Pupcakes by Annie England Noblin

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FTC: I received a free copy of this book from the author 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.

Pupcakes by Annie England Noblin was a fun book to read.  I enjoyed the characters in this book, but I think my favorite part of this book was the dogs.  I am such an animal lover that when books have animals in them, they usually end up being my favorite characters in the book.  Throughout most of the book, I was a huge fan of Nathan, but Brydie got on my nerves because at times she seems like she was always whining about her life and her past.  There is one thing that bugs me, but in the end, it isn’t really that big of a deal.  On the back of the book, she says that Nathan is a veterinarian, but in the book, he is an ER doctor that also works at a nursing home.  This just bothered me because I thought I was crazy when I noticed that difference but in the end, I wasn’t crazy.  Other than that one point I really did enjoy this book, and I can’t wait until she writes another book because so far I have liked the other book that I have read by her as well.

About The Book

Sit! Stay! Speak! author Annie England Noblin’s novel takes one woman starting over, adds an aging pug named Teddy Roosevelt, and proves the power of a well-baked dog treat.

 

All she wants is a settled-down life.

What she gets is a dog—and a whole new normal . . .

There he stood in the doorway: overweight, depressed and nearly homeless—a pug named Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy was Brydie Benson’s latest problem, arriving on top of her messy divorce and sudden move. Brydie needed a place to start over, so this rent-free home seemed a great idea. She just never counted on Teddy, or his owner, the Germantown Retirement Village’s toughest customer, Pauline Neumann.

And because rent-free doesn’t mean bills-free, Brydie gets a night-shift job at a big-box grocery. Whoever guessed there were so many people who wanted baked goods after midnight?

Then, she gets an idea—why not combine her baking skills with her new-found dog knowledge? And so her store Pupcakes is born. Along with a new start comes a possible new love, in the form of Nathan Reid, a local doctor with a sassy Irish Wolfhound named Sasha. And as fall turns to winter, and then to Christmas, Brydie begins to realize that life is a little bit like learning a new recipe for puff pastry—it takes a few tries to get it just right!

About The Author

Annie England Noblin lives with her son, husband, and three dogs in the Missouri Ozarks. She graduated with an M.A. in creative writing from Missouri State University and currently teaches English and communications for Arkansas State University in Mountain Home, Arkansas. Her poetry has been featured in such publications as the Red Booth Review and the Moon City Review. She spends her free time playing make-believe, feeding stray cats, and working with animal shelters across the country to save homeless dogs.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/AnnieEnglandNoblin/

Twitter: @aenoblin

Instagram: @aenoblin

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The Guardian by Anna del Mar

In this thrilling hot must read by Amazon Bestseller Anna del Mar, Ex-SEAL turned game warden, Matthias Hawking is engaged in a fierce battle to end poaching in Africa, but when a beautiful journalist defies the poachers, he will do everything in his power to protect the woman who has captured his heart.

Anna is offering one (1) lucky Grand Prize winner a $25 Amazon Gift Card and three (3) Runner-Up winners with an eCopy of one of her Backlist Titles (winner’s choice)! To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter below:

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Title: The Guardian

Author: Anna del Mar

Publisher: Anna del Mar

Release Date: October 1, 2017

Series: Wounded Warrior #3

Genre: Romantic Suspense

ISBN: 9780979968273

Game Warden Matthias Hawking is a decorated ex-SEAL engaged in a grueling fight against ruthless poachers in Africa. He’s short on resources and long on enemies. There’s a price on his head. The last thing he needs is the unexpected arrival of a beautiful but stubborn journalist threatening to uncover his secrets, an alpha female challenging his alpha male and getting into trouble, a hurricane wearing boots.

Jade Romo is a veteran of several different kinds of war. She’s survived her heroin-addicted mother, the foster care system, and the conflict in Afghanistan. Jade’s tough, confident, cynical, and self-reliant, a woman who doesn’t believe in forevers. But when she defies the poachers and lands at the top of the warlord’s kill list, she’s forced to rely on the skilled, attractive but supremely infuriating game warden who has captivated her body’s undivided attention.

