Wednesday 28 December 2016

Mini-reviews: Sex, Love & Stiletto series by Lauren Layne

Eva and I had a lot of fun reading Layne's Love, Sex and Stiletto series over a few days, that we decided to do mini-reviews for the four books.

After the Kiss (Love, Sex & Stiletto #1)
Publisher: Ebury Digital
Publication Date: September 28th 2014

The star columnist of Stiletto magazine will do anything for a story. Anything . . . except fall in love. Julie Greene loves flings, steamy first dates, sizzling first kisses, and - every now and then - that first sexy romp between the sheets. But when Julie gets assigned the hardest story of her career - a first-person account of the shift between dating and "I do" she'll need a man brave enough to give a total commitment-phobe a chance at more. Mitchell Forbes, a devastatingly hot workaholic who tends to stay in relationships for far too long, is the perfect subject for Julie's "research." But what Julie doesn't know is that Mitchell is looking to cut loose and that Julie, notorious for avoiding love, is exactly the type of no-strings fling he's looking for...

The first book in the series and I think it was a good start to this series - we are, more or less, introduced to all the main players and in a fun way.  Before starting this book, I had no idea this series revolved around a magazine, Stiletto, which I imagine is sort of a Cosmopolitan equivalent.  So, Julie and Mitchell are the definitive opposites attract trope.  They start spending time with each other for less than truthful reasons - Mitchell, for a bet and Julie, for a story.  Of course, you can imagine how this truth that they neither tells the other ends.  And yet, this book was probably the most fun because Julie and Mitchell are so different - she is more of a fun-loving party girl and he is a serious nerd.  I liked them together a lot and Mitchell is, even after reading all four books, the guy with the softest spot in my heart from this series. My only serious complaint about this one, really, is how serious Julie and Mitchell got at the end - the end felt a bit over the top, cheesy and unrealistic to me in terms of the characters we've met throughout the rest of the book.  Still, a good, solid and fun start!  What did you think, Jasprit?
I kind of knew how things would end for Mitchell and Julie from the very beginning of the book, despite getting with each other because of a bet, the predictability of After the Kiss, really didn’t take any of the fun away from the book at all. When I first came across Mitchell he didn’t seem like my typical guy at all, he seemed a little set in his ways and like a bit of a bore. But they say opposites attract and this couldn’t have been truer for Mitchell and Julie. I loved how their time together, bought out different sides to them and with them actually trying things they wouldn’t usually do (running for Julie and a night out clubbing for Mitchell). Both were such funny situations watching play out, but also went onto show just how deep their feelings had developed for one another.  Again there was a lot of non-communication or “plans to tell each other things” that never happened and so this did bring out a lot of drama and heartache which could have been avoided. But like Eva mentioned earlier, things did go up a whole another notch for their relationship far too quickly for my liking, not that it wasn’t apparent which way things would go for Mitchell and Julie, but I just like my books to leave me with a few things to think about instead of neatly wrapping things up far too quickly. 


Love the One You're with (Sex, Love & Stiletto #2)
Publisher: Ebury Digital
Publication Date: October 28th 2014

Her mission: six-months without men. But he has other ideas. As Stiletto magazine's foremost relationship expert, Grace Brighton should have seen it coming - her boyfriend has been having an affair right under her nose. Jake Malone is one great story away from editor, and the company challenges him to a little friendly competition with Grace Brighton - who has a better read on the opposite sex? Only Grace isn't the pushover that he anticipated, and Jake sees something in her he never expected. Can the city's number-one heartbreaker convince a woman who's given up on love that he's worth the risk?

