Planning for Love by Christi Barth

Hopeless romantic Ivy Rhodes

and

anti-Cupid Bennett Westcott

request the pleasure of your company for

their disaster of a courtship

Wedding planner Ivy Rhodes is the best in the business, and she’s not about to let a personal problem stop her from getting ahead. So when she’s asked to star in the reality TV show Planning for Love, it doesn’t matter that the show’s videographer happens to be a recent--and heartbreaking--one-night stand.

Bennett Westcott admits he didn’t handle his encounter with Ivy very well. But looking at her beautiful smile--and great body--through a camera lens every day? He can’t be faulted for suggesting they have some no-strings fun.

The more time they spend together, the more Ben realizes Ivy isn’t the wedding-crazed bridezilla he’d imagined. But if he doesn’t trust himself to make a relationship last, how can he convince Ivy to give him another chance?

Read Your Writes Review

Planning for Love is the first book I’ve read by Christi Barth. I am SOOOO glad this book is part of a series. This will so NOT be the last book by Christi I will read.

Ivy Rhodes is a twenty-nine year old wedding planner and co-owner of Chicago’s Aisle Bound, a wedding consulting company, with her best friend Daphne Lovell. Ivy is a hopeless romantic and believes in happily ever after, long-lasting love. Her parents have been happily married to each other for forty years.

Ben Westcott is a cynic who doesn’t believe in marriages lasting past the “I Do’s”. Bennett’s entire family is full of un-happy ever afters. He believes his family has been cursed by his great-great-grandmother a hundred years ago. Interestingly enough, Ben is the cameraman for a wedding reality tv show.

When I started reading this book, I actually found the author on Twitter and asked if I was supposed to be laughing as I was reading it. I was expecting a romance, but I wasn’t expecting to find myself laughing at the characters. This was one of those rare books where I actually liked ALL of the supporting characters. By the end of the book, Ben and I both realized that this statement was true, “Family isn’t always blood. It’s the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are. The ones who would do anything to see you smile, and who love you no matter what.”

I loved that the book started each chapter off with an advice quote like, “Life is what happens to us while we’re busy making other plans. - John Lennon” or “Love is an ideal thing, marriage a real thing. - Goethe”. Yes, I’m a planner and a hopeless romantic as well.

This isn’t one of those books that’s going to make you cry. But it is one of those books which will make you go, “Awwww.” Ernest Hemingway said, “It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.” To that I can say, Ivy and Ben do realize that they love each other and Ben is finally willing to put down roots and take a chance on love and the elusive happy ending that his family has never had. The journey that this book takes you on to get there is the magical part of romance that I love.

Did I mention that I was doing the happy dance, when I found out that this was part of a series? I can’t wait for the next book, A Fine Romance.

I was lucky enough to receive this book through NetGalley, but it was also on my personal reading wish list.

Rating: 4

Visit Christi Barth’s website to learn more about her and her books.

Planning for Love can be purchased from:

Amazon

Barefoot in the Rain by Roxanne St. Claire

A Barefoot Bay Novel

They say you can never go home again. . .

When “Life Coach to the Stars” Jocelyn Bloom is embroiled in scandal, the only place she can hide is the one place she wishes she could forget.  She left Barefoot Bay-and the boy next door who knew all her secrets-years ago.  Now nothing about the tiny island off the coast of Florida is quite how she remembers it, especially Will Palmer.  He’s even more gorgeous and tempting...and still capable of turning her inside out.

But what if someone is waiting for you?

To Will Palmer, Guy Bloom is more than the elderly, senile neighbor he looks after-he’s the last connection to Jocelyn, the woman Will loved and lost.  But the reunion with Jocelyn doesn’t go smoothly.  Shocked by the change in her father’s personality, Jocelyn struggles to reconcile her dark childhood with the sweet, confused man who has grown close to Will. Jocelyn has guided countless clients to happiness-but can she escape the rainy days of her past for a new sunny future with Will?

Can't Hurry Love by Molly O'Keefe

From award-winning author Molly O'Keefe comes a wonderfully written contemporary romance about second chances at life and at love.

