Best Contemporary
They say love and hate are the same feelings experienced under different circumstances, and it’s true. The man who comes to me in my dreams also haunts me in my nightmares. Ten years ago, he made me run away from the small town where we lived. The woman who knows my darkest secret, and the daughter of the cheap Help we hired to take care of our estate. LJ Shen has done it again.Taken an absolutely HORRIBLE character and made him into a swoony motherfucker. Literally no words are being formed in my head to describe how much I love this book. It was amazing and thought provoking, staying with me long after the last word was read.- Rosa Sharon,iScream Books. One of the most anticipated books of the year - heck, ever - and I totally devoured it in one sitting. He puts all the other Bad Boys to shame.- Shabby Arora, BookBistro Blog. How else could the woman possibly crawl inside my mind and create a story that seriously felt custom written for me? LJ Shen has created an addictive story line with characters that will frustrate you to no end. Shen pulled off a fucktastic slow burning story of alpha dominance and pain! I was completely bowled over by this book, the story flowed really well and the writing was as close to flawless as it could be. Shen is a USA Today and Amazon #1 Best-selling author of contemporary and YA romance. She lives in California with her husband and son, and enjoys good wine, bad reality TV shows and catching sun rays with her lazy cat.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I love all her books but I think this one was the best."
"I loved every agonizing moment of the push pull relationship between Vicious and Em."
"I'm highly impressed with this author's writing style and the persona of the characters. The POV of both main characters will suck the reader's imagination into their story. Ten years goes by, the girl and boy are now grown end up working together. Details, secrets, and feelings will eventually come out that will pull at the heartstrings."
"Emilia is a sweet girl, I get how you could still be attracted to a bad guy, but he was verbally abusive to her, stole her books, trashed her locker on a regular basis, kissed her sister, made her senior year of high school miserable. Just felt like he was still a high school bully, who still felt the need to fight his friend for a girl, not because he loved the girl but because he always wants to win."
"Vicious is the leader of The Four Hot Holes, four stunning young men of privilege who are as far from gentlemen as you can get. There seems to be something new to discover in each chapter of this book, and I found myself constantly questioning Vicious’s thoughts and next moves. I admired her strength and resilience, even when faced with the most difficult and humiliating challenges. There are so many complicated layers to Vicious you’d need an entire excavating team and staff of psychologists to fully unearth and understand him. The Sinners of Saint series continues, however, by focusing on a different member of The Four Hot Holes."
"They cross paths at an early age when Emilia 's parent's come to work for Vicious and his family. He is a damaged boy that turns into a hateful, scorned brilliant man who does not let his guard down until she reappears in his life. Is it possible for two people with such a turbulent scarred history can come together to heal, forgive and move forward with whatever the world has to offer them?"
I only wanted to protect you... Luke Garrison is a hometown hero, a member of the National Guard ready to deploy again. One night of sleeping in the same bed turns into something much, much more... and soon Luke can't keep his mind off Harper's wide gray eyes, or his hands off of her luscious curves. The novel No More Secrets , book one of Lucy Score's new series Blue Moon , is included free! Beautiful Love Story !!! There was laughter, tears, banter ...oh the banter, suspense, and sex ...lots and lots of sex!! A happy ending had by all and the ride to get there was awesome (pun intended). A true love story that I won't be forgetting anytime soon. Great story! Loved the strong characters, great story and character development and well written!!"
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I have read a few other books recently about fake relationships that develop into more, but I was pleasantly surprised that this seemed to be just the jumping off point for their story. One of my favorite parts of the book was all the secondary characters that made up the town of Benevolence."
"Luke was the male character i can exactly write paragraphs and paragraphs about him how i loved hating him and all because seriously he really really was a pain in the ass and totally jackass and yes in the end he did took him kinda a little bit more to realize his feelings towards Harper but in the end does we all take a little bit of time to admit the truth for our feelings making mistakes in progress too?"
"This is the story of Harper and Luke."
"I only have a few cons: there were a handful of grammatical errors, and the language Lucy used at some points in the story was a bit off putting."
"Ms Score does and amazing job of writing this book."
"The trouble Harper was having kinda sprung up outta nowhere and i kinda feel like it was added there just to extend the book some more."
"SPOILERS MAY LIE AHEAD: Plot Summary: So Harper gets stuck in this small town and after getting between a couple's brawl, she meets her love interest's sister and her love interest Luke. the sister hustles Luke into keeping Harper in his home and once he agrees to it gets him into an arrangement where they serve each other's purposes. He provides a room and board and she acts as his girlfriend to get his family off his back and to stop fixing him up with weird chicks."
"love story beween a woman who lives her life from one moment to another and a man too scared to live his life at all. two people together for the benefits coming from a certain arrangement they made."
