Month: July 2017

Persons Unknown (DS Manon: Book 2) by Susie Steiner

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Persons Unknown: A Richard and Judy Book Club Pick 2018 (A Manon Bradshaw Thriller) by [Steiner, Susie]

Title:  Persons Unknown

Author: Susie Steiner

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Random House

Date of publication: July 4th, 2017

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Number of pages: 400

POV: Alternating 1st and 3rd person

Series: DS Manon

Missing, Presumed – Book 1

Persons Unknown – Book 2

Where you can find Persons Unknown: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Manon has settled back into life in Cambridgeshire with her adopted son Fly. She’s perfectly happy working on cold cases until a man is stabbed to death just yards from the police station, and both the victim and the prime suspect turn out to be much closer to home than she would like. How well does Manon know her loved ones, and are they capable of murder

Trigger Warning: None

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Eric Olafson: Black Velvet by Vanessa Ravencroft

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Eric Olafson: Captain Black Velvet

Title: Captain Black Velvet

Author: Vanessa Ravencroft

Publisher: Inkitt

Date of publication: July 26th, 2017

Genre: Science Fiction

Number of pages: 542

POV: 1st person

Where you can find Eric Olafson: Captain Black Velvet: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Follow Eric Olafson’s epic adventure through a multicultural mega civilization as he goes deep undercover in the 51st century as Black Velvet – a female pirate captain of a mysterious background.

Thrust into the life of a starship captain, Eric Olafson is now the commanding officer of the famous spacecraft, the USS Tigershark. On their mission to hunt pirates and criminals, Eric and his unusual crew are sent into Freespace, disguised as the very outlaws they are chasing. Eric reveals himself as Black Velvet, a gorgeous female with long blonde hair, a killer body, and a reputation that stirs fear throughout the galaxies in civilians, space pirates and criminals alike.

Eric is still oblivious to the fact that he is destined to play a central role in an ancient conflict of cosmic proportions, but something is stirring. 

Trigger Warning: None

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Stud by Jamie K. Schmidt

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Stud

Title: Stud

Author: Jamie K. Schmidt

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept

Date of publication: July 25th, 2017

Genre: Erotica, Romance

Number of pages: 220

POV: Alternating 1st person

Where you can find Stud: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Large. Hot. With a pump of sexual tension. 

When the barista next door teams up with a slick ad executive in this sweet standalone novel from USA Today bestselling author Jamie K. Schmidt, they both get a taste of unexpected love.

Terri Cooke wishes she could give Mick Wentworth a piece of her mind. The infuriating stud muffin walks into her coffee shop every morning expecting his regular order at 8:57 on the dot, without ever acknowledging Terri’s presence—except for staring at her cleavage. And yet she can’t deny that Mick Wentworth has an animal magnetism that’s stronger and richer than any espresso . . . which explains why Terri says yes when he suddenly, inexplicably asks her out.

After the morning coffee run, Mick’s day is all downhill from there. His family’s marketing firm is dysfunctional in more ways than one, so to save the business, Mick desperately needs to impress their newest client. When he learns that Terri’s a fan of their trendy product, he tries to get inside her head. It doesn’t hurt that she’s the barista he’s been lusting after for the past five months. But as things heat up with Terri, Mick finds that a little steam is just the jolt he needs to turn his whole life around.

Trigger Warnings: Gambling

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Misconduct (Birmingham Rebels: Book 4) by Samantha Kane

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Misconduct (Birmingham Rebels, #4)

Title: Misconduct

Author: Samantha Kane

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept

Date of publication: July 25th, 2017

Genre: Erotica, LGBTQIA

Number of pages: 288

POV: 3rd person

Series: Birmingham Rebels

Broken Play – Book 1

Calling the PlayBook 2

Jacked Up – Book 3

Misconduct – Book 4

Where you can find Misconduct: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

The Birmingham Rebels play both sides of the field, proving that the hottest action isn’t always in the arena.

Rookie running back Tom Kelly loves the perks of football stardom. Men, women—there’s no shortage of companionship for a pro athlete who’s hot, young, and willing, and Tom is definitely willing. But deep down he wants a committed three-way relationship, especially if the female in the middle is Carmina de la Cruz. The undeniably sexy Army veteran may not say much, but her body speaks loud and clear.

After a traumatic tour in Afghanistan, Carmina is struggling to regain her speech and rebuild her life. More than anything, she wants to feel like a woman again. Tom may be a wholesome All-American, but he knows just how she needs to be touched—and he’s not the only Rebel who arouses her interest. With his scorching intensity, Tom’s best friend leaves her wondering if two players might be better than one.

