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Review: Warrior’s Hope by Rebecca Zanetti

Warrior’s Hope 

Rebecca Zanetti 

Dark Protectors Series, Book 16

257 pages, Paperback

Expected publication October 3, 2023

An explosive love triangle comes to its passionate conclusion and decides the fate of battling nations in award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti’s Dark Protectors . . .

As the only female vampire ever born, and the heir to two powerful immortal families, Hope Kayrs-Kyllwood has always felt the weight of fate and destiny. Now her heart is torn between two men and two different futures. It’s a choice between duty and love, peace and war, with the fate of everyone she loves hanging in the balance.

As the leader of the Kurjan nation, Drake has always known that mating Hope is the best path to avoiding war. He’s counting on her to know the same. . . . Paxton has been Hope’s best friend and protector since they were children. He would kill and die for her without a second thought. In fact, he’s always known that would be his path . . .

With deadly factions at her heels, Hope must decide whom to trust and where her loyalty lies—before the choice is taken away from her . . .

5 Stars

Hope has always known she’s been destined to bring peace. She knows it will be a choice that not everyone will agree with, but knows it will be right to bring about peace. Hope it’s unique in many ways. Not only is she the only female vampire. She is also a component known as the lock. A critical piece of the puzzle to destroying their greatest evil.

The time to make choices upon her, Hope is seeing things in a very different light as many secrets are starting to become known. Forever brave and always willing. Hope will do whatever it takes for peace.

It is no secret that I am a Rebecca Zanetti fan. You will find many reviews of her books on this blog. Her imagination, world building, and honestly just the way she rides have provided me many many hours of entertainment over the years.  It could be paranormal or contemporary, and Rebecca Zanetti knows how to catch and keep your attention. The Dark Protectors series  spans over 25 stories, including four novels and novelas. This could be read as a standalone novel. However, I would highly recommend reading at least a few of the other books in the series. This is one I have been highly anticipating.

Warrior’s  Hope is one of those books that has been building up for many years and was everything the book needed to be and more. Spectacular in so many ways. Rebecca Zanetti concludes this particular.arc of the series with a vivid bang. We have page turning actio and suspense. A romance triangle that finally comes to ahead. Secrets revealed and tough choices are made.  Warrior’s Hope had many layers and revealed many things that I’m sure I’m not the only one who was happy to discover. The book had me captivated from beginning to end. I read the book in one sitting, truly getting lost for an entire day.

Warrior’s Hope is in my top five read of the year.

Review: The Little Venice Bookshop by Rebecca Raisin

The Little Venice Bookshop

Rebecca Raisin

October 3, 2023 by HQ Digital

When Luna loses her beloved mother, she’s bereft: her mother was her only family, and without her Luna feels rootless. Then the chance discovery of a collection of letters in her mother’s belongings sends her on an unexpected journey.

Following a clue in the letters, Luna packs her bags and heads to Venice, to a gorgeous but faded bookshop overlooking the canals, hoping to uncover the truth about her mother’s mysterious past.

Will Luna find the answers she’s looking for – and finally find the place she belongs?

3.5 Stars

The Little Venice Bookshop is a sweet and fun Reid that gives lots of feels. Luna is a wanderer just as her mother was. They had a special pond and traveled all over the world with one another. Until one day, her mother was ready to set routes, but Luna was still sewing her wild oats.  When I received a phone call from a dear friend that has become a family member, informing her that her mother has passed away. Luna returns to her mothers tiny home to find more secrets than she could have ever imagined.It sends her out on another adventure, to possibly solve a mystery of her own And one of her mothers.

Luna’s adventure takes her to the lovely city of Venice. The city of love. While she is on a mission to discover some of her mother’s secrets, Luna begins a journey of self discovery as well. This is a heartwarming tale with all the emotions. The loss of bonds, the beginning of bonds. Discovering who you really are and what family really means. This was an emotional read for me. As I was able to connect with the characters. I enjoy the atmosphere and setting. I just wish the ending wouldn’t have been so rushed.

Review: Marked in Flames by Carrie Ann Ryan

Marked in Flames 

Carrie Ann Ryan

Aspen Pack Series, Book 5

ebook

First published September 25, 2023

 

My mate rejected me, leaving me broken. I refuse to let that happen again—even if Steele is the one for me.

I hold the power of flame and future in my hands, but I know the world is watching. Waiting for us to fall.

The truth and lies that bind the Aspen Pack together are crumbling and I am to bear witness to its fate.

