#BookReview: Torn (All Torn Up #1) by Carian Cole

"Well-written tension and forbidden longing. The angst in this was incredible!"
— Penelope Douglas, New York Times bestselling author of Birthday Girl

When I was five years old I told Toren Grace we were going to get married someday. He’d been my best friend, my protector, and my rock since the day I was born. He was my world. In fact, his name was my very first word.
 
He wasn’t just my favorite person, though.
 
He was also my dad’s best friend, and my pseudo uncle.
 
But during my senior year of high school, our relationship slowly changed. Innocent friendship turned to stolen glances. Silly conversations morphed into serious heart-to-hearts. And then one day, an unexpected smoldering kiss changed everything.
 
While that kiss was everything I’d ever dreamed of, it knocked Tor clear off his axis. He’s one of the good guys—loving and devoted with a strong moral compass . . . which makes it impossible for him to accept our feelings for each other. Because not only are we both the one person the other should never, ever want, I’m eighteen, and Tor is fifteen years older than me.
 
Despite that, the heart wants what the heart wants, and ours have decided we’re meant to be together no matter what.
 
But neither one of us can stand to betray or hurt my father, who trusts Tor with everything precious to him. We can’t be in a secret relationship forever, so what will happen when my father finds out his best friend is in love with his daughter?
 
Will there be a way for us to find our happily ever after? Or we will all be torn apart?

My Week in Review with @readerlatte https://linktr.ee/readerlatte

Welcome to my weekly post where I tell you the things that have happened. I hope you enjoy this look into my life.  And well if you have any ideas please let me know.  

#BookReview: Dirty Lying Faeries (The Enchanted Fates, #1) by Sabrina Blackburry

"Dirty Lying Faeries is a wholly entertaining new take on a familiar concept." –Fangirlish

For better or for worse, the newest changeling has arrived . . .

When Thea Kanelos’s best friend drags her to an art gala (that’s definitely not her thing), she doesn’t expect a chance encounter with Devin Grayson to change her life forever. The handsome stranger isn’t just anyone―he’s a powerful fae, charged with bringing Thea into his world.

Believing that she’s always been human, Thea must accept that everything she’s known about herself up until now has been a lie. She’s not human at all. She is a fae―funny, because she doesn’t even believe in faeries.


But with strange creatures now visible on the street and fangs and colors flashing in the shadows, it can’t be denied: faeries are real. And with the Winter Solstice approaching, a magnificent ball will bring her fully into the fae world and draw her closer to Devin with whom she has a deepening and dangerous attraction.

As her new powers awaken, Thea learns she plays a more pivotal role to the fae than she ever imagined. And when the barrier between the human and the fae worlds begins to crack, it will be up to her to save not just herself, but everyone she loves from a terrible fate.

Deeply sensual and darkly magical, Dirty Lying Faeries is the first book in an exciting new series that takes readers inside a universe filled with faeries, dragons and werewolves--and those that love them.

#BookReview: Man in the Water by David Housewright

When his wife finds the body of an Army veteran in the lake, it is inevitable that former cop, now unofficial P.I. Rushmore McKenzie will get enmeshed in a complicated case of possible murder.

It all starts with the body in the water—on what should be the first boat day of the season, McKenzie’s wife Nina finds a dead Army vet. As the dock owner and the insurance companies claim that it was suicide, despite the deceased, E.J. Woods, having no obvious reason to kill himself, his widow starts acting suspiciously. McKenzie finds himself pulled into the fight when Naveah, the victim’s daughter, convinced her father was murdered, asks him to investigate.

Further complicating the situation are uncooperative boaters, allegations of PTSD, and the simple fact that there was no reason for E.J. to be in the water. McKenzie’s investigation unearths not only the petty squabbles surrounding the lake and its dock, but details of her father’s past that Naveah is perhaps better off not knowing. With Nina haunted by dreams of the body and the legal fight over cause of death becoming increasingly nasty, McKenzie may be the only one interested in finding justice for E.J.— and uncovering the truth before another person dies.

#BookReview: Pitch Dark (Mike Bowditch, #15) by @pauldoiron

Game Warden Mike Bowditch must chase down a cunning and dangerous fugitive in the North Maine Woods in this nail-biter of a thriller from Edgar Award-nominated author Paul Doiron, Pitch Dark.

