Roses & Thorns

Roses & Thorns
Showing posts with label US Army. Show all posts
Showing posts with label US Army. Show all posts

Sunday, July 3, 2016

On the Run: Big Mike and Minnie by Susan Amanda Kelly



Blurb:

World, meet Minerva Coolidge, New York fashion model and disaster-magnet. Now meet Big Mike, her tough, tattooed, taciturn, somewhat reluctant bodyguard.

Minnie is only one runway show away from being a supermodel. She gave up bacon for that show so heaven help anyone who gets in her way. But Minnie has been ordered home to the west coast by her over-protective, criminal family. Trouble has followed her to the east coast. Minnie refuses to give up her hard-won freedom. So her family foists a bodyguard on her until they can fetch her home. Big Mike is exactly the kind of alpha tough guy she left home to escape. Overbearing. Distractingly yummy. And just like the men she grew up with, he totally underestimates her.

Big Mike takes one look at Minnie Coolidge and recognizes her as Trouble-With-A-Capital-T. Killer face, killer body, killer family and the survival instincts of a hen. He begrudgingly agrees to babysit her as a favor to her brother, an old army buddy. How hard can it be for an ex-biker, ex-Special Forces, international security specialist to keep one pretty nitwit safe for one day? And then she runs rings around him. Turns out Minnie's smart, mouthy and tough. Everything he likes. Loves. But he's only passing through. He can't wait to hand the hot disaster-magnet over to her brother, or can he?

Can true love conquer all? Maybe. But first, Minnie and Big Mike have to survive an attempted kidnapping, stash a corpse, rescue her bad-tempered cat, handle her vapid pop star admirer, avoid her geriatric sex-therapist neighbor, outwit the paparazzi and manage her crazily over-protective brother.

About the Author:

Susan Amanda Kelly loves making up stuff in her head. She drives her husband to distraction by suddenly stopping, mid-conversation, and staring off into space. She once spent five hours at sea, on a boat, muttering: "Where would he hide the body?" She hopes the video footage of that trip has been wiped. She finally decided to put the characters that inhabit her head, onto paper. It was like opening the door on a lunatic asylum—glorious bedlam. She hopes her readers come to love her characters as much as she does. She writes action-packed romantic comedies. And her husband is convinced her male leads are based on him. Not the body-hiding psychopath, of course. Sign up to be the first to hear about her new releases: http://eepurl.com/bIb7G5

Review:

On the Run: Big Mike and Minnie was a fun read. Minerva Coolidge is a mafia princess who doesn’t want to be cossetted by her family—not even when her life is in danger. She can take care of herself, thank you very much. That is, when she’s not spilling things, dropping things, or trying to run in designer five-inch spiked heels. On the other hand, she’s smart, savvy, and resourceful. And with her perfect features, blonde hair, and big eyes people underestimate her all the time. Especially men.

Big Mike’s used to being in charge. Ex-military, mercenary, he’s been offered bodyguard jobs before. But babysitting the pampered and entitled is not his idea of real work. Until he agrees to do a favor for his old Army buddy and guard his pal’s kid sister. As the blurb says, Minnie runs rings around Big Mike, and they encounter lots of adventure, along with loads of humor and plenty of romance. Big Mike and Minnie will grab you on the first page and keep you running with them right through the last.

Author Website:  http://eepurl.com/bIb7G5
Heat Rating:  R
Length:  155 Pages
Digital Price:  $0.99

Thanks for visiting.

Sunday, January 11, 2015

A Bowl of Rice by Joan Leotta



Blurb:

Anna Maria O'Shea became a nurse to continue her family's Legacy of Honor.

In choosing to stick to her commitment to service she loses her long-time college love, but finds the pain of war is stronger than her private heartache.

Is Mark, the handsome physician, the balm her soul needs? Or is it George who will heal her wounds with a love that transcends war and the pain she sees all around her?

Review by Rochelle Weber:

It’s difficult for me to see this book as an historical romance. The Viet Nam conflict history? No, it’s not—it’s my youth! But, while overall A Bowl of Rice was a pretty good read, it had a moment that reminded me why I’m not a fan of historical romance. Anomalies. It was just a slip, but it was a glaring one to me. When Anna Maria and her roommate decide to go swimming on their day off, they meet George. He welcomes them to the beach using the Vietnamese name and then says, “The Americans call it China Beach, like the TV show.” Screech! Stop the action! Let’s see…A Bowl of Rice takes place when? Go back to the beginning and check the date—1971. Hmm, Anna Maria and I both joined the military the same year. Google China Beach the TV show. I’m fairly sure it was sometime in the early nineties. Oh, 1988—the year I got my degree. Grrr… Big anomaly. Pet peeve.

The other thing that slowed the action was the rhetoric. Anna Marie told just about everyone she spoke with that while she didn’t exactly agree with why we were in Viet Nam, she believed we should support the young men who were fighting because they hadn’t asked to go over there, and they were getting shot up and suffering. Besides, her father, grandfather, uncles, etc. had all served in the military, and she felt she had to live up to her family’s Legacy of Honor. First, I felt the rhetoric slowed the action, and second, I felt she’d done enough to advertise the rest of the series after about the third time she mentioned it.

I’ve since corresponded with Ms. Leona, and I mentioned some of these concerns. She told me that she wasn’t trying to hype the series, just tie the books together, thanked me for my input, and asked me to become a beta reader for future books, so this is the last one I’ll be reviewing. And, she thanked me for pointing out the glitch about the TV anomaly. I’m surprised her editor didn’t catch these things.

Length:  104 Pages
Prices: 
Print:  $7.99
Digital:  $2.99

You’ll notice we always include the publisher’s buy link. That’s because authors usually receive 40% of the book price from the publisher. Editors and cover artists usually receive about 5%. When you buy a book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut and the author, editors and cover artists receive their cuts from what is left. So, if a book costs $5.99 at E-Book Publisher.com and you buy from there, the author will receive about $2.40. If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $0.83.

Downloading the file from your computer to your Kindle is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive. Plug the larger USB end of your chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from your “Downloads” box to your Kindle/Documents/Books directory. You can download your books onto your computer using “Save As” to a “Books” file you create and sort them into sub-folders by genre, author, or however you wish before transferring them to your Kindle. That way, if there’s a glitch with your Kindle, the books are on your computer. Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.

Thanks for visiting. Rose, Julie, Donna, & Rochelle