Mail-Order Refuge

GIVEAWAY

REGNIER, CINDY
MAIL-ORDER REFUGE

She needs a place to hide -- he needs a woman's touch

Rand Stafford isn't looking for true love. He'd ridden that trail until his fiancee left him with a shattered heart. What he needs now is a wife to help him care for his orphan nieces. Desperate, he sends an advertisement to a Baltimore newspaper and hopes for the best.

Fleeing her former employer who would use her to further his unlawful acts, a newspaper advertisement reads like the perfect refuge to Carly Blair. The idea of escaping the city, the intrigue, and the danger to hide herself on a cattle ranch in Kansas is her best shot at freedom.

But its sanctuary comes with a price -- a husband. While marrying a man she doesn't know or love means sacrificing her dreams, it's better than being caught by the law.

Or is it?

My Review:

Eeeepppp! Mail-Order Refuge has all the elements I love in a romance...and then some! And can we all collectively sigh over the mail-order trope? What is it about this concept that has me swooning before I even open up the book? While in real life I'd be running for the hills? But I find it so romantic and Regnier delivers all that and more.

Toe-curling awkwardness had me blushing and squirming...and hoping...right along with Carly. And poor Rand who feels "as awkward as a bow-legged buffalo in a tulip patch." Gotta love a cowboy hero so totally out of his element and the colourful way Regnier portrays that. "Mercy, the girl needed a few more potatoes in her. She was light as a newborn foal." 

As for Carly -- well, she's a woman of mystery, intent on escaping a foolish mistake from her past. She's looking for refuge not love but is on the verge of finding both. But not before the author puts Carly and Rand (and this reader) through some teeth-clenching, gut-wrenching, tear-drenching paces. And all of that balanced by laughter and heart-melts.  Happy readerly sigh!

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like a chance to win a copy of Mail-Order Bride, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday July 27 2019. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!

Ladies of Intrigue

GIVEAWAY

GRIEP, MICHELLE
LADIES OF INTRIGUE

Ladies of Intrigue : can truth and love prevail when no one is as they appear?

The Gentleman Smuggler's Lady (c2017) - Cornish Coast, 1815 - When a prim and proper governess returns to England from abroad, she expects to comfort her dying father -- not fall in love with a smuggler. With Helen Fletcher keep Isaac Seaton's unusual secret?

The Doctor's  Woman (c 2016) - Dakota Territory, 1862 - Emmy Nelson, daughter of a missionary doctor, and Dr. James Clark, city doctor aspiring to teach, find themselves working side by side at Fort Snelling during the Dakota Uprising. That is when the real clash of ideals begins.

A House of Secrets (c2017) - St. Paul, Minnestoa, 1890 - Ladies' Aide Chairwoman Amanda Carston resolves to clean up St. Paul's ramshackle housing, starting with the worst of the worst: a "haunted" house that's secretly owned by her beau -- a home that's his only means of helping brothel girls escape from the hands of the city's most infamous madam.

My Review:

An alluring collection of previously published novellas. I hadn't read any of them before so I was in seventh heaven. These heroes and their heroines kept me in fits of swoons and toe-curls. High-spirited women who are the perfect match for their adventuring men. Lots of clashing wills and sparks flying! Sheer delight! And the joy of witty banter made me giddy. Have to confess that The Gentleman Smuggler's Lady is my favourite of the three stories because...well...Regency! Smugglers on the Cornish Coast! Really, do I have to say more? But the American stories are almost as good.

A perfect collection for discerning fans of Historical Romance.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:  

If you would like to win a copy of Ladies of Intrigue, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday July 27 2019. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!

July Giveaway - Week Three

Sorry for the late posting! It's so icky sticky hot that I crawled out of bed and took the bus to the mall and walked laps in air conditioned splendour (though horrifically boring!) and then hung out at the library (seated over a cool air vent) for the rest of the day.) This very long, very sticky, very yucky heat wave is supposed to break tomorrow evening -- for a few days at least -- and then I may be able to unscramble my brains because I totally forgot about posting the winners until just now. Oopsie!

WON BY CHANEL M.