Danny Smith is no stranger to his team’s kinky reputation. He gave in to temptation once, but he’s not going down that road again. Sure, Carmina’s curves promise pleasure, but her eyes guarantee it comes with baggage—and Danny has enough of his own. Still, giving up control can feel so good. And when it comes to everything Danny craves, Carmina and Tom make the perfect team.

Possible triggers: None

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Exploited (Zero Day: Book 1) by A. Meredith Walters

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Exploited (Zero Day, #1)

Title: Exploited

Author: A. Meredith Walters

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept

Date of publication: July 25th, 2017

Genre: New Adult, Romance

Number of pages: 288

POV: 1st person

Series: Zero Day

Exploited – Book 1

Aftermath – Book 2 (expected publication date: January 16th, 2017)

Where you can find Exploited: Amazon| Barnes and Nobles

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

In this pulse-pounding novel from the bestselling author of Butterfly Dreams, a vigilante hacker plays a seductive game with the agent who’s chasing her online—and sharing her bed in real life.

At first glance, I’m nothing out of the ordinary. I am a daughter. A sister. A friend. When you look at me you won’t see anything that warrants suspicion. I don’t look like a criminal.

My name is Hannah Whalen, but most people know me as freed0mov3rdr1v3, or “Freedom Overdrive”—one of the world’s most prolific and notorious hacktivists. My goal—my purpose—is to shed light on the evil that lurks behind the corporate and government lies we have been force-fed for too long.

My story begins with the best possible intention. Devoting my life to exposing the corrupt. The dishonest. The unethical. For that, they label me a cyber-terrorist. Wanted by the FBI, I’ve always been one step ahead.

Until I fell in love.

Because I’m sleeping with the man who’s hunting me. And he has no idea that I am his prey. Now I have to decide what’s more important: my freedom or my heart.

My review:

Exploited is a fast-moving techno-romance (is there such thing or did I just make up a genre….lol) that will keep you glued to the book. It is a page-turner and you never know where this book will lead you and I loved it.

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Eye Candy (Real Love: Book 1) by Jessica Lemmon

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Eye Candy (Real Love, #1)

Title: Eye Candy

Author: Jessica Lemmon

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept

Date of publication: July 25th, 2017

Genre: Humor, Romance

Number of pages: Unknown

POV: Alternating 1st person

Series: Real Love

Eye Candy – Book 1

Arm Candy – Book 2 (expected publication date: September 5th, 2017)

Where you can find Eye Candy: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Jacqueline: As an adult woman–and the vice president of a marketing firm–I shouldn’t be waiting by my office window to ogle the mystery man who jogs by every morning at 11:45. Sure, he’s a gorgeous, perfect specimen of the human race, but I can’t bring myself to hit on a total stranger. However, my best friend-slash-colleague Vince Carson thinks I should do more than talk to the guy. In fact, he’s borderline obsessive about “getting me laid.” (His words.) But the more time we spend together, the more it’s clear: The one I’m falling for is Vince.

Vince: Jackie Butler’s got it bad for some pompous, over-pumped A-hole who struts his stuff past her window. That doesn’t bother me. I know she deserves nice things. What does bother me is that she friend-zoned me big-time last year, so I can’t ask her out myself. But what if I set her up with Mr. Steroids? Then, when he breaks her heart, I can swoop in and save her like the nice guy I am. Everything’s going according to plan . . . until we share a ridiculously epic kiss. And suddenly anything is possible.

My review:

 I really didn’t care for Eye Candy. Not that it wasn’t a good story, it was, but I couldn’t pay attention to it. I would read a couple of chapters, my attention would wander, I would force myself back to the book and then repeat. I cannot enjoy a book that can’t command my attention for any length of time and unfortunately, Eye Candy was such a book.

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A Thousand Rooms by Helen Jones

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A Thousand Rooms

Title: A Thousand Rooms

Author: Helen Jones

Publisher: Self Published

Date of publication: October 20th, 2016

Genre: General Fiction, Women’s Fiction

Number of pages: 270

POV: 1st person

Where you can find A Thousand Rooms: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

You don’t wake up expecting to die… 

Katie is thirty-two, single, and used to work in advertising. She’s also dead. A lost soul hitching rides with the dying, trying to find her way to… wherever she’s supposed to be. 

And whoever she’s supposed to be with. 

