Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Book Review: Willow's Wedding Vows by Debbie Viggiano 



Willow's Wedding Vows

by Debbie Viggiano 


Amazon US / UK / AU / CA  

Wedding vows have never been this personal…

Willow has been living with marriage-shy Charlie for more years than she cares to remember and is old-fashioned enough to want a wedding band and a loads-of-sex honeymoon before stretchmarks and nipple shields.

So when the once-wary Charlie surprisingly goes down on one knee, Willow doesn’t question why her boyfriend is suddenly so keen to rush her into saying “I do”.

The first clue comes as Willow is zipped into her Cinderella dress, the second as she bobs into the wedding car, and the third as the Roller swings towards its fairy-tale destination… leaving a shell-shocked Willow desperately trying to figure out what to do next.

A bride can do anything she wants on her wedding day, but nobody expected her to do this…


My Rating:


Favorite Quotes:


Kev had more faults than the cracks in Earth’s crusts and could be feistier than a racehorse waiting for the off at the Grand National.



Jean was now turning to face Willow, her face looking like a walrus who’d anticipated a fish supper but been given tofu.



She told me I have all the passion of a pensioner at a rave.



Karen, pursing her lips. ‘Don’t do that… That thing with your mouth. Makes it look like a cat’s bum.’


My Review:


This was a fun and delightfully comical tale full of saucy humor, conflicted characters, and a few selfish, contemptible, sleazy, and vile lying cheats. At first, I was restless and alarmed at the rocketing infidelity and breezy disregard Charlie exhibited toward Willow, as well as her lack of observational skills, complete gullibility, and inability to consider warnings. Willow was a sap, quite slow on the uptake, and more than a bit ditzy, but that “sneery little voice in her head” knew better. I have one of those too, although mine generally makes naughty observations and floods my mind with useless bits of information when I’m trying to recall something important like how many calories are in ice cream or my true age.



Ms. Viggiano’s storylines were crisp and amusingly entertaining, the banter was snappy, her characters were enticing yet fatally flawed and humorously detailed, and her analogies were absurdly creative and called up sharply focused and ironic visuals. I smirked, cringed, and giggle-snorted while I read and although I had solved the mystery of the identities of the guilty parties, I still enjoyed the bumpy ride all the way to disembarking the vehicle. This was my first exposure to the comedic stylings of Debbie Viggiano and I adored her clever humor and wry wit so much I have added her entire Goodreads listing to my TBR.



Ms. Viggiano has also provided me with two new additions to my Brit Words and Phrases list with gave it some welly – to use force, and ear-wigging – to eavesdrop.


About The Author

Amazon
Goodreads
Website


Prior to turning her attention to writing, Debbie Viggiano was, for more years than she cares to remember, a legal secretary. She lives with her Italian husband, a rescued puppy from Crete, and a very disgruntled cat. Occasionally her children return home from uni bringing her much joy...apart from their gifts of dirty laundry.

Monday, April 27, 2020

Book Review: The First Date by Zara Stoneley





The First Date
by Zara Stoneley





Amazon US / UK / AU / CA

B&N / GP / Apple



Right place.
Right time.
Wrong guy …

After breaking up with her childhood sweetheart, clueless dater Rosie has found herself in a boyfriend-drought. So when she finally swipes right on a guy who seems interested, she can’t wait to meet up IRL.

Until she’s left standing alone. In a bar. Ghosted.

Enter Noah. Confident, funny … and a serial first dater. Offering to give Rosie a crash course in seduction, this could be just what she needs. Until her matchmaker turns out to be the best date she’s ever had – and Rosie wonders if she wants the fake dates to be the real ones after all …

A hilarious, heartwarming romantic comedy about what happens when the wrong guy turns up at the right time, perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella and Debbie Johnson.


My Rating:


Favorite Quotes:

I go out looking for men, but I just find wankers and bell-ends.