I had a lot of fun getting to know Julie and Mitchell in After the Kiss, so when I found out the second book would be about Grace I wasn’t so sure as I didn’t know Grace’s character that well, but once again Layne was able to turn things around and Grace quickly become a favourite. Layne so far has had a unusual set up when it comes to our characters getting to know one another, In Love the One You’re With Grace and Jake are told to go on five dates with one another, write an article about said date for their respective magazines and then let the readers decide and vote who was really falling for the other. It was a strange situation for our characters to find themselves in, but Layne really made it believable and work for me. Especially as Jake and Grace got to know each other more and the sexual tension started simmering right through the roof. Whereas in After the Kiss it took me a while to like Mitchell, I was a fan of Jake from the very beginning; he was charming, funny and just oozing sex appeal! Also after everything that Grace had been through she’d deserved a decent guy. And then when the trip to Wisconsin happened, I was utterly convinced Grace and Jake was perfect for one another. Their scenes together were smoking hot! The only thing that bugged me was the little doubts that they allowed to cloud their judgement and each other’s feelings for one another. If only they openly discussed their feelings, a lot of heartache could have been prevented along the way. That being said Jake and Grace quite quickly took top spot for favourite couple for me in this series so far! Over to Eva now to see how she got on with this book...
Jake was a bit too slick for me from the beginning but I will admit that Grace and Jake's meet-cute was fun.  I agree with you Jasprit that I was interested to see how Layne would develop Grace because her character in the first book is hung up on her boyfriend of many years (who just can just tell is going to be bad news).  Without getting into what happened in that regard, the magazine assignment for Grace and Jack was pretty laughable , at first as it turned into a way for each to one-up and embarrass the other on each date.  I agree that the trip to Wisconsin was the highlight of this one for me and the turning point.  I wasn't fully on board with this ship until that moment!  The ending, again, felt way too crazy serious and rushed to me but that's romance for you.

Just One Night (Sex, Love & Stiletto #3)
Publisher: Ebury Digital 
Publication Date: December 17th 2014


New York's hottest "sexpert" has been living a lie - and it's up to one man to keep her honest ... all night long. Riley McKenna knows sex - good sex, bad sex, kinky sex. Her articles in Stiletto magazine are the publication's most scandalous - and the most read. But when Stiletto's fiftieth anniversary issue requires her column to get a lot more personal, Riley is forced to confront a long-hidden secret: her own sexual experience is limited to one awkward college encounter. Now Riley is about to call in the favour of a lifetime from the one man who's always held her heart...

This was the only book I already owned prior to deciding to do this series/buddy read! I had heard it fell into the brother's best friend trope (one of my favorites) so I purchased it earlier this year but hadn't had a chance to get to it. I will say that I'm glad this wasn't the start of the series because it was my least favorite and I'm not sure I would have continued had I read it first. For some reason, I just didn't get Riley. Sam was okay but a huge part of the book was both of them, especially Sam, so focused on keeping whatever they have from Riley's brother. When it's revealed, as it inevitably would be, it was a big let down. Each of these books centers around the MC doing something kind of personal and/or outrageous for a story in the magazine. Without giving anything away, Riley's story and reasoning seemed the least tenable to me - I was just a big put off and bored by this one, especially compared to the fun of the other books in the series. I'm pretty sure this was also Jasprit's least favorite but I'll let her take it away with her thoughts . . .

Like Eva mentioned, the brother’s best friend trope is another favourite of mine too, and with the excessive bickering between Sam and Riley in the previous book and threats of Riley’s brother kicking off if Sam ever made a move on Riley, made the build up to their relationship that much more delightful to see unfold. Sam was such a great guy, always looking out for Riley and her family, things were tough with his own family, so having Riley’s family around made him appreciate them that much more. And I could get why he wasn’t confident enough in his own ability to succeed, he put so much pressure on himself to make Riley’s family proud, that he just wouldn’t allow himself to take the risk and put himself out there. I really liked this vulnerable side of Sam that we got to see, whereas Riley just came across a bit in your face and brash for my liking, and I just didn’t get that connection with her that I did with the previous characters. Their relationship however I was a huge fan of, the build up was great, but the whole nature of it being forbidden and keeping it hidden from Riley’s brother (the part I was most eager to see unravel), ended up being a whole lot of build up for no reason. And then once again we had the whole plot where things were resolved quite easily and wrapped up nicely once more. Unfortunately like Eva this was my least favourite of the series so far.


The Trouble with Love (Sex, Love & Stiletto #4)
Publisher: Loveswept
Publication Date: March 3rd 2015

As Lauren Layne’s salacious Sex, Love & Stiletto series returns, a jaded columnist discovers a steamy way to get over an old flame: falling for him all over again. As Stiletto magazine’s authority on all things breakup-and-heartache, Emma Sinclair writes from personal experience. Five years ago, Emma was Charlotte, North Carolina’s darling debutante and a blushing bride-to-be. Now she’s the ice queen of the Manhattan dating scene. Emma left her sultry Southern drawl behind, but not even her closest friends know that with it she left her heart. Now Emma’s latest article forces her to face her demons—namely, the devilishly sexy guy who ditched her at the altar. After giving up everything for a pro-soccer career, Alex Cassidy watches his dreams crumble as a knee injury sidelines him for good. Now he’s hanging up his cleats and giving journalism a shot. It’s just a coincidence that he happens to pick a job in the same field, and the same city, as his former fiancée . . . right? But when Emma moves in next door, it’s no accident. It’s research. And Alex can’t help wondering what might have been. Unlike the innocent girl he remembers, this Emma is chic, sophisticated, and assertive—and she wants absolutely nothing to do with him. The trouble is, Alex has never wanted her more.

