FTC: I received a free copy of this book from iRead Book Tours 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.
Degrees of Love: A Novel by Lisa Slabach was very well written, but I struggled with reading it. I say that because since this book is a romance novel, I got bored because even though I don’t know what is going to happen, I do know what is going to happen if that makes any sense. I am sure that if you don’t read a ton of books like I do that statement won’t make any sense. I did enjoy the characters in this book, and I really enjoyed the authors writing, but in the end, I was bored. If you are a huge fan of romance novels than I am sure you will love this book. I am just starting to realize that I need to stick more to mystery type books because I tend to be bored with another genre of books. I am going to hang onto this book so that I can pick it up in the future and see if my thoughts and feelings change any about this type of book.
About The Book
Book Title: Degrees of Love: A Novel by Lisa Slabach Category: Adult Fiction, 344 pages Genre: Women’s Fiction Publisher: Bookbaby Release date: Dec 1, 2017 Format available for review: print & ebook (mobi, PDF, ePub & gifted Kindle copy) Will send print books to: Internationally Tour dates: Jan 3 to 31, 2017 Content Rating: PG-13 + M (Adult themes including infidelity, occasional F-word, non-explicit sex scenes)
At thirty-six, Susan Sinclair has it all. She’s just been promoted to Senior Vice President of Mobile Banking at her firm, a prestigious position bringing fresh creative challenges and a hefty salary increase. Like the shiny new BMW in the driveway of the Silicon Valley home she shares with her husband, Matt, and their two beautiful boys, Susan exudes confidence and style.
Yet despite her success in juggling the roles of wife, mother, and businesswoman, Susan struggles with a secret dissatisfaction. Matt’s work in cutting-edge computer research pays less than her job, and with each advance in her career, he has grown more distant. But Matt refuses to admit there is a problem, and Susan forces herself to play along, determined to give her boys the close-knit family life she never had.
Then she meets her new boss, Reese Kirkpatrick. Working and traveling together, she and Reese become a crackerjack team, but little by little, pleasure mixes with business. For the first time in a long time—maybe ever—Susan feels seen and appreciated for who she is. Certain she would never allow their friendship to cross the line, Susan lets herself stray dangerously close to the edge.
A moment of weakness changes everything. Now, unable to stomach the façade her marriage has become yet unwilling to decimate her family by moving forward with Reese, Susan faces a choice that could cost her everything—including her children . . . but possibly bring her more than she can dream.
About The Author
Degrees of Love is Lisa Slabach’s debut novel. She is currently working on her third full-length manuscript and a collection of short stories inspired by her experiences growing up in a small farm community in Washington’s Yakima Valley. In addition to writing, Lisa works for a Fortune 500 Company, leading a sales team in the financial industry. She currently resides in Northern California with her husband and has two daughters, who are both pursuing careers in film. In her free time, she enjoys drinking wine with friends and cooking in her pink kitchen.
Fifteen years ago, three girls were thrown together because their brothers were best friends. Now they’re all grown up, and their brothers are grown up too. The Tea for Two series tells their stories. Fans of New York Times Bestselling Author, Noelle Adams, will love this newest playful friends become lovers story featuring Carol and Patrick, releasing January 10, 2017.
Rafflecopter for Seducing Her Brother’s Best Friend Review & Excerpt TourGiveaway:
Noelle is offering one (1) lucky Grand Prize winner a $25 Amazon Gift Card and three (3) Runner-ups eCopy of one book from Noelle’s Tea For Two series (winner’s choice). To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter below:
After too many years being overlooked by men, Carol is ready to take action. She wants a man, and she knows which man she wants. Her brother’s best friend, Patrick Stevenson.
Patrick is funny and brainy and the sexiest man she’s ever known, but he has never looked at her as anything except his friend’s little sister. That’s going to change.
Carol isn’t good at flirting. Or seduction. Or anything that requires putting herself out there. But she’s going to make sure Patrick sees her as a desirable woman—and one he wants for more than one night—even if it turns her whole world upside down. He already likes her a lot. He just needs to open his eyes to how good they’d be together.