Victoria Baker, the penniless widow of a disgraced financier, is ready to stand up, be counted, and make a new life for herself and her beloved son in Texas.  She's taking over Crooked Creek ranch, her birthright, and turning it into something special.  All that stands in her way is Eli Turnbull, a rugged, too-handsome cowboy who wants the land just as badly.

If Victoria want a fight, Eli will give her one.  He's devoted his life to Crooked Creek, and he's not about to let some pampered city girl--even as brave and beautiful as Victoria--turn it into some silly spa.  But Victoria's and Eli's burning anger and frustration only fuel heat of another kind; uncontrollable passion.  And soon they each realize that the person standing in their way is the one they can never do without.

READ YOUR WRITES REVIEW

Can’t Hurry Love is the second book in the Crooked Creek Series.  Even though this book is part of a series, I don’t feel it is necessary for you to read the first book in order to understand what’s happening.

I love reading series because I tend to get invested in the characters and series give you the opportunity to revisit them in other books.  Which leads me to what I DON’T like about Can’t Hurry Love.  In the first book, Can’t Buy Me Love, the main characters were Luc Baker and Tara Jean Sweet.  I liked those characters and I was looking forward to revisiting them a little bit in this book.  They were barely mentioned.

Can’t Hurry Love focuses on the love story of Victoria Baker Schulman and Eli Turnbull, who at one point in their lives were childhood friends.

Victoria is the daughter of Lyle Baker, the deceased former owner of the Crooked Creek Ranch, and his mistress.  Victoria was born a year after her brother Luc, whose mother is Celeste and was married to Lyle at the time.  Victoria was always treated as a burden and someone unimportant her entire life.  While he was alive, her father, Lyle was emotionally and verbally abusive.  Victoria met and married Joel Schulman a New York financier.  Joel was involved in a Ponzi scheme and stole a lot of money from people, including people who were supposed to be their friends.  Instead of facing the legal consequences of his actions, he committed suicide and left a big mess for Victoria to have to deal with.  Victoria was left in financial ruin and moved in with her brother Luc and her son Jacob.  After Lyle died, Victoria decided that the ranch was as good a place as any to make a home for herself and her son.

Eli Turnbull is the Foreman of the Crooked Creek Ranch.  Several decades earlier, the Crooked Creek Ranch actually belonged to Eli’s family.  Over the course of time, the Turnbull family sold the land to the Baker family in order to pay off various debts.  When Lyle Baker passed away, Eli thought Lyle would leave some of the land to him as he promised.  Being the true butt that he was, Lyle only left Eli the Angus herd, with the stipulation that half of the proceeds from the sale was to go back to the Baker family.

Eli asked Victoria to sell him back some of the land.  Victoria refused and in turn wanted Eli to teach her how to run a ranch.  Eli’s first reaction to her was to sell all of the herd, except for fifty head.  With not much of a ranch left to run and with the realization that she needed to generate monthly income, Victoria comes up with the idea of transforming the Crooked Creek Ranch into the Crooked Creek Resort and Spa.  With help of Celeste and Ruby, the cook/housekeeper, Victoria set the wheels in motion to have her dream come true.

Even though this is the second book in the series, it is probably my favorite of the two.  If you read my review of Can’t Buy Me Love, then you know that I did not care for Victoria at all.  With Can’t Hurry Love, I came to love and respect Victoria for the woman that she became.  While reading the first two books, I could not for the life of me understand why Celeste, Lyle’s ex-wife, was still at the ranch.  This book gives a little of Celeste’s background and made me realize that Celeste and Victoria are alike in some ways.  Celeste has probably always loved Victoria, but had a problem with her, because she was living proof that Lyle cheated on her.  Celeste blames herself for not protecting Victoria from Lyle and Victoria’s own mother like she should have.

I love books where you get to watch the characters grow into the people they should be. Eil’s mother left him with his drunken, abusive father, when he was eight.  Twenty-seven years later, he’s still carrying around the scars of being abandoned and refuses to let anyone get close to him.

