Reading Update: 10%

 

This cover is giving the best summer vibes ☀️🧺 

There’s even a park ranger hero, well, undercover but I’ll take what I can get! 

Happy mid-week ❤️ 

Falling in Love on Willow Creek purchase link

Thai Mango Chicken Red Curry with Coconut Rice recipe

I tripled red curry paste, this also uses the best rice, imho, jasmine

Review: His Improper Lady

His Improper Lady by Candace Camp
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 

2.7 stars 

The thief was a woman. 

Tom Quick awakens to an intruder in his detective offices one night and during a tussle, learns the thief is a woman. When he discovers a necklace that got left behind, a gambling token from a casino on a chain, he has a clue to find her. Desiree Malone has always had “funny” feelings and they're telling her to search out who her real father was. When the man who caught her searching his office finds her, he doesn't believe that a clue she found there proves her father was a Moreland, the family that saved him from the rookery. Desiree and Tom work together to find out the truth about Desiree's father but as their trust is building, so is the attraction between them. 

And like him, she didn't belong in either place. 

His Improper Lady is the eight installment of the Mad Morelands series but I haven't read the others and I had no problems understanding the world. The Moreland family and members make a strong showing, they try to steal the show sometimes in the middle and latter half, but, for the most part, the spotlight is brightly on Desiree and Tom together. Desiree, her twin brother Wells, and their older brother Brock know their mother was a mistress to a rich man. When the twins were babies and Brock around seven, their mother and the man ran away together and were never seen again. Brock was transported to Australia while the twins were taken in by a friend of their mothers who was a circus performer and eventually ended up with a kidsman named Falk until Brock managed to make his way back and save them. The Magnificent Malones were popular acrobatic and tumbling acts and very efficient thieves for Falk. The story definitely involves this aspect of Desiree's life with having her teaching Tom some tumbling moves in a special room they have equipped to train in and incorporating it in chase scenes. I thought it was a fun, different element to add in, especially since it wasn't once mentioned, then done but actually utilized. 

“I plan to do a great deal more than look.” He planted his hands on the bed on either side of her, crawling slowly up her body. 

Desiree searching out if her father really was a Moreland (she found a Moreland ring in Tom's partner's desk that matches the one her brother Brock said their father gave him when he was a child) and Tom wanting to protect the Morelands from grifters, because of how they took him in as a child, had these two together from the beginning. The vast majority of the time is taken up by Desiree and Tom together going from person to person from her mother's past and Alistair, the Moreland cousin they learn and think could be Desiree's father, looking for clues. The investigation plot pace was very well-regulated, sometimes painstakingly as I thought around the 70% mark things needed to be wrapped up. This is not a story that has a quick pace and you're going to rush through, it's more sink in and spend a couple days with. Overall, I wouldn't call it slow, but towards the end I did start to get a bit antsy as a sex scene was put in and delayed some action after they learned an important clue. These two had a pretty even keeled vibe to them, Tom doesn't trust her in the beginning but as he gets to know her, he mellows (takes him a wee bit too long) and trusts her. Desiree was the open warm book we all probably wish we could be and I did find myself loving the honesty between them, no hidden truths, angst, or thee drama for this couple. 

And he knew, with his body as much as his mind, that he could not live without this woman. 

The pace and tone of this made me think of instead of taking a plane from Minneapolis to New Orleans, you took a raft down the Mississippi river, slower but probably more idyllic. The mystery and danger aspect never felt too urgent and you'll probably be able to glean some of the whys and hows of Desiree's parents. Tom gets a little bit of the shaft, story wise, because it's all about Desiree but I thought he complimented Desiree sweetly on her journey. If you're a frequent reader of this series, you'll enjoy past couple appearances and looks at this mad Moreland family. There was a very slight paranormal aspect to this with Desiree's inner eye “telling” her about liars and dangers, which seems to be a theme for the Morelands as there were mentions of other family members having some abilities (even mention of a witch who invaded dreams!). Desiree's twin brother Wells, who seems to be a spy for the government, and her older brother Brock, who owns casinos, each have enough charisma to make me want to read their books. You probably won't race through this one but it does have sinkable quality and sweet romance that believably builds.

