Tuesday, June 16, 2020

ASHER (ASHES AND EMBERS #6)












Title: Asher

Series: Ashes & Embers #6



Author: Carian Cole

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: June 3, 2020







Blurb





I should have died.



I should have been
forgotten.



But I didn’t, and I
wasn’t.



Living the life most women only dream about, I was madly in
love with my soulmate—Asher Valentine—amazing husband, loving father, and
rock’s favorite kick-ass front man. A man who loved me every day, in every way,
since we first met as teens. We were blessed with a beautiful
daughter who was the light of our life. My all-female rock band was tearing up
the charts.



Then tragedy struck, and I lost it all.



Now all I have is a stack of journals, an antique key, and a
big black void where my memories should be.



Used to be.



And I have him—this man with wild hair, tattoos from head to
toe, a soft voice, and an even softer touch that gives me butterflies. He’s
clearly hopelessly in love with his wife.



I’m told that’s me.



But that wife is gone, and she took everything they once
had, leaving me in her place.



A broken replacement. A new version that doesn’t quite fit.



I’m slowly falling in love with him, but will he ever truly
love me? Or will he forever be in love
with her, the phantom woman who
haunts us both?















Purchase Links



AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU



Free in Kindle Unlimited














Playlist










Also Available






AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU



Free in Kindle Unlimited














Author Bio




Carian Cole
has a passion for the bad boys, those covered in tattoos, sexy smirks, ripped
jeans, fast cars, motorcycles and of course, the sweet girls who try to tame
them and win their hearts.

Born and raised a Jersey girl, Carian now resides in beautiful New Hampshire
with her husband and their multitude of furry pets. She spends most of her time
writing, reading, and vacuuming.





Author Links
















Nikki's Review:

Jesus. I feel like I’ve been rode hard and put up wet. Seriously, this book is all kinds of angsty. My absolute favourite.

This is book 6 in the series, and I feel like I’ve waited a lifetime for Asher’s book. Not really, but I’ve wanted it badly. It was worth the wait. This book has serious heart and grit. It’s not a traditional romance, in my opinion, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t romantic, because it was that...and more. 

Asher’s wife, Ember, has woken up from an 8 year coma with complete memory loss. I mean, can you imagine loving someone so much that  they are the very beat of your heart, and they don’t don’t remember a single moment of your lives together? My heart continually broke for them both. Asher just devastated me.

This was a real journey. I wanted an easy solution to the whole thing. I just wanted Ember to get her memories back, but I appreciate that the author didn’t take the simple way out. From what I’ve gathered, Ms. Cole did a ton of research on traumatic brain injuries and amnesia, and it certainly shows. She put these characters through their paces. She made them work and fight for their healing and happiness. I’m emotionally exhausted, but it was so perfect. 

This was a beautifully written book. I was entranced by Asher and Ember’s love story. I was cheering for them while they got to know one another and fall in love all over again. 

I bet you want to know if Ember ever regains her memories? I’d like to tell you that, but then I’d be depriving you of the chance to walk this path with her and Asher. You’ll have to read it to get that answer. And whatever the outcome, you won’t be sorry you did. 

Rating: 5 Stars (A+)
Review copy provided by publisher
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Monday, June 15, 2020

MORE THAN NEIGHBORS

MORE THAN NEIGHBORS by Shannon Stacey (on-sale June 16, 2020): The only thing they have in common is a property line! Cam Maguire is in Blackberry Bay to unravel a family secret. Meredith Price has moved next door with her daughter. He’s unattached. She’s a widowed single mom. He’s owned by a cat. She’s definitely team canine. All these neighbors have in common is a property line. One they cross…over and over. And Cam thought he knew what he wanted—until his family’s secret changes everything.
Purchase links:

Excerpt, MORE THAN NEIGHBORS by Shannon Stacey (Harlequin Special Edition)

