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Friday, April 30, 2021

Veronica Reviews ~ HIGHLAND WARRIOR by Heather McCollum

 


Highland Warrior


(Sons of Sinclair, Book 2)


by


Heather McCollum








★★★★★

5 Stars


Historical Romance






“I love you.  I need you to know that.  I could not imagine the pain of dying without being able to tell you what I have only now discovered in my heart.”


 Joshua Sinclair was War incarnate, the second Horseman of the Apocalypse…at least that was what his father raised him to believe.  Growing restless, Joshua leaves his home and Clan Sinclair behind to seek out those in need of his talents to train men for battle.  But this fierce warrior’s world is about to turn on its axis when he stumbles upon a Norse beauty and queen of her people who offers him a night of pleasure that in turn becomes a temptation to help break her people free from the tyranny of the Stewarts. 


When setting out to teach the tactics of war, Joshua has met his match in the fair Kara Flett.  But when her life is put in jeopardy, there is no fiercer foe than a highlander’s sword and his thirst for vengeance, and if that highlander just happens to be one of the fabled Horseman, let it be known there is no force on earth that will deter the mighty Joshua Sinclair from protecting what is his…“He had never seen anything so beautiful before in his life.  He would battle a million wars to keep them safe, or sail a thousand seas to take them to safety, or build a hundred castles to protect them.”


*Happy Dancing* Oh dear Reader, I am sooooo excited that Heather McCollum has returned to her Sons of Sinclair series!  These four brothers have been raised by their father believing they are nonother than the four Horseman of the Apocalypse, and each of their stories thus far has matched the hero with a lover that is off the charts in chemistry and offers them a happily ever after they never dared dreamed to receive.  


“Love was risky.  It could tear one apart, but it could also build one into a mountain of strength.  It made life sweeter, brighter, and so worth living.”

 

While this is the second in the series, it is written well enough to be read standalone with no cliffhangers.  If you are a fan of highland romances, I can’t recommend this author enough!  Loved loved loved Joshua’s story and sooooo looking forward to the next installment!


Sharing what I love, 



Veronica



**I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. **




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Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Drop Dead Gorgeous by Lauren Landish

 Drop Dead Gorgeous is probably not what you're thinking.  A good-looking man that woman fawn over isn't it, but rather Zoey Walker has a stigma.  She is beautiful and a coroner.  The people of the county are afraid of her because they think they'll "drop dead" if they associate with her.

This leaves Zoey talking to corpses and having a solitary life.   


Blake Hale is a trivia nerd and a happy-go-lucky life insurance salesman.  When one of his insured dies, he visits the coroner for a report.  All regular protocol for a claim.

Finding her talking to a corpse when Blake enters her morgue does nothing to make him turn-tail.  Her beauty stuns him and adds to the impressiveness of her work.  He's glad to need her for this claim.

Most men run when Zoey is near, so it's baffling that Blake continues to find excuses to talk to her.  Zoey thinks his insured dead man didn't die of natural causes.  Blake convinces her to collude with him in investigating the circumstances since the Sherriff's office has closed the case.

 Zoey pushes most people out of her life to reduce the level of antagonism.  Blake is a patient man and will do his best to prove to her that all the rumors and gossip mean nothing to him.  He treats her like a queen.

She's suspicious of any man sticking around for long, so will her walls tumble to let Blake closer and will this be for long term?

Lately, I've really enjoyed romantic comedy.  This story makes be giggle as I flip the pages, and a little laughter can help an ordinary day become something more!

Happy reading,

Dawn


Sunday, April 25, 2021

Upcoming Release ~ SWEET BETRAYAL by Louise Rose-Innes

 


SWEET BETRAYAL

By

Louise Rose-Innes




Releases on April 27, 2021

*Pre-order/Release day price of 99¢/99p*

(48 hours after release, the price will go up to the full price)


Her life is in the hands of a man she cannot trust...

Trapped in a country in the midst of a rebellion, Hannah is on the run for her life. Her only hope is to join forces with the disgraced British Special Forces soldier, Tom Wilde, who is overseeing the extraction of British nationals from the embassy.

The embassy posting is a punishment for Tom. A failed mission from which neither his body nor his mind has fully recovered. When he meets Hannah, he sees an opportunity to redeem himself. The information she holds is important enough to end the civil war – all he needs to do is to get her out of the war-ridden country alive and back to Britain.

The sexual attraction between them is too intense to ignore, but Hannah knows the career-soldier has a hidden agenda. Can she trust him to lead her to safety, or will he sacrifice her in his bid for redemption?


Buy Links:

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3tUTMUq

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2QHgCR7



About Louise:

Louise is an English author of romantic suspense & cozy mysteries.  She lives in leafy Surrey and when she isn’t writing, can be found walking through the countryside or kayaking on the river Thames.

She loves to write about brave, warm-hearted men and the feisty, independent women who love them.  Her romantic suspense novels are usually set in exotic or dangerous destinations such as West Africa, the Caribbean, Mozambique, and Middle Eastern war zones.  Her cozy mysteries are typically English and set in a fictional Surrey village.


