Review – Catch and Release

19 Monday Feb 2024

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Book Review

Tags

Book Review, Catch and Release, Milwaukee Growlers Football, Milwaukee Growlers Football Series, Milwaukee Growlers series, Tracy Solheim

Catch and Release

Milwaukee Growlers Football series

by Tracy Solheim

Blurb:

He’s the pro athlete everyone wants to be.

Quarterback Trey Van Horn didn’t become the league’s MVP by accident. Years of self-discipline and iron-clad control have made him the envy of everyone in and around the game of football. But when he comes face-to-face with the one who got away, his tightly managed life is turned upside down. Now he’ll do whatever it takes to score the greatest comeback of his life.

She’s tired of being every guy’s doormat.

London Headley is on the verge of having the career she’s always dreamed of. Too bad the path to her promotion runs through the guy who broke her heart a decade earlier. So what if everything about the Milwaukee Growlers QB sets her panties on fire? She’s determined to keep things professional. Life has taught her that men will always choose something—or someone—over her. It’s going to take more than a Hail Mary to get her to buy into the fairy tale.

The only problem? Her lips don’t seem to want to follow the game plan. Not when Trey is executing an all-out blitz to prove he’s worth a second chance.

Universal Buy Link: https://books2read.com/Growlers3

Review:

This one is definitely a slow burn second-chance romance. You have to be prepared that it takes pretty much half of the book before London stops actively pushing Trey away. Granted, she has a lot of reasons not to trust him. Or any man for that matter. But there is a lot of thinking about the past and her resisting any attraction that she feels for him, which not everyone enjoys.

Speaking of London, I do wonder a little bit about what changes her mind. She has good reason not to get involved with Trey again, and does a pretty good job of it, but things change and I’m not sure it was enough. I think that there needed to be some resolution on their past earlier, at least I would have wanted it in her situation. But then again he’s awfully, persuasively, seriously sexy on lots of levels.

Because while Trey does pursue London, he does it in a very respectful manner. He pushes her but he never crosses that boundary, respecting her wishes and letting her know it’s her choice. He’s not above a little seduction but he’s not icky about it.

You could see the ending coming a mile away but that doesn’t stop it from being any less satisfying. I appreciate that Solheim saw it through and didn’t take an easier way out. I also liked the whos, whats, and wheres of the big moment at the end. A little bit different and a good way to get to that HEA I wanted for them.

I’ve only read a couple of Solheim books (one being Double Dog Dare, another Milwaukee Growlers story), both of which I really enjoyed. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what else she has to bring us.

Review – It Had to be You

09 Friday Jun 2023

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Book Review, Contest, Sneak Peek

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Book Review, Chances Inlet series, It Had to Be You, Tracy Solheim

It Had to be You

A Chances Inlet Novel

by Tracy Solheim

Publication date: June 5th 2023

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Blurb:

It’s hard to keep a big secret in a small town . . .

When Paige Hollister discovers her “Mr. Right” already has a “Mrs. Right,” she swears off men forever. Even more humiliating, she suddenly finds herself labeled the other woman and out of the teaching job she loves. So Paige does what every unemployed single woman staring thirty in the face does: She hightails it to the beach. Bad luck like hers is hard to outrun, however. Her getaway is stalled when her car breaks down in a small-town chock full of meddling, nosy residents. The worst of them being the local sheriff—none other than her estranged father.

Finally on top of the golf world, Tanner Gillette is poised to show everyone he’s not just an entitled playboy coasting through tournaments on his pedigree. That is until his life is turned upside down by a little girl who shows up on his doorstep with a birth certificate inexplicably bearing his name. Complicating matters more, the kid isn’t talking. When the stress of caring for a child whose mother is AWOL gives Tanner a bad case of the yips, he’s forced to enlist help from the one person in town who can’t wait to leave.

