The Start of Something Good by Jennifer Probst

An enriching story of family ties, broken hearts, and second chances from New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Probst.

When Ethan Bishop returns to the Hudson Valley, his body and spirit are a little worse for wear. As a former Special Forces paratrooper, he saw his fair share of conflict, and he came home with wounds, inside and out. At his sisters’ B & B and farm, he can keep all his pain at a safe distance. But quiet time isn’t easy when a fiery woman explodes into his life…

It’s business—not pleasure—that brings Manhattan PR agent Mia Thrush reluctantly to the farm. Tightly wound and quick tempered, Mia clashes immediately with the brooding Ethan. Everything about him is irritating—from his lean muscles and piercing blue eyes to his scent of sweat and musk.

But as the summer unfolds and temperatures rise, Ethan and Mia discover how much they have in common: their guarded histories, an uncontrollable desire, and a passion for the future that could heal two broken hearts. But will their pasts threaten their fragile chance at a brand-new future?

This was such a sweet story. The first book of a new series by Jennifer Probst and I can honestly say I'm hooked already. Mia and Ethan start off on the wrong foot right off the bat and things just get more heated after the initial run in. Mia's happy with her life--or so she thinks--so when her business lands her in the middle of nowhere, basically babysitting, for the summer, she's less than enthused. Ethan has come home from military duties with wounds to heal--both inside and out. When he's faced with a teen and her "aunt", he's just annoyed to have yet another thing to deal with. But then things change. The more they are thrown together, the deeper their feelings start to run...

Jennifer Probst has this way of telling stories and this series is off to that same great start. Her characters are engaging, the storylines are entertaining and the writing is easy to read and get lost within. She's started an intricate web with this first book and I am looking forward to the rest of this series!

Blog Tour: Bro Code by Kendall Ryan

From New York Times bestselling author Kendall Ryan comes a flirty new standalone about falling for your older brother's best friend.

There’s pretty much only one rule when you’re a guy.

Don’t be a douche.

Turns out, the fastest way to break that rule is to fall for your best friend’s sister.

Ava’s brilliant, sharp-tongued, gorgeous, and five years younger than me.

She’s the sexual equivalent of running with scissors. In a word, she’s dangerous. And completely off-limits.

Falling for her could ruin everything.

Yet I can’t seem to stop, even when her company is threatened by a lawsuit, and my promotion hinges on representing the opposing client—and winning.

I can’t see a way out of this mess that doesn’t end in a broken friendship, a broken heart, or a ruined career.

I may have broken the bro code when I fell for Ava. But do I have the balls to handle what comes next?

Bro Code is available for purchase:

I always love me a "best friend's brother/sister" story. There's just something about forbidden romances that make stories that much more interesting. Maybe it's the layer of secrecy or the turmoil the characters go through while they're processing their feelings. I've read a few of Kendall Ryan's books and her storytelling is on point with this as with her others. Her writing is easy to read and she gets to a nice level of depth with her characters. Ava and Barrett's story is well done, their character and relationship is engaging. The story isn't superficial and has a good dose of heart as well as heat which is hard to come by these days. Definitely recommend this book!

About the Author

A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of more than two dozen titles, Kendall Ryan has sold over 1.5 million books and her books have been translated into several languages in countries around the world. She's a traditionally published author with Simon & Schuster and Harper Collins UK, as well as an independently published author. Since she first began self-publishing in 2012, she's appeared at #1 on Barnes & Noble and iBooks charts around the world. Her books have also appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists more than three dozen times. Ryan has been featured in such publications as USA Today, Newsweek, and InTouch Magazine.

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Blog Tour: The Plan by Katie Ashley

For Jenny O’Malley, the plan was supposed to be easy. Become the surrogate for her friends, Connor and Jeff, deliver their healthy baby, and earn some money towards her student loans. But as the saying goes, the best-laid plans often go awry. Especially when you’re looking at the prospect of not getting laid for a long, long time.

