READ-2-REVIEW- HOLIDAY ROMANCE - KISSES AT CANDY CANE LANE (Blizzard Bluff, #3) by Laramie Briscoe

 Kisses at Candy Cane Lane 
Blizzard Bluff, #3
by Laramie Briscoe 
Release Date: December 15th 2023 
Genre: Small Town Contemporary Romance/ Holiday Romance 

Noelle, a hotel, and two hearts that fell . . . Noelle Green

Holidays are turning out to be something of a special time for me. On Halloween I got pregnant, and now that we're heading for Christmas - who knows?

When I tell the father of my baby that he’s going to be a dad, he surprises me by not running away. Even though all we had was one night, he's willing to see where this goes, and so am I.

Little do Cal and I know that what we started on Halloween night just might see us through the rest of our lives.

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The Book Junkie Reads . . . Review of . . . KISSES AT CANDY CANE LANE (Blizzard Bluff, #3) . . . Come visit Blizzard Bluff for the holidays. Its been a hard few years. With facing the pandemic, taking out a loan, and work 75-hours a week. Noelle has had to work harder than ever. Then she finds herself pregnant and not able to keep up with her daily grind. Things have slowly changed for the past few weeks. She needs more breaks, takes naps, and have cut caffein. Then she is confronted in her office by the one man she was not so ready to see, Cal or should we call him Charming Cal. 

Noelle did not know how to tell Cal that he was going to be a father. She was not expecting him to confront her about it. She was not expecting, but hoping to have the chance for them to be something more than two ships that harbored in the same location. 

Happy holidays with a friends-to-lovers-to-more. Next holiday season we will have much more to celebrate.

Laramie Briscoe is the USA Today and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author of over 30 books, with sales of over half a million copies.

Since self-publishing her first book in May of 2013, Laramie has appeared on the Top 100 Bestselling E-books Lists on Apple Books, Amazon Kindle, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. Her books have been known to make readers laugh and cry. They are guaranteed to be emotional, steamy reads.

When she's not writing alpha males who seriously love their women, she loves spending time with friends, reading, and marathoning shows on Netflix. Married to her high school sweetheart, Laramie lives in Bowling Green, KY with her husband.

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READ-2-REVIEW - CONTEMPORARY HOLIDAY - STRANDED WITH THE ONE by Heidi McLaughlin

 Stranded with the One 

by Heidi McLaughlin
Release Date: December 12th 2023 
Genre: Holiday Romance 

New York Times bestselling author Heidi McLaughlin takes you on a holiday journey . . . trains, planes and automobile style. 

Holly Saint and Christian Lane grew up together and were best friends until he fell in love with someone else. Now, years later they find themselves stranded—both trying to get back to their hometown for Christmas, that’s if Jack Frost will allow them.

*Readers, please take note: this novel was previously published under the pen name, Darby Blake. The content is the same.*

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The Book Junkie Reads . . . Review of . . . STRANDED WITH THE ONE . . . This years visit your past and your future. Holly and Christian finds themselves in the same airport this pre-holiday season. Neither expecting the other or the fact that they would have their flight to their hometown canceled due to weather. A second chance to make the first time special. Holly and Christian were derailed the first time. Will this holiday season give them that one chance the should have had years ago. Sweet and heartwarming. Come find out just what the future could be like when you have the one you love by your side.

Heidi McLaughlin is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling author of The Beaumont Series, The Boys of Summer, and The Archers. Originally, from the Pacific Northwest, she now lives in picturesque Vermont, with her husband, two daughters, and their three dogs. In 2012, Heidi turned her passion for reading into a full-fledged literary career, writing over twenty novels, including the acclaimed Forever My Girl. Heidi's first novel, Forever My Girl, has been adapted into a motion picture with LD Entertainment and Roadside Attractions, starring Alex Roe and Jessica Rothe, and opened in theaters on January 19, 2018, and is now available on DVD & Digital. To stay connected with Heidi visit www.facebook.com/authorheidimclaughlin or heidimclaughlin.com

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READ-2-REVIEW - CONTEMPORARY HOLIDAY - SNOWBOUND by Freya Barker

Snowbound
by Freya Barker 
Release Date: December 4th 2023 
Genre: Holiday Romance 

Had she known ‘doing the right thing’ would land her jobless, homeless, and snowed in with a moody bear of a man guarding her, Bobbie Strada might’ve thought twice.

Last thing US Marshall Dag Toland needed was to get stuck protecting a witness as tempting as this one. Especially when forced to share a small mountain cabin in the middle of a snowstorm. 

*Short story. *Previously released in the Chill Factor anthology

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The Book Junkie Reads . . . Review of . . . SNOWBOUND . . . This holiday she is alone, away from home, and on the run or at least that is how she feels. This holiday season Bobbie is in hiding. She is the witness in the trail to end all trials. She witnessed a murder. Not just any murder. She witness one of the most wanted crime bosses committing a murder. Now she is running for her life. The only thing of comfort is her cooking. There was her and the agent assigned to protect her. Then there was the one that did not like her. She was happy he was not here. Then things all go wrong. 

In the midst of Bobbie being found and bullets flying, she finds the one person she thinks hates her, US Marshall Dag Toland. Dag was on his way to relieve the current person on duty when he gets a distress call. In the nick of time he gets there to rescue Bobbie from being the next one to die. She then finds herself on the run with Dag and very little clothing/shoes. A couple quick stops and thing change between the two of them. After an avalanche, bullets flying again, a second rescue, and seclusion, Bobbie finds that she has a lot of things to make a decision on. 

Freya Barker give a short holiday romance that has its own twist and turns. But either way we get a happy holiday. 

