MONTANA MISTLETOE

MONTANA MISTLETOE                                     R.L. SYME
Posted:  July 2, 2015

Montana Mistletoe by R.L. SymeCaught in a Christmas nightmare, Gillian needs to keep her distance from her ex, but with mistletoe everywhere and feelings resurfacing, she’s not sure she can resist just one more kiss… 

Gillian Potter is having the biggest night of her life. A giant fundraiser, a beautifully decorated Christmas scene, an original madrigal, and her job is on the line. When she needs a caterer at the last minute, her secretary books the only person they can find on short notice. Unfortunately, that person is Gillian’s ex: Mason Herrick. Hurt as she is by the way he ended things, she wants to hate him and tries to stay away… 

Mason Herrick took too many years to grow up and the perfect girl got away. Returned to Madison Falls, a new man and a business owner, Mason is determined to make good and to someday show Gillian Potter that he can be different. When her job and her future depend on Mason, he’s not sure if he’s become a good enough man to save her. Or to deserve her.

MY REVIEW:
     Holy Mistletoe there has been an explosion of an awful kind in the lobby of the dinner theater.  Mason Herrick and his brothers Cash and Tyson are caters that own 406 Catering Company.  They were hired because the usual caterer died suddenly.
     When they get there though Mason and the director (as well as writer and fundraiser coordinator) for the event have a history and not a pleasant one.  In fact Gillian (Jill) Potter hates Mason.  It has been years since they have seen one another.  As far as she could care it could go on longer.
     You see Mason had left the state of Montana and her behind never looking back.  California might as well have been another country.  Now he is back and trying to play nice?  Well it’s too little too late.  Besides she can’t hate him if he is trying to be nice it was much easier when there were several states between them.
     Now thought she has a show to get ready to be put on stage.  Kids to run through their lines again and last minute things to get done with the fundraiser.  All that won’t now if she had to deal with Mason.  Just looking at him makes her made.  All Mason can see is all the good memories.  And wanting to kiss her the first chance he gets.
     This was a cute very short story.  Not a lot of meat or potatoes to it.  I give this 3 stars.  Provided by netgalley.
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THE LOOK OF LOVE

THE LOOK OF LOVE                                        CRYSTAL B. BRIGHT
Posted:  July 2, 2015

The Look of Love by Crystal BrightYou can’t fight love…

There’s only one thing MMA fighter Gunnar Wells is more devoted to than his career, and that’s his mother, “Queen” Elizabeth. An elegant African American woman who adopted Gunnar and his two white brothers, Elizabeth was there when they needed her, and they’ll do anything for her. For Gunnar, that means running her hair salon when she suddenly falls ill. And if that’s not awkward enough for the champion fighter, he’ll have to work alongside Eboni Danielson, the other love of his life. The one he left behind to pursue his dream. The one he’s never forgotten…

Between the salon and her volunteer work, Eboni keeps busy to keep her mind off the man who broke her heart. So when Gunnar shows up again, she does her best to stay cool—on the outside. But the more she watches Gunnar step up and help out, the less she can deny her feelings. Soon Gunnar is doing everything he can to convince Eboni to give him a fighting chance. Can she trust him again—even when old secrets and new dangers come between them once more?

