widower who makes her feel alive again.

The novellas in this 14-story boxed set—these are genuinely cute stories. Because of the length, there is not a lot of character development nor deeply developed plot, but a type of “slice of life” look at these people and their pets.

The stories are each just the perfect length for a reading at one sitting and they are all sweet. While you can get the sense of the love between the characters, you don’t have the heat and passion you might have in other books—and that’s not a bad thing, especially given the shortness of the stories.

My favorite stories that I read were The Vet’s Valentine Gift– J.L. Campbell, Her Perfect Catch – K.L. Brady, and Trembling Hearts – Suzette Riddick. They were all good and I would love to read other stories by all three writers, but my absolute favorite was Campbell’s The Vet’s Valentine Gift. I didn’t love it so so much for the romance, but for the secondary characters. Matthias was a great guy, but completely clueless when it comes to what Toni needs (it took his mom and a co-worker to clue him in) and I felt Toni was bending over way too much to accommodate her ex, even though I understand where she was coming from. However, there is a secondary character that stole my heart—Toni’s daughter, Jade. She is just too precious for words and much too wise for her years.

The best part about reading anthologies with short stories is finding new-to-me authors and this book is chock full of them… I’m excited to read more from these writers and am glad I got the chance to read this anthology.

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The Fairy’s Gift by H.R. Harrison

February 23, 2016 By Leave a Comment

GIFT
The Fairy’s Gift by H.R. Harrison
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Historical
Length: Short Story (63 pages)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Fairies are creatures of great and powerful magic. Many use it for Good, others for personal gain by blessing the children of royalty—and some fairies want nothing more than for people to suffer. And what could be more devastating than stripping away something that shapes the very core of a person’s identity? What better way to punish a kingdom than to remove its only heir? Yes, a cruel fairy could do much by changing the body of a lone prince.

Except she didn’t anticipate the prince was actually a princess all along…

Curses don’t always turn out the way the person who created them intended for them to happen.

One of the things I liked the most about this book was how much time it spent showing what everything in this universe looked and felt like. From the scenery to the clothing, everything was described in so much detail that I almost felt as though I could reach out and experience it for myself. The food sounded delicious, the castles seemed like they’d be comfortable places to stay, and most of the clothing was appealing as well.

This story included a few different subplots that came from classic fairy tales. While I was amused by the idea of multiple happily-ever-afters occurring in the same time and place, having so many of them competing for attention in something this short did slow down the progression of the plot. I would have preferred to spend more time focusing on what was going on with Wynn’s life as she certainly had more than her own share of adventures.

Wynn was such a sweet and likeable main character. Her personality was well developed, and her willingness to rush into a strange and possibly dangerous situation fit in perfectly with that. She was exactly the kind of person who I would expect to behave that way because of how many examples the author gave of her making similar kinds of decisions as she grew up.

I’d recommend The Fairy’s Gift to anyone who enjoys this genre as much as I do.

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A Chance of a Lifetime by Marilyn Pappano

February 17, 2016 By Leave a Comment

chance
A Chance of a Lifetime by Marilyn Pappano
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (400 pgs)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Reviewed by Myrtle

Sometimes love finds you when you least expect it…

To Benita Ford, Tallgrass, Oklahoma, will always be home. It’s where her beloved grandmother raised her and where she rode bikes with her two best friends—the man who became her husband and Calvin. And Tallgrass is where she stayed, even after her husband died while serving his country. Now Calvin is home from that same war, and the sensitive, mischievous boy she once knew is today a man scarred by wounds no one else can see. Falling in love with him is something Bennie never imagined.

Tallgrass still haunts Captain Calvin Sweet. Yet it’s where he must go to see Bennie—the one woman he always loved but could never have. Calvin regrets so much about what happened years ago. Still he can’t deny being with Bennie makes his future feel bright, like anything is possible. But the demons of his past won’t be quieted that easily. As old hurts linger, threatening to pull them apart, Calvin and Bennie must take the ultimate risk for the love of a lifetime.

When love slips into the darkness of death, sometimes friendship is the only salvation.

Benita “Bennie” Ford is a member of the Margarita Club in Tallgrass, Oklahoma, a circle of recently widowed women, including her friend Lucy, who have come to rely on each other while trying to redesign their husbandless lives.

J’Myel Ford and Calvin Sweet grew up as Bennie’s two best friends. The three had been inseparable as children. After high school, both men enlisted in the military and were inducted and stationed together, but shortly after Bennie fell in love and married J’Myel, a mysterious falling out occurred between the two men. J’Myel and Bennie allowed their friendship with Calvin to drift away. When J’Myel was killed in action, Calvin never contacted Bennie, breaking her heart even more. She had somehow lost them both. Diagnosed with PTSD, the Army sent Calvin back home to Tallgrass, the very place he couldn’t face, hiding secrets he didn’t want known.

Bennie and her grandmother “Mama” have a beautiful relationship, strong enough to hold the whole story together by itself, but just down the street is the Sweet home, where Calvin’s family lives. The two families are fabulous in their own right. Enter Dietz, a fourteen-year-old boy with his own reason for being in Tallgrass, and you’ve got a nearly unbeatable story. Adding to the rounding out of this story is Lucy and Joe and their love of animals.

Bennie and Calvin are the central characters to this book and they are strong enough to carry this entire story on their own. Although I loved hearing about the lives of Lucy and Joe, I felt like they were an intrusion into the “real” story. I would have preferred to leave them in the background and perhaps let them have the next story in the Tallgrass books.

My biggest criticism of this story was not the story itself, but the story’s format. The novel has eighteen chapters, but rarely did the chapters divide where needed. Instead, an inordinate amount of “breaks” were used throughout the book, which made it difficult to absorb the events. My reader’s brain needed a rest, but was never given one at the right times. I ended up stopping mid-chapter so many times that when I returned to the book I felt I did not have a grasp on the events leading up to my stopping point, so I was continually re-reading whole sections before moving onward. That made for a long, often frustrating, read. Still, the story itself is terrific and gives the reader a true view of PTSD in a realistic, yet rewarding voice.

Anyone looking for a deep, thought-provoking story of life and love will enjoy this book.

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Darkness Rising by Lisa Carlisle

February 4, 2016 By Leave a Comment

rising
Darkness Rising by Lisa Carlisle
Chateau Seduction Series
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Contemporary, Historical, Paranormal
Length: Short Story (55 pages)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Orchid

Antoine Chevalier harbors a secret. Born a gargoyle shifter, he wants nothing more than to cultivate his art. His hard work pays off the night he completes his greatest sculpture. But the excitement of his accomplishment doesn’t last.

He’s drawn the eye of the wrong group—a coven of vampires. Antoine wakes into darkness, changed. Shattered. His dream of becoming a renowned sculptor is destroyed.

One question remains—how will he ever survive an eternity of darkness alone?

Darkness Rising is part 0.5 of the Chateau Seductions series by USA Today Bestselling author Lisa Carlisle. Readers have requested more on the dark and mysterious Antoine. In this short story, Antoine tells his tale, which continues in the series with Dark Velvet. Dark Velvet is written from Savannah’s perspective as a newcomer to an art colony who is intrigued by the proprietor.

Darkness Rising is the prequel to the Chateau Seduction Series and I have to confess I read the other three first, which is the wrong order. This book introduces Antoine and tells how he changed from one paranormal creature to another and how he dealt with his unhappiness.

Antoine passes through the years like a spirit and doesn’t interact with anyone. His loneliness drags him down for many decades until he buys the castle on the DeRoche Island and sets up his art colony. He employs Cameron, the only person to know his secret, to run the art retreat for him so he can concentrate on his own sculpting.

The other books in the series are erotica, but this one is not. It fills in the background to the series, explaining the beginnings of both Antoine and his art retreat. Worth reading especially if the reader intends to delve into the rest of the series.

