Wednesday, 10 September 2025

🌷 Finding The One (River Rain #7) 🌷 Kristen Ashley 🌷

 



Their parents being family friends, American/English aristocrat, Blake Sharp, and Scottish playboy Alasdair Wallace were thrust together all through their childhoods.

Blake thought Dair was a filthy, obnoxious, little boy bully.

Dair thought Blake was a spoiled, prissy wee miss.

Then Blake grew up to be a beautiful, loving woman who took care of everyone and made amazing pistachio muffins. And Dair grew up to be a protective, fun-loving, hard-living professional rugby player.

In the meantime, they’d both been deeply betrayed by lovers.

When their paths cross again, Blake is still reeling from her fiancΓ©’s treachery and what she learned about herself during it.

Dair thinks he’s recovered from a marriage to a woman who was not at all what she seemed, and now he’s smitten by the woman Blake has become.

So smitten, he has every intention of exploring what they can grow to be together.

But their combined family history is filled with secrets and lies. Secrets and lies that explode in their faces.

And while they deal with that, ghosts from the past rise up and threaten to haunt their future.

Is what they built together strong enough to hold true?

Or will their personal demons tear them apart?
 
 
 Copy received from author for an honest review
 
When I saw that this book was going to be about Blake, I was a bit 😦, as she was not always the nicest person before.
 
But I should never have doubted Kristen Ashley.
 
Blake and Dair, childhood friends-ish, to adults who can't really like each other.
 
But a wedding brings out the best in both of them, of sorts. 
 
Family drama comes to the fore, and our lovelies do what they can to protect their families from it all.
 
Oh Dair - I was imagining him as Jamie Fraser as I was readig.  Dinnae ken why, but it was a good image hahah.
 
l have missed a couple of the River Rain books, so I missed a few of the nuances of things, but I knew enough of the characters in the book, and loved seeing a bit more of each of them.
 
What I wasn't expecting though was how emotional this book was for me. A tear or two may have been shed as pages were hurriedly turned, me needing to know what was happening next.
 
It is not all rainbows and butterflies for our lovelies as they fight their own demons, but in the long run they make each other better people.
 
Blake's self reflection is a wonderful, but also heartbreaking thing to read. She doesn't know how wonderful she really is, and seeing the change in her, well, it loved it.
 
Blake and Dair have moved right on up the list of my favourite River Rain couples.  Now I need to go back and read the couple of books I have missed. 
 
   


  

 
 
 
  

Kristen Ashley is the New York Times bestselling author of over ninety romance novels including the Rock Chick, Colorado Mountain, Dream Man, Chaos, Unfinished Hero, The ’Burg, Magdalene, Fantasyland, The Three, Ghost and Reincarnation, Moonlight and Motor Oil, Honey, Dream Team and River Rain series along with several standalone novels. She’s a hybrid author, publishing titles both independently and traditionally, her books have been translated in fourteen languages and she’s sold over five million books.

Kristen’s novel, Law Man, won the RT Book Reviews Reviewer’s Choice Award for best Romantic Suspense. Her independently published title Hold On was nominated for RT Book Reviews best Independent Contemporary Romance and her traditionally published title Breathe was nominated for best Contemporary Romance. Kristen’s titles Motorcycle Man, The Will, Ride Steady (which won the Reader’s Choice award from Romance Reviews) and The Hookup all made the final rounds for Goodreads Choice Awards in the Romance category.

Kristen, born in Gary and raised in Brownsburg, Indiana, is a fourth-generation graduate of Purdue University. Since, she has lived in Denver, the West Country of England, and now she resides in Phoenix. She worked as a charity executive for eighteen years prior to beginning her independent publishing career. She currently writes full-time.

Although romance is her genre, the prevailing themes running through all of Kristen’s novels are friendship, family and a strong sisterhood. To this end, and as a way to thank her readers for their support, Kristen has created the Rock Chick Nation, a series of programs that are designed to give back to her readers and promote a strong female community.

The mission of the Rock Chick Nation is to live your best life, be true to your true self, recognize your beauty and take your sister’s back whether they’re friends and family or if they’re thousands of miles away and you don’t know who they are. The programs of the RC Nation include: Rock Chick Rendezvous, weekends Kristen organizes full of parties and get-togethers to bring the sisterhood together; Rock Chick Recharges, evenings Kristen arranges for women who have been nominated to receive a special night; and Rock Chick Rewards, an ongoing program that raises funds for nonprofit women’s organizations Kristen’s readers nominate. Kristen’s Rock Chick Rewards have donated nearly $200,000 to charity and this number continues to rise

Thursday, 4 September 2025

🏳️‍🌈 The Questions Of Us (Fisher & Church #2} 🏳️‍🌈 Jay Hogan 🏳️‍🌈

 


 

The nightmare is over. Or so I keep telling myself. Bruised and battered, we'd narrowly escaped with our lives. I should be grateful. Grateful that my captors are in custody. Grateful that the chilling, roller-coaster of events, actually brought Nick and I closer. Grateful that we’ve finally taken a step toward something more than friendship. And I am, grateful.

But life isn’t simple.
Relationships need work.
And peace of mind is elusive in the face of unbearable guilt.

