New Releases in Romance - Week of June 22, 2014

We have quite a few tasty ones for you down there.  I'm in the middle of reading the advance copy of the paranormal bundle - and it's amazing so far.  Take a look and let us know if anything catches your eye.

Paranormal


Historical


Contemporary


Suspense


Erotic

Review: Just One Night by Caridad Pineiro

Title: Just One Night
Author: Caridad Pineiro
Source: Author Request
Genre: Contemporary New Adult Erotic Romance
Lenth: Novelette
Release Date: June 2014
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Rating - 4
Sexual - 4

A New Adult Erotic Romance novella

He has just one night to prove to her that anything is possible . . .

Jason Hart, Jase to his friends, has just graduated college and earned his commission as a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. It's the night of the graduation party and she'll be there. His best friend's slightly older sister, Nickie. Nickie is the only woman he's really wanted for a long time. He has just one night to make it happen.

She has just one night before the man of her dreams leaves, maybe forever, but can she find the courage to take a chance . . .

Nicole de Salvo has been in love – and lust – for her little brother’s best friend for years. For years she’s watched from afar and done nothing about her attraction for Jason Hart only now their time together is almost at an end. On their last night together will she find the courage to do something about her feelings, or will she live with regret for the rest of her life?

This was such a fun story!  I loved both characters - especially shy Nicole.  Both her and her brother's friend, Jason, are finally deciding to admit to each other that they've been crushing on each other for years.  This is their last chance to see what might happen.

Jason was the perfect guy!  I love the sweet way he treated Nicole and it really allowed her to be herself - even if she was a little shy at first.  Even though labeled as an erotic romance, there is plenty of story packed into the pages.  The way they related to each other and discussed things really made it all seem more real.

This is a perfect story to pick up and read in one sitting.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

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Cover Reveal: Beyond Redemption by Delancey Stewart

Beyond Redemption by Delancey Stewart
(Wine Country Romance #2.5)
Publication date: June 2014
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Designed by Cheeky Covers

This racy Wine Country novella takes readers back to Redemption Road winery, where Audrey and Tyson are continuing the paths they discovered in Redemption Red.

This book focuses on Rebecca and Ray… And while Rebecca has made peace with her family and returned home to help build the winery into a wine country destination, she is still struggling with ghosts that threaten to destroy her happiness.

When someone shows up from the family’s past, everyone must face the truths that time can hide and come to terms with new realities…

This novella contains mature situations and is not appropriate for readers younger than 17.

Goodreads

AUTHOR BIO:

I'm not big on labels, but there are a few that fit me (not necessarily in this order. Or maybe in this order):
- wine drinker (and wine geek)
- mother of small boys
- military spouse
- writer
- chocolate eater

I've written the Wine Country Romance Series, which ties my love of wine to my love of falling in love... and the Girlfriends of Gotham series, which begins publishing with Swoon Romance in December 2013.

I also love short stories, and my themed collection (all set in the same NYC brownstone across the span of a century) published in 2012.

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Review: Undercover in the CEO's Bed by Colleen Kwan

Title: Undercover in the CEO's Bed
Author:  Colleen Kwan
Source: Entangled Publishing
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: Novella
Release Date: May 26, 2014
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Rating - 3
Sexual - 3

Billionaire Lex Rochester has a problem. Someone is trying to sabotage the family
company, but the investigation needs to be highly discreet because Lex suspects it’s one of his own relatives. His solution—hire IT security specialist Jacinta Greene, who also happens to be his ex-girlfriend. With Jacinta posing as his newly reconciled girlfriend, the other Rochesters won’t suspect they’re being monitored.

The last thing Jacinta wants is to see Lex again. Their breakup still tortures her, but she’ll do just about anything to help her kid brother, even pretend to reunite with Lex. But the more time she spends with Lex, the more she realizes she’s never gotten over him. Which is bad news, because she and Lex are fatally incompatible.

