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Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: The Boyfriend Candidate by Ashley Winstead

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE BOYFRIEND CANDIDATE by Ashley Winstead on this Summer 2023 HTP Books Blog Tour.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Description

As a shy school librarian, Alexis Stone is comfortable keeping out of the spotlight. But when she’s dumped for being too meek—in bed!—she decides she needs to change. And what better way to kick-start her new more adventurous life than with her first one-night stand?

Enter Logan, the gorgeous, foul-mouthed stranger she meets at a hotel bar. Audacious and filterless, Logan is Alexis’s opposite—and boy, do opposites attract! Just as she’s about to fulfill her hookup wish, the hotel catches fire in a freak lightning storm. In their rush to escape, Logan is discovered carrying her into the street, where people are waiting with cameras. Cameras Logan promptly—and shockingly—flees.

Alexis is bewildered until suddenly pictures of her and Logan escaping the fire are all over the internet. Turns out Logan is none other than Logan Arthur, the hotshot candidate challenging the Texas governor’s seat. The salacious scandal is poised to sink his career—and jeopardize Alexis’s job—until a solution is proposed: he and Alexis could pretend to be in a relationship until election day…in two months. What could possibly go wrong?

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62197594-the-boyfriend-candidate?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=XsvDK4ZlEV&rank=1

The Boyfriend Candidate

By Ashley Winstead

On Sale May 9, 2023

Graydon House

Paperback Original

ISBN: 9781525804960

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My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

THE BOYFRIEND CANDIDATE by Ashley Winstead is an absolute treat of a fake romance/rom-com contemporary romance featuring a shy, book loving school librarian and a foul-mouthed, audacious politician running for office. Opposites attract in this slow burn fake romance.

Alexis Stone has always preferred books over people and has a job she loves as a school librarian. When her boyfriend cheats on her for a second time and blames her, she is determined to change her life. She gets dressed up and goes out looking for a one-night stand. When she is hit on by an obnoxious drunk, the gorgeous man next to her at the bar rescues her.

Logan Arthur just wants some down time and stops for a drink after work in the bar by his office. He stands up to the obnoxious man hitting on the woman next him at the bar and finds he loves listening to her stories. As they go to leave, both find they want each other. But when a lightening strike starts a fire in the hotel, they find themselves outside, half dressed, and Logan takes off, leaving Alexis when the photographers start taking pictures.

Logan is single and running for Governor and the scandal of coming out of a hotel with a woman brings up his playboy history, so his campaign finds Alexis and proposes a fake relationship just until the election in two months.

I really loved the opposites attract dynamic between Alexis and Logan. They both learned from each other how to be bold and when to hold back, while both were trying to get beyond being hurt by others in the past. While there is plenty of romance, it is a slow burn with a love triangle thrown in three quarters of the way through the story. I felt the entire romance plot moved at a believable pace with no sex scenes until almost the end of the story, but plenty of chemistry between the H/h. The election and campaign issues added interest to the overall story, also. All the characters are fully fleshed and believable. This is an overall enjoyable read with fun characters, dialogue, and plot.

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Excerpt

Alexis Stone Is Not a Mouse

I’LL SAY ONE NICE THING ABOUT MY EX CHRIS TUTTLE: the man was the entire reason I was here, standing at the entrance to the sultry Fleur de Lis hotel bar, wearing a red dress so plunging I kept it in the back of my closet for fear of scandalizing visitors, on the verge of reinventing myself. The memory of Chris and the still-fresh psychic wounds he’d left me were like a marching drum line urging me forward as I’d left my apartment, Ubered downtown to the Fleur de Lis, and cut a determined path across the lobby to the bar, a place with a reputation as Austin’s Grand Central Station of hookups. Unfortunately, now that I was standing at the entrance, the sight of all the laughing, drinking, dazzling people—dressed to the nines like me, but looking much more at ease about it—had me momentarily cowed.

I thought back to what Chris said the day I discovered he was cheating on me (for the second time): “I do have needs you can’t satisfy. You should really learn to be more adventurous in bed, Lex. You’re like a timid little mouse. It can get really boring.” Remembering those words, I straightened my shoulders, took a deep breath, and stepped inside. I was not a boring mouse—or at least I wouldn’t be one anymore. Starting tonight, I was going to be a new version of Alexis Stone: as bold and adventurous as my flaming-red dress.

I tried to soak in the beauty of the bar while beelining through the crowded tables, anxious to leave the peculiar spotlight of being the only person standing among a bunch of cozy, seated people. But then I realized new Alexis wouldn’t care if everyone’s eyes flitted to her as she walked across a room—in fact, new Alexis would welcome it, because she’d spent nearly an hour straightening and then recurling her hair into movie star ringlets, and maybe that effort should be appreciated. I forced myself to slow and look up at the bar’s gorgeous glass ceiling, shaded a twinkly blue thanks to the night sky. Real palm trees lined the circular perimeter, fronds reaching toward the stars. They made the bar look like a very urbane urban jungle, which actually wasn’t too far off the mark.

