Diana's Reviews! Finding Nathan, The Love Lies Bleeding Series #2 by H.J. Harley

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BRAND NEW CONTENT

The long-awaited honeymoon is over for leading man Nathan Harper and his feisty bride, Jordie. As they settle into their new home, Nathan feels confident enough with this fresh start to share with his wife the struggles of rediscovering himself. Now more than ever Jordie needs to be strong when Nathan gives her his journal and lets her see the darkest months of her life through his eyes. Will what he remembers make her wish she could forget?

Finding Nathan, the second book in The Love Lies Bleeding Series is more like an epilogue to the first one. The story picks up after Jordan and Nathan’s wedding. After they return from their honeymoon, they have to adjust to their new life as a family.

With the birth of little Nathan, their second child, things begin to finally go back to normal. This is when Nathan decides to show Jordie the journal he kept while he struggled with his memory loss. 

What Jordan doesn’t expect is her insecurities to emerge more and more with every page she reads but I liked very much her character because she is strong and determined and because she fights for those she loves. 

The writing style was good and there’s plenty of humor and funny situations that will keep you entertained throughout the book, besides the other characters who play an important role in the story. However, I didn’t like the fact that the author chose to focus only on the relationship between Jordan and Nathan and not on how they evolve as a family with two kids. I really would have liked to see the parent side of them more often.

All in all, I think those who have enjoyed reading Finding Jordie will love this book, mainly because now they are able to see the story through Nathan’s eyes. I cannot wait to read the next novel in the series!

HJ grew up in Bricktown New Jersey, less than an hour away from New York City. As a teenager and early twenties, she loved hanging out in the glamor of NYC. She was a "City Brat" so it was pretty difficult for her to pack her stuff and three cats in 2005, for a life changing road trip, moving to California. She's travelled around the country until she met her better half in 2005. 

After serving twelve years in the Air Force, the man of her dreams ended his military career and they moved to Georgia in 2007. Since then, they've settled down in Leesburg GA, and had their first child. 

No place has ever come close to replacing the magic of New York City for HJ. So when it was decided to try this romance writing gig out, naturally her first book 'Finding Jordie' would be set there. 

HJ enjoys reading, and spending time with her family. Reality TV is a guilty pleasure and she's a sucker for romantic comedies and Robert Pattinson. HJ is a pro at goofing off, She talks with her hands, (She's Italian!) She drinks way too much coffee, and gets too little sleep. Oh, and she has a thing for Jackie-O sized sunglasses. HJ's has five furry kids and most importantly, one beautiful daughter. HJ is always striving to be the best Mom possible.

HJ's very passionate about the things she loves, that's why she was outraged when they cancelled SMASH and Southland! It should be considered a small miracle if you ever get to see a serious or pic of her posing all nice and pretty...She's not that girl. She's a spontaneous goof and believes the best things in life come naturally. Yes, that includes random no make-up selfies during a 2:00a.m. writing marathon.

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Oldies but Goldies! Mackenzie Family Series by Linda Howard

Mackenzie Family is one of the best series written by Linda Howard and I cannot help but admire her for her unique style.

Each book follows the story of a family member and the situations they're put in will catch your attention immediately and keep you glued to your chairs. 

Her characters are stubborn, strong, determined and have a great capacity to love. All these qualities blended with Linda Howard’s talent will make you fall in love with her novels.

***

A small Wyoming town is about to learn a few lessons from a new schoolteacher with the courage to win the heart of a man who swore he had nothing to give....

Mary Elizabeth Potter is a self-appointed spinster with no illusions about love. But she is a good teacher and she wants Wolf Mackenzie s son back in school. And after one heated confrontation with the boy s father, she knows father and son have changed her life forever.

Still paying for a crime he didn t commit, Wolf Mackenzie has a chip on his shoulder the size of Wyoming. But prim-and-proper Mary Elizabeth Potter doesn't see Wolf as the dangerous half-breed the town has branded him. Somehow she sees him as a good, decent, honest man. A man who could love...

Wolf s not sure he or the town of Ruth, Wyoming is ready for the taming of Wolf Mackenzie.

HIS MISSION...

