TEMPTED BY THE DEVIL, by Michelle Heard

Kings of Mafia #1

Angelo Rizzo & Vittoria Romano

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

And Michelle Heard knocks it out of the park again!  Another fantastic Mafia romance, a little different but the same romance, emotion, and adventure she always gifts us with. This time the violence is more gritty, but the story is no less romantic and enchanting.

Vittoria Romano, twenty-three, lost her father and step-mother five years ago and has been subjected to her stepbrother’s abuse all these years.  He took her father’s place in the Mafia and thinks he’s a big shot.  Couldn’t have been more wrong!  She chances into Angelo Rizzo while he’s doing gruesome Mafia business and he notices her gawking.  He comes to check her out, she shakes in abject fear.  Rizzo, who is one of the five heads of the Mafia in New York, fell to the enchantment of her beauty and innocence, and so he starts machinating.

I loved how he had to take romance counseling from his bodyguards in order to woo Vittoria, loved how Big Ricky and Tiny were initially scary and ended up like family to Vittoria, asking for her cooking treats like little puppies.  She was initially scared stupid but she has an inner core of strength that helped her face her situation, deal with a dangerous Mafia don and still negotiate fidelity and children in exchange for protection. And then proceeded to make him cherish her like the treasure she is!

Beautifully romantic, some funny tidbits, a great couple with yummy steamy moments, and enough action to keep me in suspense. Another winner!

Purchase links

https://amzn.to/48z9Xfm

About the author

Michelle Heard is a Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling Author who loves creating stories her readers can get lost in. She resides in South Africa with her son where she's always planning her next book to write, and trip to take.

 

Connect w/Michelle:

Website: https://michelleheardauthor.wordpress.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MHeardAuthor

FB Readers Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/118971435201074

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authormichelleheard

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MichelleAHorst

Amazon: https://amazon.com/author/michellehorst                                                

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18108320.Michelle_Heard

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/michelle-heard

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@michelleheard_author

Newsletter Signup: https://preview.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/p6m4o4

FORGOT TO SAY GOODBYE, by S. L. Scott

This author writes such beautiful and romantic stories. Her characters are also lovely and remarkable.  My beef with her stories is the slow pace and excess prose.  Feelings and thoughts are described ad nauseam, in more detail than I wish for.

Olivia has always lived with a father who resents her and will never give her the love she wants, all because she wasn’t born a boy.  Still, she hasn’t let it stop her from working hard, amassing accolades, working in his company, being a wonderful person.  She even got engaged to her father’s partner’s son to please her father, and the fiancée turned out to be a cheater, so the engagement went off in flames.  She went to the Hamptons, looking for a rebound, and found Noah.

Olivia and Noah had a one-night stand that felt like more, but she insisted on only sex.  When Noah woke up, she’d already gone.  It felt like the one that got away, and he never forgot her.  Two years later, he’s recruited straight from college to Bancroft & Lowe, a Manhattan marketing firm, and lo and behold, there’s Liv, and she’s the owner’s daughter, and she hates him!

It was a lovely enemies to lovers story, given Noah’s wonderful personality.  He’s full of integrity and caring, sure to win over Olivia’s scruples.  I loved how hard he fell and how hard he worked to win Olivia over.  The trope of surprise baby was written with such poignant tenderness, I loved seeing Noah so taken with his little boy.  Their efforts in sorting out their business was chock full of understanding and consideration.  I loved Noah’s family, and I loved how they received Olivia and Max into their embrace.  I felt a lot of pity and a lot of pride in Olivia’s inner steel core and how she dealt with the monsters in her life.

The book would have been much more entertaining if it had included more of the office intrigue and suspense, instead so much interaction between Olivia and Noah, mostly ruminations.  It was a very romantic read, lots of feelings and a very cute baby.

Purchase links

Amazon- https://geni.us/FtSGAm

Audible -  https://geni.us/FtSGAudible  

 

About the author 

New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author, S.L. Scott, writes character driven, heart-racing suspense, and swoony romances that will have you reading past bedtime. With stories ranging from witty beach reads to heart wrenching and heart healing, her stories are highly regarded as emotional, relatable, and captivating. Her books are more than escapes for the voracious readers of today. They are journeys of the heart that always come with a happily ever after reward at the end.

Keep up with S.L. Scott and subscribe to her newsletter: https://geni.us/intheknow

Connect with S.L. Scott:

Website: www.slscottauthor.com

Newsletter: https://geni.us/intheknow

Amazon Author Page: https://geni.us/SLSAm

Goodreads: https://geni.us/SLGR\

Pinterest: https://geni.us/SLPin

Instagram: https://geni.us/IGSLS

TikTok: https://geni.us/SLTikTok

Facebook: https://geni.us/SLSPage

BookBub: https://geni.us/SLScottBB

Facebook Reader Group: https://geni.us/SLScottBooks

Twitter: https://geni.us/SLTwitter

YouTube: https://geni.us/SLSYoutube

 

PINE RIVER, by Tijan

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Nobody does young adult angst like TIJAN! We go back to a high school, back to the bullies, the mean girls, the popular crowd, interaction between the wallflowers and the elites. I was in book heaven!

TIJAN has this talent to draw you in from the first sentence. She presents us with Ramsay, this lovely young woman, starting her senior year in a new school. She and her mother are fleeing a horrible and tragic situation in their former town in Texas, moved to Pine River, Oregon, to be near family. There’s a funny situation in that Ramsay has three cousins who are triplets (Alex, Clint, and Trenton) and are royalty in the school. She’s trying to fly low but the triplets make this impossible. She has a special connection to Clint, and they are called the trouble twins.  We see ample proof of this mischievous connection in the book!

