Tag: Romance

🔸️🔸️Book Mail!🔸️🔸️

TGIF!  Oh I am so happy it’s Friday!  Definitely ready for the weekend!  Hopefully spend some quality time reading.

Book mail makes it even better!  Thank you so much St. Martin’s Press for this copy!

The Brightest Star in Paris
Diana Biller
Historical Romance
Publication Date:  10/12/21

Amelie St. James, prima ballerina of the Paris Opera Ballet and the people’s saint, has spent seven years pretending. In the devastating aftermath of the Siege of Paris, she made a decision to protect her sister: she became the bland, sweet, pious “St. Amie” the ballet needed to restore its scandalous reputation. But when her first love reappears, and the ghosts of her past come back to haunt her, all her hard-fought safety is threatened.

Dr. Benedict Moore has never forgotten the girl who helped him embrace life again after he almost lost his. Now, he’s back in Paris after twelve years for a conference. His goals are to recruit promising new scientists, and, maybe, to see Amelie again. When he discovers she’s in trouble, he’s desperate to help her—after all, he owes her.

signature

📚 Currently Reading 📚

Anchored Hearts
Priscilla Oliveras
Zebra Books
Contemporary Romance
Pub Date:  4/27/21

I started this book back in June for #dyrc21, Romance read.  Life got crazy and I took a little break for a bit but I’m back!
Totally enjoying this super cute Romance that is a perfect beach read.

Alejandro and Anamaria were high-school sweethearts, planning to travel the world together following Alejandro’s photography passion.  But once Anamaria’s father has a heart attack, she realizes she can’t leave her family behind and Alejandro goes on without her. 

Now he’s back, home to heal after an accident.  Anamaria has moved on, made a name for herself and has no intention of history repeating itself.  But their mothers have other plans.

Norbert says Hello!
signature

🏅Top Shelf Tuesday 🏅

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Just spent most of the day getting my blog back online. 😵 Had an update issue occur and took me forever to figure it out.  But I got it resolved thanks to the help of Hostgator support!  Whew, back in business and on with the show. 

This week’s pick is:

The Host
The Host Book 1
by Stephanie Meyer
Science Fiction, Aliens, New Adult
Paperback
Published by Little Brown and Company, May 2008

I first read this book on vacation in Bora Bora. The Pic of it in my garden is a sad substitute. Whenever I think about it, I am drawn back to that beautiful paradise.
I picked my copy up at a thrift store, I really enjoyed the movie.  Seeing how thick it was I knew there had to have so much more to it than what the movie included.  
As a normal rule, I like to watch the movie first then read the book.  For me, this works out as I love watching movies too. I find that if I read a great book, love it, and then watch the movie, I am usually disappointed.  However, if I watch the movie, love it, then read the book, it’s even better but I still love the movie.  Win, win. 😁

Synopsis:
The Earth has been invaded by an alien species, they not only invaded Earth but they take over human bodies as well.  Melanie Stryder won’t go without a fight when Wanderer takes over her body.  As Wanderer is flooded with all Melanie’s memories she is compelled to find the family and the love that was left behind and still in hiding.  However, when they find the them, Melanie’s family is not so thrilled that an alien has invaded her. 
There is so much more to this story that I don’t want to give away the best parts if you haven’t read it or watched the movie.  It’s a mix of Sci-Fi, Thriller, and romance.

Just a little view from Bora Bora!
signature

🏅Top Shelf Tuesday 🏅

The adorable Easter basket that my wonderful husband put together for me. 🥰

Happy Tuesday everyone!  And Happy Easter.

This week’s pick for Top-Shelf Tuesday is:

Lawless
by Nora Roberts
Romance, Western
Paperback
Published by Harlequin

I know that I have mentioned before that Nora Roberts was my first introduction into the Romance genre.  I had always thought of Romance as those cheesy books with the half naked people on the front and the whole thing was just full sex.  I was young then, 🤣. I even enjoy those books from time to time now. 
It was Lawless specifically that I read. 

When I was in High School, I stared my first job as a barista at a drive through coffee stand and found my co-worker’s copy of Lawless.  You have lots of stop and go time for reading throughout the work day.  I decided to give it a shot and became so enthralled with it. I have never forgotten the feeling that it gave me and the blossomed love of Romance novels.

