She’s used to the glitzy, big-city life. He hides behind country-boy charm. Will these total opposites spark unquenchable flames of attraction?
Izabel Silva is wary of men. After escaping an awful relationship and a workplace betrayal, the talented marketer seeks refuge with an old friend in small-town Montana. And though worried she’s falling in with another control-obsessed hunk, she accepts the kindly neighbors’ invitation to stay with them and their flirtatious son.
Zack MacEntier longs to live down his reputation. With his ranch’s bank accounts at rock bottom, the one-time lady’s man isn’t ready to take on a gorgeous and strong-willed Latina. But when his mother volunteers him to show the lovely newcomer around, the loyal cowboy is secretly glad of an excuse to spend more days in the fierce woman’s company.
Taken aback by local prejudice, Izabel’s concerns over Zack’s stubborn protective streak start to fade when he comes rushing to her rescue. And even as the brave rancher fears that he has nothing to offer the beautiful outsider, their growing passion has placed them firmly in danger’s crosshairs…
Can they survive the unexpected threat and claim a scorching love?
CASANOVA COWBOY (The Montana Men Series Book #2) by Jamie Schulz is a delightful contemporary western romance with a hero and heroine who have been scarred by love in their pasts and even as they work to heal, trust and love again, they are in danger from an unknown threat. This is the second book in the Montana Men series following “Broken Cowboy”, but it can easily be read as a standalone.
Izabel Silva has left Seattle and is looking to reconnect with her old friend, Addie, and unknowingly appears on her wedding day. Izabel is escaping an emotionally abusive relationship and workplace betrayal. With Addie on her honeymoon, a friendly neighbor invites Izabel to stay with her and her family and volunteers her flirtatious son to show her the sights during her stay.
Zack MacEntier is drawn to the beautiful woman staying with his family, but he has plenty of problems with the start-up of the family vineyard and with his reputation as a Casanova, which he wants to change before he feels he has anything to offer a woman. Zack and Izabel take tentative steps to trust and friendship which soon turns into an intense chemistry that neither can resist, but someone is not happy with this new couple.
Small threats turn into gunfire and Zack and Izabel are in more danger than anyone expects.
I enjoyed this romance so much because it has a wonderful hero and heroine who grow throughout the love story and for the most part actually communicate and when they do not it is believable and not just an easy way to further the plot. Izabel starts out hesitant and then becomes a strong heroine who is trying new things and rebuilding her life in a completely new environment. Zack is lovable and seems carefree but tries to carry too much on his own and must learn to overcome his pride when his friends want to help. His secret from his past was heartbreaking. The sex scenes are explicit, but not gratuitous and realistic to an adult relationship. I enjoyed catching up with characters from the first book, but if you have not read it, you will not be confused or lost. The suspense elements of the plot are interwoven throughout the story seamlessly and all the separate threads are resolved.
I highly recommend this endearing contemporary romance and I am looking forward to many more in this series.
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About the Author
Jamie Schulz is a contemporary Western romance and dystopian cowboy romance author. She loves to write about heroes with vulnerabilities and strong, feisty heroines who are a match for the men they love. To her, every one of her stories, no matter how dark, must have a happy ending, and she strives to make them impossible to put down until you get there.
Jamie has been writing and making up stories for most of her life and hopes to one day reach the bestsellers lists. Her book Broken Cowboy won the Global Book Awards Gold Medal for romance and was a RONE Awards finalist. Jake’s Redemption—a full-length prequel to the dark, dystopian world of the Angel Eyes series—was also an award-winner in the Global Ebook Awards.
Cowboys, ice cream, and reading almost any kind of romance are among her (not so) secret loves. She balances her free time between reading her favorite romance authors—in genres ranging from erotica and dark romance to sweet historicals and contemporary romance—and spending time with those she is closest to. She lives in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her family and their fur babies, and she enjoys hearing from her fans.
