All-new Release coming October 10, 2023!

 

A Christmas Romance

A wannabe novelist with writer's block.
A best-selling children’s book author with a knack for story.
And the romance they brainstorm together.

Hi, friends!

I have a brand new book to share with you! The second book in my Washington Island Christmas novella series arrives on October 10th! This is also the sequel to my award-winning novel Finding Love on Bainbridge Island, Washington. Remember Auntie Mat? There's a chance she makes a cameo in A Christmas Romance.

Here's a little more info:

Bookshop owner Peyton McKinley lives on Bainbridge Island, Washington. An inspired reader, she writes wholesome romance novels, dreaming of publication. Unfortunately, a past breakup has soured her on relationships. When a literary agent wants to see her manuscript as soon as she can finish it, writer’s block stalls her progress.

Best-selling picture book author and illustrator Eli Jaxon has relocated to Puget Sound to be nearer to his family. He’s on deadline for his next Prescott the Proper Peacock volume, but worry for his niece distracts him. Past mistakes keep him closed off to dating.

When Peyton needs help with her story, previously married Eli volunteers to help her brainstorm. Can they deny their attraction, or will they live their own Christmas romance?

Join them near picturesque Puget Sound at Christmastime for a delightfully bookish love story.

If you love bookshops, Christmas, and holiday novellas, this one's for you!

Preorder now for $1.99.

Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other by Bethany Turner

 

Brynn and Sebastian Hate Each Other

Let’s begin with the summary:

She’s a sunny morning-show host. He’s a cynical ex-reporter. They're destined to hate each other . . . Aren’t they?

Brynn Cornell has to be stuck in a nightmare. Just last week, she was riding high as co-host of the popular morning show Sunup. She's America's Ray of Sunshine—the girl-next-door beauty who drives up TV ratings while never exuding anything but her trademark positivity and poise. All it took was one huge on-air mistake to expose her snarky side to the world and make it all come crumbling down. Now she’s back in her hometown of Adelaide Springs, Colorado, in a last-ditch attempt to convince viewers she’s not the mean girl they think she is. All she has to do is apologize and capture some feel-good footage reminding everyone she’s just a girl from humble beginnings who’s grateful for her big break, and she might manage to preserve both her career and her image. But this town holds painful memories that she’s not ready to face.

Sebastian Sudworth was on the fast track to the journalist hall of fame. A superstar reporter with a reputation for being in the center of the action, his fearless, relentless coverage of major events around the globe was winning him awards and accolades—until something snapped inside him and he vanished from the scene under mysterious circumstances. Sebastian sought refuge in tiny Adelaide Springs, working odd jobs and trying to blend in as a scruffy mountain town citizen.

When Sebastian is assigned to chauffeur Brynn around town, Brynn is sure he can see right through her carefully cultivated, sunny persona. But she’s determined to do what it takes to maintain her image and save her career—so she’ll just have to charm the socks off Sebastian the same way she charmed her viewers. Easier said than done. It's no picnic to play nice around someone you hate . . . especially when you might be crazy about them.

And now, my review:

I liked that, as the story went on, we could see that the author gave us a twist. The sunny persona is only skin deep. Not the usual sunshine/grump trope.

The story's written in first person. The main characters are intelligent, but they’re also chock full of words. Unfortunately there was a lot of rambling in the story. I skimmed and skipped ahead as scenes, and plot points, dragged on.

One of the reasons the plot dragged was that we spent chapter after chapter in sequential minutes of the same morning.

The premise is that the heroine is forced to revisit, and even champion, the town she condemned. A great hook. She’ll have to uphold her sunny façade, at least publicly, in order to achieve her career goals. But she fails, repeatedly. I did not like her rudeness. It didn’t strike me as funny. I couldn't root for her. Perhaps if we'd seen the reasons behind her dislike of nearly everyone, we could have sympathized with her. But we don't see that until later.

The hero is sort of hiding out, due to his past. I like the concept that each of them will have to come to terms with themselves, their pasts, and their beliefs about the past, in order to become what they want to be. Circumstances motivate them. 

The heroine’s fatal flaw is self-sabotage. Lacking any nobility or consideration, she’s very unlikable. I didn’t really root for her to receive what she wanted from the story’s outset.

One of the themes is being true to one’s self. I like this theme. Other themes included that of a mother’s love, or lack thereof. Even psychological elements, like a description of hyper-vigilance.

I confess I did not finish this novel because of all the rambling, the tedious passage of time, and the rather unlikable heroine. 

This book might best appeal to readers who enjoy a chick-lit style of first-person prose.

In the Shelter of Hollythorne House by Sarah E. Ladd

 

In the Shelter of Hollythorne House by Sarah E. Ladd

Let’s begin with the summary:

A young widow faces an uncertain future . . . until an unexpected encounter with her first love gives her heart a second chance in this Regency romance set on the Yorkshire Moors.

England, 1817--Charlotte Grey thought she had seen the last of Anthony Welbourne. Knowing her father would never consent to his only daughter marrying a man he deemed beneath their family's station, Charlotte bid her final farewell to Anthony and vowed never to turn back. Instead, she honored her father's wishes by marrying the wealthy Roland Prior.

Determined to put his love for Charlotte in the past, Anthony chose to immerse himself in a life full of meaning--first as a soldier fighting a war overseas, then as a member of William Walstead's watchmen, a rugged band of men dispatched to deal with perilous situations. Fearless and persistent, he makes it his life's focus to fight for those who can't fight for themselves.

When Charlotte's husband dies unexpectedly, she quickly realizes how blind she'd been to his nefarious ambitions and how many people he'd angered on his relentless quest for wealth. To protect her infant son, Henry, from those who wish him harm, she and the baby flee to Hollythorne House, her childhood home. There, Charlotte comes face-to-face with her former love, who has been sent as one of the hired watchmen to protect her and Henry until the details of her late husband's estate are settled.

Anthony's presence brings back feelings she never expected to have again, and she struggles to trust his intentions. Are the watchmen really looking after Charlotte as they claim--or are they looking to make trouble for Roland's estate and heir? Despite the constant reminders of their past, Anthony must remain focused on the task he was hired to do. But when new threats emerge and the past collides with the present, both he and Charlotte must decide what they are willing to risk for the chance to right old wrongs and carve out a new future . . . together.

And now, my review:

I wanted to like this book. Unfortunately, I found a lot of overstatements and melodrama. Phrases like: “racing blood boiled,” and “every breath burned as if the very air she was inhaling had died with Roland,” and “evaporated into a meaningless void.”

These types of phrases were distracting and plentiful, and I gave up at 6 percent into the story due to those issues.