reecaspieces

Overview

Fate brings together a ballet teacher and a hockey player in this big-hearted novel about second chances and taking risks by the bestselling author Entertainment Weekly calls the “master of witty banter.”

Once upon a time teenage Aurora Evans met a hockey player at the Mall of America. He was from Canada. And soon, he was the perfect fake boyfriend, a get-out-of-jail-free card for all kinds of sticky situations. I can’t go to prom. I’m going to be visiting my boyfriend in Canada. He was just what she needed to cover her social awkwardness. He never had to know. It wasn’t like she was ever going to see him again…

Years later, Aurora is teaching kids’ dance classes and battling panic and eating disorders—souvenirs from her failed ballet career—when pro hockey player Mike Martin walks in with his daughter. Mike’s honesty about his struggles with widowhood helps Aurora confront some of her own demons, and the two forge an unlikely friendship. There’s just one problem: Mike is the boy she spent years pretending was her “Canadian boyfriend.”

The longer she keeps her secret, the more she knows it will shatter the trust between them. But to have the life she wants, she needs to tackle the most important thing of all—believing in herself.

Review

Aurora is teaching dance classes and fighting a panic disorder. Enter pro hockey player, Mike Martin with his daughter. She is taking dance classes from Aurora. Could it be…could this be her pretend Canadian boyfriend!

Aurora and Mike have a unique relationship. She met Mike years ago, when she was very young. She started an imaginary boyfriend from this encounter. I found YOUNG Aurora, so adorable. I enjoyed this fantasy to real life trope. It is a very unique story line.

This is more of a 3.5 star read…you round up right?!?! I love the characters and their interactions. But there are places this story is a bit wishy washy, or however you would describe it. Like, for instance, Mike does not like to be lied to. It is very important to him. But yet, he himself, turns around and lies Aurora. Just a bit too human I guess 😂😂😂.

Need a story to get lost in…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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Overview

Hailey MacIntyre seems conjured from the depths of Samuel Fiddes’s loneliness. Caring for his young sister in the tenements of Glasgow, Scotland, Samuel has known only hunger, while Hailey has never known want. Yet, when Samuel saves Hailey’s brother from a runaway carriage, their connection is undeniable.

Through secret meetings and stolen moments, their improbable love grows. But then the City of Glasgow Bank fails, and Hailey’s bankrupt father impulsively moves their family across the globe to Seattle, a city rumored to have coal in its hills and easy money for anyone willing to work for it.

Samuel is haunted by Hailey’s parting words: Remember, Washington Territory. Armed only with his wits, he determines to follow her, leaving behind everything he has ever known in search of Hailey and the chance of a better life for his sister. But the fledgling town barely cut out of the wilderness holds its own secrets and will test them all in ways unimaginable.

Poignant and lyrical, A Wild and Heavenly Place is an ode to the Pacific Northwest, to those courageous enough to chase the American Dream, and to a love so powerful it endures beyond distance, beyond hope.

Review

Hailey and her family are very rich and live in Glasgow, Scotland. Samuel is very poor and struggling to feed himself and his sister. When he saves Hailey’s little brother from a runaway carriage. His world changes. He falls head over heels for Hailey. He knows she is out of his league. But not long after that fateful day, Hailey’s father loses it all. She and her family move to America. But this does not stop Samuel. He follows her!

I cannot think of a better day to post about star-crossed lovers than on February 14. Life just keeps getting in the way of these two. But, you just can’t help but keep rooting for them!

I enjoyed a great deal about this novel. The setting, the characters and the story just reeled me in. The tragedy that follow both of these characters just break your heart but you just can’t stop reading!

Need a heartbreaking, captivating, star-crossed lovers tale…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest opinion.

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Overview

A steamy, opposites-attract romance with undeniable chemistry between a grumpy retired footballer and his fabulous and very sunshine-y ghostwriter. 

When grumpy ex-footballer Alfie Harding gets badgered into selling his memoirs, he knows he’s never going to be able to write them. He hates revealing a single thing about himself, is allergic to most emotions, and can’t imagine doing a good job of putting pen to paper.

