Blog Tour: 5 stars for The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros

 THE THINGS WE LEAVE UNFINISHED

by Rebecca Yarros
Release Date: February 23rd

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Told in alternating timelines, THE THINGS WE LEAVE UNFINISHED examines the risks we take for love, the scars too deep to heal, and the endings we can’t bring ourselves to see coming.

Twenty-eight-year-old Georgia Stanton has to start over after she gave up almost everything in a brutal divorce—the New York house, the friends, and her pride. Now back home at her late great-grandmother’s estate in Colorado, she finds herself face-to-face with Noah Harrison, the bestselling author of a million books where the cover is always people nearly kissing. He’s just as arrogant in person as in interviews, and she’ll be damned if the good-looking writer of love stories thinks he’s the one to finish her grandmother’s final novel…even if the publisher swears he’s the perfect fit.

Noah is at the pinnacle of his career. With book and movie deals galore, there isn’t much the “golden boy” of modern fiction hasn’t accomplished. But he can’t walk away from what might be the best book of the century—the one his idol, Scarlett Stanton, left unfinished. Coming up with a fitting ending for the legendary author is one thing, but dealing with her beautiful, stubborn, cynical great-granddaughter, Georgia, is quite another.

But as they read Scarlett’s words in both the manuscript and her box of letters, they start to realize why Scarlett never finished the book—it’s based on her real-life romance with a World War II pilot, and the ending isn’t a happy one. Georgia knows all too well that love never works out, and while the chemistry and connection between her and Noah is undeniable, she’s as determined as ever to learn from her great-grandmother’s mistakes—even if it means destroying Noah’s career. 

What I thought about The Things We Leave Unfinished

So this is a Rebecca Yarros book, so I know I need to bring some tissues with me because Ms. Yarros is a master at tugging at your heart, giving it a hard squeeze and showing that love often comes with tears. I definitely like that.

Georgia has just gone through a nasty divorce and ends up at her great-grandmother Scarlett's estate in Colorado. Also in attendance is Noah Harrison, a bestselling author who is going to finish Scarlett's last book.  I had to laugh when I realized this was an author writing about an author and that can and does get interesting!

As Noah starts to work on the love story, he and Georgia unearth Scarlett's story -- it's very personal and set in World War II.  The dual timeline between past and present is quiet interesting and brings a uniqueness to this story.  As a former historical romance reader I enjoyed that aspect of the story very much, along with the growing attraction between Noah and Georgia.

This is a story that capitalizes on common themes of fate, destiny and true love. The characters are complex and interesting and the story is emotional and comes with some surprises.  I really couldn't ask for more as a reader which is why I'm rating this 5 big stars.  

 

A complementary copy was provided by the publisher. This is my honest review. 

 

 

About the Author

 

  

 

Rebecca Yarros is a hopeless romantic and a lover of all things coffee, chocolate, and Paleo. She is the author of the Flight & Glory series, including Full Measures, the award-winning Eyes Turned Skyward, Beyond What is Given, and Hallowed Ground. Her new Renegade Series features Wilder and the upcoming Nova, and is sure to keep your heart pounding. She loves military heroes, and has been blissfully married to hers for fourteen years. 

 

When she’s not writing, she’s tying hockey skates for her four sons, sneaking in some guitar time, or watching brat-pack movies with her two daughters. She lives in Colorado with the hottest Apache pilot ever, their rambunctious gaggle of kids, an English bulldog who is more stubborn than sweet, and a bunny named General Fluffy Pants who torments the aforementioned bulldog. They recently adopted their youngest daughter from the foster system, and Rebecca is passionate about helping others do the same. 

 

Connect w/Rebecca:

Website: http://www.rebeccayarros.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/rebeccaelizabethyarros

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RebeccaYarrosFlygirls

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RebeccaYarros

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebeccayarros

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7539785.Rebecca_Yarros

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/rebecca-yarros

Amazon: https://amzn.to/39ZKtZ6

Release Day Review:5 stars for Thy Kingdom Come (Deliver Us From Evil #1) by Monica James

 

Thy Kingdom Come
Series: Book I: Deliver Us From Evil Trilogy
Genre: Dark Romance
Cover Model: Lochie Carey @lochie_carey
Photographer: Michelle Lancaster @lanefotograf
Cover Designer: Sommer Stein—Perfect Pear Creative Covers

Release date: February 24^th

Monsters are real.

When I was five years old, I watched my mother take her last breath—a breath three monsters stole from her.

