Category: iRead tour

​Elizabeth McKenna’s latest novel, First Crush, Last Love, will have you remembering the angst of high school, the grief of a failed relationship, and the happiness of true love.

About First Crush, Last Love

Remember your first crush? How your heart raced and your cheeks flushed whenever you saw him? Jessie Baxter does, and it’s happening again. Ten years ago, despite her best efforts, Lee Archer wanted to be just friends. Now, he wants more, but Jessie’s still recovering from a psycho ex-husband. Can she learn to trust again and make her first crush into her last love?

Elizabeth McKenna’s latest novel will have you remembering the angst of high school, the grief of a failed relationship, and the happiness of true love.

My Thoughts

Do you remember your first crush? The way you felt and how you blushed and stammered? The way you felt that this person was going to be your forever love and that you couldn’t imagine your life without them. It truly is a magical and special feeling. Sometimes though that person can be your forever love and even when time separates you, when you meet them again – those feelings come rushing back.

This book touches on the crush and growing love that Jessie has for Lee. She loves and admires him but he is stuck in an unhealthy relationship with the most popular girl at school. He doesn’t allow himself to have a healthy relationship and I honestly feel this stems from his upbringing and childhood. Life was not easy for him growing up and I truly feel this is what causes him to make the decisions he does, to not have healthy relationships and to be afraid of one who would be healthy and positive for him. Instead he keeps Jessie as a best friend, close enough that he can count on her and have her in his life but never altering their dynamics.

Jessie on the other hand tries to move on from Lee but instead allows herself to enter into a hateful marriage. She wants so much to be love and doesn’t feel like she deserves it and doesn’t know what love feels like, that she accepts being treated awfully, physically, mentally and emotionally abused. Your heart breaks for her throughout the novel.

When the two have the chance to make things right between them, you can see them struggle with their own feelings of inadequacy, distrust and self-confidence. You want to make them give their heads a shake but also understand this is years of damage done to their esteem and self-love, that they need to move slowly and re-learn how to trust and have faith in another person. This is a truly beautiful story of hope, love and a second chance at first love again.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Elizabeth McKenna works as a full-time technical writer/editor for a large software company. Though her love of books reaches back to her childhood, she had never read romance novels until one Christmas when her sister gave her the latest bestseller by Nora Roberts. She was hooked from page one (actually, she admits it was the first love scene).

She had always wanted to write fiction, so she combined her love of history, romance and a happy ending to write Cera’s Place and Venice in the Moonlight. Her short story, The Gypsy Casts a Spell, is available for free on her site http://elizabethmckenna.com/. She hopes you will enjoy her first contemporary romance novel, First Crush Last Love, as much as others have enjoyed her historical romances.

Elizabeth lives in Wisconsin with her understanding husband, two beautiful daughters, and a sassy Labrador. When she isn’t writing, working, or being a mom, she’s sleeping.

The Giveaway!

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Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Beyond Believing is a sweet, funny and romantic story that touches the heart, serves up delicious twists and turns, and shows the reader that there’s no such thing as “coincidence.” Author D.D Marx regards this book as her love letter to friendship.

About Beyond Believing

When Olivia gets news of her best friend Dan’s fatal car accident, her entire life is upended. Shattered with grief and struggling to find any meaning or purpose to life, she trudges along with a gaping void in her heart. Finally, when her frustration reaches its peak, Olivia decides to trust Dan’s eternal friendship. That trust allows him to break through to her from the beyond, and Dan guides Olivia through the twists and turns of her life into something new and entirely unexpected.

When Olivia exposes a gigantic internal scandal at work, her career implodes. With no job and no one to turn to, she escapes to Palm Springs for the sympathy and care of her beloved cousin, Garrett. He isn’t quite the comfort Olivia hoped for, but on that journey, meets someone who fills the void in her heart. She’s never experienced such a deep love. It heals her soul and rekindles her spirit – and just may have been the design of her dearly departed friend all along.

My Thoughts

I fell in love with this first book in the Beyond series. In this book we are introduced to Olivia and her past with her best friend Dan. I would say about the first half of the book is a look at their history and friendship and really helps to give a good insight into their history, their closeness and how his death affects her. The second half sets her story really into motion – a new career, losing her job and then moving to a new State.

Losing anyone is difficult no matter what. Losing your best friend, the one who knows so much about you, finishes your sentences and completes parts of you can be difficult to recover from. We watch Olivia struggle through his death and come to terms with a future without him there. I loved how she looks for signs that he is still with her and helping her make decisions. I know that sometimes when I see something that reminds me of someone I lost, it always seems to come at that perfect moment when I feel alone, scared and confused.

