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Sarina Bowen
I write steamy, angsty contemporary romance and NA from Vermont. Where it is cold. Very very cold.
Currently reading
Coming In From the Cold
Harlequin E Contemporary Romance Box Set Volume 1: Coming in from the ColdMaid to FitCalling His BluffBaker's Law
Girl on Tour: 2 (Kylie Ryans)
Harlequin E Contemporary Romance Box Set Volume 1: Coming in from the Cold / Maid to Fit / Calling His Bluff / Baker's Law
It's Here! The Year We Fell Down
Hartley has been breaking my heart for a year now. And now he can break yours! The Year We Fell Down is live at Amazon, Nook, Kobo and Google Drive. (Apple soon!)
The sport she loves is out of reach. The boy she loves has someone else.
What now?
She expected to start Harkness College as a varsity ice hockey player. But a serious accident means that Corey Callahan will start school in a wheelchair instead.
Across the hall, in the other handicapped-accessible dorm room, lives the too-delicious-to-be real Adam Hartley, another would-be hockey star with his leg broken in two places. He’s way out of Corey’s league.
Also, he’s taken.
Nevertheless, an unlikely alliance blooms between Corey and Hartley in the “gimp ghetto” of McHerrin Hall. Over tequila, perilously balanced dining hall trays, and video games, the two cope with disappointments that nobody else understands.
They’re just friends, of course, until one night when things fall apart. Or fall together. All Corey knows is that she’s falling. Hard.
But will Hartley set aside his trophy girl to love someone as broken as Corey? If he won’t, she will need to find the courage to make a life for herself at Harkness — one which does not revolve around the sport she can no longer play, or the brown-eyed boy who’s afraid to love her back.
Expecting a Bolton Baby (Harlequin Desire)
I'm a sucker for accidental pregnancy books, so this one was fun for me. I think I need to read the other two books now, because I want more of that South Dakota setting!
Baker's Law
My only issue with this book is that now I want a maple bacon cupcake! And there are none to be had.I love the concept of the bakery owner finally getting her moment with the town hottie! This isn't exactly an ugly-duckling-to-swan story, but it had the same vibe to me. And the mysterious teenager plot was a fresh twist that I didn't expect. Great read.
Maid to Fit
OMG! So, there's a little saying that I have always loved, and it goes like this: "It's true that all women dream of having two men. It's just that one of them is cooking, and the other is cleaning."In Ms. Avery's book, the woman only gets one man. But he does both the cooking and cleaning really well. Aannnddd... some other things. Best. Premise. Ever.
Can't wait for book #2!
Rule (Marked Men, #1)
I really didn't expect to like RULE as much as I did! I went into it with an attitude of: eh, another tatted up bad boy and probably a virgin. I've read that already.However.
Ms. Crownover did the characterizations so very well that I couldn't put it down. She made Rule very real, larger than life. And Shaw was much less a push-over than I was expecting. It didn't matter that I've read one too many romances about tattoo artists, because he was so well drawn. (Pun intended. I think.)
I'm a sucker for a convincing guy voice. I really am.
Live (The Burnside Series)
My review appears on http://www.nyjournalofbooks.com/reviewer/sarina-bowen on 1/21/14.
Asking for Trouble (A Line of Duty Novel) (Entangled Brazen)
I liked this one a heck of a lot more than I expected to. Usually, hate-to-love tropes don't work for me. But this one was set up in such a way that it made sense.Now, the whole Stuart plot was pretty ridiculous. But I didn't really care, because the scenes between the main characters were so well drawn. Their conflict felt real on the page, and I was sold.
Also, Tessa Bailey's trademark dirty talking didn't hurt this book's cause, either. Meow!
Take Me On
Okay--of course I enjoyed this latest installment of the Ross Siblings. And Cherrie Lynn writes her sex scenes with as much skill as any woman out there.But.
The plot of this book hinges on Mama Ross throwing down an ultimatum. Seriously? That's so out of character, and pretty darned ridiculous.
Also, the insta-love between Gabby and Ian stretched credibility.
So this won't be my favorite one. But it's still pretty darned good.
Almost Perfect (Fool's Gold, Book 2)
Irredeemable hero, anyone? I couldn't stand Ethan, and I'm not sure why I finished this book.
One & Only (Canton)
I freaking loved this! I was hooked from the first line: "I was six years old when I found out my father had another family."
New Adult often lets me down, with repeated story lines and slipshod writing. But this book has neither of those. Dylan and Tess were very real, excellent characters. I stayed up until midnight reading this, feeling Tess's tension and betrayal, hoping for the best.
Awesome job, Ms. Daniels. I can't wait for the next one.
Heating Up the Holidays 3-Story Bundle (Play with Me, Snowfall, and After Midnight): A Loveswept Contemporary Romance
Just awesome.Some holiday anthologies fall short, probably because a short story is just darned hard to write. But not this one. In the first place, these stories aren't all that short. This has allowed each of the three authors to write a well imagined romance with enough mass to be moving. I particularly loved Mary Ann Rivers's Snowfall. (I love nerdy heroes. Love. Can't help it.)
Read it. You will not be disappointed.
Jagged (Colorado Mountain, #5)
I just read the sample chapters! They. Were. Awesome.Edit: Now I've read the book, and it was highly enjoyable. But short. But highly enjoyable.
Ham was a great character. I'd say the plot of this book is a little more linear than most KA novels. (Not a kidnapping in sight.) But the characters were unique, and that's no small feat if you're Ms. Ashley. Just think about how many unique couples she's invented by now... it boggles the mind.
A Little Too Far
Wow. I am so often let down by NA books, because they often feel as if they were written in 1/2 an hour. Not this one!I must say that I fell for the titillating idea that Lexi was going to break two taboos in one book. And as a reader I was a little worried about how she would pull that off in a way that didn't come off as completely trashy. To my enduring surprise, she nailed it. (So to speak...)
The Story Guy (Novella)
What a gorgeous novella! The funky hook drew me in, and the beautiful writing kept me there. And then there's Brian, who is absolutely yummy. (By the way, this book isn't that short. At $0.99, it's quite a good deal.)