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Showing posts with label Brook Cottage Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brook Cottage Books. Show all posts

September 30, 2014

Seaside Dreams by Melissa Foster ~ Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway


Welcome to my stop on the Seaside Dreams Blog Tour hosted by Brook Cottage Books! Click here to follow along with the full blog tour!



Title: Seaside Dreams
Series: Seaside Summers #1
              Love in Bloom #21
Author: Melissa Foster
Publication date: August 25th 2014
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: Copy for review

Purchase: Amazon | B&N | Smashwords  







SEASIDE SUMMERS is the newest addition to the LOVE IN BLOOM series, featuring a group of fun, sexy, and emotional friends who gather each summer at their Cape Cod cottages. They're funny, flawed, and will have you begging to enter their circle of friends. You met them in READ, WRITE, LOVE (The Remingtons, Book 5), follow these friends on their search for forever love in the Seaside Summers series.

Bella Abbascia has returned to Seaside Cottages in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, as she does every summer. Only this year, Bella has more on her mind than sunbathing and skinny-dipping with her girlfriends. She's quit her job, put her house on the market, and sworn off relationships while she builds a new life in her favorite place on earth. That is, until good-time Bella's prank takes a bad turn and a sinfully sexy police officer appears on the scene.

Single father and police officer Caden Grant left Boston with his fourteen-year-old son, Evan, after his partner was killed in the line of duty. He hopes to find a safer life in the small resort town of Wellfleet, and when he meets Bella during a night patrol shift, he realizes he's found the one thing he'd never allowed himself to hope for - or even realized he was missing. 

After fourteen years of focusing solely on his son, Caden cannot resist the intense attraction he feels toward beautiful Bella, and Bella's powerless to fight the heat of their budding romance. But starting over proves more difficult than either of them imagined, and when Evan gets mixed up with the wrong kids, Caden's loyalty is put to the test. Will he give up everything to protect his son - even Bella?   

 




Seaside Dreams is the second book I've read by Melissa Foster, and I do think her stories tug on the heartstrings. This book is no different. I felt so many different emotions for Bella and Caden, rooting for them to make it as a couple. I wanted Bella to give him a chance!  

I loved Bella and her group of friends. They reminded me a lot of my friends, and the silly pranks we used to play. It would be so awesome to spend every summer together at a cottage like the one Bella and her friends stay in. I was totally jealous of them! 

Bella has quit her job, is selling her house, and has taken on a temporary job at the local high school. She was badly hurt by a man she dated who worked with her at the job she just quit. She doesn't want to date or commit to anyone - she's decided she can't trust men. And then she meets Caden, probably one of the most trustworthy guys she'll ever meet. But she can't seem to let go of her preconceived notions. 

Caden is a great guy, raising his son by himself after the mother took off when their son was a newborn. He's the kind of guy you can tell will be in a relationship for the long haul through the good times and bad. But as much as I could see that, Bella didn't want to see it for herself. Of course, it's always easier looking in from the outside.    

While I rooted for them to get together, I think their relationship happened too quickly - it needed more time to develop and grow in my opinion. I was kind of shocked how quickly they became physical. But they were super hot together. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series and will be reading it for sure.    

My Rating:







Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes contemporary romance, new adult, contemporary women's fiction, suspense, and historical fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. 

Her books have been recommended by USA Today's book blog, Hagerstown Magazine, The Patriot, and several other print venues. She is the founder of the World Literary Cafe and Fostering Success. When she's not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on Fostering Success. Melissa has been published in Calgary's Child Magazine, the Huffington Post, and Women Business Owners magazine. 

Melissa hosts an annual Aspiring Authors contest for children and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, D.C. Melissa lives in Maryland with her family.

Visit Melissa on social media. Melissa enjoys discussing her books with books clubs and readergroups, and welcomes an invitation to your event. 








September 12, 2014

Renaissance of the Heart by Lori M. Jones ~ Blog Tour: Review & Giveaway


Welcome to my stop on the Renaissance of the Heart Blog Tour hosted by Brook Cottage Books! Click here for the full tour schedule! 



