Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations…
He wore suits and I wore biker boots.
He went to university and I went to trade school.
He lived in a big home and I lived in a tiny apartment.
When my world was turned upside down, he took me in his arms and promised to help me find a new direction. Now I’ve lost my job, been separated from my friends, and any day an eviction notice was bound to show up.
Unfortunately, my journey was tougher than he had imagined.
Before becoming a romance writer, Danielle was a body double for Heidi Klum and a backup singer for Adele. Now, she spends her days trying to play keep away from Theo James who won’t stop calling her or asking her out.
And all of this happens before she wakes up and faces reality where in fact she is a 50 something mom with grown kids, she's been married longer than Theo’s been alive, and now get her kicks riding a Harley.
As far as her body, she can thank, Ben & Jerry’s for that as well as gravity and vodka. But she says that she could never be Adele’s backup since she never stops saying the F-word long enough to actually sing.
Danielle writes about kickass women with even better shoes and the men that try to tame them (silly silly men).
The handsome, rakish heir to a dukedom, Lord Roland Northbridge Wilde—known to his friends as North—left England two years ago, after being jilted by Miss Diana Belgrave. He returns from war to find that he's notorious: polite society has ruled him "too wild to wed."
Diana never meant to tarnish North's reputation, or his heart, but in her rush to save a helpless child, there was no time to consider the consequences of working as a governess in Lindow Castle. Now everyone has drawn the worst conclusions about the child's father, and Diana is left with bittersweet regret.
When North makes it clear that he still wants her for his own, scandal or no, Diana has to fight to keep from losing her heart to the man whom she still has no intention of marrying.
Yet North is returning a hardened warrior—and this is one battle he's determined to win.
He wants Diana, and he'll risk everything to call her his own.
Diana jilted North, and not only surprised him with her disappearance but gave him a bit of a wake up call with the idea that maybe, just maybe, she didn't like him.
Things like this are news to a Duke. Especially one who dresses at the height of fashion and never seems to have an inappropriate thought or emotion.
So, imagine his surprise when he returns home from war in the Colonies and discovers that she is not only living in his home, but is a governess and, to use his words, miraculously has his child. he takes this rather well, I think,
And, the relationship goes from there, with a lot of back and forth, issues with her being a duchess as she was a governess, and other bits and pieces of other issues that come into play when a Duke sets his eye on a commoner.
Historical romance, by definition is a slow burn, as it is not exactly easy to manage a place (although greenhouses do seem popular) in which to have any sort of forbidden tryst. They often find a way, but it is generally much later in the book and means that a lot of the book has to be balanced with the attraction of the characters and the storyline.
I thought this worked well, overall. There were a few places where I was not totally convinced the actions of the characters worked, but overall, I enjoyed this title.
A new sexy contemporary romance duet from USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde…
Secrets swarm all around. My world is crumbling under the strain. I don’t know if we can survive this. My heart is in the Wright place. But is his?
The Wright One is the last book in the Wright Love Duet that began in The Wright Love. Find out if Sutton and David survive their world of secrets in the conclusion to the Wright Love duet!
At the end of the first title in this duet, K. A. Linde and I were no longer friends. And, I told her as much.
By the end of this one, she is my favorite again...as this was just perfect.
I can't lie, I was not really expecting to ever get Sutton's story. She always seemed like the one Wright destined to be left behind in the happiness of all the others. She was, maybe, a bit of a plot point in the first books, the death of her husband maverick the stunning, tear-jerker moment that brought the reader into the Wright family and invested them in the stories of the others.
So, when I found out there was going to be a HEA for Sutton, I was thrilled.
Sutton and David. Well, now they just work, don't they? He gets it, and her, so much more than even her family does as he has lost a loved one, and family members, and he has had to figure out how to make it on his own and to leave the things he thought he had in his life behind. So he gets it. And, he gets her, and he sees her. I think it matters, a lot in the end, that the day he first meets Sutton is the day Maverick dies...he's not a part of her past, and that allows him to fully be a part of her future.
There are some twists, and some turns, and some yelling at the author, and the characters. But, by the end you are happy with where this book leaves the Wright family, and Sutton and David in particular.
