Wendy Davy, Reluctant Bridesmaid

Title: Reluctant Bridesmaid

Author: Wendy Davy

Rating: Four Siren Stones

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Keywords: Inspirational, Sweet

Page Count: 232

ISBN E-Book: 978-1-61116-058-1

Price: $5.09

ISBN for Print: 978-1-61116-057-4

Price: $13.99

Publisher: White Rose Publishing

Buy-Link: http://www.whiterosepublishing.com/Reluctant-Bridesmaid

Reviewer: Nikki

Blurb/Summary:

Jordan Harrison no longer trusts relationships, so when her widowed mother is swept away by a handsome, wealthy architect, Jordan fears the hasty engagement will end in disaster. After all, how well can her mother know the guy after only a few months? Intent on saving her mother from certain heartbreak, Jordan races to Breckenridge Manor to delay the wedding, but runs into more than she’s bargained for—a handsome, understanding man intent on helping her heal past wounds and open her mind to new possibilities.
Known as the man with nerves of steel, Tanner Breckenridge lives up to his reputation, but it doesn’t take long for him to discover he has a soft spot for Jordan Harrison, the daughter of his father’s future bride. Loyal to his father, but captivated by Jordan, Tanner puts his heart on the line and risks everything for a chance at love.

Review:

Sometimes, a change of heart takes time. You have to learn to heal, trust, and forgive. For Jordan Harrison, that isn't an easy thing to do. When she learned her ex-fiancé’s true colors, she was burned from any relationships, and she couldn't understand how her mother could marry a man so soon after knowing him in such little time.

Both Jordan and Tanner were closed off in the beginning of this story. Jordan, distrusting, slightly cynical, and weary. Tanner hid from his emotions and looked for love in the wrong way, afraid to trust his instincts. Despite their opposite opinions on the marriage of Jordan's mom and Tanners dad, they start to enjoy each other’s company, and begin to harbor feelings for one another.

Add in a brother who is angry and who would do anything to stop the wedding. Tanner's younger brother Kyle. Then, add in some magic moments that find a way for a woman to change her heart and her mind, and you get Reluctant Bridesmaid. This book is sweet and engaging. Wendy Daly delivers a poignant story of second chances, and learning to trust and love again.

Tina Donahue, Take Me Away

Title: Take Me Away

Author: Tina Donahue

Rating: Five Siren Stones

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Keywords: Football Player, Actress

Length: Novel

ISBN E-Book: 978-1419934407

Price: $5.95

Publisher: Ellora’s Cave

Buy-Link: http://www.jasminejade.com/p-9333-take-me-away.aspx

Reviewer: Cia

Blurb/Summary:

She’s everything he escaped, and all that he desires.

Three years ago, Kyle turned his back on a pro-football career and being the target of tabloids or gold-digging groupies. Craving privacy, he gets it at his roadhouse in Northern California—until Lexi invades his life. Indulged and surely phony, she’s exactly what Kyle fled.

An actress since childhood, Lexi’s fresh out of an anger-management program. Weary of the press’s harsh scrutiny, she sees Kyle’s secluded cabin as the ideal place to hide out, and him as a damn-near perfect alpha male. Deliciously virile. Protective. Principled. She offers him serious cash to let her stay for two weeks, assuring there will be no complications or touching.

Yeah, right! Passion flares and lust explodes, along with tenderness. Kyle recognizes how lonely Lexi really is, while she’s falling hard. Through intimate days and impassioned nights, they explore their most shameless needs, until a cruel betrayal exposes their growing love, forcing a choice neither anticipated.

Review:

Take Me Away by Tina Donahue led me into the downside and the emotional and physical toll being in the limelight weighed on a person. The riveting story was portrayed in such a way I felt each emotion on the very real tear jerking ride. I loved Lexi and her strength and at the same time wished she would’ve just said no. From her perspective I was able to understand the greed that came before her wellbeing. The two most important influences of her life let her down. Those who were supposed to keep her safe and make her feel loved…regardless.

In Kyle a gentle strong hero who left the life that was destroying him behind. In both polar opposite jobs, they shared equally how damaging intrusion was. I loved the way they came together in passion and how he coaxed out the woman in her, the one afraid of letting go, and how she knocked him off of his axis. Between the rigid restraints of his job and a lurker trying to destroy the memorable moments they shared, I hoped each would find a way to build a future together and bridge the lifestyle gap. This is one read I’ll keep on hand to dive into again.

