Monday, June 30, 2014

Book Review: Driving Layne (Unspoken Truth #1) by Renea Porter




 Driving Layne
By Renea Porter
Unspoken Truth #1
Published: February 13th, 2014

Review by: Tina



On the surface, Amber has it all--she's pretty, smart, fun to be around. Though she's only starting her first semester of college at OSU, she already has a best friend Renee and two gorgeous guys, Chase and Layne, who'd love to get to know her better. To strangers, she has a picture perfect life with a family who loves and supports her--all except her junkie sister who is still trying to find herself.
 The only thing Amber doesn't have is time. She's dying, and the sands fall through the hourglass without regard to her dreams. 
Driving Lane is a heck of a ride. Simultaneously funny and poignant at the same time, Renea Porter manages to capture the reader's heart on the very first page, achieving a delicate balance of fun and sadness without waxing too morose. It's a quick read, but I didn't feel too sad after it was over because I knew that Driving Lane is only Book I of the Unspoken Truth series. It's the perfect beach read!


"They say, the truth will set you free. My truth is killing me."


Amber is starting over in a new state where no one knows her. New roommate, new college and most importantly new freedoms.



Away from home for the first time, Amber isn’t above using a guy for one night and leaving it at that. She doesn't want to get tied down with one person. She just wants to experience the college life and take advantage of being on her own. So, when Amber’s new BFF Renee invites her to an underground drag racing competition, Amber sets her sights on driver/playboy Layne… and their attraction is mutual. 



With his good looks and boyish charm, Layne is popular with the ladies on campus, but Amber thinks one night with him is all she needs to get him out of her system. Little does Amber know that Layne sees things differently, and after their hookup he wants something more. Will Amber open up and let Layne in, or will she run away? 



Will the unspoken truth be too much for either of them to handle?



I've always had my nose inside of a book ever since I can remember. And I thought Id try my hand at writing, and Ive wrote ever since I was young, never showing anyone what I was writing. Initially I started writing Coming Back to You without intending to publish, but my hubby of 15 years encouraged me to publish it. And I did. I cant imagine never writing. Its in my blood. 


My mind is always wondering, plotting and full of ideas. I think my hubs questions my sanity sometimes, because I say my characters are real. They feel real to me. 



And I hope my stories make some sort of impact to you readers. I love hearing from you and enjoy talking with you. 




Website  //  Goodreads  //  Amazon



Switching Lanes
Unspoken Truth # 2
Published May 23rd, 2014
Review coming soon!

Friday, June 27, 2014

Book Review: Ring The Alarm (Book 1) by Tara Ann Bradley



Ring The Alarm

Clique of Misfits Series Book 1

Author Tara Ann Bradley

Review by Jacqui





Living a life she loved, Happy never believed for one second that things could turn so quickly.
She is attacked in such a violent and tragic way that she removes herself from society entirely. 

Drake has been in love with Happy from the moment he laid eyes on her, but after her ordeal he removes himself unwillingly from her new found safe cocoon...
After a year he decides that enough is enough, and forces himself into Happy's sad and dismal life.. 
Can she learn to trust again?

She meets and befriends an unlikely group of woman that help her climb out of this dark pit, along with the help of Drake. 
Mysterious discoveries, tantalizing adventures but will they learn the truth about why she was so brutally attacked...

An intriguing, funny at times, yet serious and romantic book.
A very good read.. Highly recommended..

4 stars from me.  


Happye Naughton had a safe life. She had a sister she loves, a job she was good at, but she wasn't truly living. She wasn't happy but she was content. Comfortable. That is until a tragedy rocks her world and turns her into the most hated person in the city. 


When she is assaulted by a beloved local hero, people are quick to take sides. The press paints her as a gold-digging liar. She receives death threats and loses her job. Just when she wants to give up, billionaire Drake Powell swoops in to pick up the pieces, refusing to let her go down without a fight. With his love, his stubborn commands that she rejoin the land of the living and the sensual, amazing things he does to her body daily, she finds the will to stop being a victim and become a survivor.

