Title: One Night with Hemsworth
Author: Eden Finley
Genre: Romance
Age Group: Adult (18+)
Rating: 4,5 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

Cole Turner’s ex-wife is getting remarried. No amount of alcohol can drown that out, but taking home the hot brunette at the bar is a good enough distraction. That’s all Paige is meant to be—a distraction.

Paige Minor is too busy studying for her law degree and getting over a bad breakup to care about finding another boyfriend. All she wants is one night of careless fun with a complete stranger. Cole seems like the perfect candidate.

When Cole goes to pick up his son from his ex’s perfect house, with her perfect fiancé, and perfect new life, the last person he expects to see is Paige. She definitely shouldn’t be the one opening the door. As he stares at the person who was in his bed less than twenty-four hours earlier, a single thought occurs to him: I just slept with my ex’s new stepdaughter.

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One Night with Hemsworth is the first book in a series, but can be read as a standalone.

In One Night with Hemsworth, Cole Turner’s ex-wife is getting remarried. The brunette, Paige, he meets at the bar is supposed to be a distraction from that.

Paige wants nothing more than to forget a bad breakup, and one night with a stranger and some careless fun seems perfect for her. She and Cole hit it off right away, so he seems like the perfect match.

It’s only supposed to be a one night stand. But when Cole picks up his son from his ex’s house and meets Paige there, all hell breaks loose. Because turns out that Paige is his ex-wife’s new stepdaughter.

What an amazing plot this book had. Cole definitely has some troubles, but he’s still a very intriguing character and I enjoyed getting to know him better. He has a certain darkness to him, and that makes him all the more realistic. He and Paige have a lot of chemistry, and they work well as a couple. The supporting cast was excellent too, and all the characters felt three-dimensional and real.

The writing was good too, and I really enjoyed this. Recommended to anyone who enjoys contemporary romance.

Title: A Distant Shore
Author: Mariam Kobras
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Group: Adult (18+)
Rating: 4 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

Independent Publisher Book Award for Romance

Amazon #1 Bestseller – Contemporary Romance

There’s nothing like receiving a letter from a teenage son you knew nothing about, but that’s what happens to international rock star, Jonathon Stone. He drops everything to find the boy, and his mother—Naomi, the girl he loved so many years ago who left him when his rock n’ roll life became too much for her to bear.

Seeing her is like falling in love all over again, and everything seems perfect, until someone sets out to destroy their idyllic life.

In A Distant Shore, Jonathan Stone, an aging rockstar, still longs for Naomi, a girl he fell in love with years ago, who left him because his rock n’ roll life was too much for her to bear. When he gets a letter from his teenage song, who claims his mother is Naomi, and that Jonathan is his father, he sets out to find and reconnect to Naomi and to his son.

This isn’t your usual rockstar story: in fact, it holds many different layers. I enjoyed most of the characters, in partiuclar Naomi. They all came across as believable, three-dimensional, and as real, genuine people. The settings were well-crafted too, and the author did a great job making the various locations come to life. Reading this book was almost like going on a journey and discovering new places and countries.

The writing was excellent, and it helped me to engage the reader into the story. The story flowed well and often threw in a couple of twists and surprises, keeping the reader on their towns.

Certainly differnet from what I expected, but an entertaining book all the same.

Title: Love’s Tug of War

Author: Pauline Parson

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Age Group: Adult (18+)

Rating: 4 stars

Purchase: Amazon.

Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

At 41 Paula finds herself on her own in beautiful Arizona. She’s a talented comic artist – with a broken heart – a widower that has a chance to discover if she can make it as an cartoonist or fall flat on her face. Jeb Cotner accepts Paula as his new finish artist for his famous Honky Tonk Man comic strip. She has a chance of a lifetime to learn from the famous syndicated satirist. This job holds the opportunity that could lead to her own comic strip career. Yet, rumors fly that the 75-year-old artist is a cantankerous old man who has an eye for the “young girls”.

With grave doubts, she leaves her quiet life in New England and heads into “cowboy” country with her own comic character, Abby Press, at her side. Her world is turned upside down by two handsome brothers, neighbors of Jeb Cotner, who vie for her attention. Her sexual desires awaken, something so new to the young woman that it sends her to heights that she had long forgotten existed. She plays a dangerous game of “Tug of War” as her heart is torn between the two men.

Love’s Tug of War is the story of 41-year-old Paula, who is a talented comic art who gets the chance of a lifetime. She gets to work together with Jeb Cotner, a famous satirist who needs an artist for the Honky Tonk Man comic strip. Although a bit worried at first, Paula dives into the adventure, heading to “cowboy” country along with her own comic book character, Abby Press. But this adventure brings Paula more than she bargained for, as she meets two handsome brothers, neighbors of Jeb, and both of them stir desires within her that she thought long forgotten.

As the title suggests, the book focuses on a love triangle, but all characters are three-dimensional, and the triangle is actually interesting. Not like sometimes when it’s obvious the author has a favorite – here both options are explored. Paula is an amazing person, and I loved her comic book character, Abby Press even more. Witty, resourceful, clever and kind, both Paula and Abby are awesom.

I really thought Paula deserved a happy ending. The addition of a comic book artist in a cowboy country is a good twist, and unique for this genre – I certainly haven’t read a book with this plot, or this cast of characters (comic artists and cowboys) but it’s an interesting mix. Good writing too, and all in all, a very enjoyable contemporary romance novel.

