Susan's Review of The Real Thing by Melissa Foster

This sassy, spirited baker is fine with heat—
but is her fake fiancé too hot to handle?

THE REAL THING

Sugar Lake #1

Melissa Foster

Releasing Sept 5, 2017

Montlake

Bakery owner Willow Dalton’s friendship with Zane Walker has always been a bit complicated. Now a scrumptiously hot A-list actor, Zane’s always had a reputation as player. He’s arrogant, and he’s definitely not boyfriend material. Sure, he did Willow a favor by agreeing to take her virginity before college, but is that reason enough to go along with a fake engagement a decade later—even if it comes with a real diamond ring?

Zane should have known better. Nothing involving Willow has ever been easy. Still, he knows her better than anyone, and becoming America’s hottest new leading man means cleaning up his reputation. An “engagement” to curvy, sass-mouthed Willow is the perfect PR move . . . provided no one gets hurt.

Now Zane and Willow’s little white lie has turned into an irresistible recipe for sweet temptation. And soon no one will be able to tell the difference between their fake engagement or the real thing—including them.

**THE REAL THING is being published by Montlake (an Amazon imprint) and won’t be available on other ebook retailers, but you can download a FREE ereader app to read it HERE, order the paperback.

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Releasing December 5th, 2017

Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes sexy and heartwarming contemporary romance and new adult romance with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Melissa’s emotional journeys are lovingly erotic and always family oriented–perfect beach reads for contemporary romance lovers who enjoy reading about wealthy heroes and smart, sassy heroines.

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Willow stopped abruptly. Her head tipped forward, her shoulders dropping a smidge as she turned, her hair curtaining one eye. “Zane, just tell me what you’ve done.”

He went to her and reached for her hand, feeling shittier than he’d thought he would. “There is no baking gig. I set all this up to get you here.” Anger flared in her eyes. He continued explaining as fast as he could. “Wills, there’s this focus group for my new film, and they’re worried my reputation will hurt the movie. That fans won’t buy me as a romantic hero.”

She scoffed. “Smart fans.”

“Come on. I need your help.”

“What am I supposed to do? Write a letter to the public telling them Zane Walker isn’t a self-centered playboy? Sorry, not your girl.”

She took a step away, and he hauled her against him. Her hands landed on his chest, which felt amazing, and even with darts shooting from her bright-blue eyes with deathly precision, she was still the most beautiful, alluring woman he’d ever known.

“No,” she seethed. “Whatever it is. No.”

“Come on. Just hear me out.”

Her lips formed a tight line.

“I need a . . .” He could hardly believe what he was about to say. “A fake fiancée.”

“A fake fiancée? What does that mean?”

“We’ll pretend to be engaged so everyone thinks I’m a stand-up guy.”

A disgusted look washed over her face. “No.”

“You owe me, Wills.”

The Real Thing is the first book in Melissa Foster’s Sugar Lake series….and it’s AMAZING! Set in the small town of Sweetwater, New York, the story features the Willow Dalton and Zane Walker. The characters, small town setting and the author‘s fabulous dialogue quickly drew me into the story.

At first, I was not thrilled the ‘fake engagement” trope in this novel. But, I quickly discovered that The Real Thing isn’t about a fake engagement; it’s about two people coming to terms with their long standing feelings for each other. The writing is rich in detail and the characters are so likeable that it’s easy to forgive Zane’s fake engagement idea and Willow’s sassy comebacks because it is apparent that these two people are meant to be together. Their sexual chemistry is off the charts and kudos to Ms. Foster for the sexy, steamy, fun, tender bedroom, bakery, blanket and car scenes! The novel is beautifully written and each word, each scene between Willow and Zane captivated me. Enjoyed reading how the couple sorts out theirs feelings for each other as desire changes to love.

Loved Willow’s relationship with her sisters and her mom. Zane won me over when Spiderman arrived at Willow’s nephew’s birthday party. Zane went out of his way to make a little child happy and showed Willow he truly cared for her. This scene had all the feels. It was hysterical, emotional, loving and poignant. Ms. Foster does a fabulous job weaving in Willow’s family members, bakery regulars, friends and Zane’s assistant and coworkers into the novel. These minor characters added a lot of fun and depth to the story line. Can’t wait to see if the next book features Piper or Bridgette Dalton. The smart, snappy dialogue between Zane and Willow drew me into the story. Zane used the fake engagement ruse to connect back to Willow, his heart’s desire and that’s what makes this story so romantic and special to me.

