REVIEW: Love in Lingerie by Alessandra Torre

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I hired her to fix my company, to bring Marks Lingerie back to life. I didn’t expect her to become my friend. I didn’t expect to fall in love with her.

The first rule of business is to never touch your employees. I think there is another rule about not falling for your best friend—a rule against imagining the curves of her body, or the way her breathing would change if I pulled down her panties and unzipped my pants.

Now, I can’t wait any longer. I’m tossing out the rules.

Damn the company.

Damn our friendship.

Damn my fears. 

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REVIEW

RATING:

Hmmm...

As far as I’m concerned, AT’s writing is always gonna be exceptional, period; which is why I keep coming back to her. Having said that, there is something happening lately where her stories and I are not jiving. As much as I love her writing and how well she develops her MC’s, I can’t seem to be fully on board with where she takes these MCs. 

Take this story. Trey and Kate’s relationship started as boss-employee that moved to friends-to-lovers in looong slow burn way. And I get it. I get why. What I didn’t get, or I should say agree, is the how they got there.

If you’re not a fan of OM/OW, then this is not for you. I’m not usually either, unless the OM/OW is from the past and is just trying to insert him/herself into the budding relationship and failing at that. Here, OM/OW is very much in the present. And interestingly enough, not in a way that one would expect, at least to me. I almost want to say that the OM/OW here is necessary to show growth in the MCs. Did I agree with it? There lies my issue. I get it, yet I don’t. So I think ultimately, it’ll be a personal take.

Also, I’ve now associated AT with unexpected twists in plots but the kinds of twists here were definitely different, I’d say.

Now if you’re an AT fan, then rest assured, her writing continues to be on point. One of the reasons why I guess I can still say that I enjoyed it enough. I appreciated the sexual tension between H&h. I thought both MCs were well developed. I saw their growth. And while I didn’t agree with some of their decisions, I understood. 

And if I may add, probably not best to think of this as just romance. I don’t think AT knows how to do a straightforward romance that follows your typical arc in the first place, and I meant that in the most complimentary way. So because this is AT, I told myself to think of it more as erotic/romantic fiction. And when I did, things made more sense in my head… if that made sense at all…

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Alessandra Torre is an award-winning New York Times bestselling author of fourteen novels. Her books focus on romance and suspense, all with a strong undercurrent of sexuality. Torre has been featured in such publications as Elle and Elle UK, co-hosted Dirty Sexy Funny with Jenny McCarthy, as well as guest blogged for the Huffington Post and RT Book Reviews. She has also served as the Bedroom Blogger for Cosmopolitan.com.

You can learn more about Alessandra on her website at www.alessandratorre.com, or you can find her on Twitter (@ReadAlessandra) or Facebook.

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Thanks for dropping by!

~Leftie

REVIEW: Scarlet Stone by Jewel E Ann

Title: Scarlet Stone

Author: Jewel E Ann

Genre: A romantic suspense standalone

Release Date: December 10^th, 2016

Synopsis

“My name is Scarlet Stone, and my biggest fear is that someday I will find what I want most in life, and it will be impossible to steal.” What happens when life just stops? When one moment makes you question your entire existence? Scarlet Stone is a third-generation thief who has everything: a doting fiancé, a spacious London flat, and a legitimate job offer. In a single breath, everything becomes nothing, and she finds herself on a plane to Savannah, Georgia in search of the meaning of life. After securing a six-month lease for a beachfront house on Tybee Island, Scarlet changes the way she looks, thinks, eats—basically her entire outlook on life. She needs peace, but what she gets is a housemate who looks like Thor, acts like a warden, and smells her proximity like a Bloodhound. Theodore Reed is a carpenter and perfectionist with a body built of steel, a black, hollow heart, and a hunger for revenge. He doesn’t like company, girly-smelling crap, and British accents. He resents every breath she takes. She’s fascinated by his every move. In time, they discover their coexistence is toxic, their physical attraction is electric, the secrets they keep mean the difference between life and death, and the only truth they share is that everything is a lie. “Over eighty-five percent of the world's population believes in a higher power, yet, very few people believe in miracles.” Do you believe?

