Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Aloha to Laura Trentham and KISS ME THAT WAY - Release Day Blitz


Kim's Note:  I enjoyed Laura Trentham's historical novels.  I jumped at the chance to review her new contemporary series set in Cottonbloom. Reviews of Book 1 and Book 2 to come. 


A river divides Cottonbloom in two: the upscale enclave on the Mississippi side and the rundown, rough and tumble side in Louisiana. They’re worlds apart—but nothing can build a bridge like love…

Cade Fournette never had it easy Cottonbloom. He stuck around long enough to raise his orphaned siblings and then hightailed it out West—and never looked back. Even though he’s made a success of himself in Seattle, Cade never lost the toughness and the angry edge that helped him survive down South. His only weak spot: the girl he left behind…

Monroe Kirby came from the wealthy side of town, but that didn’t protect her from her mother’s drinking—or her mother’s boyfriend. It was Cade who did that, on a long-ago hot September night, before he disappeared…along with a piece of her heart. Now Monroe is a physical therapist who can fight for herself, and it’s Cade who could use some conditioning when he makes an unexpected return back home. Will he and Monroe pick up where they left off and finally explore their mutual passion—or will the scars and secrets of the past divide them once more?

Buy Links: Amazon | B & N | Google | iTunes | Kobo



An award-winning author, Laura Trentham was born and raised in a small town in Tennessee. Although, she loved English and reading in high school, she was convinced an English degree equated to starvation. She chose the next most logical major—Chemical Engineering—and worked in a hard hat and steel toed boots for several years.

She writes sexy, small town contemporaries and smoking hot Regency historicals. The first two books of her Falcon Football series were named Top Picks by RT Book Reviews magazine. When not lost in a cozy Southern town or Regency England, she's shuttling kids to soccer, helping with homework, and avoiding the Mt. Everest-sized pile of laundry that is almost as large as the to-be-read pile of books on her nightstand.

Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Laura offers an excerpt from KISS ME THAT WAY ...

“You left Cottonbloom without telling me. Without saying good-bye. I want to know why.” Monroe hadn’t meant for the words to come out at all, much less with such vehemence.

“It was complicated.” Cade broke eye contact. “You were a good kid in a bad situation.”

“Weren’t you a good kid in a bad situation?”

He shifted toward her, bracing a hand on the dash and laying his other arm over the back of her seat, invading her space. She didn’t retreat. His intensity spurred her heart rate into an erratic gallop, yet she wasn’t intimidated. Perhaps it was only echoes of the past, but he made her feel safe, even when he was the one she should be scared of.

“I grew up fast and tough.” His voice contained more than a hint of warning.

“You were nice to me,” she said softly.

“Don’t fool yourself into thinking I’m nice. I wasn’t then, and I’m sure as hell not now.”

He ran a callused finger down her cheek, the rasp igniting her nerve endings like a flint. His hand continued south and wrapped itself in her braid, the slight tug on her scalp sending shivers through her body in spite of the sun bearing down on the truck. Her nipples felt tight, and she hoped her tight sports tank masked her sudden, inexplicable arousal.

He pulled her braid, forcing her toward him. She didn’t fight him. He dropped his face next to hers, his coarse beard hair caressing her cheek, his mouth close to her ear. “If I see something I want, I go after it and get it by any means necessary.”

“How very Machiavellian.” She tried a laugh, but it came out more like a stuttering sigh. His scent hooked her even closer, and her lips grazed the outer rim of his ear.

He pulled back, his green-eyed gaze roving her face. She returned the favor, noting the faint brackets around his mouth, the crinkles at his eyes, the thick beard. A full-grown man. Yet was he so different from the boy she remembered?

“Ovid.” The movement of his lips jammed the cogs of her brain. The word made no sense. Her confusion must have been obvious, because the mouth she stared at tipped up in the corners, deepening the grooves. “The Greek philosopher Ovid, not Machiavelli, actually wrote: The end justifies the means.”

