A MONSTER LIKE ME by Pamela Sparkman

Heart of Darkness series #2

HELLO STRANGER by Lisa Kleypas

The Ravenels series #4

THE BUTTERFLY PROJECT by Emma Scott

Companion to the Full Tilt series

PLAYING FOR KEEPS by Jill Shalvis

Heartbreaker Bay series #7

UNWRITTEN by Jen Frederick

Woodlands series #5

Cross My Heart by L.H. Cosway

Hearts series #5.75

MOONSHADOW by Thea Harrison

Moonshadow series #1

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Review: Wilde in Love by Eloisa James



Title: Wilde in Love 
Series: The Wildes of Lindow Castle #1 
Author: Eloisa James 
Release date: October 31, 2017 
Cliffhanger: No
Rating: 3 stars

SYNOPSIS:

Lord Alaric Wilde, son of the Duke of Lindow, is the most celebrated man in England, revered for his dangerous adventures and rakish good looks. Arriving home from years abroad, he has no idea of his own celebrity until his boat is met by mobs of screaming ladies. Alaric escapes to his father’s castle, but just as he grasps that he’s not only famous but notorious, he encounters the very private, very witty, Miss Willa Ffynche.

Willa presents the façade of a serene young lady to the world. Her love of books and bawdy jokes is purely for the delight of her intimate friends. She wants nothing to do with a man whose private life is splashed over every newspaper.

Alaric has never met a woman he wanted for his own . . . until he meets Willa. He’s never lost a battle.

But a spirited woman like Willa isn’t going to make it easy. . . .

The first book in Eloisa James’s dazzling new series set in the Georgian period glows with her trademark wit and sexy charm—and introduces a large, eccentric family. Readers will love the Wildes of Lindow Castle!


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About the Author:

New York Times bestselling author Eloisa James writes historical romances for HarperCollins Publishers. Her novels have been published to great acclaim. A reviewer from USA Today wrote of Eloisa's very first book that she "found herself devouring the book like a dieter with a Hershey bar"; later People Magazine raved that "romance writing does not get much better than this." Her novels have repeatedly received starred reviews from Publishers' Weekly and Library Journal and regularly appear on the best-seller lists.

After graduating from Harvard University, Eloisa got an M.Phil. from Oxford University, a Ph.D. from Yale and eventually became a Shakespeare professor, publishing an academic book with Oxford University Press. Currently she is an associate professor and head of the Creative Writing program at Fordham University in New York City. Her "double life" is a source of fascination to the media and her readers. In her professorial guise, she's written a New York Times op-ed defending romance, as well as articles published everywhere from women's magazines such as More to writers' journals such as the Romance Writers' Report.

Eloisa...on her double life:

When I'm not writing novels, I'm a Shakespeare professor. It's rather like having two lives. The other day I bought a delicious pink suit to tape a television segment on romance; I'll never wear that suit to teach in, nor even to give a paper at the Shakespeare Association of America conference. It's like being Superman, with power suits for both lives. Yet the literature professor in me certainly plays into my romances. The Taming of the Duke (April 2006) has obvious Shakespearean resonances, as do many of my novels. I often weave early modern poetry into my work; the same novel might contain bits of Catullus, Shakespeare and anonymous bawdy ballads from the 16th century.

When I rip off my power suit, whether it's academic or romantic, underneath is the rather tired, chocolate-stained sweatshirt of a mom. Just as I use Shakespeare in my romances, I almost always employ my experiences as a mother. When I wrote about a miscarriage in Midnight Pleasures, I used my own fears of premature birth; when the little girl in Fool For Love threw up and threw up, I described my own daughter, who had that unsavory habit for well over her first year of life.
So I'm a writer, a professor, a mother - and a wife. My husband Alessandro is Italian, born in Florence. We spend the lazy summer months with his mother and sister in Italy. It always strikes me as a huge irony that as a romance writer I find myself married to a knight, a cavaliere, as you say in Italian.