My older sister, Lee, and her friends liked to roll their eyes at the entire downtown bar scene, calling places like the Fleur de Lis “meat markets where you go to spend thirty-five bucks on a martini while beating back horny yuppies” (Lee’s words). They preferred the hipster bars on the east side of Austin, where the clientele was cooler yet dirtier (my words). I thought the Fleur de Lis was romantic, so it made sense to come here tonight for my critical but one hundred percent private mission: I, Alexis Rosalie Stone, was going to have my first one-night stand. I was going to sleep with a man with no strings attached, no stakes or expectations: just one night to do whatever felt right. Alexis the unadventurous bore? I’d killed her and buried the body.

The gleaming brass bar was crowded, but I managed to slip a shoulder between two men and catch the bartender’s attention. “Vodka martini,” I said, feeling a sudden rebellious compulsion to do anything that would raise my sister’s eyebrows. By the time my drink came, I’d completed a full three-sixty swivel in my barstool to survey the sea of men for potential candidates. How exactly did one negotiate a one-night stand? Did you lead with it in conversation so all your cards were on the table (“Hi, I’m Alexis; you might be interested to know I’m trolling for a stranger to ravish me”), or did you hold back, let your intention slip out at just the right moment (“I see you’re ordering an Uber home; could I interest you in going splitsies back to my place for a wild night of sex”)?

I braced a hand on the bar, taking a fortifying sip of my martini. Even if I made a complete fool of myself tonight—even if I was roundly rejected by every man I spoke to—coming here alone at least meant Lee and her crew couldn’t witness my flop, then use it to skewer me for all eternity like the jackals they were.

A whistle cut through the bar’s ambient noise, followed by a loud, “Now that’s a dress.” Out of nowhere, a man appeared and sidled up beside me. One look at him and my mind blurted forehead! Probably because his was shiny as a disco ball, framed by waggling eyebrows, and tilted all the way to the side. The next second, I realized his head was turned that way so he could get a clear view down my dress.

“Thanks.” I placed a protective hand over my chest and swiveled in the opposite direction. Hoping my body language would signal my disinterest, I took another sip of my martini and studied the empty corner of the room like it was fascinating.

No such luck. “I’m Carter Randall,” the man said, jutting out his hand. “What’s your name?”

My deep desire for him to go away warred with my silly lifelong compulsion to be nice. “Um…” I twisted back to shake his oddly moist hand and searched for inspiration. My gaze snagged, as his clearly had, on my dress. “Ruby…” The next word came unbidden. “Dangerfield. Ruby Dangerfield.” Curse my polite hardwiring that had me sitting here inventing a new name instead of dismissing him with something cool and clipped like, “Not interested.”

Carter gave my hand a little squeeze. He was twice my age, probably well into his fifties. Well-dressed, with a massive gold watch on his wrist, and—now that I squinted—a strangely sweaty face, like he’d just done a lap. Was he on party drugs? He used his sleeve to mop his forehead and I pulled my hand away, resisting the urge to wipe it on my dress. Carter’s eyes drifted down the length of my body yet again. “Well, Ms. Ruby. Can I buy you a drink? A stiff one?” He grinned.

“Oh,” I said. “That’s very nice. But—um—no thank you.” Inside, I burned with the fire of a thousand suns. Saying no to anyone, even a stranger, stretched the limits of my bravery.

“Aw, come on.” Carter leaned in closer and I scooted back so fast I nearly tipped over. “Look at you, sitting there in that dress. Clearly fishing for attention. Well, you caught me. Let’s get you drunk and see what happens.”

Apparently, I was going to get a lesson in how not to proposition someone tonight. But my cheeks were burning, because in a small way Carter was right—I had come here to put myself on display and find someone, just very much not him. Be the new Alexis, I urged myself. Stop prioritizing this stranger’s feelings and tell him to leave you alone. But I couldn’t—at the slightest provocation, old, sad, doormat Alexis had quickly jumped back in charge.

“I’m not trying to be rude,” I said carefully, feeling my heartbeat spike. “I would just like to be by myself tonight.” Well, shoot. Now that I’d committed to that, would I have to leave the bar so Carter didn’t catch me talking to anyone else later? My palms started sweating.

“One drink—” he started.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” came a voice, tinged with an accent I couldn’t place—British mixed with Texas panhandle? I nearly knocked over my martini. “She said no, mate. Get it through your thick skull and leave the poor woman alone.”

