Annaberry Reads: romance

Forgotten Silence by Quinn Loftis

Title: Forgotten Silence
Series: Grey Wolves, #10.5
Author: Quinn Loftis
Date Published: December 15, 2017

Filthy. Disgusting. Unworthy trash. The same thoughts keep swirling in Sally's mind. She's broken and no one can fix her--not her friends, try as they might, and not her beautiful mate. She'd thought when Costin had rescued her from Jericho's clutches, broken the spell the rogue werewolf had cast on her, and left the cur lying in bloody pieces on the floor of an Ocean Side bar, that one day she might find some peace. Perhaps, with time, she could forget the horrible things she'd done. Perhaps she could forget how she had betrayed her one true mate. Now, several weeks later, the memories and the nightmares have only grown stronger. Unbeknownst to Sally, though the magical bracelet that erased her memories was destroyed, the magical device deposited something sinister within the girl's mind. Now, in a last ditch effort to find some sort of healing, Sally is being shipped off to her hometown--Coldspring, TX. Little does she know that surprises are awaiting her there that will shake the foundations of all she's ever known. Will these new revelations be the key to eradicating the darkness that has taken root in the healer? Or will the secrets that are uncovered be too much for Sally to bear?

Amazon | iBooks | Nook

My Thoughts:

Title: From Sand and Ash
standalone
Author: Amy Harmon
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Date Published: December 1, 2006

Italy, 1943—Germany occupies much of the country, placing the Jewish population in grave danger during World War II.

As children, Eva Rosselli and Angelo Bianco were raised like family but divided by circumstance and religion. As the years go by, the two find themselves falling in love. But the church calls to Angelo and, despite his deep feelings for Eva, he chooses the priesthood.

Now, more than a decade later, Angelo is a Catholic priest and Eva is a woman with nowhere to turn. With the Gestapo closing in, Angelo hides Eva within the walls of a convent, where Eva discovers she is just one of many Jews being sheltered by the Catholic Church.

But Eva can’t quietly hide, waiting for deliverance, while Angelo risks everything to keep her safe. With the world at war and so many in need, Angelo and Eva face trial after trial, choice after agonizing choice, until fate and fortune finally collide, leaving them with the most difficult decision of all.

Amazon | B&N

My Thoughts:

Title: Always With Love
Series: Billy and Me, #2
Author: Giovanna Fletcher
Publisher: Penguin
Date Published: June 2, 2016
Rating: 4.5 Stars

The next much-anticipated romantic chapter in Billy and Sophie's love story from bestselling author Giovanna Fletcher.

Sophie's got used to being the girlfriend of Billy Buskin, the biggest movie star in the world. Sort of.

But when she and Billy take a trip to visit his family in Los Angeles, she quickly discovers she's totally unprepared for the chaos of Hollywood, the paparazzi and Billy's controlling mother.

And when Billy extends his stay in LA, leaving Sophie to fly home to Rosefont Hill alone, it seems there's more than just miles between them.

Now Sophie must decide if they can overcome their differences for good. Because not every love story lasts the distance . . .

Quick Thoughs:

Title: Billy and Me
Series: Billy and Me, #1
Author: Giovanna Fletcher
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Date Published: April 5, 2016
Rating: 5 Stars

In this utterly sweet and moving women's fiction novel, a celebrity comes to town and sweeps a young woman - who is used to being overlooked - off her feet.

Sophie May is content with her life in her small English village, working in the local coffee shop and living with her mom. But when famous actor Billy comes to town to play Mr. Darcy in a new film adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, Sophie's quiet life is quickly turned on its head. Billy is adored by women around the world, but he only wants Sophie on his arm. But being with Billy comes at a price, and Sophie is thrown in the spotlight after years of shying away from attention. Can she handle the constant scrutiny that comes with being with Billy?

Brimming with humor, wit, and genuine warmth, Billy and Me is a book about taking a chance on life and on love.

