Tag: contemporary romance

This Chick Read: Becoming a Vincent (The Wild Ones #1) by C.M. Owens

Tomahawk, from it’s description, is a rather simple town. People are just folks, cousins are kin, and hi-tech means you drive a speedboat instead of a fishing boat. Lilah and her two brothers are Wild Ones. There are four families of Wild Ones on each corner of the lake in Tomahawk. The Wild Ones are exactly like their moniker, pretty dang wild. They are not allowed at the same party unless it’s a wedding or a funeral of one of the wild ones. Truly, I can’t remember all the rules, but if there are two families at the same party there’s either a fight or something blows up.

For the past nine years, all of the men of Tomahawk have been bearded  because of a bet and all of the ladies are just grossed out. You’d think if you weren’t getting any action because your beard got in the way I wouldn’t think a bet would be a strong enough reason to keep it, but these men are stubborn! Lila’s best friend Benson (also bearded) has been a constant for the last three years. Even though on drunken nights he gets kind of handsy, they never cross that line. When the beard rule gets broken and Benson trims down, Lilah is wishing for that line to be crossed, and soon!

This novel was absolutely hysterical! It had such a fun sense of humor and plenty of tension between Lilah and Benson. I loved how he was just hers, and she was his, even though they had never crossed that friendly line. He was just waiting for his chance. If you are looking for a kind of crazy, fun romance buy this book. I bought it awhile ago on my sister’s recommendation but sat on it. I wish I hadn’t! It’s the perfect pick me up for a down day, a great summer vacation novel, and really just the right book for any mood you may be in. I’ve already purchased the second… ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Becoming a Vincent

Click this link to purchase! Becoming A Vincent (The Wild Ones) (Volume 1)

Copyright 2018 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

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This Chick Read: Neanderthal Seeks Human (Knitting in the City #1) by Penny Reid

I have never had a friend like Janie Morris, you know, that friend that delivers too much information? OK, now that I think about it I may have had a few, and it’s usually really personal stuff that you just shouldn’t be sharing. Janie also has that TMI disease, however when she starts talking it’s usually extraneous facts and figures. She does this when she gets uncomfortable and no one makes her more uncomfortable than Quinn Sullivan. Quinn is that hot security guy at work that all the women whisper and steal glances at, and Janie is guilty of doing just that. However, when you are having the absolute worst day of your life, you find out your boyfriend cheated on you and you break up with him, you have to move out and you have no where to live, and you lose your job? You do not want THAT guy (aka Quinn Sullivan) to witness it. Just her luck, he’s the one who helps her pack up her things and escorts her out of the building. Obviously this is not the end of Josie and Quinn’s story, it’s just the beginning!

Recently I finished Beard in Mind (which I loved!) and was again entranced with Penny Reid’s style of writing. It’s engaging and funny but also packs an emotional punch. I didn’t want to let go! So, I thought I’d start a series that I hadn’t read of hers, and has a ton of books. That is the Knitting in the City series. Just as with the Brothers Winston, this book had kooky characters that while flying solo may be a bit nutty, but when together make the perfect matched set. Quinn and Josie were Salt and Pepper, that matched set.

Quinn played the straight man to Josie’s kooky mess. When she was spouting information he followed her train of thought, asking her questions to keep the conversation rolling. Who knows what was going on in his own mind at times, he was so stoic, but she seemed to bring out an inner light in him that seemed to be missing.

This novel was so much fun to read. Light, fun, and had all the emotions you would want in a romance. The best thing? There are seven more in the series! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️

Neanderthal

Click this link to purchase! Neanderthal Seeks Human: A Smart Romance (Knitting in the City) (Volume 1)

Copyright 2018 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

I am an Amazon Associate and receive a small stipend if you purchase through the above link.

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This Chick Read: Rhythm, Chord & Malykhin by Mariana Zapata

Gaby Barreto doesn’t know what she’s going to do with the rest of her life. She just finished college and her boyfriend broke up with her. When her twin brother calls from the road to ask if she’ll come on tour and sell their merchandise for them she says yes and gets on a plane to live in a bus with her brother Eli and his two bandmates. Oh yeah, she’ll also live on the bus with 4 more guys from another band. Gaby has always been fun, funny and one of the guys, but when she meets Sacha Malykhin she wants that friend zone to turn into something else but she’s determined to play it cool.

Gaby is that girl you’ve always wanted to be. Self assured, funny and pretty. The girl that everyone is comfortable around. She grew up listening to her brothers music and has even toured with their band before back in the days when they got around in a beat up bus. I loved her camaraderie with all of the guys, but especially with Sacha. She had just broken up with her boyfriend but when she and Sacha meet there’s laughter and a twinkle to their connection. It just seems to be really easy for them. Even though they don’t get together for a really long time, you can tell that the connection between them, even as friends is real.

