Sunday, December 31, 2017

Christmas with the Sheriff {Book Review}


Title: Christmas with the Sheriff
Series: Shadow Creek Montana Novel 
Author: Victoria James 
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Book Description

After fleeing her beloved small town five years ago, Julia Bailey is back to spend Christmas with her family. Returning is hard, but keeping the devastating secret about her late husband is even harder. Her place isn't in Big Sky Country any longer...but the more time she spends with the irresistible Sheriff who saved her once before, and his adorable little daughter, the more Julia starts wishing she could let go of the past and start a new life.
Single dad and county Sheriff Chase Donovan had been secretly in love with his best friend's wife for years. But after her traumatic loss he knew Julia needed to get away from Shadow Creek, even though helping her leave was the last thing he wanted to do. Now she's home and he doesn't intend to lose her a second time. Chase is going to prove to Julia just how good they can be together this Christmas...and forever.
My Review:

Mrs. James is another new author to me. I really liked the sound of the synopsis of this book. Plus hey it dealt with Christmas. And who doesn’t love to read a good Christmas story at Christmas time?
Oh and on the plus plus side it also dealt with my other favorite sub-genre of a single parent. So I jumped at the chance to be able to read this story.

I really liked Julia in this book. I thought that she was a strong lead character. I felt for her and her losses. I also thought she was sweet, kind, and caring. I also loved that she still obviously had a strong relationship with her former husband that she lost family. You could tell how much she and they cared for each other.

Oh Chase.... I loved Chase to death. Of course he had that whole single daddy thing going for him. I felt for him and his daughter with everything they had been through. Right off the bat you could tell Chase had, had feelings for Julia for a very long time.

I thought that this was a very sweet romance story. Mrs. James hooked me in from the first page to the last. Although at times it was pretty predictable it was still very enjoyable. Also I really enjoyed the lighter moments that made me giggle.

I’m giving this book 4.5 Stars out of 5 and will have to read the rest in this series!!!!


Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley for my honest review. The opinions in this post are 100% of Busy Bumble Bee Book Reviews and may differ from others.

An Untouchables Christmas {Book Review}


Title: An Untouchables Christmas
Series: An Untouchables Novella
Author: Cindy Skaggs
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Book Description:


Sofia Capri survived life as a mob wife, but living with drop-dead gorgeous FBI agent Logan Stone has its own challenges. Step one? Host his family for Christmas dinner.
Rescuing Sofia from her former mob life and saving her kidnapped son was enough to earn Logan a place in her life, but a mysterious phone call before dinner threatens the security he'd give anything to provide.
When Sofia's son and Logan's nieces disappear from the festivities, the illusion of a normal Christmas shatters, hurling Sofia back into her nightmares.
Each book in the Untouchables series is a standalone, full-length story that can be enjoyed out of order.

My Review:
Ok so I have to admit that this is the first book that I’ve read by Mrs. Skaggs. I think what drew me the most to this book was the cover and synopsis. Plus I hadn’t read a good mobster type book in a while. What I failed to realize while reading said synopsis is that this wasn’t a mobster type book. Or at least the main female character wasn’t involved with the mob anymore.

Also I don’t think when I went into this book that it was a novella and not a full length book. And even though in the synopsis it say each book in this series can be read as a stand-alone, I felt like I was missing some of the story and was confused at times. And I think that has to do with not having read the first book in this series.

Anywhoo, I did like Sofia and Logan together. From what I could tell from this book (again haven’t read the first book) Sofia and her sons life’s were not very easy from before. But Sofia is trying her hardest to live a normal type life.

I liked Logan a lot. I thought he was completely understanding of Sofia’s little ticks. And probably more patient than anybody else would have been.

I thought once I understood what was going on in this book it was very enjoyable. There was definitely some drama and tense moments. There were also some very hot moments.

I’m giving this book 4 Stars out of 5!!!!

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley for my honest review. The opinions in this post are 100% of Busy Bumble Bee Book Reviews and may differ from others.