He has missed birthdays, holidays and even Christmas on one memorable occasion – memorable because I have never heard my mum scream so loud or threaten to cut off his goolies and hang them from the highest branches of the tree. Quite honestly, at eight years old this held a morbid fascination and I did wonder what colour string she’d use and if she’d drape tinsel round them.



He chuckles, and it’s a rich, chocolatey sound that makes me squeeze my hands together, hunch my shoulders and want to rush round in circles laughing like an excited cartoon princess.



This could be like agreeing to enter a shark cage just because you want to look at the pretty penguins that they’re about to eat.



I really could have grabbed Noah and kissed him. As in totally snogged his face off. Tonsils, tongues and tits as my mate at school used to say when we were young and hormonally challenged.



…come on get a move on we’ve only got two hours and three minutes to get you defuzzed and looking completely au-naturel. And we all know that takes bloody ages! Can’t you just go for tarty and high-maintenance? I can achieve that in half an hour flat.




My Review:


I always enjoy losing myself to Zara Stoneley’s giggle-snort and smirk-worthy levity, wry wit, and endearingly awkward and quirky characters who tend to be more than a bit chipped, frayed, or fully cracked. This cleverly penned, maddeningly paced, slowly evolving, and highly amusing tale appeared to be a hybrid of women’s fiction, romantic/comedy, family drama, and slow-burn romance. I adore Ms. Stoneley’s comedically descriptive, multi-faceted, and well-nuanced writing style; she entertains while requiring me to expend a bit of effort to get there, which flavors that HEA all the sweeter.



And I picked up a naughty little entry for my Brit Word List with bell-end – which appears to be vulgar British slang for the end of the penis as well as a contemptible or foolish person. Like Rosie’s friend Bea, I’ve swum in that dating pool as well ;) 




About The Author


Goodreads
Website

Zara Stoneley is the USA Today bestselling author of The Wedding Date.

Born in a small village in the UK, she wanted to be a female James Herriot, a spy, or an author when she grew up. After many (many) years and many different jobs, her dream of writing a bestseller came true.

She writes about friendship, dreams, love, and happy ever afters, and hopes that her tales make you laugh a lot, cry a little, and occasionally say 'ahhh'.

Zara now lives in a Cheshire village with her family, a lively cockapoo called Harry, and a very bossy (and slightly evil) cat called Saffron.


Zara’s bestselling novels include 'The Wedding Date', 'The Holiday Swap', 'Summer with the Country Village Vet', 'Blackberry Picking at Jasmine Cottage' and the popular Tippermere series - 'Stable Mates', 'Country Affairs' and 'Country Rivals'.





Saturday, April 25, 2020

Book Review: The Treble With Men by Piper Sheldon

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The Treble With Men, an all-new secret identity romantic standalone from Piper Sheldon, is now available in Kindle Unlimited!


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As far as Green Valley is concerned, Kim Dae disappeared into the Wraiths a decade ago. They were sort of right. Kim has spent her life since Jethro fighting her curious nature and trying to blend into the background. Unfortunately for her, a mysterious Maestro comes to town and takes quick notice of her for reasons unknown to anybody.

The masked conductor, known simply as Devlin, was already a source of much gossip thanks to his reputation for getting fired. Now, his sudden interest in the quiet fourth chair cellist has added fuel to the rumor fire. The new conductor of the symphony needs to learn to control his temper and finish his latest musical masterpiece and only the reluctant star of his symphony can help him do that. If Devlin can’t convince Kim to help to finish his latest composition he’ll lose everything.

Can Devlin and Kim compose without losing composure?

‘The Treble with Men’ is a full-length contemporary romance, can be read as a standalone, and is book #2 in the Scorned Women’s Society series, Green Valley World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

SWS02-LIVE-KU copy

Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2G5yooC

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My Rating:


Favorite Quotes:


Richard Firmin and Andrew Gill were the co-presidents of the SOOK… Nobody else called them Andy-Dick, but as they were a package deal, it was just easier. 

He pulled his baton from his coat jacket like it was Harry Potter’s wand…

“I hate guys like that. Don’t worry. If you want, I'll kick his ass.” He flexed and kissed his biceps. “These guns haven’t lost their bullets.”