Sticking around Chances Inlet and her father’s shiny new, über-successful family isn’t on Paige’s to-do list. Especially when she’d prefer to keep her embarrassing incident under wraps. Yet she can’t walk away from the troubled little girl. Or the sexy Australian golfer who just might make her want to take a chance on trusting her heart again.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61848830-it-had-to-be-you

Purchase:

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3MILgDb

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/it-had-to-be-you-tracy-solheim/1142991886?ean=2940186569206

iBooks: https://books.apple.com/ca/book/it-had-to-be-you/id6445539754

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/it-had-to-be-you-68

*****

Excerpt:

Tanner was already halfway to her when his brain kicked in, reminding him that this was unwise. He was supposed to be avoiding Paige. He couldn’t be trusted around her. But he couldn’t retreat now. Not when he could feel the eyes of every woman at the pool tracking him.

Make that every woman except Paige Hollister. She was too engrossed in her book to notice.

“Where’s Whitney?” he practically barked when he tossed down his towel onto the chaise next to her.

Paige jolted at the sound of his voice before pulling her sunglasses down and eyeballing him. “She and Emily went joyriding in your golf cart.”

“Not funny.” Her snark had him relaxing. He needn’t be worried about Whitney. Paige took her role very seriously. Likely, she was off with Kate and Emily somewhere. He stepped out of his slides before lowering himself down to the chair.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“That should be obvious.” He let out a satisfying sigh, crossed his bare feet at the ankles and closed his eyes.

Paige huffed beside him. “Fine. Kate is taking the kids for lunch after visiting the sea turtle rescue hospital.” She shoved her book into a canvas bag. “I’ll just finish my book on the porch at home.”

Let her go, his brain screamed. The rest of him wasn’t listening, however. Without opening his eyes, his fingers reached between them, finding her wrist, gently encircling it.

“Stay,” he heard himself saying. Opening his eyes, he turned toward her. “Please,” he whispered, not liking the pleading tone of his voice one bit.

Paige’s eyes leapt from his hand on her wrist, up to his face, only to drop back down to where her skin was scorching his. Judging by the wary expression on her face, she thought it was a bad idea, also. Still, she sank her teeth into her bottom lip before nodding.

Relief raced through him. He brushed the pad of his thumb against the pulse throbbing at her wrist. Time seemed to stand still.

“I’ve got your lunch, Mr. Gillette,” a voice from above announced.

Paige yanked her hand away. The server was holding a folding table, but he seemed unsure where to put it until Paige gestured wildly to place it between them. She grabbed a fry from the plate and popped it into her mouth before he’d even set it down.

“Mmm. Do you have any ketchup?”

The server produced several packets from his pocket. “Anything else, sir?”

Paige picked up half the club sandwich and unabashedly took a bite.

Tanner sighed. “Apparently I’m going to need another one of those.”

“And an Arnold Palmer,” Paige mumbled around the food in her mouth.

Tanner held up two fingers. The befuddled server nodded and disappeared.

“Enjoying yourself?”

“Mmm,” she replied. “You might have mentioned lunch was part of the deal. I wouldn’t have been in such a rush to leave.”

He shook his head to avoid laughing at her cheekiness. “Thank you.”

She paused mid-bite. “Does that mean lunch is on me?”

This time he did laugh. “No. Thank you for staying.”

Her eyes darted away. Despite her outward bravado, she was skittish around him today. Not that he blamed her. He turned into a fool whenever he was near her.

The server brought their drinks. Paige swallowed half of hers in one gulp.

“I doubt you would have been lonely too long,” she said.

“Precisely what I’m trying to avoid.”

She lowered her sunglasses again. “Are you telling me I’m the . . . what? Some sort of decoy?”

“It’s been my experience that women won’t approach me if I’ve got a beautiful woman by my side.”

Paige choked on a fry. Tanner leaned over to slap her on the back. She glared at him when he let his hand linger too long.

“Puh-lease. I’m no competition for those women.” She waved a hand in the direction of the co-eds shimmying to an R&B song blasting from one of their mobile phones.

Was she kidding?

