All posts by Kelly S

Apocalyptic, Dystopian, Part of a Series, Review, Sci Fi, Suspense

#Review #AudioBook – Compound 26 (The Makanza Series Book 1) by Krista Street

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A deadly virus. A brilliant, young researcher. And an infected survivor who threatens to steal her heart.

In a society ruled by sanctions and curfews, Dr. Meghan Forester emerges as the youngest and most promising scientist to join the fight against Makanza—the deadly virus that’s ravaged the world.

Inside Compound 26, a giant government-controlled research facility, Meghan’s new job involves studying the Kazzies, the rare survivors who carry the virus and now exhibit supernatural powers. But as her work unfolds, Meghan’s horrified at the brutal and unethical practices the Kazzies are subjected to.

And most surprisingly, she falls in love with one.

Faced with growing conflict over helping the Kazzies versus following the Compound’s strict policies, Meghan must choose: obey the government’s unethical practices or risk everything to save the only man she’s ever loved.

 

The Makanza Series is a complete series in which fantastical powers collide with modern science. Dive into this imaginative and romantic series today. Download now!

 

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Kelly’s Review

I picked this up on a promotion for free and gave it a try. This is during a time that is beyond infection. Infecteds have been rounded up and locked away, for “science.” Meghan has worked extremely hard to understand the virus become a scientist to join the fight against the virus. As she starts work at the facility, she realizes that the Kazzies are being tested against their will. They are being tortured, and she is in waaay over her head. I listened to the audio book and the narrator did very well. However, the story itself moved rather slow and seemed to repeat itself, or rather the scenarios repeated themselves a bit. There really wasn’t a big climax either. I felt like there should have been more action or more of a romance going on but I couldn’t really get invested in the story because it took a bit too long to get there. I am interested in what happens next but I am not sure if I will be continuing this series. It’s a 3.5 stars for me. We will see what happens.

 

Krista Street profile image

Krista Street loves writing fantasy and paranormal romance books. She’s a Minnesota native but has lived throughout the U.S. and in another country or two. She loves to travel, read, and spend time in the great outdoors. When not writing, Krista is either chasing her children, spending time with her husband and friends, sipping a cup of tea, or enjoying the hidden gems of beauty that Minnesota has to offer.

Fantasy, Paranormal, Part of a Series, Review, Teen & Young Adult Contemporary, Urban Fantasy/Urban Fiction, Vampire, Werewolf, Witches

#Review #AudioBook – Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser Series Book 1) by Meghan Ciana Doidge

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If you’d asked me a week ago, I would have told you that the best cupcakes were dark chocolate with chocolate cream cheese icing, that dancing in a crowd of magic wielders — the Adept — was better than sex, and that my life was peaceful and uneventful. Just the way I liked it. That’s what twenty-three years in the magical backwater of Vancouver will get you — a completely skewed sense of reality. Because when the dead werewolves started showing up, it all unraveled … except for the cupcake part. That’s a universal truth.

Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic is the first book in the Dowser series, which is set in the same universe as the Oracle, Reconstructionist, Amplifier, Archivist, and Misfits of the Adept Universe series. While it is not necessary to read all the series, in order to avoid spoilers the ideal reading order of the Adept Universe begins with Cupcakes, Trinkets, and Other Deadly Magic (Dowser 1).

 

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Kelly’s Review

This book! Listen to it, trust me, you will be hooked!

In my opinion, a narrator can make or break a story for me. The narrator did a fantastic job of capturing the main character, Jade, but was also able to take on the other characters as well. The narrator hooked me! There are times when it takes me a while to finish an audio book because I am just not that invested in them. I found myself making time to listen. I was like, I NEED MORE!

The characters and world building were well developed. Jade and Sienna bickered and bantered like most siblings which would bring a smile to your face because you can imagine doing this with your own sibling(s). The vampires and wolves….Let me tell you something. There is a death that I did not see coming and completely threw me off my game. For that, I applaud the author because it is hard to surprise me with something like this and I love a twist like this! (claps loudly)

This series is so much different than the normal paranormal vamps, werewolves, and witches. It is so much more. It is fun to listen to with its witty banty and mystery. Highly recommend!