Melissa Foster has the ability to write an honest, relatable, entertaining romance—and I can’t wait for book two in this amazing series!

If you love the small town romances written by Donna Alward, Kristan Higgins and Laura Trentham—you will adore Melissa Foster’s The Real Thing!

Reviewed by Susan Gorman

ARC provided by Tasty Tours

Susan's Review of A Rake's Guide to Seduction by Caroline Linden

Anthony Hamilton cannot help it. The way he looks, the way he lives, his past—it all conspires to make him a man men fear, women desire. His name fills gossip circles in a seemingly endless, lurid drama. But he's never forgotten the only woman he's ever truly wanted—yet could never have…

Celia Reece knew Anthony well before he forged his scandalous reputation. The young man she remembers spoke kindly to her, made her laugh, and his devilish good looks always quickened her pulse. But Celia's mother had other designs—designs that didn't include marriage to Anthony. Now Celia is widowed, and her mother is intent on finding her a new husband. Refusing to let any obstacle stand in his path this time, Anthony sets out to win Celia's heart by using the same skills that made him London's most irresistible rake…

Caroline Linden’s A Rake’s Guide to Seduction is a twist on the second chance romance. The novel is part of the Reece family series and was originally published in 2008. Ms. Linden’s books are on my keeper shelves because I enjoy her descriptive writing style and her engaging characters - - and this book did not disappoint.

I adored Anthony Hamilton as he wasn’t what everyone in society assumed him to be. The author never misses an opportunity for someone to mention that Anthony sleeps with married women, gambles and is wealthy. Anthony Hamilton fascinated English society. Celia Reece loves to hear about her childhood friends escapades and has promised her mother than she would not associate with Mr. Hamilton. Caroline Linden takes a chance with the storyline in A Rakes Guide to Seduction when Celica marries Lord Andrew Bertram, not Anthony Hamilton. Celia and Bertie travel to the country to live with Bertie’s aging father. During the next four years, Celia records the details of her life in her journal. In the journal she describes her heartbreaks; her husband constantly ignores her, she is not allowed to visit London for the season and most importantly, she is unable to get pregnant. Bertie prefers to hunt, fish and party and Celia takes on the role of caregiver to Bertie’s father.

Anthony Hamilton is invited to a house party given by Duke of Exeter. Celia’s mother, the Dowager Duchess of Exeter has invited a group of Celia’s friends to the house party to cheer up her newly widowed daughter. Anthony and Celia get a second chance to renew their friendship. Loved that Anthony understood how lonely and out of place Celia felt at her own party. His anonymous notes were heartfelt and showed he cared for her. Anthony kept to himself at the house party but his actions indicated his feelings towards Celia. The couple’s chemistry sizzles --- but do they have a chance for happiness? Most of Celia’s family and friends believe that Anthony is a womanizing gambler. Will Celia believe in their love or make another mistake?

There were a lot of minor characters in the book. I enjoyed catching up with the Reece family members but I thought Rosalind, Celia’s mother, overplayed her hand with respects to Anthony. It was hard to keep track of Celia’s former friends and their husbands. I did enjoy Anthony’s uncle and her niece Molly. I liked that the author used the journal to move the story forward by four years. This plot device worked as the reader saw how Celia matured during her marriage while her husband’s life wasn’t changed at all. Loved the subtle storyline that the author wrote throughout the novel—about not judging people for their actions, not by their title, clothes or their fortune. Ms. Linden does a great job balancing the romance between Anthony and Celia and the house party intrigue. There were a few surprises at the end of the book which added to my enjoyment of it!

Check out Caroline Linden's website here for the first chapter of the book!

Reviewed by Susan Gorman

ARC provided by the publisher.

Susan's review of Need You Now by Emma Douglas

Welcome to the small island town of Cloud Bay, where it’s never the wrong time to find a love that’s oh-so-right. . .

