Blog Tour: She Writes Love by Sandi Lynn

The circle of life. It's something we all know about but are never truly prepared for the unexpected. The unexpected that comes out of nowhere. No warning, no heads up, nothing. Just God giving us pure bliss and happiness and then taking it away in the blink of an eye. For me, losing my husband to a massive heart attack on our one-year wedding anniversary, and at the age of twenty-seven, was something I didn't think I could ever heal from. The emptiness, the loneliness, the numbness, and the need just to get through the day was overwhelming. My name is Paisley Logan and this is my story.

I'd never lost anyone before. I'd never experienced death. I felt like God was playing a cruel joke on me. How could he bring her into my life and then take her away so young. Even the best laid plans in life get altered. Mine did. Everyone kept telling me that time would heal all wounds, but this was a wound that would never fully be healed. Trying to get back to the normalcy of life was exhausting, so I didn't try anymore. My name is Ben Preston and this is my story.

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Excerpt

Ben

I was a fireman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. It was something I’d wanted to be ever since my mom bought me my first fire truck at the age of six. Now, twenty-three years later, I was doing a job I loved. My wife, Amy, passed away almost a year ago. I thought about her every single day and I still hadn’t had the courage to clean out her things from the house. Our closet still housed all her beautiful clothes and our bathroom still had all her makeup in it. I missed her like hell and hated God for taking her away from me. I was angry, bitter, and lost without her in my life. My mom told me that I needed to seek counseling, but the only thing a counselor was going to do was tell me that I needed to move on with my life and, little by little, the thought of Amy would disappear. I didn’t want her to disappear. My memories. Our memories were all I had left and I was holding on with every last breath I had. Cancer had taken her and our dreams away.

Can anything good come of tragedy? Sometimes. That some people have to go through such tragedy is so sad. I don't think I could ever put myself in the shoes of these characters. The story they shared was truly beautiful, though. I think by half way through the book, I had my suspicions about a certain character (I'm really trying to not spoil things here). He gave this story a haunting element that just really hits you. I actually really liked this book...the only reason I'd give it more a 4 than a 5 star is because I found the actual dialogue (text messages included) between Paisley and Ben too formal. For me, it took away from their chemistry since, at times, it got a bit awkward. Story-wise, though, great novel. The content was heartbreaking and the love found between Paisley and Ben was heartwarming. Well worth the read!

About the Author

Sandi Lynn, A New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, spends her days writing full-time to provide her readers romance novels that will whisk them away to another world. She has a severe coffee addiction and can usually be found hanging out at the local Starbucks with her laptop, sipping lattes, and writing her books.

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Blog Tour: And Then Forever by Shirley Jump

 

Welcome to Fortune’s Island, where the only rule is to follow your heart.

Love is an extravagance Darcy Williams can’t afford. She prefers the simple life, which includes waitressing at The Love Shack on Fortune’s Island and avoiding temptation. But when a forbidden part of her past steps off the ferry, her safe, guarded existence is turned upside down.

Kincaid Foster has never gotten over his first love. When he sees the wild, beautiful blonde again, dancing her way around The Love Shack, the memories of Darcy’s soft skin, gentle touch, and heated kisses come rushing back. As the privileged son of a wealthy family, Kincaid was too young to stand up to his overbearing father when he and Darcy were together. Now, he’s back on the island—free of the family shackles—and the chiseled, big-time lawyer wants a second chance.

But, Darcy made a promise to keep a secret from Kincaid—a secret that is now a six-year-old girl who looks just like her daddy. If Kincaid finds out about their daughter, Darcy could lose everything. But, she can’t resist the man who stole her heart all those years ago. And it doesn’t take long before both of them realize that anything can happen at The Love Shack on a hot summer night.

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So this was a fairly warm and fuzzy type of story. There's a child and a love that never faded with time. Darcy, despite how protective she comes off as, fairly quickly let down her guard when Kincaid started coming around. I think I would have liked to see her stand up to this guy a little more considering how quickly and easily he left the first time around. That being said, we are faced with Kincaid's undying love for Darcy from the getgo. His devotion to her is almost too much--he really held her up on a very high pedestal! And The Forever zipped through scene after scene a lot quicker than I would have liked. I felt that it was a lot of story but not too much in detail. The final conflict also resolved much too quickly/easily for my liking. Even still, though, it was an enjoyable read, albeit it being lighter than I usually like my romance!

About the Author

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shirley Jump spends her days writing romance so she can avoid the towering stack of dirty dishes, eat copious amounts of chocolate and reward herself with trips to the mall. Look for her all-new novella in the anthology ASK ME WHY (with Marie Force, Virginia Kantra and Jodi Thomas), as well as the Sweet and Savory Romance series, including the USA Today bestselling book, THE BRIDE WORE CHOCOLATE, on Amazon, and her Sweetheart Sisters series, starting with THE SWEETHEART BARGAIN.

Visit her website at www.ShirleyJump.com for author news and a booklist, and follow her on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/shirleyjump.author for giveaways and deep discussions about important things like chocolate and shoes.

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Blog Tour: Cowboy Valentine by Mia Hopkins

Forget chocolate and flowers. This homegrown honey is all the sweetness he craves.

