Sunday, December 29, 2019

Carolyn's January Books

So, I appear to have pre-ordered more books for January 2020 than I realized. And about a month ago, I pruned my pre-orders so Lord only knows what it looked like before!

More than half the fun of pre-ordering is having a book pop into your Kindle with a "Surprise, surprise!" It's a good feeling and usually they're good reads (IMO). 

Anyway, here goes.


1.  Title: Wedding at the Riverview Inn
     Author: Molly O'Keefe
     Publisher: self published (I think)
     Releases: January 6, 2020
     Price: $3.99

An emotional tale of a magical inn, a wedding gone terribly wrong and a woman searching for a second chance.

Alice has hit rock bottom. Once a Michelin-starred chef, she is now drowning in debt, working the line at a chain restaurant and drinking too much. The last person she ever expected to come knocking with a job offer and a fresh start is her ex-husband, Gabe.

Gabe built The Riverview Inn with his dad and brother. Now, the grand lodge in the Catskill Mountains is nearly ready for the opening event—a society wedding for 500 guests.

The only thing missing is a chef. That’s where Alice comes in.

The deal Gabe offers Alice is too good to pass up: help him get through this wedding and he’ll get her out of debt.

But nothing is simple at The Riverview and soon she’s dealing with a bridezilla, pink swans, a series of mysterious letters and a teenage delinquent. Through it all, one thing is clear—her feelings for Gabe burn as bright as they always have.


When the wedding is over, will Alice walk away for good? Or will The Riverview work its magic on Alice and Gabe?




I love just about anything Molly O'Keefe writes. I am more comfortable with this particular pen name but M. O'Keefe writes keepers too and I just skim what I don't want.


2.  Title: A Fake Girlfriend for Chinese New Year
     Author: Jackie Lau
     Publisher: self published
     Releases: January 7, 2020
     Price: $2.99

After his family’s matchmaking extravaganza at Thanksgiving, high school teacher Zach Wong is terrified of what his parents might do for Chinese New Year. Surely they’ll try to set him up yet again, especially now that his older brothers are in relationships. Zach, however, has no interest in dating, not since his fiancĂ©e left him.

The solution? Find a fake girlfriend to avoid his parents’ matchmaking.

Jo MacGregor, the town dentist, is the obvious choice. They both live in Mosquito Bay and have been friends for years, ever since they bonded over broken engagements. A few kisses and dates around town, and everyone will believe they’re in a relationship. No problem.

Except their fake relationship is starting to feel more and more real…




I don't think I've read this author before, so this is a nice price point to check her out.


3.  Title: Sweep with Me
     Author: Ilona Andrews
     Publisher: self published
     Releases: January 14,2020
     Price: $3.99

There’s no place like home for the holidays…especially at Innkeeper Dina DeMille’s bed and breakfast, which welcomes guests who are literally out of this world!




That's not much of a blurb, but those familiar with the Andrews and this particular series, know they'll get a rip roaring story.The holiday is not an earthly one and so - anything goes!


4.  Title: Strange Love: An Alien Abduction Romance 
     Author: Ann Aguirre
     Publisher: self published
     Releases: January 15, 2020
     Price: $2.99

 He's awkward. He's adorable. He's alien as hell.
Zylar of Kith B'alak is a four-time loser in the annual Choosing. If he fails to find a nest guardian this time, he'll lose his chance to have a mate for all time. Desperation drives him to try a matching service but due to a freak solar flare and a severely malfunctioning ship AI, things go way off course. This 'human being' is not the Tiralan match he was looking for.

She's frazzled. She's fierce. She's from St. Louis.
Beryl Bowman's mother always said she'd never get married. She should have added a rider about the husband being human. Who would have ever thought that working at the Sunshine Angel daycare center would offer such interstellar prestige? She doesn't know what the hell's going on, but a new life awaits on Barath Colony, where she can have any alien bachelor she wants.

They agree to join the Choosing together, but love is about to get seriously strange.




Ann has been putting two chapters monthly in her newsletter, so I'm able to tell you this story is a hoot. Not terribly deep but with likeable characters, no tentacles and lots of laughs (especially the dog!). I can definitely recommend it and I do. Lol.