Soon, Happye is caught up in a much bigger conspiracy than she thought. With the help of five other women whose lives were also touched by the same corrupted hand, she learns she is much more of a fighter than she thought she was. The women risk their lives to find justice not only for themselves but other women in the same situations.

Drake Powell has wanted Happye since the first time he laid eyes on her. He has loved her from the moment she first smiled at him. When she becomes broken, he knows he has it in him to fix her. But does he have the strength to keep her alive when she, and her new crazy friends, go up against a killer?

Clique of Misfits is a new series about six women who forge an unbreakable friendship out of tragedy. Their new bond gives them the strength to find justice for themselves and the courage to fight for others. Maybe, just maybe, they can also open their hearts to love and embrace the comforting arms of the men that want to protect them.

This book contains explicit sex scenes, strong language, domestic abuse and rape. Suitable for mature audiences only.


Tara Ann Bradley has been reading romance books before she could walk. Not really, but it feels that long. Her love affair with alpha males and happy ever afters started really early. She’s been writing stories since middle school but didn’t dare let anyone read them. She now writes the type of stories that she’d loved all of her life, and finally built the courage to share them with others.


She grew up in Chicago, and that city still holds a special place in her heart. She now resides in Alabama with her three sons, waiting for the day where she will return to her beloved city.





Push The Button

The Clique of Misfits Book 2



The crazy antics of the Misfits continues as the next one falls in love in the midst of turmoil. 



All of her life, Faith Morgan kept her inner circle to just herself and her lifelong friend, Eddie. But, when he was taken from her, fate stepped in and delivered five new friends who became closer than sisters, The Misfits. For the first time in her life, she feels like part of a family, and she’s never been happier. 

That is until a couple of unexpected events shake up her entire world. 

First, Mack—the charismatic pain in her ass—decided to add a whole lot of lovin’ to their love-hate relationship. Then, someone from her past shows up and is determined to torment her. And, on top of all that, she had to survive her friends’ upcoming weddings and hormonal pregnancies. 

In the midst of missing teenagers and receiving mysterious body parts in the mail, Faith struggles to protect her heart from the gorgeous guy filling her world with beauty and passion. None of that matters if she can’t bury the secrets of her past—secrets that will cost her everyone she loves if they ever find out. 

The Clique of Misfits is a series about six women who forge an unbreakable friendship out of tragedy. Their new bond gives them the strength to find justice for themselves and the courage to fight for others. Maybe, just maybe, they can also open their hearts to love and embrace the comforting arms of the men that want to protect them.


Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Book Review: Full Strength (Book 2) by Katie Kenyhercz



Full Strength

By: Katie Kenyhercz

Book 2 in the Las Vegas Sinners Series

Published February 17th, 2014

Review by: Sandra Long 





On the Fly by Katie Kenyhercz is a prequel to this book but either book could be read and enjoyed alone. However, being an avid reader all my life I know very well that anytime we enjoy an author’s work and know that the author has other books out there with the same cast of characters, we always want to read them all, so I would suggest reading On the Fly first as that is the timeline for the story. Like book one this novel is also a romance and revolves around the same hockey team and owners as the first book and also takes place in Las Vegas. 

But in book two we meet a new addition to the staff as well as get to know expanded family members and friends of some of the characters and a more in depth acquaintance with some of the team members from book one, while the leading characters from the first book play a more minor role.

The newest employee is Allie Kallen, a psychologist who specializes in treating athletes who are dealing with injuries that require prolonged healing time and the impact on their psychological adjustment to the slow recovery or limited activity, as well as recognizing and treating any other issues a team player may be dealing with—perhaps insecurity about being re-injured when they return to play or rejection by other team members if their injury or prolonged absence is causing a negative effect on the team’s performance. It was a decision made by Jacey, who we learned in book one inherited this team from her father and had to face a lot of criticism for basically being a female team owner in good old boy territory. Every decision she made was scrutinized in great detail by the national board of professional hockey team owners, almost as if they were hoping she would fail. One of those decisions was hiring a 
female to coach the all male team. Now she has done it again by hiring a young, attractive, unmarried female psychologist to work with her team.

