BOOK REVIEW ---- 5+ Stars --- Fool's Paradise by Lilliana Anderson

Fool's Paradise 

(Cartwright Brothers Book 5)

by Lilliana Anderson

✯ ¸.•*¨)✮ (¸.•´✶ (¸.♡

5+ stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This book had me crying.  It had me crying at the sheer emotional intensity between Toby and Blair and also because it means farewell to the sexy Cartwright brothers and their amazing wives

Where to start with this review?  How can I ever put into words the journey this book, this series has taken us on?  I started the year with an amazing book and it looks like I'm finishing the year with one that is equally as amazing.  So amazing I almost feel lost for words.

Fool's Paradise is the fifth book in the Cartwright Brother's series.  Whilst it could be read as a stand alone, there is plenty of explanation dropped in to 'catch you up' on the story but not too many spoilers, for two reasons I would instead recommend reading the rest of the series first.  Reason 1 is that in order to truly enjoy and get the most out of this book you need the full background story that has run through the other books.  The second reason is that every single book is fantastic and each brother is swoon-worthy, smouldering hot and wondrous in their own way.  You'd be missing out on what, to me, has been the best contemporary romance series of 2018.

I've been a little in love with Toby since we first saw his hidden heartache in Fool Me Twice, Book #1 of the series.  In each successive book we've caught glimpses of a man who constantly puts his family before his own happiness.  So this book was going to go one of two ways......... I was going to be broken in the best possible way, or I was going to be hugely disappointed. 

Toby was quickly becoming my everything. I didn't want to let go.

I couldn't.

I'm still mopping up the tears from my ugly crying over how beautifully broken Toby and Briar are, so we can safely say there was no disappointment anywhere!

No longer able to face a life he never wanted to live, Toby has disappeared.  Blair has been sent to find him and bring him home.  The haunted look that was ever present in his eyes is no longer there, can Blair be the one to drag it back?  With secrets and demons of her own, she knows just how soul destroying life can be.

"I want my soul back."There was such utter desolation in his expression that it took every morsel of strength within me not to cry. 

This man bleeds goodness. Alongside his misery.

I've already admitted that Toby has been lodged in my heart for what seems like forever.  He is and always will be one of my favourite book boyfriends and I have been desperately waiting for his story.  I knew Lilliana Anderson would need to write the heroine of all heroines, along with one pretty amazing plot, in order to meet the expectations I held for this book.  Well let me tell you now that she did even better than I anticipated and this story literally blew me out of the water.

Dread rolled of his body as he donned his old skin, the one we'd shed together. 

I could see my Toby slipping further and further away. 

My Toby......

Toby is a damaged hero, one whose pain you feel and who will steal your heart before you know it. Blair is a broken heroine, and I'm stunned that I ended up loving her as much as, if not even more than, Toby.  It needed someone special for me to hand my Toby over to, and Blair was just the perfect most imperfect heroine to do the job.  I loved at the end how all her problems weren't solved by love alone. 

He wanted me to get my head straight, to quite drinking, to quit using sex as a bandaid to my mental anguish. Love myself first? I didn't know if I could do that. Didn't know how.......

Love gave her the strength to tackle them, but professional help was still required.... just one of the many small touches that make this book feel real. Mad cap plot aside. I even forgave her for saying this about us maths teachers

"You've got to choose boring occupations that no one wants to talk about - accountants, indurance brokers, maths teachers."

I lost count of how many times this book made me cry.  Now I just want to be left alone to wallow in the glory of it, to mourn the passing of this series, to basque in the 'sunshine' of the story and to soak up the love that flowed from it's very soul.

I don't just recommend this book to ALL of you, I recommend the entire series.  These are the books that are so special you buy the paperback version too, so that you can fall in love with them all over again.

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Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Fools-Paradise-Cartwright-Brothers-Book-ebook/dp/B07J2TVBYH

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Synopsis

My job had a very specific goal: I found people who didn’t want to be found and delivered them to whoever employed me. 

