This is just a quickie as I’m still away. Not as much reading done as hoped this week. I spent a couple of afternoons prepping next week’s posts and lost a day to sickness (I’m blaming the mussels I had at dinner). Nothing serious though and I was soon back to lounging about and enjoying life.
The lounging about and not reading did lead to a fair bit of browsing, so the bad news is that last week’s miraculous reads over purchases has not unsurprisingly reversed. C’est la vie or ‘eso es la vida’ as they’d say here (I think). Never mind there’s always next week (she says laughing!)
Books Purchased
Books Read
Books Purchased
On the Mend by Tina Gallagher (was free now £2.99)
Dan
Back in college, I loved two things…Sabrina Kelly and baseball. Baseball worked out great. Sabrina, not so much. I know I broke her heart, but I’m not that guy anymore. Now, with an injury benching me, she’s back in my life as my physical therapist. I’ve got one shot to fix what I broke and win her back.
Game on.
Sabrina
Why does my promotion depend on Dan McMullen, of all people? I’ve been working my butt off for years and now all I have to do is get the star center fielder game ready and it’s mine. Yes, our relationship happened ten years ago, but I’ll never forget how he broke my heart. He was my first love after all. But I’m older now, wiser. I won’t let anything stand in the way of earning that promotion. Not even a sexy player who thinks we’re going to kiss and make up.
Man Down by Kate Meader (free)
I’ve been texting the wife I lost, the woman I loved beyond measure . . . Now someone else has answered back.
Gunnar Bond is broken.
Three years ago, he lived through the car crash that took his wife and twins away from him—though “lived” barely describes his current state. Giving up professional hockey, going off grid, and drinking himself into oblivion are his coping mechanisms. Another is texting his dead wife about his days without her. Therapeutic? Doubtful. Crazy? Definitely. But those messages into the ether are virtually the only thing stopping him from spiraling to even darker places.
Until someone texts back …
Sadie Yates is losing it.
Suddenly guardian to a little sister she doesn’t know and a misbehaving hound she’d rather not know at all, she’s had to upend her (sort of) glamorous life in LA and move back to Chicago. The nanny has quit, the money’s running out, and her job is on the line. The last thing she needs is her sister’s hockey camp counselor, a judgmental Viking type, telling her she sucks at this parenting lark. Thank the goddess for her sweet, sensitive, and—fingers crossed—sexy text buddy who always knows the right thing to say. In the same city at last, they can finally see if their online chemistry is mirrored in real life. She just needs to set up a meeting …
A ruined man who claims to have used up all his love is surely a bad bet, but Sadie’s never been afraid of a challenge … even if this one might shatter her heart into a million pieces.
The Matchmaker of Perigord by Julia Stuart (was 99p now £3.99)
A perpetual breeze blows through Amour-sur-Belle, a village so ugly that even the English refuse to live there.
Guillaume Ladoucette the barber is forced to give up his business as the advancing age of his customers means many have gone bald. He decides to set himself up as a matchmaker instead, for, despite its name, love is the one thing that Amour-sur-Belle lacks. Some shun Denise Vigier because her grandmother was found guilty of horizontal collaboration during the war. The bar owner refuses to serve Madame Fournier, the mushroom poisoner. And Madame Ladoucette and Madame Moreau have been trading insults for so long they have become almost a form of greeting.
‘Not everyone falls instantly head over heels,’ the matchmaker counsels. ‘Love is like a good cassoulet, it needs time and determination.’ But how can a matchmaker make love simmer – when he has not yet solved the problem of his own troubled heart?
The |Rogue by Roxanne Tully (was free now £4.09)
Single dad rancher seeking live-in nanny for 9-year-old boy. Must have experience, playful and not looking for a real-life love story. (6 wks only – don’t apply if looking for long-term.)
Hitting refresh ten times on my search doesn’t help.
There cannot be only one job in Hideaway Springs. Not that I won’t take literally anything at this point, but the likelihood of Levi Reeves hiring me is negative zero.
And if he does, I’d be sleeping with the horses, not his house! Or he’d call the police and “finally arrest” the town Rogue for all her misdemeanors.
But that doesn’t stop me from knocking on his door. Besides, his grumpy scowls are easy to tune out when my eyes keep drifting to the rugged edges of his face and sculpted physique.
I’m hired with a clear understanding that one: he’s desperate and two: he’s got his eye on me. And eventually, his hands too. Because come nightfall, we drop more than our animosity.
Our clothes.
Before the hot summer days turn to crisp autumn nights, he’s claimed me as his. And as hard as I’d fallen, my six weeks are up.
He may have every intention of making me stay, but my past is a reality I can never escape. And I love them both too much to bring trouble to their home.