Crashed Out {Book Review}


Title: Crashed Out 
Series: A Made In Jersey Novel 
Author: Tessa Bailey 
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Book Description:

Jasmine Taveras is the reason Sarge Purcell grabbed his six-string and bailed the hell out of New Jersey four years ago. She's the fuel for every song he's ever written-each one laced with bitter, hard-edged, hungry lust. Now, with his hugely successful band on temporary hiatus, Sarge is determined to prove to Jasmine that this "kid" turned into every inch the man she's always needed...
Men are slim pickings for a single factory girl in Hook, New Jersey...until tall, broad-shouldered hotness walks-or rather storms-into Jasmine's life. Sarge's return shouldn't affect her this way. He's her best friend's much younger kid brother, and the kind of rough, gritty, sexiness Jasmine has no right to taste for herself. Even if he lets her.
But lust is a blinding, insatiable force. And when it crashes, it will take both Sarge and Jasmine down with it...
Each book in the Made in Jersey series is a standalone, full-length story that can be enjoyed out of order. 

My Review:
So I haven’t read a book by Mrs. Bailey in at least a year. But this book sounded interesting and I had the opportunity to read it. So I jumped at the chance to read it. But that’s about where my excitement ends for this book.

I first want to say I really enjoyed Sarge. I thought he was sweet, kind, caring, a bit shy and the all around boy next door. I have to say that Sarge was the only saving thing to this story.

Look I wanted to like Jasmine. I really tried to like Jasmine. But I just couldn’t get into her and she just kind of irritated me.

Look I thought the book was a good read. As I just mentioned above I just couldn’t get into Jasmine. It irritated me that she treated Sarge as a child still, and yes I understand that she’s older than him. But because she still treated him and saw him as a child I just never felt a connection between them. But I will say this that there were definitely some very hot moments in the book.

I’m giving this book 3.5 Stars out of 5!!!!


Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley for my honest review. The opinions in this post are 100% of Busy Bumble Bee Book Reviews and may differ from other's.

Pipe {Book Review}


Title: Pipe 
Series: Fallen Lords MC, Book 2 
Author: Winter Travers
Genre: MC Romance 

Book Description:

Guarded. Afraid. Confused.


Nikki Nomad’s life is in shambles. Growing up in and out of foster care, she rarely lets anyone in. After watching her best friend Karmen fall in love, Nikki starts to soften to the idea of a happily ever after with Fallen Lords V.P., Pipe.
He’s ruggedly handsome with a careless attitude, and it’s the exact lethal and sexy combination that breaks Nikki’s heart, reminding her life is far from a fairytale and making her run away from the few people she loves.



Stubborn. Careless. Free.



Pipe Mark cares about one person and one person only. 
A revolving door of women might spend the night in his bed, but they all know the score before they step foot through the door.
1. No promises. 2. One night. 
They all respect the rules and go on their merry way more than satisfied in the morning.
All except Nikki.
Nikki makes Pipe want more. He never has before, but he longs to make promises of ending each night tangled in each other's arms. He just realizes it all too late.



Nikki runs, and Pipe ignores the way his body begs for him to chase her. While Nikki thinks Pipe can’t give her what she needs, Pipe is worried Nikki is going to rock his world and never leave it the same.

My Review

I first want to say I really enjoyed the first book in this series. So I was really looking forward to this second book. I had really liked Pipe in the first book and was looking forward to his story. I had also thought I had a clue on how this book was going to go. But when I started reading it, let's just say I was completely off.

This book can be read as a stand alone, but if you haven't read Nickel, I would suggest reading that one so you know who is who. Nikki and Pipe are no strangers to each other and had hooked up at some point in Nickel and Karmen's book. 

Both Nikki and Pipe are more alike than I had realized. They both came from backgrounds that weren't really stable. They are also two of the most hard headed people also. 

Pipe is the Fallen Lords VP and even with all the craziness surrounding his club he's determined to get Nikki. He was definitely swoon worthy in this book. 

Nikki is Karmen's best friend. After finding another woman in Pipe's room she gets mad (even though they weren't together) and runs. Runs from everything and everyone she knows. I don't know what it was but I found Nikki to be a bit childish in this book. I liked her much better in Karmen's book.

