Romance Thursday: "The Inconvenient Duchess" by Christine Merrill

Genre: Historical Romance. 304 pages.

Price: $5.49 ebook (at time of post)

Publisher & Date: Harlequin Historical, April 1, 2013.

Book Link: Click Here

Listed Rating:  . 2

Price I Paid: $0 (got it FREE on March 7, 2013)

My Rating:   

My Thoughts: Unsuspecting But Perfect Fit

      Full honesty I'm a huge fan for gentry historical fiction, so obviously by the title I was interested to read about a girl falling into a duchess position. Now this particular novel I've managed to read twice, because it was reprinted through a new romance publisher. As far as I can tell the story is the same except for being cleaned up a bit, but it's basically the original with all its drama intact. 

      With no prospects, save for being a servant or falling prey to becoming a Lord's mistress, Miranda, is sent away by her ward and father to an old friend. Miranda has the birth title of Lady, but her father's debt left them destitute. Hoping only to be given housing until introductions to a prospective husband can be made, Miranda instead finds herself in a compromising position. The lady of the house is now longer alive and now only the Duke with his rakish brother reside at the manor. The Duke of Haughleigh, Marcus Radwell, finds Miranda to be an inconvenience, but ever the gentleman offers his hand to save her honor. So when Miranda decides to become a proper duchess and the Duke learns to love again, What seemed like a convenient proposal is anything but, especially when someone is set on disrupting their possible happiness.

      Overall, nice read. Maybe it was the two times I read it, but I wasn't overly into the book. The drama was there but honestly I was so irritated by the jerk of a brother half the time I wanted the Duke to just throw his butt out and bye-bye problems. Miranda is probably my favorite in the story because she just minds her business and takes names. She may have landed the best title and husband by mere accident, but she goes to work on ensuring she is a Duchess and the manor is fit for a Duke, even if said Duke isn't home. The Duke you may eventually come to like, he has a heart its just locked down, because of past hurt. However, when he does show love to Miranda it's so endearing. So if you are looking a story about a girl finding love after entering a marriage by circumstances and a Duke learning to open his heart on the chance it may be broken for the last time, then try this novel.

$ALE Alert!! - "The Star Series" by Krysten Lindsay Hager

"Next Door To A Star" (Book #1)

Price dropped as of November 16, 2016

from $3.99 to $0.99 (that's a 75% Price Drop)

Click Here
Review Post: N/A

"Competing With The Star" (Book #2)

Price dropped as of November 16, 2016

from $3.99 to $0.99 (that's a 75% Price Drop)

Click Here

Book Tour Post: Link Here

NEW BOOK OUT!!- "Oblivion" by Jessica Sorensen

!! NEW RELEASE !!

by Jessica Sorensen

Author Links: Amazon Page, Facebook, Website, Twitter.

Penned Series: Unraveling You Series, The Secret Series, The Fallen Star Series, The Shattered Promises Series, Death Collectors, The Breaking Nova Series, The Coincidence Novels, Darkness Falls, and Unbeautiful Series.

Book 3, in The Broken City Series

"Oblivion"

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Dystopian. 132 pages.

Price: $2.99 ebook (at time of post)

Book Link: Click Here

- SYNOPSIS -

Every day my life becomes more in danger. The only way to survive might be to enter the Oblivion and relive my forgotten memories. But my mind may be even more dangerous than reality.

--------------------------------------------------------

Now Available ....

"Nameless" (Book #1)- Click Here

Price: $0.99 (at time of post)

"Forsaken" (Book #2)- Click Here
Price: $2.99 (at time of post)
______________________________________________________________________

COVER REVEAL!!- "Hole Hearted" (Songbird Series, Novel #9) by Melissa Pearl

!! COVER REVEAL !!

Release Date: 

November 22, 2016

Genre: Contemporary Romance.

 Price: N/A (at time of post)

Goodreads Link: Click Here

- SYNOPSIS -

Cassie Grayson doesn’t know how to be a mom. She’s twenty-two and hardly in a position to care for a kid. But when her twelve-year-old nephew is dumped in her lap, she does the only thing she can: she takes him in. 

Neither of them have it easy as they try to navigate this unknown path. Cassie must deal with her feelings toward her estranged sister and her own rocky childhood growing up in the foster care system. Felix is still reeling from being uprooted from the only life he’s ever known, and he doesn’t connect with his weird, emotionless aunt. The only person who seems to breach the gap between them is Troy Baker, the counselor assigned to Felix. 