This is not your typical rock star romance. There isn’t any drama (well only a tiny bit) and there’s tons of laughter. These people really don’t have a lot of baggage. Maybe that’s why I could relate to them so well? They were an easy couple to see together. I also really enjoyed Gaby’s interactions with all the other guys on the bus, especially Eli and Mason. Eli is her twin so they have that special connection, but Mason is that brother from another mother. He was hysterical!  I’d love to see him have his own story, but he’ll probably have to live in my fantasies instead. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️

Rhythm Chord

Click this link to purchase! Rhythm, Chord & Malykhin

Copyright 2018 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

I am an Amazon Associate and receive a small stipend if you purchase through the above link.

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This Chick Read: Night Shifts Black (NSB #1) by Alyson Santos

Callie is contemplating what to order for breakfast at a diner when a good looking guy with a sad soulful look in his eye approaches her table and asks if she can move seats. She does, only moving to the seat across the table from the chair she had been sitting in. As she settles in her seat she watches this man stare at the chair she had been sitting in, hesitantly reach towards it and draw his hand away. Then he quickly turns around and leaves the diner. The waitress tells her that this is the third day he’s come in and done that. Intrigued, Callie shows up the next morning, sits at the same table and when the man approaches she invites him to have a seat at the next table with her. They strike up a conversation and the two of them become semi friendly, jokingly calling themselves the breakfast club. As this looks like a romance novel and I can feel Callie’s attraction to Luke, I thought ok, here’s my couple. but nope! Callie and Luke were not my romantic couple, but their relationship was the catalyst that drove Callie to find romance. Luke was the best friend. Intrigued? Hell yes!

This novel felt like a J. T. Geissinger novel. Full of great character depth, intense feelings, and agonizing pain. Just as you’d deduce from the above scene, Luke was working his way through emotional trauma. Callie, it seemed was his straight man, but she actually had a lot of depth too and together they had a solid supportive friendship. So, where is the love in this love story? There is one, it’s just not where I expected it. When it happens, it fits, and it’s wonderful.

This novel was seriously good! I loved the friendships in this novel. Dealing with serious topics like depression and suicide, the friendship and love that these characters felt for each other was what elevated the story to another level. Will I be reading the second book in this series, Tracing Holland? Yes, I have to see how Luke falls in love! Oh, did I mention this is a Rock Star romance? NSB, or Night Shifts Black is the name of their band, just in case you are wondering about that title.

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Night Shifts Black

Click this link to purchase! Night Shifts Black (NSB Book 1)

Copyright 2018 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

I am an Amazon Associate and receive a small stipend if you purchase through the above link.

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This Chick Read: Then There Was You by Miranda Liasson

Sara Langdon has returned home to Angel Falls a year after her fiancee broke up with her two days before their wedding. She can’t help but blame his best man Colton for not keeping him on the straight and narrow, instead letting him fall for the girl who jumped out of the cake. Sara is now back after finishing her residency and partners up with her father at his medical practice, while living with her grandmother who has just started showing signs of dementia. When she has to sew Sheriff Colton Walker’s arm closed she has to face her past a little sooner than she’d like. She and Colton have known each other since childhood and have never gotten along, but there was always an underlying tension and now that she’s single, that tension is of the sexual variety.

Then There Was You is your typical enemies to lovers trope and Sara and Colton take their time fighting before they get to the lovers part. It creates a nice tension to their story, but also gives the reader a little time to get to know their pasts and why they always hated each other. Sara’s reason for being back in Angel Falls is a great subplot and humanizes Sara making her more three dimensional. Without dealing with the effects of dementia on a family, as well as learning how to partner with her father in a medical practice I think she would have been just like a lot of other romance heroines, pretty vanilla. Instead we see all that Sara’s got going on in her life, and there is a lot of it! She deals with those problems, while still agonizing over Colton and his behavior towards their budding relationship.

If we had not gotten those family subplots for both Sara and Colton I think I wouldn’t have liked this book as much as I did. There were a few moments between them as a couple that were pretty cliche, but how they dealt with their families, and then each other at the end of the book rounded out their characters and made me like them as a couple. There were a few moments where I wanted to kick Colton in the rear, but that added to the tension in the book very nicely.  If you are a fan of Miranda Liasson’s you will love this book- it’s a good start to a brand new series. ❤️❤️❤️❣️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for my honest review and it was honest!

