Tag: romance

This Chicks Sunday Commentary: Uppercase Box May ’18 Reveal

It’s time for my May 2018 Uppercase Box reveal! It’s always fun to receive these in the mail…. What’s inside? There’s a little hint of which book I was sent peeking out of the top of the bag. Can you take a guess?
The Way uppercase

I always look forward to the other bookish items that are included in the bag. My favorites are always the socks, and this months were so cute! Little foxes reading books. 5 Adorbs! (family joke, as my mom says adorable all the time. We rank Adorbs on a scale from 1-5.)

Fox socks

There were three Alice in Wonderland patches. Very cute, but as I don’t collect patches, I’ll be passing these along in a Giveaway soon!

Alice Patches

The final reveal! What’s in the bag this month?

The Way pin

The much talked about The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo. And a cute KoBra food truck pin from Fierce Reads that says Love is on the Menu.

Now I know if you are a fan of YA you’ve at least seen the cover of The Way You Make Me Feel, but what’s the book about?

Synopsis:

From the author of I Believe in a Thing Called Love, a laugh-out-loud story of love, new friendships, and one unique food truck.

Clara Shin lives for pranks and disruption. When she takes one joke too far, her dad sentences her to a summer working on his food truck, the KoBra, alongside her uptight classmate Rose Carver. Not the carefree summer Clara had imagined. But maybe Rose isn’t so bad. Maybe the boy named Hamlet (yes, Hamlet) crushing on her is pretty cute. Maybe Clara actually feels invested in her dad’s business. What if taking this summer seriously means that Clara has to leave her old self behind? With Maurene Goo’s signature warmth and humor, The Way You Make Me Feel is a relatable story of falling in love and finding yourself in the places you’d never thought to look.

Another YA romance that looks very cute and relatable. Who doesn’t remember those summers working your first job and getting your first crush?

This month’s bag was filled with goodies from Uppercase Box!

The Way group

Want your own copy? Click on the link! The Way You Make Me Feel

 

I hope you enjoyed this quick May’18 Uppercase Box reveal.

Until next Sunday!

Deb

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads2 Comments

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.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads2 Comments

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.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: Torment (Origin #3) by Scarlett Dawn

In a world where the male population outweigh the females you have only a brief time before you have to make a decision. Join the army or get married and start doing your part to build up the depleted population. When you’re on the run from your psychotic father you don’t have a lot of time to think about your future. Megan is just trying to stay one step ahead and off his radar. After escaping imprisonment in the second book in the series, Transcend, Megan had found a job as a bartender. When the mercenaries that helped free her from captivity show up for a drink, Megan worries that they will lead her father straight to her, however her instant chemistry with Rune Mason pushes those worries to the back burner. For the moment. When she learns Rune is a panther shifter and she is his mate, she’s surprisingly blase about the whole thing. Panther? Cool! Well, cat’s do like to hunt, and he does promise to keep her safe from her father. I can see how that would weigh in his favor.

Origin is a serial where the plot is continuous from one book to the next. Our central couple shifts (pun not intended), however the overall story of these shifters trying to save the world from an evil mastermind continues. When Megan finds out her new beau, Rune, is a panther (also a successful, wealthy businessman) and can help her kill her father she embraces this dangerous world. After all, Rune can keep her safe and give her that princess life she’s always wanted. I’m not sure Rune gets anything out of the bargain except for a mate who is sassy and kind of cunning like he is, but as my mom always said, “there’s someone for everyone” and Megan and Rune are a matched set!

This is my second series by Scarlett Dawn, and I have to say that I really enjoy her style of writing. It’s energetic, fun, and kind of wacky! If you can keep yourself from thinking too hard about the details and how the characters move from point A to point B, then you’ll enjoy reading her books. Torment on it’s own was an enjoyable story. I like Rune, he’s always plotting and playful and I felt that Megan was a great match for his cunning cat. I’m used to this world they live in, so those details don’t take me out of the story, but there was one small detail that made me pause and go “huh”. Megan’s dream, after killing her father and being free to do whatever she wants? To be a princess, I’m guessing in a Disney World type setting (I hope!) and making children smile all day was a little far fetched, but maybe that was my own problem. I’ve never had ball gown and magic wand dreams myself. Pushing that one thing aside, Torment was a lot of fun and once again I found myself enjoying the romp. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

Torment

Click this link to purchase! Torment (Origin Book 3)

Copyright 2018 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: Hello Stranger (The Ravenels #4) by Lisa Kleypas

Lisa Kleypas continues to deliver unusual but extremely likable main characters who may be different than main stream society but have a real-ness that readers can relate to and root for. Dr. Garrett Gibson is the first female physician in England. She works for my favorite Welsh department store owner Rhys Winterbourne and has doctored some of our past heroines, so is a familiar sideline character. In Hello Stranger, Garrett gets rocked out of her steady clinical world when Ethan Ransom, ex-Scotland Yard investigator, steps in to help her fight some men hassling her as she’s walking home through a bad neighborhood after work. His offer to help train her in self defense puts them at close quarters and of course their chemistry sizzles. However, Ethan is in the middle of an investigation and doesn’t want to endanger Garrett so tries to leave her be, but fate keeps throwing her in his path.