These books can be read out of order (well, start with the first in the duet) and you don't need to have read the others in the series...but, I recommend it, as part of the beauty of this journey is going on it with Sutton through the glimpses of her in the other Wright stories.
I recommend this title.
A sexy new contemporary romance duet from USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde… I have the perfect life. Until the day my husband tragically dies. Being a single mom and widow was never part of the plan. When David Calloway enters my life, I have no room for love in my heart. But he’s determined to do right by me. Could he be the Wright love? The Wright Love is the first book in the Wright Love Duet, and Sutton and David's story will conclude in The Wright One—coming May 29th! Get ready for your newest binge read.
K.A. Linde is the USA Today bestselling author of more than fifteen novels including the Avoiding series and the Record series. She has a Masters degree in political science from the University of Georgia, was the head campaign worker for the 2012 presidential campaign at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and served as the head coach of the Duke University dance team. She loves reading fantasy novels, geeking out over Star Wars, binge-watching Supernatural, and dancing in her spare time. She currently lives in Lubbock, Texas, with her husband and two super adorable puppies.
On a Wednesday afternoon, I ask Trevor Bentley to marry me. He might be the most arrogant, obnoxious man I know, but I need him to be my husband for a year.
There are reasons.
He's not going to be a real husband. Just part-time. Yes, I have to live with him. And, okay, I also have to share his bed. And, sure, he's the sexiest and most exciting thing to ever happen to my controlled, organized life.
But still... It's only a part-time marriage. I'm not going to give him my heart. I know what I'm doing, and I'm too smart to fall for my husband. I hope.
Going into this book, I was torn. I liked the premise. But, at the same time, I wasn't sure if I totally bought into the idea that it would work.
Trevor and Melissa are both successful, she works for her grandfather at the family business, and he works in advertising. There is an enemies to lovers element here, at least on Melissa's side...although I thought it was pretty obvious from the beginning that Trevor was in love with Melissa...or at least he was supposed to be, from one meeting.
And, I get it. Instant attraction is a thing.
The issue I had with this one is that I just never really felt the connection. It was almost there, but it just never quite worked for me, I never REALLY believed that he was absolutely crazy about her, and I was not ever really convinced that he was "the one" for Melissa. By the end I was more convinced, but it was a little lukewarm. Usually, I am not one that is all that concerned about dual POV, but in this title, I think it would have gained a lot if we had the opportunity to see things from Trevor's perspective.
I do recommend this title, albeit a little reluctantly, but I did enjoy it overall.
I’m feeling warm and relaxed when I finally get out of the bathtub. I usually don’t walk around the apartment unless I’m covered up, but since Trevor isn’t here I just wrap a towel around me. My hair is piled up messily on my head, and I’m carrying my bath salts and soap.
I open the bathroom door and nearly run smack into Trevor.
I give a little squeal and immediately look to make sure my towel is in place. “I didn’t know you were home.”
“I just got back.”
“I was in the bath.”
“I know that.” He’s looking very sexy in that end-of-the-day way he has. Five-o’clock shadow. Slightly loosened tie and collar. Half-lowered eyelids.
God, the man is hot.
“I could smell you as soon as I walked in the door,” he adds, the slightly rough words doing nothing for my flustered state of mind.
“You smelled me?” I’m thinking all kinds of things at the moment, and none of them are suitable to share with the man in front of me.
He reaches over, and I swallow over a quick intake of breath. I think he’s going to touch me. I want him to touch me.
He touches my bath salts instead. “This stuff you put in your bath. I smelled it as soon as I walked in, so I knew you were in the bath.”
“Oh.”
It’s perfectly logical. And kind of a disappointment.
His hand moves from the bath salts, and his fingertips slowly trail up my towel to the bare skin at my collarbone. It’s barely a touch, but it makes my skin flush and a pulsing begin between my legs.
“What did you think?” he asks, his voice a little thicker than normal.
“What did I think about what?” I have no idea what he’s talking about. My brain isn’t exactly functioning at the moment.
“What did you think I smelled?”
“I… I didn’t know.”
“I see.”
It feels like he sees.
It feels like he sees all of me.