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Reading Update: Page 1

 

That title 👀 Is she “improper” in public or “improper” only for him?? Only the important questions get asked here, folks 😆 

I can’t wait to find out about this improper lady!

His Improper Lady by Candace Camp preorder (Jun 29) link

Mandarin Orange Spinach Salad with Chicken and Lemon Honey Ginger Dressing recipe

I cooked the chicken with some BBQ seasoning. Great fresh summer salad!

Quickie Review: The Bride Hunt

The Bride Hunt by Margo Maguire
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

1.5 stars 

Me being trash for a cover bites me in the butt once again. Sigh. But look at it, so glorious. But also, let me lodge a formal complaint, our main man Anvrai doesn't actually wear an eye patch until the second half of the story. Not quite a bait and switch but still, you know what the people were coming for with a cover like that. 

Anyway, Anvrai is just wilding out with his scarred face in the beginning, which Isabel, the woman we are supposed to be cheering for, has this to say about that: 

Isabel was too exhausted and cold to feel repulsed by the touch of this scarred and barbaric man. She concentrated her attention on the top of his head, away from the ugly scars that marred his visage. 

But, once ole' Anvrai drops trou, Isabel starts singing a different tune: 

Isabel’s face flushed with heat, and she swallowed thickly when he unfastened his belt and dropped his braies to the ground. She felt no fear or revulsion at the sight of his powerful body, the way she had when the Scottish chieftain had stood naked before her. What she felt was something more like wonder—at their differences, at Anvrai’s raw male potency. 

RAW MALE POTENCY strikes again, folks. 

This is kind of a road romance with the most annoying fifth wheel named Roger. Beautiful Isabel is about to choose her husband but Scots attack and she gets kidnapped along with Roger. Anvrai rescues her and Roger (why tho'?) and they are on the run. Isabel is tentative about liking the scarred RAW MALE POTENCY that is Anvrai because she grew up in a convent and Anvrai is way up in his feelings about not feeling good enough for her. Roger fifth wheels harder than any character I've ever read. They manage to pick up a woman and her baby to seventh wheel this and the whole second half is some descriptive sex scenes (more awkward because I didn't feel any emotional depth to characters' relationship), running from danger, waaaaa “I'm not good enough”, and some surprising real historical figures that gave us a setting for the times (I added the .5 to the rating because of this). 

Pretty simple, no depth or chemistry with characters or story.

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Review: Payback's a Witch

Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 

3.5 stars 

Every fifty years the four founding families of Thistle Grove must hold the Gauntlet, a tourney to determine the founding family that will preside over all things magical in the town. For three hundred years the Blackmoores have only lost once but there is a mutiny brewing. Emmy Harlow left town nine years ago with a broken heart but as the Harlow scion (heir) she must be the Arbiter for the Gauntlet. 

Gareth Blackmoore---my first love, my most humiliating and heart-crushing breakup, and the reason I abandoned an entire life---genuinely did not remember me. 

The delightfully titled Payback's a Witch is a magical realism story that introduces readers to a world they are going to fall in love with. At times overly descriptive with some pacing problems, it nevertheless pulled me into this world and I didn't want to leave. As the first in the series, a lot of the first half is setting up the Thistle Grove world as told through our narrator, Emmy Harlow. The four founding families are the Harlows, Thorns, Avramovs, and Blackmoores. The Harlows are the least powerful with the Blackmoores having the most power and are slowly but surely building a tourist empire that is choking the life out of the other families businesses. In highschool Emmy had a romance with Gareth Blackmoore but he broke it off alluding that Emmy wasn't good enough, which had her leaving town and creating a life in Chicago where she feels she has more agency and power as more than just the bottom of the rung Harlow. However, once the witches leave Thistle Grove, their power immediately starts to lessen until it disappears. 

She tipped her sleek head toward me, lazy grin glinting like a blade's edge. “Enter the final member of our vengeance coven.” 

Reading Update: 10%

 

This title deserves a five course gourmet meal but it’s so hot here, I’m not using the oven, so sammy with the witches. 

🥵🥪🧙‍♀️ 

I’m about four chapters in and, y’all, this is good. 

Stay cool, well read, and fed this weekend, my friends!

