Showing posts with label Ruthie Knox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ruthie Knox. Show all posts

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Making It Last review & Visit with Ruthie Knox


Making it Last (Camelot Series #4) is the newest release from Ruthie Knox. The publisher is Loveswept and the release date is July 15, 2013. From the author’s website.~

In a brand-new eBook original novella, RITA finalist and USA Today bestselling author Ruthie Knox takes her spectacular Camelot series to new heights with a tale of desire reinvented.
 
A hotel bar. A sexy stranger. A night of passion. There’s a part of Amber Mazzara that wants those things, wants to have a moment—just one—when life isn’t a complicated tangle of house and husband and kids and careers. Then, after a long, exhausting “vacation” with her family, her husband surprises her with a gift: a few days on the beach . . . alone. 
 
Only she won’t be alone for long, because a handsome man just bought her a drink. He’s cool, he’s confident, and he wants to take Amber to bed and keep her there for days. Lucky for them both, he’s her husband. He’s got only a few days in Jamaica to make her wildest desires come true, but if he can pull it off, there’s reason to believe that this fantasy can last a lifetime.


Ruthie was kind enough to stop by today on her whistle stop tour and answer one question and giveaway 1 copy of Making It Last to one lucky winner.




A Quick Visit with Ruthie


As part of her "whistle-stop tour" for Making It Last, Ruthie agreed to stop by and answer one question about the story. She's also giving away a copy of the book, today only! Imagine her standing in the caboose car of her blog tour train, shouting out her answer over the crowd and flinging an e-book and some Tootsie Rolls at the assembled audience. Or not. Either way — here's the question:

This book made me cry. Damn you.

Ha! Yes. Sorry. But not really.

I recently interviewed Mary Ann Rivers for my newsletter, and she had this to say about crying moments in books: "Often, I don't think it is the sad thing that makes my readers cry or feel sad. It is what the sad moments are giving my characters that does." What I took from her comment is the idea that in a story, when we as authors take time to really focus in on truth and meaning for our characters — and, in a broader sense, truth and meaning for women more broadly, as we try to write about the shape of love and relationships and marriage in women's lives — we create characters whose realizations, loves, and losses are bigger than the book. They are our own realizations, our own loves, our own losses, and that's why they make us cry.
I wanted very much, in writing Tony and Amber's story, for there not to be an epic mistake, or a "bad" character to balance against the "good" one. I wanted, instead, to focus in on life as so many of us live it — on a stuck place in this marriage between Tony and Amber. It's a sad stuck place, and I think one that many of us can empathize with, which sometimes produces tears — but this marriage is one that contains so much love and yearning, as well, that I think we can see great potential for joy once Tony and Amber are unstuck.
I think — I hope — that the crying parts in this book are the moments where Tony and Amber (and Janet, Amber's mother, who gets a moment of significance near the end) are getting something — a gift of understanding, of truth — that will help them move to a better place in their lives. For me, this is where the tears always happen.
Giveaway

Ruthie is giving away one e-book copy of Making It Last to a randomly selected commenter. This giveaway is for today only! Just answer this question to enter:

I confess, I'm a weeper. I like crying books, and crying movies, and even crying TV commercials. What about you — do you cry easily when you're reading? Do you like it, or do you try to avoid it?

The giveaway is open in North America only. (Sorry -- due to geographical restrictions, Ruthie can't buy her own e-book outside North America!)


About the Book

Making It Last by Ruthie Knox
Camelot series, book 4
Releases July 15, 2013

In a brand-new eBook original novella, RITA finalist and USA Today bestselling author Ruthie Knox takes her spectacular Camelot series to new heights with a tale of desire reinvented.

A hotel bar. A sexy stranger. A night of passion. There’s a part of Amber Mazzara that wants those things, wants to have a moment — just one — where life isn’t a complicated tangle of house and husband and kids and careers. Then, after a long, exhausting “vacation” with her family, her husband surprises her with a gift: a few days on the beach . . . alone.

Only she won’t be alone long, because a handsome man just bought her a drink. He’s cool, he’s confident, and he wants to take Amber to bed and keep her there for days. Lucky for them both, he’s her husband. He’s only got a few days in Jamaica to make her wildest desires come true, but if he can pull it off, there’s reason to believe that this fantasy can last a lifetime.

E-book. 136 pp. ISBN: 978-0-345-54929-7.