“Ovid. Of course.” Apparently, Monroe had slept through that philosophy class at Ole Miss. The fact that high-school dropout Cade Fournette was quoting Ovid made her wonder what other mysteries she might uncover if she went digging.

Just when she was ready to grab a shovel, he released her braid and slipped away. His limp was less pronounced as he took the stairs holding the cane parallel to the ground. Although he’d physically released her, she felt bound to him in some other fundamental way, incapable of tearing her eyes off him until he disappeared behind Sawyer’s front door. Even then, she sat, unable to drive away for a long minute.

How could the simple brush of Cade’s finger ignite a fire when other men left her cold? As her arousal ebbed, she realized something else. She’d just been manipulated by a master. He hadn’t explained why he left.

She spent the evening going through the motions of her life, eating when her stomach growled and heading to bed when her eyes felt heavy. A few short hours ago, her life had been tidy and predictable and boring. Cade Fournette’s return had spun her into chaos.

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Books 2 and 3 in the series ... 

Aloha to Elizabeth Hoyt and DUKE OF SIN - Release Day Blitz


A MAN OF SIN

Devastatingly handsome. Vain. Unscrupulous. Valentine Napier, the Duke of Montgomery, is the man London whispers about in boudoirs and back alleys. A notorious rake and blackmailer, Montgomery has returned from exile, intent on seeking revenge on those who have wronged him. But what he finds in his own bedroom may lay waste to all his plans.

A WOMAN OF HONOR

Born a bastard, housekeeper Bridget Crumb is clever, bold, and fiercely loyal. When her aristocratic mother becomes the target of extortion, Bridget joins the Duke of Montgomery's household to search for the incriminating evidence-and uncovers something far more dangerous.

A SECRET THAT THREATENS TO DESTROY THEM BOTH

Astonished by the deceptively prim-and surprisingly witty-domestic spy in his chambers, Montgomery is intrigued. And try as she might, Bridget can't resist the slyly charming duke. Now as the two begin their treacherous game of cat and mouse, they soon realize that they both have secrets-and neither may be as nefarious-or as innocent-as they appear . . .

Amazon
B&N
iBooks
Google

Covent Gardens
Public Domain (link)

Elizabeth Hoyt is the New York Times bestselling author of over seventeen lush historical romances including the Maiden Lane series. Publishers Weekly has called her writing "mesmerizing." She also pens deliciously fun contemporary romances under the name Julia Harper. Elizabeth lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with three untrained dogs, a garden in constant need of weeding, and the long-suffering Mr. Hoyt.

ElizabethHoyt.com
Twitter.com/ElizabethHoyt
Facebook.com/ElizabethHoytBooks

Add DUKE OF SIN to your shelf on Goodreads at this link.

Check out my review of DUKE OF SIN at this link.

Can Bridget spin a happy ending?

Elizabeth offers an excerpt from DUKE OF SIN ...

“I was told you had need of me, Your Grace,” she reminded him, folding her hands at her waist to hide the trembling that had begun again. She’d been in demand before this position. Duchesses and lionesses of society had wanted her.

“So practical,” he mused, tilting his golden head back to gaze, presumably, at the gaudy sky-blue velvet canopy of his bed. She’d always thought it rather vulgar, actually. “I suppose that would be considered a good thing in a housekeeper.”

“It’s generally considered so, Your Grace.”

“And yet, I find it somewhat…”—he raised his naked arm straight up above his head and twirled his hand as he thought—“irksome.”

“I am sorry, Your Grace,” Bridget said as pleasantly as she could, which, sadly, was not very.

“Oh, don’t be,” the duke murmured silkily. “One can’t help one’s nature, no matter how irritating it is to others.”

His azure eyes suddenly dropped to pin her, hard and merciless, and she lost her breath as she fell into his predator’s stare. It was like looking into the eyes of something inhuman, almost otherworldly. Her chest ached as she stared at him, the air still locked within her, but at the same time the place between her legs ached as well.