The Trouble with Love actually featured another of my favourite tropes; second chance romances. And although I had started this series not really liking Emma, (that may have been because I liked the original three ladies that worked at Stiletto and didn’t want anyone else jumping on the bandwagon), she really grew on me as the series progressed. Especially when I found out about the curveball that she was hiding, I needed more of her and Alex Cassidy and their back story immediately. What I liked about their previous relationship was that we were just given snippets throughout the series about it and never really knew what the complete truth was either, usually this sort of thing bugs the heck out of me, but I really loved this aspect, that when I finally went to pick up this book, I just couldn’t wait. Alex Cassidy my gosh was smoking hot (I did keep recalling this guy from the show Power which was super annoying when thinking about Alex, but Alex really was all around the much better guy!). The relationship between Cassidy and Emma was one of my favourites, I loved how they could go from being standoffish to having so much heat, the banter was also great and their back story and where they found themselves today really went on to show that their being together was meant to be. Also the ending of this book wasn’t the typical fashion that we’d come to expect with the last couple of books, this I was a huge fan of! Over to Eva and her thoughts...

I agree that this was definitely my favorite of the series and such an awesome slow-build (relatively speaking for this series, HA) second chance romance! This trope is also one of my favorites and was done well here! Although we didn't know what happened completely between Emma and Alex in the past, it was always lurking and hinted at in all of their interactions. It was a bit unbelievable that they would fall into this situation together, working together in a city thousands of miles away from where they met, but it just worked. Alex and Emma were so great together that I was rooting for them so much! My one qualm was Emma's family and, particularly, her father and twin sister that played a big part in her first break from Alex. Not that Alex was not also in the wrong for that, but it's always upsetting when family creates drama and it's unresolved for so many years. I was glad when everything was revealed and worked out. This book also had the best (most realistic) ending of the series! And now, I think it's time to read the spin-off to this series, the Oxford series!

Thanks for reading our series joint review!!

Wednesday 21 December 2016

Review: A Heap of Texas Trouble by Carolyn Brown

A Heap of Texas Trouble (Cadillac Texas #2) by Carolyn Brown
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication date: December 6th 2016
My rating: 4 stars 
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25644437-find-her

(Originally published as The Red-Hot Chili Cook-Off.)
One woman's quest for chili perfection
Carlene Lovell is going to hit her no-good, deadbeat, cheatin' ass, soon-to-be ex-husband where it hurts: at the annual chili cook-off, which he's won for 10 years in a row. To win, though, she'll need more than a little help...
Is another man's second chance at love
Police Chief Jack Landry has been smitten with Carlene forever. Now that she needs some help keeping the peace (and getting revenge), it's his chance to prove that not all men are dogs....


My Thoughts:
Carolyn Brown once again had me laughing my head off with A Heap of Texas Trouble!  It was a wonderful mix of family, friends and love!

I felt the acute sting of betrayal, right along with Carlene when she finds out her husband of five years, Lenny, has been cheating on her! Yes she’s hurt, but Carlene doesn’t plan on just lying down and taking it!  I was thrilled that Carlene had her family’s support, her mother, aunts and Cousin Patrice. Cousin Alma Grace is another story, and I wanted to strangle some sense into that woman for a lot of the book!  All the rest of the family is in Carlene’s corner, ready to hide the body if she decides to kill that scumbag Lenny!  Carlene opts for a much tamer revenge: win the Red-Hot Chili Cook-Off and steal the much prized trophy away from Lenny, and hilarity ensues!

There are several story threads in this book, and every one of them were highly entertaining.  There’s romance for the cousins, Carlene, Patrice, and Alma Grace; even though it wasn’t the complete focus, all of them are a sweet treat!  Carlene’s mother and two sisters head the team to win the Chili Cook-Off even though none of them are much good at cooking, (the results are pretty funny and scary at the same time) they pull together to search for the perfect Chili recipe. Agnes and Violet take opposing sides in Carlene’s breakup, but it wouldn’t take much to keep enmity burning between them. 

