MY FAVORITE SOUVENIR

Release date: April 27th, 2020

A Standalone Contemporary Romance

New York Times Bestselling Authors Penelope Ward & Vi Keeland

BLURB

My planned trip for two unexpectedly turned into a trip for one. Rather than let my breakup get me down, I packed my bags and decided a week at a luxury  resort was just what I needed.

But one calamity after the next, and suddenly I was stuck without a hotel room, along with a few hundred other people.

It looked like my fancy vacation was about to turn into me sleeping on the hotel lobby floor.

Until I overheard a gorgeous man pretending to be someone he wasn’t in order to steal a reservation from a guest who hadn’t shown up yet.

When I realized there were two rooms, instead of calling him out, I pretended to be his sister. That’s how the story of “Milo and Maddie Hooker” began.

We were the Hookers.

My depressing trip quickly made a U-turn into an adventure.

My fake brother spent the next few days showing me around his hometown.

When it was time to leave, neither of us really wanted to go yet.

So, instead of flying back to our respective homes, we ventured on a road trip.

At every stop, we’d pick up souvenirs.

But as hot as our chemistry was, we never crossed the line.

Milo knew I’d just come out of a tough relationship and didn’t want to mess with a vulnerable woman.

So instead, at the end of our trip, we made a pact to meet again in three months.

It was always my intention to meet him.

But when I got back home, reality hit in a big way.

And I worried I may have lost my handsome stranger forever.

Was there a place for him in my future?

Or had the memory of him just become my favorite souvenir?

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COVER CREDITS::

Cover designer: Sommer Stein, Perfect Pear Creative

Photographer: Davide Martini

Model: Simone Bredariol

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

PENELOPE WARD:: 

Penelope Ward is a New York Times, USA Today and #1 Wall Street Journal

bestselling author of contemporary romance. 

She grew up in Boston with five older brothers and spent most of her twenties as

a television news anchor. Penelope resides in Rhode Island with her husband, son,

and beautiful daughter with autism.

 

With over two million books sold, she is a 21-time New York Times bestseller and

the author of over twenty novels. Her books have been translated into over a

dozen languages and can be found in bookstores around the world.

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VI KEELAND: 

Vi Keeland is a #1 New York Times, #1 Wall Street Journal, and USA

Today Bestselling author. With millions of books sold, her titles have appeared in

over a hundred Bestseller lists and are currently translated in twenty-five

languages. She resides in New York with her husband and their three children

where she is living out her own happily ever after with the boy she met at age six.

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Park Avenue Player:

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Overall Grade: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Okay, I have to be honest. Since I’m a professor of English (albeit an adjunct one), I go into professor/student romances trepidatiously BECAUSE I could never see myself becoming involved with one of my students. Reading that particular trope in a romance story incites an extreme need to suspend my disbelief, which I can do…to a point. I fell in love with Roxie Noir with Daniel and Charlie’s story in Best Fake Fiance. I had signed up to read an ARC of that book and loved every bit of that book. Levi and June followed in Break the Rules, and I found myself, once again, falling deeper for the Loveless Brothers. When I posted Caleb Loveless’s cover, I was ready. There is something that is comforting and homey about the Loveless Brothers. They support each other while also giving each other a hard time. No matter what, though, these guys support and love in ways that evoke true heroic character. Ready for Caleb’s story, I dove into Noir’s, The Hookup Equation. This story offers the message that choosing love will always win even if the circumstances and consequences are difficult. 

And I love that message. Truly. Caleb and Thalia are intelligent, thoughtful characters. There are academically-motivated discussions in this book about feminism and choice/consent that are necessary discussions. Noir doesn’t pull the punches with regard to the weight of the power dynamic between Caleb and Thalia. In doing so, it opens discourse about protecting people in a subordinate position from being exploited. This is a prominent discussion in The Hookup Equation. The brilliance of Noir in these moments is her insistence on presenting various viewpoints. From Thalia and Caleb’s perspective, their relationship is consensual, and both are aware of the consequences of it. They don’t identify a power imbalance because they thoughtfully talk about a relationship of equality or partnership. However, through the character of Thalia’s roommate, Margaret, we receive the common perspective of misuse of power. She believes Thalia is unable to notice Caleb’s position of power. Yet, while Noir articulates this through Margaret’s character, she acknowledges the reduction of Margaret’s thinking in reducing Thalia’s sense of choice. She helps us see the problems of making assumptions about people’s relationships without speaking with them directly and allowing their perspective. Noir also involves the administration’s viewpoint of this situation, and it identifies the need to protect students, yet also highlights the stringent, inflexible definitions of morality. These discussions become the “meat,” the gravity, of the story as Caleb and Thalia engage in a “forbidden” relationship. These are important discussions, but the issue with this level of story development is that it can detract from the emotional development of the characters’ relationship. 

And this is where The Hookup Equation deviated from the other Loveless Brothers’ books. Since there is an intelligence and academic insight in this book, the emotional connection, the journey towards love, feels innocuous at times. Where I was emotionally engaged in Daniel/Charlie and Levi/June’s stories, the emotional tug of Caleb and Thalia didn’t hit me until almost 90% in, and I missed it in this book. I’ve come to expect it with Noir’s storytelling. Thalia and Caleb have clear chemistry, and as their physical relationship develops, it feels like their connection is more physical, while only sometimes emotional and intellectual. The bigger emotional pay-offs in this book lie in Thalia’s family. Noir is introducing us to a familial dynamic that is contrary to the Loveless family. I’m hoping we will see their family situation play out in books for Thalia’s brothers. But….for The Hookup Equation, while the story between Caleb and Thalia is smart, it’s missing the spark of the last two books. I kept waiting for it, noting the disconnect on the page. It eventually hits, but it doesn’t have the same emotional impact as the other two books. 

There is still quite a bit to love about The Hookup Equation. Beyond Caleb and Thalia’s journey, Noir gifts us with a big truth/secret of the Loveless family. We are returned to a place that is starting to feel nostalgic in Roxie Noir’s books. Even more, I see Seth’s forthcoming story as a potential powerhouse given that he is secreted in this one. It would be unrealistic to say that every book MUST be emotional dynamite. The Hookup Equation gives us more of what we love about Roxie Noir: a sentimental, fun-loving family, a story that compels you forward, and a love story that touches on the deeper truths of life. 

In love and romance,

Professor A

Teach me everything.

The Hookup Equation, an all-new romantic comedy with “the perfect mixture of witty banter and forbidden moments” from Roxie Noir, is available now!

My whole life, I’ve been a good girl. I follow rules like nobody’s business. I obey guidelines like I was born to it. Show me a line, and I’ll toe it.

I’m even a twenty-two-year-old virgin. Good is my middle name.

And then, I break one tiny little rule. Miniscule. Inconsequential.

Next thing I know, I’m trapped with an incredibly handsome stranger. He’s got eyes like cut emeralds, biceps that makes my head spin, and a smile that has me rethinking all my life choices.

We escape a bar bathroom together. We go on an impromptu date. We share the hottest kiss I’ve ever had, one that leaves me panting for more. We promise to see each other again.

Turns out, we see each other the next morning.

In my calculus class.

Which he’s teaching.

My handsome, sexy date is Professor Loveless, and we’ll be seeing each other plenty. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday all semester.

There’s no choice but to call it off. We both have too much at stake: I could lose my scholarship, and he could lose his entire career.

But I can’t call off the way I feel.

I can’t call off the way he looks when he rolls up his sleeves and explains imaginary numbers.

I can’t call off the heated glances, or the way our hands touch when I hand in my homework, or the memory of his body pressing against mine that night.

I’m a virgin.

He’s my professor.

And if we give in, it could cost us both everything.

But I’m so tired of being a good girl.

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About Roxie

I love writing sexy, alpha men and the headstrong women they fall for.

My weaknesses include: beards, whiskey, nice abs with treasure trails, sarcasm, cats, prowess in the kitchen, prowess in the bedroom, forearm tattoos, and gummi bears.

I live in California with my very own sexy, bearded, whiskey-loving husband and two hell-raising cats.

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http://roxienoir.com

Overall Grade: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

How do you take a character who does some pretty despicable things on the page and make him sympathetic and the romantic hero of your final book in a trilogy set in the dangerous world of high French fashion? Well, you humanize him of course. You offer his psychology and you pair him with a woman who bears the strength of character to bring him to his knees. Oh, and you call yourself Karina Halle, a powerhouse of romance writing. 

