Book Description (via Goodreads): Emma seemed an ordinary girl, but she had secrets. Not only did she have the ability to transform into a winged monster, she was also wanted for murder.
After a series of unlikely events, she finds herself on the run from London’s most revered detective with only a circus filled with paranormal misfits to keep her company.
Emma must find her way to freedom, but will she be able to do what is necessary to leave her past behind once and for all?
Hello to my fellow bookworms, I hope you’re all having a positive and productive start to your week! As you can probably tell by the title of this post, I have been on WordPress for four whole years!!!!
I love receiving these notifications and realising that after four years I still really enjoy blogging and publishing my book reviews (although I don’t think I blog nearly enough as I would like to).
Thank you to all of you who enjoy my content and engage with me, I really appreciate you.
How many years have you been blogging? Let me know in the comments below.
Happy reading,
Claire 📚
Book Description (via Goodreads): Officer Ryan Quinn, a rookie raised in a family of cops, is on the fast track to detective until he shoots an unarmed black male. Now, with his career, reputation and freedom on the line, he embarks on a quest for redemption that forces him to confront his fears and biases and choose between conscience or silence. Jade Wakefield is an emotionally damaged college student living in one of Philadelphia’s worst neighbourhoods. She knows the chances of getting an indictment against the cop who killed her brother are slim. When she learns there’s more to the story than the official police account, Jade is determined, even desperate, to find out what really happened. She plans to get revenge by any means necessary. Kelly Randolph, who returns to Philadelphia broke and broken after abandoning his family ten years earlier, seeks forgiveness while mourning the death of his son. But after he’s thrust into the spotlight as the face of the protest movement, his disavowed criminal past resurfaces and threatens to derail the family’s pursuit of justice. Ryan, Jade and Kelly — three people from different worlds — are on a collision course after the shooting, as their lives interconnect and then spiral into chaos.
Theresa Braun has a new short story coming out called, The Celestial Assignment. Here’s a sneak peek at the cover, and an excerpt from the book!
The Celestial Assignment
Expected Publication Date: February 14th, 2020
Genre: Short Story/ Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal
After a sudden death, Will, a misguided angel, is tasked with protecting a baby girl. Watching over her as she grows up and navigates the world appears a harsh punishment for his past failings. Can he redeem himself, or will he fall further from grace?
“I devoured this phenomenal sorrow-filled piece in one sitting, but Braun left me with so many questions I had to think about. She creates a world that’s vivid, lush and visceral, while setting the reader up for heartbreak and despair. Amazing read, can’t recommend ‘The Celestial Assignment’ enough.” –Steve Stred, author of Ritual
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Excerpt
You know that meme of the angel statue, its face in its hands, with the caption: “This is probably what my guardian angel looks like”? Well, that’s the only thing on the wall in this stark room meant for some 12-step spiritual garbage.
I was mystified as fuck the first time I sat here. The last thing I’d remembered was having a beer with one of my side pieces before witnessing her chuck my body into an unmarked grave. The bitch walked right through me as I grilled her about what she’d done.
Next thing I know, I transported into this very chair. Looking around the circle, I noted everyone’s arms tattooed with wings in shades matching their clothing.
“What am I doing here?” I asked, studying the new gray markings growing iridescent on my skin.
“You’re getting a new assignment,” said someone with platinum hair. His wings were the real deal, tucked at his back, and he wore a white T-shirt and white jeans.
“As opposed to what?”
“Going back to earth. That hasn’t been working.” He stared at me with his unnaturally light blue eyes. “Don’t worry, there’s a manual under your seat.”
That’s when I zoned out. The rest of them yammered on as I frantically retraced my memory for clues to why I was here. What kind of demented lunatic would make me an angel, if that’s what I was? I hadn’t even stepped one foot in a church, at least in my most recent life. That’s when it hit me I’d had more than one incarnation on earth. The mere vocabulary of it made me shiver.
***
With a jolt, my feet landed on slick linoleum, the burning odor of disinfectant and stale medicine in the air. A woman screamed in a hospital bed, her legs pried open with a sheet over them. Ugh. I’d never liked babies and had zero fatherly instincts. As the infant cried and was handed to the mother, the dad busy snapping Polaroids, I heard a whisper: “She’s your responsibility now.”
As my questions flooded in, that damned manual appeared in my hand. Annoyed the heavenly head honchos hadn’t downloaded the content into my brain, I held onto it, lest I be struck by lightning.