I think this is the funniest book of the series and I was giggling all over the place while reading this story!  Agnes Flynn, the crafty old lady and loyal friend, (thankfully she’s on Carlene’s side!) is back, and her wars with Violet, the other old crone in town, always make me laugh!  Aunt Tansy’s psychic powers assisted by her inspirational bird, Dakshani, were funny as hell! Kitty, Lenny’s horrible mother, was a pain in the butt for all of Carlene’s family, but the confrontations were priceless!

A Heap of Texas Trouble can be read and enjoyed as a stand-alone, but I would definitely read it before The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop to appreciate some of the history of the Agnes/Violet wars.  I read the series out of order and now I’d like to go back and re-read The Yellow Rose Beauty Shop.  If you want a book to make you laugh and warm your heart, A Heap of Texas Trouble is definitely your story!
  


Connect with Carolyn Brown:

Monday 19 December 2016

Review: Burn For Me by Ilona Andrews

Burn For Me (Hidden Legacy #1) by Ilona Andrews
Publisher: Avon
Publication date: October 28th 2014
My rating: 5 stars 
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | The Book Depository

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25644437-find-her
#1 New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews launches a brand new Hidden Legacy series, in which one woman must place her trust in a seductive, dangerous man who sets off an even more dangerous desire…

Nevada Baylor is faced with the most challenging case of her detective career—a suicide mission to bring in a suspect in a volatile case. Nevada isn’t sure she has the chops. Her quarry is a Prime, the highest rank of magic user, who can set anyone and anything on fire.

Then she’s kidnapped by Connor “Mad” Rogan—a darkly tempting billionaire with equally devastating powers. Torn between wanting to run or surrender to their overwhelming attraction, Nevada must join forces with Rogan to stay alive.

Rogan’s after the same target, so he needs Nevada. But she’s getting under his skin, making him care about someone other than himself for a change. And, as Rogan has learned, love can be as perilous as death, especially in the magic world.


My Thoughts:
I know that Ilona Andrews are an amazing writing team, but I’m always in awe all over again when I pick up one of their books.  Burn For Me was a perfect blend of action, adventure, danger, humor, and sizzling HOT chemistry all wrapped into one riveting story!

It the Hidden Legacy world there are regular humans and humans who’ve inherited magical talents thanks to the Osiris serum discovered in 1863. Now in present day there are families or Houses of magic users with differing talents and levels of strength: Minor, Average, Notable, Significant, and Prime, the most powerful level.

Nevada Baylor, of Baylor Investigative Agency is tasked with the impossible by her parent company: bring in Adam Pierce, a Prime pyrokinetic, someone who controls fire. He’s rich, good looking, raises trouble wherever he goes, and now has just been accused of killing a man. Adam’s family, House Pierce wants him brought in, unharmed, before the cops find him.  As if that isn’t bad enough, Mad Rogan, a Prime of legendary powers, is also on Adam’s trail, and decides Nevada is the best way to get to him. 

Being so powerful makes both Adam and Mad deadly, unstoppable forces. Adam is a dangerous combination of arrogance and power with no regard for others.  The guy is seriously unhinged, and on a mission. Mad is also arrogant and entitled, but he seemed like he had some conscience. We don’t know much about him, yet except from what Nevada observes. Nevada wants nothing to do with either man, but she’s forced into finding Adam or lose her business.  Nevada reluctantly teams up with Mad after it becomes apparent she won’t succeed without help.  She doesn’t want to be attracted to Mad, but their chemistry is intense and sexually charged!  I loved their banter, the push and pull was funny as hell!

I also got a kick out of Nevada’s family: Grandma Frida, the mechanic, her Mother, a retired army sniper, two teenage younger sisters, Bern, her cousin and part-time intelligence officer.  Grandma’s teasing about Mad Rogan and Nevada getting together was priceless! The family bickering was hilarious and so true to life, and the love they shared was obvious and strong.  


Nevada’s the kind of character I love: conformable in her own skin, fiercely protective of her family, with a strong moral compass.  Her powers have been held in secret, for good reason, although, as a reader you find out what it is very early on.  I have my suspicions about her ranking, but I’ll keep that to myself, too.

I read Burn For Me back in 2014, loved it and then didn’t review it.  After listening to the story for the second time and with the coming release of book two, White Hot, I had to say something about this amazing story. READ IT!! Or better yet, listen to it! Renee Raudman is Ilona Andrews’ fantastic narrator!  I’m beyond excited to get my hands on the next installment, after reading an extra-long teaser on their website!





Thursday 15 December 2016

Review: The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Publisher: Piatkus
Publication Date: August 9th 2016. 
My rating: 4 stars. 


