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Wednesday, April 26, 2017

SIT...STAY...BEG (THE DOGFATHER #1)

Garrett Kilcannon, a former dot com super-success who now devotes his life to rescuing dogs and finding them homes, prefers to keep his secrets buried as deep as a dog hides his bone. So when he learns his father has invited a journalist to Waterford Farm to write and produce an in-depth profile on him, he doesn’t care that she’s a childhood friend or drop dead gorgeous. He has zero tolerance for the media…until he sees a different side when she gets through the walls of a rescue dog who’s refused to eat during her short stay at Waterford. Unwillingly charmed and undeniably attracted, Garrett agrees to the interview that could break down a few of his emotional walls, too.

Garrett might not want to share the story of his colorful former life, but Jessie Curtis has the skills to peel back the layers of this sexy, complicated, caring man. In the process, she not only discovers his secrets, she finds herself falling for a man who touches her heart in a way she never thought possible. Her entire career is riding on this one explosive interview, but can she bear to repay Garrett’s trust by selling his secrets? Or can a woman who gave up on happiness a long time ago learn to believe that all it takes to rescue a lost heart is the love of a good man?

Release Date: April 24, 2017
The Dogfather #1
South Street Publishing
Contemporary Romance
Review copy provided by publisher

Liza's Review:

Roxanne St. Claire introduces us to the Kilcannon clan in The Dogfather series. I absolutely fell in love with the members of the Kilcannon clan we met in Sit...Stay...Beg and have a special love for the patriarch Daniel and his plans for his family. Sit...Stay...Beg is Garrett Kilcannon's book and I quickly fell for this amazing man.

I loved that the Kilcannon clan ran a dog rescue and training facility at their home on Waterford Farm. I loved that each member of the family had their own special skills when working with the rescue dogs. Garrett Kilcannon is pretty much a dog whisperer when it comes to rescues. However, it seems the only person their latest rescue Lola connects with is journalist Jessica Jane Curtis. Jessie grew up as Garrett's little sister's best friend and loved being at Waterford Farm and with the Kilcannon family when she was growing up. She now has the chance of a lifetime to job waiting if she can only get an in depth expose on Garrett Kilcannon, who hates the media with a passion. 

Jessie and Garrett also have a bit of history and the attraction they had a teenagers has only intensified as adults. I especially loved that Garrett needed Jessie's help with their new rescue Lola. Lola was the sweetest dog on the face of the planet and instantly fell in love with Jessie and the feeling was completely mutual. I felt like Lola was an important part of Garrett and Jessie's relationship. She was the reason they initial reason they spent more time together, as Jessie was the only one to get Lola to eat at first. I loved the more time Garrett spent with Jessie, the easier it was for him to open up about the secrets from his past. While Garrett and Jessie's romance had some bumps along the way, I loved watching them find happiness together.

Sit...Stay...Beg was an amazing start to a new series from Roxanne St. Claire. I loved the fact the Kilcannon clan is so large and honestly fell in love with each and every member of the family we met. I'm a big fan of big families and add in the rescue dog element, and I was in heaven while I read. I'm so excited that each member of the Kilcannon family will get their own book in The Dogfather series. Ms. St. Claire has once again delivered an amazing series for her readers and old fans and new fans will be completely enchanted by the family. 


Rating: 5 Stars (A)

***I'm giving away one (1) kindle copy of Sit...Stay...Beg to one commenter from this post by Sunday, April 30, 2017. Please make sure your contact information is in your profile or leave your email address with your comment so I can contact the winner.***

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Tuesday, April 25, 2017

FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME (DESTINY BAY #2)

What's wrong with a little white lie?

There are a lot of things Ali Marshal doesn't do: pink anything, a day without chocolate, and Hawk, her sister's ex-husband. Sure, he's a sexy former NHL star who can make her pulse pound with just a wink. But he belonged to Bridget first. And no matter how long she's had a crush on him, how great he's always been to her dad, or that her sister is engaged to someone else now and Ali needs a date to their engagement party, she can't give in to temptation. Can she?

It's been years since his disastrous marriage crashed and burned, and Bradley Hawk has finally moved on. So when Bridget blows back into town with her new fiancé, throwing the engagement party of the year, he could care less . . . until Ali tells one little lie that lands him smack dab in a fake relationship. After one promise to be Ali's date and two of the hottest kisses he's ever had, Hawk can't deny how much he wants her. But what happens when this fauxmance starts to feel very, very real?