Payback's a Witch by Lana Harper preorder (Oct 5) link

Avocado Egg Salad recipe

I sprinkle some paprika on top

Review: The Hellion's Waltz

The Hellion's Waltz by Olivia Waite
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars 

Her father may have begun to recover from Mr. Verrinder’s fraud. But Sophie still had a long, long way to go. 

The Roseingrave family have moved from London to Carrisford after falling prey to a swindler. Their oldest daughter Sophie feels at fault for not seeing what was happening and this has led her to step away from her music playing. When she sees what looks like some woman about to be taken advantage of she tries to step-in. Maddie Crewe is angry at seeing her friends and family being taken advantage of, so with their help, she's running a swindle on the biggest perpetrator, Mr. Giles. When a new woman in town inadvertently almost endangers it and then catches on, she has to trust her instincts and attraction with letting her in. 

This woman was how she’d imagined every cruel heartbreaker in every old ballad she’d ever heard. If you were lucky, you pined away for love of her. If you weren’t lucky, you won her, lost her, and were damned. Here was Sophie, craving damnation. 

The Hellion's Waltz is third in the Feminine Pursuits series, I haven't read the first two but I never had a sense of being lost starting here. We're first introduced to Sophie's musical family, her former opera singer mother, piano builder father, and musically inclined siblings, Sophie herself plays the piano and composes music. The story and characters take on this musical vibe, I thought the beginning gave us the talented orchestra, laid out the movements, but the second half and ending finished in a diminuendo. 

Madeleine Crewe was a ribbon weaver and the current chairwoman of the Carrisford Weavers’ Library (formerly Weavers’ Library and Reform Society, changed for prudence’s sake when the magistrates had started to look askance at any group with the word reform in their name). 

Reading Update: 40%

 

Salad and a shenanigans story ❤️🥗💃🏻❤️ 

Two women and swindles, let the games begin! 

Hope everyone’s Thursday is going as great 🥰

The Hellion's Waltz by Olivia Waite purchase link

Apples & Cheddar Chicken Salad recipe

I love the dressing for this one

Review: Moonrise

Moonrise by Anne Stuart
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Night had already fallen—it came early in October, and the moon was beginning to rise, covering the area with a silver light. In the moonlight, fresh blood would look black. 

I'm going to get this out of the way right away, there isn't any romance in this story. I know this is classified as romance but Annie and James' relationship is love/hate, zero romance, think more teeth gritting than swoony. As I've talked about before, Stuart has my trust as a reader, so when her heroes cross my fiction world soft lines, I hang in there. Y'all, I lost count of the times Jame said or thought about killing Annie, I'm not talking about the “haha, I could strangle you” out of love/frustration we see more often in romance, more of the: 

He looked down at her slender, delicate throat, and thought about how much pressure he'd need to exert to break her neck. It would be simple, easy, no more than a flick of the wrist, and she and her questions would be no threat to anyone. 

He was either going to have to do his damnedest to convince sharp-eyed, quick-witted Annie Sutherland that her father was a harmless bureaucrat who'd died in a freak accident. Or he might have to kill her himself. 

 If someone was going to kill Annie Sutherland, then it ought to be him. 

"I ought to fucking kill you," he said furiously. "You stupid little bitch, if I had any sense I'd cut your throat and have done with it." 

That last line was said around the 85% mark, this was some stark stuff, folks. 

The man who knew the secrets. That's what her father had said years ago. If ever anything happened, anything questionable, she could go to McKinley for the answers, Win had told her in a rare burst of openness. 

#TBRChallenge: June Book with One Word Title

 

This #TBRChallenge is set-up by @SuperWendy (blog). Besides the theme months, this is a pretty relaxing challenge. On the third day of every month participants are encouraged to use the hashtag TBRChallenge and discuss the book they plucked from obscurity. I decided to make a personal rule that a book had to be in my TBR for at least 5 years.

