Sunday, September 16, 2012

Babycakes (Cupcake Club series #3)


This book was read as an Advance Reading Copy (ARC) provided for free by the publisher.



Rating: M (Mature audience) sex scenes but not overly explicit

Bookshelves: 2012, romance, fiction, Georgia, ARC,

Begun: September 12, 2012
Finished: September 15, 2012

Media Type: eCopy (read on iPhone 4)

Setting: Sugarberry Island, Georgia (USA)

Characters:  Kit (Katherine Mary Margaret) Bellamy, Franco, Lilly Westlake, Morgan Westlake

Review: Kit Bellamy had it all: her family around her, her longstanding family business was a huge success and pie, delicious peanut pie. What more could a girl want? How about family who doesn’t rip the business from her hands and turn it over to a conglomerate? How about a job to return to every day? How about sisterly love?

When Kit’s world dissolves around her, she decides to take a friend up on an offer to begin a new business, Cupcakes sold over the internet. Kit jumps at the chance to start fresh but the ghosts of the trail that brought down her family’s business keep her gun-shy.

The Westlakes are known for their ruthless tactics in the courtroom and their business acumen. But Morgan Westlake disassociated himself from his family’s practice from the beginning. He’s recently moved to Sugarberry Island with his niece following the accidental death of his brother and sister-in-law. Can time near her maternal grandmother start to heal some of Lilly’s wounds? Can cupcakes help? What will happen with Kit meets up with a Westlake?

Personal Review: Babycakes was a good read. I don’t know that I would have put down other books to ensure I read this one but it was enjoyable.

The characters could have used more development. They weren’t exactly flat but they also weren't well rounded. I didn’t even think Morgan had any guts until the last 10 pages of the book (or so). It was like the author was trying to pass him off as an alpha male but he’s just a beta (at best).

Recommend to:  romance genre fans.

In my opinion, this book gets:

3 out of 5 stars (good but not great/not terrible)


Saturday, September 15, 2012

Bah, Humbug!


As of September 15, 2012, this book is free at (to be downloaded onto the free Kindle Cloud Reader which you can downloaded (for free) onto your laptop, desktop, or Kindle). Click here forthe link. 

Book: Bah, Humbug! 


Rating: G (So tame your 8 year old daughter could read it) - Couple kisses once! - Not your typical romance

Bookshelves: 2012, romance, Christmas, Colorado, fiction

Begun: September 13, 2012
Finished: September 15, 2012

Media Type: Kindle Edition (read on Kindle Cloud)

Setting: Colorado

Characters:  Alexis “Lexi” Alexander, Trista Alexander, Steven Alexander, Kyle Miller, Kenneth Miller, Keefe Miller, Alyssa Miller

Review: Up-coming, Martha Stewart-wanna-be Lexi Alexander has moved from her old life and ex-husband to … Christmas Lane. She’s trilled to create a holiday hubbub for her son and daughter but, on the first day at her new house, she finds a stranger pulling the head off the snow man that she and her family just made. What kind of Scrooge would destroy a child’s snowman?

Kyle Miller is stuck. Current author in vogue of children’s adventure novels, Kyle is struggling to make his main man, character Jared Strong … do … anything … What has possessed this Christmas miser to pull the head off a neighbor’s snowman?

Personal Review: I thought the novella was cute. It took a while to get into the characters of Lexi and Kyle (since this was a novella that’s not a good thing). But, once I got to the middle and enjoyed Christmas Eve with the family, I had to say I was in tears. Just as quickly, I found myself saying “this plot is moving too fast. There is no build up to this. This would not happen in real life.” Understandably since this is a novella things need to move fast but I think that this was a little lacking at the end. The climax and resolution happen in the last page and a half. I would have rather a little more development in plot. Characters were well styled and ambitious. They did not fall flat; rather the plot could have used a little more buoyancy at the end.

Recommend to:  romance readers, fans of free stuff, kindle reader


In my opinion, this book gets:

3 out of 5 stars (fair - could be better/could be worse)

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Virgin River (Virgin River series #1)


Author: Robyn Carr

Rating: M for mature (no explicit sexual scenes - well within the realm of romance literature)

Bookshelves: 2012, fiction, California, Virgin River Series, Robyn Carr, romance, alpha male, widow/widower, USA, Marines

Begun: August 31, 2012
Finished: September 4, 2012

Media Type: Book (library copy)

Setting: Virgin River, California (USA)

Characters: Melinda “Mel” Monroe, Jack Sheridan, John “Preacher” Middleton, Doc, Ricky, Cheryl Creighton

Review:  Virgin River is the first book in a long (we’re talking 20 books as of September 2012) series. As a reader of this series, you can tell you’re going to get to know the ENTIRE town … and that’s not a bad thing.

Melinda “Mel” Monroe is fleeing Los Angeles, months after the death of her husband, a former ER surgeon who was shot and killed in a robbery at a convenience store that he just happened to walk into. Mel is emotionally battered and devastated but after talking to Mrs. McCrea of Virgin River, California, she’s hoping that she can detox from all the adrenaline she has been mainlining as a physician’s assistant working in maternity in the same hospital as her husband.

Mel needs this change of locations and jobs but her older sister, Joey, thinks that the same town of a little over 600 is crazy. When Mel pulls into Virgin River and sees her “accommodations” for the next year, she baulks and decided that maybe living with Joey in Colorado for a while is a good idea.

The Virgin River in Zion National Park
Mel had been lured to Virgin River with the promise of a quaint cabin as lodging and a Doctor who desperately needed (and wanted her help). Problem is … the cabin is falling apart, the Doc doesn’t want any city girl following her around and Mel’s Cole Haan boots are already starting to scuff. Is there any way this fancy highlight having, Prada wearing, BMW driving girl could stay in Virgin River where the deer outnumber the population?

Mel doesn’t think so, at least until she stops into the only bar and grille in Virgin River and finds a bright spot, fantastic food served up by … well, one of the hottest men Mel has seen in years. Rugged and just a bit … older, former Marine Jack Sheridan came to Virgin River to start over and settle down to a life of peace and quiet. Then, this hot little number with bouncy blonde hair with a behind in a pair of jeans that should be illegal walks into his bar … oh boy. Jack doesn’t know who she is but he really wants her to stick around.

On her way out of town, Mel is suddenly needed. Someone has abandoned a baby on the front porch of Doc’s clinic. No way is Mel going to let a newborn baby stay with that crotchety old man. She’s just stay in Virgin River until Child Protective Services can be contacted … just till then …

Personal Review: This was a fantastic start to the Virgin River Series. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the vivid portrait that Robyn Carr drew of all her characters (and not just the “main” ones). You get a real sense that you know everyone with the depth and detail that she uses in her writing. I found myself looking at the summaries on the backs of the coming novels to see who else I get to meet and wondering about the other back stories that I’m getting woven in. (I really can’t wait to find out more about Ricky and how his life turns out.)

Overall, a fantastic read. I would recommend it to all romance readers that they give the Virgin River series a try!

Recommended by:  VictoriaMichaels

Recommend to:  Jennifer Crusie fans, Nora Roberts fans, romance genre fans

In my opinion, this book gets

4 out of 5 stars (almost perfect)