 

Meghan Ciana Doidge profile image

Meghan Ciana Doidge writes tales of true love conquering all, even death. Though sometimes the love is elusive, the vampires and werewolves come out to play in the daylight, and bloody mayhem ensues.

Audio Book, Comedy, Novella, Review, Romantic Comedy

#Review #AudioBook – Like It’s 1999: a Boston Classics novella by Karen Grey

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Love ‘em and Leave ‘em Alice Kim and “Hot” Steve Lowell are perfect for each other. It’ll only take them ten years to figure that out.

Just because they throw the most bodacious wedding party ever…

Just because they’re perfect partners in pranks…

Just because they love all the same boss movies…

Just because they share one totally bangin’ night of sex together…

Does not mean they’ll break the One Time Rule.

Even if they do… they don’t do relationships.

And they’re never getting married.

Like, ever.

In this friends-to-lovers, marriage-pact novella spanning the last decade of the 20th century, life forces a playboy and a playgirl grow up—and grow apart—before giving them a chance to create a happy-ever-after they can actually be happy about.

 

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Where are all my Gen-X’ers and Xennials?!?! This book has it all for us! All of our slang, excellent movie quotes, rad pranks, all the boombox holding nostalgia with an epic love story! EVERYTHING!!!! I listened to this book and having two narrators, one for Love ‘em and Leave ‘em Alice and Hot Steve, was ON POINT!

Alice and Steve end up being bridesmaids to their best friend. Yes, this will be an unconventional wedding as guys and girls will be on both sides. The best part is that Alice and Steve are the perfect partners in crime for the wedding. Actually, they are very similar in most aspects of their lives. As their story continues and we get to know them, they end up learning things about themselves that they aren’t really happy about. After the party they make a pact for the 10-year anniversary. But what happens in the middle and leading up to the 10-year anniversary is…well, a lot. I can’t call it a page turner because I listened to it, LOL! It was gripping and I couldn’t stop listening because I JUST HAD TO KNOW!

This was so nostalgic, plus the story just had a touch of everything! I highly recommend it! Just read it or listen to it already!

 

Karen Grey profile image

KAREN GREY is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of vintage romantic comedies with smart heroines and hunky heroes. Drawing on a long career as a performer, her retro 80’s and 90’s romances are populated with characters working both on- and off-stage in theater, TV and film.

She’s a lifelong omnivorous reader (including 20 years as an audiobook narrator). When not reading or writing, she’s lounging at the beach or hiking in the mountains. Or dreaming about both with an IPA in hand and a dog or a cat nearby.

To get the latest news, join her VIP club at followkarengrey.com.

Audio Book, Review, Romantic Comedy, short story, Teen & Young Adult Contemporary

#Review #AudioBook – The Exception to the Rule (The Improbable Meet-Cute collection) by Christina Lauren

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On February 14, an accidental email to a stranger opens the door to an unexpected relationship in a captivating short story by the New York Times bestselling authors of The Unhoneymooners.

One typo, and a boy and girl connect by chance. Wishing each other a happy Valentine’s Day isn’t the end. In fact, it becomes a friendly annual tradition—with rules: no pics, no real names, nothing too personal. As years pass, the rules for their email “dates” are breaking, and they’re sharing more than they imagined—including the urge to ask…what if we actually met?

Christina Lauren’s The Exception to the Rule is part of The Improbable Meet-Cute, irresistibly romantic stories about finding love when and where you least expect it. They can be read or listened to in one sitting. Let’s make a date of it.

 

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Kelly’s Review

I ran across this book when looking for a fun, sweet and quick-ish read. Then instead of reading it, I listened to it. I am not normally an audiobook kinda girl but once I started listening, I was HOOKED! The use of two narrators, one male and one female, was the key!

The accidental email that started this whole thing was just an accident, remembering the accidental email the following Valentine’s Day made me giggle, then the fact that they started competing to be the first to wish the other happy Valentine’s Day really had me LOL’ing! Obviously, you know they are going to meet but all their rules surrounding the “anonymous” emails that allow our two main characters to actually get to know each other and become friends that lead up to them actually meeting, is where its all at.

