Dreaming of a Heart Lake Christmas by Sarah Robinson

Posted April 25, 2023 by Marsha in Author ARC, Christmas Romance, Contemporary Romance, Forever (Grand Central Publishing), Holiday Romance, NetGalley, Series, Small Town Romance / 0 Comments

When sparks start flying, these total opposites discover Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year.

To raise enough money to start her own business, Nola Bennett needs to sell “The Castle,” her beloved grandmother’s historic house, and get back home to the city. But Heart Lake’s most eligible bachelor is insisting she hangs on to the property. He may be one of the hottest, grumpiest men she’s ever seen, but Nola has no time to pine over her high school crush.

All woodworker Tanner Dean wants for Christmas is some peace and quiet, but that’s not going to happen with the infuriating, irresistible Nola Bennett back in town. How can he persuade her to keep The Castle out of the hands of greedy developers when sizzling attraction flares every time they’re together? And the more time he spends with Nola, the harder it becomes to picture a future without her—unless he can convince her, once and for all, that Heart Lake is exactly where she belongs.

Includes the bonus novella The Christmas Wish by Melinda Curtis!

Titles in the Heart Lake series include — Dreaming of a Heart Lake Christmas —♥— The Little Bookstore on Heart Lake Lane —♥—

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The Santa Suit by Mary Kay Andrews

Posted April 25, 2023 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, Holiday Romance, NetGalley, Small Town Romance, St. Martin's Press / 0 Comments

When newly divorced Ivy Perkins buys an old farmhouse sight unseen, she is definitely looking for a change in her life. The Four Roses, as the farmhouse is called, is a labor of love—but Ivy didn’t bargain on just how much labor. The previous family left so much furniture and so much junk, that it’s a full-time job sorting through all of it.

At the top of a closet, Ivy finds an old Santa suit—beautifully made and decades old. In the pocket of a suit, she finds a note written in a childish hand: it’s from a little girl who has one Christmas wish, and that is for her father to return home from the war. This discovery sets Ivy off on a mission. Who wrote the note? Did the man ever come home? What mysteries did the Rose family hold?

Ivy’s quest brings her into the community, at a time when all she wanted to do was be left alone and nurse her wounds. But the magic of Christmas makes miracles happen, and Ivy just might find more than she ever thought possible: a welcoming town, a family reunited, a mystery solved, and a second chance at love.

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That’s It For April ARCs

Posted April 24, 2023 by Marsha in Discussion Post / 0 Comments

I’ve hit publish on the last ARC for Keeper Bookshelf for April 2023.

It’s always a satisfying moment, but also that moment when I take a look at my TBR or the other books that still need to be reviewed and… well, then I sigh, for there sometimes aren’t enough hours in the day for all I need to do.

For the rest of April, I’ll be putting up some overdue reviews.  A few of them will seem out of season to some, but then I can read a Christmas Romance at any time of the year. 🙂

If you don’t want to, then I sincerely hope that you’ll just mute @keeperbookshelf on Twitter instead of unfollowing me… who knows, maybe someday you’ll want to read thoughts on romance novels once again.

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How to Best A Marquess by Janna MacGregor

Posted April 21, 2023 by Marsha in Historical Romance, NetGalley, Regency Romance, Series, Sexual Content, St. Martin's Press / 0 Comments

Beth Howell needs to find her dowry, post haste. After her good-for-nothing first husband married her—and two other women, unbeknownst to them all—she’s left financially ruined and relegated to living with her brother, who cares more for his horses than he does his blood relatives. If Beth fails to acquire her funds, her brother will force her to marry someone fifty years her senior and missing half his teeth. She’d prefer to avoid that dreadful fate. But her now-deceased husband, Meri, absconded with her money mere days after their illegitimate marriage. To find it, Beth will have to leave town and retrace Meri’s steps if she’s to take her future into her own hands.

Julian Raleah, Marquess of Grayson, cares not a whit for social norms and generally growls at anyone in his path. Grayson has had a heart of stone ever since his engagement to Beth Howell went down in flames—long before she married that cad, Meri, and sealed her own fate for good. But now she’s on his doorstep, asking for use of his carriage and accompaniment on the hunt to find her lost dowry. Surely Grayson cannot go on the road with the woman who has occupied his thoughts for the past decade. Yet, knowing she needs him, how can he resist helping her this one last time? And maybe that’s just enough time to change the ending to their over-too-soon love story.

Titles in The Widow Rules series include — A Duke in Time —♥— Rules for Engaging the Earl —♥— How to Best a Marquess —♥—

This is an adult 18+ story that may contain language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.

