The Sweet Smell of Magnolias and Memories by Celeste Fletcher McHale

August 9, 2017

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from BookLook in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

The Sweet Smell of Magnolias and Memories by Celeste Fletcher McHale was a sweet story. I loved the plot of this book because I am sure it has happened in the real world before and I always love books that could happen. This is the first book I have read by this author, and I would like to read her other book that she has released. When I think about this book, I just keep thinking about what a sweet story this book was. I did find that this book was predictable, but I loved that I haven’t read a book with this plot before. I felt bad for Jacey and everything that she had to have gone through to get her to where we meet her in this book. I didn’t care that much about Colin throughout the book which isn’t uncommon when I read books in this genre. I was able to predict what was going to happen but I was okay with that because I did enjoy this author writing. If you are looking for a new Christian romance book to read I think that you would enjoy this book just as much as I did.

About The Book

Jacey met the man of her dreams a year ago—and hasn’t seen him since. Finally relocating him as the pastor at her best friend’s wedding was the very last thing she expected.

A year ago, Jacey was trapped on a rooftop during a flood with perfect strangers, including a family and a man named Colin. After two days there together, she had no doubt that Colin was the man of her dreams. When they were finally rescued he tucked his phone number into her pocket. But an accident with the rescue boat left her hospitalized with amnesia and PTSD . . . and his number nowhere to be found.

Now, Jacey has still only recovered bits and pieces of her memory from that time. She clearly remembers Colin—but not his last name or any other details that would help her locate him. She’s trying to immerse herself in the joy of her best friend’s wedding . . . when she looks up at the end of the aisle only to discover Colin there in the minister’s role. Shock is an understatement.

On one hand, she’s elated to see him again. And then reality sets in. She never intended to get married or have kids. And being a minister’s wife was definitely never on her list. Was Colin not the man she thought he was? Or has the amnesia changed her more than she realized?

With the typical wit and honesty Celeste Fletcher McHale is becoming known for, it’s time for Jacey to take a fresh look at her life. Could this string of unexpected events have been setting her up for something far better than what she had planned for herself?

About The Author

Celeste Fletcher McHale is a Southern Lit author from Central Louisiana. Her debut novel, The Secret to Hummingbird Cake, is being released through HarperCollins Christian Publishing in February 2016.

Celeste earned a history degree and currently lives on her century-old family farm. She enjoys family, writing, football, baseball, and raising a variety of animals.

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A Wanted Man by Robert Parker

August 8, 2017

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Pump Up Your Book in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

A Wanted Man by Robert Parker was a good book. I had to remind myself that this book takes place in Britain, so some of the words seemed to be spelled wrong, but they are spelled right. I also enjoyed that this book takes place in Britain because it is a nice change from all the books I read that take place in America. It was such a nice change from what I usually read and really enjoyed that. I really liked the characters in this book, and I think it moved at a great pace. I was kept wondering what was going to happen next during the entire book. I always love books like this because it makes reading them so faster. He gives you the information you need to understand the book, but he doesn’t give you so many details that you get lost in them. If you are looking for a new mystery author, I would for sure recommend this author to you because I really did enjoy this book.

About The Book

Title: A WANTED MAN
Author: Robert Parker
Publisher: Endeavour Press
Pages: 307
Genre: Crime Thriller

It’s down to fathers and fatherhood.

Ben Bracken, ex-soldier, has just got out of Strangeways.

Not by the front door.

With him, he has his ‘insurance policy’ – a bag of evidence that will guarantee his freedom, provided he can keep it safe – and he has money, carefully looked after by a friend, Jack Brooker.

Rejected by the army, disowned by his father, and any hopes of parenthood long since shattered, Ben has no anchors in his life.

No one to keep him steady.

No one to stop his cause…

The plan: to wreak justice on the man who had put him in prison in the first place.

Terry ‘The Turn-Up’ Masters, a nasty piece of work, whose crime organisation is based in London.

But before Ben can get started on his mission, another matter is brought to his attention: Jack’s father has been murdered, and he will not rest until the killers are found.

Suddenly, Ben finds himself drawn in to helping Jack in his quest for revenge.

In the process, he descends into the fold of Manchester’s most notorious crime organisation – the Berg – the very people he wants to bring down…

This action-packed and fast-paced story will keep you turning the pages. Manchester is vividly portrayed as Ben races around the city seeking vengeance.

About The Author

Robert Parker is a new exciting voice, a married father of two, who lives in a village close to Manchester, UK. He has both a law degree and a degree in film and media production and has worked in numerous employment positions, ranging from solicitor’s agent (essentially a courtroom gun for hire), to a van driver, to a warehouse order picker, to a commercial video director. He currently writes full time, while also making time to encourage new young readers and authors through readings and workshops at local schools and bookstores. In his spare time he adores pretty much all sport, boxing regularly for charity, loves fiction across all mediums, and his glass is always half full.

His latest book is the crime/thriller, A WANTED MAN.