About Ruthie

USA Today bestselling author Ruthie Knox writes contemporary romance that’s sexy, witty, and angsty—sometimes all three at once. After training to be a British historian, she became an academic editor instead. Then she got really deeply into knitting, as one does, followed by motherhood and romance novel writing. Her debut novel, Ride with Me, is probably the only existing cross-country bicycling love story. She followed it up with About Last Night, a London-set romance whose hero has the unlikely name of Neville, and then Room at the Inn, a Christmas novella—both of which were finalists for the Romance Writers of America’s RITA Award. Her four-book series about the Clark family of Camelot, Ohio, has won accolades for its fresh, funny portrayal of small-town Midwestern life. Ruthie moonlights as a mother, Tweets incessantly, and bakes a mean focaccia. She’d love to hear from you, so visit her website at www.ruthieknox.com and drop her a line.



My review of Making It Last:

I love Ruthie Knox books with a passion. As soon as I see she has a new book coming out, I start a countdown to release date. I've been exceptionally lucky to get so many new books from her this year. Her newest release is Making it Last, which is a novella length book and the 4th book in her Camelot series. We get to revisit Tony and Amber in this book.

First of all, this book takes place 14 years after How to Misbehave and Tony and Amber have 3 sons now. I loved Tony and Amber in How to Misbehave, and was excited to get to see where they are now as a couple. I'll be honest and say I'm single and haven't been in a relationship in a while. However, I have friends who have been married for years, and I totally got where both Tony and Amber came from in this story.

You will need tissues to read this story, it pulls that many emotions from you. I loved the role-playing Tony and Amber did in the bar and how honest they each were about who they really were as they talked as "strangers in a bar". The passion between Tony and Amber was just as hot as ever, yet the demands of daily living have gotten in the way of their relationship. I loved this book for so many reasons, but mostly because it seemed so real to me. I know the demands of daily living get in the way of so many things, and know couples have it twice as hard as a single person. When Amber shares her dreams with Tony for where they would be a year later, I absolutely could picture their new life that way.

Since we have now read about all the Clark siblings, I'm sure the Camelot series is finished. I will miss my visits with the Clark family, but am so glad I can revisit them anytime on my kindle. Ruthie Knox totally blew me away with this book, and I’m already on the countdown for her next book.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Flirting with Disaster


Flirting with Disaster is the newest book in the Camelot series from author Ruthie Knox. The publisher is Random House Loveswept and the release date was June 10, 2013. From the back cover.~

In the latest eBook original novel in RITA finalist Ruthie Knox’s scorching-hot Camelot series, a no-strings fling looks an awful lot like falling in love—or flirting with disaster.
 
Fresh out of a fiasco of a marriage, Katie Clark has retreated to her hometown to start over. The new Katie is sophisticated, cavalier, and hell-bent on kicking butt at her job in her brother’s security firm. But on her first assignment—digging up the truth about the stalker threatening a world-famous singer-songwriter—Katie must endure the silent treatment from a stern but sexy partner who doesn’t want her help . . . or her company.
 
Sean Owens knows that if he opens his mouth around Katie, she’ll instantly remember him as the geeky kid who sat behind her in high school. Silence is golden, but he can’t keep quiet forever, not with Katie stampeding through their investigation. It’s time for Sean to step up and take control of the case, and his decade-old crush. If he can break through Katie’s newfound independence, they just might find they make a perfect team—on the road, on the job, and in bed.

I’ve been a huge fan of Ruthie Knox since I read her very first book. I was so excited to be approved for a review copy of her latest book from NetGalley thanks to the publisher.

I loved Flirting with Disaster so much! I’ve wanted Katie’s book since she finally told her family about her ex-husband Levi and knew she had to have a special man come into her life to make her happy. Who better than Sean Owens, a stuttering hacker who has loved Katie since high school? I totally fell for Sean from the moment he appeared on the page. I liked that while Katie noticed Sean’s stutter, she didn’t make a big deal about it. She ignored it for the most part, but didn’t have any problem asking Sean about it. The first kiss between Sean and Katie was totally smoking hot. I loved their chemistry together so much.  They worked well together, loved to argue with each other and can barely keep their hands off each other through much of the book. I’ve come to expect some pretty hot love scenes from Ruthie Knox, and she totally delivers once again. Seriously one of the hottest car sex scenes I’ve read in a really long time.

I loved how Katie and Sean both used their strengths to figure out how to track the stalker for their job together. Sean was only supposed to be in town until he finished cleaning out his mom’s house and put it on the market. When he signed on to work a job with Camelot Security, he never planned on staying in Camelot longer than the one job with Katie. Katie recognizes some of the issues Sean has with Camelot and even knowing he will leave, can’t help falling for him. Sean has loved Katie since high school, but it takes him messing up in a huge way to finally figure out what he really wants.

