Hit & Run

           Forever & Always by Jasinda Wilder

Ever,

These letters are often all that get me through week to week. Even if it’s just random stuff, nothing important, they’re important to me. Gramps is great, and I love working on the ranch. But…I’m lonely. I feel disconnected, like I’m no one, like I don’t belong anywhere. Like I’m just here until something else happens. I don’t even know what I want with my future. But your letters, they make me feel connected to something, to someone. I had a crush on you, when we first met. I thought you were beautiful. So beautiful. It was hard to think of anything else. Then camp ended and we never got together, and now all I have of you is these letters. S**t. I just told you I have a crush on you. HAD. Had a crush. Not sure what is anymore. A letter-crush? A literary love? That’s stupid. Sorry. I just have this rule with myself that I never throw away what I write and I always send it, so hopefully this doesn’t weird you out too much. I had a dream about you too. Same kind of thing. Us, in the darkness, together. Just us. And it was like you said, a memory turned into a dream, but a memory of something that’s never happened, but in the dream it felt so real, and it was more, I don’t even know, more RIGHT than anything I’ve ever felt, in life or in dreams. I wonder what it means that we both had the same dream about each other. Maybe nothing, maybe everything. You tell me.

Cade
~ ~ ~ ~

Cade,

We’re pen pals. Maybe that’s all we’ll ever be. I don’t know. If we met IRL (in real life, in case you’re not familiar with the term) what would happen? And just FYI, the term you used, a literary love? It was beautiful. So beautiful. That term means something, between us now. We are literary loves. Lovers? I do love you, in some strange way. about you, in these letters, knowing your hurt and your joys, it means something so important to me, that I just can’t describe. I need your art, and your letters, and your literary love. If we never have anything else between us, I need this. I do. Maybe this letter will only complicate things, but like you I have a rule that I never erase or throw away what I’ve written and I always send it, no matter what I write in the letter.

Your literary love,

Ever



Rate & take






Heat Index 3 ☼☼☼


I never saw it coming, all the more traumatic collisions happen that way, and believe me when I say this book ran me right over. It started off in one direction setting a good pace, with solid writing then in a blink it zoomed into a direction that had me off balance and the end slammed me right to a stop.....because there were no more pages! I know because I stared in disbelief long enough. 

Cheese factor cute

Hey There, Delilah by M.D. Saperstein and Andria Large

Hi, my name is Delilah Sampson, and I am a self proclaimed “frump girl.” My world came crashing down the day I walked in on my boyfriend having sex with my boss, rendering me single and jobless. A new job fell into my lap as the secretary of the gorgeous, rich, powerful, and mighty cocky controlling partner at Santino Law Firm. I spend my days trying to please a demanding boss, keeping my lustful thoughts to myself. Until one night, when my best friend drags me to a club, and I fall for a man whose true identity I will never know. 

See, at Club Masquerade, everyone wears a mask and a nametag with a fake name. Also, on your nametag is a number that you are assigned when you come into the club, which is linked to an in-house messaging system; no one is permitted to speak, which ensures that identities are kept secret. I meet my lover every Saturday at 9 pm sharp. We text and email constantly when we are not together, and I have somehow fallen in love with him.

But, then there is Nick Santino. He is the partner that I can’t keep my eyes off. Unfortunately, the only reason he hired me is because he is not attracted to me and all my frump glory. Fortunately, for me, I am a kick ass secretary, so he keeps me around. Like many men in his position, Nick is used to getting what he wants, when he wants it; all without commitment, of course.

So when he finds a woman that he is both physically and emotionally attracted to, he finds himself in unchartered territory – love. And I can do nothing but be jealous from the sidelines – lusting for a man I can’t have, and loving a man I can’t know.

Hey there, Delilah is book 1 of the Taboo Love series, in which we tackle the boss/secretary relationship. Each book will be a stand alone with a HEA, but will have a few reoccurring characters.


Rate & take





Heat Index 1 ☼

I'm kind of speechless on this one. I did have issues with the writing but I can't say I didn't find it a fun. If you're down for the genre this is a lite beach read, no big surprises just cute.

Such Sweetness

Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen


The women of the Waverley family -- whether they like it or not -- are heirs to an unusual legacy, one that grows in a fenced plot behind their Queen Anne home on Pendland Street in Bascom, North Carolina. There, an apple tree bearing fruit of magical properties looms over a garden filled with herbs and edible flowers that possess the power to affect in curious ways anyone who eats them.

For nearly a decade, 34-year-old Claire Waverley, at peace with her family inheritance, has lived in the house alone, embracing the spirit of the grandmother who raised her, ruing her mother's unfortunate destiny and seemingly unconcerned about the fate of her rebellious sister, Sydney, who freed herself long ago from their small town's constraints. Using her grandmother's mystical culinary traditions, Claire has built a successful catering business -- and a carefully controlled, utterly predictable life -- upon the family's peculiar gift for making life-altering delicacies: lilac jelly to engender humility, for instance, or rose geranium wine to call up fond memories. Garden Spells reveals what happens when Sydney returns to Bascom with her young daughter, turning Claire's routine existence upside down. With Sydney's homecoming, the magic that the quiet caterer has measured into recipes to shape the thoughts and moods of others begins to influence Claire's own emotions in terrifying and delightful ways.

