50 ways to Find a Lover by Lucy-Anne Holmes

*****5 stars
WOW! This book got amazing reviews and I was worried after reading several book about online and blogging. I was afraid that they would mesh. Not the case at all. Holmes has a witty dialogue and feisty characters that you can't help but enjoy and smile at. I truly enjoyed this book thoroughly and found it fresh and terribly funny at times. It is definitely one to pass on to friends.

Book Jacket Summary:
I feel like a failure. It's now been 351 days since I had sex. That's a carnal drought. If Bob Geldof knew about it he'd hold a concert. Sarah Sargeant has been single for three years and nine months. She has just spent five months plucking up the courage to ask out a balding man with a paunch who works in her local pub. The gentleman in question informed her that he would rather stay in and watch the "Narnia" movie on DVD. Her pride has not just been bruised, it's been disemboweled. And she vows it's the last time she will ever reach out to a member of the opposite sex. But her family and friends have other ideas. They enter her into a reality TV show against her will, persuade her to go speed dating and even more radically, they encourage her to start a blog. Suddenly Sarah Sargeant is on a mission. A mission to explore 50 ways to find a lover.

There's cake in my future by Kim Gruenenfelder

*****5 stars
I really loved this book. You really can't go wrong with this author. She is amazing. There hasn't been a book of hers that I have read that I hadn't finished smiling. I truly loved the plot and had never heard of these charms being put in a cake and think that it was a fabulous plot and well executed. I poured through it and ignored all other responsibilities for an entire day. :)

Book Jacket Summary:
After listening to her closest friends’ latest travails in love, parenting, and careers, superstitious bride-to-be Nicole (Nic) believes she has the perfect recipe for everyone’s happiness: a bridal shower “cake pull” in which each ribboned silver charm planted in her cake will bring its recipient the magical assistance she needs to change her destiny. Melissa (Mel), still ringless after dating the same man for six years, deserves the engagement ring charm. The red hot chili pepper would be perfect for Seema, who is in love with her best male friend Scott, but can’t seem to make their relationship more than platonic. And recently laid off journalist Nic wants the shovel, which symbolizes hard work, to help her get her career back on track. Nic does everything she can to control who gets which silver keepsake – as well as the future it represents. But when the charmed cake is mysteriously shifted from the place settings Nic arranged around it, no one gets the charm she chose for them. And when the other party guests’ fortunes begin coming true, Mel, Seema, and Nic can’t help but wonder…. Is the cake trying to tell them something?

12 days of Christmas by Trisha Ashley

****4 stars
This is only one of the several Trisha Ashley books that I have read, but I have always found her books to be a solid read with lots of depth. This is a beautiful holiday book. As I am from Virginia, USA and not familiar with many of the traditions or meals cooked in this book it was entertaining as well as educational. I thoroughly loved this book. My only negative comment would be that it ended too quickly, would have liked the end to have lingered out a page or two more :)

Book Jacket Summary:
Christmas has always been a sad time for young widow Holly Brown, so when she's asked to look after a remote house on the Lancashire moors, the opportunity to hide herself away is irresistible – the perfect excuse to forget about the festivities.
Sculptor, Jude Martland, is determined that this year there will be no Christmas after his brother runs off with his fiancée and he is keen to avoid the family home. However, he will have to return by the twelfth night of the festivities, when the hamlet of Little Mumming hold their historic festivities and all of his family are required to attend.
Meanwhile, Holly is finding that if she wants to avoid Christmas, she has come to the wrong place. When Jude unexpectedly returns on Christmas Eve he is far from delighted to discover that Holly seems to be holding the very family party he had hoped to avoid.
Suddenly, the blizzards come out of nowhere and the whole village is snowed in. With no escape, Holly and Jude get much more than they bargained for – it looks like the twelve days of Christmas are going to be very interesting indeed!

The first love Cookie Club by Lori Wilde

*** 3 stars
A great quick holiday read that will warm you up. I love the small town and community shown in this book. It was a feel good romance with a couple story lines.

