Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Muddy Waters earns high praise from Siren's Song Reviews

Great news arrived today. MUDDY WATERS, my latest romantic suspense, earned a smashing 5 Star review from Siren's Song Reviews. I'm over the moon about the review. Here it is:


Is someone watching her?


Roxie Whitaker is struggling to make her grandmother’s real estate business a success. When her coastal home is burglarized, her rosy worldview dims. Atlanta security expert Sloan Harding distracts her from her troubles, but is Mossy Bog’s former bad boy serious about her?

Never one to shy away from muddy waters, Sloan is determined to find his alleged missing inheritance. Sparks fly as he enters into a business arrangement with Roxie to oversee the restoration of his childhood home. With her help, Sloan resurrects old secrets while a dangerous predator stalks them.

My Notes: After reading the blurb I was interested to see about this lost treasure Sloan Harding was looking for. Is Sloan still the “bad boy” of the town? I had to find out.

Summary: Roxie is a real-estate broker in a small town in Georgia. The bad boy Sloan comes back to town to find his lost inheritance. A mysterious man from SC wants to buy Sloan’s home. Weird things start to happen once Sloan is back in town, things that might hurt Roxie in the long run. Who can she trust?


Review: I enjoyed this read for several reasons. The romance and the suspense worked well together. I was anxious to know about this lost treasure Sloan has always heard about, but never thought it really existed. I liked the banter between Roxie and Sloan—she kept him in his place.

At first they have a roller coaster relationship. They each find it hard to trust the other and misjudge a few things along the way. Sloan’s dog, Max, was cute as well. I loved the small town feel in Georgia. My mom is from a very small town in Georgia and I could relate to the charm and gossip.
I like the writing style of this author. I will be looking for more books by her. I enjoyed the story and really didn’t want it to end. This is another book I can add to my tiny “read again” stack.

See the review: http://sirenssongreviews.blogspot.com/2011/09/muddy-waters-by-maggietoussaint.html?zx=9b68397a988172c9

Don't miss this book or my other fab titles from The Wild Rose Press, House of Lies (now bargain priced) and No Second Chance! See my author page at TWRP: http://tinyurl.com/64ys5wv
 
Maggie Toussaint


Mix a bad boy in with small town gossip and a lost inheritance and you’ve got MUDDY WATERS

http://www.maggietoussaint.com/ and http://mudpiesandmagnolias.blogspot.com/

Release Day: The Beast's Redemption



I've always admired adaptions and inspired by stories - when they are done well. There's something about taking elements or an overall story and making it your own which inspires and challenges my creativity.

The Beast's Redemption is one of those stories. A modern retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story. TBR is more of an "inspired" by story since it isn't a retelling, but contains elements from the original fairy tale.

One element I enjoyed playing with is the rose. Three roses appear and play an important part in The Beast's Redemption.

The Beast's Redemption by Angie Derek. A miniature rose from the Black Rose line. 

Cursed shape shifter, Alexander Léandre, is resigned to his fate, but that doesn’t stop him from hunting down the descendants of the sorceress who bewitched him in hopes of obtaining a cure.

Belle Beaumont is used to men never looking past her curvy figure and pretty face. She dutifully agrees to befriend Alexander in order to protect her father’s herbal company.

A single touch changes all. Passions flare. When Belle discovers what Alexander is truly after and why, will she accept him for what he is? And will her love and family knowledge be enough to break a hundred-year-old curse?

http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=177_136&products_id=4632

Friday, September 23, 2011

"Across the Winds of Time"



Who wouldn't love to have a "helpless" nineteenth century man fall right into one's lap? I know I would!! If you can't "do," you write books. So, that's what I did...while I'm waiting for my nineteenth century man to travel forward in time for me.... :-)
While on a genealogical research journey through the Midwest, Molly Hamilton impulsively buys a 100-year-old Victorian house in the middle of a cornfield, and falls in love with the house’s owner...the original owner, that is. Can he be a ghost? The handsome, intriguing attorney certainly feels solid—and somehow her soul knows she has always loved him.
Darius Ferguson has no idea how he has come to present-day Iowa. The last thing he knew, the year was 1880, and he had just buried his fiancée, who happens to look exactly like Molly. He cannot separate the two women in his heart—to him, they are one.
In spite of being drawn to him, Molly thinks Darius is unhinged. Darius wonders if he has joined his fiancée in purgatory. If time travel is possible, will love be enough to build a future together?
(Time Travel)
Rating: Sweet
Page Count: 308
Word Count: 89994
Print ISBN: 1-60154-970-9
Excerpt:
“Molly, wait!”
I froze in place for a moment. It was definitely a man under the tree though I couldn’t see his face...and he knew my name.
“Do I know you?” I called in an unsteady voice. It seemed, though, as if my words were taken by the wind. Who was this man? And how did he know my name?
He moved away from the tree with a tentative step. His clothing was formal—a dark suit and white shirt—as if he had just been to a funeral. I hadn’t remembered seeing a canopy for a funeral on the grounds, but I wasn’t about to take my eyes off the stranger for one instant to confirm that suspicion.
I thought I saw a flash of white teeth from under his dark mustache, but he was still some distance away. Golden highlights in his chestnut hair caught the sunlight, and my mouth dropped open. He was undoubtedly one of the most handsome men I had ever seen in my life. My stomach rolled over at the sight of him, though not exclusively with admiration of his good looks. Cold sweat broke out on my forehead, and I put my hand to my mouth as if to hold back the morning’s breakfast...if I’d had any.
For here—in the flesh—was the man of my dreams. Not just any dreams. More specifically, my dreams of the previous evening. Yet I couldn’t for the life of me remember ever seeing him before until this moment.
“Be careful what you wish for,” I muttered behind the hand that covered my convulsing mouth.
“Molly, do not be frightened. I can see that you are. I do not want to scare you.” He took another step forward and held his hands up palms out...as if to show me he wasn’t armed, I thought hysterically, or to calm me down. Either way, it wasn’t working.

Saturday, September 03, 2011

NOT WITHOUT RISK Wins Silver!

He has a killer to find and doesn't need a leggy brunette clouding his investigation. She wants to know who murdered her friend. As Paige and Justin try to stay one step ahead of a madman, love comes...
Not Without Risk.


NOT WITHOUT RISK has been awarded the Silver 2011 Readers Favorite Award in romantic suspense! I'm absolutely thrilled because this is the first book I ever wrote from Chapter One to The End!


Check here for more details on the win.



BLURB:
Six agonizing months after a slug collapsed his lung, Sergeant Justin Harrison manages to return to the one place where he shines—the San Diego homicide division. Nothing will stand in the way of proving he is fit for active duty. Especially not the long-legged brunette who just stumbled into his crime scene.

Photographer Paige Conroy spent years hiding from her past. Then a late night telephone call brings it crashing back. An old friend is in town and needs her help. When she arrives at his hotel room four hours later, he's dead. Suddenly, she's the target of a madman, and Paige must turn to Sergeant Harrison for protection.

But who is the bigger threat to her... the faceless assailant she fears will steal her life or the dark-eyed detective she knows could steal her heart?


Thanks for reading!
Sarah Grimm