The Beau and the Belle by RS Grey

Blurb:

Beau Fortier starred in most of my cringe-worthy teenage fantasies.

I met him when I was a junior in high school, a time that revolved exclusively around bad hair, failed forays into flirting, and scientific inquiries into which brand of toilet paper worked best for stuffing bras.

That is, until Beau moved into the small guest house just beyond my bedroom window.

A 24-year-old law student at Tulane, Beau was as mysterious to me as second base (both in baseball and in the bedroom). He was older. Intimidating. Hot. Boys my age had chicken legs and chubby cheeks. Beau had calloused hands and a jaw cut from steel. Our interactions were scarce—mostly involving slight stalking on my end—and yet deep down, I desperately hoped he saw me as more of a potential lover than a lovesick loser.

Turns out, I was fooling myself. My fragile ego learned that lesson the hard way.

Now, ten years later, we’re both back in New Orleans, and guess who suddenly can’t take his eyes off little ol’ me.

My old friend, Mr. Fortier.

But things have changed. I’m older now—poised and confident. My ego wears a bulletproof vest. The butterflies that once filled my stomach have all perished.

When I was a teenager, Beau warned me to guard my heart.

Let’s hope he knows how to guard his.

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Purchase Links:

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2CjrHuP

Amazon PB: http://amzn.to/2spPTfk

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2o2U23o

Amazon AU: http://amzn.to/2EmTqwx

Kristine's Review:
Reviewed: February 2018.

I've been such a huge fan of RS Grey's for a long time now, in fact when I first discovered Grey's unique narrative I was so infatuated that I devoured every title in her back catalogue that was available. I spent days lost in a Rachel Grey bubble and I loved every single second of it. Her subsequent releases have often hit my best of each years top buying guide, without a doubt she is and will continue to be a must read author for me. It's the reason why this review is so hard to write because unfortunarely The Beau and the Belle was not for me, I struggled to connect in the way I usually would with Grey's words. I found myself putting it down in the early chapters and when I picked it back up not finding that thing that would grab me and fail to let go.

“It didn't eat away at him like it did me. I wanted us to both suffer & that's why I'm here now. He owes me heartache.”

I continued but failed to truly connect with the story the way I'm accustomed to with Grey's work, while I could recognise the strength of her talent, and a well crafted story, I found I lacked that illusive oomph that usually has me so invested in Grey's characters that I find it near impossible to stop for even the briefest of breaks. While I did eventually find my AHAAA moment at the half way mark, my inability to initially connect hampered my enjoyment through the second half of the story.

“When I'm 40, I'll be able to re-enact this scene for my therapist with chilling accuracy”

I desperately wanted to love Beau and Lauren, and there were moments where my hope glimmered, this story was never quite the perfect fit for me. Funny in parts, sweet most definitely, The Beau and the Belle will no doubt be a hit for many, unfortunately it wasn't my favourite.

About RS Grey:

R.S. Grey is the USA Today bestselling author of fourteen novels, including THE FORTUNATE ONES. She loves books, chocolate, reality TV, and cold weather. She lives in Texas with her husband, daughter, and two dogs. 

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True Crime, Active Shooters and Gun Control.

The week of Christmas I was made redundant from my job, in the weeks that followed as I started studiously applying for jobs, I would reward myself each day with an hour of television. Long before I discovered Romance I was a self proclaimed lover of True Crime. I was known to devour books on serial killers and mass murderers, the psychology behind their decisions and reasons for "snapping" intrigued me, in all honesty it's why I chose electives at University like Abnormal Psychology.

There was one time years ago when flying that a stewardess asked me what I was so intently invested in that I didn't even notice that dinner service had begun. I was showed her my book, Whoever Fights Monsters by Robert K. Ressler and Tom Shachtman with it's dark cover and title it's no wonder she was surprised. The truth is the inner workings of a depraved mind has long instilled in me a sense of intrigue.

