Romance | Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

THE LAST RENEGADE by Jo Goodman

May 29, 2016

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Bitter Springs Series, Book 1

This is the first book of a trilogy, and I read the second and third books a while ago and really liked them. Like most romances, order isn’t all that important but I was happy to finally get the background of this trilogy.

These are historicals, set in the Old West around 1889, and I have learned that the difference between Western Romance and just plain old westerns is the happy ending. Romances must have a happy ending, and westerns often end with somebody riding out of town.

Bitter Springs is a small town in Wyoming, a train stop on the western route. When a man named Nat Church gets murdered on the train, Kellen Coltrane is there. Nat hides his guns in Coltrane’s bags, and gives him some letters, asking him to stop in Bitter Springs and see “Penny Royal.”

Turns out Pennyroyal is the name of the hotel and the owner, the Widder Berry, is expecting him. Her sister was raped and murdered and the man sentenced to jail for it has escaped. His family runs the small town with bloodshed and fear, and the Widder wants to put an end to all the bloodshed.

Meanwhile, one by one the jurors and the marshal are killed so this is more mystery than romance. But Coltrane and Berry gradually fall in love and the mystery is solved, all ending with a happy ending.

5/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE LAST RENEGADE by Jo Goodman. Berkley; Original edition (September 4, 2012). ISBN 978-0425250969. 384p.

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BROWN-EYED GIRL by Lisa Kleypas

May 23, 2016

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Travis Series, Book 4

I always like Lisa Kleypas’s books. She writes both historical and contemporary romance, and she is a great story teller. So when I saw this book on the Romantic Times list of best contemporary romances of 2015, the ones they call “Love and Laughter,” I decided to give it a read. And I’m so glad I did.

Avery Crosslin is a wedding planner who was left at the altar, so she believes in happily ever after, but for other people. And she has some body image issues.

Avery is partners in business with her half-sister Sophia, who never knew about each other until their father died. Once having found each other, they move away together and start the wedding business. Sophia’s mother is not happy that her daughter moved away, but Sophia also left her fiance, an overpowering control freak, and she’s not moving back.

Joe Travis is a trust fund baby who seems to forget that. He works as a photographer, so when Avery runs into him fiddling with his camera while setting up for a Texas society wedding, she assumes he is the wedding photographer and gives him several orders. He listens respectfully, then introduces himself. She is mortified, and he is intrigued.

Avery can’t believe this rich, good looking man could possibly be interested in her, but a hot one night stand leaves her breathless. Determined not to get involved, she ignores him afterwards, but he is having none of that. He is smitten, and in hot pursuit.

Meanwhile Avery’s dream job – a reality TV show starring her as a wedding planner, may become her new reality. She has difficult clients to deal with, Sophia’s mother comes barreling into town causing trouble, and her friends from New York want her to move back. But what does that mean for Joe?

This is another winner for Kleypas.

5/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

BROWN-EYED GIRL by Lisa Kleypas. St. Martin’s Press (August 11, 2015). ISBN 978-0312605377. 304p.

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ELIGIBLE by Curtis Sittenfeld

May 20, 2016

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A modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice

Hats off to Sittenfeld, she really caught Jane Austen’s voice in this contemporary story of women, class, romance and family.

Liz Bennet is a writer for a woman’s magazine in New York City. She is one of six sisters; closest in age and geography is Jane, a yoga instructor who has started in vitro with a sperm donor, determined to be a mom even though she is not in any relationship. When their father has a heart attack, they rush home to Cincinnati to find chaos.

Their younger sisters all live at home. The two youngest are all about the gym and their diets and have no interested in work or living on their own. The middle sister is a professional student, also living at home. And home has become a problem; he old Tudor house that’s been in the family for generations is falling down around them, and the family is oblivious.

Liz’s mother is only interested in social climbing and marrying off her daughters. Her father has been managing the family money right into the ground. Liz takes charge and finds solutions for all of it, but gets little respect, appreciation and just grudging acquiescence.

Chip Bingley is a doctor who also starred on a “Bachelor” type TV reality show called Eligible. He’s returned home without having found his true love. When he meets Jane, sparks fly but the road to romance is hard won here.

Chip’s friend, Fitzwilliam Darcy, is also a doctor and a surgeon, with the expected super ego. Liz finds him condescending, to say the least.

If you’ve read Pride & Prejudice, you have a good idea where this all goes. If not, read it anyway. Eligible is great fun.