The fire that still burns between them is as hot and irresistible as ever. Can Jacinta remember what’s real and what’s fake, or will she be hurt by Lex all over again?

Unfortunately, the storyline for this one fell a little short for me.  I get that some people can't trust their family members for a variety of reasons.  But the steps Lex feels he needs to take because of it seemed a little extreme.  At least they served to bring Jacinta back into his life, even if that wasn't his actual intent.  For a good chunk of the story, he's kind of a jerk.

How does it still get three stars then?  Well, Jacinta really saved the day.  She was beyond amazing as a character.  I loved her attitude, her flaws, and her snarky come-backs - even the ones she doesn't get a chance to do more than think about.  The way she related to Lex's family, especially his grandmother, was perfect.  She showed him so much about how to live - he really didn't deserve to have such a great girl.

The ending of the story also made up for some of its downfalls.  I loved that Lex finally got his head out of his ass - a little too late for me to like him a lot, but at least he did it.  His way of showing that he had done it was perfect, too.  I just wish I had liked him a lot earlier in the book - I felt like I shouldn't bee rooting for him.

*This book was received in exchange for an honest review*

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Review: The Spell of Summer by Dianna Hardy

Title: The Spell of Summer (Once Times Thrice #1)
Author: Dianna Hardy
Source: Author Request
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: Novel
Release Date: June 17, 2014
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Rating - 4
Sexual - 3

Words can change everything, but can they change your destiny?

Meredith is leading a straight-laced life in London with her straight-laced fiancé, determined to forget her reckless, wild-child past. They're about to get married.

Jamie is an old, poetic soul with a broken heart returning home to Cornwall to get his life back in order.

What binds them?

One chance meeting thirteen summers ago; one innocent spell spoken after one perfect night...

And now history is unravelling; the past and present, merging...

Words can change everything, but can they change your destiny?

And in the messy world of magic, what part does love play?

It's summer all over again, but the spell has only just begun.

Full length, contemporary romantic fiction, written in British English.

This was very different than Dianna Hardy's other novels.  I am used to a fairly dark paranormal feel from her, and this was much more light and airy (I know it sounds weird, but that's what it was).  The paranormal aspect was possibly there - depending on what your definition of magic and fate are.  Meredith doesn't really believe in either one, but finds her life caught up in it just the same.  This is a story of her finding herself and remembering who she really is and wants to be.

There are several female characters that we grow close to along the way, all fighting their own battles.  It looks like their stories will be told in the next book(s).  I love how their lives were so important to the telling of Meredith's story.  Nothing would have turned out the way it did without them, and Meredith would have been a very different person.  I can't wait to read more about them.

Jamie was just a tad lacking in depth for me.  While everyone else seemed to have some deep buried secret clouding their lives, he swept in like a ray of saving sunshine to make things better.  While it did make him stand out from the other characters, it wasn't always in the best way.  How could he ever hope to understand what everyone was dealing with when he wasn't dealing with much himself.  That small piece of his history aside, he was quite the dreamy hero.  Calling him a "poetic soul" is a perfect description.  Somehow the right words always seem to find him at just the right times.

Meredith and Jamie struggle a little - like most people do.  But their romance was actually very very sweet and classic.  It wasn't super exciting or overy dramatic - it was just very real, and sometimes that's the best kind there is.

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Cover Reveal: Tortured by Kate Givans

Tortured by Kate Givans
Publication date: TBA
Genres: Adult, Contemporary
Designed by Mae I Designs

A dark and gritty, adult drama about death, healing, and how love can reach beyond scars and secrets, no matter how deep or hidden.

WARNING: Not intended for younger audiences. Due to sexual content and graphic nature of some scenes, this book is intended for 18+ readers ONLY. Potentially triggering content and concepts in books to follow.

After a tragic car accident that claimed the life of his best friend, Josh Pennington shut down and shut everyone out. More than a year later, he’s still tormented by his past, struggling to find his way back to the land of the living.