My Thoughts:

Title: The Perfect Waltz
Series: The Merridew Sisters, #2
Author: Anne Gracie
Publisher: Penguin Group, USA
Date Published: November 1, 2005
3 Stars

He came in search of a convenient bride...

London's Ball of the Season is hardly the milieu for society black sheep Sebastian Reyne. But his younger sisters are in desperate need of care, and Sebastian is seeking a practical, down-to-earth wife. What he doesn't need is an effervescent sprite like Hope Merridew, a dazzling beauty and the darling of the ton.

...And found love instead.

Who was that mysterious man who devoured Hope Merridew with his eyes? Rumored to be dangerous, and with a mysterious family heritage, the secretive Sebastian proves absolutely seductive to such an impetuous young lady. But was he really the one to make her dream of dancing the perfect waltz with the perfect man come true? Who'd imagine that one dance could ignite a passion so strong that it would seduce all into a delicious intrigue of sensuality and desire?

Quick Thoughs:

Title: Splintered
Series: Splintered, #1
Author: A.G. Howard
Publisher: Amulet Books
Date Published: January 1, 2013
Narrator: Rebecca Gibel
4 Stars

This stunning debut captures the grotesque madness of a mystical under-land, as well as a girl’s pangs of first love and independence.

Alyssa Gardner hears the whispers of bugs and flowers—precisely the affliction that landed her mother in a mental hospital years before. This family curse stretches back to her ancestor Alice Liddell, the real-life inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Alyssa might be crazy, but she manages to keep it together. For now.

When her mother’s mental health takes a turn for the worse, Alyssa learns that what she thought was fiction is based in terrifying reality. The real Wonderland is a place far darker and more twisted than Lewis Carroll ever let on. There, Alyssa must pass a series of tests, including draining an ocean of Alice’s tears, waking the slumbering tea party, and subduing a vicious bandersnatch, to fix Alice’s mistakes and save her family. She must also decide whom to trust: Jeb, her gorgeous best friend and secret crush, or the sexy but suspicious Morpheus, her guide through Wonderland, who may have dark motives of his own.

My Thoughts (more like rambles?) :

Title: Retreat
Series: Getaway, #1
Author: Jay Crownover
Date Published: December 28, 2016
Rating: 4 Stars

Every once in a while, you need to get away from it all.

I was a woman on the edge, shaken and shattered after a breakup that felt like it tore my entire world apart.

My best friend, sick of watching me drown in misery and melancholy, harassed me until I agreed to go with her on a week-long wilderness retreat.

She promised days spent bonding and getting in touch with our inner bad-asses.
It was supposed to be all about the two of us roughing it and making do with the bare minimum. She assured me we were going to be pushed to our limits in ways that were unimaginable. Neither one of us could have ever guessed just how right she was.

Nowhere in the glossy brochure did it say anything about the fact I was going to have to battle the insufferable but deliciously rugged and sexy trail guide instead of the elements. The brochure also forgot to mention the part that warned when you left civilization behind, there was no place to pack your inhibitions and fears.

I was told that I would be facing a week where the only thing I should expect was the unexpected. However, no one mentioned that I was going to have to fight for my life…and my heart as soon as I ventured into the unknown.

I was a pro at hiding from my feelings but when it came time to face a real threat, one that could change everything, I learned I was more of a no surrender, no retreat kind of girl.

Retreat is a standalone novel, the first in the Getaway series which centers on the hardheaded and brokenhearted Warner brothers and the women that dare to love them.

These boys are very good at putting the wild in wilderness.

My Thoughts:

Title: Sugar and Ice
Series: Rinkside in the Rockies, #1
Author: Aven Ellis
Date Published: December 28, 2016
Publisher: RJM Publishing

Sugar and Ice is the first full-length novel in the Rinkside in the Rockies Series by Aven Ellis!