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A Name Unknown by Roseanna M. White

August 3, 2017

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Litfuse in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

The Name Unknown by Roseanna M. White was an okay book for the most part. I did get bored from time to time because of all the details that are in this book. I am sure this wouldn’t have bothered me if I was more interested in the book but I had a tough time staying interested in this book. I know that is probably because it is a historical fiction book and it takes place before WWI, and I have a harder time staying interested in those types of books. This book is really well written, and I did like the characters. I think the reason I was bored with the book was that of the time period and it being so far out of the time periods that I enjoy reading. If you like historical fiction from this time period than I am sure that you would enjoy this book.

About The Book

Edwardian Romance and History Gains a Twist of Suspense

Rosemary Gresham has no family beyond the band of former urchins that helped her survive as a girl in the mean streets of London. Grown now, they concentrate on stealing high-value items and have learned how to blend into upper-class society. But when Rosemary must determine whether a certain wealthy gentleman is loyal to Britain or to Germany, she is in for the challenge of a lifetime. How does one steal a family’s history, their very name?

Peter Holstein, given his family’s German blood, writes his popular series of adventure novels under a pen name. With European politics boiling and his own neighbors suspicious of him, Peter debates whether it might be best to change his name for good. When Rosemary shows up at his door pretending to be a historian and offering to help him trace his family history, his question might be answered.

But as the two work together and Rosemary sees his gracious reaction to his neighbors’ scornful attacks, she wonders if her assignment is going down the wrong path. Is it too late to help him prove that he’s more than his name?

About The Author

Roseanna M. White pens her novels beneath her Betsy Ross flag, with her Jane Austen action figure watching over her. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two children, editing and designing, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of over a dozen historical novels and novellas, ranging from biblical fiction to American-set romances to her British series. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to make their way into her novels . . . To offset her real life, which is blessedly boring. She passes said boring life with her husband and kids in the beautiful mountains of eastern West Virginia.

Find out more about Roseanna M. at http://www.roseannamwhite.com.

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The Mentor by Lee Matthew Goldberg

August 2, 2017

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Pump Up Your Book in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

The Mentor by Lee Matthew Goldberg was one of the best books I have read in a while. I am not sure what made me like this book as much as I did but it was one that I didn’t want to put down even when I was at work during the day. One of the people I work with commented that it has been quite a while since I had been into a book like I was with this one. I loved just about everything in this book. This is the first book I have read by this author, and I can’t wait to read more by him in the future because his book hooked me right from the start and I kept reading until the book was done. This book kept me on the edge of my seat during the entire book. I didn’t want to put the book down to while I was at work and I was able to read this book in just a few days because all I wanted to do was read the book. If you love thriller type books, I know you will enjoy this book as much as I did.

About The Book

Title: THE MENTOR
Author: Lee Matthew Goldberg
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books / St. Martin’s Press
Pages: 336
Genre: Thriller / Suspense / Mystery

Kyle Broder has achieved his lifelong dream and is an editor at a major publishing house.

When Kyle is contacted by his favorite college professor, William Lansing, Kyle couldn’t be happier. Kyle has his mentor over for dinner to catch up and introduce him to his girlfriend, Jamie, and the three have a great time. When William mentions that he’s been writing a novel, Kyle is overjoyed. He would love to read the opus his mentor has toiled over.

Until the novel turns out to be not only horribly written but the most depraved story Kyle has read.

After Kyle politely rejects the novel, William becomes obsessed, causing trouble between Kyle and Jamie, threatening Kyle’s career, and even his life. As Kyle delves into more of this psychopath’s work, it begins to resemble a cold case from his college town, when a girl went missing. William’s work is looking increasingly like a true crime confession.

Lee Matthew Goldberg’s The Mentor is a twisty, nail-biting thriller that explores how the love of words can lead to a deadly obsession with the fate of all those connected and hanging in the balance.

About The Author

Lee Matthew Goldberg’s novel THE MENTOR is forthcoming from Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press in June 2017 and has been acquired by Macmillan Entertainment. The French edition will be published by Editions Hugo. His debut novel SLOW DOWN is out now. His pilot JOIN US was a finalist in Script Pipeline’s TV Writing Competition. After graduating with an MFA from the New School, his fiction has also appeared in The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, Essays & Fictions, The New Plains Review, Verdad Magazine, BlazeVOX, and others. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series. He lives in New York City.

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Boardwalk Summer by Kimberly Fisk

July 27, 2017

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Pump Up Your Book in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

Boardwalk Summer by Kimberly Fisk was a good book but very predictable. Even with that being said I really did enjoy this book and I would love to read more books by this author. I really enjoyed her writing and her characters throughout the book. I really liked Nick, and I am sure that is why I ended up like this book as much as I did. I have never liked a character so much that I would consider him my “book boyfriend, ” but he is that character for me. I loved reading this book during the summer, and I am sure that most people would as well. If you are looking for a new chick-lit book to read this summer then I would recommend this book to you.