If you ever tell anybody I screamed like that, they’ll never find your body.

I’ll never agree to anything without hearing it first. That’s how people end up with a tattoo of a platypus on their ass.

Sleep had hit me so hard, I woke up in the same exact position I’d fallen asleep in, wondering what year it was.


My Review:


I enjoyed this installment twice as much as the first one, it was a wicked funny, multi-faceted, slow-burn romance.  The multiple storylines were actively paced and written in my favorite dual POV featuring extremely complicated and oddly fractured characters who were struggling with themselves and each other.   Both were ducking for cover from their pasts by using dual personas while doing a rather pitiable job of functioning as either one.  They were intelligent people who were living in their heads and essentially emotional and social idiots.  I’m curious to see where this series goes next.  


About Piper Sheldon

Piper Sheldon writes Contemporary Romance and Magical Realism books that hope to be New York Times bestsellers when they grow up. For now, she works as a technical writer during the day and writes about love the rest of the time. Of course, she also makes room for her husband, toddler, and two needy dogs at home in the Desert Southwest.

PSPSPSPSPSP

Find Piper Sheldon online


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Friday, April 24, 2020

Book Review: The German Heiress by Anika Scott




The German Heiress

by Anika Scott


Amazon US / UK / CA / AU /

 384 pages
 William Morrow Paperbacks (April 7, 2020)

“Meticulously researched and plotted like a noir thriller, The German Heiress tells a different story of WWII— of characters grappling with their own guilt and driven by the question of what they could have done to change the past.” —Jessica Shattuck, New York Times bestselling author of The Women in the Castle

For readers of The Alice Network and The Lost Girls of Paris, an immersive, heart-pounding debut about a German heiress on the run in post-World War II Germany.

Clara Falkenberg, once Germany’s most eligible and lauded heiress, earned the nickname “the Iron Fräulein” during World War II for her role operating her family’s ironworks empire. It’s been nearly two years since the war ended and she’s left with nothing but a false identification card and a series of burning questions about her family’s past. With nowhere else to run to, she decides to return home and take refuge with her dear friend, Elisa.

Narrowly escaping a near-disastrous interrogation by a British officer who’s hell-bent on arresting her for war crimes, she arrives home to discover the city in ruins, and Elisa missing. As Clara begins tracking down Elisa, she encounters Jakob, a charismatic young man working on the black market, who, for his own reasons, is also searching for Elisa. Clara and Jakob soon discover how they might help each other—if only they can stay ahead of the officer determined to make Clara answer for her actions during the war.

Propulsive, meticulously researched, and action-fueled, The German Heiress is a mesmerizing page-turner that questions the meaning of justice and morality, deftly shining the spotlight on the often-overlooked perspective of Germans who were caught in the crossfire of the Nazi regime and had nowhere to turn.
My Rating: 


Favorite Quotes:


What a slippery thing conscience could be. It had driven her in two directions. To her father, with all the duties of family and work… And then she had been driven to help the workers, an act that put everything else at risk. One side of her conscience undermining the other. And still she had listened to both. She had thought she could do justice to both. 


In Jakob’s experience, you had to watch the Tommies when they were being too nice. You never knew when they’d turn on you, remind you of what a Nazi you’d been, regardless of the truth. The Tommies would call you a lowly foreigner in your own country. 


My Review: 


She was called The Iron Fräulein, Clara Falkenberg was a curiously captivating and intriguing study of contrasts. Her mother was British yet appeared far more fanatic about the Nazi agenda than her opportunistic German father. Clara was the only daughter and the publicity darling for her wealthy family’s ironworks business, which made several more fortunes during the war using forced labor. Clara was also the former Reich’s most eligible heiress and graced magazines on both sides of the ocean. However, in post-war Germany, her notoriety worked against her. 


