The Damned Society: Smoke and Mirrors by L. J. Elliott Published by: Wallace Publishing Publication date: November 17th 2020 Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Synopsis:
Lexia Luccen is a seventeen-year-old girl with a fiery power that is slowly destroying the last fragments of her sanity. Having lost her abusive father, Lexia is left scarred from the way he treated her and by the grief of his death. When she accidentally uses her ability to create a devastating explosion that takes many lives, she is moved from her life of solitude into the hectic youth facility that is Lucida.
Lucida is no ordinary youth facility. It is a secretly run technological agency for supernatural wayward youth, set up to teach them how to control their abilities after they have caused disturbances in society. These youths think that once they have been reformed, they will be freed. However, the truth is a very different story.
Lies, love, and more death await Lexia at Lucida, and she soon realizes that this facility is not quite what it seems. Now she knows she must make a choice: does she finally give up to the darkness that slowly consumes her—like her father did—or does she follow the firestorm that runs through her veins and for once in her life, battle for something?
Time is running out. Lexia needs to make her decision fast, before Lucida makes it for her.
Lotté Jean Elliott is an author from North-Eastern England. She began as an avid reader before she picked up a pen one day and started to use her imagination to create a new universe, just like her favourite fictional ones.
Through literature, she saw a whole new world open up, and she has not stopped diving into the deepest parts of her mind ever since.
When she isn’t writing novels, poetry, or screenplays with her sister Francesca, Lotté loves nothing more than to find inspiration for life through art films, music, exploring museums, and language learning. She loves to explore the deepest meaning behind things and gain new perspectives of the world in which we inhabit.
Office Grump by Nicole Snow Publication date: November 12th 2020 Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Synopsis:
Wall Street Journal bestselling author Nicole Snow returns with a fierce and hilarious office romance where two sworn enemies make undeniable lovers.
My “interview” with bosshole supreme was anything but normal. He picked the worst day ever to chase me off my favorite park bench. I retaliated with a spray of cinnamon latte all over his Italian shoes.
Then—for some unholy reason—Magnus Heron offered me a job. Even his name sounds like a piece of work. Guess what? He is. But when you’re single, broke, and barely surviving in Chicago, you hop on the gift horse offering a six-figure salary and ride. I picked the stallion on a one-way trip to hell.
It’s not the impossibly long hours working under Grump-zilla. It’s not the fact that he’s snarly, demanding, horribly rich, and chiseled. It’s not even the pesky way he makes me blush every flipping time we’re together.
Mag is my boss. I’m his lowly assistant. Some rules are carved in stone.
That’s my mantra until we’re sharing a sunset too beautiful for life. Alone with wandering lips, whispered secrets, and disaster in the making. The plan was simple: punch the clock, get paid, and keep hating my boss. What’s the blueprint when the office grump brings me to my knees?
Full-length enemies-to-lovers romance with the banter, intrigue, and slow-burn love worthy of a Happily Ever After. The bossman from Hades meets the hellion he totally can’t stand—until he can’t live without her.
I have to say that this is my first book by Nicole Snow, so I had no expectations when I started reading, but, boy, was it entertaining! Enemies-to-lovers is one of my favourite tropes in romance- nothing beats a fiesty female lead, no, cross it, two fiesty protagonists, and good banter.
On paper, Brina Bristol can’t keep a job for the life of her. She has just lost the third one, due to restructuring and right-sizing (general cost-cutting) in her company. When a gorgeous and oh so arrogant businessman tries to order her to vacate her bench in a public park, she digs in her heels. Their not entirely amicable conversation ends in Sabrina throwing the remains of her cinnamon latte on his shoes and completely ruining them. You can imagine her surprise when the hunk’s HR manager seeks her out and offers her an interview for the position of his executive assistant. The pay is more than average, but nobody has lasted in this job for more than a couple weeks- Magnus Heron is notoriously difficult to work for. Brina, who is completely broke, decides to give it a try. Thousands of emails, 16 hour working days, weekend work trips- she tackles every task and it soon becomes clear she is the best EA Magnus ever had. She is also witty, creative, honest, and impossible not to like. Magnus has very strict non-dating rules in his company, and he is determined to keep his attraction under control. Brina will not allow anyone treat her without respect. She can and will walk away if necessary, but can he see her go? She is one of a kind, after all.