And so in walks curvy, cheery, cute as heck ghostwriter Mabel Willicker, who knows just how to sunshine and sass her way into getting every little detail out of Alfie. They banter and bicker their way to writing his life story, both of them sure they’ll never be anything other than at odds.

But after their business arrangement is mistaken for a budding romance, the pair have to pretend to be an item for a public who’s ravenous for more of this Cinderella story. Or at least, it feels like it’s pretend—until each slow burn step in their fake relationship sparks a heat neither can control. Now they just have to decide: is this sizzling chemistry just for show? Or something so real it might just give them their fairytale ending?

Review

Alfie, a hot, ex-football player, has been badgered into selling his memoirs. The publisher has hired a ghost writer, Mabel. Mabel is full figured and cute as a button. So, the world is shocked when these two are seen around town together. They just don’t seem to fit.

This is almost like two books in one. The first half of the book is adorable. These two characters have a cute banter and are just getting to know each other. The second half of the book is nothing but $€x…almost no plot. It’s not bad, the story just seemed to change directions all of a sudden.

I did enjoy the way the author plays these two characters’ differences. Alfie is the world’s most eligible bachelor. He dates hot models and actresses. So, when Mabel is brought into the scene, the world loses their minds. But, Alfie is oblivious and he falls hard for Mabel! The author totally ROCKED THIS!

Need an opposite-attracts romance…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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Book Summary:

This extraordinary novel, inspired by real events, tells the story of a female aviator who defies the odds to embark on a daring air race across the Pacific.

1927. Olivia “Livy” West is a fearless young pilot with a love of adventure. She yearns to cross oceans and travel the skies. When she learns of the Dole Air Race—a high-stakes contest to be the first to make the 2,400 mile Pacific crossing from the West Coast to Hawai’i—she sets her sights on qualifying. But it soon becomes clear that only men will make the cut. In a last-ditch effort to take part, Livy manages to be picked as a navigator for one of the pilots, before setting out on a harrowing journey that some will not survive.

1987. Wren Summers is down to her last dime when she learns she has inherited a remote piece of land on the Big Island with nothing on it but a dilapidated barn and an overgrown mac nut grove. She plans on selling it and using the money to live on, but she is drawn in by the mysterious objects kept in the barn by her late great-uncle—clues to a tragic piece of aviation history lost to time. Determined to find out what really happened all those years ago, Wren enlists the help of residents at a nearby retirement home to uncover Olivia’s story piece by piece. What she discovers is more earth-shattering, and closer to home, than she could have ever imagined.

Review

Emma has just had a bad breakup, been kicked out of her apartment and she just doesn’t know what she wants to do in her life. However, she just learned she has inherited a piece of land from her uncle. So, maybe her luck is changing.

In 1927 Olivia Jones is a woman in a man’s world. She is determined to fly airplanes. When she hears of the Dole race, she jumps at the chance to fly from the coast of California to the Hawaiian Islands. Things do not go quite as planned.

These two ladies are so intriguing! I love Livy for her tenacity and her goals! And Emma, well Emma is struggling. But my heart went out to her on so many occasions!

I enjoyed everything about this tale. This is told in two different time lines, 1927 and 1987. And now that it has marinated a little in my brain, I think I liked the 1987 part just a tad better. I enjoyed Emma’s search for herself and her past.

Need a captivating, historical novel…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

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Author Bio:

Sara Ackerman is the Hawai’i born, bestselling author of The Codebreaker’s Secret, Radar Girls, Red Sky Over Hawaii, The Lieutenant’s Nurse, and Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers.

 Sara’s books have been labeled “unforgettable” by Apple Books, “empowering & deliciously visceral” by Book Riot, and New York Times bestselling authors Kate Quinn and Madeline Martin have praised Sara’s novels as “fresh and delightful” and “brilliantly written.” Amazon chose Radar Girls as a best book of the month, and ALA Booklist gave The Codebreaker’s Secret a starred review.

Find out more about Sara and her books atwww.ackermanbooks.com and follow her on Instagram @saraackermanbooks and on FB @ackermanbooks.