Then a chance meeting sends Blythe crashing into something she doesn’t expect—an undeniable attraction to a dark-haired senior named Chris Shepherd, whose past may be even more complicated than her own. New York Times bestselling author Jessica Park mines the territory of love’s growing pains with wit, sharp insights, and a discernible heat and heartbeat.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I've read this author's other books so I drove in with my eyes wide open because I knew it would be a great read and boy was it! The protagonist Blythe is so lost yet so strong, she's living yet she not. How they hurt each other so much yet were there at the most important times. They are all dealing with issues from there past but are still there to offer support to the others."
"She's friends with Chris and without knowing it she slowly falls for him, even though she might deny it. I sort of connected more with Sabin and would had liked for something romantic to develop between him and Blythe. I just find it unforgiving for Chris to go from having a mind blowing time with Blythe and run into the arms of another woman."
"Love all the characters in the book because they felt real and believable. Left Drowning is an emotional compelling story of Blythe McGuire who lost her parents in a tragic house when she was 17 years old. Her brother, James and her were luckily able to escape and survive the tragic accident. The loss of her parents has tragically shaped and changed the lives of Blythe and James. Four years later, Blythe is a very sad, self depreciating damaged and depressed girl. She's been living in a numb, almost lifeless state until she meets The Shepherd siblings. Along with Chris' two brothers, Sabin and Eric, and their sister, Estelle, Blythe is saved from drowning. Along the way, Blythe reconnects with her brother James and other close family friends. "I've spent most of my life thinking that my father never gave me anything but pain."
"Even though I figured out early on how the two main characters and their pasts were connected, it didn't ruin the book because I was so engaged in the story and how it would all come together in the end."
"This book was pretty intense."
Best Women's Humorous Fiction
One simple act of kindness is about to shatter the walls Eleanor has built around herself. Now she must learn how to navigate the world that everyone else seems to take for granted – while searching for the courage to face the dark corners she’s avoided all her life. Skilled, perceptive , Eleanor's world will feel familiar to you from the very first page. --Jojo Moyes, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Me Before You "Like a contemporary Jane Eyre, Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant is a woman scarred by profound loneliness, and the shadow of a harrowing childhood she can't even bear to remember. --Fiona Barton, New York Times bestselling author of The Widow "Honeyman's debut is a stunner, as buoyant and charming as it is heartwrenching and emotionally sophisticated. --Jojo Moyes, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Me Before You "Like a contemporary Jane Eyre, Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant is a woman scarred by profound loneliness, and the shadow of a harrowing childhood she can't even bear to remember. --Fiona Barton, New York Times bestselling author of The Widow "Moving, hilarious, and intriguing, just like its unique, anti-social, anti-heroine.You will fallin love with Eleanor Oliphant." --J. Ryan Stradal, New York Times bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest "Honeyman's debut is a stunner, as buoyant and charming as it is heartwrenching and emotionally sophisticated. --Jojo Moyes, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Me Before You "Like a contemporary Jane Eyre, Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant is a woman scarred by profound loneliness, and the shadow of a harrowing childhood she can't even bear to remember. --J. Ryan Stradal, New York Times bestselling author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest "Honeyman's debut is a stunner, as buoyant and charming as it is heartwrenching and emotionally sophisticated.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"She lacks social skills and tends to spout off facts to people just having conversations. Things start to change in her life when her company’s IT guy, Raymond, and Eleanor help an old man who has passed out in the street. In the beginning, I thought that I didn’t care too much for her but as time went on and she opened up, well, I fell in love with her."
"There has been a wonderful glut recently of captivating book titles featuring quirky characters (A MAN CALLED OVE, THE CURIOUS CHARM OF ARTHUR PEPPER, LILLIAN BOXFISH TAKES A WALK, BRITT MARIE WAS HERE), a lot of which are of a similar genre that I love. There is dialogue between characters but the most insightful parts are when we are reading Eleanor's thoughts and see how, as the plot unfolds, she is faced with decisions and choices that upend her very existence."
"A strange situation, I kept thinking of “Miranda” the comedienne when I started the book, and it was very funny."
"I was completely captivated from the first few pages."
"This book gets better with each page."
"Started this due to an Amazon recommendation and just read it through all day until it was done."
"Eleanor Oliphant is wonderful ... strong, unique, a true survivor who is learning to let go and thrive."
"Great character development, not just Eleanor but all."
Best Paranormal
From USA TODAY bestselling series Vampire Girl , comes the next book in the saga: SILVER FLAME. For fans of Twilight , A Shade of Vampire , and Outlander , experience a fantasy romance with an original twist on an old tale. Karpov Kinrade is the pen name for the husband and wife writing duo of USA Today bestselling, award-winning authors Lux Kinrade and Dmytry Karpov.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I thought the cliffy from MS was bad, but this one definitely knocks it out of the park for so many reasons that I will mention in a spoiler. ********. ********************************************************************************************************************. [We find out that Asher has been working with Metsi to capture Arianna and Levi in order to gain the power of the Primal One (who I think is somehow linked to Tavian). And at the end, the authors like to casually mention that btw Asher is actually chained in a hard-to-find dungeon and was being impersonated by Lucian, who is thereby actually working with Metsi to gain the powers of the Primal One. There is definitely more to him than just his amazing good looks and hot body--he is sweet, funny, cares about nature, and of course is gorgeous."
