RICKEY & ROBINSON: THE TRUE, UNTOLD STORY OF THE INTEGRATION OF BASEBALL

RICKEY & ROBINSON                           ROGER KAHN
Posted:  Dec. 16, 2014

Rickey & Robinson: The True, Untold Story of the Integration of BaseballIn Rickey & Robinson, legendary sportswriter Roger Kahn at last reveals the true, unsanitized account of the integration of baseball, a story that for decades has relied on inaccurate, second-hand reports. This story contains exclusive reporting and personal reminiscences that no other writer can produce, including revelatory material he’d buried in his notebooks in the 40s and 50s, back when sportswriters were still known to "protect" players and baseball executives.That starts, first and foremost, with an in-depth examination of the two men chiefly responsible for making integration happen: Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson. Considering Robinson’s exalted place in American culture (as evidenced by the remarkable success of the recent biopic), the book’s eye-opening revelations are sure to generate controversy as well as conversation. No other sportswriter working today carries Kahn’s authority when writing about this period in baseball history, and the publication of this book, Kahn’s last, is a true literary event. In Rickey & Robinson, Kahn separates fact from myth to present a truthful portrait of baseball and its participants at a critical juncture in American history.

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
This book about Ricky and Robinson, is mostly about the life of Branch Rickey, but it is also filled with much more than that. The author talks about how the commissioner Landis band the Cardinals farm teams when Rickey was their General Manager, saying that what he was doing was an unfair advantage. Though every player was being paid. The author goes through with how Rickey built the Cardinals before he left for the Dodgers. The Cardinals of course would go to the World Series in the 40s and win some of them also all the while with the players that Rickey put together. When he to the Dodgers he had already had the idea and put into place the workings of adding Jackie Robinson. His whole goal was to end segregation in baseball. He brought with him to Brooklyn a man named Hy Turken, who was a stat or numbers guy before Bill James made it famous. This would help Rickey in all of his decisions when it came to ball players. The author goes into the difficulties of the first few years of Robinson being with the Dodgers, and he also goes into how there were Jewish players that were being verbally abused by other players and by fans and those players would stand up for Jackie. The author goes into detail also how that though baseball would start being open to all races the big newspapers of New York and some other cities still did not have any African American reports in their sports section or other sections. This would not change until 59 and thoroughly by 62. A Wendell Smith applied for membership in the baseball writers Association of America, in 1939 and was denied. Baseball would be integrated for 15 years before mainstream newspapers began to hire African American sport writers. Still this author who is Jewish stated that abuse by the old time writers went on until they finally left the business or drank too much to be listen to. Who find out how Rickey was forced out to leave the Dodgers before the made their World Series runs in the 50s and their only win while in Brooklyn. Being forced to sell his part of the team to O’Malley. He then moved onto the Pirates and built that team but was gone before the won in 1960. He did acquire a little unknown outfielder that the Dodgers did not protect by the name of Roberto Clemente, for the Pirates along with some other players who would help them win a couple of titles. Robinson of course would be forced by O’Malley, to retire once they got out to L.A. refusing a trade to the Giants. This book is filled with more history from the 30s forward than any other baseball book that I have read before, and what is amazing is that they are still using a lot of what Branch Rickey started back in the 30s and 40s in scouting for talent in a ball player. This is a fantastic book, that you do not need to be a baseball fan to enjoy. I got this book from net galley.

BLACK BASEBALL ENTREPRENEURS

BLACK BASEBALL ENTREPRENEURS   MICHAEL E. LOMAX
Posted:  Dec. 16, 2014

Black Baseball Entrepreneurs, 1902-1931As the companion volume to Black Baseball Entrepreneurs,1860–1901: Operating by Any Means Necessary, Lomax’s new book continues to chronicle the history of black baseball in the United States. The first volume traced the development of baseball from an exercise in community building among African Americans in the pre–Civil War era into a commercialized amusement and a rare and lucrative opportunity for entrepreneurship within the black community. In this book, Lomax takes a closer look at the marketing and promotion of the Negro Leagues by black baseball magnates. He explores how race influenced black baseball’s institutional development and how it shaped the business relationship with white clubs and managers. Lomax explains how the decisions that black baseball magnates made to insulate themselves from outside influences may have distorted their perceptions and ultimately led to the Negro Leagues’ demise. The collapse of the Negro Leagues by 1931 was, Lomax argues, "a dream deferred in the overall African American pursuit for freedom and self-determination."

HUBBY'S REVIEW:

This is vol 2 in this authors study or look at Black Baseball Entrepreneurs, from 1902 to 1932 which really was a big growth period for us as a Nation until the depression and everything then went down. The author not only discuss the players but also the games and looks into some of the owners as well. Mr. Lomax, does a lot of research in the teams and the leagues from that period, for example, NNL (National Negro League), ECL (Eastern Colored League), ANL, (American Negro League) and he researches through many black newspapers from that time period. He goes into how some former players were owners and also how a few white owners in order to make ends meet would let them play games at their ball park while their club was on the road. He also goes into great detail about Rube Foster, a former player who became an owner, also C.I. Taylor, Ed Bolden, John Connor, Henry Tucker, Thomas Jackson, to name a few. These men would lead the game and he also discussed how they worked with some white owners and a white man named Strong, who at the time was important for both races in booking games and finding places for them to play at. He also suggested that Strong had ties to the Tammany Hall, party in New York, and if that is true or was true for the early part of the 1900s they ran just about everything, so I can believe that you would have to work with them somehow until they were finished. He also discusses a thought between to different types of business ideas in the Black community that started in the 20s. They were the Booker T. Washington, were you needed to work with the white business man in some form, and the Tuskegee, way that believed that the Black community can be self-sufficient and not rely solei on the white man for survival. This last idea was the ground for the new Black Baseball Leagues in the 30s, with men who were self-sufficient like Cumberland Hayes, who owned the Grays and that team was solid until Robinson went to the Dodgers. This was a good book with a lot of information, but at times I felt that it jumped from year to year. That would be my only complaint. I got this book from net galley.

