The Bookshop at Water's End by Patti Callahan Henry

Paperback, 352 pages

Expected publication: July 11th 2017 by Berkley Books

The women who spent their childhood summers in a small southern town discover it harbors secrets as lush as the marshes that surround it...

Bonny Blankenship's most treasured memories are of idyllic summers spent in Watersend, South Carolina, with her best friend, Lainey McKay. Amid the sand dunes and oak trees draped with Spanish moss, they swam and wished for happy-ever-afters, then escaped to the local bookshop to read and whisper in the glorious cool silence. Until the night that changed everything, the night that Lainey's mother disappeared.

Now, in her early fifties, Bonny is desperate to clear her head after a tragic mistake threatens her career as an emergency room doctor, and her marriage crumbles around her. With her troubled teenage daughter, Piper, in tow, she goes back to the beloved river house, where she is soon joined by Lainey and her two young children. During lazy summer days and magical nights, they reunite with bookshop owner Mimi, who is tangled with the past and its mysteries. As the three women cling to a fragile peace, buried secrets and long ago loves return like the tide.


My Thoughts…

The Bookshop at Water’s End is the perfect summer read.    It is not heavy but it is not all fluff either.     This is a story of two mother’s coming back together in a place that holds so many memories of their childhood.    They bring their own children with them and work towards solving past mysteries, finding their own futures, and making new memories.  

My favorite storyline was Bonny’s marriage or dissolving of her marriage.    Even when her career was in limbo and her life was in shambles she kept strong and found herself.    She kept her self worth and stayed on the path that she knew was right for her.    Bonny didn’t let her husband sway her nor did she let Owen, the man she has loved her entire life, change her mind.     While a divorce is not an easy thing for anyone, this storyline was more about Bonny’s strength in making herself better, her life better, and living a life she will be happy in.   

The character of Piper, Bonny’s college age daughter, was perfect.   I have a college student as a daughter and Piper reminds me of her in so many ways.  The fact that she was whisked away from her home to a place that she had only heard about to take care of two younger children sounded like the worst summer ever for her yet it turned out to be exactly what she needed to get her life back on track.    There were so many lessons that she learned, some she may not have realized yet.  

Lainey, the other Summer Sister, brings her two young children with her this summer.    Their story was the disappearance of Lainey’s mother the last time she was at this summer getaway.   The mystery was interesting and I am glad that Lainey was able to come back and find closure on a part of her life that haunted her for so long.   

I recommend picking up your own copy and enjoying these amazing characters.

Thank you Fareeda Bullert at Berkley Publishing Group | Penguin Random House and NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. 

Book Links

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Taken by Love: Love in Bloom: The Bradens by Melissa Foster AUDIOBOOK

Written by: Melissa Foster

Narrated by: B.J. Harrison

• Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins 
• • Series: The Bradens, Book 7
  • Series: Love in Bloom, Book 16
  • Series: The Bradens at Trusty, Book 1
• Unabridged Audiobook


Release Date:12-01-15
Publisher: Melissa Foster

Publisher's Summary

Daisy Honey fled Trusty, Colorado, after years of battling rumors sparked by her gorgeous looks and lust-inducing name. Now a physician on the brink of a promising career, she reluctantly returns home when her father is injured in a farming accident. Daisy expects the small-town girls who hurt her in the past to take cheap shots again - but she's completely unprepared for a run-in with tall, dark, and wickedly sexy Luke Braden, the only man who has ever stood up for her - and the man she's never forgotten.

Luke Braden is handsome, wealthy, and the best damn gypsy horse breeder in the Midwest. After a restless youth, he's finally ready to settle down - only connecting with women is nothing like connecting with horses, and he's never met a woman worth the energy. After an arrest in a neighboring town, Luke's past comes back to haunt him, and he realizes that his inability to find love runs deeper than he ever imagined.

A chance encounter sweeps Luke and Daisy into a world of passion. For the first time ever, Luke feels a connection, but Daisy's life in Trusty is anything but permanent, and Luke can't manage a future until he puts his past to rest.

