Reading Adventures during the month of lurrrrv....

Welcome to the latest Reading Adventures where the SARA members let us know what they are or have been reading...Get ready to write add some titles to your TBR pile.


Liana Skrzpczak

My February reading has consisted of White Fang by Jack London and The Road to Ruin by SARA's very own Bronwyn Stuart, both of which I'm absolutely loving! Although White Fang isn't a typical 'romance', I guess it could be considered a romance about the relationship between master and companion. :)

Sandy Vaile

Fear for Hire by Natalie S Ellis.

Wow! I highly recommend this fast-paced, unique romantic suspense. Jack is a born protector who is struggling to keep his head above the water of failure. Molly is feisty and tenacious and doesn’t take kindly to being accidentally kidnapped, even if her assailant is gorgeous. She’s convinced he’s the perfect big break story, until she’s embroiled in a mess of falsehoods and terrifyingly twisted minds. But who is pulling the strings in this perverted puppet show? Jack vows to protect Molly until he finds out the truth, but the forces conspiring against them may prove too powerful.

Emmeline Lock 

Rated 5 stars to The Perfect Match by Kristin Higgins, and 4 stars to Club Shadowlands by Cherise Sinclair

Carla Caruso

Gave 4 stars to Be My Baby by Laura Greaves

Khloe Wren

Gave 5 stars to Viper Game (Ghost Walkers #11) by Christine Feehan

Virginia Taylor 

5 stars to Fake by Beck Nicholas

"Although I read books in every genre, Fake is the first Teen Romance I’ve read. I don’t know what I was expecting, but I got a beautifully written, gorgeous story about a girl who isn’t tattooed, doesn’t smoke or drink, and isn’t trying to have sex with the school’s best male athlete. She’s smart, thoughtful, and a loyal friend. 

I loved Kath. That’s right. She doesn’t have a clever name, or a nickname like Bones or Skull. Just Kath. She has a nice mother whom she doesn’t resent and she has a horrible background, like most of us. Well, some of us. She rises above her background and she chooses her friends for the right reasons. 

This is in a closing scene with her mother. ‘Her hands cup my cheek. “If you have to, you will. And with class.”’ That’s Kath – a heroine with class. I loved Kath’s sincerity, her social conscience, and her problems and solutions touched my heart in a very special way.

Fake’s author, Beck Nicholas, is one of those authors who has latched onto the ‘craft’ of writing. Her voice is light and smooth. She doesn’t use clichés or done to death prose. However, my advice is not to begin the book when you should be doing something else, because you’ll forget and end up with no bread for lunch". (review on Goodreads)

and now for moi, Eleni Konstantine

For sweet romance, I read our very own Claire Baxter's  More Than Just One Night. It's a lovely read about second chances at love and allowing them into your life.  

I also love the cover - Disclaimer: My alter ego designed the cover. ;)

4 stars!

For paranormal romance, I read (and chuckled) Dressed to Slay by Harper Allen. This is the first book in a series about the stunning & sarcastic Crosse triplets. The Russian heritage comes to the forefront as Grandpa 'Darkheart' visits and confides that the family business is vampire slaying. Normally they would have confined him to the looney bin, but they'd just been attacked by their Vampire fiances. Throw in a prophecy or two, a club called the Hot Boss, and a very sexy werewolf - oh and the sister who is the Daughter of Lilith (THE vampire slayer of this generation) and there you have it. Fun, adventure, sex, love, family - the works.

I had read book two of this a while back so some of this was familiar but it had been long enough ago, and from another triplets perspective to still make it an enjoyable read. I'll be rereading book 2 before moving to book 3. Helps the little neural pathways connect the dots.

4 stars!

Shifting to my audio - I listened to Shakespeare's Champion (Lily Bard #2) by Charlaine Harris

Lily Bard seems to attract trouble which finds infuriating as she tries to have a quiet normal life. Her past precludes her from that, and so does the town she now lives in. It's a small southern town with ingrained ideas about the social structure - though most people are nice enough, there are those few who want to stir trouble by picking on others. This book looks at racism, sexism, and violence used against others. It's a thinker though having it seen through the eyes of Lily who has been touched by violence and who protects herself by putting up walls. Though the walls have started breaking down. A good story. 

4 stars!

That's it for this time around. I hope we've given you some ideas of books to read - and don't forget our SARA books!

