Swoon Worthy Spotlight - June & July

Welcome to Swoony Worthy Spotlights, hosted by Bookworm Nation, Katie's Clean Book Collection and KJ's Book Nook! Swoon Worthy Spotlights features 1-3 of our favorite books that we have read during the month. We will share the cover(s), our review(s) and a link to each other's post so you can check out which books we have all chosen!

I really did a LOT of reading this month. It was awesome! After taking a few months off of reading, it was fun to jump back in. I was on a regency kick for awhile, but also squeezed in some contemporaries and a little medieval fiction. Since I did read a little in June, but didn't post about it, I thought I'd include a couple favs for June and July. So, in random order here are my favorites...

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Be sure to stop by 

KJ's Book Nook

and

Katie's Clean Book Collection!

Grab the graphic and join in the fun!

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which books made you swoon

Author's Corner - Kimberly Krey

Welcome to Author's Corner hosted by Bookworm Nation, Katie's Clean Book Collection and KJ's Book Nook! Once a month we will feature either a favorite author or new to us author. We will share the author's bio, one of our favorite books of theirs and a review. Each of us will be featuring a different author each month so there will also be links to each of our posts.

For this month's Author's Corner I am going to choose...

Kimberly Krey

Kimberly Krey specializes in writing "romance that’s clean without losing the steam!"
She’s a reader of good, clean romance, a lover of family time and Diet Coke, and the ultimate hater of laundry. She discovered her love for writing in college when given a creative writing assignment. She still remembers sitting in the lamplight’s glow, crafting words to depict the vision in her head. That assignment sparked a passion within her. It took years to return to that passion, but now that she has, she counts it among her greatest blessings.

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I love Ms. Krey's books! She writes fun contemporary romance and romantic suspense books. I eagerly await each new release. I still remember the first book I read of hers, Cassie's Cowboy Crave. It stood out to me because the books can stand pretty well on their own, but the three books in the Sweet Montana Bride series were released in reverse order! Haha, I always thought that was a unique approach to publishing. I still really love that whole series, each book has swoony romance and a nice touch of suspense. 

I don't know if I could pick a favorite, I really enjoy all of her books. Since I'm a sucker for second-chance love stories, I decided to spotlight Rough Edges and the Second Chances series. 

About the Book 

Candice is through with married life and all it entailed:
infertility, an adoption gone wrong, and the death of
her husband’s twin brother. Now that they’ve been
separated for nearly a year, Candice is finally ready
to set Logan free. But when he steps back into her life,
Candice begins to have second thoughts. Even
though she hasn’t fully healed from the heartache
she endured over their married years, she can't
fathom the thought of losing him a second time.
Can Candice let go of past hurts and give Logan a
second chance, or will her fears keep them apart?

Logan has spent the months of separation giving
Candice the space she needed. But when he
discovers that Candice is about to file for a divorce,
he decides he better take action quick. He didn’t spend
the best years of his life with this woman, only to let her
slip away. Yet just when the opportunity comes
again – his chance to finally make things right –
an entirely new force threatens to tear them apart.
Will opposition keep the heart-broken couple from
getting back together or will they have the strength
to break through the barriers, no matter
what their future might bring?

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Which authors do you love? Who are some of your favorites?

Be sure to check out 

KJ's Book Nook

and

Katie's Clean Book Collection

to see their author picks for April!

The Lumberjack's Yuletide Bride by Kimberly Krey

The Lumberjack's Yuletide Bride: Country Brides & Cowboy Boots by Kimberly Krey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was a charming read, sweet romance and fun small-town setting.

Maddie is beside herself when she learns her old high school crush is moving back to town. She’s hoping she will get an opportunity to meet up with the hunky, successful Bear Schaefer! Their first meeting doesn’t go quite as she has planned, but their chemistry is still off the charts!

Maddie was fun a character, a fun-loving first grade teacher. My three oldest kids are all in first grade, and I bet they’d love to have her as their teacher! I loved Bear, very confident, goes after what he wants, is sweet and considerate. He does make a couple mistakes that may cost him his relationship with Maddie. I thought Bear and Maddie had great chemistry, believable romance and was developed at a realistic pace.

