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.  

Taming Rowan by Suzanne Barrett

Taming Rowan

By Suzanne Barrett

Book Blurb:

Karin Williams' devastatingly handsome project officer has a boulder-sized chip on his shoulder. Rowan Marsden expected a male engineer and he's not giving Karin an inch. Working conditions are...tense. Even...worse, she must share on-site accommodations with the sexy Brit who she fears will break her heart. What's a girl to do?

If Rowan had his way, he'd never work with a woman. Yet as Karin demonstrates her expertise on the job, he cannot deny his growing respect for her--or his desire. He wants the passion she offers, but not the commitment. Until a horrendous accident at the project site threatens Karin's life, and proves that even a wounded man is destined to love....

Taming Rowan is a romance book but it was really well researched regarding structural engineering and telemetry. Ok I admit I haven’t a clue what that means but being that my real life job is project management, I can tell you that the details and business formulas used in the book closely relate to real life. It is always a pleasure to read stories where the reader feels confident that the writer researched their information.

Karin is an engineer and in a primarily male dominated field and I was impressed. She seemed to be a mathematical genius and understood team dynamics. Unfortunately with Karin using the left side of her brain so much for logic and details her right side seemed to be severely lacking.  Clearly Karin was extremely immature in a social dating situation and I feel Rowan took advantage of her weakness.

Karin after all these years was still a virgin. Lots of women get so focused on school and their profession that they miss out on the dating part of living. But after having sex with Rowan only a second time, she was already demanding marriage and couldn’t figure out what the holdup would be.

Rowan was a male character that I disliked immensely and after reading the entire book, my view never changed. Starting right off with his male chauvinistic views on working with women right down to the head games and mixed messages he kept sending off to Karin. Every time Rowan would talk down to Karin (which is pretty much every single conversation) the result would be Karin thinking comments like “if he thinks he can play games with me, he can think again” or “I can play the game his way, if I had to" but then she does nothing to follow through.  

Karin came off as a very weak female and I truly lost respect for her. It was always Karin who had the bad dream, Karin who slipped on the rocks, Karin who got lost, Karin who got hurt etc. She was like the dumb girl in the movie that trips when someone is chasing her. Even her professional mannerism started to falter when she promised an alcoholic co-worker (who treats her badly) that she’d cover for him by not telling the project manager that he is an alcoholic and she’d check his work for him.  

The book cover is beautiful and I kept thinking that was exactly what Karin looked like. I love when a character and the book cover model represent well. The setting in England was lovely and I did appreciate the English dialect seemed as accurate as possible. I loved that the accents weren’t ridiculous and appeared very natural. The secondary characters in Taming Rowan were very enjoyable and their conversations and actions were very interesting. The writing itself was well planned and organized. My only problem with Taming Rowan was that I just didn’t care for either of the protagonists and unfortunately that is the biggest part of the story. 

Story Teasers: England, darts, male woodsy scent, Marmalade