Always on My Mind Feature and Excerpt, Plus #Giveaway: Lucky Harbor Backlist!

ALWAYS ON MY MIND

by Jill Shalvis

Publication Date: September 24, 2013

Genre: Contemporary
ISBN: 978-1-4555-2110-4

Summary:

After dropping out of pastry school and messing up her big break on a reality cooking show, Leah Sullivan needs to accomplish something in her life. But when she returns home to Lucky Harbor, she finds herself distracted by her best friend, Jack Harper. In an effort to cheer up Jack's ailing mother, Dee, Leah tells a little fib - that she and Jack are more than just friends. Soon pretending to be hot-and-heavy with this hunky firefighter feels too real to handle . . .

No-strings attachments suit Jack just fine - perfect for keeping the risk of heartbreak away. But as Jack and Leah break every one of their "just friends" rules, he longs to turn their pretend relationship into something permanent. Do best friends know too much about each other to risk falling in love? Or will Jack and Leah discover something new about each other in a little town called Lucky Harbor?

Author’s Social Networking links:

Blog: http://jillshalvis.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JillShalvis
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JillShalvis
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/22370.Jill_Shalvis

Buy Links:

Amazon: http://amzn.to/16bZwGE

Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/1aIeV6N
Indiebound: http://bit.ly/16c0lPH

Author Bio:

New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill's bestselling, award-winning books wherever romances are sold and visit her website for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.

ALWAYS ON MY MIND excerpt:

     He stared at her. “That’s quite a list of shortcomings,” he eventually said. “Is that all?”
     “No.” She shoved her wet hair from her face, though she managed to keep her regal stance, nose firmly in the air at nose-bleed height. “I held back because I didn’t want to be overly rude.”
     He laughed softly. “Don’t hold back, Leah. Let’s hear all of it.”
     “Well, your truck has more sporting goods than a store, you never say you’re sorry, and your girlfriends look like supermodels. I mean, what is that? There’s nothing wrong with real boobs, you know!”
     “I fail to see the problem.”
     She snorted again, and he was starting to feel greatly insulted. “You’re not exactly a walk in the park, Leah.”
     “No?”
     “No. You’re flighty, you live for your every whim, you downplay any real emotion you feel.”
     She hugged herself tight. “Good thing this is all pretend then, isn’t it,” she said softly.
     “Yeah.”
     She was freezing. And hauntingly gorgeous, so damn gorgeous standing there wet and silvery by the moon’s glow, like a goddess. It’s Leah, he had to keep reminding himself. Leah, who’d once beaten him in a marshmallow-eating contest, only to puke all over him. Leah, whose dark-green eyes had a way of telling the world to bite her. Leah, who’d run off on him and left him heartbroken. He took a step into her—for what exactly, he had no idea—and she poked a finger into his chest.
     “God,” she said. “You’re so…” Words apparently failed her, but she let out a sound that managed to perfectly convey how annoying he was.
     “Ditto,” he said, and then grabbed the finger drilling a hole between his pecs and tugged her hard enough that she lost her balance and fell against him.
     He wrapped an arm around her waist, entangling a hand in her wet hair.
     She went still as stone and stared into his eyes. And then lowered her gaze to his mouth.
     Yeah, they were in sync there. Suddenly he couldn’t breathe. Hers caught audibly in her throat, a good sign, he decided. Maybe she wouldn’t knee him in the balls. Testing the waters, he grazed her jawline with his teeth.
     She shivered.
     Then he slid his mouth to the very corner of hers and was rewarded by the clutch of her hands on his shirt. Having her hold on to him like this, like he was her only anchor, sent a bolt of lust straight through him. “Leah,” he murmured, hearing the surprise in his own voice, feeling the heat course through him as he finally—God, finally—covered her mouth with his.
     Her lips parted for him eagerly, and he groaned, drowning in the erotic collision of her hot tongue and chilled, wet body.
     Serious trouble. He was in serious trouble.

