Reading Challenge: New to You in 2015!

This is a challenge hosted by Anna over at HC&BS. One I'm very excited to start this year!

Details

This one is super flexible.
Basically...read something "new" to you in 2015 and review it.

This can be a debut author.
A brand new to you author.
And old favorites "debut" book.
A new series.
A first time reading a new genre (ex if you read your first New Adult book)
or any other new that crosses your path

Everyone is welcome to join--blogger, author, reader
Any genre/heat level is fine.

The Levels

Level 1--   6 "new to you"s

Level 2-- 12 "new to you"s

Level 3-- 24 "new to you"s

Level 4-- 36 "new to you"s

Level 5-- 48 "new to you"s

Level 6-- 72 "new to you"s

   Level 7--100+ "new to you"s

My Challenge:

I'm choosing to go for Level 1 at this time and might level up as I go along! Links to my posts will be added here! :)

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2015 Curvy Heroine Reading Challenge

Reading Challenge Details:

     Challenge runs January 1, 2015 – December 31, 2015. You can join anytime. We all know that most heroines have the 'perfect' figure. Well I for one do not. I want to find all of the books that feature a curvy heroine. Let's see how many we can find!

    The goal is to read as many novels that feature curvy heroines as you’d like. Checkout the different levels below and choose the one that works for you. 

• Book format can be anything. 
• Genre: Preferably Romance, historical, contemporary, romantic suspense, paranormal or erotic, etc: 
• Novella's (books around 100 pages, and full length novels, count. Anything under 100 pages doesn't count.
• Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed.

To join the challenge, grab the 2015 Curvy Heroine Reading Challenge button below and post this reading challenge on your blog to track your progress. Please include a link back to this sign-up post so others can join the reading challenge too. Anyone can join in! Be you blogger, author or reader; you can track your progress on Goodreads, LibraryThing, BookLikes, etc., so as long as you have a dedicated shelf for the 2015 Curvy Heroine Reading Challenge.

The Levels

Level 1: 1 – 5
Level 2: 5 – 10
Level 3: 10 – 15
Level 4: 15+

If you’re a blogger grab the button and do a quick post about the challenge to help spread the word. If you’re not a blogger you can help by posting on Facebook or Tweeting about the challenge.

Grab the Button

<a href="http://www.nellesnightstand.com/2014/12/2015-curvy-heroine-reading-challenge.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><img alt="2015 Curvy Heroine Reading Challenge" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNjsSIVJdtuGJjQSGWc6qad0TsV2GMi_I8oib8cDIEQuK-hCSsL70vYxcCFqVFkAYW42cUcQstCliquFKqAZ3GIanfuzjO8VAa6H4IF94gZ472xw1pGswX_FoHc0HMolLms7w3-ue0PQ7e/s1600/Curvy+Heroine+Reading+Challenge.png" height="320" style="border-radius: 0px; border: none; box-shadow: none; padding: none;" title="" width="215" /></a>

If  you need help you can go to:  Full Figured Romance: BBW Historical Heroines, Best BBW Plus-Size Heroine Romance Books or Curvy Book Lists

Sign Up HERE! Just include your name and link to your challenge post/shelf.

Tuesday Jams- All About That Bass - The Guy Version!

Just found this cool meme over at Brazen Babe Reviews called Tuesday Jams. You share a song, band or cover that's caught your eye or been on your LOVE list! Go check out their blog while your at it ;)

Who hasn't heard the Fabulous Meghan Trainor's All About That Bass?!! Curvy Girls Unite!!
Well here is a different take on that!

And for your listening enjoyment! 

The QUESTION OF THE DAY is: What books with CURVY Heroines do YOU like?

One of my favorites is Penelope Featherington from Julia Quinn's Bridgerton series!!!

Nelle

4 Shape-Shifter Romance Cover Reveals by Felicity Heaton

Felicity Heaton is revealing not one, not two, and not even three but FOUR cover reveals!!!

She’s revealing the covers for the next FOUR books in her Eternal Mates paranormal romance series at once. These novels will all be coming out between January 6th and March 10th next year, and every single of one of them are shape-shifter romances.

If you haven’t had a chance to step into this passionate and action-packed world of dark elves, fae, demons, vampires, shifters and hunters, then you can take the leap with the first book in the series, Kissed by a Dark Prince, which is only 99cents until January 15th as part of her fantastic Winter Warmers special deals. She has several others on sale now here.