“So you’re staying for the summer, you said? Where do you usually live?”
“New York City, actually.”
Her hazel eyes widened. “Wow. That’s quite a change in pace.”
“It is, but I was ready to get away for a while.” “What do you do in the city?”
“I work for my dad,” he said, which wasn’t technically a lie, but wasn’t entirely accurate, either. “A lot of accounting and paperwork and boring stuff like that.”
She was cute when she wrinkled her nose. “I’m not a fan of boring math-related paperwork.”
A yelp from across the yard caught her attention and she turned to see Elinor swipe at the white puff-ball. Sophie was frowning and picked the dog up, turning her body so the cat couldn’t see him any-more.
“Your cat appears to be bullying my dog.”
“She’s not my cat. And you’re embarrassing your dog by even making that claim right now.”
She arched an eyebrow at him. “If you don’t think cats can bully dogs, you don’t spend a lot of time on the internet.”
“She just wants the dog to know who’s boss, I guess.”
“It’s his yard,” she pointed out.
“She’s a cat.”
“Point taken.” A genuine smile lit up her face and made her eyes crinkle. “They’ll get used to each other. And speaking of that, now that I know you’re going to be my neighbor for a while, I should prob-ably introduce myself properly. I’m Meredith Price, and that’s Sophie and Oscar.”
“Calvin Maguire,” he said, extending his hand. “But everybody calls me Cam.”
As she shook his hand, he noted how soft the skin was and had to resist rubbing his thumb over it.
She tilted her head as she smoothly pulled her hand away from his. “How do you get Cam from Calvin?”
“My initials. Calvin Anthony Maguire.” His mouth twisted in a wry smile. “The fourth.”
“Interesting.”
“It was a better alternative than being Little Cal for my entire life.” He didn’t really want to open him-self up to more questions about his family, since they were the last thing he wanted to talk about. “Since Oscar’s from California, let me guess. Oscar de la Renta?”
She laughed. “Oscar the Grouch.”
“You’re kidding.” He looked at the dog again, who looked like the kind they put on the packaging of fancy dog food. “I don’t really see the resemblance, but maybe it’s a personality thing.”
“He’s actually named after Sophie’s favorite book at the time, and trust me, we spent days explaining to her why we couldn’t make his hair green.”
“He doesn’t bark a lot, does he?”
“I wouldn’t say he barks a lot.” She glanced at the dog before giving him a sheepish look. “It’s more like a really high-pitched yip.”
“That’ll be fun while I’m reading over spread-sheets,” he said, picturing spending his summer being harassed by a stubborn cat and a high-strung dog. “Maybe I should have packed my noise- canceling headphones.”
She looked startled for a second and then her eyes narrowed. “I have a child and a dog, so I guess you’ll just have to figure out how to make it work.”
“Maybe a muzzle?” he asked, but he wasn’t re-ally serious. Yipping dogs weren’t his favorite, but he wasn’t a total jerk.
She stared at him for a long moment before giving him an arch look. “I don’t know if I can find one in your size, but I can try.”
Cam chuckled, appreciating her comeback, but she didn’t even crack a smile. Maybe she hadn’t been joking. And maybe she’d thought he wasn’t, either.
“If you’ll excuse me, we just arrived and I have a lot to do.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said as she walked, and she held up her hand in what looked more like a dis-missive gesture than a wave.
That was fine. If she wanted to play that game, she’d find out he didn’t really care that much. She and her yipping dog could stay in her yard and he’d stay in his.
He had better things to do, anyway. Like learning more about Carolina Archambault, and figuring out how to convince her cat he was the boss.


About Shannon Stacey: New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shannon Stacey lives with her husband and two sons in New England, where her two favorite activities are writing stories of happily ever after and off-roading with her friends and family. You can contact Shannon through her website, www.shannonstacey.com, as well as sign up for her newsletter. 

