Sheila's Books Read

Sheila's bookshelf: read

The Best Intentions
Scotland's Melody
The Secret Society of Salzburg
Secret of the Sonnets
20-40-60-Minute Dinners: Meals to Match the Time You Have
Through the Wilderness: My Journey of Redemption and Healing in the American Wild
Secret Santa Claus Club: A Tool to Help Parents Unwrap the Secret of Santa
Mr. Pudgins
Revenge Never Rests
The Best Mistake
Meriden Park
More Inspirational Stories for Young Women
The Great Tree: A Christmas Fable
To Capture His Heart
The Call of the Sea
Esperance
Livvy and the Enchanted Woodland
Come, Gentle Night
The Bad Boy Theory
Guide To Smart Wedding Planning: What You want to know and everything you haven't thought of yet.


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Showing posts with label A Ripple Effect Romance Novella. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A Ripple Effect Romance Novella. Show all posts

Friday, May 30, 2014

Immersed (A Ripple Effect Romance) by Jennifer Griffith-Blog Tour Review and Giveaway





Immersed tour


Immersed NewProduct Details

  • Title: Immersed
  • Author: Jennifer Griffith
  • Series: Ripple Effect Romance
  • Paperback: 152 pages
  • Publisher: HEA Publishing (March 7, 2014)
  • Genre: Romance
  • ISBN-10: 1941363059
  • FTC, FYI: I received a review e-copy in exchange for an honest review.





Book Description:
  Lisette Pannebaker speaks five languages and has a brilliant business plan—personal language immersion. Clients can hire her to shadow them and speak all day in any language they need to learn for business or travel—whatever. But there’s a major hitch: she’s far too pretty. Clients with less than honorable intentions sign up just have Lisette at their side. Solution? A make-under. Way under.It works like a charm. None of her male clients show her the least bit of interest. Until… Erik. Erik Gunnarsson is charming, kind, and smart—everything she’s ever looked for. Even though he seems to have a secret and she swore she'd never date a client, Lisette is tempted to shed her disguise—even if it means jeopardizing her career.


Excerpt from Immersed :
“So…what?”

“Plain and simple: you’re too pretty for this job.”

Lisette rolled her eyes and picked up her brush again, going at the high spots on the wall with vigor. “You’ve been talking to my mom again. Did she finally rub off on you?” Great. Now no one believed in her. Not even Aunt Corky. Just a pretty face.

“No, not in that way. What I’m saying is that your business has merit. It can totally work. But just not with you, the way you are.”

Aunt Corky probably didn’t mean to make Lisette want to cry, but the tears welled in her eyes all the same. This dream had taken every waking hour of the last eighteen months. She’d poured her heart and soul into making it grow, not to mention all the money she’d buried in it—advertising, the office, everything. And her time. Day and night. How entrepreneurs lived past age forty mystified her. She barely had time to keep an eye on her elderly next door neighbors. And when a girl was too busy to serve other people, she was too busy.

Aunt Corky reached over and grabbed Lisette’s hand. “What I’m saying is you need a makeover.”

Lisette raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t raise that eyebrow at me, Z. I’m serious about this.” Aunt Corky folded her arms across her chest. “Not a makeover in the traditional sense. More like a make-under. You know, to make you look less…gorgeous.”

Here it went again, with the appearance factor. Didn’t all the studies say that people who were good-looking had a better chance at success than those who were below average?

“You’re not buying it, I can tell. But think with me. Dark circles under the eyes. A greasy wig. Lines at the mouth. And right about here,” she pointed at her nostril, “a big wart.”

“A wart!”

“Okay, maybe not a wart. That might be over the top. But something that will keep all the pawing maniacs at a distance.” Aunt Corky shrugged and leaned against a dry wall like she’d made her case and the prosecution rested. “Think about it, Z. I mean, you want Immerse to succeed, right? All the years of language skills and business acumen you’ve amassed, they’re going to waste.”

Lisette sighed. Even though she wouldn’t admit it aloud to Aunt Corky, unless something changed at Immerse, things could go south pretty fast. However, she wasn’t convinced it was reason enough to subjugate her dignity and go into daily disguise just to ward off pretenders.

Aunt Corky resumed painting. “Just think about it. Don’t decide now. But if you want to do it, I know somebody. Samantha. A genius with bad makeup. She could absolutely transform you. No one would even recognize you.”

This was crossing over from ridiculous into the absurd.

My Review:
Immersed is the last novella in the Ripple Effect Romance Series. This one was different from many of the others. It had a funny side to it and it's characters. Even though there were serious things happening in main character Lisette's life, there were naturally humorous things going on. You know how some people always have those weird and very quirky events that only happen to them? Well, Lisette is one of those people. You have to LOL as she deals with the strange and unusual in her life. I didn't connect with Lisette's mother, but truly liked her Aunt Corky. The main male protagonist, Erik, also adds to the humor in this story. The scene at McDonalds will stay on my mind for awhile. Yes, it was funny. 