There There was You

Click this link to purchase! Then There Was You (Angel Falls)

Copyright 2018 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

I am an Amazon Associate and receive a small stipend if you were to purchase this book through the above link.

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This Chick Read: Hedging His Bets (Brits in Manhattan #3) by Laura Carter

The third novel in the Brits in Manhattan series, Hedging His Bets takes place in London where Jake Harrington is by day working as a commodities broker and by night enjoying his friends with benefits arrangement with roommate Jess. What looks to be an easy arrangement between friends has hidden depths and as this novel evolves we learn through flashbacks that each of them is hiding from deeper emotions. Jess from the loss of her parents at a young age and Jake from the betrayal of his best female friend back in New York, Emily. When Jake has to go to the Hampton’s for a week to visit his family. he asks Jess to go with him for moral support.  While working to put his past behind him, Jake realizes what he wants for his future.

Jess was such an interesting heroine! Seeing her mother die from a broken heart, after watching her father waste away, she was afraid of love. She traveled with an aunt and uncle to third world countries and saw a bigger world view that influenced the decisions she made in life. Those flashbacks to Thailand showed a contrast between that culture’s faith and her own despondence and lack of color in her life. When she met Jake, her world bloomed.

Jake had a totally different upbringing with a happy family and happy life. His world, until he graduated from college revolved around his friendship and feelings for Emily. When he meets Jess, it is an instant connection but the easiness of their friendship fooled him for awhile. It isn’t until he has to face his past that he truly grows up and see’s what’s right in front of his face.

I liked Balancing the Scales and enjoyed Drew and Becky’s relationship. It was fun, hot and well there were pastries and everything is better with a piece of cake, right? It was a good start to a nice series, however, Hedging His Bets was the full meal, not just the dessert. The characters were well rounded, the sex scenes moved the story forward, and most importantly the emotional climax of Jake and Jess’s story gave the ending the impact I wanted for my happily ever after. Hedging His Bets is the best book in the series and Laura Carter’s best book to date. If you haven’t read the first two books in this series, I would encourage you to not be discouraged from picking up this novel. It can easily be read as a stand alone novel, but the first two books are also worth reading because of the British cheekiness and charm that infuses Ms. Carter’s style of writing. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for my honest review and it was honest!

IMG_2334

Click this link to purchase! Hedging His Bets (Brits in Manhattan)

Copyright 2018 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

I am an Amazon Associate and receive a small stipend if you purchase through the above link.

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This Chick Read: Melt for You (Slow Burn #2) by J. T. Geissinger

Joellen has had a crush on the CEO of her firm since she started working there 10 years ago. When Michael Maddox’s marriage is breaking up that far away dream becomes attainable. Can she catch the eye of her perfect CEO? Cameron MacGregor is subleasing the apartment across the hall from Joellen. He is brash, scruffy, and the captain of a pro British Rugby team. Cam is also a big ladies man with a reputation for trouble. He offers to help “coach” Jo into catching her CEO, but quickly realizes that she is the woman he wants and starts to play dirty to keep her.

Finally, a Geissinger hero who is not fighting a darkness in his soul that only his heroine can shine a light on! Don’t get me wrong, Cam has his problems. He didn’t have a great childhood and fought to attain the status he currently has as a pro Rugby player, but he is charming and laughs easily. NOT like other characters in her novels. It was so refreshing and unexpected! Jo, also is unlike her other heroines. She is self described as somewhat plump and average looking, although both Cam and Michael see her very differently. It’s been awhile since Jo has practiced her feminine wiles, so when Cam offers to be her test subject the sparks fly. She spends most of the book being charmingly confused over who she really wants, Cam or Michael. Since this is an HEA we know going in who she’s going to pick, but that journey was really a lot of fun to read!

I loved both Jo and Cam! They each had their own insecurities that they helped each other overcome. Their relationship was fresh, sassy and filled with humor. In comparison, Michael seemed to be a dolt. No competition in my eyes! This Slow Burn series seems to be a stand alone novel as there was no relationship between the characters from book to book. Feel free to pick this up and enjoy! The Slow Burn comes from the build up in their relationship from friends to lovers. I was sitting on the edge of my seat in anticipation of the conclusion to this novel. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for my honest review and it was honest!

Melt for You

Click this link to purchase! Melt for You (Slow Burn)

Copyright 2018 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved.

