Sportochick's Musings: February 2018

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

REVIEW ~ The First Kiss of Spring by Emily March

Sportochick's Musings ~ An impactful love story with real people and real life issues.

The First Kiss of Spring

An Eternity Springs Novel

by Emily March

Find The Book At ~ Amazon | B&N | Goodreads

Publisher ~ St. Martin's Press Romance

Genres ~ Contemporary Romance

Spring has come to Eternity Springs in The First Kiss of Spring, the newest installment in this New York Times bestselling series by Emily March.

Life could be a dream...

Goal-oriented and gorgeous, Caitlin Timberlake's dreams took her to the top of the corporate ladder in New York City. Now years later, her goals have changed. She wants to come home to Eternity Springs and build a business and a family of her own-with the new man in town. So what if sexy mechanic Josh Tarkington wants nothing more than a fling? Caitlin is a patient woman who knows how to work hard and strategize to win what she desires. She desires Josh. Unfortunately, he has other plans.

If only things were different...

Josh craves Caitlin and all she has to offer. However, he is a man with secrets. He has worked hard to overcome his tragic past, but he's afraid to risk having a future because he knows trouble is never very far away. When a selfless act brings that trouble to his door, he stands to lose everything he cares about-including Caitlin. Will her love and the healing magic of Eternity Springs be enough to save him?

This is an impactful love story with real people and real life issues. Sometimes you come across a love story that isn't full of fluff but real people wrestling with real life issues. Their lives aren't always a pretty picture book story but you come to love the characters as they struggle with their lives and this book is that love story.

One of the things that held me spellbound was Author Emily March's Journal Entry that starts off each chapter. It was written by an unknown person and was dark and filled with pain. Along the way I guessed who it was but my brain felt such compassion for the person's life struggles and what they overcame.

This book was written with compassion and understanding. It deals with addictions and real struggles including failures. It shows people in real life crisis and it also shows that there are people out there that will love you if you give them a chance.

Caitlin is someone I want to be friends with. She is able to make a drastic change in her life to follow her heart. She's strong and at the same time soft hearted and loving. Her greatest strength is believing in someone who can't believe in themselves.

When I thought of this book and started to write the review I wasn't sure how to portray why I didn't give it a solid 5 stars but after thinking on for a while it became clear that at times the interaction between Caitlin and Josh was just too sweet for me. In no way did this distract from this story though.

I give this book 4.5 STARS.

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

Emily March is the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today bestselling author of over thirty novels, including the critically acclaimed Eternity Springs series. Publishers Weekly calls March a "master of delightful banter," and her heartwarming, emotionally charged stories have been named to Best of the Year lists by Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and Romance Writers of America. A graduate of Texas A&M University, Emily is an avid fan of Aggie sports and her recipe for jalapeño relish has made her a tailgating legend.

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Friday, February 23, 2018

DARE Pre-Order GIVEAWAY Make Me Want by Katee Robert

Have you Pre-ordered MAKE ME WANT Yet?

In MAKE ME WANT, Lucy a bold and confident lawyer seeks the help of her good friend Gideon to reawaken her passion in the bedroom. Fans of Her Naughty Holiday by Tiffany Reisz or Expecting a Royal Scandal by Caitlin Crews will want to one-click this sizzling matchmaker romance.

Pre-order MAKE ME WANT and add it to your TBR pile on Goodreads! Then keep reading to get a sneak peek excerpt and enter the giveaway for one of five (5) eBook copies of MAKE ME WANT!

Title: Make Me Want

Author: Katee Robert

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: March 1, 2018

Publisher: Harlequin Dare

Series: Make Me

Page Count: 159 pages

Format: Digital

ASIN: B071LSKSSG

Sexy. Passionate. Bold. Discover Harlequin DARE, a new line of fun, edgy and sexually explicit romances for the fearless female.

