#BookReview: If the Sun Never Sets (If Love #2) by Ana Huang @Read_Bloom

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ABOUT THIS BOOK:

Five years ago, he broke her heart. Now, he’ll do anything to win her back.

FARRAH

When Farrah walked into her lunch meeting, she didn’t expect to see him.

Blake Ryan.
Her first love.
Her first heartbreak.
And now, her first client as a freelance interior designer.

It’s been five years, but she’ll never forget the way he shattered her.
He whispers pretty words, but she’ll never believe him.
Her body craves his, but she’ll never give him her heart.

Not again.
Not ever.

BLAKE

Money. Looks. A booming sports bar empire.
On the surface, Blake has it all.

But inside, he's haunted—both by nightmares of a tragic loss, and dreams of the girl he once betrayed.

When fate reunites them, he sees it as a sign:
It’s time to get the love of his life back.
No matter what it takes.


If the Sun Never Sets is book two of the If Love duet. It's a steamy, angsty second chance romance with plenty of groveling and an HEA. 

Recommended for 18+ due to profanity and explicit content.

#BookReview: The Devil Wears Prada (The Devil Wears Prada #1) by Lauren Weisberger

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ABOUT THIS BOOK:

A delightfully dishy novel about the all-time most impossible boss in the history of impossible bosses.

Andrea Sachs, a small-town girl fresh out of college, lands the job “a million girls would die for.” Hired as the assistant to Miranda Priestly, the high-profile, fabulously successful editor of Runway magazine, Andrea finds herself in an office that shouts Prada! Armani! Versace! at every turn, a world populated by impossibly thin, heart-wrenchingly stylish women and beautiful men clad in fine-ribbed turtlenecks and tight leather pants that show off their lifelong dedication to the gym. With breathtaking ease, Miranda can turn each and every one of these hip sophisticates into a scared, whimpering child.

THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA gives a rich and hilarious new meaning to complaints about “The Boss from Hell.” Narrated in Andrea’s smart, refreshingly disarming voice, it traces a deep, dark, devilish view of life at the top only hinted at in gossip columns and over Cosmopolitans at the trendiest cocktail parties. From sending the latest, not-yet-in-stores Harry Potter to Miranda’s children in Paris by private jet, to locating an unnamed antique store where Miranda had at some point admired a vintage dresser, to serving lattes to Miranda at precisely the piping hot temperature she prefers, Andrea is sorely tested each and every day—and often late into the night with orders barked over the phone. She puts up with it all by keeping her eyes on the prize: a recommendation from Miranda that will get Andrea a top job at any magazine of her choosing. As things escalate from the merely unacceptable to the downright outrageous, however, Andrea begins to realize that the job a million girls would die for may just kill her. And even if she survives, she has to decide whether or not the job is worth the price of her soul.

#BookReview: Adam and Evie's Matchmaking Tour by Nora Nguyen @avonbooks

AMAZON

ABOUT THIS BOOK:

A rollicking, unforgettable romance about two strangers finding love despite their best efforts as they embark on a sweeping matchmaking tour through Việt Nam, perfect for readers of Carley Fortune and Abby Jimenez.

What’s a few weeks to a lifetime of promise?

Evie Lang’s life is in shambles. On the heels of losing her beloved aunt, she's unceremoniously fired from her poetry professorship by her secret boyfriend. Lacking income and inspiration, she's stuck in Ohio with no idea how to move forward—until hope arrives in a surprising letter.

Auntie Hảo left Evie the deed to her San Francisco row house, a place full of Evie’s happiest memories. The catch? To inherit, she must go on a pre-arranged matchmaking tour in Việt Nam. The last thing Evie wants is to spend time with a group of strangers looking for love. But she can't resist the chance to finally visit her family’s native home.

A world away, Adam Quyền has a chip on his shoulder. He’s working around the clock as CMO for his sister’s elite matchmaking business, a job complicated by her insistence that he knows nothing about love. He’s desperate to prove himself, so when she challenges him to join the inaugural tour, he reluctantly agrees.