The series is wrapped up nicely with Immersed. If you haven't read them yet, they would be great, short novellas to add to your summer reading list.


 Purchase at Amazon

unnamedFDRE9K6NMeet Author Jennifer Griffith
Jennifer Griffith studied French, German, Japanese, and a wee bit of Spanish in her school days. Her grandmother was Norwegian, and Jennifer grew up with lots of Scandinavian traditions floating around, including fabulous cardamom laced cookies called Krumkaker, made on a fancy waffle iron. However, she’d never dream of trying to teach someone any of those languages. And she might botch the cookies. Instead, she writes novels in English, drives her five kids a million places, and laughs with her husband, who came up with the plot for Immersed because he’s just a cool muse like that.
   


Blog Tour Giveaway
$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash 

Ends 6/9/14 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW. a Rafflecopter giveaway

Friday, May 16, 2014

Second Chances 101 (A Ripple Effect Romance Novella) by Donna Weaver-Blog Tour Review and Giveaway


Product Details

  • Title: Second Chances 101
  • Author:  Donna K. Weaver
  • Series: Ripple Effect Romance
  • Paperback: 132 pages
  • Publisher: HEA Publishing (March 7, 2014)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1941363040
  • FTC, FYI:  I received a review e-copy in exchange for an honest review.




Book Description:
Thirty seven year old Francie Davis, a recent widow and empty nester, gets to attend college at last. She’s sure her luck has changed when she also lands a job on campus that will pay her tuition, as administrative assistant to a history professor. When her handsome new boss yells at her on the first day of work, Francie worries she will never be good enough. For Professor Alex Diederik, life is going downhill fast. Not only is his bitter ex-wife trying to poison their only daughter against him, but now his one place of solace—his work environment—is being complicated by his attractive new administrative assistant. She drives home his feelings of failure as a husband and father, and Alex wonders if hiring her was the right thing to do. Francie will have to put aside her hurt and insecurities or risk her dreams, while Alex must look outside himself if he’s to mend the breach with his daughter. And, perhaps, find someone who can help heal his pain


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EXCERPT
The door burst open and a pretty girl with long strawberry blond hair stomped out. Her headlong rush drove her right at Francie, who squeezed against the wall, almost out of the way. Their shoulders hit, and they both stumbled. As Francie steadied herself, she could see tears in the girl’s heavily made up eyes. Staggering for a couple of paces, she managed to stay on her feet and then ran down the hallway.

“Come back here,” a man yelled from inside. He dashed out the door and halfway down the hall before it was obvious the student had made her escape.

Yelling at a student and chasing her down the hallway? That can't be my new boss.Francie couldn’t help staring at the compact but solidly built—almost buff—man who stood with his back to her. The angry energy came off him in waves, and she had to fight a primal instinct to run and hide. Giving a quick glance over her shoulder, Francie began to edge away. Maybe she could pretend she hadn’t seen. Suddenly the man swore and spun around, seeming to see Francie for the first time.

“What are you doing there?” he growled. “Eavesdropping?”
My Review: 
I was so happy to see a story in this series dealing with a couple that was a little older. I embraced the main character, Francie instantly. She is a recent widow who's only child has left home for college. I loved her sweet disposition and bravery to go back to college herself after many years. I also liked the male main character Alex. He is a divorced man who is STILL dealing with an ex-wife who makes his life miserable. He also has a college age daughter who is dealing with problems. This storyline is so good and the characters were terrific. I only wish that this story had been a full length novel. There was so much storyline to work with that I felt so sad when it ended. I wish Donna could go back and write the long story version of this wonderful couple. Donna truly knows how to write memorable characters that you grow attached to quickly. I just didn't want this story to end. I can't wait to read the next novel by this author. I recommend this book and series to those who love romance and great characters.



Meet Author Donna K. Weaver 
Donna K. Weaver has always loved reading and creating stories, thus she’s been ever entertained. An avid cruiser, she’s sailed the Pacific five times. Wife-mother-grandmother-Army veteran-karate black belt-Harry Potter nerd. 

You can learn more about Donna here...


 Blog Tour Giveaway
$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 5/26/14 Open only to those who can legally enter, receive and use an Amazon.com Gift Code or Paypal Cash. Winning Entry will be verified prior to prize being awarded. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 or older to enter or have your parent enter for you. The winner will be chosen by rafflecopter and announced here as well as emailed and will have 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is in no way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Rafflecopter or any other entity unless otherwise specified. The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Giveaway was organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader and sponsored by the author. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.  a Rafflecopter giveaway