If you enjoy this sort of thing, check out HarperCollins’ Jane Austen Project. The Girl from Summer Hill by Jude Deveraux is another new update on Pride & Prejudice that’s a fun read.

5/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

ELIGIBLE by Curtis Sittenfeld. Random House (April 19, 2016). ISBN 978-1400068326. 512p.

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BEST OF MY LOVE by Susan Mallery

May 19, 2016

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Fool’s Gold, Book 22

I am working my way through a bunch of new-to-me contemporary romance writers, and having a blast. This is the 22nd book in a series and my first Susan Mallery read – and I loved it.

Fool’s Gold is the name of a small town that runs on tourism. Aidan Mitchell literally put the word “adventure” into the company he took over from his mom, Mitchell’s Adventure Tours. He specializes in outdoor adventures and dating tourists, many of whom are looking for a little sexual adventure, too. He’s a love ’em and leave ’em kinda guy, so this works well for everyone. Until it doesn’t.

One night at a bar, a young woman who looks vaguely familiar approaches Aidan. She wants more from their relationship, and he can’t even remember her name. She annihilates him and for the first time, he feels like maybe this isn’t the best way to live.

Shelby Gilmore hasn’t lived in Fool’s Gold that long. She escaped there, running from an abusive father after her mother dies. She lands her dream job working for a local bakery. But Shelby has a lot of creative ideas, and her boss isn’t always receptive to them.

Shelby’s been in therapy long enough to know that she has serious trust issues with men, and after witnessing the Aidan debacle in the bar, she comes up with a plan. She needs to make friends with a man, just friends, to learn how to trust one. And she decides Aidan might be just the man she’s looking for.

Aidan realizes he needs to change, so when Shelby approaches him about her project, he agrees – he needs to learn to treat women with respect, to learn they are not just sex objects. They agree to a six month period of hanging out, and being just friends. But of course, they fall in love.

This was a perfect romance; great characters, an interesting setting, and lots of angst, love and sex. Next time I need a quick, fun read I will reach for another Susan Mallery book.

5/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

BEST OF MY LOVE by Susan Mallery. HQN Books (April 26, 2016). ISBN: 978-0373789191. 384p.

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A BETTER MAN by Candis Terry

May 18, 2016

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A Sunshine Creek Vineyard Novel, Book 1

Romance in a vineyard? Count me in!

Jordan Kinkade is a hockey star in the NFL, but when his parents die, he returns home. The whole family is grieving, and it’s good for them all to be together.

Jordan’s brothers are taking care of the family vineyard, and he wants to pull his own weight, so he decides to help care for his teenage sister, Nicki, that the brothers have nicknamed “Baby Dragon” due to her teenage moodiness. Jordan and Nicki are not close at all, as he hasn’t been around for most of her life. But she is definitely having some problems and first up, he needs to chat with her teacher, Ms. Diamond.

Lucy Diamond really likes Nicki, and realizes she needs help. When Nicki’s big brother Jordan comes to see her, he is startled to find out he knew her when they were both younger. He realizes she probably hates him for the way he treated her, and he’s not wrong. She has some real trust issues, due to Jordan in part, and a bad first marriage. She’s determined to help Nicki and ignore Jordan’s flirting, but she may be ready for another relationship…or not.

I love that these characters all had realistic flaws and I couldn’t help but care about them. I can see why Candis Terry is so popular. This is the first book of a new series, and I am looking forward to the next.

5/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

A BETTER MAN by Candis Terry. Avon (March 29, 2016). ISBN 978-0062351173. 368p.

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THE GIRL FROM SUMMER HILL by Jude Deveraux

May 16, 2016

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A Summer Hill Novel, Book 1

This is my second Jude Deveraux book, and I’m actually starting with the first book of new series, most unusual for me, but I like it!

Let me start with a platitude; everything old is new again. And there are a couple of theories espoused (former English major here) that every novel is based on either the Bible, or a combination of the Bible, Shakespeare and Homer. In this case, Summer Hill is literally based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, which is loosely based on Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. Let’s call it the circle of literary life.

Summer Hill is a small town with an increased summer population. The town is preparing to put on a play to raise funds for various local charities. The play is based on Pride and Prejudice. So this is sort of a book within a book, both based on the same book. Sounds confusing but it isn’t. In Deveraux’s skilled hands, it is entertaining, fun, and fresh.