About The Book

In the town of Tranquility Bay, summer is the season of second chances…
Single mother Hope Thompson has built a happy life for herself and her twins in beautiful Tranquility Bay, Washington. She doesn t dwell on her painful past especially not on the man who broke her heart all those years ago. But when Hope s beloved son needs help, she takes a desperate chance and reaches out to her children s father.
Nick Fortune lives life in the spotlight as a champion race car driver. He s shocked to hear from Hope and even more surprised to learn that he s a father. He immediately heads to the Pacific Northwest to confront the past and the woman he once loved.
There, on the quiet lakeshore, Nick and Hope must work together to save their son even if it means facing their complicated past for a second chance as a family.”

About The Author

In the third grade, my teacher encouraged me to enter a school wide writing contest. Horse crazy even back then, no one was surprised when my story featured a four-legged hero. But everyone was surprised when my story won. The prize? A trip to Seattle to attend the Young Author’s Convention. I remember that day as if it were yesterday. The dress my mom made me for the big day…the ferryboat ride…meeting my first published author (Stephen Cosgrove just in case you were wondering). And my shoes. New shoes. Shoes with heels! (All of a 1/4 of an inch but, hey, a girl has to start somewhere).

The writing bug bit and bit hard. But real life intruded on my fictional world. Marriage, motherhood and a demanding job derailed me for a few years but then something wonderful happened. Actually, several pretty wonderful things. After the birth of our youngest son, I decided to leave my job. One day while I was busy chasing toddlers and changing diapers, my husband handed me an article from our hometown paper highlighting the local Romance Writers of America chapter. A whole world of writers and readers? Heaven. But the wonderfulness didn’t stop there. Soon after joining RWA, I met the amazing and incredibly talented Kristin Hannah who was looking for an assistant. Somehow I landed this dream job. With Kristin’s generous guidance and the support of the world’s best critique group, it took me a few years to finish my first novel. (Okay, six, but who’s counting.) It then took the prodding of my amazingly supportive friends to convince me to enter RWA’s Golden Heart contest. When they announced that I had won, I wish I could say I was speechless. Surprised? Yes! Shocked? Yes! Yes!! But speechless? How I wish. No. I cried. Like a baby.

While that manuscript didn’t immediately find a publisher, it did land me the world’s best agency. And my second book, Lake Magic, found the perfect home.

Besides spending time with family, ignoring my messy house and writing, I love reading, having exercised, having weeded, and having figured out what’s for dinner.

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Pre-Order: Under Fire by Scarlett Cole

July 27, 2017

2-time RITA nominee Scarlett Cole’s UNDER FIRE pairs a hot Navy SEAL with a medical researcher who finds herself in too deep. Can Sixten Rapp take the heat and Dr. Louisa North handle the flames? Fans of Laura Kaye’s HARD INK series and Julie Ann Walker’s BLACK KNIGHTS INC. series will devour Cole’s hot military hero in this opposites attract, romantic suspense.

UNDER FIRE releases next week and we can’t wait for you get your hands on this story! Pre-order today to not miss this exciting, romantic suspense read. Plus enter to win a brand new, Kindle Fire 7!

About The Book

HE CAN TAKE THE HEAT.
Hot, hard-bodied Sixten Rapp is a former SEAL who’s raring to begin his brand-new civilian life. He and his Navy “brothers” start a security firm that offers the kind of services only a team of military-trained professionals can provide. But nothing prepared Six for his new client: an innocent woman on a mission to improve thousands of lives. . . unless someone takes hers first.

CAN SHE HANDLE THE FLAMES?
Dr. Louisa North knows time is against her as she tries to create a “miracle” medical treatment for a disease with no known cure, until she creates a sample so powerful that the wrong people want to use it as a chemical weapon. At first, Six is unwilling to accept Louisa as his client. But soon he realizes that the danger is real and that there’s much more to this plain-Jane scientist…including a burning passion between them that neither of them can resist. And now that an enemy is on Louisa’s trail, Six will do whatever it takes to protect her―or die trying.

About The Author

The tattoo across my right hip says it all really. A Life Less Ordinary. Inked by the amazingly talented Luke Wessman at the Wooster Street Social Club (a.k.a. New York Ink). Why is it important? Well, it sums up my view on life. That we should all aspire to live a life that is less boring, less predictable. Be bold, and do something amazing. I’ve made some crazy choices. I’ve been a car maker, a consultant, and even a senior executive at a large retailer running strategy. Born in England, spent time in the U.S. and Japan, before ending up in Canada were I met my own, personal hero – all six and a half feet of him. Both of us are scorpios! Yeah, I know! Should have checked the astrological signs earlier, but somehow it works for us. We have two amazing kids, who I either could never part with or could easily be convinced to sell on e-bay.

I’ve wanted to be a writer for a really long time. Check through my office cupboards or my computer and you’ll find half written stories and character descriptions everywhere. Now I’m getting the chance to follow that dream.

Connect with Scarlett: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

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