"In previous books Ari's allies were Asher and Fen and now we can add Dean! So happy about Fen and Ari finally having some "me" time."
"The soul rises from the pit of despair through the range of emotions in this installment of Vampire Girl."
"I feel like I have not stopped reading between books. I love that the story seems to keep an even flow, the next book picks up where the last one pretty much left off. This book was a bit darker I thought than the previous two books. That said I have loved all three books so far and am excited to start reading book four!"
"Has a lot of unexpected twists and turns that just delves into 'making the plot grow thicker'. Without trying to give too much away; I am very much worried about 'the truth' of what happened between Ari and Fen because of the possibility of the use of illusion."
Best Historical Romance
Sixty-four years ago, Susannah Morgan managed to flee the horrors of the Holocaust. He wrote a singularly awful novel in the early 1990s, and so concentrated on his IT/engineering career (and renovating a house) for the next fifteen years.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon""Perhaps seeing again how unlucky so many others had been- how a whole generation had had their lives and dreams stolen from them-would remind her how lucky she'd been to escape sixty-four years ago. Her family along with her aunt and uncle move to Netherlands to try and escape what was happening, but they can’t stay hidden forever sadly and eventually there luck ran out. Then we also get to see things from Judy who is Susannah’s daughter and how she is so worried about her mother and just wants to make her last bit of time on earth safe and comfortable. I also really like the writing of this story the author did such a good job and made you feel like you were really there with the character and seeing it all through her eyes. I’m sorry I’m not saying much about the plot, but I can’t because I don’t want to give anything away about what she had to do in order to keep her and her family alive while living through that time in Germany as a Jew. Her friendship with Ester was one that was good for both of them and showed that just having a little bit of hope can help you stay alive even when it seems everything in the world is against you."
"I have read many memoirs of concentration camp survivors, but I have never before read one that so clearly details the recovery and emotional devastation that continue years later as well as the impact the concentration camp experience and survival had on the survivor's children and other relationships."
""The Sugar Men" is historical fiction dealing with difficult subject matter - the Holocaust & life (and death) in the concentration camps."
"Susannah was a holocaust survivor."
"After all the horrible things that had happened to her and her family she still had the power to forgive those who had taken so much from her."
"The reason I gave the book a four star instead of a five star is because historical fiction in general gives reference to historical materials that the author read and influenced his writing."
"Kingfisher has captured the horror of Susannah's past and her later efforts to gain "closure" for herself."
"It was a good story."
Best Mystery & Suspense
Finally content as the real estate writer for a local newspaper, Aubrey keeps her extraordinary ability hidden—until she is unexpectedly assigned the story of a decades-old murder. Aubrey has no choice but to get involved, even at the terrifying risk of stirring spirits connected to a dead woman’s demise and piquing her new reporting partner’s suspicions. “A wild adventure of a mystery, brimming with layers, secrets, and more than one person who should feel guilty…Paranormal mystery/romance fans will find a gem of a story in Laura Spinella’s Ghost Gifts .” —Fresh Fiction. “ Ghost Gifts will stir your emotions, spook the bejesus out of you, and keep you furiously turning pages until the cows deign to come home. “Laura Spinella skillfully weaves plot twists from the dead with secrets from the living, and adds sparks when psychic Aubrey Ellis and reporter Levi St John are assigned to uncover the truth about a decades-old New England murder. The southern locale provided the inspiration for her first novel, Beautiful Disaster , which garnered multiple awards, including a Romance Writers of America RITA nomination.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book also switches back and forth between present day and 20 years prior, to the time when Aubrey Ellis, the protagonist, is a 13-year-old girl, and where it all started. When a new discovery uncovers a murder committed twenty years ago, she is assigned to help Levi St John, the city desk editor of the Hartford Standard Speaker, with the story because she has a lot of contacts in the community and knows the town well. She has tried to lead a normal life by working as a reporter but it seems as though her talents are going to be utilized in the latest development in the decades-old murder of Missy Flannigan. I often noticed parts of the book dragged on with so many details, only to end on a brand new piece of information that flared my excitement again."
"I preferred the Kindle edition of “Ghost Gifts” because the Audible narrator failed to give the characters distinct voices; This was especially true for female characters who all sounded breathy and occasionally breathless. Although the Kindle version was superior, this book could have benefited from a good editor to correct writing problems and to cut some fat from the book."
"It has a fascinating paranormal aspect, a heroine who longs for roots, after a childhood spent traveling with a carnival, a murder mystery involving an abused girl, and a satisfying ending."
"Sure, it could have had all the past events in the beginning of the book, but with the way it was written, I thought that the past scenes gave you more understanding of the present. Although I figured out the mystery part before I got to the end of the book, I thought that it was a well written story."
"As an avid reader, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and even had difficulty putting it down for some much needed sleep."
"Aubrey and Levi work well together."