PERSONAL THOUGHTS

Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Beth K. Vogt

Book Review

Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Beth K. Vogt was a fun book to read.  The one thing that stuck with me throughout the entire book is how much didn’t like Ted.  There wasn’t any point in this book where I liked him and how he acted.  At first I wasn’t a huge fan of Vanessa because of how she let Ted talk her into something that she didn’t want but after I was a few chapters in I really did start to like her.  The one character that I loved from the first time he showed up was Logan and to be honest is the reason I kept reading in the beginning.  I do love this authors style of writing and I have read a couple of other books by her and she has never let me down.  I loved how this book end and I can’t wait to read more books in this series.

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

About The Book

Crazy Little Thing Called Love: A Destination Wedding Novel(Howard, June 2015)

Wedding bells and storm clouds collide in the first engaging novel in a brand-new series about destination weddings, the power of love, and the possible mishaps and missteps that happen on a couple’s journey down the aisle to “I do.”

Paramedic Vanessa Hollister has put her adolescence behind her, including the unwanted label of being the new kid in town over and over again, thanks to her father’s military career. She’s overcome what her mother called “the biggest mistake of her life” and is planning an elegant destination wedding in Destin, Florida with her new fiancé. But will the reappearance of her first husband from her what-were-you-thinking teenage elopement disrupt her dream of an idyllic beach wedding?

As a professional storm chaser, Logan Hollister is used to taking risks. However, a reckless decision during the last tornado season has him questioning the future of his team, the Stormmeisters. Coming face to face with his ex-wife eight years after their divorce compels him to confront his greatest regret: losing Vanessa. Does their past give him the right to interfere with her future?

A fast-moving, powerful hurricane throws Vanessa and Logan together as they evacuate to a storm shelter along with other residents of the Florida Gulf Coast. Forced to spend time together, the pair battles unexpected renewed feelings for each other.

Vanessa and Logan are faced with a choice: Should they accept, once and for all, their teenage marital mistake? Or is God offering them a second chance at happily ever after?

Beth K. Vogt

About The Author

Beth K. Vogt believes God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” A 2015 RITA® Finalist and a 2014 Carol Award finalist, Beth is a contemporary romance novelist with Howard Books. Her 2014 novel, Somebody Like You, was one of Publisher’s Weekly’s Best Books of 2014. In 2015 she introduced her destination wedding series with both an e-novella, Can’t Buy Me Love, (May) and a novel, Crazy Little Thing Called Love(June).

 

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Kevyn Aucoin- Quote Of The Week

Quote Of The Week

This weeks quote is by Kevyn Aucoin.

Kevyn Aucoin

I loved this quote when I saw it because it is something that I believe to be true.  Every day we wake up we are able to feel whatever life throws at us and to also make choice on how we react to things that happen to us.  I have for years now try to stay positive with everything in my life because no one likes to be around someone who is always complaining.  Anyway those are a few thoughts that I had about this quote.

What do you think of this weeks quote by Kevyn Aucoin?

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2015 Margaret Margaret

Barclay Publicity’s Summertime eReader Giveaway!

 

 

More than 20 authors will be sharing their best and worst pick-up lines during this EPIC eReader Giveaway! Win dozens of prizes, including swag packs, print or eBooks, gift cards, tote, posters, themed prizes, etc…and of course, a grand prize of four (4) eReaders!


Participating Authors:
7/27   Patty Blount
         Shelly Bell
          Sarah Castille
7/28   Lia Davis
         Lisa Nicholas
7/29   Jodi Linton
         Michelle Madow
7/30   Shelly Bell
         Jane Peden
         Kristi Hancock
        Caroline Lee
8/3    Veronica Forand
        Samantha Ann King
8/4    Kerry Adrienne
        Lizzy Ford
8/5    Suzie T. Roos
        Sharon Hamilton
8/6    Linda Bond
        Heather Long
        Alyssa Richards
8/7    Michelle Sharp
        Kristine Bria

 

Want to meet up with our author sponsors? Join the fun at the Summertime eReader Giveaway event page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/477456029079167/ !