How could this woman not know she was a stunner? He let his eyes wander down her torso, lush and full in all the right places. Her legs were sturdy and toned right down to the purple nail polish on her toes. But it was the challenge in those pale blue eyes of hers that always seemed to draw him in. That and her saucy, sinful mouth.

“Why do women always do that?”

“Do what?”

“Put themselves down. Find fault with their appearance no matter how gorgeous they are.”

Her mouth opened and closed twice. “Well—”

“No,” he argued. “Don’t you dare shame your body, Paige Hollister. It’s magnificent just the way it is. You are beautiful just the way you are. Any man who doesn’t see that is a damn fool.”

*****

Review:

(warning: maybe some slight spoilers)

This is the first in this series that I’ve read so that may have something to do with it, but I really didn’t quite understand Paige’s bad feelings toward her dad. I get that he wasn’t there for her growing up, but I felt like I was missing something that would explain why she was so against getting to know him. Maybe it was explored more in his story. I also was a little lost on why she was so adamant about keeping quiet what was going on in her life. I get why she’d be a little embarrassed, but she seemed to take it a little far.

I did like her with Tanner though. I found them to be amusing & entertaining as they flirted and danced around their attraction. They were fun together and their obvious affection for Whitney endeared them even more.

Speaking of Tanner, he’s dealing with a lot. I felt so bad for him, with his childhood and then losing his brother. That’s a lot for anyone to handle but throw a surprise kid in the mix and it’s a good excuse to be a less than stand-up guy. Not our Tanner though. He’s there to support Whitney (and Paige) in any way he can and as all the details come out, he’s does the best he can for everyone involved, every step of the way.

Family drama mixes wonderfully with a little bit of a mystery, a small-town HEA romance, & meddling busy body family creating a delightful beach read. If the rest of Solheim’s books are like this one, I’ve got quite a few titles to add to my TBR pile!

*****

Author Info:

USA Today bestselling author Tracy Solheim writes books with shirtless men on the cover. Some of them are actually best-sellers. The books, not the men. When she’s not writing, she’s practicing her curling. . . bottles of wine, that is. She’s been known to cook dinner but no more than two nights in a row. Most days, she’d rather be reading, which to her is just necessary research. She lives in the suburbs of Atlanta with her husband and a neurotic Labrador retriever. Her two adult children visit but not often enough. (See the note above about cooking.) Check out her romantic suspense series featuring the Men of the Secret Service–shirtless, of course! See what she’s up to at http://www.tracysolheim.com

Author links:

https://www.tracysolheim.com/

https://www.instagram.com/tracysolheimauthor/

https://www.twitter.com/TracyKSolheim

https://www.facebook.com/TracySolheimBooks

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6519003.Tracy_Solheim

*****

Giveaway:

$25 Amazon gift card

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/d04251235439/

*****

Review – Double Dog Dare

12 Monday Dec 2022

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Book Review

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Book Review, Double Dog Dare, Milwaukee Growlers series, Tracy Solheim

Double Dog Dare

Milwaukee Growlers #2

by Tracy Solheim

They say he who dares wins…

Luke Kessler is known for his daring play on the field and his carefully scripted life off it. The Growlers’ wide receiver has a strict rule of dating one carefully chosen woman per season, then letting her down gently. After all, his game is football, not love. That is until his dopey mutt falls for a French bulldog owned by a hot mess of a woman whose sassy mouth and mind-blowing curves have him fumbling his best laid plans.

After a humiliating concert performance played out in front of the world on social media, cellist Summer Pearson has sworn off a career in music. Forever. She’s hiding out with her grandparents in Milwaukee, licking her wounds and preparing for a predictable, if not boring, law career. The last person she needs challenging her life choices is a sexy, dog-rescuing jock who loves his grandma as much as he loves a good dare.

Especially when that same guy is dating her perfect cousin.