I have to say Ruthie Knox writes some of the most lovable heroes ever! I’ve loved each and every one of them and add each new one to my book boyfriend list (I seriously have a Ruthie Knox book boyfriend list with Nev at the top of my list). I love the Camelot series and can’t wait to visit with some of the characters again with Making It Last – a novella, which is set for release on July 15, 2013. Making It Last will give Knox’s readers a chance to reconnect with Amber and Tony from How to Misbehave.


Thursday, March 28, 2013

Strangers on a Train - Big Boy


Strangers on a Train, available April 2, 2013, from Samhain Publishing

Big Boy by Ruthie Knox

Mandy doesn’t want romance, but monthly role-playing dates with her stranger on a train—each to a different time period—become the erotic escape she desperately needs. And a soul connection she never expected.

I love the idea of two strangers meeting once a month for a romantic tryst. Mandy and Tyler have awesome chemistry and loved how they role-played each month. Mandy’s and Tyler’s real lives aren’t as exciting as their role-playing lives, but their real lives are totally real. Mandy is raising her nephew Josh following the death of her sister and her husband, and Tyler has his own family issues to deal with. Both Mandy and Tyler are really strong characters and I liked seeing them find a way to move their relationship to that next level.

Ruthie Knox delivers once again with this sexy, fast-paced story. I love the strangers on a train theme and loved her take on it.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Strangers on a Train Blog Tour


Today I'm happy to be the host for the Strangers on a Train Blog Tour. Author Ruthie Knox is visiting my blog again today to help showcase this book. Ruthie is also offering up the chance to win a digital copy of her story Big Boy to one lucky person. Welcome Ruthie!!!

Romancing the Rails

There is romance in train travel—the rhythm of a train moving over the tracks, that rocking movement, the muffled noises of the world outside. There is the deep history of steel laid over prairie grass, bridges built, towns made and destroyed. There are stories of other journeys along the tracks, both dramatic and mundane.

The other passengers carry on their secret selves, their life stories, as luggage. A woman on your commute smiles at her phone, and you wonder if she’s texting her husband. If he said something cute. A man in the seat next to you has a lap full of flowers, and you wonder who they’re for. Maybe he has a date. A daughter who needs cheering up. Maybe he’s falling in love.

Maybe that other man standing by the door, bracing his hand on the luggage rack—the handsome one with the dark hair and the shoulders that strain the back of his suit jacket—maybe he’ll speak to you. You’ll drop your notebook on your way off the train, and he’ll retrieve it, then strike up a conversation.

Maybe you’ll talk as you walk off the platform, into the station. Maybe you’ll linger outside, go for coffee, make a date.

Maybe he’ll love you.

Maybe you’ll love him back.

Train rides are excursions of limitless possibility, and this is what we celebrate in Strangers on a Train, a collection of five romantic short stories. From the wine excursion tour trains of California to a gritty Boston T stop, we imagine what might happen when two lives collide on a train car and love sparks.

My own story, Big Boy, piles on an additional layer of history (and weirdness) by taking as its setting the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin, where a man and a woman who met online get together one night a month after the museum goes dark to pretend to be strangers. New strangers every month. “You can be anyone you want,” he tells her. “Just stay in character.”

So our heroine curls her hair just so, finds the right dress, the right shoes, and arrives every month for her date with the past. She doesn’t know his real name, but she knows his face. She knows how he moves, the curl of his hair at the nape of his neck. She knows the stroke of his tongue into her mouth, the heat of their naked bodies gliding together in a darkened berth.

She knows how she feels when they’re together, and that she wants to feel that way more often.
But she doesn’t know—is it real, this thing they have? Or is it just an illusion midwifed into being by train wheels, shadowed corners, shared flasks and storytelling and the romance of the past? For this is the constraint of the train romance: the journey takes you somewhere, but then it ends, and then where are you? How do you find your way from there?

Giveaway

Do you have a favorite train romance, or even a train ride that you found fascinating or somehow transformative?

Answer in the comments for a shot at a copy of Big Boy in the digital format of your choice. (Ebooks only.) Please include your email address in your comment to be included in the drawing. The contest will be open from March 27, 2013 to April 2, 2013. I’ll forward the winner’s email to Ruthie and announce the winner here as well.


About the Stories

Strangers on a Train, available April 2, 2013, from Samhain Publishing

Big Boy by Ruthie Knox
Mandy doesn’t want romance, but monthly role-playing dates with her stranger on a train—each to a different time period—become the erotic escape she desperately needs. And a soul connection she never expected.

Tight Quarters by Samantha Hunter
Reid isn’t happy about the mix-up that saddles him with a claustrophobic roommate on his New York train tour. Then his weekend with Brenna progresses to a weekend fling, and so much more.