Where to find her:

Website: www.louiseroseinnes.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/louiseroseinnes

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/louiseroseinnes/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/LouiseRoseInnes



Wednesday, April 21, 2021

Long Range Planning?

 

           Hello, gentle readers! Hope you are all well and staying safe. 
I have never been one to make long range plans. I’ve always been too busy just getting through the day, the week, the month (you know, one day at a time). That question they ask you in interviews: where do you see yourself in five years? Yeah, always had the biggest problem answering that because I just didn’t know. I never made plans that far in advance (although my standard answer was always: Hopefully here, doing my best work, which seemed to satisfy interviewers). The most I’ve ever done is a year, because you know, stuff happens…and the plans you made go by the wayside.
But I find lately that that has changed. I’ve actually set my retirement date. Granted, it’s
almost seven years in the future, but it was a revelation for me. With a definite date in mind, I, the woman who never plans more than a few months into the future, have begun to plan.
I’m not big on traveling (neither is my DH. Getting him on a plane is rather difficult), but there are a few places I’d like to go so those went on the list (mind you, they are not exotic, far away places, but there are several beaches I’d like to lay on and while away the hours, preferably with some fruity cocktail in one hand and a book in the other). Of course, there is visiting friends and family and I will do those before I retire as well as after, but still…it’s a long range plan, something I have shied away from all these years.
There are other things, but I’m still working on them so I’m not ready to divulge anything (the brain is busy figuring everything out—and it’s a difficult process because I’ve never done it before).
          Most importantly, I plan to write. I write now, but without the demands of the day job, I’ll have more time to do so. I say that, but I’ve heard from people who have retired that they are busier now than they’ve ever been and then there is the all important question – will I still have the words. I hope I do because there are, at this moment, twenty-seven stories in my queue. Between now and that magical retirement date, I’ll have a few already done (plus, I’m sure, many more added).
I keep telling myself these are baby steps. I need to go slow as this is such a radical change for me, BUT that first, all important, date has been set and I am ready.
Stay well! Stay safe! And remember to spread kindness wherever you go!

Marie

Sunday, April 18, 2021

New Release ~ SCOUNDREL OF MY HEART by Lorraine Heath

 



Scoundrel of My Heart

Once Upon a Dukedom Book 1

By

Lorraine Heath





Lorraine Heath begins an exciting new series with a breathtaking romance about a young woman who must marry a titled gentleman to obtain her inheritance and the unsuitable man she begins to fall madly in love with.

Blurb - 

She is desperate to wed a duke…

Lady Kathryn Lambert must marry a titled gentleman to claim her inheritance and has finally gained the attention of a duke. Yet she is unable to forget the scandalous second son who aided in her achievement—or his betrayal.

He wants what he can never possess…

Lord Griffith Stanwick is tormented by the bitter truth that as a “spare,” he will never be able to give Kathryn what she yearns to possess. But when his father is found guilty of treason, Griff detours into the dark and dangerous corners of London, haunted by memories of the woman lost to him forever.

Love not to be denied…

As the duke’s courtship intensifies, Kathryn discovers Griff has become a man to be reckoned with. When old passions flare and new desires ignite, she must decide if sacrificing her legacy is worth a lifetime shared with the scoundrel of her heart.



Buy Links - Harper Collins      Amazon      Barnes & Noble

Books A Million      Bookshop.org      Indiebound.org




- Excerpt: Scoundrel of My Heart -


Sitting in the front parlor, the escritoire on her lap, almost forgotten, Kathryn cursed Lord Griffith Stanwick for the hundredth time. His words had put salacious thoughts in her head that she could not seem to be rid of. Hands gliding over her bared shoulders and lower, to places they ought not. Blast him!

Then, to insinuate that she’d been lying when she’d claimed not to have ever had improper musings—the cur. Of course, she had, but it had been bad form on his part to insist she confess it. A lady of genteel breeding should not harbor lurid reflections and most certainly should not admit to it, especially when they often involved her dearest friend’s obnoxious brother doing terribly wicked things to her, running a finger over her décolletage where silk met flesh or kissing the inside of her wrist where she always put a dab of perfume just in case. She cursed him again.

To make matters worse, he’d used that awful moniker he’d bestowed upon her when she’d met him at the age of twelve, Freckles. Ghastly name, that. The brown spots had always been the bane of her existence. Wearing bonnets that she loathed and rubbing all sorts of magical creams on her face had caused the spots to fade, but the barest of shadows remained, which gave her a rather blotchy appearance when she blushed. Which for some reason Lord Griffith Stanwick caused to happen with regular frequency whenever he was near.

Since she was presently staying with her dearest friend, Lady Althea, crossing paths with Griff—as his sister called him and Kathryn secretly did as well—had become a regular part of her day . . . and sometimes her night.

She fought not to give in to guilt because she was the one responsible for his having awakened near the hedgerows. Having difficulty sleeping the evening before, she’d been on her way to the library to fetch a book and had just reached the foyer, when she spotted the front door opening. Then he had stumbled in, only a fraction, enough to press himself against the jamb without releasing his hold on the latch. His disheveled state had been appalling. His neckcloth was unknotted and his hat missing. His hair stood at odd angles as though a dozen women had run their fingers through it, which they no doubt had. When his gaze landed on her, one corner of his mouth had hitched up. “Hello, Freckles.”

