Book Review, Publisher Feature and Giveaway: Christmas Past by Susanna Fraser

Today I'm happy to be featuring Ever After's November release!

Check below the review for more information about this special line of stories 

and for Gift Card Giveaway.

This is a quick, enjoyable romance.
Christmas Past (Entangled Ever After)
by Susanna Fraser

• File Size: 1009 KB
• Print Length: 39 pages
• Publisher: Entangled: Ever After (November 25, 2013)
• Sold by: Macmillan
• ASIN: B00GET8RV0

Genre: Time Travel, Historical Romance Novella
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Book Description
Publication Date: November 25, 2013
Time-traveling PhD student Sydney Dahlquist’s first mission sounded simple enough—spend two weeks in December 1810 collecting blood samples from the sick and wounded of Wellington’s army, then go home to modern-day Seattle and Christmas with her family. But when her time machine breaks, stranding her in the past, she must decide whether to sacrifice herself to protect the timeline or to build a new life—and embrace a new love—two centuries before her time.

Rifle captain Miles Griffin has been fascinated by the tall, beautiful "Mrs. Sydney" from the day he met her caring for wounded soldiers. When he stumbles upon her time travel secret on Christmas Eve, he vows to do whatever it takes to seduce her into making her home in his present—by his side.

Review:
Sydney has made her first time travel trip going to December 1810 for medical, scientific and historical research. Her machine is equipped with a bounce-back feature that would return her to the current time if her arrival looks like it would cause a change in the timeline. She hasn’t bounced back but her machine isn’t working to allow her to manually return either.

The travel protocols have strict rules and she knows what is expected of her but it is a hard decision to make. Especially when a handsome rifle captain is doing his best to persuade her to stay.  He has already discovered her secret. Now he just needs to convince her to share time – and hopefully a future – with him.

This is a really fast read, taking less than an hour, yet it is a complete story. There is sufficient development of the characters to make them believable and likeable. I enjoyed the time travel twist but wondered a bit at Sydney’s convenient scientific conclusions. Still, the romance is sweet with a zing of sexual interaction. The writing flows well and the package makes lovely, quick entertainment.

I received this short novella as part of a publisher event to promote their Ever After line.

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Ever After features paranormal, sci-fi, and horror novellas, all with the romance you've come to love from Entangled--just in a shorter format. Make sure to like their new Facebook Page and follow them on Twitter.

Christmas Past by Susanna Fraser

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Book Review with eBook Giveaway: In Bed With The Opposition by Stephanie Draven

This is an engaging, easy, sexy, and fun romance.

In Bed With the Opposition
by Stephanie Draven

File Size: 408 KB
Print Length: 165 pages

Publisher: Entangled Publishing (Indulgence) (August 22, 2012)

Language: English
ASIN: B0091GYTRY
Genre: Contemporary Romance
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Book Description
Publication Date: August 22, 2012
Armed with a sassy haircut, a sharp wit, and a personal list of rules for all life's exigencies, Grace Santiago has everything under control. At least until Ethan Castle walks back into her life. Grace hasn't forgotten their disastrous affair in law school, but she can't resist his bad boy charm.

When Grace learns that Ethan has been hired by the other side, her loyalties—and her heart—are torn in two. Though their sexual chemistry can't be denied, they find themselves deadlocked. Ethan believes that all is fair in love and war, but he won't give up the fight—not even to win Grace's heart. So what can a good girl like Grace do, but learn to play dirty?

Review:
Grace Santiago has trust issues about men. Her father left when she was a little girl and she was blackmailed by a male student which resulted in her flunking out of law school. On top of those issues, her child, teen, and present ‘crush’, Blain, isn’t responding as favorably to her as she would like.

Now the man with whom she had a wild college fling, Ethan Castle, shows up to upset her well-ordered, controlled with rules life.  The chemistry between them is as hot, if not hotter, than it was in college. She thinks it is in her best interest-politically, career wise and personally-to stay away from him. But he is just too handsome and sexy to resist for long.

Ethan is a successful and confident campaign manager who travels all over the country. He is the sort of man who has no trouble finding women. He has never understood why Grace disappeared from college and refused to answer any of his emails or phone calls. Now that he sees her he not only wants answers, he wants her in his bed.

Ethan isn’t willing to take on the campaign for Grace’s boss, Senator Holliwell. Instead, so he can stay in the area and pursue Grace, he takes on the campaign of an obscure candidate who has one major issue to promote. Grace is reluctant to get involved with the enemy camp but even her Senator approves.

The romance heats up as does the campaign. Building their relationship through the cold, calculated, ruthless world of politics is difficult enough. But can it survive the threat of disclosure of past secrets?

These are very interesting characters with good strengths and some unpleasant traits as well. I was frustrated by Grace’s lack of confidence and her clinging to a young girl’s love interest that clearly didn’t exist for the guy. Fortunately, being with Ethan brings out the strength in Grace to be confident being herself.  Ethan is almost too arrogant at first but Ms. Draven gives him just enough vulnerability to make him likeable after a bit.

The writing flows well in an easy, light read with good pacing. The romantic relationship is sexy and fun without being lewd or uncomfortable in any way.  I liked the plot with the realistic, but unusual, conflicts that the characters face and I enjoyed their final reconciliation. Altogether this is an engaging, easy, fun, sexy romance and I would enjoy reading more books by this author.