Release Date: April 25, 2017
Destiny Bay #2
Forever
Contemporary Romance
Review copy provided by publisher

Liza's Review:

I absolutely adore a friends to lovers romance. Honestly it is one of my absolute favorite romance troupes. Marina Adair hit all the right buttons for me in Feels Like the First Time.

I love every single thing about Ali Marshall. She is a strong woman who runs her own business and is always there to take care of friends and family. She also knows her own mind and puts her own needs on the back burner to help others out at times, so much so that even though she is insanely attracted to Bradly Hawk, she remains only friends with him since he is her sister's ex-husband.

I have to say the chemistry between Ali and Hawk was pretty awesome from their very first encounter. Even their playful banter was so flirtatious. I seriously bought into them as a couple long before Ali created her fauxmance with Hawk. They had amazing passion and I especially loved that Hawk accepted Ali just as she was and didn't expect her to change at all. 

I did worry how much pressure Ali put on herself to always be there for everyone else while putting many of her needs last. I think her family especially had come to expect her to take up the slack, and it was refreshing to finally see her sister Bridget offer to help, even if she stumbled a bit along the way.

I really enjoyed Feels Like the First Time, which is the 2nd book in the Destiny Bay series. As I missed reading the first book in the series, I can say with certainty that Feels Like the First Time reads very well as a stand alone story. I will also say I have already bought the first book to go back and read, as I hate reading books in a series out of order. I found Feels Like the First Time to be a sexy and emotional romance and a really super fast read, as I couldn't put the book down.

Rating: 4 Stars (B)

BUY THE BOOK HERE



THE DESTINY BAY SERIES

LAST KISS OF SUMMER, #1
FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME, #2



ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marina Adair is a #1 National bestselling author of romance novels and holds a Master of Fine arts in creative writing. Along with the Destiny Bay series, she is also the author of the Sugar, Georgia series, the St. Helena Vineyard series, and her new Heroes of St. Helena series. She currently lives with her husband, daughter, and two neurotic cats in Northern California.

As a writer, Marina is devoted to giving her readers contemporary romance where the towns are small, the personalities large, and the romance explosive.



FOLLOW FOREVER ONLINE



RAFFLECOPTER



EXCERPT

Ali nodded because she needed him more than she needed her next breath.
The intensity of her feelings terrified her. They always had. Even at seventeen she knew what she felt went beyond the run-of-the-mill teenage crush. She’d been in love. Sure, it was a young, simple love, but it was love all the same.
Only he’d loved someone else.
So when he married her sister, she did her best to let him go. But no matter how painful it had been for her, and at times the ache was so acute it had been paralyzing, she was never able to set him completely free. Choosing the pain over the loss.
Now he was back, looking at her how she always looked at him, as if he’d never let go, and Ali gave in to the fantasy. Played out the what-ifs she carried with her for over a decade. He’d been hers for so long, she let herself believe that she was his, too.
He was asking for right here, right now—this she knew. Tomorrow, reality would creep in, and everything would go back to the way it was. But tonight, sitting on this beach, overlooking a world bigger than the two of them, Ali wanted to feel what it was like to be loved by the man who owned her heart.
“I want,” she said.
“What do you want, Aliana?” he whispered, the sound of her name on his lips doing crazy things to her. Crazy girly things that made her feel delicate and desirable.
“I want you.” She trailed her hands down his pecs to that flat stomach and lower, loving how his muscles rippled and curled under her touch. “I want you to pamper me so hard I won’t remember how to walk come morning.”
Hawk’s eyes darkened, and his mouth was on hers. Hard and demanding, and just how she’d imagined. There was no warm-up, no testing the waters. He was kissing her as if he knew what he wanted.
And he wanted Aliana.
Their mouths were fused together, her hands gripping his shoulders for purchase, but his fingers were gentle, languidly exploring her face, her neck, the curve of her shoulder, slowly moving down her arm and bringing the wide neckline of her shirt with him.
He never stopped kissing her, but she felt his lashes flutter open, realized that she’d never closed her own. Then his deep brown eyes locked on hers, watching her as they kissed, and it was erotic and unexpected. As she watched him back, she felt his lips curl into a smile. Could feel the dimples on both cheeks come alive under her touch.
“You like to watch,” Hawk growled, and she felt her cheeks flush.
Ali never considered herself a watcher. But Hawk was such a beautiful and commanding man, she’d never been able to look away. Not even now, when her body was begging for release. He was that good—a simple kiss and she was so turned on, she could feel her body shaking.
That smile turned cocky.
“It’s not like I stand there peering through your bedroom window at night,” she said, leaving out that night he was at the bar. His bedroom window during the morning, when he was walking around after a shower. She was more than guilty.
“I’ve peered through yours.”
And to prove he wasn’t the least bit ashamed, he lowered his head and placed an openmouthed kiss on her shoulder, those eyes of his never leaving hers. Not even when he moved lower toward her collarbone, his mouth working her with a softness that took her by surprise and a reverence that made her feel as if she was precious.
Ali wasn’t sure what to do. Hard, challenging, complicated—that was what she was used to. But this was light, simple—too easy to be real. It confused her as much as it terrified her.