With T-Minus two weeks to insemination, Jenny decides to take her friend, Casey’s, suggestion to have one wild fling before she’s saddled with heartburn and stretchmarks. When a tall, dark and handsome man swaggers into the bar where she works in skin-tight jeans, cowboy boots, and a Stetson, Jenny knows he is the one. After a scorching night of banging boots until dawn, Jenny is a little sad to see her Cowboy in Shining Armor leave.

When he reenters her life a few weeks later, she never could have imagined a positive sign could be such a negative.

The Plan is available for purchase:

Excerpt

As she was cleaning up in the wake of a rowdy group of frat boys from Georgia Tech, Jenny caught sight of a cowboy hat out of the corner of her eye. Immediately, she drew in a sharp breath and swept a hand to her chest to try to still the erratic beating of her heart. Turning around, she peered in the direction of the white Stetson.

Sweet Jesus, he was back—the hot-as-hell cowboy from out of town. It had been two or three weeks since he’d first strutted into the bar an hour before closing time. In his tight jeans, he’d left little to the imagination about what kind of weaponry he was packing.

At first, she’d thought he was lost. After all, he had looked so completely out of place—a ride ’em cowboy right out of the Wild West, smack in the urban jungle of Atlanta. Ignoring the stares from some of the other patrons—and from Jenny—he had slid across one of the bar stools. Sweeping his hat from his head, he’d then held up his hand, signaling her to come over.

“A shot of Jack,” he’d requested. Holy hell, his voice. It had sent a shot of white-hot lust straight to her core. There was something particular about a man’s voice that got her libido up and running, and the deeper the better. It was why she had a hard time watching Harry Potter without having impure thoughts about Alan Rickman, AKA Snape.

While she fixed the drink, Jenny could feel the cowboy’s eyes on her. The heat of his gaze bore through her white blouse and warmed the skin above her breasts. It wasn’t like she wasn’t used to male customers staring at her boobs. She had learned from her older sister, Laura, to use her C cups to her advantage with tight shirts and low-buttoned blouses. Most of the time, the leers of horny men grated on her nerves, but not that night. She’d wanted the cowboy’s eyes on her. If she’d been honest, she wanted his hands and his tongue on her too.

When she’d placed the drink in front of him, she smiled. “There you go. My name is Jenny if you need anything else.”

“Can I ask you a question?”

“I guess,” Jenny had replied hesitantly.

“How in the hell do you live down here with all the crazy drivers?”

She hadn’t been able to help laughing because the question wasn’t what she’d been expecting. “I guess since I’ve lived here all my life, I’m used to it.”

The cowboy had grimaced. “You have my sympathies.”

“Hey now, I happen to like this city,” she’d protested.

“You can have it.”

And just like that, they’d struck up a conversation. Since it had been almost closing, they’d had time to get to know each other. His name was Brett, and he was a professional roper passing through Atlanta on his way back home from a roping championship in South Georgia. Jenny really had no idea what professional roping entailed, but her dirty mind had decided to draw the obscene conclusion that he was really good with his hands. He could tie her up—you know, if she ever decided to swing that way.

When he’d found out she loved horses but rarely got to see any in the city, he’d taken her by the hand and led her outside. Although a voice inside her head screamed that he could be about to abduct her, she’d kept letting him lead her across the parking lot. She’d liked the way his calloused hands felt against her skin, and a relieved sigh had escaped her lips when they stopped in front of a horse trailer. Opening the back, he had introduced her to his two horses, Waylon and Willie. She had tried not to swoon at the gesture.

After they’d gotten back inside, Brett had insisted on buying her a drink, even when she told him she could have one on the house. One drink had turned into two, and when she’d gotten a little tipsy, she’d been really thankful her dad was in the back to run the evening’s receipts. Even after she’d turned off the open sign and locked the front door, Brett’s perfectly sculpted ass had remained on the bar stool. She hadn’t felt a connection with anyone in such a long time, and it wasn’t just about the physical.

Damn, she had wanted him to kiss her that night, and for a moment, she’d thought he would. Instead, he’d slipped his cowboy hat back on. “You take care,” he had said.