UNTIL WE TOUCH (Fool’s Gold Book #15) by Susan Mallery is another enjoyable addition to this small-town contemporary romance series set in Fool’s Gold. While there are continuing characters throughout the books, each individual book can easily be read as a standalone because the focus is one couple in each complete HEA romance plot.
Jack McGarry and his partners have moved their sports PR company out of LA and into Fool’s Gold. Jack has a history of keeping his feelings locked away after a family tragedy in his past, but allows his assistant, Larissa Owens, to use his money and sports status to help other people and worthy causes in his name. While this worked well in LA, the small-town of Fool’s Gold is another matter.
When Larissa’s mother visits, she corners Jack in his office and tells him to fire her daughter so that she will move back home to LA and stop loving him. WHAT? Suddenly the two go from close friends to uncomfortable. When Larissa comes up with a plan to get over her attraction, will Jack play along?
This is another rollercoaster ride of emotions which happens every time I read one of the Fool’s Gold books. I laugh out loud at dialogue that is at times witty and/or hysterical and I shed tears when the H/h are hurting. This story has sweet romance elements to start, but as it continues it becomes very emotional and hard on the heart. The sex scenes are explicit, but not gratuitous and I feel realistic to the relationship. The secondary characters are well developed and believable. I especially loved the inclusion of Percy and the chiweenies.
An entertaining and heartfelt contemporary romance and wonderful addition to the Fool’s Gold series.
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About the Author
SUSAN MALLERY is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of novels about the relationships that define women’s lives—family, friendship and romance. Library Journal says, “Mallery is the master of blending emotionally believable characters in realistic situations,” and readers seem to agree—forty million copies of her books have been sold worldwide. Her warm, humorous stories make the world a happier place to live.
Susan grew up in California and now lives in Seattle with her husband. She’s passionate about animal welfare, especially that of the Ragdoll cat and adorable poodle who think of her as Mom.
Cowboy Wild and One Little Spark are recently published books by Maisey Yates. Because One Little Spark is domestic suspense, she has written the book under the anonymous name Ellie Banks. Two books, each a different genre. Besides writing her wonderful cowboy romance stories she has also ventured into writing stories that have women relationships, almost a “sisterly bond.”
One Little Spark has a fire destroying a small town, throwing the lives of three women into turmoil. These women must pick up the pieces and survive the secrets. The narrative jumps back and forth in three time periods: the day of the fire, a year before the fire, and a year after the fire.
Cowboy Wild shows why Maisey Yates is one of the best romantic authors around. She takes readers on an emotional roller coaster ride along with the characters. This is also a book about fire, but not in the literal sense. Both the hero and heroine are playing with fire emotionally. This story is about a brother’s best friend falling for the sister. Elsie Garret is the youngest of three siblings and has known Hunter McCloud her entire life. It seemed Hunter was a big brother to her as he taught her how to do ranch work and horseback riding. She easily turns to Hunter for relationship advice considering he is well known as a playboy. They decide to take an overnight trip to check on horses and to buy Elsie the right type of clothes to flirt. But having to share a hotel room and being in such close proximity changes things between them. Now they must navigate their feelings and determine if they want a happily ever after together.
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Author Interview
Elise Cooper: What genre would One Little Spark fall into?
Maisey Yates: It is not a thriller or mystery, but domestic suspense like Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty. Both my book and Liane’s have secrets unfold through the relationships, basically everything is linked through the relationships. This is a little bit darker than the romance novels I write.
EC: Which genre do you enjoy writing more?
MY: I do not have a favorite but do like mixing things up with getting into a different head space. In some ways I would say suspense is easier because there are plot points rather than unfolding through emotions. It can be very challenging to drive a story through emotions. The hard part is coming up with the concept for the suspense. I do plot these types of books where my romance books have everything character and emotion driven.
EC: How would you describe Jenna?
MY: She is kind and not necessarily nice. Women always get “she is difficult, and not nice,” which you do not hear a lot about men. But in examining her actions she shows up for people. I related to her because I am also outspoken. There are people who can be very sweet and do not rub someone the wrong way but are not effective. Whereas Jenna is constantly advocating for people. She is results driven, confident, and self-reliant.