What was supposed to be just two adults enjoying each other’s company, slowly but surely turned into something more.  Something neither Eli nor Victoria expected or were looking for.  Both are tortured souls due to bad childhoods, but with the help of each other they are able to overcome all of the negativity in their lives to find the good in themselves and in each other.  I can not think of anyone who deserves to be truly happy, in love, and have a happily ever after more than Victoria and Eli.

I don’t know what kind of journey the next book in the series, Crazy Thing Called Love will take me on, but I’m very much looking forward to reading it.

I received the book from NetGalley, in exchange for my review.

Rating: 4

Can’t Hurry Love can be purchased from Amazon. For other retailers, please visit Molly O’Keefe website.

Lean On Me by HelenKay Dimon

Cassidy Clarke once climbed the world’s highest mountains, but after an unexpected illness ends her career she’s back in her hometown, broke and hoping for a little luck. But the townsfolk aren’t exactly putting out a welcome mat for the woman who once snubbed them in the media, despite her apologies now.

Mitch Anders knows someone has set up camp on the grounds of his plant nursery, and he’s surprised to find his sexy high school crush ducking questions about where she’s staying. Though he’s sworn to stop cleaning up other peoples messes, Mitch offers Cassidy a job and a place to stay--his place. Bed-sharing optional, but definitely welcome.

Out of options and too attracted to Mitch to keep things platonic, Cassidy says yes to his offer. She wants to get back on her feet financially and start a new career. She never expects to suffer a different kind of fall, one that has her believing Mitch just might bring her something bigger and better than luck.

Can't Buy Me Love by Molly O'Keefe

In Molly O'Keefe's captivating new contemporary romance, a woman with a past and a man without a future struggle to find a place where they belong.

A girl from the wrong side of the tracks, Tara Jean Sweet knows that opportunity will never knock; she'll have to seize it. Elderly Texas rancher Lyle Baker has a dying request: He will give Tara Jean a stake in his leather business in exchange for a little family subterfuge. All Tara Jean has to do is play the part of a gold-digging fiancee to lure Lyle's estranged children home. The mission is soon accomplished.

Now Lyle's gone--and his ridiculously handsome son, Luc, an ice hockey superstar sidelined by injuries, is the new owner of Crooked Creek ranch. He's also Tara Jean's boss. But being so close to sinfully sweet Tara Jean does crazy things to Luc's priorities, like make him want to pry her deepest secrets from those irresistible lips. But when Tara Jean's past demands a dirty showdown, will Luc stay and fight?

READ YOUR WRITES REVIEW

Can’t Buy Me Love is the first book in Molly O’Keefe’s Crooked Creek Series.  The book centers on Tara Jean Sweet and Luc Baker.

The overview describes Tara Jean as being from the wrong side of the tracks. She actually grew up with a single mother in random, less than desirable trailer parks.  Her mother was one of those mothers who cared more about herself and the multiple men coming in and out of her life, than she did her own daughter.  This makes Tara Jean into the woman she is today.

Luc Baker is known as “The Ice Man” on the hockey stage. Since he was a teen, hockey has been his thing.  It is what defines who he is. Sidelined with a head injury, which could be career and life ending, his main goal is to work hard to get back to what he loves, which is hockey.  With his teammates, he’s known as “Grandpa”.  Not because of his age, he’s thirty seven, but because, “It has everything to do with how you worry, about everyone. Whether they want it or not.”

The story starts out with Lyle Baker, Luc’s father and owner of Baker Leather and Crooked Creek Ranch, dying and wanting to see his children before he dies.  Lyle was known to have jerk tendencias and be a little difficult to get along with by everyone.  To his children, Luc and Victoria, he was an abuser.  This is why he and his children are estranged.  I found Victoria to be a pathetic, needy woman.  Because she never stands up for herself or shows any interest in being her own person, Lyle picks on her.  Victoria's story is told in the second book of the series, Can’t Hurry Love.

Tara Jean plays the part of the gold-digging fiancee/dim-witted Barbie doll very well.  But she’s more than that.  Surprisingly, Luc is the one who gives her a chance by getting to know her.  He even tries to make her see that she’s more than what she thinks she is.

