• Romance books in my TBR pile …

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    The warm spring weather puts me in the mood to read a good love story. This is shaping up to be a great year for romance and rom-com books, and I’ve added so many titles to my TBR pile recently, including the books posted below. Note that the descriptions are from Amazon.

    Getting Hot with the Scot by Melonie Johnson

    Available now

    “Playful, passionate, and positively unputdownable!”—New York Times bestselling author Christina Lauren

    IT’S TIME TO FLIRT WITH A MAN IN A KILT

    Cassie Crow, a pop-culture reporter for a TV talk show, is focused on becoming a “serious” journalist. But when she stumbles into a kilted Highlander with a killer accent, Cassie decides that taking one night off from work and spending it with a sexy Scot couldn’t hurt. . .

    Logan Reid has built a career on his charm, hosting a series of off-the-wall hijinks on the Web. But when the Scottish prankster meets the all-American, equal parts intelligent and irresistible Cassie, Logan realizes that one night of fun won’t be enough. Could it be that this career-focused, commitment-phobic couple is finally ready to take a chance at true and lasting love?

    “Witty, sexy, and oh-so-fun. . .Melonie Johnson is an addictive new voice in contemporary romance.” —New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Julie Ann Walker

    My thoughts: I’m always looking for new contemporary romance authors to try, and the rhyming title caught my eye. Plus, the next two books in the series — Smitten by the Brit and Once Upon a Bad Boy — are coming out soon.

    Meet Cute by Helena Hunting

    Available now

    The New York Times bestselling author of Pucked and The Good Luck Charm delivers a Hollywood happily-ever-after where a famous heartthrob falls for his ultimate fangirl.
     
    “As charming as its title, but it’s also so much more… Fans of Jasmine Guillory’s The Wedding Date and Helen Hoang’s The Kiss Quotient will love Meet Cute.” —The Washington Independent Review of Books
     
    Kailyn Flowers was always calm, rational, and controlled–until she ended up sprawled all over Daxton Hughes, the former actor she totally crushed on as a teenager. Then she did the unthinkable: She became a mortifying fangirl in five seconds flat, which may or may not have included professing her undying love. And oddly, he didn’t run away. In fact, their meet cute led to a friendship she never saw coming. Of course, she never saw his betrayal coming, either…
     
    Now Dax needs her help. As guardian to his thirteen-year-old sister, he’s in way over his head. And though Kailyn hasn’t forgiven Dax, she isn’t heartless enough to make him fend for himself, either. Soon their friendly meetings turn into flirty dinner dates, and Kailyn can feel their chemistry is as explosive as ever. But how can she possibly let down her guard again to a guy who has heartbreak written all over him?
     
    My thoughts: The cover and the description for this book grabbed my attention. It sounds like something I would enjoy.
     
    May 28
    “Perfect for readers who love the dishy women’s fiction of Candace Bushnell.” —Booklist

    From the author of the New York Times bestselling Stiletto and Oxford series, the first in a sizzling new series following the unlikely friendship of three Upper East Side women as they struggle to achieve their dreams and find true love and happiness in the city that never sleeps.

    For as long as she can remember, Bronx-born Naomi Powell has had one goal: to prove her worth among the Upper East Side elite—the same people for which her mom worked as a housekeeper. Now, as the strongminded, sassy CEO of one of the biggest jewelry empires in the country, Naomi finally has exactly what she wants—but it’s going to take more than just the right address to make Manhattan’s upper class stop treating her like an outsider.

    The worst offender is her new neighbor, Oliver Cunningham—the grown son of the very family Naomi’s mother used to work for. Oliver used to torment Naomi when they were children, and as a ridiculously attractive adult, he’s tormenting her in entirely different ways. Now they find themselves engaged in a battle-of-wills that will either consume or destroy them…

    “Strong characters and relatable situations elevate Layne’s bighearted contemporary…[which] digs into class differences, emotional baggage, and the reality of dealing with aging parents” (Publishers Weekly, starred review). With the sexy combination of charm, heart, and snark, Lauren Layne’s new series is perfect for fans of Christina Lauren and Sally Thorne.

    My thoughts: I think the heroine’s jewelry business sounds interesting. I always like reading about people with unusual jobs.
     
    June 11

    A brand new romantic comedy from New York Times bestseller Tessa Bailey!

    Georgette Castle’s family runs the best home renovation business in town, but she picked balloons instead of blueprints and they haven’t taken her seriously since. Frankly, she’s over it. Georgie loves planning children’s birthday parties and making people laugh, just not at her own expense. She’s determined to fix herself up into a Woman of the World… whatever that means.

    Phase one: new framework for her business (a website from this decade, perhaps?)