To Troy, Felix and Cassie should be just another case, but they’re not. Something about the hopeless duo captures his heart, and in spite of his hesitation he finds himself falling for both of them. Felix’s quiet strength is endearing, but it’s Cassie’s determination to not let her nephew down that chips away at his own walls, daring him to more than just help her…but maybe fall in love as well. 

Can three strangers from completely different worlds create an unlikely family? Or are the hidden holes in their hearts too big to heal?

--------------------------------------------------------

Now Available ....

"Fever" (Book #1)- Click Here 

Price: $0.99 (at time of post)

"Bulletproof" (Book #2)- Click Here
Price: $3.99 (at time of post)

"Everything" (Book #3)- Click Here 
Price: $3.99 (at time of post)

"Home" (Book #4)- Click Here 
Price: $3.99 (at time of post)

"True Love" (Book #5)- Click Here 
Price: $3.99 (at time of post)

"Troublemaker" (Book #6)- Click Here
Price: $3.99 (at time of post)

"Rough Waters" (Book #7)- Click Here

Price: $3.99 (at time of post)

"Geronimo" (Book #8)- Click Here

Price: $2.99 (at time of post)

_____________________________________________________________________

NEW BOOK OUT!!- "Scorched Ice" by Erica Stevens

!! NEW RELEASE !!

by Erica Stevens

Author Links: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Amazon Page, Blog.

Penned Series:  The Captive Series, The Survivor Chronicles, The Ravening Series, and The Kindred Series.

Book 3, in The Fire and Ice Series

"Scorched Ice"

Genre: New Adult, Romantic Suspense, Vampires. 246 pages.

Price: $2.99 ebook (at time of post)

Book Link: Click Here

- SYNOPSIS -

Julian will stop at nothing to keep Quinn safe from the vampires seeking to use her for her special abilities. Deciding that desperate times call for desperate measures, Julian sets a plan into motion that will force him to do something he’s managed to avoid for five hundred years. 

Willing to do what she must in order to find peace for her and Julian, Quinn agrees to go along with his plan. However, when an old enemy resurfaces, Quinn knows it will take everything she has to keep Julian from going over the edge. 

Find out how it all ends in the conclusion to 
The Fire and Ice Series. 

**The Fire and Ice series is a spin off based on characters from The Kindred Series. You do not have to read The Kindred Series in order to enjoy this book. The maturity level of this series will grow with each book and is recommended for readers 17+**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPT

Teaser #1: 
“The vampires must be organized," Julian said. "They’re far more dangerous to us, to humans, and to the Hunters while they continue to remain scattered like they are.”
“You have a plan for that?” Devon asked.
“I do.”

Teaser #2: 
Turning away from Julian, she walked toward the small, blue bathroom. “I’m going to take a shower,” she said over her shoulder to him.
“I’ll join you.”
She opened her mouth to respond when one of the disposable phones he’d stocked up on before their meeting with the vamps started ringing. Julian had kept his own phone, but their core group were the only ones who had the number to it.
“Ignore it,” he said as he stalked toward her, a predatory gleam in his eyes.
“You can’t ignore it,” she retorted as she danced toward the bathroom. “It could be important. Your duty is calling you.”

---------------------------------------------------------------

Now Available ....

"Frost Burn" (Book #1)- Click Here

Price: $0 FREE (at time of post)

"Arctic Fire" (Book #2)- Click Here

Price: $2.99 (at time of post)
______________________________________________________________________

COVER REVEAL!!- "Fractured" (Vampire Awakenings Series, Book 6) by Brenda K. Davies

!! COVER REVEAL !!

Release Date: 

January 18, 2016

Genre: Paranormal, Romance, Vampires. 163 pages.

 Pre-Order Price: $2.99 (at time of post)

Pre-Order Link: Click Here

- SYNOPSIS -

In this gripping Vampire Awakenings Series novella, 
David finally meets his match. 

Freed from the chains and the vampires that once held her, Mia struggles every day to come to terms with her captivity and the aftermath of what she endured. 

Knowing that she can’t stand the touch of another, David will do whatever he can to help Mia while she tries to figure out who she is now, and how to handle the deepening bond between them. 

However, just when Mia starts to think that she may be able to find happiness again with David, a danger she never knew existed rises up and threatens to take it all away from her once more. 

**Due to language, violence, and sexual content this book is recommended for readers 18+**

--------------------------------------------------------

Now Available ....

