Book Blast: Sweet Magic Song by Olivia Hardin

Belle Bittner was sold to the highest bidder when she was just a child, sought for the magic lying dormant in her blood. She grew up as the adopted daughter of a wealthy vampire couple, and serving the child-trafficking Org seemed her only option in life. But Belle has other plans, and she won’t let anyone get in the way of her escape, even if it means betraying those who try to help her. Desperate to stay free of an evil vampire who means to possess her no matter what, Belle decides she can use the protection of the flirtatious faery named Roon. The two of them flee to the faery realm where Rooney believes he can better protect her. What he doesn’t know is that taking the bea utiful siren through the golden door will set off a cataclysm of events that will threaten the fabric of both the human and the faery worlds. Separating myth from fact to decipher the truth about her powers could mean the destruction of the new life Belle’s trying so hard to build.

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About the Olivia:

When Olivia Hardin began having movie-like dreams in her teens, she had no choice but to begin putting them to paper. Before long, the writing bug had her and she knew she wanted to be a published author. Several rejections plus a little bit of life later, and she was temporarily “cured” of the urge to write. That is until she met a group of talented and fabulous writers who gave her the direction and encouragement she needed to get lost in the words again. Olivia’s attended three different universities over the years and toyed with majors in Computer Technology, English, History and Geology. Then one day she heard the term road scholar and she knew that was what she wanted to be. Now she “studies” anything and everything just for the joy of learning. She's also an insatiable crafter who only completes about 1 out of 5 projects, a jogger who hates to run, and she’s sometimes accused of being artistic. A native Texas girl, Olivia lives in the beautiful Lone Star state with her husband, Danny and their puppy, Bonnie.

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Book Blast: Love by Deception by Debra Elizabeth

Love by Deception

Book 2, Age of Innocence

Blurb:

Content with her life as a lady's maid, Isabel Knott learns the father she never knew has left her a fortune. The news comes with one restriction--she can never reveal his name. Isabel falls in love with Colby Tisbury, but with her nonexistent pedigree his father, Lord Tisbury, will never accept her as his daughter-in-law. Colby Tisbury must marry, and soon. If he doesn't find a bride before the end of the Season, his father will supply one. Then Colby meets sassy Isabel Knott, and everything changes--but can he go against his father's wishes and marry a girl utterly lacking in family and connections? Isabel is forced to make an impossible choice - reveal her secret identity and bring shame to her true father or lose Colby forever.

Review: Homecoming Ranch by Julia London

About the book
Title: Homecoming Ranch (Pine River)
Author: Julia London
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Release date: August 13, 2013
Pages: 312
Where I got the book: I received an e-copy of the book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Summary

Madeline Pruett has made up for a lonely childhood and being raised by an irresponsible single mom by creating a solitary world where timetables and highlighters are essential for the predictability she craves. But Madeline is shocked out of her carefully constructed life by word that a father she never knew has died and left her an inheritance and, surprisingly, two unknown sisters. Madeline hopes that she can fly to Colorado, meet her sisters, discover her inheritance, and return to Orlando in a few days to close the biggest deal of her budding real estate career and get back to what she knows best: a quiet life.

For years, Luke Kendrick has juggled school and career and rescuing his family from illness, death and financial crisis. But he has never lost sight of his goals: building and selling his own dream homes. Just when it seems that dream might finally materialize, Luke is called home to Pine River, Colorado to reclaim the ranch his father lost in a gentlemen’s agreement. He is not surprised—Luke’s family knows he will put his life on hold to rescue them...again. But Luke is surprised by a sexy yet uptight button-up woman in impractical shoes who thinks his ranch now belongs to her.

Madeline isn’t sure how to put order to a sprawling, rundown ranch, not to mention a pair of sisters who are nothing like what she imagined or hoped them to be. The only thing she’s sure of is that careful planning is useless in a place where roads have names like Sometimes Pass and men as ruggedly handsome as Luke Kendrick behave so unpredictably.

As Luke and Madeline go toe to toe over the future of the ranch, sparks fly as hot and fiery as their kisses. Madeline thinks she’s the expert, but it’s Luke who teaches her a thing or two—about breaking down walls, finding home, and the true meaning of family.

My review

As a huge fan of the romance genre, I rarely see new ideas. "There is nothing new under the sun." A great author (and there are so many!) can take any plot and make it her (or his) own. That's what London has done with Homecoming Ranch. Fans of Nora Roberts will have flashbacks to her trilogy about three sisters who inherit a ranch. I loved that series, but I'm thrilled to report that London's series is nothing like it. 

First of all, London absolutely hit the jackpot with Leo. I'm completely in love with this guy, and he's not even supposed to be the star of the show. He sweeps in and steals the whole thing, though. Aside from his personality, choosing to have Leo narrate parts of the book was a unique and original idea that sets this one apart from other romance novels. (Did I mention I've read a few thousand?)