EC: How would you describe Alex?
MY: She is more of a people pleaser than Jenna. She is process oriented, does not like to make waves, and is a perfectionist, but not as confident as Jenna. People would say Alex is nice.
EC: How would you describe Chelsea?
MY: She is more of a misfit. She is the type of person that took the back seat, not the over-achiever. She enjoys the spotlight not being on her. She is a bit of a people pleaser.
EC: What was the role of the fire in the book?
MY: It made people change through a disruption of life. Everybody lost something forcing people to rebuild their life in a critical way. The fire was a reset that forced the characters to re-evaluate their life. The suspense comes with the fire because people need to find out how it started.
EC: Can you explain this book quote, “The unfortunate thing about city councils and all the assorted types of boards was that they tended to be populated with the mean and the petty.”
MY: This is every group run by volunteers the world over. The power does not appeal to me. I like to make changes that help people. The hierarchy has people who enjoy putting stamps on things and enjoying the people surrounding them. This attitude could be found in school boards, city councils, the upper class of the small town, in academia, in writing organizations, in Churches. Every place there is a group of people these dynamics can be found.
EC: The other book recently published is your romance book Cowboy Wild. Can you talk a little about it?
MY: I reader favorite has been Bad News Cowboy, about the Garrett family. This current book was intentionally done as a revisit with Elsie Garrett who is cousins to the heroine in the previous book. It has been eight years since I wrote it. It was fun to write again an older brother’s best friend falling for a tomboy heroine.
EC: How would you describe Elsie?
MY: She is a confident tomboy who thinks she knows more than she really does. She is hotheaded, guarded, a little bit impatient, and direct. Her parents abandoned the siblings.
EC: How would you describe Hunter?
MY: He is a playboy. He is protective, charming, and has emotions bottled up. He had an abusive father.
EC: How about the relationship?
MY: Elsie likes to get a rise out of him and is pretty much the only person who can. He feels guilty about his feelings for her. He cannot charm her even though he does it with others. She is meaner to him than with other people. He cannot default to his regular ways with her, he must be honest. She knows him so well and is not taken by his looks. In the beginning they both did not know how to deal with their feelings, sometimes annoyed, sometimes jealous. Hunter describes her as a “loose cannon, hurricane, and a loaded pistol.” He admires these things about her even when he is being disparaging. Thus, she fascinates him. He realizes that what they have is special and different before she does.
EC: What about the role of Alaina and Travis?
MY: He is a ranch hand, and she is Elsie’s best friend. They are not a love triangle. Alaina had a crush on Hunter, but Elsie was in love him. She knows that Travis is just someone who is a handsome cowboy.
EC: Next book?
MY: The next cowboy romance is The Rough Rider, coming out in July. This is Alaina and Gus’s story. Gus is the older brother of Hunter who stood up to their abusive father. I have not written this type of story before. She is pregnant with Travis’s baby. Travis leaves but to help her Gus claims the baby as his. He does not want her to experience the blowback of being a single mom. The story was a slow falling in love.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE BOYFRIENDCANDIDATE 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?
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.
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.
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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BookBlurb
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.
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!
A surprise inheritance. A cache of family secrets. A choice that will change her life forever.
Lillian Doyle has lived her entire high-society life with her widowed mother, believing her father died long ago. But when news arrives that her estranged father only recently passed away–in jail–Lillian is startled to find that the man has left a business and all of his possessions to her, making her a rather unusual heiress.
When she goes to take possession of her father’s house in a backwoods Georgia town, the dilapidated structure is already occupied by another woman who claims it was promised to her son, Jonah. In her attempts to untangle the mess, Lillian will discover not only a family she never knew she had but a family business that is more than meets the eye–and has put a target on her back.
To discover the truth and take hold of the independence she’s always dreamed of, she’ll have to make friends with adversaries and strangers–especially Jonah, the dusty and unrefined cowboy who has secret aspirations of his own.