WON BY KIM HANSEN

WON BY NICOLE SAGER

WON BY LADY SNOW ANGEL

WON BY KAY GARRETT

WON BY CC

You know the drill: winners will be contacted if they left their email address. Otherwise it's up to the winner to contact me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca with your mailing address. From time to time a winner and I do not connect so I have a one month time frame on giveaway wins. If I haven't been able to reach you within 30 days of your win, it will be forfeited. This has happened a few times now so, please, DON'T BE SHY -- CONTACT ME IF YOU DIDN'T LEAVE YOUR EMAIL OR IF I HAVEN'T BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN REACHING YOU. Books will be ordered within a week of receiving your mailing address and I'll email you to confirm your win is on its way. Give it a full month before inquiring about the status of an order to allow for processing and shipping time. Thank you!

LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT WEEK'S GIVEAWAYS:

Beneath an Italian Sky

GIVEAWAY

HENRIE, STACY
BENEATH AN ITALIAN SKY

A love match turns into a lonely marriage. Will Clare and Emmett reconcile their differences before it's too late?

-1908-

American heiress Clare Herschel made what she hoped was a love match when she married the handsome, witty Emmett Markham, the Earl of Linwood. A little over a year into her marriage, though, Clare finds herself wintering in Sicily -- alone. She is sure the mild climate is the answer to avoiding another miscarriage and Emmett's apparent indifference, so she's determined to remain in Italy as long as possible. the last person she expects to show up at the villa is her husband, especially when Emmett confesses he's there to convince her to return to England.

As the only surviving son of a marquess, Emmett has done everything his father has asked of him -- even agreeing to run for a seat in the House of Commons. However, this latest task comes with a nearly impossible caveat. He must convince his wife Clare to come back to England with him in order for them to appear to be a happy couple for his political campaigning. Emmett isn't confident Clare will agree to the plan, though, not when she seems to want nothing to do with him or the life they'd begun building before she abruptly left him for Italy.

When a massive earthquake strikes Messina, Sicily, claiming the lives of thousands, Clare and Emmett must set aside their mutual misgivings about their marriage in order to survive and lend a helping hand to others. But in the wake of the destruction, they begin to realize they've been given a chance to decide if their love is stronger than the upheavals of the past.

My Review:

I dove into this read not quite sure what to expect. I was intrigued by the reconciling married couple romance and the Italian setting but didn't quite have a grasp for how this story would play out. I'm the kind of reader who likes to know what I'm fictionally leaping into so I hope y'all appreciate my bravery venturing blindly into Stacy Henrie's latest. :-)

What I found was sheer brilliance! What an emotionally compelling story! Impeccable crafting blends 'present day' (historically speaking -- 1908) with flashbacks of courtship and early wedded bliss. And, oh, the waves of hurt caused by misunderstandings and plain lack of communication skewered this reader's tender heart. Clare and Emmett are barely more than honeymooners! Such a lot of sorrow to pack into their first year as man and wife.

And then the earthquake hits and that brings a whole new dimension to their story. Spellbound and breathless, that's me after devouring Beneath an Italian Sky in one sitting. Could. Not. Put. It. Down. Henrie is a storytelling genius!

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like a chance to win an ecopy of Beneath an Italian Sky, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday July 20 2019. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!

Healing the Cowboy's Heart

GIVEAWAY

HERNE, RUTH LOGAN
HEALING THE COWBOY'S HEART

A perfect match...or sworn enemies? Only time will tell at Shepherd's Crossing.

Horse breeder Isiah Woods can't believe his only ally in helping a neglected mare is the descendat of his family's bitter enemy -- veterinarian Charlotte Fitzgerald. Despite the feud, Charlotte risks everything to save the horse. But as she falls for Isaiah -- and the orphaned niece and nephew in his care -- the mare isn't the only one who needs saving.

My Review:

I have a love/hate relationship with Isiah and Char's story. Love because it's so good and hate because it heralds the end of another amazing series by Ruth Logan Herne. Sob! I so hate having to say goodbye to beloved characters and the Fitzgerald girls are among the best. Along with surrogate mom Corrie whose quiet sass and no-nonsense wisdom bring so much to these Shepherd's Crossing stories!

This time it's baby sis Fitzgerald who gets her chance at a happily-ever-after. It's a rocky road, however, so be prepared for some bumps and detours along the way. Charlotte is a woman with the strength and conviction to overcome and forge ahead and she is ready to make a new life out west alongside her sisters. Love that she's a vet and that this book is very horse-centrc.

