Tuesday #bookreviews- The St. Ambrose School for Girls by Jessica Ward, Out and About @StaciTroilo, Slow Heat @JillShalvis, Lavender’s Blue by Jennifer Crusie and @Bob_Mayer

Nothing but Blue Skies Shall I See…

The grape vines are doing a good job of creating shade from the dog days of summer. I don’t have the energy to do much more than read- poor me, lol

Click the beautiful book covers below to immerse yourself in the captivating stories woven by these talented authors. From heart-wrenching dramas to thrilling adventures, there’s something for every reader’s taste.

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The St. Ambrose School for Girls

A CrimeReads Most Anticipated Book of the Summer

Heathers meets The Secret History in this thrilling coming-of-age novel set in a boarding school where the secrets are devastating—and deadly.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up this book, but since J.R. Ward is one of my favorite authors I jumped at it on release day.
The story is told from the viewpoint of a troubled teen and is emotionally compelling, if disturbing. It certainly opened my eyes to mental illness and how it can play tricks on a person’s mind.
It has a bit of a gothic vibe that really works to add suspense to the storyline.
Overall, a good read.

About the Author

J. R. Ward lives in the South with her incredibly supportive husband and her beloved golden retriever. After graduating from law school, she began working in health care in Boston and spent many years as chief of staff for one of the premier academic medical centres in the nation. She is the author of the Black Dagger Brotherhood and Fallen Angels series.

Out and About

An account of repression, revelation, bravery, and contrition, Out and About chronicles the merits and miseries of freedoms denied and gained.

Haunted by his sister’s death, Jensen Keller avoided his family until a phone call sends him on the road to home and a host of memories he’d rather forget.

A budding relationship with the tantalizing Bella is the only highlight in Jensen’s life, made complicated when the man charged with his sister’s death is available for parole. The two of them work together to find out the truth behind his release amid escalating tensions within their families.

This is a book about imperfect relationships and the strength of forgiveness. A great read for anyone who enjoys family dramas.

Staci Troilo

Staci Troilo grew up in Western Pennsylvania writing stories and poetry in her free time, so it was no surprise that she studied writing in college. After receiving creative and professional writing degrees from Carnegie Mellon University, she went on to get her Master’s Degree in Professional Writing, and she worked in corporate communications until she had her children. When they had grown, she went on to become a writing professor, and now she is a freelance writer and editor.

Slow Heat

After a woman claims she’s pregnant with Wade O’Riley’s love child, Major League Baseball’s most celebrated catcher and ladies’ man is slapped on the wrist by management and ordered to improve his image. His enforcer is the team’s publicist, the tough and sexy Samantha McNead.

To have some idea what it’s like [to be a MLB catcher], stand in the outside lane of a motorway, get your mate to drive his car at you at ninety-five mph and wait until he’s twelve yards away before you decide which way to jump. —Geoffrey Boycott

Shalvis, Jill. Slow Heat (Pacific Heat Book 2) (p. 32). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Samantha McNead has always known there is more to bad boy Wade O’Riley than what he lets the public, and his many, many fans, see. But, when she is coerced into becoming his pretend girlfriend by her overbearing father, Sam has a tough time remembering this is not a real relationship.

Wade is used to the adoration of his female fans but can’t forget a steamy interlude with the team’s sexy publicist in a stuck elevator. A year later, she’s assigned to clean up his image by attending a friend’s wedding as his steady girlfriend. How is he supposed to treat this as the hoax it is, when all he can do is think about making it the real thing?

This is the second in the Pacific Heat Baseball series and it’s so good! The sexual tension between these two are off the charts, but there is an underlying vulnerability that tugs at the heartstrings- a must read!

I really hope Jill writes more in this series (hint, hint!)

Jill Shalvis

Multiple New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is … mostly coincidental. Look for Jill’s bestselling, award-winning heartwarming and full of humor romance novels wherever books are sold and visit her website for a complete book list and blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.

Lavender’s Blue

As Liz navigates her dysfunctional family, her flamboyant boss phoning in from Chicago, her still-interested ex, her bridesmaid dress from hell, a dachshund with issues, a disaster of a wedding, assault, murder, and three hundred and ninety-three teddy bears, Vince shows up to get her through, even though he knows that the real peril for him in Burney is the one who came with her own warning label, Liz Danger.

The duo of Crusie and Mayer are back with a funny, sexy, heartfelt murder mystery you won’t be able to put down!

Liz Danger left home fifteen years ago after a series of events that left her without the love of her life and almost arrested. The only reason she’s in town now is because she received ‘a get home or else‘ card from her aunt and wish her mom a happy birthday and gift her a six-foot-tall teddy bear in guilt red.

“You have no respect for family,” ML said.

“Depends on the family.” I got up from the swing. “Family that makes you think about killing yourself whenever you’re with them is not family, it’s a biological mugging.”

Crusie, Jennifer; Mayer, Bob. Lavender’s Blue (The Liz Danger Series Book 1) (p. 67). Cool Gus. Kindle Edition.

The chaos that was her life as a teen returns with a vengeance, leaving Liz scrambling to keep her sanity as someone tries to kill her with a rock to the forehead, her ex is marrying a prom queen who wants her to be the maid of honor, her mother’s house is overrun with hundreds of stuffed bears, her crazy aunt is on the war path, and oh yeah, she’s shagging the new cop.

Life sure is interesting in Burney.

“You know why Stephen King sets horror stories in small towns?”

“Why?”

“Secrets,” Jill said. “Burney gossip spreads like wildfire, but the real secrets? Some of those stay buried deep.”

Crusie, Jennifer; Mayer, Bob. Lavender’s Blue (The Liz Danger Series Book 1) (p. 214). Cool Gus. Kindle Edition.

I love the introduction to these characters! Jennifer Crusie’s voice shines with witty dialogue and sexual tension, while Mayer’s attention to detail and red herrings leave the reader guessing who the culprit is until the very end. An excellent read!

About Jennifer Cruise

Jennifer Crusie was researching her dissertation on the differences in the way men and women tell stories when she got sidetracked into writing romance novels.

Her first book was published in 1993 (which pretty much finished off any hope of her getting that PhD) and her twenty-third book, Lavender’s Blue, in collaboration with Bob Mayer, is out in July of 2023, all of which she considers a minor miracle, especially since she is also a New York Times, USA Today and Publisher’s Weekly bestseller and a two-time Rita award winner.

Jenny is currently working on the Liz Danger mystery series in collaboration with Bob Mayer. She is a very happy woman.

About Bob Mayer

Bob Mayer grew up in New York City and is a NY Times Bestselling author and graduate of West Point. He was an Infantry platoon leader, a Battalion Scout platoon leader and Brigade recon platoon leader in the First Cav Division. Then he joined Special Forces and commanded a Green Beret A-Team as well as other special duty assignments. He’s had over 75 books published and sold over 5 million, including the #1 series The Green Berets, Shadow Warriors, Area 51, Atlantis and the Time Patrol. Having traveled the world, including living in the Orient where he earned a black belt, and on an island off the east coast of the US and one off the west coast, in the Rockies and Smokies and places in between, he now lives peacefully with his wife and dogs. He previously wrote under multiple pen names including Robert Doherty, Greg Donegan, Joe Dalton and Bob McGuire. Download his free Readers Guide for a list of all his titles and links.

For more information, free ebooks, free audio and more information go http://www.bobmayer.com

Results from my BookBub Promotion

I made the best seller list!