Nemesis (n.) 1) An opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome; 2) A person’s undoing; 3) Joshua Templeman. Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman hate each other. Not dislike. Not begrudgingly tolerate. Hate. And they have no problem displaying their feelings through a series of ritualistic passive aggressive maneuvers as they sit across from each other, executive assistants to co-CEOs of a publishing company. Lucy can’t understand Joshua’s joyless, uptight, meticulous approach to his job. Joshua is clearly baffled by Lucy’s overly bright clothes, quirkiness, and Pollyanna attitude. Now up for the same promotion, their battle of wills has come to a head and Lucy refuses to back down when their latest game could cost her her dream job…But the tension between Lucy and Joshua has also reached its boiling point, and Lucy is discovering that maybe she doesn’t hate Joshua. And maybe, he doesn’t hate her either. Or maybe this is just another game.

The hype and positive reviews surrounding The Hating Games seriously had me super excited, I love my hate to love tropes and I’d heard so much by how good of a job Thorne had done with it that I wanted to dive right in. Within the first 100 pages I honestly thought I was going to be the black sheep with this book, I liked the banter between Josh and Lucy and how quick witted they both were, but I really wasn’t getting anything from them romance-wise and I wanted, no needed more of that. I also needed more of Josh; he just came across as some iceman with no feelings whatsoever. I needed connections with these characters and I needed passion, I’m pleased to say the second half of this book certainly delivered that. 

Josh was an entirely different person in the second half of the book; I have to say I was a huge fan! I was slowly beginning to understand why he came across as some big scary guy that was constantly looming over everyone. The Josh that we got to see beneath the iceman defences, had vulnerabilities like everyone else, and once you really got to know him he was totally adorable (seriously though some of his lines totally cut to my heart at times). Lucy was also another fantastic character, she was bubbly, straight to the point and so full of energy, her short problems reminded me of myself at times, (I’m only 5ft 2 and a half, us hobbits have to stick together!). I didn’t know whether Thorne would be able to win me over with the romance between Josh and Lucy, but she totally convinced me with the sexual tension and constant heat! Also how they were just there for one another when they had no one else there for them, I knew they would be the perfect fit! 

Thorne really created a wonderful read in The Hating Game, it was full with a delicious build up to one of the best relationships I’ve seen in a while and the funny witty remarks littered throughout I was a huge fan of too. I honestly can’t wait to see what Thorne has up her sleeve next; I would gladly welcome anymore Joshua Templeman-like characters with open arms.




Wednesday 14 December 2016

Cover Reveal & Excerpt: A Crown of Bitter Orange by Laura Florand

I'm excited to introduce the newest of Laura Florand's Vie en Roses installment: A Crown of Bitter Orange, because I adore anything Ms. Florand writes! She provided a tantilizing excerpt. So far this series has been wonderful and she has a whole new set of covers for the rest of the books, too.  

FRIENDS BECOME LOVERS IN LAURA FLORAND’S CROWN OF BITTER ORANGE

Book 3 – La Vie en Roses – on sale February 2016
“Silky and addictive.” – RT Book Reviews

Laura Florand, bestselling author of The Chocolate Kiss, combines lush description, smart dialogue, provocative sensuality, and the perfume of love itself in A Crown of Bitter Orange, an irresistibly lush novel that is an ode to the scents and pleasures of the south of France and the beauty of falling in love.


A CROWN OF BITTER ORANGE
by Laura Florand
February 2017 / Ebook & Trade Paperback / Original / Fiction
$5.99 ebook / 978-1-943168-12-5/ $14.99 trade / 978-1-943168-13-2


https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25644437-find-her

Purchase links:

About the book:

Childhood friends. Tristan Rosier might have asked Malorie Monsard to marry him when he was five years old, but things had only gone downhill from there. She’d spent the rest of their lives ignoring him, abandoning him, and destroying his perfumes. Now she was back, to wreak who knew what havoc on his life.

Lifelong enemies. Tristan might choose to dismiss the generations-long enmity between their two families, but Malorie didn’t have that privilege. Like all the other privileges wealthy, gorgeous Tristan took for granted that she couldn’t. But if she was going to restore her family company to glory, she might just need his help.

Or the perfect match? They’d known each other all their lives. Could these childhood friends and lifelong enemies ever uncross their stars and find happily ever after?