"Awakened" (Book #1)- Click Here

Price: $0 FREE (at time of post)
---  ---  ---

"Destined" (Book #2)- Click Here

Price: $3.99 (at time of post)

---  ---  ---

"Untamed" (Book #3)- Click Here

Price: $3.99 (at time of post)

---  ---  ---

"Enraptured" (Book #4)- Click Here

Price: $3.99 (at time of post)

---  ---  ---

"Undone" (Book #5)- Click Here

Price: $3.99 (at time of post)

_____________________________________________________________________

eBook B.O.L.O.- "Scorched Ice" (The Fire and Ice Series, Book 3) by Erica Stevens

Be On The Look Out!

Don't forget about this pending release!

Release date: November 15, 2016

Genre:  New Adult, Romantic Suspense, Vampires. 246 pages.
Pre-Order Price: $2.99 (at time of post)
Pre-Order Link: Click Here

**Check out the book announcement: Click Here**

NEW BOOK OUT!!- "The Chemist" by Stephenie Meyer

!! NEW RELEASE !!

by Stephenie Meyer

Author Links: Amazon Page, Website, Twitter, Goodreads.

Penned Series: The Twilight Saga. AND single novel: The Host.

"The Chemist"

Genre: Adult, Contemporary, Spy, Thriller. 523 pages.

Price: $14.99 ebook (at time of post)

Book Link: Click Here

- SYNOPSIS -

In this gripping page-turner, an ex-agent on the run from her former employers must take one more case to clear her name and save her life. 

She used to work for the U.S. government, but very few people ever knew that. An expert in her field, she was one of the darkest secrets of an agency so clandestine it doesn't even have a name. And when they decided she was a liability, they came for her without warning. 

Now, she rarely stays in the same place or uses the same name for long. They've killed the only other person she trusted, but something she knows still poses a threat. They want her dead, and soon. 

When her former handler offers her a way out, she realizes it's her only chance to erase the giant target on her back. But it means taking one last job for her ex-employers. To her horror, the information she acquires only makes her situation more dangerous.

Resolving to meet the threat head on, she prepares for the toughest fight of her life, but finds herself falling for a man who can only complicate her likelihood of survival. As she sees her choices being rapidly whittled down, she must apply her unique talents in ways she never dreamed of.

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<==========>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
EXCERPT

Chapter 1: 

     Chris was ready, her denuded novels already stowed away in her backpack, when the teenage girl left to go find another source. Without jumping up or looking like she’d rushed, Chris was in the chair before any of the other lingering hopefuls even realized their chance had passed. 

     Actually checking her e-mail usually took about three minutes. 

     After that, she would have another four hours— if she wasn’t driving evasively— to get back to her temporary home. Then of course the reassembly of her safeguards before she could finally sleep. E-mail day was always a long one. 

     Though there was no connection between her present life and this e-mail account— no repeat IP address, no discussion of places or names— as soon as she was done reading and, if the occasion called for it, answering her mail, she would be out the door and speeding out of town, putting as many miles between herself and this location as possible. Just in case.

    Just in case had become Chris’s unintentional mantra. She lived a life of overpreparation, but, as she often reminded herself, without that preparation she wouldn’t be living a life at all. 

    It would be nice not to have to take these risks, but the money wasn’t going to last forever. Usually she would find a menial job at some mom-and-pop place, preferably one with handwritten records, but that kind of job generated only enough money for the basics— food and rent. Never the more expensive things in her life, like fake IDs, laboratory apparatus, and the various chemical components she hoarded. So she maintained a light presence on the Internet, found her rare paying client here and there, and did everything she could to keep this work from bringing her to the attention of those who wanted her to stop existing. 

    The last two e-mail days had been fruitless, so she was pleased to see a message waiting for her— pleased for the approximately two-tenths of a second it took her to process the return address. 

    l.carston. 463@ dpt11a.net 

    Just out there— his real e-mail address, easily traceable directly to her former employers. As the hair rose on the back of her neck and the adrenaline surged through her body— Run, run, run it seemed to be shouting inside her veins— part of her was still able to gape in disbelief at the arrogance. She always underestimated how astonishingly careless they could be.

    They can’t be here yet, she reasoned with herself through the panic, her eyes already sweeping the library for men with shoulders too broad for their dark suits, for military haircuts, for anyone moving toward her position. She could see her car through the plate-glass window, and it looked like no one had tampered with it, but she hadn’t exactly been keeping watch, had she? 

     So they’d found her again. But they had no way of knowing where she would decide to check her mail. She was religiously random about that choice. 

     Just now, an alarm had gone off in a tidy gray office, or maybe several offices, maybe even with flashing red lights. Of course there would be a priority command set up to trace this IP address. Bodies were about to be mobilized. But even if they used helicopters— and they had that capability— she had a few minutes. Enough to see what Carston wanted. 