Adam thinks Evie is chaotic and unpredictable. Evie thinks Adam is grumpy and uptight. But from the bustling streets of Hồ Chí Minh City to the soaring waterfalls in Đà Lạt, they keep getting thrown together, their animosity charged with attraction…and they discover that true love may be out there, if they are willing to take a leap.

Two stubborn hearts, one whirlwind adventure, Adam & Evie’s Matchmaking Tour is a story of how loving (and living) bravely can lead you to the most unexpected places—and the most imperfectly perfect loves.

#BookReview: When We Chased the Light by @Emily_Bleeker @AmazonPub

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ABOUT THIS BOOK:

A Hollywood legend. A legacy of secrets. An epic and emotional novel about forgiveness, fame, family, and truly unconditional love by the bestselling author of When We Were Enemies.

Christie’s auction house, Beverly Hills. The effects of Hollywood icon Vivian Snow are up for bid. In the collection is a set of hand-drawn postcards spanning six decades. The sender is Antonio Trombello, a soldier, POW, priest, and Vivian’s confidant. Each postcard sheds new light on a deeply private woman the public only thinks it knows.

It’s World War II. Vivian is a USO showgirl traveling the world when her husband goes AWOL, disappears, and is presumed dead. Facing increasing suspicion, she leans on her dear friend Father Trombello for support. He’s her confessor, her savior, the elusive love of her life, and when it comes to her husband’s death, the keeper of Vivian’s secrets.

As Vivian rises from canteen dream girl to starlet to bona fide legend, she navigates the highs and lows of Hollywood, new romances, and tumultuous family relationships—all in the shadow of her past and the guilt, unmet longing, and buried truths that could still upend the lives of everyone she loves.

#BookReview: The Life-Changing Magic of Falling in Love by Eve Devon

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ABOUT THIS BOOK:

The only romcom you need to read!Everything in Ashleigh’s life is completely fine. Sure, she avoids conversations with her mother at all costs, but doesn’t everyone? And yes, she did turn down that promotion at work, but she loves her job just as it is, right? Oh, and she has had to ask her friends to set up dates for her, but New York dating is awful for everyone, isn’t it?

George is not ok. The beating in his chest isn’t normal, is it? If he could just secure that promotion at work moving to New York would all be worth it, wouldn’t it?

Ashleigh and George haven’t met yet, but Ashleigh knows a lot of things about George. She knows he loves soccer, that he likes his house to smell of the ocean breeze and that he’s a whizz at crosswords. All George knows about Ashleigh is that since she became his cleaner everything in his life is a little better.

Neither of them knows that their worlds are about to collide. Could they be just what the other one needs?

#BookReview: The Nightmare Before Kissmas (Royals and Romance, 1) by @seesarawrite @BrambleRomance

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ABOUT THIS BOOK:

Featuring beautiful ruby sprayed edges!

Red, White & Royal Blue meets The Nightmare Before Christmas in a sexy, quirky rom-com where the golden-hearted Prince of Christmas falls for the totally off-limits Prince of Halloween.

Nicholas “Coal” Claus used to love Christmas. Until his father, the reigning Santa, turned the holiday into a PR façade. Coal will do anything to escape the spectacle, including getting tangled in a drunken, supremely hot make-out session with a beautiful man behind a seedy bar one night.

But the heir to Christmas is soon commanded to do his he will marry his best friend, Iris, the Easter Princess and his brother’s not-so-secret crush. A situation that has disaster written all over it.

Things go from bad to worse when a rival arrives to challenge Coal for the princess’s hand…and Coal comes face-to-face with his mysterious behind-the-bar Hex, the Prince of Halloween.

It’s a fake competition between two holiday princes who can’t keep their hands off each other over a marriage of convenience that no one wants. And it all leads to one of the sweetest, sexiest, messiest, most delightfully unforgettable love stories of the year.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

#BookReview: Apprentice to the Villain (Assistant to the Villain #2) by Hannah Nicole Maehrer @redtowerbooks

AMAZON

ABOUT THIS BOOK:

LIMITED FIRST PRINT RUN―featuring spray-painted edges, while supplies last in the US and Canada only.

