When I first read the book description of ‘The Front Runner’, I knew this was a book I wanted to read. I also read some promising stuff about Elsie Silver. And the whole Ranch thing made it even more appealing in my book. So when I received the ARC I was really excited and couldn’t ...KEEP READING »
As a big fan of Samantha Young, I’ve read a lot of her books. (And I plan on reading all her books!) So when I read that there was a new collection coming I got super excited. Although I’m not necessarily a fan of novellas, because I just love longer stories, I do love Samantha’s novellas. So this collection of some of Samantha’s novellas is perfect.
‘Love Stories’ is an collection of four Contemporary Romance novellas. As a newsletter subscriber to Samantha we already got to read these novellas and let me tell you.. they are amazing. The first one is ‘The Forbidden Christmas Gift’, the story of Reid and Evan. Reid is thirteen years older than Evan, and his little sisters best friend. She totally should be off-limits. But Reid can’t seem to forget about Evan. Boy did I love these two! And their story is set during Christmas time.. I loved it.
The second novella is ‘New Year’s Eve’, the story of Ryan and Joe. This novella is about another age gap romance and is must say it was another great one. Ryan and Joe have a lot of chemistry and I loved them. Their age gap is pretty big, but still.. I believe love is love, and they were perfect for each other.
The third novella is ‘Loving Valentine’ and it’s the story of Micah and Valentine. In the beginning of this novella they meet, and in this novella we end up many years later. They’ve loved each other all these years, and a lot went wrong but in the end they still get together. I was just really impressed by this story.
And the fourth and last novella was ‘Ember in the Heart’, a Pride and Prejudice sort of story and it was another great one. The chemistry between these two main characters, Ember and Foster, was amazing. They had another age cap, but this time the woman was older, and it was definitely a great read.
Yep.. I loved this collection of Love Stories. Especially since I’m not really big on novellas, in this collection it just worked perfectly. A great read for the holidays.
A little while ago I read ‘Keeping You’ by Lena Hendrix. I loved that book, so when I got the opportunity to sign up for ‘Protecting You’, I couldn’t resist and I was super excited when I received an ARC. Although ‘Protecting You’ is the third book in the Chikalu Falls series, it can easily be read as a standalone.
In ‘Protecting You’ we read the story of Maggie and Cole. Maggie and Cole where best friends growing up. But in their teens they started to develop more feelings for each other. Unfortunately they both where to afraid to acknowledge those feelings, and they ended up making choices they both regretted. For more than fifteen years Maggie and Cole have been in the same little town, but they never got close again. They seem to despise one another. At least that is what they believe themselves. Everyone in town can see the attraction between these two, but a lot has happened over the years and a lot has been said.
Since reading a little bit about Maggie and Cole in ‘Keeping You’, nothing major so you can easily read this one without reading the other, I was really curious about their story. So when I finally was able to start reading, I didn’t want to stop until I learned everything about these characters. Maggie and Cole definitely have a lot of chemistry, but they act as like they don’t like each other at all. Slowly we learn that there is a lot more to their story then first expected, and I enjoyed getting to know these characters.
‘Protecting You’ is written through both Maggie and Cole’s point of view. And I definitely loved reading their story through their eyes. Maggie was this tough, hardworking, single mom, who always put her daughter first. Cole was a sheriff who worked hard to keep his city save. And above all he made sure Maggie was taken care off. To the outside world he disliked Maggie, but we soon learn that he has always loved Maggie and wanted to take care of her more than anything.
Although both characters are definitely fun, I loved Cole the most. I loved how intensely he cared for Maggie. And even though things would have been much easier if he just talked about these feelings and admitted them, I sort of adored why he hid everything for everyone. (Though not nearly as good as he liked to think.)
This book definitely had a few steamy moments, but mostly this book was just very intense. In the end I wished I could have read more about their romance, and a little less about their past, but I really enjoyed this story. And above all it made me determined to read the first book as well.
I used to love stories about vampires. But recently I haven’t read many fantasy or paranormal novels. So when I saw the cover of ‘Forever After’, and read the book description, I really was curious about this book. When I got approved to read it, I was really excited and started reading as soon as possible.
In ‘Forever After’ we meet Autumn Reid. Autumn is a librarian, and has always lived a safe and sheltered life. Now she is determined to do something different. So she signs up for a real life dating show called Forever After. This is a dating show featuring a vampire and the winner of the vampires heart gets to choose cash or immortality.
Oliver Gray really needs money to save his home. So when he gets asked to act as an duke in a reality show, he can’t resist. Doing the show should be easy work, but when Oliver meets Autumn and realizes she is his true mate, things get complicated.
So.. I totally admit that this book sounded kind of cheesy. I mean, set in a reality show fighting for the ‘bad boy’s heart? But this book just had something about it I enjoyed. The two main characters Autumn and Oliver where really fun to get to know. I loved Autumn. She was just someone I could easily imagine being friends with. And Oliver? Well.. Hello.. He is a duke, more than a hundred years old and he is really handsome. What’s not to like about him?
The whole reality show part, and the murders didn’t really necessarily work for me. I honestly felt like the mystery part was a bit redundant. And I couldn’t really picture the whole reality show part. But I liked the characters, and the whole vampire part enough to not let that bother me. Above all I really enjoyed the romance between Autumn and Oliver. Oliver was just so loveable. I especially loved how he was totally smitten with Autumn from the start.
‘Forever After’ was a fun read I definitely enjoyed.
After reading the first book in the Winterville series, Welcome To Winterville, I knew this was a series I needed to read. So when I was lucky enough to receive an ARC, I was super excited and started reading as soon as possible.
In ‘Hearts in Winter’ we read the story of Everley and Dylan. Everley and Dylan used to be married. But marrying young didn’t work for them. After one year of marriage, Dylan left and broke Everley’s heart. Now, 8 years later Dylan is back in Winterville and tells Everley that they never got divorced. How could that have happened? And what do they do now? When Everley and Dylan are forced to act like they are a happy married couple things start to become even more complicated.
‘Hearts in Winter’ was from the very first page a book I couldn’t put down. I already loved the small town of Winterville since reading the first book, but through this book I seriously love it even more. The two main characters Everley and Dylan, loved each other intensely years ago. They married young and had this explosive passion between them. But they both wanted very different things from life, and they separated. But they both never really got over each other. And when they meet again after all those years, they realize they still love each other. But nothing has changed. They both have very different lives. So things might end in heartbreak yet again.
Everley and Dylan are definitely my new favorite characters in the Winterville series. Boy did I love them!! The chemistry between them is something you could easily feel flying of the pages. And yes I definitely mean flying!! Their connection is intense and I couldn’t stop reading this book until I read every single page. (Thank you for yet another sleepless night Carrie :’) ) The romance part was just so good. I loved every single page.
My favorite character was definitely Everley. She was very easy to like. Hardworking, passionate and kind. And I loved how she loved Dylan with everything she has. But Dylan’s character was also amazing. Yes, he did have his troubles. But above all he was just a very good guy and I loved how he just wanted to take care of Everley.
The setting of Winterville is definitely one of my favorites. I love romance, and I love Christmas. So a small Christmas-crazy town with some great romance? This series is definitely checking all my boxes and I can’t wait for the next read in this series.
Hi there!
I'm Maureen
