A Sure Thing by Marie Harte

Meet the Donnigans

With the eldest Donnigan brothers adjusting to civilian life, their younger sister constantly in trouble, and their little brother clueless about life in general, falling in love is the last thing on anyone’s mind…

Can this Bossy Badass Marine…

The Marine Corps was everything Landon Donnigan ever wanted in life...until a bullet sent him home with a medical discharge. Teaching a self-defense class at the gym is old-hat for a marine, but when he meets sexy Ava Rosenthal, his combat skills are useless for protecting his heart.

Be her Mr. Right?

Ava can take care of herself and likes quiet, bookish men—not muscular warriors who think women need to be coddled. But Landon is more than he seems, and when they come together, the results are explosive.

Excerpt:

'What is your problem?"  

"Me, I'm good." Before she could lay into him, he added. 'But you're not." 

She blinked. 'What's my problem, besides you?

'You and boring guy."

She frowned. 'That's not a nice thing to say."

"Yeah, I'm not known for being nice. But, I am honest. Honey, Charles is not the guy for you."

'Excuse me, but Charles was the perfect gentleman."

A jazz band started playing in the corner, making it harder to hear, so he leaned closer. Unfortunately, she got a good whiff of his cologne, and it went straight to her head. Just her luck Landon smelled like a dream.

She cleared her throat. "And my name is not 'honey'. It's Ava. She would have added Dr. Ava Rosenthal in a haughty tone, except Landon's breath brushed her ear and her, and her entire body locked up. Tight.

'Ava , you need someone who makes you hot. Boring is no good. Not for someone like you.'

Review:

A Sure Thing by Marie Harte is a fast-paced, sexy, opposites attract novel featuring Landon Donnigan, an ex-Marine and clinical psychologist Ava Rosenthal. Landon is getting used to his new civilian job and getting reacquainted with his family. Ava has decided to start dating and is using an online service. I doubt that the dating service would match Landon with Ava! Their journey begins when sparks fly when Landon and Ava meet at a local gym. The chemistry between the two sizzles!

The author does a fabulous job with the scenes when Landon sees Ava at a bar with a date. He sits down near the couple and proceeds to eavesdrop on their conversation. I could imagine Landon listening into the conversation between Ava and her overly polite, nerdy date and making faces at Ava when her date wasn’t looking. 

Loved the family relationships in the novel. The back and forth banter between the Donnigan family members during Sunday dinner and teasing between Ava and her cousins were well written and gave more insight to the main characters. I started to understand why Landon liked to be in charge and why Ava need to have her future mapped out.  Marie Harte touches on several contemporary issues throughout the novel. One of the characters has PTSD, another has been a victim of abuse and several characters are dealing with anger issues. These are issues that most families are familiar with and added authenticity to the storyline. Kudos to the author for having Landon and his brother teach a self-defense course at the gym.

Marie Harte is a new-to-me- author. I enjoyed the fast-paced love story between Landon and Ava and was fascinated by the couple’s desire for each other. The conclusion to the novel was excellent. It had several surprises and lots of romance! 
 
Reviewed by Susan Gorman
ARC provided by Sourcebooks.

Author Biography:

Caffeine addict, boy referee, and romance aficionado, MARIE HARTE is a confessed bibliophile and devotee of action movies. Whether hiking in Central Oregon, biking around town, or hanging at the local tea shop, she’s constantly plotting to give everyone a happily ever after.

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How to Impress A Marquess By Susanna Ives

A Recipe for . . .  
How To Impress A Marquess - Wicked Little Secrets series book III

TAKE ONE MARQUESS: Proper, put-upon, dependable, but concealing a sensitive artist's soul.

ADD ONE BOHEMIAN LADY: Creative, boisterous, unruly, but secretly yearning for a steadfast love, home, and family.

STIR in a sensational serialized story that has society ravenous for each installment.

COMBINE with ambitious guests at an ill-fated house party hosted by a treacherous dowager possessing a poison tongue.

SHAKE until a stuffy marquess and rebellious lady make a shocking discovery: the contents of their hearts are just alike.

Take a sip. You'll laugh, you'll swoon, you'll never want this moving Victorian love story to end.

I love a fabulous house party romance! It’s interesting to read what develops when people are in close company—sharing meals, playing charades, listening to music or picnicking on the lawn. Susanna Ives has written a fabulous opposites attract romance between George, the Marquess of Marylewick and his ward Lilith Dahlgren.

George and Lilith are polar opposites. George takes his role in Parliament and his estate duties very seriously. He’s very structured and a bit boring until his unconventional ward moves in with him. Lilith is an engaging woman, she’s artistic and a bit of a free spirit. She is frustrated with how George treats her and manages her money. Lilith, using a pen name, authors the popular Collette and the Sultan series which George reads faithfully. He has no idea that Lilith has based the domineering Sultan on him.

Lilith discovers that George was an artist when he was younger and why he abandoned his artwork. During the house party, she begins to understand that George is responsible for caring for many people and understands why he is so dedicated to his job. This understanding causes her to regret her portrayal of George aka the Sultan in her stories. Self-discovery is important to several characters in the novel and the author does a wonderful job transforming Lilith from a spoiled heiress to a compassionate woman.

