Book & eBook reviews from a mom who forgets to do the housework because she's busy reading chicklit, romance, Christian, YA, mystery, paranormal, fantasy or other ebooks. Seriously, I'm phoning in pizza tonight!
Will Vince’s deep spiritual connection to Spring, and her fighting spirit, be enough to bring her back from the brink of death? Spring Lewis knows death. As a nurse in the ICU, she has experienced more than her share of it at only twenty-seven. She's also acutely aware not everyone who dies stays in the afterlife. She convinces herself she's still single because no man can deal with what her job requires of her, but her heart knows the truth. She’s scared of losing another person she loves. Vince Roundtree has devoted his life to one thing, music. As the tuba professor at the University of Hedgeford, he spends his day shaping the lives of young people and his nights questioning every aspect of his personal life. He struggles to find his identity as an over thirty-five-year-old male in a dating world meant for twenty-five-year-olds, and it hasn’t been easy.
October Halloran left her past behind and found happiness in a tiny northern Minnesota town working at a local truck stop. At least she was happy, until Sheriff Jett Raven started asking questions she didn’t want to answer.
Jett didn't buy the story ‘Sarah Banks’ sold the rest of the community. Smitten since the moment he first laid eyes on her, he knew she wasn't who she claimed to be. It wasn't until she stumbled across a dead body that he had a reason to dig into her past, and bring her into his home.
Hiding in plain sight on the beautiful island of Maui, Leilani Iona knows her days are numbered. The past has caught up with her and she'll pay with her life.
Niko Nikolaev has a complicated relationship with Maui, and his newly widowed mother. Drawn in by Lei’s exotic beauty, Niko struggles to separate the man in him from the job at hand, finding the men responsible for her torment.
Lei knows her determination and will-to-live won’t be enough to get out of this deadly mess, and when bullets start flying she must rely on a man she barely knows. As Lei and Niko struggle to stay alive, she learns love runs deeper than blood, heroes exist, and Cupid’s arrow always finds its mark.
The last thing Cinnamon Mabel Dalton thought she would inherit from her grandmother was two-hundred-pounds of slobbering Saint Bernard. At twenty-seven, Cinn was an experienced jazz artist, but an inexperienced pet owner.
Dr. Foster Kern, the veterinarian and director of the Little Ivywood Humane Society, was regaled with stories of the infamous Cinn Dalton for years. None of them prepared him to meet her face-to-face. Smitten by Cinn’s exotic looks, Foster jumps at the chance to answer her questions about caring for her new charge.
I'm thrilled to be participating in the release of Katie Mettner's new Christmas book, Trusting Trey. If you've read her Sugar Series you'll know the couple in this book. Trey and Allison Helton are friends with Sugar, and Trey is Sugar's 'legman'. They share some good times and poignant moments throughout the Sugar Series, but Trusting Trey is all about them. You'll meet them in the present, then the past, and eventually, the future. You may notice that Trey and Allison share my last name. The truth is, one day Katie and I were joking around and I said no one ever names a character after me. Since she didn't have a new character she could introduce, but she did have Trey, who didn't have a last name but needed one, the birth of Trey Helton was complete! It was a minor role, and I never expected this character to have his own book! But this Christmas, two years after the release of the final Sugar book, we get to find out what makes Trey Helton tick, and how he, and Allison, found their happily ever after in Duluth, Minnesota.
Trey Helton moved to Duluth to work as a prosthetist for the local hospital. Leaving behind a personal tragedy, he knew Duluth would be the place he could make a life and start to heal.
Allison Drakos was a college senior ready to graduate from the University of Minnesota Duluth. Going to school and working part-time filled her days, but Allison still found time to enjoy her last year with her sorority sisters, until the unthinkable happened.
Present…
Christmas Eve is a special day for Trey and Allison Helton. Not only is it the day they fell in love with each other, but also the day, six years ago, that they married. Their Christmas Eve routine has stayed the same for the last twelve years, but this year will be different.
Future…
Will next Christmas Eve give Trey and Allison a new reason to celebrate a life full of possibilities?