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Book Review: Always on My Mind by Jill Shalvis

This is another visit to Lucky Harbor with wonderful characters in denial leading to a sexy romance.

Always on My Mind (A Lucky Harbor Novel)
by Jill Shalvis

• File Size: 455 KB
• Print Length: 352 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (September 24, 2013)
• Sold by: Hachette Book Group
• ASIN: B00AFHHACO

Genre:Contemporary Romance
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Book Description
Publication Date: September 24, 2013
"Count on Jill Shalvis for a witty, steamy, unputdownable love story." -- Robyn Carr, New York Times bestselling author of Harvest Moon
THERE'S NOTHING LIKE THE REAL THING
After dropping out of pastry school and messing up her big break on a reality cooking show, Leah Sullivan needs to accomplish something in her life. But when she returns home to Lucky Harbor, she finds herself distracted by her best friend, Jack Harper. In an effort to cheer up Jack's ailing mother, Dee, Leah tells a little fib - that she and Jack are more than just friends. Soon pretending to be hot-and-heavy with this hunky firefighter feels too real to handle . . .
No-strings attachments suit Jack just fine - perfect for keeping the risk of heartbreak away. But as Jack and Leah break every one of their "just friends" rules, he longs to turn their pretend relationship into something permanent. Do best friends know too much about each other to risk falling in love? Or will Jack and Leah discover something new about each other in a little town called Lucky Harbor?

Review:
Leah had a rough childhood with a father who insisted on perfection and belittled her every effort saying she would always fail. As soon as she was old enough Leah got away. She did well in college but dropped out her last semester. She repeated the performance at chef school, fulfilling the predictions that she couldn’t finish anything.

Now Leah has come home to take care of her grandmother’s bakery while her grandmother recovers. The whole town is watching her as she has been the sweetheart of a cooking competition show. Leah is until contract not to reveal the final outcome but everyone expects her to win. She figures that her grandmother will recover and she will escape town before the finale airs.

Now that Leah is home she can spend time with her best friend and confidant, Jack. Jack is a handsome fire chief being chased by most of the women in town. When they were graduating high school Jack almost convinced Leah to be more than friends but just when he was sure they would be together Leah disappeared. Jack’s mother is fighting cancer and in an effort to cheer her Leah announces that she and Jack are dating. This is news to Jack who isn’t sure he wants to risk his emotions with Leah again.

Even though they fight acknowledging their true feelings they can’t resist their passion. Now Leah and Jack dance around each other trying to decide if they should admit that their pretend romance is real.

I really liked these two characters.  Poor Leah has to overcome the failure complex that was instilled by her abusive father. Jack has to be willing to risk changing his job and risk giving his heart. A large part of the book is filled with intimate, sexual encounters. Although I generally prefer more substance than intimate encounters I still enjoyed the conflict and the story beyond the passion as I waited to see how the pair would resolve their situation. This read quickly and I did enjoy it. Although it is part of a series this reads fine as a stand along.

See Tour Giveaway next post!
I received this title from Hachette/Grand Central Publishing for blog tour and an honest review.

Book Review: Double Click by Lisa Becker

This is a fun story of friends sharing and supporting each other in life situations.
Double Click
by Lisa Becker

• File Size: 463 KB
• Print Length: 309 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1482004992
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• ASIN: B00C1RIZHU

Genre: Contemporary Romance
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Book Description
Publication Date: March 26, 2013
Fans of the romantic hit Click: An Online Love Story will enjoy another voyeuristic dive into the lives of Renee, Shelley, Ashley, Mark and Ethan, as Double Click picks up with their lives six months later. Are Renee and Ethan soul mates? Does Mark ever go on a date? Has Shelley run out of sexual conquests in Los Angeles? Will Ashley's judgmental nature sabotage her budding relationship? Through a marriage proposal, wedding, new baby and unexpected love twist, Double Click answers these questions and more. Readers will continue to cheer, laugh, cry and cringe following the email exploits of Renee and friends.