June's theme is Book with One Word Title. I loved the beginning obscurity of this one! With the other themes, I had a few books or authors immediately drift through my mind when I read the prompt, not so with this one. I can get a bit blind to titles (are romance genre titles more goofy, the song titles, y'all :/, than other genres or am I too close for objectivity?) so my mind was blank. I had an excited "OOooh, time to search through my abyss tbr (aka garage sale book boxes) and a worried "I'm about to get lost in searching", as all bookworms know, one does not simply paw through books without half reading them and getting sidetracked. After about ten minutes of searching, I came upon Moonrise by Anne Stuart. If you know anything about Stuart's books and my personal love/hate/obsession/guilt/love with Stuart's heroes, you'll know my face made this expression, after I made sure "Moonrise" was in fact one word, lol,:

Stuart's books are not for everyone and I'm kind of glad they're not; call them anti-heroes or something else but problematic definitely needs to be in the conversation. I wouldn't want teenage girls starting their romance journey with her but yeah, I love to hate them/hate to love them. Moonrise is also romantic suspense, which is one of my favorite sub-genres because I love action/danger with my romance (Knight and Day didn't get the love it deserved). Anyway, I'm already about 20% in and the hero's first thought when he saw the heroine and his ending thought in the last chapter I read, was about killing the heroine. Which seems on par because one of Stuart's heroes has the dubious honor of being called an asshole (Consumed by Fire) the most times in any review I've every written. 

I'm not completely sure when I put this particular Stuart on my tbr, but all her books have, at least mentally, been on my tbr since I first read her, which was in the late '90s. I can't wait to see what other one word titles everyone else is picking!

TBRChallenges: 

January - Unbound by Cara McKenna 

February - Lady Awakened by Cecilia Grant 

March - Anything for Love by Connie Brockway 

April - Sweet Savage Love by Rosemary Rogers

May - Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Review: The Last Confession

The Last Confession by Regina Eden
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars 

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 

“I suppose there can be only two outcomes to our friendship; you will save me or I will damn you.” 

After losing her mother to the gallows, Catalina Cosme is taken in by Madame Poisson, a former courtesan and is raised in the Paris countryside. When she becomes of age, she returns to Paris to stay with a friend of Poisson's, Madame Poppa, who runs a brothel. Catalina follows in their footsteps and becomes a courtesan and is given into contract for one year to Lord Guy. Catalina wants to have feelings for Guy but after one of his drinking nights, he abuses her and she runs to a church to find solace. There she meets Father Benedict Mortimer and while she treasures their friendship, she wants more. 

“Welcome,” said the priest in the prolonged silence. It was a deep voice that made the delicate hairs on Catalina’s nape stand on end. 

Set in 1663 Paris, The Last Confession had taboo (priest and courtesan), age-gap, and slow burn elements. In the second half, it danced into erotic but then started to throw plot points fast and furious into the story and created an ending that felt a little unsatisfying in its abruptness. Mostly told from Catalina's point-of-view, there were two or three times it switched to Father Benedict but they were very short and seemingly out of nowhere, the reader gets insight into how being raised by two courtesans has made Catalina more liberal and aware of the hypocrisy of the church but also looking for some source of comfort and understanding. With these issues, the book, obviously, touches on religious doctrine, equality, and societal issues. There were points made, some missed, but when I picked up this book, I was looking for some delicious slow burn friction and this did have moments that delivered. 

And beneath all the abstinence, all the self-assurance, Father Benedict Mortimer was only a man. And no man was immune to temptation. 

Reading Update: Page 1

Ginger cookies for breakfast, seems appropriate for the steamy historical it looks like I’m about to read 😇 

Enjoy the weekend, everyone! 

The Last Confession by Regina Eden GoodReads page

I got my copy from NetGalley months ago, looks like it isn’t for sale on Amazon right now but maybe check library? 

Soft and Chewy Ginger Cookies recipe

I know some consider soft ginger cookies sacrilegious (tie-in to book 😉) but I love a soft cookie and these are great

Review: A Lowcountry Bride

A Lowcountry Bride by Preslaysa Williams
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.7 stars 

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 

But sickle cell anemia flare-ups didn’t wait for bridal gown designers. 

Maya Jackson has been trying to make her mother proud by working her way up to lead designer at the prestigious Laura Whitcomb Inc., the nation's top bridal gown designer. When a promotion opportunity opens up, Maya is ready to try and impress her boss who has a tendency to reject her Afro-Asian influenced designs in favor of more conventional. Life and timing, as it is, also has Maya asking for time off as she wants to go back home to the lowcountry to help her father who has just broken his hip. There in Charleston, Maya confronts if she can trust again, who she wants to be, and what she really wants out of life. 