Can be read as a stand alone though is tied to Sugar's World.
Trey is a true romantic and he swept me off my feet as fast as he did Allison. Allison is fun, determined and very caring. The two were perfectly made for each other. Though their beginning was unique and rough, true love conquered. I have been looking forward to Trey's story for a couple years. Katie Mettner didn't disappoint. Trey and Allison's story is written beautifully and I thoroughly enjoyed getting a better peek into Sugar's legman's life. If you're looking for a fascinating story of true love healing wounded hearts in a charming romance, I highly recommend Trusting Trey.
Katie Mettner writes inspirational and romantic suspense from a little house in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. She's the author of the four part epic family saga, The Sugar Series, Sugar's Song being runner up for sweet romance in the eFestival of Words contest. Her other romance series, The Northern Lights Series, The Snowberry Holiday Series, Kupid's Cove Series, and The Magnificent Series are all set in the Midwest. If you love romance and romantic suspense, her books are for you!
Katie lives with her soulmate, whom she met online at Thanksgiving and married in April. Together they share their lives with their three children and two leopard geckos. After suffering an especially bad spill on the bunny hill in 1989, Katie became an amputee in 2011, giving her the much needed time to pen her first novel, Sugar's Dance. With the release of Sugar's story, Katie discovered the unfilled need for disabled heroes and heroines! Her stories are about empowering people with special circumstances to find the one person who will love them because of their abilities, not their inabilities. Katie has a slight addiction to Twitter and blogging, with a lessening aversion to Pinterest now that she quit trying to make the things she pinned.
Me and Mr. I.T., book 2 in the Kupid's Cove series by Katie Mettner, is now available on Amazon! If you are part of Kindle Unlimited you can read it for free, or get Me and Mr. I.T. for .99 for a limited time! You can also get the first book in the series, Calling Kupid, for .99! Read on for an excerpt of Me and Mr. I.T. and to read my review.
I tossed my wet dress in the corner of my personal bathroom, where it would wait for me to give it some dignity back and wash it. I stepped into a pair of white wide-leg pants and slipped my now dry feet into a pair of loafers. I ran a brush through my hair and gave my lips a new coat of Summer Sparkle lip shine. The woman in the mirror looked back at me, mocking my activities. I stuck my tongue out at the mirror.
“I know this isn’t a date, but that doesn’t mean I can’t look good.”
“What’s not a date?” someone asked from the doorway.
I spun on my heel to see Mr. I.T. lounging on the doorjamb, not a care in the world.
I crossed my arms over my still bare chest. “Get out!”
He didn’t. He had the gall to finger wave at me while looking way too relaxed in my space.
“I ask again, what’s not a date?” He was grinning, but at least his eyes held mine instead of wandering my body.
“Nothing,” I huffed, “I’m going to have to slap you with a sexual harassment lawsuit if you don’t turn your back.”
He gave me that annoyingly sexy grin and turned around. I grabbed my blouse and pulled it over my head, my cheeks red with embarrassment.
“I don’t know what you’re trying to hide, Ellie. You look gorgeous in that outfit. I liked the dress you had on earlier, but this tells me more about you. You like to sparkle.”
I fought against the eyes trying to roll to the top of my head. “Yeah, that’s it. And how would you know, your back is turned.”
“It is, but I have a perfect view in the mirror behind me.”
I groaned and then laughed against my will. “Anyone ever tell you that you’re infuriating?”
“Once or twice in my life,” he said as he walked out and leaned on the edge of my desk.
“To answer your question, I make it a habit of always looking my best whenever I’m out and about. I represent Kupid’s Enterprises at all times. Even when I’m not technically on the clock.”
He folded his arms across his chest. “All work and no play makes for a very boring Ellie.”
“I like to play. I just make sure I look good while doing it.”
Maltrand has worked hard in life for everything in his life. Trying to win Eliana's love and trust is no different. Past hurts keep Eliana from wanting to open her heart to anyone, much less the one man who turned her down before. The undeniable connection and magnetic attraction between the two is amazing. Once they're thrown together for a work project Eliana finds it hard to deny anymore.