USA Today bestselling author Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories. With forty-plus books already published, she continues to create characters who are perhaps less than perfect, each struggling to find their own slice of happy. Recipient of the ReadFREE.ly 2019 Best Book We've Read All Year Award for "Covering Ollie, the 2015 RomCon “Reader’s Choice” Award for Best First Book, “Slim To None”, Finalist for the 2017 Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, and Finalist for the 2020 Kindle Book Award with “When Hope Ends”, Freya spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!

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READ-2-REVIEW - CONTEMPORARY - SHOCKPROOF (The Shatter & Shock Duet, #2) by Xavier Neal

SHOCKRPROOF

The Shatter & Shock Duet, #2

A Bodyguard Romance (Haworth Enterprises)

by Xavier Neal

BLURB

From USA TODAY Bestselling author Xavier Neal comes the jaw-dropping, heart pounding conclusion to this best friends-to-lovers, forced proximity, romantic suspense duet!

The assignment is simple.

Don't let the client get kidnapped.

Don't let someone kill her.

Don't screw up our now very real relationship.

It's the last part that complicates what would otherwise be a fairly run of the mill operation.

If we weren't dating, the only thing I would have to worry about would be following standard procedures such as making sure her locations are secure.

That we aren't being followed.

That those in her inner circle haven't been compromised.

But because we are, I now have to deal with her sabotaging ex boyfriend.

And an unexpected female guest showing up on our double date.

And a meddling team member who thinks he's helping instead of simply giving me more headaches.

All of these things make my mission significantly harder.

As does trying to decide if we're moving too fast.

As does having to come in second to her career.

As does my best friend herself when she finally has to decide what our future together looks like.

To the company I work for, my main objective is to find and eliminate the unidentified threat that's been stalking one of their most valuable assets.

But to me?

My only job is to protect the love of my life - or die trying.

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The Book Junkie Reads . . . Review of . . . SHOCKPROOK (The Shatter & Shock Duet, #2) . . . Action. Intensity. Attraction. Friends-2-More. Okay some laughs also. The opening of this one starts somewhat where the other left off. But I am sorry to say I had to laugh at Slatter's reactions to Arley's actions. I will say that you will enjoy this so much more if you do both parts at the same time. Even though I read part one when it came out. I went back and started it again then flowed into part two.  

How do you complete a review of a story without giving away the good stuff? I am not going to give away anything. But I am going to tell you if you are looking for some action, low drama, friends-2-lover, protective alpha, and a cast of primary and secondary characters you will love to pick up The Shatter & Shock Duet.

I am excitedly waiting for the holiday novella with Slater and Arley. The countdown is on.

Start the Duet here:
Shatterproof : Book 1
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Author Info

Xavier Neal is a best-selling romance author who enjoys hopping from sub-genre to sub-genre like a game of Hopscotch she can't resist.

In between writing, she loves to read (everything from romance to self-improvement books), watch movies (old and new), eat too much Tex-Mex (her Chuy's t-shirt collection is out of control), and watch AHL hockey games LIVE (preferably against the glass whenever possible).

She currently resides happily in Texas with her bearded husband "Lumberjack”.

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READ-2-REVIEW - CONTEMPORARY SUSPENSE - ONYX (GEM, #3) by Freya Barker

Onyx
GEM, #3 
by Freya Barker 
Release Date: November 6th 2023 
Genre: Romantic Suspense-Slow Burn Romance 

GEM: a privately-funded organization operating independently in the search for—and the rescue and recovery of—missing and exploited children. Although, at times  working in conjunction with law enforcement, GEM aims to ensure the victims receive justice…by whatever means necessary.

Onyx; balanced, strong, a guardian She’s the voice of reason, advocates, and strategizes. Supporting the team from the background, Onyx rarely goes out in the field. However, when a widespread child exploitation ring is discovered, her particular skill set is needed to get close. Unfortunately, her boss—a man she’s never laid eyes on before—is dead set against her taking the lead. Outvoted, he finds a way to keep her in his sights, risking his own exposure.

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The Book Junkie Reads . . . Review of . . . ONYX (GEM, #3) . . . I was not expecting this. I was not anticipating the pain, sorrow, and just moments that I needed to step back. One more thing I was not expecting... Onyx and Jacob had a past. That was not foreseen. I knew over the course of the other two stories that was something more between them. I don't think that even Onyx could have seen this one coming. 

After years of being on the inside working in the background for her team. She in now out front and has a lot to deal with. She is out of her comfort zone in more ways than one. She needs the right name for connection. She need the right cloths to fit in. She needs the right piece of property to pull it off. She also had a growing attraction to the one person put in place the help her. 

Jacob have loved Onyx from afar for far to long. He has been even deeper in the background than Onyx. But he had no hesitation on sending her in to cover this job. It would be the job that could get them the one man they have been looking for for far to long. 

I was so excited to get to this story. It was the last one in the GEM original. Onyx was the mother hen to the ladies. She was the one that had far more to lose and gain. Watching the connection between her and Jacob was interesting. I was heartbreaking to watch page after page in the final five to six chapters. I loved every minute, every tap of the screen. I loved most watching how each of the original members, new members, and freelance members all came together to make that found family they all needed in one way or another. I also loved how there was a connection between this series and another. It was small but it was there. 

USA Today bestselling author Freya Barker loves writing about ordinary people with extraordinary stories. With forty-plus books already published, she continues to create characters who are perhaps less than perfect, each struggling to find their own slice of happy. Recipient of the ReadFREE.ly 2019 Best Book We've Read All Year Award for "Covering Ollie, the 2015 RomCon “Reader’s Choice” Award for Best First Book, “Slim To None”, Finalist for the 2017 Kindle Book Award with “From Dust”, and Finalist for the 2020 Kindle Book Award with “When Hope Ends”, Freya spins story after story with an endless supply of bruised and dented characters, vying for attention!

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