I love how this authors heroines are unusual for their time. Always smart and in this instance an educated doctor, not your typical society miss. Garrett is a bit stoic and cool, not used to the more passionate emotions but she is so well balanced by Ethan! He has got to be the most romantic historical male I’ve read in quite a long while. As it turns out, he has Irish roots and I don’t know if the author was trying to portray his Irish-ness with a poetic side, but wow. I’m married to an Irishman and I wish he spoke so poetically to me about his feelings! Ethan was a man’s man, yet was definitely not afraid of showing how he felt. If I were Garrett, he would’ve rocked my world too.

This was another fun novel by Lisa Kleypas. Was it my favorite of hers? No. Though I did enjoy these characters and learning about the difficulties Garrett had as a female doctor in a man’s world, even if learning about it in a historical romance, was eye opening.

I can’t wait for West Ravenels book. He was very present in Hello Stranger and he was hilarious! His romance is going to be worth the wait. ❤️❤️❤️❣️

Hello

Click this link to purchase! Hello Stranger: The Ravenels, Book 4

Copyright 2018 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved.

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads

This Chick Read: The Laird (Castle Blackstone #1) by Sandy Blair

Duncan MacDougall, Laird of Castle Blackstone was cursed to haunt the castle until he finds a woman that he could love and make her fall in love with him in his own time. When Beth Pudding inherits Castle Blackstone and finds it haunted she doesn’t shrink away. Raised in foster care, this is the first home she has had that is her own. If it’s haunted she’ll just get to know the ghost and hopefully they can live together companionably. As she proves her mettle Duncan thinks she may be the one to break him from his curse and slides his family ring onto her finger. She travels back in time until she finds herself the bride of Duncan in his own time.

There were several things I liked about this novel. First is our heroine Beth. She has never been loved. She has serious self esteem issues from her years in foster care. She was always passed over for adoption and one of her foster parents made her feel bad about her looks. She was not the beautiful heroine who gets transported back in time and because of her beauty is loved by all. This was a girl who had to work for everything. She worked hard at her job and rose up through the ranks in catering because of that hard work. Duncan saw those attributes in modern time, but when she transported back it was her looks that people talked about, until she started to prove herself again through hard work. I liked Beth a lot. The second thing I liked was that it was a time travel novel. Those are fun! If the characters are bright, they take their knowledge from modern times and use them to better their surroundings. Beth did this and it made everyone love her. The third thing I liked was Duncan. It didn’t take him long to see her for her worth. He was also a handsome Scottish guy in a kilt which doesn’t hurt a romance at all!

I love discovering older books that have several novels in the series out. This book was written in 2016 so now that I know I like the writing I get to play catch up with the series, yay!

❤️❤️❤️❤️

The Laird

Click this link to purchase! The Laird (Castle Blackstone) (Volume 1)

Copyright 2018 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads3 Comments

This Chick Read: Tinfoil Heart by Daisy Prescott #Giveaway!

DP-TF-teaser4a

Lucy grew up thinking her father had been abducted by aliens. It wasn’t just a story to cover up the fact her father was a runaway dad they really believed it.  When Lucy’s mother passes away from cancer, Lucy decides to head out to New Mexico where her parents met to look into those alien abduction theories. Working as a waitress at a small diner in Roswell, Lucy meets Boone Santos. After months of only quiet eating one day he decides to break his silence and ask her out on a date. As he shows her different local aspects of Roswell Lucy is torn between finding out the truth about her father and falling in love with Boone. For some reason she thinks she can’t do both.

I wanted to read this novel because a romance novel in a Roswell setting was truly unique and this story really was one of a kind. The romance at the beginning led me to believe this was going to be a lighthearted love story, but really it was a story about a young woman who was determined to find her roots. Her father’s abandonment of she and her mother made Lucy shy away from commitment. When Boone’s interest turns serious Lucy has to make that decision of whether she wants to continue finding out what happened to her father or stay in Roswell and root herself.

This novel was quirky, fun and emotional taking the reader on their own journey right along with Lucy. She was a bit of a nut so that journey strayed down a few strange paths but I like her character a lot so I was happy meandering along after her. Boone was that good looking hunky hero that you expect to see in a romance but he had some hidden depths that were revealed a bit at a time. This story had quite a few surprises, the biggest being an alternate ending choice for those of us who are more adventurous in our decisions. Tinfoil Heart was my first novel by Daisy Prescott. It’s depth was a pleasant surprise and the feelings these characters generated will resonate for quite a few days. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

I was given an ARC of this book for my honest review and it was honest!

See links below for purchase!