      The subject line was Tired of running? 

      Bastard. 

      She clicked it open. The message wasn’t long. 

            Policy has changed. We need you. Would an 

            unofficial apology help? Can we meet? I wouldn’t 

            ask, but lives are on the line. Many, many lives.

     She’d always liked Carston. He seemed more human than a lot of the other dark suits the department employed. Some of them— especially the ones in uniform— were downright scary. Which was probably a hypocritical thought, considering the line of work she used to be in. 
     So of course it was Carston they’d had make contact. They knew she was lonely and frightened, and they’d sent an old friend to make her feel all warm and fuzzy. Common sense, and she probably would have seen through the ploy without help, but it didn’t hurt that the same ploy had been used once in a novel she’d stolen. 
     She allowed herself one deep breath and thirty seconds of concentrated thought. The focus was supposed to be her next move— getting out of this library, this town, this state, as soon as possible— and whether that was enough. Was her current identity still safe, or was it time to relocate again? 
     However, that focus was derailed by the insidious idea of Carston’s offer. 
     What if  .  .  .

******************************************************

Friday Favs: "Nora & Kettle" by Lauren Nicolle Taylor

Genre: Young Adult, Historical. 355 pages. 

Price: $3.99 ebook (at time of post)

Publisher & Date: Clean Teen Publishing. February 29, 2016.

Book Link: Click Here

Listed Rating:  . 7

Price I Paid: $0.99 on May 1, 2016

My Rating:  

My Thoughts: The Street Kings of Nowhereland.
         To say this novel is brilliant feels to light-handed a compliment compared to how well crafted the story was written. The author, Lauren Nicolle Taylor, did a masterful job entwining history with an old childhood tale while still hitting on key subjects that translate to contemporary issues a reader can easily understand or relate too. Both lead characters are the epitome of resilience and after reading this novel I definitely can't wait for more of Nora & Kettle.
         Always looking to the night sky Nora Deere, is not afraid of the dark but is afraid of what comes in the dawn. The terror Nora feels doesn't come in her dreams, but is a person in her waking hours who should be loving and protecting of her. So when the unthinkable happens and the one person that kept most of the danger at bay dies, Nora knows her life will only be harder to endure. The only saving grace for Nora is her little sister Frankie, whom Nora continually sacrifices herself for in order to keep her out of their abusers path. However, one punishment was too much and when trying to escape Nora ends up finding herself alone and running from all she knew. Kettle has been running his whole life, never having a place to call home. When Kettle was taken to a Japanese internment camp as a child and given a pseudo family, but when his adopted mother died and the war finished, his adopted brother Kin and him decide to run from the soldiers during reassignment. Being on their own Kettle and Kin find their own way on the streets while hiding from the authorities. The brothers take in other street kids to form a family of sorts who help one another in a world that has forgotten or been cruel to them. So when Kettle stumbles upon Nora who seems like any other helpless street kid abused by the world, he offers her his help. The connection these two form will have lasting effects on each other both ideologically and emotionally; especially when they choose to team up and confront the demons that plague them.
       Overall, amazing read! It's no secret that I love history so any novel with the purpose of expounding on a historical moment I'm definitely interested in reading. Having the characters go through so much set in America post World War 2 is a hard setting to write in, but this author does it wonderfully. Nora's life is heartbreaking to read about, but I absolutely love her character and strength. So much growth occurs for Nora that you go through all her moments with a hope that in the end she gets a HEA, because she deserves some happiness after all she has endured. Ugh, I honestly cried more than once reading Nora's chapters and her words are tragically poetic. Then there is Kettle who is absolutely the hero. Yes, Kettle too is faced with problems, but he is definitely the hero and glue to the group of lost children. Kettle is in selfless and caring which are welcoming traits for Nora to find in a person after surviving hell at home. Now one last thing, I absolutely loved the dual perspective from Kettle and Nora, it completely helped bind me to them on a emotional level as their lives developed and turned until they collided. So if you are looking for a story about an abused girl lost emotionally finding a boy hiding and trying to survive in the world, who form a bond and try to fly, then this novel is definitely worth a read. 

eBook B.O.L.O.- "Oblivion" (Broken City Book 3) by Jessica Sorensen

Be On The Look Out!

Don't forget about this pending release!

Release date: November 15, 2016

Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Dystopian. 141 pages.
Pre-Order Price: $2.99 (at time of post)
Pre-Order Link: Click Here

**Check out the book announcement: Click Here**