Review: Romancing the Holiday by Jaci Burton, HelenKay Dimon and Christi Barth

Format read: ebook copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley
Release Date: 3 December 2012
Publisher: Carina Press
Number of pages: 257 pages
Formats available: ebook
Purchasing Info:Goodreads, Carina Press, Amazon, Barnes and Noble – the 3 novellas can be bought separately as well

Blurb:

We wish you a merry Christmas…and a happily ever after!

A memorable three-night stand gets rekindled in a cabin in West Virginia. An office romance is sparked by an impulsive holiday kiss. And two best friends scout locations for a marriage proposal and discover that they make a perfect match. ‘Tis the season for laughter, love and a lifetime of happiness.

Edited by Angela James this anthology includes:

We’ll Be Home for Christmas by HelenKay Dimon

No man likes having his bedroom skills described as forgettable, but that’s just what Lila Payne does when she runs into Spencer Thomas again. When she discovers that he’d lied about his name during their brief …

Interview with Jenna Bennett + Giveaway

TGIF Book Lovers! 🙂 We are very pleased to welcome the multi-faceted Jenna Bennett to Book Lovers Inc. today. Under the name Jennie Bentley, she writes murder mysteries about home renovation (well, everyone says houses are money pits, right?) But we’re here to talk to her Jenna Bennett persona, the one who writes the science fiction romance. Fortune’s Hero, the first book in her new series is just out, and it was an interesting mix of jailbreak, action/adventure and enemies to lovers romance, along with a bit of rebellion against the evil empire thrown in for spice. Answer Jenna’s question at the end of the post, and you could win a copy of Fortune’s Hero for your own. 

Marlene: Can you please tell us a bit about yourself?

Jenna: Happily! I was born in Norway and now I live in the US with a husband and two kids. I’ve …

Guest post by Inara Scott + Giveaway

Please give a warm welcome to Inara Scott, author of several contemporary, fantasy, paranormal and young adult novels! Inara stops by today to chat about fake engagements (since her newest release The Boss’s Fake Fiancée features this trope) and why she loves them. Arranged marriages/fake engagements and marriage of conveniences are some of my favourite tropes as well, so join us and tell us about yours, you could win a copy of The Boss’s Fake Fiancée! 

Photo by Martin Strachoň

My latest release, The Boss’s Fake Fiancée, is a “fake engagement” story (obviously!). It’s also an employee-boss romance (just as obviously!). These are tropes–well known romance novel set-ups that give the basic outline of the story and plot. Tropes let the reader know, in a very general way, what the book is about. Everyone out there probably has their favorite–for example, you might love “marriage of convenience” stories, and …

Review: The Marriage Trap by Jennifer Probst

Format read: ebook
Series: Book #2 in the Marriage to a Billionaire series
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: October 2, 2012
Number of pages: 205 pages
Publisher: Gallery Books
Formats available: ebook, paperback
Purchasing Info:

Book Blurb:

To satisfy his late father’s wishes, hot and single billionaire Michael Conte must find a bride—someone who will fit into his traditional family back home in Italy—and fast, so his engaged sister will be allowed to wed. With no intention of being tied down, Michael “proposes” to fiery, free-spirited photographer Maggie Ryan: if she will play the part of his fiancée during her trip to Milan for a photo shoot, he will keep away from her married best friend, Alexa, and stop making Maggie nuts with their too-close-for- comfort flirtations. But once in Italy, sexual tension sparks the hottest no-strings- attached arrangement on any continent. Could marriage be the most enticing trap of all?

My Thoughts:

In a scenario that’s definitely more fictional than anything us real …

Review: An Apple for the Creature by Charlaine Harris (ed.)

 Format Read: ebook.
Number of Pages: 336.
Release Date: September 4, 2012.
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Anthology.
Publisher: Ace.
Formats Available:  ebook, hardcover.
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Bookdepository, Author.

Book Blurb:

What could be scarier than the first day of school? A crash course in the paranormal from Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner, editors of Home Improvement: Undead Edition. Your worst school nightmares will pale in comparison to these thirteen original stories that take academic anxiety to new realms.

My Thoughts:

I HATE hardcover. Why? Because it is expensive, makes my books heavy, and takes up way too much physical space. To make things even worse, the hardcover print editions jack up the prices on ebooks. It’s extortion and I won’t stand for it! Even when there is a new Ilona-story included.

Which is why I shamelessly promoted the new Sookie story in this anthology to a certain  Viking-vampire groupie who does not share my qualms about underhanded …

Guest post by Jon Land

We are happy to welcome to BLI today beloved and renowned thriller author Jon Land, who is celebrating the release of Pandora’s Temple, the newest addition to his McCracken series, which features the return of its hero after 15 years! Please give him a warm welcome and read on to learn more about the inspiration behind the new book and why Jon decided to bring back his beloved hero after such a lengthy absence.

Okay, confession time. The truth behind the return of my original series hero Blaine McCracken was not based on planning or inspiration. It was based instead on seizing a fresh and wonderful opportunity based on another opportunity lost.

See, around a year and a half ago Clive Cussler parted ways with one of his long-time co-authors. Turned out my agent happened to represent another of those co-authors and was intimately aware of the opening as well as …

Dual Review: Fortune’s Hero by Jenna Bennett

Format Read:ebook provided by the publisher
Number of Pages: 400 Pages
Release Date: November 13, 2012
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Series: Soldiers of Fortune #1
Genre: Science Fiction Romance
Formats Available: Trade Paperback, ebook
Purchasing Info: Amazon | B&N | Kobo | Book Depository US | Book Depository (UK) | Goodreads | Author’s Website | Publisher’s Website

Book Blurb:

Quinn Conlan had it all: a fast ship, a great crew, a gorgeous girlfriend, money, and adventure around every bend. That was before he agreed to ferry a shipload of weapons to the besieged planet Marica. Now he’s stuck in the prison colony on Marica-3, enduring weekly sessions with the camp’s “medical team,” and praying for a quick death before he breaks under the torture and spills everything he knows about the Marican resistance.

When opportunity strikes, …

Review: Once and Always by Judith McNaught

Format Read:Paperback copy purchased by reviewer
Number of Pages:400 pages
Release Date: April 25th 2006 (first published 1987)
Publisher: Pocket
Series: Sequels Book 1
Formats Available: Mass Market Paperback, Hardcover
Purchasing Info: Amazon, B&N, Book Depository US, Book Depository (UK)

Book Blurb:

“Once and Always,” one of Judith McNaught’s most masterful and moving love stories, powerfully brings to life the fiery passion of a free-spirited American beauty and a troubled English lord. Suddenly orphaned and alone, Victoria Seaton sails the vast ocean, eager to reclaim her heritage at Wakefield, the sumptuous English estate of a distant cousin, the notorious Lord Jason Fielding. Bewildered by his arrogance yet drawn to his panther-like grace, she senses the painful memories that smolder in his eyes. When he gathers her at last into his arms, arousing a sweet, insistent hunger, they wed and are embraced by fierce, consuming …