~Happy Reading~

 

Reading Adventures: holiday reading

Well it's the end of January now, but since we've been on a break, I would like to say 'Happy New Year!!' Did everyone have a little bit too much bubbly and food over the holiday period? I know I certainly did - the food not the bubbly. Well not much anyway :)

This was meant to be the last edition of 2014 however... (sorry, life!)

Welcome to our first edition of Reading Adventures for 2015. What did SARAs have on their reading pile for the holidays? 

Let's see...


SARAs reading SARAs
It seems there were a few books that were in common on the SARA reading lists and they were books by other SARA authors!

Stone Castles by Trish Morey

- Linda Knightley
- Lilliana Rose
- Suzie Hindmarsh-Knights

(Eleni: it's in the top 10 of my TBR)

Fake by Beck Nicholas

- Lilliana Rose

- Eleni Konstantine

"This was the first book of my reading rank for 2015. 

What an amazing book. Beck Nicholas is one talented writer. Loved the voice and this story of revenge and secrets. I would have loved this book as a YA. Looking forward to more from this amazing author!"

The Road to Ruin by Bronwyn Stuart

- Linda Knightley

- Suzie Hindmarsh-Knights

- Anne Oliver

(Eleni: it's in the top 10 of my TBR)












Of course, there were non-SARA books ......

Linda Knightley had been looking forward to - 

River Road by Jayne Ann Krentz

Seventh Heaven by Catherine Anderson

Called by Fire by Delwyn Jenkins

(Eleni: Linda, Delwyn's book is on my 2015 TBR pile!)

Lilliana Rose had been looking forward to - 

A Dance with Dragons, Part 1: Dreams and Dust by George RR Martin

Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices, book 2),  by Cassandra Clare

(Eleni: both of these are on my 2015 TBR piles, Lilliana. Great minds!)

Anne Oliver had been looking forward to - 

Re-reading Nora Roberts' The MacKade Brothers bundle. 

"I love her old romances".

(Eleni: Just before the Christmas break I finished listening to her The O'Hurleys series. Thoroughly enjoyed.)

Alison F had been looking forward to - 

I am looking forward to settling down with I selection of 'new to me' Betty Neels books I scored from Book Depository. These have been saved up for my 'Christmas Treat' which means lying in bed during daylight hours and reading and not feeling the least bit guilty about it!

Okay I lied - I will feel guilty about not doing the housework, but it is Christmas after all. 

(Eleni: One of these days I have to read a Betty Neels book. I have one on my TBR pile.)



Dianne had been looking forward to -

Writing Without a Parachute: the art of freefall by Barbara Turner-Vesselago.

A book on loan from the SA Writers Centre.

(Eleni: Dianne, this looks like a book after my pantser heart!)











Suzie Hindmarsh-Knights was reading - 

Vicious Circle (Hector Cross, book 2) by Wilbur Smith

"It's dark."

(Eleni: One author not on my TBR pile - yet!)

Liana Skrzypczak read - 

These aren't that Christmassy (in fact they're kinda depressing), but this is what I read these holidays!


Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

The Colour Out of Space by H.P. Lovecraft (Short Story)

The Golden Bird by Wilhelm Grimm (Short Story)

(Eleni: Going to the classics, Liana!)

Eleni Konstantine managed to read a few books in early January (damn cold kept me from reading between Christmas and New Year's Eve).

Fake by Beck Nicholas - 5 stars! (- see above for review)

Home for Christmas by Fiona Greene (novella) - 5 stars!

"I try not to be biased when it comes to reviews of people I know and respect. But I suppose we all have our biases. I was lucky enough to read the pre-submitted version but I read this story again in this form, and it blew me away. This a sweet story about two people falling in love slowly via long distance. There is so much heart and soul entwined and it's easy to get swept away. This was perfect holiday read. A book to leave you with a smile on your face when you finish. "

After Dark (Harmony #1) by Jayne Castle (audio) - 4 stars

"Humans on another planet into the far future."

Much Ado About You (Essex Sisters #1) by Eloisa James - 5 stars!

"Delightful historical romance with wit and charm."

I hope everyone had a relaxing time reading. Check in next time with some more Reading Adventures.

Reading Adventures in September

Hello, loyal SARA followers, and welcome to September's instalment of the very adventurous...

Reading Adventures!

(To be honest, authoring is a very solitary and sometimes, ahem, boring pursuit, so if we use words like ADVENTURE and FUN and SPARKLY and WINE (often those last two together) it makes it sound like a party in here.)

(Which, of course, it totally is.)