The Love Hack by Michelle Dayton (free)
Just when Tess Greene’s life is finally almost perfect, her past springs one last surprise on her. Targeted by an internet predator whose sleazy website is known for publicly humiliating women, Tess has one month to stop his ambush before her reputation is forever ruined.
As an IT disaster recovery specialist, Tess has always handled challenges on her own, but this calls for serious geek backup.
Max Hampshire, a brilliant hacker, is exactly the lifeline Tess needs. But she’s pretty sure she doesn’t need Max himself—certainly not his quick wit, sexy black-framed glasses, or all-around sweetness. The last guy who helped Tess left with his life crushed and his heart broken, so she knows that keeping her emotional distance from Max would be safer for both of them. But safety isn’t an option when love gets involved.
Fireproof by Delancey Stewart (free)
The newest barista at the Busy Bean is about to steam the place up…
Former Marine Mason Rye can make a cappuccino with military precision, but he finds it much harder to serve up a smile. It’s not that he doesn’t like people. But he knows from experience that once you let someone in, it hurts like hell when you lose them. And Mason’s lost too many people already.
So it’s pretty damn inconvenient when his old Marine buddy shows up on Mason’s goat farm with his younger sister in tow. Heather’s work in Washington D.C. has turned dangerous, and she needs a safe place out of town.
Mason doesn’t need a new roommate, especially not a pretty, single one who insists on rearranging his spice rack and giving his chickens cute names. Although there’s no denying the haunted look in her blue eyes. Every time her fear shows its face, he wants to reach for her.
The problem is that she wants him, too. And when Mason breaks all his rules, they practically burn down his bed together. But her life is in D.C. And the threat against her is over.
Unfortunately, neither of their hearts is fireproof…
Cakewalk by Claire Hastings (free)
Love isn’t always a cakewalk . . .
Gigi Hawthorne is starting from scratch. She just didn’t realize until her crappy car broke down that she was going to be doing it in a small town in Vermont. With an eye for design and some serious decorating skills, she’s managed to land a job making delectable treats for the patrons of the Busy Bean. Now she’s up to her elbows in sugar and flour, but her thoughts are never far from her gorgeous, brooding landlord.
Holden St. James swears he isn’t a recluse. He goes to the local coffee shop three times a week, doesn’t he? Yeah, maybe he never actually talks to anyone, but with a backstory of loss, pain, and regret like his, he’s pretty sure he wouldn’t be very good company anyway. Yet something about his new tenant makes him wonder if maybe it’s time to let someone open the oven door and release a little heat into his closed-off world.
But both are hiding secrets as dark as an espresso mocha cupcake and they’re not sure if they can trust each other. Will the truth break their delicate relationship into sad, sweet crumbs–or will it turn out to be the key ingredient in the recipe for a new life?
Doubletalk by Teralyn Mitchell (free)
Basketball has always been his one love, until now . . .
Zeke Armstrong never imagined he’d be back in Vermont, but here he is, living in Colebury and trying to rehab an injury that could mean an early retirement from pro basketball. Running into his former classmate, Mallory Barrett, shouldn’t be a distraction. It shouldn’t mean anything, so why is he accidentally on purpose showing up at the coffee shop where the beautiful writer spends her time?
Mallory Barrett has met a guy. Well, she hasn’t met him yet, except for on the dating app she almost refused to download. “Coby” sparks her interest and gets her jokes–and gives the romance-novel heroes she loves so much a full-court run for their money. When their first date doesn’t work out, she decides to give him another shot . . . just as a man she despises reenters her life. While her interest in the mystery man on the app grows, she clashes constantly with Zeke in real life. She can’t forgive him for humiliating her in high school, yet she can’t deny she’s drawn to him now.
She’s somehow gone from confirmed bachelorette to the tie-breaker between two men. Meanwhile Zeke has a secret–one that will cost him the game if Mallory finds out . . .
Somebody Like You by Heatherly Bell (was free now £3.01)
Her high school crush is back, and he bought her vineyard!
Strike One … in one night, Brooke Miller loses her boyfriend, her job and possibly her reputation. She vows revenge on her old boss by bringing a defunct vineyard back to its former glory. But ex-baseball star Billy Turlock swoops in and buys her dream vineyard.
Strike Two…Billy hopes the new family business will give him direction and purpose, now that he can no longer play baseball. He can’t afford to fail again, and for that he needs Brooke, who has hated him and all athletes since high school … even if he’s never forgotten her.
Wild pitch … when it becomes clear the hot hunk is interested in more than a working relationship, Brooke wonders if their wild attraction could ever last …
Easy Tiger by Ali K Mulford (free)
He’s trying to keep his livelihood afloat. She threatens to destroy it. Will two wild hearts finally be tamed?
