{Review} One Hot Italian Summer by Karina Halle

One Hot Italian Summer by Karina Halle
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
GENRE: Contemporary Romance

THEME: Chance in Meeting

One Hot Italian Summer

by Karina Halle

4.23 · 767 Ratings 

BLURB:

After the death of her best friend and writing partner, Grace Harper is struggling both with grief, and with her next novel, the first one she’ll have to write alone. Fortunately, her new powerhouse agent, the formidable Jana Lee, has a solution for her. She can stay at her villa in Tuscany for a month, soak in the sunshine, relax, and find her confidence again. After all, Jana has a lot riding on Grace’s next book, and the last thing she wants is for her reputation as a “super-agent” to be tarnished. At first the villa is a dream come true for Grace – that is until Claudio Romano shows up one day with his ten-year old son, Vanni, in tow. Turns out, this is Claudio’s house, and Claudio happens to be her agent’s ex-husband from long ago. Thanks to their annual father and son bonding trip being cancelled, Claudio and Vanni are here to stay. So is Grace. With the three of them sharing the same house, Grace’s writing plans are thrown out the window. But even if she’s not pounding the keyboard, she’s still finding beauty and inspiration... in none other than Claudio. He's unlike any man Grace has met before. He’s smart, charming, and wickedly sexy, plus a great father to Vanni. He’d be the perfect summer fling – if only he wasn’t completely off-limits. But as the hot Italian summer wears on, Grace and Claudio are destined to succumb to the heat, no matter how hard they try to resist each other. One steamy encounter with Claudio could affect Grace’s chances of starting her career over. Or he could be exactly what she needs.

REVIEW:

Halle is one of my top go to authors, she has a way with romance stories that just keeps me hooked and her characters are always flawed by flawless when it comes to being able to connect to them. She does is again with One Hot Italian Summer, not only did I love the romance and characters, but I fell in love with Italy a place I've never been too. This was a wonderful story that started with loss and following a woman's journey in finding herself again.

One Hot Italian Summer follows Grace, a mystery writer who has always dug deep into her writing with her "partner in crime" Robin, her bestie. But after Robins sudden death, Grace cant feel the draw to write as her muse was her bestie. Grace is contracted to write a women's fiction book but needs a change of scenery, which her agent provides in sending her to Italy in her "vacation home." But Grace discovers her agent has sent her to her ex husbands home whom she meets in a slightly embarrassing way along with his very intelligent son. Thus begins Grace's adventure into writing a book she never thought she'd write, romance.

I loved this story, the way Grace is put into not only a new environment but into a families life that she becomes attached too. She was lonely, she's a shy quiet type and Claudio and his son bring out the real Grace as she stays in italy to write her book. The readers get to watch her bloom into this strong, independent and open minded woman.

Claudio is a man I doubt any woman could resist, he's an artist with a beautiful mind and has a son who is not only smart but super funny. I adored the differences between father and son which challenged them both but their father son bond was so strong. Adding in Grace to their family dynamic and causing some fun moments that all three of them needed was heartwarming.

In the end the romance is fantastic, steamy and passionate. The characters are bold, emotionally and so real. I loved this story, the ups and downs of finding yourself and finding what was missing. 

 

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{New Release} Good Gone Bad Giana Darling

Title: Good Gone Bad

Series: The Fallen Men Series #3

Author: Giana Darling

Genre: Erotic Romance

Release Date: November 23, 2018

They say one action doesn’t define you. 

I killed a man. Stabbed him in the neck and licked the blood off my lips after I did it. 

Still, one action doesn’t define you. 

I could have called anyone. My father, the Prez of The Fallen MC, our family lawyer, my best friend, Lila, or my brother, King. 

I didn’t. 

Instead, I called Lionel Danner, the police officer renowned for taking down the Nightstalkers MC. The man who had been my father’s arch nemesis for decades. The man who hated everything I stood for. A man who had disappeared from my life without explanation three years ago. 

I called him. 

And maybe one action doesn’t define you, but killing a bad man and calling in the good changed my life and it sure as hell changed his. 

The third book in the Fallen Men Series. A standalone featuring Harleigh Rose and Officer Lionel Danner.

Giana Darling is a Canadian romance writer who specializes in the taboo and angsty side of love and romance. She currently travels Europe with her best friend, an overstuffed suitcase and a mission to eat and drink as much French, Italian and Greek food as possible. While lounging on white beaches, drinking sangria on patios and sleeping in villas, she is hard at work on Cosima Lombardi’s dark romance, The Enslaved Duet, coming summer 2018!

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{Review} Sway by Adriana Locke

Sway by Adriana Locke

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

GENRE: Contemporary
THEME: Romance, Humor, Politics
RECEIVED: Kindle Unlimited

BLURB:

BARRETT LANDRY has it all.
Power, prestige, and plenty of women, the dapper politician’s life is pretty phenomenal. But in the midst of the biggest campaign of his life, he needs to focus. The last thing he can afford is a distraction.

ALISON BAKER is a work-in-progress.
As a single mother to HUXLEY, she’s rebuilding life on her terms. She’s focused on family, faith, and a future for her son that can’t be taken away. Putting her child first means not being careless, no matter what.

A chance encounter forces Barrett and Alison to redefine what they really want out of life. But everything comes at a cost ... and sometimes, even for love, it’s a price too steep to pay.

REVIEW:

Can I just say I have a new addiction… it’s the Landry family, well the Landry boys that is. I seriously don’t know how to thank my fellow KA forum girls who recommended Adriana Locke and this series to me, I freaking love it! But seriously this is one of my new favorite series!

Sway follows Alison Baker, a mom of an incredibly smart and adorable boy name Huxley who is just trying to rebuild her life. She isn’t prepared for the charming and sexy politician Barrett Laundry, who pretty much sweeps her off her feet, but with a campaign coming to a near end Barrett has to figure out how to handle this new found woman who is giving him a run for his money.
Alison is the ultimate mamma bear, as am I, so I totally connected with her. She adores her son and is working hard to be a good mom and put food on the table. So when she meets Barrett at a gala and his charming alpha attitude spark something inside her, everything changes for her. What I loved most about this story, is Alison’s son Huxley, he’s hilarious and knows a lot more than he probably should, he put Barrett in his place a couple times, being protective of his mom as well as loves Barretts baseball star brother Lincoln.

Barrett is under a lot of pressure, with the election coming close and the annoyance of keeping his rich voters happy, when he’d rather be helping the people not the rich, he wasn’t prepared for Alison. She gets him to see that his ideas and wants as a future governor are more important than keeping the greedy people who are pressuring him happy. Plus he wants to make his family proud and always has the support of them, but Alison is a distraction and some people around him and making it hard on her and Barrett.

Overall I loved the dynamic between this couple, they are both from very different background, but also both proud of who they are as a person, Barrett as a politician and Alison and a protective mom. The romance is off the chart steamy and there is this thing with grapes, that just takes it to another level, fyi in the future books there are some major joke among the brothers and sisters about it. I also loved the family, the Landry’s are so supportive and loving, they fight all the time but its all in the name of how much they love each other and want to keep their family close. I highly recommend this series for anyone who love drama, humor, family chaos, and some smoking hot romance.

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