The Proposition - J.C. Harroway

The Proposition by J.C. Harroway
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Proposition is part of a loose series by a number of authors. The stories involve people who belong to the M club. An exclusive club for the incredibly rich with sites around the world where they can relax and play. This story is about Orla who has little time for anything other than work and Cam who has inherited a huge amount of money after the death of his father that he doesn't want. When they meet one night at the club and have an amazing night together, Orla Propositions Cam, asking him to accompany him across the world helping her to relax in-between her work. He agrees as long as she agrees to leave what they do down to him.
Orla and Cam make a great couple, they both have their own issues with their fathers, but are able to begin to help each other work past them together. There are eight years between the two of them, but although Orla is the older, in many ways Cam seems to be the more mature. He certainly had his life together before his inheritance. Orla does little beyond work and her whole focus is proving herself to her father, who to be honest is fairly disinterested in her.
I enjoyed the way this story unfolded. Although the attraction between them was instant, it took much longer for love to develop and sometimes that just works far better in this kind of story. It was a great read and I'd certainly recommend it.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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The Christmas Card Crime and Other Stories - Martin Edwards

The Christmas Card Crime and Other Stories by Martin Edwards
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I think that I've become a convert to the world of short stories, particularly crime short stories. This is the third anthology that I've read in the last couple of months and I really enjoyed it. The stories here all relate in some way to Christmas. It's a bit early for that yet, but that didn't diminish my enjoyment.
One of the great things about this particular collection is that although all of the stories are what you could call crime stories, they are all very different. It also gives you a great chance to experience authors that you might not have come across before. It's quite surprising how different stories which are essentially in the same genre can be. Some of them deal with the crime from the point of view of the murderer or criminal while others are slightly more traditional in the telling of the tale.
I'm not sure if I have a favourite or not. The story that gives the collection its name was an interesting one, but the same could be said for all of the others.
This is a great little collection of mystery stories.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.


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The Rebound Effect - Linda Griffin

The Rebound Effect by Linda Griffin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was expecting this to be a romantic suspense novel, as I think that's what it was listed as on NetGalley. It isn't. I think it's actually a shame that it's been listed as romantic suspense as there are plenty of people who would enjoy this thriller who might be put off the idea of it being a romance.
Our main character Teresa has terrible taste in men. She has a broken marriage behind her (where she was married to someone who couldn't cope with the fact that their son was deaf) then she has an ex-boyfriend who cheated on her when he got the sack from his job. Now a new man comes dancing on the scene with more red flags than if he was called Mr A. Busive. He goes from the first date to telling her that he loves her and that they should get married in about thirty seconds. He is controlling and she finds herself swept along with him. She could, of course, told him where to go but she does like him. She also, although I don't think that this is explicitly stated, doesn't want to upset him. (I'm not going to go into a rant about how women are conditioned to do that, but she very much falls into that category.)
As I mentioned before, this is a thriller, not a romance, there is little romantic about Teresa's interactions with any of the men in her life. I don't know if it was intended that Frank would appear nice to begin with, but I didn't like him from the start. It didn't start well when he told her how much her earnt and then was trying to control her from there on in as he could afford things that she couldn't. (That said, I am aware that the talking about how much you earn could be just a cultural difference. I can't imagine anything crasser, but I believe that it's not rude in the US.)
This was a good read. It did finish a little abruptly. There were hints that suggested a link between the main storyline and events that were happening in the community, but it was never clear if that really was the case. It was still a good read and once I got into it and saw where this story was going and that it was a thriller rather than a romance, I really enjoyed it.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Out of the Ashes - MJ James

Out of the Ashes by M.J. James
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I wanted to like this one, I really did. But sadly, for me, it just didn't work. I loved the idea of the storyline, but unfortunately, when it came to the execution, it just fell a bit flat.
I think that part of the problem with it was that the characters didn't sound real. Their dialogue was a bit off, there was nothing that I could put my finger on, but it just didn't flow naturally and that stopped you from really connecting with them. Add to that the fact that there was a lot of internal thoughts and feelings, rather than actually showing us what was going on through actions and I found it hard to feel anything for either of the two main leads and didn't really connect with their instant love connection.
The plot itself wasn't so bad, but parts of it just didn't make sense the way that it was recounted to us. People went from being suspects to everyone knowing that they were innocent or vice versa for no apparent reason. There were also inconsistencies that tripped you up as you read. Someone would ask where the person calling got their number when they'd given out a business card in a previous chapter. A relationship is described one minute as being almost an arranged marriage and later as they met and fell in love instantly. The main characters decide to investigate the fire at the shop, but then go and do something else instead.
This probably sounds as though it should be a one-star review, but it's not. There are things in this book that show promise and to be honest I think that with a bit of re-writing it could actually be a really good read. It almost seems to be a book that just isn't ready for publication yet.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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The Fixer Upper - Maggie Mae Gallagher