Fast forward back to mid January when I was searching the Australian paid television network Stan, I stumbled on a documentary series that caught my eye. Active Shooter: American Under Fire. Each episode focuses on a mass shooting in recent years, speaking with law enforcement and first responders from the day, family members of those who lost their lives, injured victims, and in some cases even family members of the perpetrator. It's a sombre look into the lives of those impacted in the most personal of ways by these crimes. It examines the procedures first responders follow and the changes that have been made since as local law makers and politicians try to come to terms with a growing death toll. It examines the lives of those left behind and the long lasting trauma left on the heroic first responders that ran in when most of us would want to run out.

 It almost seems surreal now, that weeks after watching this series in the comfort of my own home, a world away another tragedy is unfolding. A nineteen year old former student opened fire on unsuspecting students and teachers at a Parkland Florida High School killing seventeen. My first reaction was what, how, why.... now I'm sitting here wondering how much more it will take before law makers do something instead of trotting out the old adage "guns don't kill people, people kill people."

After Columbine we said we would learn, and here we are almost twenty years later with no change, no tighter gun control laws, and more active shooter situations then ever before. Semi automatic and automatic weapons have only one purpose and that’s to kill lots of people in the shortest amount of time possible. These are not weapons needed by farmers, hunters or recreational shooters. This isn’t about constitutional rights, this is about changing and tightening laws to make your people safer.

Before you say but the shooter clearly has mental health issues...I'm certainly no refuting that, there’s no doubt that the lack of mental health care and preventive measures have played a role in this, and no doubt the stigma attached to mental health has not helped, but tougher gun laws means that people can’t easily access weapons like this. Columbine, San Bernardino, Charlestown, Washington, Orlando, Oak Creek, Santa Monica, Las Vegas, Connecticut.... how many more people have to die before the American people say no more?

And before we get in to the disabling of Constitutional rights, any responsible gun owner will tell you the prime use of semi automatic and automatic weapons, more over they will also tell you there’s no need for them. The truly disturbing fact is in the days that follow we will rage against the system, we will scream how unjust and unfair this is. We’ll cry for those injured and murdered, and we’ll tell ourselves never again.... but before injured victims are even released from hospital, long before the shooter even stands trial we will forget. Parkland Florida will just be another location like Columbine Colorado, Santa Monica California, or Newtown Connecticut, like countless other places that saw death and destruction.

In the last few years of my retail career I'd attended copious rounds of active shooter training, what to do if an active shooter situation was to occur in the shopping centre I was working in...get your customers and your staff into your backroom, close the shutters, turn off the lights and barricade yourselves in with your mobile phones and anything nearby you could use as a weapon, get low and stay quiet. Did you know that the training for first responders since Columbine has changed time and time again as they try to find the best method to take down the shooter/s. Because in the time it takes to secure and clear the scene and find the shooter/s, injured people are bleeding out and dying. First responders are being trained to go against their primal instinct and usual training to stop and render aid and to secure the scene first. 

In the days and weeks that follow today I hope for a different outcome, I hope that the tears and outrage that will inevitably turn to thoughts and prayers, that will culminate in calls to action will change the trajectory of gun control for the American people. I hope that instead of the empty promises that politicians will surely trot out, we see a swelling of ground support that says we want preventative measures put in place instead of tears and platitudes in the aftermath. I hope we see a different America then the one we see today, where school shootings, and active shooters are not merely our new normal.

The Upside To Being Single by Emma Hart

Blurb:

If anyone asks, I knew better than to flash my boobs for Mardi Gras beads.

I still don’t know why I did it.
Maybe it was the dare from my two best friends.
Maybe it was the guys on the balcony saying they’d throw Fireball shots with the beads.
Or maybe it was the quiet guy in the corner of that same balcony with piercing gray eyes, wavy dark hair, and a smile so tempting I wanted to climb up there and lick it off his face.
Maybe it was because I never thought I’d see them again.
Not that it matters. Not today.
Because the hotel I manage was finally bought—and the guy who walks in and introduces himself as my new boss is Mr. Tall, Dark, and Silent.