She narrowed her eyes even more and gave him a cool glare. “You might as well just admit it. I know exactly what happened.”
He groaned softly. “All right. Fine. I couldn’t believe you’d be acting like… like that.”
“Like what?”
She was making this as hard as possible for him, and he couldn’t even blame her. “Like you… liked me.” It sounded ridiculous, immature, but he couldn’t think of any other way to put it.
“And you really can’t believe that I do?”
He wanted to be anywhere but here, put on the spot like this. He wanted to get up and leave, somehow escape everything he was feeling.
But, if he did, that would be it. He’d never have Carol in his life again. He might have messed this up completely, but he wasn’t prepared to lose her for good. So he told her the truth. “No. I really can’t.”
“Why the hell not?”
Carol almost never used to rough language—even something as mild as “hell.” It seemed to emphasize how upset she really was.
“I… I don’t even know.”
She stared at him for a full minute. He could see her chest rise and fall with her heaving breathing. Then she finally got up, muttering, “You’re a real idiot sometimes. You know that, right?” She went to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator.
He hauled himself to his feet and followed her. “I know I’m an idiot. I know that. But I’m still here, trying to fix things.”
She was staring into her open refrigerator, like she’d forgotten what she’d come here for.
“Carol,” he said, touching her shoulder gently. She looked so hurt and wounded. He couldn’t believe he was important enough to her to make her feel this way.
She whirled around to face him. “Why shouldn’t I like you?” she demanded.
He blinked. “Because… because it seems pretty obvious that it’s just because the others have gotten together.”
“What does that even mean?”
“I mean Emma and Noah got together, and then Ginny and Ryan got together. So now we’re the only two left. I get it. I do. It would make sense for us to get paired up in the same way. But that doesn’t mean it’s… it’s real.”
She made a loud, throaty sound of naked frustration.
Patrick contorted his face as he was washed with self-consciousness and confusion. “I’m trying to be honest here.”
“I know you are. I know you are!”
She closed the refrigerator, having taken nothing out. “Why wouldn’t we be good together?”
“We’re totally different. If I wasn’t the last guy left in our little group, you’d choose someone totally different.” He knew this much for sure. He’d been rehearsing it over and over again—for months now—reminding himself that any soft looks she’d given him had been based on something other than real attraction.
“How do you know that?”
“Carol, please. I know I act stupid sometimes, but I do have a functioning mind. And neither one of us deserves to be stuck with… whoever happens to be left.”
She gaped at him. Literally gaped. Then her cheeks paled even more. “You think I’m… just whoever happens to be left.”
“Not you,” he gasped, shocked that she’d ever even imagine he felt that way. “Not you. Me. I’m whoever is left.”
“You… you… you…” She was panting, couldn’t even get the words out.
“Me what?”
“You idiot!”
He was processing her uncontrolled outburst and so he wasn’t prepared for what she did next.
What she did was launch herself at him, grabbing his head and pulling it down into a kiss.
Since he wasn’t prepared, he couldn’t control his response. And he’d been wanting her too much, for too long, and not letting himself act on that desire.
So he didn’t stop it, even though he knew he should.
He didn’t push her away gently and explain that it couldn’t happen.
After too many bad decisions in romance, Emma is going on a man-fast. For the next six months, she’s fasting from men. No sex. No dating. No soulful gazes. No fond memories of her first crush. She’s going to spend the time focusing on her career, getting in touch with herself, and helping her two best friends with the launch of their new tea room. No men.
And that includes her brother’s best friend, Noah Hart, who has just returned to their hometown.
She doesn’t want Noah anyway. He might be even hotter than he was before, but he’s not a nice guy anymore. He’s made a fortune by acting ruthless in business, and the last thing he’s looking for is small-town domestic life. He doesn’t even want to be in town again, but a sick grandmother guilted him into it. Then he has nerve to not even recognize Emma when he sees her again. Maybe it’s been seven years, but a decent guy would remember his best friend’s little sister.
