Pages

Wednesday, November 30, 2022

JUST ONE TASTE REVIEW


One grumpy billionaire.


One sassy-sweet supermodel.


Add in a tropical private island paradise.


What could go wrong?


As owner and CEO of Dirty Dare Spirits, thirty-three year old, Asher Dare has it all. Money. Power. Women whenever he wants. A private island retreat when he doesn’t. People he trusts? He can count those on one hand. When one of his best friends asks a favor—hide his twenty-one year old, supermodel sister, on the island until a scandal blows over—Asher can’t say no. But he doesn’t have to like it.


The daughter of a Senator and a Presidential candidate, Nicolette Bettencourt always acts with decorum. Yet through no fault of her own, scandal seems to follow her every move. When nude photos surface, the uproar puts her father’s campaign at risk. And forces her into hiding with Asher, the hottest—and grumpiest—billionaire she’s ever met.


Under soothing tropical breezes, Asher discovers that Nicolette is nothing like the spoiled brat portrayed in the tabloids. She’s warm, sexy, and a temptation Asher must resist at all costs—or he risks betraying his closest friend, bringing a powerful political dynasty to its knees… and losing the woman he loves.


Release Date: November 29, 2022

CP Publishing

Kingston Family #7, Dirty Dares #3

Contemporary Romance

Review copy provided by publisher


Liza’s Review:


Just One Taste is one of the best books I've ever read by Carly Phillips. I love the older brother’s best friend troupe, and Asher’s and Nikki’s story was done perfectly.


Nikki Bettencourt wakes to discover someone has posted nude photos of her all over the internet. Even scarier than the photos alone, is the fact they were somehow taken in her bedroom. Her older brother Derek is ready to do everything possible to find out who and how the photos were taken. He enlists his friend Asher Dare to take Nikki to his private island to stay out of view until the press dies down a bit.


Asher Dare has no desire whatsoever to take Nikki to the island, but owes Derek one, so he agrees. I absolutely loved that Asher was attracted to Nikki from the moment she arrived at the airport. He was such a perfectly grumpy hero trying to fight the attraction to one of his best friend’s little sister. No going to lie, I laughed out loud at his display of jealousy even as he tried to keep Nikki at arms length.


Nikki is such a sweet woman. She sadly has only ever been able to count on her brother for family support, and has needed to be careful when trusting friends. Her parents are absolutely both horrible people as well as horrible parents. Nikki has never really had their support in anything, and they only ever thought of themselves. Once Asher let himself stop fighting his attraction I felt like they truly became not only lovers, but best friends. I loved they each opened up about their pasts, and were very protective of one another. They also couldn’t keep their hands off each other, and their chemistry was off the charts HOT!!!! Loved them as a couple so very much!!!!


Nikki showed how strong she really was as she learned who was behind the photos, and how they had been taken. I loved that Asher believed in her, and her ability to handle the situation in the manner that she wanted. Asher had a few of his own issues to work through with his past. All the Dare children have some issues because of their biological mother abandoning them. As Asher was the oldest, he has always kept things bottled up, and it was so good to see him finally voice some of his feeling from the past with his dad.


Just One Taste was a fantastic romance that takes the reader on an emotional roller coaster ride. I found myself sighing, laughing out loud, and crying both angry and happy tears. I loved every minute of this story and can’t wait to spend more time with these characters in future books.




Rating: 5 Stars (A+)

Review copy provided by publisher


READ NOW:

Kindle: https://www.carlyphillips.com/JOTKindle

Amz Print: https://www.carlyphillips.com/JOTAmzPrint

Apple: https://www.carlyphillips.com/JOTApple

Nook: https://www.carlyphillips.com/JOTNook

BN Print: https://www.carlyphillips.com/JOTBNPrint

Googleplay: https://www.carlyphillips.com/JOTGoogle

Kobo: https://www.carlyphillips.com/JOTKobo

AUDIO: Jason Clarke and Samantha Cooke - coming in Feb. w/apologies for delay

Audible: https://www.carlyphillips.com/JOTAudible

Amz Audio: https://www.carlyphillips.com/JOTAmzAudio

Tuesday, November 15, 2022

SUGAR AND SPICE (PINE MOUNTAIN SERIES #1)


 Ingredients: 

One by-the-book cake caterer 

One rule-breaking hotshot pastry chef 

One prize in a Christmas cookie competition that will skyrocket both of their careers


Mix well and add a whole lot of heat that doesn't stay in the kitchen.