“Hello, Celeste,” the mother cooed to the baby.
I tapped my foot.
The irony of the name irked the shit out of me.
As a reluctant guardian angel, I figured my job involved keeping this pipsqueak’s hand off the hot stove, and her mouth away from poisons in the cabinets. Most of the time, I yawned in the periphery, especially since I was trapped in this fucking hick town somewhere in the middle of Wisconsin. Countless Crayon doodles and finger paintings were the extent of my excitement. Eventually, I rejoiced when of a few close calls at the wheel of her parents’ car gave me something to do. But then there was her painfully awkward discovery of boys. Once she inadvertently brushed this dude’s junk at a dance. Her first kiss was lame as shit. It was like being tuned into the Nickelodeon Channel. Her interactions with a new boy made me gag—they’d finish each other’s sentences and giggle like idiots. What did I do to deserve this?
Available Soon on Amazon!
About the Author
Hmmm. What’s this? Looks like Ms. Braun left her computer on and her Goodreads bio open.
This should be fun.
What can we say about Theresa? I mean other than the fact that she’s weirdly obsessed with smiley faces :-). Like, seriously obsessed >:-*. It’s kinda scary :-O.
I think she thinks she’s from Renaissance England or Venice or something. I never could figure out which one it was. (She’s really bad at doing accents.)
She likes romance novels and crime TV, which are pretty much the same thing when you think about it. Ha! Am I right?
She has a hell of a singing voice. Seriously. It’s, like, seventh circle of hell bad.
She likes editing. A lot. Just wait till she get’s a load a this.
Cats. Shoes. Chips and salsa. In that order.
Yeah, that last part didn’t make sense to me either.
Theresa Braun | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram
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Lucy Parker fans rejoice! Her latest novel is here, and we’re thrilled to share Headliners, book #5 in the London Celebrities series! Read on for an exclusive excerpt, purchase details, and a chance to win a print copy!
Headliners (London Celebrities #5)
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publication Date: January 20th, 2020
Publisher: Carina Press
He might be the sexiest man in London, according to his fan site (which he definitely writes himself), but he’s also the most arrogant man she’s ever met.
She might have the longest legs he’s ever seen, but she also has the sharpest tongue.
For years, rival TV presenters Sabrina Carlton and Nick Davenport have traded barbs on their respective shows. The public can’t get enough of their feud, but after Nick airs Sabrina’s family scandals to all of Britain, the gloves are off. They can barely be in the same room together—but these longtime enemies are about to become the unlikeliest of cohosts.
With their reputations on the rocks, Sabrina and Nick have one last chance to save their careers. If they can resurrect a sinking morning show, they’ll still have a future in television. But with ratings at an all-time low and a Christmas Eve deadline to win back the nation’s favor, the clock is ticking—and someone on their staff doesn’t want them to succeed.
Small mishaps on set start adding up, and Sabrina and Nick find themselves—quelle horreur—working together to hunt down the saboteur…and discovering they might have more in common than they thought. When a fiery encounter is caught on camera, the public is convinced that the reluctant co-hosts are secretly lusting after one another.
The public might not be wrong.
Their chemistry has always been explosive, but with hate turning to love, the stakes are rising and everything is on the line. Neither is sure if they can trust these new feelings…or if they’ll still have a job in the New Year.
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Excerpt
Their boss started turning her pen in circles again. “You are correct in that you’ve both knocked yourselves out of contention for the evening show. That position will be offered elsewhere.”
Sabrina released a long breath, and Nick closed his eyes momentarily.
“So that’s it?” she said, with a slight feeling of unreality. Despite the setbacks since the summer, apparently she hadn’t really expected this to happen. “We’re both out?”
“Of the evening programming, yes. Your nights are going to be considerably more open.” Hania looked past Sabrina again, as the office door opened. “But if you agree to my suggestion, you’re also going to have to start getting up a lot earlier.”
Nick turned his head first, and his entire body went still.
She swung around and was greeted with her own smiling face on a full-length poster board. Her printed image had been placed back-to-back with Nick’s, and someone had done some excessive editing, because she’d never leaned on him in her life.
Her gaze travelled from their glossy heads to the sarcastic advertising copy scrawled across the cardboard: ’tis the season for peace and goodwill. And miracles. Wake Me Up London with Sabrina Carlton and Nick Davenport, weekdays at seven throughout December.