This is the perfect, sweet, funny and just all-around awesome read!

 

Christina Lauren profile image

Christina Lauren is the combined pen name of longtime writing partners and best friends Christina Hobbs and Lauren Billings, the New York Times, USA TODAY, and #1 Internationally bestselling authors of the Beautiful and Wild Seasons series, Dating You / Hating You, Autoboyography, Love and Other Words, Roomies, Josh and Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating,The Unhoneymooners, The Soulmate Equation, Something Wilder and The True Love Experiment. You can find them online at ChristinaLaurenBooks.com, @ChristinaLauren on Instagram, or @ChristinaLauren on Twitter.

Audio Book, Contemp. Romance, Mystery, Part of a Series, Review, Romantic Suspense, Thriller

#Review #AudioBook – Getting Lucky: Tempered Steel – Vegas, by Maggie Adams

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Lawrence “Lucky” Coalson is on the track of the arsonist that torched his older brother’s construction company. The clues have led him to the Mississippi Flame Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Taking a job as a bouncer there, he hopes to find a connection to the vandalism or even the arsonist. What he finds is a blonde bombshell in a bit of trouble, so like the alpha male he is, Lucky comes to the rescue. But like a magician’s trick, not everything is as it appears.
Can Lucky discern the difference between lust and love when what happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas? And is the Coalson family prepared to face the consequences of his actions?

 

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Kelly’s Review

Just not that Lucky.

1st disclaimer, I wasn’t aware that this was part of a series when I started this book.

2nd disclaimer, I listened to the audiobook and had earbuds in and unable to stop the book (hands were busy), so I tried to keep an open mind while listening to the book.

Lucky goes to Vegas and is looking for a connection to the trouble that has befallen his family. While there he falls in love with Claudia. Ok, so we have the boy meets girl and of course she is part of the problem or at least bound up in it somehow. Now we bring in the BDSM club and things get really weird for me. I am not an expert by any means but nothing that happens in this club is very believable…at least to me. In my opinion, the narrator wasn’t that great for the story either. He wasn’t the guy for Lucky. Then the cliffhanger was huge! I just don’t know if I have it in me to explore this series any further but if I do, I will be reading it, not listening to it.

 

Maggie Adams profile image

International bestselling author Maggie Adams lives in St. Louis, Missouri with her husband, four kids, and four of the sweetest, smartest, and most talented grandchildren ever to grace God’s green earth. She began writing at a young age, concentrating on creative writing of poetry, short stories, and comics. It wasn’t until she read her first historical romance novel at the age of fourteen that she found the romance genre gave wings to her writing soul. She finds humor in everyday life, as her books often reflect, and believes in happy ever afters, no matter what the circumstances.

Her first novel, Whistlin’ Dixie, debuted in the top 100 of several book lists and made the tiny town of Grafton, Illinois, a reader’s romantic escape. There are five more books available in the series: Leather and Lace, Something’s Gotta Give, Love, Marriage & Mayhem, Forged in Fire, and Cold as Ice. She also released a companion cookbook featuring the recipes from the series as well as tried and true comfort food from generations past entitled, The Coalson Cookbook of Memories.

In addition to the Tempered Steel series, she is the author of the spinoff paranormal romance series, Legends. The first novel, Legends: Catori, garnered her recognition in the USA Today’s Happily Ever After section of Lifestyles. Legends: Kermode, followed in 2019 and Legends: Piasa is coming in 2021 along with the final book, Legends: Amarok, is coming 2022.

In 2019, Maggie also began releasing her over-forty series, Hell on Heels. The first two books in the series, Minx and Jinxed are widely available. Look for Sphynx, the next book in the series, to be released in Fall of 2022.

She has collaborated on several charitable anthologies and has enriched older stories into stand-alone novels, including her women’s erotica bundle, Lustful Legacy.