Serve with a side of opposites attract, holiday cheer, and a hard-fought happily ever after.



*****

Sugar and Spice is a sexy and sweet opposites attract/adversaries to lovers holiday romance. It kicks off the Pine Mountain series, and is an updated, spicy-sweet version of a novella that was originally published as part of The Sugar Cookie Sweetheart Swap anthology in 2013.


Release Date: November 15, 2022

Pine Mountain Series #1

Contemporary Romance

Kimberly Kincaid Romance

Review copy provided by publisher


Liza’s Review:


I somehow missed the Pine Mountain series of books when they were originally published by Kimberly Kincaid, but am her for the updated version of the books. Sugar and Spice is a wonderful start to the series, and this novella was a fun and fast read that contemporary romance fans will absolutely adore.


Lily Callahan and Pete Mancuso both enter and want to win the Pine Mountain Resort’s Christmas Cookie Competition for different reasons. Lily wants to win so she will have the $10,000 prize money to help secure a storefront location for her bakery The Sweet Life, that she is currently running out of her apartment. Pete wants to win so he can secure a position as the head pasty chef in a better restaurant. Lily and Pete have to team up for the first challenge, and they are total opposites, as Lily is a total recipe follower, and Pete likes to fly by the seat of his pants when it comes to baking. I absolutely adored their banter through out the entire book, and felt like they had a connection from the moment they first bumped into one another before the competition even started.


Lily and Pete had pretty amazing chemistry, and I fell every bit in love with them along the way as they fell in love with one another. I loved they kept being put together because their on screen chemistry was so strong, that they became the best advertisement for the competition. I felt like all the extra time together in such a short amount of time moved their relationship forward faster. I felt like they each learned from one another along the way, and with each new stage of the competition, I felt like Lily and Pete became better versions of themselves thanks to the other.


Sugar and Spice was such a fun, fast, sweet, and sexy read. I read it on a flight in one sitting. I really loved Pete and Lily as a couple. I will say the only thing about the book that threw me was the last chapter/epilogue being about another character who appeared earlier in the book, rather than where Pete and Lily were at that time. I’m excited to get time with them in this series in the future, and can’t wait to see what happens with  Shane Griffin in the next book. 



Rating: 4 Stars (B+)


You can grab your copy here and curl up with this holiday cheer right on release day https://kimberlykincaid.com/books/sugar-and-spice/ This book will only be available wide for a short time before it goes into KU for the holiday season, so please (REALLY, PLEASE) order it ASAP if you read with iBooks, Kobo, or Nook.

Friday, November 04, 2022

SILVER IN THE MIST


Silver in the Mist  

Emily Victoria

On Sale Date: November 1, 2022

9781335406705

Hardcover

$18.99 USD

Ages 13 And Up

368 pages


ABOUT THE BOOK:

Silver in the Mist by Emily Victoria is a YA fantasy featuring asexual representation that follows a palace spy sent to infiltrate a neighboring kingdom in hopes of returning magic to her dying land.


Eight years ago, everything changed for Devlin: Her country was attacked. Her father was killed. And her mother became the Whisperer of Aris, the head of the spies, retreating into her position away from everyone… even her daughter.

 

Joining the spy ranks herself, Dev sees her mother only when receiving assignments. She wants more, but she understands the peril their country, Aris, is in. The malevolent magic force of The Mists is swallowing Aris’s edges, their country is vulnerable to another attack from their wealthier neighbor, and the magic casters who protect them from both are burning out.


Dev has known strength and survival her whole life, but with a dangerous new assignment of infiltrating the royal court of their neighbor country Cerena to steal the magic they need, she learns that not all that glitters is weak. And not all stories are true.



BUY LINKS: 

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/books/silver-in-the-mist/9781335406705

IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781335406705

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/silver-in-the-mist-emily-victoria/1140845012?ean=9781335406705

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Silver-Mist-Emily-Victoria-ebook/dp/B09PVHZ3T8/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=silver+in+the+mist&qid=1644596472&sprefix=silver+inthe+mist%2Caps%2C122&sr=8-1





ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Emily Victoria is a Canadian prairie girl who writes young adult science fiction and fantasy. When not wordsmithing, she likes walking her overexcitable dog, drinking far too much tea, and crocheting things she no longer has the space to store. Her librarian degree has allowed her to work at a library and take home far too many books.


SOCIAL LINKS: 

Author Website: https://www.avictoriantale.com/

Twitter: @avictoriantale

Instagram: @avictoriantale





Excerpt


Chapter One


The camp around me is shadowy and asleep—vulnerable—just the way I like it. At my back, metal poles hold lanterns that let out an erratic flicker of a glow. But it doesn’t reach as far in as I am, and even the patrolling soldiers barely stray from their circles of firelight. It’s sloppy, this whole camp.

I feel, rather than see, someone slip into the shadow of the tent behind me.

“Devlin.”

Lochlan’s jesting voice is that low tone that barely carries as far as my ears. I shift closer to the canvas of the tent so they can crouch beside me. “Fancy seeing you here,” they say.

Even though this is serious, my own lips twitch in response. Like me, Lochlan is dressed in tight-fitting clothes with their hood up, dark and practical and perfect for getting up to no good. They tug the strip of cloth covering their face down as they let out a huff. “This thing gets so itchy.”


I raise a brow. “That’s not regulation.”

They give me a look, but it’s edged with that sharp excitement neither of us can hide in the field. It tingles in my own fingertips. I want to get on with it, but as always, the Whisperer’s voice echoes in my head, tempering the impulse.

Take the time to observe. Know the lay of the land.

No matter how many missions I do, how much experience I think I’ve gained, it’s always my mother’s voice that sounds in my head out here in the field.

I scan the tents in front of us. There are three of them in the inner circle, five in the outer. If this camp has the usual layout, then the barracks, the mess, and the supplies will be in the outer tents. The scribes and those in command—in other words, everyone important—will be in this inner ring.

The tent on the far left is larger than the two beside it. All are in that deep navy color that is dyed even darker by the night, which only serves to offset the fabric’s silver lining. The canvas is thick enough that even if there was light inside the tents, we wouldn’t be able to see any silhouettes. It doesn’t give us much to go on, but at least it means once we’re inside, no one will be able to see us either.

“What did you find out?” I ask.

“Captain’s quarters are in the middle. The large one on the left is for the scribes. The last one houses the captain’s two pages.”

“So are the captain’s office and his sleeping quarters the same?”

“Guess.”

I stifle my sigh. That will be a pain to deal with, but it’s not like we haven’t done it before. Multiple times. “The scribes?” 


“They sleep with the soldiers as far as I can tell.”

That’s promising. I scan the area. The captain’s tent is the only one with a guard. The man is bored, idly fiddling with his sword’s sheath. He wears a tunic of soft blue lined with white, so neat it looks as if it’d get dirty if the guard glanced at the ground wrong.

“We can take him,” Lochlan says.

I elbow them. “No evidence outside of the theft, remember?” The scribes’ tent isn’t guarded, and there’s barely a foot of space between it and the captain’s tent beside it. That’s our best chance. “This way.”

We track down the row we’re sheltered by, moving from shadow to shadow, aware of the guards and the torchlight hovering just around the corners. At the end of the lane, I wait for the guard’s attention to shift and then we’re just two shadows slipping over the grassy gap. The canvas of the scribes’ tent is secured with thick ties, and I undo the row to let us in.

The space is shadowy in the dark and I take a moment to let my eyes adjust. Rows of portable desks fill the tent so tightly I have to step carefully as I ghost between them, Lochlan behind me.

The desks are littered with papers and worn writing implements, and among them lie pieces of filigree. The delicate swirls of the silvery patterns shine in the darkness, like fallen pieces of moonglow. My fingers hover over them. We aren’t supposed to leave any evidence, but I can’t resist swiping a couple of the shards into my pocket. This is a Cerenian camp. They won’t notice one or two missing pieces of filigree, while we need all the stolen magic we can get.