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Ethan falls for Grace:

She was a maddening, kooky, frustrating woman...and he was falling in love with her. Location 1895.

Grace acknowledges her love for Ethan:

In the movies, love was always sudden and certain.  With Ethan it was fits and starts, very emotionally untidy. Could love possibly be this messy, and if so, how was she going to cope?  Location 2122.

I received this from Entangled Publishing for and honest Review.

This is set in Maryland for my Where Are You Reading Challenge. I will also add it to ARC and New Author Challenge lists.

About Stephanie Draven:

Stephanie Draven is currently a denizen of Baltimore, that city of ravens and purple night skies. She lives there with her favorite nocturnal creatures–three scheming cats and a deliciously wicked husband. And when she is not busy with dark domestic rituals, she writes her books.

Stephanie has always been a storyteller. In elementary school, she channeled Scheherazade, weaving a series of stories to charm children into sitting with her each day at the lunch table. When she was a little older, Stephanie scared all the girls at her sleepovers with ghost stories.
She should have known she was born to hold an audience in her thrall, but Stephanie resisted her writerly urges and graduated from college with a B.A. in Government. Then she went to Law School, where she learned how to convincingly tell the tallest tales of all!

A longtime lover of ancient lore, Stephanie enjoys re-imagining myths for the modern age. She doesn’t believe that true love is ever simple or without struggle so her work tends to explore the sacred within the profane, the light under the loss and the virtue hidden in vice. She counts it amongst her greatest pleasures when, from her books, her readers learn something new about the world or about themselves.

Stephanie also writes historical fiction as Stephanie Dray and has a series of forthcoming novels from Berkley Books featuring Cleopatra’s daughter.

TO ENTER THIS GIVEAWAY for an eBook Copy:

ENTRY FORM HERE

For 3 Extra Bonus entries Visit the Author's Website and tell me something you find of interest.

* This contest is open WORLDWIDE.
* This contest will close 10 PM (Central) on December 21, 2012.
The winner will be randomly selected from all entries.
WINNERS WILL BE ANNOUNCED on December 22, 2012.
Winners will have 72 hours to respond by email or the winners form linked in the announcement.

Book Review: Holiday Affair by Annie Seaton

This is a solidly nice contemporary romance.

Holiday Affair 
by Annie Seaton

• File Size: 276 KB
• Print Length: 126 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Entangled Publishing (Indulgence)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

Genre: Contemporary Romance
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0
 

Book Description
Publication Date: March 15, 2012
Staid professor Lissy McIntyre believes that choosing a mate should be based on common sense, not runaway passion. And she would certainly never pick a rolling stone like Nick Richards for long-term love. But a red-hot, tropical romance? Oh, yeah. He’s got a body just made for sinning and his sizzling kisses leave her senseless.

When Nick blows into town, he’s stunned to discover that his no-nonsense new neighbor and co-worker is the same sultry creature he seduced for one night of forbidden island pleasure. He’s unaccustomed to staying in one place for long, but he just can’t seem to keep his hands off the multi-faceted woman. Will Nick break loyal Lissy’s heart or will she be the one woman he simply can’t walk away from?

Review: Lissy has a dual personality! In her home town she is a conservative, quiet history professor working toward a promotion at a University in the New England Tablelands of Australia. She hasn’t really been dating although she has a regular Friday date with a handsome, stable accountant, Tom. But this story opens with a wind blown Lissy on a sailboat in North Queensland, Australia. She is taking a vacation to help recoup from the death of her beloved Gramps.

Nick is a character who I found hard to like at first. He is the type of handsome, charming rogue who bets with the other sailors which lady from the tour he will bed each night. Ugh. His personality does go a little deeper than that so he feels a bit guilty about his bet, but not enough to say good-bye to Lissy or even leave a note after she succumbs to a passionate night after a jag of grief.

Imagine Lissy’s surprise when she is settling in back at home and discovers that the walk away man from her holiday is not only the new history professor in her department, but the new neighbor on the other side of her duplex. Lissy is further dismayed when she learns there is a connection between Tom and Nick. Common sense tells Lizzy she should run the other way but Nick makes it very difficult for her as he keeps getting in her face and interfering with her friendship with Tom.

I was captured early by the warmth of the story and knowing that the characters had a surprise reunion coming when they got back to work. Even though Nick is hard to like at first, I did enjoy the tension in the story. I admit I was annoyed by Lizzy’s weak drinking night and that she kept giving in and then expecting something more. Both Lizzy and Nick had to make some risk assessments and changes in order to move forward. Fortunately Nick realized that he could lose something special.

I enjoyed Nick’s close knit family, especially his warm mother. The romance is hot but not unpleasantly graphic. Miss Seaton uses strong, bright descriptions of settings and shares interesting local customs. This added extra strength to the story.  The writing is easy and the pacing moves well. If you enjoy solid contemporary romance that sizzles but isn't over the edge, this makes a nice choice to read.

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Example of the strong descriptions:

The screeching of the rainbow lorikeets woke her the next morning. Lying in bed, she watched the birds hang upside down in the huge bottlebrush tree outside her window as they ate the honey from the red flowers.  Location 1195.

I received this eBook from the Publisher for an honest review. See Book Feature and Giveaway next post!.

I will add this to my ARC and New Author challenge lists.