Back to the reveal… here are the covers for the next four books in the series and more about them.

Hunted by a Jaguar by Felicity Heaton

(Eternal Mates Romance Series Book 4)

A jaguar shifter with a dark secret, Kyter has spent his entire life running from his demons. When a tragedy takes him back to his pride’s village, he is set on a path of vengeance that will see him collide with the terrible ghosts of his past and a beautiful vision of his future.
Iolanthe deals in finding artefacts for discerning clients, but this time her client is one of the deadliest men in Hell and her mission has the highest stakes imaginable. Failure is not an option when your life is on the line, but things take a dangerous turn when she crosses paths with a handsome and mysterious male on the hunt for the same artefact—a male who declares she is his eternal mate.
Can Iolanthe resist Kyter’s wicked allure and find the artefact before he does? Can Kyter face his demons and win the heart of his fated female? Or will this deadly game of cat and mouse claim both of their lives?

Hunted by a Jaguar is due for release in ebook and paperback on January 6th 2015 and will be available from all major online book retailers.First Chapter Preview

Craved by an Alpha by Felicity Heaton

(Eternal Mates Romance Series Book 5)

Having turned his back on his snow leopard pride, Cavanaugh has been counting the days until he’s free of a role he never wanted—one that separated him from his fated female and stands between him and the future he craves with her.
Just days from the night he will finally be free to be with the low-ranking beauty who stole his heart, she walks back into his life and threatens to destroy everything he’s worked towards in the five long years they’ve been apart.
Eloise has travelled across continents searching for the male who was once her best friend and so much more to her, but was now her pride’s true alpha. Desperate to fulfil a promise to her kin to save them from the tyrant he left in charge, she convinces Cavanaugh to return to his pride, but as they journey to Bhutan, doubts bloom and old feelings resurface, tearing her between duty and her deepest desires and impossible dreams.
Will Eloise be able to resist the burning need that Cavanaugh reignites in her and remember her place in the pride? And can Cavanaugh find a way to save his kin and claim the future he craves with the woman he loves?

Craved by an Alpha is due for release in ebook and paperback on January 27th 2015 and will be available from all major online book retailers.

Bitten by a Hellcat by Felicity Heaton

(Eternal Mates Romance Series Book 6)

The sole remaining member of the most famous shifter hunter family in history, Owen Nightingale is a mercenary and a man with a secret held in his closely guarded heart, but when a beautiful a rare shifter catches his eye and offers him a job, he has the feeling he’ll be the one paying for helping her—with his heart.
Cait is in a spot of trouble with a capital T. A male hellcat has set his sights on claiming her and she’s one kitty who doesn’t want a collar, and who has spent her life avoiding relationship and is intent on remaining free. When she meets a dark, alluring and mysterious hunter, she sees a chance to rid herself of the male, but the price Owen sets and the fierce passion that burns white-hot between them lures her dangerously under his seductive spell.
Can Owen discover the true intent of the male hellcat and stop Cait from falling into his hands? And can Cait retain control as the heat of desire burns between her and Owen, or will a reckless moment seal both of their fates forever?

Bitten by a Hellcat is due for release in ebook and paperback on February 17th 2015 and will be available from all major online book retailers.

Taken by a Dragon by Felicity Heaton

(Eternal Mates Romance Series Book 7)

Possessed by a need to save a beautiful Amazon warrior from the vision he witnessed, Loke snatched her from the midst of the battle between the Third and Fifth realm of the demons, and carried her to his home deep in the black mountains of Hell to protect her. But as the fierce little female awakens, he finds she’s anything but grateful, and his dragon instincts roar to life to warn she might be more to him than an enemy—she might be his fated female.
Anais remembers meeting a handsome warrior in the heat of battle, a man who was her enemy but who looked at her with eyes that held dark heat and wicked promises. When she wakes to find that same dragon shifter has taken her captive, desire is the last thing on her mind, but escaping him to return to Archangel, the hunter organisation she works for, sounds less than appealing when he reveals the reason he took her—to stop her from dying.
Can Loke protect Anais from the dangers of his realm and how far will he go to save her from the future he keeps witnessing? Can Anais resist the fierce attraction that burns between them as hot as fire and stay true to Archangel or will her heart be taken by the dragon?

Taken by a Dragon is due for release in ebook and paperback on March 10th 2015 and will be available from all major online book retailers.