Which brings me to a very swoonworthy hero (even though he's a major dolt at one point!) I forgive him because Corrie would want me to and because he's...well...swoony. Hard to stay mad at him for long. A rancher who raises appaloosas and takes in rescue horses. Be still my heart. Plus he's wrangling his orphaned niece and nephew. How can you not love that kind of integrity?! 

Ruthy's trademark themes of faith, family and forgiveness continue to stir this reader's heart and leave her longing for more.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like a chance to win a copy of Healing the Cowboy's Heart, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday July 20 2019. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!

The Noble Guardian

GIVEAWAY

GRIEP, MICHELLE
THE NOBLE GUARDIAN

Samuel Thatcher : Gynical Lawman, Mysterious Protector, Nobel Guardian

Life couldn't be better for Abigail Gilbert -- but it's been a long time coming. Having lived with a family who hated her, love is finally within reach. Abby embarks on a journey across the English countryside to marry of the most prestigious gentlemen bachelors in the land -- until highwayman upset her plans and threaten her life.

Horse patrol captain Samuel Thatcher arrives just in time to save Abby. But to him she's simply another victim in a job he's come to despise. Tired of the dark side of humanity, he intends to buy land and retire.

Abby pleads with him to escort her on the rest of her journey. He refuses until she offers him the thing he desperately needs to achieve his goal: money. Delivering her safely will earn him more than enough to settle into a quiet life.

So begins an impossible trek for the cynical lawman and the proper lady. Each will be indelibly changed by the time they reach her betrothed, if they don't kill one another first -- or fall in love.

My Review:

Sqqqqqueeeeeealllll! Swoonilicious Regency alert! Third and final (sob!) book in Michelle Griep's Bow Street Runners series! And it comes complete with a cynical, brooding, taciturn hero to send readers into a rush of romantical delirium. Heavy sigh and heart palpitations. Samuel Thacker definitely possesses toe-curling qualities. His rigid sense of justice makes it impossible for him to ignore a lady in distress and Abby is definitely that. Naively so. And stubborn to boot. Love his befuddlement when she stands up to him. And then there's baby Emma, a heart stealer in every scene, especially when the stern captain falls under her spell.

Lots of action and adventure and more than a hint of danger, including some knockout fight scenes, make this a page-turner of a reader. With plot twists galore! The kind of escape read made for a lazy summer afternoon.

Sidenote: I had a bit of an issue with what I felt were inappropriate uses of the Lord's name in the beginning of the book. Not quite out right blasphemy -- like " Oh my..." but using God in the context of an exclamation, not in the form of a petition and not quite a curse, but used in a casual way. And it's strange because they all occurred within the first 72 pages and then the remaining 241 pages were perfectly fine. There were only six phrases but they jarred me out of the story each time.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like a chance to win a copy of The Noble Guardian, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday July 20 2019. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!

Nanny Witness

GIVEAWAY

WHITE, HOPE
NANNY WITNESS

Running for her life -- and for a child's safety.
A riveting The Baby Protector's novel

When gunshots echo through the baby monitor, nanny Carly Winslow acts fast, fleeing with seven-month-old Mia. Help comes suspiciously soon in the form of Brody "Whit" Whittaker, who says he's Mia's uncle -- and a policeman. If he's lying, he could be one of the attackers. And if he's really a cop...what will he do after he uncovers her troubled past?

My Review:

Clearly I have not read enough of Hope White's books! I intend to remedy that! What a thrill-of-a-ride read from start to finish! That cozy opening scene that quickly turns to chaos and fear as Carly desperately attempts to save her charge from abduction makes for a chilling start to a relentlessly paced suspense. The pursuit never lets up and Carly's wary of trusting anyone -- especially a cop. But Brody's determined to be there for his niece in a way he wasn't for his brother. He's just as relentless as the bad guys but for all the right reasons. Plenty of twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat. Especially the appearance of an unexpected secondary character (who will hopefully be featured in a future book!) An unputdownable., addictive kind of read.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like a chance to win a copy of Nanny Witness, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add an email to your comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday July 20 2019. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck!