OH, FUDGE (Hot Cakes Book #5, Prequel Boys of the Bayou Book #6) by Erin Nicholas is a steamy rom-com novella bridge book between two of her contemporary romance series. This is a bridge book and foreshadows the coming romance in “Four Weddings and a Swamp Boat Tour” (Boys of the Bayou Book #6), but this novella rom-com does not end with a HEA. This book can be read as a standalone novella, but I believe it will be more enjoyable if you have read other books in the series.
Paige Asher loves her family, but she wants to live her life on her own terms. In a small town this is extremely difficult. She has her own yoga business, is financially stable, a vegetarian and owner of many cats. Everyone around her is married or in love and they do not understand how she can be happy single and only allowing one-night stands.
Then she has a scorching one-night stand with a hot and sexy Cajun who is a friend of a friend. Paige cannot quit thinking about him and she is surprised that she continues to text him when he returns home.
Mitch Landry loved his trip to Iowa and the sassy and sexy blond he just cannot quit thinking about even though she believes in no-strings-attached sex just like him. He is even more surprised that he is still texting her six months later.
Is this the feeling that all the other Landry’s talk about? Is he falling in love?
I enjoyed this fun crossover novella bridge book. You get more in-depth backstory on why Paige feels the way she does and it makes her more relatable. I love Mitch, like all the other Landry boys, and this novella hints that there is something deeper involved in his belief of his place in the family. While you know you will eventually get your HEA, these two will not go about it in the traditional way. As in all the books in both series, the sex scenes are extremely explicit and steamin’ hot, but I do not feel they are gratuitous.
This is a hot and fun novella and I am looking forward to the rest of Paige and Mitch’s story.
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About the Author
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Erin Nicholas has been writing romances almost as long as she’s been reading them. To date, she’s written over thirty sexy, contemporary novels that have been described as “toe-curling,” “enchanting,” “steamy,” and “fun.” She adores reluctant heroes, imperfect heroines, and happily ever afters.
Erin lives in the Midwest, where she enjoys spending time with her husband (who only wants to read the sex scenes in her books), her kids (who will never read the sex scenes in her books), and her family and friends (who claim to be “shocked” by the sex scenes in her books).
MURDER ON THE ISLAND (Chloe Canton Mystery Book #1) by Daisy White is a cozy mystery with a female amateur sleuth who is reinventing her life at fifty on the beautiful island of Bermuda.
Chloe Canton’s life is in for a major change. When her grandmother Dre dies, she is gifted a home and stables on the island of Bermuda. Recently divorced, tired of her unfulfilling life and job in England, she is hesitant and yet excited about this opportunity for a fresh start. Some of her best childhood memories were from her time with Dre on the island.
All is not easy in paradise. Chloe finds the stable business is in trouble due to rumors, her home and business are on prime real estate that someone wants to develop and then she finds a dead body on one of the local riding trails.
The island is working its magic on Chloe. She discovers she is stronger than ever and willing to fight for her happiness. With the help of new island friends, Chloe works to save her new business and life in paradise while untangling the rumors, mysteries and murder.
I enjoyed this escapist cozy mystery to Bermuda and Chloe. Chloe is a woman that I believe many women can relate to because she wants to change the direction of her life and is willing to work for the change. She is caring and generous, but also a little bit nosy. The author does a wonderful job of bringing Chloe and the island to life. All of the neighbors, new friends and animals add to the entertainment in light moments and add to the list of suspects as the mystery progresses.
I highly recommend this escapist cozy mystery in paradise and new amateur sleuth to follow!
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About the Author
Daisy White/D.E White writes crime/thrillers and cosy crime. After numerous jobs, including being a flight attendant, a 999 call handler for the ambulance service, and a healthcare assistant in A&E, Daisy started writing full time in 2017. She lives on the Sussex coast, UK and has two children and a flock of rescued chickens.
A brand new crime thriller series, starting with GLASS DOLLS: Published by Joffe Books, the series follows former Elite Police Source Handler, Detective Dove Milson, in her first case for the Major Crimes Team. Book two, THE ICE DAUGHTERS is out now.
