Tuesday, July 20, 2021

Love Not at First Sight by Sarah Ready

When your soul mate is the man you loathed at first sight…Book Two in Sarah Ready’s Soul Mates in Romeo series sparkles with tension and a delicious helping of swoon-worthy romance.

Veronica Diaz loves her career, her friends and the great outdoors – she has no room in her life for men. In fact, she knows there are only two types of men in the world: players and wanna-be players and she wants nothing to do with any of them.

So when a psychic informs Veronica that her fated soul mate is Frederick Knight “The King of Players,” Veronica does what any sensible woman would do – she runs.

A twist of fate lands Veronica in the depths of a pitch-black cave system with a man she’s never met and can’t see. As Veronica and Sam struggle to survive they open up, share their secrets, and risk their lives for each other. Soon Veronica starts to wonder if maybe not all men are players, and maybe she can trust Sam enough to fall in love.

The only problem: Sam is actually Frederick Knight. The man Veronica swore she’d never, ever, ever love.

In fact, she loathed him at first sight.

And if they make it out of the cave alive, and Veronica sees him for the first time, she’ll loathe him again. Won’t she?

But maybe, sometimes you can only see who someone really is when you can’t see them at all? And maybe you can only fall in love when it’s not at first sight?

“This will easily and unequivocally be one of your top reads this year.” By Bookaddict (Chasing Romeo, Book 1 in the Soul Mates in Romeo Series)

Review

I really enjoyed reading this book. Veronica's urge to run is understandable. Her father was a womanizer and dragged her along to snag women, even though he was married. So when she is told (despite her not wanting to know) that Frederick Knight, the well-known playboy, was her soul mate... it seems fair to me that she would take off.

Their time in the cave together was such an important time for both of them. It takes blind dating to a whole other level. They can't see each other because they're stuck in the dark, and instead have to rely on their other senses to get them out.

I fell in love with both of them during their time in the cave system. Frederick (Sam) wanted to be there to support Veronica and her strength and abilities was outstanding. Also, I appreciated the bits of humor. They were in a tough situation but their personalities are what got them through. Also, I never thought cave sex would be a thing but... whew! I don't know how they had the energy for that but... *shrugs hey, it's a romance novel!

A fun read and we get to see characters from the first book in the Soulmates in Romeo series (yay Chloe and Nick... and a baby?!)!

Grab your copy today!
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2SU65TF
Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/LovenotatFirst
Apple Books: https://apple.co/3iigtQ5
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Kobo: https://bit.ly/3gcGbnq

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About Sarah Ready
Author Sarah Ready writes contemporary romance and romantic comedy. Her books have been described as “euphoric”, “heartwarming” and “laugh out loud”. Her debut novel The Fall in Love Checklist was hailed as “the unicorn read of 2020”. She loves to write fast-paced, emotionally compelling romances about quirky, smart women and the men who love them.

Before writing romance full-time Sarah had lots of fun teaching at an Ivy League. Then she realized she could have even more fun writing romance. Her favorite things after writing are adventuring and travel. You’ll frequently find her using her degree at a dino dig site, crawling into a cave, snorkeling, or on horseback riding through the jungle – all fodder for her next book. She’s lived in Scotland, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland and NYC. She currently lives in the Caribbean with her water-obsessed pup and her awesome family.
You can visit her online at www.sarahready.com

Connect with Sarah
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2PVEe4j
Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3wt7D6B
BookBub: https://bit.ly/3wtATKA
Website: http://sarahready.com/
Stay up to date with all the things and subscribe to Sarah’s mailing list: https://bit.ly/3sWxUbe

Thursday, July 8, 2021

The Grumpy Player Next Door by Pippa Grant

 


BLURB

An enemies-to-lovers / sports / grumpy-sunshine / neighbor romance

I, Tillie Jean Rock, am not in love with my brother’s teammate. Sure, he might have those biceps and that “I am the grouchiest of grouchy bears” smolder, and he might shovel snow off his driveway next door wearing nothing but boxer shorts and rubber boots, and he might be running a side business feeding all the stray goats in town, but studliness is only skin-deep.