Haunted by his past but driven by his courage, her mysterious guardian will do everything in his power to protect the woman who has captured his heart.

Add to your TBR list:  Goodreads

Available:  Amazon  |  Barnes and Noble  |  Kobo 

Excerpt: 

Matthias

The moment our lips met my heart struck my breastbone with a sonic boom. Every molecule in me came online. It was as if my body had been on an extended blackout and suddenly a generator had kicked in, a massive voltage surge. A switch flipped inside of me and I went from off to on, from zero to a hundred.

The kiss marked the difference between before and now, activating my will to live beyond existence’s basic functions. I was no longer breathing for the sake of surviving, but rather getting high on the heady scent of Jade, gorging on her exotic flavors, getting a fix on a woman who had proven she had all the makings of a dangerously addictive fix…for me.

Jesus fucking Christ. This wasn’t happening, couldn’t be happening, not here, not now, not with this woman. This was wrong, for the mission, for me. And yet this was also right, so right I couldn’t stop it, so pure and exquisite that it demolished the logic that usually ruled me, bulldozed right over my carefully constructed defenses and blew my shields into splinters.

I seized on her lips. I drank her up as if I had a right to flirt with pleasure and happiness. Good, so good. She tasted like chocolate and salted caramel, wholesome and true.

Her mouth responded to me, eager, passionate. Our tongues entwined in a mutual exploration that unleashed the storm within, joy and hope I thought I’d never feel again, and lust, a hunger so raw and violent that it roared through my veins and threatened to destroy not only my control, but my life as I knew it.

Images flashed in my mind, visual effects of the emotions jarring me. Jade, cool under fire. Solid. Reliable. True. Jade, calm, smart and composed as she confronted Kumbuyo. She hadn’t lost it once, not even when that son of a bitch went at her. She was as brave as they came, bold, daring, fearless. The memory of her standing half-naked under the moonlight had me throbbing with need. She was a woman built for a warrior, a warrior worth fighting for; a goddess who’d stepped out of some ancient African legend to right my fucked-up world.

But I couldn’t endanger my mission and I couldn’t betray all that had been entrusted to me. I was trained for duty, which meant I had to pull out of this catastrophic trajectory, now.

It was hard, maybe even impossible. I was trapped in the feel of her mouth. I forced myself to think rationally. This was Jade Romo for Christ’s sake, the woman who had the potential to out me and destroy everything I’d built, including the reserve. While she was here, she was also my responsibility. Another thought hit me, one that killed the joy in me. She’d been seconds away from being raped and moments away from being killed. If something had happened to her under my watch, I’d never forgive myself.

How I ripped my mouth away from hers, I’ll never know. It took all my willpower. My senses reeled. When her eyelids lifted, her eyes glittered with questions and her hand hovered over her mouth, as if her lips stung as much as mine did.

“No, negative, we’re not doing this,” I muttered, mostly to myself. “We can’t. We won’t.”

 

Copyright © 2017 The Guardian by Anna del Mar

Other Books in the Wounded Warrior series:

The Asset

Anna del Mar’s explosive, sexy debut novel in the Wounded Warrior series, perfect for fans of Lisa Marie Rice and Lora Leigh—the story of a woman desperate to escape her dangerous past and the navy SEAL who would lay down his life to save her.

Ash Hunter knows what it is to run. A SEAL gravely injured in Afghanistan, he’s gone AWOL from the military hospital. Physically and mentally scarred, he returns home to his grandmother’s isolated cottage—and finds a beautiful, haunted stranger inside.

Like recognizes like.

Lia Stewart’s in hiding from the cartel she barely escaped alive, holed up in this small Rocky Mountain town. Surviving, but only just. Helping the wounded warrior on her doorstep is the right thing to do…it’s loving him that might get them both killed.

