Review + Giveaway: Dreaming Of Love by Melissa Foster

Dreaming of Love by Melissa Foster

Series: Love in Bloom #19: The Bradens #11

Release Date: 20th January 2015
Publisher: World Literary Press

Genres: Contemporary Romance



Emily Braden is a leader in architectural preservation, a pillar in her small hometown, and successful in everything she does—with the exception of finding true love. She’s watched several of her brothers fall in love, and she needs this trip to Tuscany to get away from it all and to stop focusing on what she doesn’t have.

Dae Bray doesn’t do flings, and he never stays in one place for very long. As a demolitionist, he goes where jobs take him, and the more often he travels, the better. His trip to Tuscany is all work—until he meets smart and sexy Emily, who makes him reconsider his fear of settling down, his no-fling rule—and just about everything else he’s ever believed about himself.

Passion sizzles as Dae and Emily explore the history and beauty of Tuscany. Their romance moves beyond tourist attractions to the bedroom, blossoming into a deep connection neither can deny. But their worlds collide when Emily wants to preserve the property that Dae is there to demolish. Can a woman who sees the beauty in preservation and a man whose life is spent tearing things down find a solid foundation for their love?
 

 

 

 

Set in beautiful Tuscany, Dreaming of Love is a story about two people falling head over heels in love at breakneck speed! Emily and Dae are instantly attracted to one another when the meet in Tuscany. Emily is there to take a much needed vacation and Dae is there to assess a job. The sexual tension between the pair begins to spark almost immediately and both are filled with thoughts of what they'd like to do to the other! Emily has never felt this sort of passion before and all Dae wants to do is take her in his arms and make love to her. Both are swept along by their desires.

 

 

Because of their jobs, the pair are in danger of clashing. Emily is an architect  who is all about preservation of old buildings while Dae, blows them up in his job as a demolition expert. Its not another person who threats to come between them up an old villa called The House of Wishes. The villa means so much to the local community, particular the women who go there to place wishes inside an old tree. Will either one do the right thing or should they change who they are and what they do to please the other? You'll have to read the book to find out.

 

 

Despite their relationship being a whirlwind sort of get together, I was ok with this! I got caught up in the couples enthusiasm for one another and in true Melissa Foster style, the sex scenes bounced off the pages and had me running for a cold shower again! I think Dae is my favourite Melissa Foster man to date. Super hot, super sexy and uber romantic! My new book boyfriend! I loved his caring nature. He can sweep me off my feet any day! Highly recommended. 

 

 

GIVEAWAY!

 

 



3 LUCKY WINNERS CAN EACH RECIEVE AN ECOPY OF THE PREVIOUS BOOK IN THE SERIES!

 

 

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ABOUT MELISSA FOSTER

 

 

Melissa Foster is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling and award-winning author. She writes contemporary romance, new adult, contemporary women's fiction, suspense, and historical fiction with emotionally compelling characters that stay with you long after you turn the last page. Her books have been recommended by USA Today's book blog, Hagerstown Magazine, The Patriot, and several other print venues. She is the founder of the Women’s Nest, a social and support community for women, the World Literary Café. When she's not writing, Melissa helps authors navigate the publishing industry through her author training programs on  Fostering Success. Melissa has been published in Calgary’s Child Magazine, the Huffington Post, and Women Business Owners magazine. 

Melissa hosts an annual Aspiring Authors contest for children and has painted and donated several murals to The Hospital for Sick Children in Washington, DC. Melissa lives in Maryland with her family.

 

Visit Melissa on The Women's Nest, Fostering Success, or World Lit Cafe. Melissa enjoys discussing her books with book clubs and reader groups, and welcomes an invitation to your event.

Authors Links:

Website

Twitter

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Pinterest

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Review + Giveaway: Stable Mates by Zara Stoneley

Stable Mates by Zara Stoneley 

Release Date:  4th September 2014

Publisher: Harper Impulse

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, Adult humour



Stable Mates –

‘Fans of Fiona Walker will love this book’ – ThatThingSheReads

Welcome to tranquil Tippermere, an idyllic village nestled deep in the Cheshire countryside. Home to lords and ladies, horsemen and farmers, and plenty of secrets and scandals…

Leaving a scumbag ex behind her, Lottie Brinkley has hotfooted it out of Spain and back home to the country in serious need of some flirtatious fun to soothe her aching heart.