Ticket Home by Serena Bell
Encountering her workaholic ex on her commuter train is the surprise of Amy’s life. Especially since Jeff seems hell-bent on winning her back.

Thank You for Riding by Meg Maguire
At the end of Caitlin’s commute, her extended flirtation with a handsome stranger finds them facing a frigid winter night locked in an unheated subway station.

Back on Track by Donna Cummings
A wine tour isn’t enough to take Matt’s mind off his baseball slump—until sexy, funny Allie plops into the adjacent seat and tells him three things about herself. One of them, she says, is a lie. Then Allie lets slip one truth too many…

Buy the Strangers on a Train stories at Samhain | Amazon | Barnes & Noble


About Ruthie

Ruthie Knox graduated from Grinnell College as an English and history double major and went on to earn a Ph.D. in modern British history that she’s put to remarkably little use. These days, she writes contemporary romance in which witty, down-to-earth characters find each other irresistible in their pajamas, though she freely admits this has yet to happen to her. Perhaps she needs more exciting pajamas. Ruthie moonlights as a mother, Tweets incessantly, and bakes a mean focaccia.

Visit Ruthie at her website | on Twitter | on her Facebook page | on Goodreads


Other Links

Serena Bell | website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Samantha Hunter | website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Donna Cummings | website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Meg Maguire | website | Twitter | Goodreads


Friday, March 15, 2013

Welcome Ruthie Knox!!!


I'm so excited to welcome Ruthie Knox to my blog today!!! I'm pretty sure y'all can hear me squealing and going all fan-girl from wherever you are right now. I've been a fan of Ruthie's since reading her very first book, Ride With Me

Hey there, reader-types!

Liza invited me to say a few words about Along Came Trouble, my latest (longest) novel, which came out earlier this week from Random House / Loveswept. Along Came Trouble is the second book in my Camelot series; the first, How To Misbehave, got the thumbs-up from Liza. J

This book is a little different. It’s a bodyguard story, but it’s far more the story of the heroine, Ellen, than of the hero, Caleb. And Ellen is . . . difficult. For some readers, she’s *too* difficult, and I can understand that. But I guess I see the hero, Caleb, as a little more flawed than some readers have—and the heroine as justifiably cautious, rather than, er, a little bit bitchy. Yes, Caleb is swoony and smart, good at his job—but does that mean Ellen’s obligated to swoon, to follow his lead, to fall in love with him? These are legitimate questions, to me.

I see this as a novel about what happens when a woman meets the right man at the wrong time and has to decide how much of herself to give him when she doesn’t feel like she’s got any self to spare. And most of all it’s about how hard it is to find a balance between dependence, independence, and interdependence—and how love can lift our burdens and help us become better versions of ourselves, if we are brave enough to let it.

In this excerpt, we see Ellen and Caleb talking on her front porch while he changes a security light bulb that’s too high for her to reach and she tries to cope with simultaneously being attracted to him and feeling panicked that he’s threatening her independence. (She had a bad first marriage. Really bad.) The “new clients” they’re talking about are Ellen’s neighbor (“some rich pop star’s mistress”) and Ellen herself (“his pampered sister”). The pop star is her brother, Jamie. Caleb and the neighbor, Carly, are old friends. It’s all very tongue-in-cheek. J