I thought this book was a good read. I also thought Nikki had ran for a completely different reason than she did. I liked seeing the other guys of the Fallen Lords and the other ladies.

I'm giving this book 4 Stars out of 5!!!!


Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from the author for my honest review. The opinions in this post are 100% of Busy Bumble Bee Book Reviews and may differ from others. 

Release Blitz: Level {The Fighters Series Novella #5.5} & Giveaway


Title: Level
Series: The Fighters Series Novella #5.5
Author: T.C. Matson
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: December 29, 2017


Levi


I’m man enough to admit I screwed up. I’m not proud of my actions, but it is what it is.
I learned from them and now I’m more determined than ever to prove to Paige my heart is hers.
Asking her to marry me was the easiest decision.

Walking down the aisle was simple.

Holding her for the rest of my life—check.

Being a sexy, excellent husband—check.

Staying undefeated—Damn right check.

But Karma has a funny way of getting back at me
And with her sneaky fingers wrapping around my throat
She sets my ass up and I’m in some serious trouble. 

Paige

Who would’ve known Levi would become my husband after all the mess?

Giving him a second chance was easy.

Becoming his wife was even easier.

But I never would’ve known life had extra plans for us.

Fighting is what Levi does the best, until he’s surprised with two different types of challenges he’s never experienced.

Sucker punched—check.

Stumbles—check.

Challenge accepted—for sure.

Levi might have his flaws and faults, but I couldn’t ask for a better man to hold my hand through life.

Or maybe it’s me holding his hand.

Can Levi can step up and overcome the obstacles that have been thrown his way or will he be leveled?











“Dreaming in Reality…You dream in reality when you pick up a book and get lost in it. In my writing, I strive to take you to a place where reality and fantasy become a blurry line. Everything should be relatable. It could happen…couldn’t it?” ~ TC Matson TC Matson loves to let her character’s voices be heard. With a head full of stories, she puts her keyboard through a beating daily. With an understanding that love isn’t always instant and full of flowers—her writing mirrors it. She’s a romance junkie at heart and an avid reader. Add those two together and she will devour books within hours, getting lost in the world the author creates. Matson resides in the peaceful Piedmont area of NC with her husband and three boys, where staying hopped up on caffeine is the key to her sanity. Chaos is indefinite and a sense of humor is an absolute must.

Saturday, December 30, 2017

Purrfect Santa {Book Review}


Title: Purrfect Santa: Howls Romance
Authors: Jessie Lane and Chasity Bowlin
Genre: Paranormal Romance novella

Book Description:

A woman afraid to love …
Nikki knows what it is to lose those you love. With her focus on her orphaned sister, she hasn’t given herself the chance to process her own grief over the loss of their parents. Life is chaos and the last complication she needs is a mate.
A lion alone for too long …
Joe Miller knows chaos. Being orphaned as a child, he’s never had a family to call his own. Crashing with a friend for the holidays, he’s hoodwinked into playing Santa Claus at a local mall. The last thing on his mind is finding a mate.
A love worth the risk …
With her baby sister on her hip, sadness in her eyes, and a longing in her heart, Nikki waits in line with her sister to see Santa. From the moment he scents her, Joe is in deep. It’s going to take everything he has to convince Nikki the love outweighs the risk to her heart. Luckily for Joe, he has fate and Nikki’s adorable baby sister on his side. After all, who can say no to the Purrfect Santa at Christmas?

My Review:

I thought this was a sweet little romance story. 

I thought that Joe and Nikki were perfect for each other. Although at times I did find Nikki to be a bit hard headed. I thought Joe was perfect. And Nikki's sister was adorable and at times the only thing that saved this book. I also don't think Nikki gave her sister enough credit that she could move on from losing their parents. 