I’m staring at his plum-colored tie because it’s safer than meeting his eyes right now. I don’t want him to know how I’m feeling, how his touch, his presence is affecting me.
“Melissa?”
“What?”
“Are you planning to move out of the doorway? I need to use the bathroom.”
And that’s like a load of bricks on my breathlessness. I’m able to meet his gaze now with a cool expression as I step out of the doorway.
I’m on my way out of the room when he says, “We can return to this particular conversation a little later in bed if you want.”
Damn it.
The asshole knows exactly what I was feeling just now.
Fortunately I’m not feeling it anymore.
“I don’t think so.”
“You sure?”
I turn my head and see him smirking at me, as if he thinks he’s already won.
He hasn’t won.
“Yes, I’m sure. The problem is that any kind of conversation with you involves your infuriating personality, and that just doesn’t work for me.”
“I think it does.”
“You think wrong. And I thought you had to go to the bathroom.”
“I do. We’ll resume this conversation at a later date.”
Author Bio
Noelle handwrote her first romance novel in a spiral-bound notebook when she was twelve, and she hasn’t stopped writing since. She has lived in eight different states and currently resides in Virginia, where she reads any book she can get her hands on and offers tribute to a very spoiled cocker spaniel.
She loves travel, art, history, and ice cream. After spending far too many years of her life in graduate school, she has decided to reorient her priorities and focus on writing contemporary romances.
Sometimes you fall for Mr. Right. And sometimes for Mr. Right Now…
May
Did you hear the one about the girl who walks into a bar and catches her live-in lover kissing someone else? No? You’re the only one in town who missed it.
Luckily Alec is there to wrap me up in strong arms and carry me out the door before things get too ugly. And that’s not all Alec is good at. Our unexpected chemistry makes him the perfect rebound guy.
Alec
I should know better than to hook up with my rival’s little sister, but the fiery look in May’s eyes really turns my crank. She needs cheering up, and I’m just the guy for the job.
It’s not like I’ll fall in love. Not even after a string of scorching hot trysts, and the realization that we’re good at the same things: wild nights and familial disappointment. I don’t do love, never have, never will. So this is the perfect arrangement, for both of us.
Nobody would approve, but nobody has to know…
I enjoyed this title. At this point, I think it is safe to say I am a fan of Sarina Bowen. I like the stories she tells, and I enjoy the way she tells them.
This book was different, and the relationship between Alec and may was different, as they were both not at all what the other was expecting in a romantic partner, and both were more than a little surprised when things went a lot deeper than the initial one night fling they had in mind. And, isn't this just like life? To send you a person, or a situation, that you don't see coming and don't quite know how to process. And, then to sit back and laugh at you while you try to sort it out while dealing with employees, and gentlemen's agreements and family expectations.
Alec and May have met before, although there is really no more interesting reason to get reacquainted than discovering that the woman May is living with is cheating on her, and doing it in Alec's bar. Out in the open, and seemingly unconcerned who is watching. Well,the bar is, and Alec is, and soon May is...and it is the start of a change in how they each see the other, that builds from an unexpected attraction to a compelling desire to see where the relationship may lead.
I loved, loved, that May is bisexual, and that it was not really an issue for Alec, or for anyone else who was even a little bit secure as to who they are as a person. Yes, it is a factor, as that is a part of who she is, but it is not the most important thing about May, nor is it the only thing that matters.
I enjoyed this title, and I recommend it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarina Bowen is the RITA® Award winning author of over two dozen contemporary and LGTB romance novels. She most recently hit the USA Today bestseller's list in February, with Brooklynaire. Formerly a derivatives trader on Wall Street, Sarina holds a BA in economics from Yale University.
Sarina Bowen is a New Englander whose Vermont ancestors cut timber and farmed the north country since the 1760s. Sarina is grateful for the invention of indoor plumbing and wi-fi during the intervening 250 years. On a few wooded acres, she lives with her husband, two boys, and an ungodly amount of ski and hockey gear.
Sarina's books are published in a dozen languages on four continents. In 2016, The Romance Writers of America honored HIM by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy with a RITA award for Best Contemporary Romance, Mid-Length.