And I might flirt with him every chance I get, but I swear it’s only to annoy my brother.

And him.

Because Max Cole?

Under all of those glorious muscles and chiseled cheekbones and searing glares beats the heart of a heartless devil.

I could no sooner fall in love with a guy who treats me like a kid, and judges me at every opportunity, and sets an army of garden gnomes loose on my yard, than I could fall in love with my grandfather’s pet parrot.

But I can definitely annoy him. I can one hundred percent get on board with annoying him.

That’s what you do when you don’t like your neighbor, right?

But you know what they say about love and hate…

It’s a very thin line.

Especially when the real reason I’m not in love with Max Cole—that he’s incapable of love—might not be true at all.

The Grumpy Player Next door is a fun-filled enemies-to-lovers romcom featuring a ray of sunshine on a mission, an athlete who’s only grouchy around her, and an epic prank gone wrong. It stands alone and comes complete with small-town shenanigans, a goat who’s not nearly as wise as his name suggests, and proof that sometimes, love is the best kind of vengeance.

Review

The book begins with a prank, which I love because the first glimpse of these two characters together causes tension. And THE PRANKS in this book! So many great ones and I would love to see them compare notes with the Bergers and Nick Murphy in the Thrusters books. 

In previous Copper Valley Fireballs books you catch bits of Tillie Jean flirting with Max and Cooper getting annoyed by it. There is so much fun and humor in this book, but also bits of insecurity and how Max is dealing with issues like anxiety as well as Tillie Jean's expectations of herself.

Max and Tillie Jean have wonderful chemistry mixed in with all of the fun of Shipwreck. I honestly thought Long Beak Silver couldn't get any funnier but that bird learned some language that is not appropriate for visiting children to hear.

Another hit by Pippa Grant! Check out the excerpt below and there is a link to a giveaway at the end of the post!






PURCHASE LINKS

AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

Free in Kindle Unlimited







EXCERPT

There’s a fine art to revenge, and today, I am arting the hell out of it. I’m talking cackles of glee, evil cartoon overlord-style, rubbing my hands together while bouncing on my toes. Reminding myself to shut up because my brother will be home from his morning workout any minute now, and I don’t want to tip my hand when he doesn’t know I’m waiting for him here in his house up on the mountainside.
You would think he would’ve learned to engage his security system more often by now.
But he hasn’t, which means I’m here, armed and dangerous and ready, and I’m cackling with glee all over again.
I know, I know. Is this really how you want to pay him back for having a box labeled “dildos” delivered to you at your parents’ house in the midst of all the pre-wedding activities for your other brother last week?
Yes, actually.
Yes, it is.
It’s payback time.
Also?
I have zero doubt Cooper will have mad respect that I’m doing this.
Sort of like while I was pissed when he replaced my coffee beans with roasted goat poop before he left for spring training nine months ago, I very much respected that he pulled it off, even if I wasn’t pleased at having to admit that that was the prank that took him over the top to win in our annual off-season prank war.
But this winter?
This winter, my brother Cooper “Stinky Booty” Rock is going down.
The universe told me so. Why else would it have hand-delivered that video into my social media stream to inspire me right after I finished figuring out where to donate an unopened box of dildos?
I cackle again.
And then I slap my hand over my mouth.
He’s home.
There’s his dark head, bent toward the knob, beyond the tempered glass panel beside his front door. He’s dressed in Fireballs red, which is more orange than it is red, and he’s probably worn out from lifting at the gym.
Yesterday was cardio day.
I know, because he ran past Crusty Nut, our dad’s restaurant where I’m the manager five days a week, at least two dozen times without stopping in once to say hi.
I haven’t seen him since the wedding several days ago, which either means he’s avoiding me and the revenge he knows I owe him, or he has a stick up his butt and has forgotten the little people.
Or, possibly, he’s distracted, in which case, he needs this.
I squat into position at the top of the stairs, as hidden as I can be while still seeing my target, Nerf blaster locked and loaded, waiting while he fumbles with his keys.
For the record?
It’s not easy to hide at the top of a curved staircase. I’m on my belly now, half-angled behind the wall of the hallway to his guest bedrooms, peering between the slats of the banister, hoping all my target practice pays off.
Steady, TJ. This is what you trained for.
The lock clicks.
I flatten myself lower and take aim.
The door swings open.
Dark hair in the foyer. Go go go.
I squeeze the trigger, sending a rapid blast of modified foam darts at the six balloons floating in the space above the door.
The needle sticking out barely an eighth of an inch in the tip of the first dart connects. One helium balloon pops. Then two more, followed by the fourth and fifth. The sixth shifts after getting hit, like it’s a tough guy balloon. It’s the ninja of balloons, and it doesn’t want to participate in my dastardly plans today, but that’s okay. The other balloons are bursting in a sparkly, shiny, beautiful pink glitter spray that’s splattering on the walls, exploding from its nylon shell and raining down like a spring shower, coating the walls, making the air sparkle, and dusting all that dark hair as Cooper’s lifting his head. “What the—”
And in the span of a heartbeat, before he can finish that sentence, I realize my mistake.
My terrible, horrible, very bad miscalculation.
If I were a superhero, I’d be sucking all that glitter into my lungs and redirecting it into my brother’s bedroom, which is likely what I should’ve done in the first place—hindsight, right?—but I didn’t. This was so much more dramatic and didn’t risk me having to find out which local he’s screwing around with in his spare time, as she’d be coated in glitter too after rolling around in his sheets, except my prank has failed.
It has failed spectacularly.
Oh my god,” I gasp.
That’s not Cooper.
That is so not Cooper.