Author social links:


Liza’s Review:

I’m a huge fan of Shannon Stacey and she has been an auto-buy author for me since I read Exclusively Yours. I was super excited to read Ms. Stacey’s first Special Edition, and really enjoyed More Than Neighbors.

Meredith Price has moved back to Blackberry Bay with her daughter Sophie to be closer to her parents following her husband’s death. Cam Maguire has come to Blackberry Bay for the summer to learn about the biological grandmother he never met following her death and Meredith and Sophie are his new neighbors. I cracked up that Meredith and Cam didn’t hit it off initially, even though they seemed to be attracted to one another from the first. I loved Meredith’s mom kept pushing them together and even Sophie seemed to want Cam to be with them as much as possible from the moment they met.

More Than Neighbors had a bit of a slow-burn that absolutely worked for me, especially as Meredith hadn’t really dated since her husband passed away, and Cam is only in town for the summer. Neither Cam nor Meredith rushed into a relationship or even a fling, yet they seemed to end up together quite a bit. I loved that while they got off to a bit of a rough start, Meredith and Cam really stepped up to help each other out when needed. Their chemistry grew the more they were around one another and I fell for them as a couple after their very first kiss.

More Than Neighbors is the perfect read for fans of heart-felt contemporary romances. Shannon Stacey writes the best small-town romances, and I can’t wait to visit Blackberry Bay again soon.

Rating: 4 Stars (B)
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Friday, June 12, 2020

HUSH, PUPPY (THE DOGMOTHERS #5)

John Santorini has his hands full this summer and not just with Maverick, the wild and willful puppy he recently adopted. He’s trying to franchise his business, he’s got serious staffing issues, and his biggest investor still hasn’t committed to financing. But all of those problems fade away when a five-year-old girl pounces on his puppy in the park and pronounces him “Mine!” John can handle a kid with a crush on little Mav. But he’s not so sure what to do with his instant attraction to her mother, a beautiful young widow who brightens his world the minute she arrives in town.


Summer Jackson has come to Bitter Bark for one reason: to meet a man. But the man she plans to connect with isn’t there. Instead, she finds two outrageous grannies who want to marry her off, discovers an extended and colorful family that wraps her in love, and crushes hard on a Greek charmer who offers her a place to stay and a job for the season. John may not have been the man Summer intended to meet, but his soul-melting kisses soon have Summer rethinking all her plans. He’s smart, sexy, sweet, and his impossibly adorable puppy is helping her daughter overcome her baffling speech impediment.


It doesn’t take long before Summer and John are dreaming of the happy ending they’ve both been denied. But when the past comes back to wreak havoc on all their lives, Summer’s real reason for coming to town threatens to destroy this budding little family. Will John have to settle for a Summer fling…or do the Dogmothers have the recipe for romance one more time?


Release Date: June 12, 2020

South Street Publishing

The Dogmothers #5

Contemporary Romance

Review copy provided by publisher


Liza's Review:


Hush, Puppy is the 5th book in The Dogmothers series of books from Roxanne St. Claire. I've adored each and every book in this series to date, but have to say Hush, Puppy is the book I needed in my life right now without realizing it. It is filled with joy, love, hope, romance, laughter, and the sweetest puppy and little girl ever.


Summer Jackson and her daughter Destiny have come to Bitter Bark to adopt her a puppy, and hopefully to reconnect with a friend from Bitter Bark Summer has never met. Their first day in town, they run into John Santorini walking his puppy Maverick, and Destiny falls in love at first sight with Mav. Gramma Finnie and Yiayia have their next matchmaking couple in their sights with John and Summer. Since initially Summer and Destiny are only in town until they find the perfect puppy for Destiny, the Dogmothers need to work fast.


I loved John and Summer as a couple pretty much from the first moment they met. Their chemistry was palpable, and I loved that John seemed to love Destiny every bit as quickly as he did her mother. Destiny is the most precocious child and I loved her spirit and her pure joy for life. She totally has moments of shyness, but when she sings she totally comes out of her shell and has found that she doesn't stutter while singing. The cutest thing ever though was when Mavvie, what Destiny calls Maverick, starts singing with her. I think I had a perma-smile on my face as I read this story.

