Return to Mischief Bay with Susan Mallery

Description
After five years as a stay-at-home mom, Gabby Schaefer can't wait to return to work. Oh, to use the bathroom in peace! No twins clamoring at the door, no husband barging in, no stepdaughter throwing a tantrum. But when her plans are derailed by some shocking news and her husband's crushing expectations, Gabby must fight for the right to have a life of her own. 

Getting pregnant is easy for Hayley Batchelor. Staying pregnant is the hard part. Her husband is worried about the expensive fertility treatments and frantic about the threat to her health. But to Hayley, a woman who was born to be a mom should risk everything to fulfill her destiny—no matter how high the cost. 

Nicole Lord is still shell-shocked by a divorce that wasn't as painful as it should've been. Other than the son they share, her ex-husband left barely a ripple in her life. A great new guy tempts her to believe maybe the second time's the charm…but how can she trust herself to recognize true love?

I have never been a big fan of what I consider "women's fiction". I like my romances to focus on one couple and their building relationship. However, Susan Mallery is one of my favorite contemporary romance authors and so far, I have thoroughly enjoyed her Blackberry Island and Mischief Bay series. 

Gabby loves her husband and her children very much, but she cannot wait for school to start so that she can finally return to work. However, life throws the family a huge curveball regarding her step daughter and things within the family and the marriage get very, very shaky. Can Gabby save her marriage without losing sight of herself?

Nicole, whom we met in the previous novel, is finally divorced and learning to live life as a single mother. But her son's obsession with Brad the Dragon could bring someone new into their lives. 

All Hayley wants is a child of her own. She doesn't want to adopt, she wants a child from her own body, and she will do anything to get it, even though her body cannot take anymore. When her husband leaves because of the obsession that is killing her, Hayley must decide what is more important, her need for her own child or her husband.

These women, these friends, bring us into a world that can seem so much like our own lives sometimes. For the most part though, they get a happy ever after. I love the characters and the places we visit within the book. We see old characters and new characters, as is usual with Ms Mallery's books. It was nice to catch up with Pam and see how she is doing since her husband's death. 

If you haven't read Susan Mallery yet, ya need to get busy. She is a fantastic author!

The Argeneaus return in an all new book by Lynsay Sands "Runaway Vampire"

Description:

Dante Notte has heard it said that love hurts. He just wasn’t expecting it to run him over in an RV. Still, a punctured lung and broken ribs are nothing compared to the full body shock he feels whenever he’s near the vehicle’s driver, Mary Winslow. He needs to keep her safe from their pursuers while he rescues his brother. Most challenging of all, he needs to claim this smart, stubborn woman as his life mate.

The naked, injured, insanely gorgeous younger man who clambered into her RV insists they belong together. If Mary wasn’t feeling their incredible connection in every inch of her being, she wouldn’t believe it. But now that the men who took Dante’s twin are after her too, trusting her gut means risking her life for an Immortal who’s the very definition of a perfect stranger.


I had a difficult time getting into this book to start with. I am not accustomed to reading about a 62 year old woman with a 25 looking man, so it was hard to keep going until Mary went through the change. However I really did like the story. I wished we had more action scenes like the other books. 

Widowed Mary Winslow doesn't know what to think when her RV hits something, but when she stopped to check, she didn't see anything. What she didn't see was wounded Dante , naked and bleeding, slipping into the RV and hiding in the bedroom. Dante had escaped kidnappers and accidently ran into the RV as Mary was traveling. When Mary finds him, she is at a loss as to how he crawled into the RV when he had to have been badly wounded. 

Using mind control, he takes the blood he needs from a doctor and EMTs at a truck stop that Mary gets help from. But he let Mary know he was in danger and she continued to allow him to travel with her. She is drawn to Dante and doesn't know why, but is upset with herself because she is so much older than he is. 

I have been reading this series for many years now, and even so I enjoy each book very  much. They are light and fun instead of dark and dangerous. The stories make you smile and it is interesting to see where life mates in previous books are at now. There is always an element of mystery to the story, such as this one where Dante is driven to find his kidnappers because they still have his twin brother. Ms Sands is always worth the read, no matter what she writes and I am thankful to have had her stories in my life for many years.

Debut author Sarah Ahiers brings us a tale of assassins and betrayal. Amazing story!

Seventeen-year-old Lea Saldana is a trained assassin. She was born into one of the nine clipper Families in the kingdom of Lovero who lawfully take lives for a price. As a member of the highest-ranking clan, loyalty to Family is valued above all, but that doesn't stop Lea from getting into a secret relationship with Val Da Via, a boy from a rival clan. Despite her better judgment, Lea has fallen in love with him; but she's confident she can anticipate any threat a mile away.

Then she awakens one night to a house full of smoke. Although she narrowly escapes, she isn't able to save her Family as their home is consumed by flames. With horror, she realizes that Val and his Family are the only ones who could be responsible. Devastated over his betrayal and the loss of her clan, there's just one thing on her mind: making the Da Vias pay. The heart of this assassin craves revenge.

I have been desperate to find good reading since I finished the fourth Throne of Glass book. Female assassins are a thing now, and they have captured my interest. I read Graceling years ago and enjoyed it. I was really excited about this book, and it was worth the read.

Lea knows her forbidden romance with Val Da Via is wrong, but she can't help how she feels. But when her family is betrayed and killed in their home, Lea barely manages to escape. Now she is out for revenge. The only person who can help her is her exiled uncle. So, she tracks him down to ask for his help.

Her Uncle Marcello refuses to help but Lea meets his apprentice, Alessio, and offers to help train him in exchange for his help. 

 Really, I won't go on and on and tell the whole story, but this book was great. It also had an ending, so not sure if it is going to be a series or a single title. Either way, I think Ahiers created a fascinating world where assassins are revered for their work. It was an interesting story.