Add all the books to your Goodreads shelf at:

Join Felicity’s mailing list to receive notifications when the books are released, PLUS sneak previews of chapters of the books and chances to win signed copies: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/newsletter.php

Books in the Eternal Mates paranormal romance series:

Book 1: Kissed by a Dark Prince 

Book 2: Claimed by a Demon King 

Book 3: Tempted by a Rogue Prince 

Book 4: Hunted by a Jaguar – coming in 2015

Book 5: Craved by an Alpha – coming in 2015 

Book 6: Bitten by a Hellcat – coming in 2015 

Book 7: Taken by a Dragon – coming in 2015

Felicity Heaton is a New York Times and USA Today international best-selling author writing passionate paranormal romance books. In her books, she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons! If you're a fan of paranormal romance authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter and Christine Feehan then you will enjoy her books too.
If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, the best-selling Her Angel series is for you. If you like strong, powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm series or any of her stand-alone vampire romance books. If you’re looking for vampire romances that are sinful, passionate and erotic then try the best-selling Vampire Erotic Theatre series. Or if you prefer huge detailed worlds filled with hot-blooded alpha males in every species, from elves to demons to dragons to shifters and angels, then take a look at the new Eternal Mates series.

Find Felicity

Website|Facebook|Twitter|Goodreads|Pinterest|Amazon

Kennedy Ryan's My True Love Gave to Me Holiday Blitz and Giveaway

         Enjoy a bonus Christmas scene from Cam's POV from When You Were Mine

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Cam slipped into Ms. Kris’s hospital room. He’d meant to come on his lunch break, but things had gotten hectic at the office. Now it was after five o’clock, and he probably wouldn’t have much time before Walsh showed up. He stopped just inside, shocked at how small and drawn she looked against the sterile white hospital sheets. Pain wrapped around his heart like a stubborn vine, squeezing out what little peace he’d had.

He remembered what life had been like before he’d met this incredible woman. The memory of that life haunted him, sometimes dogging him into his sleep, nightmare and memory inextricably woven.

Cam noticed for the first time the simple Christmas decorations someone, probably Jo, had put up. A small tree on the bedside table. A few white lights suspended over Ms. Kris’s hospital bed. A large poinsettia in the corner. The festive touches couldn’t dispel the sense of inevitability hovering in the room like an unwanted visitor.

Cam sat down and pulled out his sketchpad. He hated to see her this way; her light dimmed and, based on the news Kerris had broken to him about hospice, soon to be extinguished. He settled himself at the foot of her bed, careful not to disturb her. He propped the sketchpad on his knees, filling the blank page with the picture his mind’s eye stored of her at her most glorious. Her dark hair spilling around her shoulders, and the lovely skin pulled with taut vitality over the regal bones of her face. Her wide mouth spread into an infectious grin. She stirred, stilling his charcoal pencil and drawing his attention.

“Hi, beautiful.” He tossed the pad to the floor and crawled up to her end of the bed, lying down on top of the covers in her outstretched arms.

He closed his eyes, burrowing his nose into her neck, searching for her smell. Beneath the stench of illness, antiseptic and approaching death, it was still there. He inhaled, content to be held right here as his mother had never held him. Kristeene taught him what a mother should be, and though she’d always called him her second son, he never believed it. Been afraid or unable to accept it. When you have a son like Walsh Bennett, why would you want a worthless piece of shit like him? He’d never envied Walsh’s money or the compounded power that came with the Walsh and Bennett names. He’d envied this, though. He’d secretly coveted this goddess who had given birth to Walsh.

Entitled bastard had everything, had this, handed to him as an accident of birth, and now he wanted his wife.

“Kerris came to see me today,” Kristeene whispered, making Cam wonder if he’d fumed so much he had spoken aloud, or if Kisteene’s maternal clairvoyance kicked in as it had so many times before.

“She told me.”

“She’s so special, Cam.” Ms. Kris ran her hand over the almost shoulder length dark hair he’d left hanging loosely around his neck today.

“Yep.” Cam leaned into the gentle stroke like he had since he was thirteen years old.

“Did she tell you I’m going home tomorrow?” Ms. Kris fixed her gaze on the emotion he knew must be soaking his eyes.

“Ms. Kris, I can’t-I don’t know what I’ll do if you…”

“There’s no ‘if’, baby.” A trembling, skeletal hand traced the arch of his brows. “It’s gonna happen. This is my last Christmas. I’m dying.”