TREASURE ON LILAC LANE (HUBBY'S REVIEW)

TREASURE ON LILAC LANE             DONNA ALWARD
Posted:  Dec. 16, 2014

Treasure on Lilac Lane (Jewell Cove, #2)Sometimes the journey home is its own reward.

Once upon a time, Rick Sullivan had a promising future. One of Jewell Cove's star athletes and reigning heartthrobs, he joined the Marines and had the world in the palm of his hand…until it all came crashing down. His honorable discharge doesn't make him the hometown hero everyone wants him to be, and there's little reprieve from the demons that haunt him at night. Still, even though it seems that all hope is gone, fate has something else in store…

Just hearing Rick's name is enough to give Jess Collins a headache. Years ago, they'd been close. Now she barely knows the man Rick has become since his return from service…then again, Jess isn't that same young, naïve girl anymore either. And while there's a powerful attraction between them—one that yields a greater passion than Jess could have ever imagined—both are wary about opening their hearts to love…and loss. But happy endings don't come easily when long-buried secrets insist on rising to the surface. Will their pasts tear them apart—or can love find a way to heal them both?
 

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
A fascinating story about a war vet coming back to his home town to bury his mother and to work out his own PTSD since leaving the Marines. He is also having to deal with a certain women that he thought he was over when he left after high school. She was a few years younger than him but her family grew up next to his mothers and she was always around. They now are both dealing with feelings and emotions that neither one has experienced in their lives for a long time. They fight being together because each enjoy being by themselves, so friends come up with ways to put them together and once they are they start to work out the issues between them but also in them. He has a few things that he has not told anyone, until her and he finds out something that had happen to her. When you finally think you are at the end there is still one last bit of information that puts the story to rest for the time being. At times this a very emotional book, but a very good story with both lead characters being strong, but at times weak, which adds to the book. I really liked this book very much. I got this book from net galley. 

BLACK BASEBALL, BLACK BUSINESS

BLACK BASEBALL, BLACK BUSINESS    ROBERTA J. NEWMAN
Posted:  Dec. 16, 2014

Black Baseball, Black Business: Race Enterprise and the Fate of the Segregated DollarRoberta J. Newman and Joel Nathan Rosen have written an authoritative social history of the Negro Leagues. This book examines how the relationship between black baseball and black businesses functioned, particularly in urban areas with significant African American populations--Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Newark, New York, Philadelphia, and more. Inextricably bound together by circumstance, these sports and business alliances faced destruction and upheaval.

Once Jackie Robinson and a select handful of black baseball's elite gained acceptance in Major League Baseball and financial stability in the mainstream economy, shock waves traveled throughout the black business world. Though the economic impact on Negro League baseball is perhaps obvious due to its demise, the impact on other black-owned businesses and on segregated neighborhoods is often undervalued if not outright ignored in current accounts. There have been many books written on great individual players who played in the Negro Leagues and/or integrated the Major Leagues. But Newman and Rosen move beyond hagiography to analyze what happens when a community has its economic footing undermined while simultaneously being called upon to celebrate a larger social progress. In this regard, "Black Baseball, Black Business" moves beyond the diamond to explore baseball's desegregation narrative in a critical and wide ranging fashion.
 

Hubby's Review:
This is a book that takes a look at the businesses that were owned by African Americans, during the time that Jackie Robinson, signed with the Dodgers. It goes into detail how once he signed and others players began to follow that the Black Baseball Leagues were going to fold. What this meant was that the restaurants, hotels, clothing stories, car dealers and other Black Owned businesses that were supported by the Black Baseball Teams were going to close down and effect the neighbors that these businesses were in. their demise were was more than just losing baseball teams, but also the branches that came out from the money from the players and the team. This book was the first book that I read that explored that part of baseball that I did not know about. This is all part of not only the history of baseball but also the history of America. I very good book, with a lot of information. I got this book from net galley. 

ROCKED BY THE BILLIONAIRE

ROCKED BY THE BILLIONAIRE        MANDY BAXTER
Posted:  Dec. 16, 2014

Rocked by the Billionaire (Billionaire's Club, #3)The sexy Billionaire’s Club takes Texas in ROCKED BY THE BILLIONAIRE by Mandy Baxter. Bad-boy Luke "Lucifer" Blackwell is living the life. Being the lead singer for the rock group Riot 59 has brought him everything he could ever want—billions of dollars, endless parties, and enough groupies to last a lifetime. But when Luke’s wild life starts to wear him down, he returns home to Texas—and ends up in the arms of the one woman who’s always made his heart beat faster than a pounding drum…Kayleigh Taylor likes being a small-town girl, so she’s always been wary of Luke Blackwell’s fast-paced life—and of Luke himself. Fully expecting never to see the sexy singer who broke her heart years before, Kayleigh is completely shocked to find him back home, avoiding the spotlight and pursuing her instead. Kayleigh knows this can’t be right--his heart was always devoted to his music. But as they spend more and more time together, Luke is awfully convincing that his heart belongs to someone else… 

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
In this story Luke Blackwell, the rock star comes homes and surprises everyone especially his former girlfriend from high school, who he had just left without any real explanation 7 years before. She is now a Kindergarten teacher and she still has the same feelings for him as she did as she did back in high school. Now she has broken it off with her current boyfriend who is upset and wants to spend time with Luke. Kayleigh, has known Luke her whole life and they had grown up together, so even though there are people that want her to not be with him she wants to, but also knows that he first must work out something’s with his band and with other people in L.A. This is a good book with a lot of emotion from both charters and that makes this story a run read. A very good book. I got this book from net galley.