I loved every single page of this story from the first page to the last. I felt a connection to Eliana and her issues with self-image due to her condition. Maltrand is sexy, loving and extremely patient. Once again Katie Mettner has created a relatable story. It's a story of learning to trust, love and to love yourself. If you enjoy a steamy, romance with a touch of suspense I highly recommend Me & Mr. I.T.
Katie Mettner writes inspirational and romantic suspense from a little house in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. She's the author of the four part epic family saga, The Sugar Series, Sugar's Song being runner up for sweet romance in the eFestival of Words contest. Her other romance series, The Northern Lights Series, The Snowberry Holiday Series, Kupid's Cove Series, and The Magnificent Series are all set in the Midwest. If you love romance and romantic suspense, her books are for you!
Katie lives with her soulmate, whom she met online at Thanksgiving and
married in April. Together they share their lives with their three children and two leopard geckos. After suffering an especially bad spill on the bunny hill in 1989, Katie became an amputee in 2011, giving her the much needed time to pen her first novel, Sugar's Dance. With the release of Sugar's story, Katie discovered the unfilled need for disabled heroes and heroines! Her stories are about empowering people with special circumstances to find the one person who will love them because of their abilities, not their inabilities. Katie has a slight addiction to Twitter and blogging, with a lessening aversion to Pinterest now that she quit trying to make the things she pinned.
Dr. Salvador Brennan left the earth a lonely and regretful man. Given a chance to right his wrongs, he returns to Bearsfield, Wisconsin, to manipulate two broken hearts into the greatest love story of all time, from beyond the grave.
The first step is convincing his nephew, Eli Sheets, to leave his life in Michigan and move to a tiny town in Wisconsin. Having put the plan in motion before he died, he bequeathed his rundown house to Eli, with the hope that time had healed his wounds. Eli and his three-year-old daughter, Molly, arrive on a late spring afternoon, and Uncle Sal wonders if Eli sees the peeling paint and sagging porch as a way to put the past behind him. When Eli meets his next-door neighbor, Diana Forrester, does he catch a glimpse of his future?
Blurb:Eve Darling has learned one very important lesson in her twenty-six years; life never goes according to plan
The night of her high school graduation her heart was bursting with hopes and dreams for the future, but the universe had other ideas. Instead of New York and culinary school, she stayed in Magnificent, Wisconsin. Barely an adult herself, Eve was irrevocably tasked with becoming a mother to her big brother, Davis, the man with the heart and mind of a five-year-old boy. Now, eight years later, she’s become a successful entrepreneur, chef, and businesswoman. All of those responsibilities came at a price and her personal life was payment. No one was more acutely aware of that than she was.
And then, with one phone call, everything changed.
‘After life organizer’ Abraham Von Sallage was like no funeral director Eve had ever met. He was young, charming, witty, and had a unique perspective on life, because his business, was death. They both carried burdens society couldn’t, or wouldn’t, acknowledge, and in those burdens, they found an instantaneous connection. That night, as Abraham stood in the doorway of her cooking school, she saw hope in his eyes.
Eve Darling has learned one very important lesson in her twenty-six years; life never goes according to plan.
The night of her high school graduation her heart was bursting with hopes and dreams for the future, but the universe had other ideas. Instead of New York and culinary school, she stayed in Magnificent, Wisconsin. Barely an adult herself, Eve was irrevocably tasked with becoming a mother to her big brother, Davis, a man with the heart and mind of a five-year-old boy. Now, seven years later, she’s become a successful entrepreneur, chef, and businesswoman. All of
those responsibilities came at a price and her personal life was payment. No one was more acutely aware of that than she was.
And then, with one phone call, everything changed.
‘After life organizer’ Abraham Von Sallage was not like any funeral director Eve had ever known. He was young, charming, witty, and had a unique perspective on life, because his business was death. They both carried burdens society couldn’t, or wouldn’t, acknowledge, and because of those burdens, they found an instantaneous connection. That night, as Abraham stood in the doorway of her cooking school, she saw hope in his eyes.
And then her world crumbled.