"An engaging love story about finding strength in vulnerability." ―Kirkus Reviews

NOTICE TO STAFF: There has been a disturbing increase in cheeriness, sprightly behavior, and overall optimism of late. Please resume your former dark, ominous terrors at your earliest convenience. ―Mgmt

Evie Sage has never been happier to be the assistant to The Villain. Who would have thought that working for an outrageously handsome (shhh, bad for his brand) evil overlord would be so rewarding? Still, the business of being bad is demanding, the forces of good are annoyingly persistent, and said forbidding boss is somewhat…er, out-of-evil-office.

But Rennedawn is in grave trouble, and all signs―Kingsley’s included―point to catastrophe. Something peculiar is happening with the kingdom’s magic, and it’s made The Villain’s manor vulnerable to their enemies...including their nemesis, the king.

Now it’s time for Evie to face her greatest challenge: protecting The Villain’s lair, all of his nefarious works, and maybe (provided no one finds out) the entire kingdom. No pressure, Evie.

It’s time to step out of her comfort zone and learn new skills. Like treason. Dagger work. Conspiring with the enemy. It’s all so…so…delightfully fun.

But what happens when the assistant to The Villain is ready to become his apprentice?

#BookReview: Dark Restraint (Dark Olympus, 7) by Katee Robert

ABOUT THIS BOOK:

Ariadne Vitalis is in trouble. She's betrayed her father―and his benefactor―and now she's left to rely on the questionable mercy of Olympus to keep her safe. As with everything in this city, mercy comes with a price. For Ariadne, that means a marriage to Dionysus. She has no choice but to agree, even if there's only one man she's ever wanted―a man she's feared just as much as she desires. The Minotaur never had any illusions about Minos's plans. He was willing to get his hands dirty as long as the old man kept his word―at the end of this, the Minotaur would be given Ariadne as a reward. Nowhere in that deal was her walking down the aisle to a different man. She's meant for him, and he means to have her. Ariadne knows better than to encourage the Minotaur. Her relationship with her new fiancé might be more friendship than burning passion, but she is all too aware of how much fiery passion can hurt. She and the Minotaur are no good for each other. She can never forgive him for what he's done, and he can never change. But when his hands are on her body and his wicked words are whispered in her ear, she might just be willing to let all of Olympus burn…

#BookReview: If the Sun Never Sets (If Love, #2) by Ana Huang

ABOUT THIS BOOK:

Five years ago, he broke her heart. Now, he’ll do anything to win her back.

When Farrah walked into her lunch meeting, she didn’t expect to see him. Blake Ryan. Her first love, her first heartbreak, and now, her first client as a freelance interior designer.
It’s been five years, but she’ll never forget the way he shattered her. He whispers pretty words, but she’ll never believe him. Her body craves his, but she’ll never give him her heart.
Not again. Not ever.

***
Money. Looks. A booming sports bar empire. On the surface, Blake has it all, but inside, he's haunted—both by nightmares of a tragic loss and dreams of the girl he once betrayed.

When fate reunites them, he sees it as a sign: it’s time to get the love of his life back. 

No matter what it takes.

If the Sun Never Sets is book two of the If Love duet. It's a steamy second chance romance with plenty of groveling. 

Recommended for 18+ due to profanity and explicit content.

#BookReview: If We Ever Meet Again (If Love, #1) by Ana Huang

ABOUT THIS BOOK:

One year is all it takes for strangers to become lovers...

19-year-old Farrah Lin is going to fall in love for the first time during her year abroad in Shanghai. She's sure of it.

The only problem? Her would-be leading man is her new friend’s boyfriend.

There’s nothing worse than being in love with someone you can’t have...or at least, she thinks it’s love.

But if that’s true, why can’t she stop fantasizing about someone else, specifically the cocky blond athlete with the world’s biggest ego (and greatest dimples)?


***
Blake Ryan is—was—a college football star who shocked the sports world when he quit after his third national championship. Instead of dealing with the fallout, he escapes to Shanghai, where he vows to keep life simple.