Then she inhaled, filling her lungs with sweet air, as he watched her still, his eyes half-lidded, and she felt an odd exhilaration, as if a gauntlet had been thrown down. As if they were adversaries, equal on the field.

Which was completely ridiculous.

Possibly she shouldn’t have indulged in that third cup of tea this morning.

“I wonder whom you work for, Mrs. Crumb?” he whispered.

“Why, for you, Your Grace,” she replied, holding his gaze.

He snorted.

She felt a bead of perspiration trail down her spine.

He strode, nude, to his desk, and, bending over it, afforded her a quite scandalous view of his muscular bottom. He seemed to have a dark mark of some kind on the left cheek. Good God, it looked like a tattoo. What—? “Why, Mrs. Crumb,” he drawled, and she snapped her gaze belatedly up to find that he’d turned back to her—damn it! “Were you ogling my arse?”

She opened her mouth and then wasn’t sure, exactly, what to say. Was he about to dismiss her or not? “I…I—”

“Ye-es?” He took one long stride toward her.

She was suddenly, overwhelmingly aware of what she’d until now successfully ignored: He. Was. Nude.

His shoulders were wide, his chest highlighted by pale-pink nipples drawn tight, with but a few curling golden hairs between. His torso narrowed in a perfect V to a slim waist and a shallow belly button. A thin line of slightly darker hair led to his genitals.

During his supposed absence Bridget had had plenty of time to study the life-size nude portrait of the duke hanging next to his bed. She’d long thought the dimensions of his manhood exaggerated.

They were not.

She hastily glanced up to find him standing far too close to her, a wicked smile playing about his mouth.

“Oh, Mrs. Crumb, such a look,” he murmured, his voice a deep purr, his bare chest brushing against her snowy white apron. “Why, I don’t know whether to guard my bollocks…”—his gaze dropped to her mouth—“or to kiss you.”

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Book 9 is closely related
to DUKE OF SIN

Monday, May 30, 2016

Aloha to Lily Blackwood and THE BEAST OF CLAN KINCAID

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Reminder: I have a special giveaway for Military Appreciation Month at this link.

Lily Blackwood is kicking off a new series, Clan Kincaid, with THE BEAST OF CLAN KINCAID on Tuesday, May 31, from St. Martin's Press:

A Highland warrior battles to reclaim his birthright in the first of a new series filled with seduction, revenge, and soul-stirring passion…

They call him the Beast—a hardened mercenary whose heart seems as cold as his icy blue gaze. They do not know his true name: Niall Braewick, son of the Laird of Kincaid. It has been years since he escaped into the forest the night his father was murdered. Now he has returned, ablaze with a vengeful hunger. He will gain the MacClaren chief’s trust, gather his clan, and take back his lands. And take the MacClaren’s daughter as well…

Though he pulled her from the river, saving her life, Elspeth has been warned to keep her distance from her father’s hired warrior. He is a barbarian—a shame, as he is far more compelling than the lechers and fools competing for her dowry. Little does she know that, like the castle itself, she is a prize Niall intends to claim…but will he extract blood for blood and possess what is his, or will his enemy’s beautiful, innocent daughter tempt him to forsake his dream of conquest?



Lily Blackwood lives in Texas with her family and mini-menagerie of two cats and a dog. When she isn’t writing, she loves reading, cooking, travel, sleeping and not cleaning her house!

Lily is also an Army brat.  She shared with me her memories of spending Memorial Day at the Corozal American Cemetery in Panama and the National Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

Thank you, Lily, for your family's service!

Learn more about Lily and her books at lilyblackwood.com.


Corozal American Cemetery

Lily is giving away a copy of THE BEAST OF CLAN KINCAID to one randomly selected commenter. To enter the giveaway,

1. Can you share a memory of Memorial Day?  Three years ago, my teens and I flew from Honolulu to Seoul to visit my husband working in Korea. Check out pictures from Korea and China on my travel blog, Aloha On My Mind, at this link (use the archive to scroll through posts in May, June, and July).

