College sweethearts, Sam and Isla, were crazy in love and looked forward to a life together. That was until his father died suddenly in a tragic accident.
The news sent Sam into a tailspin causing him to spiral out of control. After telling Isla, the woman he hoped to marry, he never wanted to see her again, he hit rock bottom.
Pulling his life together more than a year later, he realizes nothing will ever be the same without his one true love…Isla. Finally locating where she moved to for Vet school, he shows up to beg her forgiveness only to find her kissing her soon to be husband.
Twelve years later, Sergeant Sam Wolfe’s police K-9, Blue, was shot on-duty and suffers from PTSD. Unbeknownst to Sam, his Lieutenant arranged for Isla, the best trauma Vet in Florida, to take over Blue’s care while Sam is on vacation with his son in Bliss Cay.
When they see each other again, neither are prepared for what the summer holds. As Isla helps Blue through his physical and emotional traumas, her and Sam’s worlds collide as skeletons are unearthed changing their lives forever.
When I release the radio button, more shots ring out and the thud of someone falling to the ground near the perp’s house follows.
Seconds feel like hours while I wait for my fellow officer to answer me. All I hear is silence—never ending radio silence. My respirations grow faster as my heart tries bursting through my bulletproof vest.
Still listening, my K-9 partner gasps for air on the groundnext to me. Cutting my eyes at him, the faint glimmer of light from the street lamp reveals something red on Blue’s upper body. After that, everything happens in slow motion—like I’ve entered an alternate reality where my worst nightmare has come true.
“K-9 down, K-9 down!”
“Noooo!” Finding myself in the middle of the bedroom crying and shaking, I feel my dog’s nose in the palm of my hand as he licks it, whining.
I drop to the floor when I realize I had another flashback of that horrible night I can’t seem to forget. Blue climbs on my legs and leans against me.
Still sobbing, I throw my arms around his torso and tell him, “I’m so sorry, Blue, it’s all my fault, I should’ve seen it coming.”
“What happened, dad? Are you okay?”
Swallowing back the sobs and wiping my eyes, I turn to see my son standing in the doorway. “I’m fine, just had a bad dream.”
“Do you wanna talk about it? You used to tell me it helps when you share it with someone.”
Of all times for my kid to be so wise, it has to be now when the last thing I want to do is rehash what I’ve tried for weeks to forget. “Have I told you you’re too smart for your own good?”
“Yeah, once or twice.”
“It helps most of the time, but in this case I think it’s best not to—, at least not at this hour. I uh, think I’ll go downstairs and make some hot tea before going back to bed.”
“I can go with you if you want.”
“I appreciate it, son, but—” With the hall light shining on him, I see the concern on his face. “—actually, I’d like that. Let’s go, come on Blue.”
Freda was born in southern New Jersey but grew up in Florida. She has loved writing her entire life. After retiring from a career in law enforcement, she knew it was time to fulfill her lifelong dream of being a published author.
She’s the author of The Hawaii Series, proudly named from her love of the beautiful Hawaiian Islands. It’s a three-book series with all of them written as standalone books.
Freda loves her large family, horses, dogs, cat, and close friends. She hosts monthly family dinners at her home in the country, which she shares with her husband.
She loves baking (she owned and operated a cupcake business for years), cooking, yoga, crocheting, nature and traveling with the love of her life.
What helps her write? Music makes her happy! If music doesn’t give her the right motivation, she puts on a romantic movie, usually from the Hallmark Channel, which she can’t get enough of!
Freda speaks her mind and pushes perfection to its limit. She strives to be her best, most positive self she can be in life. With time, determination, and practice, she believes anything is possible.
Title: Mister Know It All Author: Amélie S. Duncan Genre: Romantic Comedy
A romantic comedy set in the world of Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward’s Stuck Up Suit
What’s a girl to do when she discovers that her boss/boyfriend (I don’t need a lecture, thank you very much!) is a cheating windbag?
Dump him and quit her job, of course.
After that, it was supposed to be the Summer of Me—a totally self-indulgent few months.
Except that I met a drop-dead gorgeous Viking with a bossy attitude.
We clashed on his arrogance and crassness, but geek bonded over Star Wars and Star Trek.
He offered himself as a no-strings-attached candidate for my get-my-groove-back sex plan, and I left because he already had a girlfriend, even if they were on a break.
But I couldn’t stop thinking about him.
I really, really needed to find someone less complicated, but he infiltrated my thoughts.
He was hot, after all (And his towel might have slipped on purpose.) Seriously hot.
No matter how many times I decided not to pursue anything with him, he kept showing a softer side of himself.
But we couldn’t keep going like that, neither here nor there.
Some decisions had to be made.
One that could change everything.
If someone had told me how my Summer of Me would end? I’d never have believed them.
“I won’t change for him or any man. No matter how fab I treat them, they still cheat. Maybe I just need to focus on my career and let relationships happen later.”
