It's been a while since my teenage years but the Backstage Pass series took me back there for a brief visit. First crush, first love, first heartbreak are all relived though the pages of this awesome series. Talk about living vicariously. I'm not ashamed to admit Aimee, Mia, Daisy, Anya and Abby had me wishing for those days of carefree fun.
When bad weather closes the airport, free-spirited Jules Bloom finds herself stuck with the admittedly hot but total suit Dexter Elliott. One night and one large pitcher of “Vegas Sunrise” later, Jules wakes up in a hotel bed with a vicious hangover…wearing nothing but a wedding ring.
Determined not to ruin his brother's wedding, Dexter strikes a deal with the frustratingly gorgeous Jules to continue their quickie marriage through the weekend. Only she keeps getting under his skin in unexpected ways.
Jules has her own reasons for staying married to Dex but they seem less important with each exaggerated touch and staged kiss. But one marriage, one major secret, and two complete opposites don’t add up to a happily ever after…
Natalie Holden wants three things: To be the best chocolate chemist in Hershey, Pennsylvania, to prove her chocolate recipe can help teenage depression, and to get over her childhood crush. Work is Luke Elliott’s passion, and landing a huge promotion is just what he needs. What he doesn’t need is a crackpot trying to prove that chocolate cures depression. But Natalie Holden is his “what if” girl from high school, and there’s no denying the explosive chemistry that jeopardizes their jobs and their futures.
It's stories like this one that remind me why I love romance. Wife for the Weekend is full of surprises that are laugh out loud funny but also has those moments that tug at the heart. Jules is a free spirit and Dexter is a stuffed shirt. These two have nothing in common but the wedding their trying to attend. Who knew that wedding would end up being their own? I received an ARC of Wife for the Weekend in exchange for an honest review. This was such a fun read it was hard not be charmed by it.
How to Lose a Bachelor by Anna Banks
Excerpt #2
“Aaaand rolling!” Chris said, retaking the director’s seat a few feet away.
Grant could practically feel the cameras focusing back on him. “I’ve decided to be America’s reporter for the day,” he said, having already memorized his lines. “So I have a few questions to ask that I think everyone will want to know—including me.” Their eyes locked. So did Rochelle’s jaw. Grant paused for effect. Then, “Why on earth would you choose to audition for a sleezy show like Luring Love?”
“CUT!” yelled Chris.
“I mean, have you really drained the dating pool already?” Grant continued, getting angrier with each word out of his mouth. These were, after all, valid questions. Never in a million years would Rochelle have chased after a man—so why the hell was she here? “What would your mother say? Coming on a show like this to paw at a man who’s already got nine other women doing the same thing?”
“I said cut!” Chris growled.
“Oh, are we going to talk about mothers, then?” Rochelle flung back her hair. “Instead of dating pools, let’s talk about gene pools—and the fact that you and your four siblings originated from separate ones!”
“Cut, cut, cut!” Chris had his hand on Grant’s shoulder, but Grant wouldn’t turn his eyes away from Rochelle. Her expression read Challenge Accepted.
Did she really just insult his mother’s…need for variety in life? He couldn’t let that low blow go unpunished. “Let’s do talk about gene pools and how we both know that cleavage of that particular magnitude doesn’t run in your family.”
Taken aback, Rochelle clutched at her shirt. Grant felt a win on the horizon, if hurling mother insults could, in fact, be considered winning at anything. “It’s a halter top, moron. It’s designed for cleavage. Besides, you didn’t seem to be complaining when I walked in!” she added.
His mouth fell slightly ajar. She noticed me noticing. Did the crew? Will America? “It doesn’t suit you,” he blurted. A complete lie. It enhanced an already irresistible figure—so much so that he just might have been willing to change his general opinion on how much cleavage a woman should expose in public. In fact, he suspected he’d change his view on world peace if Rochelle sat on his lap and asked him to.
“Really? Everything underneath suited the hell out of you before!”
“For God’s sake,” Chris said, standing in front of Grant to block his view of Rochelle. “Are we speaking the same language?”
Kissing Her Crush by Ophelia London
Excerpt #3
“Natalie.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Let me just say—”
“Luke, don’t.” Tiny tears clung to her lashes, gutting him again. “I don’t want your pity—I couldn’t stand it. Not after…” She stopped like she couldn’t say the next word. “Not after everything.”
“Pity?” he repeated, wanting desperately to understand, but falling short like he always did with her. She turned to him, looking pale and so unhappy. “I know that’s how you feel, and I know what you’re thinking.”
She knew what he was thinking? He didn’t know what he was thinking, or what he was feeling. When he looked at this woman in the short dress and rubber boots, her hair blowing in the breeze around her tear-streaked face, he tried to pinpoint his feelings, name them. But there were so many he couldn’t grab hold of a single one.
All he knew for sure was he admired the hell out of her. No, it wasn’t admiration he felt. It was something else, something that made his heart pound when he looked at her, when he thought about her kindness, her stubborn determination, the way everything she did made him want a bigger life than even he’d planned, while driving him absolutely out of his head…his screwed-up head that wasn’t ready for a relationship.
Or was it?
“You have no idea what I’m thinking,” he said. “No idea what I’m feeling—about you.” He walked to her, reached out and touched her cheek. “But we both need to find out.”
Natalie and Luke have history together that only she can remember. A single incident that can make the past seem so painful and give no hope to the future. Can they get past the problems that haunt them?
Natalie is the leader of a clinical trial for depression in teenagers. Luke is a proctor for the trial, on behalf of the money lender. There is also an attraction between them that is almost a living thing. One they cannot act on if they are to remain objective.
Luke never comes back to his hometown. He came for this clinical trial, and will be gone when its over. The simple question is will he be leaving with his heart intact?
Natalie has grown up thinking Luke hung the moon. Now, as adults, are her feelings leftover from that crush or are they newer and more genuine? Will the fact that they work together stop them from trying to have a solid future?
What a surprise goody this book is! Such an amazing book with great banter, heartfelt longing, and a serious craving for chocolate. I found I liked the characters and their honesty. A good clean romance story from start to finish.
Log in with Facebook 