I didn't have an issue with this book. And found it to be enjoyable. But my issue really comes from the Howls romance series. I understand that these are novella's and that there shorter than normal books and your most likely to just scratch the surface of a story with these books. But at times I feel like we don't get to know the characters very well. Though I will make an exception and say I think we got to know Joe and Nikki well in this one. But I'm not sure why they consider these novella's paranormals. Yes I understand that the characters in all of the Howls romance series are shifters of some kind, so that makes them paranormal. But never once in any of the books that I have read in this Howls line have the ever shifted. Their shifters have been mentioned in books and wanting to get out. But they just never shift in these books and that bugs me.

Anyways I'm giving this book 3.5 Stars out of 5!!!!


Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from Enticing Journey Book Promotions for my honest review. The opinions in this post are 100% of Busy Bumble Bee Book Reviews and may differ from others. 

Blog Tour: Purrfect Santa {Howls Romance}


Title: Purrfect Santa: Howls Romance
Author: Jessie Lane & Chasity Bowlin
Genre: Paranormal Romance Novella
Release Date: December 12, 2017






A woman afraid to love …

Nikki knows what it is to lose those you love. With her focus on her orphaned sister, she hasn’t given herself the chance to process her own grief over the loss of their parents. Life is chaos and the last complication she needs is a mate.

A lion alone for too long …

Joe Miller knows chaos. Being orphaned as a child, he’s never had a family to call his own. Crashing with a friend for the holidays, he’s hoodwinked into playing Santa Claus at a local mall. The last thing on his mind is finding a mate.

A love worth the risk …

With her baby sister on her hip, sadness in her eyes, and a longing in her heart, Nikki waits in line with her sister to see Santa. From the moment he scents her, Joe is in deep. It’s going to take everything he has to convince Nikki the love outweighs the risk to her heart. Luckily for Joe, he has fate and Nikki’s adorable baby sister on his side. After all, who can say no to the Purrfect Santa at Christmas?

Chapter One

If one more kid tried to pull his beard, he was going to roar.

Joe looked at the small spawn of Satan currently sitting on his lap and held in the urge to growl. The kid was maybe five years old, had blonde hair, blue eyes and dimples galore. His first thought was she was adorable. Now, after she’d pulled on his Santa beard during the picture, he knew better. She was nothing but trouble. If he really were Santa, he would give her coal in her stocking and a letter advising her parents to put her in the naughty corner.

“Smile, Santa!”

The photographer’s words were more of a warning than a cue to get ready for the second picture. So Joe played his role, ho ho ho’d, and smiled for the camera while the brat on his lap asked him for a pony.

There had been a time when Joe hadn’t dreaded Christmas so much. Back when he was a kid and everything about Christmas had still seemed so magical. Not so much anymore. It sucked when you spent the holidays alone. To say he was a bit bitter about the holiday season was an understatement.

Which was part of the reason he couldn’t believe he was here at The Mall of the Smokies, being the damn Santa. How had he gotten wrangled into this position again?

His buddy Sam. Buddy. So much for never leaving a man behind, he thought. There he sat, covered from head to toe in red velvet that was none too fresh and none too clean, thanks to the boozy sweat of the previous wearer. Of course, he’d also had more than one kid with a leaky diaper on his lap that day.

And Sam, where was Sam? Nowhere to be seen.

Joe and Sam had served together in the Marine Corps, but once Sam had completed his term of service, he’d come back home to help run the family business, a lodge in the mountains of East Tennessee. Joe, having nowhere to go after getting out of the service himself, had taken Sam up on his offer to crash at the Bearadise Lodge.

There was just one catch. The Lodge was sponsoring Santa’s Workshop at the local outlet mall, and they were short one Santa. Apparently, the old Santa had been fired for drinking on the job.

Damn that Sam!

After only one day of being Santa, Joe could see why the previous hire had been driven to drink. These kids were hell on his nerves. Like the blonde brat who was once again pulling on his beard. He was just about to give her a little growl when she hopped off his lap and ran giggling to her mother, who gave him an unapologetic glance before dismissing him entirely.

This job would have been so much easier if he were in a shifter-run community. Then he could growl all he wanted. Instead, he was dealing with humans and had to keep his feline traits under wraps.

