Tag: #romcon

Book Review: The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE BODYGUARD by Katherine Center is an absolutely endearing, entertaining and at times laugh-out-loud rom/com women’s fiction story featuring a female executive protection agent assigned to one of Hollywood’s most handsome and eligible leading men.

Hannah Brooks is an average looking woman which makes her perfect for her job as an executive protection agent, aka bodyguard. She can blend into the background to assess danger, but when needed she has the skill set to take down any threat.

Jack Stapleton is a movie star with a Greek god’s body and is a box office superstar, but after a tragic accident he has been out of the public’s eye for a few years. When his mother is diagnosed with cancer, he comes home to the family ranch to help. He does not want his mother to have extra worry over his stalker, so Hannah is told she must pretend to be his girlfriend.

Hannah does not believe anyone will believe she is Jack’s girlfriend, but the more time she spends with him, the more she falls for the real Jack, not the superstar. As Hannah begins to have real feelings for Jack and his family and tries to keep her own heart safe from heartache, she is pulled off her bodyguard duty. But Jack wants more and Hannah has to open her heart and believe her instincts or their relationship may be over before it begins.

This is just an all-around wonderful feel good, after some laughter and tears, story. I felt for Hannah immediately with her closed off emotions and the heartache of losing her mother, boyfriend, and best-friend almost all at once. Both Hannah and Jack had heartbreaking secrets that were written and revealed perfectly during the story. The snappy, snarky, witty, and realistic dialogue is a star in this book. The only sex scene is not until almost the end of the book, and it was not explicit. This book has everything I am looking for in a rom/com. I laughed, I cried, and I was unable to put this book down.

I highly recommend this book for the wonderful characters and a feel good ending!

***

About the Author

Katherine Center’s new novel is WHAT YOU WISH FOR. She’s the author of How to Walk Away and Things You Save in a Fire—both instant New York Times bestsellers—as well as The Lost Husband (now a movie starring Josh Duhamel), and five other bittersweet comic novels. She writes laugh-and-cry books about how life knocks us down—and how we get back up. Katherine has been compared to both Nora Ephron and Jane Austen, and the Dallas Morning News calls her stories, “satisfying in the most soul-nourishing way.” Her books have made countless Best-Of lists, including Amazon’s Top 100 Books of 2019, Goodreads’ Best Books of the Year 2019, BookBub’s Best-Loved Books of 2019, the Indie Next Great Reads List, SheReads’ Best Women’s Fiction 2019, BookList’s Top Ten Women’s Fiction, and many, many more. Katherine lives in her hometown of Houston, Texas, with her husband, two kids, and their fluffy-but-fierce dog.

Blog Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Holiday Date by Debbie Ioanna

Holiday Date by Debbie Ioanna

#BlindDate @Debbie_Cleo @damppebbles #damppebblesblogtours

Hi,everyone!

Today I am very excited to be the first stop on the Holiday Date Blog Tour! I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review of HOLIDAY DATE: Book 2 of the “Blind Date” Series by Debbie Ioanna.

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

***

Book Blurb

Relationships are tested in this highly anticipated sequel to ‘Blind Date’.

Jenny is back in this romantic comedy, and this time she has her man. Life is wonderful as she switches her sex dreams for the real thing with her hunk, Zack. As well as feeling loved up, she must also console her recently-single best friend, Sarah. Those much-loved blind dates make a welcome return as Jenny gets the sweet taste for vengeance.

After a girly holiday to Rome, and a somewhat unexpected vegan experience, Zack whisks Jenny abroad for a romantic holiday of their own. However, jolly holidays aren’t on the menu when faced with a twenty-something stunner in the next villa.

Holidays take the centre stage for this sequel, where relationships are put to the test, at home and abroad.

Also includes a bonus chapter.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51263719-holiday-date

***

My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

HOLIDAY DATE: Book 2 of the ‘Blind Date’ series by Debbie Ioanna is a contemporary romance/romcom which picks up with Jenny’s life nine months after the end of Blind Date. I would recommend reading these books in order. They are not long and they are easy to read.

Jenny and Zack are still together and very happy She is helping Sarah get on with her life after her parting with ‘The Wanker’. They take off together for two weeks on a girls only holiday in Rome.

Sarah is living with Jenny until she finds a new house and for just a little bit of revenge, Jenny makes Sarah sign up on the same dating app she made Jenny use. They keep their code word for rescues, but Jenny is just a little slow in responding. Turn around is fair play. After one disastrous date, a new name pops up on Sarah’s app, but how can she break it to Jenny?

When Sarah moves out, Zack moves in. Zack decides to invite Jenny on a holiday for the two of them and his parents at his family’s villa in Greece. What Jenny was not counting on was the beautiful blonde twenty-something in the neighboring villa who is much to familiar with her boyfriend.

I enjoyed this follow-up to Jenny, Zack and Sarah’s lives. While there are funny moments, this book is more about Jenny and Zack’s romance and Jenny and Sarah’s friendship. Not quite as laugh out loud funny as the first book, but I still loved catching up with Jenny’s life. Jenny is realistic and relatable which makes me want to be her friend, too. Bing Clawsby is also back. The plot has a few surprises in store for the reader that kept me turning the pages. The additional chapter added after the end of Holiday Date will finally answer the question of – What went so wrong on Jenny and Sarah’s trip to Zante? It ended the book on laugh.

I recommend this continuation of the Blind Date series and I am hoping for many more!