Carter spun to get a look at the man who’d interrupted us, and without his body blocking the view, I got a clear line, too. My stomach flipped over and released a conservatory’s worth of butterflies. Even wearing a look of contempt, the man on the other side of Carter was stop-in-your-tracks, tongue-tyingly handsome. He was around my age, maybe a little older—he certainly radiated an older person’s authority—with a head of dark curls cut close and tight, brown eyes that were currently blazing, and thick eyebrows arched, waiting to see how Carter would respond. He had on a dark suit like most of the other men in the room, but he’d taken off his jacket and hung it on the back of his seat. He was sitting hunched over his drink in a white dress shirt with the sleeves messily rolled back, wearing a dark slim watch that was the antithesis of Carter’s flashy gold one. The wrinkles in his suit, creases under his eyes, and day-old stubble gave the impression of a weary business executive after a long, hard day at work. His eyes flitted to mine for the briefest moment before returning to Carter, but the charge that ran down my spine was enough to root me to my chair.

Carter shifted his weight. Apparently, he was going to play the tough guy. “Why don’t you mind your business, pal?”

The beautiful, tired man rolled his eyes. “Oh, good. You’re one of those.” He got to his feet so fast his barstool made a screeching sound as it scraped across the floor. “Then let’s go ahead and get this over with, because I’ve had a shit day and I would like to kick your ass and get back home at a reasonable hour. So come on. You’re the one campaigning for Most Punchable Man in the Bar. Let’s have your prize.” The dark-haired man spoke calmly and quickly in his hard-to-place accent, like he invited people to get their asses kicked at least once a day. He made a little “come on” gesture that conveyed utter boredom.

People around us had stopped talking to watch. The extra attention only made me feel like I was going to melt into the floor at twice the speed. But if I had no idea how to respond to this turn of events—what to say or even where to put my hands—Carter was even more clueless. I could see his eyes dancing, doing quick calculations. On the one hand, Carter was thicker around the middle than the dark-haired man. On the other, the dark-haired man had revealed himself to be tall and well-built when he stood up.

“Nah, man.” Carter put his hands up. “We’ve got no problems. Just making new friends like you’re supposed to at a bar, for Christ’s sake.”

“Great,” said the dark-haired man. “Then kindly fuck off as suggested.”

Carter didn’t wait to be told a third time. As he hightailed away from the bar, a woman nearby muttered, “What a douche.” And with that judgment rendered, the room dialed back to a normal volume.

“Thank you,” I said to the dark-haired man. He waved me off with a grunt and settled back in his barstool, leaning comfortably over his drink, apparently hoping to resume his night like nothing had happened.

I stared at him. The adrenaline was draining out of my system, which left me feeling hollow. I should have been the one to tell Carter to fuck off. I should have had the guts, but instead I’d tiptoed around and this man had to step in and do it for me. How humiliating. It hit me like a ton of bricks: from the moment Carter arrived, I’d been unequivocally mousy. Exactly like Chris said.

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Author Bio

Ashley Winstead’s 2021 breakout thriller, In My Dreams I Hold a Knife, was an Amazon Editor’s Best Thriller, an Apple Books Best Book of August, as well as a Library Journal, New York Times, CrimeReads, Parade, and Goodreads best or most anticipated thriller of the year. Her 2022 thriller, The Last Housewife, was a Library Reads pick, a Loan Star pick, an Amazon Editor’s Best Thriller, as well as a Cosmopolitan, Good Morning America, Good Housekeeping, Seattle Times, and Southern Review of Fiction best or most anticipated thriller of the year. Her 2022 romance debut, Fool Me Once, was an Amazon Editor’s Best Romance as well as a USA Today, PopSugar, New York Post, and Goodreads best or most anticipated romance of the year. Her work has been translated into more than a dozen languages and optioned for film/TV.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.ashleywinstead.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashley.winstead

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ashleywinstead

Purchase Links

HarperCollins: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-boyfriend-candidate-ashley-winstead?variant=40743817412642

BookShop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-boyfriend-candidate-ashley-winstead/18794134?ean=9781525804960

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-boyfriend-candidate-ashley-winstead/1142080805

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Boyfriend-Candidate-Novel-Ashley-Winstead/dp/1525804960/

Feature Post and Book Review: A Peculiar Combination by Ashley Weaver

Book Description

The first in the Electra McDonnell series from Edgar-nominated author Ashley Weaver, set in England during World War II, A Peculiar Combination is a delightful mystery filled with spies, murder, romance, and the author’s signature wit.

FIRST RULE: DON’T LOSE YOUR CONCENTRATION.

Electra McDonnell and her family earn their living outside the law. Breaking into the homes of the rich and picking the locks on their safes may not be condoned by British law enforcement, but with World War II in full swing, Uncle Mick’s locksmith business just can’t pay the bills anymore.

SECOND RULE: DON’T MAKE MISTAKES.
So when Uncle Mick receives a tip about a safe full of jewels in an empty house, he and Ellie can’t resist. All is going as planned—until the pair is caught red-handed. But instead of arresting them, government official Major Ramsey has an offer: either Ellie agrees to help him break into a safe and retrieve blueprints crucial to the British war effort, or he turns her over to the police.