This fun, flirty sports romance delivers a happily ever after that will have you laughing, crying, sighing, and cheering in the endzone. One-click it now for doggy hijinks, senior citizens bent on shenanigans, sexy ax-throwing, locker room bromance, steamy private cello performances, and all the feels as two people discover they are worthy of love.

Double Dog Dare is book 2 in the Milwaukee Growlers Football series but can be read as a standalone with no cliffhangers.

Solheim gives readers a wonderful set of secondary characters, a satisfying romance, and a couple that you can truly root for. And while Luke’s view on relationships may seem a bit misogynistic, he actually is very upfront about it, only getting involved with like-minded people. Everyone is aware of the situation and is in agreement of what it is and what it isn’t. Then he meets summer ,,, and realizes maybe he wants something else after all.

(I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about the fact that Luke was dating Summer’s cousin first, cheating in any shape or form is definitely a firm no for me, but it actually resolved itself in a satisfying way.)

Summer is struggling with her confidence after a disastrous viral performance, unsure if she can ever play again and what that means for her future. Meeting Luke quickly upends her life and has her rethinking things. And while he may feel that he’s not relationship material, he quickly proves that wrong, showing himself to be so amazingly supportive as she works through her issues with performing again.

The assorted friends and family bring additional moments of humor and emotion throughout the story, adding depth and feels to an already delightful story. I’m very much hoping to see more in this series going forward.

Guest Post – Southern Book Books Christmas Tour

18 Tuesday Nov 2014

Posted by romanticreadsandsuch in Blog Tour, Contest

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A Very Married Christmas, Erika Marks, Holidays at Magnolia Bay, Just in time for Christmas, Kaira Rouda, Kim Boykin, Magnolia Bay series, Southern Born Books, The Trouble with Christmas, Tracy Solheim

To help everyone get into the holiday mood even more, we’re now going to look at the Southern Born Books Christmas Tour, featuring four holiday stories in the Magnolia Bay series. And as a special treat Erika Marks is stopping by to share a bit more about her book A Very Married Christmas!

*****

‘TIS THE SEASON FOR SECOND CHANCES

We’ve all been there: ready to cut bait on love. For high school sweethearts, Marley and Beck, their ten year marriage is at the end of its rope. Separated almost a year and going through divorce proceedings, the two estranged spouses think they have spent their last Christmas together—until they are reunited at a mutual friend’s holiday wedding, and suddenly, to mis-quote the song, “old acquaintance may not be forgot “ as easily as they expected.

Now I am of the opinion that there are few things sexier than the idea of being stranded (temporarily, of course!) with someone you lust after on a deserted island—so when it came time to figure out a way for Marley and Beck to get some time alone together—and back on the road to a possible reconciliation—I knew exactly where to put them! It just so happens that Magnolia Bay is coastal and near to plenty of barrier islands—many of which are uninhabited. Perfect, right?

To make matters even more romantic, the barrier island where Marley and Beck find themselves accidentally stranded for Christmas Eve just happens to be the very same one where Beck proposed marriage over ten years earlier.

Of course, ten years can be a lifetime—and their unsinkable love story has taken more than a few dousings in the last decade. But the magic of the season takes over, and no sooner does the sun set and Beck and Marley find themselves making a roaring fire in the island’s deserted cottage—and decorating a tree with found ornaments—than do the sparks of their never-lost passion rise to the surface again.

Life can get busy—especially for an all-star pitcher and a bestselling cookbook author—but when it comes to true love, it takes peeling away all the chaos of celebrity and contracts for two people to find each other again. I knew Beck and Marley’s road would be full of detours and bumps, but I couldn’t wait to see how—and if—they’d find their way back to each other. Just in time for Christmas.

Because all they want for Christmas is one more chance at forever.

Hear that, Santa?