Veronica Forand


People rarely try to pick me up. Perhaps it’s my sarcasm, or my really loud voice, or the wedding band on my finger.  In truth, I had to make the first move to grab my now husband’s attention.


We’d been friends in high school and had spent a summer before college hanging around each other every single day. It was obvious we liked each other, but the friendship was so strong I didn’t want to screw it up but pushing for anything more. I’m sure he felt the same way…maybe?


Anyway, it was now August and as much as friendship is great, I wanted a bit more. I’m sure he did too, but was bashful.  So to make a long rambling story shorter and less rambling, I asked him for some Chapstick after he’d put some on (he was a hunky lifeguard and needed to protect his skin). Instead of taking it from his hands, I took it from his lips with my own lips. Things progressed very well after that!


Taking his own sweet time in everything he does, we married seven years later and will be together over twenty years on our anniversary.


Simmering Ice Blurb
Her newest release co-written with Susan Scott Shelley is Simmering Ice.
When the gloves come off, she’s worth the penalty…
Physical therapist Annie Davidson is great at her job but unlucky when it comes to love. She’s just out of a bad relationship. A really bad relationship. All she can do is focus on work…that is until she runs into professional hockey player Alec O’Meara. She’s a touch insecure and doesn’t understand why he’s interested in her.
Despite being one of the biggest players on the team, right wing Alec O’Meara prefers finesse over force. After the tragic death of his wife, he likes to keep things loose on and off the ice. But the red-headed Annie challenges his beliefs and makes him think about taking their relationship to the net.
The passion and fun they share is addicting and makes them long for more. But her insecurities that she’s not good enough, and his anxiety over a long-term commitment will keep them apart, unless they can find a way to break through the defenses they’ve built around their hearts.
 

 

Buy links for all major book outlets and free look at Chapter One are at http://www.entangledpublishing.com/simmering-ice/.


About Veronica Forand


Veronica Forand is an attorney and an award-winning writer of romantic suspense. She’s lived in Boston, London, Paris, Geneva, and Washington, DC and currently resides near Philadelphia. An avid traveler, she loves to roam across continents with her husband and kids in pursuit of skiing, scuba diving, and finding the perfect piece of chocolate.

FIND THE AUTHOR HERE:   


For news and updates on releases, as well as fun excerpts and exclusive stories, sign up for her newsletter: Veronica’s Newsletter


