{Romance Minute Review} Midwinter Magic (Nether-Netherland) by Erica Ridley

After an eye-opening congressional hearing, former corporate shark Jack Morgan redirects his ill-gotten gains toward charity work. However, his attempts to bring holiday cheer to a Bolivian village meet with one disaster after another: canceled flights, crumbling luggage, implacable customs officials. His plans disintegrate further when he runs into a sexy tourist with . . . wings?

As Jack's guardian angel, Sarah Phimm has her work cut out for her. When his latest volunteer mission risks his life, she's forced to reveal herself to him—but only in part. She can't risk him knowing the truth. He's everything her immortal heart desires, but can never have. She soon discovers that keeping him safe amidst death bridges and tumbling telephone poles is far easier than guarding her heart. (Blurb via Goodreads)

{Details} ebook. Published November 20th 2013 by Smashwords Edition. Source: ebook provided through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

{Rating} 3/5 - I liked it!

{Review}

"Jack Morgan swung his heavy burlap sacks off the back of the strangers' pickup truck." (page 1, line 1)

A cute, fast, heartwarming story. Jack is generous, enthusiastic, selfless, dedicated to making amends for a life where he wasn't so generous and selfless and is absolutely determined to making Christmas fabulous for a poor town in Bolivia.

Sarah is a guardian angel who has spent centuries watching every moment of her charges' lives. Jack is her latest charge and though she's determined to keep him alive and do her job to the best of her abilities she can't help but falling in love with him. And that's just the first rule she breaks. How are they going to get their happily ever after when everything seems against them?

Teaser Tuesday (78) Pairing Off + Midwinter Magic

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read(s)
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) -- or less or more -- “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

"His heart pounded and his mouth felt dry. It all made sense."

eARC, location 1236, Pairing Off by Elizabeth Harmon

"A tree! Aren't you helping? I thought your job was to pay attention."
"My job is to not let anything kill you. I'm not required to listen to botany monologues."

eARC, location 1010, Midwinter Magic by Erica Ridley

Teaser Tuesday (77) Let it Snow + Vixen in Velvet

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read(s)
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) -- or less or more -- “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

"It gets better?' she asked quietly.
He laid his cheek against the top of her head. "So I'm told."
She nodded. She understood what hadn't been said. Of course it didn't get better. How could it? One simply continued living."

location 1306, Let it Snow by Erica Ridley

"Leonie didn't so much as raise an eyebrow.
Inside, though, the Leonies were looking at each other and saying, What? How did he know?""

page 152, Vixen in Velvet by Loretta Chase

{Romance Minute Review} Let it Snow by Erica Ridley

Adventurer Lance Desmond needs to produce a fortune before his arch-rival collects the bounty on his head. He risks an ancient curse to retrieve treasure hidden within icebound Castle Cavanaugh, only to become trapped inside. Not with the gold he so desperately needs, but with medieval Princess Marigold who's been cooling her heels since... well, medieval times.

The lonely princess refuses to acknowledge the blossoming attraction between them. Not just because she deserves a better future than a penniless rogue. But because at midnight, he'll vanish like all her other would-be heroes. And the evergreen in the parlor will have one more figurine hanging from its boughs... (Blurb via Goodreads)

{Details} ebook, 200 pages. Published December 15th 2013 by Intrepid Reads (first published December 13th 2013). Source: ebook provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

{Rating} 4/5 - I really liked it!

{Review}

"After another long spell of swashbuckling and bounty hunting, Lance Desmond could barely wait to hang up his sword." (page 1, line 1)

It took me awhile to get into it. I picked it up and put it down several times, but I powered through and am so glad I did. I loved Lance and Marigold. Lance is brash and good-natured, quick to anger, quick to forgive. He's a tarnished knight with a really good heart. Marigold is a little quirky - no doubt due to hundreds of years of enforced solitude - but she's strong, resilient, haunted and guilty.

I liked the mix of worlds, magic and technology, the past and the present. It was amusing to see Marigold learning about the ever changing technology - and of course, her enthusiasm over ebooks. The romance was slow and sweet - with a bit of steam - and Lance and Marigold were perfect for each other.

 

{Romance Review} Charmed (Nether-Netherland) by Erica Ridley

Prepare to be... Charmed!

Daisy le Fey is good at a lot of things. Math, science, accidentally turning people into pumpkins... Unfortunately, she's not good at the one thing hiring managers look for when filling open positions for magical beings: Magic.

When she jeopardizes her apprenticeship by getting involved with sexy mortal Trevor Masterson, it's one disaster too many. In order to stay out of purgatory, she's going to have to ditch the human—and her one chance at true love.(less)

{Details} ebook, 300 pages. Published December 20th 2012 by Intrepid Reads (first published December 14th 2012) . Source: Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

 

{Rating} 3/5 - I liked it! 

 

{Review}

"Two troublesome occurrences jerked anthropologist Trevor Masterson from an  exhaustion-induced slumber."(page 1, line 1)

Charmed was charming. 

 

Daisy is determined, brilliant - at science, something that isn't valued in a world filled with magic, tenacious, and unwavering in her goal to earn her wings. I felt for her as she struggled with her desire for acceptance because in her world of Nether-Netherland wings equals acceptance.

Trevor is as determined as Daisy. He's determined to get tenure. He's determined not to let Daisy distract him from his goal even as he finds himself more and more interested, intrigued and then obsessed with the woman who he thinks is crazy.

I didn't really feel the romance between Daisy and Trevor until maybe the last quarter of the book but I was all in by the time when Trevor, having finally figured out how he feels about Daisy, did his arts and crafts project. Adorable. The book felt a little long, I found my mind wandering and wanted to skip ahead, but I did enjoy the story and the characters.

Teaser Tuesday (68) Charmed

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read(s)
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) -- or less or more -- “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

"I'm not Catholic. I would've never guessed that Purgatory was a supply closet.."

location 3739, Charmed by Erica Ridley