THIRD RULE: DON’T GET CAUGHT.
Ellie doesn’t care for the major’s imperious manner, but she has no choice. However, when they break into the house, they find the safe open and empty, and a German spy dead on the floor. Soon, Ellie and Major Ramsey are forced to put aside their differences to unmask the double agent, and stop Allied plans from falling into enemy hands.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/54860475-a-peculiar-combination?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=UZS4Nw8jxe&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

A PECULIAR COMBINATION (Electra McDonnell Series Book #1) by Ashley Weaver is an entertaining and unique WWII historical cozy mystery featuring a resourceful female well versed in the family business of locks and safe cracking and a strait-laced English Intelligence officer. I love finding a new series that guarantees more stories with strong characters for me to enjoy in the future.

Electra “Ellie” McDonnell grew up with an uncle and cousins who earned their living slightly outside the law when their locksmithing business was not quite enough to pay the bills. With her cousins away serving their country in the fight against Hitler, Ellie goes with her Uncle Mick on a late-night job. They are caught red handed and taken not to jail, but to the government office of Major Gabriel Ramsey. Ellie and Uncle Mick are offered a deal, work for the government using their unique skill set or go to prison.

Ellie must break into a safe to exchange critical weapons blueprints before they are delivered to a German spy. While Ellie does not like the high-handed Major, she is more than willing to do her part for the war effort. But things do not go as planned and Ellie and the Major must race to uncover all the traitors involved in the plot as the dead bodies stack up.

This is a great start to this new historical mystery series by this new to me author. All the characters are very well developed and feel very believable and appropriate to this time in history. Not only is the research on London before the blitz evident, but the author does a great job of making the reader feel the appropriate atmosphere of living in the black outed city. The mystery/espionage plot is fast-paced and tightly written with plenty of twists throughout. Electra is a wonderful protagonist and there is still so much to learn about her, her mother’s conviction and which possible gentleman she will find romance with in the future, Major Ramsey or Felix.

I highly recommend this wonderfully enjoyable start to this new WWII historical mystery series!

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About the Author

Ashley Weaver is the author of the Amory Ames Mysteries and the Electra McDonnell series. She is also the Technical Services Coordinator for the Allen Parish Libraries in Louisiana. Weaver has worked in libraries since she was 14; she was a page and then a clerk before obtaining her MLIS from Louisiana State University. She lives in Oakdale, Louisiana.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.ashley-weaver.com/

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AshleyCWeaver

Feature Post and Book Review: An American Beauty by Shana Abe

Book Description

This sweeping novel of historical fiction is inspired by the true rags-to-riches story of Arabella Huntington—a woman whose great beauty was surpassed only by her exceptional business acumen, grit, and artistic eye, and who defied the constraints of her era to become the wealthiest self-made woman in America.

1867, Richmond, Virginia: Though she wears the same low-cut purple gown that is the uniform of all the girls who work at Worsham’s gambling parlor, Arabella stands apart. It’s not merely her statuesque beauty and practiced charm. Even at seventeen, Arabella possesses an unyielding grit, and a resolve to escape her background of struggle and poverty.

Collis Huntington, railroad baron and self-made multimillionaire, is drawn to Arabella from their first meeting. Collis is married and thirty years her senior, yet they are well-matched in temperament, and flirtation rapidly escalates into an affair. With Collis’s help, Arabella eventually moves to New York, posing as a genteel, well-to-do Southern widow. Using Collis’s seed money and her own shrewd investing instincts, she begins to amass a fortune.

Their relationship is an open secret, and no one is surprised when Collis marries Arabella after his wife’s death. But “The Four Hundred”—the elite circle that includes the Astors and Vanderbilts—have their rules. Arabella must earn her place in Society—not just through her vast wealth, but with taste, style, and impeccable behavior. There are some who suspect the scandalous truth, and will blackmail her for it. And then there is another threat—an unexpected, impossible romance that will test her ambition, her loyalties, and her heart . . .

An American Beauty brings to vivid life the glitter and drama of a captivating chapter in history—and a remarkable woman who lived by her own rules.

Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61341955-an-american-beauty?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=npMzMsAXaB&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 4.5 out of 5 Stars

AN AMERICAN BEAUTY by Shana Abe is a riveting biographical historical fiction novel about the most interesting woman of the gilded age that I knew nothing about. Arabella Huntington uses her beauty, determination, and brains to overcome her impoverished beginnings and will ignore the rules of elite New York society and rise to become the wealthiest self-made woman in America.

This story begins in 1867 Richmond, Virginia when Arabella Duval Yarrington is only in her teens. Her mother runs a boarding house and is barely able to feed her children in the war devastated Richmond. Arabella is the beauty of the family, and her mother takes her to get work in a gambling parlor and brothel. Arabella is beautiful and talented and knows her family depends on her. Collis Huntington is a railroad baron who attends the establishment Arabella works at and is smitten with Arabella even though he is married. This man will change her and her family’s lives even as Arabella learns and grows into her ambitions, business acumen, and large fortune over her lifetime.

