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3.5 stars for Thrill Ride by Julie Ann Walker

9/6/2013

1 Comment

 
Picture of book cover for Thrill Ride by Julie Ann Walker. A shirtless man stands next to a motorcycle with a cityscape in the background
Blurb:
He's Gone Rogue

Ex-Navy SEAL Rock Babineaux’s job is to get information, and he’s one of the best in the business. Until something goes horribly wrong and he’s being hunted by his own government. Even his best friends at the covert special-ops organization Black Knights Inc. aren’t sure they can trust him. He thinks he can outrun them all, but his former partner—a curvy bombshell who knows just how to drive him wild—refuses to cut him loose.

She Won't Back Down

Vanessa Cordova hasn’t been the team’s communication specialist very long, but she knows how to read people—no way is Rock guilty of murder. And she’ll go to hell and back to help him prove it. Sure, the sexy Cajun has his secrets, but there’s no one in the world she’d rather have by her side in a tight spot. Which is good, because they’re about to get very tight …

Why I read this book: I’ve read the previous books in the series and was happy to receive a complimentary ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of this title courtesy of Sourcebooks via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


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3.5 Stars for The Typewriter Girl by Alison Atlee

7/6/2013

2 Comments

 
cover for The Typewriter Girl
Blurb: How much must she pay for the chance to call her life her own?

When Bet­sey Dob­son dis­em­barks from the Lon­don train in the sea­side resort of Idensea, all she owns is a small valise and a canary in a cage. After an attempt to forge a let­ter of ref­er­ence she knew would be denied her, Bet­sey has been fired from the typ­ing pool of her pre­vi­ous employer. Her vig­or­ous protest left one man wounded, another jilted, and her char­ac­ter per­ma­nently besmirched. Now, with­out money or a ref­er­ence for a new job, the future looks even bleaker than the deba­cle she left behind her.

But her life is about to change … because a young Welsh­man on the rail­road quay, wait­ing for another woman, is the one finally will­ing to believe in her.

Mr. Jones is inept in mat­ters of love, but a genius at things mechan­i­cal. In Idensea, he has con­structed a glit­ter­ing pier that astounds the wealthy tourists. And in Bet­sey, he rec­og­nizes the ideal tour man­ager for the Idensea Pier & Plea­sure Build­ing Company.

After a life­time of guard­ing her secrets and break­ing the rules, Bet­sey becomes a force to be reck­oned with. Together, she and Mr. Jones must find a way for her to suc­ceed in a soci­ety that would reject her, and fig­ure the price of sur­ren­der­ing to the tides of love …

Picture
Why I read this book: While at the 2013 RT Convention I passed an author’s gorgeous display in Author Alley, by far the best there. The display made me stop and look, and the book’s cover made me want to read it. I also admired the creative marketing tools like magnets advertising the fictitious vacation resort where the book is set. The following day the author had set-up station at the Giant Book Fair and was standing in front of her stall, telling passers-by that they could have a play on her vintage typewriter. The author’s engaging attitude got me to stop and have a quick chat, and I couldn’t resist buying the book – the only book I bought from an unknown-to-me author at the Giant Book Fair, out of hundreds of authors (and I only bought two other books, from my fav authors). My point with all this? Creative marketing really does pay off. In fact, I was so intrigued by The Typewriter Girl that it was the first book I chose to read out of the 30+ books (mostly free) that I left the convention with.


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