Brina was a fabulous character. Well, in real life nobody is going to give you the job after you use swearwords to describe the CEO’s work ethics, even though the HR manager may agree with you. But otherwise, the girl is practically a saint. Loved what she did for her parents (won’t give it away!) and she is really always there for Mag. Mag… is hot, although for the life of me I don’t know when a workaholic like him would hit the gym to get the washboard abs described so vividly in the book. He is caring and loyal, and he does put up a fight to get his girl. There are other characters who are also well-written and developed- Ruby, Jordan, Armstrong, Paige….
I often say I am not a big fan of insta-anything. Be careful what you wish for, because this is slow-slow-burn romance and is definitely on a long side. Having said that, the timeframe just felt realistic, and, once the protagonists do get to those hot and steamy scenes, they are indeed hot and steamy. One thing I didn’t feel was necessary was giving Mag his military background, but perhaps I just missed something.
Funny, entertaining, hot, with likeable characters, twists and turns, Office Grump may be my first book by Nicole Snow, but it won’t be the last. Recommended for anyone who enjoys contemporary romance.
Thank you to the publisher for the free digital review copy. All opinions are my own and were not influenced in any way.
AUTHOR BIO:
Nicole Snow is a Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author. She found her love of writing by hashing out love scenes on lunch breaks and plotting her great escape from boardrooms. Her work roared onto the indie romance scene in 2014 with her Grizzlies MC series.
Since then Snow aims for the very best in growly, heart-of-gold alpha heroes, unbelievable suspense, and swoon storms aplenty. With over a million books sold, she lives for the joy of making two people fight with every bit of their soul for a Happily Ever After.
Current fan favorites include her Enguard Protectors series, accidental love novels, plus long beloved MC romance thrillers like the Grizzlies and Deadly Pistols.
Thank you to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to participate in this blog tour.
Just A Girl
What happens when the right girl and the right guy meet at the wrong time? One thing that can be said about Quinn Pearson is that she has a knack for doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. Like, the worst time ever. Take her job for instance. One little slip of the tongue using the mother of all swear words while reporting the news, and suddenly she finds herself with over 18 million views on YouTube and her employment in jeopardy. If that wasn’t bad enough, when she meets the man of her dreams, she nearly chokes to death on a powdered sugar donut. Thankfully for Quinn, the dashing Brit, Henry, finds her near death experience quite charming. But just when Quinn thinks her luck is going to change, she finds out her timing is all wrong again. Henry is off limits. Or is he? Maybe it’s time for Quinn to quit settling for what life hands her. Perhaps it’s time for her to become more than just a girl.
If you are looking for a new chicklit /romcom or just a quick entertaining read, Just a Girl will definitely fit the bill. Even if you are not a big fan of workplace romances (yes, they do tend to backfire in real life) or shy and sexy Brits, there are other classic elements of well-written chick-lit- loyal besties, an evil workmate, an embarrassing mistake that in the spirit of times goes viral, an overbearing mother, a supportive father, and, best of all, a lovely, bubbly, relatable heroine.
Quinn has been working as a newsreader for a TV channel in Central Florida. She also happens to restore antique furniture in her free time (how cool is that?). When she meets lovely Henry, and goes on a date with him, she is a bit reluctant to talk about her real job and I do understand her reasons. She is afraid he’d google her and see the viral video of her biggest ever TV blooper. Henry isn’t exactly forthcoming about the work position he is interviewing for. One of the executive producers Quinn worked with leaves the channel and his replacement is…our dashing Brit. The situation is further complicated by Quinn’s nemesis Stacey and her intrigues.
