I’m happy to be part of the Southern Born Books tour today, featuring two book spotlights and one review! Read on…
Flirting with Forever
(Island Bliss #1)
by Kim Boykin
Synopsis:
Forty-year-old Tara Jordan’s first book, The Perfect Marriage in 30 Days, is at the top of the bestseller lists, and her publisher wants her on a book tour ASAP. Tara’s about to live her dream only there’s one problem. Her husband of 15 years has just walked out, leaving Tara on the brink of financial ruin with no choice but to promote a self-help book about marriage when hers is secretly in ruins.
Enter publicist Jake Randall, 30, who’s had it with hand holding newbie authors channeling their inner divas on their first book tours, until he meets Tara. Their instant attraction blossoms quickly into love. Tara thinks she has achieved her dreams and earned her license to thrive until her husband, Jim returns determined to win her back.
Review:
This was a quick, entertaining read with sympathetic characters. Some of it was a bit too quick–the hero’s affections especially bordered a bit on insta-love–and I would have liked to have seen more plot and character development overall. The basic storyline, though, is definite forty-something reader fantasy: finally getting years of work published as an overnight success story *and* attracting the attention of a god-like (as he’s described many, many times) man who is ten years your junior. A slight bit of suspension of belief is required, but hey–it’s fiction!
First husband? What first husband? 😉
The shift between first (heroine) and third (hero) person point-of-view was a bit jarring at times, as it often switched suddenly and without warning. A few times I was halfway through a paragraph before I knew for sure whose side we were seeing. It was an interesting POV choice, and a challenge to carry off.
If you’re looking for a short and sweet read with a hint of southern twang (really, why don’t more romance heroes and heroines eat grits? An oversight, surely), Flirting with Forever might just fit the bill. It’s a fun bit of escapism perfect for a lazy summer afternoon by the shore.
Rating: 3 1/2 stars / B-
I received a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
About the author:
Kim Boykin was raised in her South Carolina home with two girly sisters and great parents. She had a happy, boring childhood, which sucks if you’re a writer because you have to create your own crazy. PLUS after you’re published and you’re being interviewed, it’s very appealing when the author actually lived in Crazy Town or somewhere in the general vicinity.
Almost everything she learned about writing, she learned from her grandpa, an oral storyteller, who was a master teacher of pacing and sensory detail. He held court under an old mimosa tree on the family farm, and people used to come from all around to hear him tell stories about growing up in rural Georgia and share his unique take on the world.
As a stay-at-home mom, Kim started writing, grabbing snip-its of time in the car rider line or on the bleachers at swim practice. After her kids left the nest, she started submitting her work, sold her first novel at 53, and has been writing like crazy ever since.
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Author Goodreads
And that’s not all! A second Southern Born book is on tour, too!
Pick Me
(Magnolia Bay #3)
By Erika Marks
Synopsis:
Recently dumped by the man she’d planned to marry, no-nonsense attorney Thea Dunn has returned home to Magnolia Bay to mend her broken heart. But when she learns her new neighbor is Calder Frye, the bad boy who sets the pulse of every good girl at Magnolia Bay High racing, Thea’s verdict to swear off men is in danger of being overturned…
Fourteen years after graduation, Calder has traded his rebel lifestyle to become an ER doctor—but his sex appeal is every bit as powerful as Thea remembers. Could her short-term residence be the perfect chance to live out a teenage fantasy? Or could their reunion be a chance for something more?
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
About the author: