When The Stars Come Out Release Blitz !

When the Stars Come Out

A Cottonbloom Novel

By Laura Trentham

Cottonbloom. A beautiful, faraway place where a woman can escape her past—and find reason to stay forever in Laura Trentham's When the Stars Come Out. . .

Willa Brown never planned to stay in Cottonbloom. She was on the way to somewhere else when she landed there and found work at the Abbot brothers’ garage. . .and a sense of comfort and safety that she had never known. The same holds true for Jackson Abbott himself. With one glance in her direction, he can make Willa’s heart melt. But what begins as an unrequited crush turns into something far more powerful than Willa could have ever imagined. . .

Jackson’s most meaningful relationship has always been with his car—and he’s not afraid to admit it. Still, he can’t help but become emotionally entangled with his new star mechanic Willa, who is definitely hiding some dark secrets of her own beneath the hood. Jackson desperately wants Willa to trust him, and to seek protection in his arms. But even as the two slowly surrender to their shared attraction, the danger lurking in Willa’s past remains a stubborn obstacle. Can she open up enough to give them both a chance at having real and lasting love?

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An award-winning author, Laura Trentham was born and raised in a small town in Tennessee. Although, she loved English and reading in high school, she was convinced an English degree equated to starvation. She chose the next most logical major—Chemical Engineering—and worked in a hard hat and steel toed boots for several years.

She writes sexy, small town contemporaries and smoking hot Regency historicals. KISS ME THAT WAY, Cottonbloom Book 1, won the Stiletto Contest for Best Long Contemporary and finaled in the National Readers Choice Award. THEN HE KISSED ME, Cottonbloom Book 2, was named an Amazon Best Romance of 2016 and was a finalist

for the National Excellence for Romance Fiction. TILL I KISSED YOU, Cottonbloom Book 3, is a finalist in the Maggie contest. LEAVE THE NIGHT ON, the latest Cottonbloom book, was named an iBooks Best Book of the Month and a Recommended Read from NPR.

When not lost in a cozy Southern town or Regency England, she's shuttling kids to soccer, helping with homework, and avoiding the Mt. Everest-sized pile of laundry that is almost as big as the to-be-read pile of books on her nightstand.

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“I’m not a damn car.” Anger heated her voice.

“I know that.”

“Do you?” She stopped and he turned to face her. “You haven’t spared a thought about how much you pay me or what I wear or why fall is my favorite season for two years.”

“I know and that’s my bad. I should have been paying more attention to you.”

She made a scoffing sound. That’s exactly what she didn’t need. Everything depended on her staying under the radar. “You want to fix me like I’m some broken-down car. Or fix my problems or whatever. But that’s not how people work. Maybe I’m unfixable.”

Half his face was in shadows from the setting sun. Even in the best of times it was difficult to get a read on his mood, but the roughness in his voice was more pronounced than usual. “I don’t want to fix you. I want to help you. I want you to trust me.”

Merry and Bright by Debbie Macomber

Merry and Bright

by Debbie Macomber

 ☆☆☆☆☆

I always enjoy reading a Debbie Macomber

book. She is full of happiness and you can feel

it in every word she writes. Even if its a sad

part of the story. You can feel the inspiration

lifting the characters and situations up to find

their happiness.

Merry and Bright is a short but sweet love story

with a fun twist. Merry and Mary meet up with

Jay and Jayson who may or may not be so Bright.

 

If you passed by this one because it has a

Christmas cover, never fear. The romance,

relationships and life lessons are a much

bigger part of the story than the time of year.

 

Merry and Bright is a story to be enjoyed

all the year round.

 

Review by Lisa Hutson



Susan's Review of Lauren Willig's The English Wife

From the New York Times bestselling author, Lauren Willig, comes this scandalous New York Gilded Age novel full of family secrets, affairs, and even murder.

Annabelle and Bayard Van Duyvil live a charmed life: he’s the scion of an old Knickerbocker family, she grew up in a Tudor manor in England, they had a whirlwind romance in London, they have three year old twins on whom they dote, and he’s recreated her family home on the banks of the Hudson and renamed it Illyria. Yes, there are rumors that she’s having an affair with the architect, but rumors are rumors and people will gossip. But then Bayard is found dead with a knife in his chest on the night of their Twelfth Night Ball, Annabelle goes missing, presumed drowned, and the papers go mad. Bay’s sister, Janie, forms an unlikely alliance with a reporter to uncover the truth, convinced that Bay would never have killed his wife, that it must be a third party, but the more she learns about her brother and his wife, the more everything she thought she knew about them starts to unravel. Who were her brother and his wife, really? And why did her brother die with the name George on his lips?

The English Wife is the perfect read for a cold, stormy winter evening. Lauren Willig effortlessly blends the elements of suspense, intrigue and romance throughout the novel. I enjoyed the characters, the references to Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and the author’s subtle commentary on the social standards of the day.

The first chapter in this mysterious, gothic drama draws the reader into the story immediately. The novel’s hero, Bay Van Duyvil, is murdered and his wife, Annabelle is presumed dead. The murders take place during a Twelfth Night masked ball at the couple’s home located on the banks of the Hudson River. Bay and Annabelle were murdered while their guests were dancing and drinking champagne.

The dual narrative technique enables the author to bring the characters of Bay and Annabelle Van Duyvil to life. Understanding the couple’s romance is important to the plot and each chapter devoted to them adds depth to the intriguing storyline. I adored Bay and Annabelle and their devotion to each other. Janie Van Duyvil’s desire for the truth about her brother’s murder moves the present day storyline forward.

Janie forges a secret alliance with reporter James Burke to see past the scandal and piece together what happened to her brother. This act of courage drew me into the story as the aristocracy did not socialize outside of their social class. I enjoyed that Janie remained steadfast in her pursuit of the truth despite the disapproval from her domineering mother. As Burke uncovers secrets from the past, Janie starts to unravel her brother and sister-in-law’s complicated history. Janie’s self -confidence grows during the novel and I love that she was able to finally stand up to her mother.

The pacing of The English Wife is superb. The last few chapters of this classic gothic whodunit are filled with suspense and intrigue as each character and their truth is unmasked. The tension in these plot driven chapters was heightened because the main characters were snowed in at Bay and Annabelle’s empty gothic style home during a blizzard. It’s freezing inside the home because there is no coal and the main characters—all of the murder suspects—are forced to spend time together in one small room. Burke arrives with surprising new information about one of the suspects….this information changes the course of the story. These chapters kept me guessing and reading past my bedtime! The conclusion is fabulous! I must admit I did not see the big reveal---I had someone else pegged as the murderer.

If you are looking for a classic gothic novel with fabulous characters, suspense and romance—pick up a copy of Lauren Willig’s the English Wife.

Reviewed by Susan Gorman
ARC from Publisher

Graphic from Sharlene Martin Moore