“So how was your day?” she asked as he leaned the ladder against the house. She needed the distraction, needed to make this small moment of male home improvement feel unimportant in order to counteract the fact that her armpits were damp with anxious sweat that made very little sense.
This was a light bulb, not the first domino in a chain. Every decision would be hers to make, individually and on her own timeline.
He couldn’t take that away from her. And if he tried—well, then he would deserve to find out how hard she could fight. Right now, he wasn’t her enemy. He was a nice guy offering to change the light bulb over her front porch.
Caleb threw her a lopsided grin as he ascended. “Well, it started off pretty good. I got a new client this morning.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Some rich pop star’s mistress, the way I understand it. And his pampered sister. But here’s the trouble, see?” He looked down at her, and just being the focus of his dark-brown gaze made her feel interesting. “Would you hand me the bulb?”
Ellen blinked.
“Over there?” He pointed.
Gangly as an ostrich, she rushed to pick it up from where he’d set it down. When she handed it to him, he set it on the top step of the ladder and carried on being charming and helpful.
“The sister wouldn’t let me in her house, and the mistress has an eccentric grandmother who cornered me with photo albums and scrapbooks.”
“Nana was there?”
Carly’s eighty-four-year-old grandmother had recovered slowly after breaking her hip last year. She’d decided to move into an assisted living facility in Mount Pleasant, turning her house over to Carly, who’d needed a refuge after her marriage broke up. But as much as Nana relished the social opportunities of her new living situation, she still spent a lot of time over at Carly’s. She claimed she needed time off from all the “old people.”
“Yes, and she was in fine form.” He reached up and unscrewed the burned-out bulb, the movement so effortless, Ellen wanted to cry.
 “What, she doesn’t like you?” she asked. “I’d think you’d be exactly Nana’s type.”
“No, Nana loves me. She’s loved me since Carly brought me home in the fourth grade and I ate an entire plate of her chocolate-chip cookies.”
“Her chocolate-chip cookies are awful.”
“I know. But she kept offering them to me, and my mom always says it’s impolite to refuse food at a stranger’s house, so I kept eating them and praying for rescue.”
From four feet above her head, he smiled his dazzling smile. With the color leaching out of the sky, he looked as though he’d been lit from the inside, his teeth whiter and his skin darker than they had been this morning. Phosphorescent, almost, his bright shirt and charcoal slacks an afterimage burned onto her retinas.
He climbed down, picked up the ladder and the broken bulb, and carried them into the garage as if he owned the place.
Ellen gazed into the gathering twilight and focused on breathing.
She’d braced herself for a fight tonight, but the tussle this morning had left her so tired, and he was so much easier to be around than she’d remembered. She hadn’t been ready for this . . . what? This casual rapport. He made her feel safe, and feeling safe worried her.
Paging Dr. Freud.

About the Book
Along Came Trouble by Ruthie Knox
Camelot series, book 2
Releases March 11, 2013

Ruthie Knox’s Camelot series continues in this sizzling eBook original novel, featuring two headstrong souls who bump heads—and bodies—as temptation and lust bring nothing but delicious trouble.

An accomplished lawyer and driven single mother, Ellen Callahan isn’t looking for any help. She’s doing just fine on her own. So Ellen’s more than a little peeved when her brother, an international pop star, hires a security guard to protect her from a prying press that will stop at nothing to dig up dirt on him. But when the tanned and toned Caleb Clark shows up at her door, Ellen might just have to plead the fifth.

Back home after a deployment in Iraq and looking for work as a civilian, Caleb signs on as Ellen’s bodyguard. After combat in the hot desert sun, this job should be a breeze. But guarding the willful beauty is harder than he imagined—and Caleb can’t resist the temptation to mix business with pleasure. With their desires growing more undeniable by the day, Ellen and Caleb give in to an evening of steamy passion. But will they ever be able to share more than just a one-night stand?

E-book. 350 pp. ISBN 978-0-345-54161-1.





About Ruthie

Ruthie Knox graduated from Grinnell College as an English and history double major and went on to earn a Ph.D. in modern British history that she’s put to remarkably little use. She debuted as a romance novelist with Ride with Me—probably the only existing cross-country bicycling love story yet to be penned—and followed it up with About Last Night, which features a sizzling British banker hero with the unlikely name of Neville. Other publications include Room at the Inn (a Christmas novella) and How To Misbehave, book 1 in the Camelot series. She moonlights as a mother, Tweets incessantly, and bakes a mean focaccia.


Random House made a book trailer for Along Came Trouble that goes live on 3/10. If you click the trailer button it will take you to Ruthie's website so you can view the trailer.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Along Came Trouble


Along Came Trouble is the 2nd book in the Camelot series from Ruthie Knox. The publisher is Loveswept and the release date is March 11, 2013. From the author’s website.~

Ruthie Knox’s Camelot series continues in this sizzling eBook original novel, featuring two headstrong souls who bump heads—and bodies—as temptation and lust bring nothing but delicious trouble.
 
An accomplished lawyer and driven single mother, Ellen Callahan isn’t looking for any help. She’s doing just fine on her own. So Ellen’s more than a little peeved when her brother, an international pop star, hires a security guard to protect her from a prying press that will stop at nothing to dig up dirt on him. But when the tanned and toned Caleb Clark shows up at her door, Ellen might just have to plead the fifth.
 
Back home after a deployment in Iraq and looking for work as a civilian, Caleb signs on as Ellen’s bodyguard. After combat in the hot desert sun, this job should be a breeze. But guarding the willful beauty is harder than he imagined—and Caleb can’t resist the temptation to mix business with pleasure. With their desires growing more undeniable by the day, Ellen and Caleb give in to an evening of steamy passion. But will they ever be able to share more than just a one-night stand? 