2. Comments are open through Saturday, June 4, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3. I'll post the winner on Sunday, June 5.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

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Coming in December 2016

Honoring Extraordinary Heroism: The Service Cross Medals

 94th Aero Squadron - Group.jpg
The 94th Aero Squadron received the first 
Distinguished Service Crosses during WWI.

Reminder: I have a special giveaway for Military Appreciation Month at this link.

Aloha! I received this press release from the USPS ...

The Honoring Extraordinary Heroism: The Service Cross Medals Forever Stamps will be dedicated at 11 a.m. ET May 30 at the world’s largest stamp show that only takes place in the U.S. once a decade, World Stamp Show NY-2016. More than 250,000 visitors are expected to attend the show that runs May 28-June 4 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York City.

Many recipients of these awards died or were severely wounded as a result of the valorous actions for which they were honored, while a number of others died in subsequent battles before receiving the award for their earlier actions. Many recipients rescued wounded service members or drew enemy fire to buy time for others to regroup or be rescued. Some continued fighting despite their own wounds. According to official accounts, all braved enemy fire, made bold decisions and took selfless actions to rescue or protect their fellow service members. These medals pay homage to such valorous actions and dedication to duty.



The Distinguished Service Cross was the first of these decorations to be established, in 1918, followed the next year by the Navy Cross. The Air Force Cross was instituted in 1960, following the creation of the Air Force as a separate military service independent from the Army. The Coast Guard Cross was only recently instituted, in 2010, to recognize its members for qualifying actions taken when not operating under the Department of the Navy or during military operations against international terrorists. This decoration is yet to be awarded.


The Service Cross Medals are the second highest military decoration for valor in combat, after the Medal of Honor. In the official language authorized by congressional legislation, the Service Cross Medals are given for extraordinary heroism not justifying the award of a Medal of Honor while:

· engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States;
· engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or
· serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.

The Postal Service previously issued Medal of Honor Forever Stamps honoring recipients who served in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War.


Mahalo to the United States Post Office for honoring our military heroes. Do you have a favorite commemorative stamp? I always enjoy the holiday stamps.

One randomly selected commenter wins a book choice from my convention stash. Comments are open through Saturday, June 4, 10 pm in Baltimore. I'll post the winner on Sunday, June 5.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City




Sunday, May 29, 2016

Aloha to DD Ayres and FORCE OF ATTRACTION (K-9 Rescue Book 2) - Book Review

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The only thing more powerful than fear is desire...

A seasoned K-9 officer with the police in Maryland, Cole Jamison has left her old life behind her. With a new home and a new partner-a protective canine named Hugo-Cole is ready for fresh challenges. A crucial position on an important drug task force is exactly what she wants...until she discovers her gorgeous, infuriating ex-husband will be the DEA agent in charge.

FORCE OF ATTRACTION

Agent Scott Lucca may be a pro when it comes to undercover assignments, but this job is daunting even for him. Posing as a happy couple on the dog competition circuit means he and Cole need to get a lot closer than they've been in years. Playing a live-in couple should seem like a walk in the park compared to tracking a brutal criminal, but suddenly nothing could be more dangerous than the passionate fire they've rekindled...


A U.S. Marine rewards his explosive-sniffing dog.
Public Domain (link)

It is not the size of the dog in the fight that counts, but the size of the fight in the dog. - Barry McGuigan

FORCE OF ATTRACTION is a tour of force from DD Ayers. She offers multiple story lines rolled into one action packed roller coast ride through the lives of law enforcement officers and their canine partners. Nicole "Cole" Jamison is a rising star in the Montgomery County Police Department, having recently been assigned to the K9 unit with Hugo. Her experience with the dog show circuit makes her the perfect candidate for a joint task force investigating pedigree dogs being used as drug mules. The catch - she would work undercover as a dog handler with her another DEA agent posing as her significant other - her ex-husband.