This is such a rich story with many individual plot threads woven together over the lifetime of Arabella Huntington that made me feel she could walk right off the page. Arabella and her mother had to be tough and make difficult choices that not everyone would agree with, but they survived and thrived. I kept thinking of the Reba McEntire song “Fancy” as I was reading that part of Arabella’s life. All the characters are fully drawn throughout the book and believable. Even though this is a work of historical fiction many of the major plot points of the story can be verified as well as painting and jewelry collections still available for viewing left by Arabella. This story tells the tale of an amazing woman who triumphed even though she was very much ahead of her time.

I highly recommend this captivating biographical historical novel.

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About the Author

Shana Abé is the award-winning, New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of seventeen books, including the acclaimed Drákon Series and the Sweetest Dark Series.

She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Southern California, and currently resides in the mountains of Colorado with her very patient husband and a lot of pets.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.shanaabe.com/

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/shana_abe

Book Blitz/Feature Post and Book Review: Opal by Freya Barker

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for OPAL (GEM Series, Book #1) by Freya Barker on this Buoni Amici Book Blitz.

Below you will find a book blurb, my book review, the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Blurb

GEM: A PRIVATELY-FUNDED ORGANIZATION OPERATING INDEPENDENTLY IN THE SEARCH FOR—AND THE RESCUE AND RECOVERY OF—MISSING AND EXPLOITED CHILDREN. ALTHOUGH, AT TIMES WORKING IN CONJUNCTION WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT, GEM AIMS TO ENSURE THE VICTIMS RECEIVE JUSTICE…BY WHATEVER MEANS NECESSARY.

GEM Operator Opal; multifaceted, versatile, a chameleon.

She hides in plain sight, adapts, and infiltrates.

When Opal goes undercover in a youth center several teenagers have disappeared from, she’s shocked to find a ghost of her own traumatic past at the helm. However, her worry for the missing kids is greater than her concern being recognized and she risks her own safety to discover the truth.

To complicate matters, a familiar FBI agent shows up conducting his own investigation and almost blows the whistle on her. It takes some doing to convince him to join forces with her but as it turns out, they work well together.

In the course of uncovering an organized group of child molesters, they find themselves falling—for each other.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123164624-opal?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=sG57GGf5Ga&rank=1

OPAL (GEM Series, Book #1)

Author: Freya Barker

Genre: Romantic Suspense – slow burn romance

Release Date: May 22^nd

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

OPAL (GEM Series, Book #1) by Freya Barker is an exciting and fast-paced first book in a new romantic suspense trilogy with each book featuring a female operative, Opal, Pearl, and Onyx from GEM. These three operatives share a traumatic past and are now working to locate, rescue and save missing and exploited children and teens without the constraints of working for a law enforcement agency.

Kate is GEM operative Opal and a master at blending into any type of environment and a master markswoman. She is back in Kentucky in the town from her own private nightmares to investigate the disappearance of the sheriff’s grandniece and several others from the community youth center.

FBI Agent Mitch Kenny is investigating the same case as Opal and as they cross paths, not only do they agree to a certain amount of cooperation, but there is an attraction between the two. As the investigation heats up, so does the danger, surprises, and romantic heat.

Ms. Barker never disappoints! Opal is a talented, intelligent, and strong GEM operative with a terrible past, but the horror also brought the three friends together. Mitch is a strong, dedicated, and caring FBI agent who is described by Opal as a “silver fox”. Ms. Barker does a great job of bringing them together under terrible circumstances at a believable pace with a few bumps in the road. Opal. Pearl, and Onyx are brought together by the mysterious Jacob Branch and while some of the childhood and teen exploitation scenes are tough to read about in spots, I kept occasionally smiling at other scenes because the set up with Jacob and the women reminds me of Charlie’s Angels, but the middle-aged edition. I really loved Opal and Mitch’s story, and I am looking forward to finding out who Pearl and Onyx are paired with.

I highly recommend this first gripping romantic suspense in the GEM trilogy!

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Author Bio

USA Today bestselling author Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories.

With forty-plus books already published, she continues to create characters who are perhaps less than perfect, each struggling to find their own slice of happy.
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”, Finalist for the 2017 Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, and Finalist for the 2020 Kindle Book Award with “When Hope Ends”, Freya spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!