Workplace romance is a great trope to read about, and here we get two examples- one with catastrophic consequences (a cautionary tale) and one that blooms into a lovely supportive realtionship. There is also the theme of settling or rather not settling, but working towards and reaching for what we all deserve- love and respect. It was impossible not to root for Quinn and Henry on their journey of working out how they want to live their life.
Thank you to Rachel and the author for the review copy provided in exchange for an honest review. All opinion were my own and were not influenced in any way.
Author Bio –
By day, Becky Monson is a mother to three young children, and a wife. By night, she escapes with reading books and writing. An award-winning author, Becky uses humor and true-life experiences to bring her characters to life. She loves all things chick-lit (movies, books, etc.), and wishes she had a British accent. She has recently given up Diet Coke for the fiftieth time and is hopeful this time will last… but it probably won’t.
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Thank you for reading the post!Have a great Sunday!
If you would like to know what other bloggers thought of Just a Girl, here is the full blog tour schedule:
Overland by Ramcy Diek Published by: Acorn Publishing Publication date: November 10th 2020 Genres: Adult, Romance, Thriller
Synopsis:
Skyla Overland is proud to work for Overland Insurance, the company founded by her grandfather. She enjoys sharing an apartment with her best friend, Pauline, and is in love with Edmond. Besides one nerve-wracking insurance fraud case in the past, her sheltered life is uneventful and just the way she likes it.
Until one day, everything changes…
Skyla and Troy, the manager at Overland Insurance, are the last ones to leave the office. In the empty parking lot, Troy takes her in his arms. Why would he ruin their easy-going friendship by kissing her, especially since he knows she’s dating Edmond?
Left alone, Skyla hurries to her car, puts on her seatbelt, and glances in her rearview mirror. The face of a stranger grins at her from the backseat. “How nice to see you again,” he hisses close to her ear.
Regaining consciousness, Skyla finds herself on the backseat of her own car, with her hands tied behind her back. Is she getting kidnapped? Who is he? And where is he taking her?
A long time ago, I fell in love with the United States while traveling around in an Oldsmobile station-wagon with my husband. We are both born and raised in the Netherlands. Together, we eventually found our way to the Pacific Northwest, built up a business, and raised our two boys into amazing young adults with their own careers. During this time, I also made a slow transition from reader to writer of many different stories.
My multiple award winning debut novel “Storm at Keizer Manor” sets the bar high for my second novel, Eagles in Flight. All my books are stand alone novels in different genres. You might be in for a surprise, or a disappointment.
Happy Publication Day to the new instalment in my favourite series of police procedurals: Deadly Cry by Angela Marsons.
Angela Marsons’ books are a real treat for all lovers of the genre, something to look forward and then savour. This one isn’t an exception. DI KIm Scott is somebody we got to know and admire, despite or maybe for her numerous quirks and more than occasional lack of patience. Kim’s team are all fully-fledged characters, each capable of holding their own. In Deadly Cry Stacey dips into the shuffle drawer of old crimes and manages to bring justice that has been denied for too long, while the rest of the team get busy solving an extremely puzzling case that requires an unusual approach.
Synopsis:
You have to stop me from hurting anyone else. I don’t want to do these horrible things. Help me before I’m forced to do it again. And I will do it again because I have no choice. I’ve never had a choice.
In a busy shopping centre, a little girl clutches a teddy bear, clinging to it in the absence of her mother, Katrina. Hours later, Katrina’s body is discovered in an abandoned building. For Detective Kim Stone, it looks like a quick, functional murder. But Kim’s instincts tell her there’s more to this senseless murder than meets the eye. What was the motive for killing a young mother out shopping with her child?
Days later, a second victim is found in a local park, her neck broken just like Katrina’s and her six-year-old son missing.
But with her colleague, Detective Stacey Wood, working on another unsolved crime and a member of the team grieving the loss of a close relative, Kim is struggling to make inroads on what is fast becoming a complex case. And when a handwritten letter from the killer lands on Kim’s desk addressed to her, and pleading for help, she knows time is running out to bring the little boy home alive.