You can sign up for her FREE newsletter to keep in touch, find events and signings for the year and get exclusive sneak peeks into works in progress! www.maggieadamsbooks.com

She’s also been known to gift books randomly. Feel free to stalk her at these sites!

http://www.maggieadamsbooks.com – website

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/maggie-adams

https://www.facebook.com/maggieadamsbooks – book page

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9867300.Maggie_Adams – goodreads

https://twitter.com/AuthrMaggieAdms – twitter

https://www.pinterest.com/maggiesminxes/- Pinterest

https://www.instagram.com/maggieadamsbooks/ – Instagram

https://www.linkedin.com/in/maggie-adams-006a8b142/ – LinkedIn

Fantasy Romance, Over 40's Romance, Paranormal, Part of a Series, Review, Romantic Comedy, Witches

#Review – Earth Spells Are Easy (Grimoires of a Middle-aged Witch Book 1) by Renee George

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As a forty-three-year-old, newly divorced, single mom, I know two things for certain, starting over sucks, and magic isn’t real. At least that’s what I thought. I mean, starting over really does stink, but when it comes to magic, I have to rethink everything.

I’ve spent the last year since my ex left me going through the motions. Get up. Work. Care for a grumpy teenager. Cook dinner. Go to bed. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Nothing changes… Until it does.

After bidding on a box of old books at an estate auction, I’m experiencing changes.

And I’m not talking about menopause.

My garden gnome Linda has come to life. No, really. Her name is Linda, and she never shuts up. A chonky cat with a few secrets of his own has adopted me. And a gorgeous professor of the occult tells me I’m a witch.

Right now, I’m not sure who’s crazier—me, Linda or the hottie professor.

If this is my new reality, it’s nature’s cruel midlife trick. I’m learning fast that earth spells might be easy, but they aren’t cheap. All magic exacts a toll, and if I don’t master the elements, the elements will be the death of me.

Literally.

***A Paranormal Women’s Fiction Novel***

 

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Kelly’s Review

I read this blurb and as a “middle-aged” woman myself, I knew I had to read this book, like right now! Iris is newly divorced and just when she thinks things are going to get somewhat normal, or that she will finally be able to find a new normal for her, she has no idea of what normal is going to end up being. Life literally gets flipped upside down. Her sister tries to set her up with an occult professor, her garden gnome comes to life, and all of a sudden magic starts to happen! Silly magic, weird magic, big magic and all at a cost. She is trying to learn but also trying to keep it under wraps from her family, especially the teenager.

The story is a quick and easy read. It has plenty of witty banter with all the nonsense that runs through our middle-aged brains but also deals with the real life things too. There is divorce, being a single parent, just trying to survive and start over when life gets upended. While there were some things that felt a little rushed, overall, this was a great read and I look forward to checking out more by this author.

 

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About Renee:

USA Today Bestselling author Renee George writes paranormal mysteries and romances because she loves all things whodunit, Otherworldly, and weird. Also, she wishes her pittie, the adorable Kona, could talk. Or at least be more like Scooby-Doo and help her unmask villains at the haunted house up the street.

When she’s not writing about mystery-solving werecougars or the adventures of a hapless psychic living among shapeshifters, she is preyed upon by stray kittens who end up living in her house because she can’t say no to those sweet, furry faces. (Someone stop telling them where she lives!)

She resides in Mid-Missouri with her family and spends her non-writing time doing really cool stuff…like watching TV and cleaning up dog poop.

 

Connect with Renee George!

Join Renee’s Rebel Readers (Facebook Group): https://www.facebook.com/groups/reneesunusualsuspects/

Like “Renee George, Author” fan page:

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Follow Renee on Twitter: @reneegeorge2008

Website: http://www.renee-george.com

Instagram: author_renee_george

 

Author Note: For readers who have enjoyed reading my books and taken the time to share their love in reviews, thank you so much! I can’t tell you how much it means to me to know my work is valued.

Hugs,

Renee George

Dark, Dark Humor, Dark Romance, M/M, Mystery, Part of a Series, Psychological Thriller, Review, Suspense, Thriller, Trigger Warnings, Writers on the River Attending Author

#WOTR26 #Review – Unhinged (Necessary Evils Book 1) by Onley James

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Adam Mulvaney lives a double life. By day, he’s the spoiled youngest son of an eccentric billionaire. By night, he’s an unrepentant killer, one of seven psychopaths raised to right the wrongs of a justice system that keeps failing.