Daisy also writes cosy crime, including the Amazon bestselling RUBY BAKER SEASIDE MYSTERIES for Joffe Books. A brand new cosy crime series, THE CHLOE CANTON MYSTERIES, will be out in Feb 24th 2021, pub’d by Bloodhound Books and starting with MURDER ON THE ISLAND.
Standalones include psychological thriller REMEMBER ME and gangland thriller THE FORGOTTEN CHILD pub’d by HarperCollins.
Series in Order:
Crime Thrillers – Detective Dove Milson: 1/3 GLASS DOLL 2/3 THE ICE DAUGHTERS *New Release* 3/3 PLAY TIME
Cosy Mysteries: The Ruby Baker Mysteries: 1/3 BEFORE I LEFT 2/3 BEFORE I FOUND YOU 3/3 BEFORE I TRUST YOU
The Chloe Canton Mysteries: 1/3 MURDER ON THE ISLAND *New Release* 2/3 MURDER ON THE BEACH 3/3 MURDER ON VALENTINE’S DAY
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review on the Damppebbles blog tour for the first book in a hopefully new crime fiction/mystery series featuring DI Kate Young. AN EYE FOR AN EYE (Detective Kate Young Book #1) by Carol Wyer.
Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, an about the author section and the authors social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Blurb
A killer running rings around the police. A detective spiralling out of control.
DI Kate Young is on leave. She’s the force’s best detective, but her bosses know she’s under pressure, on medication and overcoming trauma. So after her bad judgement call leads to a narrowly averted public disaster, they’re sure all she needs is a rest.
But when Staffordshire Police summon her back to work on a murder case, it’s a harder, more suspicious Kate Young who returns. With a new ruthlessness, she sets about tracking down a clinical, calculating serial killer who is torturing victims and leaving clues to taunt the police. Spurred on by her reporter husband, Young begins to suspect that the murderer might be closer than she ever imagined.
As she works to uncover the truth, Young unravels a network of secrets and lies, with even those closest to her having something to hide. But with her own competence—and her grip on reality—called into question, can she unmask the killer before they strike again?
AN EYE FOR AN EYE (Detective Kate Young Book #1) by Carol Wyer is the first book in a hopefully new British police procedural crime fiction/mystery series featuring DI Kate Young.
DI Kate Young is suffering after a traumatic incident. She is having flashbacks and taking pills and alcohol to cope. After a narrowly avoiding hurting a civilian, her superintendent places her on forced leave in March.
Just three months later, Kate’s friend and fellow officer DCI Chase comes to tell her she is requested specifically for a murder investigation by her superintendent. In a small team, just two of her fellow officers, DS Morgan Meredith and DS Emma Donaldson, they work diligently to track down a ruthless killer who tortures his victims and taunts the police. This case is a tangled web of secrets, lies and vengeance.
Everyone worries about Kate’s mental state, but Kate is determined to prove she is able to work the evidence and clues step-by-step to catch the killer.
I could not put this book down! Kate is an absolutely stellar new main character that I am looking forward to following. Her personal story, which is intertwined in bits throughout the entire book, had me as intrigued as the crime/mystery itself. The plot moves at a steady pace and is full of red herrings and twists. Although the murders are gruesome, they do not occur on the page and are only discussed and in the forensics after the fact.
This book has me wanting the next book immediately! I highly recommend this new British police procedural crime fiction and author.
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About the Author
USA Today bestselling author and winner of The People’s Book Prize Award, Carol Wyer writes feel-good comedies and gripping crime fiction.
A move from humour to the ‘dark side’ in 2017, saw the introduction of popular DI Robyn Carter in LITTLE GIRL LOST and demonstrated that stand-up comedian Carol had found her true niche.
To date, her crime novels have sold over 750,000 copies and been translated for various overseas markets.
