Audiobook Review for In for a Penny by Melissa Foster

 In for a Penny 

The Whiskeys: Dark Knights at Peaceful Harbor, Book 8  

 By: Melissa Foster

Narrated by: Ava Erickson, Tor Thom

Series: The Whiskeys: Dark Knights at Peaceful Harbor, Book 8

Length: 2 hrs and 8 mins

Unabridged Audiobook

Release date: 03-12-21

Language: English

Publisher: Melissa Foster

 

Publisher's Summary

Friendships and family abound during a week of love, laughter, and happily-ever-afters.

Catch up with your favorite characters and enjoy Bones and Sarah’s wedding, while falling in love with the newest Whiskey-world couple: Penny Wilson and Scott Beckley, in this Whiskey series novella. 

When everything you want is right in front of you, but it's still out of reach....

Penny Wilson has a successful business, more friends than a girl could ask for, and a boyfriend she’s madly and passionately in love with. Scott Beckley is honest, loyal, hands down the best lover on the planet, and absolutely gaga over his nieces and nephews. Scott’s a keeper...as long as Penny doesn’t ever want to hear those three magical words that would take their relationship to the next level. Scott escaped abusive parents at 17, and was forced to find his way alone in the world. Even though it’s been more than a decade and he’s reunited with his estranged sisters and built a good life in Peaceful Harbor, Maryland, he’s still tortured by his past. Penny knows he loves her with everything he has, but for a girl who wants a family and a guy who is afraid of having one, love might not be enough.

The Whiskeys are perfect stories to enjoy at the beach, with depth of character, strong family ties, and a wealth of emotions. Small-town love stories with happily-ever-afters guaranteed. 

©2021 Melissa Foster (P)2021 Melissa Foster

Audiobook Review:  AMAZING!   Melissa Foster chooses just the right narrators for Penny and Scott’s story.  Ava Erickson has the perfect voice and tone for Penny’s part of the story.   She has the voice that I can hear Penny’s love for Scott while also hearing her angst at the feelings she has.  Tor Thom is rough and tough as Scott.  He shares the difficult past that Scott has while showing his softer sexy side he has when Penny is around.  

 

eBook Review:  Have you ever read a book and wondered about the characters that were not the main one? In for a Penny is the story of Penny Wilson and Scott Beckley, who have been secondary characters in many of Melissa Foster’s book. They are two of the many characters that add so much to the books they are in but have not been featured in their own book. Today that ends! Penny and Scott have gotten their own novella and I devoured it.

In for a Penny is a novella but it tells a complete story. The story of Penny and Scott enjoying their relationship, opening their hearts, and learn to let each other in. Scott’s history is holding him back from letting Penny entirely into his life. Penny knows that he is holding back and is not willing to settle for anything less then everything. Theirs is an emotional story filled with fun, flirting, steamy encounters, trust, and tears.


The bonus, we get to witness Bones and Sarah’s wedding. The cute little ones dressed up, the love in their eyes, and the joining of two beautiful loving people.

*I received this book from Audible in exchange for my honest review.

 

Buy Links:

Audible:    KINDLE:    APPLE BOOKS:     NOOK:   KOBO:    GPLAY:    PAPERBACK:  

 

Book Review for The Color of Ice by Barbara Linn Probst

 The Color of Ice by Barbara Linn Probst 

Genre:  Women’s Fiction

Paperback

Publication: October 18th 2022 by She Writes Press

 

Taken from Goodreads:  A story of love and redemption set among the glaciers and thermal lagoons of Iceland, and framed by the evocative art of glassblowing . . .

Cathryn McAllister, a freelance photographer, travels to Iceland for a photo shoot with an enigmatic artist who wants to capture the country's iconic blue icebergs in glass. Her plan is to head out, when the job is done, on a carefully curated "best of Iceland" solo vacation. Widowed young, Cathryn has raised two children while achieving professional success. If the price of that efficiency has been the dimming of her fire--well, she hasn't let herself think about it. Until now.

