Audiobooks to listen to: Accidental Lies

Hello and welcome!

I am blaming Dana Mason and Kelsey Navarro for not getting sleep last night. I listened til the end well into the wee hours of the morning to this awesome audiobook.

Accidental Lies, book 2 in the Accidental Love series by Dana Mason, narrated by one of my eargasm voices, Kelsey Navarro.

It was only meant to be a vacation fling….

Three blissful weeks on the beautiful island of Maui are exactly what I need…. Hula dancers, Mai Tais with cocktail umbrellas, and golden beaches – what more could I want?

Then I see her, and I realize she’s exactly what I want.

She was locked outside of her hotel room, all buttoned-up in a suit definitely not appropriate for a vacation, and wearing a fierce take-no-shit stance. But I couldn’t help noticing the pain behind her eyes….

Four Mai Tais later, the chemistry between us is hotter than the Hawaiian sun, and we decide to spend the rest of our vacation unwinding, undressing, and getting to know each other a little better….

We have just two rules:
1) No talking about our lives outside Maui.
2) This is just a vacation fling.

That means I can’t tell her about the heartbreak that haunts me, and the secret I have back home. It means I can’t ask her about the sorrow in her eyes, and why she has such a wall up – a wall I’m determined to bring crashing down.

When the sun sets on our trip, can I say goodbye to this gorgeous blue-eyed beauty? Or am I going to be tempted to break the rules?

And if I do decide to be a rule-breaker, will she even want me when she finds out who I really am?

This is a full-length, standalone romance with some hot-under-the-collar action, no cheating, and a guaranteed HEA. For fans of R.S Grey, Whitney G., and Vi Keeland, Accidental Lies features a hot AF alpha and a sizzling will-they-wont-they love story that will have you totally addicted!

My review – 5 stars

What a great story! I fell in love with Drew from the first, no wonder Emily fell for him. Their chemistry is off the charts. The journey to HEA is not easy, with unpredictable twists, at times I wanted to jump in and shout JUST SAY IT !!! LOL
They both need healing from losing their spouse and I am glad they work it out in the end, they are perfect for each other. The ending is sweet, got me tearing up. A great second chances contemporary romance that I recommend with 5 stars.

The experience was made even better by the voice of one of my fave narrators, Ms. Navarro performs with passion. I love listening to the many characters she brings to life. – 5 stars

Kelsey Navarro – website,  Facebook, Twitter

Dana Mason – website, Facebook, Twitter

Until next time… read a book, listen to a book and don’t forget to show your love by leaving a review!

An Elven Love Song – Cover Reveal

Hello and welcome!

I am so excited to share the cover of “An Elven Love Song“, a novella in the Guardians of the Empire series by M. A. Abraham.

Well after the Drazon Wars, in the Valley gifted to the humans that once rode at the side of the Elves…

Matrium, the only child of Segreth and Larieth of the Valley is a lonely Elven Princess despite the love of all the people surrounding her. She yearns for her Life Mate, although she is not aware of doing so, or of his existence.

Gaylon is a musician in the lands of his ancestors of the Elven Empire and he can feel the lure of his Life Mate. In his heart there is only love and a song, one he will only play to one. He rides to seek her out and win her heart.

With one glance the two lovers know they were meant to be. Yet, true to her Light Elven heritage, Matrium will fight the attraction, while Gaylon plays their song to guide her to his side.

This is their song.

It will be part of the paperback edition of The Priestess, book 3 of the GOTE series, expected to release on February 20, 2020.

Her fan group convinced M. A. Abraham to release it separately in ebook format and I am hoping it will happen in December. If you agree, comment below and let her know you want this short story to release at Christmas.

I had a lot of fun designing the cover, knowing the story helps immensely. When I met Matrium in the first book of the series, The Goddess, I knew I had to know more of her story and I begged MA to tell it. I hope you will love her story as much as I did.

Check out the rest of the books in the series.