Carol has been interviewed on numerous radio shows discussing ”Irritable Male Syndrome’ and ‘Ageing Disgracefully’ and on BBC Breakfast television. She has had articles published in national magazines ‘Woman’s Weekly’, featured in ‘Take A Break’, ‘Choice’, ‘Yours’ and ‘Woman’s Own’ magazines and the Huffington Post.
She currently lives on a windy hill in rural Staffordshire with her husband Mr Grumpy… who is very, very grumpy.
When she is not plotting devious murders, she can be found performing her comedy routine, Smile While You Still Have Teeth.
THE CONVENT by Sarah Sheridan is the first book, in a what I hope will be a new amateur sleuth series, featuring Sister Veronica Angelica, a Catholic nun residing in the Convent of the Sacred Heart in the center of Soho, London.
Sister Veronica Angelica writes mystery novels in secret that she does not share, except with a fellow Sister in her Convent and she has a penchant for custard cream biscuits. She also has lived her entire life with a secret that has shaped her choice in vocation and personal beliefs in the rules and dogma of the Catholic Church.
When she discovers a young man, Jamie who has been working at the youth hostel next door to the Convent dead in the courtyard, she is forbidden by the local Cardinal to notify law enforcement and keep the discovery to herself. Jamie had a secret that he was about to reveal to Sister Veronica and she is determined to find out what it was and not let his death be covered up.
As Sister Veronica works to find justice for Jamie, she is helped by new friends. She is also finding out that there is something much deeper and sinister happening in the diocese with ties all the way to Rome. Will Sister Veronica be able to solve the case before the killer silences her?
I love Sister Veronica! This book was not what I was expecting, but I really enjoyed it. The mystery is compelling and keeps becoming more so as Sister Veronica and her friends discover the depth of the corruption and willingness to kill to cover it up. Even though it is an amateur sleuth mystery and does contain lighter moments with the more intense, the author does not hold back on including real life scandals in the news regarding the Catholic Church and has Sister Veronica questioning and contemplating her own beliefs vs. the Church’s beliefs and dogma.
I highly recommend this new amateur sleuth mystery and hope for many more books to follow this introduction to Sister Veronica and her friends!
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About the Author
Sarah was born in London and now lives in a village in South Northamptonshire. She gained a Masters degree in Eighteenth-Century French and English art from the Courtauld Institute of Art, before teaching art in secondary schools for thirteen years. After working with human rights organisations that protect minority groups from institutional abuse, Sarah worked towards a PhD at The Open University, researching the effect of secrecy on marginalised people, specifically the biological children of Roman Catholic priests. She has spoken about her research on various news programmes for the BBC and other media outlets around the world. It was this sense of secrecy and silencing that became the inspiration for her first crime novel, The Convent.
Sarah is hugely obsessed with reading and is amassing such an unrealistically large book collection that some of it is now in storage. She is also addicted to writing, and after inventing stories (mostly in secret) from a young age and having various articles and short stories published, she wrote a children’s book, The Top Secret Diary of Davina Dupree – inspired by her daughter – in 2013. Overjoyed to hear that young readers were enjoying the story, she went on to write a series about Davina Dupree.
When she is not looking after her three children and menagerie of pets, or going for long walks with her wonderful partner Rich, Sarah can be found writing, while consuming large amounts of chocolate.
Today is my turn on the Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour for the new Christian Romantic Suspense LETHAL INTENT by Cara C. Putnam. This is a legal/medical romantic suspense mash-up that kept me turning the pages.
Below you will find a book synopsis, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links and a Rafflecopter giveaway. Enjoy!
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Book Synopsis
If they expected silence, they hired the wrong woman.
Caroline Bragg’s life has never been better. She and Brandon Lancaster are taking their relationship to the next level, and she has a new dream job as legal counsel for Praecursoria—a research lab that is making waves with its cutting-edge genetic therapies. The company’s leukemia treatments even promise to save desperately sick kids—kids like eleven-year-old Bethany, a critically ill foster child at Brandon’s foster home.
When Caroline’s enthusiastic boss wants to enroll Bethany in experimental trials prematurely, Caroline objects, putting her at odds with her colleagues. They claim the only goal at Praecursoria is to save lives. But does someone have another agenda?
