BLOG TOUR: Just a Taste - Anise Starre

A Christmas romance featuring a personal chef who is snowed-in with her least favourite client – a sexy but miserable technopreneur.

The only thing personal chef Noelle Jones loves more than cooking is Christmas. She has a roster of extremely wealthy clients, including the elusive and stoic Alexander Hoxton.

When he asks her to cook a last-minute business meal he’s having, offering triple her pay for the short notice, Noelle jumps at the chance. It’s easy money, one of her favourite dishes and she'll still have plenty of time to get to her family’s annual Christmas reunion.

But, when a sudden blizzard leaves Noelle snowed-in with Alexander, she quickly realises he wants absolutely nothing to do with anything festive. Stuck with a veritable grinch, she’s sure this Christmas is about to become one of her worst . . .

 

What did I think?

Wrap up warm when you pick up Just a Taste; you're about to get snowed in with a sexy businessman and his personal chef.  The heating might go on the blink but Alex will get your blood flowing and Noelle will keep you well fed.

I loved both Noelle and Alex.  Noelle is a talented chef who is very family oriented and humble.  Alex is a brooding businessman who makes Mr Darcy look positively cheerful.  The story is written with a dual point of view so the reader knows what's going on in their heads despite their frosty actions towards each other.  

The forced proximity trope is in full force when Noelle gets snowed in with Alex a few days before Christmas.  Noelle just wants to get to her Gran's house to celebrate Christmas with her family and Alex just wants to be by himself to forget that it's even Christmas.  As his reasons for hating Christmas come out, I wanted to reach into the book and give Alex a huge hug but Noelle got there first!

The sexual tension sizzles throughout as neither character wants to cross the employee/employer line but the heart wants what the heart wants!  I definitely saved a few pence on the central heating while I was reading as there's so much heat that the book almost spontaneously combusted in my hands.

Just a Taste is a festive, fun and flirty feast.  It would make a fabulous Christmas movie and I'd love to see it on my screen in the future.  A highly recommended read for the festive season.

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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BLOG TOUR: One in a Million - Beverley Kendall

A fun, spicy romcom with the poignancy of Abby Jimenez and a modern twist on “surprise baby” for fans of Jasmine Guillory.

Megastar Whitney “Sahara” Richardson has everything planned - including when she’ll have kids. But a medical mix-up makes her the biological mother of a child she didn’t carry and whose father she’s never met. 

 

World-famous Whitney “Sahara” Richardson is at the top of her game. With four Grammys, an Oscar nod, and a half-billion-dollar clothing line, her career is skyrocketing. Even her headline-grabbing dating life is looking up. And if everything goes as planned, marriage and children are just a few years away. However, a mix-up at the fertility clinic where her eggs are stored puts the cart before the horse, and Sahara suddenly has a daughter... whose biological father is reluctant to share.

What did I think?

Having read Token last year (which gave readers a sneaky peek at One in a Million), I was like a cat on hot bricks as I patiently awaited Sahara's story.  I have to say that it was well worth the wait as I absolutely loved it.

Sahara is a global megastar but when the cameras stop rolling she becomes Whitney Richardson, a down-to-earth woman who might want children some day.  That day comes a lot sooner than she planned when the fertility clinic calls to admit to a terrible mistake: Whitney's egg has been mixed up with another woman's and there's now a mixed-race 6 month old little girl who is paying the consequences of this horrendous error. 

Holly Redmond demanded a DNA test when she suspected that baby Haylee wasn't her daughter...but to complicate matters further, the DNA test confirms that Holly's husband Myles is Haylee's father.  As soon as her suspicions are confirmed, Holly gives Myles an ultimatum: choose either her or Haylee.  Myles doesn't have to think twice so it's him and Haylee from now on...until Whitney asks to meet her.

Whoa the chemistry between Myles and Whitney almost causes sparks to fly off the page and the sexual tension crackles and fizzles until the inevitable conclusion.  I loved seeing how Miles and Whitney's relationship grew as well as witnessing Whitney's instant love for Haylee.  

Fun, emotional and a little bit steamy, One in a Million is a fresh and flirty romance with a lot of heart.  It's a bit like an adult fairy tale with a Wicked Witch, a Prince Charming and not one but two Princesses but you'll just have to read it for yourself to see if they all lived Happily Every After.

 

I received an ARC to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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BLOG TOUR: Helen and the Grandbees - Alex Morrall

 

Forgetting your past is one thing, but living with your present is entirely different.

Twenty years ago, Helen is forced to give up her newborn baby, Lily. Now living alone in her small flat, there is a knock at the door and her bee, her Lily, is standing in front of her.

Reuniting means the world to them both, but Lily has questions. Lots of them. Questions that Helen is unwilling to answer. In turn Helen watches helplessly as her headstrong daughter launches from relationship to relationship, from kind Andrew, the father of her daughter, to violent Kingsley who fathers her son.

When it’s clear her grandbees are in danger, tangled up in her daughter’s damaging relationship, Helen must find the courage to step in, confronting the fears that haunt her the most.

Told in Helen’s quirky voice Helen and the Grandbees addresses matters of identity, race and mental illness.

What did I think?

Oh my goodness, Helen and the Grandbees is such an emotive book that touches on some hard-hitting subjects with sensitivity and grace.  Alex Morrall has created such a wonderful character in Helen and she has wedged herself so firmly in my heart that I will never forget her.

Helen's quirky voice is apparent from the very first page and it is clear from the prologue that we are in for a heart-wrenching story.  It seems at times that Helen is stuck in her little girl body; she is still innocent and almost childlike in a way, despite the awful things that have happened to her.  Helen learnt about the birds and bees the hard way but the worst thing for Helen was having to give up her little bee, Lily.  Twenty years pass before Lily comes back to Helen in search of her heritage.

Now named Ingrid, Lily wants answers that Helen can't give her.  Helen won't divulge any details of Lily's father or even Helen's own parents and Lily is understandably upset and frustrated with Helen.  It was heartbreaking to see how this affected Lily's fledgling relationship with Helen and Lily was so self-centred that she couldn't see what damage was being done to Helen by dredging up the past.

Alex Morrall’s writing is absolutely beautiful and Helen and the Grandbees is a stunning debut.  There are some difficult subjects touched upon which give the story a dark undercurrent but Helen's quirky voice, and indeed her strength, make it such an uplifting and hopeful read.  I loved it and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

Thank you to Legend Press for my gifted copy; this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

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