This is what that book explores – loss, hope, faith and friendship. Friendship can cross all boundaries and I truly believe the ones we have lost are still with us, looking out for us and working to protect us. This book is well written with an excellent plot line that keeps you reading long into the night. I felt close to Olivia, as though she was a good friend that you wanted to comfort and give a big hug to. This is a definite must read novel!

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

D.D. marx came barreling into this world with the “gift of gab”. Her parents quickly identified a pattern forming when each teacher conference contained the words “she’s a little too social”. d.d.’s biggest life concern was identifying which boy she’d be chasing at recess rather than mastering math problems. She parlayed this gift into creating play dates on the playground. If friendship were a business, she would be a millionaire. She prides her life on maintaining friends from every walk of life in every corner of the country. This is the fuel that fills her tank.

Graduating with a Communication degree from the University of Dayton, she attempted to break into the world of Public Relations but was instead side-tracked with a J.O.B. At the strong encouragement of her friends and family, who dubbed her a “funny story teller”, she stretched her comfort zone by entering the Second City program in Chicago where her itch for entertainment was finally scratched. Determined to share her story and create a legacy, she decided to combine these talents and become a writer. She returned to her alma-mater to immerse herself in a 3-day writing course where this dream finally came to life. Asked to imagine if she was a super-hero, her task was to dig-deep to describe her special powers. Based on the real-life tragedy of one of her best friends, that answer came without hesitation. All she’s ever wanted was the power to visit with him one last time. This is the inspiration that catapulted her into her debut project titled, the Beyond Series. She dove into a world imagining that he never left.

Book Trailer

The Giveaway!

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Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Sabinne ‘Saber’ Darrieux’s father, the billionaire CEO of Frontenac Global Security has been kidnapped. His ransom is not cash in a numbered offshore account, or a briefcase of Bearer Bonds but something utterly unique, incredibly valuable, and until recently, hidden away from the world.

About The Fabergé Entanglement

Sabinne ‘Saber’ Darrieux’s father, the billionaire CEO of Frontenac Global Security has been kidnapped. His ransom is not cash in a numbered offshore account, or a briefcase of Bearer Bonds but something utterly unique, incredibly valuable, and until recently, hidden away from the world.

The kidnapper seems to know Saber very well, and knows that the next day, through her work as an elite translator she will be in the same location as the Object. She must steal the Object and deliver it to the kidnapper to ransom her father.

Adrian Steele, a British Intelligence agent has just come off of two harrowing missions. Upon returning to London for a well-earned rest, he learns that his friend and fellow agent, has been murdered in Moscow, but not before he made use of a unique Object as a mobile ‘drop site’ for the valuable intelligence he was carrying.

The drop site is traveling from Moscow to England. Steele insists on completing the mission to honor the death of his friend, Gerry Cornell.

At an ultra-chic quasi-diplomatic gathering in a mansion in Windsor, England, Saber and Steele meet and find themselves faced with a powerful, undeniable attraction. But at the moment, this compelling attraction is very inconvenient.

In reality they are at the mansion to check out the security arrangements — for their own reasons — to steal the Object, a Fabergé egg worth thirty million dollars. But who will get to the egg first?

Fabergé eggs are very famous for their unique surprises. Saber and Steele are about to be very surprised, indeed.

And when Saber clashes with Steele; more than sparks will explode!

My Thoughts

The Faberge Entanglement is an exciting, suspenseful, sexy novel from start to finish. We have two very strong, smart, sassy and sexy main characters, Saber and Steele. I loved them both equally, Saber especially. It isn’t too often that you find a female main character who is so powerful, smart and an incredible fighter like her. She holds her own throughout this story and I really enjoyed the power struggle between her and Steele.

The plot line itself was pretty exciting and changes as we learn more information about Saber’s personal and family history. The story evolved in an amazing but not expected manner that kept me guessing right to the very end! I did not expect the ending of the book at all but it suited the characters and the story perfectly.

This novel is well written with great attention to character development and the plot. Each chapter was quite short which was different for me and alternated between the two main characters. I liked how this added to the suspense and urgency of the novel and solving the mystery of who is behind the kidnapping. This was a great read from start to finish!

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Rating:  4/5

About the Authors

LESLEY MERYN
Enjoyed an exotic, adventure-filled childhood, following her anthropologist father and travel writer mother to the farthest corners of the world. She later took inspiration from her Aunt Sophia Francesca and became the author of romantic adventure novels. She alternates her time between Los Angeles, and a family property located in Yorkshire England.

ELLE BROOKES
​She is the author of the first two books of the Time Frame Series, LUST. MECHANICS. MINI COOPER. and SEX. COFFEE. TIME TRAVEL. Loves travel, discovering new foods to try, reading and writing. She currently lives in the central highlands of Costa Rica with her dog Pixie and her hedgehog Quiller.

The Giveaway!

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Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.