Madeline's mother drove me crazy, but Madeline handles her like a pro. Over her mother's harping, and aside from her relationship with Luke, Madeline has to decide if having a relationship with her sisters is more important than having complete control over every aspect of her life. 

There is plenty of humor in this book, too. Along with Leo's narration, Madeline's new experiences with animals are pretty entertaining. Definitely a book you don't want to miss.

Author Interview: Sherri Hayes

Sherri is the author of Hidden Threat, Behind Closed Doors (A Daniels Brothers’ Novel), and a short story, A Christmas Proposal. She lives in central Ohio with her husband and three cats. Her mother fostered her love for books by reading to Sherri when she was a child. Stories have been floating around in her head for as long as she can remember, but she didn’t start writing them down until five years ago. It has become a creative outlet that allows her to explore a wide range of emotions while having fun taking her characters through all the twists and turns she can create. When she’s not writing, she can usually be found helping her husband in his woodworking shop.

Book Review: Destiny Unchained by Leia Shaw

Blurb:

They call her The Huntress. A vampire with lethal focus, Natalia hunts rogue werewolves and kills them without mercy. She buried her heart centuries ago. Now she lives only for revenge. But when she’s forced to team up with the alpha of the northwest werewolf pack to catch a werewolf serial killer, her carefully controlled world is shattered by the passionate Cristian. Will Natalia accept Cristian’s claim on her heart even if it means sacrificing a part of who she is?

*Warning: this book contains sexual content not intended for readers under the age of 18*

Review and Giveaway: Forbidden Life by Kimberly Kinrade

BOOK BLURB: The road to redemption begins in darkness. A sinister force waits for them in darkness, ready to devour their powers and take their lives. Sam's baby is the key to a lock that must never been opened. To keep her child safe, Sam will do anything. Drake might have found a way to get his powers back and save his family, but is it too late? Luke and Lucy uncover secrets in an organization they thought they could trust, and the lives of all Rent-A-Kid children are at stake. In this last Forbidden Trilogy installment, the secrets to Rent-A-Kid will finally be revealed.

Book Review and Giveaway: Pleasant Lake P.D. by Kelly Fitzpatrick

Book blurb: 

Alexandria Moreno, parking enforcement officer for the serene town of Pleasant Lake, has signed on with the FBI to nail a gorgeous suspected criminal, Miguel Diaz, who's passing himself off as a legitimate businessman. Alex's assignment is to use her feminine wiles, of which she has few, to infiltrate Diaz's world and find some evidence for a conviction. To complicate matters, she's teamed up with Detective Roman Plow, who is her ex-boyfriend, though the FBI doesn't know it. As they focus on retaliating for past wrongs, real and imagined, their smoldering love/hate relationship brews. They're not exactly an ideal team. With her bumbling nature, a steamer trunk full of emotional baggage, and no investigating skills, Alex spends most of her time reminding herself that the tall, dark, and handsome Miguel Diaz is not her real boyfriend and struggling to keep from falling into his bed. As she tries to dig up dirt on her undercover lover, the steamy investigation leads to a fight for her life. But who is behind the attacks?

Review and Giveaway: Kentucky Green by Terry Irene Blain

Book Description:

April Williamson’s heart calls her across the frontier, but only one man—a handsome army scout with a tormented past—can get her safely to freedom.

Daniel McKenzie was an army scout—quiet, capable, handsome…and utterly unwilling to be the trail guide April Williamson needed to reach Kentucky. The Indian attack at Blue Licks was but one bitter taste of the American frontier, a massacre that had taken her father just as cholera had taken her mother. But April would not give up on her dream. At journey’s end was independence, and nothing would stand in her way. 

The young widow was beautiful and determined, but the months of travel involved in her plan would be too hard. Without the general’s order Dan would have told any woman no, but April especially. His secret would destroy her—or she might destroy him. April’s kiss was like the country itself. Restless and sweet, it promised a love that denied every boundary and looked only to freedom and the future.

Review and Giveaway: Colorado Silver, Colorado Gold by Terry Irene Blain

Book description: 

To protect her sister, Juliette Lawson stole documents and fled west. Now Wes Westmoreland, undercover lawman, threatens both her plan and her heart.

Socialite Juliette Lawson fled west from Philadelphia on a train and in disguise. In Colorado she’d be safe; she’d take work with her uncle at the Rio d'Oro, his smelting operation. Her actions back east had been wrong, but to protect her pregnant sister from scandal she would have done anything. Then she met a man as hungry for answers as she was for independence. A handsome, honorable man. For him, she wished the truth was hers to tell.


From the first, Wes Westmoreland knew he couldn’t trust her. Having grown up in the saloons and brothels of San Francisco, he saw trust, like love, as a luxury an undercover lawman couldn’t afford. Not on a job like this one, not with gold involved. This woman dressed as a widow was clearly hiding something; he’d felt it the moment they touched. But he’d felt other things too, stirrings in his heart, and for the first time ever, he saw riches worth the peril.