This man was not going to mess with her focus. Not happening. 

Lowcountry Bride was a heartfelt story that didn't always delve enough into some of the heavy topics it incorporated but still delivered some incredibly sweet moments. The romance was low heat, just some kisses, and I thought the romance between Maya and Derek was actually the weakest of the story. Derek is a widowed single father who lost his wife to a mass shooting at the New Life Church and is trying to keep his mother's legacy of a bridal dress shop from going into foreclosure and repair his relationship with his daughter. His wife dying in a mass shooting is one of those heavy topics I mentioned wasn't delved into enough. I live in America, so maybe this hits me more than it would others but while it never came off as a salacious additive, it still didn't have the emotional depth I would have liked to see with such an impacting topic. I did enjoy how the author had Maya going home to Charleston to take care of her father but then backing off a little when his “friend” Ginger is there also trying to help him, especially when Ginger is set to retire from her manager job at Derek's bridal shop and has more time now. A bridal shop that Derek desperately needs help at and Maya's boss refused to give her paid time off so she needs to make some extra money on the side. This was all excellent plot threading and made these two entering each other's worlds believable. 

“Excellent. Operation Save Always a Bride shall begin,” he said. And Operation Save Maya would begin too, because the way Derek winked at her just now made her entire body warm. 

Reading Update: Page 1

 

Back from the prairie lands of NE visiting family and ready to relax with a good book. 

☀️It’s scorching out there the whole week for my area, stay cool, well feed and read, my friends!

A Lowcountry Bride by Preslaysa Williams purchase link

Buffalo Chicken Salad Sliders recipe

I double hot sauce and don’t skimp on Hawaiian buns, they're perfect for this!

Quickie rant: Undercover Bromance

Undercover Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

1.5 stars 

Eek, this is a Hating Game situation where it seems everyone loves this book but I could barely make it through it, everything was just too obvious, Liv was a pill the other women complained she was, the fart jokes were not for me, Mack was spouting everything people want men to learn but did it in such a PSA way it felt unnatural, and the "joke" Liv made about Royce's penis as she caught him trying to rape was off-putting to say the least. 

 Hopefully, this is a one-off and I can enjoy the other books in the series :/

View all my reviews

Review: The Wolf and the Woodsman

The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars 

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. 

“The Woodsmen,” she gasps. “They're coming for you.” 

When the Woodsmen came for Evike's mother, the seer Virag took her in, now fifteen years later, Virag is facing her mother's fate. Evike is “barren” she has no ability for the three skills, forge metal; flame; and healing, blessed from their god Isten, so in order to save Katalin, the young seer, Evike is being sacrificed to the Woodsmen. Evike's village and people are called pagans, since they believe in the old and many gods, while most of the four regions of Regorszag have become followers of the Patrifaith and believe in only the Godfather of life and Godfather of death. A bargain was struck that every couple years, a wolf-girl (named for the wolf capes they wear to denote they can do magic or one of the three skills) must be given to the Woodsmen and brought back to the capital city of Kiraly Szek and the King. This assures that the pagans can live in peace without fear of attack. Even though Katalin has bullied Evike her entire life, Evike still goes to the Woodsmen to save her village. 

The women and girls all have two faces---the wolf's and their own. 

Using and incorporating Hungarian and Jewish folklore, The Wolf and the Woodsman, was a fantasy that suffered from some pacing problems in the first half but had an ending that will lock readers into the world. This is told all from Evike's point-of-view, she's twenty-five years old but aside from the, very, macabre folklore told throughout the story, a talk of her sexual past, and a short sex scene, I thought she and the Woodsman captain, that turns out to be the protagonist with her, Barany Gaspar, and the story overall, read like a young adult fantasy. I know this is being marketed as adult because of the all the content warnings (the author has listed them all) but I was a little disappointed that I don't think these twenty-five year old characters felt older than seventeen. 

“Te nem vagy taltos,” he manages, eye wide as he takes in the sight of me, chestnut-haired, unmasked. You are not a seer. 

“Te nem vagy harcos,” I shoot back between ragged breaths. You are not a warrior.