Friday 28 February 2014

Review of 'Her Sister's Wedding' - Jane Ainslie







Her Sister’s Wedding
By
Jane Ainslie

A Sweet Contemporary Foodie Romance (Chicklit)




BLURB FOR HER SISTER’S WEDDING:
What happens when you meet the right person at the wrong time?

Melbourne-based food journalist Mandy Evans has Paris firmly in her sights. She’s got a chance at her life-long dream of studying art in the City of Love, but not before she has to be a ring-in bridesmaid at her sister’s wedding.

After setting up his latest restaurant in Melbourne, renowned American chef Jake Pearson is leaving for his next project in Miami. He’s the hottest ticket in anyone’s town, with a burning ambition to conquer the world, but not before he’s best man at his friend’s wedding.

When Mandy and Jake meet, the attraction is instant. He loves her sassy, natural style, and her appetite for great food. She thinks he’s the best thing since sliced bread, or even martinis. Fate gives them a chance at love when they are partners at the same wedding, but can either of them compromise their ambitions to let love grow?


AUTHOR BIO:
Jane Ainslie adores martinis, is a keen but hopeless gardener, and an avid reader of cookbooks. She currently resides in Adelaide, Australia, with her beloved husband and her four unruly pet ferrets.

Her blog can be found at www.janeainslie.com and she can be found on Facebook at Jane Ainslie Books.



BUY LINKS:









Giveaway

Jane Ainslie is giving away… 
1 ecopy of HER SISTER’S WEDDING

a Rafflecopter giveaway


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My review


Jane Ainslie’s style of writing makes this an easy book to read. The characters of Mandy and Jake are well developed and the reader can relate to them. There are some interesting minor characters too in the form of Mandy’s best friend, step-sister and step-mother.
The story is refreshing in that the author clearly shows the passion between the two main characters without having to describe full on sex scenes so this is a clean read !
On the other hand, while I enjoyed the Australian setting, there was little else to set this story apart from many others and the conflict that prevented Mandy and Jake from being together was resolved all too quickly. In fact, I was surprised at how short this book is, as it was over far too quickly. I could happily have read more.
All in all, a nice clean short romantic read with great characters just needs something special to lift it into the next category.

Best for… those who love short sweet romances and a dishy chef!

My rating
3.5/5

Thursday 27 February 2014

Review of 'Patently in Love' - Rhoda Baxter



About the author


Rhoda Baxter always wanted to be a writer, but her parents told her she needed to get a ‘real’ job and write in her spare time. So she became a scientist and now works in technology transfer. She now writes contemporary romantic comedies in whatever spare time she can find around her day job and her family. Which means her parents were right all along. How irritating
Her first novel Patently in Love was shortlisted for the RNA Joan Hessayon award 2012. Her third novel Dr January will be published by Choc Lit in 2014.

She can be found wittering on about science, comedy and cake on her website www.rhodabaxter.com,  Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/rhoda.baxter.5), Google+  or on Twitter (@rhodabaxter).

Patently in Love (Book 1 of the Email and Ice Cream series)


The girl who ran away from fame to become a lawyer.
After her popstar boyfriend publicly humiliates her, Jane wants to start a new life away from media scrutiny. Maybe even find a new man.
Marshall wants a partnership in his patent law firm. He just has to prove he’s totally focussed on his work. No distractions. No office romance. Unless, of course, no one knows about it.
The last thing Jane needs is to have her picture splashed on the front page of a gossip magazine. To makes matters worse, the only person who could have told the paparazzi where Jane was… is Marshall.

Book buy links:
All other formats (including non-DRM PDF) from the publisher’s site: https://www.uncialpress.com/Rhoda-Baxter

My review


I found Jane particularly refreshing: a character who, for once, instead of seeking the limelight just wants to escape and live a quiet life. Of course, even moving town and altering her appearance won’t be enough to stop the paparazzi chasing her. How she deals with this is very well described.
I enjoyed watching the relationship between Jane and her colleague, Marshall develop. The obstacles to true love are realistically described and I love the fact that, in the end, all the characters get what they deserve.
The story is told partly through narrative and partly through emails. In the beginning I did find this quite confusing but once the characters made themselves known everything became clearer and it seemed to work.
All in all this is a lovely, sweet, feel-good romance that I found extremely enjoyable and whenever I reluctantly had to put it down, I found myself eagerly anticipating the next chapter.