Noah is not a decent guy. Anyway, Emma is on a man-fast. And she doesn’t want Noah.
Ginny Hart loves men. And she loves dating. She just doesn’t want a serious relationship. She’s tried it before–with her brother’s best friend, Ryan–and it’s clear she’s not cut out for it. So she’ll keep having fun and focusing on the new tea shop she recently opened with her best friend.
That’s all she needs in her life.
She definitely doesn’t need Ryan, who is always hanging around and has turned into a real player. When he challenges her to prove which of them is more popular with the opposite sex, she takes him up on the bet. One month. Four Saturday nights. She’ll show him she’s not still holding on to old feelings. It doesn’t matter if she can’t seem to keep her hands off him.
Noelle handwrote her first romance novel in a spiral-bound notebook when she was twelve, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. She has lived in eight different states and currently resides in Virginia, where she reads any book she can get her hands on and offers tribute to a very spoiled cocker spaniel.
She loves travel, art, history, and ice cream. After spending far too many years of her life in graduate school, she has decided to reorient her priorities and focus on writing contemporary romances.
Does the past ever really stay in the past? Find out in Scarlett Cole’s NIKAN REBUILT, the steamy, third standalone in her rockstar romance series, Preload. After years of no contact, Nik and first love Jenny’s connection still blazes between them. Will they have their second chance at love? Or will the weight of their past crush their future together?
Don’t know about you, but we love a great Rockstar romance. And Scarlett Cole knows how to write a great Rockstar romance. We are excited to share with you NIKAN REBUILT, book three in Cole’s Preload series. Follow the tour for reviews, excerpts, and enter to win a $50 Amazon gift card + ebook copies of JORDAN RECLAIMED and ELLIOTT REDEEMED!
Title: Nikan Rebuilt
Author: Scarlett Cole
Series: Preload #3
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: January 2, 2018
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press SWERVE
Format: Digital and Paperback
From the queen of heart-pounding, sexy, emotional romance Scarlett Cole comes Nikan Rebuilt, the next novel in the Preload series.
Does the past ever really stay in the past?
Nikan can never be complete. He’s got a rock group made up of the family he built for himself, more money than he knows what to do with, and a stream of groupies falling over themselves to date him. But none of them are her. The one regret that still plagues him, still taunts him with what he could have had.
Jenny is a survivor. Now running a group home after overcoming life in a cult lead by her manipulative father and watching her mother drink the poison he fed his followers, she fights to keep the light in the eyes of every boy who walks through her doors. Far from simple young love, Nik taught her to trust, showed her how good life could be. Before he formed the band. Before he became a famous rockstar. Before he destroyed it all.
A chance meeting after years of no contact shows the connection still blazes between them. But will they have their second chance at love? Or will the weight of their past crush their future together?
Nik took the towels out of her hands and placed them on the dryer. “Hey, come here,” he said as he reached for her hands. “Talk to me.”
She wasn’t ready to, not least because she didn’t understand the swirl of feelings sweeping through her. To put into words for Nik exactly how that felt was impossible. “I’m fine, I’m good. I just have a lot to do here now.”
Nik placed his finger under her chin and raised her eyes so she was forced to look at him. “I think we can safely say that lies have no place between us. So, I’ll tell you what I’m thinking, and then you can tell me what you’re thinking. Okay?”
Jenny sighed and nodded. “Okay.”
“I didn’t come here tonight expecting to kiss you like this. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about it, but I know I have a lot of work to do to prove myself to you. But seeing you laugh, and seeing you look at me, just for a moment, without the pain I caused you in your eyes . . . Well, I don’t even know how to begin to explain what that felt like to me—except that I didn’t want to be away from you for another moment, and that it felt like a new beginning of sorts. If there’s any doubt in your mind about what that kiss did to me, I’d encourage you to touch me and check, but I think that might be a step too far, given where we are. Now it’s your turn.”