    Phase two: a gut-reno on her wardrobe (fyi, leggings are pants.)

    Phase three: updates to her exterior (do people still wax?)

    Phase four: put herself on the market (and stop crushing on Travis Ford!)

    Living her best life means facing the truth: Georgie hasn’t been on a date since, well, ever. Nobody’s asking the town clown out for a night of hot sex, that’s for sure. Maybe if people think she’s having a steamy love affair, they’ll acknowledge she’s not just the “little sister” who paints faces for a living. And who better to help demolish that image than the resident sports star and tabloid favorite.

    Travis Ford was major league baseball’s hottest rookie when an injury ended his career. Now he’s flipping houses to keep busy and trying to forget his glory days. But he can’t even cross the street without someone recapping his greatest hits. Or making a joke about his… bat. And then there’s Georgie, his best friend’s sister, who is not a kid anymore. When she proposes a wild scheme—that they pretend to date, to shock her family and help him land a new job—he agrees. What’s the harm? It’s not like it’s real. But the girl Travis used to tease is now a funny, full-of-life woman and there’s nothing fake about how much he wants her…

    My thoughts: I’ve seen a lot of good reviews for Bailey’s books, and I’ve been meaning to check out her books for a while.
     
    Aug. 6

    Alisha Rai returns with the first book in her sizzling new Modern Love series, in which two rival dating app creators find themselves at odds in the boardroom but in sync in the bedroom.

    Rhiannon Hunter may have revolutionized romance in the digital world, but in real life she only swipes right on her career—and the occasional hookup. The cynical dating app creator controls her love life with a few key rules: 

    – Nude pics are by invitation only 

    – If someone stands you up, block them with extreme prejudice 

    – Protect your heart 

    Only there aren’t any rules to govern her attraction to her newest match, former pro-football player Samson Lima. The sexy and seemingly sweet hunk woos her one magical night… and disappears. 

    Rhi thought she’d buried her hurt over Samson ghosting her, until he suddenly surfaces months later, still big, still beautiful—and in league with a business rival. He says he won’t fumble their second chance, but she’s wary. A temporary physical partnership is one thing, but a merger of hearts? Surely that’s too high a risk…

    My thoughts: I’ve also seen a lot of good reviews for Rai’s books, and she is yet another author that I’ve been meaning to check out.

    What about you guys? What books are you looking forward to reading this spring and summer?
  • · · ·

    Pre-order Protect the Prince, Crown of Shards #2, July 2 …

    Protect the Prince, Crown of Shards #2, July 2, is up for pre-order at all the usual sites:

    PROTECT THE PRINCE EBOOK:

    Amazon Kindle B&N Nook Apple Books Google Play Kobo

    PROTECT THE PRINCE PRINT BOOK:

    Amazon print B&N print Books-A-Million IndieBound

    PROTECT THE PRINCE AUDIOBOOK:

    Amazon audio Audible Kobo audio Libro audio

    PROTECT THE PRINCE AUDIO CD:

    Amazon audio CD

    GET A SIGNED PRINT COPY FROM MALAPROP’S BOOKSTORE:

    Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in Asheville, N.C. is offering signed print copies of Protect the Prince, Crown of Shards #2. Malaprop’s is the ONLY BOOKSTORE offering signed print copies. 

    ORDER A SIGNED COPY OF PROTECT THE PRINCE

    PROTECT THE PRINCE DESCRIPTION:

    Magic, murder, adventure, and romance combine in this second novel in the exciting Crown of Shards saga from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Estep.

    Everleigh Blair might be the new gladiator queen of Bellona, but her problems are far from over.

    First, Evie has to deal with a court full of arrogant, demanding nobles, all of whom want to get their greedy hands on her crown. As if that wasn’t bad enough, an assassin tries to kill Evie in her own throne room.

    Despite the dangers, Evie goes ahead with a scheduled trip to the neighboring kingdom of Andvari in order to secure a desperately needed alliance. But complicating matters is the stubborn Andvarian king, who wants to punish Evie for the deaths of his countrymen during the Seven Spire massacre.

    Dark forces are also at work inside the Andvarian palace, and Evie soon realizes that no one is safe. Worse, her immunity to magic starts acting in strange, unexpected ways, which makes Evie wonder whether she is truly strong enough to be a Winter Queen.

    Evie’s magic, life, and crown aren’t the only things in danger—so is her heart, thanks to Lucas Sullivan, the Andvarian king’s bastard son and Evie’s … well, Evie isn’t quite sure what Sullivan is to her.

    Only one thing is certain—protecting a prince might be even harder than killing a queen…

  • ·

    Avengers: Endgame — An epic treat for Marvel fans …

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    Let’s talk about Avengers: Endgame.
     