I know the Enforcer of the Aspens is my mate.

Yet neither of us want what fate decrees.

So, we’ll fight side by side and ignore the burning attraction between us.

Only when a traitor rocks the foundation of all we know, we might not have a choice to who we cling to in despair.

The vampires were only the pawns in this war.

The demons are on their way.

And if we’re not careful, the Aspen Pack could lose someone that breaks them.

And I could lose my mate.

Again.

 

 

 

4 Stars

The final battle is approaching. The enemy is always one step ahead and the pack has had enough. Everything is intense and emotions are running high  as everything in the Pack world is about to come to a head.

 

Jade and Steel have been dancing around each other for sometime. They are both trying to each other, but yet both have things that keep them from truly discovering what they could be together. The Pack knows it’s time for all this fighting to come to an end. As they gear up for what they hope to be their final battle Jade and Steel take a few steps closer in the slow burn of a dance they have been doing with each other. They are an interesting match and complement each other completely.  Each of them thinking that their secrets makes it impossible for them to be with another, but yet they realized they needed each other more than they could imagine.

 

It is always bittersweet when a series comes to an end, but yet all good things must come to an end.  

The lines are forged and the battle has begun. Even in the worst of things, sometimes very good things can come from a mess. Carrie Ann Ryan ended the Aspen pack on a very thrilling note.

 

Review: Bad Luck Vampire by Lynsay Sands

Bad Luck Vampire

Lynsay Sands

Argeneau Series, Book 36

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Expected publication September 26, 2023

New York Times bestselling author Lynsay Sands returns in this latest chapter of the Argeneau series with an immortal who is having a bit of bad luck while trying to woo his life mate… Alasdair MacKenzie has never once considered himself unlucky in all the centuries he’s been an immortal rogue enforcer. Not until he meets Sophie. Finding the beautiful, smart, and funny woman who is his life mate is great luck, actually. But meeting her at a wedding full of Argeneaus, not to mention his own busybody uncles determined to “help him claim his woman,” is bad luck. And the fact that Sophie is someone else’s date? Well that’s just the next level of unlucky. From the way her gaze travels over his body like a caress to the electric zing whenever they innocently touch…he wants her for all eternity! He’ll keep his hands off Sophie until her date is over. After that all bets are off and he’ll pull out all the stops to win her. Great plan—until he gets hit by a car. And then he’s poisoned. Is his luck that bad, or is someone out to stop this immortal from claiming Sophie as his life mate?

3.5 Stars

There’s nothing like being on a bad date, except when that bad date goes really bad. Just when Sophie thinks her luck couldn’t get any worse. It takes a change for the good, with two handsome strangers coming to her rescue. If the night couldn’t get any more odd, one of those beautiful strangers, invites her to a wedding, to which she agrees to go. Little did Sophie know that going to a simple wedding would truly change her life.

For someone who’s been alive for centuries, he’s never considered himself unlucky until the night of the wedding. Alistair was just dealt a great deal of luck in finding his life made. Then at a moment’s notice, it becomes the most unlucky night he’s ever had. Alastair has waited for centuries to find his life mate and she’s at this wedding with someone else and a family member no less. Then add in his crazy and fun Scottish uncles, determined to help him get the girl. He’s feeling pretty unlucky at the moment.

From the moment Sophie and Alastair looked at each other they were drawn to one another. Alastair knew she was the one for him, but yet she didn’t understand how she could be so drawn to another man when she was literally there with someone else. I really enjoyed the way they met the way they felt the attraction and the way they came together. Bad Lucky Vampire was a fun and entertaining read. Sophie and Alastair have a slow burn that happens kind of fast. I love the way they talk to each other. Their romance is sweet and sensual.

When I first started reading romance books, approximately 14 years ago or so Lynsay Sands’
Vampire, Interrupted was one of the first paranormal romances. I picked up, and I’m happy to say, after a decade or more of reading I am still reading the lovely Lynsay Sands but this series has gone on to over 35 books. I was just as entertained with Bad Luck Vampire as I was many years ago when I picked up Vampire Interrupted.

New Release: Cry of the Banshee by Heather Graham

When stakes are high and ruin nigh, beware the sorrow in the banshee’s cry.

Cry of the Banshee, an all-new steamy paranormal novella set in the Krewe of Hunters world from New York Times bestselling author Heather Graham, is available now!

Strange things are happening at Castle Darien, the legendary home of Angela Hawkins Crow’s family just outside of Dublin, Ireland.