Anne Ashby, Time to Bury the Past

Title: Time to Bury the Past

Author: Anne Ashby

Rating: Siren's Best Book Stone

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Keywords: Last Rose Of Summer Rose, Later Life, Sweet

Word Count: 90,000

ISBN E-Book: 1-60154-896-6

Price: $7.00

ISBN for Print: 978-1601548962

Price: $14.99

Publisher: The Wild Rose Press

Buy-Link: http://thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=175_140&products_id=4458

Reviewer: Cia

Blurb/Summary:

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder forces American Naval Officer Zane Erickson to re-evaluate his life. A posting to untroubled New Zealand, after years in Afghanistan, should allow him to bond with his motherless teenage son. Unfortunately Cody doesn’t share his father's enthusiasm for this new living arrangement.

Kelsey Hewitt is a single mother wrestling with her son’s drinking problem. She struggles to keep the truth about his abusive father from him and is determined to exclude men from her life.

As Kelsey and Zane are drawn together by the boys’ friendship, they each have compelling reasons to avoid any possible intimacy. Through dealing with their sons’ dilemmas, their attraction for each other deepens.

Can Kelsey risk allowing another control freak into her life?

Review:

Time to Bury the Past by Anne Ashby led me into the lives of Kelsey and Zane. I first want to touch on the emotional toll of this fantastic read. The pacing of this romance reeled me in and didn’t let me go. I remained hooked literally wondering what else the world would throw at these two single parents who needed a helping hand in completely different ways.

Kelsey’s past and how it shaped her gave incredible insight to why she refused to allow love in her life. I had to really think about the essence of her and what I found was at the tender age she left home she didn’t love herself much less know how to let anyone love her or to have been taught the way a man is supposed to love and respect his woman.

Zane sweet lord this man had an uphill battle with so much baggage I knew the only reason he kept going was out of love even if misguided. He hadn’t learned that his way of communication and the civilian way were to totally different animals and kept comparing himself to his father and coming to terms with what his career cost him.

What no one understood was the costs that he sacrificed to protect his son, his family and the country. The horrors he saw, the secret part of him never shared but weighed heavily on his shoulders. Add to that a government who wouldn’t let him go and he had his own quandary, how to be a good father and honor the commitment he signed up.

Add in two teens in need of a good friend, a cast of secondary characters who make the perfect external family and this story makes for a fantastic read, the only thing missing is wondering what happens and how they’re story ends. This is one book I’d love reading again just to see if there’s a layer or two I missed the first time around.

M. Jules Aedin, Paper Planes

Title: Paper Planes

Author: M. Jules Aedin

Rating: Five Siren Stones

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Sub-Genre: LGBT

Keywords: M/M, Graphic Language

Length: Novel

ISBN E-Book: 978-1-61118-404-4

Price: $6.99

Publisher: Loose Id

Buy-Link: http://www.loose-id.com/Paper-Planes.aspx

Reviewer: Cia

Blurb/Summary:

Photographer Stuart Grange was happy with his suburbanite life until his partner was killed in a plane hijacking. Now he’s suddenly the face of gay rights in America and trying to deal with his new responsibility while coping with his overwhelming grief. He’s got his hands full without the complications of a new love, but his heart’s not waiting for him to catch up.

Commercial pilot Dustin McDonough knows what it’s like to deal with loss. He has his own set of scars, physical and emotional. He’s trying to give Stuart the time and space he needs to be ready to move on, but he’s in love for the first time in years, and he’s determined not to lose again.

Publisher's Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: male/male sexual practices.

Review:

Paper Planes by M. Jules Aedin was a tear jerker of grand proportions and I loved every sniffle and smile reading about Stuart and Dustin brought me.

Two different males, polar opposites a few chance meetings turn to what I call divine fate. Their road to finding each other wasn’t easy. Stuart wasn’t ready to let go of the past and re-enter the land of the living after losing his partner.

When he met Dustin my heart sped up and then I became engrossed in the hardships Dustin endured and continued to endure. The gentle strength of the sexy pilot made my heart melt while Jules the artistic photographer made me grin. I thoroughly enjoyed their story and the lively secondary characters brought into the spotlight. I hope to see them soon in their own stories and perhaps get a second look at how Stu and Dustin do. Their passion was white hot but what hooked me line and sinker was the unabashed joy and love they finally allowed themselves the opportunity to have.