Allie had been a standout soccer player, a goalie, going to college on a full athletic scholarship when she tore her ACL severely during her junior season and after a year of treatments and surgery, her soccer career ended before it ever began. She was so emotional over this that she turned her almost total emphasis on studying for her current profession, thinking if being permanently sidelined by an injury had affected her so traumatically, there must be many other athletes in similar circumstances and perhaps, through counseling, she could help them cope and perhaps get back into their sport or find a new, satisfying direction for their lives. The team’s initial reaction to her is negative and they pretty much try to avoid her, seeing any form of counseling as a sign of weakness.

Allie’s first, and for a while her only, patient is the team’s goalie, Shane Reese, lifelong friend of book one’s hero, Carter Flynn. The two men had grown up together since age 5 and had played hockey together all those years. But last season was Carter’s real last season as his third severe concussion permanently sidelined him. The two, once inseparable friends seldom spend any quality time together any more. Shane has succeeded because of his own skill as a goalie but he had never played on a team without Carter and it was affecting his playing. He was injured during a game when a 300 pound opponent fell on top of him and he suffered a high ankle sprain which had been very slow to heal. Since his injury he has undergone an extreme personality change. The normally carefree, laughing player has not had a kind word for anyone and when his fellow team members tried some of their usual teasing to get a smile from him, they got a severe verbal attack instead and he punched a hole in the wall. This had prompted Jacey to speed up Allie’s hiring and to order Reese to see Allie twice a week until he was released medically and psychologically to return to play. He was even more angry over this and could not conceal it during the counseling sessions, though, also against his will, he found himself attracted to the pretty young doctor.

To make his life even more miserable, his baby sister, Saralynn, new college grad, comes to live with him until she can find a job and start paying for her own place. A big complication to this is her degree is in public relations and before she can get a paying job she needs to do an internship which is non-salaried and she is applying for the position currently open at his team’s main office. He loves her but he does not like giving up his privacy, he does not want her meeting and possibly dating his team mates and he does not want her trying to interfere in his life.

As he has more sessions with Allie, she finds herself also attracted to him but tries to cover it up due to company policy about staff dating team members as well as the issue of doctors becoming romantically involved with clients. Reese asked Allie to call him Shane, something he has not allowed anyone else to do for 25 years. Their relationship begins to evolve and they start to see how much they have in common and both begin to feel the heat in their attraction getting hotter as the team begins to suffer from loss of their best goalie, but as the second string goalie starts to improve and Shane’s attitude doesn’t, there is talking of trading him to another team at the end of the season. Stress, stress and more stress on Shane to get back on the ice, get his sister employed and out of his house and either date or get over his attraction to Allie. Same situation for Allie as she feels compelled to succeed with her first actual patient. She feels she made a bad call last year during her internship and let a player trick her into 
thinking he was more improved from a concussion than he actually was and the very first game after she released him to play he suffered another concussion which not only ended his career but left him with brain damage requiring long term rehab to re-learn basic life skills. She is lonely being in a strange town but locates her college best friend who is now married and lives in Vegas and just full of advice.

Now, what more could you possibly want in a good romance book? Forbidden love, long term medical issues, frustrating sports issues, family drama, friendships drifting apart, friendships being renewed and exciting hockey games to keep us alert and still learning more about the game of hockey. Five stars and a recommendation to romance lovers everywhere to read this book, preferably, but not necessarily, after book one.