Josephine Rossi has recovered from a broken heart, but has vowed that she's all about the desserts now as a recipe tester for Bake It! Magazine. Cheesecake never breaks your heart. Unless it cracks on the top, but still, it tastes amazing if you bake it just right. She knows what to do in the kitchen as far as making luscious desserts. Men? Apparently she's not so good at figuring them out, so she refuses to bother. Josephine knows it is safer to stay in the kitchen than to take another chance with her heart.

Denver Mountain Lions forward Cade Callahan is passionate about hockey, but is also about finding love. He thought he had it once, but a disastrous romance last holiday season has him keeping his heart in check. While he’s fearless on the ice, he’s guarded with his heart. Cade is determined history won’t repeat itself again. He won’t let his guard down until he’s certain he’s met The One.

However, Cupid's arrow might just strike when these two least expect it. When an oven goes out, and a cheesecake for testing has to be baked, and Cade just happens to live in the same building with a working oven...Well, things other than cheesecake might just heat up in the kitchen. Can these two passionate people learn to trust their hearts again? Can love override fear for Josephine and Cade? And will they find the combination of sugar and ice is the sweetest one of all?

Amazon

My Thoughts:

Title:On Thin Ice
Series: Dallas Demons #4
Author: Aven Ellis
Date Published: November 30, 2016
Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing

Holly Johansson knows some things in her life are certain after college graduation:

1.) It’s a long road to become a full-time author. 2.) She’ll need to work to pay her bills. 3.) And Dallas Demons superstar Matt Rhinelander will never return her feelings.

Holly knows her unrequited crush on the partying hockey player is ridiculous. There’s no way Matt would be attracted to a woman who prefers nights in watching TV or reading books when he’s known for his frequent bar hops and fast lifestyle. Obviously he would never see her as anything other than his teammate’s little sister.

Yet Holly is drawn to the other side of Matt—the man she knows has always been thoughtful and easy to talk to whenever she’s been alone with him. It is this Matt that fueled the crush Holly has on him. And she knows it will always be just that—a secret crush.

Or will it?

Because when Matt helps Holly through a crisis, her heart begins to believe that there might be feelings on his part, too. After a night of hard partying puts Matt in jeopardy with the Dallas Demons, can Holly be the one to save him? And when Matt admits he sees her as more than Nate Johansson’s sister, will it put both of them on thin ice?

My Thoughts:

Blitz: BACK TO ME by Lindsay Paige

This week we are celebrating the release of the first book in Lindsay Paige's brand new hockey romance series- Carolina Rebels!

Back to Me
by Lindsay Paige
(Carolina Rebels #1)
Publication date: October 4th 2016
Genres: Adult, Romance, Sports

Synopsis:

Noah Ramsey has a great hockey career, wonderful parents, and a good best friend, but what he wants most is to be with the love of his life who walked away from him years ago. When he finds her at the airport, he realizes she’s changed, and she’s struggling with things she doesn’t want to tell him about. Noah also realizes just how much she scarred him when she left.Meredith Quick has always planned everything out. She chose her tennis career over love in order to better succeed, but her plan dissolves when an injury threatens her career and her fiancé leaves her. Struggling through pain and the uncertainty of her future, she realizes her first misstep was walking away from Noah. She impulsively decides to go back to him while she attempts to put her life back together.
Reacquainting isn’t easy when Noah doesn’t quite trust Meredith to stay and Meredith struggles with overcoming the pain she’s endured without him. Can they work through their issues and move forward, or will their past ruin things between them forever?

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Title: Green Latte to Go
Series: standalone
Author: Aven Ellis
Publisher: RJM Publishing
Date Published: September 13, 2016

Perfect Drink: Green tea latte with coconut milk and raw honey.

Perfect Fashion Icon: The Duchess of Cambridge. Always on point with her fashion, dressing appropriately for every occasion and not afraid to recycle things from her wardrobe, I truly admire her class and style.

Perfect Place: Seattle.

Perfect Activity for Relaxation: Yoga. I’m terrible at it, but I’m determined to perfect downward dog. Someday.