I never chose this life. My father says it’s my birthright, but all I see is a curse. It’s because of the Kelly name my mum was slain by the Doyles—our enemies in Dublin, the fellas livin’ on borrowed time.

All of Belfast fears my family, especially me. I’m Puck Kelly, otherwise known as Punky; the lad ye don’t want to double cross.

I don’t do feelings or emotions. I never have…until she walks into my world.

Babydoll is a liar and a thief, but I can’t stay away. We both thrive in the darkness because that’s where our demons can play.

No word af a lie, sixteen years later, those monsters still haunt my dreams. But every monster is scared of somethin’…and that somethin’ is me.

No more hiding in the shadows because I’m huntin’ youse.

Run, wee monsters, run.

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Thy Kingdom Come Playlist

What I thought about Thy Kingdom Come

 

Puck (aka Punky) Kelly is on a mission to find his mother's killers, and for years, everyone said it was the Dublin-based rival Doyle family.  He wants revenge and his life is focused on that. He feels nothing but to avenge his mother's killers. He keeps his intentions to himself because every time he asks his family for information, he gets shut down.

 

And then he meets Babydoll.  She flips his switch in a way no other woman has ever done, but she's got her own agenda when it comes to the Kelly family.

 

This is a good old tale of feuding families, hidden agendas,  and questionable genealogy.  I was glued to the pages, needing to know who was who and what was what.  And through it all is Punky -- he's just delicious in so many ways -- a tough bad boy with a very thick shell, but with a heart for those who matter to him. It just takes a bit to get to that side of him. I thought he was such an interesting character.  

There's a lot of reveals and twists in this I don't want to give away. There's no sugar coating of the violence that occurs with the Doyle or the Kelly families, but that just made it more realistic and interesting. 

I'm looking forward to the next book in this.  This is a continuing story and while it doesn't really end in a massive stomach grabbing cliffie, but there are many unanswered questions.  Can't wait!

Bio

Monica James spent her youth devouring the works of Anne Rice, William Shakespeare, and Emily Dickinson.

When she is not writing, Monica is busy running her own business, but she always finds a balance between the two. She enjoys writing honest, heartfelt, and turbulent stories, hoping to leave an imprint on her readers. She draws her inspiration from life.

She is a bestselling author in the U.S.A., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, and the U.K.

Monica James resides in Melbourne, Australia, with her wonderful family, and menagerie of animals. She is slightly obsessed with cats, chucks, and lip gloss, and secretly wishes she was a ninja on the weekends.

 

Stalk Me

Website: authormonicajames.com

Facebook: facebook.com/authormonicajames

Twitter: twitter.com/monicajames81

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Pinterest: .pinterest.com/monicajames81

BookBub: http://bit.ly/2E3eCIw

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Release Day Review: Return to Us (Willow Creek Valley #1) By Corinne Michaels

 

 Return to Us by Corinne Michaels is now live!

 From New York Times Bestselling author Corinne Michaels comes a new second chance standalone love story.

At eighteen, I walked away from Willow Creek Valley for good.

I was young, scared, and stupid, and it cost me the love of my life—Grayson Parkerson.

Fourteen years later, a crash sends me back home to recover.

Back to where we met, fell in love, and planned a future.

The one he’s now living as a single dad to his daughter.

Working at The Park Inn together gives us a chance to reconnect, and seeing him with his little girl makes me long for the days when he was mine. One look in his gorgeous blue-green eyes, and it’s like I never left. One kiss, and my world is upside down. One night together, and I know without a doubt, in his arms is where I belong.

I’m not the girl I was—intimidated by his wealthy family and desperate to escape our small town. I can imagine a new life for us here.

But he’s learned to guard his heart, and trust won’t come easily.

How can I convince him to give first love a second chance?

 Download today
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Narrated by Andi Arndt & Sebastian York

Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2M4jkyj

 

 What I thought about Return To Us

In this first installment in the new Willow Creek Valley series, Corinne Michaels begins the story with a character readers met in the last book in the recently completed Arrowood series. 

Jessica survived the plane crash but is struggling with a traumatic brain injury. She's back in her childhood hometown -- a place she thought she would never return to when she walked away from her high school sweetheart to pursue her dream of getting out of Willow Creek Valley.

Years later, she's home and dreading the fact she might run into the only man she's ever loved -- Grayson Parkerson. The town is small and she is friends with his sister, so it's only a matter of time before they see each other. 