One more thing...I'm a friend. I have girlfriends who are writers and girlfriends who are Shakespeare professors. And I have girlfriends who are romance readers. In fact, we have something of a community going on my website. Please stop by and join the conversation on my readers' pages.

Follow her:

REVIEW


Wilde in Love (The Wildes of Lindow Castle, #1)Wilde in Love by Eloisa James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars







One thing could be said for him—for all the Wildes, it seemed. When they went down, they really went down.

Wilde in Love was my first Eloisa James book. (I know, I know. Where have I been? Living under a rock?) While this wasn't a resounding success for me, I can certainly see why so many people are fans of her stories. I'll be very interested to continue on with the next in the series, Diana and North's book, Too Wilde to Wed. In the last chapter, we're left with quite the cliffy between these two, and I'm looking forward to seeing how their reconciliation will unfold.

As the first book in any series, there is the possibility of falling prey to having to set the scene, building a whole set of characters' backstories, and creating lead-ins and curiosity for the following installments. From my experience, this can sometimes detract from the main characters' romance. There was a considerable amount of supporting characters and a couple of side stories took up space alongside of Willa and Alaric's relationship. While I can't say that I was necessarily bored, I didn't feel as if the pace was as steady as I would have liked.

In the first half, we had Lord Alaric in hot pursuit of Willa. But her prejudices towards him disallowed her from giving him a chance to prove himself to her. She was very firm over the fact that she did not want to take a chance on this man, that he was far removed from the kind of person she always imagined herself with. This wall she put up between them didn't encourage any leeway in the advancement in their relationship.

The second half seemed to rocket them forward from 0-100 on the falling-in-love o-meter. I wouldn't exactly call it insta-love, but it was certainly moving at a pretty accelerated rate. When you realize that they moved from introduction, to courtship, to engagement, to marriage in the span of about two weeks, it falls short of feeling natural.

Lord Alaric is an author-adventurer who has been traveling the world for the last ten years. After his brother Horatius, heir to the dukedom had passed away, he's been indulging in his passion and zest to explore. His travel books are non-fiction accounts of his exciting experiences from China to the African jungle. On his return to London, he gets a rude awakening when he discovers that in his absence, he has become something of a celebrity.

An anonymous playwright's fictional account of him and his travels has completely twisted public perception of who he is, and what he has written. Some may have been flattered, and welcomed all of this attention. This was not the case here. Poor Alaric felt nothing but confusion, frustration, and a desperate need to remove himself from the adoration and the pedestal he has been placed on.

For me, this was comparable to a modern day actor who deals with a lack of privacy, false stories, rumors being spread, and losing their identity to a false persona that has been created for them. This caused a lot of disconnect from the story on my part. It was just not believable to me in any fashion that a man could be so ruthlessly obsessed over and pursued by young marriageable women of that age. During the Georgian period, women were held to strict rules of manners and propriety regarding their speech and behavior. There was a noticeable dichotomy between Willa's behavior, and the other ladies surrounding her.

For example, Willa didn't find it seemly to shrug her shoulders, have a second glass of sherry, or even raise her eyebrow in disbelief. It would have been frowned upon by high society. But I am supposed to be led to believe that women are gathering on the dock by the masses to greet his return? That they follow him around the room like they're stalking their prey, and hang on his arm when he is clearly unwilling? They were even collecting prints of him and plastering them everywhere, including their bedrooms. While it did create some humerous moments, it was all pretty over-exaggerated for my taste. This was the main point of contention between Willa and Alaric, her need for dignity and privacy verses his unwanted attention.

Willa Ffynche made unfair judgements about him before even meeting him, or reading any of his books.

Lord Alaric was enthralling in much the same way that tigers in the Royal Menagerie were. She liked to observe them, but wouldn’t dream of taking one home.