Caleb White knows what he wants out of life—and being a star tennis player is not it. After speaking to the press about his plans to retire, Caleb decides that a trip to quaint, beautiful Cloud Bay for its legendary music festival is exactly what he needs. There will be time to figure out what to do with his life without a racket in his hand soon enough. Until then, Caleb is content to be stuck on an island with CloudFest’s gorgeous director Faith Harper. . .

The daughter of a famous rock star, Faith knows all about fame, fortune, and hot flings that aren’t meant to last longer than a few good songs. Gorgeous, built Caleb is a temptation she can’t resist, but she’s not prepared for the way he makes her feel. . .and the dreams that they both share. What begins as a carefree distraction deepens into something real. But is Caleb ready to put his celebrity behind him and give life in the slow lane with Faith a chance?

Emma Douglas would love to live in a world where professional napping was a thing. But until then, she thinks writing books is a pretty awesome alternative. When not writing about imaginary people, she can be found reading, doing something crafty, binge-watching TV, playing her latest song crush on repeat, or singing badly in her car. She lives in Melbourne, Australia in a tiny house stuffed full of books, too many craft supplies and two cats who take up more space than you would expect. Find out more about Emma at www.emmadouglasbooks.com.

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So maybe that was the wrong thing to think about.

She steered the car through the familiar bends of the road from Salt Devil to Danny’s place, not needing to really pay much attention to what she was doing. She could make the drive with a bag over her head. Could probably drive all around Lansing that way and never miss a beat. Unlike her heart, which was bumping just that little bit too quickly to let her fool herself into thinking she didn’t have a rapidly developing case of, to quote Ivy, “flaming panties,” when it came to Caleb White.

Well, her panties were just going to have to cool it a little longer.

She let her left hand drift out the open window, fingers spread to catch the night air rushing against her skin so one part of her body had a chance to feel cool. “My mom would tell you that’s a terrible habit,” Caleb said. His voice sounded lower in the darkness.

Rumblier.

Sexier.

Engine vibrations. That was it. Blame it on the roar of whatever supercharged monster engine Will had put into the Mustang. That was what was making his voice sound so good.

Note to self: Drive the Prius if you ever have to share a car with this man again.

“I know this road. There’s nothing I could possibly catch my hand on.” She turned her head slightly to look at him for a second. He’d lowered his window too, his elbow resting on the window frame, his fingers gripped around the top. “And hello, pot, kettle, black. You do not have all limbs inside the vehicle, Mr. White.”

“My hand isn’t sticking out,” he said.

“And what would your mom say about that response?” “She’d tell me not to be a smart-ass.”

“I think I like your mom. What does she do?” “She’s a doctor. I think she’d like you too.”

Faith shook her head. Nope to him getting any kind of wrong idea. “I’m not really the kind of girl mothers approve of.”

“Why not?”

“Rock star dad. Tattoos. Not interested in settling down.”

“You have tattoos?” he said, sounding intrigued. “I hadn’t noticed.”

“That’s because so far you haven’t seen any parts of me where they’re noticeable.”

“I see.” He sounded even more intrigued. “But they’re somewhere a mom might see them?”

“I think it’s more the alcoholic-rock-star–womanizing- dad thing than the tattoos. My family’s reputation precedes me. They think I’m going to have my wicked way with their precious boys and break their hearts.”

“Are you meeting these moms via time travel? That all sounds very nineteen fifties to me,” he said. “And just so you know, I am on board with wicked ways.”

She laughed at that. “In my experience, most men are.” “Maybe the men you meet are smarter than their moms.”

“Oh no.” She pulled her hand back in the window as the approached the turn-off to Danny’s drive. “The moms have my number. I’m not the marrying kind, as they used to say.”

“Really?” He sounded skeptical. “Trust me.”

“I take it this is you telling me that if I ever get to sample your wicked ways, I should beware?”

She tried to ignore the way the rumble underscoring “wicked ways” made her want to invent some very wicked ways on the spot. Dammit. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” She pulled into the drive, rolled the car to a stop outside the gate. “And, not to change the subject or anything, but we’re here.”

Caleb blinked. “So I see. Any point in me asking you in for a nightcap?”

As much as part of her wanted to say “hell yes,” she shook her head. “Not tonight.”