While Virginia Taylor has been partying solidly like a rockstar since the recent release of her books Dr No Commitment, and Losing Patients, she has found time (obviously, she doesn't sleep, just like all rockstars) to give us this review gem:

Untamed, by Anna Cowan

Rated with five stars from me.

I’m not going to tell the story of Untamed because that’s not what I do. I read for the whole experience, the prose, the characters, and the stories. Often I don’t buy a book because the story told by the reviewer isn’t one I might be interested in, whereas if reviewer simply gave the impression of the story and why she liked/disliked it, I would look for myself.

As it happens, a five star review did interest me enough to go to Amazon and look. I always read the first couple of pages online. I saw some fairly ordinary editing and that Untamed was ranked at about 700,000 by Amazon. At that stage, I didn’t understand the Amazon author rankings or how many books a writer needed to sell to suddenly get a good ranking, which had been happening to me. So, with selfish experimentation in mind I bought the book. At 700,000 I could assume that I would probably be the only buyer in a 24 hour period. In case anyone is interested, the sale dropped her to about 200,000 and I didn’t start reading right away because I was pretty sure I wouldn’t want to read too much.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Somewhere in the middle of the first chapter I read a sentence that made my heart sing. The prose was simply stunning. Of course I read on and was not only lost in some beautiful words -  which I can’t show you - because my Kindle won’t let me get back into the story unless I go backwards page by page from the end to the beginning and I don’t have time.

So, trust me. Anna Cowan is a fantastic writer.

One reviewer said ‘you either like this book or you hate it.’ This means the story is powerful. Other reviewers thought the story was about a boyish girl and girlish boy finding a strange connection that they didn’t want to know about.

I’m a Dorothy Dunnett fan and so I don’t see interesting characterisations quite so simply. This is a story about two damaged people who deal with their problems in their own way, and each needs the strengths of the other. This is what romance is about. Love, redemption, happy endings, and finding the ‘one.’

The heroine isn’t a boyish girl - she is a strong, caring woman, and easily the best heroine I’ve read for a very long time. The hero isn’t a girly boy. He was a renaissance man, that is, a man who has exceptional talents. Not only women fall in love with him, but men. If you can understand that a woman who is just as brilliant but not quite as beautiful can love him, which of course you can, you will love the book as much as I did. It’s a thrilling, clever story, and wonderfully written.

And not only is the heroine one of the best ever heroines I have read in a romance, the ending of the story is my nomination for the most exciting, wonderful ending in any romance, ever. It’s a keeper.

Thanks, Virginia.  We do love your reviews.  

And here's some further gold from Maggie Mundy, who has been going crazy and celebrating like a Eurovision finalist, because the first book of her Midworlder Trilogy, Unknown Protector, is out THIS WEEK from Soul Mate Publishing. 

To be honest, Maggie, that cover makes me feel a little like swinging from a chandelier, too.  Cover win!

Lick, by Kylie Scott

This is a quick read by the very popular author. It is based around a rock star romance that is a very popular genre at the moment. The heroine Ev  in this story finds herself recovering from a hangover to discover she has married a rock star.  It is the story of a relationship between the two that is on again, off again. The other band members cause problems as do old girlfriends. I did feel that it had a feel of a Twilight for rock stars about it. There is lots of sex in it that you don’t find in Twilight. The rest of the band will all get their own book as well. I would say that it was a young adult audience that it would appeal to. I received it as a free book at the roadshow.

Enforcers Craving, by DJ Michaels

This is a menage romance and I have to say the first one that I have read. It is a ScFi romance that has everything from spaceships to dragons in it. A group of girls get taken to another world where there is little technology. They are dressed in clothes that would resemble the Edwardian era. There is no way back to Earth so the girls will have to make the best of their lot. In this book Chelsea is rescued by two sexy dragon riders called Tarkin and Ari. She will find a new home, love and some great sex. The atmosphere of the book reminded me of Firefly by Joss Whedon. I think I would definitely be persuaded to read menage again.

Thanks, Maggie!  More to add to the TBR...

Until next time, happy reading!

Emmeline. xx

Reading Adventures in August

Hello, dear SARA followers!

Have you exhausted your supply of firewood yet, as we have, spending July sitting in front of the fire with your trackies on, a good book and a glass of your favourite?  

The sun is just starting to make an appearance through the day here in the chilly Adelaide Hills, and I for one, could not be happier.  

I can feel the hammock/book/glass of something cold combo coming on!  Yay!  My favourite reading position!


Here's what the lovely Beck Nicholas has been reading of late, though probably in the former scenario, rather than the latter.  There's been snow...

You Make Me by Erin McCarthy


Growing up on the coast of Maine with a revolving door of foster siblings, Caitlyn Michaud spent one intense and passionate year falling in love with her foster brother, Heath. Then he left without a word. The betrayal devastated Caitlyn and made her vow to forget the compelling bad boy. But forgetting his sensual touch and their deep all-consuming friendship is easier said than done.
Isn’t the guy she needs…
Determined to move on, in college Caitlyn has risen above her small town impoverished roots and has joined a sorority, reinvented her appearance, and landed the right boyfriend. Pre-law major and frat president, Ethan, is thoughtful and always laughing, and he makes her feel happy, calm. He also gives her the social acceptance she craves. 
But the perfect world she tried so hard to attain is ripped apart when Heath appears one night out of nowhere. Caitlyn remembers all the reasons why she loves him, even if they don’t make sense to anyone but her. Out of the military, Heath is as brooding and intense as ever, and he is determined not only to win her back, but to exact revenge on everyone who kept him from her…
And when one love allows her to breathe, but the other feels as essential to her life as air, how does she choose between them?


Beck says:

This is a NA title I saw recommended by someone on facebook. It was cheap and I was interested because it’s a contemporary Wuthering Heights.

I would describe it in one word – intense. Which, I think, is exactly what I would have expected if I’d stopped to think before. At the beginning our heroine, Cat,at has built herself the perfect life but we know as soon as Heath arrives on the scene that it is all going to have to break apart. And it’s painful to read. The intensity made for a page turner and I really enjoyed it except because of the pain between the two main characters I wasn’t quite sure I believed entirely in the happy ending. It still worked for me overall.

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han

Belly measures her life in summers. Everything good, everything magical happens between the months of June and August. Winters are simply a time to count the weeks until the next summer, a place away from the beach house, away from Susannah, and most importantly, away from Jeremiah and Conrad. They are the boys that Belly has known since her very first summer--they have been her brother figures, her crushes, and everything in between. But one summer, one terrible and wonderful summer, the more everything changes, the more it all ends up just the way it should have been all along.

Beck:  This YA contemporary romance was a perfect summer beach read, for the middle of winter. I laughed and I cried and it was fun with a dash of romance and a lot about the heroine, Belly, growing up. I loved her transformation from oblivious and self-absorbed at the beginning to having a little more understanding of those around her. It’s told around the summer she’s 16 but there are regular flashbacks to other summers to show us her history with the summer house she’s visiting and the people she sees only in the summer. I really liked this one.

And just who is Beck Nicholas, you might ask?

She's the author of Lifer (coming out in December) and a SARA!

Asher is a Lifer, a slave aboard the spaceship Pelican. A member of the lowest rung of society, she must serve the ship’s Officials and Astronauts as punishment for her grandparents’ crimes back on Earth. The one thing that made life bearable was her illicit relationship with Samuai, a Fishie boy, but he died alongside her brother in a freak training accident.

Still grieving for the loss of her loved ones, Asher is summoned to the upper levels to wait on Lady, the head Official’s wife and Samuai’s mother. It is the perfect opportunity to gather intel for the Lifer’s brewing rebellion. There’s just one problem—the last girl who went to the upper levels never came back.

On the other side of the universe, an alien attack has left Earth in shambles and a group called The Company has taken control. Blank wakes up in a pond completely naked and with no memory, not even his real name. So when a hot girl named Megs invites him to a black-market gaming warehouse where winning means information, he doesn’t think twice about playing. But sometimes the past is better left buried.

As Asher and Blank’s worlds collide, the truth comes out—everyone has been lied to. Bourne Identity meets Under the Never Sky in this intergalactic tale of love and deception from debut novelist Beck Nicholas.

Coming December 16 from Month9Books.

Until next time, happy reading!

Emmeline.  xx

Reading Adventures in June

Hello, fellow romance lovers, and welcome to another instalment of the scrumptiously sassy SARA Reading Adventures.  

If you're anything like me, you're dying to flick the calendar over to a warmer October, and you've been revelling in the recent spate of Indian Summer weather that has been bestowed on us here in lovely South Australia.  

But....there is one great, GREAT thing about winter--reading romance in front of the FIRE.


Now, I'm not sure if Kyoko Church has a fire or not (she lives in the chilly Adelaide Hills, as I do, so chances are high), but nonetheless, she has been reading The Vale Girl.