Samantha Ann King


Thanks for hosting me today and for participating in the Summer eReader Giveaway. I’m looking forward to chatting with everyone about the best and worst pickup lines they’ve heard…or used! Especially since I don’t have much experience with them. It’s true. I can only remember one from all my years of dating. I don’t know what that says about me. That I led a sheltered life? That no one wanted to pick me up? That my memory sucks?
My heroes don’t use pickup lines, either. They tend to have a friendship with the heroines before they fall in love, or they’re thrown together by circumstance.
But back to my one and only experience with the pickup line.
Imagine a bar. It’s in a college town, so it’s crowded with students. Dancing. Drinking. Shouting above the pulsing, pounding bass of the sound system.
I’m standing at a table, taking a break from the dance floor with my drink of choice, a G&T. Don’t ask what kind of gin. I wasn’t particular back then, couldn’t afford to be. Probably couldn’t afford to be drinking. But it was Saturday night.
A guy—dark curly hair, dark eyes, a little older—asks me to dance with him. And since that’s why I’m there…
When we return to the table, he raises his voice above the music. “I wrote a song about you.”
I laugh. “Yeah. Right.”
“I’m a musician. I’m in a band. Used to play with (insert your favorite rock musician here, because for the life of me I can’t remember the artist.).”
“Sing it for me,” I say.
“Too loud.”
We talk. Dance a little more. He walks me to my car.
“Sing it for me.”
“Not now. Let’s go to dinner tomorrow. I’ll bring my guitar.”
I say, “Okay.” (In my defense, I was young and naïve. Besides, I really wanted to believe he’d written a song about me. I mean, how cool would that be?!)
At dinner we talk. He and the waiter compare notes on how to cook baked potatoes. (I know. Weird, right?)
When he takes me home, I say, “Sing me the song.”
“I forgot my guitar. Next weekend.” (I wasn’t that naïve or that desperate for a song of my own!)
Unfortunately, I can’t come up with an excuse quickly enough. I’ve never been fast on my feet, literally or figuratively. We make another date. A messy cold causes me to cancel the day of. (The only time I’ve been thankful for a cold.)
I’m sprawled on the nubby plaid couch in my apartment. Red, runny nose. A box of tissues clamped in one hand and an overflowing trash can within reach of the other.
There’s a knock on the door. My roommate answers.
It’s him. “You really are sick.”
“Uh, yeah.”
“I thought you were lying.”
Such a charmer. I never heard from him again, and I never got to hear “my” song. I wasn’t crushed.
Sooo, “I wrote a song about you.” Memorable? Yes. It’s the only line I remember a guy using on me. (Probably because it was the only line a guy ever used on me.) Best or worst? I’ll let you decide.
I’d love to hear your best or worst pickup line. Share it here, and you could win one of four Kindles. In the meantime, if you’d like to see how a real man picks up a woman, check out Sharing Hailey, the first book in my Lovers and Friends series. No pickup line needed.
Sharing Hailey Blurb
Hailey Anderson’s deep, dark secret? She’s been madly in lust with her overprotective brother’s two best friends for years. Gorgeous woodworking artist Mark Allen and sexy doctor Tony Adamo have no idea they star in her fantasies every night.
After a nasty breakup with her abusive boyfriend, Hailey’s looking for a little distance. Headed for a two-week Hawaiian vacation with her brother and his hot friends, Hailey can’t wait to feast her eyes on Mark’s and Tony’s rock-hard, ocean-slick bodies. Even if she can’t touch.
But instead of treating her like their little sister, Mark and Tony have a surprising proposition: a monogamous ménage à trois. The three of them—and no one else. Both men want Hailey and have agreed to share her. The red-hot reality is even better than the forbidden fantasy. Until Hailey’s ex threatens their newfound happiness…
Audible      Google play      iBooks      Kindle      Nook
About Samantha Ann King


USA Today bestselling author Samantha Ann King was born and raised in Houston, Texas. After receiving her BBA in Finance from Texas A&M University and marrying her high school crush (notice she didn’t say sweetheart), Samantha relinquished her “native Texan” status and moved to Baton Rouge. She has called Albuquerque, New Mexico home since 1985. The mother of three has volunteered in the community as an advocate for children’s issues ranging from education to healthcare. In 2010, as her nest started to empty, she began writing erotic romance. Thanks to her win in Passionate Ink’s Stroke of Midnight Contest, Samantha signed her first publishing contract in 2011. Her first book was nominated for RT’s 2012 Reviewers’ Choice Award.

 

Learn more about Samantha at her Website, on Facebook, or on Twitter.
 
 

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Blue Blooded By Shelly Bell Cover Reveal

Blue Blood

Where Rachel discovers more than just her kinky side. Will she and Logan fight off their attraction while trying to prove their innocence?

Title: Blue Blooded

Author: Shelly Bell

Genre: Contemporary, Erotic Romance

Release Date: October 13, 2015

Page Count: 300 pages

Publisher: Avon Red Impulse

Format: Digital eBook

ISBN: 9780062396488

Synopsis

A woman who refuses to be tied down…

Investigative reporter Rachel Dawson is always looking for her next big story. While working on a feature about BDSM, she lands a one-night, no-holds-barred pass into the exclusive sex club, Benediction. Rachel doesn’t have a deviant bone in her body—or so she thought—until the infuriating, ex-soldier Logan Bradford convinces her to try rope bondage under his capable hands. But a steamy night turns deadly when Rachel and Logan witness a gruesome murder.

