RELEASE BLITZ. EXCERPT & REVIEW - MF - Starlight (Speakeasy Taproom #7) by Christine DePetrillo

 

STARLIGHT BY CHRISTINE DEPETRILLO

Release Date: September 2, 2021

Cover Design: Elle Maxwell Designs

Amazon: https://geni.us/AmazonStarlight

Add to Goodreads → http://bit.ly/3jca47d

Series Page → https://hearteyespress.com/wotn#/speakeasy-taproom/

He doesn’t trust women. She only trusts dogs. Why can’t they keep their paws off each other?  

Darren Reade builds stone walls in Vermont--and around his heart. Women don’t stick around, so it’s better to put up No Trespassing signs and focus on raising his adopted son. Darren is willing to do whatever it takes to help the boy cope with his mother’s death. But doing it alone is a challenge. 

Grace Hollings indulges her love of old-school jazz by singing nights at the Speakeasy Taproom,  and spends her days training service dogs, connecting small humans with smart pooches. Of course she’d planned to be married already, but a failed engagement has taught her that dogs make better company than men.  

One evening, Grace and Darren don’t exchange names, but they do engage in a single night neither of them will forget. Is once all there is? Or can they train their hearts to trust what they’ve built under the starlight?

My Rating - 5 Stars!

Starlight is the seventh book in the Speakeasy Taproom series. This is Christine DePetrillo's contribution to this multi-author series. 

This standalone romance is extra sweet and amazingly moving. It starts off with a one night stand, but soon the two are reunited. 

Darren and Grace spend time together as Darren needs a service dog for his son. Darren's son Kolton is wonderfully written, with a believable background and all of his issues illustrated with knowledge and care. He won over my heart from the start.

I love the dog aspect of this story. There's a history behind Grace's business and a lot of wonderful things have happened as a result of Grace's work. She is truly helping the world to be a better place. 

It's beautiful seeing the way Kolton takes to his dog to be. I had tears in my eyes over this. Both happy and sad tears. 

Both characters are so damn likeable. Darren uprooted his life instantly to care for Kolton. Meanwhile Grace spends her life helping people who need service dogs. Both are selfless and likeable. 

And together, they work well. They not only have great sexual chemistry, but they balance one another well in life. They definitely help the other to be the person they want to be. It's perfect. 

This is a story with lots of things to make you smile. There's puppies, sweet moments, and plenty of spark between the two. But there's also some moments that will leave you angry and depressed. Don't fret though, as the ending is absolutely heart warming. 

I love Starlight. Everything about this Christine DePetrillo book had me riveted and charmed. This book is a fabulous addition to this small town Vermont series. 

“So what will you do then?”

In the mirror, I caught Kolton’s confused scowl. How did one explain the purpose of a date to a ten-year-old boy? With all of his difficulties, Kolton hadn’t noticed girls yet. Not that I wanted to rush into that territory, but he was oblivious to them.

“I imagine we’ll talk, eat, and enjoy a nice evening together.” I rinsed off my razor and stowed it in the vanity drawer then splashed a few handfuls of water on my face.

“Will you kiss Grace?”

Okay. Maybe he wasn’t as oblivious as I’d thought. “Umm . . . I don’t know.” I didn’t want to lie to him, but I didn’t want to admit that kissing was at the top of my agenda either. I blushed a little thinking about what else was on that agenda.

“Grace is pretty and nice.” Kolton angled his head as he met my gaze in the mirror.

“She is.” I rubbed a towel over my face.

“So wouldn’t you want to kiss someone who is pretty and nice?”

Where is Mrs. Lilly? I needed a bedtime story intervention. Quickly.

“It’s a bit more complicated than that,” I said.

“Do you know how to kiss?”

I turned to face him now, my manhood in question. “Of course I know how to kiss.” I certainly knew how wonderful it was to kiss Grace.

REVIEW TOUR - Only Love (Only Love #1) by Garrett Leigh

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Length: 355 pages

Cover Design: Book Cover By Design

Goodreads Link

Blurb

The diagnosis of a chronic stomach condition leaves thirty-two-year-old Sergeant Jed Cooper with little choice but to call time on his Army career. Then on the dusty streets of Kirkuk, an ambush gone tragically wrong decimates his team, and he returns to the US with a shattered leg and the memory of his best friend dying in his arms.

Life in his sleepy hometown proves intolerable until he finds solace in a lakeside cabin with vivacious young carpenter, Max O’Dair. In the shadow of the epilepsy that periodically plagues Max, he and Jed form an unspoken bond. After a late night episode, Jed realizes how much Max means to him, and life has taught him not to waste time.

But the lines between contentment and complacency are blurred. Things left hidden resurface to tear through their world, and before they can repair the damage, death comes to call again. Faces, past and present, rally around them to weather the storm, but before long, they are left with only love.

Review 

My Rating - 4 Stars!

Garrett Leigh's Only Love is a complex and emotional story.

Jed and Max are both extremely complex men. Both are broken, and wounded, physically and emotionally. Jed is wounded from his time on active duty, as well as having a stomach ailment while Max suffers from severe epilepsy. Luckily they both have Max's service dog, who becomes vital to keeping them healthy.

Both men have complicated relationships in their lives. They both have problems with Jed's brother, as well as Jed having an ex who he's still not over losing.