Praise for MAKE ME WANT:

“Dare is Harlequin’s hottest line yet. Every book should come with a free fan. I dare you to try them!”—Tiffany Reisz, international bestselling author

Synopsis:

“I want everything.”

She’s taking control. And it’s driving him wild!

Lucy Baudin’s ex did a number on her self-esteem, but it’s time for her to regain control. In her job as a lawyer she’s bold, confident. But in the bedroom she needs inspiration to reawaken her inner seductress. Asking her friend Gideon Novak for help seems wrong…yet so deliciously right!

Available at:

Amazon: http://bit.ly/MakeMeWantAmazon

iBooks: http://bit.ly/MakeMeWantiBooks

Kobo: http://bit.ly/MakeMeWantKobo

B&N :http://bit.ly/MakeMeWantBN

Enter to win one of five (5) ebook copies of MAKE ME WANT!

Direct link: http://bit.ly/2omCnnI

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make Me Want Excerpt

“What the fuck, Lucy?”

“Hmm?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about.” He pulled her dress up, though he didn’t need the confirmation. “You come in here with that cock tease of a dress and you aren’t wearing panties.” Jealousy and desire twisted viciously through him. “Were you going to give Aaron a little show?”

“Oh, please. Give me a little credit.” She lifted her chin. “I’m proving a point. You, Gideon Novak, don’t get to make my decisions for me. I appreciate your help, but that’s where it ends.”

She didn’t want him.

He was good enough to fuck but not good enough to listen to.

He kept a white-knuckled grip on his temper because having a knock-down, drag-out fight here and now wasn’t an option for either of them. Not to mention the fact that he didn’t have a right to be pissed. She’d laid out the terms that first day and if he chose to ignore them, that was on him—not on Lucy.

It didn’t make how shitty this situation was any easier to swallow.

Gideon stepped back. “The table. Bend over it.”

Her eyebrows inched up. “You can’t be serious.”

“As a fucking heart attack. I told you what would happen if you showed up like that, and you were all too eager to pick up that gauntlet. Choices have consequences, Lucy. This is one of them.”

She backed toward the table. One step. Two. “The consequences being that you’ll spank my ass red and then fuck me right here.”

She wants it.

It didn’t soothe his temper. If anything, it ratcheted it up a notch. She might want it but she didn’t want him. “The table.”

Lucy turned and, prim as a princess, bent over the table. She seemed to consider and then lowered her chest further until the top half of her body was flush against the polished wood. The position left her ass in the air and had her skirt riding up so he could see how turned on she was by this.

“Which part is getting you?” He stood between her and the door and pushed her dress the last few inches to bare her completely. “The spanking, the defiance, or the fact that we’re in an unlocked room where anyone could walk in—including your fucking date?”

She tilted her ass up, just a little, an offer that made his mouth water. But it was her words that sealed her fate. “All of the above.”

About Katee Robert

New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Katee Robert learned to tell her stories at her grandpa’s knee. Her 2015 title, The Marriage Contract, was a RITA finalist, and RT Book Reviews named it 'a compulsively readable book with just the right amount of suspense and tension." When not writing sexy contemporary and romantic suspense, she spends her time playing imaginary games with her children, driving her husband batty with what-if questions, and planning for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.

Connect with Katee at: Website | Facebook | Twitter| GoodReads | Instagram

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

BIG 5 STARS to A Devil in Scotland by Suzanne Enoch

Sportochick's Musings ~ Author Suzanne Enoch knows how to keep her readers glued to every single page of her book with fully developed characters, rich details and sexual tension between Callum and Becca.

A Devil in Scotland

A No Ordinary Hero #3

by Suzanne Enoch

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Publisher ~ St. Martin's Press Romance

Genres ~ Historical Romance

The dawning of desire...

1806, Scotland: Wild, reckless Callum MacCreath is in no hurry to become someone’s husband. But when his responsible, steady older brother Ian announces his engagement to their childhood friend Rebecca, Callum makes a startling discovery: he wants the lovely young lass for himself. But it’s too late, and when Ian banishes him for his duplicity, he’s only too happy to leave Scotland forever…

...is delicious and dangerous.

1816: Marrying Ian was the practical, logical thing for Becca to do. But once Callum sailed away to America, she missed his rakish charm and lust for life. Now, ten years later, Becca is a widow when a much-changed Callum returns to his Scottish homeland. Will he remember their spirited, fiery connection, or does he blame her for his brother’s unexpected death? This time neither of them can deny their scorching attraction, but will their hearts be burned in the blazing heat of scandal?

Author Suzanne Enoch knows how to keep her readers glued to every single page of her book with fully developed characters, rich details and sexual tension between Callum and Becca. I like that her characters aren't perfect and that she spends a great deal of time creating dramatic tension in every interaction between them.

The descriptively written details of the house and surroundings makes the reader feel like they have been transported back in time.

Callum as a youth is hot headed and self involved but his character makes the most forward movement as he works through his life as it was and who he becomes in the present time. This is handled to perfection and I like how she showed his character maturing over time that was believable to this reader.

Becca on the other hand didn't grow as much mentally as she did in her physical form but this makes sense because she was mentally stable at a young age. Her fierceness at protecting those she loves or loved is one of her key character traits.

I felt that the secondary characters completed this book with additional flavor and her daughter specifically caught my heart.

Because I couldn't put this book down I give it 5 STARS.

Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review.

My Review of the No Ordinary Hero Series

Hero in the Highlands (Book #1) ~ My Review
My One True Highlander (Book #2) ~ My Review
A Devil in Scotland (Book #3) ~ My Review

Suzanne was born in Southern California sometime in the latter half of the 20th century. In the way that some people are born knowing they want to be astronauts or cellists, Suzanne always knew she wanted to be a writer. Early dreams of becoming a zoologist and writing true stories about her adventures in Africa were crushed, however, after she viewed a television special about the world’s most poisonous snakes; she did NOT want to write about how she’d been bitten and lost a limb to a cobra. Thankfully at the same time the movie “Star Wars” premiered, and she realized that she could make up adventures and write about them, and not be eaten by deadly predators while doing research.

She dabbled in romantic fantasy writing for a year or two after graduating with a degree in English from the University of California, Irvine, until her affection for traditional Regency romances led her to write one for fun. After several encouraging rejections from publishers, she snared the interest of the world’s best and most patient literary agent, who advised her to revise the manuscript. This ultimately led to the publication of her first book, The Black Duke’s Prize, from Avon Books in the Spring of 1995. A second Regency, Angel’s Devil, followed that Fall.

When Avon folded its traditional Regency line, Suzanne was encouraged to try her hand at historical romance. As she remained keenly interested in England’s Regency period, she decided to attempt another manuscript set in that time. Lady Rogue hit the shelves in March of 1997. She wrote a total of 29 books for Avon, including two anthologies and a five-part contemporary series which received a pair of starred reviews from Publishers Weekly. One of those books, Twice the Temptation, was named one of the five best romances of the year by PW in 2007.

In 2002 her well-known love of all things “Star Wars” led to an invitation to appear on the E! channel in the television special “Star Wars: The Force Is Back”, where she discussed the romance in the movie series and ended up with more air time than George Lucas.

In 2010 Suzanne left Avon Books for St. Martin’s Press, where she continues to pen historical romance novels. Her 31st book, Taming an Impossible Rogue, is set to arrive in March 2012.

Suzanne is known for her humorous characters, sexy bad boys, and whip-sharp, witty dialogue. She currently resides in Placentia, California with several hundred guppies and various other tropical fish, and handful of very loud, spinach-loving finches. And her collection of action figures and statues from “Star Wars”, “Lord of the Rings”, “X-Men”, and “Pirates of the Caribbean”. Everybody needs some inspiration, after all.

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