THE BILLIONAIRE COWBOY

THE BILLIONAIRE COWBOY              MANDY BAXTER
Posted:  Dec. 16, 2014

The Billionaire Cowboy (Billionaire's Club, #1)Billionaire Ryder Blackwell has got it all under control. The wealthiest cattle baron this side of the Mississippi, he’s built an empire for himself in hopes of getting distance from a tortured past. But when a stunningly sexy—and strong-willed—new vet comes to town just in time for Christmas, Ryder knows he’s met the one spirit he just can’t tame…Lara Montgomery doesn’t want to be involved with any man, least of all the rich, infuriating, and unbearably sexy Ryder Blackwell. She vows never to tangle with the charming rancher, but when he offers her the ultimate deal—one weekend at his ranch in exchange for a near-priceless horse—Lara cannot refuse. And as the nights get colder and their attraction gets hotter, Lara’s about to get all she’s ever wanted for Christmas…

HUBBY'S REVIEW:

This is a fast paced story with two fascinating lead characters. Ryder Blackwell, who has built the family ranch up from nothing and is now one of the wealthiest men west of the Mississippi, and Lara Montgomery, who is knew to the town and is a Veterinarian, not looking for a relationship especially with one of the most richest bachelors. So this makes for quit a story and she is not going to be one of his gals, he finds out that she is a real special lady and this makes for a fun fast paced story, and one that he realizes that he wants to settle down. A good book. I got this book from net galley.

FAST TRACK

FAST TRACK                                          JULIE GARWOOD
Posted:  Dec. 16, 2014

Fast Track (Buchanan-Renard, #12)Cordelia Kane has always been a daddy’s girl—her father raised her alone after her mother died in a car crash when Cordelia was just two years old. So when he has a serious heart attack, Cordelia is devastated, and the emotion is only intensified by the confusion she feels when he reveals the shocking truth about her mother.
Cordelia can’t suppress her curiosity about the woman who gave birth to her, and when she discovers the answers to her questions lie in Sydney, Australia, she travels there to get them.
Hotel magnate Aiden Madison is Cordelia’s best friend’s older brother. He’s oblivious to the fact that she’s had a crush on him for years. When he gets railroaded into taking her along to Sydney on his company jet, he unknowingly puts her life at risk. He’s recently angered a powerful congressman by refusing to purchase overvalued land. Congressman Chambers is not a man to let such an offense slide, and he has the resources to get even and to get what he wants.
In Australia sparks are flying between Cordelia and Aiden, but multiple attempts on Aiden’s life are made while Cordelia is with him, and he realizes he must put a stop to the madness before he loses the thing he values most.

HUBBY'S REVIEW:

This was a fast paced story about a girl and her three friends from when they meet in kindergarten and now they are still friends and get together all the time two of her friends are married to F.B.I. agents and Cordelia, who this story is about is the only single one. She teaches science at an all-boys school in Chicago and her father after being a mechanic his whole life and owning a chain of auto repair shops is the shop instructor. School is coming to the end and her father dies suddenly and before he does he tells her that the mother that she always thought had died was really alive. Turns out that she did not want to be married or be a mother and went back to Australia. Cordelia, who now is going through many emotions besides the ones of losing her father now also has to deal with if she wants to find out why her mother left them. She is also conflicted with a person that she has always had feelings for that is now taking a liking to her but he is one of her girlfriend’s older brother which she has known since she was young girl. This is a fast paced story and the characters are well defined. There is a lot going on but the author does a good job in getting the story told in a believable way. A very good book. I got this book from net galley.

TENDERLOIN

TENDERLOIN                                       COURT HASLETT
Posted:  Dec. 16, 2014

TenderloinIt's 1978 and the Reverend Jim Jones has moved his Peoples Temple from San Francisco to Guyana. Rumors immediately shoot through the city that Jones is taking revenge on all of his critics. When a former Temple member and friend of Tenderloin vagabond Sleeper Hayes is murdered, and another friend is accused of the crime, Sleeper sets out to uncover the truth. But the truth and justice are hard to find as Sleeper becomes the Temple's next target while investigating a murderous plot that stretches from skid row all the way to City Hall.

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
This is a story that takes place in the tenderloin district of San Francisco, it begins with a friend of the main characters death and Sleeper Hayes, thinks that person has been murdered, but since it took place in the poor part of town the police will not look into it. Once he starts poking around another friend ends killed and now the police are looking at him. This is a good who done it and the story takes you back in time with the People Temple, Jim Jones, who began there in San Fran then moved to Guyana. The author makes you feel like you are right back there with record stores on street corners and different music playing along with other visual help this makes for a fantastic book with characters that you can believe lived that way. A very good book. I got this book from net galley. 

D-DAY: MINUTE BY MINUTE

D-DAY: MINUTE BY MINUTE              JONATHAN MAYO
Posted:  Dec. 16, 2014

D-Day: Minute by MinuteTold in a purely chronological style, this fascinating account vividly details the authentic stories of regular people caught up in the historical events of D-Day.