And inside of him, something was dying, too. Something that, early on, had been whipped into a mass of self-contempt, shame and rage, huddled in a corner when he’d first met this woman. It had healed and come to life under her compassion, love and acceptance. Cam was afraid it would die with her.

“I have a peace about it,” Kristeene said.

I don’t!

The denial rattled like a bell in his brain and shook his heart, but he wasn’t going to lay his shit on her; the fact that he couldn’t deal with a death she already seemed resigned to.

“How can you have peace about death?” His voice sounded hushed and solemn in his own ears.

“I believe in an afterlife, Cam. In Heaven, and I believe that’s where I’ll be. And I know that I’m leaving this earth with a clear heart. I didn’t do everything I wanted, but I did a lot. I paid attention to the things that were most important.”

She allowed a small silence to bathe them in contemplation before adding, “And I’ve forgiven.”

Cam stiffened, turning his head to consider her with narrowed eyes. Even sick and near death, she was cagey. There was no way Jo hadn’t told her something about what happened with Kerris and Walsh. She would have been curious about why they were never together when they visited; why they avoided each other like hand, foot and mouth disease.

“Forgiveness isn’t always an option, Ms. Kris.” He broke the words up into bite-size pieces in his mouth.

“When it’s your time, not forgiving isn’t an option. You only ask yourself why. Why would I hang onto that?’”

“I know exactly what I’m holding onto and why.” Cam slipped off the bed, scooping up his sketchpad and thrusting it under his arm, his movements jerky.

“You’ll have to forgive Walsh, Cam.” Kristeene’s breath hitched with the effort it took to pull herself up on her elbows.

“You don’t know what he’s done.” Cam glared at his Chuck Taylors, the black and white blurring with the rage wetting his eyes.

 “He kissed Kerris,” Kristeene said, her voice heavy with sympathy.

Cam returned her steady gaze.

“And you think I should forgive him?”

“I think you have to. He and Jo are all the family you’ve got.”

“No, I’ve got Kerris.” Cam knifed the air with one long, slim hand. “And no one, not even your perfect son, will take her away from me.”

“Did you marry her even suspecting a little bit that there were feelings between them?” Kristeene probed and poked around the thing Cam had barely admitted to himself.
Cam glanced at Kristeene, a battered angel, earthbound and more vulnerable, but more fierce, than he’d ever seen her.
“You think I have cancer,” she said. “You just keep holding onto unforgiveness. It’ll eat away at you from the inside. It’ll spread to everything good in your life and destroy it. Including your marriage.”

“He shouldn’t have kissed her.” The lean lines of his body petrified into stone with no outlet for his hostility. “He had no right.”

“No, he had no right. He was wrong, and I’m sure if they could take it back, they would. But they can’t, Cam. And you can let that one moment haunt and destroy your marriage and cost you the best friend you’ve ever had, or you can let it go and move on. Knowing they won’t hurt you like that again. Knowing it was a mistake.”

“I’m not ready for that.” His fingers clawed into twitchy balls at his side, aching to squeeze Walsh’s throat. “I keep seeing them together in my head, and I can’t stand to look at him.”
“You don’t hold her responsible at all?” Kristeene raised the skin where her eyebrows used to rest before radiation left it smooth and naked like a baby’s.

“I know Kerris and I know Walsh. I know who made the first move; who initiated this. He’s been in love—” he cut himself off, turning away to face the window.

“So you did know.”

“I’d have to be blind not to know he felt something for her. At first I assumed he just wanted to screw her like most guys, but then I realized it was more than that.”

“More like what you felt for her?” Kristeene pressed. “And you were afraid, if given time, she’d choose him?”

“Who wouldn’t choose him?” Cam pressed his forehead against the coolness of the window glass. “He could have anyone. She was for me. You know? And I had to lock that down.”

“Seems like an honest conversation would have saved us all a lot of trouble.” Kristeene slurred her words behind him. “But since that didn’t happen, we are where we are. We can’t stay here, Cam.”

“I don’t know where else to go.” Cam laid his clutched fist against the window pane. “I can’t give her up, but I can’t forget. And I can’t forgive Walsh, but I feel like somebody cut my right hand off.”

Met with silence, Cam turned to watch Kristeene, who had dropped off practically mid-sentence into a drug-induced slumber. Had he tired her out? What would he do when she wasn’t around to talk him off ledges?

