December Issues of @FleetLife and @EHDirectory featuring my #Bookreviews

Here are a list of books I’ve had featured in my local magazines for the month of December 2014, with links to the magazine on-line versions and Goodreads links to all the books.

http://www.fleetlife.org.uk click on the online directory and once loaded, find my reviews on page 36.

Dec FL

The Immortal Greek by Monica La Porta

Britannia Part 1: The Wall by Richard Denham

We That Are Left by Juliet Greenwood

Romancing My Love by Melissa Foster

BackPacks and Bra Straps by Savannah Grace

Dec EHD

Books that made it in to my reviews in the Elvatham Heath Directory http://www.ehd.org.uk. Click on the online directory and once loaded go to page 13

How I Changed My Life In A Year by Shelley Wilson

Echoes In The Darkness by Jane Godman

Fairy Tale In New York by Nicky Wells

Midnight Sky by Jan Ruth

Craving by Sofia Grey

Rosie’s Book Review Team #RBRT Sterna reviews Romancing My Love by Melissa Foster

Today’s review comes from Sterna, she blogs at http://sternakruger.wordpress.com/2014/10/17/romancing-my-love-the-braden-series-by-melissa-foster/

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Sterna chose to read and review Romancing My Love by Melissa Foster in conjunction with Brook Cottage Books

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My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This review is on behalf of BrookCottage Books. Romancing My Love is book #17 in the Love In Bloom series and #9 of The Bradens.

Pierce Braden is thirty-six, with dark hair and dark eyes, six three and two hundred and ten pounds of solid muscle and a very successful business man with a shrewd mind and a tendency to fix things for people, and if that isn’t enough to send your heart into overdrive already, he is a family man with a big heart and a genuinely caring nature.
And though he has never had trouble finding woman, he has always seen them as somewhat expendable, never letting anyone close, which is why he is caught completely off guard with Rebecca’s less than enthusiastic response to him when they first meet.
Rebecca Rivera is intelligent, fierce and absolutely gorgeous; and the last thing she’s thinking about while trying to piece her life back together after losing her mother, is a man, especially a man who seems to be in the annoying habit of wanting to fix everything for everyone.

Pierce and Rebecca meet in the opening chapter, where he witnesses first-hand how capable she is of standing her ground and defending herself when she decks a guy that was pawing her, and immediately has the reader rooting for her from the first pages. And Combined with her unfazed reaction to his wealth or status had me in laughing out loud at some of her comments to him and he’s reaction to being handled so nonchalantly.

“My mother warned me about men who look like you.” That line will stay with me forever, and I’m sure we’ll be hearing it a lot more in the future …

Rebecca’s self-sufficient, I-can-handle-it-all-myself attitude might be masking up a much deeper fear though, one that could shake her to the core if uncovered … and Pierces’ controlling nature and choice to keep everyone at arm’s length could be the result of his own crippling tragedy …
There are real and truly emotional pieces in the book that had me swallowing a lump in my throat and left me wanting nothing more than to hug Rebecca with all my heart.

Beautifully detailed story with sassy, sexy characters that are like friends in the end, and which never once had me feeling as if it was being dragged out or worse, rushed and with missing pieces.
The back story is well written in, giving the book just that much more color and depth.
And the warm, heartfelt ending left me with a smile on my face and a strong urge to immediately find not only the next Braden story, but also to read or re-read the first eight Braden novels again!

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Rosie’s Book Review Team #RBRT Babus reviews Romancing My Love by Melissa Foster

Today’s book review comes from Babus, she blogs at http://ajoobacatsblog.wordpress.com

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Babus chose to read and review Romancing My Love by Melissa Foster in conjunction with Brook Cottage Books

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Rebecca Rivera lost her mother to cancer 6 weeks ago, is living in her car and has just been fired from her job as a bartender by her jerk of a boss, so when Pierce Braden comes to her rescue she rebuffs him, not because she is not attracted to him but because she is fiercely independent. Pierce is intrigued by this headstrong and stubborn woman and falls for her but will the differences in their circumstances prove too much of an obstacle for their relationship?

 

This feel good romance has plenty of heart and deals with emotions and the psychology of the characters very well. Romances are not my staple choice of genre but this was very easy to read and entertaining. This is not a book for those who like their romance and language clean, but if not adverse to explicit romance and swearing this is a very capable feel good romance with depth.

 

Pierce is very dashing, successful and sports a shoulder tattoo, ticking all the boxes of masculinity you would expect in a romance. With a reading time of just over 4 hours for me, it was a lovely read, but I did feel it was drawn out a little too much near the end, with a very verbose account of scattering Rebecca’s mother’s ashes and the final conclusion to the book. However I could relate to Rebecca and there was real depth in the emotions Foster writes about and if she can melt the heart of a very occasional romance-reader like me, then I am sure she will appeal to the contemporary romance fans looking for their next great read.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

Romancing My Love by Melissa Foster

 

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ROMANCING MY LOVE is the newest addition to the BRADEN series by New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author Melissa Foster. This contemporary romance series features alpha male heroes and sexy, empowered women. They’re flawed, funny, passionate, and very relatable to readers who enjoy new adult romance, contemporary romance, and women’s fiction.

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My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This review is on behalf of BrookCottage Books. Romancing My Love is book #17 in the Love In Bloom series and #9 of The Bradens.

Pierce Barden is the oldest Braden brother, just one of a handsome bunch of drawl worthy men. He lives in Reno and owns many businesses, his latest venture is a bid for The Grand Casino and negotiations are under way for it’s purchase as long as the financial investigation works out. It’s giving him a bit of stress, so he heads off to a small town bar to sort things out in his head.