The Fixer Upper
Maggie Mae Gallagher
(Echo Springs, #1)
Published by: Blushing Books Publications
Publication date: September 6th 2019
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Abby Callier is more in love with Shakespearean heroes than any real man, and she’s beginning to wonder if there is life for her outside the pages of a book. It doesn’t help that her esteemed parents tend to view her as they would one of their science experiments gone wrong. On the eve of finishing her dissertation, she escapes her staid existence to live in the house she inherited from her Great Aunt Evie in the small town of Echo Springs, Colorado. Because, let’s face it, when a woman starts comparing her life to horror films, it might be time for a break.
Sheriff Nate Barnes believes in law and order and carefully building the life you want. In his spare time, he has been remodeling his house in the hope that one day it will be filled with the family he makes. But Nate doesn’t like drama or complications and tends to avoid them at all costs. And yet, when Miss Abigail Callier, his newest neighbor, beans him with a nine iron, he can’t help but wonder if she might just be the complication he’s been searching for all along. It doesn’t hurt that he discovers a journal hidden away by the previous tenant and decides to use Old Man Turner’s advice to romance Abby into his life.
Abby never expected her next-door neighbor, the newly dubbed Sheriff Stud Muffin, to be just the distraction her world needed.
The problem is she doesn’t know whether she should make Echo Springs her home, or if this town is just a stopover point in her life’s trajectory. And she doesn’t want to tell Nate that she might not be sticking around—even though she should because it’s the right thing to do, the honest thing—because then all the scintillatingly hot kisses with the Sheriff will come to an abrupt halt. Did she mention that he’s a really great kisser?

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Author Bio:
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Maggie grew up listening to Cardinals baseball and reading anything she could get her hands on. She remembers her mother saying if only she would read the right type of books instead binging her way through the romance aisles at the bookstore, she’d have been a doctor. While Maggie never did get that doctorate, she graduated cum laude from the University of Missouri-St. Louis with an M.A. in History.
Maggie is a bestselling and award-winning author published in multiple fiction genres. She also writes erotic romance under the name Anya Summers. A total geek at her core, when she is not writing, she adores attending the latest comic con or spending time with her family. She currently lives in the Midwest with her two furry felines.

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My Review

I didn't expect to read this book as quickly as I did. While there are some romance books that I fly through because they are quick and fluffy reads, this book doesn't really fall into that category. I got through it in a day because it was so well written and I didn't really want to put it down. It also had something to do with the fact that it's a rainy wet winters day here in New Zealand and I could read while also keeping an eye on the kids playing with lego.

This is the first book in the series and it's already fairly easy to guess which characters might be featuring in future books. As well as the main characters in this book, we've also been introduced to the friends of both the hero and heroine and I think it's a good guess that they will all get their own stories later. 

Set in the small town of Echo Falls, this time we focus on Nate and Abby. Nate is the local sheriff and Abby has just moved to the town while she tries to finish her dissertation and decide what she is going to do with her life. The chemistry between the two is strong and I enjoyed reading about their growing relationship. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I will mention that there are two other aspects to the storyline. Firstly is the problem of the break-ins that Nate is dealing with. I will admit that I had a good idea who was behind them from the beginning and I was right, even if Nate hadn't a clue. Then there was the diary left in Nate's house by the previous owner. Again I don't want to give anything away, but there is a story here that also unfolds as the book progresses.

For me, this was a quick read, but as I said previously, not because it was light and fluffy and lacking substance. It was easy to get swept up in the life of the people who live in Echo Falls and I hope that I will be making a second visit there for future books. I'm certainly looking forward to reading the other books in the series.

Buy Links

Amazon ➞ https://amzn.to/2kxlB7i

Nook ➞ http://bit.ly/2wP9KUD

iBooks ➞ https://apple.co/2YImFE6

Kobo ➞ http://bit.ly/2NHFlCX

Blushing Books ➞ https://bit.ly/2kxDzGO

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War of Hearts - S.Young

War of Hearts by S. Young
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's not that often that I give five stars to a book, but War of Hearts was definitely deserving of them. This is a paranormal romance with enemies to friends storyline. Actually enemy is possibly too strong a word for the initial relationship between Thea and Conall. He is sent to find her, as he has tracking abilities which mean that he can follow anyone anywhere in the world once he has their scent. Thea doesn't know what she is, but she too has powers and she has been on the run for some time. Even though Conall is there to try and return Thea to the man that she fears beyond all others, Thea trusts Conall on some level. The more time that they spend together, the more that the bond between them grows until they can't resist it.
The relationship between Conall and Thea is lovely. As they learn more about each other and learn to trust one another they grow closer together. They are willing to sacrifice everything for one another, but they also understand what that might mean in the longer term.
There's quite a lot of back story here and while this book is a stand-alone there's certainly plenty of scope for more books within the same world. The story did deal with everything and didn't leave any loose ends. At the same time, there were other things that I think would be interesting to find out more about in future books.
This was a really good read and if there are to be more books by S.Young in this world, then I really want to make sure that I read them. Highly recommended.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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The Last Seance: Tales of the Supernatural - Agatha Christie

The Last Séance: Tales of the Supernatural by Agatha Christie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've been a fan of Agatha Christie since I first discovered Miss Marple as a child. I have to admit that it has been quite some years since I have read any of her books and I haven't bothered with many of her short stories at all.
This collection all have a supernatural theme. In some cases, such as The Dressmaker's Doll, there is something otherworldly going on. In others, what at first appears to be inexplicable, is revealed to be the result of trickery.
Although the stories do all have a supernatural theme, for the most part they are very much classic Christie and I'm sure that this collection would appeal to any fans of her work. I think that it is a mark of what a good storyteller she is that even though they were short stories, I didn't want to put the book down and found myself ploughing through one after the other.
Fans of her work will love this collection, particularly as both of her beloved detectives Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot appear in more than one story each. People who haven't really tried many of her books before might find this a good way to give some of her stories a go.

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