Heaven, it seems, has a thousand rooms. What will it take to find hers?

Trigger Warning: None

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The Breakdown by B.A. Paris

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The Breakdown: A Novel by [Paris, B. A.]

Title: The Breakdown

Author: B.A. Paris

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Date of publication: July 18th, 2017

Genre: Mystery, Thriller

Number of pages: 336

POV: 1st person

Where you can find The Breakdown: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

If you can’t trust yourself, who can you trust?

Cass is having a hard time since the night she saw the car in the woods, on the winding rural road, in the middle of a downpour, with the woman sitting inside―the woman who was killed. She’s been trying to put the crime out of her mind; what could she have done, really? It’s a dangerous road to be on in the middle of a storm. Her husband would be furious if he knew she’d broken her promise not to take that shortcut home. And she probably would only have been hurt herself if she’d stopped.

But since then, she’s been forgetting every little thing: where she left the car, if she took her pills, the alarm code, why she ordered a pram when she doesn’t have a baby.

The only thing she can’t forget is that woman, the woman she might have saved, and the terrible nagging guilt.

Or the silent calls she’s receiving, or the feeling that someone’s watching her…

My review:

The Breakdown is a nail-biting, psychological thriller that will take you through the wringer as you read it. There is a fine line when writing books like these. The author can give too much away in the buildup and it ruins the rest of the book. It didn’t happen with The Breakdown.

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To Save His Child (Into the Storm: Book 1) by Margaret Watson

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To Save His Child (Into the Storm, #1)

Title: To Save His Child

Author: Margaret Watson

Publisher: Dragonfly Press

Date of publication: June 2nd, 2017 (originally published in 1996)

Genre: Romance

POV: 3rd person

Series: Into The Storm

To Save His Child – Book 1

An Innocent Man – Book 2

An Honorable Man – Book 3

The Dark Side of the Moon – Book 4

Family on the Run – Book 5

Where you can find To Save His Child: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Caine O’Roarke regretted vanishing into thin air and leaving Lexie Hollister asleep in his bed – but he had no choice. The mercenary had been called in for an urgent mission in the middle of the night. He’d miss Lexie, but the former Seal told himself that he and Lexie would both get over it. They’d been completely wrong for each other – in all but one way. 

Eleven months later, when Lexie’s father asks Caine to rescue his daughter from the civil war in San Rafael, he barely recognizes Lexie. The former party girl has grown up, and she’s the only nurse in a small village. And she has a child. His child. 

Will Caine be able to save the woman he hasn’t been able to forget? Will Lexie be able to forgive him for disappearing? And will they be able to survive the jungle and figure out how to create a family?

Trigger Warning: None

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Everything We Left Behind (Everything We Keep: Book 2) by Kerry Lonsdale

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Everything We Left Behind (Everything We Keep, #2)

Time: Everything We Left Behind

Author: Kerry Lonsdale

Publisher: Lake Union Publishing

Date of publication: July 4th, 2017

Genre: General Fiction, Women’s Fiction

Series: Everything We Keep

Everything We Keep – Book 1 (review here)

Everything We Left Behind – Book 2

POV: Alternating 1st person and 3rd person

Where you can find Everything We Left Behind: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

From the Wall Street Journal, bestselling author of Everything We Keep comes the highly anticipated sequel. Told from one man’s two perspectives, Everything We Left Behind effortlessly blends suspense, mystery, and romance in an exploration of loss, resilience, and the compelling need to protect the ones we love at all cost.

Two months before his wedding, financial executive James Donato chased his trade-laundering brother Phil to Mexico, only to be lost at sea and presumed dead. Six and a half years later, he emerges from a dissociative fugue state to find he’s been living in Oaxaca as artist Carlos Dominguez, widower, and father of two sons, with his sister-in-law Natalya Hayes, a retired professional surfer, helping to keep his life afloat. But his fiancée, Aimee Tierney, the love of his life, has moved on. She’s married and has a child of her own.

Devastated, James and his sons return to California. But Phil is scheduled for release from prison, and he’s determined to find James, who witnessed something in Mexico that could land Phil back in confinement. Under mounting family pressure, James flees with his sons to Kauai, seeking refuge with Natalya. As James begins to unravel the mystery of his fractured identity, danger is never far behind, and Natalya may be the only person he can trust.

(This book is the sequel to Everything We Keep.)

Trigger Warning: None

***Do Not read any further if you haven’t read Everything We Keep. There will be spoilers. So if you decide to read past this, consider yourself warned ***

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