A Dom who’s determined to bind her to him…

Framed for a crime they didn’t commit and hunted by corrupt FBI agents, they flee. As Rachel and Logan search for evidence to clear their names, the attraction they’ve been fighting ignites into fiery passion. Love is the last thing Rachel wants, but night by night, as Logan binds her body, he unravels the knots around her heart. And when they uncover a shocking political conspiracy, Rachel will stop at nothing to reveal the truth…and it just might kill her.

Also in the Benediction series: While Collared serials: Mercy, Green, Revenge, Passion | Red Handed

Available at: Amazon | iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

 

Shelly Bell

Author Bio

A sucker for a happy ending, Shelly Bell writes sensual romance often with a bit of kink and action-filled erotic thrillers with high-emotional stakes for her alpha heroes and kick-ass heroines.

She began writing upon the insistence of her husband who dragged her to the store and bought her a laptop. When she’s not working her day job, taking care of her family, or writing, you’ll find her reading the latest smutty romance.

She currently writes for Avon Red Impulse, Loose Id, and Soul Mate Publishing.

Connect with Shelly:  Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Google+ Pinterest | Linkedin | YouTube

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2015 Margaret Margaret

Among the Fair Magnolias

Book Review

Among the Fair Magnolias was a fun story to read.  This is another  book where there are 4 different stories in the same book and each story is written by a different author.  I love all the stories in this book but if I had to pick one that was my favorite it would have to be the first story.  I think it is because I related most to the characters in the first story more and any of the other characters.  I also love that all the stories are short because I don’t feel bad if I read one of the stories and then put the book down for awhile.  This stories all take place during the years of the civil war so it was nice to get a glimpse of what like was life for people who had money.  If you are looking for an easy read than I would for sure check out this book.

Among the Fair Magnolias

About The Book

Among the Fair Magnolias (Thomas Nelson, July 2015)

In the most turbulent decade of our nation’s history, four Southern women—destinies forged by birth, hearts steeled by war—face near impossible choices on their journeys in life . . . and in love.

To Mend a Dream by Tamera Alexander
Savannah Darby would do almost anything to revisit her family home. So when new owner, Aidan Bedford, a Boston attorney and former Union soldier, seeks to redecorate the house for his fiancée, Savannah jumps at the opportunity. But the clock is ticking. Can she find the box her father supposedly hid there during the war before her assignment is completed? And before she sees yet another battle lost on the home front. This time, one of the heart.

An Outlaw’s Heart by Shelley Gray
When Russell Stark returns to Fort Worth, he’s determined to begin a new life. But when he arrives at his mother’s homestead, he discovers she’s very ill, and the woman he loved is still as beautiful and sweet as he remembered. With time running out, Russell must come to terms with both his future and his past.

A Heart So True by Dorothy Love
Abigail knows all too well what is expected of her: to marry her distant cousin Charles and take her place in society. But her heart belongs to another. A terrible incident forces Abby to choose between love and duty.

Love Beyond Limits by Elizabeth Musser
Emily has a secret: She’s in love with one of the freedmen on her family’s plantation. Meanwhile, another man declares his love for her. Emily realizes some things are not as they seem and secrets must be kept in order to keep those she loves safe.

Authors

About The Authors

Tamera Alexander is the best-selling author of numerous books including A Lasting Impressionand The Inheritance. Tamera is a two-time Christy Award winner, two-time RITA winner, and a recipient of the prestigious Library Journal Award. A native of west Tennessee.
Dorothy Love makes her home in the Texas hill country with her husband and their golden retriever. An award-winning author of numerous young adult novels, Dorothy made her adult debut with the Hickory Ridge novels.