Scott Lucca lives on the edge, making him a capable agent but a lousy husband. He regrets that he did not at least try to save his marriage, leading him to recommend Nikki - now Cole - for the task force. Their professional reunion is overshadowed by Cole's anger, Scott's remorse, and their mutual attraction. They make some progress in healing as they train for the mission, only to encounter a dangerous criminal from Scott's undercover assignment which lead to their divorce.  Their canine partners enable them to find their happily ever after.

Ayers delves into Scott's psyche to demonstrate what makes a "normal" kid from New Jersey take the risk of undercover assignments. I enjoyed Ayers incorporating how dogs are trained for sniffing out drugs ... and preparing for best in show. I also appreciated the secondary characters who trained Scott and Cole to act as a married couple ... and heal as a divorced couple.

I tend to shy away from romantic suspense. Yet I was drawn to FORCE OF ATTRACTION by its cover and blurb.  From page one, I was enchanted by the dogs and entrenched in the action. I look forward to reading the other books in the series.

Recommended read for fans of law enforcement characters and second chance romance. 

Public Domain (link)

I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash, including a copy of FORCE OF ATTRACTION, to one randomly selected commenter. To enter the giveaway,

1. Do you have a favorite name for a dog? Max is a great name, especially for German Shepherds!

2. Comments are open through Saturday, June 4, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3. I'll post the winner on Sunday, June 5.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Learn more about DD Ayers and her books at ddayres.com.

18779673Primal Force (K-9 Rescue, #3)26114614



Weekly Winners

Boy Scouts placing lei at National Cemetery of the Pacific

Marie Force's DESIRE AFTER DARK
- Cathy P. wins a book choice from my convention stash.


Rachel Goodman's SOUR GRAPES
- Ladbook Fan wins a book choice from my convention stash.

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Carly Phillips' DARE TO TAKE
- Janice H. wins a book choice from my convention stash.

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From my travel blog, Di wins a book choice from my convention stash.


Winners, please claim your prize by sending your mailing address to sos.aloha@yahoo.com.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City 


Saturday, May 28, 2016

Aloha to Kirsten Lynn, CHOCOLATE COWBOY, and Gorgeous Wyoming


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Reminder: I have a special giveaway for Military Appreciation Month at this link.

Memorial Day Weekend kicks off the summer travel season. Navy historian turned romance author Kirsten Lynn joins us today with gorgeous photos which inspired her latest release, CHOCOLATE COWBOY.  Bonus: the hero is a Marine.

MOMMA’S PLEASE LET YOUR BABIES GROW UP TO BE COWBOYS…AND MARINES!

First, thank you Kim for hosting me today and for all of your wonderful support!

Hello! My name is Kirsten Lynn and took to heart the saying “write what you know,” combined it with what I love and so I write Western and Military romance. All roads lead to Wyoming in the majority of my stories, even my Marines and SEALs tend to end up spending some time in the Cowboy State.

In my most recent release, CHOCOLATE COWBOY, Gunnery Sergeant Jared Worrell returns home to Ten Sleep, Wyoming at the request of his mother. For a man who wanted to be an active duty Marine until the day he took up a new post at heaven’s gate, he can’t muster up any enthusiasm for returning to small-town Wyoming…until he meets Lucy Thomas. Lucy is a photographer and through her eyes, Jared can finally see the beauty of his home state.

Like Jared, I left my home state of Wyoming to work with the Navy and Marine Corps as a historian in Washington, D.C. Unlike, Jared, I have always appreciated the great beauty of this wild country, and I was more than ready to move back and soak in the wide open spaces. Like Lucy, I love taking pictures of Wyoming and thought it would be fun to share some of the pictures I took while writing CHOCOLATE COWBOY for inspiration.