Taken by Love is part of the Love in Bloom series. While it can be heard as a stand-alone novel, for even more enjoyment, you may want to listen to the entire Love in Bloom series in order. Characters from each sub-series appear in future books.

My Thoughts...

OH how I love these characters and how they come alive when listening to BJ Harrison read Melissa Foster's story.     I read the book before I listened to it and hearing their story again brought back how much I cared about the characters and their lives.   

Dr. Daisy Honey, gosh I love her name, is probably my favorite female character in all of Melissa Foster’s Snow Sister Series. Her sense of home is amazing and something that I could easily relate to. I stayed close to parents and family, knowing that I needed them as much as they needed me. When she runs into Luke, again, after going away to college to become a doctor the sparks were so obvious and hot. The original sparks could be due to her remembering how he protected and stood up for her when she was in high school, but it was quickly obvious that it was so much more than that. The longer she stays in her home town, Trusty, the more she realizes that the town needs her as much as she needs the town and the security, friendships, and love it offers. 

I love Melissa Foster’s style. She constantly pulls me in making the characters seem more like friends that just characters in a book. I can picture the towns I visit in her books, along with the people who live in these towns. As with the rest of this series, I highly recommend picking up your own copy. 

Book Links

Audible

A Royal Affair Series: Book 1, 2, and 3: A paranormal, time travel, royal romance by Christina George

Kindle Edition, 372 pages

Published June 1st 2017

What if the love of your life lived 200 years ago? 

Emma was born with a gift to see past lives, but has no interest in reliving her own. 

Until it comes back to haunt her. 

When Emma meets Peter he seems like an average guy, albeit crushingly handsome, not to mention wealthy. Then he reveals he’s so much more, he’s the crowned Prince of Belgium, and Emma can’t shake the feeling they’ve met before. And when starts falling for him she suddenly realizes they’ll never be together in this life because of what happened in the past. 

Two-hundred years ago Fitz and Anna-Maria ruled Belgium as King and Queen, but their heart-stopping love story ended in one of the greatest royal tragedies history has ever known. 

Recalling the past is one thing, rewriting history is another. 

Is Emma skilled enough for the task? 

Battling unfinished business, navigating 19th century society, and evading enemies that are able to travel through time just to keep them apart makes Emma fear the worst, despite what her heart tells her. 

Set in New York, Belgium, and 200 years ago, the Royal Romance Trilogy is a sweeping paranormal time travel saga about a love that will live forever, often just out of grasp, and the forces that are trying to destroy it. 


My Thoughts…

The Royal Affair Series is a set of three books telling Emma and Peter’s story.     Emma is a publicist who is taking a break to help her grandfather out as his book story.   Peter is Belgium royalty who is residing in NYC.     Seems unlikely that their paths would even cross yet when they did wholly cow!! Sparks flew.     There was an obvious attraction that comes from more than just a physical attraction.     I was excited and anxious to see where their story would go and how they would get around royal protocols to ends up together.    

Each book is a short story.   I could read a book in a single day, almost a single sitting and then rush to read the next one.     Each book is a direct continuation of the one before it.    Where one book ends the next picks up without missing a step.      I liked that the books were all published together so there was no gap in reading time.    I could start and finish the story without having to wait for what seems like forever for the next installment to be released.   

The paranormal twist of Emma being able to see the history of people was fun.  I liked that she could see the why’s of a person acting or being the way that they are.   I also liked that she didn’t let it define her.    She was able to control it so that it did not control her life.   

This is a fun series that I recommend picking up and reading immediately.

Thank you Penny C. Sansevieri with Author Marketing Experts, Inc. for a copy of the book in exchange for a honest review.   

Book Links

Amazon   |   Goodreads

   

Hearts at Seaside by Addison Cole & GIVEAWAY

NEW RELEASE........ 
Sweet with Heat: Seaside Summers features a group of fun, flirty, and emotional friends who gather each summer at their Cape Cod cottages. They're sassy, flawed, and so easy to relate to, you'll be begging to enter their circle of friends! All books can be read as stand-alone novels.