Night Wing--the revolutionary test plane with a top secret weapons system--was Colonel Joe "Breed" Mackenzie's number-one priority. And weapons expert Caroline Evans was his number-one distraction. True, the stubborn blonde was giving him the cold shoulder, but Joe hadn't become the best of the best by giving up. Then he discovered someone on the inside was sabotaging Night Wing, and with her late hours and specialized expertise, Caroline seemed the obvious choice. Now Joe had to choose between allegiance to his country and love for his prime suspect...

Barrie needed a saviour. The terrorists holding her hostage surely wouldn''t tolerate her silence much longer. Instead they would silence her. Then out of the darkness he arrived. Rugged and dangerous, he led her straight into his sheltering arms.'

Book 4 of 5 in Linda Howard's beloved Mackenzie's Family saga! Meet Maris Mackenzie and the sexy stranger she woke up to find in her bed. Unfortunately, she had no memory of Alex MacNeil, the previous day...or the prize Thoroughbred she'd apparently stolen...but she will find her "Sole Pleasure" in more ways than one.

Romantic suspense, originally published by Silhouette Intimate Moments. The last book in the Mackenzie Family series focuses on Chance Mackenzie, a feral, homeless adolescent until rescued and adopted by Wolf and Mary Mackenzie. The stunning and aloof half-breed has built a career in undercover ops, first as a Naval Intelligence Officer, then as a private consultant. However, one particularly vile terrorist has always eluded the law. Chance and brother Zane find a way to lure Crispin Hauer in: They'll use his daughter Sonia as bait. First step: Make Sunny fall in love with Chance. What could be simpler? 

Content: Explicit sex, violence, swearing

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Linda Howard is an award-winning author whose novels include the recent New York Times bestsellers Shadow Woman, Up Close and Dangerous, and Drop Dead Gorgeous, as well as the Pocket Books releases Kill and Tell, Now You See Her, All the Queen’s Men, Mr. Perfect, and Open Season. She lives in Alabama with her husband and two golden retrievers.

Happy Release Day!! Double Review: The Millionaire's Forever, Men of the Zodiac #1 by Sonya Weiss

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Sign: Gemini

There are two sides to every Gemini guy...and one of them is red-hot.

Olivia Carter has a handsome, millionaire boyfriend. She's madly in love with him. The hitch? He doesn't actually exist. She told the lie to saveForever, her wedding design shop. And it worked-almost too well. As the media attention increases, so do the demands for Olivia to produce her "boyfriend." With both her reputation and career in jeopardy, Olivia is desperate enough to do almost anything...

Which is exactly what millionaire Mason Parker wants. Thanks to Olivia and her father, Mason went through hell during his teen years, and now it's time for a little payback-starting with the announcement that he's her one and only. Now the sexy Olivia has no choice but to do what Mason wants. But none of his plans for vengeance included falling in love with the woman he planned to ruin...

1. Animal I have Become by Three Days Grace (Mason's song)

2. Battleships by Chris Daughtry (Olivia's song)

3. Stay by Hurts

4. Too Many Faces by Cherri Bomb (this is a nod to the fact that Mason is a Gemini and they're known for the two sides of their personalities)

5. Let It Hurt by Rascal Flatts 

6. Six Degrees of Separation by The Script

7. Fall Into Me by Brantley Gilbert (played when Mason saw Olivia at the Good Morning America studio)

8. For the Nights I Can't Remember by Hedley (the perfect hero falls in love song)

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Olivia Carter is trying to make her dream come true, and when her hop seems to hit the skids, she tells one tiny lie about her boyfriend to increase the media attention. He is loving, kind and perfect and he doesn’t exist. On the verge on losing her reputation, the man she’s always been in love with comes to pretend to be her boyfriend, in order to take his revenge on Olivia’s father. 

Mason and his friends were accused falsely of something they didn’t do and spent good years in prison. Now, all of them made up their minds to take revenge.

Mason wants two things from Olivia and he’s determined to obtain both. She has already decided that she won’t give in and won’t let Mason close to her heart. But what neither expected is to have strong feelings for each other and those feelings to increase once they get to really know one another.

“I’m starting to care and nothing that I do seems to stop it. It’s like a runaway train that I can’t catch. I hate that I care.” 

Mason doesn’t do relationships. He doesn’t need to complicate his life and he makes that clear with Olivia since the very beginning. On the other hand, Olivia knows she has to put aside her feelings for him and be strong in order to reach her goal. I really liked her and the way she’s determined to keep her independence during difficulties. 

