Summer Shorts by various TMP Authors

Summer Shorts

By Various Turquoise Morning Press Authors

Declaration of Dependence 

by Margaret Ethridge

My favourite story and it was first up. Declaration of Dependence set the perfect tone for the rest of the anthology. I've been following Jack and Ellie for almost a year now through all their various other anthology stories and this one was my favourite. Some great lines in this story and you can definitely see how far their long distance relationship has grown. 

Jack meets Ellie's family and things are not a smooth as Jack had hoped. 

Declaration of Dependence makes me want more from this couple. 

Best Friends

by Suzanne Barrett

The author tackled a really tough subject in the romance world, infidelity. A cheating husband is devastating but it has to be 100 times worse when your best friend is the other woman. I admire Suzanne Barrett for tackling the subject; especially in a first person format. 

I found I didn't really care for the husband and I thought the wife was way too forgiving. There is physical cheating and then there is emotional cheating. I am not quite sure which is worse really. I thought the wife took on way to much of the blame herself and ended up being very forgiving towards her husband and supposed best friend. Not sure I would have been so easy to move on. 

Retrieving Hope

by Bobbye Terry

I loved this story by Bobbye Terry. In fact, I love Bobbye Terry's writing. It was a joy to read this little story and then to discover the twist at the end of the book. It is so cute to read about a hero trying to save a woman in need only to find out, she is much stronger than you think. 

Beach Towel

by Grace Green

Great little story about a bright light at the end of a dark tunnel. So devastating for the would be bride to have her wedding end right on her big day before it even got started. I admire her for making the right choices and being strong and recognizing she is worth more. A wonderful story of escape and a happy recovery. 

Surf's Up

by Krista Ames

Cute story of mistaken identity with a happy ending. Surf's Up took me right to the beach and I felt the warmth from the beach as I read the novella. I also had a craving for a yummy steak lol. Who knew accountants could be so cool? 

Old Devil Moon

by Bobbye Terry

This was another favourite story of mine. I wanted an entire book of this couple! It was only a short story but it was so descriptive and captivating. Old Devil Moon is a wonderful story about a widow moving on after losing her husband a year earlier. I absolutely loved the subtle southern drawl on male protagonist, Joe and the female, Peyton was easy to like. I thought it was an awesome twist that Joe was famous and Peyton really didn't know too much about him. I loved this little conversation that Joe had with Peyton when he was surrounded by some fans. 

"Okay, folks, now I need some private time with my girl, okay? I'm trying to impress her."

     As the crowd dissipated, she glanced at him. "Your girl?"

     He grinned. "I am forever the optimist."

So cute!

Also I saved this line because it was awesome. 

"There is a time for departure even when there's no certain place to go" 

(that's not the authors personal quote but she shared it)

Fireworks

by Julie Anne Lindsey

*sigh* A story with a soothing British accent. Okay so it was South African but they are so close. Harrison was an excellent love interest to read for the character Lacy. I loved the way they met on the cruise ship and how their encounter bloomed into something more meaningful. I loved that the author used their careers to move them together. 

The Green House

by Amie Denman

The Green House made me giggle. I think a TV series could be made around these ladies. The group could get themselves into a lot of mischief and I'd love to see their husbands shake their heads yet remain quiet.  

Congratulations to Blog Hop winner!

Rafflecopter randomly picked the winner of my Spooktacular Blog Hop for 3 books. 

Congrats to xxsquigglesxx

I have emailed the winner and hope to mail the books out this week!


Thank you to all who entered and welcome  to my new followers. I hope you enjoy my content and various book reviews. 

SPOOKTACULAR 3 BOOK GIVEAWAY

Welcome to the Spooktacular Giveaway Hop hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and The Diary of a Bookworm


Celebrate Halloween with a sexy Ghost! An AUTOGRAPHED copy of Paramour by Margaret Ethridge (trade paperback) and an awesome handcrafted book mark. 


My town had a huge book clearance sale and I picked up Pride & Prejudice and Zombies (trade paperback) & Kiss of Midnight (hardcover) to make this Halloween package complete.  All 3 books to one winner!


Super simple to enter (cause that's the way I like it!)


1. Canada or USA resident. Since these are adult books, only 18+ please. 
2. Mandatory follow on Google Friends Connect
3. Extra entry if you Tweet giveaway. 


That's it!
Don't forget to check out as many other blogs in this hop as possible at the end of this giveaway under Read more>>. 