And now for our book boyfriend, Scout Raiden: 

He was tall and lean, with a strong jawline. His shirt was kinda tight, but not embarrassingly so. More like tight in all the right places. His biceps were delicious. He had a tribal tattoo running around his arm, and when he raked his hand through his hair, I could see the same line on the underside as well. There was a peak of it under his sleeve. His chin had a dimple in the middle, and his cheekbones were high, shaping his face so his lips were f-ing mesmerizing. Golden. That was the best word to describe him. A golden god.

Of course, Ramsay got a little light-headed, and of course, she scowled at him.  He’s too gorgeous but she doesn’t want to get involved. And then he scowls back!  A match made in heaven!

Scout was also fleeing from a disagreeable family situation and we don’t get details until further along in the story. He’s a lover and he’s a fighter, training with his uncle Miles, preparing to join the UFC.

The story takes us on a merry and sometimes heartbreaking ride, very emotional, some funny moments, and some that made me cry.  Ramsay is truly going through a heartbreaking mourning and her mother has to work double shifts at a nursing home in order to make rent, so they can’t be together often.  Therefore, she feels lonely and forlorn sometimes, since she has a great relationship with her mom.  

I loved the triplets and the love they have for Ramsay.  They sometimes felt like the three stooges, with Ramsay in the middle and Scout rolling his eyes.  There’s a family situation, there’s a young woman going through a social media situation, there’s student hijinks, wild parties, enemies from the past that cast a shadow in the present, family dramatics with both characters.  It’s a wonder I had any sleep while reading this book.  It was quintessential TIJAN, riveting, mesmerizing and completely satisfying to my romantic, YA-loving soul.

Purchase link

Amazon US: https://bit.ly/3Fp6nam

Amazon UK: https://bit.ly/3Md4bGR

Amazon CA: https://bit.ly/3Q44t3P

Amazon AU: https://bit.ly/3tGd6ds

Audible: https://bit.ly/46PI1lK

Narrated by: Savannah Peachwood & Teddy Hamilton

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3QXjMNT

About the author

Tijan is a New York Times Bestselling author that writes suspenseful and unpredictable novels. Her characters are strong, intense, and gut-wrenchingly real with a little bit of sass on the side. Tijan began writing after college and once she started, she was hooked. She's written multi-bestsellers including the Fallen Crest series, Ryan's Bed, Enemies and others.
She is currently writing many new books and series with an English Cocker she adores.

 

Connect with Tijan

Website: http://www.tijansbooks.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4851199.Tijan

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tijan/e/B00DJG52QE

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Tijansbooks/

Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/tijansreadergroup

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tijansbooks/

Twitter: www.twitter.com/tijansbooks

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@tijan_author

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tijan

YOU SAID I WAS YOUR FAVORITE, by Monica Murphy

Lancaster Prep #5

Arch & Daisy

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was seriously delightful and a full representation of what it feels to be young, full of hormones, feeling as an adult but still dependent on your parents.  The conundrum of wanting to lead your life your way and having to answer to the power your parents have over you is present and center in this book.  Also, the delight of reading Arch and Daisy, priceless!

Arch and Daisy are seniors at Lancaster High.  As a Lancaster, Arch does as he likes, he’s wild, scattered, irrepressible.  Daisy is the contrary, very uptight and serious, shy and lonely because she’s a scholarship student among wealthy students, so she wanders around as if she’s invisible.  However, she’s not invisible to Arch.  First, she’s stepping on his toes, as second on GPA, and working hard to surpass him.  Also, although she wears the school uniform very primly and fixes her hair in a french braid, he notices that she’s beautiful.  And what’s more, she doesn’t like him and doesn’t hide it. The enemies to lovers trope in this story is absolutely wonderful!

What I loved about this story is how they helped the other grow and improve.  Arch goes from an irresponsible guy who breezes through school, to a guy who takes this girl seriously and works hard to win her over.  Daisy is initially very suspicious of Arch and his intentions, but then she dives deep and realizes this is a guy who has a façade, while underneath he has strong feelings and a beautiful personality.  I felt that maybe he needed to have a direction and purpose and Daisy gave him just that.  And he gave Daisy a sense of being seen and important.  

Together they were beautiful and the book was just that too, a beautiful representation of what it feels to be on the edge of young adulthood, of finally having direction and truly knowing what you want.  This love story was so satisfying to read, uplifting and heartwarming.

Purchase links

Amazon US: https://bit.ly/3qlaMac

Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/YSIWYF

Releasing in print in the UK Commonwealth on October 26th

UK Commonwealth Paperback: https://bit.ly/3si1UD4

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/47c3Ay1

Free in KU

About the author 

Monica Murphy is a New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling romance author. Her books have been translated in almost a dozen languages and have sold over two million copies worldwide. Both a traditionally published and independently published author, she writes young adult, new adult and contemporary romance.

A native Californian, she lives on fourteen acres in the middle of nowhere with her husband, son, their goofy dog, and three cats. When she’s not writing, she’s thinking about writing. Or reading. Or binge watching something.

 

Connect with Monica

Website: http://monicamurphyauthor.com

Goodreads:  http://bit.ly/MonicaMurphyGR

Amazon:  http://amzn.to/1YUl0Vm

Facebook: http://bit.ly/MonicaMurphyFB 

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/monicamurphyreadergroup/

Instagram: http://bit.ly/MonicaMurphyIG

Twitter: http://bit.ly/MonicaMurphyTW

Bookbub: http://bit.ly/2ZAthV1

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/msmonicamurphy/

Verve Romance: https://ververomance.com/app/monicamurphy