Hearts at Seaside by Addison Cole is the sweet edition of New York Times bestselling author Melissa Foster's steamy romance novel Seaside Hearts. The stories and characters remain the same and convey all of the passion you expect between two people in love, without any explicit scenes or harsh language.

In HEARTS at SEASIDE… 
Jenna Ward is vivacious, spontaneous, and confident—except when she’s around the man who stole her heart years earlier, strikingly handsome, quiet, and reliable Pete Lacroux. After years of trying to get his attention and overwhelmed from dealing with her mother’s new cougar lifestyle, Jenna’s giving up on Peter—and is ready to explore other men. 

As the eldest of five siblings, with an alcoholic father to care for, boat craftsman Pete Lacroux always does the right thing and has no time for a real relationship. He’s looking forward to seeing his friend Jenna, a welcome distraction who’s so sexy and painfully shy that she equally entertains and confuses him. 

When Jenna picks up a hard-bodied construction worker, jealousy ignites Pete’s true feelings, and he’s unable to ignore the desires for Jenna he never realized he had. But Pete’s not the quiet guy he appears to be, and his life is anything but conducive to a relationship. Can Jenna handle the real Pete Lacroux—the most alpha male she’s ever seen—or will she crack under pressure? And can Pete reclaim the life he once had without tearing apart his family? 

Hearts at Seaside is the sweet edition of the steamy romance novel Seaside Hearts by New York Times bestselling author Melissa Foster.

My Thoughts…

Sweet with Heat is the perfect description for this book.    Jenna is hooked, for many many years on Pete.    Pete is hooked on Jenna for just as long.    Why haven’t they got together???    Jenna gets shy around Pete leaving him to believe he just might be too much for Jenna to handle.    That sentence cannot be farther from the truth.    They belong together. No doubts.  No questions.  

I loved how Jenna went after a construction worker to make Pete jealous.   That construction worker ended up being sweet, attentive, smart, and almost perfect for Jenna.  The only problem with Charlie is that he wasn’t Pete.    For anyone else he would have been the perfect man.    I liked that Addison Cole did not make Charlie a hunky, brainless, boring guy.   She made him a guy that would be perfect for the Seaside Girls.     All of that being said, I LOVE Pete’s reaction. 

Both Jenna and Pete have known each other for what seems like forever yet there are things that they still have to learn about each other.     Pete’s dad is a functioning alcoholic and he has been keeping that a secret from almost everyone.     Opening up about that to Jenna was a tough scene, which was handled with so much care that I had no doubt that together Jenna and Pete could find the answer to save Pete’s dad and not make it an issue in their relationship.      Jenna’s mom is also a “problem” but more like an embarrassment to Jenna.    Jenna is worried that her mom will show up and embarrass her in front of Pete and the Seaside crew.      By the end of the story I had no worries that they could handle anything thrown at them.

While each book in this series is a standalone story, it is fun to see the characters from previous books make appearance and catch up with what is happening in their lives.    The next book is Amy’s story with Tony and I can’t wait!

I received this book through Beck Valley Books Book Tours, I have volunteered to share my review and all the opinions are 100% my own.

Available to buy from ...

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Also available... 

Read, Write, Love at Seaside (Sweet with Heat: Seaside Summers Book 1)

Bestselling author Kurt Remington lives to write. He spends twelve hours a day in front of his computer, rarely leaving the seclusion of his beach-front property, where he’s come to finish his latest thriller — that is, until free-spirited Leanna Bray nearly drowns in the ocean trying to save her dog. Kurt’s best-laid plans are shot to hell when he comes to their rescue. Kurt’s as irritated as he is intrigued by the sexy, hot mess of a woman who lives life on a whim, forgets everything, and doesn’t even know the definition of the word organized.