Brandon faces his own crisis. As laws governing foster homes shift, he’s on the brink of losing the group home he’s worked so hard to build. When Caroline learns he’s a Praecursoria investor, it becomes legally impossible to confide in him. Will the secrets she keeps become a wedge that separates them forever? And can she save Bethany from the very treatments designed to heal her?
This latest romantic legal thriller by bestseller Cara Putman shines a light on the shadowy world of scientific secrets and corporate vendettas—and the ethical dilemmas that plague the place where science and commerce meet.
Genre: Mystery/Suspense Published by: Thomas Nelson Publication Date: January 12, 2021 Number of Pages: 336 ISBN: 0785233318 (ISBN13: 9780785233312)
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My Book Review:
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
LETHAL INTENT by Cara C. Putnam is a new legal/medical romantic suspense mash-up. This book is a listed as a Christian romantic suspense, but it has only subtle references to belief and prayers and the romance subplot is what I call a cozy romance due to the fact that there are no sex scenes. The story is easily read as a standalone and only loosely tied to other female heroines in Ms. Putnam’s legal romantic suspense books.
Caroline Bragg has landed a new job as the legal counsel for a new medical start-up, Praecursoria. They are in FDA human testing for a cutting-edge genetic therapy, CAR T to save children with leukemia which has reoccurred or not responding to previous treatments. While learning the new technology for her job, people tied to the company begin to die in what are believed to be accidents, but Caroline receives an email from one of the dead that has her starting to investigate and places her in the sights of a killer who refuses to be stopped.
Brandon Lancaster is facing his own problems when the government changes the laws regarding is group foster home, Almost Home. As he works to come up with a new plan, his feelings for Caroline become deeper, but she has learned he is a major investor in Praecursoria and appears to be backing away. When Brandon needs Caroline the most will the secrets she keeps break them apart?
I loved the suspense in this story and was riveted to the pages. The legal questions of experimental technology, the ethics of having a loved one be a major investor in a company you work for and the large amount of money and potential profit involved in this type of company. The technology and legal aspects of the story were clearly written and did not slow the story. The twists and turns kept me guessing throughout.
Caroline and Brandon were both strong, intelligent and committed main characters and Ms. Putnam brought the intersections of their different problems together nicely. This is a couple just starting to commit and the romance is a cozy romance with no sex scenes even behind closed doors. I also enjoyed the scenes where Caroline turned to her friends for support and advice, who are characters from other books.
I highly recommend this Christian romantic suspense and author!
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Excerpt
Caroline shifted in the high-backed chair. The massive conference room table made her feel more petite than usual. Quentin Jackson, the man propelling Praecursoria through its rapid growth, vibrated with energy as he studied her.
“We are on the cusp of amazing developments and a transition from the lab to trials. We have a few CAR T-cell therapies in early stages now with more in our pipeline.”
She racked her mind for the importance of T cells, and he gave a hearty laugh.
“Don’t worry if the science overwhelms you. We’ll have you up to speed in no time. All you need to know right now is that T cells are one of the two cells that make up white blood cells. The treatments we’re working on could be the difference between life and death for young cancer patients. We need your legal expertise and quick mind to synthesize the science with the map to market.”
“I’ve overseen several court trials related to patents, which should help with that process.” It had been an unforeseen aspect of her days clerking for Judge Loren. She swallowed against the lump in her throat that still welled up when she thought about his untimely death from pneumonia. A month ago she couldn’t imagine interviewing for a job somewhere else, even if a part of her knew that she should stretch her wings.
“When can you start? Today?”
She felt rooted to the chair. Everything was moving so fast. Could she really transition her experience managing clerks for a judge into managing patents and contracts for a start-up? While Praecursoria had been around for a decade as a cancer research lab, about eighteen months ago Quentin sold off its lucrative genetic testing branch to focus exclusively on the development of cutting-edge CAR T-cell therapies. Starting over that way was a bold if risky move.