This was my introduction to the powerful and emotive word voodoo of Anika Scott and wow, does this gal have some major skills! The storylines were smartly crafted and absorbing, intricate, well scaffolded, intriguing, thoughtfully observant, and heart-squeezing while cast with a peculiar assortment of broken, flawed, complex, and often unlikable yet deeply compelling characters. I felt conflicted yet totally engaged from start to finish. And all this in a debut novel… the little pea in my brain just exploded. 


I was provided with a review copy of this cunningly crafted book by HarperCollins and TLC Book Tours.




 About The Author

Anika Scott was a journalist at the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Chicago Tribune before moving to Germany, where she currently lives in Essen with her husband and two daughters. She has worked in radio, taught journalism seminars at an eastern German university, and written articles for European and American publications. Originally from Michigan, she grew up in a car industry family. This is her first novel.Find out more about Anika at her website, and connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.


Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Book Review: Truths I Never Told You by Kelly Rimmer




Truths I Never Told You
by Kelly Rimmer



Amazon US / UK / CA / AU

B&N / GP / Apple / BAM


After finding disturbing journal pages that suggest her late mother didn't die in a car accident as her father had always maintained, Beth Walsh begins a search for answers to the question -- what really happened to their mother? With the power and relevance of Jodi Picoult and Lisa Jewell, Rimmer pens a provocative novel told by two women a generation apart, the struggles they unwittingly shared, and a family mystery that may unravel everything they believed to be true.

With her father recently moved to a care facility because of worsening signs of dementia, Beth Walsh volunteers to clear out the family home to prepare it for sale. Why shouldn’t she be the one, after all? Her three siblings are all busy with their families and successful careers, and Beth is on maternity leave after giving birth to Noah, their miracle baby. It took her and her husband Hunter years to get pregnant, but now that they have Noah, Beth can only feel panic. And leaving Noah with her in-laws while she pokes about in their father’s house gives her a perfect excuse not to have to deal with motherhood.

Beth is surprised to discover the door to their old attic playroom padlocked, and even more shocked to see what’s behind it – a hoarder’s mess of her father’s paintings, mounds of discarded papers, and miscellaneous junk. Her father was the most fastidious, everything-in-its-place man, and this chaos makes no sense. As she picks through the clutter, she finds a handwritten note attached to one of the paintings, in what appears to be in her late mother’s handwriting. Beth and her siblings grew up believing Grace Walsh died in a car accident when they were little more than toddlers, but this note suggests something much darker may be true. A frantic search uncovers more notes, seemingly a series of loose journal entries that paint a very disturbing portrait of a woman in profound distress, and of a husband that bears very little resemblance to the father Beth and her siblings know.

A fast-paced, harrowing look at the fault in memories and the lies that can bond families together - or tear them apart.



My Rating:



Favorite Quotes:


Alicia came with him a few times, then suddenly stopped helping out. As far as I can tell, she’s very busy being a “media personality.” Given she hasn’t had an acting or modeling gig for at least a decade, “media personality” seems to mean she spends her mornings at the gym and her afternoons with her socialite friends, hoping she’ll make it into the frame of a paparazzi photo so she can complain about her lack of privacy.



Here, more than anywhere, I feel his absence. The room smells like Dad— his aftershave and deodorant linger in the air. This scent is warm hugs on sad days, and laughter over the breakfast bar, and suffering through the sheer boredom of the old black-and-white movie marathons he so loved to inflict upon us on rainy weekends.



Mrs. Hills and Aunt Nina insisted on taking me out for a bachelorette party the weekend before the wedding. I protested furiously at this, mostly because I wasn’t exactly excited by the idea of suffering through two octogenarians offering me sex advice.



“For your generation, these problems have names, and because they are defined, solutions can be found for them. But for my generation, we didn’t have access to those solutions and it made life endlessly complicated… and for women like your mother, endlessly cruel.” Two weeks ago I stuffed a script for Prozac into my tote bag, and it’s still there— resting between baby wipes and spare pacifiers and my purse. I clutch the strap tighter in my hand… Sometimes moments of change happen during quiet conversations like this, when a simple shift in perspective empowers you to make a choice you just haven’t been able to make before.