June 6, 1944 was a truly historic day, but it was also a day where ordinary people found themselves in extraordinary situations...

Lieutenant Norman Poole jumped from a bomber surrounded by two hundred decoy dummy parachutists. French baker Pierre Cardron led British paratroopers to his local church, where he knew two German soldiers were hiding in the confessional. Southampton telegram boy Tom Hiett delivered his first "death message"; by midday. At the sound of Allied aircraft, Werner Kortenhaus of the twenty-first Panzer Division ran to collect his still damp washing from a French laundrywoman. And injured soldiers wept in their beds in a New York hospital, knowing that their buddies lay dying on the Normandy beaches.

Drawing on memoirs, diaries, letters, and oral accounts, D-Day is a purely chronological narrative, concerned less with the military strategies and more with what people were thinking and doing as D-Day unfolded, minute-by-minute. Moving seamlessly from various perspectives and stories, D-Day sets the reader in the midst of it all, compelling us to relive this momentous day in world history.

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
This book about D-Day, is a fast paced and full of information that I have not read about in any of the other books about this invasion. I have been drawn to WWII books and other military books because my father fought in WWII with the 82nd airborne. Mr. Mayo takes you back and forth between the different sides. American, British, French, Canadian, and German. He does explain also how Polish, and Norwegians, troops also made the landing. Also a Norwegian ship was torpedo during the early morning losing 45 men. That was something that I had never heard about before. You will find out about the German Commander who sank that ship and did it with boats that were similar to our PT-boats of WWII. Mr. Mayo goes into great detail in how the day unfolded, for everyone from the people of France, to the soldiers and to the men behind the scenes. The elaborate ruse to make the Germans think that the invasion was going to take place somewhere else. How most of the high ranking Germans, Rommel being one of them not being there and taking him until night fall to arrive back at his headquarters. How before the invasion and during the invasion not once were there any reports by the German air corps, letting them know any details. Then of course Omaha Beach, which out of all of the landing sites had the highest casualties, the fighting 29, 2,440 and the 1st Division(the Big Red One), 1,744. Most would be killed in the first two hours. You will find out about the role the French Resistance played and how the Gestapo, would kill 69 of them. How the man who would play Scotty, on Star Trek, the T.V. series. This is a very fascinating book with a lot of information that is not found in other books, and is written in a way that is fascinating when put all together. The way the author goes from the beginning of the day to after the day ended in the early morning of the next makes this a fast read. A very good book. I got this book from net galley. 

THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING RING

THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING RING     SUSAN MALLERY
Posted:  Dec. 16, 2014

Re-issue of Wedding Ring Promise - Originally published 1998.

New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery returns with a classic story of destiny, desire and a little holiday magic!
In her youth, Molly Anderson couldn't help crushing on gorgeous bad-boy Dylan Black—even though he only had eyes for her older sister. When things didn't work out between them, he said goodbye to Molly as well, vowing they'd have a great adventure when she grew up. Years later, dumped by her fiancé just before Christmas, she's finally ready to take Dylan up on his promise.
A guarded Dylan always had a weakness for Molly, and when she waltzes back into his life—grown-up and gorgeous—he's stunned. So why not whisk her away for some no-strings-attached fun?
Laughter-filled days and late-night kisses are changing Molly's life, for good. The only gift she truly wants now is Dylan's love, but when he discovers the secret she's been keeping, she may lose him again—this time forever.
 

MY REVIEW:
     Molly Anderson was 12 when she first laid eyes on Dylan Black her older sister’s boyfriend.  She had always been the outcast in her family but Dylan never reacted to her that way.
He always took an interest in everything she was doing, her school, or her ideas.
     At 18 he was by far the most handsome guy you ever saw.  Unlike all her other boyfriends he would talk to Molly.  He would tell her jokes, tease her about silly things but never in a mean hurtful way like her own family.  Since Janet saw no future with Dylan, coming from a trailer park kid and show no future in him she broke up with him.  Dating and marrying Thomas.
     On the day of the wedding Dylan shows up only making it to the back of the church.  He needed to see for himself that there was no hope left for him and Janet.  When Molly sees him from the alter and sneaks off with no one noticing.  She catches up with Dylan.  She finds out he’s leaving and reminds him that he said that he would take her on an adventure when she was grown up.  He said he never breaks a promise and gives her the gold ring he never got a chance to give to Janet.  He tells her when you’re grown and you’re ready, find me and give me this back and we’ll go.
     Dylan would never guess that Molly would not only have had an awful childhood but that the last week she had, had the three most horrendous days of her life.  So, who would ever guess that 14 years after he’d given her that ring she would be standing before him.  Dylan’s mind is expecting little 14 year old Molly with braces, acne, and glasses.  Yet the Molly he sees is little full grown voluptuous Molly.  He wouldn’t say she’s model beautiful but she’s pretty in a cute way, with soft curves.  Not his type he said to himself.
     She was nerves as they talked and since it was close to lunch they go out.  Molly explains in a roundabout way why she wants, no needs, to go on this adventure.  Dylan is sure she is keeping some secrets but before he can follow his brain he says yes.  Partly because he has issues going on with his business he has to make decisions on too.  They plan on leaving the next afternoon.  He needs to get his business in line you see.  He has become a successful businessman, but that is all I am telling you…
     I loved this story beyond words.  The emotions that come in the waiting that Molly has to endure is beyond accurate and painfully true I felt every moment again with her.  The dynamics between Dylan and Molly are unbelievably touching and erotic.  Their love scenes are a scorching hot bag of fire.  But like the rest of the story line done in a tasteful manner.  I give this 5 stars ++.  Provided by Net Galley.
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THE V-SPOT

THE V-SPOT                                          WENDY S. MARCUS
Posted:  Dec. 16, 2014

The V-SpotHow hot is your night going to get? Take the quiz and find out!