His words made her stomach flip, and despite her best efforts she was filled with a warm and fuzzy feeling. She looked over to the staircase again to check that nobody was within earshot. “We’re coming at this new friendship . . . relationship . . . from two completely different places. I’m mad at myself for letting you get this close to me again. It’s reckless to fall for you all over again and I know it. But when you stand so close to me, I can . . .” Crap. How could she explain that the way the smell of him, and the heat of him, and the proximity of him, and the touch of him took her straight back to that time and place where she wholeheartedly loved him?
“You can what?” Nik asked, moving his hands to her hips.
“I can remember us. Before.”
About Scarlett Cole
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.
Fifteen years ago, three girls were thrown together because their brothers were best friends. Now they’re all grown up, and their brothers are grown up too. The Tea for Two series tells their stories. Fans of contemporary women’s fiction will become engrossed in this new series by New York Times Bestselling Author, Noelle Adams.
Rafflecopter for Falling For Her Brother’s Best Friend Sale Blitz Giveaway:
Noelle is offering one (1) lucky Grand Prize winner a $20 Amazon Gift Card and one winner an eCopy of one Noelle’s backlist titles. To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter below:
After too many bad decisions in romance, Emma is going on a man-fast. For the next six months, she’s fasting from men. No sex. No dating. No soulful gazes. No fond memories of her first crush. She’s going to spend the time focusing on her career, getting in touch with herself, and helping her two best friends with the launch of their new tea room. No men.
And that includes her brother’s best friend, Noah Hart, who has just returned to their hometown.
She doesn’t want Noah anyway. He might be even hotter than he was before, but he’s not a nice guy anymore. He’s made a fortune by acting ruthless in business, and the last thing he’s looking for is small-town domestic life. He doesn’t even want to be in town again, but a sick grandmother guilted him into it. Then he has nerve to not even recognize Emma when he sees her again. Maybe it’s been seven years, but a decent guy would remember his best friend’s little sister.
Noah is not a decent guy. Anyway, Emma is on a man-fast. And she doesn’t want Noah.
Noah felt an emotional pull toward her, that she seemed to understand him so well, even when he wasn’t sure he understood himself.
But he shouldn’t—he really shouldn’t—be feeling that way.
He cleared his throat. “And I noticed your Man-Fast flew out the window.”
She gasped and straightened her spine, which unfortunately called attention to the curve of her breasts. “What are you talking about?”
Struggling not to gaze too fixedly on the slight outline of nipple he could see beneath the white fabric of her dress, he managed to say, “Your Man-Fast. With all the flirting you were doing, I figured you’d given up on it.”
“I was not flirting!”
He lifted his eyebrows.
“Don’t you give me that snide look,” she said, her lush lips turning down in a frown. “I was talking to some people I know, same as you.”
“There was definitely more than talking going on over here.” He had no idea why he was pursuing this. It was stupid. Futile. It would just make things worse.
But he’d been bristling for too long about all the guys falling over themselves around her, and it was going to come out one way or the other.
“What are you talking about?” she demanded. “I didn’t do anything but talk.”
“Right. You didn’t smile at them and show them all that skin and make them think they might be getting lucky later on.”
She gasped again. “I did nothing of the kind.”
“Okay.”
“I didn’t! I was talking. A girl can talk to guys without being accused of leading them on. I could say the same thing about you—every time you talk to and smile at women.”
“I haven’t been talking to women tonight.”
“You talked to a few.”
He tried to remember back to the people he’d chatted with and only remembered two young women. “They were married. I knew them from high school.”
“So? What’s your point? You can flirt with married women, you know.”
“Are you saying you think I’m the kind of guy who would do that?” His voice was now as angry as hers was.
She opened her mouth with some sort of sharp reply, but she must have rethought it. She slumped slightly. “No. I know you’re not.”
“Good.”
“It would be nice if you’d know I wasn’t like that either.”
“I’d never think you’d come on to married men.”
“You just think I’m some kind of tease, torturing men for fun.”
Noah sighed and leaned against the counter. “No. I really don’t.”
“Then why were you acting like that then?”