I could understand how that could happen, as no one in the city seemed to listen to Alaric's efforts to debunk a lot of the misconceptions formed about him. After around the halfway mark, you see her start to soften, and really see how disabused she had been about his character. Ignoring her growing passion for Alaric was like trying to hold back a crashing tide from the shore. Fruitless and inevitably doomed to failure. His wicked smile and determination to conquer brought all of her hidden desires to the surface. Once she got a taste of him, there was no going back.

Alaric was a wonderful treasure trove filled with beautiful quotes describing his love for Willa. Just his character alone made reading this story worth it. His thoughts and emotions were so exquisitely captured.

He had the sudden conviction that if he could see his own heart, he would see an image of Willa in the middle of it: composed, brilliant, loving, organized Willa.

Life was an odd thing. He’d spent ten years floating around the world, only to come home and discover that he had an anchor waiting.

It wasn’t just the clean way her cheek swept to her jaw. Or the wide eyes that had undoubtedly been serenaded by a hundred dubious poets. The sum of her was so much greater than the parts.


I could go on...but I'll let you discover the rest of the gems Eloisa James has created for yourself.

I think Mr. Parth Sterling's book is going to be the one I look forward to in the series the most! He was brooding, smart as a whip, and battling an obvious attraction for Lavinia. Willa's best friend was the aggravating thorn in his side that he couldn't remove. Their scenes together were so good, I found myself looking forward to any time that they would interact.

Overall, though I felt as if some aspects were a little unrealistic, and a conflict at the end to be predictable, it was a really sweet romance and more than enough to tempt me to continue the series.
Not only that, but the epilogue was such a satisfying and perfect way to close this couple's story.


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Release Blitz with Giveaway: Back in the Game by Erin Kern


BACK IN THE GAME by Erin Kern
A Champion Valley Novel
Publication date: October 31, 2017







Synopsis

Stella Davenport wasn't made for small-town life. Sure, teaching ballet in Blanco Valley, Colorado, is great, but she longs for the chance to perform in a big city. Stella swore she'd never let anything get in the way of her dream-until sexy, broad-shouldered Brandon West walks back into her life. Stella is determined to resist him, even if arguing with Brandon is sexier than any foreplay.

For Brandon, it's always been just him and his son, Matt. Knowing that love only leads to heartbreak, he isn't looking to expand his family any time soon. Stella, with her long, gorgeous legs and infectious laugh, is a breath of fresh air he didn't even know he'd been missing. But when she's offered her dream job in Chicago, will he be willing to put his heart on the line?



Excerpt

Was it just her, or had their almost-kiss a few months ago not been this hot? This intense? She didn’t remember her panties almost going up in flames or her desire threatening to choke her.

“A kiss doesn’t equal a relationship,” Brandon told her.

Stella nuzzled her nose against his. “But we’re not kissing.”

“Keep telling yourself that, Stella.” Before she could respond, before she could even exhale the breath she’d been holding, his mouth was there. Fitting over hers, exerting a gentle pressure that had her fingers digging into the flesh on the back of his shoulder.

When her eyes dropped closed, her other senses took over and magnified the virile man who was so much bigger and harder than she was. His arm enclosed her waist, tugging her closer, inch by slow inch until she was flush against him. Chest to chest. Feet to feet. Leg inserting between hers so that his muscled thigh was nestled perfectly in between her softer flesh.

Best. Kiss. Ever.

Brandon West could use his mouth as a lethal weapon to bring women to their knees. Because if he hadn’t been holding her to him with such firmness, she would have sank the second his mouth touched hers. And then she didn’t have time to think about all the other things she wanted him to do to her, because his tongue smoothed over her lips in gentle, yet not-so-subtle invitation to open the hell up.

He didn’t have to ask her twice. Without thinking about where they were, or the cars and people hovering around outside, even her looming anxiety, Stella obliged and parted her lips. With a hesitation that was sweet, yet longing, his tongue slowly pursued hers, touching just the tip before retreating again.

