Review by @LaurieKozlowski of “Hope Breaks” by Alice Bello #Amreading #Erotic #Romance #Humor

Review of Hope Breaks – A Short Story by Alice Bello

Hope Breaks is about a young woman trying to hold onto the career she just began. It’s about the newness of love, and how easily it can break. It’s about the past, good friends, good food and laughter.
*****
Hope Jones has two problems: one is new, the other is depressingly old.
The new problem: the bestselling author the publisher she shoots romance novel covers for hates her newest batch of covers. She has until the end of the week to come up with a breathtaking shot or she’ll be replaced. And there’s a sudden model shortage; they’re out of season.
The old, depressing problem: she hasn’t had a date, sex or a relationship in over two years.
She also has one hell of a headache.
Hope finds the cures for her two problems during a search through Wal-Mart for a painkiller to kill her headache.
Turns out the aisles of the retail giant are rampant with hot young model worthy specimens. And when her trusty Ford Taurus breaks down in the parking lot, a hunky mechanic in the Tire and Lube Express department fixes more than just her car.
Seemingly her troubles are good as gone…but then her new, fabulous cover is rejected, and in a desperate moment she has to choose between keeping her job and keeping the man she’s just starting to fall in love with.

Five Stars * * * * *

Freaking Off-The-Charts Hot, Tender, and Funny Romance

I loved this book! The humor was great…and WOW do Jake and Hope have a hot attraction to one another. The passion leaps off the pages, as I got a glimpse into the life of a cover artist-Hope-trying to make ends meet in the creative and demanding field of e-book cover design, and Jake-a hunkadorable mechanic whose tenderness for Hope made my heart ache and swoon, all at once! If you love conversational humor, an entertaining read with LOTS and lots of sexual tension and just the right amount of erotic romance…you will love this book!

Ahem…one note: Has a a cliffhanger! You’ll want to buy the entire series, for sure, so you aren’t left hanging. But with heroes like these, who could read just one!

Reviewed by Laurie Kozlowski on Amazon and Goodreads

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More Works From Alice Bello

Available on AMAZON and BARNES & NOBLE

About Alice Bello

“Let me introduce myself. I’m forty one, and a proud indie author. I live to read and love to write. I love romance, comedy, brooding and sparkly vampires, and I love pizza. I have a dog named Jack, and I work somewhere I have to wear a blue top and brown pants (you can probably guess).

My books so far.

Un-Dateable: A Novel (07/04/2014)

At Last

Slash & Burn: Volume 1
Kiss: Slash & Burn Volume 2
Crash: Slash & Burn Volume 3 (Coming Soon)

Hope Breaks: a New Adult Romantic novella
Hope Entangles: a New Adult Romantic novella
Hope Rises: a New Adult Romantic novella
Holding onto Hope: The Complete Hope Series

Min’s Vampire

BETTER OFF DEAD: A Lucy Hart, DEATHDEALER Novel
NOT DEAD YET: A Lucy Hart, DEATHDEALER Novel
TO THE DEATH: A DEATHDEALER Novella (TBA)
DEAD AND BURRIED: A Lucy Hart DEATHDEALER Novel (TBA)

For Love of the Man: a Frisky Kittens novel (TBA)
A Hard Man to Love: a Frisky Kittens novel (TBA)

Contact me through:
alice.bello.romance@gmail.com ”

 

Review by @LaurieKozlowski of “Our Totally Ridiculous Made Up Relationship” #Romantic #Humor #Fiction

OUR TOTALLY RIDICULOUS MADE UP RELATIONSHIP~

All families have secrets, and Jules Stone’s is no exception. Deciding not to follow in her family’s Oscar-winning footsteps, Jules chooses to take a more behind-the-scenes career in one of the Top 10 Talent Agencies in Chicago. After being dumped five hours before spending Christmas with her dysfunctional family, she needs a plan to avoid their judgmental eyes.

Enter: Kayden Reece.

Kayden is the black sheep of his family, being the one actor drowning in a world of doctors and lawyers. Never really getting a jumpstart at his acting career or landing a big time role, he can feel his dad’s disappointment soaking into his spirit.

When Kayden gets a chance to meet and sign with a big name agent at Walter and Jacks Talent Agency, he’s ready to prove everyone wrong. Jules stumbles into the building in shambles, ugly crying, and begging to pay an actor a big sum of money to be her made-up boyfriend for five days, Kayden jumps at the opportunity—finally able to say he landed a role.