With the support of a handwriting analyst and profiler, Kim and the team begin to get inside the mind of the killer and make a shocking discovery.
Some of the victims have scratch marks on their wrists.
But these are no random scratches. The killer is using them to communicate with someone. The question is… with whom?
And if Kim doesn’t find them soon, another innocent soul will die.
The multi-million-copy bestselling Detective Kim Stone series is every bit as addictive, original and exciting as readers say and you’ll be hooked from the very first page. Nobody does it better than the Queen of Crime, Angela Marsons.
About Angela Marsons:
Angela is the author of the Kim Stone Crime series. She discovered a love of writing at Primary School when a short piece on the rocks and the sea gained her the only merit point she ever got. Angela wrote the stories that burned inside and then stored them safely in a desk drawer. After much urging from her partner she began to enter short story competitions in Writer’s News resulting in a win and three short listed entries. She used the Amazon KDP program to publish two of her earlier works before concentrating on her true passion – Crime. Angela is now signed to write a total of 16 Kim Stone books for http://bookouture.com and has secured a print deal with Bonnier Zaffre Publishing.
Worth the Wait by Charity West Publication date: November 10th 2020 Genres: Adult, Romance
Synopsis:
Gemma Rhodeshas her entire life ahead of her. At eighteen, she should be at college, living life to the fullest. Except she doesn’t have her life even the slightest bit figured out. Instead, she’s taken the year off to learn who she is and what she wants – aside fromthe unattainable Jake Bennet. Her brother’s best friend,her knight in shining armor, and a man who thinks of her as a little sister. She knows she should move on, but how can she when no one could ever compare to Jake?
Jake Bennet might be half a world away in the middle of a war, but the Marine only has one thing on his mind – Gemma. The one woman he can never have. There were some rules a guy just didn’t break, and dating his best friend’s sister was one of them. Riley would break him if he caught Jake looking at Gemma like the lovesick fool he was. When he’s injured and sent home, he knows he should stay away, but sometimes temptation is just too much for a mere mortal to handle.
There’s only one thing Jake needs to know… Can Gemma love a broken Marine? Because she’s had his heart for years, and if he’s learned anything, it’s that some things are worth the wait.
Charity West is a young adult/new adult romance author who has always had her head in the clouds. She had her first crush when she was four, and it lasted for six years. Then she quickly fell head over heels for another boy, until she had to move away and leave him behind. Jumping from one boy to another, she finally found a keeper when she was twenty, and she’s been married to him ever since.
By the time Charity was twelve, she was sneaking her mother’s Harlequin romances and reading them in secret when she was supposed to be asleep. Teased throughout middle school and high school for the bodice ripper covers on the books she openly read in class, she knew that one day she wanted to write her own happily-ever-afters.
Thank to Rachel from Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to participate in the blog tour for this exciting thriller.
Synopsis:
Into the Void
How easy is it for a man to simply disappear?
When rural banker Richard Harper is reported missing, DSS John (Archie) Baldrick and DC Ben Travers are drawn into the tangled details of the man’s life. Would Harper really have chosen to leave his seriously ill wife, and abandon his pregnant girlfriend? Or is there a real threat behind the abusive emails he’d been receiving from desperate clients in the wake of the Global Financial Crisis?
On the home front, Archie’s marriage is rocky and his two teenage daughters are giving him all sorts of trouble. The frail but beautiful Helena Harper and her magnificent house offer an oasis of calm as Archie struggles to discover who is responsible for her husband’s disappearance. Has he really been abducted, tortured or killed? Or is Richard Harper himself behind everything that has happened?
Archie and Travers ultimately face a race against time as the case descends into a bewildering morass of obsession, violence and murder.
Longlisted for the 2019 Michael Gifkins Memorial Prize for an Unpublished Novel Finalist in the 2020 Ngaio Marsh Awards for Best First Novel
Purchase Links US / UK Readers can email Christina via her website www.christinaoreilly.com or her Facebook page Christina O’Reilly – Author for a paperback copy.