If you had told me that I would empathize with Pascal, the hero of Disavow, the final book of Karina Halle’s Dumonts trilogy, I would have laughed in your face and called you crazy. What Pascal got up to in the first books of this trilogy, Discretion and Disarm, was dastardly and evil, to say the least. When I attended Book Bonanza in August of last year, I asked her about the books of this series. I had just read Discretion, Olivier’s story, and I was curious about the other two books in the trilogy. When she let it drop that the third book would be Pascal’s story, I was doubtful. I knew it could be a hard sell to accept Pascal’s story. I laughed nervously with her about it and said I was intrigued. Knowing that it was coming, I saw the way in which she began to soften Pascal a bit in Blaise’s Disarm. She showed us that there was a little bit of humanity in him, but she didn’t allow him to fall deeply into it until Disavow. And to be fair, it takes a bit of the story before you can see Pascal in a different light, when you can accept him as the hero of his story. Even then, Pascal would best be designated as an anti-hero. However, it’s that designation that makes him the most interesting Dumont. 

One of my favorite aspects of romance involves the alpha-aggressive hero becoming unraveled. Call it my kink, but the softening soul and heart of a seeming irredeemable man at the hands of a strong insightful heroine does something for me. I wasn’t sure if I would feel this for Halle’s Pascal, but her careful crafting of his character in this story illustrates her talent in romance writing. We shouldn’t like him, but you can’t help but fall for him. Now, to be fair, my favorite Dumont hero after reading the trilogy is still Blaise. There is just something magical about Blaise and Seraphina. However, Pascal’s redemption through the love of Gabrielle is special. It’s a reminder that love can save. The reason this works in Disavow is Halle’s ability to offer her readers Pascal’s’ psychology. 

At its core, Disavow is a story of abuse. The resolution to the “mystery” of Ludovic Dumont’s death won’t be a surprise for anyone who has read the first two books of the trilogy. What becomes a bigger surprise is the depth of his brother Gautier’s evil. No one in this story has escaped his depravity. Each person’s life has been changed by his villainous actions, by his abuse,  which means that his rule of terror is coming to a close. How this is dealt with in Disavow is incredibly satisfying, albeit a bit anti-climactic. However, for much of the book, the reach of his abuse of power illustrates the depth of hurt in the other characters, Pascal included. Once more is revealed about his relationship with his father, along with the revelation of Gabrielle’s story, Pascal’s humanity shows. It’s here where you will find the genius of Halle’s storytelling. We shouldn’t like him. Really. His stalking activities of Discretion and his actions against Olivier are terrible, but a humanized Pascal is one of the best things of the Dumont trilogy. Halle’s use of Gabrielle as the impetus for Pascal’s evolution shows the power of romance. 

The second part of my “kink” in romance is the depth of power in a strong heroine. Gabrielle encapsulates this easily. Even in her weakness, Gabrielle is the fiercest character in the trilogy. Through her development, Halle exposes her readers to the truth and consequences of power and abuse. In Gabrielle, she gives her the power to change the story and its characters. She holds the greatest power in Disavow, and Gabrielle wields it responsibly, illustrating the determination and tenacity of women to effect change. It is ONLY because of Gabrielle that we can accept Pascal as the hero of Disavow, and it’s is the best depth of this story. 

The best part of the final book of the Dumont trilogy, Disavow, is its ending. It is here where the humanity lies. It is here where we learn that relationships can heal and people can change and find their happy endings in the name of love. It is here where Halle reminds us why the genre of romance can both teach and titillate us.

In love and romance,

Professor A 

Overall Grade: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

“‘My point is this: you fight for love because the minute you have a taste of it, you realize why wars are fought in honor of it. It’s the most precious thing in the world, and it’s worth waiting for…and fighting for.’”

After reading Stealing Her, the first book of Rachel Van Dyken’s Covet series, I found myself in this strange position. For much of that book, Julian, the brother of the hero of that book, seemed the villain. It isn’t until the latter part of that book that you realize there is no “good” or “bad, “hero” or “villain.” That the truth is everyone is a victim to someone’s choices, save Bridge and Julian’s father who is the instigator of the problem. Sympathetic for Julian’s situation at the end of Stealing Her, I needed, nay I wanted, Julian’s story. And Rachel Van Dyken did not disappoint with Finding Him, the second book of this duet. This story is a tale of two people so broken by the circumstances of their lives that they find completion in matching their broken parts together. Julian and Keaton Westbrook find their puzzle completed in each other, and that is the beauty and truth of Van Dyken’s romance.