An inexplicably cruel twist of fate called into question everything she knew about life, and death. With her soul adrift in guilt, she clung to the only person she could trust to save her from the agony her life had become. Shrouded by grief, it would take the love of one man, and the resolve of an entire community, to show her just how magnificent life could be.
Thanks for having me on the blog today to talk about Magnificent Agony, Tobi! Magnificent Agony is a brainchild from another series of mine, The Northern Lights Series. In the third book, Winter’s Rain, Winter Cheyne writes under the penname of Winter Rayne as a new adult writer of the trilogy called The Magnificent Series. I loved the title, but I was tied into two series I needed to finish, so it wasn’t until the beginning of 2016 that I could seriously consider writing it. Suffice it to say Magnificent Agony took me somewhere I was not expecting to go. The title alone tells the reader that things aren’t going to be all Skittles and rainbows, as Winter likes to say, and it’s not. Magnificent Agony a whole lot of agony. The agony of regret, guilt, and grief, but I think the greatest part of the story, is the magnificent part. Because in among all of that agony is where the town of Magnificent learns the most important lesson.
Eve Darling is the owner/operator of a cooking school and retail kitchen store in Magnificent, Wisconsin. When she’s not working, she’s with her brother, Davis, at the local assisted living facility. Davis is a 46-year-old man with the mind and heart of a 5-year-old, and Eve was tasked with being his mother much earlier in life than she should have been.
Abraham Von Sallage is the new owner of Von Sallage Funeral Home after his uncle retired and moved to Arizona. His family is coming to visit and Abraham wants to impress them by learning how to cook. Eve and Abraham’s ‘meet-cute’ involves Cornish game hens, red wine, and smexy Levis.
You get to meet many more characters of Magnificent, Wisconsin including Sally Anne, Eve’s best friend, and the town’s favorite barista, and Rock Maresanti the director of Two Acres Assisted Living. You even meet Bob the butcher at the local GoodEats Grocery store. Just when you think you’re in for a fun, flirty romance, reality strikes and the agony sets in. In the beginning of the book Eve, Abraham and the rest of Magnificent live detached lives from the community at large, until one man tears them apart, and at the same time brings them back together.
A friend asked me what the theme of Magnificent Agony is. What it is that I want the reader to pull from the pages and remember long after the cover has closed? Ultimately, I hope the reader feels on a personal level that when bad things happen to good people it takes a community to heal them. In order for that to happen the community members must stop living solitary lives and figure out a way to come together as one, when it’s the hardest thing to do. The second thing I hope the reader gets is that there are things that happen in this world that are terrible, terrible things and we don’t understand why they happen. Yet, if we step back and look at the bigger picture, we can see how even after the greatest disaster or loss, kindness is what will repair the damage done by evil.
I found it hard to classify Magnificent Agony in a one genre because of all that it is, but I chose contemporary romance as the best place to start. What lies between the covers is a story about life, hope, death, grief, love, and the understanding that comes from forgiving ourselves. It’s about allowing ourselves to be carried when we can no longer walk, until the ground under us is a little bit firmer again. It’s about relearning how to embrace and live the life we want and not suffer through the life we hate. It’s about remembering the joys of childhood even when we think we’re too old. Thanks for inviting me to talk about The Magnificent Series, Tobi. The second in the series, Magnificent Destiny, will be released in October. That will be a second chance romance between two characters in Magnificent Agony that you'll also fall in love with.
Katie Mettner writes contemporary romance and romantic
suspense from a little house in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. She lives with her
soulmate, and together they share their lives with their three children. Katie
has a slight
addiction to Twitter and blogging, with a lessening aversion to
Pinterest now that she quit trying to make the things she pinned.
Winter Cheyne was a child bride, sold for the price of a gambling debt. After years of abuse she knew breaking free of his hold would be dangerous, maybe even deadly, but it was a chance she had to take. The freedom she found as Winter Rayne was an illusion, instantly shattered by the high beams of an oncoming car.