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California Skies by Kayla Bashe

January 11, 2016 By Leave a Comment

SKIES
California Skies by Kayla Bashe
Publisher: Less Than Three Press
Genre: Historical
Length: Short Story (43 pages)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Bandits came looking for the legendary emeralds belonging to Maggie’s family, killing her older brother and scarring her face. She can’t change the past, but finding the jewels will help her injured sister recover. In need of reliable muscle, she goes to an old friend of her brother’s: tough-as-nails nonbinary bounty hunter California Talbot.

While Maggie expected hard roads and violence, given the tragedy that provoked the journey, she wasn’t expecting the bar fights, snakes, and bandits to be the easy part—and the difficult part to be a growing attraction to someone who’d probably never look twice at her mutilated face.

Many people carry some sort of scars from their past, but most folks don’t have their pasts written on their faces.

The writing was memorable. There were several times when I jotted down a sentence from the dialogue or descriptions because they were either humorous or made me smile. What made them even better was that most of them can be understood before reading this book. For example, this quote from one of the earlier scenes is something I’d consider to be universally funny: “Anyone else want to make a disparaging comment to the bounty hunter in a dress?”

Maggie made choices during the course of this tale that I struggled to understand. Her backstory made me assume she would have reacted completely differently in those scenarios. I was never sure if there were hints about her past that I’d missed or if her unexpected reactions were supposed to mean something that I never was able to decipher. It would have been helpful to have more hints about what the author was trying to communicate about this character as I was confused by all of these pieces of her life that didn’t fit together.

All of the flashbacks were used effectively. At first I was a little surprised by how often the narrator jumped back into the past given that this is a short story, but every single of those scenes was important in order to understand what was currently going on in Maggie and California’s lives. I was glad to have all of them.

California Skies is a good choice for anyone who likes romances that are set in the American frontier.

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No More Knights by Laura Briggs and Sarah Burgess

January 6, 2016 By Leave a Comment

KNIGHTS
No More Knights by Laura Briggs and Sarah Burgess
Publisher: Self
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (243 pgs)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Romance isn’t dead—it’s just hard to find. Make that next-to-impossible, according to Katie Halliday’s group of still-single friends. Even her happily married brother thinks True Love is more fantasy than fact, leading Katie to wonder if most people settle for compatibility over kismet, or say, the deep affection and passion she secretly hopes for.

To find out, Katie embarks on her latest freelance writing assignment: a rundown on the modern dating scene and where love fits into the tangle of speed dating and online matchmaking. But a chance encounter with the handsome and kindhearted Matt suggests that some connections can’t be forged by checking boxes on a questionnaire. Unless Katie’s friends are right, and there really are ‘no more knights’, but only heartbreak and disappointment waiting to happen…

Katie can’t recall the last time one of her friends wasn’t in a relationship without getting something in return – a favour, help with moving or just enjoying the status of their trophy boyfriend. Back in college they’d been more inclined to fall in love, but those days were long gone. Katie feels strongly enough about romance – genuine romance – to decide she needed to give a real try in finding a guy who felt the same as she did. Who was interesting in creating a proper bond and who shared that special spark with her. Deciding to write a series of articles about her search, Katie soon finds herself signed up at the matchmaking site Heart’s Quest, where the adventure of finding her real-life Knight really begins.

This is a lighthearted, fun romantic tale. While not strictly a comedy, I found a number of parts laugh out loud funny and thoroughly enjoyed the casual writing style. I enjoyed Katie’s character and sympathized a lot with some of her feelings. To be honest I felt Kate’s friends – all wanting something mercenary or superficial out of their various romantic relationships – were a bit over the top. While absolutely I agree many more people nowadays are only after “friends with benefits” or a superficial relationship, I’m not sure I agree most (if not all) people think romance, love at first sight and having a deeper, more meaningful relationship are gone. I think plenty of people still believe in this – and search for it themselves and wait eagerly for it. Having said that, I understand Kate’s view and experiences needed to be this one-sided to make the story work. I just didn’t feel it was very flattering to her social circle or particularly realistic.

