Thursday, March 23, 2017

Blog Tour: A Star to Steer Her By by Beth Anne Miller


A Star to Steer Her By
by Beth Anne Miller
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Genre: Contemporary romance
Release Date: March 20th, 2017
Rating: ★★★ (3.75 stars)

I’m scarred. Broken. I’ll never be the same.
But I will take this journey.

Ever since my last dive ended in bloodshed, I’ve been terrified to go back into the water. But the opportunity to spend a semester at sea is too good to pass up. I need to get my life back.

I never expected to love it this much. And I never expected Tristan MacDougall.

Rugged, strong, and with demons of his own, Tristan helps me find the courage I thought I had lost and heals me with every stolen moment we share. But the rules of the ship mean we can't be together.

When a dive excursion goes terribly wrong, our only hope for survival is each other.

Review:
I wasn't sure quite what to expect from this book being honest. It sounded engaging, so while the first pages didn't suck me in completely, I soon found myself falling in love with the characters and the whole sailing experience. It felt like catching a glimpse of a world (the sailing one) but didn't overwhelm me with technical details. I enjoyed how the sailing trip was portrayed as this magical experience, but didn't try to sugarcoat the less glamorous aspects of it and stayed true to what the experience is. The diving and ocean scenes were so vivid, and I can't help but want to attempt to go diving myself, to see all the beautiful fish and sea mammals and gorgeous view from a boat.

Ari, the heroine, is easily likable and I admired her courage so much. She's been through a tough traumatic experience in the ocean before, and while she's hurting physically and mentally, she was trying, and I couldn't help but be drawn in by that resilient core. I loved her passion and enthusiasm for sailing, and how she worked really hard, even if she did get distracted at times by the handsome crew member. Tristan is swoony, to say the least, and though his looks and Scottish accent would have charmed me anyway, I loved how caring and respectful he was towards Ari. He has some pain of his own to work out, but he also has that deep passion for sailing which easily connected him with Ari. The no hooking up rule between them is a very palpable thing, and while you know they're going to hook up at some point, I did like that the actual physical aspects were slowly intensified along with the emotional connection they shared. The romance was sweet and slowly built up, something I had been slightly worried would get reduced to instalove, but I felt the chemistry and tension every delicious step of the way. Those kisses were seriously swoony, I can attest that the chemistry definitely delivered.

Kevin and Jenny are two side characters who are both enjoyable in their own way. Kevin is a great guy, and I loved his friendship with Ari, they both joke around with each other but you can see the camaraderie is built on their very real bond. Jenny was a character who was introduced as snobby and not quite in touch with the whole sailing thing, but she did win me over, especially after how she thawed down the longer they were on the ship.

It wasn't a full four stars for me mostly because in general, I try to reserve those for books that reach my heart and soul on a different level, and this one didn't quite reach there, unfortunately. I also felt the synopsis is a bit misleading, since the dive excursion occurs quite late in the book, contrary to what I expected. But overall, it was thoroughly enjoyable and I recommend this to anyone who wants to get lost in romance and passion for at least a few hours.

Thank you to Entangled for the review copy.




About the Author
Beth Anne Miller’s first book, written in elementary school, was bound in pink fabric and was about—what else?—a girl and her horse. She soon began cheating on horses with the sea, becoming an open water scuba diver at age 14. That love of the sea led her to a college semester aboard a schooner. She returned with fond memories of the exhilaration of being on a ship under full sail, less fond memories of hurling over the leeward rail on a daily basis, and a sailing bug she couldn’t quite shake.

In addition to horses and the sea, she has a fascination for all things Scottish (including, but not limited to, men in kilts), which she explored with her first novel, INTO THE SCOTTISH MIST (The Wild Rose Press, 2011), and carried into her new novel, A STAR TO STEER HER BY (Entangled Embrace, March 2017). A native New Yorker, Beth Anne works in the publishing industry and is always looking ahead to her next voyage, whether a short one on a dive boat or whale watch, or, with luck, a longer one on a tall ship.




Tuesday, March 21, 2017

ARC Mini Review: In Skates Trouble by Kate Meader

In Skates Trouble (Chicago Rebels #0.5) 
Part of Hot on Ice: A Hockey Romance Anthology
by Kate Meader
Publisher: Avery Flynn
Genre: Contemporary romance
Release Date: March 21st, 2017
Rating: ★★★★
Goodreads | Kindle | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Google Play

He'll give her what she needs . . .

Addison Williams isn't looking for romance, but when she encounters an eavesdropping stranger on an adjoining hotel balcony, she figures she's due a little fun. She just hadn't reckoned on the "fun" escalating so quickly to "out of control." One minute she's flirting with a whiskey-graveled voice in the dark, the next that same voice is telling her to do things. Hot, wicked things.