 

I loved that Summer stepped in to help John out at his restaurant when he needed someone to help run the front of the house for the summer. They had the sweetest flirtiest courtship where they truly did start off as friends, even though they had been attracted to one another from the moment they met. John and Summer as a couple gave me all the happy feels, and I loved every moment of their journey. Even with a few bumps along the way for John and Summer, Hush, Puppy absolutely brought me so much joy, and I really wasn't ready for this story to end.


Roxanne St. Claire gives her readers one of her best stories ever with Hush, Puppy. I really can't overstate the amount of joy I found from this book. I loved seeing John, Summer, Destiny, and Mavvie become their own little family. Hush, Puppy is the perfect romance for readers who love a story filled with joy, laughter, and hope. Roxanne St. Claire knocked it out of the ballpark with this book!



Rating: 5 Stars (A+)


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THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT BLOG TOUR

The Graveyard Shift, an all-new, incredible, out of this world novella in the award winning paranormal Charley Davidson Series by New York Times bestselling author Darynda Jones, is available now!

9_1001_2020_Darynda Jones_300dpi_new (1)
Guarding a precocious five-year-old who is half-human, half-god, and 100% destined to save the world is no easy feat.
Garrett Swopes was the ultimate skeptic until he met a certain hellion and her husband. They vanished after stopping a catastrophic event and left him, a mere mortal, in charge of protecting their gift to mankind. But when she disappears as well, he needs the help of another breed of hellion. One who can see past the veil of space and time. One who betrayed him.
She will get a truce in the deal, but she will never earn his forgiveness.
Marika Dubois’s son—a warrior in the coming war between heaven and hell—was foreseen long before his birth. But to create a child strong enough to endure the trials that lay ahead, she needed a descendant of powerful magics. She found that in Garrett Swopes and tricked him into fathering her son. A ploy he has never forgiven her for. But when he knocks on her door asking for her help, she sees the fierce attraction he tries to deny rise within him.
And Marika has to decide if she dares risk her heart a second time to help the only man she’s ever loved.
**Every 1001 Dark Nights novella is a standalone story. For new readers, it’s an introduction to an author’s world. And for fans, it’s a bonus book in the author’s series. We hope you'll enjoy each one as much as we do.**
The Graveyard Shift ipad available now
Download your copy today!
Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fyb3wy
Excerpt
Charley Davidson, a god with a penchant for maiming first and asking questions later, was going to kill Garrett. No, that wasn’t right. Charley’s husband, Reyes Farrow, also a god with a penchant for maiming first and asking questions later, would start the whole process by ripping him to shreds, then letting Charley finish him off. Gladly. And with much glee. Garrett had one job. One. Fucking. Job. Watch his best friends’ daughter, Beep, aka Elwyn Alexandra Loehr, a kid who just happened to be destined to save the world from a catastrophic demon uprising. He was supposed to guard her with his life. To keep her safe. To protect her from all the ghosts and goblins—metaphorically speaking since he didn’t have a supernatural bone in his body—hell-bent on doing her harm before she could prevent said catastrophic demon uprising. He failed. Yesterday, at exactly 3:33 p.m., the precocious five-year-old was running across a sun-drenched field of sagebrush and wild grasses when she disappeared right before his eyes. One second she was tripping over, well, absolutely nothing—so much like her mother, it startled him—and the next, she was gone. If he hadn’t been looking right at her, if his gaze hadn’t been laser-locked on the long, dark tangles cascading down her back, if she hadn’t disappeared between his strategically placed blinks, he would’ve questioned the entire event. But there was simply no doubt about it. She’d vanished into thin air. The way she disappeared would suggest a supernatural influence, especially considering the fact that she was the daughter of two gods, but her celestial parents had placed a shield over the entire area. No supernatural entity could penetrate it. Was there some loophole they’d missed? Some escape clause they’d overlooked? Garrett didn’t hesitate. He immediately called in his entire team, but even his most preternaturally enhanced members couldn’t figure out what had happened, and one of them was a bona fide angel. Well, former angel. After thirty-six hours of scouring every inch of Santa Fe and the surrounding area for even a sign of the little hellion, a storm had rolled in, and the search had to be abandoned. Garrett left his team at the compound, as well as the Loehrs, Elwyn’s grandparents, panicked and scrambling to figure out what’d happened. In the meantime, he went in search of the only woman he knew who could see past the veil of not only space, but time as well. He had one clue to go on. Elwyn’s last words before she took off across the rugged New Mexican terrain. Surely, he’d heard her wrong. He prayed he’d heard her wrong as he fought the winds and icy pelts of the desert storm, then raised a fist and pounded on the door of his ex, Marika Dubois.
About Darynda Jones
DJones1
NYTimes and USA Today Bestselling Author Darynda Jones has won numerous awards for her work, including a prestigious RITA, a Golden Heart, and a Daphne du Maurier, and her books have been translated into 17 languages. As a born storyteller, Darynda grew up spinning tales of dashing damsels and heroes in distress for any unfortunate soul who happened by, and she is ever so grateful for the opportunity to carry on that legacy. She currently has two series with St. Martin's Press: The Charley Davidson Series and the Darklight Trilogy. She lives in the Land of Enchantment, also known as New Mexico, with her husband and two beautiful sons, the Mighty, Mighty Jones Boys.
Connect with Darynda
For More information about 1001 Dark Nights Visit: Facebook: https://bit.ly/37fl0uT Instagram: https://bit.ly/2Y7uBQp Website: https://bit.ly/2AIIr3A Stay up to date on all 1001 Dark Nights releases, join their newsletter today! https://bit.ly/2zgxaHu