Soon, Ash realizes he’s not the only one tormented by the past. Pushing the limits of his broken body, testing the boundaries of her shattered soul, he’ll protect Lia until his last breath.

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

The Stranger

Ex-military pilot Seth Erickson is fighting his own demons, but when he finds Summer Silva, a beautiful, warmth-loving, Miami woman stranded in the frozen wilderness, he’ll do everything in his power to keep her safe from murder, treason, and the ruthless Alaskan winter.

When a mysterious stranger is your only hope…

The scars of the past have left their mark, both physical and emotional, on former military pilot Seth Erickson. Off-grid in the far reaches of the bitter Alaskan wilderness, he wants only to be left alone with his ghosts. But he can’t ignore a woman in need—beautiful, stranded and nearly frozen with fear.

Summer Silva never imagined that the search for her missing sister would leave her abandoned on a wintry back road, barely escaping with her life from a cold-blooded killer for hire. Now, hiding out in the isolated cabin of the secretive wounded warrior who saved her, Summer knows she must do what she fears most. Putting her trust in a stranger is all she has left.

All defenses are down

After a fiery first night together, Seth and Summer are bound by a need as powerful as a Bering Sea superstorm—and vulnerable to enemies just as fierce. For Seth, reawakened by desire, there is no sacrifice too great, no memory too dark, to keep Summer safe. But murder and treason lurk everywhere and Summer may not survive Alaska’s ruthless winter.

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

About Anna del Mar:

Amazon Bestselling author Anna del Mar writes hot, smart romances that soothe the soul, challenge the mind, and satisfy the heart. Her stories focus on strong heroines struggling to find their place in the world and the brave, sexy, kickass heroes who defy their limits to protect the women they love. A Georgetown University graduate, Anna enjoys traveling, hiking, skiing, and the sea. Writing is her addiction, her drug of choice, and what she wants to do all the time. The extraordinary men and women she met during her years as a Navy wife inspire the fabulous heroes and heroines at the center of her stories. When she stays put—which doesn’t happen very often—she splits her time between Colorado and Florida, where she lives with her indulgent husband and a very opinionated cat.

Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  BookBub

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Chasing Christmas Eve by Jill Shalvis

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FTC: I received a free copy of this book from the author 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.

Chasing Christmas Eve by Jill Shalvis was a sweet Christmas story.  I fell in love with Colbie right at the start and didn’t stop loving her even after the book had come to an end.  She is one of the characters that I think about as if she is a real person that I know in my real life.  I also really enjoyed Spence, but at times I did roll my eyes at things he would say or do.  This author did a great job of making you understand the characters and the choices that they made throughout the book.   This is the first book that I have read by this author, and I can’t wait to check out other books by her in the future.  If you are looking for a sweet story to read this Christmas season, this is one that I would recommend for you to read.

About The Book

Meet cute…

Run for the hills—temporarily. That’s Colbie Albright’s plan when she flees New York for San Francisco. Wrangling her crazy family by day and writing a bestselling YA fantasy series by night has taken its toll. In short, Colbie’s so over it that she’s under it. She’s also under the waters of a historic San Francisco fountain within an hour of arrival. Fortunately, the guy who fishes Colbie out has her looking forward to Christmas among strangers. But she’s pretty sure Spencer Baldwin won’t be a stranger for long.

Make merry…

Spence’s commitment to hiding from the Ghosts of Relationships Past means he doesn’t have to worry about the powerful—okay, crazy hot—chemistry he’s got with Colbie. Just because she can laugh at anything, especially herself… just because she’s gorgeous and a great listener…just because she “gets” Spence immediately doesn’t mean he won’t be able to let Colbie go. Does it?

…and hope for a miracle.

Now the clock’s ticking for Colbie and Spence: Two weeks to cut loose. Two weeks to fall hard. Two weeks to figure out how to make this Christmas last a lifetime.

About The Author

New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill’s bestselling, award-winning books wherever romances are sold and visit her website, Website, for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.

