Valentine’s Day is chocolatier Chloe San Valentino’s favorite day of the year. Not only is it the busiest day in her candy shop, Caramelle de Chloe, but it’s also her birthday. Chloe’s got a birthday wish list for the perfect man she pulls out every year: he’d fall in love with her in a heartbeat, he’d be someone who cares about people, and he’d have one blue eye and one green eye, just like her. So far, Chloe’s fantasy man hasn’t materialized, despite the matchmaking efforts of her big, close-knit Italian family. But this year for her big 3-0 birthday, she just might get her three wishes.
Purchase Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Wishes-Candy-Hearts-Romance-ebook/dp/B019YHFGWQ
REVIEW:
RATING: 3.5 Stars
Chloe San Valentino runs a successful candy store and faces a very busy Valentine’s Day. But that is also her birthday. This year she turns 30, and she’s still single, much to the concern of her very Italian family. For years, Chloe’s held on to a birthday wish-list, three specific wishes: a man who would fall in love with her at first sight, who would care about people, and who would have special eyes, just like hers, one blue and one green. Could this be the year those wishes actually happen?
‘3 Wishes’ is a somewhat predictable, but also a fun story, as you follow Chloe and her family through what turns into a very challenging Valentine’s Day. Not only does she get a very attractive customer who does actually have eyes like hers, and appears very interested in Chloe, but when the San Valentino family rushes one member to the hospital, they meet the man again – he’s a doctor, caring for people. So, while the whole family copes with their medical crisis, Chloe faces the possibility of at last getting her three wishes.
The San Valentino family may be predictable, but they are good characters; there are a few interesting plot twists, and the chemistry between Chloe and her long-dreamt-of beau is lovely. As the other Candy Hearts Romances I have read, ‘3 Wishes’ is easy to read, enjoyable, and both amusing and touching in the right places. The family may feel just a little TOO Italian occasionally, but in many ways, this adds to the fun.
I give this book 3.5 stars, and recommend it to romance readers looking for a fun, easy story.
I am grateful for the reviewer’s copy I was sent.
Reviewed by: Roberta
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A hacker is targeting Meredith Crismis’s struggling new dessert company. But when the tech firm she depends on sends hunky computer expert Vlad Wiznitsky to fix the problem, things begin improving for Meredith, both personally and professionally.
First, her relationship with Vlad heats up to the sizzling point, then Meredith’s given the chance to snag a wealthy customer who could put her company’s bottom line permanently into the black. It seems like a dream come true, until the persistent hacker turns her “Divine Desserts” website into an X-rated marketplace, the wealthy customer demands a discontinued decorative item or else no sale, and her relationship with Vlad begins to unravel under the pressure of her obsession with professional success.
For a woman who deals with creating intricate wedding cakes and luscious muffins, life has suddenly become the ultimate recipe for disaster.
Purchase Links:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B019G06ANK
REVIEW:
RATING: 3.5 Stars
Meredith Crismis (nicknamed Merry, of course) has worked very hard to establish her own business, a dessert company called ‘Divine Desserts’, and although it hasn’t been a crazy success, it’s doing reasonably well for a six-month-old business, especially with the seasonable demands coming as Valentine’s Day approaches – and now she’s gotten a new, wealthy, influential customer who could bring about that great success, if Meredith can give her the exact, perfect wedding cake, decorated with candy hearts, that must all have the same words, and only those words, imprinted on them
Meredith is up for the challenge, but obstacles keep getting in her way. First, her computer system is having a major problem: a very determined hacker. For the latest attack, instead of her regular computer tech, the company sends a new expert, Vlad Wiznitsky, who is not only a very gifted tech, he’s also a pretty incredible hunk. Meredith finds herself dreaming of a more personal relationship. Then, unfortunately, she learns that those particular candy hearts have been discontinued, and she starts a frantic search for some other supplier. And then, the computer hacker hits yet again, and now her website is advertising a wide range of pornographic toys instead of cakes and other delectable desserts.
So, Meredith is now facing what could be a complete disaster until Vlad ends up saving the day – and winning her heart as well.
‘Adore Me’ is a fun, enjoyable romance, with the difficulties of starting a new business and the computer problems adding some nice challenges for the very likeable couple. I really liked having the mystery of the computer hacker blended into the story, giving the plot a little suspense. Meredith and Vlad are nice, believable characters, and there are some interesting secondary characters who add to the overall enjoyment. I recommend this book to readers looking for good romances with solid characters, humor, and even some mystery blended in. I rate ‘Adore Me’ as being worth 4 stars.
I am grateful for the reviewer’s copy I was sent.
Reviewed by: Roberta
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Renata Cabral needs to hide for the weekend. Her cousin’s Valentine’s Day wedding means she’ll face embarrassing questions from her large, extended family. Questions like “Why aren’t you married yet?” Since the breakup of her last relationship, she’s not ready to answer that question. She invents a work-related excuse and escapes to a friend’s lakeside cottage.