***

About the Author

            Debbie is a multi-genre indie author and blogger who was born in Bradford and lives there with her husband, two-year-old daughter and anti-social cat Cleo. When she isn’t busy being a Mum, working for her local council or studying towards her Open University degree, she is busy focusing on her writing career.

            Debbie doesn’t write to just one genre as she likes to write about anything. She is currently working on a romantic-comedy series but who knows what she will be working on in the future. As well as writing novels, short stories and blogs for her website, she is also reviewing other works by indie authors. She is passionate about helping other indie authors as she knows it is a hard world to master and getting reviews is a challenge on its own.

            Debbie has been a regular attending author at the UK Indie Lit Fest in Bradford for the last few years and will be returning in 2020, as well as attending events in Shipley and Liverpool for the first time.

            Debbie began studying with the Open University in 2015, aiming towards a BA Honours in Humanities, focusing on History and Creative Writing which are her two greatest passions. It is a part-time course, due to end in 2021 which Debbie is hoping means she will have more time to write.

Social Media

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Debbie_Cleo

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

Website: https://debbie-ioanna-author.blog/

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

Purchase Links

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/31jaH8d

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2Bj0Pk2

Publishing Information

Published in digital and paperback formats on 12th May 2020

Book Review: Blind Date by Debbie Ioanna

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

BLIND DATE by Debbie Ioanna is a new romcom by a new to me author that kept surprising me and making me laugh out loud even in public. This is a lighthearted delight of a story for a short and easy-to-read escape especially in these difficult times.

Jenny is thirty years old and has everything a girl could want. She owns her home has a good job and the best BF ever, Sarah. She even at time likes her rescue cat, Bing Clawsby, who makes it his life’s duty to destroy and surprise.

But Jenny can never find “The One”. Sarah sets her up on a disastrous blind date and then encourages Jenny to try a dating app. Delete. Her mother even attempts to play matchmaker. Escape. Jenny is even finding her sometimes hook-up buddy, not really working out.

Jenny wants the perfect man from work, Zach. When the stars align and Zach finally asks Jenny out, not once, but twice the dates are aborted. Will Jenny get the man of her dreams, or is she destined to be single for the rest of her life?

I did not want this book to end! Jenny is relatable, realistic and I would love to be her friend. Ms. Ioanna has created a lovable main character and a fun set of secondary characters that completely whisked me away from my own life and had me laughing, unlady like snorting and completely entertained.

I highly recommend this romcon and dare you not to laugh!

***

About the Author

            Debbie is a multi-genre indie author and blogger who was born in Bradford and lives there with her husband, two-year-old daughter and anti-social cat Cleo. When she isn’t busy being a Mum, working for her local council or studying towards her Open University degree, she is busy focusing on her writing career.

            Debbie doesn’t write to just one genre as she likes to write about anything. She is currently working on a romantic-comedy series but who knows what she will be working on in the future. As well as writing novels, short stories and blogs for her website, she is also reviewing other works by indie authors. She is passionate about helping other indie authors as she knows it is a hard world to master and getting reviews is a challenge on its own.

            Debbie has been a regular attending author at the UK Indie Lit Fest in Bradford for the last few years and will be returning in 2020, as well as attending events in Shipley and Liverpool for the first time.

            Debbie began studying with the Open University in 2015, aiming towards a BA Honours in Humanities, focusing on History and Creative Writing which are her two greatest passions. It is a part-time course, due to end in 2021 which Debbie is hoping means she will have more time to write.

Social Media

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Debbie_Cleo

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

Website: https://debbie-ioanna-author.blog/

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

Book Review: The Librarian and the Spy by Susan Mann

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

I have just read an absolutely charming and entertaining start to a new series called The Librarian and the Spy (Librarian and the Spy Escapade #1) by Susan Mann. Not only did I love all of the characters, I learned many things I never knew about reference librarians and their jobs. This book had me laughing out loud and turning the pages as fast as possible as the mystery and suspense took off.

Quinn Ellington is a reference librarian who loves her job solving questions for her library patrons, but she also longs to travel and experience adventures like her favorite spy thriller heroes introduced to her by her grandfather. She hates all the stereotypes of librarians because she grew up as a military brat with a Marine father who taught her to shot and three older brothers that she has always completed with.

On an ordinary day at work, insurance agent James Lockwood comes up to the desk and asks Quinn for her help researching some pieces from a private collection. Quinn can’t believe her luck because not only is James gorgeous, but he has a British accent to die for. As Quinn becomes more involved in helping James, she realizes that all this research is not simply for insurance purposes and James has not been completely truthful with her. He is not British and he is not an insurance agent.

As Quinn and James work together to solve an important puzzle to stop an international arms dealer from acquiring nuclear material, Quinn’s intelligence and abilities become a major asset. She is very capable of thinking on her feet and James becomes even more impressed.

Their cover and flirting as a married couple leads to real feelings that they try to control until the end of their mission. This story has a lot of witty banter, flirting and a steady buildup of their chemistry to a relationship. No sex until the end and it is behind closed doors when it does happen. Even when the plot has been resolved, there is a great twist at the end of the book.

I really enjoyed this book and I was very happy to see that it is a proposed series and not a standalone. I was impressed by the fact that this is Ms. Mann’s first book. A fast paced plot, interesting facts, and entertaining characters make this worth the read. I am looking forward to James and Quinn’s next outing!

Thanks very much to Kensington Books and Net Galley for allowing me to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review. I am looking forward to many more books in this series.