Casey has escaped from an overwhelming chef job in Washington D.C. She’s living in the guest house on an uninhabited plantation, cooking for the cast of the show and baking and preserving to her heart’s content. So she is shocked to walk into her kitchen one morning and find a gorgeous man on her porch, stripping naked and using her outdoor shower. She enjoys the show until her phone rings, and the man breaks her screen door and threatens her, seeming to think she was taking pictures of him.

That man is Tate Landers, Hollywood leading man and mega movie star. Casey hasn’t seen any of his films, but her best friend adores him so she knows who he is. And we have our Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. They end up playing those parts in the town production, as well as living them.

There are several subplots that really keep the pages turning, some mystery and lots of romance, not to mention the stress of a small town production starring Hollywood’s most popular leading men. I read it in one night and enjoyed every page, so I’m looking forward to the next Summer Hill book.

If you like this sort of thing, check out HarperCollins’ Jane Austen Project. Curtis Sittenfeld has a new book out, Eligible: A Modern Retelling of Pride and Prejudice.

5/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE GIRL FROM SUMMER HILL by Jude Deveraux. Ballantine Books; First Edition edition (May 3, 2016). ISBN 978-1101883266. 384p.

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DARE TO TAKE by Carly Phillips

May 11, 2016

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A Dare to Love Novel, Book 6

I can hardly believe it but this is my first Carly Phillips book. She is a hugely popular contemporary romance writer, and now I understand why.

This series is about the Dare family, and this book is about the last bachelor in the family, Tyler. Tyler and his sister’s best friend, Ella, have some history. She’s always had a crush on him, and one drunken night she crawled into bed with him and lost her virginity. He was drunk too, and in the morning, he freaked out and took off, and they’ve been avoiding each other ever since.

Until Ella is stuck in the Caribbean with a hurricane on its way. She was mugged, lost all her ID, and her best friend insists Tyler, who heads a security company, go rescue her. The Dares are a wealthy family, so he takes the private jet, knowing that is the only way she’ll be able to get off the island without her passport.

They both still have feelings for each other which bloom right from the get go. But they also both have a lot of baggage, and need to work things out before they can have their happily ever after.

Unfortunately, this is the last book in the series so apparently I missed quite a bit. This was a fast, fun read with a lot of great sex. My only complaint was the epilogue, which apparently only served to introduce a character that will be in the first book of a new series. I would have liked this couple’s happy ending instead.

DARE TO TAKE by Carly Phillips. CP Publishing (May 3, 2016). ISBN: 978-1942288701. 292p.

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THE VISCOUNT NEEDS A WIFE by Jo Beverley

May 8, 2016

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Company of Rogues Series, Book 17

Beverley is another new to me author who writes historical romance. As you can see by the heading, there have been many books in this series prior to the one I’m reviewing. But like most romances, it doesn’t matter.

Our heroine is Kitty, a young widow who lives with her in-laws. Her husband was a soldier who was severely injured, but Kitty is the empathetic type and was fairly happy in her marriage – other than the occasional bruises her husband gave her.

The mother-in-law is still in deep mourning, and probably always will be and wants Kitty to be there with her. But Kitty is getting very tired of it all. When an old friend writes and invites her for a visit, she jumps at the chance to get away. Especially when her friend tells her the recently inherited Viscount needs a wife to manage his country estate.

It turns out there is more than just the estate to manage. The Viscount also inherited the 5th Viscounts dowager mother and teenage daughter, both of whom resent him and make their displeasure known. Plus the teen is trying to marry him per her grandmother, to keep things all in the family.

Braydon, the new Viscount, is nobody’s fool. He works for the government in a sort of quasi pre-MI5 type undercover role. There is a mystery afoot when there is an attempt on the lives of three of the princes in near succession to the throne. Another mystery is the whereabouts of the 5th Viscount’s wife – she has disappeared without a trace.

There is a lot of history and a lot of details in this book so it moves rather slowly. There is not a lot of sex, and what there is seems rather perfunctory and more hinted at than explicit, although it does play an important part of the story.

If you are a fan of the arranged marriage trope, which I generally am, you might like this book. I found it slow going which is not why I read these books. I like to rip through them in a few hours and it took me a few days to get through this one.

05/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE VISCOUNT NEEDS A WIFE by Jo Beverley. Signet (April 5, 2016). ISBN 978-0451471901. 432p.

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WEDDING GIRL by Stacey Ballis

May 5, 2016

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Sophie Bernstein is an up and coming pastry chef in Chicago. Her fiance works at the same restaurant as the sommelier. Sophie is planning her dream wedding, and maxing out every credit card she owns, figuring her wealthy husband-to-be will take care of the debt after they are married.