Leanna’s come to the Cape hoping to find a fulfilling career in the jam-making business, and until she figures out her own life, a man is not on the menu. But Leanna can’t get the six-two, deliciously muscled and tragically neat Kurt out of her mind. She tells herself she’s just stopping by to say thank you, but the heart-warming afternoon sparks an emotional and unexpectedly sweet ride as Kurt and Leanna test the powers of Chemistry 101: Opposites Attract.

Read, Write, Love at Seaside is the sweet edition of steamy romance novel Read, Write, Love by New York Times bestselling author Melissa Foster.

Get the 1st book FREE!!

Available to buy from ...

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Dreaming at Seaside (Sweet with Heat: Seaside Summers Book 2)

Bella Abbascia has returned to Seaside Cottages in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, as she does every summer. Only this year, Bella has more on her mind than sunbathing and skinny-dipping with her girlfriends. She’s quit her job, put her house on the market, and sworn off relationships while she builds a new life in her favorite place on earth. That is, until good-time Bella’s prank takes a bad turn and a handsome police officer appears on the scene.

Single father and police officer Caden Grant left Boston with his fourteen-year-old son, Evan, after his partner was killed in the line of duty. He hopes to find a safer life in the small resort town of Wellfleet, and when he meets Bella during a night patrol shift, he realizes he’s found the one thing he’d never allowed himself to hope for—or even realized he was missing.

After fourteen years of focusing solely on his son, Caden cannot resist the intense attraction he feels toward beautiful Bella, and Bella’s powerless to fight the heat of their budding romance. But starting over proves more difficult than either of them imagined, and when Evan gets mixed up with the wrong kids, Caden’s loyalty is put to the test. Will he give up everything to protect his son—even Bella?

Dreaming at Seaside is the sweet edition of the steamy romance novel Seaside Dreams by New York Times bestselling author Melissa Foster.

Available to buy from ...

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Sunsets at Seaside (Sweet with Heat: Seaside Summers Book 4)

Jessica Ayers has lived a sheltered life with little more than cello lessons and practices taking up her day. Now a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, she escapes the prim and proper symphony to vacation in the Seaside community in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, to determine if she is living life to the fullest or missing it altogether.

For the first time since developing the second largest search engine in the world, billionaire Jamie Reed is taking the summer off. He plans to work from the Cape and spend time with his elderly grandmother—and falling in love is not in his plans.

From the moment Jamie and Jessica meet, the attraction is white-hot. Once-overly-focused Jamie can think of little else than sweet, smart, and alluring Jessica, and Jessica discovers a side of herself she never knew existed. But when Jamie’s business encounters trouble and his attorney and best friend intervenes, he proves that the brown-haired beauty is too distracting for Jamie. To make matters worse, it appears that Jessica might not be who she says she is, turning Jamie’s life—and his heart—upside down. In a world where personal information is always one click away, Jamie must decide if he should trust his heart or watch the woman he loves walk away. 

Sunsets at Seaside is the sweet edition of the steamy romance novel Seaside Sunsets by New York Times bestselling author Melissa Foster.

Releasing August 23rd
Available to pre-order from ...

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Secrets at Seaside (Sweet with Heat: Seaside Summers Book 5)

Tony Black is the hottest surfer on the planet. He travels the world throughout the year and spends his summers on Cape Cod with his friends, at the Seaside cottages in Wellfleet, Massachusetts. He’s got his choice of women, but Amy Maples is the one he wants. Fourteen years ago she was his for an entire summer, until a devastating accident changed everything, and what they had seemed like it had never existed—at least for her.

Amy Maples is as consistent as the day is long. She’s spent summers on Cape Cod forever, she always does the right thing, and she’s spent years trying to reclaim the heart of Tony Black, the only man she’s ever loved. She’s back for a summer of fun with her friends at Seaside, only this year she’s been offered the opportunity of a lifetime thousands of miles away, and she’s decided to try one last time to reconnect with Tony. But having a relationship with Tony means dealing with her past—and dealing with her past may knock her to her knees.