After that, well, I tried not to think about what happened while I spent my money on things that made me happy. Resorts, men…I lived life by the seat of my pants because I never knew where I’d be the next week, or who I’d be looking for. 

When the head of a lesser-known criminal family hired me to find her son, I wasn’t sure what I was walking into. I had his photo, so I knew the man was hot with a capital H. But I expected the usual agitated scumbag I normally went after. Not some guy running a fishing charter and looking like he didn’t have a care in the world. 

I might have been curious. 

I might have gotten a little too close. 

I might have done a lot of things I shouldn’t have. 

Things that could get me killed this time. 

But hey, life wasn’t always about making the right choices. It was about making good ones. 

And Toby Cartwright was a great choice. 

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Ratings

5 stars - This is a book I will not forget and would definitely read again.

4 stars - I really enjoyed this book, I might not read it again but I would definitely recommend it to others.

3 stars - This story was good but either forgettable or just very typical of its genre.

2 stars - Whilst the book was readable I either didn't enjoy parts of the plot or just could not connect to the main characters.

1 star - This is a book I simply could not finish for reasons listed in the review.

✯ ¸.•*¨)✮ (¸.•´✶ (¸.♡

BOOK TOUR ~~~~~ Murder, Curlers Series

Murder, Curlers and Cream

Murder, Curlers Series Book 1

by Arlene McFarlane

Genre: Cozy Mystery 

“Smart, entertaining, and laugh-out-loud funny!”—Liliana Hart, New York Times Bestselling Author

Valentine Beaumont is a beautician with a problem. Not only has she got a meddling mother, a wacky staff, and a dying business, but now she’s got a dead client who was strangled while awaiting her facial.

With business the way it is, combing through this mystery may be the only way to save her salon. Until a second murder, an explosion, a kidnapping, death threats, and the hard-nosed Detective Romero complicate things. But Valentine will do anything to untangle the crime. That’s if she can keep her tools of the trade in her bag, keep herself alive, and avoid falling for the tough detective.

In the end, how hard can that be?

**Get it FREE!!**

Add to Goodreads

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Murder, Curlers and Canes

Murder, Curlers Series Book 2

Valentine Beaumont is back in her second hair-raising mystery, this time, trying to find out who had it in for an elderly nun. Only trouble is there are others standing in her way: hot but tough Detective Romero, sexy new stylist Jock de Marco, and some zany locals who all have a theory on the nun’s death.

Making things worse: the dead nun’s secret that haunts Valentine, another murder, car chases, death threats, mysterious clues, an interfering mother, and a crazy staff.

Between brushing off Jock’s advances and splitting hairs with handsome Detective Romero, Valentine struggles to comb through the crime, utilizing her tools of the trade in some outrageous situations. Question is, will she succeed?

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Murder, Curlers and Cruises

Murder, Curlers Series Book 3

“Sharp, sexy, and side-splitting. Everything I love in a good mystery!” – Darynda Jones, New York Times/USA Today Bestselling Author of the Charley Davidson Series

“A fun-filled ride. A zany cast of characters. And a quest to find a killer. Another great book in a wonderful series!” – Wendy Byrne, USA Today Bestselling Author of the Izzy Lewis Mysteries

In her third fast-paced mystery, beautician Valentine Beaumont and her madcap crew sail the high seas on a Caribbean “Beauty Cruise.” When a bizarre murder takes place onboard, Valentine finds herself swept into the middle of the investigation.

If things aren’t bad enough, her mother is playing matchmaker, a loved one is kidnapped, drug smuggling is afoot, a hair contest proves disastrous, and a strange alliance between tough Detective Romero and sexy stylist Jock de Marco rubs Valentine the wrong way.

Will this impulsive beauty sleuth comb through the catastrophes and untangle the mystery, or will this voyage turn into another fatal Titanic? With Jock and Romero onboard, it’s destined to be a hot cruise!