Book Jacket Summary:
"On Christmas Eve, if you sleep with kismet cookies under your pillow and dream of your one true love, he will be your destiny."
The townsfolk of Twilight, Texas, believe the legend, but not Sarah Collier—not since she was a pudgy teenager, running down the church aisle on Christmas Day in a jingle bell sweater and reindeer antlers, trying to stop Travis Walker from marrying someone else. She may be grown-up, slimmed-down, bestselling children's book author "Sadie Cool"now, but Sarah will never forget that day. And she'll never fall foolishly in love again!
But when a letter from a sick fan brings Sarah back to Twilight, she's shocked to discover that Travis is the little girl's father—unattached and hotter than ever. His smile still makes her melt, but Sarah knows that ship has sailed. Travis, however, might have different ideas.

Maybe this time by Jennifer Cruise

****4 stars
I have read a lot of Jennifer Cruise books and find this one just as good. I always love her characters. This one had a bit of a paranormal story line which I wasn't so sure about, not really my cuppa, but found it was very good and kept me wanting enthused to keep going. Enjoyable read!

Book Jacket Summary:
Andie Miller is ready to move on in life. She wants to marry her fiancé and leave behind everything in her past, especially her ex-husband, North Archer. But when Andie tries to gain closure with him, he asks one final favor of her before they go their separate ways forever. A very distant cousin of his has died and left North as the guardian of two orphans who have driven out three nannies already, and things are getting worse. He needs a very special person to take care of the situation and he knows Andie can handle anything.

When Andie meets the two children she quickly realizes things are much worse than she feared. The place is a mess, the children, Carter and Alice, aren’t your average delinquents, and the creepy old house where they live is being run by the worst housekeeper since Mrs. Danvers. What’s worse, Andie’s fiancé thinks this is all a plan by North to get Andie back, and he may be right. Andie’s dreams have been haunted by North since she arrived at the old house. And that’s not the only haunting.

What follows is a hilarious adventure in exorcism, including a self-doubting parapsychologist, an annoyed medium, her Tarot-card reading mother, an avenging ex-mother-inlaw, and, of course, her jealous fiancé. And just when she thinks things couldn’t get more complicated, North shows up on the doorstep making her wonder if maybe this time things could be different between them.

If Andie can just get rid of all the guests and ghosts, she’s pretty sure she can save the kids, and herself, from the past. But fate might just have another thing in mind…

The birds and the Bees by Milly Johnson

****4 stars
I apologize about this book. I have had it on my bookshelf for some time. I had brought it down once and made it 3-4 pages in and decided I wasn't really hip on the male character Adam. I was recently reading reviews and found other peoples interest in this book, so out of curiosity brought it back down and read it. It was fabulous! I ended up adoring Adam, just goes to show how prejudices get in the way. This book is based on misconceptions and I definitely didn't give credit where it was due. A definite must read!

Book Jacket summary:
Romance writer and single mum Stevie Honeywell has only weeks to go to her wedding when her fiance Matthew runs off with her glamorous new friend Jo MacLean. It feels like history repeating itself for Stevie, but this time she is determined to win back her man. She isn't going to act as he might expect. She isn't going to wail and dig her heels in, she is simply going to pretend to let him go whilst she pursues a mad course of dieting, exercising and self-improvement. And it feels like history is repeating itself for Adam MacLean too, who is also determined to win his lady, Jo, back with the same basic psychological tactics. Then he is going to initiate his master plan: Getting together with Stevie to drive Jo wild with jealousy. So, like the Scottish country jig 'The Birds and the Bees', the couples all change partners and learn some revealing truths about each other along the way. But what happens when Adam's master plan actually starts to work? And just who will Stevie be dancing with when the music stops?

The last to Know By Melissa Hill

*****5 stars
I would give this 10 stars if I could. I am a HUGE fan of Melissa Hill but this book is just superior to me. It isn't your normal contemporary fiction. I love the style in which Hill writes, you never know what turns are coming and although you feel the suspense building and know that something is coming you are never able say "oh I saw that coming". This book was fresh and new and touched me so intensely that I had to put it down and immediately tell my husband about it as well as friends. It literally had me saying "WOW". I am the first to give a chuckle in a book or feel a loss, but I was utterly moved while reading this that my daughter asked me if I was ok. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and feel it will always be one I can look back on and remember the plot by detail and how it moved me, if you are an avid reader as I am, then you know how important this is.