Cup-winning hockey player Ford "Killer" Callaghan can't believe he let the anonymous woman who blew his mind slip away into the night. He'll track her down because once could never be enough—even if discovering her identity places her strictly out of bounds.

Stolen kisses. Secret hook-ups. Deliciously forbidden in every way. Can a passion that started in the dark find a lifetime of love in the light?

Review:

I've been in the world's worst reading slump for some time now, but Kate Meader managed to do me a solid and pull me out of it with IN SKATES TROUBLE.

See, I don't usually give novellas a rating higher than three stars on account of their length, but this one is just too good for a mere three. I was hooked from the moment Addison and Ford had their first encounter equivalent to phone sex (I can always count on Kate to write steamy sexy times!) and finished the book in one sitting.

What I Love

  • The Story 

IN SKATES TROUBLE doesn't feel like a novella to me; it's well developed and didn't end in a rush like some novellas.

Also, did I mention this book has two of my favourite tropes? Addison is Ford's boss's ex-wife, and she is also six years older than Ford. Forbidden romance? Check. Age gap? Check.

  • The Characters

Addison is just so admirable; I love her determination to move on from her ugly divorce and make something of herself outside the labels people have given her by starting her own lingerie line. Ford is more than meets the eye; he's all heart and soul, and I love his relationship with his nephews and brother, despite having some problems with the latter. I enjoy their witty banter and the fact that they can't keep their hands off each other every time they're in each other's zone. Their first "meeting" is definitely something else altogether.


What I Don't Love

Um, the fact that we have to wait until August for Harper's story?

Harper Chase is the superwoman in charge of the hockey team Chicago Rebels, and her and Addison's friendship is one of my favourite things about this book. I simply love how supportive they are with each other. I'm also intrigued by the hint of dislike between Harper and Remy; give me all the hate-to-love romances!


Overall, this has been fun! Now let me just go and reread this again as I wait (not so) patiently for August (AUGUST?!).


E-ARC is provided by the wonderful author in exchange for an honest review.


Saturday, March 4, 2017

March TBR: Wrap-Up + Anticipated Reads

Starting this month, we're bringing you a new feature where we briefly talk about the books we liked the previous month and the books we look forward to reading in the new month. We tend to read a lot of romance books so this will give us a chance to highlight and talk about more books rather than us attempting to write full reviews for every book we read. 

Lisa:

February had been eventful and hence a slow reading month for me; I moved back home from Spain and had been busy trying to catch up with the two weeks of uni that I missed. Re-adapting to life and my old routine has taken a huge chunk of my time and energy, so I didn't get to read many new books and instead spent the little time I could spare taking comfort in old favourites. 

However, I want to shine the spotlight on Devil in Spring (Ravenels #2) by Lisa Kleypas that came out on Feb 21st. It was one of my and Eri's anticipated romances this year so naturally we devoured it as soon as it was published, and I'm glad that it lived up to our expectations! A review is due.

As for this month, I decided to finally start on the many #romanceclass books that I hoarded on my Kindle app. Our friend Sue has been very persuasive in recommending these titles, and it's time for me to get on them. I'm not so much for a strict TBR list; I usually just read whatever tickles my fancy, but for March I'm adamant about finishing at least two books from this list:

What You Wanted by Mina V. Esguerra

Learning to Fall by Mina V. Esguerra


Prep and Prejudice by Miren B. Flores


Eri:


February was a terrible reading month for me, checking Goodreads now, I think I read a few books which is a little tragic although because I'm taking a handful of English Lit courses I've been doing plenty of required reading.

Likewise, I read and adored Devil in Spring. It's not really surprising since Lisa Kleypas tends to write books that I thoroughly love; I almost cried when she made her historical romance comeback and I'm eagerly awaiting all of her books. We'll post a review whenever we actually get around to it, but we're excited to talk about this book! I also really loved Never Better by Charlotte Stein, who writes really intense and emotional erotica. I don't read much erotica, but she has a way of crafting strange but compelling characters who just work so well together and I highly recommend her books.

I don't want to set myself too much of a strict TBR since I tend to impulse read books a lot and making lists aren't nearly as effective as I want them to be. I'll list a few of the ones I do want to get to for sure though since I have certain ARCs I really need to get to and books I really need to finish reading now that I've started them.

An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole

The Opposite of You by Rachel Higginson

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco (not quite romance but YA)

Learning to Fall by Mina V. Esguerra


Are there any books (romance or not) that you're looking forward to this month?