The story begins with Keaton Westbrook looking for solace in a solo getaway to rural Vermont. There, she intends to write the memoir of her relationship with her now-deceased boyfriend. As a social media celebrity influencer, the world has acted as an active audience to their relationship. In a promise to him and a homage created for her fans, Keaton is struggling to find the words as they will bring completion to his death and their relationship, and she doesn’t feel ready for it. However, she has a deadline to meet, so this seclusion is meant to push her to finish the manuscript. Enter Julian Tennyson. Still angry and struggling with the “betrayal” by his brother and ex-fiancee and the death of his mother, the board of directors of his corporation, along with his brother, strongarm him into taking a vacation as a way to help him find some peace. His brother, Bridge, suggests he go to the family vacation home, a secluded cabin in Vermont. A bit reticent, he agrees so that he can return to a place where he felt the love of his mother. It is here that Keaton and Julian collide into each other. Initially, these two are unimpressed with the other. However, as they spend time together, learning each other, they become attracted to each other. As the story progresses, they find themselves attached, but life threatens their ability to be together. It is here where the depth of this story pulls at your heartstrings. Is it possible for Keaton and Julian to find their happy ending?

I think the reason why I loved this story lies in its tenderness. This isn’t a word that you would use to describe a hero such as Julian Tennyson. Going into the story, he is anything but tender. He’s hardened and angry and hates his world. He’s been devastated in a variety of ways and it spurs him towards being mean-spirited. He’s been changed by his father, but that change is girded through the pain of his life. This is the Julian at the beginning of the story. As he encounters Keaton and finds himself overwhelmed by her story and her pain, it touches at the emotional depths of Julian’s soul. As she tells the story of her relationship to her dead boyfriend, Noah, she tenderizes his heart and soul. In their latter moments together, Van Dyken does what I love with Type A alpha-type characters, she brings him to his knees. She creates a hero who you can’t help but fall in love with. At the end of Finding Him, Julian is nothing like the man of Stealing Her, and you recognize the brilliant depths of Van Dyken’s storytelling. She makes you empathize for him; she breaks your heart for him. Had you told me I would feel so deeply for Julian in Finding Him, I would have laughed. Yet, this is the true story of this Covet duet. It illustrates the power of love to change a person, to bring him to his knees, and return him to his natural condition. Julian is supposed to be softer, more emotional. Hardened under his father’s tutelage, Julian has lost a part of himself. In Finding Him, Van Dyken returns him back to himself, and by extension, his brother, Bridge.

“And then I realized…that was why Julian was special. Because when he wanted something, he went after it full force, with all his soul – and all his heart.”

Through Keaton, I found myself considering death. There are so many truths about death revealed in this story, namely that we often idealize the deceased instead of considering the reality of it. While Noah seems the love of Keaton’s life, it becomes clear that he teaches her to love, but he cannot be her endgame. For much of the story, Keaton struggles against her idealism of Noah with the reality of their relationship. As she falls for Julian, she begins to understand love, but she must learn to let go in order to feel the depth of it. This is where death is complicated because, in letting go, we have to change our memories. The profundity of this truth is the depth of Van Dyken’s story. Even more, we see very clearly how Van Dyken crafts Keaton and Julian to be two sides of the same coin: both in love with the past, reticent to move forward, but drawn to the gravity of their attraction. Besides Julian’s evolution, Keaton’s journey is my second favorite part of Finding Him. The acceptance of her future is any one of us fighting our own. 

There is so much quiet and beauty in the moments of Finding Him. Each turn of the page offered healing, a reminder to the reader that moving past loss is necessary to truly “live.” As Julian and Keaton fall in love, the brilliance of Van Dyken’s seamless storytelling is highlighted. She has this uncanny way of creating stories that evoke a tenderness of spirit along with a truth about human nature. Julian and Keaton’s romance is perfect, and the ending of Finding Him will remind you why romance teaches us everything we need to know about living a full life. 

In love and romance, 

Professor A

“Hold on with both hands because you’re about to experience the ride of a lifetime. All the stars for this masterpiece.”

-Marni Mann, USA Today Bestselling Author

The Life You Stole, the compelling and stunning conclusion to the binge worthy Life Duet from Jewel E. Ann, is available now!

Sex.

Lies.

Revenge.

On the heels of a devastating loss, Evelyn fights to put her life back together.

Only … part of her husband belongs to another woman, and the devil owns her soul.

“If you tell her the lie, I will tell her the truth.”

When her best friend goes to great lengths to protect Evelyn from destruction and devastation, mistakes are made, lines are crossed, and all trust is shattered.

“We weren’t unbreakable.

I just needed to believe we weren’t unrepairable.”

