Lucas (Cold Fury Hockey: Book 8) by Sawyer Bennett

Lucas (Cold Fury Hockey, #8)

Title: Lucas

Author: Sawyer Bennett

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, Loveswept

Date of publication: September 19th, 2017

Genre: Romance, Sports

Number of pages: 244

POV: Alternating 1st person

Series: Cold Fury Hockey

Alex – Book 1

Garrett – Book 2

Zack – Book 3

Ryker – Book 4

Hawke – Book 5

Max – Book 6

Roman – Book 7

Lucas – Book 8

Van – Book 9 (expected publication date: November 28th, 2017)

Reed – Book 10 (expected publication date: February 6th, 2018)

Marek – Book 11 (expected publication date: May 22nd, 2018)

Where you can find Lucas: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

The Carolina Cold Fury hockey team is stacked with hotshots. But when a new player joins their ranks, he learns that even superstars can’t go it alone when it comes to love.

Lucas Fournier is only serious about one thing: hockey. The league’s fun-loving charmer, Luc is always up for a good prank or a great lay, and he has no intention of settling down. But being traded to the Carolina Cold Fury—and to play alongside his big brother, Max—is no joke. With another title in sight, the last thing Luc wants is to let his new teammates down. To succeed, Luc will need to keep his head in the game and the most . . . er, demanding member of his anatomy in check. But when temptation hits, Luc hits back harder.

Museum curator Stephanie Frazier has always put business before pleasure, which just about explains her nonexistent sex life. But when Stephanie meets Luc at a champagne-fueled gala, she finds herself flirting like crazy—and going home with the uninhibited athlete. For one night, she learns what passion is all about. She just never counted on the little surprise Luc leaves behind. And that’s when things really start to get . . . interesting.

Sawyer Bennett’s New York Times bestselling Carolina Cold Fury series can be read together or separately.

Trigger Warning: None

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Completely (New York: Book 3) by Ruthie Knox

Completely (New York, #3)

Title: Completely

Author: Ruthie Knox

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept

Date of publication: September 26, 2017

Genre: Romance, Women’s Fiction

Number of pages: 262

POV: 3rd person

Series: New York

Truly – Book 1

Madly – Book 2 (review here)

Completely – Book 3

Where you can find Completely: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Everest. If they can make it there, they can make it anywhere. Maybe even New York, where Ruthie Knox takes her charming rom-com style to new heights.

Beneath her whole “classic English beauty” appearance is an indomitable spirit that has turned Rosemary Chamberlain into something of a celebrity mountain climber. But after an Everest excursion takes a deadly turn, Rosemary is rescued by her quick-thinking guide, New York native Kal Beckett. Rosemary’s brush with death brings out a primal need to celebrate life—and inspires a night of steamy sex with the rather gorgeous man who saved her.

The son of a famous female climber with a scandalous past, Kal Beckett is still trying to find himself. In the Zen state of mind where Kal spends most of his time, anything can happen—like making love to a fascinating stranger and setting off across the world with her the next morning. But as their lives collide in the whirlwind of passion that is New York City, the real adventure is clearly just beginning. . . .

Trigger Warning: Natural Disasters

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My Image of You by Melanie Moreland

My Image of You

Title: My Image of You

Author: Melanie Moreland

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept

Date of publication: September 19th, 2017

Genre: Romance, Women’s fiction

Number of pages: 345

POV: Alternating 1st person

Where you can find My Image of  You: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

She was the first good thing that ever happened to me. The only person who made me want to stay put. Until she disappeared. My name is Adam Kincaid, and I’m the most daring freelance photographer in the world. Or, at least, I used to be. After losing my parents way too young, I hid behind a camera lens—and discovered a talent that took me all over the planet. No assignment was too dangerous, no location too remote, no subject too painful.
 