Luckily for her she’s spoilt for choice with not one but three eligible bachelors offering a steamy romp in the hay! But faced with the attentions of roguish eventer Rory Steel, the smiling Irish eyes of hunky farrier Mick O’Neal, and mysterious newcomer Tom Strachan, how can she possibly choose?

When billionaire landowner Marcus James drops dead unexpectedly, his WAGish wife Amanda threatens to sell the heart of the village and sets her sights on Tom! It seems things are heating up for little Tippermere… both in and out of the saddle.

 

BIO

 

 

Bestselling author Zara Stoneley lives in deepest Cheshire surrounded by horses, dogs, cats and amazing countryside. When she’s not visiting wine bars, artisan markets or admiring the scenery in her sexy high heels or green wellies, she can be found in flip flops on the beach in Barcelona, or more likely sampling the tapas!

Zara writes hot romance and bonkbusters. Her latest novel, ‘Stable Mates’, is a fun romp through the Cheshire countryside and combines some of her greatest loves – horses, dogs, hot men and strong women (and not forgetting champagne and fast cars)!

She writes for Harper Collins and Accent Press.

Find out more about Zara:

Website      Twitter        Facebook        Google+

 

Stable Mates is one of those books that has you telling yourself that you will read one more chapter before switching the light out and going to sleep. And then, suddenly you find its 2am and you can't put the book down! Its sexy, its funny, its romantic and its a great old romp!

 

In Stable Mates, Zara Stoneley has created an interesting, complex and at times funny group of characters in the horsey world. More than once were they picking straw out of their hair! I found the men to be sexy in their own individual ways, even the ones I don't think I was supposed to find sexy! I was particularly enamoured by Mick and Rory! Phwoarrrrr!!! There was quite a bit of flirty goings on between characters which lead to a lot of unresolved sexual tension (and more often than not, resolved!) There were a host of supporting characters who each added their own unique charm to the story. The horse world it seems is not for the faint hearted or the shy and retiring types!

 

Throughout the book I could feel Lottie's exasperation at Rory and so wished for a good outcome for the couple. Rory was a bit of a rogue but a loveable one at that. Poor Lottie did have her work cut out though with so many gorgeous men on the scene all vying for her attention. Between Rory, Tom the model and Mick the sexy Irish farrier she had such a difficult time! I could live in a place like Tippermere!

 

Apart from all the furtive glances, quick gropes in the hay shed and horsey goings on, there is a really great story running throughout the book. There's mystery, romance and some unexpected twists. I loved this book. If you are a fan of Jilly Cooper then this book will definitely appeal to you. I think this is another one of those great books that would make an excellent movie! Move over Mr Grey, the Tippermere boys are in town! Highly recommended.

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Guest Post + Giveaway: Zara Stoneley on why she writes Bonk Busters!

Stable Mates by Zara Stoneley

Release Date: 14th August 2014
Publisher: Harper Impulse

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance



Brook Cottage Books has had great fun co-ordinating the tour for Stable Mates by Zara Stoneley. It seems that the reviewers (you can catch my review tomorrow) are loving this 'bonk-buster'. This lead me to ask Zara the question -

'You write romantic 'bonk busters'. How did you get into writing this particular genre?' 

And, this is what she said...................

 

I blame a misspent youth…

I had three loves in my teens – books, horses and David Essex. I’m pretty sure it was the books that came first, but the more I got into hanging around horses, then the less time I spent with my nose buried in the pages of a book. And, sadly, I have to admit that David got slightly neglected too. Although he did get to share my bedroom wall with a few of my showjumping heroes (and their horses).

 

When you’re ten years old a pony can be a girl’s best friend, but when the hormones start to hit things change. You realise that loitering round a stable yard can involve encounters with hot farriers (sometimes stripped to the waist), and sexy, fit male riders (always in tight breeches and whisking a whip) and close encounters in haystacks (well okay haylofts)… And then I met all my fantasies rolled up in one (with added extras). Rupert Campbell-Black. Well, I didn’t actually meet him in person, he lives in the imagination of many young (and not so young) girls, courtesy of the wonderful author Jilly Cooper. And he lived in mine.