Liza's Review:

I've wanted more of Elwyn Alexandra Loehr aka Beep's story from the moment I finished reading Summond to Thirteenth Grave. When I saw we would be getting a new story in the Charley Davidson world, and it would be from Garrett Swopes's point of view, I was so very excited. I wanted to learn more about Garrett, and  I knew he was protecting Beep, so I would get a much needed update on her.

The Graveyard Shift opens just as Beep has disappeared from the compound. Garrett knows he needs more help than those available at the compound and knows his son's mother Marika Dubois is just the person the help him out. Garrett and Marika have a very tumultuous relationship as Garrett is still mad about Marika getting pregnant on purpose, but he absolutely adores his son Zaire and knows he needs Marika's skills to help his search for Beep. 

Garrett and Marika have much to work through as the story begins, and while I had been mad at Marika since she tricked Garrett, I found myself seeing her in a whole new light and actually loving her character. I also could see from the beginning that Garrett and Marika had real feelings for one another and their attraction to each other was off the charts hot! 

As Charley and Reyes aren't on this plane, Garrett and Marika are working with Uncle Bob, Cookies, Donovan and the gang, Artemis, and the Hellhounds. I've missed these characters so much and loved getting to spend time with them again. I have to say Beep is so much like her mother, it had me laughing out loud at times. She loves coffee and horror books and has loved them since she was a 3 year old. I loved getting to see Beep as she is growing up and learning more about all her powers and how she handles her friends and family. Seriously she is Charley made over and I loved it! With any book set in the Charley Davidson world, there are demons galore and once the action starts, readers are pretty much on the edge of their seats. 

The Graveyard Shift really just made me want more books in the Charley Davidson world. I loved getting this novella length story, and it totally made me remember why I've loved this series from the moment I read the very first book. I'm super excited we will get The Gravedigger's Son next year, especially since we will get Amber and Quinten's story at last! 


Rating: 4.5 Stars (B+)
Review copy provided by publisher
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