My Review: 


I finished Kelly Rimmer's latest work with tears in my eyes and hot rocks in my throat, a condition I had experienced several times during my perusal of this poignant and keenly written piece. Poignant is the word that keeps circling in my gray matter, and while accurate, poignant falls short of doing justice to this thoughtful penned story. Let me add a few more adjectives and adverbs in my paltry attempt to express my scattered thoughts, including - profoundly insightful, real-world issues, extremely relevant, heart-squeezing, painfully honest, highly emotive, sensitively handled, cleverly nuanced, masterfully written, and brilliantly paced. Ms. Rimmer seems to have an adept and nimble skill at walking the line of both sides of a controversial subject and deftly and thoughtfully exposing the grim disparities, inequities, and nitty-gritty parts that neither side can ignore. I covet her mad skills and will ever remain her ardent fangirl for life.





 About The Author


Kelly Rimmer is the worldwide and USA TODAY bestselling author of Before I Let You Go, Me Without You, and The Secret Daughter. She lives in rural Australia with her husband, two children, and fantastically naughty dogs, Sully and Basil. Her novels have been translated into more than twenty languages. 

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Book Review: The Gin Lover's Guide to Dating by Nina Kaye




 The Gin Lover's Guide to Dating
 by Nina Kaye


Amazon US / UK / AU / CA

B&N / GP / Apple



When life gives you lemons... add a splash of gin

Two parts sparkling comedy. One dose of romantic tension. Mix well with a second chance, a splash of mystery, and garnish with a twist of fate...

When Liv's high-flying career goes off the rails, she finds herself working at a glitzy new gin bar to pay the bills. Yes, she's got a knack for reading the customers, she's finally got time to have some fun, and she might have just found some real friends - but it's just until she gets her life back on track, right?

But between humiliating encounters with her old workmates, one very hot bartender, and a lot of soul searching to do, Liv's life is even more muddled than a Blackberry Bramble...

Can Liv face up to her past, seize her future, and mix her own recipe for happiness?

A hilarious, feel-good romantic comedy for fans of Mhairi McFarlane and Sophie Ranald



My Rating:


Favorite Quotes:


By the time she’s done, I’ve only heard, and taken in, a fraction of what she’s said. But I have developed, in my head, a full technicolour adaptation of how, given the chance, I would inflict the slowest and most painful death possible upon her. This beast needs to be slain.



‘She is clever. With Aaron she is like butter that would not spread.’ ‘You mean melt.’ … ‘She is a real jacket and hype.’ ‘You mean Jekyll and Hyde!’



I don’t have time for men in my life… My rule is to enjoy looking, but not to touch. They never turn out to be as good as the fantasy anyway.



‘So, you are older. This is good. You can teach him. You can be his puma… You know.’ Reyes searches for the explanation. ‘The older woman who takes a young hombre.’ ‘The word you’re looking for is cougar,’ I say flatly.



‘You are not over this hill.’ Reyes swipes her hand through the air, causing me to instinctively duck. ‘You are only thirty-one. This world is still your oyster sauce.’ ‘Oyster,’ I correct her. ‘It’s just oyster.’




My Review:


This was a slowly developing character-driven novel of women's fiction with random yet frequent sparkles of amusing levity. I initially struggled with this one as I had difficulty working up much empathy for the main character as Liv came off as snobbish and just far too over-served with her own self-importance. Her goals were serious yet she lived a frivolous and shallow life while contemptuous of anything that appeared beneath her desired standing – Liv was not someone whom I would enjoy sharing my air. But I felt her devastation and inner turmoil and understand her issues once her history was revealed.