There are many upsides to being single.
Your new boss knowing what your boobs look like?
Not one of them.

(THE UPSIDE TO BEING SINGLE is a standalone, romantic comedy from the author who brought you MISS FIX-IT and BEING BROOKE.)

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Purchase Links:

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2GzEpZL

Amazon AU: http://amzn.to/2rTVjPz

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2DRoA2W

Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/2B42jN8
Nook: http://bit.ly/2xBTDYB
iBooks: http://apple.co/2gfZmkl
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2kJEV0A

Kristine's Review:

Reviewed: February 2018.

I'll be honest, Emma Hart has been on my radar for a while now, I've one clicked book after book of her most recent releases, each filled with quirky, bright covers and fun, catchy names, and yet somewhere along the way, during a time where far too much overtime was logged and distractions seem to mount, they found their way to my To Be Read pile, instead of my What I'm Reading Now pile. The Upside To Being Single though... that cover, the opening line of the blurb, the fact that the author would be signing at an Author Event I'm co-hosting in mere months meant I had to dive right in and forsake job hunting (what I am doing right now should any family members ask).

I often wonder if there is important information I should be privy to before I dive into a new to me authors work, with little more than a handful of online conversations with the author herself and a fun blurb I switched on my kindle and got to work. Almost instantly I felt a connection to Melanie “Mellie” Rogers, I mean for starters my maiden name is Rogers so there's that, but after twenty years working in customer service, retail and hospitality that opening scene made me smile for all the right reasons. There's a saying that the customer is always right, let me tell you that you'll disagree with that statement quick smart after handling ridiculous requests, rude customers and silly complaints on  daily basis. It's not all bad though, in between the newest entries into the MOST BIZARRE CUSTOMER File each customer service manager complies mentally, there are days filled with happy customers and great friends. Add to the obvious connections, is my uncanny ability to do something stupid when I have an audience, if its not making bad decisions, it's falling over, slipping, stumbling or just being downright awkward. 

Mellie is without a doubt one of those heroines you want to know in real life, funny, real, self deprecating, she may have doubts about her ability to adult most of the time, but her skills, experience and personality is what makes her the perfect person to manage the aging complex she has devoted the last several years to. Her voice is both young and genuine and her often awkward moments only make her more endearing. 

“Because you are a spitfire. You’re so gentle but at the same time, you’re incredible, fierce.”

Jacob Creed is every bit of the Tall, Dark & Silent Mellie purports him to be, the dual POV added to my enjoyment, giving me the insight into his thoughts and actions, his initial thoughts of a more intimate nature are clear, but so is his enjoyment of the continued interactions. 

This book hit all the right marks for me to forget time and just revel in the sights and sounds of New Orleans. If I wasn't already desperate to travel to NOLA and experience Mardi Gras I would be adding it to my travel bucket list. A book filled with chemistry, exuding fun and frivolity, with a heroine who expunged all the reasons why dating and settling down was absolutely the wrong choice for her, to a hero who proves that finding someone who not only accepts your quirks but relishes them is the very best rebuttal to her argument. For an introduction to Emma Hart's writing The Upside To Being Single seemed to be the perfect choice, sexy, light and filled with laughs.

About Emma Hart:

Emma Hart is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over twenty novels and has been translated into several different languages. She first put fingers to keys at the age of eighteen after her husband told her she read too much and should write her own.
Four years later, she's still figuring out what he meant when he said she 'read too much.'

She prides herself on writing smart smut that's filled with dry wit, snappy, sarcastic comebacks, but lots of heart... And sex. Sometimes, she kills people. (Disclaimer: In books. But if you bug her, she'll use your name for the victims.)

Connect with Emma on Facebook