Since it wasn’t enough, since the minimal contact had opened an emptiness she’d been living with for a long time, Stella did her own pursuing. Her tongue chased his, testing the warmth of his mouth. When he groaned against her and tightened his hand on the back of her head, the heat was kicked up a notch. The passion she’d once possessed but that had gone dormant from lack of use awakened with an explosive burst of fireworks. She returned his groan with one of her own when he tilted her head to change the angle of the kiss, allowing him to dive deeper.

And she let him, because Brandon West was an overpowering man who held her passion and trust in the palms of his hands. The question was, what would he do with it?

Their tongues continued to dance and weave around each other until someone opened the front door of her studio, and the outside sounds of cars and people intruded on their moment of intimacy.

“Oh!” the startled voice announced, ripping her and Brandon away from each other like two teenagers who’d been caught necking by the principal.

Her mother stood by the door, her eyes wide to match the smile on her face, as though to say, Score one for the team, honey.

Only Gloria Davenport.

She held her hands up and backed toward the door.

“Don’t mind me,” she told them. Then offered Stella two thumbs up. For Pete’s sake. “But good job, honey. Way to take my advice.”

And then she was gone, blowing back out the door as quickly as she had interrupted them, taking Stella’s dignity with her.

One of Brandon’s dark brows lifted, showing nothing of the passion he’d exhibited just a second ago. “Advice?” he repeated.

“Ah . . . ,” she began, not sure how to explain Gloria Davenport to someone who didn’t know her. “Just ignore her. She obviously hasn’t taken her medication today.”

The slight curl of his mouth widened. “You look like her.”

Please God, don’t say that. “Okay.”

His brown eyes narrowed, scrutinizing way too much. “Is this another thing you don’t want to talk about?”

Right on. She lifted a shoulder and pretended her heart wasn’t still pounding from their kiss. “I have no issues with my mom.” At least none that she was willing to share.

Brandon nodded. “You know, one of these days all those walls you’ve thrown up are going to come crashing down.”

As Stella watched Brandon saunter out of her studio as though he hadn’t just knocked her socks off with his mouth, all she could think of was how right he was.


About the Author

Erin Kern lives in north Texas with her husband, two kids and their dog. She loves BBQ, Texas sunsets, antiquing and high school football games. The Champion Valley series was inspired by Erin's love of Texas football, small towns and happy endings. When she's not at the computer working on her next tale, she can be found spending time with her kids or curled up with a good book.



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Release Blitz: Juniper Unraveling by Keri Lake

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Juniper Unraveling

Author: Keri Lake

Genre: Dark Dystopian Romance

Post Buttons - Synopsis

Papa says everyone has a story that deserves to be told.

Most begin years ago, after the second bomb hit, unearthing a deadly contagion that divided the population into the pure, the infected, and the Ragers.

Many recount the moment we rose up from the ashes and started anew.

Others tell of the day we built a wall to keep them out. For some, they’re nothing more than the vestiges left behind—a simple name carved into the knotty bark of a Juniper tree.

My story begins with a boy. A mute, from the other side of the wall, known only as Six, who touched my heart in ways that words never could, and gave me the courage to face my darkest truth.

Juniper Unraveling Full - Reduced

ONLY 99 CENTS FOR A LIMITED TIME

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Keri Lake is a dark romance writer who specializes in demon wrangling, vengeance dealing and wicked twists. Her stories are gritty, with antiheroes that walk the line of good and bad, and feisty heroines who bring them to their knees. When not penning books, she enjoys spending time with her husband, daughters, and their rebellious Labrador (who doesn’t retrieve a damn thing). She runs on strong coffee and alternative music, loves a good red wine, and has a slight addiction to dark chocolate.