People are dying in the most unusual ways: drowning where there’s no water, falling from heights that don’t exist…

But before every death, the banshee lets out a cry, warning that loved ones are in danger. The Irish death ghost’s haunting shrieks and sobs echo within the ancient stone walls and travel up and down the hillsides.

Terrified and broken after the death of a friend, Moira Hawkins, Angela’s second cousin, turns to her family for help, convinced that evil is at work and sure the Krewe of Hunters can determine what is happening and put an end to the strange and deadly haunting.

Angela is mystified and stricken, but she and Jackson travel to the Emerald Isle to investigate, certain that someone very much alive is behind whatever is going on.

But she and the Krewe just might need the dead to uncover the truth.

**Every 1001 Dark Nights novella is a standalone story. For new readers, it’s an introduction to an author’s world. And for fans, it’s a bonus book in the author’s series. We hope you’ll enjoy each one as much as we do.**

Grab your copy today, exclusively on Amazon! Amazon: https://amzn.to/3NeP68Q Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/cryofthebanshee Amazon Paperback: https://amzn.to/41YzKtl

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3LwWoDL

Keep reading for a look inside Cry of the Banshee!

At first, Moira Hawkins thought she might be imagining the sound. It was so soft at first, like a sigh on the wind or a whisper through the trees. Except she wasn’t in the woods. She was lying in bed in the private wing of Castle Darien, her family’s nearly ancient stronghold. But the windows were open. That had to be it. The temperature was cool but pleasant, and she didn’t need to use the heat or air-conditioning systems. Which was good since they would never be great in such an old stone fortress. Moira had promised her grandmother she wouldn’t let the castle, built at the end of the thirteenth century, go to ruin. She said she would do everything needed to bring it up to the standards so many others used to save the structure and turn it into a hotel. She was partway there. While she worked on getting the necessary loans and finding contractors to undertake such an epic restructuring, she hired a tour company to bring visitors through. There were even a few Haunted Ireland tours put on by historians, who talked about some of the dire events of the Emerald Isle’s bloody past. She figured anything around for over eight-hundred years must have some nightmarish events to relay. And her ancestral home was in the Republic of Ireland, which had suffered a great deal of bloodshed to get where it was today. Yet… It occurred to her that she had heard—or at least imagined—the soft, mournful sobs before. The night Granny had died. Imagination. Had to be. But she’d heard the sound the night before they found the old man drowned in the river that ran alongside the castle’s western wall, too. And the time the would-be thief fell to his death from the wall. They’d learned the elderly gentleman, visiting family in the area, had been suffering from cancer. Moira wondered if he had chosen his end. And while the thief shouldn’t have been trying to climb the wall, he hadn’t deserved death. As she thought back, she realized the sound had preceded all those events. She shook her head. She had to be imagining it. She might have spent the last few years of Granny’s illness working in the States, but she’d grown up with all the tales of leprechauns, pixies, fairies, and banshees. Granny had been so good at telling them, holding her cousins and her spellbound as she wove her magical tales. The crying grew louder. She wasn’t imagining it. She could definitely hear it. It wasn’t a frightened cry. It was mournful, heartfelt. Yet Moira was afraid. Where is it coming from? She glanced at the clock on her bedside table—just past midnight. The last ghost tour had ended by now, but she wasn’t alone in the castle. Stewart McKenna, her grandmother’s longtime castle steward, slept down the hall with his wife. Their son’s bedroom was next door to theirs. Nellie Antrim, the head housekeeper, was on this floor, as well. And while the tour of the two unoccupied towers had just ended, Mark Meadows, the tour agency’s director, often stayed behind to answer any questions the guests might have regarding the castle or Ireland’s history. Because, of course, Mark wasn’t just a businessman, though he was a good one. He truly loved history and didn’t mind working late. He was…wonderful. The sobbing continued. Moira’s mind went to something her granny had told her. Banshee. Banshees are the remains of the Tuatha dé Danann, the gods of Ireland, driven underground when the Milesians arrived—Gaels who traveled the Earth, seeking a home. And there, in Éire, they claimed the land while the Tuatha dé Danann settled the underworld. Once, keeners had been on hand at funerals, sobbing mournfully for those who had left the earthly world. The banshees fulfilled that tradition now, warning of someone’s death… Get a grip! she told herself. Seriously, she’d spent enough time in the United States to learn all about all kinds of myths and legends from around the world. There are no such things as banshees. Still…

