Planned Reading for June 21-27 and results

 

Good evening to everyone (or morning),

This week was a little more consistent for me with all my plans for daily chores as well as reading. The weather has not really settled down yet, but I did get out a couple days for short walks. Every day seems to be windy, cloudy, and sunny with a little bit of rain now and then. The temperature floats between high 60's to high 80's. I hope all is well in your part of the world.

Okay, now for last week's reading results. I did get an extra book in.

Ebooks: 

Laced in Poison by Crimson Syn - 5 stars

Property of Cobalt by D.M. Earl - 5 stars

The Vanished Locket by Taryn Shae - 3 1/2 stars

Dagger's Target by E.C. Land - 5 stars

The Highlander's Cursed Lass by Julie Johnstone - 5 stars

Audiobooks:

Forged in Fire by A.L. Jackson - 4 1/2 stars

Promise Me This by Jennifer Sucevic - 5 stars

Planned for June 21-27

Ebooks:

Audiobooks

The three audiobooks are for the June Audiobook challenge, and they are part of a series. I look forward to listening to them. The ebooks are longer stories, and I hope to complete all three this week.

Take the time to relax, whether with reading, crafting, sports, or just walking. There is so much to enjoy in everyday living. Have a good week.

Do svidaniya,

Ebook Review: The Highlander's Cursed Lass (Spellbound Hearts #4) by Julie Johnstone

 

Blurb: 

To claim the Highland stronghold I’ve always wanted, I must capture the cursed lass the king seeks.
Then deliver her to him.
The price I never expected to pay…is my heart.

James
I was born a bastard, and I’ve never had anything truly mine.
So when the king promises a castle and lairdship to the warrior who finds a mysterious healer and delivers her to him, I join the hunt.
Finding Katreine Wallace is simple.
Taking her to the king proves far more complicated than I bargained for.
It begins with a lie—mine—that I’ll serve as her protector on some foolish journey.
Yet every mile we ride together makes the truth harder to hide.
And somewhere along the road, she ceases being a means to an end.
Now she’s the woman I can’t stop wanting—far more dangerous to my heart than any enemy I’ve ever faced.
Because when Katreine’s past rises to hurt her…
I’ll have to choose.
The lairdship I’ve fought my whole life to earn.
Or the cursed lass who has already claimed my heart.

Katreine
There was a time when I would do anything for love—even make a dangerous wish that cursed me to never age and forced me from my home and family.
I tried to build a new life, but I cannot outrun a curse that steals everyone I dare to love.
There’s only one chance to break it.
Return to the Dark Woods where it all began.
Face the witch who damned me.
To survive the journey, I need a formidable Highland warrior to protect me.
And just when I think the search is hopeless, James Ross appears.

Tall.
Dangerous.
And wickedly cunning.

He vows to see me safely to my destination.
And foolishly, I believe him.
Until I discover he’s taking me straight back to the danger I once fled.
I hate James for his deception.
But the farther we travel across the Highlands, the harder it becomes to hold on to that anger.
Because James protects me as though I belong to him.
Touches me like I’m something precious.
And when he kisses me, the desire between us becomes far more than either of us planned.
He thinks I’m his path to a stronghold.
What neither of us expected…
Is that loving me could cost him everything he’s fought his whole life to gain.

This Spellbound Hearts romance features:

• A cursed heroine who cannot age
• A Highland warrior determined to claim a lairdship—and a family of his own
• Forced proximity with a reluctant protector
• A dangerous journey across the Highlands
• Witchcraft, curses, and perilous magic
• A hidden inheritance and a ruthless rival
• A slow-burn, emotionally intense romance
• A guaranteed happily-ever-after

Begin the Spellbound Hearts series with The Laird’s Magical Lass (Book 1) and continue with The Highlander’s Enchanted Healer (Book 2) and The Highlander’s Wicked Ways (Book 3).