It’s been too long since I last read it to be able to provide a good synopsis so I will just provide the blurb instead. 

To Tame a Renegade Heart

The Arizona Territory was a dangerous place, but gunslinger Jake Redman was half-Apache and all man–more than a match for the wilderness. Sarah Conway was something else again. She was every inch an Eastern lady, yet she was determined to make Lone Bluff her home.

Jake was annoyed to find himself playing guardian angel to this tantalizing innocent–even more disgusted to find he liked it. Little did he suspect that beneath Sarah’s ladylike demeanor beat the heart of a frontier woman ant that her body yearned for his hard embrace, her heart for his words of love .. . . 

signature

🏅Top Shelf Tuesday🏅

Happy Tuesday everyone! 

I have decided that on Tuesdays I want to highlight the books that I have given a 5 star rating to.  Calling it Top-Shelf Tuesdays (see what I did there 😄).

I have put the names of all the books in a cute little crock and will select one at random each week.  Any new books I complete and rate 5 stars will be added as I go.

First on the draw:

Fraternize
Players Game book 1
by Rachel Van Dyken
Romance, New Adult
Kindle Version
Published by Skyscape

Synopsis:  
Emerson, a busty, curvy, athlete has fulfilled her dream and made it as a pro cheerleader on her favorite football team.  Even with breaking down barriers with body positivity, not everyone is thrilled with this choice as you can imagine.  Emerson must work her ass her off to prove she belongs here.  And she must follow all the rules, most importantly, No fraternizing with the players.
That is easier said than done.  Just traded to the team is Emerson’s first love Miller, who still sends her over edge.  Never having closure, Emerson doesn’t know how to feel about Miller being back in her life again.  Then there is Grant, oozing sex appeal, with quite a reputation with the ladies.  He wants Emerson and he always gets what he wants. 

Why I loved it:
I actually liked this book way more than I was expecting to.  I received it as a Goodreads giveaway.  I am a huge romance fan to begin with.  Fun fact, I also was a Cheerleader myself (high school) and who doesn’t love football players?  😉 But in all seriousness, it was a really good read!  I love the body positivity, that curvy woman are still sexy and still athletic.  It had more substance than just sex.  Miller and Emerson need to figure out what happened with their relationship and do they want to salvage it?  There is more to Grant than a pretty face and sexy body.

signature

Don’t Get Stuck in a Genre Rut

When I was younger I used to only read Stephen King, R.L. Stein, Dean Koontz, you get my drift, pretty much thriller and horror only.  When I was in High School, I stared my first job as a barista and found my co-worker’s copy of Nora Robert’s novel Lawless.  That was my intro into great Romance novels.  I very rarely left that comfort zone of those authors though. I had no idea the books I was missing out on. 

The past several years I have made changes in the way I choose what books to read and I have been picking up ones that I normally wouldn’t.  I join reading challenges that prompt me to choose books outside my comfort zone.  We are two months into the year so far and my genre resume has already been so vast, Literary Women’s Fiction, Contemporary Realistic Fiction, New Adult Romance, Literary Fiction, Crime and Comedy Thriller, Poetry, and Non-fiction Memoir.

Here are a few that I have thoroughly enjoyed recently:

I hope that this will give you the push to expand your reading beyond your comfort zone as well.  There is a whole world out there to explore.  Don’t be afraid to check them out.

signature

Book Review – Upside of Falling Down

The Upside of Falling Down

The Upside of Falling Down by Rebekah Crane

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


New Age, Romance

“Clementine Haas doesn’t exist. She died in a plane crash. I woke up in her body, and until I remember who she is, what she’s made of, I can’t claim her life.”

“No matter what people want to believe, life is locked in the past. It’s all we are—a timeline of events that make up a person.”

Clementine wakes up in a hospital in Ireland with absolutely no memory; nothing about how she ended up in the hospital, what she was doing in Ireland, or even her own name. She is told that she was in a plane crash and she is the only survivor. The hospital is surrounded by media waiting for the lone survivor to wake up. When the nurse tells Clementine that her father is on his way from America, she panics unable to deal with the pressure and expectations for getting her memory back. She meets a stranger in the hospital gardens and convinces him to take her away and let her stay with him for a week or so, confident her memory will be back in that time and she will go home.

Continue reading Book Review – Upside of Falling Downsignature