MY REVIEW:
     Ten years has passed since Gunnar Wells left on a bus to move to Vegas to become an MMA fighter.  By doing that though not only did he leave but he left behind the gorgeous African American mother (Queen) Elizabeth Wells who chose to raise him and his two brothers.  Most are probably thinking so what!  Well Gun and his brothers Gideon and Thane are all white.
     She didn’t care she loved them unconditionally even when Gun fought her oh so hard.  Queen demanded they showed respect as she always gave, she insisted on manners that she taught them, and she taught them to never interrupt when someone was speaking.
     When it came to girls they were always to be treated and spoken to with respect.  Which meant opening doors for them, when giving your word you held to it, and you never talked bad about them.  When he met Eboni Danielson it was all over he was smitten.
     He told her he would always be there for her then the next thing she knew when she said she couldn’t leave with him, he up and left.  To only come back 10 years later not for her but for Queeny.  The tension was high to say the least.  So much has changed for the both of them.  Yet, one thing's for sure the hurt, lack of trust, etc…was still there.  There’s a surprise for both of them when they meet up for the first time at the hospital.  Queeny has her own ideas as how this should play out too!
     Queen asked Gunnar home and Eboni to stay at the house while her test are being run, figuring they would find nothing.  And since she called right before a fight that Gunnar wouldn’t come.  Not telling the other one that she had spoken to the other one.  What she didn’t tell her son since it had been 10 years since he had been home is that his and the boys rooms were no longer theirs.  They had been transformed into a sewing room and a huge walk in closet.  Not knowing Eboni was sleeping over and her not knowing he was not staying at a hotel boy did they have a problem.  Luckily the apartment over the garage was still there and in fact Queen had made it new and improved.
     Now that he was going to help out at the salon like old times things needed to change.  For him and those at the salon.  Most of all Eboni who was now his mother’s manager.  Could they at least become friends again?  Gun wanted so much more.
     Loved this book all the way to the end it left Queen hanging.  It did however resolve issues to a point where I felt satisfaction at the end with Eboni and Gunnar.  I give it 4 stars.  Provided by netgalley.
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Coming July 3: 7pm Beth Rinyu: Author of "WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN" excerpt from newest book: EASY SILENCE


Friday, 
July 3
Guess who’s coming?
7pm PST

Beth Rinyu


Ever since I can remember, I have always enjoyed Creative Writing. There was always something about being able to travel to a different place or become a different person with just the stroke of a pen - or in today's world a touch of the keyboard. I am the author of The Exception To The Rule, An Unplanned Lesson, An Unplanned Life and Drowning In Love, A Cry for Hope, A Will To Change, Blind Side of Love, When The Chips Are Down and Easy Silence.

My life is not as interesting as my books or the characters in them, but then again whose life is? I'm a mom of twin teenage boys, a crazy Border Collie and a cat with an identity crisis! I guess you can say writing is my form of Calgon! 

Current Book: When the Chips Are Down

They say you never forget your first love. No matter how many more come along or how much time goes by, there will always be that one person who will be forever embedded deep inside your heart and soul. For me, that was Jaxson Callahan.
We were complete opposites. I was a senator’s daughter. My parents were always too busy keeping up appearances on the political scene to show me love, so instead they bought my affection.
He was the son of a woman who allowed men to use and abuse her as well as him, just for her next fix.
We became each other’s solace during that summer we met, creating a lifetime of memories in three short months. I provided him with a sense of hope that there was more than just the harsh reality of the life he had grown accustomed to, and he showed me a genuine love that I had been yearning for my entire life. We vowed to be together forever. I loved him and he loved me…. and nothing would keep us apart.
Nothing except the secrets that were hiding in that small seaside town.
Secrets that altered our destiny. We were never given any warning as we watched our future shake, crumble and disappear altogether, leaving us with nothing but memories of a bittersweet past.
Life can be beautiful.
Life can be kind.
And, life can be heartless…..because nothing about our situation was fair.




“So, did you have a good birthday?”  I asked.

“It’s just another day. Nothing special about it. I’d just as soon forget the day I was born.”
“Why are you so hard on yourself?” I second guessed myself for asking as the words spewed from my mouth.
“You just wouldn’t understand, Samantha.”
My whole life I hated being called that name, but hearing him say it was kind of nice. It was as if it was his and his name only for me. I was his Samantha, and he was my Jaxson.
“Maybe I could try. I’m a pretty good listener.”
He took another sip of his lemonade and placed it on the table. “I really have to go.” He stood up and looked down at the ground.
“I’m sorry. I – I didn’t’ mean to pry,” I said, standing up beside him. “It’s just, sometimes it helps to express how you’re feeling, and I’m –” He took me completely off guard when he grabbed my face in his hands, pulled me toward him, and placed a warm gentle kiss on my lips before smoothly slipping his tongue into my mouth. I was speechless as I pulled in my bottom lip still wanting to taste more of him when the kiss was over.
“You wanted me to express myself,” he whispered. “Well, that’s what I’ve been feeling from the time I walked up on this porch. I wanted to see if your lips felt as soft as they look. I wanted to get as close to you as I possibly could and breathe in your perfume that drives me crazy. And, maybe for one second of my life, I wanted to feel like I was worthy of someone like you. That’s how I was feeling, Samantha.”


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