If that sent up some red flags for you, pat yourself on the back. Theirs may be a match made in a restaurant, but like many restaurants, it is headed for disaster. Sophie is left at the alter when the news of fiance’s elopement hits social media practically during the wedding march.

Humiliated and deep in debt, Sophie moves in with her beloved grandmother, Bubbles. She finds a job at the neighborhood bakery, way beneath her skills but no one she knows will find her there and she can hide out and lick her wounds.

The bakery is barely breaking even. The menu hasn’t been updated in decades, and neither has the decor. So when word that a food TV star (think Martha Stewart) is opening a bakery a few blocks away, Sophie knows her days are numbered there.

Unbeknownst to her, the owner of the bake shop enters them in a city wide bake off, figuring with her skills they can win and that will help his business. But when he can’t compete, his son steps up. Sophie is none too fond of the businessman, but it turns out he has mad baking skills.

Meanwhile, Sophie helps out a bride with some wedding advice and that bride turns into her new best friend. To thank Sophie for all her good advice, she sets up a wedding advice website for her, WeddingGirl.com. Sophie gets emails and charges a few dollars for her advice. It’s a good way to earn some extra money to pay off her debt, but things get even more interesting when a best man planning a bachelor party takes her advice and starts an online flirtation with her.

Sophie is falling for this online romance, but also for her boss’s son and she is torn. If this sounds a bit like You’ve Got Mail, it should, and I enjoyed this book almost as much as that movie. This is a really fun read – just don’t read it while you’re hungry! Recipes included.

5/16 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

WEDDING GIRL by Stacey Ballis. Berkley (May 3, 2016). ISBN 978-0425276617. 416p.

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FINDING FRASER by kc dyer

May 4, 2016

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I’m going to start off by assuming you don’t know who Jamie Fraser is, that you haven’t read all the Outlander books or watched the series on Starz. But if you have, read on anyway.

In the simplest possible explanation of a series of 8 books (so far) that clock in somewhere in the neighborhood of 6500 pages (not a typo,) Jamie Fraser is a Scottish Highland warrior from the 18th century who is honorable, good looking and madly in love with his 20th century wife.

The Outlander series is superb and probably tops the list of books I would take to a desert island. They encompass action, adventure, time travel, history and one of the greatest romances of all time (see my review of the audio version of Outlander, and my review of the Outlandish Companions.)

Finding Fraser is a contemporary romance based on the premise that Emma Sheridan, a reader and fan of the series, has gotten the idea in her head to go to Scotland and find her own Jamie Fraser. A 21st century edition, if you will. This is not as far fetched as it may sound. You can book yourself on an Outlander tour of Scotland and see all the places from the book. Seriously.

Emma doesn’t know about those tours though. She has lost her barista job, but saved up enough money to go the hostel route for a few months and hopefully find her Fraser. She plans on blogging about her adventure as she goes. Her sister thinks she’s lost her mind altogether but Emma ignores her and her parents and gets herself to Scotland.

Emma meets some interesting people, finds a guy who may her Fraser except for the fact he bleaches his hair and is obsessed with California, falls in love with Scotland, finds work in a coffee house, gets scammed out of almost everything she owns, helps a sheep give birth, has all sorts of adventures and finally finds her Fraser. Hey, it’s a romance, it has to have the happy ending.

This is a must read for Outlander fans, but also for anyone who has ever had an itch to travel and find romance as well. And it’s a fun read – if you’d like to win a copy, read on!

AUTHOR BIO:

kc dyer resides in the wilds of British Columbia in the company of an assortment of mammals, some of them human. She likes to walk in the woods and write books.

To win FINDING FRASER by KC Dyer, please send an email to contest@gmail.com with “FINDING FRASER” as the subject. You must include your U.S. street address in your email.

All entries must be received by May 15, 2016. One (1) name will be drawn from all qualified entries and notified via email. This contest is open to all adults over 18 years of age in the United States only. Your prize will be sent by Berkley & NAL, Penguin Random House.

One entry per email address. Subscribers to the monthly newsletter earn an extra entry into every contest. Follow this blog to earn another entry into every contest. Winners may win only one time per year (365 days) for contests with prizes of more than one book. Your email address will not be shared or sold to anyone.

FINDING FRASER by KC Dyer. Berkley (May 3, 2016). ISBN: 978-0399584367. 368p.

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