I was lucky enough to get an early copy of Along Came Trouble thanks to the publisher through NetGalley. I’m a huge fan of Ruthie Knox and was so excited to read more about the Clark family.

Have to say I fell for Caleb pretty quickly. He came home to help out his family and started his own security company. Caleb takes on the job of security for Jamie Callahan to protect Jamie’s sister Ellen, her son Henry, and his ex-girlfriend Carly. Ellen doesn’t thing she needs any security help from Caleb and is very hesitant to trust any men after her ex-husband lied and cheated on her for so many years. However, the attraction between Caleb and Ellen was there from the very beginning.

I loved that Caleb tried to fight his attraction to Ellen and keep their relationship strictly business. I loved even more that Ellen was willing to go after him and move their relationship to the next level. The chemistry between Caleb and Ellen was smoking hot, but you could feel how much they cared about one another even before either would admit it. I got how hesitant Ellen was to take their relationship from physical only to something more. Her ex had done a huge number on her and she really had never had anyone in her corner for most of her life. Her mom always put her brother Jamie first because of his talent and until Caleb, Ellen was never put first.

The secondary romance between Jamie and Carly had me laughing out loud at times and wanting to throw things at Jamie at other times. While he messed up with Carly in a big way, he won me over when he worked to win her back.

Along Came Trouble is another winner from Ruthie Knox. She gives her readers the sexy love story they have come to expect and love. I can’t wait to read Katie Clark’s story, Flirting with Disaster in June 2013. For more information about the Camelot series or other books by Ruthie Knox, check out her website.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Along Came Trouble


Along Came Trouble is the next book in the Camelot series from Ruthie Knox. The official release date is March 11, 2013 and the publisher is Loveswept. I'm a huge fan of Ruthie Knox and can't wait for the release of this book! 
Synopsis
Ruthie Knox’s Camelot series continues in this sizzling eBook original novel, featuring two headstrong souls who bump heads—and bodies—as temptation and lust bring nothing but delicious trouble. 
An accomplished lawyer and driven single mother, Ellen Callahan isn’t looking for any help. She’s doing just fine on her own. So Ellen’s more than a little peeved when her brother, an international pop star, hires a security guard to protect her from a prying press that will stop at nothing to dig up dirt on him. But when the tanned and toned Caleb Clark shows up at her door, Ellen might just have to plead the fifth.
 
Back home after a deployment in Iraq and looking for work as a civilian, Caleb signs on as Ellen’s bodyguard. After combat in the hot desert sun, this job should be a breeze. But guarding the willful beauty is harder than he imagined—and Caleb can’t resist the temptation to mix business with pleasure. With their desires growing more undeniable by the day, Ellen and Caleb give in to an evening of steamy passion. But will they ever be able to share more than just a one-night stand? 

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

How to Misbehave


How to Misbehave is the newest novella release from author Ruthie Knox. The publisher is Loveswept. From the author’s website.~

What woman can resist a hot man in a hard hat? Beloved author Ruthie Knox kicks off her new Camelot series with this deliciously sexy original novella, in which a good girl learns how to misbehave . . . with all her heart.
 
As program director for the Camelot Community Center, Amber Clark knows how to keep her cool. That is, until a sudden tornado warning forces her to take shelter in a darkened basement with a hunk of man whose sex appeal green lights her every fantasy. With a voice that would melt chocolate, he asks her if she is okay. Now she's hot all over and wondering: How does a girl make a move?
 
Building contractor Tony Mazzara was just looking to escape nature's fury. Instead, he finds himself all tangled up with lovely Amber. Sweet and sexy, she's ready to unleash her wild side. Their mutual desire reaches a fever pitch and creates a storm of its own--unexpected, powerful, and unforgettable. But is it bigger than Tony can handle? Can he let go of painful memories and let the force of this remarkable woman show him a future he never dreamed existed?

I was lucky enough to get a copy from NetGalley thanks to the publisher.  I’m a huge fan of Ruthie Knox and couldn’t wait to read the first story in her Camelot series.

I loved sexy blue-collar worker Tony Mazzara, who Amber thinks of as the Italian Stallion. The description sex on a stick comes to mind when thinking about Tony. Amber is ready to step out on the wild side, and Tony is just the man to help her do it. I’ve come to expect some pretty sexy stories from Ruthie Knox, and she delivers once again with How to Misbehave! Loved how sexy Tony and Amber are together. Pretty sure my kindle screen steamed up a few times with this book. I also loved how Tony and Amber could share things with one another they really never shared with anyone else.

How to Misbehave is a great start to the new Camelot series from Ruthie Knox. The official release date is January 28, 2013, and can be purchased from your favorite online retailer. I’m so excited to read about the rest of the Clark family with Along Came Trouble in March 2013 and Flirting with Disaster in June 2013. 