AUTHOR LINKS:


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Monday, October 30, 2017

Release Blitz with Giveaway: Totally His by Erin Nicholas




TOTALLY HIS by Erin Nicholas
Part of the Opposites Attract series

Publication date: October 31, 2017 
Publisher: Forever

Mass Market Paperback: $7.99 | eBook: $3.99 | ISBN: 9781455539727


“Moving and inspiring.” -- Publishers Weekly

Synopsis: 

Sophia Birch loves nothing more than the spotlight--as long as she's playing a part. A theater geek from an early age, Sophia now runs a little hole-in-the-wall playhouse that feeds her passion... even if it sometimes makes it hard to feed herself! And then one night it all nearly goes up in smoke. Desperate to save the only copy of an irreplaceable script, Sophia rushes back into the burning building.

Police officer Finn Kelly knows crazy when he sees it. And a woman running back into a burning building definitely qualifies as crazy. She also happens to be incredibly sexy. But when he finally finds her ruffling through drawers and refusing to leave, his only option is to carry her out over his shoulder....and then decide whether to arrest her.




EXCERPT

Finn would have noticed her even if she hadn’t been wearing hot-pink lingerie. And nothing else.

He really would have. She was totally his type—brunette and curvy and, apparently, a little crazy. As evidenced by the fact that she was trying to sneak into a burning building. He did seem to be attracted to crazy. No matter how hard he tried not to be.

He watched the woman stop at the east corner of the Birch Community Playhouse, the one farthest from where the firefighters were working. Then he frowned as she slipped into the shadows along the side of the theater and out of sight.

Dammit. He started after her.

As one of the cops on scene, he had to keep the area clear for the firefighters and keep the crowd of onlookers safe. If one of them happened to have a great body and be dressed in nothing but a pink bra-and-panty set, well, he’d just call that a perk. And as he jogged across the street, Finn couldn’t help but wonder if she was in costume or if the alarm had caught her in the midst of a wardrobe change. If that was her outfit for the show, he might need to buy a ticket.

He turned the corner to the back of the building and looked around. He didn’t see her. She’d gone inside. Dammit. He climbed up the four steps that led to the back door of the theater.

Finn touched the door and found it cool. It seemed that the flames were still contained to the wall on the other end of the theater, but it was a mistake to assume anything when fire was involved.

He stepped inside and pulled the flashlight from his belt, then shone it back and forth. He turned a full circle, not sure where to go next. Just then Finn heard a door slam somewhere behind him. He swung toward the sound just in time to see the woman step out from a room.

Her eyes went wide when she saw him.

“Boston PD! Stop!” Finn shouted.

She had covered up. Kind of. She now wore a robe, short, sheer, and unbelted. Which really did nothing to cover his view of her panties and bra. Or all that skin.

And maybe that was why she suddenly took off at a run.

Finn stared after her for a moment, a little stunned. She was actually running from him?

The woman made it to the other end of the lobby and through one of the doors leading into the main theater before Finn got to her. He grabbed the door as it was swinging shut, nearly smashing his fingers. The lights were off in the inner theater but, as he plunged into the darkness, he got a big whiff of whatever body spray or perfume she wore. He took a deep breath. It was nice. Lemony. Sweet and…

Jesus. Finn scowled and turned his flashlight back on. He was thinking about how she smelled? How about the smell of smoke that was going to be chasing them both pretty soon?

“Hey!” he called into the theater. You have to come out, ma’am. It’s not safe for you to stay in the building.”

“Just give me a damned minute!” she shouted.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, I can’t do that,” Finn said.

“I have to find something. Then I’m coming right out.”

“Ma’am, I will have to remove you myself if you don’t come out immediately.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” he heard her exclaim.

“Ma’am, this is your last warning. Stop what you’re doing and come with me.”

Enough of this. Finn stalked over to her, put a hand around her upper arm, and turned to remove her from the building.

She dug her heels in, though, pulling against his hold. “Hey, you can’t—”

“Oh, yes I can,” he told her calmly, careful to keep his eyes off her body. The heat from her skin had immediately soaked through the thin robe, and Finn felt it traveling from his palm up his arm. “I’ve given you several opportunities to cooperate.”