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Elise’s Thoughts
The Swindler’s Daughter by Stephenia McGee is a compelling mystery mixed within a historical novel. Both the male hero and female heroine are put in dangerous situations with a villain that is multifaceted.
Set in 1912 Georgia, the main character Lillian Doyle always believed that her father was dead and her mother his widow. That is until she receives notice that her father has just recently died and left her as the sole heir to his home and half his business. Deciding to travel to a small town in Georgia to settle her father’s estate and accept the inheritance she gets more than she bargained for including a family she has never met and an inheritance that brings dangerous problems. The longer Lillian stays in her father’s small town, the more intrigue, and mysterious events she encounters.
After arriving in the small city of Dawsonville. Georgia, she finds a family already in possession of her father’s house, and some shady aspects about her father’s business including the business partner who wants not only the whole business for himself, but also the house. Having to navigate who is good and who is bad she discovers charming, loving people, and a cousin and an aunt she never knew. After meeting the current occupants of the house who suggest she becomes a business partner with them she contemplates about achieving her dream of independence. Realizing a decision needs to be made she makes the choice of becoming business partners with the family that includes Jonah, his mom Melanie, and his sisters. While trying to find the truth behind her father’s business dealings she also must deal with her superficial mother who tried to manipulate Lillian to get control over the inheritance.
Readers will be on the edge of their seats because of the cache of family secrets. The story also includes a sweet romance, historical details, mystery, and adventure.
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Elise Cooper: The idea for the story?
Stephenia McGee: I had gone to a Colorado museum where there was a whole section with bottles from the prohibition era. I thought this is neat and found out how things were hidden in the walls. The story idea sparked from hidden items.
EC: How would you describe Lillian?
SM: She is quietly feisty but is usually stoic and reserved. She is outwardly tough, inwardly soft, vulnerable, thoughtful, and determined.
EC: How would you describe Jonah?
SM: Hard-working, determined, very responsible, and has the weight on his shoulders because he does not want to let those who depend on him down. He is also protective and loyal.
EC: What about the relationship between Jonah and Lillian?
SM: It starts off where they do not care for each other. In the beginning it is a battle of their wits. Eventually, they develop a mutual respect where they balance each other out. He causes some cracks in her armor and she lets him see that not everything is as he thinks it is supposed to be.
EC: What was the role of each of their mothers?
SM: Each had strong personalities. His mom, Melanie, wants the best for everybody, and wants everyone to accomplish their dream, having the best at heart. She guides Lillian to make her dreams come true. Lillian’s mother wants the best for herself, all about status, what society thinks of her, and wants to build a life of comfort. Basically, she is a snob, uncaring, and selfish.
EC: Can you explain the book quote, “Life is full of unknowns?”
SM: The theme of the book is what should people do when life does not turn out at all what they expect. For Lillian, nothing is as is seems. The idea is that life throws curve balls, and how do people navigate those obstacles with hope and a sense of self.
EC: Why a bakery and the bookstore?
SM: For Melanie the bakery was her stress reliever. It is something she always wanted to do. Lillian, when she sees Melanie determined to have her own business, also wants to create her favorite place for others, the bookstore. It was quiet, cozy, and allowed her to get lost in the stories. She wanted to provide that same sort of place for others. Both Melanie and Lillian realized that they could work together. The project also brought Jonah’s sister Rose out of her melancholy ways. She was able to accomplish her hobby of sewing cushions.
EC: What about the Watson family?
SM: Whether Jonah’s family or Lillian’s father extended family, they had a huge impact on Lillian’s character growth. Lillian sees what is like to have a warm and caring family. Since it was only her and her uncaring mom, she learned to love and be supported through the other families.
EC: Next books?
SM: I am working on a new series about Mississippi romances. Book 1 is called The River Queen about a 1923 showboat. This one has river pirates, gangsters, more hidden secrets, and a deep mystery. It comes out in October. I will more than likely write a book for Revell the following October. I am thinking that once a year I will self-publish, and the next year will be a Revell book.
THANK YOU!!
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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.