Bit by bit, Cathryn abandons her itinerary to remain with Mack, the glassblower, who awakens a hunger for all the things she's told herself she doesn't need anymore. Passion. Vulnerability. Risk. Cathryn finds herself torn between the life--and self--she's come to know and the new world Mack offers. Commitments await her back in America. But if she walks away, she'll lose this chance to feel deeply again. Just when her path seems clear, she's faced with a shocking discovery--and a devastating choice that shows her what love really is.

 

My Thoughts:  I felt like I was on a vacation to Iceland.  Barbara Linn Probst wrote a book that took me on the trip of a lifetime.  Cathryn decides on this vacation as part of a work assignment.  Little did she know that her entire life would change.  Her perspective on her life in the USA change, her view of her children’s lives and what they needed from her change, and what she wants in life changes.   While this was a vacation, it was really a life changing event.

 

Mack was a unique character.  He was an artist or actually an artisan (read the book to find out the difference).   He was closed off, living a singular life.  I felt like he was just going through the motions.  The only time he was truly living was when he was blowing glass.  Then he met Cathryn and his heart started to open.  I enjoyed them together; Cathryn was patient and questioned him but did not always push him to give more than he could.  Somehow, without knowing the reasons, she understood that he was not available to give all of himself and was able to accept that.   With that acceptance, she learned more about what she wanted in life. 

 

This is my first book by Barbara Linn Probst, I will now be reading more of her books.  The ride she took me on, the wonderful descriptions of Ireland, and the small twist at the end made this a perfect read. 

**Thank you GetRedPR for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review.

Add to your MUST-READ list on Goodreads

Purchase your own copy on Amazon or Barnes and Noble

Meet Barbara Linn Probst (taken from Goodreads):  Barbara Linn Probst is an award-winning author of contemporary women’s fiction living on an historic dirt road in New York’s Hudson Valley. Her acclaimed novels QUEEN OF THE OWLS (2020) and TTHE SOUND BETWEEN THE NOTES (2021) were medalists for prestigious national awards, and THE SOUND BETWEEN THE NOTES was selected by Kirkus Reviews as one of the Best Indie Books of 2021. Barbara has also published over fifty essays on the craft of writing for sites such as Jane Friedman and Writer Unboxed, along with two nonfiction books. Her third novel THE COLOR OF ICE will be released in October 2022.

FUN FACT:
Barbara's first book was framed around the art and life of iconic American painter Georgia O'Keeffe, and her second book was framed around music and the piano. THE COLOR OF ICE, set among Iceland's thermal lagoons and blue icebergs, is framed around the magical art of glassblowing.

 

Book Blitz for Christmas in Santa Rosa by Melissa Chambers with a GIVEAWAY

 Christmas in Santa Rosa by Melissa Chambers (Love Along Hwy 30A, #7)

Publication date: October 18th 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday, Romance

Synopsis:

Will one incredible night be enough?

Felicity Haley has been trying to extract Scott Stover from her mind for a year now. Both coming off of rejection, they found comfort in one another. But they were on vacation, each headed back to their separate lives afterward. Felicity is no one’s second choice, and she couldn’t be sure he treasured their night together as much as she did, so she ghosted him.

Now, she finds herself in the same beach town with him once again. But she can’t surrender to her desires. She must protect her heart from inevitably crumbling after the post-Christmas vacation bliss dies down and they go back to their daily lives. Felicity must protect her heart no matter how much the Christmas spirit tells her to collect this gift.

Scott hasn’t been able to shake the memory of the amazing night he had with Felicity. When his entire family rents a house in Santa Rosa for the month of December and he finds out Felicity is there as well, it feels like a Christmas miracle. His life is in Nashville while hers is permanently in Santa Rosa now. But even so, he’s got a second chance to win her heart, and he won’t let her slip out of his arms again.