Please just enter the Rafflecopter below. 

Guilty Pleasure - DVD TV Obession

There are a few other bloggers that are doing these Guilty Pleasure posts as well. It all started with C.J. Duggan and if you want a bunch of smiles, circle back to her site and see the comments to read other pleasures. Love to have you join the fun.


I hate cliffhangers. That's usually one of the main reasons I don't start a book series until they are well on their published way. By sticking to my method I get to be greedy and read books back to back and skip right past the torture some authors do to their readers....hanging us with angst at the end. 


Well the same reasoning applies to TV series. I used to loathe the end of a season because that translated to an endless summer of wondering what would happen in the fall when the TV show would gear up again. I hated that because I never ever want to rush summer along but dammit, I needs to know what happened to my favourite characters!! You the same? 


So a few years back, I think it was during the 2008 TV writer's strike, my outlook of TV watching changed. Why do I do this angsty torture to myself every summer when I could just go out in the fall and buy the entire season on DVD and watch them back to back. *cue angels singing*


So now that's what I do. My Guilty Pleasure is all the money I spend purchasing DVD TV Series. New and old TV series. 

Super huge on Gilmore Girls. The theme song brings me back awesome memories. Love love this series. Probably best series ever to be on TV. 

OOOOH I haven' t bought SMALLVILLE SEASON 10 YET BUT SOON!

I need my BONES fix. I love their commentaries on the DVDs. They are actually funny and entertaining. 

ANNNNNNNNNNND my love for Castle knows no bounds. This is probably the only TV show that I actually glue myself to the TV once a week to watch. Doesn't matter though. I still buy the Season DVDs when they come out. 

*sigh*I still carry a torch for Dean Cain. I love this short run TV series but I treasure that I have them all on DVDs. 

Oh and Buffy and Angel. I have both of the collections. I just adore Joss. I even have Firefly & Serenity. 


I could go on and on but please share with me, do you collect TD DVD series? Do you go back and rewatch them often? 

Teaser Tuesday - Summer Shorts anthology

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Summer Shorts Anthology by various authors (my selection was author Margaret Ethridge)

NOTE: I was going through summer withdrawal while I was freezing outside on the football field so I wanted to read something that captured the warmth of summer. Summer Shorts is my current read. 
Summer Shorts is not a smutty book but I just loved the below line. 

"The door barely closed behind them before they were tearing into each other like a South Beach Diet survivor turned loose in a bakery."

Loc 49-50

blurb taken from: Declaration of Dependence by Margaret Ethridge

All In by Brynn Paulin

All In 
By Brynn Paulin


Book Blurb:
When Erik Porter’s friends dared him to kiss a random guy at the bar, he never thought things would take a turn for the steamy. The dare leads to a connection he never expected and a night he’ll never forget.


I just love these short Exotic Gems from Resplendence Publishing. I especially like when Brynn Paulin writes an Exotic Gem because I just love her writing. 


After Erik accepts bet dared by his two friends, he walks up to a complete stranger (a man) and kisses him lips to lips, tongue to tongue. What he thought was a cool three hundred bucks knocked his socks off and made him stagger out of the Vegas bar they were all in. 


I enjoyed All In, because it was a story about a male's sexual preference discovery and his "first time". I love reading about romance adult"first time" stories. 


You wouldn't think with a quick short story I would feel a connection between Erik and Joel but it was completely believable that Erik was shocked and excited to find out he really wanted to pursue Joel sexually. 


Their intimate scene was exciting and super sexy. I wanted to Erik to walk away comfortable with his decisions and not feel shame. I really liked that the author, Brynn Paulin did that to Erik. I also liked that she wrote that his one night of lust did not lead him to all of sudden date tons of men. All In was a great sexy read. 


Not to give away the ending, but I loved it. 


Teasers: Clark Kent, bounty hunter and handcuffs

Text Me by KJ Reed

Travis and Ariel's book


Text Me

By KJ Reed

Book Blurb:
Staff Sergeant Travis Donovan is on the hunt for his little sister. Though he hasn't spoken to her in years, his last deployment reminded him how short life is, and it's time to reconnect. Only problem? The one piece of contact information he has, a cell phone number, belongs to someone else now. A woman named Ariel. A woman he can't get his mind off.