Amazon: Amazon.com: The Highlander's Cursed Lass (Spellbound Hearts Book 4) eBook : Johnstone, Julie: Kindle Store

Bookbub: The Highlander’s Cursed Lass (Spellbound Hearts Book 4) by Julie Johnstone - BookBub

Goodreads: The Highlander's Cursed Lass by Julie Johnstone | Goodreads

My Review - 5 of 5 stars - 

This was quite a story to end the series. I loved it from beginning to end. Katreine's curse kept her away from her family, and she had to witness friends passing. Her skills as a healer became well known, and she was quite sought after. James was very sure of himself as a tracker and did his best to be aware of his surroundings before and after his hunt for Katreine. Doubts, secrets, and danger followed them on their trek to their future. There were moments of tears and smiles. It kept me reading.

I received an ARC, and this is my unsolicited review.

Sale!!! Texas Lullaby (Whispering Springs, Texas #7) by Cynthia D'Alba

Texas Lullaby by Cynthia D'Alba is only 99c!!

https://geni.us/TexasLullaby
Available on All Platforms
 

A Texas Montgomery Mavericks / Lawyer Cowboy / Doctor / Unexpected Family Romance

Winner - Holt Medallion Best Short Contemporary for 2016
 

From New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Cynthia D'Alba comes a heartwarming romance about unexpected family and love when you least expect it.

Sometimes what you think you don't want is exactly what you need.
 

After a long four-year engagement, and forced to choose between having a family or marrying a man who is adamantly against fathering children, Lydia Henson makes her decision. She chooses the man. She can live without children, but she can't live without Jason.
 

Jason Montgomery doesn't want children, or at least that's his story and he's sticking to it. The falsehood is less emasculating than the truth. But on the eve of their wedding, their worlds tip upside down. Lydia is unexpectedly given her sister's three children to raise and Jason and Lydia's well-planned life is thrown into chaos.
 

Everything Jason has sworn he doesn't want is now within his grasp. But as he reaches for the golden ring, life delivers another twist.
 

Can they navigate this new life together or will the weight of unexpected family responsibilities drive them apart forever? 

Free!!! Soldier's Christmas Baby (Trinity Fall Sweet Romance - Home for Christmas #1) by Clara Pines

Soldier's Christmas Baby by Clara Pines is FREE!

 

https://geni.us/SoldiersChristmasBaby

Also Available on Kindle Unlimited

 

What happens when a soldier receives an unexpected inheritance at Christmastime?

Wolf Cassidy is always in control. After serving as an Army pilot, he's going to marry his high school sweetheart and start a new career flying for a commercial airline. His whole life is neatly planned out, just the way he likes it.

But when he comes home to small town Trinity Falls for the holidays, Wolf receives an unexpected inheritance—a tiny baby boy.

From the moment Wolf looks into Ezra's little face, he knows he's going to say yes to the baby. Even though it means losing his career, his girlfriend, and all his life plans in an instant.

Now Wolf's days are filled with bottles, diaper changes, and baby books. And his nights are filled with dreams about Samantha, the golden-hearted young woman at a local veterans' foundation whose sunny smile and relentless offers of assistance are proving to be irresistible.

But Wolf knows he can't let himself fall for Samantha and her brilliant, bookish little sister—not if he wants to maintain even a tiny bit of control while his new life spins out unexpectedly.

When a sudden snowstorm hits the tiny farming community just before the holidays, Wolf and Samantha may be forced to confront the feelings they've both been trying to deny, and the bond that is inevitably drawing the four of them closer.

Trinity Falls Sweet Romance is all about finding family – one clean & wholesome romance at a time. The Trinity Falls Sweet Romance: Home for Christmas series celebrates a group of men coming home to a small Pennsylvania town at Christmastime, and finding love and meaning in the season.

 

Audiobook Review: Promise Me This (Chicago Railers Hockey #4) by Jennifer Sucevic, narrators Savannah Peachwood and JF Harding

Blurb: 

From Top 30 Amazon and USA Today Bestselling Author Jennifer Sucevic comes a forbidden, slow-burn pro hockey romance featuring a protective single dad, an off-limits nanny, and a secret that could tear them apart.