THE GUARDIANS OF THE EMPIRE – 12-book series
and whatever short stories I can manage to convince MA to write 😉 

A sequel to the ‘Elven Chronicles’ and ‘One Empire’ series.

There are twelve Elves who have proven their worth over the Millennium. They have won the right to shift into Dragons, so they have become Guardians of the Elven Empire. They have won this honor through valor, might and compassion. They are prime Elves, the sons of Kings, but they have been alone for too long, without the hope of meeting their Life Mates. Because of this, they are beginning to lose their identities. They live their lives for duty, as they fly patrols around the borders of the boundary Emperor Lothrariel and his Kings created to keep the Empire safe. But, one day at a time, they are beginning to succumb to their Draconian half. It is time something was done to stop this, and their leader, King Gerolth, has set a plan in place to take care of this problem.

Somewhere in the Elven worlds there are Life Mates for these Guardians, and King Gerolth is determined that they will be found, before it is too late.

The Goddess – Available now!

The Princess – Available now!

Releasing in February 20, 2020

Releasing on August 26, 2020

More coming and I will be making announcements as I get the news.

Add it to your TBR list on Goodreads! Sign up to Ms. Abraham’s blog and follow her on Facebook and Twitter to keep up to date. You can also sign up to my blog, I will have all the news too 😉

Until next time read a book, listen to a book and don’t forget to show your love by leaving a review!

Audiobooks to listen to: Love, Michael

Hello and welcome!

I just finished another great audiobook and let me tell you, it was an emotional wringer.

Love, Michael by Gina A. Jones is one that I could not stop listening to.

Michael,

Twenty years ago, I spent our wedding night alone and was given a letter outlining the day and time of our divorce. Now it’s our daughter’s wedding day, and your smile tells me you’re here for more than to walk her down the aisle.

When we met, it was the summer of Shania Twain, the color of mocha iced lipstick, sand and sable perfume, and the summer I became a 17-year-old mother. But time has changed me.

So tell me, why are you back?

Jill

My review: 5 stars

Jill’s story broke my heart, mended it, to break it again, what an emotional wringer. I spent most of the book being mad at Michael and I am not sure I got to like him fully even at the end. It resonates with me because of my life experiences, I cried a few times, I mean really cried, so be prepared to have tissues handy. Jill is a beautiful soul and I am glad she finally got her HEA, it took me by surprise with whom, but she paid dearly.
The parallel running of the ‘now’ and the ‘then’ was interesting, it bugged me at the beginning but as I listened it made sense to do it that way. The advices at the end hit home, I am on a path to learn forgiveness and it is hard.
Thank you Ms. Jones. Your voice is a pleasure to listen to and loved the variations for each character, especially the one you gave Michael.

This was not my first from Ms. Jones and it will not be the last, I hope there will be more.

Check out her books at the website.

Until next time… read a book, listen to a book and don’t forget to show your love by leaving a review!

My Chat with Susan Hayes!

Hello and welcome!

My today’s guest is an author I’ve been following for a few years now. Her books are out of this world awesome.

Please welcome Susan Hayes!

Do you have a nickname?
My parents usually call me Snooper. A childhood nickname because I carried a Snoopy stuffy with me for years.

What makes you laugh out loud?
British comedies.

What is your favourite smell? What does it remind you of?
The ocean. I’ve lived on an island for most of my life. Every time I leave the ocean, I miss the smell. To me, that’s the scent of home.

Favourite place to spend time in.
My home. I’m a homebody at heart.

Is there a genre that you refuse to read?
I don’t read anything to do with True Crime. I spent ten years reading and processing police files as a career. True Crime just doesn’t appeal to me because of that.

Writing! What started it?
I’ve always been a writer. Even as a kid, I loved writing my own stories. I didn’t find the courage to try and get published until much later in life. My little brother died suddenly, and I was realized that life is too short not to take chances.

Audiobooks! What started them?
The day ACX ,Audible’s creation side, opened their doors to Canadian writers, I was in! I love audiobooks.

