phishbowl's bookshelf

February 15, 2023

Blog Tour: More Than Rum by Christine DePetrillo

"I've never seen anything so beautiful," Adam whispered to Hope. "You make me forget the ugly things I've seen. The ugly things I've done."

Web designer Hope Stannard has watched her cousin and her sister fall madly in love. She’s waited patiently for her turn to roll around, but her last boyfriend broke up with her via text message and the new guy she’s interested in disappeared on her for months with no explanation. Perhaps it’s time to throw in the towel, be content living with her Dalmatian puppy and her mother, and accept the official title of Unmarriable Old Maid.

Ex-Marine Adam Rouse fills his days with lumberjacking and building furniture. His nights are spent wide awake as he relives a raid in Afghanistan gone wrong. He emerged as the sole survivor, but questions why. Certainly other members of this team were more worthy of living than him. Deciding that bartending at night would be a better use of his time than battling insomnia, Adam applies at Black Wolf Tavern, the only place to hang out in small-town Danton, Vermont. He couldn’t drown his own troubles in rum, but maybe he can help others do so.

When Hope is attacked just outside the tavern, Adam comes to her aid, and the frosty winter temperatures can’t cool the heat that’s always been between them. Can Hope scale Adam’s fortress walls? Can Adam believe he is worthy of a woman like Hope? Will they rescue each other?

More Than Rum is available for purchase:

So I jumped into this series from the second book, More Than Cookies, and I'm loving it! We got a small glimpse of Hope and Adam in the last book and here we get to watch their relationship really blossom. I found this book a super sweet one, too. The story and the characters are just wholesome and loveable. Watching Adam grow and heal as a person was heartwarming to see. Hope and Adam help each other out in that respect, gaining trust and forging ahead together. This was a sweet story, look forward to reading more!

Catching Up with the Series:

About the Author

Christine DePetrillo can often be found hugging trees, conversing with dragonflies, and walking barefoot through sun-warmed soil. She finds joy in listening to the wind, bathing in moonlight, and breathing in the fragrances of things that bloom. If she had her way, the sky would be the only roof over her head.

Her love of nature seeps into every story she tells. As does her obsession with bearded mountain men who build, often smell like sawdust, and know how to cherish the women they love. Today she writes tales meant to make you laugh, maybe make you sweat, and definitely make you believe in the power of love.

She lives in Vermont with her husband and many woodland creatures who defend her fiercely from all evils.

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February 10, 2023

Release Day Blitz: More Than Rum by Christine DePetrillo

"I've never seen anything so beautiful," Adam whispered to Hope. "You make me forget the ugly things I've seen. The ugly things I've done."

Catching Up with the Series:

About the Author

She lives in Vermont with her husband and many woodland creatures who defend her fiercely from all evils.

Connect with the Author:

January 30, 2023

Blog Tour: More Than Cookies by Christine DePetrillo

"I don't usually trust my heart, but I know it's not lying to me about you."

Sage Stannard is grumpy. Having just attended her cousin’s wedding in California, she’s at her limit for watching happy couples stare dreamily at one another. She’s never had anything but quick romps back home in Vermont that always turn out to be mistakes. Big ones. Maybe moving out of her mother’s house and taking a stab at online dating will add a little excitement to this caterer’s stale life. Maybe it’ll bring more disappointment. Who knows?

Chainsaw artist Orion Finley is on a mission to get his daughter, Myah, back from his ruthless ex-wife. Only trouble is his ex-wife is a crafty lawyer with connections—ones that give her the upper hand. She even managed to get custody of his dog, Ranger, just to drive the stake deeper into his heart. His father always told him women were poison, especially the pretty ones. Why hadn’t he listened? Well, he was listening now.

When Sage and Orion meet over a bloody couch, the gates are opened to a path neither of them is quite ready to travel on. Will they stumble? Will it be all uphill? Or will the end of the path be just the new beginning they need?

More Than Cookies is available for purchase:

I read this book as a standalone and can say I thoroughly enjoyed the story without reading the first book. The characters are easy to like and the drama, twists and turns keep you reading onwards. Sage starts this story off pretty much having sworn off guys. Orion has been burned by his ex-wife and is trying to get some semblance of his happy life back. The two cross paths and, boom, a sweet romance blossoms. Didn't love the insta-love that seemed to happen (especially considering Orion's background) but there aren't too many books out there that aren't like this these days. More Than Cookies was easy to read as a standalone and I would definitely read the rest of the series, too!

