Skintight

If you read contemporary romance, you’ve probably heard of Susan Anderson, or have at least seen her pop up on the bestseller list. Skintight is my first look into Anderson’s books and I have a bit to say…

Heat Level:♥♥♥♥♥

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Overall Rating: 4/6 Glass Slippers

Treena is a showgirl turned trophy wife, turned widow, turned showgirl yet again, all before she turned thirty-five. She’s trying to put her life together after the death of her much older husband when she meets Jax, a pro poker player who’s bump into her was anything but an accident. In fact, the calculating man is none other than Treena’s late husband’s estranged son and he has more than catching up on his mind.

Used to winning big, Jax had bet a prized, signed baseball at the table. Unfortunately, said ball wasn’t exactly his to bet, and he needs to find his estranged fathers wife to pay his debts. He’s expecting a vapid, shallow, gold digger, but when he meets Treena, he finds that she’s not at all what he expected.

With a pocket of money, a plan to expose her gold digging ways, and a ticking clock, Jax has his work cut out for him as he hides his true identity to get what he sees as his. But as he tries to con her into his trap, he finds it harder to resist the woman he was so prepared to hate. Treena is a wild woman with a big heart that he’s going to have to break.

I thought the book was cute and a nice, light read. But some parts were very slow, making me skip the pages to get to the good stuff. Still, it was well written and the characters were very relatable and likable…well maybe not all the time. It’s hard to really fall for a man when you know he’s going to take a gamble on your heart.

The Eggnog Chronicles

Who here celebrates Christmas? The lights, the fun, the food…for a lot of people it’s a great time to spend with family and friends. But for the three women in The Eggnog Chronicles by Carly Alexander, it’s a time to pray for a miracle.

Heat Level:♥♥♥♥

Genre: Holiday Romance

Overall Rating: 2/6 Glass Slippers

First we meet Jane, a professional woman with daddy issues and a medical problem that takes her high-powered life plans off the rail. While she fights to keep her cool and get well, a man enters her life that might just make her burdens a little easier to bear.

Ricki is a dreamer, waiting for the stars to align so her boyfriend Nate can finalize his divorce. She’s been waiting on him to make the final move so she could have her happily ever after with the man she loves. But as any daytime drama can tell the mistress, they never leave their wife, honey

Finally, Emma takes the stage with a new cohost…a baby in her belly. She didn’t mean to get knocked up during a one night stand behind her man’s back. I mean, she’s still a good person, right? She still deserves some holiday magic, right?

Okay, so let’s start with the positives. The book was very well written and had some really funny parts that added some comedy amidst the cheating woman and cancer diagnosis. But it just wasn’t for me. The idea of the collection with all three women was nice in theory, but it just ended up rushing the endings and leaving a lot of things up in the air with no clear finish.

Then I couldn’t get around Emma’s story. She was a straight up ho. Her man is a great guy and didn’t deserve her cheating on him by having unprotected sex with a guy thinking, “oh, I haven’t gotten pregnant yet! I so won’t this time! Lol.” Really, that’s how you end up with herpes, Emma. So story three was just straight up distasteful for me, and ruined my opinion of the other two women when they told Emma to lie to her man about the parentage of the baby, which was a shame. Maybe if they were three separate books that allowed you to actually like the women, I would have been able to rate it higher.

A Cowboy Under My Christmas Tree

Who here is feeling the holiday spirit? I know I am…as is my bank account after fighting all the rest of the suburban moms for the last Hatchimal…whatever that is. So it’s nice to wind down at the end of the day with something to fill you with some Christmas joy. My first holiday read was A Cowboy Under My Christmas Tree by Janet Dailey.

Heat level:♥

Genre: Sweet Wester Christmas Romance

Overall Rating:5/6 Glass Slippers

Colorado rancher Sam has come to New York City to deliver a bunch of the finest Christmas trees to ever grace the big apple. With his Stetson on his head, he takes on the city and experiences all he can before he has to go back to the family farm at the end of the season. But he thinks he might want to stay in the city a bit longer when he meets Nicole.