For Seattle blogger Payton James, life is all about trying to achieve perfection. Payton is determined to be her best self in all areas, and she refuses to rest until she achieves it.

However, an imperfect moment in a coffee shop completely changes Payton’s life. When her drink order gets switched by mistake, Payton finds herself face-to-face with a gorgeous British man named Brooks.

RELEASE DAY BLITZ AND REVIEW: The Burning Claw by Quinn Loftis

I am so excited and honored to help celebrate the release of Quinn Loftis' latest book in the Grey Wolves series-

The Burning Claw!

Title: The Burning Claw
Series: The Grey Wolves, #10
Author: Quinn Loftis
Date Published: September 10, 2016
*possible spoilers

Synopsis

Okay, so this is the deal. Sally's gone AWOL on us, courtesy of some powerful being or beings who take things that do not belong to them. Jacque has given birth to a son and then boom she's at death's door. And as is the destiny of mated pairs, Fane is knocking right along with her. Wait, it gets worse. Peri is trying to hold the new parents to this realm. Costin is, well, he's trying to hold on, especially because of Titus, he and Sally's adorable adopted son. But the darkness that grows in these male wolves doesn't take a vacation just because they don't want to go feral. And to finish off our stellar list of crappy situations we have Bethany and Drake. Oh what a pair they make. Look I rhymed. Moving on, Drake is going all cave man wanting to put Bethany in a bubble. Thankfully, he has me to keep him from doing something that sends his true mate running. And Bethany, she is my beautiful blank slate that I get to teach all of my incredible knowledge to. You don't want to miss those chapters. What are you waiting for? Go find out what happens...and then tell me because I don't remember much. Just me killing

Review: Trivial Pursuits by Aven Ellis

Title: Trivial Pursuits
Series: Chicago on Ice, #2
Author: Aven Ellis
Publisher: Soulmate Publishing
Date Published: April 20, 2016

Landon Holder is exactly the kind of man Livy Adams should stay far away from.
The flashy, flirty star defenseman for the Chicago Buffaloes is known for hooking up with women all over Chicago. Livy finds herself attracted to Landy, but his sexy good looks and charm are irrelevant. She had her heart shattered by a cheating athlete in college, and Livy vows she will never let her judgment lapse like that ever again.
Yet Livy knows she can’t spend the rest of her life focusing on building her jewelry line during the day and her evenings playing TriviaPlayOrPass! on her phone, either. Even though she does have fabulous conversations with a player named Scott, it’s time to get back in the game—in real life. While Livy tries to figure out her career path in jewelry design, she knows it’s time to take a chance on romance again, too.
But in a strange twist of fate, Livy finds

Cover Reveal: Nate by J.B. Morgan

✯ ☆҉‿➹⁀☆҉☆COVER REVEAL✯ ☆҉‿➹⁀☆҉☆

Nate (A Texas Jacks Novel)

Title: Moonlight on Nightingale Way
Series: On Dublin Street, # 6
Author: Samantha Young
Date Published: June 2, 2015
Publisher: NAL
Rating: 4 Stars

Logan from Echoes of Scotland Street is back with his own smoldering story, as the New York Times bestselling On Dublin Street series returns…

Logan spent two years paying for the mistakes he made. Now, he’s ready to start over. He has a great apartment, a good job, and plenty of women to distract him from his past. And one woman who is driving him to distraction…

Grace escaped her manipulative family by moving to a new city. Her new life, made to suit her own needs, is almost perfect. All she needs to do is find her Mr. Right—or at least figure out a way to ignore her irresistible yet annoying womanizer of a neighbor.

Grace is determined to have nothing to do with Logan until a life-changing surprise slowly begins turning the wild heartbreaker into exactly the kind of strong, stable man she’s been searching for. Only just when she begins to give into his charms, her own messy past threatens to derail everything they’ve worked to build…

Title: An Ember in the Ashes
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Publisher: Razorbill- Audio
Date Published: April 28, 2015
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Narrators: Fiona Hardingham & Steve West

Laia is a slave.