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Excerpt

I jumped, shutting my computer, and glanced up at Graham paused at the threshold to my room, loosening his red tie. He always looked handsome in a suit and that red tie I gave him for his birthday. I didn’t expect to see him. My assistant said he was at the Governor’s Mansion. I rarely stayed there, but he used it as an occasional “getaway.” Probably from me. So when she told me he was there, I made the assumption (actually hoped) he’d decided to stay the night and get some work done.

“It’s not even seven.” I tucked my bare feet beneath me, still wearing my navy skirt suit and silk scarf—my long hair in loose curls down my back and around my shoulders just like Graham liked it.

He took calculated steps toward me, completely untying his tie, letting it drop to the floor before working the buttons to his starchy white shirt. I tried to forget my internet search, not that it mattered because I couldn’t hide anything from my husband. He elicited a warring of emotions from me. An icy tingle slithered along my spine, making every muscle rigid, while the warmth in my heart fed on the way my pulse reacted to his proximity, the way it always had done. That never changed. It was how I knew we weren’t broken.

“Did you miss me?” He smirked, shrugging off his shirt, revealing his defined torso—abs for days beneath a thin smattering of dark hair on his chest.

I was the envy of so many women. Every day I reminded myself of that.

“Nice scarf.” He knelt in front of the chair.

I returned a nervous smile, hoping the man before me was the man I loved. Graham untied the scarf, sliding it from my neck as slowly as he’d slid off his tie just seconds earlier. The scarf floated to the floor. Gentle fingers swept my hair off my shoulders, exposing my neck.

With the same feather’s touch, he traced the bruises. “It’s nothing …” His lips replaced his fingers, kissing my neck. “You’re fine. Right?”

I wanted to believe him. Could denial become truth if we just believed hard enough?

“I’m fine,” I murmured, closing my eyes.

“Want me to show you how much I missed you?” he whispered next to my ear.

Was he asking me for permission? Governor Graham demanded me. Pre-marriage, pre-Governor Graham asked … begged me to surrender to him.

Review

Overall Grade: Stars don’t do this book (and its predecessor) justice—> More than all the stars

It’s February of 2020, and I’m dead. Obviously, it’s not literal; it’s figurative, of course. But after reading Jewel E. Ann’s The Life Series, I’m broken. The book that officially stuck a fork in my soul and rendered it done: The Life You Stole. There are many things that make a writer brilliant, talented, genius, (you choose the modifier here to express the greatness of a writer), etc. I’ve noted them in other reviews: the ability to connect a story to my soul so that my emotions overwhelm me when I’m reading the story, the careful construction of prose to render my writerly brain speechless in the face of said prose, the purposeful creation of characters that feel both real and unreal and my inability to suspend my disbelief in their presence. All of these conspire to create stories/books that earn the descriptor of “good.” Obviously, “good” or “bad” lies in the eye of the beholder. I’ve seen GoodReads ratings of 1 star simply because someone hates the idea of a book. They have “been there done that.” I obviously struggle with that level of critique because it’s lazy and seems like a move to render themselves a “troll.” Whatever…

The point of my rambling in this review is set-up, the understanding of depth of genius. Because…because The Life series, and for purposes of this review The Life You Stole, illustrates the reason that people, readers, you, should read this duet and Jewel E. Ann’s booklist. Again, I know this is my opinion, and there are aspects of this book that will turn readers off instantly (I refuse to name them). But to NOT read this book and its predecessor is to ignore genius. Literally.

I have only been reading romance for the past two years, so I’m a relative newbie. There is MUCH that I have yet to read. I mean, for gosh sakes, I just read my first Colleen Hoover book, and I refuse to read the Twilight series (yes, you can shoot me). I share this with you to show you my shortcomings as a reviewer. I am trying to catch up; I’ve read almost a 1,000 books from a variety of authors in the past two years. Yet, I know that there is a big wide world of romance out there. When I make this statement, take it with all of my spewing in mind. I have NOT read a book like the two of this series. Nothing (and I read anything from dark to clean, angsty to funny ha ha rom-coms) has compared to The LIfe That Mattered and The Life You Stole. Nothing. Here’s my come clean moment: I could NOT suspend my disbelief in the reading of The Life You Stole, and I had to read it out of chronology to save my soul. You might be asking me why I’m sharing that…because, to me, any book that renders me an emotional, anxious puddle is genius. When a book reaches into your heart and palpitates it for you, it’s a good book. Any book that makes you want to vomit out its pain is genius. Literature exists to MOVE us, not always to satiate us. The best writers of our time did and do that. And this series moved me and rearranged my thinking about topics I HATE to talk about.