Shelley Gray is the author of The Heart of a Hero series. Her Amish novel (written as Shelley Shepard Gray), The Protector, recently made the New York Times best seller list.

Elizabeth Musser, a native of Atlanta, Georgia now living in France, is a novelist who writes what she calls ‘entertainment with a soul.’ For over 25 years, Elizabeth and her husband, Paul, have been involved in mission work with International Teams.

Buy Your Copy

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2015 Margaret Margaret

Barclay Publicity’s Summertime eReader Giveaway!

 


More than 20 authors will be sharing their best and worst pick-up lines during this EPIC eReader Giveaway! Win dozens of prizes, including swag packs, print or eBooks, gift cards, tote, posters, themed prizes, etc…and of course, a grand prize of four (4) eReaders!

 

Participating Authors:
7/27   Patty Blount
         Shelly Bell
          Sarah Castille
7/28   Lia Davis
         Lisa Nicholas
7/29   Jodi Linton
         Michelle Madow
7/30   Shelly Bell
         Jane Peden
         Kristi Hancock
        Caroline Lee
8/3    Veronica Forand
        Samantha Ann King
8/4    Kerry Adrienne
        Lizzy Ford
8/5    Suzie T. Roos
        Sharon Hamilton
8/6    Linda Bond
        Heather Long
        Alyssa Richards
8/7    Michelle Sharp
        Kristine Bria

 

Want to meet up with our author sponsors? Join the fun at the Summertime eReader Giveaway event page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/477456029079167/ !



CAROLINE LEE


I was a nerd in High School. I attended a math-and-science boarding school in SC, and was surrounded (finally!) by a bunch of other nerds (the story of how I ended up a historian is long and boring, so I’ll skip it).
Now, an author claiming to be a nerd is almost expected, what with geek-chic being a legit style choice these days. But I think I can back up my assertion with some examples.
For instance, we had a student-led pep-band for our basketball games, and one of our favorite chants went:
Sine, Cosine, Tangent, Sine,
Three-point-one-four-one-five-nine!


I had a suitemate who took the SATs nine times because she kept getting a 1590 out of 1600, and that was unacceptable. We had a cheerleading squad—also student-run—that we called the Proactive Synergy Coordinating Squad (PASCs), because we were far too full of ourselves to be mere “cheerleaders.” We souped-up our TI-81 calculators. We started our own cheese appreciation club for crying out loud.
So you’ll have to grant that we were nerdier than most.
Imagine a bunch of seventeen-year-old nerds, living among like-minded individuals for the first time in their lives. Romantic relationships were suddenly a glorious possibility, and we reveled in the chance to (*looks around furtively, giggles, pushes glasses further up her nose*) date. Most of these dating arrangements were made awkwardly (of course) and with great ceremony (of course), which resulted in some of the nerdiest pick-up lines ever.
I present to you the pick-up lines a bunch of teenaged math-and-science nerds come up with when they live together in a closed environment:
Chemistry: “Are you an exothermic reaction, honey? Because you’re making me hot.”
Calculus: “I think you must be the square root of two, ‘cause I’m getting irrational around you.”
CompSci: “You’ve turned my software into hardware.”
Biology: “Skin might be your largest sensory organ, but I’ve got something even bigger.”
Physics: “It’s not the length of the vector, it’s how you apply the force.”
But the winner, the true winner of the “worst pick-up line ever” contest, goes to the Math version:
*Clears throat*
“Hey baby, wanna come back to my place and study some mathematics? We’ll add a bed, subtract your clothes, divide your legs, and I’ll multiply.”
*snort*
I can’t even write that with a straight face. I mean, honestly. It’s horrible.
And no, it didn’t work. None of them worked. We talked a big game, but we were still nerds, and too busy laughing at ourselves.
Smuggling gave him the revenge he needed….
To no one’s surprise, McKee Baird never fought in the War Between the States. His fiercely independent nature made it impossible for him to take orders, and his close friendship with a black man stopped him from fighting for his father’s South. But he’s found his own way to rebel against the new government the United States has imposed on him… and right now, the only thing standing in the way of his smuggling business is the intriguingly uninhibited Becks Middleton.