No football. No commitments. No romance.

But no matter how hard he tries, he can’t keep a certain beautiful brunette off his mind...or out of his heart. 

What starts as a physical attraction develops into something much deeper as Blake and Farrah get swept up in the magic of Shanghai—and each other. But they only have one year, and there are forces outside their control that threaten to rip them apart.

Can their relationship survive the test...or was it just not meant to be?

WARNING: This is the first book in a duet. It's a full-length novel with no sudden cliffhangers, but Blake and Farrah’s story concludes in book two, If the Sun Never Sets, which takes place five years later. 

If We Ever Meet Again is a steamy strangers to friends to lovers romance. Recommended for 18+ due to adult language and explicit content.

#BookReview: A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft

This title will be released on September 17, 2024.

ABOUT THIS BOOK:

A sharp-tongued folklorist must pair up with her academic rival to solve their mentor's murder in this lush and enthralling sapphic fantasy romance from the New York Times bestselling author of A Far Wilder Magic.

Lorelei Kaskel, a folklorist with a quick temper and an even quicker wit, is on an expedition with six eccentric nobles in search of a fabled spring. The magical spring promises untold power, which the king wants to harness to secure his reign of the embattled country of Brunnestaad. Lorelei is determined to use this opportunity to prove herself and make her wildest, most impossible dream come to become a naturalist, able to travel freely to lands she’s only ever read about.

The expedition gets off to a harrowing start when its leader—Lorelei’s beloved mentor—is murdered in her quarters aboard their ship. The suspects are her five remaining expedition mates, each with their own motive. The only person Lorelei knows must be innocent is her longtime academic rival, the insufferably gallant and maddeningly beautiful Sylvia von Wolff. Now in charge of the expedition, Lorelei must find the spring before the murderer strikes again—and a coup begins in earnest.

But there are other dangers lurking in the forests that rearrange themselves at night, rivers with slumbering dragons waiting beneath the water, and shapeshifting beasts out for blood.

As Lorelei and Sylvia grudgingly work together to uncover the truth—and resist their growing feelings for one another—they discover that their professor had secrets of her own. Secrets that make Lorelei question whether justice is worth pursuing, or if this kingdom is worth saving at all.

#BookReview: How to Kill with Kindness by S. R. Masters

ABOUT THIS BOOK:

Welcome to the kindest village in the country. If you follow their rules, you’ll be ok. If you don’t, they’ll make you pay…

The brand new psychological thriller for fans of T.M. Logan, Gillian McAllister and Lisa Jewell.

The village of Nether Appleford calls itself ‘England’s Kindest Village’. Overseen by the Kindness Committee, this close-knit community strives to live their lives with kindness at the heart of everything they do.

Just Be Kind. It’s as simple as that.

But what is kindness? Is it doing something to help someone else? Is it giving up your time to help your community? Or, perhaps it’s something a lot less obvious…

What if the kindest thing you could do meant hurting someone? Then what would you do?

#BookReview: To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods by Molly X. Chang

ABOUT THIS BOOK:

She has power over death. He has power over her. When two enemies strike a dangerous bargain, will they end a war . . . or ignite one?

Heroes die, cowards live. Daughter of a conquered world, Ruying hates the invaders who descended from the heavens long before she was born and defeated the magic of her people with technologies unlike anything her world had ever seen.

Blessed by Death, born with the ability to pull the life right out of mortal bodies, Ruying shouldn’t have to fear these foreign invaders, but she does. Especially because she wants to keep herself and her family safe.

When Ruying’s Gift is discovered by an enemy prince, he offers her an impossible deal: If she becomes his private assassin and eliminates his political rivals—whose deaths he swears would be for the good of both their worlds and would protect her people from further brutalization—her family will never starve or suffer harm again. But to accept this bargain, she must use the powers she has always feared, powers that will shave years off her own existence.

Can Ruying trust this prince, whose promises of a better world make her heart ache and whose smiles make her pulse beat faster? Are the evils of this agreement really in the service of a much greater good? Or will she betray her entire nation by protecting those she loves the most?

