reecaspieces

Overview

When a prim and proper baker and a laid-back bartender have a neighborly disagreement that gets them both in trouble with the law, a sweet reconciliation is stirred up in the playful third romance in Andrea Laurence’s sexy Rosewood series.

Maddie’s life is perfectly sweet. Her bakery’s tasty treats are rising to the top of every must-have list in town, and her commute is just a block away by foot. She loves everything about her little downtown Victorian bungalow—except for her unbearably noisy neighbor, Woody’s. The bar’s obnoxious and sexy owner, Emmett, seems to live to aggravate Maddie. But he mostly thinks she could use a stiff drink to dislodge the stick up her ass. He’s just trying to run his business. Bars stay open late, they play music, they serve alcohol. If she doesn’t like it, why did she buy a house across the street?
When Maddie and Emmett’s battle lands them in front of the local judge, they’re ordered to do several weeks of community service cleaning parks and painting over graffiti. As they scrub away the latest works of art by the town’s anonymous “Penis Picasso,” the baker and the bartender slowly begin to see there’s more to each other than meets the eye. So what happens if they wave the white flag and surrender into each other’s arms? 

Review

Maddie is a prim and proper baker that owns a Victorian house across from a bar…yes a bar..Maddie decides to bring war against Emmett, the owner of the bar. This war lands both Maddie and Emmett in front of a judge. 

This is an adorable story with a host of great characters. Even though I really did not enjoy Maddie. She is a little selfish and “hoity toity”.  Emmett, on the other hand, is absolutely adorable and HOT!! He and Maddie heat up the pages very well.  Also, Vera and Miss Dotty are two characters I wish the author had expounded on. They kept me in stitches. I would love to hear more about their shenanigans. 

The story line has no surprises but, I found myself smiling many times through out this novel. The chemistry between Emmitt and Maddie gets better and better the more you read. And the Penis Picasso keeps the town stirred up in more ways than one. 

The is an enjoyable romance with many cute antics! 

I received this novel from Simon and Schuster as part of XOXPERT. 

 
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Overview

A beautiful violinist is haunted by a very old piece of music she finds in a strange antique shop in Rome.

The first time Julia Ansdell picks up The Incendio Waltz, she knows it’s a strikingly unusual composition. But while playing the piece, Julia blacks out and awakens to find her young daughter implicated in acts of surprising violence. And when she travels to Venice to find the previous owner of the music, she uncovers a dark secret that involves dangerously powerful people—a family who would stop at nothing to keep Julia from bringing the truth to light. 

Review

Julia buys a piece of sheet music in Italy. This leads to many strange and unsettling occurrences.  When Julia decides to find more about the composer, she gets more than she bargained for. With her marriage on the line and her life in danger, Julia discovers there is more to this music than meets the eye. 

I enjoyed many aspects of this novel. Unlike Tess Gerritsen’s Rizzoli and Isles series, this tale has a good bit of historical fiction.  The characters are great and the story about the music just kept getting better and better. When it flashes back to WWII, I was in heaven, my all time favorite era. 

The only issue I have with many of Tess Gerritsen’s books is I figure a lot of them out before the end. This one had a few surprises for me which added to the story and my love of the tale. 

I have not read Tess Geritsen in a long while. This was like rediscovering a new friend. 

I received this novel from Netgalley for a honest review 

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Overview

New York Times bestselling authors Karen White, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig present a masterful collaboration—a rich, multigenerational novel of love and loss that spans half a century….

1945: When the critically wounded Captain Cooper Ravenal is brought to a private hospital on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, young Dr. Kate Schuyler is drawn into a complex mystery that connects three generations of women in her family to a single extraordinary room in a Gilded Age mansion.

Who is the woman in Captain Ravenel’s portrait miniature who looks so much like Kate? And why is she wearing the ruby pendant handed down to Kate by her mother? In their pursuit of answers, they find themselves drawn into the turbulent stories of Gilded Age Olive Van Alen, driven from riches to rags, who hired out as a servant in the very house her father designed, and Jazz Age Lucy Young, who came from Brooklyn to Manhattan in pursuit of the father she had never known. But are Kate and Cooper ready for the secrets that will be revealed in the Forgotten Room? 

The Forgotten Room, set in alternating time periods, is a sumptuous feast of a novel brought to vivid life by three brilliant storytellers. 
Review

This is an ill-fated love story that spans three generations. A ruby pendant, an oval portrait, and an old mansion, take the reader through the late 1800’s, the depression and WWII. 

I was expecting something totally different. What I got, was a wonderful novel that kept me enthralled from start to finish. 

There is something about this tale that consumes you. I was so caught up in the mystery of the necklace, house and art. The characters in each decade were so well done and intriguing. I had a hard time letting go of this book. Even when the story was finished, the characters and their unfortunate history stayed with me. 

I have read Karen White and Beatriz Edwards.  They are two of my favorite authors. I have not read Lauren Willig. I actually have one of her books and have moved it up the never ending TBR list, so stay tuned. 

I received this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

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Overview

After she nearly ruins her family with a terrible misstep, Elena Spira is sent to Venice to escape disgrace and to atone by caring for the ailing Samuel Farber. But the crumbling and decaying Ca’ Basilio palazzo, where Samuel is ensconced, holds tragic secrets, and little does Elena know how profoundly they will impact her. Soon she begins to sense that she is being watched by something. And when Samuel begins to have hallucinations that make him violent and unpredictable, she can’t deny she’s in mortal danger.

Then impoverished nobleman Nero Basilio, Samuel’s closest friend and the owner of the palazzo, arrives. Elena finds herself entangled with both men in a world where the past seeps into the present and nothing is as it seems. As Elena struggles to discover the haunting truth before it destroys her, a dark force seems to hold Samuel and the Basilio in thrall—is it madness, or something more sinister?

Review

Elena is struggling to overcome a mistake. Her parents send her to Venice to take care of a patient in hopes of redemption to their name. Her patient, Samuel, is a mystery and she is determined to find out the truth. 

This novel has a little bit of everything. There are ghosts, a little exorcism, love, hate, disappearances and a good bit of excitement, along with a twist at the end. 

The setting of this story is amazing and the author did a fabulous job. I felt like I was in Venice with all the smells, architecture, and canals. 

What I did not enjoy was the interaction between her characters. The dialogue is stilted and contrived. Elena changes her persona several times in the book. One minute she is mousy and the next she is strong-willed. 

However, it is still a  good read. The story keeps the reader very interested with all the strange energy running throughout the tale. And is the cover not fabulous!!! 

I received this novel from Netgalley for an honest review.  
 

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