Social Media Links

Facebook: http://bit.ly/FreyaFacebook

Twitter: http://bit.ly/FreyaTwitter

Instagram: http://bit.ly/FreyaInstagram

Web: http://bit.ly/FreyaWeb

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/FreyaGoodreads

Newsletter: https://www.subscribepage.com/Freya_Newsletter

Bookbub: http://bit.ly/FreyaBookBub

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@authorfreyabarker

Purchase Links

Grab your copy of Opal!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Vhlw4L

Apple: https://mybook.to/Ck1463

BN: https://bit.ly/40Lb4DG

Kobo: https://bit.ly/3ACW8N3

Preorder Pearl

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3oGKpdP

Apple: https://apple.co/41BdRQN

BN: https://bit.ly/3LDmyoc

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

Preorder Onyx

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Nd5BCd

BN: https://bit.ly/3Nmv6Bb

Kobo: https://bit.ly/42pj8LF

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Feature Post and Book Review: The Viscount Who Vexed Me by Julia London

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE VISCOUNT WHO VEXED ME (A Royal Match Book #3) by Julia London.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Description

Daring. Darling. Determined.

Next to the Season’s newest diamond, Harriet (Hattie) Woodchurch feels like a plain Jane. But that’s of no consequence, since Hattie’s plan for her future is to earn enough to live far, far away from her embarrassing family.

That is until Mateo Vincente, Duke of Santiava and newly minted Viscount Abbott, arrives in London. While the shy European’s spoken English is impeccable, his writing is less fluent. The ton is eager to meet the handsome bachelor, and so many invitations flood in that Mateo needs a correspondence secretary.

With her perfect penmanship and way with words, Hattie is recommended, and the two bond over books and the ton’s eligible ladies. But when Hattie’s friend Flora becomes smitten with the viscount, things get complicated. Flora is tongue-tied in his presence. To help, Hattie feeds her information about Mateo’s interests. Soon things turn around and Flora appears on track to become his duchess. Yet for Mateo, something’s not quite right. Conversation with Flora isn’t as scintillating as it is with Hattie…

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/63028657-the-viscount-who-vexed-me?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=yMvc8S6f4R&rank=1

A Royal Match Series

Book 1: Last Duke Standing
Book 2: The Duke Not Taken
Book 3: The Viscount Who Vexed Me

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE VISCOUNT WHO VEXED ME (A Royal Match Book #3) by Julia London is another charming and witty addition to this historical romance series. Each book in the series has a royal who needs to find a mate and hopefully a love match with the help of a determined matchmaker and recurring characters working to assist. Each book can easily be read as a standalone with a complete HEA in each with the recurring characters introduced in each book of the series.

Harriet “Hattie” Woodchurch is determined to earn her own living and move very far away from her embarrassing family. While she has friends in society from her time in school, her father is a rich penny-pinching merchant and not a member of polite society and she realizes her life and circumstances will not be like her friends.

Mateo “Teo” Vincente, Duke of Santiava and now also the Viscount Abbott after the death of his mother’s father arrives in London to set his new inheritance in order. Society is excited about his visit and the knowledge that he seeks a wife, but he is not comfortable with the attention. When he needs assistance with his English correspondence, Hattie is recommended for the position. Teo soon finds he and his entire household are enchanted with his scribe.

As Mateo meets all the eligible debutantes, he finds that he is only truly himself with Hattie and Hattie is finding herself increasingly infatuated with the Viscount. The matchmaker still has a few things up her sleeve to assist this pair, if the Viscount is willing to find his voice and stand up for what he wants.

I adore this series not only because of the well written characters and situations that I never know how Ms. London will resolve them into a HEA, but also because the dialogue is always so witty and fun. Hattie is a determined young woman willing to work for everything she wants and yet she is also friendly and warm despite her difficult family, and it broke my heart every time her supposed friends hurt her. Mateo is complicated and a product of his father’s constant verbal abuse, but that makes it even more wonderful when he finally finds his own voice and power. I loved that his hobby and passion is baking. This book has no explicit sex scenes, but a steadily growing romance from the discovering of friendship to love.

I recommend this enjoyable historical romance and the entire Royal Match series.

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Excerpt

Suddenly, a woman entered the shop in such a hurry that she set all the bells above the door clanging. “Mrs. Perkins!”

Mrs. Perkins, the shopkeeper, burst forth from the curtains covering the entrance to a back room like she thought the shop might be on fire. “What is it? What’s happened?”

The woman rushed to the front window where Flora and Queenie were, forcing them aside. “What in heaven!” Queenie cried.

“He’s there!”

“Who’s there?” Queenie demanded—she’d never been shy about seeking answers.

“Here?” Mrs. Perkins gasped and sprang to the window like a gazelle. “Where?”

The woman pointed across the street, and Queenie grabbed Flora’s arm. “Look!”

“You’re hurting me,” Flora said.

“For once, will you do as I ask?” Queenie demanded. “Look!”

Hattie watched the four ladies in the shop window, leaning forward and peering out over the glove displays, confused about what was happening. “Oh my. Oh my,” Flora said, then gestured wildly for Hattie. “Come here, come here, you have to see!”