After a bum knee ended her soccer days, Alexandra—Allie—Kallen has dedicated her life to helping injured athletes cope and get back in the game. As the new team sports psychologist of the Las Vegas Sinners, she starts out with just one player, but he’s a handful. Goalies are stubborn, and she would know. She’s determined to figure him out and return him to the net good as new, especially after she sent her last patient back to the ice too soon. The problem is, she sees so much of herself in Shane, and their chemistry is off the charts. Falling for him isn’t in the plan. Is love worth losing her career?


Shane Reese’s entire identity has been wrapped up in being a goalie since he was five years old. When he gets a high ankle sprain right before playoffs, he doesn’t exactly take it well. After putting his fist through the physical therapy room wall and hitting a few joking teammates, he’s ordered to see the new shrink. All he has to do is convince her he’s seen the light, and he can get back to defending his team as soon as his ankle heals. The problem is, she sees through him like no one he’s ever met, and the more time he spends with her, the less hot he is to get back to the ice. Could something mean more than hockey?






I live in Little Rock, AR with my husband and Motley the cat, and I write hockey romance. 



I played one season of roller hockey when I was fifteen--it hurt enough that I decided I liked it better as a spectator--and it's been true love ever since! My fictional team is the Las Vegas Sinners, and my real-world team is the Pittsburgh Penguins.

I like strong, capable heroines who bring out the vulnerability in their tough guys.




Website  //  Twitter  //  Amazon  //  Goodreads


 


Monday, June 23, 2014

Book Review: On The Fly (Book 1) By Katie Kenyhercz



On the Fly

By: Katie Kenyhercz

Book 1 in the Las Vegas Sinners Series

Published March 18th, 2013

Reviewed by : Sandra Long






On the Fly is said to be a romance by genre and it is, but it is more than that. It is also a sports novel that shows an in-depth knowledge of the game of hockey, whether from personal experience or a lot of research we don’t know, but we do know that this author has incorporated the game and the romance into a storyline that is both entertaining and educational.

Our main characters are a young woman named Jacey ( actuallyJacqueline but her dad always called her Jacey and like most nicknames, it stuck). Jacey and her younger brother, Madden, lost their mother at an early age. Their dad loved them both dearly and spent quality time with them, but he was also a workaholic so they also had nannies. Jacey took young Maddie, as she called him, and nurtured him throughout their childhood years right up until she left for college. Maddie graduated Yale with a MBA, fell in love and lived with her boyfriend up until one year before our story begins. She had visions of marriage and a lifetime with Alex, and especially after she found a receipt from a jewelry store in his pocket. One week later she found another woman in their bed with Alex . Her broken heart had started to mend but she had decided no man could be trusted so she had pretty much given up on love.

Madden spent his time and his money on parties, women and mostly his severe gambling problem. When he got in trouble his entire life he had always been able to use his good looks and charm to bail himself out of most things, but not gambling debts—for them he went to family and Jacey had never let him down. His dad didn’t either but when their dad past away the month before our story opens, his will had left the family business empire to Jacey and his extravagant mansion jointly to both of them.

As our story begins Jacey is on a plane for Las Vegas, where their dad’s house and business are located. The business is a professional hockey team. He had owned hockey teams most of his life so both kids had grown up in the sport, but more so Madden. He had been so sure that his dad would leave the team to him that he had quit his job and was also moving to Vegas but now he had to plead with Jacey to give him a job. Naturally she did, but as her assistant, because he still seemed so immature that she did not fully trust him to make decisions or to stay away from the casinos.

Their dad had owned a winning team in the past but this was a young team, a new team, and up until now, a losing team. The big guns in the profession were very upset at having a female owner and felt she did not belong in their good old boys club so they were out to get her from day one, watching for any mistakes. The team’s general manager had quit shortly before her dad’s death and the coach resigned the day he learned she was the new owner. Her first day at work the team captain, and star player, came to her office looking for junior. His contract was up for renewal and he had a much better offer from another team and he had been in negotiations with her dad about a salary increase to match the other offer before he signed the new contract. Her dad had made an offer, which he felt was the best he could do since the team was not really making any money yet. The offer was less than half what the other team offered, so team captain Carter Phllyn, came in with guns blazing to demand more money or quit when he met with “junior”. He walked in on Jacey and was shocked when she said that she was the new owner—he had thought everyone was saying J.C., so he was expecting the son. It was instant attraction between these two and by the time his agent arrived to demand more money or else, Carter was agreeing to accept the lower salary.