Christmas in Santa Rosa is book seven in the Love Along Highway 30A series, which features beautiful beach communities, a circle of unique and amazing friends, and romances that will have you cheering on the couples and fanning yourself from the heat. All books are standalone and can be enjoyed in or out of order.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59545097-christmas-in-santa-rosa

Purchase:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3CYFJ7F

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/christmas-in-santa-rosa-melissa-chambers/1140492393?ean=9781957434070

iBooks: https://books.apple.com/au/book/christmas-in-santa-rosa/id1593852281

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/christmas-in-santa-rosa

AUTHOR BIO:

Melissa Chambers writes contemporary novels for young, new, and actual adults. A Nashville native, she spends her days working in the music industry and her nights tapping away at her keyboard. While she’s slightly obsessed with alt rock, she leaves the guitar playing to her husband and kid. She never misses a chance to play a tennis match, listen to an audiobook, or eat a bowl of ice cream. (Rocky road, please!) She has served as president for the Music City Romance Writers and is the author of the Love Along Hwy 30A series, the Before Forever series (YA), and Courting Carlyn (YA).

Author links:
https://melissachambers.com/
https://twitter.com/MelChambersAuth
https://www.facebook.com/groups/393941391782459
https://www.instagram.com/melissachambersauthor/
https://www.facebook.com/MelissaChambersAuthor
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/melissa-chambers
https://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Chambers/e/B00MRU380K
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6895435.Melissa_Chambers

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Book Review for When We Had Wings by Ariel Lawhon, Kristina McMorris, Susan Meissner

 When We Had Wings by Ariel Lawhon,  Kristina McMorris, Susan Meissner 

Genre:  Historical Fiction, WWII

Publication: October 18th 2022 by Harper Muse

 

Taken from Goodreads:  From three bestselling authors comes an interwoven tale about a trio of World War II nurses stationed in the South Pacific who wage their own battle for freedom and survival.

The Philippines, 1941. When U.S. Navy nurse Eleanor Lindstrom, U.S. Army nurse Penny Franklin, and Filipina nurse Lita Capel forge a friendship at the Army Navy Club in Manila, they believe they’re living a paradise assignment. All three are seeking a way to escape their pasts, but soon the beauty and promise of their surroundings give way to the heavy mantle of war.

Caught in the crosshairs of a fight between the U.S. military and the Imperial Japanese Army for control of the Philippine Islands, the nurses are forced to serve under combat conditions and, ultimately, endure captivity as the first female prisoners of the Second World War. As their resiliency is tested in the face of squalid living arrangements, food shortages, and the enemy’s blatant disregard for the articles of the Geneva Convention, the women strive to keep their hope— and their fellow inmates—alive, though not without great cost.

 

My Thoughts:  I have read all three of these authors separately and was thrilled to hear that they had come together to write a World War II book, my favorite genre.   432 pages seemed a little daunting to me, I have been on a kick of reading short, quick book, but I decided to jump right in.   Once I read the first page, I knew that I would not be able to stop.  

 

When We Had Wings is a story of war, being POW’s, but mostly it is a story of friendship.  Penny, Lita, and Eleanor all entered the military to get away from their pasts but what they found was a future that was full of unknowns.  The unknowns of war caused them to question their choices but never their friendship.  Even as they were separated, they somehow managed to find ways to contact each other, keep tabs on each other’s locations, and find ways to get back together. 

 

This book is full of history but still reads as a historical fiction.  It is a story, but there is so much that I learned.  I cannot imagine the lives that those nurses lived, the things they had to do, the things they saw.  The three authors need to continue writing together and separate. 

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Muse for a copy of the book in exchange for my honest review. 

Add to your MUST-READ list on Goodreads

Purchase your own copy on Amazon or Barnes and Noble

 

Meet the Authors:

Susan Meissner is the critically-acclaimed author of 21 novels. Her engaging stories feature memorable characters facing unique and complex circumstances, often against a backdrop of historical significance. A multi-award-winning author, her books have earned starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and Booklist. She was born and raised in San Diego, California, but spent some of her adult life living in Minnesota as well as in England and Germany, before returning home to southern California in 2007. Susan attended Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego. Prior to her writing career, she was a managing editor of a weekly newspaper in southwestern Minnesota. She enjoys teaching workshops on writing, spending time with her family, reading great books and traveling. Susan makes her home in the San Diego area with her husband Bob, who is a retired chaplain in the Air Force Reserves, and their yellow lab, Winston.

