Let's Get Textual & I Wanna Text You Up by Teagan Hunter

Blurb:

A wrong number is supposed to be just that—a wrong number.

Delete. Done.

Do not continue to text. Do not flirt.

A wrong number shouldn’t be the first person on your mind in the morning, or the last at night…and you’re definitely not supposed to talk them into buying a baby goat.

Because that would be weird.

When Zach Hastings and I get into a wrong-number mix-up, we don’t follow the rules. We keep texting and flirting, because he’s wicked funny and perfectly nerdy and a wonderful distraction.

I’m not looking for love, and Zach definitely had the wrong number.

But maybe…

Maybe he’s the right guy.

Find on Goodreads

Purchase Links:

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2Kxnk4i

Amazon PB: https://amzn.to/2tNnhdu

Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/2Knk4g1

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2lHwjVF

Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2Kvpwta

Kristine's Review:

Reviewed: June 2018.

HOLY MOLY!! Seriously, where did this book come from, I'll be honest here and say Teagan Hunter is a new to me author, I was scrolling through a book recommendation thread in a book group on Facebook looking for authors and titles similar to the likes of Mariana Zapata, Sally Thorne, Christina Lauren, Alice Clayton, Helen Hoang, books that had that illusive spark we all seek. Something funny, a little zany, with witty banter, sizzling chemistry, with a depth that draws the reader in almost immediately...you know the unicorn of ROM COM world. I stumbled upon a post absolutely RAVING about Teagan Hunter, as soon as I read the duet titles I ran (figuratively of course, we all know I don't run... anywhere...ever) and #1clicked those badboys like it was a fire sale on lipstick.

I mean seriously....LET'S GET TEXTUAL... I love me so wordy jokes, they're so punny.... (I'll be here all week, try the chicken) any who I'm getting distracted, the point it, the titles alone drew me in, before I had seen the cover or read a blurb, and you want to know the best part? The first chapter absolutely sold me, witty dialogue, a meet cute I could go gaga over, this book played like a movie through mind, I was and in truth, still am absolutely smitten by Hunter's words. 

Delia, is newly single - despite it being a very amicable break up, she's still feeling the loss of something that was comforting if nothing else. Caleb wasn't her meant to be, there were no fireworks, no desperation to be near each other, no deep and meaningful conversations, it was a surface level relationship that was easy and fun, until it wasn't anymore. Not looking to jump back into the dating game, her focus is classes, hanging out with her bestie and roommate Zoe, and that's about it. When she receives a text from an unknown number she doesn't think much of it, chalking it up to her brother losing his phone yet again. As the texts continue she realises there's been a mix up of epic proportions. 

Enter Zack, when his roommate flubs the number of a business contact, he ends up sending a text to Delia. instead of an oops sorry wrong number, what follows is a steady stream of messages that both Delia and Zack enjoy far more than they could have anticipated. 

“You’re a cool dude.”

“A cool dude, huh? That’s what you call your best friend, or a guy you’ve stuck in the friend zone, not someone you keep kissing. Are you trying to friend-zone me, Delia?”

Let's Get Textual was fun, and light, and I found myself giggling while stopped at lights in traffic while my audio played, those two plus hours spent commuting to and from work suddenly felt too quick. I didn't want to leave my car, often finding myself squirrelling away extra moments to read one more chapter before heading into work, or home from my driveway. 

“Will you go on a second date with me?”

“We’re still in the middle of our first date, Zach. You can’t just ask me that out of the blue.”

“I already did, and I refuse to take it back.”

“What if I don’t like you by the end of this date?” I volley back.

“You honestly think that’s possible?” His dimples poke through his smile, and I know right then I’m going to say yes. “Say yes, Delia. Be wild. Do something crazy and fun.”

Zack is deliciously nerdy, and Delia, well she's got this take no sh*t vibe without the resting bitch face which I adored. It was their quirkiness that I loved, the back and forth, the push and pull that I found so enthralling, it was cute, and fun, and sweet, and sexy and so damn funny that it was absolutely impossible to put down, and that baby goat...don't even get me started on him...do yourself a favour a #1click Let's Get Textual now.

Blurb:

ROOMMATE WANTED
Chicks or dudes welcome!

Looking for a new roomie? I have a place for you! Like your music loud? I own headphones. Enjoy having late-night guests over? Again, headphones. Want someone to help pay the bills? Do the dishes? Take out the trash? You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours (metaphorically, of course).