When secrets start to unravel, Kayden and Jules must learn that all families have their baggage, sometimes co-stars fall in lust, and it’s important to always have invisible mistletoe hanging around.

This holiday season join the two fake lovebirds as they partake in the role of a lifetime.

Five Stars * * * * *

Cute and Extremely Funny Romantic Comedy

This novella is full of humor, love, and a bunch of over-the-top conversational humor. It is excellent because humor is within the dialogue instead of trying to describe the characters acting funny. So, it truly is a hilarious love story, with believable humor.

Both lead characters grab your heart as you see them transform while diving into this entertaining and lighthearted novella. Kayden is a hero that will steal your heart. He isn’t your average bartender…he’s also an aspiring actor carrying around a tragedy of his own. Julie Ann is a woman many can relate to as she’s given up on her big dreams because of past insecurities. Their shenanigans while meeting Julie Ann’s weird family during the holidays made me howl in laughter. Especially at how snarky and loving her grandmother is in not hiding that she is a cougar, taking on a young lover! Go grandma, go! Lol.

As you can guess, the side characters were also fun to read about. There is a hilarious scene where Kayden is coerced into reciting a scene with Julie Ann’s father – who reads in the nude. I completely lost it and couldn’t stop laughing for several minutes straight.

I recommend this book to anyone wanting a refreshing, funny, book to read with warm and sweet romance. Loved it!

Reviewed by Laurie Kozlowski on Amazon and Goodreads

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Other works by Brittainy Cherry

* Amazon * Barnes and Noble *

About The Author

Brittainy Cherry has been in love with words since the day she took her first breath. She graduated from Carroll University with a Bachelors Degree in Theatre Arts and a minor in Creative Writing. She loves to take part in writing screenplays, acting, and dancing–poorly of course. Coffee, chai tea, and wine are three things that she thinks every person should partake in! Brittainy lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her family. When she’s not running a million errands and crafting stories, she’s probably playing with her adorable pets.

You can find her on facebook at: www.facebook.com/BrittainyCherryAuthor

@LaurieKozlowski ‘s Review of “A Lick of Flame” by AD Marrow #horrorfiction #suspense #romancebooks #amreading

In the battle between good and evil, there are angels, there are demons… and then there’s Dane Mason.

President of the Kill Devil Crew, his fighting skills are legendary both in Heaven and Hell. When a high ranking demon taps him for a prime spot down under, Dane must pull out all the stops to protect the town of Graves Hollow but more importantly, to save the soul of the one woman he can’t live without.

Where Dane destroys, Emme Rooney heals. Physician’s Assistant Emme sews up the members of Kill Devil Crew when the things that go bump in the night lash out. Dane knows loving him could get her killed, but her hands on his body sends him reeling out of control.

Dane pushes her away time and time again, only to be drawn back to her flame. Will his desire blind him to the real danger surrounding him?

Review of A LICK OF FLAME (Kill Devil Crew, Book One)

Amazon * All Romance * Bookstrand * Smashwords

Five of Five Stars

* * * * *

A Graphic, Gritty, Deliciously Dark and Dangerous Romance

A Lick of Flame left me riveted and edgy. I couldn’t believe the grittiness within the pages of A Lick of Flame, but the richness of the story and was absolutely mesmerizing. For me, since I read a lot of feel-good romances, it was sort of like noticing someone who is injured in an accident and coming to their aid, though I’m terrified of the wreckage around them and the fatal wounds to their body. If this light description makes you queasy…be prepared for this sinister mystery romance to hold you captive and push your boundaries concerning horror and romance. It is well worth the read to connect with the characters cast in this story.

Dane is leader of the Kill Devil Crew, a group of outlaws fighting demons who are trying to take over the world with evil, gruesome murders, and violence. His heart belongs to Emme…a woman he could potentially kill, but who also has the job of mending the members (including Dane), of the Kill Devil Crew, when they incur injuries from fighting the demons.

I can usually go into great detail about the plot and story and characters, but simply put–you just have to read this book to digest the decadence of all the layers. There is so much to appreciate about Dane, his ultimate mission for his crew and for his love, Emme. It is clear this series will revolve around the crew and males mostly, instead of highlighting the lead females. Or at least it was that way in this book. All the men in the crew are badasses, and Dane was hot, skillful, and dominant. The world in A Lick of Flame was dark and suspicious. You will be pulled in, no matter what you normally read, but especially if you love dark horror and mystery with a great and thick plot.