As with many romance novels, Luc and Tara Jean do their best to fight the attraction they feel towards one another.  I like this book because you are able to see the characters grow and evolve.  There is also a little unexpected surprise.  I’m not going to call it suspenseful.  But I will say it added a little twist to the story that I wasn’t expecting.

I’m starting to become a big Molly O’Keefe fan.  I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

I received this book through a contest win.

Rating: 4

This book can be purchased from Amazon.  To find the full list, please visit Molly’s website.

Lori Wilde's The Princess and the Cowboy

 

Brady Talmadge was a cowboy with five unbreakable rules:
1) Never pick up a pretty hitchhiker
2) Avoid damsels in distress
3) Never order chili at a truck stop
4) Always trust your gut
5) Never tell a lie . . .

This is what happened when he broke all his rules . . . and got into a whole lot of trouble!

On the run from an arranged marriage, Princess Annabella of Monesta dons the guise of a hitchhiking cowgirl. But when she finds herself drenched, alone, and hungry, she has no choice but to trust the tall Texas horse whisperer who offers her a ride. He's like no one she's ever known—a strong sexy man who says just what he thinks. And when one wild kiss leaves her breathless, she quickly realizes she'll give up everything to spend a lifetime of night times in his arms. But how can there be happily-ever-after with palace guards hot on her trail?

Until There Was You: A Loveswept Contemporary Military Romance by Jessica Scott

From the author of Because of You comes an all-new contemporary eBook romance. Though he plays by the rules, she’s not afraid to break them. Now these two strong-willed military leaders will prove that opposites attract . . . even under fire.

A by-the-book captain with a West Point background, Evan Loehr refuses to mix business with pleasure—except for an unguarded instance years ago when he succumbed to the deep sensuality of redheaded beauty Claire Montoya.  Since that brief lapse in judgment, Evan has been at odds with her.  But when he is asked to train a combat team alongside Claire, battle-hardened Evan is in for the fight of his life.

Strong, gutsy, and loyal, Captain Claire Montoya has worked hard to achieve her high military rank.  In Evan Loehr, Claire sees a spoiled commander who puts the rules before everything else—including his people.  Army orders force them together and Claire soon discovers that there is more to Evan than meets the eye. He too has dark secrets and deep longings.  For all their differences, Evan and Claire share two crucial passions: their country and each other

Read Your Writes Review

Until There Was You is the second book by Jessica Scott, a current Army officer, but this is the first book by her I have read.  Part of the title states that this is a military romance, but I found the only thing military about this book were the characters who are all members of the Army.  The book takes place at bases in Texas and Colorado.

For me, I wanted to read this book for the romance.  I found it hard to read for the military part.  Meaning, I kept getting bogged down in trying to figure out what the ranks meant and some of the military language.  I will say I gained a greater respect for our members of the military; for what they have to go through and endure for war.

If you’re looking for a romance story where there’s immediate attraction by both parties and within the first 15 to 20 pages of the book they succumb to their attraction, this book ISN’T for you.  I like that the book builds up to the true romance.  You get to know the characters and see what they truly are about.

I love the characters in this book from the main characters of Evan Loehr and Claire Montoya to the secondary character of Reza Iaconelli.  Captain Evan Loehr is a career Army man.  He has been in or a part of the military since the age of seventeen.  He is a straight arrow, by the book kind of guy.  He knows what happens when you don’t follow the rules; sometimes the consequences can be deadly.  Captain Claire Montoya is a hard working, break the rules for the greater good, kind of woman.  In her mind, rules should not always be black and white.  Sergeant First Class Reza Iaconelli is my favorite.  Reza is a warrior soldier.  He has his demons but he’s the person you want on your side.  He’s funny and caring.  He can give just as good as he can get.

In fact, Evan, Claire, and Reza all have demons they’re battling.  Evan is dealing with the death of his younger sister thirteen years previously.  Claire has trust issues and feels she isn’t worthy.  Reza is an alcoholic who uses drinking to numb the effects of all the battles he’s been a part of.  Evan and Claire have misconceptions about each other.  It isn’t until they realize the other’s past that they are able to finally understand the other.