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Top "15" Reads of 2012

Many of my blog and twitter friends have been talking about their Top 10 favorite reads of 2012. Honestly, there was no way I could possibly narrow my list down to just 10 books. I decided to narrow mine down to 15…and even then I couldn’t keep it to just 15 books, so I included books in a series for some authors. I read way too many amazing books this year not to highlight as many authors as possible.




Top “15” books of 2012


1. Perfect Fit by Carly Phillips

Really didn’t think I could love any hero more than Dare Barron from Karma, but Mike Marsden totally stole my heart. I also didn’t think I could love a Carly Phillips book more than Karma, but Perfect Fit is hands-down my favorite book by Carly Phillips ever! The official release date is December 31, 2012 and I will post my review on that day.

2. About Last Night by Ruthie Knox

OMG, City is totally the reason I fell in love with this book. I love Nev!


3. The Angel by Tiffany Reisz


I had a rough start with the first book in the Original Sinners series, but totally fell in love with the series while reading The Angel. I love Griffin and Michael so much and even fell pretty hard for Søren in this book. Have to say I’m still totally Team Nora at this point. Can’t wait for the release of The Mistress in 2013!


4. Archangel’s Blade by Nalini Singh

So I know it was released in September 2011, but I didn’t get a chance to read it until after the first of the year. I’ve wanted Dmitri’s story since we first met him and it might just be my favorite Guild Hunters book so far.

5. About That Night by Julie James

I loved Kyle when we first met him in his Jordan’s book and was super excited to see he was getting his own book. My favorite Julie James book ever!!!



6. Ash Trilogy by Shiloh Walker

So book one was released in 2011, but I didn’t read until the 3rd book was coming out. If You Hear Her, If You See Her, and If You Know Her are some of the best romantic suspense books I’ve ever read. Best to read in order, as they connect from the beginning and makes it easier to try and figure out the bad guy.


7. Karma by Carly Phillips

I waited for Dare’s book for what seemed like forever, and all I can say is it was totally worth the wait! Dare Barron is one of my most favorite heroes ever and I loved that he was in love with Liza McKnight since high school.


8. All 2012 releases from Jill Shalvis

No way on earth could I pick just one of the many books I read in 2012 from Jill Shalvis. With 3 new Lucky Harbor full length books, a Christmas novella in Lucky Harbor, and finally getting Adam’s story with Rescue My Heart, I was in heaven in 2012.


9. Kowalski books by Shannon Stacey

Wasn’t even going to try to pick just one. I love the Kowalskis so much and was super excited to see we would get books for each of the cousins.

10. Barefoot in the Sand by Roxanne St. Claire

I loved the 1st book in Rocki’s new Barefoot Bay series so much. The romance between Lacey and Clay was amazing and I loved how honest the relationship between Lacey and her daughter Ashley was portrayed. Best of all was the relationship between Lacey and her 3 best friends, Jocelyn, Zoe, and Tessa. I saw so much of me and my friends while I was reading about these women.


11. The Sullivan series of books by Bella Andre

I’m pretty sure I found Bella’s books at the first of the year and now have read pretty much everything she has ever published. I can’t pick just one of her books as a favorite, just like I can’t pick a favorite Sullivan in the family. It seems like with each book, I fall in love with that sibling over the rest.


12. Lover Reborn by JR Ward


I’d been waiting for Tohr’s book forever. I liked that Ward went back to writing the BDB series more like in the early books with this one. I’m now on the official countdown to Blay and Qhuinn’s book. I can’t wait to read Lover at Last next Spring.


13. Never Seduce a Scot by Maya Banks

I’m a huge fan of Maya Banks no matter what genre. I loved the romance between Eveline and Graeme and how they really did complete one another. I have to say Never Seduce a Scot might just be one of my favorite books ever by Banks.


14. Hot Under Pressure by Louisa Edwards


Beck and Skye’s story wrung pretty much every emotion possible from me. To quote from the movie You’ve Got Mail, read with a box of tissues.



15. Naked by Raine Miller



I actually found Naked, which is book 1 in the Blackstone Affair series thanks to my Facebook and twitter friends. I’m ready for Spring to get here so I can find out what happens with Brynne and Ethan.



Sunday, June 10, 2012

About Last Night


About Last Night is the latest ebook release from Ruthie Knox. From Amazon’s website.~
Sure, opposites attract, but in this sexy, smart, eBook original romance from Ruthie Knox, they positively combust! When a buttoned-up banker falls for a bad girl, “about last night” is just the beginning.
 