Small-town life is nothing but a waiting room for eighteen-year-old honor student Corazón Gomez. Work and school leave little time for love, but with a full-ride Ivy League scholarship and a one-way ticket out of the boondocks, who needs it?

The answer appears on Valentine’s Day when her old cowboy crush ambles into the ice cream parlor where she works, inviting her to go on a late-night ride in his truck. For the first time she wavers between staying on the straight and narrow, and going off-road with the handsome heartbreaker.

After four years working on ranches all over the country, Caleb MacKinnon is back on the family farm helping out his mom and brothers while his father fights cancer. The one bright spot: smart, funny, and wickedly sexy Cora.

From the start, they both know this blazing-hot love affair can’t last. But when autumn comes and Cora has to leave for the East Coast, Caleb must find a solution to keep himself—and his heart—from falling apart.

Warning: Contains hard, cherry-poppin’ sex in a pickup truck and a cowboy charmer who talks dirty in two languages.

Cowboy Valentine is available for purchase:

     

Excerpt

When he shut off the engine and killed the lights, the only sounds were crickets and the ding of cooling metal. The only light came from stars and the sliver of moon hanging high in the sky.

“Pass me a beer.” He took off his seat belt.

She popped one open for him. “Can I smoke in your truck?”

“Sure.”

She lit up. When her eyes adjusted to the dark, she could make out the valley below them, spread out like a black blanket, with the faint outlines of fields and orchards. Downtown Oleander was a little sprinkling of orange lights in the darkness.

“Slide over,” he said. “I’m cold.”

Insides shaking, she unbuckled her seat belt and tucked herself under his right arm. He smelled clean and sharp, like leather and Ivory soap. His body was hard and lean and broad; his forearm hanging over her shoulder made her feel tiny.

Without saying anything, he tipped his head forward and stole a drag from her cigarette. His lips touched her fingers. He exhaled out the open window, then took a long drink of beer.

“Feels like we could be the only people in the whole damn world right now, don’t it?” He took off his hat and placed it on the bench seat beside her. “Are you nervous?”

Her voice hitched in her throat. “Nervous about what?”

“Leaving for college.”

She smiled, then stubbed out the cigarette in the metal ashtray. “A little bit. Mostly I just want to get out of here.”

“I felt that way too,” he said. “But being back is not so bad. Helps to see the place in a different light.” With a featherlight touch, he stroked her cheek and the side of her neck. The pad of his finger was calloused. “You were always so smart, though. I doubt you’ll be coming back. Am I right?”

“I don’t know.” She felt bold enough to rest her left hand on his thigh, which was rock-hard beneath the worn denim of his jeans. “I don’t know a lot of things.”

“What else don’t you know?” he asked. She could sense him smiling like a wolf in the dark.

About the Author

Mia Hopkins writes lush romances starring fun, sexy characters who love to get down and dirty. She’s a sucker for working class heroes, brainy heroines and wisecracking best friends.

When she’s not lost in a story, Mia spends her time cooking, gardening, traveling, volunteering and looking for her keys. In a past life, she was a classroom teacher and still has a pretty good "teacher voice" and "teacher stare." She lives in the heart of Los Angeles with her roguish husband and two waggish dogs.

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Once Upon a Cowboy by Maggie McGinnis

In this sexy Whisper Creek romance for readers of Kristan Higgins,Susan Mallery, and Molly O’Keefe, a red-hot cowboy uses some Montana magic to give a reclusive beauty her happily ever after.

Yoga instructor Jessalyn Alcott radiates peace, calm, and serenity—on the outside. Inside, she still feels like the broken, desperate girl from the trailer park. She’s got dark secrets she can’t share, which is why she never lets her relationships go beyond the third date. But when she travels to the Whisper Creek dude ranch for a friend’s wedding, Jess is enchanted by a cowboy whose deep blue eyes, dimpled smile, and rock-hard body make it tough to remember why she keeps running scared.

Cole Driscoll has struggled to find his place on a family ranch where he’s always played second fiddle. His future might be uncertain, but he’s sure of one thing: He wants Jess by his side. Easier said than done. When it comes to getting close, she’s full of excuses, and he longs to fix the hurt he sees in her eyes. Now that she’s at Whisper Creek, there’s nothing he wants more than to break down the walls around her heart and heal her pain with the power of love.

I picked up Once Upon a Cowboy having forgotten how much I enjoyed another Whisper Creek novel prior to this. This one definitely did not disappoint. Jess and Cole's story has been two years in the making. I think that is part of the reason why it feels so good to read about them finally getting together. You've got two fiercely loyal individuals who have yet to "find" their other half. Actually, I should correct myself, Cole was already in tune with his feelings for Jess. Jess, however, needed some work. I love that there was patience, time and effort put into the development in their relationship. It gave it a level of reality and added to the intensity of their chemistry. Cole proves himself to be the rock that Jess needs in her life (not that she hasn't managed just fine before he came along) and their story makes for a HEA ending as the Whisper Creek series wraps up. I definitely recommend this novel--it's got your hot and steamy along with your sweet and heartwarming. Did I mention there are cowboys? SOLD.