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One Summer Night by Caridad Pineiro

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

One Summer Night by Caridad Pineiro was a sweet but predictable book.  Even when saying that I fell in love with the characters and the setting so much that I am going to read other books by this author.  I was such a huge fan of Owen throughout the entire book.  Maggie at times did get on my nerves but I did like her more than her friend Tracy.  Tracy right from the start got on my damn nerves right from the first chapter.  I was so glad that she wasn’t a super big part of the plot because she just bugged me.  This was a very typical book in this genre but I still really enjoyed it and the author writing as I said before.  If you love chick lit than I am sure you will enjoy this story as much as I did.

 

About The Book

Author: Caridad Pineiro

Release Date: October 3, 2017

Publisher:  Sourcebooks Casablanca

Series: At the Shore

Genres: Contemporary romance

Pages: 352

An offer that’s impossible to accept . . .

Maggie Sinclair has tried everything to save her family’s business, including mortgaging their beloved beach house on the Jersey Shore. But now, she’s out of options.

The Sinclair and Pierce families have been neighbors and enemies for almost thirty years. That hasn’t stopped Owen Pierce from crushing on Maggie, and he’s determined to invest in her success. Now he has to convince her that he’s more than just trouble with a capital T…

Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2w73ky4

Buy Now: Amazon | iBooks | B&N

About The Author

Caridad Pineiro is a transplanted Long Island girl who has fallen in love with pork roll and the Jersey Shore, but still can’t get the hang of tomato pies. When Caridad isn’t taking long strolls along the boardwalk to maintain her sanity and burn off that pork roll, she’s also a NY Times and the USA Today bestselling author with over a million books sold worldwide. Caridad is passionate about writing and helping others explore and develop their skills as writers. She is a founding member of the Liberty States Fiction Writers and has presented workshops at the RT Book Club Convention, Romance Writers of America National Conference as well as various writing organizations throughout the country.

Follow Author:  Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Instagram | Pinterest

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Bidding On The Bachelor by Kerri Carpenter

Recently divorced Carissa Blackwell returns to her hometown and reconnects with her first love Jasper Dumont, while the ubiquitous Bayside Blogger reports their every move for the town newspaper in this delightful & playful novel by award-winning romance author Kerri Carpenter.

Rafflecopter for Bidding on the Bachelor Blitz Giveaway:

Kerri is offering one (1) lucky Grand Prize winner a $50 Amazon Gift Card and three (3) Runner-Up winners with an eCopy of one of Falling for the Right Brother (Saved by the Blog #1)! To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter below:

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Title: Bidding on the Bachelor

Author: Kerri Carpenter

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: October 1, 2017

Publisher: Harlequin Special Edition

Series: Saved by the Blog #2

Format: Print/Digital

Print ISBN: 9780373623792

Digital ISBN: 9781488079146

Another roll of the dice

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!

Add to your TBR list:  Goodreads

Available:  Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo  |  iTunes

Excerpt

“I’m back in town.”

“For how long?” he asked quickly, too quickly. In fact, if she wasn’t mistaken, anger laced his question. She must have reacted to it because his features softened. “Sorry, it’s none of my business. And I do remember that today is your birthday. So, happy birthday, Carissa.”

“Thanks,” she said, and meant it. She decided to offer an olive branch because the truth was that she’d dumped him and she hadn’t been kind about it. This icy reception she was receiving was well deserved. While she knew the reasons behind her decision, she’d never let Jasper in on it. She’d been a bratty, selfish teenager, not capable of understanding her emotions. Unwilling to admit that Jasper had always reminded her of her father and that summer her dad had dropped a bombshell on her.

“I don’t know how long I’ll be in town. I’m sort of in a transition period right now.” He waited patiently. After another long drink of beer, she finished. “I just got divorced.” Saying the words out loud left an awful taste in her mouth. An acidic aftertaste of yuckiness.