Noah Brownlee has been hiding for two years. But now he’s ready to come home and mend his broken relationship with his brother. When a friend offers the use of his lakeside cottage, Noah arrives in the middle of a blizzard with his English Mastiff, only to find the place is already occupied. With her big brown eyes and quirky sense of humor, Renata stirs feelings he thought long dead.
As the blizzard rages, the candy hearts predict love. Can Valentine’s Day work its magic between them?
Purchase Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Chill-Out-Candy-Hearts-Romance-ebook/dp/B018L29ZUY
REVIEW:
RATING: 4 Stars
Two single, somewhat lonely people, accountant Renata Cabral and Dr.
Noah Brownlee find themselves accidentally sharing the same lakeside
cottage, thanks first to friends who neglected to communicate with each
other before recommending the cottage as a refuge, and then to a
Canadian blizzard that rules out either of them going elsewhere. Making
things even more interesting is Spike, Noah’s English Mastiff, who
loves sleeping on his person’s bed – and already, on the first night
both people are in the cottage, Spike decides to choose Renata’s bed.
‘Chill
Out’ uses a familiar basis for starting a romance – two strangers
forced by circumstances beyond their control to share living quarters
for a time. The romance in this story progresses nicely, with two
interesting characters trying to escape and also resolve painful past
experiences. Both Renata and Noah frequently have brief recollections
about those experiences, and then have to once again face their present
circumstances. Through it all, Spike moves between them, serving as a
friend, a topic of conversation, a justification for some of their
actions; he becomes a common ground, something to share and to care
about.
As readers, we learn about those painful past
experiences, and how they have affected the present, as Renata and Noah
remember them, think about them, and come to exchange those
recollections. The relationship they begin to share with each other
builds upon these exchanges, and, again as a reader, I found it easy to
sympathize with them, and ultimately to hope for a mutual happy ending –
one that will be happy for Spike as well. And a reader can’t forget
those interesting candy hearts popping up occasionally, with their oddly
appropriate sayings.
There were no big surprises, no
startling twists, no hidden terrors popping up to change the story’s
direction. This is simply a fun, interesting, easy-to-read romance
about two nice people, and I can recommend it to most romance fans. I
rate ‘Chill Out’ as worth 4 stars, and I am grateful for the reviewer’s
copy I was sent.
Reviewed by: Roberta
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Mary Walker has a habit of giving in when it comes to her mother, but this time her mom went too far. At first glance, the gift seems innocent. Seven days at a lovely Vermont inn in mid-December is Mary’s idea of the perfect Christmas present—that is until she discovers her traveling companion’s identity.
The Rekindle Inn is the last place J.T. Walker wants to spend his Christmas vacation, much less in the company with the woman who’d recently ripped his heart to shreds. A challenge of wills, and the need to show Mary he no longer cares, has him on the plane to Santaville faster than the time it takes to unwrap a candy cane.
The Rekindle Inn specializes in mending relationships, but when the Walkers check in, it will take more than a little Christmas magic to bring these two broken hearts back together. More like a Christmas miracle.
Purchase Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Rekindle-Inn-Lori-Waters-ebook/dp/B017OC6T9W
REVIEW:
RATING: 3.5 Stars
As Christmas approaches, J.T. and Mary Walker are within days of
finalizing their divorce. She thinks he’s more attached to work, and
possibly his boss’s daughter, than to her. He thinks she just ran away
from him, rather than listening to him and believing what he tells her.
But their mothers still hope the marriage is salvageable, so they each
them a very special Christmas present: a holiday vacation, at a special
resort in Vermont. The only catch is – they both have to go, together,
because the Rekindle Inn specializes in fixing troubled marriages.
Mary’s first thought is that she can’t disappoint her mother, so she
plans on going. J.T. really doesn’t want to go, but he feels that she’s
challenging him, and he doesn’t want her to think she won, so he
decides to go to, too. After all, how hard can one week be?
What this couple isn’t prepared for, is the very special atmosphere
surrounding the inn, and the village where it’s located. They find
themselves surrounded by Christmas, welcomed by Mr. and Mrs. Klaus, the
resort’s owners, who put them together in a wonderful suite, and then
proceed to give them a strict schedule of daily activities. It’s all
very strange, and despite their reluctance, they end up following most
of that schedule, with Christmas pulling at them all the while.
‘Christmas at the Rekindle Inn’ is an amusing, rather predictable but
still enjoyable love story, concerning a couple who most likely gave up
on their marriage too easily, for the wrong reasons. Mary and J.T. are
both interesting characters that most readers can sympathize and
identify with, and the magical setting of ‘Santaville’ and the Rekindle
Inn present a very fun setting, exercising your imaginations as well as
those of this likable couple. The only problem I found, was an
over-emphasis on the possibilities of what this inn is, and where it’s
located, which was somewhat fun, until one incident puts it all into
question. Still, I did enjoy it; this is a very fun read, inventive and
relaxing, and I recommend it to any romance reader looking for some
smiles, giggles, and a few nice “Aaawwwwww” moments.
I give ‘Christmas at the Rekindle Inn’ 3.5 stars.
I am grateful for the reviewer’s copy I was sent.
Reviewed by: Roberta
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