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Review – Hollywood on Tap – Avery Flynn

06 Nov

hollywood on tapHollywood on Tap
Author: Avery Flynn
Series: #2 in the Sweet Salvation Brewery series

Review Copy Provided by Author

Description:
For years, Sean O’Dell has hidden his past as a Hollywood heartthrob from everyone at the Sweet Salvation Brewery. However, the arrival of nosey efficiency expert Natalie Sweet threatens the status quo. It doesn’t help that with her glasses, buttoned-up sweaters and always pulled-back hair that she’s uncovered one secret already: His attraction for hot librarian types.

Natalie has had enough of the strong-and-silent Sean submarining her efforts to change the brewery for the better. She’s ready to do whatever it takes to make her vision a reality, even if that means taking down the pig-headed and too-hot-for-his-own-good brewmaster.

Sizzling attraction battles stubborn determination as Natalie and Sean go head to head in a battle that’s anything but business as usual.

Review:
Why is it that books I really enjoy, I have a hard time writing reviews of? Case in point, I’ve been staring at the computer screen for this one for at least an hour – so i guess i’m just going to start writing and hopefully something that resembles a good review (because the book was good) will result. But anyways, I remember after I finished reading Enemies on Tap (the first book in the series), that I pretty much sent the author a twitter msg asking when Sean was going to get his book – and of course, I got the very coy response, don’t worry he’ll get his. So when I saw the description for Hollywood on Tap and saw it was his book, there were immediate jumps of joy. I mean, who doesn’t love a curmudgeon (and isn’t that an awesome word) who finds his happy ever after?

Hollywood on Tap picks up a few months after Enemies on Tap. While EoT (since i’m too lazy to write out the whole title) occurred during a time of upheaval in the brewing company, Hollywood on Tap, finds things mostly settled down and a normal rhythm being established. I say mostly settled down because there were some events that occurred in the previous book that had some influence in how Hollywood on Tap played out.

I will admit that I had a hard time connecting with Natalie as a character because I am likely the complete antithesis of her – i’m not organized, I attempted to color-code something (which lasted all of about 5 minutes) and my office (as my mother will attest) resembles Sean’s in organizational level. And of course, I loved Sean from when he was introduced as a character – that being said, I’m also not a huge fan of the secret identity trope – I get why people may do it (I mean, heck, I just participated in a blog hop about pseudonym’s in blogging) – but it just felt like something was missing.

Don’t get me wrong, Hollywood on Tap was filed with Avery flynn’s spunky characters and whitty reparte (oh why can’t I write like that) – and I loved seeing Logan/Miranda from book 1 again (albiet only briefly) – but I wanted a bit more. The mystery element was nice, even though I kind of had it figure out how it was (even with the twist). i think my favorite part of the story is seeing the town and how people interact with others – those who step up to support the Sweet’s and those that continue to hold grudges against them (cough, like the local law enforcement, cough). I do feel like the story could have had a little bit more at the end – everything turned out a bit too pretty and tied up in a bow (for lack of a better term) for me.

Overall, I gave Hollywood on Tap 3.5 stars (rounding it up to 4 on Goodreads/amazon) – a solid story, hot in places which made for an entertaining read. I’ll be interested to see where the next book in the series takes me.

 
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Posted by on November 6, 2014 in Book Review

 

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Washington Romance Writers – Reader Luncheon

13 Oct

washington romance writers

So a couple of months ago my friend Jen (more commonly referred to as my old man from our days at Virginia Tech), asked me if I wanted to go to a reader/blogger luncheon that was being held in DC. An author friend of hers, the fabulous Jamie Farrell, that I have read and reviewed here was going to be attending, along with about 40 other authors. Pretty sure I gave her a look that said, are you really asking me this, of course I want to go…lol! So yesterday (Saturday) we headed out to Bethesda and spent the afternoon hanging out with some great authors, meeting lots of new folks and adding to the TBR pile (in massive ways).

lynne kimberly 2The event was hosted by the fabulously dressed (down to the awesome Zebra-stripped shoes – that I debated tackling her for) Kimberly Kincaid and Lynne Silver. I’d read Kimberly’s stuff before (in the The Sugar Cookie Sweetheart Swap – which also featured a story by Kate Angell with anatomically correct gingerbread men…). Lynne is a new author to me, but when I saw that the promo card for her book, Desperate Match had mad libs on the back, I was in love and will be reading her in the near future.