Nicole has the brisk ways and fast fast talking nature needed in her line of work–designing and managing renovations. When a workplace accident leaves her one man short, Sam ends in being perfect for the job. He’s got that old school charm she can’t help but admire and his honest ways melt her heart. But there’s a sadness in her life she can’t quite shake, no matter how hard Sam tries to help her.

Janet Dailey is one of those romance authors that always promises a sweet read, and she didn’t disappoint with this book. While Sam spent money like it was his job, while constantly saying he was in NYC to boost his bank account, he was charming and adorably “American” in that rustic way that made you long for your own Christmas cowboy. It took me a bit longer to warm up to Nicole, but when you hear about her past, you begin to understand her struggle. The book was clean, but I wasn’t missing the sex, since the romance was so satisfying. Overall, the book was cute, fun, and perfect for reading beside your tree.

How to be a Mermaid

This afternoon I have a squeaky clean romance with some adorable fantasy elements. Yes, this is a book that’s safe for the youngest of preteens to the oldest of grandmas who like their romances just as sweet as their cookies. So let’s dive in to How to be a Mermaid by Erin Hayes.

Heat Level:♥

Genre: Fantasy Coming of Age Romance

Overall Rating: 6/6 Glass Slippers

Young Tara, fresh out of high school on her gap year, is much like many of us. That is, she’s always wanted to be a mermaid. But since she knows her secret dream is unobtainable, she takes a job as a traveling mermaid in an aquarium show. With the help of a breathing tube and a pull-on tail, she delights children all over America. But things get weird when she things she hears one little dolphin talking.

She thinks she’s lost her mind until she sees a man with a tail climbing out of the ocean. She ends up so startled, she takes a nasty fall on some rocks. Luckily, the merman takes her to his sea witch aunt who knows just the spell to fix her up. When Tara wakes up to find herself breathing water, being able to talk to fish, and halfway to a great adventure with the merman named Finn, she’s about to get more that she bargained for during her summer vacation.

Sure, I usually read some sizzling hot books where the men are ripped, the women are swooning, and there’s more sex than you can shake a stick at, but sometimes it’s nice to just read something sweet. When I say this book is clean, I really mean that there’s not even any hint of sex. It’s just a cute little book where a girl finds herself, solves a crime, and meets a man. Really a story for romance lovers of all ages who want a break from the whips and chains. I know I needed it. It’s also part of a greater series called The Cotton Candy Quintet, so maybe I’ll head back that way the next time I need a breath of clean air.

Touch of Heartache

Title: Touch of Heartache

Series: Stay in Touch (Book 2)

Author: Joy Penny
Publisher: Snowy Wings Publishing
Publication Date: 12/5/2017

Four friends. Four college grads. Four people figuring out that life doesn’t always turn out the way you expected.
Just weeks before graduating, Lilac Townsend throws away her elementary school teacher job offer in Minnesota to work in Florida at the official resort of her favorite vacation spot, Tildy World. Pushing down all second thoughts, she fills her mind with visions of sunny beaches and Tildy Tapir, the cartoon character who always promised to make her childhood dreams come true. Unfortunately, between a sleazy boss and a community college student in a character suit who manages to fray her last nerve, Lilac soon learns that working behind the scenes at the park is hardly “happily ever after.”
Nolan Gregosky had plans after graduating high school a few years back: go to college, join a fraternity, and make some memories before earning a degree. Instead, tragedy sidelined those dreams, but his job posing for pictures with drooling, snot-nosed kids as Silly Sandgrouse gives him a chance to unload some pent-up energy. When the stunning but uptight new assistant manager at the resort proves a distraction in more ways than one, Nolan realizes it’s up to him to show her what it means to eat, live, and breathe life at the park.
A relationship at this unsteady stage of their lives might not be the brightest idea for either of them, but it’s hard to ignore that tingling sensation whenever the paths of this plush-suit beast and naïve beauty collide.
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/ book/show/34873132-touch-of- heartache
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075Y33Q25 (99c for release week–free on Kindle Unlimited!)
Catch up with Touch of Fondness, Book One in the series, out now!
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33526180-touch-of-fondness

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06VVHW2FQ/

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/touch-of-fondness-joy-penny/1126189855?ean=9781946202185