“Rain check on that too?” “We’ll see.”

“All right,” he said. He didn’t sound that put out. She didn’t know if that was good or whether she should be a little insulted. Caleb undid his seatbelt and turned to face her. “Then I’ll say good night. And I’ll tell you one more thing.” He slid a little closer along the seat and leaned toward her. Not too close. Giving her plenty of time to tell him to back off. To say no.

She stayed right where she was. Pinned in place by the weight of that blue gaze and the pounding in her chest and the heat suddenly burning through her again. She tried to sound casual. “What’s that?”

“The same thing I tell my mom when she’s butting into my love life. That I’m a big boy and I can take care of myself.” He leaned in close, until his mouth was hovering only a couple of inches from hers. “Also, that I believe that when you’ve beaten a girl at pool and hitched a lift with her in a Mustang that it’s only polite to kiss her good night.”

“Oh,” was all she had time to say before he closed his mouth over hers.

She couldn’t pretend she hadn’t thought about what it might be like to kiss him over the last few hours. What sort of kiss it might be. Most of her first kisses had been the hot, fiery, let’s-get-naked-fast kind.

Caleb White was undeniably hot but this kiss was . . . different. His mouth coaxed hers, gently, his hand cup- ping the back of her neck. Each tiny change in angle he made seemed to connect with a different nerve. First her lips were tingling, then hot, and then the heat spread out and down from there in a molten rush.

She opened her mouth and tasted him, tasted whiskey and man and heat. He groaned but he held her there, suspended with him in the dark, focused just on him and the places their bodies touched. She wanted more. Wanted closer.

But as she swayed toward him, tried to slide around in the seat so she could get nearer, he pulled back, leaving her startled by his sudden absence.

“Good night, Faith Harper,” he said. And then he was out of the car walking away from her, vanishing into the night when he stepped beyond the reach of the head- lights, leaving her wondering exactly what the hell had just happened.

Copyright © 2017 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Press.

Emma Douglas does a fabulous job setting the scene and introducing the main characters in the first few pages of her novel Need You Now. I could sense the anticipation of the crowd as they disembarked from the ferry, feel their excitement of attending the CloudFest music festival on Lansing Island and identify with the connection Faith made with the blue- eyed stranger in the black SUV. Need You Now is well-paced novel with dynamic characters, great dialogue and well-plotted storyline.

Faith Harper is a strong, independent, complicated woman. Need You Now is Faith’s story. As the daughter of the late Grey Harper, lead singer for the band Blacklight, she has been part of the music scene since she made her debut in one of her father’s videos as a teenager. Faith saw her father marry and divorce three times and was accustomed to him being away for months at a time when his band band toured. Faith has made different choices. She lives on a small island with her mom and sister and runs the family business. For the past six years, she has managed CloudFest, preserving her father’s legacy.

Tennis star Caleb White, the blue-eyed man in the SUV, has travelled to Lansing to attend CloudFest. He’s announced his retirement and needs to hide out from the media. He is looking for some downtime but, he meets Faith and his world is turned upside down. Loved the instant attraction between this couple, their sexual chemistry and how the relationship developed during the musical festival.

Need You Now has all the feels; the storyline is emotional and the conversations between Faith and Caleb are witty, honest and at times poignant. The island setting and the small town feel appealed to me. Family plays an important part in the novel and Lou and Mina are my two favorite secondary characters. The author does an excellent job crafting Blacklight’s lead guitarist Danny Ryan—he was the character that puzzled me during the book. Was he looking out for Faith or feeding her insecurities? The author does a fabulous job weaving the need to sort through Grey’s storage unit through the storyline. Did Grey record a final album? This thread intrigued me and I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Faith struggles to come to terms with her relationship with Caleb. She breaks up with Caleb after an insightful conversation with Danny. Emma Douglas does a great job writing this chapter – I felt for Caleb and was surprised at Faith’s cold hearted demeanor. I would have liked an epilogue to tie up several of the loose story threads but the conclusion satisfied me as a reader.

If you are a fan of Donna Alward, Laura Trentham and Debbie Mason, you will love Need You Now!

Reviewed by: Susan Gorman

ARC provided by the publisher