Cath Talarico knows a mistake when she makes it, and God knows she’s made her share. So many, in fact, that this Chicago girl knows London is her last, best shot at starting over. But bad habits are hard to break, and soon Cath finds herself back where she has vowed never to go . . . in the bed of a man who is all kinds of wrong: too rich, too classy, too uptight for a free-spirited troublemaker like her.
 
Nev Chamberlain feels trapped and miserable in his family’s banking empire. But beneath his pinstripes is an artist and bohemian struggling to break free and lose control. Mary Catherine—even her name turns him on—with her tattoos, her secrets, and her gamine, sex-starved body, unleashes all kinds of fantasies.
 
When blue blood mixes with bad blood, can a couple that is definitely wrong for each other ever be perfectly right? And with a little luck and a lot of love, can they make last night last a lifetime?

I was lucky enough to win an early copy from the author through NetGalley. I loved Ruthie’s first book and couldn’t wait to read this one.

I loved both Cath and Nev. Both had seen each other for sometime in passing at the park and train station, but only when Cath ends up drunk and Nev comes to the rescue, do they really find one another. I really liked that Cath called Nev “City” most of the time, since that was the nickname she had come up with for him when she saw him around. Liked even more that Nev pretty much always called her by her full name, Mary Catherine. It was just so sweet.

Not that either didn’t have a few secrets not shared with the other. While Cath’s secrets were from her past, Nev’s secrets had to do with his present. Even secrets and different lifestyles can’t seem to stop the attraction between them. Cath and Nev have some of the best chemistry together. Their love scenes were so steamy; I thought my kindle screen would fog up a few times.

Secrets do have a way of coming out at the worst possible time. Nev’s really wasn’t that bad, although when it was revealed made it seem worse. When Cath shared her secrets, it brought me to tears. I had grown so attached to both characters, I hated to see and feel her pain. Nev really does have to step up his game to make things right with her.

In just the 2 books I’ve read from Ruthie Knox, I’ve seen great emotional range and she is now an auto-buy author for me. I love that I not only get super sexy scenes, but heart-felt emotion with each relationship. About Last Night is another winner from Ruthie Knox. The official release date for About Last Night is June 11, 2012 and can be purchased at your favorite on-line retailer.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Ride with Me


Ride with Me is the debut novel from Ruthie Knox. From Amazon’s website.~

In this fun, scorching-hot eBook original romance by Ruthie Knox, a cross-country bike adventure takes a detour into unexplored passion. As readers will discover, Ride with Me is not about the bike! 
 
When Lexie Marshall places an ad for a cycling companion, she hopes to find someone friendly and fun to cross the TransAmerica Trail with. Instead, she gets Tom Geiger--a lean, sexy loner whose bad attitude threatens to spoil the adventure she's spent years planning.
 
Roped into the cycling equivalent of a blind date by his sister, Tom doesn't want to ride with a chatty, go-by-the-map kind of woman, and he certainly doesn't want to want her. Too bad the sight of Lexie with a bike between her thighs really turns his crank.
 
Even Tom's stubborn determination to keep Lexie at a distance can't stop a kiss from leading to endless nights of hotter-than-hot sex. But when the wild ride ends, where will they go next?

I’d seen lots of talk on twitter and various blogs about Ride with Me before its release and knew I needed to read this book. I’m so glad I moved this book up to the top of my TBR list on release day. I liked Lexie from the very beginning. She is a strong and independent woman who knows what she wants and has no problem doing what it takes to get what she wants. Tom was a bit of a jerk at first, but as he talked more about himself to Lexie, I came to not only like, but respect the choices he made.

I loved that while Lexie and Tom were attracted to one another from the very beginning, they actually let their attraction build up for a good bit of their trip before they even share their first kiss. Of course, since Lexie told Tom she was married when they first met, I liked that he didn’t make the first move. Their first kiss totally steamed up the screen on my kindle. After a short time away from one another, Lexie and Tom are both missing one another, but Tom is the one who goes looking for Lexie. Once Tom and Lexie finally make love for the first time, they really can’t keep their hands off one another. Both agreed to a no strings attached relationship, but as we all know someone always gets hurt in that situation. Lexie was falling for Tom long before they had a physical relationship, and with each passing day she falls deeper and deeper in love.

With Tom’s history, he is slower to realize how he really feels about Lexie, but once he figures it out, he takes steps to insure they have a future together. I really loved both Lexie and Tom and my feelings for them as a couple only grew as their story progressed. I did think the story ended rather abruptly, but still loved the story. In fact, I’ve already preordered Ruthie’s next book for my kindle.