First, shock flashed on his face. Then, true concern shone in his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said.

And that might have been her undoing. Because he had every reason to be stiff and awkward with her. Instead, any kind of compassion from him loosened her lips.

“Today is my twenty-ninth birthday. I’m having a beer next to my ex-boyfriend, who hates my guts, in a dive bar in the town I swore I would never step foot in again. An ex-boyfriend I should really apologize to because I was an evil witch to him.” The words were flying now. She gripped her hand tightly around her glass. “I’m not even thirty and already I’ve been married and divorced. And I got divorced because he freaking cheated on me.”

She couldn’t miss the way Jasper’s eyes narrowed, his hands curled into fists, and there was a definite tic in his clenched jaw. “He cheated on you?”

“Yep. Apparently, the fact that I was homecoming queen, prom queen and head cheerleader did nothing to impress him. Or keep his pants zipped up when anyone wearing a skirt in the Central Time Zone walked by. That probably makes your whole day, doesn’t it?”

He slammed his hand on the bar and she jumped. But she just as quickly composed herself. “What? You have every right to revel in my misery after the way I broke up with you. I got divorced. You win.”

His eyes narrowed. “I don’t want to win at that game. And I certainly don’t want to hear that some idiot cheated on you. I’m sorry you’re getting divorced.”

“That makes one of us.”

Copyright © 2017 Bidding on the Bachelor by Kerri Carpenter

Other Books in the Saved by the Blog series:

Falling for the Right Brother

Saved by the blog!

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.

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

About Kerri Carpenter:

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.

Website  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  BookBub

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2017 Margaret Margaret

Bringing Maggie Home by Kim Vogel Sawyer

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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.

Bringing Maggie Home by Kim Vogel Sawyer was a book that I fell in love with.  This book combined two of the things that I currently love.  It combined reading, and it also combined my love for real crime / cold cases.  I also love this author writing, so this book had quite a bit to live up to, and I am happy to say that I enjoyed this book and was sad when I was done reading it.    I loved trying to figure out what happened to Maggie right along with the characters in this book.  I wasn’t able to figure it out before we find out the whole story so I loved that about this book.  Since this is Christian fiction, you don’t have to worry too much about what is going to happen during the book.  There is one thing that bugged me throughout the book and was Meghan’s mom Diane.  She reminded me of a pissed off teenage throughout the book, and I spend more time annoyed with how she acted and the things that she said to Hazel and Meghan.  All in all, I really enjoyed this book, and I am sure anyone who loves cold cases would also like this book.

About The Book

Decades of Loss, an Unsolved Mystery,
and a Rift Spanning Three Generations

Hazel DeFord is a woman haunted by her past. While berry picking in a blackberry thicket in 1943, ten-year old Hazel momentarily turns her back on her three-year old sister Maggie and the young girl disappears.

Almost seventy years later, the mystery remains unsolved and the secret guilt Hazel carries has alienated her from her daughter Diane, who can’t understand her mother’s overprotectiveness and near paranoia. While Diane resents her mother’s inexplicable eccentricities, her daughter Meghan—a cold case agent—cherishes her grandmother’s lavish attention and affection.

When a traffic accident forces Meghan to take a six-week leave-of-absence to recover, all three generations of DeFord women find themselves unexpectedly under the same roof. Meghan knows she will have to act as a mediator between the two headstrong and contentious women. But when they uncover Hazel’s painful secret, will Meghan also be able to use her investigative prowess to solve the family mystery and help bothwomen recover all that’s been lost?

About The Author

Kim Vogel Sawyer is the author of twenty-nine novels, including several CBA and ECPA bestsellers. Her books have won the ACFW Book of the Year Award, the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, and the Inspirational Readers Choice Award. Kim is active in her church, where she leads women’s fellowship and participates in both voice and bell choirs. In her spare time, she enjoys drama, quilting, and calligraphy. Kim and her husband, Don, reside in central Kansas, and have three daughters and nine grandchildren.

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