1. You're a curvy, cute and practical nurse, ready to unleash your inner naughty nymphette for your 25th birthday. You start with...
a. Chocolate cake.
b. Champagne. Lots of it.
c. A blind date set up by your daring best friend. 

2. Your guy turns out to be popular (and insanely hot) wrestler Brody "The Bull" Bullock. You...
a. Run for the door.
b. Admire his hotness, then run for the door.
c. Imagine him naked.

3. You're meeting Brody at The V-Spot, a "Voyeur Motel." What are you wearing?
a. A cute sundress with wedge sandals
b. You're not going anywhere without Spanx
c. Doesn't matter. Brody is sexy enough that it's all coming off!

If you selected all of the above, you're in for the night of your life....

MY REVIEW:
     Emma Masters was a loving, caring pediatrics nurse at a hospital in New York.  Not only did the children love her but the parents, co-workers, and doctors loved and respected her.  She had a big heart to match her voluptuous figure.  You better watch your P’s & Q’s.  She ran a tight ship in order to keep her little ones on the ward healthy and happy.
     No one knows this better than Sadie her best friend.  Sadie knew Emma’s birthday was coming up, the big “2-5.”  So, she wanted to make it special and exciting by signing her up to get her a blind date for her birthday.  Sadie took this job seriously.  She met every guy, they had to show their full physical exam was done, and STD screening too.  What’s funny is that Sadie’s boyfriend told her of the perfect place for their first date.
     You see Emma wanted something fun and exciting on her birthday.  With Sadie’s persuasive persistence as to what she knows Emma needs she says, “Every woman deserves a good f--k on her birthday.  If she’s not in a relationship, it’s the best friend’s responsibility to see that she gets it.”  Hence only giving Emma the address for her GPS leading her to The V-Spot a voyeur motel 3 hours from home.
     Although she felt like the token fat chick she waited for her late blind date.  Emma told Sadie no one who works at the Hospital could be included on her list.  She was not just getting more and more embarrassed waiting, she was, “A size-fourteen woman-well, a size sixteen spanxed-down to a fourteen-in a sea of pert, scantily clad sixes.”  Love the humor in this book.
     When her blind date arrives she is wanting to die, bail, or magically disappear.  She can’t find an exit to save her life.  It is Brody “The Bull” Bullock, one of the wrestlers that comes to the hospital to entertain the children on her ward.  She wants to die and not be caught there.  Not knowing that he is her date until he walks up to her and starts talking to her about why he was late.  She thinks of him and his pals as loud mouths jokers like the guys back in high school who used to tease her about being fat.  So she wants no part of him.  Although she thinks he is handsome and very sexy.
     Brody really wants this date with her and pleaded with Sadie (when he had heard the two of them talking about her party plans.)  He asks to be put at the top of the list.  He has seen her gentle kindness with her patients and their parents and knows she’s the type of person he wants in his life long-term.  He has known her 4 years but really never met her.  He needs her in his life.
     I loved this story.  Yes, it was very erotic in places but it was also funny, thoughtful, and hard to put down.  It was a nice short story.  I give this 5 stars.  Provided by Net Galley.
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LOVE IN A SNOW STORM

LOVE IN A SNOW STORM                    ZOE YORK
Posted:  Dec. 16, 2014

Love in a Snow Storm (Pine Harbour, #2)Never fall in love with your best friend's little sister...

Contractor and army reservist Jake Foster fell in love with Dani Minelli when she was a colt-legged high school senior. He knew he was too old to even look at her, let alone touch.

Dani’s been trying to get his attention since returning to Pine Harbour a grown woman—and failing miserably at every turn.

This winter, everything is going to change. And when the snow stops falling, Jake and Dani won't be able to hide from their attraction any longer.

This is a full-length novel (60,000 words, 220 pages)

MY REVIEW:
     Have you ever loved someone so much that your body ached when you were around them?  Now imagine that same experience and they were forbidden to you on so many levels.  You see Jake Foster is face with such a problem.  He not only is in love he is in love with his best friends little sister. 
     What’s the problem you ask?  Well, for one thing Rafe his best friend not to mention her other 2 brothers as well as his 3 that were told hands off.  Also, not to mention there was an 8 year age difference, and then the picture becomes clearer.
     Jake’s infatuation with Dani Minelli came when she was 17 and she was a senior in high school.  So, he became her guard dog and big brother like always and they fought like it too. She went off to college and he came home after a year.  College was just not for him.  When she was 20 they touched a little on their attraction verbally but Jake squashes it.  Both dating others.  Dani was a spunky go getter.  When she finally came back to town for good with a boyfriend Jake leaves to Afghanistan.
     Two ships passing until their mutual best friend’s wife was murdered did they stop the avoidance.  Two years they had both been back in town and managed to avoid each other but now they couldn’t.  Jake needed a ride home after the funeral due to all the guys drinking and well Dani being kind takes him home.  When she gets him there, there is a women who strangely looks a lot like her.  He tries to tell her that he wants to meet her for coffee because he doesn’t see the gal.  Dani says no because his houseguest might not like it.  When he sees who it is he says it’s not like that and revels that he met her when he went hunting after the shooting and murder where he and Dani had spent a lot of time.  She sees it as him once again turning to another woman.  Now Dani was hurt and pissed.  Jake had once not seen her, turned to another for love, and comfort, or maybe just sex which is worse in a way.
     What no one knew was not even Jake was that she had been in love with him since before she could remember that she wasn’t.  Now he was going into the arms of her look-a-like.  If that wasn’t a kick in the stomach. 
     I really enjoyed this story.  The dynamics of both the families and all that goes on in a big families is so real.  Everyone is a part of your business whether you want them to be or not.  This is one of those stories that you don’t want to put down.  I give this 5 stars.  Provided by Net Galley.
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SAY YOU WILL