Check us out, getting along already.

Must be able to pay first and last month's rent up front.
Must be okay with Breakfast & Beats.
No dogs.
No trying to sleep with me.
Two bedrooms. One bathroom.
$350/month plus electricity.

If interested, email ineedarobin@gmail.com.
P.S. Wiener pics sent directly to my grandmother. Don't do that crap to her.

This book does feature characters from Let's Get Textual but can be read as a standalone as the book does not follow the same timeline.

Find on Goodreads

Purchase Links:

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2IE5MBA

Amazon PB: https://amzn.to/2IF59Yz

Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/2KkVc8r

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2KmYfwI

Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2yVCWNL

Kristine's Review:

Reviewed: June 2018.

After the glorious high that was Let's Get Textual I had HIGH expectations, I mean come on... a baby goat... (trust me you'll understand when you read it) knowing I was diving into Zoe's story... well that had me positively giddy! Zoe as a supporting character in LGT was hilarious, but as the heroine she had a depth I didn't expect. When her bestie and roommate Delia moves out she needs to find a new roomie. In typical Zoe fashion her help ad is quirky and hilarious. 

Her search yields only one true candidate and it's the last person she could of expected, or wanted to be in such close proximity to. For the sake of keeping this review spoiler free I'm going to call the hero Mr C. These two are no strangers to one another, although they were never what you would call friends, they've spent sometime together while in college. Those surface level friendships we all have in life, deeper than an acquaintance but not someone you'd necessarily call to spend time with. Only lately Zoe has found her attention drifting to Mr C more than she expected.

“Where you’re from? That’s not you. Your dreams, your goals, those aspirations you hold so dear to your heart? Those are you. The rest of it only defines you as much as you let it.”

To the outside world Mr C seems to have his life together, talented, genuinely nice, everything he does he gives 100% too, but beneath the bright smile is a past that haunts him. Mr C is in need of a new place to stay, a place that is clean and quiet, with a roommate that won't ask too many questions or force him to open up and share anything real about himself.

"You know that's when I really started noticing you too. I mean, you were always this kind of force to be reckoned with, but it wasn't until Delia went though all that sh*t and you were there for her that I realized how great you really were."

When Zoe and Mr C collide, it's earth shattering for both of them, neither have ever sought anything more than surface level attachment, Zoe too scared to put her heart on the line, and Mr C to scared to open his life to prying and judgemental eyes. 

I Wanna Text You Up was fun, and flirty, with the witty banter I expected, and the kind of chemistry that burns up the page, but it also had a depth that sung to my heart, willing me to feel these characters intrinsically. Where Let's Get Textual was all about taking a leap, a chance on someone new, I Wanna Text You Up, was all about being willing to open yourself up to someone else, and having enough faith that what others saw there was enough to make them want to stay, it's the subtle messages that stay with me long after I turn the last page. This duet was wickedly fun, super sweet, quirky dialogue that made it utterly impossible not to be invested in the characters story. An absolute must read.

About Teagan Hunter:

I’m a Missouri-raised gal, but currently live in North Carolina with my US Marine husband and 8-year-old Miniature Pinscher. I spend my days begging him for a cat, and I survive off coffee, pizza, and sarcasm. When I’m not writing, you can find me binge-watching various TV shows, especially Supernatural and One Tree Hill. I like cold weather, buy more paperbacks than I’ll ever read, and I never say no to brownies.

Connect with Teagan on Facebook

A Place In The Sun by R.S. Grey

24/10/2016

Blurb:

When her mother’s incessant matchmaking hits an all-time high, Georgie Archibald does what any sensible woman would do: she flees the country.

Seeking refuge in the picturesque seaside village of Vernazza, Italy, Georgie’s only plan is to lie low, gorge herself on gelato, and let the wine and waves wash her troubles away...that is until she wakes up in a bed that belongs to the most romantic-looking man she’s ever seen.

Gianluca.

After going out of his way to rescue her, the former London financier turned mysterious recluse makes it clear that despite acting as her white knight, he has no plans to co-star in her fairytale.

But Georgie isn’t asking for his heart—she’s merely intrigued.

After all, Gianluca isn’t just gorgeous—tall and tan from days spent in the sun—his touch sets her world on fire. With him, Georgie experiences the most intoxicating passion she’s ever known, and it only takes a few steamy nights for her to realize that sometimes running away from trouble is the best way to find it.