*****

A Very Married Christmas Synopsis:

Cookbook author Marley Chambers can’t think of a more festive way to spend Christmas than at a friend’s holiday wedding in her hometown of Magnolia Bay. If only her soon-to-be ex-husband, all-star pitcher, Beckett “Beck” Chambers wasn’t bringing his new girlfriend—and if only he wasn’t still the sexiest man to ever walk out onto the mound…

Beck never wanted the chaotic life of a sport star—especially not at the cost of his marriage to the only woman he’s ever truly loved. But his career is a runaway train—and he’s afraid it’s too late to hit the brakes.

But when a mix-up leaves Beck and Marley stranded together for Christmas Eve on the barrier island where Beck proposed years before, old memories burn bright—and sparks fly hotter than a bonfire on the beach.

Could the magic of the season bring the gift of a second chance, just in time for Christmas?

Erika Marks Bio:

Erika Marks is a women’s fiction writer and the author of LITTLE GALE GUMBO, THE MERMAID COLLECTOR, THE GUEST HOUSE and IT COMES IN WAVES (July, 2014). On the long and winding road to becoming published, she worked many different jobs, including carpenter, cake decorator, art director, and illustrator. But if pressed, she might say it was her brief tenure with a match-making service in Los Angeles after college that set her on the path to writing love stories (not that there isn’t romance in frosting or power tools!) A native New Englander, she now makes her home in Charlotte, NC, with her husband, a native New Orleanian who has taught her to make a wicked gumbo, and their two little mermaids. For more on Erika’s books, visit her website at http://www.erikamarksauthor.com

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Very-Married-Christmas-Southern-Born-ebook/dp/B00O561VCQ/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413343119&sr=1-10&keywords=Erika+Marks

Links:

Website: http://www.erikamarksauthor.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ErikaMarksAuthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/erikamarksauthr

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4782277.Erika_Marks?from_search=true

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Erika-Marks/e/B0057DDFI4/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1413268595&sr=1-2-ent

Just in Time for Christmas Synopsis:

Nobody does Christmas like Miranda Hamilton, and now that she finally has her chance to chair Magnolia Bay’s tree lighting and the cotillion, which benefits her late mother’s breast cancer foundation, this Christmas is shaping up to be the best ever. That is until her childhood nemesis Logan Mauldin buys his way on her committee and starts making plans of his own.

Logan Mauldin loves to get under Miranda’s very sexy skin, and it’s only fair. She’s been getting under his since long before their first kiss at 13. Logan’s the last man interested in co-chairing a Christmas committee or participating in a sexy bachelor auction, but since that night he interrupted Miranda on a date and cornered her under the mistletoe, he can’t stop thinking about her. Or vying for her attention and bugging the hell out of her.

Christmas cheer isn’t the only thing that heats up between the Miranda and Logan, but, thanks to a lie that is as much her fault as it is his, he loses the woman he’s loved since forever. Logan will need a Christmas miracle for Miranda to forgive him. A grand gesture to melt her heart and win her back just in time for Christmas.

Kim Boykin Bio:

Kim Boykin is a women’s fiction author with a sassy Southern streak. She is the author of The Wisdom of Hair, Steal Me, Cowboy, and Palmetto Moon (Summer 2014.) While her heart is always in South Carolina, she lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband, 3 dogs, and 126 rose bushes.

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Just-Time-Christmas-Southern-Born-ebook/dp/B00O3V6PWY/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1413342058&sr=8-8&keywords=Kim+Boykin

Links:

Website: www.kimboykin.com

Author Blog: http://kimboykin.com/blog/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorkimboykin

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkimboykin

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6696311.Kim_Boykin

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kim-Boykin/e/B009955Q2Y/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1

The Trouble With Christmas Synopsis:

At 35-years-old, Cole Stanton is burned out. His high-paced, uber-successful career has left him yearning to start over. He finds Indigo Island, buys a restaurant and settles into an uncomplicated life. But Christmas is a mess. He has over-committed the small restaurant’s resources again, and is over his head. He finds himself longing for everything he has left behind, until a chance encounter with gorgeous Lily offers a spark of salvation to his business and, perhaps his life.