Best for …. An easy, light-hearted read that will cheer you up

My rating
4/5

Friday 21 February 2014

Burn's World - Eve Rabi


"You never forget your first love. Burn couldn't even though she had moved on. An awesome love triangle that 'burns' and keeps you reading." Smashwords reviewer



When the school star athlete, blue-eyed, blonde haired, Brody McGraw asks her out, Burn can hardly believe her luck.
In record time they start dating and she is thrilled when she can finally change her Facebook profile status to ‘In a relationship’.
However, Brody’s mother has huge political plans for her family and she makes it clear, they do not include someone with Burn’s color.
When Burn suffers a severe bout of self-loathing because of Dawn McGraw’s words, she is forced to make a decision that will break her heart.

Enter Trojan Catrell, a thug and an enemy of Brody McGraw. He wants what Brody has and he pursues Burn.
Since she hankers after Brody McGraw, Burn’s not interested.
However, Trojan has no intention of taking no for an answer and a long triangle that lasts for years ensues.


Excerpt


When he sees me, he smiles. A sheepish smile. Again, he’s wearing a long-sleeve black shirt, dark jeans, dreads tied back, and a stud in his ear. He has no other jewellery on.

“What’s your pleasure, sir?” I ask notepad and pencil in hand.

You.

I smile.

“What do I have to do to get you to get on the bar and do a Coyote Ugly for me?”

I look at the ceiling, then at him. “You’d have to dance with me.”

“No way!” he laughs. “I’ll just have a beer.”
“What kind of beer, sir?”

He narrows his eyes at me. “You choose. Impress me.”

“O … kay. One ginger beer coming up.”

“Ginger beer? What the fuck?!”

“And how would you like your ginger beer, sir? Rare, medium-rare, well done …?”

“Lemmee think …on a long body shot.”

I giggle and walk away to fetch the beer. When I return, it’s with an icy-cold Stella Artois and the entire staff.

His eyes flit around. “What the …?”

To his absolute horror, we clap and sing Happy Birthday to him.

He sinks lower into his seat and eventually puts his hand over his eyes. “Burn, I’m gonna fucking kill you!” he mutters as Tong Carlos and Madonna link arms and dance around.

My response is to “Yip! Yip!”

“Hooray!” they chorus.

When they leave, he tries to glare at me and fails. “I’m gonna get you back for this,” he warns. sinking further into his chair. “I promise.”

“Whaddyamean? You want them to sing in Chinese? I can arrange …”

“No!”

“Okay, okay!”

“So, what are you doing here?”

He shrugs. “Was in the neigborhood. ‘Sides, you promised me a drink and …”

“Ah.”

“It’s my birthday on Saturday and I’m having it at Danes. I’d like you to come.”

I wasn’t expecting him to invite me to a party.

“I want you to come. Bring your friends too.”

“Danes? Bring my friends? Wow! Really? Man, am I impressed!”

He nods. “I’ll send a car for you guys.”

My jaw drops. He’ll send a car! This is just too good to be true. Hang on, I’m underage. Has he forgotten? Danes won’t allow me in.

“What? You need a written invitation or something?’

I shake my head. “Only one problem – my age. I tried to get fake IDs, but the guy stiffed us for our money and …”

“Why ya trippin’? Just be there. I got it covered.”

“Whaaaaat?!” I feel faint with excitement. “You can get us in? Really?”

“Really.”

“I …” Wow! My friends will worship me for life if I can get them into Danes. How do I pass on it?

I look at him with one eye closed. “What’s the catch?”

“Catch?” He thinks about it. “One body shot.”

“Get lost!”

He laughs. “I’m kidding!”

“No strings attached?”

“None whatsoever. But …this …” He wags his finger between us – it don’t count as a date. We straight?”

I nod. “We straight.” Hell, the dudes getting us into Danes – no more trippin’ from me.

“Say yes.”

I smile. “Yes!”

His turn to smile. “Cool.” He looks pleased.

About the author



Eve Rabi lives in Sydney Australia, but was born in South Africa.

She is the author of 20 books and is known for her kick-ass leading ladies, her alpha males and her ability to make you cry and make you laugh as you fall in love.

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