I was distracted (huge sigh of relief from my mum – little did she know). I absolutely loved Jilly’s bonkbusters – phew, that’s the only word. It was out with ‘my little pony’ and in with ‘my hot hunk’ (until Lord of the Rings came to the big screen and Aragorn rode in on a horse, but that’s a different story).

Anyway, fast forward a year or two (or maybe a bit more) and I still loved horses, sexy riders and a good book (the order varied). And I’d had a few erotic romances published (because I do like a hot romance), and was playing round with ideas for the next book. “I’ve noticed you often have horses in your stories,” said my lovely editor, “and the English countryside, have you ever written a bonkbuster?”

And that’s how it happened. I got to write my dream book.

And David Essex? Well I never completely forgot him, every girl likes a bad boy, and every good bonkbuster should have one…

 
Stable Mates is available in e-book and paperback from –

Buy links –

Amazon       Barnes & Noble      Kobo   Foyles  Waterstones  

Sainsbury’s      Google Play        iTunes    Blackwells

 

Stable Mates –

‘Fans of Fiona Walker will love this book’ – ThatThingSheReads

Welcome to tranquil Tippermere, an idyllic village nestled deep in the Cheshire countryside. Home to lords and ladies, horsemen and farmers, and plenty of secrets and scandals…

Leaving a scumbag ex behind her, Lottie Brinkley has hotfooted it out of Spain and back home to the country in serious need of some flirtatious fun to soothe her aching heart.

Luckily for her she’s spoilt for choice with not one but three eligible bachelors offering a steamy romp in the hay! But faced with the attentions of roguish eventer Rory Steel, the smiling Irish eyes of hunky farrier Mick O’Neal, and mysterious newcomer Tom Strachan, how can she possibly choose?

When billionaire landowner Marcus James drops dead unexpectedly, his WAGish wife Amanda threatens to sell the heart of the village and sets her sights on Tom! It seems things are heating up for little Tippermere… both in and out of the saddle.

 a Rafflecopter giveaway  

BIO

 

 

Bestselling author Zara Stoneley lives in deepest Cheshire surrounded by horses, dogs, cats and amazing countryside. When she’s not visiting wine bars, artisan markets or admiring the scenery in her sexy high heels or green wellies, she can be found in flip flops on the beach in Barcelona, or more likely sampling the tapas!

Zara writes hot romance and bonkbusters. Her latest novel, ‘Stable Mates’, is a fun romp through the Cheshire countryside and combines some of her greatest loves – horses, dogs, hot men and strong women (and not forgetting champagne and fast cars)!

She writes for Harper Collins and Accent Press.

Find out more about Zara:

Website      Twitter        Facebook        Google+

 

 

 

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Guest Post: David Burnett

To Fall In Love Again by David Burnett

Release Date: 30th November 2014

Genres: Contemporary Romance



Brook Cottage Books has been honoured with the task of coordinating the book tour for To Fall In Love Again by David Burnett. The book has been very well received by all the tour hosts and its obvious from the reviews that readers think that David Burnett is a very talented writer. If you want to read my review you can check it out HERE.

David has taken time out of his very busy schedule to write a fantastic guest post. Don't forget to check out the amazing giveaway too. Enjoy!

 

 Love Never Ends

 “Why write a Romance about two fifty-somethings?” I was asked.

My knee-jerk reaction: Why not?

While teen-agers may think that the need for companionship, romance, and love withers and dies as one enters the third decade of life, surely no one else seriously believes that people over fifty do not fall in love. If you do share the adolescents’ belief, however, then you, like they, are quite mistaken. We cross no great chasm as we age. There is no line drawn in the sand over which we step and − poof! − we are ancient. We need love when we are young; we need love when we are old.

Romance is not the property of young adults, and novels quite realistically are written about those who are several generations older than the twenty-year olds who traditionally inhabit the world of Romance. My new book, To Fall in Love Again, tells the story of Amy and Drew, She is fifty-five; he is fifty-seven. And they fall in love.

