Damaged by Kristi Hudecek-Ashwill

 

Yep, it’s me. I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but I would like to announce the upcoming release of my second book, Damaged. I would also like to thank Winmarleigh Publishing for taking me on as one of their authors. It’s an honor and a pleasure.

I also want to thank my son, Martin, for designing the cover for the book. The publishing company did offer me a couple of covers, but this one just fired on all cylinders for me. It went against company policy to have an outsider design a cover, but they made an exception for this one. I appreciate that more than anyone can imagine. I don’t know how often a son gets published with his mother like this, but it doesn’t seem to happen often.

This book was incredibly difficult for me to write at times. I spent a fair amount of time in tears over Aiden, who is the three-year-old son of my main characters. In the book, he has cancer. I did a lot of research before I tackled writing such a thing. I never want to hurt anybody or be insensitive in my writing, especially when dealing with such an emotional issue. Nobody wants anybody to have cancer, especially a child. It’s bad no matter what. It seems worse when it’s a kid.

The book is slated for release on February 7 and the pre-order link is at the bottom of this post.

Thank you and have a groovy day.

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The Blurb

Single mom Janie Walthrop has received news no parent wants to hear; her three-year-old son, Aiden, has cancer. Friends and family are lining up to be tested for a bone marrow transplant that could save his life, but with no matches, her last alternative is to contact his father.

After a horrific bicycle accident that left him with a permanent limp and having to rely on a cane, Jess Warren walked out of Janie’s life four years ago and didn’t look back. At the time, he was moving into serious boyfriend status with her and was playing daddy to her daughter, Skylar. His leaving devastated them.

Finding him after she discovered she was pregnant was impossible. He’d changed his phone number, deactivated all of his social media accounts, and disappeared. He’d made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with her again.

Jess is Aiden’s last hope. Time is running out. Janie vows to never get involved with any man again, especially Jess Warren. He’d proven that he can’t be trusted and the stakes now are higher than ever. She knows she left him disappointed on the only night they’d been together and seeing him again was going to be more painful than she could ever imagine. But she had no choice. Swallowing her pride, she makes a concerted effort to find him.

Jess knew leaving Janie was the biggest mistake of his life. She deserved better than what he could give her now that his ankle was messed up and he couldn’t walk right. He’d cut her loose for her own good. When he found out about Aiden, he was angry that Janie hadn’t told him that he had a child, but he wasn’t about to turn down her plea for help.

What neither of them was counting on was helping each other and falling in love again while their son battled for his life.

Pre-order at Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/ydx5bhmt

Book Review: A Rose for a Rogue (A Waltz for a Rogue #6) by Collette Cameron

FIVE STARS

I absolutely loved this book. It’s a story about forbidden love and what the two main characters do to to achieve their happily ever after. It’s touching, well-written, and no hot scenes. I like that sometimes because the line between love and lust fades when the hero and heroine hit the sheets too quickly and you really don’t know what’s propelling the story. In this case, it was love at first sight.

Chester is aristocracy and Eden is a bastard daughter of a deceased earl and has no claims to anything and is pretty much destitute. Chester’s horse has gone lame and he needs a ride home. He hasn’t been home in ten years and he told his ailing father that he would be home in time to celebrate Chester’s birthday. Today was that day.

Eden was adorable. She had a scraggly dog with her and a horse that was wearing a floppy hat because it didn’t like the rain. I didn’t care one way or the other about the dog’s name, which was Mr. Wiggles in case you’re wondering, but the horse’s name was Peony. When I saw that, a big smile came across my face. None of the animals stole the show, but they were a big part of the plot. I just happen to love the name Peony and thought it was worth mentioning.

I digress.

Eden is a sweet girl. She’s beautiful, kind, and humble. She was doing okay until she gave Chester a ride home and fell into the river when the dog cart got stuck. It was cold and raining and he insisted that she stay at his place that night in a separate room, of course. What she didn’t know until she got to his estate that his family and her family were bitter enemies because her half-brother shot Chester’s brother in a duel years ago. Chester’s father missed the joke with Chester bringing home the enemy.

Chester is so noble, though. He didn’t care that Eden was a supposed member of the family foe. It was love at first sight for him. He didn’t care about the inane feud. He didn’t care that she was of lower social class than he. Nothing like that mattered. He knew what he wanted and he wanted Eden for life. He just had to sway her to see things his way.

This was a beautiful love story. It was so easy to get involved with the characters and cheer for both Chester and Eden. They both had their struggles. He was more than giving. She was the reluctant recipient of his help. He never demeaned her or tried to take away her independence. He treated her with the same respect he’d treat any other woman of the ton despite their social differences. She didn’t want to shame him or make him lose his social status and it was all on the line if they launched into a relationship.

This novel proves that love conquers all. Nothing else matters when you find the right person. It was enchanting and I was drawn into the story.

This book earned an easy, easy five stars. I’d give it more if I could.

*I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily left a review.

Purchase at Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/y7pfxwnr

Book Review: Covert Games (Redemption Harbor #6) by Katie Reus

FIVE STARS

Each book of this series centers on a person or persons who are involved with an underground operative that is run by ex-military or ex-government operatives under the guise of being a consulting firm. This book is Leighton’s story.