As the storyline develops, the sparks between these two are so obvious that the gossips immediately start. It seems Carter already has a reputation as a playboy and a local reporter who is determined to make big time by-lines at the expense of Jacey and Carter, takes every opportunity she gets, including dating Jacey’s brother, to gather tidbits that can be twisted and turned into headlines that sell. This brings the national board of hockey team owners down on Jacey big time. And, when she names her father’s office assistant, a woman who is the daughter of a once famous hockey coach, as the new head coach of her team, the big boys get even more upset.

Jacey is still dealing with trust issues from her last relationship as well as the grief of losing her father and the determination not to let him down by losing or selling “his” team. She lets these fears keep interfering in her slowly developing relationship with Carter. Madden is a help to Jacey in learning about the game of hockey and is a real help to her most of the time but he lets himself start gambling again.

Here we have all the ingredients for a great storyline—a love that must be kept hidden or denied altogether if the hockey team is going to survive, a team that has been nothing but losers with a female coach determined to turn them into winners, a gambling problem thought to be cured resurfaces and a younger brother struggles with his own immature and irresponsible behaviors and tries to atone. All these plots and sub-plots make for a very interesting, very entertaining read. I would highly recommend this book to lovers of romance and as an added bonus, the reader will finish with a conversational knowledge of the game of hockey.




Jacey Vaughn has a newly minted MBA when her father dies unexpectedly and leaves her his NHL team. Well-versed in business but not so much in hockey, Jacey navigates this new world with a few stumbles. She definitely doesn’t plan on falling for the team captain. At the first hint of scandal, a local Las Vegas reporter latches on, and Jacey finds herself in the newspaper with headlines that hurt instead of help. Jacey’s determined to keep her father’s legacy alive and make the team successful, but while she has no problem denying her feelings to the media, she can’t lie to herself.



Carter Phlynn has known nothing but hockey his entire life. Drafted into the NHL at age eighteen, winning the Stanley Cup is all he’s ever wanted. Nothing has ever disrupted his focus. Not until he meets his new boss. Jacey gets under his skin like no one else, and while dating the team owner would be a disaster for his career and reputation, he can’t get her out of his head. Carter has never had a relationship last more than a month, but the more he’s around Jacey, the more he can’t picture his future without her.




I live in Little Rock, AR with my husband and Motley the cat, and I write hockey romance. 


I played one season of roller hockey when I was fifteen--it hurt enough that I decided I liked it better as a spectator--and it's been true love ever since! My fictional team is the Las Vegas Sinners, and my real-world team is the Pittsburgh Penguins.

I like strong, capable heroines who bring out the vulnerability in their tough guys.





Website  //  Twitter  //  Amazon  //  Goodreads





Full Strength

By: Katie Kenyhercz


Book 2 in the Las Vegas Sinners Series


After a bum knee ended her soccer days, Alexandra—Allie—Kallen has dedicated her life to helping injured athletes cope and get back in the game. As the new team sports psychologist of the Las Vegas Sinners, she starts out with just one player, but he’s a handful. Goalies are stubborn, and she would know. She’s determined to figure him out and return him to the net good as new, especially after she sent her last patient back to the ice too soon. The problem is, she sees so much of herself in Shane, and their chemistry is off the charts. Falling for him isn’t in the plan. Is love worth losing her career?