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MURDER, CURLERS & CREAM

CHAPTER ONE

Excerpt

“You wound a perm rod around a man’s what?” Detective Romero stood in the middle of my Mediterranean-styled salon, hand on his gun hip, legs spread wide. His deep voice was laced with cynicism, and his blue eyes pierced me with a look that said now he’d heard everything.

I know it sounded outrageous, but good lord. It’d been several years since “Local Beautician Valentine Beaumont Uses Perm Rod to Curl Murderer’s Gonads” made front page headlines in the Rueland News. Was I ever going to live that down? It was an awful picture of me they’d run too, considering I was soaked in mud and covered in cuts and bruises.

Besides, there was another crisis at hand. I mean, a dead body had just been removed from the facial bed in Ti Amo—one of my treatment rooms, not thirty feet down the hall. Didn’t this detective, in his faded jeans and brown plaid shirt, think that was a little more important?

I pulled at my tight-knit top, trying not to let him get under my skin. “For the record, that perm rod saved me from being knifed to death. Anyway, it sounds worse than it was.”

“Worse than it was! Lady, that’s about as worse as it can get for a man.” He blew out a sigh. “I’d love to hear the full story on that one day.”

I smiled sweetly. “If you’re nice to me, maybe one day I’ll tell it.”

He glared at me, probably not certain if I was being sarcastic or sincere. Frankly, I wasn’t sure about that myself.  

Arlene McFarlane is the author of the Murder, Curlers series. Previously an aesthetician, hairstylist, and owner of a full-service salon, Arlene now writes full time. When she’s not making up stories, or being a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, cat-mom, or makeover artist, you’ll find her making music on the piano.

Arlene is a member of Romance Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, Toronto Romance Writers, SOWG, and the Golden Network. She’s won and placed in over 30 contests, including twice in the Golden Heart and twice in the Daphne du Maurier.

Arlene lives with her family in Canada.

Website * Facebook * Facebook Group * Twitter * Pinterest * Amazon * Goodreads

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BOOK REVIEW - Decker by Eden Summers, a romantic suspense

DECKER

By Eden Summers

ღ˚ •。* ˚ ˚✰˚ ˛★* 。 ღ˛° 。* ° ˚ • ★ *˚ .ღ 。 

4 stars - ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Mysterious, secretive and twisty beyond belief - that covers the plot, as well as both Keira and Decker!

Decker took me through the whole gamut of emotions, from lust to anger, betrayal to hope, despair and forgiveness. I thought that Keira and Decker were really well written characters, they had depth and even though there were times when I didn't like their actions, I totally loved them as 'people'. Never judge a book by it's cover and don't judge this pair by first impressions.... whilst both characters are very likeable, they both have their own secrets and dark sides.

The plot is twisty and intriguing, this romantic suspense takes us on one heck of a ride. There were a few times, in the first half of the book, when personally I felt the pace dragged briefly. However it wasn't enough to make the book boring and, once we really start getting to the truths hidden under the layers of lies that make up this pair, the action was almost non-stop.

It was good to see more of Hunter and Sarah, though if really don't need to have read Hunter to enjoy this book. I loved that twist at the end, which isn't quite a cliff-hanger (we do get a resolution for Keira and Decker) but does set up the next book really well.

ღ˚ •。* ˚ ˚✰˚ ˛★* 。 ღ˛° 。* ° ˚ • ★ *˚ .ღ 。 

Now an AMAZON INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

"A roller-coaster ride of thrills, danger, passion and betrayal." Spunky N Sassy Blog.

"I don't have words for how AMAZING this book is." Romance Novel Giveaways.

He protected me from danger and became my biggest threat.

He's my defender. My savior.
A brutally determined man with a cocky smirk and an equally cocky attitude.

Broad. Strong. Focused.
He seduces me with his flirtation.
Warms me with his care.

But he's hiding something.
There are ulterior motives beyond his concern for my security.
A thirst for more than my safe keeping.

I can't fall for him. Can't be tempted by his touch.

Not when he can't be trusted.

But questioning my protector means I've now become his target.

From bestselling author, Eden Summers, comes another seductively thrilling STANDALONE destined to leave you breathless.