Leighton Cannon is a former Marine. He’s dark, sad, and haunted but nobody on the team knows why. They know something has happened, but they don’t know when, where, or why. He’s an enigma. As the reader, I wanted to know why, too. It kept me guessing and turning the pages.

Lucy works for her uncle at a hotel in New Orleans. She suspects something is going on and has started an investigation on her own. What she isn’t expecting is Spencer Johnson, a patron of the hotel, is doing an investigation, too. The difference between them is Spencer knows what’s going on and he and the Redemption Harbor crew are there to rescue girls who are involved with human trafficking against their wills. She’s undeniably attracted to Spencer Johnson and he is equally attracted to her. What she doesn’t know is that Spencer Johnson is actually Leighton Cannon. He comes clean with her in a pretty quick fashion, especially when he finds out that she could be a target of her uncle. Being a target of that guy is a bad place to be.

Leighton has no choice but to protect Lucy. He stays with her most of the time and is kind to her. It doesn’t take much time for things to heat up between them and he reveals secrets, one of which shatters her.

I liked this book a lot. It was suspenseful, fast-paced, filled with action and some heat between the characters. It was good to see all the characters from the previous novels together again and working to bring down one bad dude. The ending was a surprise and although I loved Lacy, I’m happier that Leighton got his happily ever after.

*I received a free copy of this book and voluntarily left a review.

 

Purchase at Amazon:https://tinyurl.com/ybm93qec

The Beach Wedding (Married in Malibu Book 1) by Lucy Kevin

FOUR STARS

If you love Hallmark movies, you will love this book.

Liz has a new job planning celebrity weddings that are supposed to be kept most private. This is far different than the corporate job she left. She finds herself making true friends among the people she hired and actually creating relationships.

Jason is a wealthy thriller writer (God only know how that happened) whose actress-niece is getting married in a French chateau. The paparazzi is all over this. They’re following her and her fiance, taking pictures, and asking questions constantly, all while she’s in the throes of making a movie. With frustration, she contacts Jason to help her. He, in turn, contacts Married in Malibu and was surprised to find his long, lost love Liz at the helm.

This is the first wedding for Married in Malibu. It’s a new business. They’re trying to establish themselves and this secret wedding was just what they need to hit the ground running. They have two weeks to plan this extravagant wedding and keep it all secret. Of course, a member of the paparazzi shows up and is ready to blow the lid off the whole thing.

I wish I could say I loved this book. I didn’t. I thought there were far too many details about the secondary characters and frankly, I didn’t care about any of them until the epilogue, which may have me reading the second book in the series. I didn’t feel any real tension between Liz and Jason and the ending was predictable. The plot was steady and the writing was excellent. It’s a sweet, clean romance with zero heat or spice. Personally, I like a little spice in my romances, but that’s just me.

As I said, this reads like a Hallmark movie. That isn’t a bad thing. I like them, too. I guess I was just hoping for a bit more in a book. Overall, it’s a good read.

Purchase at Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/yaydlbds

Book Review: The Perfect Gentleman (A Valiant Love Regency Romance) by Deborah Wilson

FIVE STARS

This book was so good, I had it done in two days. I couldn’t put it down.

Brinley is an ugly duckling. She’s overweight, or what we now call “curvy”, is frumpy complete with a mob cap, and doesn’t have a whole lot of self-esteem. Her mother took that from her as she was growing up and her parents faced the fact the Brinley would never get married because of these things.

Her father won a horse from Laurel (Lore) in a poker game. Lore is devastated that he’d gambled away the horse, since it was a cherished gift from his father, and is willing to do anything to get the horse back. Brinley’s father makes the deal that if Lore flirts with homely, un-marriable Brinley and gets other men to notice her, he will give the horse back to him. Lore accepts.

Brinley heard the deal while she was standing outside a door. She, her sister, and their parents had been at a performance and her father had ditched it to go play cards in another room in the house. Brinley’s mother sent her to go get him because Arabella, Brinley’s sister, was having a dramatic moment because the audience hadn’t applauded her like they had the others. She wanted to go home while Brinley wanted to stay, but as always, what Brinley wanted didn’t matter. Everything was about Arabella and everyone kowtowed to her every whim, including Brinley.

Lore was surprised when he met Brinley. He found her to be intelligent, engaging, and easy to talk to. He didn’t care what she looked like. He just wanted his horse back and was going to do what was required to get it. Brinley knew about the deal he’d made with her father and told him she knew early on in the book. She put up with his flirting and even played along, knowing she would never marry anyone. She’d told him that she never wanted to marry so he knew what he was up against, but she did want him to get his horse back. She played an active part in the scheme.

A lot happens in this book that pushes the story forward. *No Spoilers* It was a long book, but it didn’t drag. As I mentioned above, I didn’t want to put it down. I loved the characters (the antagonist was perfect), the plot was tight and left me wanting more. I loved watching Lore and Brinley get to know each other and fall in love while they did it. It was refreshing. If you’re looking for a book with steam, this is not it. This is a love story at its best.

This is the second book in a series, but can be read as a standalone novel. I was so taken by this book that I attained at no cost and bought the first book.

Purchase at Amazon: https://tinyurl.com/yadtpm3r