SAY YOU WILL: THE ALEXANDER'S #5     M. MALONE
Posted:  Dec. 16, 2014

Say You Will (The Alexanders, #5)Mara Simmons knows two things for sure: her instincts are always right and Trent Townsend is The One. So when she starts to suspect his frequent business trips have nothing to do with business, she knows what she has to do. Trust her instincts.

Trent Townsend is living a lie and his worlds are on the verge of colliding. He's done so much to separate his small town life from his past that one day he realizes he can't tell what's real anymore.

When Mara asks family friend Eli Alexander to investigate, she sets in motion a chain of events bigger than she can imagine. Soon she'll have to make a choice. Stand by her man or… watch it all fall apart.

WARNING: This book contains brazen lies, meddling sisters, encounters with the 1 percent and really hot domineering billionaire bachelors. Just saying...

THE ALEXANDERS SERIES
- Book 0.5 - Teasing Trent - the prequel
- Book 1 - One More Day ~ Jackson & Ridley
- Book 2 - The Things I Do for You ~ Nick & Raina
- Book 3 - He's the Man ~ Matt & Penny
- Book 3.5 - Christmas with The Alexanders
- Book 4 - All I Need is You ~ Elliott & Kaylee
- Book 5 - Say You Will ~ Trent & Mara
- Book 6 - Just One Thing ~ Bennett & Katie (Fall 2014)
 
MY REVIEW:

     Secrets, lies, and love don’t mix and that is what Trent Townsend brings to the relationship with Mara Simmons.  Mara is the gorgeous twin to Matt.  She is a no non-sense kinda girl.  She calls a spade a spade.  She has worked for everything she has including the home she lives in.  She got help with the down payment from her brother, which Trent didn’t like?
     Let me back up, you see Trent and Matt became roommates in college.  One look at Mara and Trent was stunned and in love at first sight.  He could not get enough of her.  But, they were all just friends for a long time.  Trent was known to be like the surfer dude, since that is why he picked that college and because of Mara…
     The first time Mara had seen Trent she knew he was totally different than any of the guys she ever dated or was interested in.  She always caught him staring at her and with such a loving and caring way.  He was always so fully engaged whenever they spoke that she always felt so special.  It was an easy transition to falling in love with him.  Then, when he asked her to marry him it felt right to her.  Moving in together was what came natural after he asked her to marry him.
     But, then Trent’s father had a heart attack and you see Trent couldn’t tell the woman he loves after all these years that the story he told about his family and where they live was a lie.  So, rather than take the time to tell her he chose to live a double life.  You see at the same his older brother has a melt down and refuses to take the helm at the family business Townsend Industries.

     So, his father calls and tells him he can no longer run away from his responsibilities he has to run the business until he can do it.  At the same time his brother’s family needs tending, his sister has a family, and can’t do anything.  So, he tells more he has to travel for the company he works for, staying gone up to two weeks.  Until the lies and secrets start to unwind.  See what Mara and Trent do in this compelling saga of the Alexander’s.  I give this 5 stars.  Provided by Net Galley.  Follow us at: www.1rad-readerreviews.com

THE NAVY SEAL'S E-MAIL ORDER BRIDE

THE NAVY SEAL'S E-MAIL ORDER BRIDE   CORA SETON
Posted:  Dec. 16, 2014

The Navy SEAL's E-Mail Order Bride by Cora SetonMason Hall, Navy SEAL, knows all about difficult assignments, but his current mission is one for the record books. Not only must he find a wife—and get her pregnant—or forfeit the ranch his family has prized for generations, he must also convince his three brothers to marry, too—before the year is up. Who knew one city girl and three wayward brothers could put up such a fight?

MY REVIEW:
When you are a Special Forces man in Kabul and you lost a dear friends you started service with at 17.  What do you do?  Especially, when you caused ones death and another you can’t look him in the eye. Because part of you feels guilty because you saved him over your other friend yet you don’t mean that either.  Also, you go over it and over it again and again as to why you couldn’t be in two places at once, saving them both.  Not to mention he made a promise to his friend that died and he couldn’t keep it.  He was stuck and he felt like a liar, failure, a traitor to his a friends and family.
     When he gets a video chat from all his brothers saying that their great aunt is giving them a chance to get the old farm back.  They are all excited.  They all had great times there and special memories of when their father was alive and they all lived there.  His older brother Mason says there are some catches to this whole thing.  One, they must all marry within one year. At least one must have a child, they must get at least one hundred cattle on the land, and fix up the place and make it a home.  Where they all can live together.  Can they all accept this?  Mason is already put an ad in a personal dating website for all of them and found someone for himself.  Now he expecting the others to do their part ASAP!
     Since Austin was next to be leaving the Army he was the next one to have to find someone.  He didn’t want someone or kids either.  So, he did his own ad, basically asking for a ranch hand, wife for one year, no sex, no prying in backgrounds, and separate goals.  When guess what?  Ella Scales the actress applies but he has no idea who she is.  He arrives and Ella arrives.  The same afternoon they are married. 