Title: Renaissance of the Heart
Author: Lori M. Jones
Publication date: June 24th 2014
Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: Copy for review

Purchase: Amazon 







After her husband of fifteen years comes out of the closet, a blindsided, forty-year-old Amanda Lewis is forced to salvage what remains of her shattered heart and navigate a new life for herself and her teenage daughter. But will a sizzling secret romance with a famous young NFL quarterback lead her to winning the life she deserves or set her up for her biggest loss yet?

As she embarks on the journey of rebuilding her home, Amanda discovers that finding forgiveness and repairing her damaged self-worth are her biggest challenges of all. While searching her soul - and even searching inside her city's history - she finds answers. But will answers come too late and can a broken heart ever be truly fixed? 


The synopsis for Renaissance of the Heart drew me to reading about Amanda's story like a magnet. She sounded like a strong female lead, and I wanted to find out how she deals with this shocking blow to her entire life. And I must admit, I was very curious as to how she hadn't noticed any signs over the years that her husband was in actuality gay. This story was on the whole very satisfying. 

I understood her feeling like her entire marriage had been a lie. I thought I was going to empathize with her husband for only now living his life openly as a gay man and feeling like he couldn't before now, which definitely does NOT excuse the cheating. But he ended up being a complete douche bag so I didn't feel anything but a strong dislike for him. 

Amanda's teenage daughter Lilly was one of my favorite characters. She handled the entire situation with grace and humor that went beyond her years. She's very close with her mother, and I loved their relationship. It was great to see her enjoy spending time with her mom yet still have fun with her friends and do the teenager thing.

Okay, sorry everybody, but if you know me, then you know I HATE the Steelers, lol. I'm a die hard Bengals fan, so it was a little difficult to read about Amanda dating the Steelers quarterback. ;) But this didn't affect my enjoyment of the book 'cause I sucked it up and let myself go along for the ride with their romance. He was so sweet! And Amanda makes a comment about feeling like the hot popular guy is asking out the geeky girl, and I had to giggle. I probably would feel like that, too.   

I only had a couple of issues with this book. One was when Amanda wondering if her ex was careful and if she might have HIV. Isn't that an out-of-date notion? Just because someone is gay doesn't automatically mean they have HIV, and I'm sure they were careful. I figured the shock of finding out he had been cheating on her lead her to thinking these kind of thoughts. I can understand her wondering if she'd get some sort of sexually transmitted disease, but why just HIV? 

To sum up my feelings about Renaissance of the Heart, I'd say this was a wonderfully woven tale about a woman who started out the story as broken and destroyed but showed incredible strength and resiliency in picking up the pieces of her life and moving on. Moving on with a hunky quarterback! I admired Amanda for doing her best to remain strong for her daughter and not lean on her, which would have put pressure on her daughter. I also admired Amanda for keeping her cool the best she could in dealing with her ex. Man that guy got on my nerves! 

I would love to see another book by Lori Jones with a different couple this time from the perspective of the spouse who realizes she/he is gay, ends the marriage without cheating, and is a decent person, lol. I'd totally read that, too!   

My Rating:





Lori lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she writes women's and children's fiction. RENAISSANCE OF THE HEART is her debut novel. She's also the author of children's books, RILEY'S HEART MACHINE and CONFETTI THE CROC, both written with the hope that children will celebrate what makes them unique. She's also written award-winning flash fiction pieces and her articles have been featured in various publications.

Lori serves on the Board of Directors for the Children's Heart Foundation and is the president of their Pennsylvania chapter. She visits schools to speak about writing, about the human heart and about embracing what makes you special. 

Besides writing and spreading awareness about Congenital Heart Defects, her passions include her two daughters, her husband Mark, her Pittsburgh sports teams and running in 5Ks. Lori is a member of Pennwriters and she loves her local writing groups! She is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication and journalism. She also holds a paralegal certificate from Duquesne University and is a former Washington, D.C. paralegal. Visit her website at www.lorimjones.com.

*RILEY'S HEART MACHINE (Guardian Angel Publishing)
*RENAISSANCE OF THE HEART (Soul Mate Publishing, Spring 2014)
*CONFETTI THE CROC (Winter 2014)