Good question.
And a question he couldn’t possibly answer honestly.
“I was just being an ass.”
“Yes. You were.”
“Sorry.”
Her frown was relaxing slightly, and she was peering at him closely. “Okay then.”
“Okay?”
“Yes. Okay.”
He felt a little better, now that she wasn’t so mad at him. But it just made him want to touch her even more.
He really needed to get out of here.
“I already have an older brother,” she said, still scrutinizing his face. “I don’t need another one.”
Damn it.
She thought he was acting like an older brother.
She had no idea he felt like a jealous boyfriend, resenting the fact that any other guy was thinking about what was his.
Ginny Hart loves men. And she loves dating. She just doesn’t want a serious relationship. She’s tried it before–with her brother’s best friend, Ryan–and it’s clear she’s not cut out for it. So she’ll keep having fun and focusing on the new tea shop she recently opened with her best friend.
That’s all she needs in her life.
She definitely doesn’t need Ryan, who is always hanging around and has turned into a real player. When he challenges her to prove which of them is more popular with the opposite sex, she takes him up on the bet. One month. Four Saturday nights. She’ll show him she’s not still holding on to old feelings. It doesn’t matter if she can’t seem to keep her hands off him.
After too many years being overlooked by men, Carol is ready to take action. She wants a man, and she knows which man she wants. Her brother’s best friend, Patrick Stevenson.
Patrick is funny and brainy and the sexiest man she’s ever known, but he has never looked at her as anything except his friend’s little sister. That’s going to change.
Carol isn’t good at flirting. Or seduction. Or anything that requires putting herself out there. But she’s going to make sure Patrick sees her as a desirable woman—and one he wants for more than one night—even if it turns her whole world upside down. He already likes her a lot. He just needs to open his eyes to how good they’d be together.
Noelle handwrote her first romance novel in a spiral-bound notebook when she was twelve, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. She has lived in eight different states and currently resides in Virginia, where she reads any book she can get her hands on and offers tribute to a very spoiled cocker spaniel.
She loves travel, art, history, and ice cream. After spending far too many years of her life in graduate school, she has decided to reorient her priorities and focus on writing contemporary romances.
To save his family’s newspaper, Sawyer Wallace has to decide if he can out his best friend, Riley Hudson, who’s been gossiping about everyone in town as the Bayside Blogger. Will revealing the truth destroy their chance at happily ever after? Find out in this delightful & playful novel by award-winning romance author Kerri Carpenter.
Rafflecopter for Bayside’s Most Unexpected Bride Blitz Giveaway:
Kerri is offering one (1) lucky Grand Prize winner a $50 Amazon Gift Card and four (4) Runner-Up winners with a Kindle eCopy of Falling for the Right Brother (Saved by the Blog #1)! To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter below:
Word on the street is that Sawyer Wallace, editor in chief of our favorite—but financially strapped—local paper, has been offered a hot deal to save the Bayside Bugle! All he’s got to do is reveal the identity of the Bayside Blogger. Even if doing so means losing Riley Hudson, his oldest friend. And, maybe, the woman making him rethink his singleton status!
Riley’s just as crazy about her best bud and boss—which is why she’s always kept him at a distance. Plus, only Sawyer knows her real identity. Talk about compromising positions… Would revealing the truth destroy their chance at leaving the friendzone? Or perhaps there will be wedding bells for this couple, who truly are meant for each other!
He steepled his hands on his desk and peered at her with his dreamy hazel eyes.
Damn. Dreamy? She meant irritating. Beady even.
The weather was unseasonably cold already and he was sporting a pair of corduroy pants and a somewhat ugly argyle sweater that she knew had been a Christmas gift from his mother last year. Not the most stylish of outfits and yet somehow he looked like he’d walked out of the pages of an L.L.Bean catalog. Just because he was tall with broad shoulders and had really cute sandy-brown hair that flopped on his head because he needed a haircut. And today he was wearing his glasses. What was it about a large lumberjack-looking man who wore glasses? Why did that make her stomach twist up into knots? And then there was his lopsided smile…
What in the heck was she doing? This was Sawyer Wallace, lifelong friend and, more importantly, boss. She couldn’t size him up like a piece of meat. Especially because they worked together. Especially because of what had happened to her in New York.