There was not enough room for the five of them, and Hattie had to stand on her tiptoes to see over Flora’s shoulder. “I can’t really see,” Hattie said.

The rest of them ignored her. “Where?” Mrs. Perkins demanded, sounding panicked.

Mrs. Perkins’s friend pointed.

Hattie tried to make herself taller. The only thing she could see was a haberdashery across the street. Three gentlemen stood before it, chatting. “Is that it?” Hattie asked and sank down onto her feet again.

“Not them,” the woman said. “The viscount.”

There had to be at least a dozen viscounts on Regent Street on any given day. “Which one?”

“Which one?” Flora repeated, and shot a disapproving look over her shoulder at Hattie. “Viscount Abbott, of course.”

“Of course,” Hattie muttered. She didn’t know of any Viscount Abbott. Or why any of these women were interested in him.

“Who is also the Duke of Santiava,” Queenie said. Hattie blinked. Queenie rolled her eyes. “Why do you never know these things, Hattie? It’s as if you live in a cave.”

She never knew these things because she didn’t know anything. How could she? She didn’t exactly exist in the same social circles as Flora and Queenie. She knew what they told her, and they had not told her about this viscount.

Just then, Flora grabbed Hattie’s hand and gripped it so tightly that Hattie winced. Queenie pushed a display of gloves out of the way, and the four women surged forward, Flora dragging Hattie with her.

A man emerged from the shop, holding his hat in his hand. He was tall, with sun-drenched skin. His clothing fit him snugly, and it was apparent that he was trim with an athletic build. His dark hair brushed his collar, and when he looked up at something one of the other gentlemen said, he smiled. Only a little, but it was a smile that sparked through Hattie. That gentleman was quite possibly the most beautiful man she’d ever seen in her life—elegant, strong, and astonishingly agreeable in looks.

No one spoke for a moment.

A carriage rolled in between the shops and stopped, blocking their view of the haberdashery. When it rolled away, the gentlemen were gone.

The ladies settled back. Queenie sighed and stepped away from the window, leaving the display of gloves knocked onto its side. The woman who had rushed in to announce the viscount sighting retreated to the back room with Mrs. Perkins. Hattie picked up the display and righted it in the window.

“You will be at the top of that list, Flora,” Queenie said with certainty.

Queenie was short and round, with soft gold curls that fell around her shoulders. She carried herself like a queen and acted like one on occasion, too. Flora was tall and lithe, her hair auburn. She was pretty by any standard. When Hattie was with the two of them, she often felt like the plain cousin come to town from the village. Her hair was a dull brown, her figure unremarkable.

Flora gave Queenie’s remark a high-pitched, breathy laugh that Hattie had never heard her make. “Don’t be silly!”

“Don’t be coy,” Queenie said. “You know that you will.”

“The list is quite long, I’m certain. What about Hattie? She might be at the top.”

“The top of what?” Hattie asked.

“Really, Hattie!” Queenie said, sounding annoyed. “How can you be so ignorant of all the news around town? The list of potential brides for the viscount, obviously.”

Hattie laughed. Loudly.

“I agree, it’s hardly a possibility,” Queenie said. “I don’t mean to offend, but he is the Duke of Santiava, and now he’s Viscount Abbott, as he is his English grandfather’s only living male heir. He’ll marry someone with a large dowry and from a titled family. Someone with proper connections.”

Santiava? Hattie vaguely recalled something about it. A duchy, she believed, on the Mediterranean Sea. Once a colony of Wesloria if memory served.

“He’s the sovereign duke, and quite rich,” Queenie continued. “But they say he’s a recluse. One must always be wary of the recluse.”

One must? Hattie hadn’t heard that rule.

“And unmarried, obviously,” Flora added as the three of them departed the shop.

“Won’t he choose a wife from Santiava?” Hattie asked as they walked toward Hyde Park.

“No!” Queenie scoffed, and Hattie was once again left wondering how her education could be so lacking. “He’s come here to claim his title and his fortune and, as everyone knows, be fitted with an English wife. It serves a small duchy to have an English or Weslorian duchess, you know, if they were ever to need the backing of a larger country in times of war or economic hardship. This would practically guarantee it.”

Queenie spoke with such authority about him that Hattie had to wonder if she’d consulted with the man himself. She was dubious that a marriage to Flora could guarantee anything of the sort. But she kept silent.

“Imagine, Hattie,” Flora said, “if you were the link to the might of the Royal Navy should that duchy need it.”

All Hattie could imagine was herself on a leaking, rickety boat. “I won’t be the link to anything, because I’m already engaged.” She smiled.

Flora and Queenie exchanged a look. “You haven’t told her?” Queenie said to Flora.

“Told me what?” Hattie asked, confused.

“Tell her. She can’t walk around without knowing,” Queenie said.

Hattie’s heart dropped. “Knowing what? What are you talking about?”