Behind me, Lochlan pauses as they look at the filigree.


Even though I can’t make out the expression on their face from this angle, I know what will be there. Loss.

I nudge them. “Bet you a week’s worth of chores I can find what we need first.”

Lochlan’s eyes glint in the dark as they grin. “You’re going to regret that.”

“You wish.”

A couple more ties get us out the far wall, and I give a quick glance to make sure the guard can’t see us before slipping into the captain’s tent.

He’s a snorer. That much is obvious as we step in and a grinding noise like rocks being smashed together echoes over to us. Lochlan’s face contorts in laughter and I grab their face cloth and yank it back over their mouth.

There’s not much in here. Besides the bed, the only things are a camp desk and a chest. Well, that and the clothes scattered all over the place. There’s even a discarded sword not a foot away from where I stand. He’s not a strict captain then. I’m betting he’s the type to leave his papers lying out rather than filing them away at the end of the day.

I take the desk and sure enough, it’s cluttered with writing instruments and parchment. The Whisperer ordered us to bring back the original orders from the Cerenian monarch that sent these soldiers here. I don’t know exactly what they will say, but I can guess. There are a number of patrolling camps that work their way up and down the Cerenian border, making sure it’s secure. Normally they follow the exact same route. This camp, though, is well into the neutral territory of the Peaks.


The last true attack from Cerena was decades ago, long before I was born, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t planning another. I can’t see why else they would have strayed so far into the Peaks, when it’s such difficult territory to cover. We can’t face the Mists and an army.

My fingers shift through the papers, careful to disturb them as little as possible. Then in the dark, I catch the image of a songbird sitting on a branch: Cerena’s royal seal. The orders themselves are written in code but that seal means this is what we’ve come for.

I lift the paper high, so Lochlan can see it.

I win.

The snoring cuts off. I drop to a crouch behind the desk. As I peer around its edge I see the captain blinking sleepy eyes open.

I look at where Lochlan is hiding behind the chest. They’re closer to where we entered than I am. They should be able to get out if they move right now, before the captain is fully awake.

I wave my hand at them. They hesitate, but I give them a glare. Moving as silent as a shadow, they’re gone.

There’s a creak from the bed as the captain gets up, muttering beneath his breath. His footsteps come closer, padding over the canvas floor. My hand finds the knife at my hip. As soon as he’s close enough, I’ll jab the knife in his leg. Then I’ll run.

Fast.

His feet come into view and I’m tensing to move when there’s a panicked shout from outside. It’s taken up, the sound multiplying.


What did Lochlan do?

The captain grabs his boots and races outside. As soon as he’s gone, I slip out the side of the tent. I smell the smoke the moment I’m free, the ring of light at the eastern outskirts of the camp now shining decidedly angrier.

“A lantern has fallen!” someone shouts. “Bring water!”

The camp is a flurry of activity. All of the soldiers, most only half-dressed and with mussed hair, are heading one way. I catch a clear moment and dash in the opposite direction.

I dart between the tents, breaking out of the last line and plunging into the forest at the base of the mountain. It’s darker beneath the trees, the branches scratching at my clothes, and even though I’m risking a broken ankle, I don’t slow. Better a broken ankle than an arrow in my back.

The ground beneath my feet turns from moss to dirt to stone, and the forest fades as I track up the path.

I turn the corner, and there it is.

A wall of white clings to the mountain like a shroud. It’s so thick I can’t even make out the rocks in it. All I can see are the flashes of lightning deep in its depths, bright and fierce.

The Mists.

Lochlan sits on a rock just outside the border of white, idly swinging one of their legs. Their hood is already down, showing their auburn hair with the single streak of gray, currently tied back into a ponytail. The filigree lantern we’d hidden on our way down shines at their feet, sparking off their bright green eyes.

I tug the cloth away from my face. “What did you set on fire?”

They grin at me. “You’re welcome.”

There’s a shout behind us from the direction of the camp and we plunge into the Mists.

Excerpted from Silver in the Mist. Copyright © 2022 by Emily Victoria. Published by Inkyard Press.