I never planned to end up pregnant, alone, and starting over. But life unraveled faster than I could hold it together, and now the only thing that matters is protecting my baby… even if I have no idea what comes next.

Taking a live-in nanny job for Laiken Lennox is supposed to be temporary. A fresh start. A safe place to land while I rebuild my life. It's not supposed to be dangerous.

Laiken is my brother’s teammate.
My new boss.
A guarded NHL goalie and devoted single dad already fighting a custody battle.

I tell myself I can handle the proximity.
The late nights.
The way he looks at me like I’m something worth saving.
But living under his roof blurs every line I swore I wouldn’t cross.
Especially when he starts caring for me in ways no one else ever has.

I’m carrying another man’s baby.
He’s the last person I should fall for.
But the more time we spend together, the more Laiken feels like the one thing I can’t lose.
And when the truth comes out, it could cost me everything.

Promise Me This is a forbidden, slow-burn pro hockey romance featuring a protective single dad, an off-limits nanny, and a secret that could tear them apart. It’s book four in the Chicago Railers series and can be read as a standalone.

Amazon: Amazon.com: Promise Me This: A Single Dad, Marriage of Convenience Nanny Hockey Romance (Chicago Railers Hockey Book 4) eBook : Sucevic, Jennifer: Kindle Store

B&N: Promise Me This: A Single Dad, Off-Limits Nanny Hockey Romance | Barnes & Noble®

Kobo: Promise Me This Audiobook by Jennifer Sucevic - Listen Free | Rakuten Kobo United States

Google: Promise Me This: A Single Dad, Off-Limits Nanny Hockey Romance by Jennifer Sucevic - Audiobooks on Google Play

Bookbub: Promise Me This: A Single Dad, Marriage of Convenience Nanny Hockey Romance (Chicago Railers Hockey Book 4) by Jennifer Sucevic - BookBub

Goodreads: Promise Me This (Chicago Railers Hockey, #4) by Jennifer Sucevic | Goodreads

My Review - 5 of 5 stars - 

I really enjoyed this story. I loved how Laiken worked hard to keep his daughter, loved her with all his heart, and stayed on top of his game. Kia found her way into his life. She was determined to keep her own secret while she fell in love with Laiken and his sweet little girl. His teammates were entertaining, and their women were so accepting of Kia into their group. I look forward to the next in this series.
The narration by Savannah Peachwood and JF Harding was wonderful. I felt they had a chemistry to match the characters. I loved Savannah's Elodie as well.

I received a copy through Valentine PR, and this is my unsolicited review.

Preorder: A Very Grumpy Sheriff (Wolf Valley: Grumps #15) by Shaw Hart

A Very Grumpy Sheriff 

by Shaw Hart 

Releases on June 26th!

https://geni.us/VeryGrumpySheriff

Available on All Platforms

I’ve loved him my whole life, but he doesn’t know I exist…

Suri
Devon Hayes has been part of my heart for as long as I can remember.
He was older, untouchable, and too focused on protecting the world to notice a curvy wallflower like me.
When he left Colorado to join the Army, I was terrified that I would never see him again.
I couldn’t have that, so I took a chance and did something that I was never brave enough to do when we were in high school together.
I wrote him letters.
Hundreds of them.
Every fear, every dream, every part of my heart poured onto paper.
He never knew it was me, and I never intended to tell him.
Until I get a job offer in Wolf Valley.
I know that I’ll likely never see him again, so in my final letter to Devon, I sign my name.
I figure that will be it and that I’ll have to let go of my crush on him and resign myself to never seeing him again.
Except he follows me here.
Now the man that I’ve always loved is here, and for the first time ever, he’s paying attention to me.