    WARNING — ALL THE SPOILERS AHEAD. SERIOUSLY, IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE MOVIE YET, TURN BACK NOW!!!
     
    YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
     
    null

    WHAT I LOVED:
    1) The focus on the original six Avengers: I loved that we go to spend so much time with Steve, Tony, Natasha, Clint, Bruce, and Thor. It was fitting that they were the focus since this was their mission and the finale for some of the characters.
     
    2) The Easter eggs: I love Easter eggs, and there were so many callbacks and nods to previous MCU films. Probably my favorite was the Cap elevator scene, which mirrored the one in Winter Soldier, only with Steve pretending to be Hydra Cap. Ha!
     
    I also loved hearing Sam say “On your left” when all the heroes start arriving for the final battle. And Tony saying “I am Iron Man” at the end. And the funeral wreath with Tony’s first arc reactor and proof that he has a heart.
     
    3) The cameos: This goes hand-in-hand with the Easter eggs. It was wonderful that so many actors came back to do cameos in the various time travel scenes — Robert Redford, Rene Russo, John Slattery, Frank Grillo, Tilda Swinton, etc.
     
    If you count all the cameos, Endgame probably has the greatest overall cast of any movie ever.
     
    4) Seeing previous MCU scenes from different angles: I loved the time travel scenes, and it was great seeing various classic MCU scenes from different angles, like the Battle of New York — and then getting to go even deeper into the scenes and get more information, like what the Avengers did after they defeated Loki in New York.
     
    5) Cap finally (!) wielding Mjolnir: Just like Thor, we all knew Steve was worthy. Several people in my theater cheered when this happened. This was one of my favorite moments in the whole movie. I also loved Steve getting back up to face Thanos and his army seemingly all by himself.
     
    WHAT I LIKED:
    1) Loki disappearing with the Tesseract: I like the idea that a version of Loki is out there in a timeline somewhere still making mischief.
     
    2) Old Man Steve: I was so happy that they didn’t kill off Steve, and I loved that he got to have a life with Peggy (in some world/timeline). I hope that Chris Evans will come back and do an Old Man Steve cameo in the Falcon/Winter Soldier series.
     
    3) Nebula and Scott: I feel like Scott and especially Nebula were the quiet MVPs of Endgame. Paul Rudd was great an injecting some humor into the movie, and “time heist” is my new favorite catchphrase. And Nebula was just a badass from start to finish, especially when she kills her younger self (!).
     
    4) Gamora: I thought it was really clever how the writers brought Gamora back from the dead, but didn’t make her have her emotional connection to the other Guardians. You have to believe that Guardians 3 will be “The Search for Gamora”.
     
    5) The game of keep-away with the gauntlet: Having Black Panther take the gauntlet from Clint and then give it to Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, etc. was a great way to showcase the future of the MCU. Nice passing of the torch, so to speak.
     
    WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:
    1) Professor Hulk: I was really meh about Professor Hulk. I would have liked to have seen Banner/Hulk reach an understanding without necessarily merging into one person. And no Hulk rematch with Thanos was very disappointing. I didn’t think Professor Hulk really had much to do in the final battle, which was also disappointing.
     
    2) Killing off Natasha: I can see why the writers did this. Natasha finally got to wipe the red out of her ledger and redeem herself by helping Clint the way that he helped her years ago. But killing off another woman to get the Soul Stone seemed a little unnecessary.
     
    Plus, IMO, Natasha was a much more interesting character than, say, Banner, who I feel like they only kept around to be the “science guy” since they killed off Tony. With Tony and Steve gone, they should have made Natasha the leader of the Avengers. A missed opportunity.
     
    3) Making Sam the new Cap: I would have preferred that Bucky be the new Cap. Bucky dealing with his past as Winter Soldier while trying to be the new Cap would have been more interesting than Sam being Cap, IMO. Although you have to think that Sam being Cap will be the focus of the Falcon/Winter Soldier TV series.
     
    4) No Cap/Bucky resolution: So much of Winter Soldier and Civil War was about the Cap/Bucky relationship, but I feel like they never got to sit down for 5 minutes and hash things out in either Infinity War or Endgame. I would have loved a scene with Cap/Bucky at the very end. Another missed opportunity. This is one of my biggest disappointments in the whole MCU.
     
    5) Thanos: I still think Thanos is a weak villain. He wants to wipe out half the universe because … reasons? He likes balance? And who would want to save only half of everything in existence? His plan/logic/motivations still make no sense to me. Whatever, dude.
     
    WHAT MADE MY HEAD HURT:
    1) The time travel: I think time travel is always tricky to do. For the most part, the writers did a good job explaining it … but the more I think about it, the less sense it makes.
     