Does your work convey a specific emotion or message?
I write romances with strong heroines from diverse backgrounds because I believe every woman deserves her Happily Ever After.

Who is your intended audience, and why should they read your books?
My intended audience is anyone who loves Sci-Fi and Paranormal Romance with a hint of humour and a whole lot of sizzle.

What is next in your writing?
I am working on the next trilogy of stories for my Star-Crossed Alien Mail Order Bride series. They’ll be releasing this fall.

Thank you Susan for spending time with me. I am a big fan and looking forward to listen to more of your stories.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hope you enjoyed my chat with Ms. Hayes.

Susan lives on Vancouver Island, off the Canadian west coast where the waters are patrolled by orcas, and the sighting of snowflakes leads to citywide panic. She’s jumped out of perfectly good airplanes on purpose and accidentally swum with sharks on the Great Barrier Reef.

If the world ends, she plans to survive as the spunky, comedic sidekick to the heroes of the new world, because she’s too short and out of shape to make it on her own for long.

As I mentioned, her books are out of this world, my love affair with them started a few years ago when I picked up the first audiobook in The Drift series, Double Down. The heroines are spunky and heroes dreamy alpha creatures.

and I have almost worked my way thru Intergalactic Dating Agency series.

Tieran Wilder is the voice giving them life and it is addictive. She has that warm voice that draws the listener in. I like that I can hear the emotions and moods behind the words and each character is distinctive.

I had the pleasure of meeting Susan a few times at RTC Ottawa, she is fun and a delight to be around.

You can check out her books on the website, so many to choose from: SCIENCE FICTION ROMANCE, PARANORMAL ROMANCE, CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE.

Follow on FB, Twitter and Instagram.

Also check out the 5-part posts on ACX’s blog sharing her journey into the audiobook world from a Canadian author’s perspective, informative and detailed.

Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4 – Part 5

Until next time… read a book, listen to a book and don’t forget to show your love by leaving a review!

 

Audiobooks to listen to: Instant Gratification

Hello and welcome!

Another great audio you don’t want to miss is the one I listened to a few days ago and that is Instant Gratification by Lauren Blakely.

A star-studded production of a new stand-alone romance from number one New York Times best-selling author Lauren Blakely, performed by a full cast of 15 narrators. Led by Andi Arndt and Shane East, the all-star cast also includes award winners and fan favorites: Vikas Adam, Bahni Turpin, Scott Brick, Zachary Webber, Jason Clarke, Emma Wilder, Hillary Huber, Joe Arden, Grace Grant, Marisa Calin, Lili Valente, newcomer Adam Lau, and Sebastian York in a special appearance.

I need a fake date. She needs my late-night expertise. Now, if we can just keep our hands off each other….

As the premier best-man-for hire in all of Manhattan, I promise discretion, so when I need a plus one for a couple of “I dos”, I turn to my gorgeous, clever, witty best friend’s sister. She’s my good friend, too, and I lust after her completely. I mean, I trust her completely.

After all, just look how she’s kept her lips sealed about the hot, multi-O night we spent together. Yes, just look at those sexy lips.

In any case, we only fell off the wagon once, and it was months ago. I’m sure we can make it through these weddings without banging each other in the limo.

Or can we?

This special production also includes a behind-the-scenes conversation with Andi Arndt and Shane East as well as a blooper reel!

My review:

Overall 5 out of 5 stars
Performance 5 out of 5 stars
Story 5 out of 5 stars

eargasm overload
A great romcom story that we come to expect from Ms. Blakely, friends to lovers with chemistry thru the roof, with some comic relief from friends and family, comeback lines, and very little angst and no drama, which I love. The singing, the banter between friends, the heat between the couples, the energy between partners and love of family is all felt throughout the book. Jason and Truly get their HEA and judging by the few epilogues we can expect other couples will too in future books. YAY
I had a few eargasms from the intro alone. The voices are incredible, some are my faves I listened to before and some new ones too that I will be sure to check out more of. The story is alive, it was like listening to a theatre show on the radio, they made it so easy to listen to, I could not stop. It is an experience not to be missed. I know I will be listening to this one again.