Devon
I joined the Army to serve, to protect, and to make a difference.
It kept me busy for years, and I thought that I had everything I wanted in life.
Until the first letter arrived.
Every month, like clockwork, a new letter would show up, all of them from a woman who refused to give me her name, a woman who seemed to know everything about me, and became everything to me.
Her words kept me alive in the darkest places.
Her kindness saved me when I didn’t want to be saved.
And then she sent me one last note, saying goodbye and finally telling me her name.
Suri Michaels.
She said goodbye in her letter, but I knew that wasn’t the end for us.
It’s the beginning.
I’m out of the military now and ready to settle down.

And I know just who I’m going to do that with.

 

Release: Secured by My Mate (Night Grove Falls: Midnight Haven #6) by Luna Wilder

Secured By My Mate 

by Luna Wilder 

Available now!

https://geni.us/SecuredByMyMate

Available on All Platforms

He rescued her, and now he’s going to claim her as his.

Reyes
When I get the call from the Midnight Haven, that we have someone asking for help, I assume that it’s going to be like every other rescue.
Until I get there and see just who we’re saving.
Taylor.
She’s curvy and beautiful, but that’s not what has my mouth watering.
It’s the fact that she’s mine.
Now that I’ve found my fated mate, I have to do a few things.
First, get her to safety.
Second, tell her about shifters and fated mates.
And third, convince her that she’s meant to be mine.

Taylor
When I’m kidnapped, I’m not sure what’s going on or how I’ll get out of this mess.
Luckily for me, a hero comes to save me.
He takes me back to his place and makes sure that I’m okay.
My crush on him starts that night, and it only grows from there.
Reyes is so handsome and kind.
I’m sure that he’d never be interested in someone like me.
Then he drops a bomb on me.
He tells me that he’s a shifter, that we’re fated mates, and that I’m meant to be his.
This all seems to be too good to be true.
Now I’m left wondering whether he's telling the truth, and what that means for the future.

 

Ebook Review: The Vanished Locket (A Mandevillian Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series) by Taryn Shae

 

Blurb: 

When ghosts whisper and heirlooms vanish, an artist must paint the truth before the past claims another victim.

After years away, artist Ashlyn Tenley returns home to Mandeville, Louisiana, to settle into the Victorian lake house left behind by her late sister Calista—only to discover the town remembers more than it admits.

There are missing cockatoos on the path to Louisiana but, that is just it. The path changes. Ashlyn's inheritance comes with peeling paint, lake views, and a Victorian house that watches her every move. Her calico cat, Deri, sees what she can't—shadows that shouldn't exist and a presence that smells of honeysuckle and secrets.

But before Ashlyn can unpack her paintbrushes, a cherished silver locket disappears from her friend Charmaine's jewelry box, followed by blackmail letters demanding silence.

With Deri's uncanny instincts and cryptic warnings from the peculiar Mr. Harrow—a town lifer who speaks only in riddles—Ashlyn navigates a web of suspects. Char's ex-husband needed money for his failing restaurant. The antique dealer who appraised the locket recently filed for bankruptcy. Both had motive and access.

Whoever stole the locket knows its darkest secret—and they'll destroy anyone who gets close to the truth.

Amazon: Amazon.com: The Vanished Locket: A Mandevillian Paranormal Cozy Mystery (The Mandevillian Paranormal Cozy Mystery Series) eBook : Shae, Taryn: Kindle Store

Goodreads: The Vanished Locket: A Mandevillian Paranormal Cozy Mystery by Taryn Shae | Goodreads

My Review - 3.5-4 of 5 stars - 

This story was a bit confusing as it went, which made it a little hard for me to rate. I felt more like 3.5 stars would have been my choice. I loved how the cat was involved in the story all the way along. Ashlyn's ability to see, hear, and smell the paranormal around her added to the narrative. She was smart and kind as she helped find a cockatoo on a very stormy night. I would have preferred some kind of resolution, maybe a longer story to follow her as she tracked down the clues Mr. Harrow gave her. Overall, an interesting concept.