Jump.

He leaned over her now-still form. He noticed goose bumps on her thin arms and tucked the sheets around her.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He kissed the silk scarf covering her slick scalp. “Mom.”

He’d only dared to imagine calling her that, even though she called him son. The sweet rush of feeling almost brought him to his knees by her bed in a weeping, snotty, begging, incoherent pool of grief. He tightened his mouth, staving it off for now, though he saw it coming like a tsunami, and him its helpless shore.

Cam left Kristeene’s room, running his hands over his face in a quick, impatient motion. He bushed away the last of his tears. He glanced at his watch, surprised to see he’d been with Kristeene for more than an hour. He pulled up short on his way to the elevator. Walsh was headed toward him, tall and lean in his gray suit, a preoccupied frown darkening his expression. Cam was prepared to walk right past him, refusing to entertain Kristeene’s admonition to forgive.

I ain’t forgiving shit.

Walsh had other ideas, stepping directly into Cam’s path.

“How was she?” Walsh bypassed the small talk.

“Resting.” Cam addressed his response to some point over Walsh’s shoulder. He tried to step around Walsh, only to find him blocking his way again.

“Step the hell back, Bennett.” Cam spiked the glare he gave Walsh.

“We have to talk about this,” Walsh said, obviously unafraid of Cam’s malevolent regard, unfazed by the barely checked threat clearly written in his fighter’s stance.

“What should we talk about, Walsh? The fact that you want to fuck my wife?” Cam’s voice was a low blow.

“It was a mistake.” Walsh made a quick sweep of their surroundings, looking at the few people waiting in the reception area. “We got emotional talking about Haiti. She was comforting me and it just went there. It won’t happen again.”

“You won’t get the chance again. What part of staying out of our life don’t you understand?”

“The part where you and I aren’t brothers anymore,” Walsh snapped back, fire in his eyes and words. “Dude, you’re not going to throw away years of friendship over one kiss.”

“One kiss. You think I was born yesterday.”

“What?” Cam saw caution creep into Walsh’s eyes.

Cam leaned forward, all aggressive, outraged male. Teeth bared.

“You love her.”

Walsh looked back at him, weariness in every line of his face; written in his eyes. And Cam could see that he was tired of the lies; tired of denying what was in his heart.

“Yeah, I love her,” Walsh said. “But we can figure this out. I’d never do anything about it.”

“Asshole.” Cam brushed past him and prowled toward the elevators. “You already did.”

♥READ THE SERIES♥

Find my Reviews for When You Were Mine and Loving You Always

Book 1 - When You Are Mine

Book 2 - Loving You Always

Pre-Order Book 3 - Be Mine Forever 

It is My Personal Opinion that you should read them in order!! I know Cam's view was withheld throughout Books 1 and 2 so you get a fresh experience in Book 2 so it CAN be read alone.

**READER REWARDS!**Kennedy wants to reward readers who spread the word! We are building a team of readers who will shout about BE MINE FOREVER. In exchange for your voice, we'll give ARCs of the book, gift cards and other prizes. Sign up HERE if you'd like more information or to be involved!

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A Holiday Greeting From Kennedy Ryan....

Kennedy Ryan writes contemporary romance and women's fiction. She always give her characters their happily ever after, but loves to make them work for it! It's a long road to love, so sit back and enjoy the ride. In an alternative universe and under her government issue name, Tina Dula, she is a wife to the love of her life, mom to a special, beautiful son, and a friend to those living with autism through her foundation Myles-A-Part, serving Georgia families. Her writings on Autism have appeared in Chicken Soup for the Soul, and she has been featured on the Montel Williams Show, NPR, Headline News and others. She is donating a portion of her proceeds to her own foundation and to her charitable partner, Talk About Curing Autism (TACA). Her interview series MOMMIES DO THE MOST AMAZING THINGS is featured each month in Modern Mom.

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Review: The Truth about Leo by Katie MacAlister

Title:The Truth about Leo
by Katie MacAlister
Series: Noble #4
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication date: August 1 2014
Genre: Historical Romance
Source: NetGalley
Rating: 1 Star

Can Dagmar flee Denmark

Dagmar Marie Sophie is a poverty-stricken Danish princess whose annoying royal cousin is about to have her stuffed away in a convent. When she finds a wounded man unconscious in her garden, she sees a way out of her desperate situation.

By Lying to Leo?