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The Lady Knows Best by Susanna Craig

Posted April 18, 2023 by Marsha in Connection to another series, Historical Romance, Kensington Books, NetGalley, Regency Romance, Series, Sexual Content / 0 Comments

Serving as the advice columnist, ‘Miss Busy B.’, for an often-subversive ladies’ magazine is the perfect outlet for Daphne Burke’s outspoken nature. But when she advises a young lady of the ton, to break off her engagement to a notorious rake, the consequences take Daphne beyond the page and into her real life.

 Miles, Viscount Deveraux, sometimes known as “that devil Deveraux” needs a respectable bride by the end of the Season, and he’s bet a fortune that he can get one. Now, his fiancée has not only changed her mind—but has done it publicly, in a letter to London’s most infamous magazine. With the stakes high and time short, it seems reasonable to him that the columnist responsible should come to his rescue and marry him instead.
 
Fortunately for Miles, Daphne is eager to escape the pressures of the London marriage mart. She agrees to a courtship. But at the end of two weeks, she intends to turn him down in a big, splashy, scandal that will ruin her reputation and set her free. There’s just one shocking wrinkle: Who knew being ruined by a rake could be so much fun?

Titles in the Goode’s Guide to Misconduct series include — The Lady Knows Best —♥—

This is an adult 18+ story that may contain language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.

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How Not to Marry a Duke by Tina Gabrielle

Posted April 10, 2023 by Marsha in Entangled Publishing, Historical Romance, NetGalley, Series, Sexual Content / 0 Comments

From the moment her pet pig attacks him, Adeline Foster knows she does not care at all for the Duke of Warwick. Certainly, the man is handsome, but such an arrogant arse. But when her scoundrel half-brother demands she marries a stranger over a failed investment, the duke does something shocking…he announces he’s courting her.

One moment, Daniel Millstone is enjoying tinkering with his inventions in his quiet country home with relative anonymity. The next, he’s courting the willful Miss Adeline. It might have begun as a way to vex her half-brother—his childhood nemesis—but her striking beauty and kissable lips prove an irresistible temptation.

Now Adeline and her faux beau must convince the ton and their families that they’re an item. It doesn’t matter if they can barely tolerate each other. It doesn’t matter that scandal is only a touch away. Because if this charade doesn’t work, Adeline will find herself in dangerous hands…

Titles in the Daring Ladies series are considered by the author to be Stand-Alone Titles; those include —  One Night with an Earl —♥—  How Not to Marry a Duke —♥—

This is an adult 18+ story that may contain language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.

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Strawberry Lane by Jodi Thomas

Posted April 6, 2023 by Marsha in Connection to another series, Contemporary Romance, Kensington Books, NetGalley, Series, Small Town Romance / 0 Comments

Starri Knight is a big believer in fate. How else to explain the compelling connection she feels to the stranger she pulls out of a wrecked car on the very same road where her parents died twenty years earlier? Alongside Auntie Ona-May, the only mother she’s ever known, Starri saves Rusty O’Sullivan’s life—just as Ona-May once did when Starri was an orphaned babe. But convincing Rusty he has something to live for is going to take all of Starri’s faith in miracles . . .
 
Like a wish he hadn’t even known to make, Starri landed in Rusty’s life, filling him with a longing for a family. . . . Then Jackson Landry, a new lawyer, turns up to present a surprise that will change the direction of his life: An inheritance from the father Rusty never knew—and the promise of the family he’d never had. It’s a lot for the hard-bitten loner to
accept as love rushes into his life . . .
 
A sense of duty has Rusty heading to Honey Creek to deal with his father’s estate—and find his lost siblings. But having a family is one thing; learning to love them is another. Good thing new friends are by his side to help him along the way.

Titles in the Someday Valley series include — Strawberry Lane —♦—

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Once Upon A Royal Christmas by Teri Wilson

Posted April 2, 2023 by Marsha in Christmas Romance, Contemporary Romance, Hallmark Publishing, NetGalley, Series / 0 Comments

She pretends to be a princess at children’s parties.

But can she melt a real prince’s frosty heart?

“I’m Prince Nikolas of San Glacera. Oh, you’ve never heard of us? Well, you’re not the only one. Our country relies on winter tourism, but we’re attracting fewer and fewer visitors. I admit it’s a problem. I just don’t think the solution is an American who likes to play dress-up.

You see, while I was away on a trip, my younger sister convinced the palace to hold a contest. The winner gets to star in our annual Ice Village festivities and accompany our royal family to holiday events.