     Ella is running from the humiliating scene at the daytime show she was on when she hit her ex fiancé over the head with her coffee cup.  Why you will have to read the book.  Are you crazy?  It is just too juicy to tell you.  So much stuff going on you would think I was giving you a spoiler.  Not!  Too much good stuff to do that.  I give this 5 stars.  Provided by Net Galley.  Follow us at: www.1rad-readerreviews.com

THE NAVY SEAL'S CHRISTMAS BRIDE

THE NAVY SEAL'S CHRISTMAS BRIDE    CORA SETON
Posted:  Dec. 16, 2014

The Navy SEAL's Christmas Bride by Cora SetonIt’s Christmas time at Crescent Hall, but don’t expect peace, harmony and goodwill among men. When Mason Hall and his wife, Regan, invite their friends to stay for the holidays, sparks fly in an epic battle of the sexes, military style!

Navy SEAL Dan Hemmins goes head to head with soldier Sarah Metlin to prove once and for all that woman can’t possibly qualify for an elite branch of the military, but when Sarah proves she’s not just one of the most qualified warriors he’s ever met, she’s also one of the smartest and sexiest, too, he’ll do whatever it takes to get close to her, even if he has to challenge her to another contest…or three…or five!

MY REVIEW:
     How do you live up to a legend? Especially when you created it in your own mind?  You can’t!  Is how.  You see all Sarah Metlin ever wanted was to be truly loved, accepted, and respected as a daughter, sister, woman, and soldier.  Not just as any soldier but a soldier of a Special Forces unit. 
     When you grow up in a home with a father and brothers in Special Forces it’s hard enough.  Try being the only girl and one who joins the U.S. Army to boot.  Not good!  Or should I say not good enough?  Because that is exactly what every man close to her thought and told her at every turn.  Not just them the U.S. Special Forces said she wasn’t accepted either. 
     Making contact with an old childhood friend from Wisconsin, was the vacation she so needed.  Regan and her husband Mason Hall, ex-Navy SEAL, asked her to visit during the Christmas holidays.  She agreed because she wanted to kick around with them leaving the Army, moving, transitioning into something new was going to take some time.  She needed to get her head on straight.
     Mason had also invited his friend another Navy SEAL Dan Hemmins to come and stay.  His options were limited since his folks had fallen through, their home sold so they were in the process of moving.  Dan had just retired and had only been home a week.  He also was there to kick some ideas around.  The ideas he has are for a new business.  He had also heard tell about the famous Hall obstacle course, wanted to see if it was a thing that could prove benefitual for his new venture.  
     The minute he sets eyes on Sarah he is enamored.  As well for Sarah except she holds back because she is always being challenged and belittled by men as well as used.  So, stand offish is an understatement.  Could this couple find a middle ground in order to become business partners at the very least?  Come read this very short story.  Enjoy the banter and the hot scenes that gives you a reason to fan yourself.
     I give this short story 5 stars.  Provided by Net Galley.
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WILD NIGHTS

WILD NIGHTS                                        TINA WAINSCOTT
Posted:  Dec. 16, 2014

The only commitment Saxby Cole has ever made is to the SEALs. He follows a long line of Southern charmers who swear monogamy isn’t in their blood. He’s never met a woman who made him want to swear his allegiance—until, while undercover for a Justiss Alliance assignment, he finds a woman who makes him think twice.
 
When Jennessy Shaw’s boyfriend dumps her right before their vacation to a hedonistic Caribbean resort, she goes without him to explore her wild side. Throwing caution to the wind, she propositions Saxby—only to suffer his gentle rejection.
 
When she wakes in Saxby’s room with no memory of the night before, Jennessy discovers his real purpose: to sniff out an operation where women like her are drugged and prostituted to resort guests. She goes from victim to his investigative partner . . . but getting too close to the sexier-than-sin Saxby may be her wildest move yet.

MY REVIEW:
This was an interesting story in many ways you have a young sexy couple who meet going to this resort and going there for completely different reasons.  Jennessy Shaw has had two major adjustments to go through in her life.  One she graduated college with a bachelor of science in forensics.  She broke up with her longtime boyfriend, Lane.  He had decided to go away to college and that they would still remain loyal.  She did but he didn’t.
     In her heart she knew for a while things weren’t right.  So, she decided to book a vacation week at Club Decadence owned by football player Darius Mitchell.  Darius owns the island that the club is on.  Word has trickled out there may be problems there.  Things like open orgies.
     Well, to the owner of Justiss Alliance Chase it’s way more than just that.  He has gotten word and was hired of the record of course, by an official of government whose daughter went to this island feeling like she had been given a date rape drug and actually raped.
     Chase has decided to send Saxby Cole in undercover.  As a financial guy.  A geek at that.  Which is a feat in itself because Sax is a chick magnet and an ex-Navy SEAL.  He keeps himself fit even now as if he was a SEAL even now.  It was up to Viv the offices one “J-woman” to get him in character by dressing him for the part.
     Right out the shoot who comes to sit next to him on the plane?  You got it Jennessy.  They both see sparks right off the bat.  After a few drinks she reveals she may have known down deep that Lane was cheating on her and she wanted to catch him.  So, when she surprised him and she too was surprised to see him with a woman in his bed.  She was disappointed in him, saddened by his lies, and also relieved.  She figured out she didn’t love him at all after all.  He was just comfortable, in fact she had grown to dislike him.