Then came the accident, and the hospital, where I met her: Alexandra Robbins. My nurse. My savior. With her fiery red hair and crystal-clear blue eyes, the most striking woman I could’ve imagined—and the kindest too. How could such a big personality fit into such a petite package? But she was running from something too, something I never had: her family. She thought she’d escaped their control. But she was wrong. And now they’ve taken her away from me.
 
Today is her engagement party. I may not get an explanation, but I’ll be damned if I don’t get a photograph. A picture really is worth a thousand words. And just like love, it never fades away. . . .

Trigger Warning: Emotional abuse, psychological abuse, verbal abuse

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Invictus by Ryan Graudin

Invictus by [Graudin, Ryan]

Title: Invictus

Author: Ryan Graudin

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Date of publication: September 19th, 2017

Genre: Young Adult

Number of pages: 464

POV: 3rd person

Where you can find Invictus: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Time flies when you’re plundering history.

Farway Gaius McCarthy was born outside of time. The son of a time-traveling Recorder from 2354 AD and a gladiator living in Rome in 95 AD, Far’s birth defies the laws of nature. Exploring history himself is all he’s ever wanted, and after failing his final time-traveling exam Far takes a position commanding a ship with a crew of his friends as part of a black market operation to steal valuables from the past. 

But during a heist on the sinking Titanic, Far meets a mysterious girl who always seems to be one step ahead of him. Armed with the knowledge that will bring Far’s very existence into question, she will lead Far and his team on a race through time to discover a frightening truth: History is not as steady as it seems.

In this heart-stopping adventure, Ryan Graudin has created a fast-paced world that defies time and space.

Trigger Warning: None

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The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall

Title: The Best Kind of People

Author: Zoe Whittall

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Ballantine Books

Date of publication: September 19th, 2017

Genre: General Fiction

Number of pages: 424

POV: 3rd person

Where you can find The Best Kind of People: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

To the shock of his family and community, George Woodbury, an affable teacher, and beloved husband and father are arrested for sexual assault at a prestigious prep school in Connecticut. While he awaits his trial in jail, his family is left to pick up the pieces.

His wife, Joan, a trauma nurse, is unable to triage her emotional reactions, and vaults between rage and denial. Daughter Sadie, the consummate overachiever, finds herself paralyzed on her boyfriend’s couch with a bong, while a local author attempts to exploit her story. Their son, Andrew, a lawyer in New York, assists in his father’s defense while wrestling with the unhappy memories of his own teen years in high school. Unfolding over a one-year period, the novel focuses on the Woodbury family as they struggle to support George while privately grappling with the possibility of his guilt.

With exquisite emotional precision, Whittall explores issues of loyalty, truth, and the meaning of happiness through the lens of an all-American family on the brink of collapse.

Trigger Warning: sexual assault on minors, drug use

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Royal Pain (His Royal Hotness: Book 1) by Tracy Wolff

Royal Pain (His Royal Hotness, #1)

Title: Royal Pain

Author: Tracy Wolff

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept

Date of publication: September 19th, 2017

Genre: Romance, Women’s Fiction

Series: His Royal Hotness

Royal Pain – Book 1

Number of pages: 230

POV: Alternating 1st person

Where you can find Royal Pain: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

He’s a womanizer. He’s cocky. He’s not exactly a prince. Only he technically is. Meet your new royal obsession in this addictive novel from New York Times bestselling author Tracy Wolff.

Being rich opens a lot of doors. When you’re rich and royal, those doors lead to a new bedroom every night. I should know. The tabloids call me His Royal Hotness, Prince Kian of Wildemar. Women across the world see me as a naughty fairy tale, an image I’m happy to indulge. As the spare to the heir, I’m the prince with none of the power . . . and all of the perks.

Then my twin brother is kidnapped, and suddenly I’m the one who could be king. The crown chasers start circling—and yet it’s a luscious waitress who catches my eye. With a smart mouth and the curves to back it up, Savannah Breslin is as brazen as I’d expect an American commoner to be.

But Savvy’s not interested in playing Cinderella. As sexy as she is, she’s no stranger to heartbreak. Besides, a nice guy wouldn’t drag her into all the drama that comes along with royalty. Lucky I’m not a nice guy. And, as it turns out, I might not even be her first prince. 

