Review: Hot Under Pressure by Louisa Edwards

Source: we received an e-ARC of the book from the author through NetGalley for review purposes.

Is there anything sexier than a man who can cook? The answer is yes, a man who cooks AND cleans up after himself, but we are talking about chefs here, so let’s stick to cooking. Hot Under Pressure is the last book in the Rising Star Chef series, if you haven’t read the previous books you’ll probably be able to enjoy this one but it won’t be the same so my suggestion is to read them in order.

Henry Beck is the newest member of the restaurant, but despite his taciturn personality he’s an integral part of the team and everyone considers him a member of the Lunden family. His specialty is fish and his secret past has inspired some interesting theories about him, the most popular being that he used to be in jail. Obviously that’s not the case and everyone is about to find out about it when his past comes back to haunt him and compete against him in the form of Skye Gladwell, captain of the rival team and Beck’s estranged wife.

Review: Barefoot Season by Susan Mallery

Source: we received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley for review purposes.

Susan Mallery is famous for her contemporary romances that are usually fun and light reads, but she also writes more dramatic stories that go well with the term women’s fiction. Barefoot Season is one of those more serious books.

Michelle Sanderson has returned to her childhood home in Blackberry Island after being severely injured in Iraq. She does it for necessity because years ago she fled home to never come back. After her father left, her relationship with her difficult mother became almost unbearable, and she had a falling out with her best friend, Carly. But now she’s back battling PTSD and alcoholism and all she wants is peace to recover from her wounds.

Winner!

The winner of our 1st Blogoversary Giveaway is: TrishJ

Congratulations!

I've already emailed you so check your spam folder in case you didn't get my message.

Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to celebrate with us, see you soon!

Review: I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

I honestly think that Sophie Kinsella is the queen of Chick Lit. She creates these amazing characters and the funniest stories, so when I've Got Your Number came out the first thing I did after finishing my happy-dance was buy it. It was worth every penny.

Poppy -I love this name- is freaking out. She lost her engagement ring when she was at a party and she gives her number to everyone at the hotel so they can get in touch once they find it. But then she gets mugged, so she finds herself phoneless and desperate. That’s when she finds a phone in a trash can and decides to keep it for herself. But with the phone comes Sam Roxton (it used to belong to his assistant), a business man that after some convincing, agrees to let her keep it with the condition that she forwards every message and email to him.

It's Party Time! 1st Blogoversay.

I can’t believe it’s been a year already but there’s a reason why they say that times flies when you’re having fun and this past year is proof of that. One year ago we were posting our first review and look at us now! (pretty much the same but with a new look and better less appalling grammar).

I want to say thank you to the Academy, to Mr. Spielberg for casting me in a movie where cute horses die and for allowing me to do all those extra full-frontal nudity scenes –I told you it was worth it-, and finally, to my one fan for sending me all those creepy letters with weird locks of hair and doll heads, I love you and keep them coming!

Oops! Wrong speech. What I really wanted to say is thank you to everyone who’s ever visited the blog, maybe you’re a regular commenter, a lurker or a sporadic visitor, we appreciate the support and you make reading books an even greater experience.

Review: Moving in Rhythm by Dev Bentham

Source: we received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley for review purposes.

Two words: shy hero. How could you not want to read that book?! Way too appealing, I tried to resist because my TBR pile is huge, but I couldn’t resist. So I read it and I’m glad I did, because I thoroughly enjoyed this sweet love story about a guy finally confronting his issues and finding love. Oh! And there are dogs, and the other hero is a dancer. Yep, I pretty much could end the review here, but I won’t because I love torturing you with long reviews.

Review: The Way Back by Stephanie Doyle

This book has a premise that you don’t find so often which is exactly what made me want to read it. The hero used to be a national hero, but everything came crashing down when his infidelity was publicly displayed for the entire world to see. So yes, interesting premise, but also a tricky one, I honestly thought this was going to be a train wreck. I’m glad –and surprised- to say that against all odds, and because of a great talent, Ms. Doyle managed to make it work.

Gabby Haines used to be a local talk show host. But age and a few pounds got her fired. Now she’s trying to pick up the pieces of her life and start over, but starting over means working as a junior editor at a publishing house, so she goes from interviewing Kevin Bacon to making coffee. However, her luck is about to improve when the biggest opportunity of her new career is presented to her: getting Jamison Hunter to finally agree to write the autobiography he signed to do years ago.

Review: Irregulars (Anthology) by Nicole Kimberling, Josh Lanyon, Astrid Amara and Ginn Hale

Source: We received an e-ARC of the book from the publisher for review purposes.