     For some reason this Sax wanted to comfort and protect her.  See what happens when they arrive at the island.  Boy, does a lot go on.  I give this book 4 stars. Provided by Net Galley.  Follow us at: www.1rad-readerreviews.com

We are so Excited!!! Guess who is coming on Friday? Scott McEwen Author Of "American Sniper & Sniper Elite"

We Are So Excited to have 
Coming on Friday
7:00 p.m. pst. a written Interview with:
Scott McEwen
Author of:

Gripping, eye-opening, and powerful, American Sniper is the astonishing autobiography of SEAL Chief Chris Kyle, who is the record-holding sniper in U.S. military history. Kyle has more than 150 officially confirmed kills (the previous American record was 109), though his remarkable career total has not been made public by the Pentagon. In this New York Times bestselling memoir, Kyle shares the true story of his extraordinary decade-long career, including his multiple combat tours in Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom) and elsewhere from 1999-2009. Kyle’s riveting first-person account of how he went from Texas rodeo cowboy to expert marksman and feared assassin offers a fascinating view of modern-day warfare and one of the most in-depth and illuminating looks into the secret world of Special Ops ever written. 
Co-Authored with Chris Kyle & Jim DeFelice





From the coauthor of Chris Kyle’s #1 New York Times bestseller, American Sniper: In direct defiance of the president’s orders, Navy Master Chief Gil Shannon, one of America’s most lethal SEAL snipers, launches a bold mission comprised of SEAL Team Six and Delta Force fighters to free a captured female helicopter pilot being held by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.
The president is afraid a botched rescue could jeopardize US foreign policy as well as end his presidency. But once the special ops community learns that one of their own—the first female helicopter pilot of the Army’s elite 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (SOAR)—is being held and brutally mistreated, there is no executive order strong enough to stop them from attempting to rescue her.
This fast-paced, action-packed thriller with incredibly realistic and blistering battles introduces a new American hero, Gil Shannon, whose iron will and expertise with the .308 Remington Modular sniper rifle will spell the difference between freedom and an ignoble death for America’s female POW. 
Co-Authored with Thomas Koloniar


From the coauthor of the #1 New York Times bestseller American Sniper comes a heart-pounding military thriller in which the fabled domestic Special Ops Black unit is activated in order to stop a group of Chechen terrorists from launching a pair of “suitcase” nukes somewhere in America.
When Chechen terrorists manage to smuggle a Cold War era Russian nuke across the Mexican-American border, the President is forced to reactivate the only unit capable of stopping them: Navy SEAL sniper Gil Shannon and his brash team of SEALs and Delta Force fighters. First introduced in Sniper Elite: One Way Trip, hailed by Publishers Weekly as a “meaty thriller” with “snappy dialogue and well-timed humor,” Shannon and his team were run out of the military after defying direct orders and instead choosing to save the life of one of their own.
In Target America, Gil and his team, many of whom had gone rogue, are reunited as an off-the-books Special Ops unit that must race against the clock to save the country from nuclear destruction.
#1 New York Times bestselling author Scott McEwen once again delivers a gripping and fast-paced adventure that illuminates the shadow world of clandestine military operations.
Co-Authored with Thomas Koloniar


Told through the eyes of current and former Navy SEALs, EYES ON TARGET is an inside account of some of the most harrowing missions in American history-including the mission to kill Osama bin Laden and the mission that wasn't, the deadly attack on the US diplomatic outpost in Benghazi where a retired SEAL sniper with a small team held off one hundred terrorists while his repeated radio calls for help went unheeded.
The book contains incredible accounts of major SEAL operations-from the violent birth of SEAL Team Six and the aborted Operation Eagle Claw meant to save the hostages in Iran, to key missions in Iraq and Afganistan where the SEALs suffered their worst losses in their fifty year history-and every chapter illustrates why this elite military special operations unit remains the most feared anti-terrorist force in the world.
We hear reports on the record from retired SEAL officers including Lt. Cmdr. Richard Marcinko, the founder of SEAL Team Six, and a former Commander at SEAL team Six, Ryan Zinke, and we come away understanding the deep commitment of these military men who put themselves in danger to protect our country and save American lives. In the face of insurmountable odds and the imminent threat of death, they give all to protect those who cannot protect themselves.
No matter the situation, on duty or at ease, SEALs never, ever give up. One powerful chapter in the book tells the story of how one Medal of Honor winner saved another, the only time this has been done in US military history.
EYES ON TARGET includes these special features:
A detailed timeline of events during the Benghazi attack Sample rescue scenarios from a military expert who believes that help could have reached the Benghazi compound in time The US House Republican Conference Interim Progress Report on the events surrounding the September 11, 2012 Terrorist Attacks in Benghazi Through their many interviews and unique access, Scott McEwen and Richard Miniter pull back the veil that has so often concealed the heroism of these patriots. They live by a stringent and demanding code of their own creation, keeping them ready to ignore politics, bureaucracy and-if necessary-direct orders. They share a unique combination of character, intelligence, courage, love of country and what can only be called true grit.
They are the Navy SEALs, and they keep their Eyes on Target.
Co-Authored with Richard Miniter


Due out May of 2015
Co-Authored by Thomas Koloniar





                                                                      Back to You #1 Hard Crush HARD CRUSH                                  ...