Kyoko Church:  "I've read The Vale Girl, a debut novel by Aussie author Nelika McDonald. It was brilliant! Masterfully presented plot, beautifully written, couldn't put it down. It reads like a mystery which is normally not my thing but the literary quality of this kept me reading. Big recommend."

"If you leave no trace, nobody could say later whether you were even there at all."
Fourteen-year-old Sarah Vale has gone missing in the small town of Banville. She's the daughter of the town whore so no one seems particularly concerned.
No one cares except Tommy Johns, who loves Sarah Vale with all the unadulterated, tentative passion of a teenage boy. He galvanises the town's policeman Sergeant Henson and, together, they turn the town inside out, searching for the lost girl.
A delicate and layered exploration of secrets and lies, forgotten children and absent parents, and the long shadows of the past.
An extraordinary debut from a talented new writer.

Sounds fascinating, Kyoko.  Thank you.  And an Aussie author!  Oi, oi!


As for me, I've been continuing my sci-fi romance bent.

Here are some of the titles, check your Amazon Sci-Fi Romance list if you'd like to grab a copy.

Invasion Earth (Delroi Connection Book 1) by Loribelle Hunt
In the distant future, Earth has been ravaged by war and famine, and after generations of bloodshed settles into peace only to be invaded by the alien Delroi. General Alrik Torfa needs a mate and his seers promise mates for many of his people on the distant planet Earth. He doesn't expect her to come easily, but is more than a little surprised to find her leading an enemy army. Outmanned and outgunned, there is no way the Earth forces can win.
Sergeant Major Laney Bradford has always played her part and served her people well, but the demands of the Delroi's surrender are a bit extreme. Marriage? To one of them? Not likely. But she's fought for peace her entire life and when surrender talks are threatened by a conspiracy led by her people, Laney must choose. Will she submit to the alien invader or lead the fight against him?

Star Wanderers (Part 1: Outworlder) by Joe Vasic
When Jeremiah arrived at Megiddo Station, all he wanted was to make some trades and resupply his starship. He never thought he'd come away with a wife. 
Before he knows it, he's back on his ship, alone with his accidental bride. Since neither of them speak the same language, he has no way to tell her that there's been a terrible mistake. And because of the deadly famine ravaging her home, there's no going back. She's entirely at his mercy, and that terrifies him more than anything.
Jeremiah isn't ready to take responsibility for anyone. He's a star wanderer, roaming the Outworld frontier in search of his fortune. Someday he'll settle down, but for now, he just wants to drop the girl off at the next port and move on. 
As he soon finds out, though, she has other plans.

Sky Hunter (The Targon Tales 1) by Chris Reher
Air Command pilot Nova Whiteside is assigned to a remote outpost to guard the construction of a new tethered orbiter, Skyranch Twelve, against rebel sabotage. The difference between the well-ordered Union air fields and this dusty garrison is made painfully clear when she runs afoul a brutal commander of ground troops.
Her assignment takes her from the midst of a bloody uprising to the elegant new space station where she hopes to train for her Hunter Class pilot grade. But not all runs according to protocol and she soon suspects that more than farming is being done up there. When she uncovers the treacherous and illicit schemes taking place, it seems that local riots are the least of their troubles.

The Return Journey by Michael Gillen
Two men go on a journey through space to a planet that is legendary for holding the answer to any question. But, on the way, they start having new questions about each other and themselves, and they are shocked by the answers they discover.



Date Night on Union Station by EM Foner
Kelly Frank is EarthCent’s top diplomat on Union Station, but her job description has always been a bit vague. When she receives a gift subscription to the dating service that’s rumored to be powered by the same benevolent artificial intelligence that runs the huge station, Kelly decides to swallow her pride and give it a shot. But as her dates go from bad to worse, she can only hope that the supposedly omniscient AI is planning a happy ending.




While I enjoyed most of these books, Loribelle Hunt is the author I'd reach for again, though Foner's book was amusing, and had my favourite hero, and I enjoyed the premise of Vasic's novella.

Until next time, happy reading and stay warm!

Emmeline x

Reading Adventures in May

Hello, dear readers! 

Let's not dally!  On to our sasstacular SARA Reading Adventures for May!