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This Chick Read: Burn For You (Slow Burn #1) by J. T. Geissinger

Bianca Hardwick is a chef and owner of a restaurant in New Orleans. When she creates her menu around Boudreaux Bourbon her restaurant gains some notoriety and draws the eye of Jackson “the Beast” Boudreaux, a local resident. When Jax comes into her restaurant one night and can’t get seated immediately he lets the “Beast” out and is rude to her staff. Initially pleased and nervous he was in her restaurant, Bianca gets her back up over his demeaning her staff and her menu. Jax is intrigued by this beautiful chef who doesn’t back down and when he needs a chef for a charity event, he pays her a huge sum of money. Needing that money for personal reasons, Bianca puts together a menu that helps him raise tons of money and has them working directly together where more sparks fly.

J. T Geissinger writes tortured men so well, and Jackson Boudreaux is a fascinating character to unwrap. There is obvious tension between these two characters both sexual and mental, but unraveling Jax’s history into why he is “the Beast” intrigues not only Bianca but the reader as well. Bianca is forced into Jax’s company by need for cash, but quickly see’s the pain beneath the rude exterior and even though going through some personal pain as well, wants to soothe the savage beast.

Bianca is creole and talks with that Louisiana twang that gives this book great flavor, but it’s the characters around her that give her warmth and make her genuine. I love her relationship with her mother, the sass, grit and love they have for each other is a huge reason why I liked Bianca as much as I did. When Jax meets her mother for the first time, the contrast between her anxiety and his gentlemanly behavior  sold me on them as a couple. Burn For You is a slow burn novel, meaning that they develop their relationship slowly. They start off enemies (at least on her side), develop a friendship, and then become lovers and that journey when done well captures the reader, and that was the case with Burn for You. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Burn For You

Click this link to purchase! Burn for You (Slow Burn Book 1)

Copyright 2018 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved.

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This Chick Read: Midnight Valentine by J. T. Geissinger

Megan Dunn has struggled to get over the loss of her husband Cass who died five years ago. Deciding to act upon a dream the two of them had to buy and re-do a B&B they loved in Seaside, Oregon, Megan starts interviewing contractors. Theo Valentine, the towns best contractor, really wants this job but seems to have taken a big dislike to Megan glaring in silence at her the first time he see’s her. That isn’t the only challenge to working together, Theo is also mute. He hasn’t spoken since a car accident five years ago.

Megan was one of those heroines you just love. She is battling depression, wanting to live. She knows who she is and doesn’t suffer any fools, which is why she tries so hard to steer clear of Theo at the beginning of the novel, but fate seems to be betting against her when it comes to ditching Theo. Her feelings seemed to mirror my own until I started to grasp where this novel was heading, then I was rooting for Theo wanting to see him get his happily ever after.

Midnight Valentine explores the darkness inside both Theo and Megan. She is emotionally distraught over the death of her husband, and well, we aren’t sure why Theo is emotionally distraught, but it’s obvious he is. J. T. Geissinger writes emotional romantic tales so well and Midnight Valentine is right up there as one of my favorites by this author. The mystery of why Theo has an instant dislike to Megan contrasted with their amazing chemistry kept me turning the pages well into the night. The highest compliment to an author is to not be able to put their book down and that was certainly the case with Midnight Valentine. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❣️

Click this link to purchase! Midnight Valentine

Copyright 2018 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

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This Chick Read: Beard in Mind (Winston Brothers #4) by Penny Reid

I have been waiting for Beau Winston’s story. Twin to Duane, Beau is his complete opposite, charming, handsome, funny and loved by everyone.  We saw just a hint of Beau’s turmoil of his new co-worker Shelly in Cletus’s story in Beard Science. Shelly, who is drop dead gorgeous but is socially inept. Beau loves her at first site, but then hates her when he realizes how rude she is, but it’s that kind of hate that rides the line of love and in Beard in Mind we see Beau cross that line into love and we are given insight into why Shelly is rude and impervious to Beau’s charm.

Shelly was a fascinating character. She was seriously flawed, in therapy, and very infatuated with Beau. When Beau finally see’s past the fact that Shelly didn’t fall at his feet, he opens his eyes to why she is the way she is and he is all in. No hesitation. I loved that about him. Shelly has some serious issues, she is OCD to a level I’ve never read before and she needs Beau with a capital N, and Beau needs her back in just the same way. This was a LOVE story full of trepidation, self awareness, and charm. It had a sweetness that was different than the other stories in this series. It didn’t have Duane and Jess’s sizzle, Jethro and Sienna’s humor, and Cletus and Jennifer’s oddity. It was singular in it’s own uniqueness and I enjoyed it a lot.

In addition to the love story between Shelly and Beau, we also had a story filled with the Winston family dynamic. I want to adopt myself into this family. Even though they are a strange bunch, they love each other infinitely. How nice is that? ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Beard in MInd

Click this link to purchase! Beard in Mind (Winston Brothers Book 4)

Copyright 2018 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

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