Secrets at Seaside is the sweet edition of the steamy romance novel Seaside Secrets by New York Times bestselling author Melissa Foster.

Releasing October 25th
Available to pre-order from ...

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Sweet with Heat: Seaside Summers 

Available!

Read, Write, Love at Seaside

Dreaming at Seaside

Hearts at Seaside

Pre-order!

Sunsets at Seaside (releasing August 23rd)

Secrets at Seaside (releasing October 25th)

Coming Soon!
Nights at Seaside (releasing December 13th)

Seized by Love at Seaside 

Embraced at Seaside 

Lovers at Seaside 

Whispers at Seaside

About the author

SIGN UP for ADDISON'S Sweet with Heat newsletter. Fun, flirty romance with a dash of heat. www.AddisonCole.com/Newsletter

DOWNLOAD the first book in Addison's Sweet with Heat: Seaside Summers series free: READ, WRITE, LOVE AT SEASIDE

Addison Cole is the sweet alter ego of New York Times and USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Melissa Foster. She writes humorous and emotional sweet contemporary romance. Her books do not include explicit sex scenes or harsh language. Addison spends her summers on Cape Cod, where she dreams up wonderful love stories in her house overlooking Cape Cod Bay.

Addison enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups and welcomes an invitation to your event.

Addison’s books are available in paperback, digital, and audio formats.

Find Addison on the following sites....

Website   Newsletter   Facebook   Twitter    Google+   Pinterest   Goodreads   Bookbub   Amazon Author Page

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Love's First Kiss by Stacy Claflin

Quiz for readers to pick which book in the kindle world to read: https://sweetgrovebooks.com/quiz/

Love’s Kiss series is part of Melissa Storm’s First Street Church Kindle World that takes place in Sweet Grove, Texas.

Love’s First Kiss will be available July 19, 2017 along with twenty other books in the Kindle World! Love’s Second Kiss will be available in early 2018. Keep an eye out on this page for more details about the books!

About Love’s First Kiss

She’s burdened by guilt and tragedy. He wants to help her, but he has secrets of his own.

Madisyn Steele graduated college with no job lined up and no income of her own. She returned to her childhood home where her wealthy and overbearing father won’t wait for her to get her life in order. He’s continuing his domineering pattern and ruling her life, even going so far as to ignore her wishes by trying to arrange her marriage to Reese Rutherford, a man she despises—just to solidify his business prospects.

Nate Roberts is barely making ends meet. Despite his hardships, he plans to make it on his own and never return to the home he ran from years earlier. He’s begging friends for food the night he has a chance encounter with Madisyn and everything changes. First he’s willing to go back to Sweet Grove and earn an honest wage for her, then he’s ready to chance hauling illegal contraband just to make the kind of money she’s used to.

Madisyn doesn’t care about material things. She only cares about Nate. But her father’s plans and Reese’s schemes threaten the future she and Nate are trying to build. Can they reveal their secrets and work through all the issues keeping them apart, or will they ultimately push each other away?

My Thoughts…

Love’s First Kiss is a great novella.  It is short, fun, and has HEA (happily ever after).    Stacy Claflin put enough detail and background in the few pages of this story to make is amazing.    I got to know two sweet characters, learn about parents that were a tad controlling, and see a HEA happen.   

My favorite part of this story was how strong both Nate and Madisyn were.   They stood up to their parents and friends, went against the grain of society, and most importantly never lost sight of what they both wanted.    They did not take the easy road, but they did take the high road.    They didn’t get petty, didn’t get angry, they just stood tall, kept their pride, and knew what they both wanted.  

I have read a few of the Kindle World Novella’s and find that I look for more.  I like that they have the same setting and some of the same characters.    It is fun that different authors write them and give their takes on life in the towns.   

I would recommend picking up this novella and spending a hour or two with Nate and Madisyn.  

Thank you Stacy Claflin for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.  