Elias is a soldier.

Neither is free.

Under the Martial Empire, defiance is met with death. Those who do not vow their blood and bodies to the Emperor risk the execution of their loved ones and the destruction of all they hold dear.

It is in this brutal world, inspired by ancient Rome, that Laia lives with her grandparents and older brother. The family ekes out an existence in the Empire’s impoverished backstreets. They do not challenge the Empire. They’ve seen what happens to those who do.

But when Laia’s brother is arrested for treason, Laia is forced to make a decision. In exchange for help from rebels who promise to rescue her brother, she will risk her life to spy for them from within the Empire’s greatest military academy.

There, Laia meets Elias, the school’s finest soldier—and secretly, its most unwilling. Elias wants only to be free of the tyranny he’s being trained to enforce. He and Laia will soon realize that their destinies are intertwined—and that their choices will change the fate of the Empire itself.

Title: Everything, Everything
Series: Standalone
Author: Nicola Yoon
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Date Published: September 1, 2015
Audio Version
Narrator: Bahni Turpin
Rated: 5 Stars

My disease is as rare as it is famous. Basically, I’m allergic to the world. I don’t leave my house, have not left my house in seventeen years. The only people I ever see are my mom and my nurse, Carla.

But then one day, a moving truck arrives next door. I look out my window, and I see him. He’s tall, lean and wearing all black—black T-shirt, black jeans, black sneakers, and a black knit cap that covers his hair completely. He catches me looking and stares at me. I stare right back. His name is Olly.

Maybe we can’t predict the future, but we can predict some things. For example, I am certainly going to fall in love with Olly. It’s almost certainly going to be a disaster.

Title: Echoes of Scotland Street
Series: On Dublin Street, #5
Author: Samantha Young
Publisher: NAL
Date Published: October 4, 2014
Rated: 3.5 Stars

Shannon MacLeod has always gone for the wrong type of man. After she drifted from one toxic relationship to the next, her last boyfriend gave her a wakeup call in the worst possible way. With her world shattered, she’s sworn off men—especially those of the bad-boy variety.

Cole Walker is exactly the sort that Shannon wants to avoid—gorgeous, tattooed, charming, and cocky. But his rough exterior hides a good man who’s ready to find “the one.” He’s determined to pull Shannon from her self-imposed solitude and win her heart.

As Shannon opens up in the face of Cole’s steady devotion, the passion between them ignites to blazing levels. But when Shannon’s past comes back to haunt her, her fears may destroy the trust Cole has built between them—and tear them apart for good…

Title: F*ck Love
Author: Tarryn Fisher
Series: Standalone
Date Published: December 31, 2015

Helena Conway has fallen in love.
Unwillingly. Unwittingly.
But not unprovoked.
Kit Isley is everything she’s not—unstructured, untethered,
and not even a little bit careful.
It could all be so beautiful … if he wasn’t dating her best friend.
Helena must defy her heart, do the right thing, and think of others.
Until she doesn’t.

Title: Breakout
Series: Dallas Demons, #3
Author: Aven Ellis
Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing
Date Published: November 4, 2015

While Texas is known for loving football, Lexi Stewart has always been drawn to the ice. Hockey is her passion, and she wants nothing more than to pursue a career in video editing for the home network of the Dallas Demons hockey team.

Lexi has an editing job for a corporate account, but it’s not fulfilling. Nor is her dating life, despite having the so-called help of The One Online Dating Service. Lexi knows there has to be more for her—on both fronts. She’s ready to take the next step, but it doesn't seem like it’s going to happen anytime soon.

Until a flying puck changes everything.

Niko Xenakis is the new Dallas Demons TV producer, and he’s looking to make his mark in his new role and hopefully work his way back to his hometown of Baltimore. But once he meets Lexi, he might just change his mind on what he wants for his future . . .

But the road to love is never easy, complicated by the fact that they both carry emotional baggage from the past in their hearts. Can these two “breakout” of the past to find love in the present?