The year is 1935 in Ceylon and Louisa Reeve is married to the love of her life, Elliot. She has lived a life of luxury in one way, but has suffered through having numerous miscarriages and a stillborn child. Elliot is always away on business and has been spending most of his time at a cinnamon plantation that he bought interest in. Louisa meets the owner of the plantation and finds out that her life with Elliot has been a sham, nothing but a lie. I really do enjoy author Dinah Jefferies and her excellence in storytelling. This book hits the mark as romance and intrigue rolled into a great story! An excellent addition to historical fiction.

The Sapphire Widow by Dinah Jefferies will be available August 14, 2018 from Crown Publishing. An egalley of this book was made available from the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

Sonja is a black attorney and Henry is a white attorney, both working for Henry’s family’s law firm. They are also ex-lovers, ex-fiancés and just a few weeks past their un-wedding! The only reason that I point out race is because that is one of the story lines. I enjoyed the basic story but had a problem with the idea that racial prejudice is only in the South. As we know, the location could have been anywhere, North, South, East or West, period. The character of Deidre was ridiculous. I can’t imagine her being a physician and no one else ever seeing her bizarre and kooky behavior, including Henry’s parents. I did like the two main characters though.

Bare Devotion by Geri Krotow will be available September 11, 2018 from Kensington Books. An egalley of this book was made available by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

The story of Barry Cohen, New York hedge fund manager, his wife Seema and their three year old autistic son, Shiva. It begins with the bloody unraveling of their marriage and descends to Barry riding out of town on a Greyhound bus as he tries to find a simpler life with an old girlfriend. The book is well-written and very emotional. The story was sad and even depressing as it dealt with a decaying marriage and Barry appearing to almost become unhinged. I couldn’t identify with Seema or Barry and their assortment of friends. This book was just not for me.

Lake Success by Gary Shteyngart will be available September 4, 2018 from Random House Publishing Company. An egalley of this book was made available by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

Ella Boudreaux is the real enemy of the Abbott Brothers. After all, she secretly bought Ford Abbott’s share of the business and now she actually wants to work in the Abbott Brothers Garage in Cottonbloom, Louisiana! Big brother Mack is working as hard as he can to keep the business going. He can’t understand why Ella wants to work in a garage! Sure, she is beautiful and smart but Mack is still trying to keep her out of the business and out of his mind! Yes, those gorgeous Abbott brothers are at it again! This time the story is about Mack and that suits me just fine. Laura Trentham has a way of developing characters so well that you feel like you’ve known them forever and can even visualize them in your mind! I love the Cottonbloom series! If you haven’t read this series yet, you’re in for a treat. Highly recommended for contemporary romance lovers!

Set the Night on Fire by Laura Trentham is available from St. Martin’s Press.  An egalley of this book was made available by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

A young English lady, Miss Julia Hollingsworth, becomes the governess for a widower and his two young girls. Her mother attempts to control Julia’s life and to keep her from the Peter Mayfield home. An addition to the Proper Romance series, the story does not contain any sex, violence or language. I found the story to move rather slow and was not really interested in the Mother’s story. Still, the story was sweet and the author used an interesting story line with the canine breeding.

Promises and Primroses by Josi S. Kilpack will be available September 4, 2018 from Shadow Mountain Publishing. An egalley of this book was made available by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

A young, American writer moves to Paris to begin his writing experience. Though a haze of drugs, alcohol and sex, there she is, Katerina. When I began reading the short, choppy prose, I wasn’t sure that I could finish this book. Given my love for European cities and different cultures, I thought I would find some common ground with the story. I was mistaken as I sank into a web of alcohol, drugs and debauchery like nothing else I’ve ever read. (I usually stay away from this genre.) As I kept reading, I was fascinated by the story and eager to finish. Whether it is semi-autobiographical or not doesn’t matter to me. It was an emotional and gut-wrenching story line that crossed Europe and kept me enthralled till the last word. James Frey wrote the controversial book, A Million Little Pieces. I also know that it sold millions of copies and now I know why. Regardless of whatever has been said, James Frey has a gift of storytelling and has written a book that made me feel the fear and anguish of lost love in a tragic and fascinating way.

Katerina by James Frey will be available September 11, 2018 by Gallery/Scout Press, an imprint of Gallery, Threshold, Pocket Books. An egalley of this book was made available by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

When I think about it, I can’t believe that I love romance stories about bikers! Gillian Archer has wrapped me around her great collection of romantic, hunky bikers in her True Brothers MC series. (I’ve read them all!) This story is about Bam, one of the newbies and Amber, daughter of Stitch, one of the older brothers. Gillian Archer has a knack for creating appealing, realistic characters that will be so solid in your mind, you’ll swear that you know them. I even loved the characters in the Russian Mafia! Rough Ride is the fourth book in the series and I can’t wait until the next one! Romance level is spicy hot to boiling over!

Rough Ride by Gillian Archer will be available July 24, 2018 from Loveswept, an imprint of Random House Publishing Group. An egalley of this book was made available by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.