ღ˚ •。* ˚ ˚✰˚ ˛★* 。 ღ˛° 。* ° ˚ • ★ *˚ .ღ 。 

Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Decker-Eden-Summers-ebook/dp/B07M6199B7

ღ˚ •。* ˚ ˚✰˚ ˛★* 。 ღ˛° 。* ° ˚ • ★ *˚ .ღ 。 

Ratings

5 stars - This is a book I will not forget and would definitely read again.

4 stars - I really enjoyed this book, I might not read it again but I would definitely recommend it to others.

3 stars - This story was good but either forgettable or just very typical of its genre.

2 stars - Whilst the book was readable I either didn't enjoy parts of the plot or just could not connect to the main characters.

1 star - This is a book I simply could not finish for reasons listed in the review.

ღ˚ •。* ˚ ˚✰˚ ˛★* 。 ღ˛° 。* ° ˚ • ★ *˚ .ღ 。 

BOOK REVIEW - 5 STARS Tamed by Felicity Brandon, A Dark Romance

Tamed

The Dark Necessities Book Two

Felicity Brandon

Genre: Dark Romance/Kidnap Thriller

Release Date: December 28, 2018

He took her, he caged her, but can he truly tame her?

Lost in the woods, author Molly Clary is running for her life. After being trapped in the torrid dark world of Connor Reilly, Molly has made a desperate escape from the tantalising torment, but little does she know what fate awaits her.

Connor is both a man and a monster, and in the depths of his depravity, something scintillating will bloom between them. Molly finds that she is falling for the sadist, a dangerous attraction that will take her right to the brink.

So, now it's Molly's choice. Can she manage the monster in order to lure the love of the man? A man who has already demonstrated just how cruel his sadistic streak can be? And when the truth is finally revealed, Molly will need to decide. Where do her true loyalties lie?

1-Click Tamed today to continue this dark, twisted trilogy.

Tamed is the heart-stopping continuation of the dark romance, Taken. Molly and Connor’s liaison concludes in the hotly anticipated, Entwined.

5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wowsers, an amazing, hot, twisty and totally-unexpected-in-direction follow-up to book #1.

Tamed by Felicity Brandon is the second book of a dark, capture trilogy, and is even more amazing than the first instalment. Having thoroughly enjoyed the first book, I couldn't wait to get this on my e-reader. I wasn't disappointed, this contained SO MANY surprises and Ms Brandon blew me away with it. I really didn't expect the story to move in the direction it did and that is a good thing. Instead of the usual capture/slave story we got a wonderful departure from the norm, yet it retained all the dark deliciousness that any good dark erotic romance needs.

The plot picks up immediately at the point where Taken left us, and things quickly take a turn for the worse for Molly. I really don't want to spoil the plot, so instead I'm going to tell you how the book made me feel. I started off by hating Connor, I would have happily danced on his grave at one point. This was followed by Molly doing something that led to a MAJOR turning point, and resulted in me developing a real soft spot for our devilish hero. We then learn some startling truths that challenged how I viewed both characters, followed by a HUGE plot twist that TOTALLY left me reeling. 

I loved how this part played out...particularly Molly's reaction to it all. So many books would have taken the easy route through this, but Felicity Brandon threw curve balls galore at us. Just like Connor plays with Molly's mind, this author has also played an amazing mind-f*** with this book. When is the next book out - I need it now!!!!

Felicity Brandon is a top 100 Amazon bestselling author. She loves the darker side of romance, and writes sexy, suspenseful stories, with strong themes of bondage and submission. You'll find her either at her laptop, at the gym, or rocking out to her favourite music. 

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Ratings


5 stars - This is a book I will not forget and would definitely read again.


4 stars - I really enjoyed this book, I might not read it again but I would definitely recommend it to others.


3 stars - This story was good but either forgettable or just very typical of its genre.


2 stars - Whilst the book was readable I either didn't enjoy parts of the plot or just could not connect to the main characters.


1 star - This is a book I simply could not finish for reasons listed in the review.