Noah Holt has spent years dreaming of vengeance for the death of his father, but when faced with his killer, he learns a daunting truth he can’t escape. His father was a monster.

Unable to ignore his own surfacing memories, Noah embarks on a quest to find the truth about his childhood with the help of an unlikely ally: the very person who murdered his father. Since their confrontation, Adam is obsessed with Noah, and he wants to help him uncover the answers he seeks, however dark they may be.

The two share a mutual attraction, but, deep down, Noah knows Adam’s not like other boys. Adam can’t love. He wasn’t born that way. But he refuses to let Noah go, and Noah’s not sure he wants him to.

Can Adam prove to Noah that passion, power, and protection are just as good as love?

Unhinged is a fast-paced, roller coaster ride of a romance with an HEA and no cliffhangers. It features a dirty-talking, possessive psychopath and a sweet cinnamon roll of a boy with Daddy issues and a core of steel. There’s gratuitous violence, very dark humor, enough steam to fog up a hundred car windows, and something a lot like love. This is book one in the Necessary Evils series. Each book follows a different couple.

 

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Kelly’s Review

I have no idea why this book had me hooked, but Adam’s father says never ask a question if you can’t handle the answer. So, we aren’t even going to examine that. This story is absolutely intense! I picked this book up because a friend of mine who is a MM fanatic kept talking about how great the writing is and how sick and twisted the story was. Full disclosure, MM is not my jam, but I was so intrigued about the story itself. Then, I started reading….and reading….and then my heart is racing…then I am biting my nails, then I am flipping past some pages…then get back to the crazy plot. I couldn’t stop myself! I went into this downward spiral of page turning and reading.

Adam and Noah are basically an instant attraction or instant love but on a much deeper, almost scary level. However, their trauma explains some of their actions and decisions in their lives. The fact that Adam’s father trained Adam and his brothers to be assassins will run deep within the story. There is literally never a dull moment, clear up to the very end of the book. When you read this, it will stay with you. You must love all things twisted to get through this book. Go ahead, try it! You know you want to!

 

Onley James profile image

Onley James lives in North Carolina with her daughter, her daughter-in-law, son-in-law, and a menagerie of animals, both good and evil. James splits her time between writing m/m romance and mainlining dangerous levels of caffeine and attempting to maintain her ever-slipping sanity.

When not at her desk you can find her whining about how much writing she has to do while avoiding said writing by binge-watching unhealthy amounts of television and doom scrolling on social media. She loves true crime documentaries, anti-heroes, and writing kinky, snarky books about morally gray men who fall in love with other men.

Stay up to date: www.onleyjames.com/newsletter

Find me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/OnleysOubliette

Want more: linktr.ee/OnleyJames

Enemies to Lovers, Fantasy, Fantasy Romance, Ghosts, M/F/M, Mystery, Paranormal, Review, Standalone, Urban Fantasy/Urban Fiction, Witches, Writers on the River Attending Author

#WOTR26 #Review – Dumpster Fire by Jay Leigh Brown

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Secrets. Lies. Betrayal. I have no one to trust.

A simple job from a sweet ghost sends my life into a tailspin.

I’m racing against the stepsons of the most powerful Seer in Grand Rapids. And they will do anything to get what I’m looking for.

I should have let them have it.

Unfortunately, I’m not capable of going back on my word.

Now, with an extra job, two insanely hot jerks, and a cascade of secrets, I can no longer trust my best friend. I’m on the run, my magic is on the fritz, my life is in danger, and there is no one I can trust. All I have to do is deliver my package, keep my magic hidden, and stay off the radar of the most powerful Seer in the city without the help of my best friend.

I am Salem Teller and I never miss my mark, even when the odds are stacked against me.

*** This is a why choose enemies to lovers romance. The guys are not cinnamon rolls and Salem is no lady. It’s a tough world they are navigating, and the folks and magic that reside in it are not always nice. Please visit my group or contact me for a specific list of things that some may find painful.***

 

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Kelly’s Review

I picked this book up purely because of the book name and cover. I mean, Dumpster Fire? Come on? Who is not intrigued by that title? The cover is hot! And if you turn the page, Dump, the raccoon, is on the inside!