#BookReview: Paris Adrift by E. J. Swift

ABOUT THIS BOOK:

Paris was supposed to save Hallie. Now… well, let’s just say Paris has other ideas.

She’s linked to a hole in time and chosen by fate to prevent a terrible war. Tumbling through Paris’ turbulent past and future, Hallie changes the world—and falls in love.

But with every trip, she loses a little of herself, and every change she makes ripples through time, until the future she’s trying to save suddenly looks nothing like what she hoped for…

“An effervescent blend of revisionist history, fantasy and science fiction.” Washington Post

#BookReview: A Feather So Black (Fair Folk #1) by Lyra Selene

ABOUT THIS BOOK:

Set in a world of perilous magic and moonlit forests, this seductive romantic fantasy tells the story of a defiant changeling, her cursed sister, and the dangerous fae lord she must defeat to save her family.

In a kingdom where magic has been lost, Fia is a rare changeling, left behind by the wicked Fair Folk when they stole the High Queen's daughter and retreated behind the locked gates of Tír na nÓg.

Most despise Fia's fae blood. But the queen raises her as a daughter and trains her to be a spy. Meanwhile, the real princess Eala is bound to Tír na nÓg, cursed to become a swan by day and only returning to her true form at night.

When a hidden gate to the realm is discovered, Fia is tasked by the queen to retrieve the princess and break her curse. But she doesn’t go with her is prince Rogan, Fia's dearest childhood friend—and Eala’s betrothed.

As they journey through the forests of the Folk, where magic winds through the roots of the trees and beauty can be a deadly illusion, Fia’s mission is complicated by her feelings for the prince…and her unexpected attraction to the dark-hearted fae lord holding Eala captive. Irian might be more monster than man, but he seems to understand Fia in a way no one ever has.

Soon, Fia begins to question the truth of her mission. But time is running out to break her sister's curse. And unraveling the secrets of the past might destroy everything she has come to love.

#BookReview: The False Pawn by A. E. Asavi

ABOUT THIS BOOK:

Anthea Clark feels trapped. Each day, her soul is chipped away, piece by piece, at her job in a PR firm. There, she's tasked with refurbishing the sullied reputations of the wealthy and loathsome. But her somewhat manageable reality is shattered when she meets a mysterious stranger who knows her by name.

In the blink of an eye, Anthea is whisked away from all she knows and plunged into the treacherous world of court politics in a realm far from her own.

Captured by two enigmatic Elven princes in a world on the brink of war, where trust is a luxury she cannot afford, Anthea must summon all her cunning and resilience to survive.

And to keep her heart intact . . .

#BookReview: Right on Cue by Falon Ballard

ABOUT THIS BOOK:

From the beloved author of Just My Type and Lease on Love comes a new romantic comedy in which a former actress-turned-screenwriter finds herself back in the spotlight, only for her romantic lead to be the one man she can’t stand.

Hollywood darling Emmy Harper is considered the queen of writing romantic comedies. That is, until tragedy struck and she swore she’d never write another happy ending again. After some time away, and lots of encouragement from family and friends, Emmy is finally ready to dive back into the genre with her latest project. But more is riding on this movie than just her return to the big screen. This time, Emmy’s also been convinced to star as the lead, dusting off acting skills she hasn’t used in over a decade.

Emmy’s nervous, yet excited, to give performing another shot, until a last-minute injury benches her trusted co-star. With filming about to start, there’s only one other actor available on such short Grayson West. A blockbuster action star known for his mega-watt smile and impossible abs, Grayson is anyone’s dream of a romantic lead. Anyone except Emmy that is, who still blames him for her disastrous first movie and the early end to her acting career.

As filming begins, the friction between Emmy and Grayson is palpable and it’s anyone’s guess if it’s unresolved awkwardness or simmering sexual tension. The two are pushed to get their acts together—and quickly—or they risk tanking the entire movie, but if working things out leads to sizzling chemistry on screen, what might happen when the cameras stop rolling?