Monday, April 24, 2017

FAKING IT (BOOK BOYFRIEND #2)

Confirmed bachelor Max Sterling isn't into rescuing damsels in distress, but when the very tempting Hailey Ellison needs his help, there's only one thing for him to do. Step in and pose as her loving fiancé. Except there is nothing fake about his attraction to her, or how much he wants her beneath him in his bed, moaning his name. But what starts as a sexy, flirty, temporary engagement, quickly becomes something more serious that neither one ever anticipated.



Release Date: April 11, 2017
CP Publishing
Book Boyfriend #2
Contemporary Romance
Review copy provided by publisher

Liza’s Review:

Faking It is the 2nd book in the Book Boyfriend series from Carly Phillips and Erika Wilde. Seriously two of my absolute favorite authors teaming up to give me book heaven once again. I loved everything about Max and Hailey's story.

I absolutely fell in love with Max Sterling as I read more and more of Faking It. He is such a sexy and strong hero. He actually looks at people and sees them for more than what is on the outside. I loved how much he cared for and wanted Hailey pretty much from the moment they met. I also loved how attracted Hailey was to Max from the moment they met. So much so that he was on her mind when they were away from one another. I adored Hailey and Max as a couple. Their attractions was off the charts hot and Max helped Hailey see herself the way he saw her. 

The fake engagement between Max and Hailey was destined to be real pretty much from the moment they agreed to it. Max and Hailey both liked each other as individuals, but needed help for personal reasons and business reasons. Max wanted to get away from stalker Addison, who was a family friend who wouldn't take no for an answer and Hailey is a successful matchmaker with no boyfriend. Max and Hailey worked on every level as a couple for me. Max took things slowly to earn Hailey's trust and Hailey became so much happier and stronger for having Max in her life first as a friend and then a lover.

Faking It was one of those books I wanted to re-read as soon as I finished reading it the first time. In fact, I've already read it twice and loved it just as much on the second reading. Carly Phillips and Erika Wilde give their readers characters to fall in love with and feel like you could be friends with as well. I highly recommend Faking It to all lovers of contemporary romances.

Rating: 5 Stars (A)

Nikki’s Review:

Two very talented authors made another book baby! I love when Carly Phillips and Erika Wilde put their phenomenal writing skills together and make perfection happen!

This book was pure fun. It's one of those books that keeps you smiling while getting lost in the romance. And the romance is blistering hot! 

Max and Hailey are incredibly likeable characters. They are both genuinely nice people. Max is all hunky and smouldering bedroom eyes. Hailey is the nice girl next door with a healthy dose of body insecurities. I think a lot of women can relate to Hailey's issues. She's hard on herself regarding her size. She's healthy and beautiful, but all she's able to see is her perceived "flaws". Just like a lot of women, she's her own worst critic. Max thinks she's the cats ass! He wants her something fierce! 

These two are faking an engagement. Emotions aren't suppose to come into play...ha! The heart wants what the heart wants! And so does the body!

I really adored these two together. They have chemistry that just leaps off of the page. The love scenes in this book are both romantic and wickedly spicy! I love me some spice!

I can always count on Ms. Phillips and Ms. Wilde to write a solid story. And like all the other books, I wasn't disappointed with this one. The plot sucked me in and kept my attention until the very end. I laughed, I was angry, and my heart fluttered. All the emotions were in this one. The writing is nothing short of wonderful!

How these two authors keep coming up with storylines that stay fresh and entertaining is a wonder. Each book they write together gets better and better. As always, it was a true pleasure to spend time in the "world" they have created. You should totally read this book!

Rating: 5 Stars (A+)

Buy Links:

Amazon US http://amzn.to/2mW6u49
Amazon UK https://goo.gl/FOhLyF
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