Trigger Warning: Kidnapping, After effects of torture

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Best Day Ever by Kaira Rouda

Best Day Ever: A Riveting Psychological Thriller about the Perfect Marriage by [Rouda, Kaira]

Title: Best Day Ever

Author: Kaira Rouda

Publisher: Harlequin, Graydon House

Date of publication: September 19th, 2017

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Women’s Fiction

Number of pages: 352

POV: 1st person

Where you can find Best Day Ever: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

“I glance at my wife as she climbs into the passenger seat, and I am bursting with confidence. Today will be everything I’ve promised her…and more…”

Paul Strom has the perfect life: a glittering career as an advertising executive, a beautiful wife, two healthy boys and a big house in a wealthy suburb. And he’s the perfect husband: breadwinner, protector, provider. That’s why he’s planned a romantic weekend for his wife, Mia, at their lake house, just the two of them. And he’s promised today will be the best day ever.

But as Paul and Mia drive out of the city and toward the countryside, a spike of tension begins to wedge itself between them and doubts start to arise. How much do they trust each other? And how perfect is their marriage, or any marriage, really? 

Forcing us to ask ourselves just how well we know those who are closest to us, Best Day Ever crackles with dark energy, spinning ever tighter toward its shocking conclusion. In the bestselling, page-turning vein of The Couple Next Door and The Dinner, Kaira Rouda weaves a gripping, tautly suspenseful tale of deception and betrayal dark enough to destroy a marriage…or a life.

Trigger Warning: Domestic Violence

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The Chesapeake Bride (Chesapeake Diaries: Book 11) by Mariah Stewart

The Chesapeake Bride

Title: The Chesapeake Bride

Author: Mariah Stewart

Publisher: Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books, Pocket Books

Date of publication: August 29th, 2017

Genre: Romance

Number of pages: 385

POV: 3rd person

Series: The Chesapeake Diaries

Coming Home – Book 1

Home Again – Book 2

Almost Home – Book 3

Hometown Girl – Book 4

Home for the Summer – Book 5

The Long Way Home – Book 6

At the River’s Edge – Book 7

On Sunset Beach – Book 8

That Chesapeake Summer – Book 9

Driftwood Point – Book 10

 The Chesapeake Bride – Book 11

Where you can find The Chesapeake Bride: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

From New York Times bestselling author Mariah Stewart comes a new chapter in her celebrated Chesapeake Diaries series.

Architect Cassidy Logan has sworn off good-looking adventurers. Newly divorced, she’s focused on building ecologically friendly, historically accurate homes on the Chesapeake Bay for her father’s construction company. Traveling to Cannonball Island—where there has been no new construction in nearly one hundred years—Cass is sensitive to the heritage of the island and has come up with plans so perfect she’s determined to buy a home for herself. Even the fact that Owen Parker—a local who she dismisses as a lightweight and a player—seems to be everywhere isn’t enough to deter her from building her dream house.

Owen Parker is and always has been sinfully handsome and wickedly clever, a magnet for mischief as well as girls. He’s a rolling stone, going and doing whatever appeals to him, from flying a mail plane in Alaska to working on a cattle ranch in Australia, a shrimp boat in Louisiana, and surfing and diving in Costa Rica. When an old friend offers him a job salvaging a sunken ship on the Chesapeake Bay, Owen gladly accepts. Something’s been telling him it was time to head home to Cannonball Island, and a job is as good an excuse as any. And he’s totally smitten by the pretty architect on the scene, but it seems he’s finally met a woman who’s immune to his charms. Sooner or later, Owen will have to face the reason why he always runs, because this time, leaving just might be harder than staying. 