Add to Goodreads

GoodReads

Purchase links

Special preorder pricing of 2.99 - regular 4.99

Amazon / iBooks / Nook

REVIEW

RATING:

There’re a few things I learned right from my first Jewel read. First, her blurb always has the right hook; at least, for me. Second, her blurb only touches the surface of the story, in a good way. Third, expect the unexpected with her characters….

In Scarlet Stone, I got all of the above, as usual. And with what this book took on, what I got is one exquisite read… At this point, I cannot be any more in love with this book… SIGH…I just know my review will not do this book or how I feel about this justice. It's taken me a long time to begin with writing this, just because... SIGH...

From the first few lines, I knew I was gonna be in for one distinctive ride. Immediately, I wanted to know Scarlet’s story. Scarlet moved far away from home to… hmmm… to escape? To search? To discover? To learn? And as soon as she got there, she meets these interesting people and most interesting of all is Theo. Immediately, there's this caustic energy between them that manifested in the most electric way.

As the story opens up, you learn Scarlet's true purpose. Theo was the unexpected "monkey wrench" in Scarlet's plan...

This is really best read by just diving in. I feel like if I keep talking about the story itself, I'd give it all away bec I won't be able to help myself and I'll just keep going. So I'll just say this. All along, what I really can't shake off is how this story moved me. From Scarlet's journey to Theo's pain to this bond that formed between them. Practically every other line causes pause for contemplation.

Scarlet will definitely go down in my reading history as a top fave h. Everything about her quietly screams strength. It's the kind of strength I know I would aspire to possess should I find myself in any tough situation. Her pragmatic approach is spiritual on its own, if that makes sense. And more so, as typical with Jewel's h, she's quirky and hilarious, appropriately non-apologetic. As far as I'm concerned, she alone gets all the stars I can give.

Theo was easy and difficult to love all at once, the kind of H you want to hug and punch at the same time, then hug again. It's frustrating and endearing how much he fought Scarlet off. Despite his gruffness, you get a sense of a man who feels quite a lot. I think Scarlet made him shine and in doing so, I fell just as hard for this broken man.

The story took turns that I didn't expect. At first, I thought it was going to distract me from Scarlet and Theo's story, but eventually, I understood. It's a story about love, no matter what the future holds. By the end of the journey, there was the love a parent has for a child, the love a child has for a parent(s), there was the love that's true but not meant to be, and then there was the love that was meant to be regardless of anything and the love that you know can and will transcend time.

I want to say that this is unlike any of Jewel's books, but then again, every one of her books is really unlike the one before... I truly feel Jewel's books are like hidden gems that really shouldn't stay hidden. That's just not right. So if it's still not clear at this point, I highly recommend this.

About the Author

Jewel E. Ann

Adult Contemporary Romance Author

 

 Jewel is a free-spirited romance junkie with a quirky sense of humor. With 10 years of flossing lectures under belt, she took early retirement from her dental hygiene career to stay home with her three awesome boys and manage the family business. After her best friend of nearly 30 years suggested a few books from the contemporary Romance genre, Jewel was hooked. Devouring two and three books a week but still craving more, she decided to practice sustainable reading, AKA writing. When she’s not donning her cape and saving the planet one tree a a time, she enjoys yoga with friends, good food with family, rock climbing with her kids, watching How I Met Your Mother reruns, and of course . . .heart-wrenching, tear-jerking, panty-scorching novels.

Social Media and Contact Info

Email | Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Instagram | Pinterest | Amazon

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Thanks for dropping by!

~Leftie

BLOG TOUR: Unseen Messages by Pepper Winters

From New York Times Bestseller Pepper Winters comes a timeless love story answering the question of what happens when everything is stripped away.

Blurb

"There is a message for everything. From handwritten to verbal, seen and unseen. Messages exist all around us."

But what if you don't see?
What if you don't understand?
What if, by ignoring the message, your life is never the same again?

Estelle Evermore morphed from nobody to somebody overnight.

Galloway Oak put his past behind him and endeavored to make his fortune using his trade.

Two strangers.
One plane.
Multiple unseen messages.

From sky to island, they find neither fame nor skills can save them. Stripped from society and left alone to survive the elements, the very task of staying alive outweighs all other needs.

Until survival turns to desire.
And desire turns to danger.