And who did they choose? Gracie Clark, who runs a children’s party business and performs as—I kid you not—‘Princess Snowflake.’

Of course, I do respect the fact that she volunteers at children’s hospitals. I suppose to some, she might have a certain charm… But the whole cheap spectacle is beneath our dignity.

I’m not going to shirk my duty to my kingdom. I’ll go to every event with her. At least, once Christmas is over, she’ll be gone…”

Companion books Once Upon a Royal Summer —♥— Once Upon a Royal Christmas —♥—

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Christmas at the Ranch by Anita Hughes

Posted April 1, 2023 by Marsha in Christmas Romance, Contemporary Romance, NetGalley, St. Martin's Press / 0 Comments

It’s days before Christmas, and Samantha Morgan is in her Brooklyn apartment when her editor, Charlie, shows up. Her publisher Arthur Wentworth is throwing a Christmas party and wants Samantha to be the guest of honor. Samantha tries to come up with an excuse to miss it. She writes a series of books featuring a female James Bond-type heroine named Sloane Parker, and Charlie is the only person who knows that Samantha is the opposite of Sloane, though the marketing team has built up an entire social media presence for her claiming that she is just as adventurous. In reality, Samantha rarely leaves her neighborhood and does her research online. She is afraid of almost everything and is only happy when she’s sitting in her apartment and writing.

Samantha reluctantly agrees to go. But instead of taking her to Arthur’s house in Connecticut, the driver goes to the airport. On the phone, Charlie admits that the party is at Arthur’s new ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. For a person who hates even walking around the block when it snows, this is her worst nightmare.

But when a handsome stranger sits next to her on the plane, things begin to look up. She feels comfortable enough to spill all her secrets to him, including all of her fears and the truth about her fake Instagram account. However, when she shows up at the house, it turns out that this man, Drew, is Arthur’s son. Now Samantha is worried that Drew will tell his father about her lies.

Over the course of Christmas week, Samantha grows closer to Drew. But when his fiancée, Beatrix (who recently gave him an ultimatum about settling down), shows up, things get more complicated. As Samantha’s fears of bison and giant icicles subside, and her feelings for Drew grow deeper, new fears develop…

Will she leave this Christmas adventure brokenhearted? Or will true love prevail?

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Extra Witchy by Ann Aguirre

Posted April 1, 2023 by Marsha in Contemporary Romance, NetGalley, Paranormal Romance, Series, Sourcebooks Casablanca / 0 Comments

After two failed marriages, Leanne Vanderpol is here for a good time, not for a long time. She only loves the witches in her coven, and she cares more about her career than happily ever after. A difficult past makes her skittish, and she doesn’t trust relationships to stick. But when she decides to run for city council instead of wasting her talents cleaning up messes for the mayor’s office, she fears her past could be used against her. 

Unless she can find the right husband to shore up her political career…

Trevor Montgomery might have peaked in high school. He was popular then, and in college as well, but he partied away his future, met the wrong person, and everything fell apart. Now he’s jobless, dateless, and hopeless, at least according to his toxic family. Then a chance meeting with the redhead of his dreams offers an unexpected ray of light just when he needs it most.

Can a woman who doesn’t believe in forever find true love with a man who’s stopped believing in anything at all?

Titles in the Fix-It Witches series include — Witch Please —♥— Boss Witch —♥— Extra Witchy —♥—

This is an adult 18+ story that may contain language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.

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What Happens in the Ballroom by Sabrina Jeffries

Posted March 29, 2023 by Marsha in Historical Romance, Kensington Books, NetGalley, Regency Romance, Series, Sexual Content / 0 Comments

A young military widow, Eliza Pierce is enjoying both freedom and financial success as part of Elegant Occasions. When her late husband’s best friend, Nathaniel Stanton, the Earl of Foxstead, hires Elegant Occasions to help another young widow of an officer become part of high society, Eliza wonders why. Is the woman a relative? Or is she the earl’s mistress and her adorable toddler his child? If so, why does he take Eliza in his arms every chance he gets . . .
 
Foxstead’s family situation makes it difficult for him to marry, so his visceral attraction to his best friend’s widow is an unwelcome complication. Burdened by family secrets and those of his commanding officer, he’s determined to do his duty even when it means being around Eliza every day. But how can he resist when the fetching Eliza keeps tempting him to break his own rules? For if he dares to expose the truth, will she ever forgive him? Or will she banish him from her life forever . . .

Titles in the Designing Debutantes series include — A Duke for Diana —♥— What Happens in the Ballroom —♥—

This is an adult 18+ story that may contain language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.

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