Claire and Reza are like best friends.  Best friends who technically shouldn’t be friends, due to the fact that Claire outranks him.  Throughout the book you see all the many times Claire breaks the rules for Reza because she cares so deeply for him and because he’s really good at what he does.

All three are together on a training mission to train a team that a good friend of Claire is a part of.  The training outlined by commander in charge of the division is lacking and Claire wants to change things to enable the troops who are going to be deployed to Iraq the best possible chance at surviving and coming home alive.  Events transpire which result in someone getting injured.  Reza is partially responsible for what happens and Claire takes the fall for him and everyone else.  This puts her future with the military in jeopardy.

Interestingly enough, Reza is the one with the biggest and worst problem.  But he’s also the one who finally forces Evan and Claire to admit their feelings for one another out in the open.

At times, Until There Was You can be a little heartbreaking.  But I love the discovery the characters make within themselves and the others they care about and love.  Evan and Claire are two people who should really find and have a happily ever after.  I wish, no, I hope that the same can be said for Reza.

Rating: 3 ½ (I liked it.)

I was able to review this book by receiving it from NetGalley.

Be sure to check out the official trailer created by Jessica herself.

For more on Jessica Scott visit her website.

Until There Was You can be purchased from Amazon

Sultry with a Twist by Macy Beckett

Welcome to Sultry Springs, Texas:
where first loves find second chances...

Nine years after June Augustine hightailed it out of Sultry Springs with her heart in pieces, one thing stands between her and her dream of opening an upscale martini bar; a bogus warrant from her tiny Texas hometown. Now she's stuck in the sticks for a month of community service under the supervision of the devilishly sexy Luke Gallagher, her first love and ex-best friend.

If Texas wasn't already hot enough, working side-by-side with June would make any man melt. Luke wants nothing more than to strip her down and throw her in the lake-the same lake where they were found buck naked and guilty as sin all those years ago. In their heads, they're older and wise. But their hearts tell a different story..

REVIEW

Generally in every book you will find a word, phrase or sentence which sums the book up. For Sultry with a Twist it is, "Love isn't a feeling, it's a choice, an action, a show of goodwill. It's about serving our brother, listening to him and supporting him without benefit to ourselves. It's believing the best about someone who's wronged us. And love never quits..."

Sultry with a Twist is the debut novel from romance author Macy Beckett. When I think of this book, so many different thoughts come to mind. You have a little religion, you have some steamy love scenes, and some funny, "I can't believe that just happened" moments. Sultry with a Twist was not what I expected and for that I'm glad. I can't wait for the second book to come out. But wait, I don't wanna get ahead of myself.

I've seen the letters "HEA" going around a lot. I had no idea what they stood for. HEA means Happily Ever After. This book is definitely that and then some.

June (wait until you hear her whole name) Augustine and Luke Gallagher grew up together. Due to sad circumstances which happened in their young lives, both June and Luke were raised by Prudence Foster, June's maternal grandmother. Prudence a six-foot-tall pillar of fortitude is VERY religious and ruled her house with a wooden spoon. Because she was so strict, she ran them both off the day they graduated from high school, only to regret her actions and attempt to rectify them years later.

Some people say that you never forget your first love. In both June and Luke's case, this is true. June has loved Luke since they were kids. Luke has always felt unworthy of anyone's love. He's a good man who just doesn't see himself the way others do.

June is really sweet, loving and caring. She's also an accident waiting to happen, some funny and some not so funny. It's one of those accidents that forces Luke to realize his feelings for her. And it's June's unselfish act that finally makes Luke realize that she truly loves him and that he's wasted the last ten years of his life. I can't tell if Grammy "Pru" totally orchestrated the two getting together or not, but she definitely knew what was going on, and looked the over way several times. There's also Luke's best friend of almost nine years, the lovable Trey Lewis who never agrees with him.

The worst part about the Sultry Spring series is having to wait five months for Trey's story to be told in A Shot of Sultry. I really like this book and I can't wait to return to Sultry Springs, Texas to see what happens next.

I received this book from NetGalley, in exchange for my un-biased review.

Rating: 4

Check out Macy's website and learn about the Sultry Springs series.

You can purchase your own copy of Sultry with a Twist through Amazon