For those of you who don’t do audio, here is the website where you can find all the buy links.

Until next time… read a book, listen to a book and don’t forget to show your love by leaving a review!

Audiobooks to listen to: Heidi’s Guide to Four Letter Words

Hello and welcome!

I just finished one of the best audiobook I listened to this year and I thought I should share it with you.

“Heidi’s Guide to Four Letter Words” is a laugh-out-loud romcom with a few cringe-worthy (for Heidi that is) situations and some hawt scenes too. I learned a few new expressions too.

Uff da is one of them, I learned that is used to express surprise, relief, exhaustion, astonishment, and dismay. It kind of means “drats!”, “oops!”, “ouch!”, “Oh no!” or “Okay!”

source

I need one of these in my life LOL

Cowritten by USA Today best-selling author Tara Sivec and award-winning narrator Andi Arndt, a hysterically funny, heartfelt romance about starting over and taking chances.

Nothing good ever comes from drinking a box of wine alone. So when I decided to entertain my drunken self by setting up some hand-me-down podcasting equipment and reading the steamy parts from romance novels, I never thought anyone would actually listen. The fact that I admitted my huge crush on my sexy next door neighbor made the whole thing even more mortifying. But sometimes life surprises you, and that’s how my podcast, Heidi’s Discount Erotica, was born.

Now I, Heidi Larsen, a sweet former kindergarten teacher in Waconia, Minnesota, lead a scandalous double life reading erotic novels to the listening world. And with each episode, I find myself embracing my new alter ego more and more. Now I’m starting to feel more comfortable in my own skin and do things I never would have dreamed of – like kissing my neighbor.

Look out, Waconia, because Heidi’s on the loose! She’s in your ears, in your hearts, and down your pants…wait, that didn’t sound as good as it did in my head. Well, you get the picture, don’tcha know!

My review:

Overall 5 out of 5 stars
Performance 5 out of 5 stars
Story 5 out of 5 stars

“sweet and hilarious”
One of the best books I listened to this year. Sweet, innocent Heidi comes out of her shell and oh boy what a ride. Hilarious at times where I burst out laughing, startled quite a few people around me, at work or in the elevator. DO NOT DRINK OR EAT while listening to this! I loved the interactions between Heidi and her quirky parents and the Aunt is my fave character. Love Brent, her hawt neighbour. They get their HEA, but there are a few twists I so didn’t expect. My first book by Ms. Sivec and I am looking forward to discovering more of her books.

Ms. Arndt is one of my fave narrators, I love listening to her voices, and with this debut novel that launches her writing career, she is even more so. I really hope there will be more because I need more stories.

Audible

For those of you who don’t do audio there is a preorder – Amazon US
– ebook is releasing December 3, 2019

You can follow Andi Arndt on her website, FB, Twitter. I listened to many of her audiobooks and I recommend you check out her work.

Tara Sivec can be found on her website, FB, Twitter, also check out the Pinterest board for Heidi’s book and you will see who are the characters and other tidbits. A new author for me, I will definitely check out her other books.

I wonder if I can convince Andi and Tara to send one of the characters for a chat… hmm… maybe Brent? Or Heidi’s Aunt? She is my fave secondary character… hmmm

I REALLY REALLY REALLY hope there will be more books in Heidi’s world, we need more stories!!!

Until next time… read a book, listen to a book and don’t forget to show your love by leaving a review!

 

RTC2019 – thoughts and a giveaway

Hello and welcome!

I mentioned in one of my earlier blogs about my plans to attend Romancing the Capital in Ottawa, Canada again this year, I did and had a blast. Got to see old friends, made new ones and as usual I went over the budget by a smidge 😉

Eve Langlais and her minions rocked it as usual. Looks like this is it, at least for a while, so I am glad I went. I want to thank all the sponsors, the authors and those who helped them for a great event.