Review:
I enjoyed the first book, Click: An Online Love Story, and wanted to find out how the characters progressed. This book continues the same rather unique and fun format of being presented completely through email messages between the characters.  Interestingly the characters seemed to be ‘tempered’ or more mild than portrayed in the first book. This made them even more likeable for me, except perhaps for Mark’s bouncy but annoying love interest. The lady doesn’t know what a capital letter is and can’t spell ... but she sure is cheerful.

Each of the characters is going through their separate life experiences - new mommy with postpartum blues, moving to new town for new work and new love interest, etc.- and it is interesting how they react, share together and support each other. There is a travel journal of sorts reporting on Renee and Shelley’s road trip from LA to Seattle with lots of crazy fun sites to report along the way in funny, punny emails.

I really liked Ethan’s input with Renee, from sharing business advise and philosophy to travel games.* I also enjoyed how Ethan listened to advise from Shelley and managed a perfect “do-over” of a very important event for Renee.

This is a fun story of friends and sharing.  I am not really a lover of ‘life drama’ and I appreciated that this story and format shares emotions between friends and lovers in little e-bites instead of long drama. It is quick and easy reading once you get used to the format. And it is a story that made me smile.

I received this book from the author for review.

*(Some of the questions are so fun I might use them for my Sharing Beyond Books Comment posts!)

Guest Post by Author Lisa Becker: Online Dating

Online Dating Inspired Click: An Online Love Story and Double Click
By Lisa Becker

I first met my husband while wearing my pajamas. Really! No, we weren't at some kinky singles party. I was sitting comfortably in my apartment and he was hanging out in his. But, I will never forget his email introduction via an online dating service, which invited me to check out his profile. It was sweet, endearing and intriguing enough for me to log on to learn more about him.  After a week of emails, followed by a week of phone calls, we met for our first date - a traditional dinner and movie outing. Even before I opened the door to greet him, I knew he was "the one."  Considering he lived 30 miles away, I'm not certain our paths would have typically crossed. But after nearly 13 years together - including 10 years of marriage (which in Los Angeles is apparently no small feat!) and two beautiful daughters, I have no doubt he is my soul mate.

After my now-husband and I met online, I was recalling some of the hilarious experiences that I had during the whole online dating experience.  How could I forget the guy who started every story (no joke!) with “My buddies and I were out drinking one night.”  I decided to capture some of them in writing and, from there and based loosely on my own experiences, my novel Click: An Online Love Story emerged.  The entire story is told in emails between our heroine, Renee Greene, her three best friends and the gentlemen suitors she meets online. The format felt like a modern way to tell the story that fit the topic, and allowed readers to develop an intimate relationship with the characters.

Clearly, I’m a big fan of online dating and find it to be a useful tool for young professionals who are busy working and finding it difficult to make the right connection at the gym, bar, coffee shop or grocery aisle. I say, people today are “married” to their cell phones and laptops, so why not use that technology to really get married, right?

While Click doesn’t end with a wedding (sorry for the spoiler!), during Renee’s road to happiness, we find many advantages to online dating.  My five favorite are:

·    On Your Own Terms – Online dating provides a relaxed, anytime and on your own terms experience.  Share as little or as much information as you want.  Avoid people you are not interested in.  Communicate at your convenience.   But, don’t send a message at 2:30 am.  Nothing smacks more of desperation than an email from someone trolling the Internet for a date in the wee hours of the morning. 

·    Multi-Tasking Enabled – Flirt while filing your taxes.  Chat and trim your nails.  Meet a mate while making breakfast.  It’s a well-known fact that women are great multi-taskers.  Take full advantage of that skill.  As Shelley, the over-sexed character in Click says to the about-to-try-online-dating Renee, “A whole host of hot and horny single men that I can review, chat with, judge and mock – all while sitting in my office looking very busy.  Maybe I should give it a try myself.”

·    Trade the “Meat Market” for the “Meet Market” – Now you can avoid the “meat market” scene of bars and clubs and instead enjoy a “meet market” – an international bazaar (but let’s hope not too bizarre) of prospective mates.  The Internet allows you to make an online introduction to thousands if not millions of people around the world.  So, if you want to meet someone in Katmandu, well then, can do!

·    Save Time, Money and Energy – Let’s face it.  Dating isn’t cheap.   It takes time, money and, likely your most valuable and scarce resource, energy.   With the “try before you buy” environment of online dating, you don’t have to meet for a drink, grab a coffee or sit through a long dinner only to discover there’s no physical attraction, you have nothing in common, conversation is lacking, etc.    

·    Rejection Made Easy – In Click, Renee gets an email from someone halfway across the world looking to meet someone willing to move for him.  After sending a polite and diplomatic “thanks but no thanks” email message, she proclaims to her friend, “It’s so much easier to reject someone over that Internet than in real life.  Score one for online dating!”   While rejection is easier for both parties when done online, it’s important to remember that people still have feelings.


As I've said many times before, if it happened for me, there's hope for you.  So log on and take a chance. To purchase Click or Double Click, please click here. To follow updates on the Click saga and share your stories about online dating, visit the Click Facebook fan page.

Book Review: Convict Dad by P. Ryan Hembree

This is an easy reading, engaging, cozy mystery.

Convict Dad 

by P. Ryan Hembree

• Paperback: 234 pages
• Publisher: Heart Ally Books (February 7, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0985374055
• ISBN-13: 978-0985374051

Genre: Cozy Mystery, Christian
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Book Description:
As a child, Fae Kardell stands helpless while police handcuff her father and drag him away to a police car. A jury later convicts him of murdering two young girls. Fae knows he's innocent. From behind prison walls, Royce Kardell finds a way to cope with his incarceration and maintain an active role in his family. Fifteen years later when Fae returns to her hometown to close the family home after her mother's death, she hears a deathbed confession which proves her father's innocence. As the real killer lurks nearby, details of the girls' deaths surface, but is it enough to justify her dad's release from prison? If she pushes for a new trial and she succeeds, her father could be freed-or-if she fails, he could get the death penalty.

Review:
As a child Fae was sent to live with her Aunt when her father was convicted of murdering two teenage girls. Fae’s father always claimed that he had been framed. His wife and daughter believed him but the stigma of conviction still shadowed their lives, especially Fae’s as even her cousins taunted her.

Fifteen years later Fae has returned upon the death of her mother to close up her childhood ‘home.’ As she works on the property she discovers that there are friends in town who have supported her mother throughout the years of trauma. Fae is called to visit a patient in a nursing home who confesses that Fae’s father is in fact innocent as she witnessed the murders and the burying of the bodies. But the true killer is a prominent member of the town so Fae has to proceed cautiously.

Fae’s Mother and father found a strong faith with the help of a local pastor and his wife. Pastor Morrow and Trina invite Fae to dinner where she meets their older son, Cliff, who is home for a rare visit.  Fae tells the family about the confession and the true murderer. Cliff, a State Trooper, is able to call in the FBI to dig up the bodies.  Now the hunt is on for evidence to tie the crime to the true murderer.

The murderer realizes that some investigation is going on and sets about, through threats and bribery, to try to keep the interest down or drive it away. Also, he knows he has to get his drunken sluggard of a brother out of town before he says something incriminating.

The author uses a series of children’s books as a tool that kept Fae and her parents connected which I thought was quite clever. I enjoyed the suspense and mystery of the plot as well as the gentle romance between Fae and Cliff. I also appreciated the quiet, determined strength Ms. Hembree portrays through the faith of the characters. There is a message of forgiveness that is nicely shared too.

The writing is light and easy. Although the story started just a little slowly it only took a couple of chapters to pull me in. Then it read very smoothly and quickly. I recommend this to readers who enjoy clean language, cozy mystery, sweet romance and evidence of faith in a story.

I received this at EPICon 2013 from the publisher for and honest review.

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