My thoughts:
Some thrillers start with a bang and get more and more frenetic. Others begin quetly and keep getting better and better with every page. Christina O’Reilly’s Into the Void is one of them.
The mystery of a forty-two year old married banker who left his home to go on a business trip to Aukland and vanished into thin air should have been easy to solve. Richard left a wife undergoing chemotherapy treatments (what kind of man would do that) and a pregnant mistress (apparently he was delighted with the news)- perhaps, the stress of leading the double life had got to him and he simply ran away from his troubles? DSS Archie Baldrick and his partner Ben Travers suspect there is more to the case. When Lisa Carpenter, Richard’s pregnant girlfriend, is brutally attacked and later murdered, Archie feels guilty for not having taken enough precautions to protect her. He is not a man to give up easily, although the lack of progress is frustrating and it isn’t easy to admit it to increasingly more fragile Mrs Harper.
What makes this police procedural stand out is the second storyline: Archie’s messy, chaotic family – his super easy-going wife Jenna and his teenage daughters Summer and Alicia. Anybody who’s trying to raise a teenager and deal with their growing desire for independence will recognise the familiar parental scenes. All characters, main and secondary (even Mrs Harper’s cleaner) are well-written and I can only hope that Into the Void is the beginning of a new series and we’ll get to meet them again.
Although the book is quite short, the plot is well-developed and all the loose ends were tied in in the end. Did I guess the criminal mastermind behind the events- yes, I did, but I was also thoroughly entertained and happy to lose myself in this gripping whodunnit. The Devil is always in details, and Christina O’Reilly knows how to paint a picture with a few well-chosen words.
I can wholeheartedly recommend this book. Don’t miss it, it’s a good one.
Thank you to Rachel and the author for the review copy gifted with no expectation of a favourable review. All opinions are my own and were not influenced in any way.
Author Bio
Christina is an author and proofreader living in the Waikato region of New Zealand. Several of her short stories have been published in anthologies, most recently in Fresh Ink: A Collection of Voices from Aotearoa New Zealand 2019. Into the Void is her first crime novel and was longlisted for the Michael Gifkins Memorial Prize in 2019. It is also a finalist in the 2020 Ngaio Marsh Awards for Best First Novel.
Faerest by Brianna Bennett Publication date: November 10th 2020 Genres: Adult, Fairy Tales, Retelling
Synopsis:
Mystery has surrounded Sydney White for as long as she can remember. Her mother’s death puzzled even the hardiest of investigators, but eventually, they just stopped trying. So, when Syd is presented with the opportunity to finish a degree in faery anthropology that her mother began over twenty years ago, she leaps at the chance to learn the truth. However, truth is often stranger than fiction, especially when the lines between faery and human are eroding each day. Syd will have to navigate unthinkable deals, a prince in peril she swore she would never speak to again, and an organization only known as Coventry.
Fanfiction was where it all began. It gave me the opportunity to stretch my creative muscles and work out crucial lessons in the craft. I spent several years writing for free, which helped me understand the realities of the writing world early on. Once I got to college, I did the one thing that most advisors tell you not to do: I majored in what I was passionate about, not what would be most practical. After graduating from college with a degree in Professional Writing, I took a year off and then enrolled in a double Master’s program. In the 3 years that followed, I dedicated myself to learning as much as I could about all areas of writing and publishing. Nowadays, I’m a medical receptionist, soon-to-be self-published author, Medium blogger, writing coach, and podcast host. I live and work in Philadelphia, PA, USA.
St. Petersburg, 1725. Peter the Great lies dying in his magnificent Winter Palace. The weakness and treachery of his only son has driven his father to an appalling act of cruelty and left the empire without an heir. Russia risks falling into chaos. Into the void steps the woman who has been by his side for decades: his second wife, Catherine Alexeyevna, as ambitious, ruthless and passionate as Peter himself.
Born into devastating poverty, Catherine used her extraordinary beauty and shrewd intelligence to ingratiate herself with Peter’s powerful generals, finally seducing the Tsar himself. But even amongst the splendor and opulence of her new life—the lavish feasts, glittering jewels, and candle-lit hours in Peter’s bedchamber—she knows the peril of her position. Peter’s attentions are fickle and his rages powerful; his first wife is condemned to a prison cell, her lover impaled alive in Red Square. And now Catherine faces the ultimate test: can she keep the Tsar’s death a secret as she plays a lethal game to destroy her enemies and take the Crown for herself?
From the sensuous pleasures of a decadent aristocracy, to the incense-filled rites of the Orthodox Church and the terror of Peter’s torture chambers, the intoxicating and dangerous world of Imperial Russia is brought to vivid life. Tsarina is the story of one remarkable woman whose bid for power would transform the Russian Empire.”
Growing up, I heard stories about Peter the Great, his epic efforts to reform Russia and turn it into the global player it became during and after his reign, his formidable spirit and thirst for knowledge, as well as his volatile character. However, few people know much about his wife Catherine who came from humble origins and made her way to the most elevated position of the Empress of Russia. Although she passed away just two years after her husband’s death, Catherine I was, without any doubt, a remarkable woman.
I often wondered what it was like to be a life companion of somebody like Henry VIII or Peter the Great. Historically, royal marriages seal geopolitical alliances. Rarely do they have anything to do with romantic feelings or personal happiness. So what kind of ambition or political intelligence does it take to play this game? or perhaps this story is an exception and it is possible to love and care for the real, necessarily flawed person behind the titles and almost limitless power? This is the question Ellen Alpsten sets out to answer in her historical novel Tsarina and I must say I was riveted by the book from the beginning to the end.
Tsarina begins with a bang. Peter the Great has just passed away and Tsarina Catherine knows she cannot permit herself a moment of weakness or grief: her survival depends on outsmarting other possible heirs and political forces. We do get a glimpse of how mixed her feelings are and then we go back to the beginning of her life (when she still went by name of Marta) to see what she has been through up until this moment. Extreme poverty, serfdom, rape (warning: graphic scenes), powerlessness, hard work, wars and men’s power games, pregnancies, child births and child loss, love, lust, scandals and intrigues- all until Catherine’s death in 1727. The narrative is extremely detailed and obviously very well-researched. You will live and breath history and find yourself immersed in this dangerous period of time. Chapter after chapter, I felt compelled to read on and discover more details of Catherine’s dramatic life. In her afterword, the author says that the historical period Tsarina is set in is well-documented (although little is known of Marta /Catherine’s life before she became Pastor Gluck’s housemaid, so here we definitely have some artistic licence). However, it does take a lot of skill to turn dry historical accounts into such a vivid story.
Recommended to all lovers of historical fiction who would like to learn more about life in Russia at the beginning of the 18th century.
Thank you to NetGalley and St.Martin’s Press for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.
It’s Raining Men by Rich Amooi Publication date: November 8th 2020 Genres: Adult, Comedy, Romance
Synopsis:
On a dare, Faith Daniels tosses a coin into the infamous “Fountain of Love” and wishes for the perfect man, laughing it off as the dumbest thing she’s ever done. Like magic, her quiet life turns upside-down when men begin to appear out of nowhere. There’s a doctor, a lawyer, a firefighter, and a swimwear model, for starters. All of them are kind, generous, successful, and drop-dead gorgeous. All of them are interested in Faith. But who is Mr. Right? A feel-good romance novel about love, friendship, and living life to the fullest!
Rich Amooi is a Taleflick Discovery Winner, Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal Recipient, Holt Medallion Finalist, and the Amazon Bestselling author of 15 romantic comedies, including It’s Not PMS, It’s You, Dying to Meet You, There’s Something About a Cowboy, and Madam Love, Actually. Over 500,000 downloads from readers around the world.
A former radio personality and wedding DJ, Rich now writes romantic comedies full-time in San Diego, California, and is happily married to a kiss monster imported from Spain. Rich believes in public displays of affection, silliness, infinite possibilities, donuts, gratitude, laughter, and happily ever after.
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