It Can’t be October Already by Jeffrey Archer
It Can’t be October Already by Jeffrey Archer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Pat O’Flynn is what you might refer to as a frequent flyer in the prison system. Now that it is October again Pat picks up a brick and throws it at the jewelry store window and awaits his fate with the police. Being brought into the station Pat rekindles his friendships with the officers and hopes to find someone to tell his favorite joke.
It Can’t Be October Already is a short story by Jeffrey Archer. The story was rather cute and quirky as you get to know Pat and try to figure out why he wishes to be arrested every October. He’s very familiar with the system and seems to have his own agenda which had me quite interested until the end. Pat was also such a likable character with his sense of humor and interactions that this was a nice little read. Would definitely recommend this to the short story fans.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
Girl Last Seen by Nina Laurin
Girl Last Seen by Nina Laurin
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Ten years ago a young girl, Ella Santos, escaped her captor and was rescued after being held hostage for three long years. Now Ella has grown up and changed her name to Lainey. Lainey works two jobs and struggles daily with the mental and physical scars her time in captivity left her with. One day they Lainey’s worst fear comes to pass when she sees the picture of a missing girl, one that looks exactly like her ten year old self had.
Lainey had wondered and watched all these years for her captor to replace her in her basement prison knowing that psychopaths like that rarely stop until caught. Her memories of that time never helped catch her captor though and now Lainey fears that he has struck again and this time that little girl may just be Lainey’s daughter.
When starting off reading Girl Last Seen I was really thinking I was going to love this book. The author’s writing and the story did have me rather engaged in the beginning of the book however somewhere along the line it went a bit downhill leaving me to rate this one at 2.5 stars.
To start with I really never did care for Lainey/Ella as a character. She’s a broken soul after what happened to her that has had a rough life so I really wanted to feel for her but the drinking and pill popping along with some questionable moves just rubbed me the wrong way I suppose. Then I would add that there are things within the story that never quite sit well with me along the way plus when getting to the final wrap up I just didn’t see that working in my mind. Perhaps it’s just me having read several really good thrillers and being a bit too critical but unfortunately this one seemed a bit flawed in the end.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
Cover Reveal: Almost Jamie by Gina Robinson
Almost Jamie
Gina Robinson
Publication date: June 8th 2017
Genres: Adult, Comedy, Romance
A kilt meets dress modern love story.
If you like good guy geek heroes who look hot in kilts, strong, intelligent heroines, and poignant romance, then you’ll love Almost Jamie, the first book in Gina Robinson’s light, fun contemporary romance Jet City Kilt Series.
Half American, half English physician Blair Edwards has always wanted her Jamie, the Sinclair, the dashing Highland laird of the wildly popular TV series, Jamie. Unfortunately, it’s so hard to find a man like him in the modern world. When the stars of Jamie come to Seattle’s Jet City Comicon, Blair dresses up as Jamie’s Elinor in a vibrant red gown, hoping to get a seat in their popular presentation and a good view of the handsome, charming star of the show. She doesn’t expect to be called on to use her medical skills to treat an injured cosplayer who looks almost like…Jamie. And sets her wounded heart racing.
Cosplayer, geek, app designer, and cyber security expert Austin MacDougall has been styled by his matchmaker to look like the actor who plays Jamie. He’s been trying to win the prize for best amateur cosplayer for years. Against the advice of his friends, he goes to Jet City Comicon in a kilt as Jamie, the striking redheaded Highlander. When he’s injured during a mock battle with a vicious cosplaying orc, his friends get him help from a beautiful doctor in a stunning red dress.
Has Austin met his Elinor? The adventure is just beginning…
Find out why readers love Gina Robinson’s good guy heroes, the strong women they fall for, and their funny, witty, romantic stories.
Author Bio:
Gina Robinson is the bestselling and award-winning author of the popular Switched at Marriage, Billionaire Duke, and Billionaire Matchmaker romantic comedy series, featuring a billionaire in a surprising marriage of convenience, a billionaire who inherits a British dukedom, and a playboy billionaire in business with a Manhattan matchmaker, the Reckless and Rushed contemporary new adult romance series, and the Agent Ex series of humorous romantic suspense novels. Her books have delighted readers and received praise in Publishers Weekly, Booklist, and Romantic Times Book Reviews.
She writes romance and women’s fiction across a wide variety of subgenres—new adult, contemporary, historical, romantic suspense and romantic comedy.
Her love stories are infused with a happy blend of romance, adventure, a bit of mystery, and humor. Readers are drawn to the light touch she gives even serious topics and the fast, fun, easy-to-read pace of her books. From college campus to Seattle to Las Vegas to England, her settings become almost characters of their own, driving the story.
She believes in the power of true love and passion, and that every great romance should have a happily-ever-after.
To keep informed of her new releases, sign up for her mailing list at http://www.ginarobinson.com
The Tempest by Brit Constantine blitz with giveaway
The Tempest
Brit Constantine
Publication date: May 26th 2017
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
They call him “The Tempest.”
England’s most feared heavyweight-boxing champion.
He despises the fame and glory, but it’s nothing compared to the hate he inflicts on himself. All he wants is to be left alone to live on his boat in misery.
When I line up for his autograph, it’s instant fireworks. But not the beautiful stars-shine-bright kind. He’s rude. Heartless. A ticking time bomb of rage.
Luckily, I’m not afraid to put a lit match to his fuse.
I upload a private video of him to my one-million-subscribers channel. The video goes viral.
The ex-Royal Marine nearly breaks down my studio door to flag me inappropriate…
…while I’m in the middle of a live streaming event.