Grayson was devastated when Jessica broke it off with him, dashing their plans for a future together. I really can't say that I blame her for what she did -- Grayson's parents are awful, there's no other way to say it. It doesn't take long for the spark left between them to reignite but both are very hesitant to give their hearts away a second time. Grayson knows Jessica isn't going to stay in Willow Creek once she's cleared to fly, so he's trying to protect his heart. He does some stupid stuff that could end up having devastating unintended consequences.

 I devoured this story.  Jessica's story of recovery after her illness is fascinating and I really liked how that part of the story was presented. Her friends Delia and Stella are awesome too, and I liked her maturity in dealing with her feelings toward Grayson, his family and Willow Creek.

Grayson was a little harder for me to like, especially with some of his reactions toward the end of the story. However, I did like this second chance romance especially since it was very clear that these two still loved and were in love with each other, even though they had things to work out. Grayson's daughter is a sweetheart too.

Return to Us is a great start to this new series!  It has everything that you expect from a Corinne Michaels story. Love and heart and family -- with a little angst thrown in there for good measure. 

A complementary copy was provided. This is my honest review. 

Meet Corinne

Corinne Michaels is a New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of romance novels. Her stories are chock full of emotion, humor, and unrelenting love, and she enjoys putting her characters through intense heartbreak before finding a way to heal them through their struggles.

Corinne is a former Navy wife and happily married to the man of her dreams. She began her writing career after spending months away from her husband while he was deployed--reading and writing were her escapes from the loneliness. Corinne now lives in Virginia with her husband and is the emotional, witty, sarcastic, and fun-loving mom of two beautiful children.

Connect with Corinne

Website: http://corinnemichaels.com

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/2N1H2Gb

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1NVZmhv

Facebook: https://bit.ly/1iwLh6y

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/corinnemichaelsbooks/

Instagram: https://bit.ly/2L1Vzo6

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Bookbub: https://bit.ly/2yc6rss

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CMBOOKS TO 77948

Blog Tour Review & Excerpt: Best Laid Plans (Garnet Run #2) by Roan Parrish

 

Title: Best Laid Plans
Author: Roan Parrish
Series: Garnet Run, #2
Imprint: Carina Press (Carina Adores)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Romantic Leads: Male/Male
On-Sale: February 23, 2021
Format: Trade Paperback
Price: $14.99 US
ISBN: 9781335924803

Book Description: A man who’s been moving his whole life finally finds a reason to stay put.

Charlie Matheson has spent his life taking care of things. When his parents died two days before his eighteenth birthday, he took care of his younger brother, even though that meant putting his own dreams on hold. He took care of his father’s hardware store, building it into something known several towns over. He took care of the cat he found in the woods…so now he has a cat.

When a stranger with epic tattoos and a glare to match starts coming into Matheson’s Hardware, buying things seemingly at random and lugging them off in a car so beat-up Charlie feels bad for it, his instinct is to help. When the man comes in for the fifth time in a week, Charlie can’t resist intervening.

Rye Janssen has spent his life breaking things. Promises. His parents’ hearts. Leases. He isn’t used to people wanting to put things back together—not the crumbling house he just inherited, not his future and certainly not him. But the longer he stays in Garnet Run, the more he can see himself belonging there. And the more time he spends with Charlie, the more he can see himself falling asleep in Charlie’s arms…and waking up in them.

Is this what it feels like to have a home—and someone to share it with?

Buy Best Laid Plans by Roan Parrish

Harlequin.com | IndieBound | Amazon

Barnes & Noble  | Apple Books | Google Play | Kobo

 

Garnet Run

Book 1: Better Than People

Book 2: Best Laid Plans

 

 Carina Adores is home to highly romantic contemporary love stories featuring beloved romance tropes, where LGBTQ+ characters find their happily-ever-afters.

 A new Carina Adores title is available each month in
trade paperback, ebook and audiobook formats.

·       The Hideaway Inn by Philip William Stover (available now!)

·       The Girl Next Door by Chelsea M. Cameron (available now!)

·       Just Like That by Cole McCade (available now!)

·       Hairpin Curves by Elia Winters (available now!)

·       The Love Study by Kris Ripper (available now!)

·       The Secret Ingredient by KD Fisher (available now!)

·       Just Like This by Cole McCade (available now!)

·       Teddy Spenser Isn’t Looking for Love by Kim Fielding (available now!)

·       Knit, Purl, A Baby and a Girl by Hettie Bell (coming March 30)

·       The Hate Project by Kris Ripper (coming April 27)

·       Hard Sell by Hudson Lin (coming May 25)

EXCERPT

Through the glass front door, Charlie saw an ominously smoking car grind to a halt in the parking lot. It looked like it had originally been a late-eighties two-door Chevy Beretta but had since been Frankensteined of multiple ve­hicles’ pieces, many of them different colors and some of them clinging desperately together, helped only by electri­cal tape and grime.