Legendary bush pilot Josie Jonson can’t believe her luck when a skilled builder just happens to show up after she purchases land near Prentiss Pond. All Mark Redmond asks in return for building Josie’s dream cabin is that he be left alone to homeschool his 12-year-old daughter, Cady.

For Maine game warden investigator Mike Bowditch, the intensity of Redmond's secretiveness is troubling, especially in light of suspicious criminal activity being reported around the area―including rumors of an armed man offering large sums of money in exchange for the location of Redmond and Cady. Josie, though hesitant to violate the trust of her prized builder, eventually agrees to fly Mike and his father-in-law Charley Stevens to the secluded pond in an attempt to protect Redmond and Cady. But hours after landing, the trip takes a dark turn when they witness a horrific murder and are taken captive themselves.

Freeing himself, Mike is forced to set off through the impenetrable Maine forest towards Canada, alone and unarmed in pursuit of a mysterious fugitive. As he navigates a windblown landscape choked with deadfalls and blocked by swollen streams, he marvels at his enemy’s bush craft. The killer possesses skills surpassing his own, and Bowditch can't tell if he is the cat or the mouse in this dangerous game. Can Mike Bowditch stop his adversary in time to save the life of a young girl, or will he be forced to watch another innocent soul die?

#BookReview: An Epitaph for Jezebel by L. Divine

An Atlanta investigative reporter who speaks for those without a voice. A female-owned strip club famous for treating its performers as well as its customers. But when one popular dancer is ritualistically murdered, reporter Keke McCoy’s investigation won’t leave hers—or anyone’s—secrets safe, in the first of a thrilling mystery series by L. Divine . . .

When Keke starts looking into secretive stripper Monaka's grisly death, she’s instantly caught between her past and her present. Through The Honey Pot club owner "Honey Mama" Thiboudeaux, Keke found refuge from the streets, earned much money from her stage persona "Brandy," and got a chance at a new life all her own. Her bombshell exposé about the club launched her reporting career. But it caused a bitter, seemingly irrevocable split between her, the only family she's ever known—and Drew, the one man Keke won't admit she's never gotten
over . . .

At Honey Mama request's, Keke goes undercover as Brandy to find the truth before political pressures shut the progressive club down for good. But Keke has to watch more than her back when she finds Monaka had an unshakable, dangerously elusive stalker, an illicit club sideline—and vicious conflicts with rival dancers. Even more explosive, Keke's persistence is putting her at odds with Drew, now a police detective working this case . . . and the secrets she herself can no longer hide.

Now with the clock fast ticking down, Keke must tantalize the killer with the one lure he—or she—can't resist. But using fantasy as a trap could put more than her pursuit of justice on the line--it risks ending her career and life for good . . .

#BookBlitz: New Beginnings in Twinkle Falls by @FredaAnn1663599 @XpressoTours #Giveaway $15 Amazon gift card + ebook copy of New Beginnings in Twinkle Falls

New Beginnings in Twinkle Falls
Freda Ann
(A Twinkle Falls Novel)
Publication date: December 12th 2024
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Holiday, Romance

A sweet, inspirational, small town romance with holiday cheer and a happy ending.

Kylee Croft is a single mom to the sweetest little girl anyone could ask for. Growing up in Paris, the most romantic city in the world, to Kylee it felt like a rite of passage to one day marry the man of her dreams.

Now living in Twinkle Falls, she appreciates the ease of small town life and how people look out for one another, though getting to know the sister and father she never knew existed is the icing on the cake.

Trace Holburg was one happy man after marrying his first love seven years ago. Soon after, his family felt complete with the birth of their twins. But he received a rude awakening when his soon to be ex-wife left him and the boys for a life of alcoholism. After the divorce and getting sole custody of his boys, he swore he’d never marry again.

Kylee has been dating Trace for over a year but worries the man she’s fallen madly in love with is pulling away from her. To complicate things even more her daughter’s biological father shows up in Twinkle Falls.

Can this couple make peace with their past and find a future together, or does their fate lie elsewhere?