She lifted her chin and forced a smile that didn’t waver. “If that’s what you need. First we have a few details to work out.”
He laughed. “I like the way you tackle issues head-on. That will be key in this role. I know how to steer the ship, and my chief scientist can navigate the research, but you’ll keep us on the legal straight and narrow.” He tapped his pen against the legal pad in front of him. Then he picked up her résumé and named a salary that pressed her against the chair. “There will be performance bonuses tied to the successful conclusion of trials. We want to look into stock options as well. That will be one of your assignments in conjunction with HR.” He slapped his hands on the table and she jumped. “My enthusiasm gets away from me sometimes.” He shrugged but never wavered as he examined her. “Let’s start with a field trip. The best way for you to understand why we’re doing this work and research is to show you.”
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Author Bio
Cara Putman is the author of more than twenty-five legal thrillers, historical romances, and romantic suspense novels. She has won or been a finalist for honors including the ACFW Book of the Year and the Christian Retailing’s BEST Award. Cara graduated high school at sixteen, college at twenty, completed her law degree at twenty-seven, and recently received her MBA. She is a practicing attorney, teaches undergraduate and graduate law courses at a Big Ten business school, and is a homeschooling mom of four. She lives with her husband and children in Indiana.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review on the Buoni Amici Release Blitz for LOCK & LOAD (PASS Series Book #3) by Freya Barker.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Juggling two jobs is nothing new for registered nurse, Hillary Glenwood, she’s been doing it for most of her adult life. She has an objective she intends to meet. But, just months before reaching her goal, she witnesses a violent attack outside her apartment that rattles her determination.
However, her carefully controlled life runs completely off the rails when she recognizes the new neighbor coming to the rescue.
As a hacker, Radar Jansen hasn’t always used his expertise in the most respectable ways until he came to work for PASS Security. Normally his time is spent behind a computer, but that doesn’t mean his skills end there.
When—walking his dog one night—he sees a familiar woman rushing into a dangerous situation, his training kicks in.
With Hillary’s safety compromised, the keyboard warrior puts on his real life armor to shield the woman who is fast becoming his only focus.
LOCK & LOAD (PASS Series Book #3) by Freya Barker is a fast-paced romantic suspense and is the third book in the world of PASS Security. This book has characters from the previous books due to the fact that they all work together, but they are easily read as standalones.
Hillary Glenwood is working two jobs; an Emergency Room RN at the local hospital and she also works at the Veterans Homeless Shelter so she can keep to her plan of paying off all her student loans. One night as she is coming home from the hospital, she witnesses and attempts to stop a violent attack. The attackers run off when they see not only Hillary, but a man running towards them.
Radar Jansen is an ex-hacker, now computer expert for PASS Security. While Radar is a genius on a computer, he is not as talented in the romance department. When he sees a familiar woman running towards danger, his training kicks in and he runs to protect and assist.
As the agents of PASS and the FBI work to find the killers of multiple people and work to uncover the motive, they keep discovering Hillary is tangentially connected to several of the dead and Radar begins to fear for her safety. As their relationship grows so does the danger. Will Radar and his friends from PASS be able to catch the killers and protect Hillary?
I enjoyed Hillary and Radar’s romance, but not as much as I usually do a Freya Barker romance. I just never got a feeling of believability with Radar, who kept switching from alpha to beta. I did like Hillary’s feistiness and backbone. The suspense plot of the book was intense, an interesting premise and the killers were surprising. The sex scenes are explicit, but not gratuitous.
Overall, a good romantic suspense read, just not my favorite of the series.
USA Today bestselling author Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories.
Driven to make her books about ‘real’ people; she creates characters who are perhaps less than perfect, each struggling to find their own slice of happy, but just as deserving of romance, thrills and chills in their lives.
Recipient of the ReadFREE.ly 2019 Best Book We’ve Read All Year Award for “Covering Ollie, the 2015 RomCon “Reader’s Choice” Award for Best First Book, “Slim To None”, and Finalist for the 2017 Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, Freya continues to add to her rapidly growing collection of published novels as she spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!