Copyright 2018 Deborah Kehoe The Reading Chick All Rights Reserved

DP-TH-AN

Purchase Now: 
DP-TH-NRgiveawayFB
Enter to win a signed copy of the book and a Tinfoil Heart box of fun!
BOOK DESCRIPTION:

A new romantic comedy about love, letting go, and little green men from USA Today Bestselling author Daisy Prescott.

My father was abducted by aliens.

Or so I believed for the last eighteen years.

After my mother’s death, I moved to Roswell, capital of all things alien. I’m going to find out the truth and nothing will stop me . . . except Boone Santos.

Compared to the intergalactic tinfoil hat brigade, he’s a god amongst mere mortals. Too handsome for his own good (and mine), with a grumpy arrogance, and the most beautiful smile ever—he smashes my plan to pieces like a UFO crashing into the desert.

I need a tinfoil hat for my heart.

Do I believe in aliens? I’m not sure.

What do I believe? I’m not going to fall in love with Boone. Definitely not . . .

AUTHOR BIO:

USA Today Bestselling Author Daisy Prescott writes romantic comedies about real love.

Her Modern Love Stories feature characters in their thirties and forties finding and rediscovering love in unexpected and humorous ways. Her Wingmen books star regular guys who often have beards, drive trucks, and love deeply once they fall. Daisy’s Love with Altitude latest small town, rom com series is set in Aspen, Colorado. Bewitched is a magical serial set in Salem, Massachusetts. Don’t miss her standalone, Tinfoil Heart, a rom com about love, letting go, and little green men.


Newsletter: eepurl.com/xhXb5  

DP-TH-FBbannerAN
On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads2 Comments

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

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads2 Comments

This Chicks Sunday Commentary: Uppercase Box – April ’18 Reveal + #Giveaway

It’s that time again! I look forward to the middle of the month because I know my Uppercase Box will arrive. In case you aren’t familiar with it, Uppercase is a YA book subscription that sends you a recent YA book release. Sometimes the book is a fantasy novel, sci-fi, or contemporary. We’ve had a few fantasy-ish novels lately so I had guessed that April would bring a novel in a contemporary setting. Was I right? You’ll see if you keep reading. Sheesh!

Uppercase (2)

The Uppercase subscription actually comes in a bag, not a box but it doesn’t really matter does it? A book any which way it comes is a great thing. Oh no! I just realized you can kind of see the title of the book through the bag. Oh well. I’ll admit, I’m too lazy to re-take the picture.

There are always other bookish gifts in the bag. This month along with the note about the book was a reading journal. Very cute, but a little too youthful for me. I will be putting this one out in my Little Free Library for one of the neighborhood kids to enjoy!

Upper reading journal

The other items were these two cute book pins. I know there are quite a few bloggers who collect bookish pins. I myself have them on my rolling bag that I take to book fairs and conventions. It’s hard to see but the pin on the left shaped like a book says Read Past My Bedtime. I do that a LOT.

Bookish pins

On to the book in the bag! This month’s book is called Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett. I have not read a book by Jenn Bennett before but I know she is very popular! There was a cute postcard for the book that also came in the bag that leads me to believe that this one is definitely a romance.

Starry Eyes

Synopsis:

In this romantic dramedy from the author of Alex, Approximately, a teen girl’s way-too-ordinary life is driven off the beaten path when she’s abandoned in the wilderness with her worst adversary—the boy who broke her heart.

Ever since last year’s homecoming dance, best friends-turned-best enemies Zorie and Lennon have made an art of avoiding each other. It doesn’t hurt that their families are the modern day, Californian version of the Montagues and Capulets.

But when a group camping trip goes south, Zorie and Lennon find themselves stranded in the wilderness. Alone. Together.

What could go wrong?

With no one but each other for company, Zorie and Lennon have no choice but to hash out their issues via witty jabs and insults as they try to make their way to safety. But fighting each other while also fighting off the forces of nature makes getting out of the woods in one piece less and less likely.

And as the two travel deeper into Northern California’s rugged backcountry, secrets and hidden feelings surface. But can Zorie and Lennon’s rekindled connection survive out in the real world? Or was it just a result of the fresh forest air and the magic of the twinkling stars?

Wow, this book was just released on April 03! I’ll tell you what. I’m going to read this book in the next couple of weeks and give this copy of Starry Eyes- and the post card, away to one of my fellow bloggers. Wait, what??!! I can hear all of these excited gasps of excitement from all of you. LOL.

What do you have to do? Well, it’s easy. In the comments section below, please convince me why your favorite fictional romantic couple is so fabulous. They can be from any genre I’m not picky. I will randomly pick a winner! If my winner is in a country where it may be too expensive to mail I’ll send you this book in e-format and will pick another winner who lives in the US to receive the physical copy of the book.

I can’t wait to hear about your favorite fictional couples!

Until next Sunday,

Deb

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads7 Comments

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

On By deborahkehoeIn A Hot Chick Who Reads1 Comment