Believe it, or not, none of us sees ourselves as old!

In The Thorn Birds, a novel by Colleen McCullough, Mary Cleary Carson, the seventy-two year old matriarch of the Cleary family, has what today’s high school students might call a “major crush” on Father Ralph de Bricassart, the handsome young priest who is the family’s spiritual advisor and friend. The night before she dies, she tells him that she loves him. He denies her feelings, and she responds, angrily.  

You're wrong. I have loved you. God, how much! Do you think my years automatically preclude it? Well, Father de Bricassart, let me tell you something. Inside this stupid body I'm still young-I still feel, I still want, I still dream, I still kick up my heels and chafe at restrictions like my body…

McCullough perfectly captures the feelings of those over thirty, or forty, or wherever you draw the line between young and old. Those on the north side of that line know that, inside, they are no different from the way they were twenty or thirty years before.

Books with older characters are not new, and I expect we will see more of them in the years ahead. Our population is aging, and in a guest post in Publishing Perspectives, Claude Nougat, a former project director for the United Nations, wrote on the topic, Is Baby Boomer Lit the Next Hot Genre?

A baby boomer, a “boomer,” is anyone born between nineteen forty five, following the Second World War, and nineteen sixty four, when the birth rate bubble that followed the war began to deflate. Boomers are now between the ages of fifty and sixty-nine and there are over seventy-seven million of them in the United States and twenty million in the United Kingdom. Nougat writes that they are retiring in large numbers, that they have free time, money, and that they like to read. She compares Boomer Lit to YA, a genre that came into its own when boomers were approaching age twenty.

Both genres target issues with which people are concerned at crucial transition points in their lives. YA addresses problems confronted by children as they morph into adults. Boomer Lit deals with issues of concern to adults who are adjusting to the prospect of growing older. These are issues which are important to boomers, today, and which will be important to other generations as the make this transition in the years ahead.

In To Fall in Love Again, for example, Drew and Amy have each lost a spouse, one to cancer, the other in an accident, and both are struggling with the prospect of loving someone new, experiences being faced by increasing numbers of people over the age of fifty.

It is a mistake, though, to conclude that the issues that Drew and Amy face are peculiar to people of their age. They are not. Many of the issues addressed by YA and boomer lit are the same. Am I in love? Can I trust him? What will my family think? Is it possible to fall in love a second time? These questions are timeless.

Boomer lit is not only for older adults, any more than YA is only for adolescents. One benefit of reading is that books allow us to view our world from the perspectives of those who are different from us. When our stories concern characters from a generation not our own, we find that, while the problems they face are much the same as ours, they will understand them in different ways. And we can learn from each other.

 

About the Book

Drew Nelson did not plan to talk with anyone that morning. He did not plan to make a new friend. He certainly did not plan to fall in love.

He resisted all of Amy’s attempts to draw him out− at the hotel, at the airport, on the airplane− giving hurried responses and burying his face in a pile of papers. It was only when the flight attendant offered coffee, and a muscle in Amy’s back twitched as she reached for it, and the cup tipped, and the hot liquid puddled in Drew’s lap that they began to talk.

Earlier in the year, each had lost a spouse of over thirty years. Drew’s wife had died of a brain tumor, Amy’s husband when his small airplane nose-dived to earth, the engine at full throttle − an accident, it was ruled.

They live in the same city. Both have grandchildren. They are about the same age. Consciously, or not, they both are looking to love again.

But relationships do not exist in vacuums. Drew is wealthy, and Amy is middle class. Amy is “new” in town – she and her husband moved to Charleston twenty-five years ago – while Drew’s family has lived there for three centuries. Drew lives below Broad, a code word for high society, old families, power, and money. Amy’s home is across the river.

Class warfare may be less violent than it was in the past, but when Drew invites Amy to the St Cecelia Ball, battle lines are drawn. In a city in which ancestry is important, the ball’s membership is passed from father to son, and only those from the oldest families attend.

Family, friends, co-workers all weigh in on their relationship and choose sides. Allies are found in unexpected places. Opposition comes from among those who were thought to be friends. Though they are gone, even their spouses − through things they have done and things they have said − wield influence in the conflict that follows.