Ariel Winston doesn't have time for a man. Her plate is full with work and grad school and family obligations, and she's fine with that. But the innocent friendship she's sparked with Trav, the anonymous texter, can't hurt. Right? It's not like she'll ever meet the guy face to face.

But when these two collide during a night of voyeuristic pleasure, they have decisions to make. Will they balk at what fate has dropped into their laps? Or be willing to look beyond the unique circumstances and enjoy their finite time together?

You know when you've had a book on your reading shelf for awhile and you look at it over and over again because you want to read it but you just aren't in the mood? Well that was me with Text Me. I just haven't been in the mood for a contemp romance with heat as I seem to have been on a big urban fantasy and historical romance kick lately. Well I decided yesterday to leave the urban fantasy and historical romance behind because I just needed something fresh. Text Me was perfect for my mood and I am so glad I waited to enjoy the smutty goodness. 

I loved the idea on how the couple Ariel and Travis meet in Text Me. I had not come across that scenario and I really enjoyed reading it all come together. I can't recall reading a book with a similar plot line so it was  fresh and creative. 

I adore books with a military flare and although Text Me is not set in a military situation with combat or international struggles, the two yummy men were marines. The main protagonist, Travis Donovan, screamed sexiness and the way KJ Reed described his kisses made me melt. So hot. Any girl would be jealous of Ariel. 

Ariel seemed like girl from both ends of the spectrum. On one hand she is a hard worker plugging away at school mimicking a bookworm and then on the other end she is into sharing men with her best friend. I love that she blows both stereotypes out of the water. Why can't smart girls be all seducing and sexy? 

As their fake names prevented an outright meeting, it was a lot of fun reading about the unraveling of all the text messages and how it was uncovered that each was texting one another. It was just meant to be that in a big city like Philly, they meet and fall for each other. 

If I didn't know that there were two more books in this series, I would be disappointed not knowing what became of Travis's missing sister, his friend Goodwin and not finding out whether Ariel's best friend, Mary Ellen, ever gets Ariel's brother Brice pinned down for a date. The good news is, there are two more books that answer all those questions!

Teasers: hotel sex (cause who doesn't love hotel sex),
sexy marines, sister search, "I'm not going to die a ninety-year-old virgin because the one man I'd want to spend forever with won't even give me for now."

Chosen by Denise Grover Swank

Chosen

By Denise Grover Swank

Book Blurb:

Everything Emma Thompson owns fits in a suitcase she moves from one roach infested motel to another. She and Jake, her five year old son who can see the future, are running from the men intent on taking him. Emma will do anything to protect him even when it means accepting the help of a stranger named Will. Jake insists she needs Will, but Emma’s never needed help before. And even though she’s learned to trust her son, it doesn’t mean she trusts Will.

Mercenary Will Davenport lives in the moment. Hauling Emma to South Dakota should have been an easy job, but his employer neglected to tell him about Emma’s freaky son and the gunmen hot on her trail. Instinct tells him this job is trouble, but nothing can prepare him for Jake’s proclamation that Will is The Chosen One, who must protect Emma from the men hunting her power. A power she doesn't know she has.

Will protects Emma and Jake on a cross-country chase from the men pursuing them, while struggling with memories from his past, his apprehension of Jake, and his growing attraction to Emma. Will’s overwhelming urge to protect Emma surprises him, especially since it has nothing to do with his paycheck and possibly everything to do with the tattoo Jake branded on his arm. Rich and powerful men are desperate to capture Emma, and Will must discover why before it's too late.

Allow me to introduce you to an amazing new urban fantasy series. Chosen is book 1 and November can't come fast enough until I get book 2, Hunted into my hot little hands. 

Every once in a while a series comes along and grabs you. For me, Chosen did just that. I contemplated booking a vacation day just to have alone time without kids so I could read without interruption. I just didn't want to put down my Kindle. As it turns out I was able to sneak in some free time at home and during kids sports practices so I got plenty of quality reading time in. Well if you count staying up until 2AM on a work day. 

When I started to read Chosen, the first line grabbed my attention. "Emma bolted out the door of the rundown diner, pulling her five year old son behind her. She broke into a cold sweat that had nothing to do with the humid July heat." Right from the get go, my interest was perked and I wanted to know, what, why and how right away. Chapter one was so chalked full of action I think I forgot to breath. I wanted to know what was going on and the little boy Jake had me so curious. 

My curiosity didn't stop for chapters and chapters and once I got to fully understand what was going on with Jake and Emma, it was a wow factor.  