So come on and join Jared, Lucy, and me on a trip over the Bighorn Mountains and around Ten Sleep, Wyoming. (PSA: My photography skills aren’t as advanced as Lucy’s)

We’ll start where the story does on the “main street” of Ten Sleep.




There are as many stories as storytellers as to how the town got its name. One story says the name Ten Sleep came from the Indians' reference to a ford across the creek, on the old Bridger Trail, as being 10 days (sleeps) journey from Fort Laramie in the southeast or Yellowstone to the west. The other story relates to a large Indian camp on the Platte River near the present site of Casper, Wyoming, which was known to the early trappers as the Old Sioux Camp. To the north, near the present site of Bridger, Montana, on Clarks Fork River, was another large and well-known Indian camp. They both were important crossroads of the nation and trails led from them in all directions. Half way between the two was Ten Sleep. The Indians measured distance by the number of sleeps - which was 10 - between the two camps.

The land around Ten Sleep is gorgeous and was a major source of contention between the cattlemen and sheepherders during the late 19th Century. Today the land is still some of the finest ranch land with many spreads passed down from generation to generation. Jared’s family was one of these. I couldn’t resist capturing a few shots of some information for the Worrell family ranch.





Throughout the story, Lucy visits some of the most beautiful places in Wyoming and I try to bring places like the Tetons and Wind Rivers to life and paint a picture for the reader. I could share hundreds of pictures, but for today I’ll limit the pictures to the mountain range near and dear to my heart, and nearest Ten Sleep. I’ve driven over the Bighorn Mountains a hundred times as I visit various areas of Wyoming, but they never grow old and I always have stop for pictures. Their beauty is why I set the majority of my stories in the basins and valleys around them. 

There are two highways over the mountains. One will lead you over the mountains and to Ten Sleep. In summer the mountains dress up in their finest. 




But there’s always the rugged beauty.



And then we reach the bottom and Ten Sleep Creek.


We can’t take a tour of Wyoming without a picture of cows. J Since Red Angus are featured in CHOCOLATE COWBOY, and for good reason since they’re a popular breed, we’ll end this brief tour with a two bovine who weren’t camera shy. 



I hope you’ve enjoyed this tour. I tried to choose those photos that would give you the best peek at the area.

Before riding off into the sunset, here’s the blurb to CHOCOLATE COWBOY:

GySgt Jared Worrell wanted one thing—to live and die a Marine. He’s made a good start at the first and come close to the second more times than a man should. One call from his mother changes all his plans, and he’s headed back to Ten Sleep, Wyoming. The Reserves feed his need to be a Marine, but what does a man do the rest of the year in a town so small it doesn’t even have one stoplight? His mom has the perfect solution; Jared should use another talent and become the town chocolatier. He’s just recovering from that bomb when she drops another…

Lucy Thomas fell in love with Ten Sleep when her parents fulfilled their dreams of owning their own ranch. Now Lucy is living her dream of photographing Wyoming from its landscape to its people, but she’s never really felt a part of the small town where everyone has known everyone else forever. Turning the doorknob to her friend’s house brings her face to face with a man whose arms she’d love to call home. He’s a Marine, cowboy, and chocolatier...how can a woman resist?


Coming home never tasted so sweet.  I’d like to giveaway two e-copies of CHOCOLATE COWBOY. Just tell me what’s your favorite chocolate treat?

Thank you for stopping by! 

Kirsten Lynn

Learn more about Kirsten and her books at kirstenlynnwildwest.com.


Mahalo, Kirsten, for sharing CHOCOLATE COWBOY with us!  To enter the giveaway,

1. Answer Kirsten's question - what's your favorite chocolate treat?  Mine is Heath Bar Crunch!

2. Comments are open through Saturday, June 4, 10 pm in Baltimore. 

3. I'll post the winner on Sunday, June 5.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City




Aloha to Jennifer McQuiston and THE SPINSTER'S GUIDE TO SCANDALOUS BEHAVIOR - Book Review

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Reminder: I have a special giveaway for Military Appreciation Month at this link.