 Book Links

Goodreads  |  Amazon


First Street Church Romances: Kindle World too!
Goodreads Link HERE

Getting a Grip by M.E. Carter RELEASE BLITZ

Title: Getting A Grip
A #MyNewLife Novel

Author: M.E. Carter

Genre: Romantic Comedy

Release Date: July 18, 2017

Blurb

This isn’t my life. Okay, it is my life, but not the way I envisioned it would be.

I wasn’t supposed to be a divorced mother of three when I turned the big 4-0.  Sure, I expected the fine lines, gray hairs and left over baby belly.  What I didn’t expect was expanding our family get-togethers by one… my ex-husband’s new child bride.  Ok, ok, she’s not young.  Maybe.

Did I mention this is not the life I planned?

It could always be worse, I know. I’m lucky to have a mother who loves to babysit, a best friend who loves sarcasm, and a new friend by the name of Greg, who is apparently a child whisperer and tells me my eyes are pretty.

Sigh… Greg.

The perfect, Adonis-like God of a man who keeps flirting with me. At least I think he’s flirting with me. It’s been so long, I don’t really know.

Between birthday parties, a few ill-advised bouts with make-up, and a whole slew of gymnastics classes, it’s finally time to take back some control.

So, while my girls learn all about how to grip the bar, I’m going to learn how to get a grip on my life.  And maybe my heart.

ADD TO GOODREADS

Purchase Links

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

B&N / KOBO / iBOOKS

Author Bio

Mother, reader, storyteller—ME Carter never set out to write books. But when a friend practically forced a copy of Twilight into her hands, the love of the written word she had lost as a child was rekindled. With a story always rolling around in her head, it should come as no surprise that she finally started putting them on paper. She lives in Texas with her four children, Mary, Elizabeth, Carter and Bug, who sadly was born long after her pen name was created, and will probably need extensive therapy because of it.

Author Links

FACEBOOK PAGE

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Defiance (Heart Lines Series Book 5) by Heather Hildenbrand

Kindle Edition, 330 pages

Expected publication: July 13th 2017

Everything is a lie. 

Sam has spent the last six months sorting through plots against the people she cares for most. Learning who to trust—and who to kill. And just when she thought she had it all figured out, the good guys separated from the bad, her world is upended.

Ea’s vessel has been revealed.

The equinox is coming.

Sam knows it’s up to her to stop what’s coming—and who is bringing it. If she doesn’t, the goddess inside her will take over, erasing what’s left of Sam’s sense of self. In fact, Hina’s already struggling for dominance.

But how can Sam possibly battle evil itself when her heartbreak is so great she can’t even heal Alex when he needs her most? Sam needs time. And time is the one thing she doesn’t have.

Alex is struggling to heal and to help Sam stay grounded. But he’s got his own mystery to solve. A secret about himself and his past that he doesn’t even know exists. Together, they’ll battle demons inside and out.

Alex isn’t who he thinks he is. Sam isn’t the only one who was chosen.

Book 5 in the edge-of-your-seat Heart Lines Series from Heather Hildenbrand.

My Thoughts…

Sometimes a series can get dragged on too long….  The Heart Line Series should go on forever.   This is book 5 in a series that must be read in order and each book is equally amazing.    Heather Hildenbrand is phenomenal.   The characters are fun, entertaining, and wonderful.    I need to know what happens with Sam and Alex.   I am invested in the characters and the storyline. 

Defiance picks up exactly where the last book, Imbalance, left off.     Sam and Alex have been attacked, are running away from EA, and Hina is becoming stronger.  The paranormal aspect is amazing, yet believable.   I like that most of the characters are trying to live a normal life yet have special powers that keep them from truly being normal.     It is also wonderful how much these characters protect each other.    Even when the world is against them they work together to keep everyone safe. 

I love that there is no lap in time between books.    The storyline continues and the books are release in a reasonable timeframe.   This is a series that has to be read in order and I definitely recommend starting with book 1 and moving right along.    The good news is the first 5 are available now so you can binge read them all.    

Thank you Heather Hildenbrand for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. 

Book Links

Goodreads   |   Amazon