“You’re arresting me?” she asked.

“Are you doing something that you need to be arrested for?” he asked, moving her toward the door, even with her resisting.

“No! I need to get something. It’s very important. It belongs to a friend of mine. It’s irreplaceable.”

“Ma’am,” he said calmly, “don’t make me carry you out of here.”

She pulled against his grip and leaned all her weight into fighting the forward motion across the room.

Well, shit. He’d kind of figured it would come to this, but he wasn’t sure he was ready to touch her more. Still, it didn’t look as if he had a lot of choice. Reminding himself that he was a professional, he bent and hooked an arm behind her knees, looped the other around her back, and lifted her.

She gasped, and for a moment she didn’t fight. And he thought maybe the hard part was over. But as he headed out the door, trying to ignore how warm and soft and fucking lemony she was, she started to wiggle.




About the Author: 

Erin Nicholas is the New York Times bestselling author of sexy contemporary romances. Her stories have been described as toe-curling, enchanting, steamy and fun. She loves to write about reluctant heroes, imperfect heroines and happily ever afters. She lives in the Midwest with her husband who only wants to read the sex scenes in her books, her kids who will never read the sex scenes in her books, and family and friends who say they're shocked by the sex scenes in her books (yeah, right!).

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Cover Reveal: A Monster Like Me by Pamela Sparkman




A Monster Like Me
Pamela Sparkman
(Heart of Darkness, #2)
Publication date: Spring 2018
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Cover model: Valery Kovtun
Photographer: Anna Pototskaya 
Cover designer: RBA Designs

Synopsis:

“I love the peculiar silence of shadows. They exist, but leave no mark.”

Zeph had been a child, thrust into a war that wasn’t his. When he was older, he discovered he had landed on the wrong side of everything.

He’d been fighting for sweet revenge, because of lies he’d believed—and those lies proved to be his ruin. Falling into despair, Zeph decides living is too painful. So, he writes his final act with poison and chooses to end his story.

But Fate has other plans for Zeph and when he finds himself in the hands of his enemies, he has to decide: Does he want to live? Or does he want to die?

Or maybe that choice is no longer his to make.

Ruled by shadows and armed with secrets he never intended to share, Zeph will be put through his toughest battle yet: the war within himself.

“He isn’t a lost cause. He’s just—lost.”

That’s what Arwyn believes. She sees the monster he has become, but what she also sees is someone worth fighting for. Armed with secrets of her own, she’s determined to help Zeph fight his demons, because there was more on the line than Zeph’s soul. So much more.

Revenge may be sweet. But redemption is sweeter. The question is, can Zeph find the boy he used to be, or will he always believe that no one could ever love—a monster like him.

“You are everything good. And I am everything children are afraid of.”


Sequel to:



Author Bio:

Pamela Sparkman grew up in Alabama. She became an avid reader at a young age. The written word has always fascinated her and she wrote her first short story while still in elementary school. Inspiration for her stories always begins with a song. She believes music is the pulse of life and books are the heart of it.
When she isn’t writing, however, she’s spending time with her family and taking one day at a time.


Thursday, October 26, 2017

Review: Bountiful by Sarina Bowen




SYNOPSIS

No last names. No life stories. Those were the rules.


Once upon a time a cocky, copper-haired tourist sauntered into Zara’s bar. And even though she knew better, Zara indulged in a cure for the small-town blues. It was supposed to be an uncomplicated fling—a few sizzling weeks before he went back to his life, and she moved on.

Until an accidental pregnancy changed her life.

Two years later, she’s made peace with the notion that Dave No-Last-Name will never be found. Until one summer day when he walks into her coffee shop, leveling her with the same hot smile that always renders her defenseless.

Dave Beringer has never forgotten the intense month he spent with prickly Zara. Their nights together were the first true intimacy he’d ever experienced. But the discovery of his child is the shock of a lifetime, and his ugly past puts relationships and family out of reach.