Review by Laurie Kozlowski

**ARC was given by the author in exchange for an honest review. **

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MORE BOOKS BY AD MARROW

Go to AD’s Website to view the excerpt for Love and Other Cosmic Nonsense

ABOUT AD MARROW

A.D Marrow is a  a registered Sapiophile, a proud Geek since before Geek was chic and believes that everyone deserves a happily ever after. She lives in the foothills of North Carolina with her ridiculously hot and amazingly supportive husband, three kids that rock so hard there should be a national holiday for their awesomeness, two really stupid dogs and a plethora of Post-it notes with book ideas to last her until she’s 90. Her childhood dream is realized in the fact that YOU have cause to read her bio. She hopes that one day, it lends her enough credibility to live out her second dream, which is to write an episode of Doctor Who.

Her personal mantra echoes that of Morticia Adams; “Normal is an illusion. What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly.”

Book Escape Review of ‘Between’ by Kerry Schafer #amreading #fantasy

Review of ‘Between’ by Kerry Schafer

Mesmerizing Mixture of Horror, Magic, and Romance

Five Stars * * * * *

I’ve always loved paranormal romance, but this book cannot be contained into just one category. Between is a terrific book. Vivian, the main character, but not the least of all the interesting characters throughout this book, resists her bloodline as sorceress and dragon. Her mother, Isobel, is constantly traveling in between worlds to get to her true love, Landon. The evil sorceress, Johanna, was a great villain-lethal and unmerciful. Of course, the highlight for me, was the side-romance of Vivian and Zee. He is introduced as a bookstore owner and artist, but Oh Wow!–How ‘more than meets the eye’ is revealed, easy going Zee proclaims his right as Warlord. He is scared from head to toe, and absolutely bad-ass and charming. And what woman wouldn’t want a flawed and tortured man with a heart of gold to slay a dragon for her! Oh, but Vivian can handle a dragon on her own…and that is all I’ll say. One of my favorite side-characters was Poe the penguin-he was so cute, and very protective of Vivian. I loved this book.

For the sake of readers who have a queasy stomach when it comes to gore, I will put this disclaimer: this story does include some graphic gore–but I felt it was weaved in a way that enhanced the story, overall. Also, if you are a survivor of rape, this book may contain ‘triggers’–the attempted rape scene in this book, is in a dream, and be assured the man attempting the heinous ‘dream act’ does not get away with it. Those things being said, I certainly do not discourage anyone from giving this book a chance. The world the author built was amazing, dark, and effective. The characters were always revealing layers of themselves, throughout the story. It was a wonderful fantasy fiction novel, overall.

Check out BETWEEN at most major retailers:

Barnes and Noble * Amazon * Books A Million * Indie Bound

Reviewed by Laurie Kozlowski–also posted to Goodreads.

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Laurie Kozlowski on Goodreads

ABOUT KERRY SCHAFER

Kerry Schafer is licensed both as a Mental Health Professional and an RN, and spends most of her daylight hours helping people–usually even with a smile. When she’s writing, she gets to blow stuff up and play around with dragons, exploding slime toads, and the other denizens of her imagination. She lives with her Viking in Colville, Washington, in a little house surrounded by rocks, trees, and gangs of deer and wild turkeys.

Kerry is the author of the Books of the Between (Between, 1/29/13; Wakeworld 1/28/14) and the Dream Wars Series (Dream Runner, Dream Thief, Dream Wars).

Second book of the BETWEEN series:

Amazon * Barnes and Noble * Books A Million * Indie Bound

Vivian Maylor is trying to hold it together. But her attempts to build a life with the man she loves seem doomed by the dragon inside her yearning to break free. Vivian is a dreamshifter, the last line of defense between reality and the dreamworld, and the only one of her kind.

Weston Jennings also believes he is the only one of his kind. He fears his powers as a dreamshifter, and resists learning to control them. After suffering a tragic loss, Weston heads deep into the woods of the Pacific Northwest to embrace a safe life of solitude. But when a terrible mistake leads to an innocent’™s death, his guilt drives him to his former home, where he encounters what he never thought he would find: another shifter.

Now Vivian and Weston must work together to defeat a new threat to the dreamworld.

Kerry Schafer’s Website

Kerry Schafer on Facebook

Kerry Schafer on Goodreads