Their relationship is complicated, because they’ve always liked each other but never acted on it. For them, love is dangerous and they realize they might get burned, so both try to keep their emotions bottled inside.

I liked Sonya’s writing style, because I could see the struggle of Mason and Olivia’s at each step towards finding love when they didn’t know they needed it. 

I’ll make sure to recommend it to my friends!

The Millionaire’s Forever is the story of a man who’s trying to right the wrongs did to him in the past and who will do anything to achieve his goals.

Mason has always been labeled as a trouble maker when he was a teenager and, in the end, his reputation, which wasn’t exactly as bad as people thought, ended up being his downfall.

Olivia has made a promise and she’s trying really hard to keep it. She is strong, independent and so not ready to have her teenage crush storm back into her life.

Their story is simple or, at least, it should be but the years they haven’t seen each other have changed both of them. 

Mason is hell bent on getting revenge and she is in his way. He thinks he knows Olivia Carter but time will prove him wrong. 

She might still be attracted to him, but Mason is not the boy she remembers and the man he has become she isn’t sure she likes at all.

Both of them are in for quite a few surprises along the way.

Everything is pretty straight forward from the beginning in this novel but Mason and Olivia’s journey from almost friends, to enemies then back to almost friends and lovers is pretty interesting. 

The things they thought they knew aren’t exactly the truth and, as more and more secrets are revealed, both of them will have to reevaluate their plans and think about what they really want.

The writing style is good and, if you want to just relax and enjoy some quality time with a book, this is the perfect choice.

I’m sure I’ll be picking up the next books in this series.

Happy Reading!

I’m a freelance writer and ghostwriter. My published clips include feature newspaper articles, magazine articles, essays, children’s short stories and writing projects for business clients. I’m also a columnist at Families Online Magazine.

My fiction has won honorable mention in various contests and I was the first place winner of Harlequin’s ‘The Baseball Diamond’ writing contest.

I’m represented by Nicole Resciniti of the Seymour Agency.

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Diana's Reviews! Rules of Protection (Tangled in Texas #1) by Alison Bliss

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It’s rule breaker Emily Foster's birthday, and like everyone at The Jungle Room, she just wants to get some action. Unfortunately, she stumbles on the wrong kind, witnessing a mob hit. To protect her, she's entered into the Witness Protection Program with by-the-book Special Agent Jake Ward as her chaperone.

When the location of their safe house is compromised, Jake stashes Emily deep in the Texas backwoods. The city-girl might be safe from the Mafia, but she has to contend with a psychotic rooster, a narcoleptic dog, crazy cowboys, and the danger of losing her heart to the one man she can’t have.

Jake's as hot as he is infuriating, and she can't help but push all his buttons to loosen him up. Their mutual, sizzling sexual attraction poses a dilemma: Jake's determined to keep her safe and out of the wrong hands; she's determined to get into the right ones—his.

Rules of Protection was recommended to me by my best friend, who said it’s a must read. She was right. I loved it!!

We meet Emily Foster, who’s celebrating her birthday with her friends and accidentally ends up witness to a murder.

Enter Jake, the sexy, annoying guy who keeps bumping into her and making her want to strangle him and kiss him at the same time.

What Emily doesn’t know, but will later find out, is that Jake is an FBI agent who is, in a way, connected with the murder she had seen.

He’ll also be the one in charge of her safety when she's entered into Witness Protection Program.

This is where things get complicated. Jake is the type who expects everyone to do as he says and Emily is the type who can’t follow any orders. They are both hard-headed and it’s very interesting how things begin to change when they realize they have to cooperate. 

Emily is a strong person, who dealt with losing her parents and every other obstacles life threw her way. She’s stubborn, doesn’t give a damn about what others think about her and sometimes she’s irresponsible. 

Jake is the exact opposite. He’s cool, calculated and hell bent on following rules. His rules. Where Emily’s safety is concerned, he doesn’t take any chance. However, he meets his match in stubbornness when their worlds collide.

I liked the way their relationship develops, because there’s definitely something going between them, but things aren’t rushed. 

The writing style met my expectations. It was very easy to follow the story and to connect with the characters. Some situations will make you laugh hysterically, others will make you cringe and you’ll end up wide awake at five in the morning because you’ll be unable to put it down.