 Excerpt:
Well, look at that. Prince Charming. Malorie should have known she’d stumble over him the instant she set foot back in his kingdom. The man was the bane of her existence even when she was halfway around the world.
She put her hands on her hips and looked down at him, so peacefully dozing out in the open that he hadn’t even stirred at the sound of her feet in the great white pebbles by the river.
Tristan Rosier asleep looked exactly how Malorie had always imagined. Gorgeous. Insouciant. Not vulnerable in the least, except to being over-kissed by the sun. A wicked little smile curving his mouth as if that sun was a woman and he was quite used to this kind of treatment.
Shirtless and completely ripped, the definition of his muscles visible even relaxed in sleep. He’d probably just come down from that beautiful limestone cliff face rising on the other side of the gorge and his muscles were still pumped from it. One hand held a half-eaten apple, the other a small white paperback—Giono’s Hussard sur le toit—and they had both slumped to his torso when he dozed off. In full sun.
She sighed. It would serve Tristan right to have his nose peeling for a week, but then forty years from now, if he got skin cancer, it would be all her fault, and the last thing a Monsard needed was more lives on her conscience.
Plus, knowing Tristan, a peeling nose would probably improve his ability to flirt with hot actresses, not weaken it—he always managed flips like that. And his ability to flirt with hot actresses was already freaking annoying.
Fine. She dipped her hands in the milky green river, high from the recently melted snow in the peaks, limestone giving it that beautiful color. She carried the water back across the round white pebbles, tightened herself and double-checked her buttons to make sure her clothes weren’t going to melt off as soon as he winked at her, and then tossed the icy water over his bare torso.
Muscles flicked like a cat’s—powerful, lean, surging awake—and he opened his eyes, blinking sleepily at her as if she was all shadow in too much light. “Malorie Monsard,” he said, with a sensual, lazy pleasure, as if he’d just woken up on a Sunday morning and was quite happy to see that she was the woman draped in his bathrobe bringing him coffee in the hopes he would ask her to stay.
She had to dive fast into irony to protect herself, as she always did with him.
“You make a good Sleeping Beauty, Tristan.” She used the masculine beau au bois dormant. “Or should I say Snow White?” A nod to the half-eaten apple resting against his washboard abs.
Tristan sat up, blinking, his eyes clearing. “Malorie Monsard.” His voice flattened. He shifted to sit on the rock against which his head had been resting, cushioned by his backpack. “Trust you to replace the kiss in the story with ice water on a man’s skin.”
Yeah. Tristan had been as friendly to her as to any other female on the planet when they were in high school, but when they met again in New York, it had not gone well. For him.
Supple, expressive eyebrows that could lilt up subtly in amusement, invite a woman in with laughter, tease her wickedly, did what they always did when she was around. They drew together. “Malorie,” he said for the third time, looking around them at the limestone cliffs and the rushing spring river as if finally processing it. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Books #1 & #2:
 




PRAISE FOR LAURA FLORAND’S NOVELS:

“Chocolate, Paris, and a Greek god for a hero; this delectable confection has it all!” – Library Journal Starred Review

“(Florand) captures the nature of love, its fierce, soul-warming necessity, in a way that will make you as happy as the finest bonbon could.” Eloisa James, The Barnes & Noble Review, a Best Book of 2013 selection

“Florand outdoes herself with this exquisite confection… painstakingly crafted and decadent as the sweets it portrays, leaving the reader longing for just one little taste.” – Publishers Weekly Starred Review

Adorable, charming, whimsical.” – Smexy Books

“Florand serves up a mouth-watering tale of slow-burning passion and combustible consummation that’s as perfectly crafted as the hero’s surprisingly complex confections and as silky and addictive as the heroine’s dark chocolat chaud.”– RT Book Reviews, 4.5 stars, TOP PICK!, RT Seal of Excellence, RT Reviewers Choice nomination Best Book of 2013

“A delectable summer bonbon.” – NPR Books

“This is one of the cleverest, most persuasive enemies-to-lovers stories I’ve read in a long time.” – Dear Author, RECOMMENDED READ


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Laura Florand burst on the contemporary romance scene in 2012 with her award-winning Amour et Chocolat series. Since then, her books have appeared in ten languages, been named among the Best Books of the Year by Library Journal, RT Book Reviews, and Barnes & Noble, received the RT Seal of Excellence and starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and Booklist, and been recommended by NPR, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal, among others. In 2015, NPR gave her the enormous honor of naming her Chocolate Kiss to its list of the Top 100 Romances of all time.

For more information, please see her website: www.lauraflorand.com.  





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