Susanna Ives is a new-to-me author. I enjoyed this Victorian romance, the fabulous banter between the two main characters and the house party setting. I am glad the author wrote a hero who was an honest, hardworking man, not the typical rake, spy or Duke character. There is a villain in disguise and a few surprises as the story reaches its conclusion which added to my enjoyment of the book. I adored the ending!

Reviewed by Susan Gorman
ARC provided by Sourcebooks

Chat with author Susanna Ives

My Top Five Things To Do On A Chilly Fall Weekend. 

I live in Hotlanta. I remain trapped inside during the inferno of summer, away from the smolder, vicious mosquitoes, and copperheads. I rush outside with wild joy when fall finally arrives. Poets may write of symbolic dying and withering in fall and winter, but I’m very much alive, my spirit renewed and bounding with energy in the wonderfully crisp weather. So here are my top five things:

1.) I love to sit outside at night, enjoying the refreshing cool air on the back of my throat and watching the white moon peeking through the tree branches.

2.) I am all things pumpkin spice. Pumpkin spice lattes, muffins, cookies, silk milk, peeps, even hair gloss. My friends laugh at me, because it seems pumpkin spice has lost its cultural coolness. Whatever. Pumpkin spice feels me with coziness and contentment. I highly recommend reading How to Impress a Marquess while ingesting some pumpkin spice goodness. For an add-on aromatherapy, light some pumpkin spice candles.

3.) My husband can build some amazing fires (in fireplaces, of course). He scavenges the neighborhood for the perfect firewood and then tends to his fire like a mother looking after her newborn. I’m not someone who relaxes easily. My caffeine-reliant brain is always buzzing and on alert. But the lulling hiss and pop of a fire quiets my mind more than a dozen meditation classes can.

4.) Fleece. I try to be hip and cool and go with the sweaters and sexy wools, but all I really want against my body on a chilly fall weekend (with regard to clothing, of course) is fleece. Perfection is resting under a fleece blanket in my fleece PJs and socks, watching the beautiful fire while sipping pumpkin spice tea.

5.) Wireless speakers. My husband and I recently became obsessive with wireless speakers. Now we have music flowing through all the rooms. Chilly nights call for soft jazz or calming romantic classical music in the background while you read or just drift off into a lovely pumpkin spice and fleece filled dream.

Susanna Ives started writing when she left her job as a multimedia training developer to stay home with her family. Now she keeps busy driving her children to various classes, writing books, and maintaining websites. She often follows her husband on business trips around Europe and blogs about the misadventures of touring with children. She lives in Atlanta.

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The Earl

Review of The Earl—Katharine Ashe

“Marriage is good for no woman, Clarice. It binds her securely to a master as chains, and silences her voice as surely as if she had a gag stuffed between her lips. Why should I want that? I have been blessed with an affectionate, negligent father and am free to do mostly as I wish, with the resources to do it. I have no desire to subject myself to a potentially harsher overlord. I have work yet to do—so much work that I haven’t time to stand here and argue this with you.” Lady Justice 

Katharine Ashe’s descriptive writing style shines in The Earl, the second installment in the Devil’s Duke Series. It is an elegantly written opposites attract love story which features suspense, fabulous dialogue, romance and history. I have been waiting for this story for several years and I was not disappointed! Lady Justice writes about social reform in her pamphlets. She and Peregrine are fierce political opponents who have appeared throughout Ms. Ashe’s Falcon Club series. The Falcon Club’s mission was to find missing people and return them. Lady Justice’s sister has been missing for seven months and she reluctantly turns to her rival Peregrine for assistance.

Lady Justice receives a note from Scotland which states that her sister is alive. She dismisses Peregrine and decides to find her sister on her own. Peregrine and Lady Justice meet unexpectedly at an inn in Scotland where they are mistaken for a pair of felons who have murdered a local woman. Outnumbered, they leave the inn on horseback. The couple is pursued from village to village. Lady Justice has no choice but to follow Peregrine. The trip through the Scottish countryside parallels the couple’s personal journey. To outsmart the people who are intent on capturing them, they must learn to trust and rely on each other. I was so immersed in the couple’s travels, that I felt that I was walking through the rugged countryside, down the puddle filled country roads and up the unforgiving mountainside with them.

Katharine Ashe creates characters who have purpose. Lady Justice and Peregrine are imperfect but, are perfect for each other. Both are strong willed and determined and these traits enable them to survive their ordeal. Ms. Ashe is not afraid to portray characters that appear to be strong but, in fact, are emotionally vulnerable. Lady Justice’s pamphlets show the importance and the value of the written word. The letters speak of social injustices, political reform and woman’s rights important topics in 1822 and in 2016. At first, the pairing of this couple surprised me. As I became immersed in the novel, I wanted them to elude the men who were chasing them and fall in love. The conclusion to The Earl was splendidly crafted–and made me cry-one person’s voice can make a difference!

Reviewer’s note: As a longtime Falcon Club reader, I chose not reveal the identities of Lady Justice and Peregrine in my review.

Reviewed by Susan Gorman
ARC from the Publisher

Graphic artwork: Graphics by Sharlene

Photo of Celeste by Susan Gorman