For More Information about Heather Graham, visit her website: https://www.theoriginalheathergraham.com/

For More Information about 1001 Dark Nights, visit: Website: https://www.1001darknights.com/ Facebook: https://bit.ly/3ONzTtZ Instagram: https://bit.ly/3rTZdo3 TikTok: https://bit.ly/3G98oYh

Review: Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas by Vicki Delany

 

Have Yourself a Deadly Little Christmas

Vicki Delany

A Year-Round Christmas Mystery Series, Book 6

288 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication September 19, 2023

 

 

It’s beginning to look a lot like murder in the sixth installment of this charming cozy mystery series, perfect for fans of Donna Andrews and Jacqueline Frost.

It’s the beginning of December in Rudolph, New York, America’s Christmas Town, and business is brisk at Mrs. Claus’s Treasures, a gift and décor shop owned by Merry Wilkinson. The local amateur dramatic society is intensely preparing a special musical production of A Christmas Carol. But it’s not a happy set, as rivalries between cast and crew threaten the production.

Tensions come to a head when a member of the group is found dead shortly after a shopping excursion to Mrs. Claus’s Treasures. Was someone looking to cut out the competition? Everyone in the cast and crew is a potential suspect, including Aline, Merry’s mother, and Merry’s shop assistant Jackie O’Reilly, who was desperate for a starring role.

It could be curtains for Christmas—and for Merry—unless the killer can be ferreted out of the wings.

 

 

 

 3.5 Stars

Rudolph, New York is the most Christmasy town there ever was. A town that is truly centered around everything Christmas. Merry Wilkinson is the owner of Mrs. Claus’s treasures, a cute little gift and decor shop in America’s Christmas town. It’s the beginning of December, and the town is gearing up for their annual amateur trauma society play. This year it’s a Christmas Carol, but what should be a cheerful time becomes tense as rivalries begin amongst the cast and crew of the production. Tensions come to the forefront when one of the cast members is found dead While shopping. Just so happens she dies in Merry’s shop. Everyone in the cast and crew is a suspect, and even Merry. She is determined to get to the bottom of this before all the Christmas cheer is sucked out of this town.

This is my first forte into the year round Christmas mystery series. The concept of this is really cute and the mystery is engaging and intriguing. . We have some quite colorful characters in this cozy Little Christmas town. They add flair and charisma to the story, which I truly enjoyed. Vicki Delany is an imaginative and creative author. She continuously comes up with new ways to keep us thinking, and turning the pages.

 

Audio Review: Start Us Up by Lexi Blake

start us ipStart Us Up

Lexi Blake

Park Avenue Promise Book 1 

252 pages, Kindle Edition

Published: August 8, 2023 by Blue Box Press

Three young women make a pact in high school—
to always be friends and to one day make it big in Manhattan.

She’s a high-tech boss who lost it all…

Ivy Jensen was the darling of the tech world, right up until her company fell apart completely after she trusted the wrong person. Her reputation in tatters, she finds herself back in the tiny apartment she grew up in, living with her mom. When a group of angel investors offer her a meeting, she knows she has to come up with the new big idea or her career is over.

He’s an up and coming coder…

Heath Marino has always been fascinated with writing code. He’s worked on a dozen games and apps and is considered one of the industry’s more eccentric talents. But now he’s back in New York to spend time with his grandmother. She was known as one of the city’s greatest matchmakers, and he wants to know why. Surely there’s some kind of code in his grandmother’s methods, and he’s going to find them.

When Ivy meets Heath it’s instant attraction, but she’s got a career to get back to and he just might be her on-ramp. It could be a perfect partnership or absolute heartbreak.

4.5 Stars

This is one of those books that I picked up because I love who wrote it. I’m not big on the New York Life nor do I know anything about the tech world. But I know that Lexi Blake knows how to write a story that I don’t want to put down.  With that being said Start Us Up was truly a one stop couldn’t put it down, all in one read for me.

Ivy Jensen climbed to the top of the tech world very quickly. She was motivated and wanted more than what she grew up with. Just when she thought she had it made, her company fell apart after trusting the wrong people. She’s got a second chance and now she knows she needs a big idea to make a new step to save her career.

Heath Marino has always been fascinated with code. He’s used his talents to make games and applications that have caused him to be a big talent. He’s back in New York to spend time with his grandmother. A well-known matchmaker, and he’s trying to figure out the science of his grandmothers’ methods.

What was supposed to be a secret set up became a business partnership into something much greater. Ivy and Heath worked so well together. He is calm and mellow with a very nurturing nature. Where Ivy is the go get them, she’s going to find a way to make it happen type of person. The two of them together was just amazing. They have a traction in chemistry, but there’s always something that makes it hard to say yes to love. As they build this company, they realize there is more feelings than just business between the two of them. As the layers start to peel away, we learn just why these two are perfect for each other. But yet this would not be a LexiBlake book, if we did not have a little bit of suspense, and a good dash of humor thrown in.  

This was a fantastic start to the series, and I can’t wait to see what Miss Blake has in store for her Park Avenue Promise series.

Review: Cherry Lane by Kristen Proby

cherry laneCherry Lane 

Kristen Proby 

Huckleberry Bay Series, Book 3.5

1001 Dark Nights 

111 pages, Kindle Edition

Expected publication August 22, 2023

Sometimes, love is waiting in the most unexpected of places.

Zeke Cross is a big city guy who finds himself living in the smallest town on the face of the earth, running an auto repair shop with his best friend. Not just running, but owning. He’s not used to sleepy little towns. He craves noise, excitement, and people. And yet, he’s grown to love the town of Huckleberry Bay, and the people who have welcomed him into the fold. Almost everyone has been kind and accepting of the outsider.

Everyone except Cherry Dubois.

Cherry is a small town girl, and she misses the sleepy community from her childhood. Now, her home is overrun by move-ins, who seem hell-bent on bringing big city ideals to her little town, and ruining what she’s always had. Her neighbor, Zeke, is the most annoying of all, with his loud music and arrogant attitude. How is she supposed to think when he’s around? Sure, he’s handsome, but that almost makes it worse.

Then Cherry needs Zeke’s help, and she finds out that the big city guy isn’t all that bad, especially when he has his hands on her and makes her forget all the reasons why she doesn’t like him. But at the end of the day, will she be able to trust this man to stay for good, or will her worst fears come true?

** Every 1001 Dark Nights novella is a standalone story. For new readers, it’s an introduction to an author’s world. And for fans, it’s a bonus book in the author’s series. We hope you’ll enjoy each one as much as we do. **

4 Stars

What an amazing short story. I love the town of Huckleberry Bay, and all the wonderful people who called at home. Cherry Lane is a quick read with all the feels.

Zeke has been a big city guy for all of his life. Now living in the small quiet town of Huckleberry, Bay, life is really slow down for him. He misses the noise and action of the city but yet he’s beginning to realize that this is his new home.

Cherry is a small town girl. She loves the cozy community in which she has grown up in. Until a city guy moved in next-door bringing his city ideas. Disrupting her peace with loud music and his fast paced way.

These two have so much chemistry. It is flowing out of them. Jerry and Zeke are amazing together. Their back-and-forth banter is humorous and entertaining. They obviously have an attraction for one another, but both being the stubborn people that they are, don’t see it until they do. Sherry kept herself extremely guarded. Zeke found away through her walls, and with a little bit of work, they found their way to one another. These two will have you laughing and make your heart very warm. A very sweet happily ever after.

Review: You Can Die by Rebecca Zanetti

You Can Die

Rebecca Zanetti

Laurel Snow Series, Book 3 

400 pages, Mass Market Paperback
Expected publication: July 25, 2023 by Zebra
Set against the atmospheric snowy backdrop of rural Pacific Northwest, New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti’s thrilling suspense series follows FBI Special Agent Laurel Snow as she strives to navigate her complicated family life when the father Laurel never knew turns up dead as the latest victim in a series of murders targeting men in the area. But solving his murder and the rest of the killings might be harder than she antcipates if her sociopathic half-sister has any say in the matter. The Blacklist meets The Profiler meets Justified in this fast, page-turning thriller that will have readers guessing until the very end!It’s an especially deadly winter in the Pacific Northwest, as rising star FBI profiler Laurel Snow hunts down a serial killer with a chillingly bitter M.O., in New York Times bestselling author Rebecca Zanetti’s edgy thriller . . .

Men are dying in the Pacific Northwest, their bodies found near churches, charities, and counseling centers–each with valentine candy hearts shoved down their throats. They’re good men with families and community ties–or so they seem until Laurel Snow and her team begin to investigate. Then the case takes a shockingly personal turn when the father she’s never met, a former pastor, turns up among the dead.