They broke the silence with an unusually united sentiment.
“Oh, I don’t think so.” Sabrina physically retreated from the horrifying prospect.
“I hope that’s a bad joke.” Palpable outrage from Nick. His fingertips were digging hard enough into the arm of his chair that she could see his knuckles flexing. “I don’t mind the odd piece of human-interest filler—nobody wants doom and gloom 24/7 and there are people who deserve recognition—but the morning show has been egregious rubbish for years. If you seriously think I’m going to sit there and smile inanely while people with too much time on their hands argue about—what was one of their scintillating topics, the ethics of putting tutus on puppies?—you can think again. And why am I second billing on the poster?”
“Alphabetical and moral seniority,” Sabrina said breezily. He was so annoyed that she’d recovered a bit of composure in response. She inclined her head towards their chummy-looking cardboard selves. “And it pains me to state the obvious, but you’re literally the poster boy for inane smiles, Troy McClure. Bit late to change your brand now.”
Nick’s jaw had stopped twitching, but his eye picked up the slack.
From her seat close to the offending poster, a member of the social media team cleared her throat. “Er…is the plan to boost WMUL’s embarrassingly shit ratings by turning the set into a Hamlet-style bloodbath? Because it’ll be job well done in any scenario that puts them on the same couch.”
“I’ve worked for the network since I was twenty-one,” Nick said, slipping back into his shield of drawling amiability. It tended to net more wins. One may smile, and smile, and be a villain. “I’ve headlined alone for almost four years, and I’ve made a damn good job of it.”
“Yes, you have,” Hania agreed. “You’re excellent at your job. Witty, tenacious, attractive—the public accolades are spot-on.” Before Nick’s head could expand too far, she continued, “You also humiliated your boss in a public forum. If you wanted to keep your name on the evening billing, you should have exercised some discretion. You’re on such thin ice here that one false step is going to drop you right in it. I hope I’m making myself clear.”
She walked around her desk to sweep a glance up and down the poster board, before she leaned a companionable elbow on it. “Happily for us all, the public is fascinated with your obvious feud. You surmise correctly that Wake Me Up London is in a losing battle where the ratings are concerned. I have a feeling that the two of you could salvage that situation.”
Nick opened his mouth again, and Hania finished, “And you’ve got from the beginning of December until Christmas Eve to prove me right.”
Now Available!
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About the Author
Lucy Parker lives in the gorgeous Central Otago region of New Zealand, where she feels lucky every day to look out at mountains, lakes and vineyards. She has a degree in Art History, loves museums and galleries, and doodles unrecognisable flowers when she has writer’s block.
Her interest in romantic fiction began with a pre-teen viewing of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (Firth-style), which prompted her to read the book as well, and the rest was history.
Lucy Parker | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Goodreads
One lucky fan can win a print copy of Headliners! Click the link below to enter (US Only)!
Blog Tour Organized By:
This is the fifth book in the London Celebrities series by Lucy Parker which can be read as a standalone novel. I have given this book five out of five stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Can we just appreciate this gorgeous book cover, it’s so pretty and looks so magical!
Onto the book review… holy guacamole, all the sexual tension was in this book and it had me thriving!
This book follows two rival tv presenters, Sabrina Carlton and Nick Davenport. They have been paired together to host the morning show called Wake Me Up London, which they couldn’t be more annoyed about. Will they be able to make it work or will their careers crumble on national tv?
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it was everything I needed and more! The two main characters were very likeable and I found myself rooting for them to be together so badly! I thought Parker’s writing style was very descriptive and helped to set the scene perfectly as well as picturing scenes clearly in my head.
The enemies to lovers trope is definitely one of my favourites, especially in this story! You can tell from the gorgeous book cover and the description of the book above that Sabrina and Nick are going to become lovers. One of my favourite things about the enemies to lovers trope is the sexual tension you start to feel between the characters, all I want is for them to be together from the moment I understand their relationship about one another.
I loved the relationship growth and build up between Sabrina and Nick, especially when they start to knock parts of their walls down as they start to say cute, unexpected remarks about one another and realise that they have more in common than they originally thought.
Parker definitely knows how to write a romantic, intimate scene! I could feel my heart beat quickening it’s pace whilst reading over the steamy passage in the book. Very detailed scenes which allowed me to imagine the whole interaction and I loved it. There are so many realistic qualities to this story which I really enjoyed, especially when condoms and showers are involved during the intimate scenes as nine times out of ten you’re going to use a condom for safe sex and you’re not going to go straight to sleep once you’ve hit cloud nine, you’re going to clean up and get ready for bed which a lot of books and normally movies leave that quality of realism out.