All four novellas in this anthology take place in a shared world. Said world is pretty much the same we live in but with a huge exception, all sorts of fantastic creatures -from fairies to vampires- are real and living among us. And when I say all sorts of creatures, I mean everything you can think of, and things that you can’t even begin to imagine. Some of these beings have their own worlds and alternate realities, and some live life as humans. All the governments in the world are aware of their existence, but the regular people aren't, so there are different organizations in charge of both keeping it a secret, and implementing the law and regulating them. One of these organizations is NATO Irregulars Affairs Division (NIAD), and each novella involves one Irregular agent trying to solve a crime.

Review: Academic Pursuits by Lou Harper

Source: we received a copy of the book from the author for review purposes.

I became familiar with Lou Harper’s work after reading the Winter Warmers anthology. I loved her novella and I've been enjoying her stories ever since. Academic Pursuits is another charming and fun novella that made me smile when I read it.

Our main protagonist is Jamie Brennan. He is enjoying college life immensely and his main pastime is seducing straight boys, in fact, he is so good at it, that straight guys actually approach him to find out if they are going through an identity crisis, or just want to experiment and get it out of their systems.

Review: Rainshadow Road by Lisa Kleypas

Confession time! I do not like Ms. Kleypas’ historicals. I don’t know why, but they just don’t work for me. However, her contemporary romances are some of my favorite books in the world, so I couldn't be happier right now because we’re getting not one, but two new contemporary novels this year.

Rainshadow Road is the newest book in her Friday Harbor series about three brothers trying to raise their orphaned niece (more like one brother raises her, one helps and the other drinks). The heroine’s name is Lucy Marinn. When she was little, her baby sister, Alice, got meningitis and ever since then their parents became very permissive with her. While Lucy was asked to behave and reprimanded when necessary, Alice could do no wrong, she was never grounded and always got what she wanted. Flash forward to the present and what Alice wants is Lucy’s fiancé, Kevin. So when Kevin ends their engagement and asks Lucy to move out of their home so that Alice can move in, Lucy is devastated but not surprised. 

Guest Post: Author Christine Nolfi

Author Christine Nolfi is with us today to talk about her road to publication and her decision to self-publish. Her newest book, The Tree of Everlasting Knowledge, is available now. Please let’s give her a warm welcome.

News, Celebrations and Tournaments

Of Birthdays and Blogoversaries

I can’t believe it's March already, at this rate I’ll blink and it will be Christmas again. I’m actually happy that this month came so fast because on the 21st Romance Around the Corner will be celebrating its first year anniversary. The blog went live on the 9th but the 21st was the day we posted our first review, so that’s the day it counts. We need to plan something special to do that day, but to be honest, just the fact that you’re reading us and we continue to post reviews is special enough for us. Also, my birthday is March 28th and the blog has been the best present I’ve ever given to myself (although I once ate two whole racks of BBQ ribs which comes a close second, and as the most delicious present I’ve ever eaten, followed but the worse birthday indigestion that shall not be named).

Review: Ember by Bettie Sharpe

I read this novella a couple of weeks ago and I was so enchanted by it that I couldn't wait to tell you about it. I wasn't familiar with Ms. Sharpe’s work but since the book was free and the reviews were good I decided to give it a try. After reading the first chapter I bought the Kindle edition so I could read it more comfortably, that’s how good it was.

Ember is a retelling of the Cinderella story. It’s literally an adult version of the fairytale, but it maintains enough elements of the original so that the reader can make the connection, but the real appeal comes from all the differences and how the author was able to make this story her own.

Extremely Long (review) and Incredibly Freaky (book): Heat by R. Lee Smith

I discovered Heat thanks to a review posted at Dear Author. I was very intrigued by the plot, and I’m sure that everyone else who read that review was as well. This is a book that elicits reactions, they can be positive or negative, but no one can deny that it’s an eye-catching story. So I was presented with the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and I decided to take it.

This is a simple story set in a complex world universe. Kane is a chemist and a pirate. His main business is a drug called Vahst, which he manufactures. Vahst’ main component is dopamine, a chemical that can be found in human’s brains. So Kane, his father and their crew, travel in search of buyers, using humans to harvest dopamine (the harvesting process is quite easy, just open their heads and rip the gland that produces the chemical) and also as slaves. 

Shameless Summer Giveaway Hop: Sign Up Now

We’re back! That’s right, we had so much fun with the Shameless Giveaway Hop, that we decided to do a new, hotter edition. 

Because it’s never too early to celebrate and prepare for summer, we bring you the Shameless Summer Giveaway Hop.