The VIP bags were full with the generous donations from the authors.

 

Thursday afternoon I was so excited to finally met in person one of my longtime on-line friends, Gayle, AKA Dark Angel, and we had a great meal and got caught up on our lives.

Then in the evening, I attended the “Audio & Crafts with Deborah Cooke, Debra Dunbar, and Mandy Rosko“. Check out this steampunk bracelet and key chain I made, supplies brought by Mandy Rosko.

Got to chat with Will Dages from Findaway Voices, he actually remembered my name from the awesome giveaway I won on Twitter, I was their 1,000 follower. You should check out their website if you are an author looking to get your books in audio or distribute them.

Friday morning I attended “Romance Reader Cover Bingo with Lacey Silks“ where I won a box of chocolates YUM

Then I did “Sexy Cover Puzzles with Becca Jameson“.

These are just a few, I attended more after I reigned in the migraine that hit suddenly, that was a rough one too. I took a lot of breaks and wore my sunglasses for the afternoon.

I got to put my costume-making skills to the test again, and boy, were they tested. I could not finish it fully before the event because the day I planned to, everything went sideways and had to take care of the issues thrown my way… my DS was joking that he could see the steam coming out of my ears… which took most of the day.

So here I am on the night of the Steampunk Ball and am trying to put together the costume… but again… the corset was giving me attitude, the boots didn’t fit because my ankles were swelled up (I had to settle for my funky clogs), hot flashes and my hands were not cooperating… seemed like something was telling me give up… but I said, dammit! I will not give up! So I didn’t 😛 I think it turned out pretty good.

I was again the BBF (book boyfriend) collector … steampunk style 😉

My props were a couple of very old books bound in leather, the publishing year was not noted in them but one of them has a dedication and it was gifted for Christmas in 1934, two hand made leather bound journals…

… and a chain with keys and lots of books.

The food was excellent, there were prizes for best costumes and dancing too.

Also got a lot of charms too, I am sure I missed a few when I was down with a migraine or because a couple of authors didn’t give them if you didn’t guess the clue right. Oh well.

Saturday morning had breakfast while attending Books Books & More Books Bingo with Becca Jameson and Elle Boon. We used caramels instead of stamps, they were yummy too.

Then I had fun at “What’s Your Fortune… in Bed?” with Desiree Holt, Elle Boon, Susan Hayes, NJ Walters, and Zoe York. You should have heard the riotous laughter as the readers got to read their fortune cookies and acting them out. These were the ones I got… adding at the end “… in bed”.

Later I was at “Draw a Stickman Cover!” with Mina Carter, Susan Hayes, and J Thompson. Had a few laughs at my stickman drawings of the covers LOL

Also attended “Two Truths and a Lie” with Molly O’Keefe, Deborah Cooke, Susan Hayes, Ellis Leigh, Zoe York, and Lilith Darville. I won one book from Ellis Leigh when I guessed her trivia.

Then I attended Milly’s World Lunch, hosted by Milly Taiden, Ophelia Bell, Godiva Glenn, Sheri Lyn, Jennifer Wedmore, Roxanne Witherell. I was sitting at Godiva’s table and got chatting, a new author for me and I am looking forward to discover her books. We got a tote bag with goodies from the authors.

Then there was the book signing, I got to chat with the authors (got lots of swag for you),  other readers and bloggers. Here is my loot 🙂

OY this is getting to be a long post and if you got this far in reading, you deserve a shot at the giveaway a bag full of swag and a couple of signed books generously donated by Freya Barker and Mina Carter.

Just tell me in the comments who is your ultimate book boyfriend, with name, book title and author. If you can’t choose, give me the latest one 😉

Sexy Mr. Random will pick a winner from the comments after 3pm EST on Thursday, September 5, 2019. Open internationally! GOOD LUCK!

Until next time… read a book, listen to a book and don’t forget to show your love by leaving a review!