Will is a perfect hero because he doesn't start off being the hero or shall I rephrase that and say, Will didn't start off intending on being a hero but he immediately adapted to the role. With Emma and Jake on the run, they needed Will and I think Will needed them just as badly. Once the pair got over their impending need for each other, they were a perfect match. 

There is an explosion scene that blew my mind. The pain and despair scream through the pages and I my vision got more than a little blurry.  

Because Will, Emma and her son Jake ended up on a cross country chase, there was no down time. The book just kept moving and moving and scene after scene was knit together tight and seamless. There were no "filler" scenes and each scene and chapter had a purpose to move the story forward. 

I became a fly on the wall watching Emma and Will allow each other to experience their feelings grow for each other. She was not willing to trust so easily and he was not willing to become emotionally attached. Their emotions were true to their characters and in the end the way they ultimately depended on each other was a wonderful evolution to be a part of. 

Since Chosen is a series I love that Will, Emma and Jake's story will continue on in the next book. I am truly at a loss to predict how this predicament is all going to play out. The story ending is a bit angsty and a cliffhanger and I've already contacted the author to beg ask me to get an ARC because I can't wait. I need to know the next step in this journey. Once this series is completed (I think it is a trilogy) it will be a stellar combo pack to purchase.

There is also a very good book trailer. 

Teasers - awesome car chase, betting target practice, Bad Men, prophecy

You can find out more about Denise and her other books at her website or stalk her on Twitter

Guest Guilty Pleasure #19 by author Marie Treanor - Bed, Book and Banana

There are a few other bloggers that are doing these Guilty Pleasure posts as well. It all started with C.J. Duggan and if you want a bunch of smiles, circle back to her site and see the comments to read other pleasures. Love to have you join the fun.

Just look at those 3 amazing covers! Marie Treanor is on a blog tour to promote her newest release of the Awakened by Blood series, Blood Eternal. I was only too happy to give her a blog spot to share a secret guilty pleasure. 

Bed, Book and Banana

I know what you’re thinking: this is X-rated stuff. What the hell is she doing in bed with a banana? And what kind of book does she need for that?

The same kind of book I always need, of course – really good, page-turning fiction. But yes, you’re right, the banana is the crux of the matter, and, once I discovered how well it went with the aforementioned bed and book… Yes, I’m guilty!

Just not as guilty as you’re imagining!

But I must admit it is one of my secret joys – sneaking off to bed with a good book and a banana sandwich – you know the kind, soft brown bread with butter and a mashed up banana – yum!  By the time I left home for university, I was no stranger to this delight. I’d enjoyed it since childhood. However, eating in bed was not encouraged by my parents. Brushing your teeth before sleep was, so it never entered my head to  eat in bed last thing at night when I’d only have to get up again to brush my teeth.

I wasn’t a huge student rebel. But as my roommate and I retired to our beds one night, complete with coffee and banana sandwiches and novels which were certainly NOT required course reading, I had this blinding revelation that I really didn’t need to get up again to brush my teeth if I didn’t want to. I could go straight to sleep once the sandwich and the book were finished. Who would know or care? So with a deliciously guilty feeling in my bones, that’s exactly what I did.

Loved it.

It’s a rare treat, though, because before you do it again you really have to have time to forget about the down-side, which is waking up with a yuchy mouth and scummmy teeth. And of course, too often and you have to involve the dentist.

So yes, that’s my guilty pleasure. It could be worse; it could be more exciting. But it’s mine, I love it, and I’m not giving it up!

What do you eat in bed with a good book? Or don’t you? 

Marie Treanor lives in Scotland with her eccentric husband and three much-too-smart children. Having grown bored with city life, she resides these days in a picturesque village by the sea where she is lucky enough to enjoy herself avoiding housework and writing sensual stories of paranormal romance and fantasy. 


You can find Marie here:
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Blog:Marie Treanor's Romantic Theme Party 

Tuesday Teaser - Chosen by Denise Grover Swank

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Chosen

By Denise Grover Swank

The door slammed open. She squeezed the trigger and held it down. Several shots burst out of the gun. The eyes of the man in the doorway flew open in surprise as he stumbled back. His gun fell and bounced, clacking on the tile floor. He hit the wall and slid down, leaving a bloody streak on the tile behind him. Emma stifled a sob. Oh, my God. I killed him.
Loc 809-11