Book Jacket summary:
Eve knows what she wants.
After nine good years and two kids together, it's about time Liam made an honest woman of her.
Eve's sister Sam knows more than she should.
Sam's always thought Eve was too good for Liam. Then she learns the truth about his business trips to Australia, and her suspicions are confirmed.
And Brooke, safe on the other side of the world; knows nothing.

Out of the Blue by Belinda Jones

*****5 stars
I have read other books by Belinda Jones, Divas Las Vegas being my favorite, as I love Las Vegas and the energy that you get when visiting and really feel that in her book, but without having been to Crete, found this may have just taken my first place notch, if not tied. The suspense and constant changes in this book had me eating it up in two sittings in one day! I literally couldn't put it down. I loved the characters and the way the plot twisted and turned. I had read several other books by Jones and decided I would wait so that they didn't seem to run together. I enjoyed this book and ran right out and got "I love Capri". I have decided to wait to read it as a special treat. I have many other books that have been waiting for my attention and knowing a firm read is in the waiting has it's motivation :)

Book Jacket Summary:
Selena Harper always thought she had the perfect job: working on a luxury cruise ship, she's whisked around the world from Alaska to Zanzibar with excitement and adventure awaiting her in every port. But as she prepares for her latest shore-leave and finds herself unexpectedly deserted by her newly-engaged best friend she begins to wonder if life on the ocean wave really is her dream come true. Why is she the only one who isn't settling down? And how can she be feeling homesick when she has no home?
On a whim, she agrees to spend a week on the idyllic island of Crete, in the company of Alekos, a man she's convinced is an incorrigible womanizer. Steeped in mythology, the island soon starts to work it's magic on Selena - and, more worryingly, so does Alekos. Is he really the cad she's always thought him to be? Or could it turn out that his home is where her heart is?

Start me up by Victoria Dahl

***3 stars
This is the second book to this series, the first being "Talk me Down". I liked this one as well and found it to be a solid read. I don't think it held the same place for me as the first book, but still was a great read. I am gonna hold off and read the third one with a bit more time. I think that I had a harder time getting into the characters with this one than in the first one, but still look forward to reading the third book in this series.

Book Jacket Summary:
Lori had always planned to get out of tiny Tumble Creek, Colorado, but when her late dad left her his beloved auto body shop, she'd stayed. Now, according to her crazy best friend, Molly, what Lori needs is some excitement, in the form of hot, no-strings-attached sex…and lots of it.

Quinn Jennings has buildings on the brain—not love and romance. A serious architect, he's delighted to discover that Lori is willing to skip dating protocols and head straight for the sheets. And aided by the steamy books on Lori's bedside table, he's busy indulging both of their wildest fantasies. But when life in Tumble Creek takes a dangerous turn for Lori, Quinn's protective instincts kick in.

Suddenly he cares. More than either of them ever expected….

Talk me Down by Victoria Dahl

****4 Stars
First book I have read by this author. I am really glad that I went ahead and ordered the follow up book to this series. I really loved the character Molly. I find these are a guilty pleasure and enjoyed every minute. I don't read too many of these as sometimes I feel the plots tend to blend. I did find these characters fresh and the dialogue great!

Book Jacket Summary:
Molly Jenkins has one naughty little secret: her job as a bestselling erotic fiction author. Until her inspiration runs dry—thanks to a creepy ex—and it's time to skip town and move back to tiny Tumble Creek, Colorado.

One look at former high school hunk chief of police Ben Lawson and Molly is back in business. The town gossip is buzzing at her door and, worse still, a stalker seems to be watching her every move. Thankfully, her very own lawman has taken to coming over, often. The only problem now is that Molly may have to let the cat out of the bag about her chosen profession, and straitlaced Ben will definitely not approve.…