Wednesday 29 December 2021

✪ The Clanlands Almanac - Seasonal Stories from Scotland ✪ Sam Heughan and Graham McTavish ✪

   

 

The follow up to the quarter of a million-copy selling, Sunday Times and New York Times #1 bestselling, Clanlands. Sam & Graham turn tour guides once again to bring readers more epic tales from Scotland.

A seasonal meander through the wilds of Scotland.

'If Clanlands was a gentle road trip through Scotland, this almanac is a top down, pedal to the metal up and down odyssey through the many byways of a Scottish year. An invitation to anyone who picks up the book to join us on a crazy camper van exploration over 12 glorious, whisky fuelled months. Mountains, battles, famous (and infamous) Scots, the alarming competitiveness of Men in Kilts, clans, feuds, flora, fauna, with a healthy sprinkling of embarrassing personal reminiscences thrown in. Much is explored, all is shared. It is a camper van cornucopia of all things Alba'.

From First Footing to Samhain, Fringe Festival follies to whisky lore, Sam & Graham guide readers through a year of Scottish legends, traditions, historical and contemporary events, sharing personal stories and tips as only these two chalk-and-cheese friends can.

As entertaining as it is practical, The Clanlands Almanac is a light-hearted education in Scottish history and culture, told through the eyes of two passionate Scotsmen. The perfect escapist guide, The Clanlands Almanac is intended as a starting point for your own Scottish discoveries.

   Copy received from Hachette Australia for an honest review 

Well, what a delightful read The Clanlands Almanac was.

I  enjoyed watching Men In Kilts, so to me this is just a more involved look into things to do in Scotland.

I mean, who needs a Lonely Planet guide when we have these guys?

You could hear their friendly jabs and jibing at each other come through as they give us a monthly run down of events in the Scottish calendar. I loved the history that they tell us, and I did laugh at their antics and their anecdotes.

I was quickly engaged in the story that Sam and Graham were telling, and I laughed out loud at times.

A thoroughly enjoyable romp through Scotland, it has made me want to go back and watch some Outlander.

 


 

Tuesday 21 December 2021

✪ Unforgiven ✪ Sarah Barrie ✪

 


 
Once a victim, she's now a vigilante. An addictive and suspenseful thriller for readers of Candice Fox and Sarah Bailey.

Lexi Winter is tough, street-smart and has stood on her own two feet since childhood, when she was a victim of notorious paedophile the Spider. All she cares about now is a roof over her head and her long-term relationship with Johnny Walker. She isn't particular about who she sleeps with ... as long as they pay before leaving.

Lexi is also an ace hacker, tracking and entrapping local paedophiles and reporting them to the cops. When she finds a particularly dangerous paedophile who the police can't touch, she decides to gather enough evidence to put him away. Instead, she's a witness to his death ...

Detective Inspector Rachael Langley is the cop who cracked the Spider case, 18 years earlier - but failed to protect Lexi. Now a man claiming to be the real Spider is emulating his murderous acts, and Rachael is under pressure from government, media and her police colleagues. Did she get it wrong all those years ago, or is this killer is a copycat?

Lexi and Rachael cross paths at last, the Spider in their sights ... but they may be too late ...
 
 

 

 Copy received from Harper Collins Australia for an honest review 

Sarah Barrie, you had me at "once a villian, she's now a vigilante" - and you didn't lose me until I finshed the last word.

Unforgiven has a bit of a noir feel to it for me.  It is dark, it is gritty, yet at times I was laughing out loud - I want a Dawny in my life!

Lexi Winter - my goodness that woman is something else.  After all that she has been through, she does what she needs to do to survive, all whilst helping from the wrong side of the law.

 And she is not someone I would want to p*ss off hahaha.

When her past comes back to haunt her, she doesn't run away from it, she runs at it full pace and tackles everything that comes with it.

I liked how her relationship with Rachael comes back together, and how the trust in each other grows again.

The subject matter is not an easy one, however the way Ms Barrie takes us into the world of child sex trafficking was handled so well (in my opinion) and it will have you sad, it will make you mad, it will make you want to make a difference somehow).

This has been by far my favourite Sarah Barrie book that I have read.  I would really like to get more Lexi Winters in the future.


 

 

 

Tuesday 14 December 2021

♥ My Summer In Seoul ♥ Rachel Van Dyken ♥

 

  

 From #1 New York Times bestselling author Rachel Van Dyken comes a standalone new adult romance set in the competitive world of K-pop.

It’s not all K-dramas and happily ever afters.

Intern with Korea’s number one record label? Yes, please. 

Find out there’s a huge scandal I need to help “manage”… not so much. 

Add in the fact that I don’t recognize the “superstars” of the label and think they’re interns…
And my dream job quickly becomes more of a nightmare.

But I’m in Seoul, the one place that is beginning to feel more and more like home...
Except it isn’t home, and the drama surrounding the biggest K-pop group in the world, SWT, is consuming my every moment.


Spoiler alert. They hate me. 


Everything I do is wrong: wrong clothes, wrong honorifics, wrong manners. 


Till the leader of SWT takes pity on me.
But pity is dangerous when it comes from someone as beautiful as him.

Every SWT member is gorgeous, perfect, and cultivated to be an idol… lethal to a girl’s heart.
And sanity.
But fame plus a perfect face and voice don’t equal an easy life. As their comeback nears, the stakes rise higher. 


Suicide watch…
Angry fans…
Threats…

All I want to do is survive.
But the price for survival might mean losing my heart.
And like a character in a K-drama, I’m not sure if there will be an actual happily ever after…
Or simply a lesson learned.

   

 ARC received for an honest review 

Now, I am the first to say that I am not one to understand the K-pop phenomenon, and the obsession some of my friends have with it, and if this had been a book by anyone other than Rachel Van Dyken, I probably would have given it a wide berth

And I shouldn't have been surprised that I really enjoyed it,

All I really knew about k-pop was that the stans over in South Korea can be a little bit psycho, and that there has been a lot of deaths of idols due to the pressure they have put on them.

I was completely Grace coming into this story, I knew about as much as she did when she got this job. My heart hurt for her as she is thrown in the deep end with the wolves of SWT.

I adored her backbone and how she stood up to them.  And won them over,

I don't want to give anything away as I feel that you need to dive in blind to get the full effect of Grace's tale, but I will say that you can tell there has been a lot of research by RVD into the lives of k-pop idols. I say that if I was a fan of the genre, I would have a serious look at the way the fans and record companies treat their people.

There's some twists and turns that I was not expecting along the way.

I hope we get stories on more of the guys - especially Sookie!

I look forward to the TV show that is in the works.


     

 

Rachel Van Dyken is the #1 New York Times Bestselling, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of over 90 books ranging from contemporary romance to paranormal. With over four million copies sold, she's been featured in Forbes, US Weekly, and USA Today. Her books have been translated in more than 15 countries. She was one of the first romance authors to have a Kindle in Motion book through Amazon publishing and continues to strive to be on the cutting edge of the reader experience. She keeps her home in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, adorable sons, naked cat, and two dogs. For more information about her books and upcoming events, visit www.RachelVanDykenauthor.com

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πŸ’œ CODE NAME: DISAVOWED πŸ–€ Sawyer Bennett πŸ”₯ #JamesonForceSecurity8 πŸ–€

 ©  Bianca ✰ Janeane 





• Jameson Force Security #8
 • #WickedHorseVegas Spin-Off

• 14 December 2021
• can be read as a standalone!
★★
4.45 Stars

Life works in mysterious ways. Jameson Force Security has just received notice of a disavowed CIA agent in need of rescue in Central America. My blood runs cold when I learn that agent is none other than Greer Hathaway—my former fiancΓ©e.

Having gone our separate ways more than a decade ago, I still have bitter feelings toward Greer and the demise of our relationship. Those feelings don’t change the fact that I loved her more than anything, so I’m on the next flight out to embark on a rescue mission. Besides, Greer once saved my life, so now it’s time to return the favor and put her firmly in my past.


Face-to-face for the first time since ending our engagement, Greer and I are left with not only anger, unanswered questions and regrets, but also the undeniable chemistry we apparently still have. Will the promise of a new future together be enough, or will the same obstacles tear us apart again?




Greer + Ladd

15 years ago they both worked for the CIA and they even got engaged a while later. But then things happened and they haven't seen each other in over a decade.
Ladd is now working for Jameson Security while Greer is still CIA - which is how Ladd finds himself in El Salvador to rescue the now disavowed agent from this ΓΌber crime lord she was investigating.



Another great - and very mature - romantic suspense story in this series. We're already over 40! So you'd think we're all a bit wiser and smarter when it comes to our love lives. LOL! But they'll get there! We first have a few very dangerous moments to survive!
This was a really exciting and sparky and very adorable second-chance love story. I really liked reading it!

Can't wait for Dozer's book next!

This could also be a really great TV Show!

Here we go again with my AS rant:
I had some problems with the writing...as with every Sawyer book.
It's Sawyer's and my THING ☺ It's only me who has those problems with her writing. So please don't be worried or just scroll down and don't read the following...
  I have a HUGE AS problem! ☺ You know the AS's I'm talking about? The AS that could/should be exchanged for a SINCE or a BECAUSE or just a comma/dot/pause/whatever.☺ It's a British and or a legal thing (if it's a thing at all!) and it doesn't have anything to do in a modern American book. I never hear normal people in normal conversations use it like that. On TV news maybe. I really don't want to insult Sawyer. I love her books, but  ... please stop doing it. But pfff who am I to tell her what to do, so just forget I said anything! It doesn't stop her books from being great!


CODE NAME: DISAVOWED was an adorable + suspensy romantic suspense love story in this great series! Run to your nearest amazon for your own Ladd - this one is mine!




ARC received for an honest review
 
It's time for another round at Jameson Force Security.

And I think that this is my favourite to date (I have terrible bookzheimers, so I will admit that I can't remember much of the previous books - not surprising when you read as much as I do some times)

I adore a second chance at love, and throw in an adrenalin-spiking rescue and a man and woman who never stopped loving each other, and I was hooked.

These guys are closer to my age than college age - woo hoo - and I am glad I am no the only one who doesn't always have her ducks in a row lol.

I loved Greer's badassery, and while I am all for the women can do anything the man can thing, I don't know, but sometimes her pushing that agenda annoyed me,

I think Ladd's relationship with his wife and his ex are something we can all aspire too.

I loved getting more of the guys and gals at Jameson.

I know we have at least one more Jameson story to come, and I say this with every Sawyer Bennett series - I hope that this is the last in the Jameson series and that we finish on a high before things taper off.
 
 
 
 
 
 LINKS TO THE BOOK AND AUTHOR 

 


The Jameson Force Security Series:

Book #1

  

Book #2
  
 

Book #3

   

Book #4

  

Book #5

  

Book #6
  
  
Book #7
 



Wicked Horse Vegas
BOOK #1

  






 USA Today Best-Selling Author, Sawyer Bennett is a snarky southern woman and reformed trial lawyer who decided to finally start putting on paper all of the stories that were floating in her head. She is married to a mobster (well, a market researcher) and they have two big, furry dogs who hog the bed. Sawyer would like to report she doesn't have many weaknesses but can be bribed with a nominal amount of milk chocolate.