In New York Times bestselling author Jennifer McQuiston's enticing new Seduction Diaries entry, a mysterious journal may provide a potential spinster with instruction—or lead her to her heart's desire...

Free-spirited Lucy Westmore isn't yet a spinster, although she fully intends to be. Fortunately, an eccentric aunt has left her both a diary detailing the secrets to spinsterhood and a cottage in Cornwall. Unfortunately, an insufferable marquess is angling for her prize! Turning Lord Thomas Branston down flat should be easy. So why does this man who won't take no for an answer make Lucy's body and soul sigh yes?

Thomas knows the real value of Heathmore Cottage, and he has no intention of letting some silly Society miss get her hands on it. He'll simply have to charm Lucy into selling. But the clever young woman he encounters, first in London, then en route to Cornwall, stands stubbornly on her own two (quite lovely) feet. And now, Thomas can think only of sweeping her off them.


Kynance Cove, Lizard, Cornwall c Shutterstock

Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea. - Henry Fielding

Lucy Westmore has been groomed by her parents to marry for prestige within the ton.  But that is not her vision for her future. An unexpected inheritance - Heathmore Cottage - from her spinster aunt gives Lucy the opportunity to live independently on the Cornish coast, away from the gossiping ton.  Lucy also receives her aunt's diary in the mail, giving Lucy a glimpse into her aunt's life in the wilds of the West Country. Yet Lord Thomas Branston stands in her way with his unwavering interest in buying Heathmore Cottage even though he owns a larger property nearby. Lucy's curiosity is piqued with his repeated offers - why does he want the cottage? And why is he hiding away in Cornwall?

The adventure begins when Lucy and Thomas discover they are traveling aboard the same train to Cornwall - Lucy to inspect the cottage for herself and Thomas to return home. During the train ride, Lucy sees Thomas in different light when she learns he befriended her aunt during his self imposed exile to Lizard. Her good opinion of him continues once they arrive in Lizard where it is clear he cares about the villagers. They are suffering from an economic downturn of the fishing industry which supported town for centuries. Lucy is drawn to their plight. However, her sympathy for the villagers does not deter her from securing Heathmore Cottage for herself.  

McQuiston delivers a heartfelt romance between two lovers who are adrift from their peers. Lucy is too much of an independent thinker (like her aunt) to make a love match in the ton. Meanwhile, Thomas carries the guilt of failing his sister who could not face the society's scorn for a scandalous mistake. Yet Lucy and Thomas are two pieces who fit together in Lizard. Thomas is clearly the stronger character as the beta hero - McQuiston creates an emotionally raw man who, as a Marquess, prefers botany to politics. Lucy can be unsympathetic at times with her stubborn behavior. But I forgave her more often than not, recognizing she has been sheltered by her aristocrat family. Together, Thomas and Lucy complete each other as they seek to save those they love in Lizard and themselves.  

The creme de la creme McQuiston's vivid descriptions of the physical landscape and the local culture within Lizard Bay. I grew up visiting my English granny in the West Country. THE SPINSTER'S GUIDE TO SCANDALOUS BEHAVIOR was a comfy trip down memory lane with two characters who enchanted me.

I purchased THE SPINSTER'S GUIDE TO SCANDALOUS BEHAVIOR since I enjoyed the first book in the series, DIARY OF AN ACCIDENTAL WALLFLOWER.


Lizard Peninsula
vistcornwall.com

I am giving away a book choice from my convention stash, which includes a copy of THE SPINSTER'S GUIDE TO SCANDALOUS BEHAVIOR, to one randomly selected commenter. To enter the giveaway,

1. If you inherited a cottage, what would you name it?

2. Comments are open through Saturday, June 4, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3. I'll post the winner on Sunday, June 5.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

Learn more about Jennifer and her books at jenmcquiston.com.


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More books in the series ...