Alison’s novel is funny and romantic and you will absolutely love it (even Charlie) !

It took me several days to get through the book, because I didn’t want it to end. I seriously cannot wait for the next installment!

Happy reading!

As the youngest of five girls, Alison Bliss has never turned down a challenge...or been called by the right name. Her writing career may have started out as a dare by one of her sisters, but Alison hasn't put her pen down since.

She grew up on a small island off the Texas Gulf Coast, where most of her childhood vacations consisted of camping or hunting trips to the deer lease. Although she'll always be a Texan at heart, Alison currently resides in the Midwest with her Iowa farm-boy husband and their two sons. With so much testosterone in her home, it's no wonder she writes "girl books."

She's an animal lover, a closet video game enthusiast, and believes the best way to know if someone is your soul mate is by canoeing with them because if you both make it back alive, it's obviously meant to be. Alison's an avid romance reader who enjoys penning the type of books she loves to read most: fun, steamy love stories with heart, heat, laughter, and usually a cowboy or two. As she calls it, "Romance...with a sense of humor."

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Diana's Reviews! Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

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It's 1941 and fifteen-year-old artist Lina Vilkas is on Stalin's extermination list. Deported to a prison camp in Siberia, Lina fights for her life, fearless, risking everything to save her family. It's a long and harrowing journey and it is only their incredible strength, love, and hope that pull Lina and her family through each day. But will love be enough to keep them alive?

If I say that I loved this book, it probably wouldn’t do it justice. If I say that every page was written in such a way I felt like I was one of the characters, it would be too little.

I loved this beautiful story from the first chapter and I know it will have a special place in my heart from now on. 

I was attracted by the synopsis. Those few sentences made me curious, made me wonder what kind of world existed sixty, seventy years ago. Everyone goes to school and listens to their History teacher talking about wars, but there are so many things we don’t know. This story is one of them.

Lina is a fifteen-year old Lithuanian girl who wants to be an artist. She lives a happy life with her mother, her father and her little brother, Jonas. But like every other thing, all is about to change when the Soviets burst into their home and take them because they are on the lists made by Stalin of those he considered anti-Soviets. They are separated from their father, and the three of them are forced to travel into a crowded dirty train car. The men are forced to go to prisons. The women and their children are taken to Siberia. 

The train bears the name of ‘Thieves and Prostitutes’ while there are lawyers, teachers, librarians, mothers and small children taken from their warm homes, put into a dirty train car where they have to spend the next few weeks until they arrive at the destination. Of course, Siberia is nothing better. They have to work more than tweleve hours per day only to receive 300 grams of dried bread. Their guards, the NKVD, are so cuel, I wanted to slap them with the book while reading it. They don’t care that people are dying all around them, they only want them to suffer. 

“But how can they just decide that we're animals? They don't even know us," I said.

"We know us," said Mother. "They're wrong. And don't ever allow them to convince you otherwise. Do you understand?” 

Lina is such a strong character. I thought a bit of what would I do if I were to be in her place and came up with nothing. Many of us would give up hope and think death is a better option, but she wanted desperately to live.

“Was it harder to die, or harder to be the one who survived?”

She documents her entire experience, writes letters to her father, draws and hides them into a jar, hoping that one day someone will discover them and the world will know the truth. 

I was impressed by these characters – they stuck together, they didn’t let each other down, and they had an incredible will to live.

I recall I read an interview with Ruta Sepetys, and there she told us to ask ourselves “Would I survive?”. I, for one, don’t think I would. Because the world has changed. Those characters were so kind, so willing to help each other despite the awful condition they were put in. Because you appreciate something only after you lose it. Those people lost their freedom. They lost it, and after more than a decade when those who survived came back, they weren’t able say a thing about what happened to them. 

“But all of the survivors had one thing in common, and that was love. They survived through love. Whether love of friend, love of country, love of God, or even love of enemy—love reveals to us the truly miraculous nature of the human spirit.”

I think there are so many thing we take for granted. Freedom is the most important, and this book demonstrates this. I am so glad I had the chance to read Between Shades of Gray. After finishing it, I wanted to go out and scream at the top of my lungs ‘I’m free’.

Diana's Reviews! Down London Road (On Dublin Street, #2) by Samantha Young

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Johanna Walker is used to taking charge. But she’s about to meet someone who will make her lose control...