I will not talk about this story other than to tell you it is more of Evelyn “Evie,” Ronin “Roe,” Lila, and Graham. When The Life You Stole ends, you feel replete, but you MUST go through emotional turmoil to get there. This isn’t a “feel good” book in the midst of its telling; the resolution of its story brings a completeness that feels well-earned. Every word you read is a reward for the story’s end. Remember that.

So, I’ve rambled on for good measure about the background of this book, the reasons for noting a writer as genius, here is where I will tell you, beyond the emotional connection of this book, WHY you should read Jewel E. Ann’s The Life Series, more specifically The Life You Stole:

1. This is a master class in storytelling. I’m going to try to explain my thinking here, and it will probably be confusing but bear with me. In my review of The Life That Mattered, I noted the space between Ann’s words, as though there was more to be said but it wasn’t revealed in the story. In reading The Life You Stole, that revelation of silence is KEY. It’s intentional. The silence of The Life That Mattered finds its space in The Life You Stole, and Ann uses it to illustrate its harm. The characters of this story remain silent, and it breaks apart lives in destructive ways. To craft that silence into her prose and story is GENIUS. As romance readers, we miss aspects of storytelling such as structure, but we shouldn’t. It’s in that space where writers illustrate their craftsmanship. Jewel E. Ann is masterful with it here. Even more, she furthers this in giving Lila and Graham points of view in The Life You Stole. She’s filling in the silence of the story with more words, revealing more secrets as a contrast to the silence of the characters with each other in the story. Once again, this underscores the danger of keeping secrets and remaining silent.  This is storytelling acumen at its best.
2. I cannot share the concepts of this book without revealing spoilers so I won’t. What I will say is that Jewel E. Ann is playing with concepts in ways to challenge our thinking about them. As each page turns, you begin to question your thoughts and feelings about a concept, and you’re forced to ask yourself if you can change your perception of them. In fact, by the end of the book, you will find yourself in the gray, accepting things you never thought you might accept. Jewel E. Ann moves you, forces you to stare at your reflection and understand where your line is drawn in the sand. Even more, she challenges you with The Life You Stole (and The Life That Mattered) to re-draw it. The best writers challenge your thinking and values. That is the power of literature.
3. All her words. I’ve noted this in other Jewel E. Ann reviews, but her ability to string words together is a gift. She can take the simplest of terms and render them into a sentence of meaning. Over and over again, this book’s words bewitch your spirit. I found myself reveling in them, as I did with her story construction and character development.

Reading The Life You Stole awakened my literature brain. I took two pages of scribbled notes about this book trying to make sense of my emotions and thoughts. This rambling review is the closest I can get to telling you WHY you should read this book and its sister. I won’t give you any summary; there are other truths I’d love to reveal; and there is literary theory that I could pour into this review, but it would reveal too much. And The Life Series must simply be experienced for you to understand its truth. There is a depth of understanding about human nature in this book that will bend your mind, your heart, and your soul, and I predict there is no book in 2020 that will do the same. The Life That Mattered and The Life You Stole sit in a class all their own.

About Jewel

Jewel is a free-spirited romance junkie with a quirky sense of humor.

With 10 years of flossing lectures under her belt, she took early retirement from her dental hygiene career to stay home with her three awesome boys and manage the family business.

After her best friend of nearly 30 years suggested a few books from the Contemporary Romance genre, Jewel was hooked. Devouring two and three books a week but still craving more, she decided to practice sustainable reading, AKA writing.

When she’s not donning her cape and saving the planet one tree at a time, she enjoys yoga with friends, good food with family, rock climbing with her kids, watching How I Met Your Mother reruns, and of course…heart-wrenching, tear-jerking, panty-scorching novels.

Connect with Jewel

Facebook: http://bit.ly/2Qzj2iq

Twitter: http://bit.ly/2urUQG0

Instagram: http://bit.ly/2ZZwpLD

BookBub: http://bit.ly/2s4ftr1

Stay up to date with Jewel by joining her mailing list:

http://bit.ly/2FpGXdA

http://www.jeweleann.com

A shattered family, broken hearts, and healing love.

Finding Him, an all-new standalone in the Covet duet by New York Times bestselling author Rachel Van Dyken is LIVE!

Coming out of a coma was one hell of a wake-up call. While I was in the dark, my estranged twin brother, Bridge, had replaced me in the company I owned and swept up my fiancée in the takeover. With my ruthless reputation, can I blame them for falling in love? I have to look long and hard at where I’ve been and where I’m headed. Alone time? The universe has other plans.