5.  Title: Headliners
     Author: Lucy Parker
     Publisher: Carina Press
     Releases: January 20, 2022
     Price: $4.99 (ebook)

He might be the sexiest man in London, according to his fan site (which he definitely writes himself), but he’s also the most arrogant man she’s ever met.

She might have the longest legs he’s ever seen, but she also has the sharpest tongue.


For years, rival TV presenters Sabrina Carlton and Nick Davenport have traded barbs on their respective shows. The public can’t get enough of their feud, but after Nick airs Sabrina’s family scandals to all of Britain, the gloves are off. They can barely be in the same room together—but these longtime enemies are about to become the unlikeliest of cohosts.

With their reputations on the rocks, Sabrina and Nick have one last chance to save their careers. If they can resurrect a sinking morning show, they’ll still have a future in television. But with ratings at an all-time low and a Christmas Eve deadline to win back the nation’s favor, the clock is ticking—and someone on their staff doesn’t want them to succeed.

Small mishaps on set start adding up, and Sabrina and Nick find themselves—quelle horreur—working together to hunt down the saboteur…and discovering they might have more in common than they thought. When a fiery encounter is caught on camera, the public is convinced that the reluctant cohosts are secretly lusting after one another.

The public might not be wrong.

Their chemistry has always been explosive, but with hate turning to love, the stakes are rising and everything is on the line. Neither is sure if they can trust these new feelings…or if they’ll still have a job in the New Year.

This book is approximately 96,000 words





I have read every one of Lucy Parker's books and have liked every single one. Even her prickliest characters are likeable and certainly a bunch of fun. This is book 5 in the London Celebrities series. A fun series indeed!


6.  Title: Stars Beyond
     Author: S K Dunstall
     Publisher: Penguin
     Releases: January 21, 2020
     Price: $9.99

The crew of Another Road are back, closer than ever to the biggest score in the galaxy. . . if they can stay a step ahead of the Justice Department agents and Company men tracking them.

An engineer with a fondness for weapons. A captain with no memory. An obsessive genemodder who loves to tinker. Meet the crew of Another Road.

Josune, Roystan, and Nika have escaped the company thugs trying to kill them. They've gotten a new spaceship to replace The Road (after it was blown up underneath them). And their new ship is armed to the teeth with dangerous weapons, courtesy of Josune. All that's left to do before they head out to find the legendary lode of transurides is to restore Roystan's memory. To do that, they need to collect the genemod machine Nika has ordered.

But first, they have to shake off the Justice Department agent and the Companies tracking them.

It should be easy. They've done it before. What could possibly go wrong?




This is the second book in the Stars Uncharted Series and this is the author(s) who wrote the Linesman series. It's a good, old fashioned space opera with lots of interesting characters and plenty of plot. I'll have to reread the first book 'cause my memory is not exactly up to par these days.  


7.  Title: Heartland
     Author: Sarina Bowen
     Publisher: Tuxbury Publishing
     Releases: January 28, 2020
     Price: $3.99


An emotional friends to lovers romance full of risky secrets and late-night lessons in seduction.


Dylan is my best friend, and the only person in my life who understands me. He doesn’t mind my social awkwardness or my weird history. The only glitch? He doesn’t know that I’ve been hopelessly, desperately in love with him since the first day we picked apples together in his family’s orchard.
But I know better than to confess.
Now that we’re both in college together, I’m seeing a new side of him. College Dylan drinks and has a lot of sex. None of it with me.
Until the night I foolishly ask him to tutor me in more than algebra…and he actually says yes.
But the cool morning light shows me how badly I’ve endangered our friendship. And I don’t know if anything will be the same again.




I don't know why I like Sarina Bowen's writing/stories so much. Usually her characters are younger than any grandchildren I might have. But, so it is. I especially like her Ivy Years series and they are sooo young in that. *shrug*

Anyway, this is book 7 of the True North series and Dylan is the youngest son of the Shipley family; I think they've run out of siblings, maybe. This is probably not the place to start with this series altho' hopefully this book will be able to stand alone.

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