“Oh, Hattie… Mr. Masterson paid me a call,” Flora blurted. “I was going to tell you. I was waiting for the right time.”

“Well, this is hardly it,” Queenie drawled, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she’d just urged Flora to tell her.

But tell her what, exactly? That Rupert had called on Flora? How odd—they weren’t so well acquainted. “Mr. Rupert Masterson called on you,” Hattie repeated, to make sure they were indeed speaking of her Mr. Masterson, the owner and proprietor of the Masterson Dry Goods and Sundries Shop.

“He…he came to me in confidence.” Flora punctuated that remark with a look of sympathy.

Hattie’s gut began to do a strange bit of swirling. “Why?”

“He said…that he thought it best if you and he…” She paused, as if trying to find the words.

Elope? That was it! What other reason could he have for needing to speak in confidence to Flora? He must have sought her help. “Elope?” she asked at the same moment Flora said, “Should not pursue things further.”

No one said a word for a moment. Even Queenie kept her mouth shut. “What?” Hattie asked and stopped walking. This was stunningly incomprehensible. She pressed a fist to her abdomen to keep down the sudden swell of nausea. “What…what did…he…or you…say?” “Oh, Hattie, dearest.” They’d come to the park’s entrance, and Flora pulled her to a bench and sat her down. She took both of Hattie’s hands in hers. “I’m so very sorry, but there is no other way to say it, is there? He would like you to cry off your engagement. End it, I mean. He has come to the unfortunate conclusion that it must be done. But because he has the utmost consideration for you, he means to protect your reputation by having you write him and end it.”

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About the Author

Julia London is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over fifty novels of historical and contemporary romance. She is the author of the popular Highland Grooms series as well as A Royal Wedding, her most recent series. Julia is the recipient of the RT Bookclub Award for Best Historical Romance and a six-time finalist for the prestigious RITA award for excellence in romantic fiction. She lives in Austin, Texas. Visit her at www.julialondon.com.

Social Media Links

Author Website

Facebook: Julia London

Twitter: @JuliaFLondon

Goodreads

Feature Post and Book Review: Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

Book Description

Jason Dessen is walking home through the chilly Chicago streets one night, looking forward to a quiet evening in front of the fireplace with his wife, Daniela, and their son, Charlie—when his reality shatters.

“Are you happy with your life?”

Those are the last words Jason Dessen hears before the masked abductor knocks him unconscious.

Before he awakens to find himself strapped to a gurney, surrounded by strangers in hazmat suits.

Before a man Jason’s never met smiles down at him and says, “Welcome back, my friend.”

In this world he’s woken up to, Jason’s life is not the one he knows. His wife is not his wife. His son was never born. And Jason is not an ordinary college physics professor, but a celebrated genius who has achieved something remarkable. Something impossible.

Is it this world or the other that’s the dream?

And even if the home he remembers is real, how can Jason possibly make it back to the family he loves? The answers lie in a journey more wondrous and horrifying than anything he could’ve imagined—one that will force him to confront the darkest parts of himself even as he battles a terrifying, seemingly unbeatable foe.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27833670-dark-matter?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=WC5EKSgQDH&rank=1

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

DARK MATTER by Blake Crouch is an exciting mash-up of sci-fi, technothriller, suspense, action, and romance that grabbed me from page one and the next thing I knew the sun was coming up. WOW!

Jason Dessen is a physicist who teaches at a local college. His wife Daniela gave up her career in art to teach private lessons and stay home with their son, Charlie, when they found out she was pregnant fifteen years ago. They are an average, but happy couple and family. Jason goes to the local bar by his brownstone to congratulate his former roommate on winning a prestigious scientific award and on his way home he is abducted. Then….(Sorry, but you have to read or listen to the book to experience the rest of this rollercoaster ride and have your mind blown.)

This story is such a great mix of genres and if you are worried about not liking sci-fi, don’t be because this is also a story of the roads not taken in our lives, second chances and love. There are a few times when the explanation of some the principles of physics slows the pace a bit, but I like these nerdy types of discussions about metaverses and parallel universes. You can skim them and not miss anything important in the overall plot. This is a story that I suggest you make time for because you are going to keep turning the pages.

I highly recommend this amazing cross genre book and I will definitely be checking out more of this author’s work!

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About the Author

Blake Crouch is a bestselling novelist and screenwriter. His novels include the New York Times bestseller Dark Matter, and the internationally bestselling Wayward Pines trilogy, which was adapted into a television series for FOX. Crouch also created the TNT show Good Behavior, based on his Letty Dobesh novellas. His latest book is Recursion, a sci-fi thriller about memory, and will be published in June 2019. He has written more than a dozen novels that have been translated into over thirty languages and his short fiction has appeared in numerous publications including Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. Crouch lives in Colorado with his family.

Social Media Links

Website: https://blakecrouch.com/

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/blakecrouch1

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/blake-crouch