“Riley,” he began.
“Sawyer,” she countered, and bit her lip in anticipation.
He reached into his top desk drawer and pulled out a colorful silk scarf. “Before I forget, Tony found this at The Brewside. Said you left it there a couple of weeks ago and he kept forgetting to give it to you.”
She reached for the bright yellow scarf with lime-green polka dots. One of her favorites.
“Thanks,” she mumbled. “Tony must have given this to you while you were on your date.” She used air quotes for the word date and wiggled her eyebrows.
Sawyer exhaled a long breath.
“What?” she asked, feigning innocence.
“‘Bayside’s forever bachelor’?” he quoted. “Really?”
She shrugged.
“I thought I told you to keep me out of the Bayside Blogger’s column.”
This just in, fair readers! Chic and stunning, that gorgeous new woman about town is none other than our very own little Ellie–now Elle–Owens. She’s a far cry from the frumpy, bookish student we used to know, but then, living in Italy will do that to a girl! Still, this blogger can’t forget the infamous video that caused her to leave!
Apparently Miss Elle has been spotted with yummy contractor Cam Dumont…but we thought her heart belonged to his little brother. Are Cam and Elle a new couple? They were seen cooling their passions in the bay…in April! If this is love, let’s hope she’s swimming with the right brother. The Bayside Blogger will keep you posted.
Big news, fair readers! Bayside High’s favorite It Girl is back. Would you have bet Clarissa Blackwell would ever return? Ten years ago, she crushed Jasper Dumont’s heart under her Jimmy Choos and left town for a bigger, better life. Her return raises one question: What is she running from (or is it to) now?
Perhaps Jasper knows? One look at Carissa and he fell in the bay! (Rich, single and devastatingly handsome, Jasper’s our catch of the day.) That icy plunge should have brought him to his senses, yet “Casper” has been spotted together all over town. Does this mean Bayside’s legendary couple may reunite? The stakes are high, but the Bayside Blogger’s money is riding on love!
Award-winning romance author Kerri Carpenter writes contemporary romances that are sweet, sexy, and sparkly. When she’s not writing, Kerri enjoys reading, cooking, watching movies, taking Zumba classes, rooting for Pittsburgh sports teams, and anything sparkly. Kerri lives in Northern Virginia with her adorable (and mischievous) rescued poodle mix, Harry. Visit Kerri at her website, on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or subscribe to her newsletter.
Despite being thrown from her home and stripped of her place in society at a young age, Madame Marce Davenport is proud of what she’s accomplished with her family and the notoriously scandalous Craven House. Except it’s all built on a lie. When an arrogant duke strode into her home years ago, offering her a way to keep the brothel open, she agreed to his game of deception. But now that her siblings have found their happiness, Marce can finally live the life she’s always wanted: one that embraces the truth. And that means severing ties with the man who has claimed too many of her days—both in reality, and fantasy.
Rowan Delconti, the Duke of Harwich, has been angry for so long: at his father, at the woman who broke apart his parents’ marriage, and at the children who won is father’s love. He’s determined his mother won’t be unhappy again—even if it means pretending to be married to Marce, so that his mother will think he’s found love in his life. But the beautiful madame fuels his fire like no other, and the charade starts to feel all too real.
When Marce and Rowan’s secrets finally come to light, their passion may not be enough to staunch the hurt of the past. Can two people who were so wrong for each other, realize they’ve been right all along?
Author Bio:
Christina McKnight is a book lover turned writer. From a young age, her mother encouraged her to tell her own stories. She’s been writing ever since.
Christina enjoys a quiet life in Northern California with her family, her wine, and lots of coffee. Oh, and her books…don’t forget her books! Most days she can be found writing, reading, or traveling the great state of California.
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2018 Margaret Margaret
