Review: Hard Road Home (With Love, From Kurrajong Crossing #3) by Fiona Marsden

 

This time, he’ll need to play for keeps—or not at all.

Xander Mac, now an internationally acclaimed country singer, has finally come home to Kurrajong Crossing. It’s been four years since his casual, no-strings-attached relationship with Bonnie Callaghan imploded under the pressures of distance and secrets held back. Xander’s return for a charity concert during the town’s winter festival is his opportunity to reconnect with Bonnie. Only this time, he might have to put his heart on the line.

Bonnie left Kurrajong Crossing hoping distance would give her heart a chance to heal, but she owes Xander’s grandparents, so when they need her help she answers the call. The return of Xander brings back hurt, long-buried feelings, but Xander has always said he only wants fun from a relationship and that's not something Bonnie can guarantee.

Their attraction is still hot and their connection is deep. But to make it work, they’ll both need to be all in or say goodbye forever.

 

My Review: 

Their love was well worth the wait.

This is an amazing second chance romance featuring Bonnie and Xander, who grew up together and once had a friends with benefits relationship.  While Xander was off making it big as a country music star, Bonnie waited for him.  It had been four years since they last saw each other.  In that time, Bonnie had given up in Xander.  Now Xander was back in Kurrajong Crossing and planned to stay and wanted to pick up where they left off.  Bonnie decided she would be friendly, but that’s as far as it would go.  How far will Xander go to win Bonnie’s heart back?

I enjoyed seeing how Bonnie and Xander found their way back to each other and found a forever love. This is a great addition to the With Love, From Kurrajong Crossing series.

Review: The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

She’s got his back.
Hannah Brooks looks more like a kindergarten teacher than somebody who could kill you with a wine bottle opener. Or a ballpoint pen. Or a dinner napkin. But the truth is, she’s an Executive Protection Agent (aka "bodyguard"), and she just got hired to protect superstar actor Jack Stapleton from his middle-aged, corgi-breeding stalker.

He’s got her heart.
Jack Stapleton’s a household name—captured by paparazzi on beaches the world over, famous for, among other things, rising out of the waves in all manner of clingy board shorts and glistening like a Roman deity. But a few years back, in the wake of a family tragedy, he dropped from the public eye and went off the grid.

They’ve got a secret.
When Jack’s mom gets sick, he comes home to the family’s Texas ranch to help out. Only one catch: He doesn’t want his family to know about his stalker. Or the bodyguard thing. And so Hannah—against her will and her better judgment—finds herself pretending to be Jack’s girlfriend as a cover. Even though her ex, like a jerk, says no one will believe it.

What could possibly go wrong???
Hannah hardly believes it, herself. But the more time she spends with Jack, the more real it all starts to seem. And there lies the heartbreak. Because it’s easy for Hannah to protect Jack. But protecting her own, long-neglected heart? That’s the hardest thing she’s ever done.

 

My Review: 

A wonderfully entertaining story.

This book was so much fun.  I loved the chemistry between Hannah and Jack.  Some parts of this book really made me laugh.  There were also many serious moments too.  These combined made this a memorable story; one that I had a hard time putting down.  Hannah and Jack felt like real people to me too.  They had issues like everyone else even though Jack was a famous movie star and Hannah was hired to protect him.  I kept rooting for them to get together and when they finally did, it couldn’t have been better.   The only problem I had with this book is it wasn’t longer.  I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to these characters just yet. 

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

 

Review: Calling All Angels (The Guardian Angel Chronicles Book 3) by Barbara Ankrum

 

What if soulmates truly are forever?

Emma James isn’t sure if she’s dead, dreaming, or somewhere in-between after a car accident leaves her hospitalized in a coma. And the gorgeous but grumpy Scot with a sexy brogue claiming to be her “guardian angel” seems to have her confused with someone named Violet. After discovering her "accident" was no accident at all, Emma fears her niece may be in danger. Enlisting her reluctant guardian’s help to solve the mystery takes all her persuasion skills. But alarmingly, she finds herself falling for this centuries-old, grudge-holding immortal.

Connor Montrose instantly recognizes Emma as the woman who betrayed him two centuries ago—Violet MacLeish. Though Emma has no memory of that life, or the love they shared, she’s Violet’s doppelgänger and a pain in his tortured soul. He needs to help her cross over so he can get a long-awaited celestial promotion, but this new version of Violet is even more beguiling and stubborn than before, drawing him deeper into the human world he’d rather forget.

Stuck between life and death, can these two lost souls find common ground?

 

My Review: 

Soulmates finally reunited.

For centuries, guardian angel, Conner has lived with anger and resent towards Violet, his first love, who ended up marrying his brother after Conner’s death.  When Conner found Violet again, she had been reincarnated as Emma, the woman Conner was supposed to be escorting to Heaven.  Emma was nothing like Violet, she was a strong willed, independent woman.  Conner found himself falling for her.  But a celestial and a mortal could never be together.  Or could they?

This is such an amazing story.  The blurb got my attention and I thought it would be a good story.  I had no idea how much I would end up loving it.  This book is part of a series, but can be read as a stand-alone.

 

Review: Candy-Coated Conspiracy by Kaz Delaney

 

Every family has secrets, especially the sweet ones…

When talented baker Rosie Hart delivers cakes and cookies to her newest clients, The Sweet Treat candy store, she finds herself embroiled in yet another murder case. Will she ever catch a break?

Her elderly clients, The Percival sisters, are shocked when their long-lost great nephew appears with no warning. The sisters have never met nor heard of the man, but he’s family so they accept him with open arms. He immediately begins to tear up his aunts’ home, so when he turns up dead, Rosie feels only a sense of relief. Until she realizes the police suspect the sisters.

Rosie is as convinced of their innocence as she is of the deliciousness of her popular salted caramel cupcakes. But as the body count begins to rise and new secrets are unearthed, she begins to wonder if the sweet artisan candy makers are hiding more than their family recipes.

 

My Review:

Small town secrets.

The town of Hooper’s Corner has a secret; one that someone was willing to kill for.  Rosie Hart’s friends, Francine and Edith, were right in the middle of it as the deaths occurred on their property.  Now it’s up to Rosie to find the culprit before anyone else turns up dead.

I have really been enjoying this series and this book was a great addition to it.  I love the unpredictability of the stories.  In this book, we are introduced to some new characters in a neighboring town, to Airlie Falls, as Rosie tries to find the murderer before someone else is killed.  She also wants to clear the names of her friends.  This book was easy to read and the guilty party was a surprise.  I can’t wait to see what Rosie is up to in the next book.