“What you don’t need to do is waste your prime-time mourning losers. You need to have a passionate fling to get that windbag out of your system. A rebound could make you over, babe.” Hopefully my rebound, if I found one, won’t ask if I’ve come seconds after he does. Thank you, Randall. Pretentious, pipe-sucking ass.
My phone buzzed. Randall’s smug face popped up. Speak of the devil. I swiped the decline button. “He’s still calling.”
“Forget him. What you need is a good fling to recharge your ego. Reach in my bag and check my phone. My Tinder app should be accessible.”
I pulled up her handbag from the back seat and pressed her profile.
My mouth dropped open. “You kept this secret.”
Tam Nguyen—valedictorian, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, most likely to win a Nobel Prize for physics—had a raunchy profile with pictures of close-up body parts.
“What the hell, Tam? Some creep is copying this on his phone.”
She grinned and lifted her shoulder while keeping her hands on the wheel. “I don’t care. I’m not running for political office. Besides, women shouldn’t be afraid of expressing their sexuality.”
She took the ramp for the highway and increased her speed to join the traffic ahead.
I returned her phone to her purse and groaned. “I’m not ready to advertise or date again. Maybe time alone is good.”
“That’s feeling sorry for yourself bullshit. You fall off; you get back on. And before you find the guy who lives inside your heart, you recharge. I’m not talking about dating. Go to a bar or nightclub and hook up to get him out of your system. Just be safe. Find a man who turns you on. You’re not trying to date him, so you can be as shallow as fuck.”
“Don’t we always go for what attracts us?” I asked.
“Rhetorically speaking. But in reality, not all the time, and you know it. But this time, you do for sure. Kiss the guy in the bar to make sure you won’t end up with a sloppy tongue. Feel his junk under the table too. Or better yet, ask to feel his cock, like you can’t make it out of the bar without touching it, so you can make sure you’re on the same wavelength.”
I shook my head. “That’s your advice, grope a stranger?”
“You’ll thank me later. Trust me, it will save you the naked reveal.”
I howled with laughter. “You’re crazy. I’m feeling up random guys to find the cock-nirvana? I guess this is a bar I never want to return to out of sheer embarrassment.”
“Everyone goes to bars and nightclubs to hook up. Who are they to judge? Oh, and make sure you tell him you want to get fucked, not make love.” She said make love like it was a nasty word. “Keep the convo on sex. Don’t let him talk too much about himself. You don’t want this guy in your head.”
“Am I hooking up, or is this Silence of the Lambs?” I mused.
“These are trade secrets, darling.” We laughed.
Revenge sex aside, I still wasn’t completely sold on a mindless man-toy fling.
Amelie S. Duncan writes steamy, sexy stories. Her inspiration comes from many sources including her life experiences and travels. She lives on the West Coast of the United States with her husband.
Two ordinary sisters. A long and brutal war. A heroic sacrifice…
London, 1915. As German bombs rain down on the East End of London and hungry children queue for rations in the blistering cold, fifteen-year-old Florrie is forced to grow up fast. With her father fighting in the muddy trenches, Florrie turns to her older sister Edith for comfort. But the war has changed Edith. She has grown quiet, with dark shadows under her eyes, and has started leaving the house at night in secret. When Florrie follows her sister through the dark and winding streets of London, she is shocked by what she discovers. But she knows she must keep her sister’s secret for the sake of their family, even if she herself must pay the ultimate price…
Years later Kate, running from her broken relationship, is sorting through her dead aunt Florrie’s house, which she shared with her sister Edith. As she sits on the threadbare carpets, looking at photos of Florrie during the war, she notices the change in her aunt – from carefree young girl with a hopeful smile to a hollow-cheeked young woman, with dark sad eyes.
Determined to put her family’s ghosts to rest, Kate must unearth the secret past of her two aunts. Why is there a hidden locked room in the little house they shared? What is the story behind the abandoned wedding dress wrapped in tissue and tied up with a ribbon? And when Kate discovers the tragic secrets that have bound her family together, will she ever be able to move on?
Kate’s two great-aunts, Florrie and Edith, are really the stars of this book. Watching them grow up through Kate’s eyes as she reads through a diary offers an interesting view into their lives. Kate is only going through the diary because her life is in a bit of turmoil as well, but her story really takes a back seat to the past.
Florrie and Edith’s family actually does quite well in the war compared to those around them. They have set up a garden and are raising rabbits. But the boy Edith loves has gone to war and they may never see him again. As the years go by, the worry and unknown eat at Edith, and she begins to act very oddly.
Florrie, on the other hand, is quickly thrust into the role of caretaker. Even though she is the younger sister, she seems to be the only one holding the family together at times. The relationship between Florrie and Edith is the central point of the story. The sisterly disputes never outshine the love and devotion they feel for each other.
Meanwhile, Kate is navigating her relationship and career crisis in the present. The way her life changed and she came to appreciate the little things as she learned more about the past was quite sweet. I don’t really understand why her brothers and their families were such a prominent piece of her narrative. I feel like they mainly served to distract from her storyline and make her seem like an incredible person by giving me some awful people to compare her to. The book could have done without them.
**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**