Charlie winced, fingers itching to put the car together properly—or, perhaps more practically, drive it to the junk­yard and put it out of its misery.

Marie was bagging Bill Duff’s purchases when the door burst open. In stepped a man Charlie’d never seen before.

He certainly would have remembered.

Long, dark hair fell messily over his shoulders. He was slim and angular, with a slinky walk that made him look like he was made of hips and shoulders. The cuffs and collar of his long-sleeved T-shirt were worn rough and the knees of his jeans blown out. He looked like ten miles of dirt road.

Charlie raised a hand at the newcomer.

“Welcome to Matheson’s. I’m Charlie. Can I help you find anything?”

The man’s light, kohl-lined eyes darted around, as if Charlie might be talking to someone else, then, looking confused, said, “Uh. No.”

He hurried off down aisle one and Charlie let him alone. Some people didn’t want help or attention while they shopped, and Charlie was just glad of a new customer—and a young one at that. Business was okay, but with each passing year overnight shipping and Amazon ate further into his profit margin, particularly with customers under forty.

The stranger walked up and down the aisles, muttering inaudibly, swearing audibly, and consulting his phone every minute or so, as if the answers he wouldn’t accept from Charlie lay there.

After the better part of half an hour, he approached the register, arms full, though there were baskets and small carts available.

“Find everything okay?” Charlie asked as the man dumped his purchases on the counter.

“Uh, sure.”

He sounded distracted and was glaring at the items he’d chosen.

“You need any help with…” Charlie gestured at the hard­ware equivalent to marshmallows, cheese, and spaghetti be­fore him.

The man raised a dramatic dark eyebrow but didn’t say anything. His eyes, Charlie could see now, were gray, and his skin was pale, as if he were a black-and-white image in a color world.

That pale glare lanced him, and he looked away, ringing and bagging things up.

The man swiped his credit card like he was ripping some­thing in half and had to do it again when the machine didn’t get a read. He glared at it.

When Charlie handed him his bags he couldn’t help needling the man a little.

“Need any help getting things out to your car?” he asked, as he’d ask anyone.

The man glared down at the bags he was holding, then up at Charlie.

“No,” he said, like the word was his favorite one and, in his mouth, capable of expressing every feeling and thought he had.

“Okay, then,” Charlie said, purposefully cheery. “Have a good one.”

The man narrowed his eyes like there was a barb hidden in the words he simply hadn’t found yet.

“Uh-huh,” he said, and wrinkled his nose suspiciously, backing out the door.

“Who was that?” Marie asked. Charlie turned to see her lurking in the doorway from the back room.

“I don’t know,” Charlie said.

But he was damn sure gonna find out.

 Add Best Laid Plans by Roan Parrish to Goodreads!

 

What I thought about Best Laid Plans

Charlie has spent most of his adult life looking out for others -- his brother Jack, his hardware store -- anyone who needs help. He's a natural born caretaker, except he's also learned to neglect himself in the process.  After years of taking care of others, he doesn't even understand his own sexuality but he's willing to try.

When Rye, the gruff new visitor/drifter to town happens to come to his hardware store, Charlie is intrigued, maybe more.  In Charlie's eyes, he sees someone who needs help, and he's the guy to do it.  But it's not that simple with Rye. He's got some issues that he needs to work through too.

This is a low angst, standalone M/M slow burn romance that examines how these two broken characters are going to accept and embrace what they have in front of them, with Charlie's sexual awakening and Rye's patient approach being something that I really liked in this story. Roan Parrish does a good job of showing their feelings as their relationship progresses, which is what I've come to expect in her stories. While there are some details regarding money that had me wondering, I did like this story of friendship, love and hope. It was great to see Jack from the first book in the series.

A complementary copy was provided. This is my honest review.

About Roan Parrish

Roan Parrish lives in Philadelphia, where she is gradually attempting to write love stories in every genre.

When not writing, she can usually be found cutting her friends’ hair, meandering through whatever city she’s in while listening to torch songs and melodic death metal, or cooking overly elaborate meals. She loves bonfires, winter beaches, minor chord harmonies, and self-tattooing. One time she may or may not have baked a six-layer chocolate cake and then thrown it out the window in a fit of pique.

Connect with Roan Parrish

Website: https://www.roanparrish.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RoanParrish

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roanparrish/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/parrishorperish/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14070842.Roan_Parrish