   

  Buy Links

Amazon ||  Amazon UK || Amazon AUS || Amazon CAD || iBooks || Barnes & Noble || Kobo || Google Play ||  Goodreads || Paperback

Review

RATING:

Not gonna lie, this was a looooong read… much longer than I anticipated… Did it have to be? I dunno. All I do know is that by the end, I was happy I read it.

This is the second Pepper read for me. I may have had some issues with the storyline in that one, but what I didn’t have issues with is her writing. Her writing is what pushed me to read this one too. That, after seeing the cover, of course, which I love!!!

This really is like the Cast Away movie, only make it about a couple and add children. Just like the movie, it makes you think what a person is really made of when put in a life and death situation. It makes you think what really matters, and how one’s thinking shift when basic survival is the only goal. And just like the movie, the focus is surviving the island and all the emotions that came with it, and what happens after the survival…

Told from dual POV, I had access to both Estelle’s and Galloway’s thoughts. There were times I probably would have liked it seeing from the other person’s POV but nonetheless, I appreciated the thought process they each went through. Galloway had a past that was hard to run away from. That kind of past could shape one’s future forcefully so the burden that Galloway carried on his shoulders was understandable. Estelle was, in a way, a survivor herself of her past and trying to make sense of her present. To manage that inexplicable connection between them while trying to survive and look after 2 children on top of that, it was confusing and challenging to say the least. And speaking of the 2 children, while this is about Estelle and Galloway, those 2 kids just stole my heart.

I suppose with all my gripe I had about the length of the book, I understood its purpose, I think. I was with them through all their trials and tribulations, how they survived and what they survived. And I was with them as they survived, hoped, struggled, despaired, longed, and loved.

So, yes, it may have felt unnecessarily longwinded at times, but in the end, this book made me think, made me fret, made me bawl my eyes out. It made me feel.

What more could have I asked for, right?

"Life was a journey and no one (no matter how wishful, bossy, or opinionated) could change the destination. 

That was fate’s job. Our job was to stop fighting. 

Because only then could we find true happiness."

About Pepper Winters

 

Pepper Winters is a NYT and USA Today International Bestseller. She wears many roles. Some of them include writer, reader, sometimes wife. She loves dark, taboo stories that twist with your head. The more tortured the hero, the better, and she constantly thinks up ways to break and fix her characters. Oh, and sex... her books have sex. She loves to travel and has an amazing, fabulous hubby who puts up with her love affair with her book boyfriends. She's also honoured to wear the IndieReader Badge for being a Top 10 Indie Bestsellers, best BDSM series voted by the SmutClub, and recently signed a two book deal with Grand Central. Her books are currently being translated into numerous languages and will be in bookstores in the near future. To be the first to know of upcoming releases, please join Pepper's Newsletter (she promises never to spam or annoy you.)

NEWSLETTER: http://eepurl.com/120b5

Or follow her on her website www.pepperwinters.com
She loves mail of any kind: pepperwinters@gmail.com

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Thanks for dropping by!

~Leftie

REVIEW: Daily Painting by Carol Marine

Hello, everyone! I thought I'd give Leftie a break and do a short book review. This is another one of those books that got me so excited as soon as I finished reading it.

RATING:

Daily Painting by Carol Marine is a gem I discovered while on an art forum. As a new oil painter (just started early this year after concentrating first on drawing), I was looking for inspiring books that will help me not just with the basics but also for ways to actually be more creative in terms of my choices on what to paint and how to go about it. Looking at that big white canvas is daunting most days. With this book, Ms.Marine explains why doing small paintings often is the way to go.

Daily Painting not only gives great tips and techniques on each chapter such as value and composition, she also explains why doing small paintings everyday (or as much as you can) is a great way to free your creativity. No pressure.....just do what you feel like doing. She encourages you not feel bad about making mistakes, and even tackles how to deal with artist blocks. (This chapter includes awesome insight from other daily painters as well.)

Even if you don't follow her own specific style of loose painting, there is so much to learn from this book. Above all, she really inspires everyone not to be afraid.

 I recommend Daily Painting to anyone who deals with any sort of creative endeavour (whatever medium you use). Carol Marine's message is "to love what you do", and this really applies to all of us, right? :)


Rightie