Dr. Jedidiah Raintree never knew the truth about what happened to his best friend, Winter Cheyne. Growing up on the reservation together they were inseparable, until fate intervened and tore them apart. He’s spent the last twenty years looking for the girl with the long black hair and almond eyes, but ran into dead ends at every turn. Where he didn’t expect to find her was huddled in his cabin, pointing a gun at his chest.
With the first snowstorm of the season bearing down on them, Rain convinces Winter he can keep her safe until the storm passes, but quickly learns safety is an apparition. The only choice he has is to risk everything to save the girl he once knew.
Happy Friday y'all! Today is release day for Calling Kupid by +Katie Mettner. The first book in the Kupid's Cove series! I can't wait for you to grab a copy and fall in love as fast as I did!
Stuck on a beautiful Hawaiian island on Valentine’s Day, Kate Kupid is sure of one thing; being single on a tropical island made for lovers is a giant waste of time. Until she has an encounter on the beach that will change her life.
Eleven months later, back in the cold of Snowberry, Minnesota, the last person Kate expects to walk into her law firm is Mr. Hawaii Playboy himself. Dressed to the nines in an expensive Italian suit, Gideon Armstrong Jr. has come to reclaim what is rightfully his, Kate. Neither of them realized he brought to Snowberry more than just his need for Kate Kupid. A dangerous adversary isn’t afraid to use Kate as a prize in his game of cat and mouse, and now she must trust Gideon to keep her safe.
Back in the Islands of Love, Gideon wants a second chance to prove he can fix Kate’s broken heart, but Kate wonders if her mashed up heart can handle the kind of love he has to offer. When bullets start flying on Kupid’s Cove, Gideon grabs his chance to make Kate his, once and for all.
Tobi:I’ve read all of your Snowberry books, and was really excited to see that Kate Kupid was going to have her own book! So, tell my readers, who is Kate Kupid?
Katie: Thanks Tobi! We first meet Kate in Wicked Winifred, A Snowberry Halloween. Kate is Winifred’s best friend and co-consipirator at Halloween speed dating. Well, actually, she was the one to drag Winifred kicking and screaming to the event that ended up changing Winifred's life. Unfortunately for Kate, she wasn't that lucky at speed dating.
Tobi: I love all the names of the Snowberry Series, but I really love Kate's. How did you decide on it?
Katie: To be honest, I don’t really know, I just thought “Calling Kate Kupid” was really fun to say. It was a little weird writing a book where the main character has my name, but fun at the same time. Katie Penelope Kupid is truly an incredible woman with a huge heart that is always ready to forgive someone who wronged her, luckily for Gideon.
Tobi: To me Kate seemed very strong willed in her career and life, except for Winifred. She was almost like Winifred's mother. Does that continue in Calling Kupid?
Katie: Oh yes! In fact, Kate’s story opens in Hawaii after Winifred’s wedding. That isn’t the only time you see Winifred in Kate’s book, though. Since they are best friends you would expect to see her quite a bit, you just won’t be expecting how and why you see Winifred in Kate’s book. In fact, it's the way that Kate is with Winifred that really gives Gideon hope that he may get a second chance to make things right.
Tobi: I’ve read it, so I’m really biting my tongue right now not to give spoilers! So instead I'll say that I was very surprised to find out Calling Kupid was going to start a new series. Tell me how that came about.
Katie: Very unusually! Kate was supposed to be the last book in the Snowberry Series. It ties up very nicely all the characters from the previous seven books and since Snowberry was a very small town, I felt like I had written a good series, but it needed to end. As I wrote Kate, she spent very little time in Snowberry and most of her time on the road or in Hawaii. I had a beta-reader say to me, “Maybe you should start a new series called Kupid’s Cove.” It was sorta funny because I was already planning that! You learn about Kupid’s Cove in Kate’s book, and I decided a series set in Hawaii would be fun. The more I thought about it, the more I decided Kate’s story had to be the first one in order for it to make sense to the readers.
Tobi: Does everyone who read the Snowberry Series need to read this book? Even though it starts a new series?