Beautiful pastry chef Lily Edmonds is thirty years old and heartbroken. It’s just before Christmas and she’s just been dumped by via telephone by her fiancee. Her best friend Avery Putnam invites her to Indigo Island, hoping to add joy back into Lily’s life. A chance encounter with the sexy owner of a local restaurant makes Lily feel an attraction she thought she’d never feel again, and offers her a business challenge to keep her mind focused on something other than her broken heart.

Cole Stanton and Lily Edmonds are both starting over. Will the joy of the holiday season bring them together or will the troubles with Christmas push them apart?

Kaira Rouda Bio:

Kaira Rouda is an award-winning and bestselling author of both fiction and nonfiction. Her books include: Real You Incorporated: 8 Essentials for Women Entrepreneurs; Here, Home, Hope; All the Difference; In the Mirror; and the short story, A Mother’s Day. She lives in Southern California with her husband and four children and is at work on her next novel. Connect with her on Twitter, @KairaRouda, and on Facebook at Kaira Rouda Books. And of course, on Pinterest! For more about Kaira and her books, please visit her website KairaRouda.com.

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Trouble-Christmas-Southern-Born-Book-ebook/dp/B00O5UHY3M/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1413342169&sr=8-9&keywords=Kaira+Rouda

Links:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/kairarouda

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kaira-Rouda-Books/125389587505763

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1105560.Kaira_Rouda?from_search=true

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kaira-Rouda/e/B001I9VYB6/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1413269660&sr=1-2-ent

Holidays at Magnolia Bay Synopsis:

After a mission goes terribly wrong, ending in the death of a teammate, Navy Seal, Drew Lanham, is forced to take a leave from active-duty. Retreating to his godmother’s beach house in coastal Magnolia Bay, Drew plans to spend the three weeks R&R licking his wounds and catching some rays while the nightmares from his failed op fade. The last thing he wants to do is mingle with the locals. What he doesn’t count on is an early morning encounter with a goddess rising from the sea. His interest is piqued and his body put on alert when he finds out that same woman may or may not be after his godmother’s money.

Marine biologist, Jenna Huntley, has been searching her whole life for a place to call home and Magnolia Bay is that place. Unfortunately, she’s underutilizing her education giving tours at the town’s turtle rescue center. With the help of an octogenarian patroness, she maps out a proposal to develop a turtle hatchery on-site. Everything is going as planned until the older woman’s godson arrives. Suddenly, nothing is as it seems and Jenna’s future is hanging in the balance, with a sexy warrior pulling all the strings. Her natural tendency is to help the damaged hero, but she’s sworn off letting military men in her life ever again.

Will Drew and Jenna be able to put their pasts behind them and learn to trust their hearts long enough to enjoy their Holiday at Magnolia Bay?

Tracy Solheim Bio:

Tracy Solheim is the international bestselling author of the Out of Bound Series for Penguin. Her books feature members of the fictitious Baltimore Blaze football team and the women who love them. In a previous life, Tracy wrote best sellers for Congress and was a freelance journalist for regional and national magazines. She’s a military brat who now makes her home in Johns Creek, Georgia, with her husband, their two children, a pesky Labrador retriever puppy and a horse named after her first novel. Her fifth book for Berkley, Back To Before, will be released in January. She also has a digital holiday novella for Tule Publishing’s Southern Born Books coming October 20. See what she’s up to at www.tracysolheim.com. Or on facebook at Tracy Solheim Books and Twitter at TracyKSolheim.

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Holiday-Magnolia-Southern-Born-Christmas-ebook/dp/B00O3NX6KG/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413342958&sr=1-5&keywords=tracy+solheim

Links:

Blog: http://tracysolheim.com/?page_id=336

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TracyKSolheim

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TracySolheimBooks?fref=ts

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6519003.Tracy_Solheim

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Tracy-Solheim/e/B00B4GWIFY/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1413269630&sr=1-1

*****

Giveaway:

$50 Gift card and tote bag of books

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/4cf78adb126/