jamie jen deeThen came the all important introduction! While I have read all of Jamie Farrell’s books so far (and loved them) and we’ve been facebook friends for over a year – we’ve never actually met! (I know, weird right). Jen and I were lucky enough to be sitting at Jamie’s table, so we were able to chat all afternoon and I finally heard the hilarious story about how they met. Its like something you would think only happens in books 😉 For anyone who hasn’t read Jamie’s stuff, she writes contemporary romance with a southern twist – and bonus, she is a military wife (even if it is air force 😉 ).

picnic swagAlong with Jamie, we had Geri Krotow who writes military romances for Harlequin (and is just moving into suspense) – and she is a former Naval Officer (so she knows her stuff) and Hope Ramsey. Both of these authors are new to me (although I know I have at least one of Hope’s books on Mt TBR). Hope was also the fabulous designer of our picnic baskets that everyone at our table received. Aren’t they gorgeous!

Also at our table was Rheanna who is a blogger at Cammo Style Love – so it was like a military fest at our table most of the afternoon. As well as raffle prize central – I mean, a reader luncheon isn’t complete withour prizes right.

kensington books 2Speaking of prizes, I always have to laugh how things workout. I was just sitting back, chilling, making jokes (like always) when they were doing one of the groups of raffle prizes. Kimberly Kincaid got up with this HUGE bag of books, donated by her publisher, Kensington Books. Laughing, I turned to Jen and said, OMG, I want to win that – I mean, what girl doesn’t love a bag of books…and voila! yep, yours truly had her name drawn out of the bag. I think there was like a stunned silence for a moment or two, before it finally sunk in. kensington books 1The bag was like a cornucopia of books – there are so many authors in there, some i am familiar with, but most of them are new to me. a few people at my table got donations from me for books that I had already read – I figured the prize was a gift that keeps on giving 😉

avery meAfter all the prizes were given out (and there were some seriously great ones) and we had sufficiently gorged ourselves on food (that butternut raviloi was melt in your mouth delicious), it was time for the best part – mingling with authors! I always love doing this because it gives me a chance to gush over authors I love and meet new ones who may have books I want to try. I FINALLY got to meet Avery Flynn – i’ve read several of her books and they are all highly rated (bonus, my ARC of her newest one popped into my email while i was at the luncheon). So we totally had to take a selfie (courtesy of her). jen random authorJen and Mary Behre (Paranormal Mysteries/Suspense) bonded over their mutual love for the color purple (i swear, they are just attracted to each other!). I got a pen in the shape of a rifle courtesy of P.A. DePaul and tons of other swag.

TRAK jaceAnd saving the best for last, the cardboard cut-out of Jensen Ackles from Supernatural. Now, I’m probably going to shock people, but I’ve never actually watched this although it often shows up in my Facebook feed – but I think i’ll need to check it out in the future. Jensen is seen here with Kimberly Kincaid, Robin Covington Tracy Brogan, and Avery Flynn.

I left the luncheon with plenty of swag and books, so for a chance to win a goodie bag – if you could have lunch with any author ALIVE today, who would it be and why?

 
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Posted by on October 13, 2014 in Reading Events

 

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Review – Enemies on Tap – Avery Flynn

15 Jul

enemies on tapEnemies on Tap
Author: Avery Flynn
Series: #1 in the Sweet Salvation Brewery series
Rating: ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩

Review Copy Donated by Author

Description:
Enemies …After years away, Miranda Sweet returns to Salvation, Virginia to save her family’s brewery, but her fate is in the hands of her lover-turned-enemy, Logan. What’s a girl to do when the only person who can help her is the man who betrayed her?

Lovers …Logan Martin can’t believe his luck when the woman who smashed his heart to smithereens walks into his bank asking for his help. What she doesn’t know is that he needs the land her brewery is on–and he’ll do whatever it takes to get it.

An Irresistible Combination …Their wager becomes a battle between their attraction and their determination to win. But it’s in each other’s arms that they realize there might be more at stake now than their bet. With the town against the Sweet Salvation Brewery’s success, Logan has to choose between what’s expected of him and what he really wants…

Review
Oh Avery, Avery, Avery…lol! Anyone who knows me knows that I am a sucker for an Enemies to Lover story – it is probably one of my favorite romance tropes. So when I saw the description of Enemies on Tap, and then saw the post on facebook that there were going to be ARC’s available, I was on it faster than (insert some kind of inappropriate joke here) – which goes along with the story itself.

To say that I hugely enjoyed EoT (since i’m too lazy to write out Enemies on Tap everytime – sorry Avery!) is an understatement. There were times I was laughing so hard, I’m sure the people around me (I was on the metro heading home from work) probably through that I was having an attack or something. EoT was a short read (only about 160 pgs according to Amazon), so I managed to read it in about 2 metro rides – but I made the drudgery of my day job just fall away as I was sucked into Miranda and Logan’s story.