Title: The Other Side of Summer
Author: Elyse Douglas
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Group: Adult
Rating: 4 stars
Purchase: Amazon
Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

Joanna Halloran, a best selling writer and astrologer, lives in a beach house overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. After a violent storm, she roams the beach, glances seaward and spots a man clinging to a piece of wreckage, being tossed helplessly. She dives in and pulls him to safety. Robert Zachary Harrison is from a wealthy, political family. As he slowly recovers from a private plane crash, he and Joanna fall in love and spend passionate and secluded weeks together. But because of family duty, Robert departs, not knowing Joanna is pregnant.

Twenty five years later, Senator Robert Harrison is running for President of the United States.  In the midst of a contentious presidential campaign, Joanna’s beautiful daughter, who has a passion to expose secrets, seeks revenge on the father she has never met.  She also begins a passionate relationship with her father’s adopted son.

Joanna and Robert must confront the past and present.  While the world watches, they struggle with old passions and new secrets that could destroy them both.

In The Other Side of Summer, astrologer and best-selling author Joanna Halloran lives in a beach house overlooking the Atlantic Ocean (getting jealous yet? Because I sure am). After a storm passes over, she notices a man clinging to a piece of wreckage and dives in and saves him. His name is Robert, and his family is wealthy and influential, but that doesn’t stop him from falling for his rescuer in a minute. Joanna and Robert start a passionate love affair that ends a few weeks later when Robert is forced to go home.

Twenty-five years later, Robert is running for president when the daughter he never knew he had – the child he and Joanna conceived during their brief affair – visits him and starts a relationship with his adoptive son.

The book is more than just a contemporary romance – it’s a family saga, a book about the bonds of family, about love (not just between partners but between parents and children), about life and the choices we make. It’s heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. The writing is hauntingly beautiful, and the author has a talent for crafting believable characters, although not all of them (read: Robert) are equally likeable.

An excellent book, and I look forward to reading more by this author.

Title: The SEAL’s Angel

Author: Petie McCarty

Genre: Contemporary Romance / Military

Age Group: Adult

Rating: 4 stars

Purchase: Amazon

Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

Navy SEAL Sean MacKay’s teammate is murdered after stealing a deadly nerve-gas formula from Syrian terrorists. Naval Intelligence believes MacKay’s teammate was a traitor and shipped the stolen formula to his sister in the states for safekeeping. MacKay is given orders to find the sister before the terrorists do and to retrieve the stolen formula at all costs.

Foreclosure looms for Cory Rigatero as she fights to keep her rustic resort near Mt. St. Helens afloat after her brother deserted her to join the SEAL Teams. Cory’s whole world dives into a tailspin when Sean MacKay shows up at her resort with the news of her brother’s death and the wild suspicion her brother may have sent her traitorous classified documents. No way will Cory trust MacKay — the man who once seduced her and then vanished into the night without a trace.

In The SEAL’s Angel, navy SEAL Sean MacKay faces an awful predicament. His partner got murdered after stealing a deadly nerve-gas formula from a group of terrorists, and now he has to visit his partner’s sister and tell her the bad news. On top of telling her that her brother passed away and is now considered a traitor, he also has to tell her his suspicions that her brother sent her the formula, thus putting her in danger.

And like that’s not bad enough, he once shared a night of passion with Cory, but then disappeared in the night. So Cory, already growing through a horrible ordeal, isn’t too keen on trusting the navy SEAL. But when the terrorists might trace her down for aforementioned formula, she decides to give him a chance.

Cory is a strong woman, and depsite having a very tough time, she handles things quite well. Sean is your typical alpha hero, wanting to do everything he can to keep her safe. The two of them form an interesting couple, both being strong-willed, independent people.

The book has plenty of suspense and mystery and it’s fast-paced from start to end. An excellent read for people who want a dash of suspense in their contemporary romance.

Title: Blue Wide Sky

Author: Inglath Cooper

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Rating: 5 stars

Purchase: Amazon

Review copy provided by Enchanted Book Promotions in exchange for an honest review.

First love. . . forever love.

Sixteen-year old Gabby Hayden wasn’t the kind of girl who gave a hoot about boys. She had a few real loves. Water-skiing, going out on Smith Mountain Lake with her dad and her dog. Anything else ranked a distant second. Until the summer smart, caring, gorgeous Sam Tatum gave her his heart. It had been the most wonderful time of her life, lazy days hanging out at the dock, skinny-dipping at midnight, staring up at the stars from the back of Sam’s truck.

They are planning their future together when Sam’s father is transferred to South Africa. Devastated, Gabby and Sam promise to wait for each other during the two years before he returns for college. But lonely and angry, Sam makes a mistake that will change the course of both their lives.

Years later, an unexpected diagnosis brings Sam home to his parents’ house on Smith Mountain Lake where he believes he can find peace and acceptance. What he finds, however, is the girl he once loved, now a woman unwilling to lose him again, a woman who will make him realize that both love and life are worth fighting for.

In Blue Wide Sky, Gabby and Sam first fell in love at age sixteen. It was the best summer of Gabby’s life. But then, Sam’s dad gets transferred to South Africa. Sam and Gabby promise to wait for each other during the two years before Sam returns to go to college. One mistake changes that though, and it takes years for them to meet each other again. This time, Sam comes home on a not-so-happy note, and it may be up to Gabby to teach him how to love and live again.

The book reads like a diary, and it’s so easy to connect to all of the characters, especially Gabby. The struggle of losing their first real love is so realistic everyone who has ever been in love can definitely relate. To see how these two changed over the years, and grew and then found each other again, was amazing. They did go through so many hardships, and thy deserved every ounce of happiness.

The author crafts an engaging book with amazing characters. An excellent read for contemporary romance fans.