Overall, this was a fun contemporary romance. I thought it was well written, kept me glued from the first page! I thought Bear’s career was unique and added a fun element to the story. Fun read!

Content
Romance: Clean, just kissing
Language: None
Violence: None
Religious: None
Series: Part of Cobble Creek series, stands on its own

Source: Kindle Unlimited


View all my reviews

Getting Kole for Christmas by Kimberly Krey

Getting Kole for Christmas: A Young Adult Novella by Kimberly Krey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So Stinkin' Cute!!

This was such a fun novella. Kylie is a junior in high school and never been asked to a school dance. She's had to sit by as her older twin sisters get asked to every dance, and now it looks like her younger sister is going to the Christmas dance and she'll be left out once again. Her dream date is her good friend, Kole. This was just a fun story, I enjoyed every minute. Ms. Krey transitions to the Teen Lit genre effortlessly, as much as I adore her adult contemporaries, I hope she writes more YA as well. Keep us on our toes! ;)

Content: Clean!

View all my reviews

Mending Hearts by Kimberly Krey

Mending Hearts by Kimberly Krey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another hit!

I'm never disappointed when I pick up a Kimberly Krey book. She has definitely been added to me go-to author list.

Candice and Logan have been married for ten years, after suffering through a lot of trials they've decided to separate. To be honest, I was a little upset with Candice at first, but I grew to like her as the book progressed and having experienced some of the things she went through, I could understand why she put up the walls she did. Logan was great! He is deeply in love with Candice and will do whatever it takes to win her back. They really do have a sweet relationship, I liked that it took time to build things back up and that they had to do some self discovery and didn't rush things.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read, didn't want to put it down. It's the second book in the series, but stands well on it's own. Another thing I love about Krey's books, the characters overlap a bit, but each book stands really well on its own. I am really looking forward to the next book!

Content
Romance: Clean, mild innuendo and closed door intimacy
Language: Mild
Violence: None
Religious: None

Source: Review copy

View all my reviews

Rough Edges by Kimberly Krey

Divorced mother, Allie Emerson, never imagined she’d be raising two teenage girls on her own. Between parenting and paying the bills, she hasn’t even thought about meeting a man. That changes once she hears local carpenter, Braden Fox, is in need of a secretary. Back in high school, Allie had done all she could to deny the sparks burning between her and Braden; perhaps now they could explore the possibilities. Braden has heard all about what Terrance did to Allie and the girls, has been planning to stop by and see how she’s getting along, but Allie beats him to it by showing up at his shop in search of a job. Her single visit reignites the old flame Braden used to torch for her; trouble is, old feelings of resentment return as well. Allie did choose Terrance over him, after all. And as much as Braden wants Allie in his life, he’s not sure he can open his heart again. With this second chance at romance, will the bumps in their relationship be too much to get over, or will this carpenter learn to smooth out the past?

Great start to a fun new series!

I really enjoyed Ms. Krey’s Sweet Montana Bride series and was excited to hear she was coming out with a companion trilogy. We met Allie in the original series and I was looking forward to her book, which can totally stand on its own.

Allie is divorced and now the single mom to two teenage girls, each of which is handling the divorce in different ways. Things are tight and Allie decides she needs to get a part time job to help with expenses and when she hears that an old high school friend, Braden Fox, is looking for a secretary she works up the courage to go and apply for the job. I liked Allie quite a bit, I liked her in the previous books and thought she deserved better than what she got. She was an easy character to like and to root for. She’s been through a lot, but is a tough girl and I loved how she was trying so hard to be a good mom and put her daughters first. I enjoyed her relationship with Braden quite a bit, they had great chemistry. I really loved Braden; he was an all-around great guy. I liked how he respected Allie and always treated her well and that now that she was available he wasn’t going to let this chance pass him by. I also liked that he brought out the best in her and wasn’t afraid to call her on things.

Overall, a really fun read. I read it in one sitting, couldn’t put it down. I’m really looking forward to the next two books!

Content: Clean

Source: Gift, thank you!!

This has been nominated for a 2015 Swoony Award, you can vote for it here.