Find on Goodreads

Purchase Links:

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2efcxxg

Amazon PB: http://amzn.to/2emxyqX

Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/2en28Dr

Amazon AU: http://amzn.to/2eJcW9o

Kristine's Review:
Reviewed: October 2016.

For fans of R.S. Grey, Georgie Archibald burst onto the scene in Settling The Score (The Summer Games #1) as Olympic Gold medalist Freddie Archibald's loud and energetic younger sister, everything about the gregarious and often misunderstood by her mother Georgie intrigued me, in terms of female side characters, Georgie was certainly one I hoped to know better. When the younger Archibald has had enough of her meddling mother and her incessant match making ways, she spins a globe and lands on Vernazza, Italy. Off on an adventure, Georgie is determined the live the life she imagined, find love and step out from under the expectations of her demanding mother.

"The day I got intimidated by another woman would be the day I was no longer Georgie Archibald."

Georgie isn't the only one that found themselves in Italy because of love, whereas she hopes to find it, Gianluca hopes to forget the pain and destruction it brings. Scarred and broken from his past dalliance with love, Gianluca is in no way ready for a second go around the block regardless of how attracted he may be to the British spitfire that seems to be everywhere he is.

"Because women always do," explained Katerina. "They think they'll swoop in and coax him out of his shell. They want to heal him like a bird with a broken wing, but it's actually easier with birds, because they want to fly so badly. Gianluca-well, for the past five years, he's made it clear he doesn't want to be healed. He wants to stay on the ground."

Full of Grey's trademark wit, A Place in the Sun is equal parts sweet and sexy, with the perfect amount of angst thrown in for fun, Georgie and Luca's chemistry was tangible, so real it jumped from the page, their burgeoning relationship was everything I look for a romantic comedy, funny, sweet, sexy as hell, the more I read, the deeper I fell down the rabbit hole that is the worlds Grey continues to create. For lovers of quintessential contemporary romance, who want to relax with a book and lose themselves within the words, who want something a little deeper than your stereotypical rom com, A Place in the Sun is destine to be a sure fire hit.

About R.S. Grey:

I am a lover of books, chocolate, reality TV, metaphors and similes, black labs, and cold weather. Seriously, if I had it my way I would be curled up on the couch with all of those things... everyday.
​
I live in Texas where I spend my free time writing and reading. My favorite authors are Mindy Kaling & Jonathan Safran Foer. I'm a comedy geek and love all things "funny". Women like Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Mindy Kaling are definitely the biggest inspirations for my writing, though I think my work tends to skew a bit smuttier than theirs.

Connect with Rachel on Facebook

Happily Ever Ninja (Knitting in the City #5) by Penny Reid - ARC Review

Released: 19th January 2016.

Blurb:

There are three things you need to know about Fiona Archer… I would tell you what they are, but then I’d have to kill you.

But I can tell you that Fiona’s husband—the always irrepressible and often cantankerous Greg Archer—is desperately in love with his wife. He aches for her when they are apart, and is insatiable when they are together. Yet as the years pass, Greg has begun to suspect that Fiona is a ninja. A ninja mom. A ninja wife. A ninja friend. After fourteen years of marriage, Greg is trying not to panic. Because Fiona’s talent for blending in is starting to resemble fading away.

However, when unexpected events mean Fiona must take center stage to keep her family safe, her response stuns everyone—Greg most of all. It seems like Greg’s wish has come true.

Except… not.

When all is said and done, can Greg handle this new version of his wife? Will his irrepressible cantankerousness push her away? Or can the couple find a way forward without either being forced to step back into the shadows?

This is a full length, 100k word novel, and is the 5th book in the Knitting in the City Series. All books in the series can be read as a standalone except book #1.5

Kristine's Review:
Reviewed: January 2015

For followers of How I Met Your Mother they will remember the famous line from the show that "nothing good happens after 2am"... well I'm here to tell you they were wrong, you see last night while plagued by a case of insomnia I decided to pick up a book, at 2am, thinking soon enough my eyes would grow tired and I would finally fall asleep...I did grow tired, I fell asleep with my kindle clutched tightly to my chest and a smile on my face... at 4.30am.