I will admit that for a good portion of the first half I wanted to go and find a baseball bat, reach into my kindle and boing Logan over the head. He was such a stick in the mud – and yet at the same time, I could kind of understand with the history that he shared with Miranda and the small town prejudices (having grown up in one myself, it was almost like a reoccurring nightmare). The whole Sweet and Martin dynamic (think Hatfield and McCoy’s without the shooting at each other – although I’m surprised it hadn’t gone that far) was funny and it was like Ms Flynn had grown up in a town where stuff like that occurred. The romance wasn’t as hot as some, but there was a reasonable amount of UST between Miranda and Logan, as well as some seriously hot moments – it just wasn’t all wham, bam, thank you ma’am type stuff (which is a pet peeve of mine).

But it wasn’t just Miranda and Logan who I loved – there was a colorful cast of secondary characters that made up the town of Salvation, Virginia. I think my favorite secondary character, aside from the curmudgeon of a Brewmaster (who rumor has it is going to get his own book in the future) was Ruby Sue and her pie (yes, the pie is a secondary character in my mind!) and with quotes like this:

“I’ll be damned. Miranda Sweet, is it you or is my glaucoma acting up again?” Ruby Sue sat her glass down on the Formica countertop with a clank. “You always did know how to make an entrance. Who do you think you are, the Queen of England?”

I can’t wait to see more of her in the later books.

I am kind of bummed that I failed to write down some of the awesome quotes that I found while reading – I always think about it and then forget. Thankfully people on Goodreads do a much better job than me (yes!).

I can’t wait for the next book in the series, to see where it goes (and of course, to see what Miranda and Logan get up to in the future). In fact, I was even tweeting the author, almost as soon as I was done, asking her when the next book was going to be out. This book has firmly put Avery Flynn on my current autobuy pile. 4 stars.

 
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Posted by on July 15, 2014 in Book Review

 

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Review – This Year’s Black – Avery Flynn

04 Jun

this years blackThis Year’s Black
Author: Avery Flynn
Series: #2 in the Killer Style series

Review Copy Provided by The Author

Description:
A fighter since birth, Allegra “Ryder” Falcon would rather trade in her all-black wardrobe for head-to-toe hot pink than let anyone ever see the cracks in her tough exterior. But one night with a stranger changes everything.

Devin Harris may have given up his MMA fighting dreams for high fashion, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t always in control. So when someone embezzles millions under his watch, he isn’t going to let the private investigator working the case go it alone—even if she is the woman who blew him away in bed and then blew him off.

Just when it seems like it couldn’t get any hotter between Ryder and Devin, the case takes them to a tropical paradise where the danger increases. From the catwalk to the pineapple fields, they have to work together to track down the missing millions before the thief finds—and kills—them.

Review:
Oh where to begin, after i finished up High-Heeled Wonder a few weeks ago, I wasn’t sure if Ms Flynn’s second book in the series could be more enjoyable, since I seriously enjoyed it (I mean, mystery featuring a fashion blogger), but when I saw the Allegra “Ryder” (sister of the hero in the first book) was going to be the heroine in the second book I was intrigued – she was the kind of female who reminds me, of, well me…haha! well, not really, but a kick-ass, no excuses, get the job done kind of chick, who also isn’t dumb, like so many heroines in romsus/mystery type books (you know, the ones who are TSTL – for lack of a better word). But at the same time, she isn’t afraid to ask for help (holy crap – a character that actually realized they aren’t invincible…shock gasp). And then there is Devin – the bad boy to the core, trying to hide who he really is under dress shirts and ties – listening to what society/his family think he should do. There was something about him that made me just want to give him a huge (and do other dirty things to him – hehe).

I will admit that I’m kind of conflicted over whether I liked the mystery more in the first one or this one – although I will admit this one had less mystery (since I figured out the who-dun-it before the reveal) than the first one, but more suspense in the resolution of the storyline. Plus the vivid images that Ms Flynn painted of the island just sucked me in (I really could have booked a ticket then and there).

I will say my one gripe is the dress that Ryder is wearing on the cover, it just soo wasn’t sexy in any way shape or form, at first i thought she might have been pregnant and trying to hide the evidence, but no, it was just really loose and gathered in weird places – yeah, I know probably pedantic, but it soo wasn’t sexy to me.

All I can say, is that she needs to hurry up and write more books! 4 stars overall and a recommendation for anything who likes hot romance with a touch of mystery.

 
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Posted by on June 4, 2014 in Book Review

 

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