 

KRISTINA MCMORRIS is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of two novellas and six historical novels, including the runaway bestseller SOLD ON A MONDAY with over a million copies sold. The recipient of more than twenty national literary awards, she previously hosted weekly TV shows for Warner Bros. and an ABC affiliate, beginning at age nine with an Emmy Award-winning program, and owned a wedding-and-event-planning company until she had far surpassed her limit of "Y.M.C.A." and chicken dances. Kristina lives near Portland, Oregon, where she somehow manages to be fully deficient of a green thumb and not own a single umbrella. For more, visit www.KristinaMcMorris.com 

 

Ariel Lawhon is a critically acclaimed, New York Times bestselling author of historical fiction. She is the author of THE WIFE THE MAID AND THE MISTRESS (2014), FLIGHT OF DREAMS (2016), I WAS ANASTASIA (2018), and the CODE NAME HÉLÈNE (2020). Her books have been translated into numerous languages and have been Library Reads, One Book One County, Indie Next, Costco, Amazon Spotlight, and Book of the Month Club selections. She lives in the rolling hills outside Nashville, Tennessee, with her husband and four sons. Ariel splits her time between the grocery store and the baseball field.

 

 

Release Blitz for A Cosmic Kind of Love by Samantha Young

 

A Cosmic Kind of Love by Samantha Young is now live! 

Space is the last thing an event planner and an astronaut need in this charming new romantic comedy from New York Times bestselling author Samantha Young.

When event planner Hallie Goodman receives party-inspiration material from the bride of her latest wedding project, the last thing she expects to find in the files are digital videos from Darcy's ex-boyfriend. Hallie knows it's wrong to keep watching these personal videos, but this guy is cute, funny, and an astronaut on the International Space Station to boot. She's only human. And it's not long until she starts sending e-mails and video diaries to his discontinued NASA address. Since they're bouncing back, there's no way anyone will ever be able to see them...right?

Christopher Ortiz is readjusting to life on earth and being constantly in the shadow of his deceased older brother. When a friend from NASA's IT department forwards him the e-mails and video messages Hallie has sent, he can't help but notice how much her sense of humor and pink hair make his heart race.

Separated by screens, Hallie and Chris are falling in love with each other, one transmission at a time. But can they make their star-crossed romance work when they each learn the other's baggage?

Download today on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo!

Amazon:  https://amzn.to/3plx8UG

Apple Books: https://apple.co/3GcEroC

Nook:  https://bit.ly/3lviXem

Kobo: https://bit.ly/3xVsQan

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/30NDBz0

Meet Samantha

Samantha Young is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. She's been nominated for several Goodreads Choice Awards. Samantha writes adult contemporary and paranormal romance, YA urban fantasy and YA contemporary fiction and is currently published in 31 countries.
She resides in Scotland.

 

Connect with Samantha

Website: http://authorsamanthayoung.com

Goodreads:  http://bit.ly/2FWgYdn

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2H47kEP

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

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1520019958258238/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorsamanthayoung/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuthorSamYoung

Bookbub: http://bit.ly/2D241eO

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/samyoungauthor/

Verve: https://ververomance.com/app/authorsamanthayoung

   

Book Review for The Christmas Spirit by Debbie Macomber

 The Christmas Spirit by Debbie Macomber 

Genre:  Christmas, Clean Romance, Chick Lit

Publication: October 18th 2022 by Ballantine Books

 

Taken from Goodreads:  Two lifelong friends decide to trade places the week before Christmas and end up finding love along the way in this delightful novel from the queen of holiday stories, #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber.

Peter Armstrong and Hank Colfax are best friends, but their lives couldn't be more different. Peter, the local pastor who is dedicated to his community, spending time visiting the flock, attending meetings, and, with the holiday season approaching, preparing for the Christmas service and live nativity. As a bartender, Hank serves a much different customer base at his family-owned tavern, including a handful of lonely regulars and the local biker gang.

When Peter scoffs that Hank has it easy compared to him, the two decide to switch jobs until Christmas Eve. To their surprise, the responsibilities of a bartender and a pastor are similar, but taking on the other's work is more difficult than either Peter or Hank expected. As the two begin to see each other in a new light--and each discovers a new love to cherish--their lives are forever changed.