Enough about why I picked up the book and the cover. The story is soooooo great! This world that the author has built is original. A breath of fresh air! The throuple in this story are all hard headed in their own ways, all with their own agenda, and everyone…I mean EVERYONE has a secret. The types of magic users and types of magic being used differ than what most of us are used to and it is incredible!

As the story progresses and secrets start to unravel, the dumpster fire starts to burn hotter and hotter. Dump, Salem’s raccoon familiar, is so amazing!  It’s wonderful when they (Salem, Raine, and Reese) realize it is okay to break when you’ve found the right people to put you back together again.

There are a ton of twists and turns around every corner. One of the best things about the book is the comedy that breaks all the drama up. You will laugh, you will want to punch someone, you will want to give Salem a hug, and then back away because Raine or Reese have it taken care of (wink wink). Oh, and wait until you experience the library! The freaking LIBRARY!

 

Jay Leigh Brown profile image

Jay Leigh likes all the beverages both alcoholic and caffeinated. She hates seafood and pumpkin spice and adores every flavor and genre of fine men and books. She resides in the wilderness of Michigan, boating and camping all summer, writing all winter. She’s a decent photographer and shamelessly purchases all things dachshund. A prolific breeder, she has a huge family, having far more than the allotted 2.2 children with the hottie who put a ring on it. One day she hopes to hang up her stethoscope permanently, and spend all her time palpating nothing but her shiny new retro keyboard. Dreaming in stories, she wants nothing more than to drown both your face and your panties with her words.

nerdy romance, new adult, Review, Romantic Comedy, Sweet Romance

#Review – Bad at Love by Karina Halle

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What happens when two best friends decide to date each other as an experiment? BAD AT LOVE is a standalone friends-to-lovers romance from the NYT bestselling author of The Royals Next Door and Grave Matter.

She’s a free-spirited and disaster-prone beekeeper.

He’s a British commitment-phobic playboy.

Together, they’re about to rewrite the rules of love.

Marina is brilliant, blonde, and brutally honest—sometimes too honest. Her lack of filter and endearing clumsiness mean most men in LA don’t make it past the third date. To make matters more complicated, she’s still a virgin and convinced she’ll never crack the code of love, let alone find someone to give her V-card to.

Her best friend Lazarus is her complete opposite. Tall, tattooed, and pierced (where it counts) Laz is both a rockstar and a gone-viral poet that has women (and book deals) falling at his feet. But the serial monogamist gets bored quickly and has never committed to anyone for longer than a few months.

When Marina’s latest dating disaster leaves her more hopeless than ever, Laz proposes an unconventional solution: he’ll give her dating and intimacy lessons. They’ll date each other as an experiment to figure out exactly what’s going wrong.

On paper, it’s the perfect plan. In reality, things get complicated fast. As they navigate their own trauma and hangups, Marina and Laz discover that the line between friendship and something deeper isn’t as clear as they thought.

They might be bad at love, but they’re even worse at pretending they’re still just friends.

 

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Twinsie Kelly’s Review

There are so many things that I want to say about this book but dayum….whew! and OMG! There, all done. Just go read it. It is literally that easy.

Let’s face it, this story is a friends to lovers story so we all (for the most part) know how this is going to play out. But the journey getting there has so much depth and shallowness. LOL! Well, I guess what I am trying to say is that while there is a lot of big emotion, there are a ton of witty one liners and funny situations that will keep you turning the pages.

Marina is more of a shy type and when she gets nervous, she implodes. Laz, is definitely more outgoing and quite literally can’t settle down. The thing of it is, these two just get each other. They have become best friends. Nothing more, nothing less. And one day, Laz messes it all up by suggesting they date each other for learning opportunities and it immediately changes the dynamic between these two. The change is very much needed though. They finally get to experience each other on an entirely different playing field and touch each other’s personal lives in a way neither of them ever expected.