Trigger Warning: None

Continue reading “The Chesapeake Bride (Chesapeake Diaries: Book 11) by Mariah Stewart”

Sadie’s Highlander by Maeve Greyson

Sadie's Highlander: A Highland Protector Novel (Highland Protectors)

Title: Sadie’s Highlander

Author: Maeve Greyson

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group – Loveswept

Date of Publication: September 12th, 2017

Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance

Number of pages: Unknown

Series: Highland Protector

Sadie’s Highlander – Book 1

POV: 3rd person

Where you can find Sadie’s Highlander: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

The Highland Protector series brings to life four mouth-watering Celtic brothers in twenty-first-century North Carolina—where the lasses are anything but tamed.
 
Highland warrior Alec MacDara and his brothers traveled forward in time to protect the sacred Heartsone. Their cover? Owners and operators of a theme park called Highland Life and Legends. As the chairman, Alec has been fending off requests to film at the breathtaking property. It’s only because of the charming correspondence from an enterprising production assistant that he agrees to a meeting at all. That’s when Alec meets a woman whose lush curves make him forget, for the first time, all about tenth-century Scotland.
 
A lowly assistant for her sister’s motion picture company, wannabe screenwriter Sadie Williams is shocked when Alec agrees to let them film at the park upon one condition: that she report to him daily. Sadie’s sister always told her that their parents only adopted her because they felt sorry for the ugly little stray. But Alec looks at Sadie like she’s the most tempting creature in the world. And with his gleaming, musclebound body stripped down to nothing but a hip-hugging kilt and boots, Alec clearly knows a little something about temptation.

My review:

Let’s take a minute to drool over the cover of this book. It totally fits with the book. My mental image of Alec is definitely personified by the male model (the braid in his hair is a plus). The female model used for Sadie is dead on with my mental image of her. The cover shows the love Alec has for Sadie and vice versa. Kudos to whoever designed it because they obviously read the book and got a cover that matches the book. Not very often that it happens

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The Vengeance of Mothers (One Thousand White Women: Book 2) by Jim Fergus

The Vengeance of Mothers: The Journals of Margaret Kelly & Molly McGill: A Novel (One Thousand White Women Series Book 2) by [Fergus, Jim]

Title: The Vengeance of Mothers

Author: Jim Fergus

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press

Date of publication: September 12th, 2017

Genre: General Fiction, Historical Fiction

Number of pages: 352

POV: Alternating 1st person

Series: One Thousand White Women

One Thousand White Women – Book 1

The Vengeance of Mothers – Book 2

Where you can find The Vengeance of Mothers: Barnes and Noble | Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

The stunning sequel to the awarding winning novel One Thousand White Women

9 March 1876
My name is Meggie Kelly and I take up this pencil with my twin sister, Susie. We have nothing left, less than nothing. The village of our People has been destroyed, all our possessions burned, our friends butchered by the soldiers, our baby daughters gone, frozen to death on an ungodly trek across these rocky mountains. Empty of human feeling, half-dead ourselves, all that remains of us intact are hearts turned to stone. We curse the U.S. government, we curse the Army, we curse the savagery of mankind, white and Indian alike. We curse God in his heaven. Do not underestimate the power of a mother’s vengeance…

So begins the journal of Margaret Kelly, a woman who participated in the government’s “Brides for Indians” program in 1873, a program whose conceit was that the way to peace between the United States and the Cheyenne Nation was for One Thousand White Women to be given as brides in exchange for three hundred horses. These “brides” were mostly fallen women; women in prison, prostitutes, the occasional adventurer, or those incarcerated in asylums. No one expected this program to work. The brides themselves thought it was simply a chance at freedom. But many of them fell in love with Cheyenne’s spouses and had children with them…and became Cheyenne themselves. 

THE VENGEANCE OF MOTHERS is a novel that explores what happens to the bonds between wives and husbands, children and mothers when society sees them as “unspeakable.” What does it mean to be white, to be Cheyenne, and how far will these women go to avenge the ones they love? As he did in ONE THOUSAND WHITE WOMEN, Jim Fergus brings to light a time and place in American history and fills it with unforgettable characters who live and breathe with a passion we can relate to even today.

Trigger Warning: None

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