I don’t tell him. I don’t switch off the camera. I keep recording, secretly playing to my audience. He should have checked if the camera was rolling, right?
It should be a shipwreck from the moment the storm hits.
It is.
And then … it isn’t.
Our attraction is painful, undeniable, and it’s like I am Eve and his lips are the apple, and damn if his tongue isn’t the snake.
I am the only girl who can put this broken man back together again.
But he knows the secret he is keeping will tear us apart. He knows it’ll force my hand to break ties with the only family I have left in the world.
But once The Tempest, the man with the iron heart, falls in love … he’ll crush anyone who dares to take me away from him.
I have no choice but to go down with his ship.
Hook, line, and goddamned sinker.
—
The Tempest is a contemporary romance story of love, comedy and treachery.
No cheating. No OW/OM. Standalone. HEA. 18+
—
EXCERPT:
I’m like a shooting bullet from a gun. Fast. Powerful. Deadly. She’ll get her shot. But right now, I want her to know just who is bigger, who is stronger.
“Now, is there anything you want to say to me?”
The room is pin-drop silent. I’ve always preferred silence, it’s easier that way to block out the dark in my head, detach from the world. But the sound of her incomprehensible response to the slightest touch of my body drowns out everything else. The sound of her submission is the only thing I want to hear. I could easily give up my life for it; spend every waking hour making her cum, just so I could hear those sounds for eternity.
“I…” she says weakly, finally speaking up. It’s a blunt contrast from her usual smug mouth. “I—”
She gasps suddenly, covering her mouth in shock, then snaps around to face the computer behind her. I hear the mouse click. I hear her swear.
Well, that’s a little strange… What the hell’s going on?
I watch her turn back around. Slowly. She looks like she’s seen a ghost. Grabbing my jeans, I put them on. I leave my chest exposed, riding high. “Now you know who’s in control, so don’t think you can humiliate me and get away—” I start to say, but she damn well cuts me off.
“I was live streaming.”
What the hell’s she going on about?
I grunt, meet her eyes defiantly. “What do you mean ‘live streaming’?”
“I mean … this whole love affair … was recorded live.” She hauls her thumb in the direction of a camera. “I was doing a live streaming event when you broke through my door … and … I thought it would be … entertaining …. to record us…”
What.
The.
Hell?
I pause, let the words sink in. “Is this some sick joke?” She shakes her head, and looks ready to provide some sympathy, some remorse, like a normal goddamn person. But then she laughs, like it’s the most hilarious thing to her. Like I am…
“Fresh meat to the slaughter?”
“Isn’t it always… between us? she replies, almost sinfully.
I feel my blood start to simmer with…
Bitterness. I hate that feeling of bitterness that wormed its way into my heart and festered away like so many maggots, consuming the dead flesh, leaving the tiny bit of good raw and painful. I tried to fight it, but nothing ever worked.
One girl and … boom.
Trying to take Felicity down is like being in the ring, except she makes me more breathless. It was an unfair match from the start. Boxing is the sport of kings or something. But this — her — is the damn opposite — she is the sport for the poor and the desperate, men willing to break their minds, hearts and souls. And she just stands
there, laughing, raising the anticipation levels, probably hoping for a longer fight and baying for more blood — my blood.
Looking at her, I feel my heart pound harder against my ribcage, but it isn’t anger fuelling it. I didn’t think I’d care about anything ever again. Stuff people care about, like babies and kittens and rainbows and shit. But all that shit could make me smile — genuinely smile knowing she’s in the universe.
Twenty-nine’s not that old, but joining the Army at sixteen, spending my teenage years learning to blow shit up … and after what happened … all those years ago … after what I … the reasons I’ve been living a bitter, twisted life … it’s made me feel older than my actual years. But since meeting her, I feel young, dumb and full of … yeah … I feel alive.
I’m known to rip heads off for the slightest error, so what I do next surprises the hell out of me. My eyes meet the warm brown eyes of the girl who is my Achilles’ heel.
Felicity Saint James.
Ah, hell.
I’m all hers.
Author Bio:
Filthy British contemporary-romance author. I live only for big ships, packed to the brim with hot seamen. 😉
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Savage Rising: A Backwoods Justice Novel by C. Hoyt Caldwell
Savage Rising: A Backwoods Justice Novel by C. Hoyt Caldwell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Deputy Dani Savage never thought she’d be answering a call to find a dead man with his pants around his knees just outside of a horse stall. Thinking it looked like the victim had gotten a little too frisky with the critters it seemed like it might be a simple case until Dani finds an ID on the victim that doesn’t belong to him but to a missing female ATF agent.
Dani finds herself teaming up with an unlikely pair to try to solve the new case. The new mystery man named Jack Spivey had come to town asking questions about the ATF agent’s disappearance and an Amazonian ex-Marine finds herself in Dani’s corner and onto the case. Following the clues the trio find a twisted conspiracy that runs deeper than they ever suspected.
Savage Rising is the second book in the Backwoods Justice series by C. Hoyt Caldwell. Set in the town of Baptist Flats, Tennessee the cast of characters in this series are certainly colorful and bring the meaning to the title of Backwoods. Both books in the series center around the five foot nothing Deputy Dani Savage trying to fit into the male dominated police force in the backwoods town while she tries to solve the case her rather sometimes incompetent co-workers cannot.
Now while I loved the first book in this series finding it an engaging mystery along with a hilarious cast of characters I just somehow didn’t find this edition quite as compelling as the first. I’m not sure if it was the case working in the story or the newer characters or just a matter of it possibly being slower paced or just feeling that way to me but while it was still a creative story it just seemed more OK than outstanding this time around.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
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