It has always been up to Johanna to care for her family, particularly her younger brother, Cole. With an absent father and a useless mother, she’s been making decisions based on what’s best for Cole for as long as she can remember. She even determines what men to date by how much they can provide for her brother and her, not on whatever sparks may—or may not—fly.

But with Cameron MacCabe, the attraction is undeniable. The sexy new bartender at work gives her butterflies every time she looks at him. And for once, Jo is tempted to put her needs first. Cam is just as obsessed with getting to know Jo, but her walls are too solid to let him get close enough to even try.

Then Cam moves into the flat below Jo’s, and their blistering connection becomes impossible to ignore. Especially since Cam is determined to uncover all of Jo’s secrets... even if it means taking apart her defenses piece by piece.

Down London Road is a book about how unexpected love can sometimes be. 

Johanna had had a rough life since she was a little girl. With alcoholic parents, she had to drop out of school in order to take care of herself and her brother, Cole. She’s beautiful, smart and has a big heart. Despite these qualities, her goal is to give the little boy the life she never had, so the men she chooses to date have to meet her own standards, even if she feels something for them or not.

Everything changes when she meets Cameron MacCabe.

Cam isn’t even close to the type Jo would date. He doesn’t wear suits all the time, he has tattoos and he has already made his own mind about her when he sees Jo with an older man at her arm. Still, sparks fly and there’s an incredible attraction between them but Cam is also wrong about her.

Jo doesn’t trust easily and she’s always considered herself a failure. She’s insecure and stubborn and she’ll never imagined she’ll end up being friends with a guy like Cam.

When the whole truth comes out, they’ll find themselves facing a reality neither of them expected because Cam was wrong, so wrong in his judgement.

I read On Dublin Street before and I was curious about Jo’s story. I liked Samantha’s writing style and her book quickly became one of my favorites. I particularly liked the secondary characters and their roles in the novel. However, Down London Road didn’t have the same impact on me as the first one. 

I enjoyed very much the story but I couldn’t really connect with Jo, even if I could understand her.

Do I recommend this book? Yup, I do. There are quite a few lessons to learn from it. 

“Some people are born with family, and others have to make family.”

Diana's Reviews! On Dublin Street (On Dublin Street #1) by Samantha Young

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Jocelyn Butler has been hiding from her past for years. But all her secrets are about to be laid bare…

Four years ago, Jocelyn left her tragic past behind in the States and started over in Scotland, burying her grief, ignoring her demons, and forging ahead without attachments. Her solitary life is working well—until she moves into a new apartment on Dublin Street where she meets a man who shakes her carefully guarded world to its core.

Braden Carmichael is used to getting what he wants, and he’s determined to get Jocelyn into his bed. Knowing how skittish she is about entering a relationship, Braden proposes an arrangement that will satisfy their intense attraction without any strings attached.

But after an intrigued Jocelyn accepts, she realizes that Braden won’t be satisfied with just mind-blowing passion. The stubborn Scotsman is intent on truly knowing her… down to the very soul.

This is the story of two young people damaged by the past , who still carry the burden of the pain on their shoulders , a story of learning how to trust and love again.

Jocelyn has lost both her parents when she was just a teenager and she still hasn’t managed to deal with the pain. Now she’s a graduate who doesn’t know how to socialize and all she wants is to become a writer.

Braden grew up believing that you can’t trust anyone and money don’t buy happiness. He doesn’t have time for a serious relationship and he doesn’t want one anymore, since he has learned that even those who pretend to love you will eventually betray you.

From the moment they meet, they are like a barrel of dynamite ready to explode. Every interaction is intense and more than a few sparks will fly.

The attraction between them is strong but, as much as they’d like to act on it, they’re not ready for anything more than a physical relationship. No strings attached.

But you know what they say about best laid plans. Both Jocelyn and Braden will have to decide if they’re willing to open their hearts and risk being hurt again or play it safe and go their separate ways.

This novel has everything you may want. There’s humor, hot scenes, smart, well developed and fascinating characters, a little bit of drama and lots and lots of emotions. You’ll be so captivated that you won’t be able to put it down. It was like that for me. 

Samantha Young writes beautifully and I cannot wait to read her next novel!

I highly recommend it!

Happy Reading!