Jed and Max both have serious secrets, but they are both so wonderful together. They both are able to ignore the other's flaws and help one another through their problems. 

Through the use of flashbacks, we learn about Max's time in the military. This leads to an interesting storyline. 

I highly recommend Garrett Leigh's Only Love.

Dec 11 - The Way She Reads, Reading In Sarah's Corner, MM Midnight Cafe, Xtreme Delusions, Diverse Reader, Sexy Erotic Xciting, Dilyana's World, Kimmers Erotic Book Banter, Two Chicks Obsessed, Jessie G Books, Sizzling Romance, Dec 13 - Mikku-chan, Drops of Ink, Cupcakes & Bookshelves, Lelyana's Reviews, Wicked Reads, Dec 15 - Gay Media Reviews, Book Corner Reviews, Mainely Stories, Mirrigold, Love Unchained, Dec 17 - The Secret Of Ko, Making It Happen, The Geekery Book Review, Dec 19 - Bonkers About Books, Dec 21 - MM Good Book Reviews, Amy's MM Romance Reviews, Bayou Book Junkie, Lillian Francis, Book Review Virginia Lee

Garrett Leigh is an award-winning British writer and book designer, currently working for Dreamspinner Press, Loose Id, Riptide Publishing, and Fox Love Press.

Garrett's debut novel, Slide, won Best Bisexual Debut at the 2014 Rainbow Book Awards, and her polyamorous novel, Misfits was a finalist in the 2016 LAMBDA awards.

When not writing, Garrett can generally be found procrastinating on Twitter, cooking up a storm, or sitting on her behind doing as little as possible, all the while shouting at her menagerie of children and animals and attempting to tame her unruly and wonderful FOX.

Garrett is also an award winning cover artist, taking the silver medal at the Benjamin Franklin Book Awards in 2016. She designs for various publishing houses and independent authors at blackjazzdesign.com, and co-owns the specialist stock site moonstockphotography.com with photographer Dan Burgess.

Website: http://www.garrettleigh.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/garrettleighauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Garrett_Leigh

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GRL 2018 SPOTLIGHT - Kris Jacen - Wait For Me (With Me #1)

In my attempt to cover some of the attending authors for this year's GRL,
I am reviewing 

Kris Jacen's Wait For Me!

Amazon Link
Goodreads Link

BLURB

The hardest job is waiting.

Master Sergeant Jeff "Mackey" MacNamara has been waiting for THE ONE for years. First it wasn't too safe to find a partner and now his schedule is a nightmare with training soldiers and deployments.

Scott Ash has found where he always was meant to be after a brief bout of idealistic do-gooder after college. He loves his job as a child care director, if he could just find someone to love -- perfect might cover it.

A chance meeting when Scott is doing a favor for a friend starts them on a journey that could take them to forever, it's just a matter of waiting.

REVIEW

My Rating - 4 Stars!

Wait For Me is an wonderful insta-love story by Kris Jacen.  

Jeff and Scott meet at a time when Jeff's about to deploy for a year. There's an instant attraction, a strong connection, and both men just feel like they have met "the one."

This book is an amazing reminder of all the sacrifices that military families make, as well as how both the one deployed and the one left behind, deals with long deployments. It is perfectly representative of how close the families become. 

I am happy to have found Wait For Me, and recommend it as a light read.  

Kris Jacen

Kris Jacen is the Executive Editor and Formatting Director for ManLoveRomance Press and its imprints. She was invited to join the MLR staff in 2008 and has never looked back. Working with over thirty-five phenomenal authors such as Rick R. Reed, JP Bowie, James Buchanan, J.L. Langley, Ally Blue, Jet Mykles, William Maltese and has allowed her to both hone her editorial skills and indulge her inner fangirl. Kris also acts as editor, mentor and sounding-board for newcomers including Kimberly Gardner, Lex Valentine, S.J. Frost, Patric Michael and Z. Allora. With this stable of talent under her guidance, Kris is quick to tell anyone who will listen that she loves her job. And her authors are just as quick to say that they love their editor.

A Light in the Darkness by Alice Winters

Amazon

Could not stop laughing!

Felix and Lane are two of the funniest people ever.

It was a pleasure to read their antics. 

And their banter was just the most funny, loving, natural, non-stop banter I have ever had the pleasure of reading.
And Lane's family is just as great.
I was laughing like crazy and smiling throughout.

They are starting out their new life together.  And they have Copper by their side. They are learning to have Copper be Lane's service dog.  And they have to deal with Felix's brother, Darian, who wants to see him again.  Felix doesn't trust Darian, but goes and meets up with him.  The path they are taken on because of Darian is crazy, scary, and a complete and utter roller-coaster.  Honestly, I found this mystery a little weird.  Well, more than a little weird.  But, it is still a keep-you-on-your-toes mystery, as you never really know for sure what is happening and what will happen.  But, even through the life and death situations, they keep their humor. 

The author does a FANTASTIC job with these two men.  I cannot rave even about the writing style in this book.  It was superb. Not everyone can infuse so much humor ALL throughout a story.

Honestly, I LOVE Felix and Lane.  And I will be re-reading this book many, many times just because  they are so damn lovable and funny.