As the sisters reconnect and learn to support one another, each finds romance where she least expects it, while Sydney's child, Bay, discovers both the safe home she has longed for and her own surprising gifts. With the help of their elderly cousin Evanelle, endowed with her own uncanny skills, the Waverley women redeem the past, embrace the present, and take a joyful leap into the future.


Rate and take





I've had this book for a long time and finally got around to reading it. it was a very rewarding experience. So sweet and nicely paced, the whole thing was a feel-good read from beginning to end. No big plot twists, just a nice, easy going ride.

Continually yanking my chain

The Arrangement 13 by H.M. Ward

 'I can't lose her.' Those are the words that haunt me, the phrase that repeats in an endless loop in my mind. Images from my past collide with the present until I can no longer tell them apart. I try to hold onto what's real--hold onto her--Avery, but death is looming and it seems that no matter what I do, I can't save her.


Rate & take





                                             
                                                      Heat Index  3 ☼☼☼ (but just briefly)


H.M. Ward keeps the good story coming (albeit in very small doses) and I am right there downloading every bit of it and then saying, 'Please may I have some more?' She drives me a bit crazy with the cliff hanger endings and I'm reluctant to admit, I do like them.

A great new look

Taut: The Ford Book by J.A. Huss


Ford Aston is known for many things. Being an emotionless, messed up bastard, a freakishly smart social outcast, and a cold, domineering master who keeps "pets" instead of girlfriends.

And after Rook broke his heart, he plans to keep it that way.

Ashleigh is known for nothing, and that's exactly what she's got going for her. She's broke, stranded in the mountains with a three month old baby, and Ford Aston is screwing with her head.

Big. Time.

And she plans to mess with his right back.

It's a coy game at first, filled with flirting, and innuendo--but Ford soon realizes something is not quite right with Ashleigh. In fact, something is seriously, seriously wrong and the closer they get to their final destination, the closer Ford gets to the truth.

One night of devastation, self-loathing, and emptiness turns into the best thing that ever happened to Ford Aston. But one day of in-your-face reality threatens Ashleigh's whole existence.


Rate & take




Heat Index  3 ☼

I first got to know Ford in the Rook & Ronin series (click for reviews to books 1,2, & 3) through his own words and the opinions/thoughts of others. I thought I kind of knew some of what the guy was about until this book, where I was given entry into his thoughts and feelings. Now all I can say is wow! What an impression he has made on me, he is so much more than the sum of his parts in the R & R series. Thank you J.A. Huss for writing this satisfying story. There will be more spin off books to come out of the R & R series in the next few months and I am happily anticipating. Good reads are to be cherished when found.

By a nose

The Valery Dearborn Trilogy by Caroline Hanson

This box set contains three full-length novels.

Love is Darkness

Love is Fear

Love is Mortal

From Love is Darkness:

Valerie Dearborn wants a cotton candy life, but it’s more like a puffer fish: pointy, unusual, and—if not prepared exactly right—deadly.

In London for graduate school, Val knows she's finally free. Her father and ex-almost-boyfriend are back in California and she's out of the Vampire hunting biz for good. Or is she?

She draws the attention of Lucas, a 1600 year old Vampire, and King to his kind. He’s also wicked hot. As golden as Lucifer, and just as tempting, he makes Valerie an offer she can't refuse— help him find out if the Others (Empaths, Fey and Werewolves) still exist or he'll stop protecting those she loves.

Lucas tells her that Empaths were a Vampire’s biggest weakness before going extinct hundreds of years ago. While the Fey or a Werewolf might kill a Vampire, an Empath could enslave them, seducing or harming with emotions at will. The one detail he leaves out? Valerie is an Empath.

And after 1600 years of an emotionless existence, Lucas wants Valerie like a recovering alcoholic wants a wine cooler.

Can she keep those she loves alive, stop Lucas from munching on her, survive a fanged revolution and still find a way to have that boring, normal life she’s always wanted? Probably not, but boy is she gonna try!

Rate & take

Heat Index  1 ☼

This series came really close to getting a 2 and 1/2 skull rating but it pulled off a quick change at the end and earned its way back to a three. Book two was the sticking point for me, much of it was just a lot of internal dialog that didn't move the story very much. My .02 cents in the opinion department would have been to edit the entire story and condense it into two satisfying books. To be fair there were a number of elements that made the story fresh. If you enjoy the tensions between and within the Fey and Vampire worlds, give this trilogy a go.

Slow and careful burn

The Firebird by Susanna Kearsley

Nicola Marter was born with a gift: when she touches an object, she sometimes glimpses those who have owned it before. When the gallery she works in receives a wooden carving she can see the object’s history and knows that it was named after the Firebird, the mythical bird that inspires an old Russian fairytale and was once owned by Russia’s famed Empress Catherine.

Nicola’s investigation into the Firebird’s origin draws her into the 1715 world of Anna Logan and leads her on a quest through Scotland, France and Russia, unearthing a tale of love and sacrifice, of courage and redemption.


Rate & take




This was a story within a story that unraveled at a beautiful pace revealing layer after layer of both stories. I could have happily lived much longer within its pages, but as I often need to remind myself, all things do come to an end.

I wish there had been more to the blurb above because there is so much more to this story than can be covered in a few sentences. If you need a long winters tale to see you through this frozen time of year, or if you just want to pass your time with some enjoyable reading this book is a really good choice.