About the Author

She lives in Vermont with her husband and many woodland creatures who defend her fiercely from all evils.

Connect with Christine DePetrillo on:

October 16, 2022

Blog Tour: A Little Too Close by Rebecca Yarros

From USA Today bestselling author Rebecca Yarros comes a small town, single parent romance.

Nine years ago, Weston Madigan saved me. I came to Colorado penniless, heartbroken, and pregnant, searching for a fresh start. Weston gave me a job at his family’s resort, then left the next day and never returned, not even to visit.

Then I stumble in on Weston cooking breakfast shirtless—gloriously, inappropriately shirtless—in the shared kitchen of my duplex in employee housing. Given the shock on both our faces, he wasn’t expecting a roommate either, let alone two.

The growly pilot is only home to start his family’s new heli-skiing operation. I can handle being his temporary roommate, right? Chemistry and attraction aren’t impossible to ignore when you agree on ground rules. Besides, even with those gorgeous, brooding brown eyes, the guy is a walking thundercloud…until my daughter, Sutton, makes him laugh and he smiles at me. Then everything changes. Cue inconvenient heart flip.

This is only temporary.

I can’t fall for Weston.

I. Will. Not. Fall. For. Weston.

But rules go out the window when you’re a little too close.

A Little Too Close is available for purchase:

About the Author

Rebecca Yarros is the USA Today bestselling author of over fifteen novels, including The Things We Leave Unfinished and The Last Letter. “A gifted storyteller” (Kirkus), she is also the recipient of the Colorado Romance Writer’s Award of Excellence for Eyes Turned Skyward from her Flight and Glory series.

Rebecca loves military heroes and has been blissfully married to hers for over twenty years. She’s the mother of six children, and is currently surviving the teenage years with three of her four hockey-playing sons. When she’s not writing, you can find her at the hockey rink or sneaking in some guitar time while guzzling coffee. She and her family live in Colorado with their stubborn English bulldogs, two feisty chinchillas, and a Maine Coon kitten named Artemis, who rules them all.

Having fostered then adopted their youngest daughter who is nonverbal and on the autism spectrum, Rebecca is passionate about helping children in the foster system through her nonprofit, One October, which she co-founded with her husband in 2019. To learn more about their mission to better the lives of kids in foster care, visit http://www.oneoctober.org

Connect with Rebecca Yarros on:

When duty calls, Weston shows up--as a helicopter pilot for the army or as the reliable brother of the Madigan family. He's nothing if not reliable. So when his big brother Reed calls him up out of the blue, he gives up the biggest promotion of his life to return home to help with the family business.

Callie hasn't seen Weston since the day he hired her, nineteen, pregnant and jobless. What has eleven years changed? He's angrier, broodier and dreads being back at Madigan, possibly more than when he had left. When circumstances throw them together again, this time as roommates, the two set some ground rules and hope like hell they won't loathe living together. Did we think we could fall a little bit more for a back country skiier and skilled helicopter pilot? Maybe just a bit when he unknowingly (to himself) falls for Callie, her daughter Sutton and the life they've fallen into together. The chemistry between the two is undeniable and off the charts. Yarros, once again, spins a tale that pulls at your heartstrings and all just gives you all the feels.

August 15, 2022

Mine to Hold (Southern Wedding #2) by Natasha Madison

Are you ready for The Southern Wedding Series?

Things are supposed to go smoothly on your wedding day.

Aren't they?

Shelby
I got a love letter the night before I was supposed to marry the love of my life.
Except the letter wasn't for me.
My future husband had written it to someone else.

Weston (Ace)
Standing at the altar to watch my best friend get married was an honor.
Finding out that he was sleeping with my girlfriend was a nightmare.
Everything I knew was a lie.
When the opportunity came to get out of town and leave my ex behind, I took it.
Umbrella drinks and broken hearts don't mix well.
I shouldn't want Shelby for myself - but I do.
I want her more than I've ever wanted anyone.

Maybe, she was just mine to hold.

Loved this read. I went in with lower expectations because of the jilted bride and the best friend trope but the back story/history to it definitely makes this one worth reading. A bit unbelievable that Shelby's fiancee gets found out the night before their wedding and even more unbelievable is that he's been having an affair with HIS best man's girlfriend! Of course, it just so happens that his best man is Shelby's best friend...the drama just doesn't get any better than that. Going on her honeymoon anyways, Shelby invites her best friend along to lick his wounds. Little do the two expect things to get heated between the two of them...