ALSO AVAILABLE


AMAZON US / UK / CA / AU

Free in Kindle Unlimited

ALSO AVAILABLE




#2 Real Fake Love – 99c for TODAY ONLY!
(US & UK only)
 
 
Free in Kindle Unlimited
 
 
AUTHOR BIO
 
Pippa Grant is a USA Today Bestselling author who writes romantic comedies that will make tears run down your leg. When she's not reading, writing or sleeping, she's being crowned employee of the month as a stay-at-home mom and housewife trying to prepare her adorable demon spawn to be productive members of society, all the while fantasizing about long walks on the beach with hot chocolate chip cookies.
 
 
AUTHOR LINKS
 
Facebook: 
https://www.facebook.com/pippagrantromance
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ThePipsquad
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ReadPippa
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/pippagrant
Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/pippa-grant
Website: http://www.pippagrant.com
Instagram: https://instagram.com/pippa.grant  
 
 
GIVEAWAY
 
There is a giveaway for Grumpy Player Next Door Book Box full of goodies plus bonus signed paperbacks (1 winner, open internationally – please note international winners may be responsible for their own VAT should it apply)

Thursday, July 1, 2021

Flipping Love You by Erin Nicholas

 

He's the tattooed bad boy her mama warned her about.
She's his hot mess--but mostly hot--next door neighbor.
Until a two-night-stand gives them the surprise of a lifetime...

Flipping Love You, an all-new STEAMY and laugh-out-loud, surprise baby standalone romance by New York Times bestselling author Erin Nicholas, is available now!

Jillian Morris is a workaholic who forgets to watch the time. And to eat. And to change her shoes. And to keep even a house-plant alive. And to have any kind of a personal life.

Now an eccentric millionaire has left her eight million dollars. And eight penguins. Yes, real live penguins. She's a wildlife vet who specializes in penguins, so that makes sense. Kind of. She can, and does, keep penguins alive and well. She now just has to move them cross-country to her friend's new animal park.

So if anyone deserves a one-night (or two) stand with a hot, younger, tattooed bad boy on a motorcycle, it's her. Or so Jill tells herself when Zeke Landry flips his bike in front of her motel.

If only she'd known who he really was.
And that he was the fall-hard-and-fast type.
And the protective type.
And that one night would turn into more like nine-months of being ...sigh...very personal.