Hawk Lachlan will do anything to save his family’s zoo. With only a year to prove that he and his siblings can handle the responsibility, the gruff eldest brother is determined to fulfill his father’s legacy. So when the new gift shop girl keeps causing clumsy chaos, he refuses to let their attraction add to the mayhem.
Hannah Murphy is getting desperate. Needing enough cash to help her mom retire, the gossip columnist takes a mysterious job to spy on the handsome grouch who always seems to catch her in hilariously compromising snooping attempts. But when she falls into a penguin pond and comes out shirtless, she can’t deny their sizzling chemistry.
Realizing the blundering beauty has squeezed her way past his defenses, Hawk grows closer to the woman helping him stay sane. But as Hannah finds herself falling hard, she fears her big secret has already doomed her chance at happiness.
Will outrageous shenanigans lead to heartbreak or forever?
Easy Tiger is the swoon-worthy second book in the Prickle Island Zoo romantic comedy series. If you like grumpy-sunshine relationships, tons of humor, and emotional feels, then you’ll adore Ali K. Mulford’s steamy story.
Buy Easy Tiger to let passion out of the cage today!
Books Read
Whisky Business by Elliot Fletcher
One flirty Hollywood actress. One grumpy Scottish islander. One magnetic connection.
One flirty Hollywood actress. One grumpy Scottish islander. One magnetic connection.
When her acting career hits rock bottom, Hollywood star April Sinclair returns to her Scottish hometown on the Isle of Skye to lick her wounds. In desperate need of distraction, she sets her sights on restoring her family whisky distillery to its former glory. But she wasn’t expecting short-tempered and totally irresistible Malcolm Macabe to be the one in charge.
Master distiller Mal has three loves in his life: whisky, his dog, and silence. He has no time for the pampered princess poking her nose around, even if said princess is the one who got away. Mal is content to wait her out. She’ll grow bored and run back to her glamorous world eventually.
But their shared desire to save the distillery will mean working a lot closer than either of them might wish …
With a stunning rural Scottish setting, a healthy measure of steaminess, and a rugged heartthrob to die for, opposites definitely start to attract in this spicy enemies-to-lovers, grumpy-sunshine romcom.
After Care by LB Dunbar
When a sexy silver fox meets a breast cancer survivor on vacation, love might be just what the doctor ordered.
Cancer-free. Were there any sweeter words? Grateful for this second chance, I was ready to live, and the first celebratory step was a trip to Hawaii with my grown children. Two weeks to reconnect, reboot, and refresh. I hadn’t planned on the awakening adventure of meeting him—Tommy Carrigan.
Not Tom. Not Thomas. But Tommy, even in his mid-forties. His salt and pepper hair gave his age away, with the slightly longer locks curling at his neck in shimmery silver and black satin. My mouth dried when he looked in my direction. My cheeks heated. He wasn’t a young man, but all-male. His tight T-shirt showed off the sexiness of an older man—barrel chest, firm abs, confidence—leaving not much to the imagination. But my imagination ran rampant, as did my heart.
Falling in love with a former rock star might not have been on the doctor’s prescription pad, but this late in life, I wasn’t passing up the unexpected.
Only, what happens after the vacation ends?
Bourbon Lullaby by Walker Rose
Myles Foster: CEO, thief, broody grump. And, once upon a time, the boy who read me stories when it stormed. My brothers hate him for the knowledge he took from our family’s bourbon company to start his own empire. My sisters have forgotten him. But me? I’m going to be his new assistant.
To him, I’m just a temp with a deep knowledge about the world of spirits. But if I come clean about just where I got that know-how, he’ll toss me out before I can find out what happened to the boy who calmed my fears.
How did the angry foster kid with a chip on his shoulder the size of Montana become the owner of a respected distillery? How did he get my adoptive father to show him so much of the family business, only to run away and become a huge competitor?
How could he disappear from our lives and forget me when I could never forget him?
He doesn’t trust easily, and I’m only in his office because of a lie. But if that lie will get me all the answers I’ve been craving for twenty-two years, then that’s what I’ll do, right up until the moment he finally remembers who I am. And then it’ll be my turn to disappear.
The Verdict
Well I did say that last week would be exceptional and this week proves it. I’m back to buying (or downloading) more than I’m reading. But on the budget front it’s looking rosy. Just as well as I’ve got a couple of book events coming up next monh so I’ll need all the budget I can get!
| Books Purchased | 10 |
| Books Read | 03 |
| Imbalance | -07 |
| Balance brought forward | 10.89 |
| Weekly budget | 10.00 |
| Total Spent (another first) | 00.99 |
| Balance carried forward | 19.90 |