Reviews for Virginia Taylor's Dr No Commitment:
A mischievous romantic comedy, about a man who’s always run from love and the girl who just might catch him.Ally was warned about Rohan Sinclair when she first moved to town – and she is determined she won’t let this gorgeous, model-dating doctor distract her from being the best nurse she can be. Problem is, this bad boy just happens to live in the room next door . . .It’s hard enough to resist his persistent charm at home; almost impossible when they are thrown together at work . . . But a little innocent flirting never hurt anyone, right?  Wrong. Ally knows it’s a terrible idea to fall for a man who will never commit, but what if in every other way he’s her perfect guy?

"Hands down the best dialogue I’ve read in a book this year." - The Never Ending Bookshelf, Goodreads

"One of those books that read effortlessly and just wrap you up inside the plot and setting, pitting you right there beside the characters as you watch it all happen like a movie inside your mind . . . Witty, warm, and engaging - the perfect feel-good romance." - Zee Monodee, Goodreads

"This is a great book for summer nights – fun and flirty!" - Sam Still Reading, Goodreads

"This was a fabulous book. It not only kept me on my toes but it truly grasped the truth behind the insecurities between lovers. By keeping heated scenes it's top priority's, this book had swindled me into it's oh so tempting pages, and will soon lure you to crack this book's spine time and time again." - Evelyn Rookey, Goodreads

"AWESOME BOOK !!!! Just finished reading this book and all I can say is I couldn't put it down. It has everything I look for in a good book, romance, sex and some comedy. The love story between Rohan and Allison is hot and steamy and is worth taking the few hours to get to know them." - Annie Mallais, Goodreads

"An enormous novella with a no-nonsense heroine, a charming hero, some great one-liners, a refreshing medicine backdrop and best setting on the planet! Love how this story showcases our hometown. Well worth a read!" - Emmeline Lock, Goodreads.


Maggie Mundy has been reading JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood:

I decided to start reading the Black Dagger Brotherhood. I had read two books in the middle I had been given a long time ago but I have now finished book one and I am about half way through book two.

I love JR Wards writing. The men are kick ass and the women are tough. The story has a good subplots and great characters and the sex is hot. I have to say I get bored when the lesser who are the antagonists. It is a bit overwhelming trying to remember all the brothers but I am getting there.

Personally, I've been on reading rampage (again, ahem), and here's a quick list of the books I've rated four out of five stars or more - these are crackers!

The Zenith Trilogy (Its about rockstars, people!), The Sister Series - Leanne Davis
Attachments, Eleanor and Park, Fangirl - Rainbow Rowell (Rowell would be my favourite author of this particular bunch.  A new must-buy.)
Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door (Anna and the French Kiss Series) - Stephanie Perkins
Marine for Hire - Tawna Fenske
Shadowfell Trilogy - Juliet Marillier
A Charm of Magpies Series - KJ Charles.  

So HARD to pick favourites, but these have stuck with me the most:

Attachments:  really clever, deep characters.

"Hi, I'm the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you . . . "

Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It's company policy.) But they can't quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.

Meanwhile, Lincoln O'Neill can't believe this is his job now- reading other people's e-mail. When he applied to be "internet security officer," he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.

When Lincoln comes across Beth's and Jennifer's messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can't help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories.

By the time Lincoln realizes he's falling for Beth, it's way too late to introduce himself.

What would he say . . . ?

Aaaaaand: 

The Magpie Lord, first book in the Charm of Magpies series.  I found this really interesting.  I was always wanting more.  The m/m love story was charming.  

A lord in danger. A magician in turmoil. A snowball in hell.

A Charm of Magpies, Book 1

Exiled to China for twenty years, Lucien Vaudrey never planned to return to England. But with the mysterious deaths of his father and brother, it seems the new Lord Crane has inherited an earldom. He’s also inherited his family’s enemies. He needs magical assistance, fast. He doesn’t expect it to turn up angry.

Magician Stephen Day has good reason to hate Crane’s family. Unfortunately, it’s his job to deal with supernatural threats. Besides, the earl is unlike any aristocrat he’s ever met, with the tattoos, the attitude…and the way Crane seems determined to get him into bed. That’s definitely unusual.

Soon Stephen is falling hard for the worst possible man, at the worst possible time. But Crane’s dangerous appeal isn’t the only thing rendering Stephen powerless. Evil pervades the house, a web of plots is closing round Crane, and if Stephen can’t find a way through it—they’re both going to die. 

Warning: Contains hot m/m sex between a deeply inappropriate earl and a very confused magician, dark plots in a magical version of Victorian England, family values (not the good kind), and a lot of swearing.


Until next time, happy reading!

Emmeline.