I think the author did an amazing job with the characters though. Katie is interesting and someone who I felt connected to and engrossed in. And Matt was a wonderful character, charming and realistic but still definitely hero material. I loved Matt and Katie’s initial meeting and enjoyed watching the two characters interact. I found this to be a very sweet, somewhat funnily cynical tale about love and relationships in the modern world. I think many romance readers will thoroughly enjoyed this story. I loved the strength of the plot and characterizations and didn’t find anything sexily explicit to worry readers who prefer their stories sweet. I thought this was a story I’d happily share around with some friends and even my mother. Strong on plot and an interesting, vibrant hero and heroine.

A well rounded story with plenty for all readers. Recommended.

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Better Than Chocolate by J. Lynn Rowan

January 5, 2016 By 1 Comment

BETTER
Better Than Chocolate by J. Lynn Rowan
Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full Length (168 pgs)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Poinsettia

Carmella Sannarelli is a people pleaser. She can’t say no to anyone, even when it means putting off her own personal goals in the process. So, when her best friend, Sadie Miller, calls with the announcement that she’s broken up with one fiancé and eloping with another in St. Croix, Carmella can’t stop herself from dropping everything and accepting the invitation to stand as maid of honor.

Jilted fiancé Ryan Wutkowski has been the third member of the Carmella-Sadie trio for nine years. He fully supports Sadie’s new engagement and upcoming nuptials, knowing it’s the right decision and best for both of them. But when he boards a plane to San Juan for a business conference, Carmella is the last person he expects to find occupying the seat next to his.

Two days in San Juan, then a week in St. Croix–Carmella knows her two best friends are hiding something. But can she figure out what went wrong between them as she battles her own tingly, off-kilter feelings toward Ryan, while dodging advances from a womanizing best man, and confirming for herself that Sadie did make the right decision? When Ryan unexpectedly shows up at the rehearsal dinner and gets himself invited to the wedding, will Carmella finally uncover the secret he’s held since the day they first met?

Carmella doesn’t know her friends as well as she thought.

It was very easy for me to like Carmella. While she is certainly smart and clearly a loyal friend, I also admire Carmella’s quiet strength. She isn’t easily swayed by people and events around her. She’s clear headed enough to wait out the chaos and see to the heart of the matter. When she finds out that Sadie and Ryan have broken up, and Sadie is now marrying someone else, Carmella is understandably worried. However, rather than rushing to take sides by doing or saying something rash, she patiently listens to both sides of the story and tries to be as supportive as she can to both of her friends. Unfortunately, the truth behind Sadie and Ryan’s breakup might be more than Carmella can handle.

Carmella hasn’t had a lot of romance in her life. However, Carmella doesn’t obsess over this. Instead, she seems to be content to wait until she meets the right person. When Ryan and Carmella run into each other in San Juan, the sparks of attraction between them are subtle, but clearly there. Carmella is understandably confused by her feelings, and Ryan’s interest in her. After all, she’s known Ryan for years, and he and Sadie were together for most of that time. Carmella can’t deny her changing feelings for Ryan, but she doesn’t want to lose either of her best friends. On top of all that, Carmella is certain that her friends are hiding something from her. The secret they’ve kept might just cost them Carmella’s friendship. I eagerly anticipated discovering how such an unusual situation would be resolved.

I must say that Sadie and Ryan’s relationship didn’t make much sense to me. While it is clear that they care for each other, their feelings are not remotely romantic, or haven’t been for a long time. I have a hard time understanding why they would stay together for so long when neither of them was happy in their relationship. When I learned about how they started dating, their relationship made even less sense and was a little hard to swallow. Despite this issue, I really enjoyed how the story ended. I can’t say much without spoiling the story, but I will say that Carmella, Ryan, and Sadie all find their way to happy and very satisfying endings.

I really enjoyed reading Better Than Chocolate. I recommend it to anyone looking for a sweet romance that is fun and refreshing.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , ,
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