    Even if Cap put all the stones back, I think you would still have a bunch of alternate timelines, just because the Avengers went back and changed things to get the stones in the first place.
     
    Also, I was disappointed that they didn’t go back and undo the snap around the time that it happened. By bringing everyone back 5 years later, you’ve basically given everyone PTSD (at the very least), both the people who lived through the snap and the people who lost five years of time. There are just so many logistical questions with that — rebuilding, people finding their families, etc. — that I wish the writers hadn’t gone that route.
     
    OVERALL:
    Endgame is not perfect. No movie can be perfect to everyone. But Endgame is just about as close as you can get, considering all the characters, Easter eggs, cameos, etc. It’s a fitting send-off for some of our heroes and a truly impressive film-making accomplishment. A big kudos to the Russo brothers and everyone involved.
     
    WHAT THE MCU MEANS TO ME:
    I’ve always loved superheroes, but the MCU really reignited my interest in superheroes, comics, etc., especially Winter Soldier and the rest of the Cap trilogy. Those will probably always be my favorite MCU movies, and I feel like I’ve grown up with the original Avengers characters, even though I wasn’t a kid when the movies came out.
     
    I kind of feel like the movies won’t be as good for me going forward just because I love Cap, etc. so much. I hope that’s not the case, but we’ll see. I also hope that Marvel doesn’t do one space/sci-fi movie after another. To me, some of the best MCU movies are the ones here on earth that are a little more grounded in reality (Winter Soldier) or with slightly smaller stakes (Ant-Man).
     
    But I’m looking forward to the future and to hopefully enjoying MCU films for many more years to come.
     
    What did you guys think about Endgame?
  • · · · · ·

    Book signing on Free Comic Book Day, Saturday, May 4 …

    I will be one of several authors, artists, and vendors participating in the Free Comic Book Day event on Saturday, May 4 at Mountain Empire Comics in Bristol, Tenn.

    I will be signing books from 10 a.m. to noon (or maybe longer, depending on the crowd).

    I will have copies of Kill the Queen and Spartan Promise to sign. I will also have some of my other books at the event, but not all of my backlist books. If there is a specific book that you want signed, please email me and let me know so that I will have a copy of that book on hand.

    Free Comic Book Day is a nationwide event where comic book stores offer free comics, host costume contests, and more. I encourage you to contact your local comics shop and see what they have planned.

    ROB-CON CONVENTION AND BOOK SIGNING IN JUNE

    I will also be one of dozens of authors, artists, and vendors participating in Rob-Con at MeadowView Conference Resort & Convention Center in Kingsport, Tenn. Rob-Con will be held on June 29-30.

    I will be at Rob-Con on SATURDAY ONLY, June 29, from 9 a.m. to about 1 p.m. (or maybe longer, depending on the crowd).

    Again, I will have copies of Kill the Queen and Spartan Promise to sign. I will also have some of my other books at the event, but not all of my backlist books. If there is a specific book that you want signed, please email me and let me know so that I will have a copy of that book on hand.

    So far, these are the only two signings I have planned for the summer. Hope to see you there!

  • · · · · ·

    Jennifer’s updated book release schedule for 2019 …

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    I wanted to give everyone a quick update on my book release schedule for 2019:

    JENNIFER’S 2019 BOOK RELEASE SCHEDULE

    Spartan Promise — Mythos Academy spinoff #2 — available now

    Winter’s Web — Elemental Assassin #17.5 novella — available now

    Protect the Prince — Crown of Shards #2 — July 2

    If you missed Spartan Promise or Winter’s Web when they came out earlier this year, you can download both of those now.

    TO BE DETERMINED:

    I’m hoping to release either Spartan Destiny, Mythos Academy spinoff #3, OR Elemental Assassin book #18 in late fall 2019, but it just depends on my writing deadlines. Both of those books might get bumped to early 2020. We’ll see what happens.

    PRE-ORDER PROTECT THE PRINCE

    My next release will be Protect the Prince on July 2. You can pre-order the book at the following sites:

    PROTECT THE PRINCE EBOOK:

    Amazon Kindle B&N Nook Apple Books Google Play Kobo

    PROTECT THE PRINCE PRINT BOOK:

    Amazon print B&N print Books-A-Million IndieBound

    PRE-ORDER SIGNED PRINT COPIES OF PROTECT THE PRINCE

    Malaprop’s Bookstore/Cafe in Asheville, N.C. is offering signed print copies of Protect the Prince. Pre-order here:

    Malaprop’s signed print copy

    Note: There will be an audiobook of Protect the Prince. Those links are usually the last ones to go online, and I’ll share the links when they are available.

    I hope everyone enjoys Protect the Prince when it is released. Thanks!