Our family’s secluded Vermont cabin comes with a gorgeous—if at first unwelcoming—surprise. She’s renter Keaton Westbrook, a social media superstar struggling with her own private grief. As a winter storm bears down, we’ve found something to keep us warm—an intimacy neither of us expected and both of us need.

After we say goodbye, what happens then? Keaton and I are longing to reconcile with our painful pasts. I can’t bear to do it without her. Is it too much to ask of fate to give us a second chance at life and love?

Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2QZWRAK

Amazon Worldwide: mybook.to/FindingHimRVD

Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/36BuTSB

About Rachel:

Rachel Van Dyken is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author of regency and contemporary romances. When she’s not writing you can find her drinking coffee at Starbucks and plotting her next book while watching The Bachelor.

She keeps her home in Idaho with her husband, adorable son, and two snoring boxers! She loves to hear from readers!

Connect with Rachel:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RachelVanDyken
Website: http://rachelvandykenauthor.com
Newsletter: http://bit.ly/RVDNewsletter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rachvd
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RachVD
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2cNVwL9
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/RVDGR
Rachel’s Rockin’ Readers: http://bit.ly/RachelsRockinReaders

From New York Times bestselling author Karina Halle comes a seductive novel of riches, romance, and redemption.

Disavow, book three in the Dumont series, is live!

In the Dumont fashion empire, no heir has a reputation as decadent, arrogant, and ruthless as that of Pascal Dumont. Every transgression, an indecent pleasure. Every woman, a conquest. And none is more challenging than his new personal assistant, Gabrielle Caron. She’s defiant, alluring, and a mystery Pascal can’t wait to solve.

A former family servant and daughter of the head maid, Gabrielle’s returned as suddenly as she left eight years ago. No longer an awkward teen, the ethereal young beauty has amassed a wealth of resolve. She’ll need it. In hire to the devilishly charming scion, she’s come back for one reason only. And she dare not whisper why.

But as the nights grow more intimate at the Dumont maison, Gabrielle realizes that the last man she believed in is the one man she can trust with her secrets. For Pascal, falling in love means more than his own redemption. It could mean saving Gabrielle’s very life as they confront a dark and scandalous past…together.

Download your copy today or read FREE in Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2T3rd8m

Amazon Worldwide: mybook.to/DisavowKH

Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/DisavowKH

Meet Karina:

Karina Halle is a former travel writer, music journalist & screenwriter, and The New York Times, Wall Street Journal & USA Today Bestselling author of over 55 bestselling novels, ranging from horror and suspense to contemporary romance. She lives on an island off the coast of British Columbia with her husband, and her adopted pitbull Bruce, where she drinks a lot of wine, hikes a lot of trails and devours a lot of books.

Halle is represented by the Root Literary Agency and is both self-published and published by Simon & Schuster, Hachette & Montlake. Her work has been translated and published in 20 languages.

Hit her up on Instagram at @authorHalle, on Twitter at @MetalBlonde and on Facebook. You can also visit www.authorkarinahalle.com and sign up for the newsletter for news, excerpts, previews, private book signing sales and more.

Connect with Karina:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkarinahalle/
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2vo9pq4
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorhalle/
Join her Reader Group: https://goo.gl/wpCBSS
Stay up to date with Karina by signing up for her newsletter here: https://goo.gl/Ve4eCh
http://authorkarinahalle.com

STOLEN SOULMATE by Mary Catherine Gebhard
Release Date: February 27th
Cover Designer: Hang Le

Add to Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48765058-ss

PREORDER STOLEN SOULMATE TODAY!!
Amazon: https://amzn.to/37t1qun
Apple Books: https://apple.co/37solWH
Nook: http://bit.ly/3aHsvfm
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2TWK05G

Blurb:
There’s a rule in Crowne Hall: never look a Crowne in the eyes.
It protects us more than them.

I broke it once, the night Grayson Crowne mistook me for his true love and stole my first kiss. I’ve regretted it every day since.

He hates me.
He torments me.

He won’t let me go, because that night he whispered a secret against my lips not meant for me. Grayson Crowne, heir to the Crowne empire and notorious playboy prince is… a virgin.

I signed a contract in my heart’s blood as much as ink: help him get back his love, repair what I broke. Give him my body, my soul, my heart, let him use all of me, so when the time comes to marry her, he won’t need me.