Or does it? Vermont’s countryside has a way of nurturing even tortured souls. The fields and the orchards—and hard won love—are Bountiful.



PURCHASE HERE: 


Bountiful (True North, #4)
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Title: Bountiful
Series: True North #4
Author: Sarina Bowen
Release date: October 20, 2017
Cliffhanger: No



I've been a loyal reader of the True North series since book one, so I was already eager to read Zara's story. Hearing that Sarina made this a crossover book with characters from her Brooklyn Bruisers series was just an added bonus.

Zara has been known around town as the hook-up girl for as long as she could remember. The one that was perfect for some casual fun, but forgotten when the "right" girl came along. Easily discarded. She wasn't ashamed of her aversion to long term relationships, but admittedly Griff's rejection of her when Audrey came to town burned her pride and left her feeling raw. Her father's abandonment of her as a child was the leading cause of her desire to keep things casual with men. Why leave herself open to having her heart shattered, and her trust broken like her mother?

My mother had never given up on him, though. Never asked for a divorce. Never stopped hoping he’d show up and tell us we meant the world to him. Spoiler alert: he never did.

But after so many years of being publicly shamed and disrespected, after unmistakably being shown that she wasn't worth more than a good time, it was becoming a bitter pill to swallow. It was at a weak and vulnerable moment when she and Dave began their fling. A fling that she'd soon discover, would turn out to have a very permanent consequence for her after he left a month later.

Their daughter.

I must admit, the way she pushed any hint of intimacy or tenderness away when Dave attempted it was a bit off putting for me. On one hand, she claimed that she wanted to be free to do what she wanted sexually without being judged, but on the other it clearly wasn't making her happy to do so. She would gripe over not being good enough for them, but she was the one who was afraid to risk her heart.

Single parenthood was never in her plans, but her little girl made all the town gossip and daily struggle worth every minute. Wild Zara was no more, now she just struggled to provide for her daughter and give her the best life possible. Her rough edges, and prickly personality were softening and making her more open. Just when she had come to peace with never finding Dave again, and looking for him in crowds, he walked through the door again. But how would he react to the news that he is the father? He may have shown hints that he cared for her, and would have been open to more, but a family? He made it clear that he was the furthest thing from a family man.

Dave had a rough childhood as well, and one that didn't shed a positive light on romance or raising a family.

"The Beringers don’t do parenthood.” A terrific understatement. My mother overdosed on cocaine when I was five. Then my father beat the crap out of me for nine more years, until people started to notice. He lost custody of Bess and me. We lived with our indifferent but nonviolent grandparents until Bess graduated from high school.

But if anyone could have made him want more, it would have been Zara. She was tough, fiery, and never ceased to make him smile. Coming back to Vermont, he never expected the bomb that she dropped, but he bravely stepped up to the plate and got to know his daughter. He wasn't entirely comfortable around kids...all right, not at all. It scared the living daylights out of him. But it was so sweet to see him adjusting to the idea of being a father, and finding joy in the little things.

“Looks like you’re stuck with me,” I told her. “I don’t know whether to congratulate you or apologize.”

As he formed an attachment to his daughter, he was rediscovering what he lost with Zara, and proving to her family that he intended to take care of his girls.

Bountiful was a sweet and sexy single parent romance, with a wonderful set of secondary characters. Zara's brother Benito was so sweet, and the potential for his second chance romance has me so curious!! I would love to learn more about his job in town, and how he lost his first love as a teen. Dave's sister Bess was another intriguing and strong new character who I would love to read more about.

Overall, this story did not disappoint. I enjoyed seeing these two shed their fear of commitment and intimacy together, and form a strong family bond. It was so heartwarming to see them find the love that they deserved.

I’d spent a long time feeling like the girl who had less than everyone else. I hadn’t known it would ache just as much to feel blessed.


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