Shane Reese’s entire identity has been wrapped up in being a goalie since he was five years old. When he gets a high ankle sprain right before playoffs, he doesn’t exactly take it well. After putting his fist through the physical therapy room wall and hitting a few joking teammates, he’s ordered to see the new shrink. All he has to do is convince her he’s seen the light, and he can get back to defending his team as soon as his ankle heals. The problem is, she sees through him like no one he’s ever met, and the more time he spends with her, the less hot he is to get back to the ice. Could something mean more than hockey?




Friday, June 20, 2014

Book Review: Obstruction (Book 2) by Peyton Sloane


Obstruction

The Potential Trilogy #2

By: Peyton Slone

Reviewer: Sandra Long

Published April 15th, 2014




After being treated to book one of this series this second installment was an instant hit. Book one introduced us to our leading characters,Jazz and Julian, as well as some of their friends and acquaintances. We learned of Julian's extreme wealth and history of being a player for the past 6 years after being left with a broken heart by the infidelity of his first true love. We also learned of Jazz naivete even though she was a recent widow . Her sexual experiences were tame but there was instant chemistry between these two when they found themselves seat mates on a flight to France.

Jazz had taken time off work to try to piece her broken life back together by taking a relaxing vacation , or at least that was her original plan . Julian was on a business trip.  The sexual heat between these two could have ignited the entire airplane it was so hot and instantaneous. Their entire time in France was spent together and the sex just kept getting hotter and hotter. 

In this book the sexual heat never stops but the author has brought in a storyline of the dangers that follow the rich and famous.  Scorned jealous lovers, resentful business competitors, all kinds of stalkers are ever present dangers that face the rich and famous . But our two lovers are so new to this role that their defences are down and danger seems to follow them everywhere they go .

Jazz 's parents,especially her dad think Julian is totally wrong for her while his parents are thrilled he seems to have found happiness at last .  But can their love survive all the new problems in their lives ?  Attempts on their lives, kidnapping, death , so many new problems brought into the storyline in this book.

If you want a spell -bounding, sexually stimulating, modern day love story with spicy sexual antics as well as danger and worrying about what these characters are going to do next, then this series is what you want for that weekend read that keeps your blood racing and your brain wondering will they or won't Jazz and Julian be able to stay alive and stay together in spite of all they must endure in book two. Sure hope there is going to be a book three so we can continue to follow the strange sex filled relationship between these two characters.





When Julian St. Sauveur, described in Architectural Digest as the "Rock Star of the Architectural World" was seated beside the bohemian woman on his flight to Paris, he never would have conceived how events would unfold...how this young widow would capture his mind, heart and soul so quickly and completely. She was a force of nature and his equal in every way — passion, anger, joy and just plain silliness.


Jazzmyne Mickelson took off on a journey of self- exploration and was likewise thrown off balance by the beautiful and urbane man who sat beside her. 

He is curious, inappropriate and completely proprietary...she is fascinated, responsively inappropriate and swept off her feet. She is naïve and overwhelmed, thrilled and frightened in his presence. He is thinking he has found his greatest desires.

Barely begun, and tenuously fresh, Jazz and Julian's relationship is tested by each other and the spectre of Julian's burgeoning fame which accosts them at every turn resulting in deceit and terror.

Will they find a way through the obstacles together and stronger or will they be torn apart, broken beyond repair?

FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY



I have been an extreme bibliophile since I was a kid, precociously finishing my first read of "Gone with the Wind" at age 12. I've had lots of stories whirling around in my head over the years and am grateful for the opportunities afforded by the relatively new world of self-publishing.

Personally, I am a wife, career woman and mom to 2 amazing little divas, hence their photo on my page, rather than mine, they are WAY cuter...

I ride a Harley, have ink, a smart mouth and a dirty mind - this latter always with apologies to my mom who wishes she could wash it out with soap!

This journey of writing I am on is by far the most landmark moment in my life. I will always hope that my characters and their stories will bring as much enjoyment to my readers as I get from writing them!