Then he meets free-spirited Willow. She challenges him. Shows him it’s okay to forgive himself and move on. Helps him feel again.

But Willow is fighting a few of her own demons.

Josh tries to uncover the truth behind her elusiveness and secrecy. But instead of letting him in, Willow pushes him away and refuses to share even the smallest of details about her personal life.

Will Josh find out the truth before it’s too late?

Or will he find out that some secrets are better left untold?

Goodreads

AUTHOR BIO:

Quirky, clumsy, and always a little off-key, Kate Givans has always loved books and the words contained within. Now that she’s writing the stories, she’s filling them with broken characters, angst, and even a few of those happily-ever-afters that seem to evade us in real life.

When not writing, this wife and mother of five can be found guzzling coffee, day-dreaming, dancing for no reason at all, playing with the voices in her head, watching her favorite shows (Originals, Grey’s, OUAT, The Following), listening to music, and reminding herself to “breathe.”

Review: The Patrician by Joan Kayse

Title: The Patrician (The Patrician #1)
Author: Joan Kayse
Source: Self-Purchased
Genre: Historical Fiction, Rome
Length: Novel
Release Date: December 1, 2012
Reviewed by: Jasmyn

Rating - 4
Sexual - 3

Jared of Alexandria shuns both his Roman and Hebrew blood, a curse that’s kept him on
the fringes of society, to become a powerful and successful merchant prince. When his trading empire is threatened by an unknown enemy who not only wants to see him ruined but dead as well, he uses every means to put an end to it. He turns to a beautiful barbarian seer, a slave with hair the color of firelight and eyes that shine like emeralds only to be betrayed into a fate worse than death—slavery.

Bryna of Eire lives each day burdened by the yoke of Rome and her own guilt for leading her beloved brother and clansmen into Rome’s clutches. She curses the gift of sight which her master exploits, keeping her under lock and key, telling fortunes and fattening his purse. When an opportunity to be freed of her confinement comes, Bryna takes it, though her instincts warn that lying to the sensual, golden-eyed man that plagues her visions risks her very soul.

Betrayed into slavery, Jared labors under the lash envisioning revenge on the seer who sent him into this hell. But when fate throws Bryna into his arms, he finds exacting vengeance a different matter. As they escape, evade bounty hunters and face their pasts, Jared must battle not only his enemy but his heart. Can the differences that separate them draw them together to save their lives and their love?

Book Two: The Patrician's Fortune - Review

This series does not need to be read in order to enjoy them.  However, Jared and Bryna do play a fairly important role in The Patrician's Fortune and it was great to see their story.

Bryna is a slave.  Her "barbarian tribe" was captured and sold in the slave markets of Rome.  A beautiful woman doesn't usually last long there, but her brother had the fore sight to brag about her powerful visions - ones that would disappear if she were violated.  So instead of entering a brothel as a prostitute, she enters one as an oracle with services for sale.  I love how Joan Kayse set up the back story.  It became a seamless part of the current story, revealed in small ways that led to a great understanding of the position Bryna found herself in.

Jared, on the other hand, was not a slave.  At least not at first.  He was a customer - and the lies Bryna tells him lead to his capture.  Through a series of events and sales, they find themselves working for the same master on a secluded estate.  This is where the story hit a little hiccup for me.  I know the Roman empire was vast, but I would have thought someone, somewhere in one of the markets would have recognized one of Alexandria's most prominent merchants.  This thought popped up several times in their journey.  But putting that aside, the way they were brought together was brilliant.

Jared and Bryna both have the same basic goal - escape.  Each  with their own motives.  I love how their relationship grew so gradually that neither one even realized it at first.  They are torn apart several times, but somehow always managed to find themselves together again.  The end of the story ends with several fantastically moving scenes between them and with the "bad guys".  I just wish Jared's history had been a little bit easier for me to believe.

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