This is my unsolicited review.

Release: Unscripted Christmas (Sugarville Grove Series) by Tess Thompson

Escape to Vermont with this wholesome and sweet romance series

Unscripted Christmas by Tess Thompson is available now!

https://geni.us/UnscriptedChristmas

Read Now With Kindle Unlimited

https://geni.us/SugarvilleGroveSeries

BINGE THE WHOLE SERIES!

Can a Hollywood star and a small-town speech therapist turn their impossible attraction into forever?

Jason Hayes has spent years chasing success and finally catching it. With a hit television show, a producer credit, and a future locked in Hollywood, he should feel fulfilled. Instead, when filming shuts down for December, he finds himself craving something fame has never given him. So he heads home to Sugarville Grove… and straight back into the orbit of the woman he can't stop thinking about.

Mauve didn't plan to fall for a famous actor, especially not after rebuilding her life post-divorce. Trading New York City for a quiet Vermont town gave her peace, purpose, and a job she loves helping children find their voices. Jason was supposed to be a fun, fleeting holiday spark. Nothing more.

Then came three perfect days in Los Angeles. Now he's back for Christmas and unable to stay away from the woman who's been on his mind ever since.

As snowy nights, cozy traditions, and Sugarville Grove’s tight-knit community pull them closer, Mauve sees past the celebrity to the man beneath—the one who's always dreamed of the family he never had. Jason, meanwhile, begins to wonder if the life he's built means anything without someone to share it with.

They want the same things. They just live in different worlds.

This Christmas, they'll have to decide whether to chase separate dreams on opposite coasts or risk everything for the love they both want.

 

Release Boost: The Gift (Empath Investigations #1) by Maddie Taylor

The Gift 

by Maddie Taylor 

Available now!

🔥 Opposites attract

🔥 Forced proximity

🔥 Psychic heroine

🔥 Protective hero

🔥 Workplace romance

https://geni.us/The_Gift

A lawman falls for a woman with a rare gift. A killer will stop at nothing to possess it.

Texas Ranger Vince Cooper trusts evidence, instincts, and the badge on his chest. Psychics? Not a chance. But when a brutal murder and a missing teenage girl lead him to Erica Stevens, Vince can't deny that the beautiful, boho artist knows things about the crime scene she shouldn’t.

Erica rarely talks about her gift. The visions strike without warning—someone else’s fear, memories that don’t belong to her, flashes of violence she can’t unsee. Helping a skeptical Ranger investigate a murder is the last thing she needs, even if the grounded, old‑school lawman watching her with equal parts suspicion and heat is impossible to ignore.

As they work the case together, preconceived notions give way to undeniable chemistry. Trust builds. Desire sizzles. Coop’s protective instincts flare to life. And everything between them changes. 

But the investigation points straight to a ruthless Russian crime boss who collects debts in blood. When he learns about Erica’s ability, she becomes far more valuable than the money he’s hunting.

Now Coop isn’t just trying to solve a murder. He’s racing to save the woman he loves. Because once the boss decides something belongs to him, he never lets it go.

About Maddie:

A USA Today and #1 international bestselling author, Maddie is a lifelong reader who became a romance junkie as a teen with her first romance novel, The Wolf and the Dove by Kathleen Woodiwiss. From then on, she was hooked, and gobbled up everything she could get her hands on, whether contemporary, historical, paranormal or sci-fi. If there was romance to be found between a strong alpha male, and a sassy, adventurous and ofttimes defiant yet loving woman, Maddie was all over it. As an author, she stays true to those themes writing steamy erotic romance, with a side of kink, and adding elements of intrigue, danger and suspense to her plots.

Maddie started writing as a hobby. Her stories stayed private while she raised a family and worked full time as a registered nurse. It wasn't until 2012 that she decided to take the plunge and submit her first book for publication: Captain My Captain. She went on to publish eleven novels the first year.

Find Maddie Online! 

https://linktr.ee/maddietaylorauthor