I hope to read the other standalone novels under the London Celebrity series soon and hope that their each as good as this book. I would highly recommend this book to fans of contemporary romance with a hint of mystery.
Have you read Headliners by Lucy Parker? What are you currently reading at the moment? Let me know in the comments below.
Happy reading,
Claire 📚
Book Description (via Goodreads): How does a woman enjoy the company of a man without committing to a long-term relationship? Easy, love him for ninety days and leave him.
Willow gave up on love a long time ago, but she hasn’t given up on sex. So, to keep her chakras aligned and life force flowing, she abides by her tried-and-true rule: love him for ninety days and leave him. Consequently, she can feed her body while protecting her heart.
Willow’s practice of purposeful detachment serves her well until she sets her sights on Kendall’s friend Josh. Even though Josh expresses interest in Willow, he wants a more traditional relationship than she’s willing to give.
Despite their apparent differences, the universe seems to have other plans for the couple as their lives become increasingly intertwined. When Willow finally decides to follow the universe’s lead, she’s betrayed by her ninety-day rule and must rethink her life plan or face the future alone.
Book Description (via Goodreads): She doesn’t have time for a relationship, but maybe she could swing a one-night stand. After all, he’s just a stripper, so no need to worry about the future… or a broken heart. Kendall has it all: a soaring law career, a bank account filled with cash, and an apartment overlooking the Chicago River. Her life couldn’t get any better; at least that’s what she thinks before she hosts a bachelorette party for her younger cousin, Ruthie. What starts out as a low-key soirée quickly turns onto an evening of debauchery when two strippers show up unexpectedly. During their act, Kendall can’t keep her eyes off the dark and stoic Giovanni. Fuelled by too many Moscow Mules and ignited by the male form, her surprised desire smoulders. With the prodding of her older cousin Freya, Kendall pursues a one-night stand with Gio. But when she realises she wants more, Kendall is forced to re-examine her priorities as well as her lifelong definition of success.
Book Description (via Goodreads): Hayden Lushcombe is a brilliant paediatrician living in Adelaide with his wife Bernadette, an ambitious event planner. His life consists of soul-wrenching days at the hospital and tedious evenings attending the lavish parties organised by Bernadette. When an act of betrayal coincides with a traumatic confrontation, Hayden flees Adelaide, his life in ruins. His destination is Walhalla, nestled in Australia’s southern mountains, where he finds his childhood home falling apart. With nothing to return to, he stays, and begins to pick up the pieces of his life by fixing up the house his parents left behind. A chance encounter with a precocious and deaf young girl introduces Hayden to Isabelle Sampi, a struggling artisan baker. While single-handedly raising her daughter, and trying to resurrect a bakery, Isabelle has no time for matters of the heart. Yet the presence of the handsome doctor challenges her resolve. Likewise, Hayden, protective of his own fractured heart, finds something in Isabelle that awakens dormant feelings of his own. As their attraction grows, and the past threatens their chance at happiness, both Hayden and Isabelle will have to confront long-buried truths if they are ever to embrace a future.
Book Description (via Goodreads): Superheroes, adventure, science fiction, pop culture, and romance fuse in J.T. Bock’s third UltraSecurity book TimeTrap.
UltraAgent TimeTrap is hiding out. This peace-loving, universe-traveling hero is tired of fighting Aztec gods, sociopathic scientists, and her reality TV–star mother. She needs a vacation from using her superpower. With comfy slippers and streaming movies, she’s taken refuge with her new boyfriend, Max Martin, in his high-tech, gated home.
Max owes TimeTrap his life. She saved him from a dimensional-jumping kidnapper, and he’s fallen hard for her. He promises to protect her at any cost. Whatever TimeTrap wants, he’ll give her.
But is she really safe with Max?
Because TimeTrap has uncovered a classified project in his basement lab, which shoves her into the clutches of a mysterious organization and a life-sucking entity called the Dark.
A journal that belonged to Max’s deceased grandfather might hold the key to helping TimeTrap. But to decode the mysterious journal, Max must do the unthinkable and embrace the evil energy that threatens both universes. He would do anything to rescue her, but can he win back her trust, or will he become her worst nightmare?
Cup of Books 