My Review

I have to be honest... I wasn't sure what to think of Jill. When someone crashes in front of you and you act like you don't care? She lost me for a bit at that point. She was great in terms of animals but selfish in terms of people. Once you get to know her though you see that it is in response to her upbringing and what her mother gave up in terms of her career in order to be a mom. Zeke I loved right away. He took this realization that he cared about Jill and ran with it.

This is a surprise pregnancy book even though you don't see that until later on in the book. They have a cute relationship and Zeke taking care of Jill even when she doesn't take care of herself is really sweet. 

It looks like Griffin's brother Donovan could be next based off the end of the book and I can't wait to read that one. I'm also really looking forward to Zander's book to see who he ends up with. He was getting a kick out of messing with Zeke and I'd like to see Zeke mess with Zander in return when his time comes. A great read, especially over the holiday weekend we're about to have!

Keep reading for an excerpt below!

Fall in love today!
Amazon: https://amzn.to/34weUFK
Apple Books: https://apple.co/3yLhyW6
Nook: https://bit.ly/3uxusE3
Kobo: https://bit.ly/3g9PCD0
Google Play: https://bit.ly/3yZSU4i

Add Flipping Love You to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3c3dmaB

Excerpt

He lifted a hand to run it through his wet hair.
Her eyes followed the motion, seemingly riveted on his arm. He wasn’t sure if it was the tattoo or what exactly. But he did know that Jillian was fascinated with his ink. She had traced all of it with her fingers and tongue last night more than once. And he had a lot of ink.
“I’m the guy who’s remodeling your house.”
Her eyes widened. “We’re going to be neighbors.”
He let his grin grow slowly. “Yup.”
She tipped her head back and groaned.
But it wasn’t one of the hot oh-my-God-yes groans she’d been giving him last night. This was more of oh-crap groan.
“You’re clearly not as excited about that as I am,” he said dryly.

Her head came up and she met his eyes. Now there was no roaming over his half naked body. She shook her head. “It just feels complicated to live next door to the guy I’m hooking up with once a month.”
He was confused. “We’re hooking up once a month?”
“Well, that was what I was going to propose anyway. Friends with benefits, you know? After last night I thought that could be kind of fun.”
“That would be fun. Very, very fun,” he said. “But why only once a month? I’m up for that kind of fun way more often.”
“Sure. But then it turns into more like dating or a relationship or something rather than just getting together for hot sex.”
“And I take it the relationship and dating thing is something you’re trying to avoid?”
“Very much so. And living next door to you means that we’ll see each other occasionally and since you’ll be saving me from alligators on a regular basis, we could potentially turn into actual friends. And that makes the hooking up even more complicated.”
Having the sun up hadn’t made him feel any less attracted to, slightly confused by, surprised by, and definitely amused by this woman. “But friends with benefits has friends right in the title.”
This all sounded good to him. Having a neighbor he could get naked with whenever the urge struck, who didn’t want anything else from him, sounded pretty great.
“I’m just really not interested in a relationship,” Jill went on. “I’m not good at them. And I don’t really have time for them. And I don’t put the effort into them, which ends up bothering the other person after a while. Which is understandable. I’m not blaming anyone. I just really like to have everything laid out and everyone on the same page. And I like sex. It would be really perfect to be able to have amazing sex, but only when it’s convenient.”
Zeke gave a soft snort. Convenient hot sex. It really did sound pretty amazing.
“If you just want to walk through my door, only wearing a robe and nothing underneath to save time, I’m not gonna kick you out, cher,” he told her. He was half-teasing. But only half.
She finally gave him a hint of a smile. “I can just show up on your front porch anytime I want?”
He reached up and cupped the side of her head. He brought her in close and put his mouth against hers. “Any freaking time.”

About Erin Nicholas

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Erin Nicholas has been writing romances almost as long as she’s been reading them. To date, she’s written over thirty sexy, contemporary novels that have been described as “toe-curling,” “enchanting,” “steamy,” and “fun.” She adores reluctant heroes, imperfect heroines, and happily ever afters.
Erin lives in the Midwest, where she enjoys spending time 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 her family and friends (who claim to be “shocked” by the sex scenes in her books).

Connect with Erin
Website: http://bit.ly/2NkB2uF
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