I've been a long time fan of Penny Reid's work, her words have always had an incredible impact on my heart, her characters are always quirky, her stories always veer from the stereotypical romance, and Happily Ever Ninja was certainly no different, wrapped up in this wild ride of drama and angst and suspense was a story that I encourage anyone who's ever questioned their life choices to read.

"You're becoming invisible under the weight of unhappiness."

Fiona and Greg have created a life many would envy, they have a nice home, two healthy, happy, well adjusted young children, they have great loving and supportive friends, and after over a decade together Fi and Greg still look at each other the way they did when they first fell in love, their insatiable need for each other is still there, their sex life still rocking, the only problem is that Greg's career means that he is away for months at a time. Long distance relationships aren't new to them though, their relationship was built on a foundation of loving each other from a distance, it's was what it was, there was no point in complaining about things you couldn't change.

Happily Ever Ninja captured my attention immediately, and while Fiona recounts the hardships of living a semi single parent existence, struggling under the strain of being the sole provider for emotional stability in her young children's lives, to be the PTA mom she thinks her kids deserve, the role of Super Mom and Super Wife and Super Friend and...well you get it, Fi is juggling a whole world of balls right now, and the exhaustion and fatigue of that mentally is enough to bring someone to their knees, and if I'm honest I think the reason this book struck a chord so heavily is because so many of us have felt the need to wear each of those aforementioned capes, to be everything to everyone. Reid isn't done there though, she takes the reader on a action packed, adrenaline fuelled adventure, one I wasn't ready for, I expected a story about a couple weathering that stage of indifference in their marriage, where they took stock of their lives and decided if this was what they always wanted, instead I got both.

"Tell me the truth. Are you happy? With us? With kids and a wife..."

 "That's like asking me, 'Are you happy your heart beats?'"

Reid weaves a story of jungle trails, and weapons and criminal empires and clandestine operations, that left me on the edge of my seat begging for more, I was thrown into an episode of Covert Affairs and I was breathless with anticipation, I was hooked watching everything transpire, but more than anything I felt a kinship to Fiona, because I've felt some of those same things, regardless of the setting the hero of this story was very much their marriage. Life is tough, marriage is hard, it's a choice you make every single day to be present and to be an active member of it, it's about communication, it's about putting your dirty socks in the hamper, it's wiping down the counter after making a sandwich, it's still wanting to get naked with your partner despite the stretch marks and extra pounds, it's feeling wanted and needed, it's asking for help, it's sharing the load, marriage is so much more than just lofty ideals of loving the other person until death do us part, it's more than grand gestures on Valentine's Day, it's making a commitment every day of every week of every year and being willing to your partner what do we do now, where do we go from here?? I'm not ashamed to admit that I had forgotten that, that reading Happily Ever Ninja left me with tears in my eyes at times because I desperately needed to be reminded that standing before God and forsaking all others, was not code for making sure the house was perfectly clean, or the Mr's shirts were ironed or dinner was 5 star feast, my commitment to my husband was to be present in my marriage, to put us first, to build a life with him.

"Fi...

Yes?

 My heart keeps discovering new ways to love you."

 

Reid takes the reader on a fantastical journey, filled with kick arse hero's and heroine's, with snappy one liners, sharp wit, and a sense of quirk I've come to expect from her books, but more than that, Reid reminded me that life is what you make it, it's the people you surround yourself with and it's you believing in yourself enough to say I deserve this, I deserve you.

 

 

Purchase Links:

 

Amazon US: http://amzn.to/1YXIv4k

Amazon AU: http://bit.ly/1JmqnKk
Amazon UK: http://amzn.to/1O2nvyS
Amazon CA: http://amzn.to/22Eq5F7
iBooks: http://tinyurl.com/p7tkwae
Nook:http://tinyurl.com/nrukxu7
Kobo: http://tinyurl.com/pmqzwgu


Read Ninja at First Sight: An Origin Story: http://amzn.to/1YXJzoT

About Penny Reid:

Penny Reid is a part time author of romantic fiction. When she's not immersed in penning smart romances she works in the biotech industry as a researcher. She's also a full time mom to two diminutive adults (boy-8 and girl-5), wife, daughter, knitter, crocheter, sewer, general crafter, and thought ninja.


CONTACT PENNY:
Please feel free to drop her a line. She'd be happy to hijack your thoughts! You can find her on her blog or email her: pennreid at gmail dot com  

http://reidromance.blogspot.com/