The secondary characters were an entertaining and interesting collection of likable personalities and the impetus of most of the humorous content with malaprops from an adorable English as a second language speaker. And the character's surreptitious blog posts were beyond clever with tasty gin pairings that I was eager to replicate and consume. However, I nearly spluttered my Tom Collins at the idea of Liv waking up and discovering her new blog had amassed over twelve thousand subscribers without effort, that and her expectation to make serious coin from said blog. I laughed and laughed…



I stumbled upon a fun addition to my British Isles word list while enjoying this highly fictional account - with stonker, which is something that is large or impressive. I had a stonker of a bill for bar supplies after reading this thirst-inducing missive.



About The Author

Amazon
Goodreads


Nina Kaye is a Romantic Comedy author who writes fast-paced, entertaining reads with a deeper edge.

Nina started writing her first novel when she was seventeen (and locked in her room, supposedly studying for her future). It was a short-lived experience that ended as soon as Nina’s exams did, but the dream of writing never left her.

Nina lives in Edinburgh with her husband and much-adored side-kick, James. In addition to writing, Nina enjoys swimming, gin, and karaoke (preferably all enjoyed together in a sunny, seaside destination).

Sunday, April 19, 2020

Book Review: The Perfect Couple by Jackie Kabler



The Perfect Couple
by Jackie Kabler


Amazon US / UK / AU / CA /

B&N / GP / Apple


The perfect couple…or the perfect lie?

A year and a half ago, Gemma met the love of her life, Danny. Since then, their relationship has been like something out of a dream. But one Friday evening, Gemma returns home to find Danny is nowhere to be seen.

After two days with no word from her husband, Gemma turns to the police. She is horrified with what she discovers – a serial killer is on the loose in Bristol. When she sees the photos of the victims she is even more stunned…the victims all look just like Danny.

But, the detectives aren’t convinced by Gemma’s story. Why has no one apart from Gemma seen or heard from Danny in weeks? Why is there barely a trace of him in their flat? Is she telling them the truth, or are there more secrets and lies in this marriage than meets the eye?



My Rating:


Favorite Quotes:


In the hallway, a plaster statue of Jesus, arms outstretched, greeted visitors, while the rest of the house was dominated by paintings and figurines depicting the Madonna and Child, Saint Bernadette (‘patron saint of illness’, Danny had hissed, one eyebrow raised, as he’d given me the tour), Saint Jude (‘he’s for desperate causes’) and Saint Clare (‘eye diseases. And, weirdly, patron saint of laundry and television,’ he’d said). Wildly sceptical, I’d googled Saint Clare at the first available opportunity, only to find out he’d been absolutely right. Laundry? Why did laundry need a patron saint?



They’re complicated sometimes, family relationships, aren’t they? Love and hate, hate and love, so tightly entwined that they almost become one.



DS Clarke was looking at me with a new interest, the gentleness I’d seen in his eyes previously replaced with something more piercing, as if I was a fascinating exhibit in a museum.



Karma, I thought yet again. The number of times I’d been part of a press pack, staking out the home of a politician or a paedophile, desperate to get that shot, that interview. I’d barely given a thought to how awful it must be for those trapped inside their homes. Well, I knew now, didn’t I?



My Review:


This tale had me chewing on my lips and wanting to pull my own hair, it was cunning, deviously clever, and maddeningly paced. I devised numerous wild and far-fetched theories and while partly correct, I hadn’t worked it all out as this plot was so twisty I doubt anybody could have and dare anyone to claim they had. The little pea in my brain was scorched from the effort and during the big reveal I wanted to shout at the idiocy of the main character, but I’m not sure how I feel about the conclusion other than brain bruised and distressed. Several of these characters were chillingly abhorrent and I despised the nearsighted and mono-focus of the police. Oh the sheer guile and artifice of this crafty author, Jackie Kabler is a full-blown trickster who ruthlessly tipped her own special blend of itching powder into my gray matter.


About The Author

Amazon
Goodreads
Website

Jackie Kabler is a journalist, TV presenter and author. She spent twenty years as a TV news reporter for GMTV, ITV and BBC news, and now works as a presenter for shopping channel QVC and is author of the Cora Baxter Mysteries, a series of murder mysteries set in a television newsroom.

Jackie lives in Gloucestershire with her husband, who is a GP.