Katie: *Laughing* Of course they do! But seriously, if they loved the Snowberry Series they need to read Calling Kupid because it wraps up everything in Snowberry, and you find out a few tidbits here and there about some of the other couples I’ve written about in that series. Of course, it also introduces lots of new people in Hawaii who will be part of the Kupid’s Cove Series and you’ll want to get to know them. It’s a bit of a crossover book, but I think the readers will love it! That said, if they haven't read the Snowberry Series they don't have to go back and read that one in order to understand Calling Kupid. It's very much a stand alone book, so no one should be afraid of being lost if they haven't read the Snowberry books.
Tobi: Oh, I know everyone is going to love Kate and Gideon! I’ve read it twice already! Now that we have all of that out of the way, Gideon, oh Gideon. Tell the readers about Kate’s cupid.
Katie: *Swoon* Gladly Gideon Armstrong Jr. is a bit of a resort mogul in Hawaii. Kate meets him there during Winifred’s wedding and they have a bit of a ‘moment’ together on the beach. They part ways and both figure they will never see each other again. When he finds out he has to ‘Call Kupid’ he also finds out that Kupid is the same woman he insulted in Hawaii on the previous Valentine’s Day. Their second meeting, needless to say, involved some shouting and name calling. However, the two of them are quickly embroiled in a suspense plot that has them leaving Snowberry together and heading to the safety of the islands. Gideon is about ten years older than Kate, and that’s a big sticking point for her, because she thinks he really wouldn’t, and shouldn't, be interested in someone like her. Gideon, or Strong as his friends and employees call him, is determined to prove to Katie that he’s not the same guy she met in Hawaii eleven months ago, and that she is the one for him. He just wasn’t expecting to have to do it while crash landing helicopters and dodging bullets. Don’t get me wrong, Calling Kupid is very much a romance book, and the island of Maui is absolutely the most romantic setting for it, but there is an element of suspense in it just to keep things moving along.
Tobi: It’s an awesome book and I encourage all my readers to go get Calling Kupid! Thanks for stopping by today Katie and introducing us to Kupid’s Cove, Kate and Gideon.
Katie: Thank you for having me, Tobi! I'm always excited to introduce my characters to your readers and I know they are going to love the Kupid’s Cove series as much as they have loved the Snowberry Series. They should take advantage of the .99 pricing too through January 24!
Kate has decided she wants to take the leap into the dating pool. After Winifred's wedding she feels lonelier than she's felt her whole life. That last thing she expects is the man who hurt her so deep turns out to be her deceased client's son to darken her doorstep.
Gideon can't get Kate out of his head. She's there 24/7 and he finally has a chance at redemption and winning her heart. With a stalker following his every step he's worried for Kate's safety and his own. He's planned the perfect escape where he'd like the chance to heal her heart.
I loved Kate and Gideon from the first chapter. The chemistry between the two was undeniable and left you pining for everything to work out in the end. The suspense and adventure was a perfect amount, not so overwhelming as some stories. If you enjoy a story about true love and second chances with lots of heart this is a great book to check out.
I give Calling Kupid....
5 baskets!
Calling Kupid Book Trailer
Meet the Author
Katie Mettner writes inspirational and romantic suspense from a little house in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. She's the author of the four part epic family saga, The Sugar Series, Sugar's Song being runner up for sweet romance in the eFestival of Words contest. Her other romance series, The Northern Lights Series and the Snowberry Holiday Series, are both set in Minnesota and are a mix of
new adult and romantic suspense. If you love romance and romantic suspense, her books are for you! Her books please the contemporary and inspirational crowd! Katie lives with her soulmate, whom she met online at Thanksgiving and married in April. Together they share their lives with their three children and two leopard geckos. After suffering an especially bad spill on the bunny hill in 1989, Katie became an amputee in 2011, giving her the much needed time to pen her first novel, Sugar's Dance. With the release of Sugar's story, Katie discovered the unfilled need for disabled heroes and heroines! Her stories are about empowering people with special circumstances to find the one person who will love them because of their abilities, not their inabilities. Katie has a slight addiction to Twitter and blogging, with a lessening aversion to Pinterest now that she quit trying to make the things she pinned.