Their chance meeting gave her the excitement she’d been craving…
Becks has a life of freedom away from Charleston society’s rules. So of course she can’t help but be drawn to the stimulating renegade her mother invites to visit Beckett Plantation, even if she doesn’t approve of his profession. When the opportunity to seduce Mac arises, Becks takes that chance, planning on one night of passion before the dangerous smuggler leaves. But when she accidentally becomes part of his schemes, she can’t reveal the truth without risking his freedom. Joining him on his ship, Becks will face not just her growing love for Mac but a confrontation with authorities that will threaten their very lives.


Can the two of them reconcile their differences before their future is stolen away?


Caroline grew up in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, and her love of the land is completely reflected in her upcoming book, The Brothers of Baird’s Cove: Renegade. Set on a SC sea island at the end of Reconstruction, Renegade addresses the tough issues many Southern historical romances skim over, like the true meanings of freedom and race, and exactly how many crabs it takes to make a batch of she-crab soup. There are zero pick-up lines in the book, nerdy or otherwise, because Mac doesn’t so much “pick-up” Becks as he does “catch her.” Repeatedly (she’s a bit clumsy). But that doesn’t stop them from enjoying everything the Lowcountry can offer them, and then some…

Contact Caroline: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Amazon  


ROBIN COVINGTON

 

The best pick-up line I ever experienced was in college (so many years ago!). I was at a party and I knew the guy who was throwing the party pretty well since we’d been flirting back and forth for several weeks. He invited me to it and I just “knew” that this was the night when we would move beyond the friendship stage. The party was great and it stretched into the wee hours of the morning and as people left, I stayed behind but the guy didn’t approach me or make a move. He  was pretty shy and quiet but I figured I’d read his signals wrong and I got ready to leave but his loudmouth roommate got me to stay as more and more people left.
I finally got fed up and I made my move to leave when the “shy guy” chased me out into the hallway and asked if I had enjoyed the party. I was a little irritated and I let him know that I didn’t understand why he’d invited me to a party and then practically ignored me all night. He stepped forward and grabbed my hand, his cheeks red from his blush as he told me that he’d thrown the party just for me, the sole purpose was to get up the nerve to kiss me goodnight.
He leaned over and laid a kiss on me that made my toes curl. It was fabulous and we dated for a while after that.

 

Crown Prince Nicholas Lytton was never supposed to be ruler of Callanos. He was the “spare to the heir,” pursuing a decadent life of the rich and royal—extreme sports, physical pleasures, and glorious irresponsibility. Until his brother died. Now Nick is to be coronated king, and no one believes he’s ready.

The best way to secure his crown is to do the unthinkable…find a queen.
While Isabel Reynolds works in the palace gardens, she has no desire to draw the attention of the way-too-flirty, would-be king. For she’s not the woman everyone thinks she is. Even if she wanted—or was tempted by—the promise of love, it would only end in disaster. Because while Isabel may be able to catch a king, her secrets would only destroy him…
Buy Links: Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play

 

Robin Covington loves to explore the theme of fooling around and falling in love in her sexy, bestselling books. When she’s not writing sexy, sizzling romance she’s collecting tasty man candy pics, hoarding red nail polish, indulging in a little comic book geek love, and obsessing over Dean Winchester. Don’t send chocolate . . . send eye candy!

Robin’s bestselling books have finaled in the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice, the Book Seller’s Best and the National Reader’s Choice Awards.
She lives in Maryland with her handsome husband, her two brilliant children (they get it from her, of course!), and her beloved furbabies.
Drop her a line at robin@robincovingtonromance.com – she always writes back.

 




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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2015 Margaret Margaret