Category: great reads

Books, great reads, Reviews

Snowflake Bay by Donna Kauffman

debra

Hey everybody,

Snowflake Bay is a contemporary romance written by Donna Kauffman, one of my go-to authors.  This story is the second book of the Brides of Blueberry Cove series which is a follow-up series to the Bachelors of Blueberry Cove.

First of all, I am a sucker for books set in small-towns inhabited by wonderful everyday folks with hopefully a couple of quirky characters thrown in for fun!  Donna Kauffman is delivering that with this series set in Maine. The main characters are Fiona and Ben and they grew up together.  He was her brother’s best friend who had a crush on her sister.  Oh, nothing quite like unrequited love!  She is determined that he will not hurt her again and he, having never known he had hurt her, has finally noticed the grown-up Fiona and she is unsure what to do about it.  This book has plenty of emotion to go around but what I thought made it successful was that the angst between the characters did not come from some crazy misunderstanding that they have to work through.  What they have to come to terms with involve their future endeavors and the impact on them due to illnesses in immediate family and the obligations arising out of those.  That is refreshing in a contemporary romance story.  I think the author does a pretty good job of describing each of the character’s emotions with this. A solid story from Ms. Kauffman.

Happy Reading,

Debra

Books, great reads, Reviews

Playing With Seduction by Erika Wilde

debra

Hey everyone,

Playing With Seduction is an erotica story from Erika Wilde.  I found this author years ago under the name of Janelle Dennison.  She decided to venture into erotica fiction and so uses the name of Erika Wilde for this genre.

This is the 3rd story in The Players’ Club Series. This book tells the story of Kendall and Jace.  Kendall is 8 years older than Jace and at different places in their lives.  After a devastating divorce, Kendall wants children now and Jace wants children, just not yet.  The Players’ Club is a member-only adult club where members are able to pursue all their adult fantasies.  Jace is determined to have a relationship with Kendall after he works past her reservations.  After receiving an invitation to the Club, Kendall and Jace hook up and begin their relationship and the story proceeds through a series of events that affect the relationship.

I have been a fan of Erika/Janelle’s for a number of years and I enjoyed the story.  It is a quick read, although somewhat predictable and is light on angst but sometimes light on angst makes for a fun and enjoyable read.  Besides, I liked both characters and I felt that the descriptions of Kendall’s concerns about pursuing the relationship with Jace were well-done. Of course, there is enough erotica in the story to keep it interesting!!  This book can be read as a stand-alone book, but I think you will enjoy the series.

Happy Reading,

Debra

Books, great reads, Reviews

Seven Nights to Surrender by Jeanette Grey

Les

One week in Paris to find herself, but Kate finds so much more.

Soooooo…… I seem to be having good luck with books lately. I liked this story.

It’s about a girl going to Paris to find herself, but she finds a lot including hottie Rylan. She is an artist, and he is a guy in a coffee shop.  This is far from a whirlwind romance. It’s very real.

This story is told from different perspectives, which of course we know I absolutely love when authors do this.

What I really like about this story is you know the delemma from the beginning and your just waiting for it to drop. So the anticipation is there always.

I like Rylan more than Kate. I know surprise, suprise! I like him even though he is not a jerk, which is a suprise to me.

Anyway, check it out. It is worth it.

Peace,

Les

Books, great reads, Reviews

All I Want by Jill Shalvis

debra

Hey everyone,

Blurb for All I Want:

Pilot-for-hire Zoe Stone is happy to call Sunshine, Idaho, her home base. But her quiet life is thrown for a loop when her brother’s friend Parker comes to stay with her for a week. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife special agent is a handsome flirt with a gift for getting under her skin. And the situation only escalates when Parker hires her to fly him around the area while he collects evidence on a suspected smuggler.

Now she has to live and work with the guy. But when they’re in the air, she sees another side of him. He’s driven, focused, and sharp. And while he enjoys giving commentary on her blind dates, she quickly realizes with a shock that it’s Parker who gets her engines going.

My review:  This is the latest book in her Animal Magnetism series.    The entire town, (including all the animals) are additional and necessary characters in this series.  You can’t help but like the town.   Zoe and Parker are nice, fun characters.  Zoe is a hotshot pilot yet can’t fix anything at her own house.  Parker, a special agent for the Fish and Wildlife Department, is a friend of her brother and is in Idaho for a much needed vacation, even though he is secretly working on a case.  He goes behind her back all the time fixing little things in the house—and drives Zoe crazy in the process.  Zoe’s dog, Oreo, is possibly my favorite character in this story. The only thing that fell short for me in this book is that the case Parker was working on ended without much pizzazz.   I like Jill’s books—they are light, fun reads.  They make me feel happy when I am reading them and I never fail to smile.  Sometimes we need books to do that for us.

Happy reading!

Debra