As the next kid, a little boy about the age of four, climbed on to his lap and proceeded to fart, Joe did his best not to cringe. Bullets and bad guys he could deal with. Snot-nosed kids were apparently his downfall. He’d only been at this for a day and he was thinking of telling Sam he could shove this Santa job where the sun didn’t shine. Joe didn’t even want to think about doing this until Christmas Eve. Three days away. Three long, miserable, endless days of bratty kids, droopy diapers, and disaffected parents more interested in their phones than their kids.

In fact, as the next kid proceeded to sneeze all over him, Joe considered walking out right then.

But then something happened that kept him glued to his seat. His sharp lion senses caught a new smell among the crowd. Peppermint and sugar cookies.

Mate, his lion roared inside his head.

The one person that was cosmically meant for him and him alone. The woman that Mother Nature deemed his. He scanned the crowd until he finally saw her at the end of the line, waiting to come see him.

Short, with generous curves that would fill his hands, she had black hair pulled to the top of her head in a messy bun. He wondered what color her eyes were, being too far away to see them. Scanning the rest of her body, he suddenly stopped when he came to the thing that shocked him the most.

A kid on her hip.

Was it her child? From this far away, he couldn’t scent the small one. Had someone already laid hands on his mate? His lion roared again, only this time it was in protest. No one should touch his mate but him! He would slaughter the man who had dared give his mate a cub.

“SANTA!” the elf behind the camera shouted.

Joe snapped his attention back to the man he was going to eviscerate for taking his concentration away from his mate, only to find a scared human staring at him. It was then he realized the child on his lap was shaking in fear.

The elf inched forward to whisper so the others in line couldn’t hear. “You growled at him, Santa! Say you’re sorry.”

His stomach sank. To say he felt like a colossal piece of shit was an understatement. He had been so wrapped up in his emotions that he had let his lion slip out a little in public, which was a big hell no in the shifter rules. Joe looked at the little boy on his lap and gave the kid a big smile, trying to play off what had happened. “How would you like a stuffed lion for Christmas? They go grrrrrrr.”

The little boy looked at him with wide eyes that slowly turned from fear to curiosity. “You can make a stuffed lion that growls?”

Joe nodded. “Sure can. I can put the elves to work on it right away if that’s what you want.”

The little boy scrunched his face up in thought but then shook his head no. “I really want a bike for Christmas, Santa. Can I have that instead of the lion?”

Relieved that the boy was no longer scared, Joe gave him a big grin and a wink. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Yippee!” The boy squealed as he jumped off Joe’s lap and ran to his mother, who was waiting for him next to the photographer.

Joe watched as the boy happily walked away, then quickly turned his attention back to his mate, who was watching him from the back of the line with big wary eyes. The mating scent was too strong. He couldn’t tell whether or not the child was hers, but that didn’t matter.

She was his.

And if that meant he had to accept another man’s cub into his home to claim his mate, then that’s what he would do. Although he would take great pleasure in rubbing his scent all over both woman and cub every chance that he got. Just to make sure that everyone knew that they were now his and his alone.





Jessie Lane is a best-selling author of Paranormal and Contemporary Romance, as well as, Upper YA Paranormal Romance/Fantasy.
She lives in Kentucky with her two little Rock Chicks in-the-making and her over protective alpha husband that she’s pretty sure is a latent grizzly bear shifter. She has a passionate love for reading and writing naughty romance, cliff hanging suspense, and out-of-this-world characters that demand your attention, or threaten to slap you around until you do pay attention to them.
She’s also a proud member of the Romance Writers of America (RWA).




Chasity Bowlin lives in central Kentucky with her husband and their menagerie of animals. She loves writing, loves traveling and enjoys incorporating tidbits of her actual vacations into her books. She is an avid Anglophile, loving all things British, but specifically all things Regency. She also writes steamy contemporary and paranormal romance. 
Growing up in Tennessee, spending as much time as possible with her doting grandparents, soap operas were a part of her daily existence, followed by back to back episodes of Scooby Doo. Her path to becoming a romance novelist was set when, rather than simply have her Barbie dolls cruise around in a pink convertible, they time traveled, hosted lavish dinner parties and one even had an evil twin locked in the attic.



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