She’d hated seeing him in such disarray, behaving like her Uncle George—her father’s brother. The man drank too much, played rather than worked, and constantly came to her father because he was in need of funds to support his gambling habits. He argued that he was owed because her father had inherited the titles and estates while he’d been left with nothing. Although, eventually he would inherit because her father had no son with whom to leave everything. It hadn’t helped her opinion regarding Uncle George when his own mother was so disappointed in him. “Never marry a second son,” her grandmother had advised her numerous times when he’d shown up at a family function three sheets to the wind. He cared about only himself, no one else. Not his wife or his own son, who had taken after him in every regard, even going so far as to hold out his hand to her father. “It’ll all be mine eventually. Might as well give me a bit now.”

And it seemed Lord Griffith Stanwick was cut of the same cloth. She shouldn’t care, but she did, damn him. Although for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why. But she just wanted him to be better than he was. Therefore, last night\ when the opportunity had presented itself, she’d decided to bring him some misery and had hurried over to him.

“I hear your father coming. He mustn’t see you in this state. Go round to the back. I’ll let you in there.” His father hadn’t been coming. The duke wasn’t even at home. He spent more nights away from the residence than he spent in it. It was a well-known secret that he had a mistress and preferred her company to that of his duchess.

But Griff, in his inebriated state, hadn’t the presence of mind to question her lie, had steadfastly believed her, and had made haste to exit through the door he’d just entered. She’d pocketed his key from where he’d left it in the keyhole, shut the door, and locked it. After scurrying to the servants’ entrance, she made certain that door was locked as well. In delight, she had stood there listening as the daft lord knocked and knocked and knocked.

Then he’d called for her. “Freckles! Come on, Freckles, open the door. Be a good girl.” Only she hadn’t wanted to be a good girl. Had wanted him to stop calling her that ridiculous name, had wanted him to be different from the two men who were causing such heartache for her family.

Finally, all had gone quiet. After she’d gathered enough courage to open the door and peer out, the lord was nowhere to be seen. A momentary panic struck her until she heard him singing some ditty about a woman with bowlegs. She’d watched his silhouette weaving through the garden until he finally disappeared behind the hedgerows. All had gone silent for a couple of minutes before she’d heard the snores and decided he deserved the uncomfortable bed. Although now, she felt badly about it because she had determined that afternoon to ask a favor of him. But finding any time alone with him in order to broach the subject of her request had proven impossible, which was part of the reason Kathryn had sought solitude in the front parlor while Althea and her mother had adjourned to the duchess’s favorite drawing room for a bit of tea following dinner.

Kathryn had eaten numerous times with the family, but only tonight had she noticed that the duke, sitting at the head of the table, only addressed his elder son, Marcus, who sat to his right. Never the younger who sat to his left.

From Scoundrel of my Heart by Lorraine Heath, published by Avon Books. Copyright © 2021 by Jan Nowasky. Reprinted courtesy of HarperCollinsPublishers.


Author Bio -

Lorraine Heath always dreamed of being a writer. After graduating from the University of Texas, she wrote training manuals, press releases, articles, and computer code, but something was always missing. When she read a romance novel, she not only became hooked on the genre, but quickly realized what her writing lacked: rebels, scoundrels, and rogues. She’s been writing about them ever since. Her novels have been recognized with numerous industry awards and appeared on the USA Today and New York Times bestseller lists.




Author Social Media Links -

https://www.facebook.com/LorraineHeathBooks

https://twitter.com/Lorraine_Heath

https://www.instagram.com/LorraineHeathAuthor/

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/lorraine-heath








Friday, April 16, 2021

Veronica Reviews ~ SCARRED HERO by Hope Ford

 


Scarred Hero


(Heroes with Heart, Book 1)


by 


Hope Ford

 






★★★★★

5 Stars

Military Romance (Novella)




Wounded war hero, Cole Prince, chooses to hide in the shadows.  Coming back wounded with scars both seen and unseen, Cole can’t believe he let his friends talk him into venturing out to a bar for drinks.  Keeping his scarred face hidden the best he can, Cole is mesmerized by the bartender and is completely blown away when she looks upon him without flinching…and smiles.  In that moment, Cole has hope…hope that maybe he can find some measure of peace and happiness with this beautiful woman that sees the man beyond the pain.


Hope noticed the soldier the moment he entered the bar, but can’t figure out why he keeps hiding his handsome face.  Yes, he has the markings of someone that was wounded and lived to tell the tale, but looking into his eyes, Hope knows he’s going to be hers…if she can just get him to give her a chance…


Scarred Hero is one of my top romance reads of the year!  I’m so in love with beautifully broken heroes, and the author has given me a perfect one with Cole!  What a wonderful world we would live in if we saw each other with our hearts rather than our eyes!  We could all use a little hope right now.  Highly recommend this quick insta-love story!



Sharing what I love, 



Veronica





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