“I think because love and hate are the strongest emotions, people think they are interchangeable. And honestly, it’s easier to hate than to love. There is no risk in hate while love is based on risk. We just want to protect ourselves, that’s all.”

To me, this sums this book up completely. No one is bad at love. You just have to find your weirdo and hang on!

Definitely a page turner that will have you laughing out loud, doing a facepalm, grabbing a tissue for a tear or two, fanning yourself after a hot scene, and then yelling at the two of them to just get over themselves. It literally has everything except ghosts!

 

Karina Halle profile image

Karina Halle is a screenwriter, former music & travel journalist, and the New York Times bestselling author of Realm of Thieves, Grave Matter, & Blood Orange, as well as 80 other romances across all sub-genres, ranging from spicy rom coms to gothic horror and dark fantasy. Needless to say, whatever you’re into, she’s probably written an HEA for it. When she’s not traveling, she, her husband, and their pup Perry, split their time between a possibly haunted 120 year-old house in Victoria, BC, and their sailboat Norfinn.

2nd Chance, Contemp. Romance, Over 40's Romance, Review, Rockers, Romantic Comedy, second chance, Small Town Romance, Sweet Romance

#Review – Come As You Are: A Gen X Romance (Bluebird Basin Book 1) by Jess K. Hardy

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She’s saving the family ski hill. He’s saving lives. Neither planned on saving each other.

At forty-six, Ashley Cooke isn’t looking for romance, she’s looking for a miracle. Her family’s Montana ski resort is one bad season away from closing, and desperate times call for desperate measures. Hiring a crew from the local sober living home wasn’t part of her plan, but neither was their six-foot tall, bearded and tattooed administrator.

Matthew Madigan knows about starting over. As a former rockstar and recovering addict, he runs his sober living home to give other men the second chance he once needed. Working alongside Ashley to keep her small-town ski hill alive stirs up feelings he thought he’d buried for good.

Between snowstorms, chairlift mishaps, and the kind of slow-burn chemistry that makes a Montana winter melt, Ashley and Madigan discover that second chances aren’t just for the mountain. Sometimes they’re for the heart, too.

Come As You Are is the first book in the Bluebird Basin series, a heartwarming, small-town romance perfect for fans of Virgin River, over-40 love stories, and series filled with friendship, family, and the kind of community you’ll never want to leave.

Content notes: Addiction, divorce, mourning the loss of a parent

 

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Twinsie Kelly’s Review

This is not your stereotypical holiday Hallmark failing ski resort that is saved by a hot as hell rock star. Come As You Are is SO MUCH MORE! All of the characters, from the main characters to the each of the side characters, including the wonderful slobbery “rescue” dog, have so much depth that you will really feel like you are living the story. Madigan and the guys from Little Timber are addicts. They understand that once an addict, always an addict and no matter how long you are clean, you fight the good fight each and every day. Ashley and her family (mother and daughter) are trying to keep the ski resort afloat while feeling the loss of her father and dealing with her nasty ex-husband. When Ashley and Madigan start working together, they have a chemistry that is palpable! Absolutely electrifying! It is refreshing that these two characters are Gen X-ers and more mature than most other MCs that I am used to. They start their relationship with eyes wide open but still guarded. They both have their own obstacles and responsibilities that must come first, but as they learn to navigate what could be….well, lets just say that you must read this.

You can’t be where you are today, if you didn’t go through the things you did in the past. These two are perfect examples of it.

This book seriously has ALL THE FEELS! It is funny, steamy, heart wrenching, and with incredible friends…everything!

YOU

SHOULD

READ

THIS!

 

Jess K. Hardy profile image

Jess K. Hardy is an award-winning, bestselling author of cozy contemporary and scifi/fantasy romance. Jess writes about characters at any age, but especially over 40, finding second chances, proving that life, and love, only get better with time. When not crafting funny, heartfelt, emotionally rich romances, Jess can be found hiking, camping, skiing, dancing in her kitchen, or on Instagram at @JessKHardy_Author.

New to Jess’s work? Start with Come As You Are for an introduction to her signature blend of heart, hope, heat, and happily-ever-afters.