Now, besides solving her father’s murder, Laurel is on the hunt to discover the truth of his past. Complicating things is Laurel’s troubled half-sister, Abigail, a brilliant sociopath determined to prove that they’ve both inherited their father’s malignant narcissism.

Assisting Laurel is Washington Fish and Wildlife Captain Huck Rivers, a dangerous loner whose reliance on gut instinct puts him at odds with Laurel’s coolly analytic approach. But the choice may be moot when the killer hones in on Huck’s own dark secrets–putting him and Laurel squarely in the crosshairs.

4.5 Stars

 

Rebecca Zanetti can do it all, from romance to paranormal to psychological thrillers. She knows how to grab your attention and keep you going through the last page. You Can Die is one of those books that you don’t want to put down until you’re finished.

Laurel Snow is truly a unique heroine. She is definitely not one of those people that you judge by hair cover. From her beautiful looks to her brilliant mind, what you perceive about her will truly be different from the way she really is. I love seeing how she’s grown through the course of the three books.  If you’ve been following the series, you will see subtle changes in Laurel that were not at the beginning of the series and complement her so well. She is a unique personality with a unique way of thinking and seeing things so it’s so nice to see her grow into something even more than what she is.

No for the story. This one keeps taking us on a ride. A new killer is on the loose, the case is hitting too close to home for Laurel’s actual liking and her psychopath half sister is always a half a step beside her. This is a twisty story that is well-pasted with a pretty intricate plot. The suspense builds through the story and just when you think you have something figured out, you realize something else crazy happens all over again.  We have a truly suspenseful story that keeps giving us twists and turns. We have a beautiful romance blooming and some family drama that sooner or later is going to come to ahead. 

You Can Die is a swirling edge of your seat read that I truly could not put down from beginning to end. I look forward to see what the next chapter for Laurel is.

Audio Review: Chapel Bend by Kristen Proby

Chapel Bend 

Kristen Proby

Kit Swann (Narrator)

Lee Samuels (Narrator)

Huckleberry Bay Series, Book 3

302 pages, Paperback
Published: May 8, 2023 by Ampersand Publishing, Inc.

From New York Times bestselling author Kristen Proby comes Chapel Bend, an enemies to lovers, small town romance in her beloved series, Huckleberry Bay!

There’s a fine line between love and hate.

In Huckleberry Bay, Oregon, everyone knows that when it comes to Juniper “June” Snow – what you see is what you get. When you hire her construction company to do a job, it’s done right, on time, and on budget. When she’s your friend, she’s a ride-or-die who will support you no matter what. And when you’re her enemy…well, she can hold a grudge.

And she’s never forgotten how the tall, dark, and delicious Apollo Winchester hurt her so many years ago.

In a small town, it’s impossible to ignore someone who greets you with a death glare every time you meet. Apollo can’t recall why June hates him, but it doesn’t stop him from stirring her up every chance he gets. There’s something about her stubborn, “don’t mess with me” attitude that keeps him coming back for more. But June is his sister’s best friend and permanently on the “off-limits” list.

June puts aside her war with Apollo and hires him to work on her most important project, the renovation of a chapel into her dream home. She wants the best…and Apollo is the best . . . on the job site and in her bed. He won’t turn down the chance to spend more time with June, especially when it’s clear that she wants him as much as she hates him. Proximity leads to opportunity, and opportunity leads to steamy times between the sheets.

But a mystery threatens June and Apollo will protect her and their growing connection, no matter the cost.

4 Stars

Juniper and Apollo, where to even start with them? We start at the beginning when they were just little kids and already had that enemies thing going on. In reality, both of them from a very young age, had an amazing crush on the other one. When some not so nice words were spoken a flare of anger grew and continue to fester over the years. June and Apollo have been bickering and bantering and fighting with one another for almost as long as they have known one another.

Even as adults, they have continued their mortal rivalry. Juniper and Apollo fall in the same circles, and it absolutely makes her crazy when he uses her full name. It makes her heart go pitter patter. Apollo and June have an intense chemistry that just about anyone can see. One night they decide is what they’re going to give it and that is it well little did they know that one night was going to make everything that much more. Yet they continue their banter for a bit more.

Chapel Bend was a wonderful small town romance. I love Juniper and Apollo, even if it took them a but of time to find their way. But that’s the story, finding their way. Apollo is truly a top-notch and wonderful guy. June is a bit harder around the edges but in time you learn that she does have a softness within her. Together they make a great team it just took 20 couple years to figure that out.