Leopold Ernst George Mortimer, seventh earl of March, and spy in the service of the king, finds himself on the wrong end of a saber and left for dead. He wakes up not remembering what happened...in the care of a beautiful woman who says she is his wife.

Back in London, Leo-with the help of his old friends the eccentric Britton family-sets out to unravel what he's forgotten... Is Dagmar truly the wonderful, irrepressible woman who makes his heart sing, or is she a dangerous enigma bent on his destruction?


 

My Take:

This was not one of my favorites. It had humor, romance and mystery. It just felt like there was almost TOO much going on and I couldn't keep track. The Jail scene was off the chain in a bad way. I understand the author was trying to be funny but it bordered on the ridiculous. Nick's and Phem's secondary romance felt like it was just thrown in there.  I guess maybe I needed to read the first 3 books in the series but because I hadn't a lot of the scenes were over the top confusing. I'd suggest reading the these books in order.


Have you read a Katie MacAlister book? This is the first I've read of hers. Do you think I should try her again?

For as long as she can remember, Katie MacAlister has loved reading. Growing up in a family where a weekly visit to the library was a given, Katie spent much of her time with her nose buried in a book. Despite her love for novels, she didn't think of writing them until she was contracted to write a non-fiction book about software. Since her editor refused to allow her to include either witty dialogue or love scenes in the software book, Katie swiftly resolved to switch to fiction, where she could indulge in world building, tormenting characters, and falling madly in love with all her heroes.

Two years after she started writing novels, Katie sold her first romance, Noble Intentions. More than thirty books followed during the years after Noble's publication. Her novels have been translated into numerous languages, been recorded as audiobooks, received several awards, and placed on the New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. She also writes for the young adult audience as Katie Maxwell, and for the mystery world as Kate Marsh.

Katie lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and dogs, and can often be found lurking around online.

Find Katie

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Review: The Temptation of Lady Serena by Ella Quinn

Title:The Temptation of Lady Serena
by Ella Quinn
Series: Marriage Game #3
Publisher: Kensington
Publication date: January 14th 2014
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating: 4 Stars
Source: Netgalley

Custom-made gowns. . .nights at the theater. . .and a host of eligible bachelors. Accustomed to living a quiet life in the Scottish Borderlands, Lady Serena Weir has never had any of these luxuries. But when Serena's brother demands she finally have a Season in London, she's thrust into a glamorous world she's only dreamed of. . .

Robert, Viscount Beaumont, remembers all too well what it feels like to be in love. That is why he must keep his distance from Serena. He's only felt his pulse stir the way it does now when he made the mistake of loving the wrong woman once before. Yet the more he strives to resist his feelings, the nearer he is to falling under Serena's seductive spell. . .

My Take:

I stumbled upon this Ella Quinn novel in Netgalley. It is book 3 of her Marriage Game series. I don't like to read books out of sequence but this story intrigued me. Ella Quinn is a "new to me" author and I'm so glad I read this!



Lady Serena Wier has been living in the wilds of Scotland at her family estate, Castle Vere. Since the age of 14, when her mother passed, she has taken the reigns of her ailing fathers estate. Left to her own devices until the age of 26, when her selfish brother finally comes home with a new wife, Serena has made caring for the estate her life. Sent to London for her first Season, Serena is nervous and expecting failure because of her "old" age. She thrives! Because she has a pretty substantial dowry and is over her majority, she can decide to marry for love.

Robert, Viscount Beaumont, plans to marry for convenience and not for love. Anything but love, due to a disastrous first love years ago. He is, nevertheless, fascinated by Serena's charming personality. Desperate to have her as a wife, knowing she'll only marry for love, he foolishly traps her into marriage. Or so he thinks.

After the engagement is where the drama persists and the story really comes to life. Willing to risk scandal and, with the protection and help of their mutual friends and family, Serena teaches Robert that to love is a risk that has monumental results. The stubborn man takes a long time to open his heart and realize that he's already in love with Serena.

Ms. Quinn does a delightful job of providing humor, passion and intrigue. The secondary characters, Roberts' Aunt Freddy and grandmother are a hoot! There is a secondary love story in here as well that turns out well. I am now on a mission to read the first two books in this series, The Seduction of Lady Phoebe and The Secret Life of Miss Anna Marsh.

Bestselling Regency author Ella Quinn lived all over the United States, the Pacific, Canada, England and Europe before finally discovering the Caribbean. She lives in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands with her wonderful husband, three bossy cats and a loveable great dane.

Find Ella @

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ARC Review: The Shocking Secret of a Guest at the Wedding by Victoria Alexander

Title: Shocking Secret of a Guest at the Wedding
by Victoria Alexander
Series: Millworth Manor #4
Publisher: Kensington (Zebra)
Publication date: October 28, 2014
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating: 3 Stars
Received by: NetGalley

The bride and groom cordially request your presence for a wedding at Millworth Manor. . .
Guests will include Jackson Quincy Graham Channing, New York City banker, and Lady Theodosia "Teddy" Winslow, wedding planner to the finest families in England.

Introductions shall be followed by light conversation, dancing, flirtation, arguing, reconciliation, and an impulsive kiss that both parties are quite certain they will never repeat.

Until they do.

A mutually beneficial fake engagement will be accompanied by all manner of very real complications, scandalous revelations, nefarious schemes, and one inescapable conclusion:

That true love--unlike the perfect wedding--is impossible to plan. . .

What does a staid American banker and a "hobby party planning" British Lady have in common?

They both only thought they knew how their lives would unfold.

     Victoria Alexander takes us to 1887 to the end of the Victorian Era. People are funding Automobiles, and it only takes a week to cross the Atlantic. The Shocking Secret of a guest at the Wedding is the 4th in Victoria Alexander's Millworth Manor series.
     I have to start off by saying, I struggled through this book. It was disappointing as I love Ms.Alexander's writing! There is so much that goes on in the first 3 books you would think you need to read those but the back history is provided for you in the first half. So much so that the story really lags.
     Jackson is shocked to the core when he meets his “dead” father and finds that he is heir to an English title. Having given up on his dreams of adventure for his future in banking, this news sends him on his own adventure. I found Jackson a bit dull, somewhat chauvinistic, and is only likeable for a short time.
     Lady Theadosia, Teddy, has had to learn to survive after her father’s death. He left a massive amount of debt and she has been attempting to pay it off through the party planning business she and her mother runs. Although of course to maintain her standing in the Ton she pretends it’s a hobby, so her reputation isn't sullied. What I don’t understand is why her cousin didn't inherit the debt when he came into title and why he doesn’t provide for her and her mother. As to her character, I loved Teddy. She was strong, independent, and a survivor.
     The romance, if you can call it that, between Teddy and Jack was barely there. The attraction started off right way and you could see that it was mutual. Jackson having called Teddy “an adventure” was one of his better scenes. The romance begins to fall flat when Teddy discovers Jacksons’ secret. She feels she was lied to and that is a huge turn off for her. It does pick up again but then at the end she makes a ridiculous decision that effects them both and the results are less than satisfying.
     I won’t give up on Ms. Alexander though!  Her next book in this series features Lucy and Cameron Effington. Lucy seems like a firecracker! Sigh, an Effington. I loved that series!

New York Times bestselling author Victoria Alexander was an award winning television reporter until she discovered fiction was much more fun than real life. She turned to writing full time and is still shocked it worked out.

Tour & Giveway: The Dukes Guide to Correct Behavior by Megan Frampton

Join us in celebrating the November 25th release of The Duke's Guide to Correct Behavior! Marcus was thrust into the Dukedom and is definitely NOT behaving like a stellar member of the Aristocracy should! Can a lowly governess tame him? 

All of London knows the Duke of Rutherford has position and wealth. They also whisper that he’s dissolute, devilish, and determinedly unwed. So why, everyone is asking, has he hired a governess?
When Miss Lily Russell crosses the threshold of the Duke of Rutherford’s stylish townhouse, she knows she has come face to face with sensual danger. For this is no doting papa. Rather, his behavior is scandalous, and his reputation rightly earned. And his pursuit of her is nearly irresistible—but resist she must for the sake of her pupil.
As for the duke himself, it was bad enough when his unknown child landed on his doorstep. Now Lily, with her unassuming beauty, has aroused his most wicked fantasies—and, shockingly, his desire to change his wanton ways. He’s determined to become worthy of her, and so he asks for her help in correcting his behavior.
But Lily has a secret, one that, if it becomes known, could change everything . . .