Because I’m the one who unravelled the puzzle. The one responsible for sending a young man back to a life he thought he’d escaped forever. Until I know he’s safe; until I’ve done everything I can to fix what happened, there will be no pretending I’ve done my bit. No leaving it up to the authorities. I can’t forget and move on. Not in my job. Not in my life. And certainly not in my fledgling romance with Nick Fisher who stormed into my heart with a truckload of his own issues.

The fate of a young man isn't the only thing at stake. The quest for truth will push us to our limits. And the biggest question of all—do Nick and I have what it takes to survive the answers.
 

 

Copy received for an honest review

Well, this was an adrenaline pumping tale.

It carries on immediately after book one, The Meaning of You, and well, if you thought things were going to calm down after that, Jay Hogan has proved that it not the case.

It took me a while to get back in to what was happening with Nick and Mads - that is my bookzheimer's coming to the fore - and when I remembered what was happening, I was swept up in mystery, the intrigue and the hope that all involved were dealing with.

Oh man, it is not always an easy read either.  Everything, and I mean everything is complicated.  And at times, the pair of them just needed to remove heads from sphincters and just talk.  I wanted to smack their heads together, or handcuff them together until they sorted themselves out.  I got it, I really did, but man they could test the patience of a saint hahah

But they worked it out, people got what they deserved, and I let out a great cheer!

Oh, and remember Gazza, that works with Mads? Man, was he just brilliant in this installment - please ma'am, I want more!

I thoroughly enjoyed this installment, loved that love won out, and I got the HEA I needed for our lovelies.

 

 

    
 

Tuesday, 2 September 2025

πŸ’Œ Jodi Ellen Malpas ✨ THE SURRENDER πŸ’• #ArlingtonHall2 πŸ”₯

  

THE SURRENDER

Jodi Ellen Malpas

• 2 September 2025

★★★★★
4.9 Stars
 

He’s a tantalizing man of mystery. To solve him she could risk everything in a scorching romance by the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the This Man series and The Invitation.

A pawn in a man’s callous game, Amelia Lazenby is trying to heal after being betrayed by the wealthy and scorchingly sexy Jude Harrison. Now he’s saying all the right things, whispering apologies as sincere as his kisses, and refusing to let her walk away. It’s hard for Amelia to resist a force as strong as Jude. Before long, he’s making her pulse pound, her head spin, and giving her the rapture she craves.

But once she surrenders, Amelia can’t help but fear she’s risking her heart all over again. This time, maybe even more. Jude is every bit as mysterious and possessive as she remembers. His ex-lover is back to wreak havoc on their lives. And Amelia’s own ex has returned from the past, knowing more about Jude than Amelia can imagine. As the secrets and shocking revelations keep coming, Amelia must decide what she’s willing to sacrifice to stay with the man she loves and above all else…can’t resist.





Amelia + Jude #2

We're back with Amelia about a week after her break-up with Jude. After she found out that she was just a bet to him and his married 'bed friend'.
Today she's celebrating her brother's wedding and she should be happy and dancing and drinking. Which she is doing - but she's also trying to avoid Jude. He's everywhere. Again. He showed up at all her friends' places. At her brother's place. And now he's obviously here in front of the wedding venue.
He says he wants to apologize. But what's there to apologize for. There's nothing he can say or do. Or is there? Or does he just have to look at her in his Jude way for her to jump into his limo?



Adorable! And super hot!

This was the perfect finale for Amelia and Jude.
It was again lots of back and forth. I want him. I hate him. I am not getting back with him. Whoops - how did I end up naked in the back of his limousine again?
Which I kind of hated, but also loved. Because it's just so sweet how they can't stay away from each other. He's so ridiculously and adorably and jessewardily crazy jealous and possessive!
But it's not only sexy times in cars! We get lots of family and friends and exes and work. We get mysteries and suspense and excitement and danger and so much more.
I loved reading this and now I really need the book about Abbie and her mystery man!

THE SURRENDER was the perfect final book for Amelia + Jude's love story.
Beautiful locations. Amazing cast.
Erotic. Funny. Frustrating. Adorable. Mysterious. Dangerous. And so much more. Read it!




 Links to the Book & Author 
 

Book #1

 

Pre-Order:
 


Other Books by Jodi:

if you haven't read Jodi's THIS MAN series yet - DO IT NOW!!!

This Man Novella 3.5

  

Book #4





His POV Book #1
 


Book #2

 

Book #3

 


Unlawful Men Book #1

 

Book #2

 

Book #3
 

Book #4
 

Book #5
 

Arts Book #1




Book #2


Leave Me Breathless


  


The Protector


THE FORBIDDEN!

  








‘A lingering idea that I just couldn’t ignore.’ – Jodi Ellen Malpas

Jodi Ellen Malpas was born and raised in the Midlands town of Northampton, England, where she lives with her husband, boys, and a beagle. She is a self-professed daydreamer, a Converse and mojito addict, and she has a terrible weak spot for alpha males. Writing powerful love stories and creating addictive characters has become her passion—a passion she now shares with her devoted readers.

Her novels have hit bestseller lists for the New York Times, USA Today, Sunday Times, and various other international publications and can be read in more than twenty-four languages around the world.