In The Christmas Spirit, Debbie Macomber celebrates the true meaning of the holidays and the inclusive community spirit that binds us all.

My Thoughts:  The first seasonal book of 2022, Debbie Macomber is the perfect choice.  Her sweet, small-town romances are the perfect way to start off the Christmas Season.  Peter and Hank are best of friends, when they decide to change places, they both expect to have an easy time adjusting.  Instead, they find the grass is not always greener on the other side.   Both men in their new positions learn a lot about life and they also find ways to help others. 

I love the way that the author wrote this book.  It was told by a grandmother to her grandchildren.  The little girl was all about the romance while the little boy loves the action and the motorcycle guys.  I found it so easy to relate to.  I felt like I was sitting right next to the grandmother as she was telling the story. 

The Christmas Spirit is the perfect way to start my Christmas reading and I look forward to reading many more.

Thank you Random House for a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Add to your MUST-READ list on Goodreads

Purchase your own copy on Amazon or Barnes and Noble

 

Meet Debbie Macomber (taken from her website):  Debbie Macomber is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and one of today’s most popular writers with more than 200 million copies of her books in print worldwide. In her novels, Macomber brings to life compelling relationships that embrace family and enduring friendships, uplifting her readers with stories of connection and hope. Macomber’s novels have spent over 1,000 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. Fifteen of these novels hit the number one spot.

In 2022, Macomber’s all-new hardcover publications include The Best Is Yet to Come (July) and The Christmas Spirit (October), a new adult coloring book, Debbie Macomber’s Holly Jolly Christmas Coloring Book (October). In addition to fiction, Macomber has also published three bestselling cookbooks, two adult coloring books, numerous inspirational and nonfiction works, and two acclaimed children’s books.

Celebrated as “the official storyteller of Christmas”, Macomber’s annual Christmas books are beloved and six have been crafted into original Hallmark Channel movies. Macomber is also the author of the bestselling Cedar Cove Series which the Hallmark Channel chose as the basis for its first dramatic scripted television series. Debuting in 2013, Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove was a ratings favorite for three seasons.

She serves on the Guideposts National Advisory Cabinet, is a YFC National Ambassador, and is World Vision’s international spokesperson for their Knit for Kids charity initiative. A devoted grandmother, Debbie and Wayne live in Port Orchard, Washington, the town which inspired the Cedar Cove series.

 

 

 

 

Book Blitz for Christmas in Glowing Springs by T.J. Amberson with a GIVEAWAY

 

Christmas in Glowing Springs

by T.J. Amberson
Publication date: September 24 2022
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Synopsis:

Avery Walsh is a romantic at heart, but her demanding career as a big-city attorney means she doesn’t have time for love. Dane Livingston is a small-town boy who has had his share of heartbreak, and so he vowed never to love again. When a Christmastime snowstorm leaves Avery stranded in Dane’s charming village of Glowing Springs, Avery and Dane team up to save the village’s beloved Huckleberry Inn. With Christmas Day approaching, will Dane and Avery be able to save the inn . . . and dare to take a chance on love?

A sweet (clean) romance told in 3rd-person, dual POV

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62798225-christmas-in-glowing-springs

Purchase:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3EEM09J

AUTHOR BIO:

TJ Amberson hails from the Pacific Northwest, where she lives with her husband and nutty cocker spaniel. When she's not writing, TJ might be found pretending to know how to garden, riding her bike, playing the piano, enjoying a hot chocolate, or scouring the Internet for cheap plane tickets. She adores all things cozy, seasonal, and holiday-themed; she cheers for happily-ever-afters; and she believes there's no such thing as too much seasonal decor. With a love of multiple genres, TJ writes sweet romance and romantic comedies for adults and advanced teen readers, and clean fantasy adventures for teen and advanced tween readers.

Author links:
https://tjamberson.com/
https://www.instagram.com/tjamberson/
https://www.pinterest.ca/tjamberson/
https://www.facebook.com/authortjamberson/
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7535763.T_J_Amberson

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