I shouldn’t need him.
But he’s my stolen soulmate, and I’m at his mercy.

About the Author:
I started writing the moment I could read. My first characters were Wibbley and Squig and I used MS Word and clipart to bring them to life when I was a kid in elementary school. I started seriously thinking about being a writer in High School and I remember the day exactly, because it was such an epiphany. I was always so uncertain. You know how everyone was always asking what you wanted to be when you were older? Well I NEVER could decide.

I wanted to be a marine biologist.

An actor.

A FIRE FIGHTER (thank you Joaquin Phoenix in Ladder 49 for that phase).

One day it hit me—A WRITER. I could do it ALL. Then you couldn’t stop me from writing. I penned my first novel at fifteen (but don’t ask me to show it to you, because it’s like I was in competition to beat the thesaurus). When I was diagnosed with a chronic illness, writing became even more important, because it became my therapy. When I wrote my characters, suddenly I wasn’t so alone.

These days you can find me daydreaming about where to travel with my husband, singing in my car, or lost in the newest K drama. And planning my next novel, of course

Connect w/Mary Catherine:
Website: https://www.marygebhard.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marycgebhard/
Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/YouOwnMeMCG/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/marycgebhard
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marycgebhard/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8441964.Mary_Catherine_Gebhard
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Bookbub: https://bookbub.com/profile/mary-catherine-gebhard
Newsletter Signup: http://www.subscribepage.com/newsubsMCG

Ritual, Book 5 in the Palm South University series by bestselling author Kandi Steiner, is coming July 30, 2020!

Written like your favorite drama television show, the Palm South University series has been called “a mix of Greek meets Gossip Girl with a dash of Friends.” Follow seven college students as they maneuver unrequited love, teacher/student romance, the tangles of “no strings” relationships, love triangles and more. Each “season” has six “episodes,” and just like when your favorite show hits Netflix, you can read just one episode at a time or binge the entire thing. With the perfect mix of angst, emotional romance, and romantic comedy, the Palm South University series is your next guilty addiction.

Drama. Lies. Sex.

Welcome to Palm South University.

The weather isn’t the only thing heating up in South Florida. At a school where fraternities and sororities don’t exactly play by the rules, relationships are bound to be tested. Parties and sex are definitely key ingredients in the Palm South recipe, but what happens when family issues, secret lives, and unrequited love get tossed in the mix?

Follow Cassie, Bear, Jess, Skyler, Erin, Ashlei, and Adam as they tackle college at a small, private beach town university. Written in television drama form, each episode of this serial will pull you deeper and deeper into the world of PSU.

Where the sun is hot and the clothes are scarce, anything can happen.

Pre-order your copy today!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2P8y9xX

Amazon Worldwide: mybook.to/RitualPSU5KS

Add to Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2vLkJBm

Cover Designer: Kandi Steiner

About Kandi:

Kandi Steiner is a bestselling author and whiskey connoisseur living in Tampa, FL. Best known for writing “emotional rollercoaster” stories, she loves bringing flawed characters to life and writing about real, raw romance — in all its forms. No two Kandi Steiner books are the same, and if you’re a lover of angsty, emotional, and inspirational reads, she’s your gal.

An alumna of the University of Central Florida, Kandi graduated with a double major in Creative Writing and Advertising/PR with a minor in Women’s Studies. She started writing back in the 4th grade after reading the first Harry Potter installment. In 6th grade, she wrote and edited her own newspaper and distributed to her classmates. Eventually, the principal caught on and the newspaper was quickly halted, though Kandi tried fighting for her “freedom of press.” She took particular interest in writing romance after college, as she has always been a diehard hopeless romantic, and likes to highlight all the challenges of love as well as the triumphs.

When Kandi isn’t writing, you can find her reading books of all kinds, talking with her extremely vocal cat, and spending time with her friends and family. She enjoys live music, traveling, anything heavy in carbs, beach days, movie marathons, craft beer, and sweet wine — not necessarily in that order.

Connect with Kandi:

Mailing List: bit.ly/NewsletterKS

Facebook: facebook.com/kandisteiner

Facebook Reader Group: (Kandiland): facebook.com/groups/kandischasers

Instagram: www.instagram.com/kandisteiner

Twitter: twitter.com/kandisteiner

Pinterest: pinterest.com/kandicoffman

Website: www.kandisteiner.com

Kandi Steiner may be coming to a city near you! Check out her “events” tab to see all the signings she’s attending in the near future:

www.kandisteiner.com/events