Marcus felt his lip curl as he surveyed the signs of debauchery in his ballroom. Which was not, he knew full well, used for parties, balls, or social events of any kind.
            Empty brandy bottles lingered to the sides of the chairs at random angles around the room; various articles of women’s clothing were scattered around, including one cleverly-placed corset on a statue of one of his very male ancestors; a few plates of half-eaten food were on the tables, one of the cats that refused to leave (or more correctly that he didn’t have the heart to make go) nibbling delicately on them while a second cat twined about his ankles.
            “So you were saying how difficult it is to be a duke?” Smithfield’s tone was as dry as--well, as Marcus’s throat.
            He could fix that. He drained his glass, then attempted to scowl at Smithfield, one of his two new boon companions. The other, Collins, was currently fast asleep on one of the sofas, the results of imbibing a substantial amount of the brandy one of Collins’s ships had brought in. Marcus himself had fallen asleep earlier, so he wasn’t entirely exhausted. Not entirely, at least.
            “It sounds ridiculous,” he said, then felt himself smile as Smithfield looked at him pointedly. “It is ridiculous. I am a duke, I have no no financial issues, I am unmarried, in prime health, and can do nearly whatever I want.”
            “But?” Smithfield said as Marcus paused.
            “But all that is required of a duke is that we wed properly and start fathering little dukes-to-be, and that particular scenario is enough to make me want to wrap that corset,” he said, gesturing to the statue, “around my throat and strangle myself. Bad enough I have to live a life I had never planned on; to do it at the side of a woman I would, in the best case, amicably dislike, in the worst case, utterly loathe, is not to be considered.”
            “That is terrible,” Smithfield replied, still in that dry as Marcus’s throat used-to-be tone. “To have to marry and swan about being a duke when you could--well, what did you do six months ago, before you inherited? Or better yet, what would you rather be doing?”
            Disappearing. Leaving. Being free of all responsibilities and cares. Never having to answer to anyone. “I used to walk a lot, just...walk. That made me almost happy.” Marcus knew, in the back of his mind, that he wouldn’t be talking this frankly if it weren’t for the quantities of  Collins’s brandy he’d drunk. But Smithfield was asking, and maybe, if Marcus was lucky, neither one of them would recall just how he’d bared his soul so pathetically. Again, thanks to Collins’s brandy.
            “Is that what you did before inheriting? Walk?” Smithfield’s tone was now...less dry. As though he understood that what Marcus was saying was nearly important. Even if it still felt as though it wasn’t really what Marcus wished to say.
            But that would require that Marcus knew what he wished to say, and that would require that he know what would make him happy. He could say, with certainty, that it was neither drinking, gambling, nor fornicating. Even before he’d come into the dukedom so unexpectedly, Marcus had searched for satisfaction through drinking, gambling, and fornicating. He’d traveled to other countries, where he’d drunk, gambled, and fornicated. He’d returned to London where he’d at least had the comforts of his own home while he drank, gambled, and fornicated.
            Except for the quality of the brandy, and the soft, luxurious fur of the inherited cats he seemed to have grown fond of, he’d been disappointed.
            “Walking, yes,” he replied, then glanced over to Smithfield. Who had fallen asleep. Marcus shook his head, drained his glass, and reached out to scratch the black and white cat on the chin. The cat was far more interested in the food on the table, however, which left Marcus to his own devices. As usual. As he preferred, he assured himself.
            “I used to walk all the time, just on my own, with no-one looking for me, no-one worried about me, no-one caring for me,” he said, speaking to the uninterested cat. The dukedom had included the cats, whom the previous duke had acquired. Sometimes he thought they were the best part of inheriting the title. He poured another measure of Collins’s brandy in his glass, but didn’t drink. “Until my father told me to stop ‘wandering about like a vagabond,’ that it wasn’t suitable, even for me.”
            He took a sip. “And then my father died, and my brother died, and suddenly I was next in line to inherit when the duke died. A man I’d barely met. And here I am, living in his house, with his title, with his cats, spending his money.” His throat tightened. “I don’t even feel as though I belong here, even though there is nowhere else I belong better.”
            The cat, wisely, did not respond.
            He felt a surge of anger, at what he wasn’t entirely certain--just as he didn’t know what he wanted.
            But meanwhile, he knew what he did not want, and that was for the two sleeping men in his ballroom to be there any longer. The cats could stay.

Megan Frampton writes historical romance under her own name and romantic women’s fiction as Megan Caldwell. She likes the color black, gin, dark-haired British men, and huge earrings, not in that order. She lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her husband and son.

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