Instead his attention is drawn to a feisty female who storms out of the bar, punching a drunk who tries to stop her leaving. Pierce feels a need to stand up for her and comes face to face with a women who sets his heart racing. Not he usual type of female, this unique person gives off sparks of attraction and her refusal to allow him to help her only adds to his interest.

Rebecca Rivera has recently lost her Mum to Cancer, she’s lost her home and she’s just lost her job. Surrounding herself with a tough exterior she can stand up for herself and won’t take help from anyone who she thinks shows her any pity. She’s fierce and independent but she also has ambition. Pierce and Rebecca’s lives are miles apart yet they both feel the pull of attraction and they start a hot passionate relationship.

With both characters used to being in control and Pierce being someone who likes to fix things this book makes for some powerful relationship challenges full of deep strong feelings that all need working on for any relationship between them to work out. The Braden boys bring high octane romance to their women and Rebecca will be no pushover until she can put all her ghosts to rest. A great chapter in the Braden’s book series and one which should leave you wanting to read about more of the family.

View all my reviews On Goodreads

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Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes contemporary romance, new adult, contemporary women’s fiction, suspense, and historical fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Her books have been recommended by USA Today’s book blog, Hagerstown Magazine, The Patriot, and several other print venues. She is the founder of the  World Literary Café and Fostering Success. When she’s not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on  Fostering Success. Melissa has been published in Calgary’s Child Magazine, the Huffington Post, and Women Business Owners magazine.

Melissa hosts an annual Aspiring Authors contest for children and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Melissa lives in Maryland with her family.

Visit Melissa on social media. Melissa enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups, and welcomes an invitation to your event.

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GIVEAWAY

The Giveaway on this tour is an ecopy of FATED FOR LOVE by Melissa Foster

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Good Deeds Challenge Year 2 Week 23

Welcome to my second Year of Good Deeds, a challenge I set myself during April 2013. I decided to do at least one Good Deed a day for a whole year, now I an into my second year.

New Good DeedsDuring my week I’ll also being updating you on My Kindness Challenge which I’m also doing. I read about a new challenge to make the world a better place to live in. “Speak Kind Words, Receive Kind Echoes” see the inspiration on  The Kindness blog . During my learning process I’m donating money to charity for my slip-ups to make me work harder to achieve results. I earn no money from any of my book reviews, so having little to spare should focus my mind.

September 21st – Today my son and my Dad share a birthday. It made my Dad’s day when my tiny baby hung on for a few minutes longer and then rushed out to share his day with his Granddad. Funnily though my Dad always reckoned he’d play second best from then on, and try as I might, it’s always a last minute rush to either buy or deliver my Dad’s birthday gift while all the time I’m really organised with my son’s gifts. We are off out to tea with the other Granny and Uncle. Will take around a book I have just finished reading. We That Are Left by Juliet Greenwood, a fantastic book written around WWI and the strength of the women who were left to survive in England while the men went off to war.

September 22nd – Have got together with a couple of my girl friends to keep us all positive and to stop us all worrying ourselves to death about our kids and the future (Think 3 women heading towards the menopause) The Hormones go berserk and we find ourselves freaking out about all sorts of strange things. So we’ve got together for a little girl power and I’m shouting the loudest about having treats and “me time” and being busy with other things. So this week I’ve challenge us all to find out how to cook a dish of “pulled Pork” and to go out and get the ingredients and try out a recipe.

Last night I read “Baby Girl, Book 1 : The Beginning by Elle Klass. At just 38 pages I soon had it read and will write up the review in a few moments. My next book will be Going Pecans by Gina Henning

September 23rd – Having a chat with BrookCottage Books about helping out with some chicklit book reviews. Checking proofs for the October editions of the local magazines I write book reviews for. My copy and pasting skills were appalling this month and I have apologised to the editor about my mistakes which need changing in the proof.

September 24th – Organised a couple of my book review team to help out with reviews for the BrookCottage team. Make that 6 of my team, thanks for volunteering everyone. Blogging friend Diane Coto has been helping point me in the right direction towards some new to me authors for the mystery book tour.

In my endeavour to try out something new in my life, I got all the ingredients together for pulled pork. Found a recipe and away I went, well those who know me better, know I tend to wing a recipe when I don’t actually want to use all the list of recommended ingredients, so keen to get on, I forgot how long it would take to defrost my joint of pork. Then found it was larger that the recipe recommended. Marinaded  it for 30 minutes, covered in foil and bunged it in the oven at 2.30pm. Recipe said a slow cook for upto 5 hours. At 7pm it was still raw in the middle, at 9pm it was nearly cooked but no where near the pulled look. At 10.30 I went to bed, switched off the oven leaving the pork in the heat.

September 25th -Pulled pork continued: Got up at 6am, the oven and pork were still just warm and my pork was just about pulled. Not sure it’s the runaway success I planned. Will serve it up for tea tonight and see what the family think.

Just had a lovely book morning chatting over a coffee with fellow writer Alison Williams. Can’t go anywhere without recommending a book these days and added a few more to Alison’s TBR pile. Good Deeds received, drinks were on Alison, thank you.

September 26th – Went to the local market and bought homemade jams as a gift for my husband’s aunt. Been really busy on the blog writing up lots of post drafts. Reading Romancing My Love by Melissa Foster

September 27th – Helped a man at the Supermarket this morning.

Have bought a copy of “Why Does My Book Not Sell?” by Rayne Hall, I’m sure it will be as good as her last one “Twitter for Writers” which I keep recommending to people. I shall be reading and reviewing it in due course.

Today I’m reading Seaside Dreams by Melissa Foster.