Amy begins to suspect that Drew is one of them, the rich snobs who despise her, while Drew concludes that Amy neither trusts him nor cares for him. As each questions the other’s motives, their feelings for each other are tested, and Drew and Amy are challenged to consider if they truly want to fall in love again.

 

The Author

 

 

 

 

I live in Columbia South Carolina, with my wife and our blue-eyed cat, Bonnie. I enjoy traveling, photography, baking bread, and the Carolina beaches.

We have traveled widely in the United States and the United Kingdom. During one trip to Scotland, we visited Crathes Castle, the ancestral home of the Burnett family near Aberdeen.

My photographic subjects have been as varied as prehistoric ruins on the islands of Scotland, star trails, sea gulls, and a Native American powwow.

I went to school for longer than I want to admit, and I have graduate degrees in psychology and education. I was formerly director of research for our state education department.

We have two daughters and three grandchildren. To Fall in Love Again is my third novel.

http://davidburnett.yolasite.comhttp://davidburnettsbooks.blogspot.com/http://www.facebook.com/pages/David-Burnett-Author/447290468681693?ref=hl

 

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Cover Reveal: Introducing Charlotte by Charlotte Hains

Introducing Charlotte by Charlotte Hains

Release Date: 14th January 2015

Publisher: Silver Wood Books

Genres: Erotic Fiction



Brook Cottage Books is thrilled to be able to share tis gorgeously sexy book cover for Introducing Charlotte by Charlotte Hains. Lets find out a little about the book.


When Charlotte bumps into her old friend Anthony she is at her lowest...

Shocked by the revelation of her escape from a controlling and abusive relationship, Anthony enlists the help of Nats and Lloyd to help Charlotte find the confidence she once had. Charlotte is unaware, however, of the darker side of her friends’ lifestyle. And although Lloyd is deeply attracted to her, Charlotte is broken, hurt, and lacks control.

As Lloyd sets to work coming up with unique ideas to bring Charlotte back to life, she is introduced to an intimate world of secret passions and desire.

PLEASE NOTE: Suitable for readers 18+

 

BUY LINKS

Amazon UK

Amazon.com



 

 

 

 

 

ABOUT CHARLOTTE HAINS

Charlotte Hains left the UK for France after deciding she needed a change, taking on the huge project of renovating a house. In the UK her life consisted of getting up, going to work, coming home, going to bed, and just surviving. She now enjoys French life within the community of the village in which she lives, and feels privileged to be part of it. She describes her French neighbours as fantastic, offering her help in every way they can, and says she might have given up long ago if they hadn’t been so understanding.

With her house nearly finished she found herself with long nights and lots of thumb twiddling, reading anything she could get on her iPad. In honesty, she admits it was here that Fifty Shades of Grey caught her eye. Unbeknownst to her, her sister was reading it as well. Her sister thought that, because Charlotte has such a creative side, maybe she’d be able to write a book too. As a joke, Charlotte emailed her sister her stories, also written on her iPad. She researched blogs and BDSM sites on the internet, and so Introducing Charlotte came alive. Before she knew it, Charlotte had over 150,000 words which she’d sent by email in instalments to her sister, and there was more than enough for a book...or maybe even two! 

AUTHOR LINKS

 

http://www.pinterest.com/misschains0957/    

charlottehains.com   

https://twitter.com/CharlotteHains 

www.silverwoodbooks.co.uk      

http://www.amazon.co.uk/-/e/B00RGUADCM 

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100005908605913 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Introducing-Charlotte/580606475393270?ref=hl 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgo7EEP9CQM 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmKbCjVD_MmIAHf0uow8FCA    

http://bookbzz.com/introducing-charlotte-charlotte-hains      

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10781369.Charlotte_Hains 

http://beezeebooks.com/introducing-charlotte-charlotte-hains/romance-and-adventure/  

http://pnpauthorspattimariandpeter.ning.com/profile/CharlotteHains   

 

http://erotic.theromancereviews.com/viewbooks.php?bookid=16318

 

ATTENTION!!! There is to be a full review tour for this book also. If you are a book blogger and want to take part then please email brookbooks@Hotmail.co.uk to register your interest.

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