“You too,” she had replied as she watched him walk out of the bar and out of her life. She had experienced a sinking feeling that something potentially amazing had just slipped through her fingers. She’d never in a million years dreamed he’d walk back through the doors, but there he was in all his beautiful flesh.

About the Author

Katie Ashley is a New York Times, USA Today, and Amazon Best-Selling author of both Indie and Traditionally published books. She lives outside of Atlanta, Georgia with her daughter, Olivia, and her spoiled mutt, Duke. She has a slight obsession with Pinterest, The Golden Girls, Shakespeare, Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Scooby-Doo.

With a BA in English, a BS in Secondary English Education, and a Masters in Adolescent English Education, she spent eleven years teaching both middle and high school English, as well as a few adjunct college English classes. As of January 2013, she hung up her red pen and expo markers to become a full-time writer. Each and every day she counts her blessings to be able to do her dream job.

Although her roots are firmly planted in the red Georgia clay, she loves traveling the country and world to meet readers and hang out with fellow authors. When she’s not writing or chasing down her toddler, you might find her watching reruns of The Golden Girls, reading historical biographies, along with romance novels, or spending way too much time on Facebook.

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Princess and the Pizza Man by Cassie Mae

Matchmaking, mansions, and murder - just another Tuesday for this princess. 

Twelve years of tossing pizzas in his hometown in Alabama is like a dream come true for William Monroe, but his sister is ready to leave the Podunk place, desperate to find herself a man and get hitched. He’s not too thrilled to hear about the mansion she’s dragging him to, claiming it’s haunted with the spirit of Cupid, and it’s his job to make sure she doesn’t fall for the first guy who looks her way.

Winter’s been running the Frostville Murder Mysteries ever since she inherited a hefty sum of cash, wanting to give back in a fun and profitable way for her home city. Noticing a lot of puppy-eyed patrons, she gives herself the job of matchmaking, picking out the ones who seem best suited for one another. But when the outspoken and grumpy man from Alabama arrives with his eager-to-be-matched sister, her focus starts to falter, and she wants nothing more than to prove to Will that her mansion can feel like home, too.

So I actually started the Frostville series out of order. I read Southern Spinster first and loved that enough to pick up another Frostville book! So Princess and the Pizza Man is Will's story. Will is the pizza guy of his small hometown in Alabama. Completely content with his life, but out of love and support for his sister, Maybelle, he agrees to be dragged along for a week out at the Frostville Mansion for a (unbeknownst to him) murder mystery event! After an embarrassing meet cute, Will is soon smitten by the owner/operator of the Frostville Mansion--Miss Frosty, herself, Winter. Through the week, Winter and Will team up to try to find Maybelle a match. Winter is focussed on the task at hand...until she isn't. The more time the two spend together, though, the more Will starts opening up his small-town eyes (and heart?) to the possibility of something he never even thought he was looking for. Is a week too soon for something real to develop? Loved this installment to the series. 

Southern Spinster by Cassie Mae

Maybelle Monroe is ready to find that man of her dreams. At thirty-six, she feels her clock ticking, and there are no takers in her hometown in Alabama. After a disastrous date—or non-date—Maybelle’s desperation hits an all-time high, and she books herself a week-long trip in Frostville, a magical mansion in Michigan said to be haunted by Cupid.

Accompanied by her brother, she enters the mansion ready to get shot right in the heart with an arrow, but when two perfect men start giving her attention, something she never thought would happen, she has to decide which one is Mr. Right. 

I am reading the Frostville series out of order! Southern Spinster, what a cute story. Maybelle is a loud, outspoken force of a woman. She's tired of being single and books a murder mystery week at the Frostville mansion on a whim. Maybelle drags her brother off to the mansion for a week of murder mystery fun in a house full of strangers. In her last ditch effort to find The One, Maybelle finds herself faced with not one, but two extremely different suitors in her first day at the mansion! One week is not nearly long enough to fall in love, right? I don't remember the last time I was this anxious reading a book. The bouncing back and forth--*who is she going to choose?!!?* really got me going and I couldn't put this book down! Off to read the first book in the Frostville series now...