Tuesday, September 27, 2016

REVIEW: Time for A Highlander by Maxine Mansfield

Title: Time for a Highlander
Author: Maxine Mansfield
Series: N/A
Pages: 342
Date Published: 2015
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press 
Format: Kindle
Genre: Historical Romance
Source: Goddess Fish Blog Tours
Buy Me!

Synopsis:
Forty-five-year-old history teacher Bethany Anne Anderson wasn't supposed to die on her dream vacation to Scotland. Someone else was supposed to rescue the child from the falling druid stone. But she's perfectly fine with moving on to the hereafter. She has loved ones waiting for her. Then Tobias Morie, better known as Fate, steps in. Her intervention has changed the future. Before she can move on, she must first help him correct one of his own mistakes. That's fine until she wakes up in 1643 in the body of twenty-year-old Lady Elspeth Frasier. Worse, she's engaged to the very handsome, very young, very virile Quinton MacLeod. But that's not all Fate demands. She must give the Highland laird the heir he’d originally been denied.
Quinton MacLeod loved once. He won't do it again, even if he had time for such nonsense. With the Highland lairds divided between loyalty to their beloved country and the English king, he seeks only peace—in his keep and in his heart. But raised in England and a ward of the enemy, his beautiful new wife has strange notions of education and cleanliness that cause chaos within both. There's also the matter of her very unlady-like views on the marriage bed, which, come to think of it, he's more than happy to overlook. If only he could trust her.

~My Thoughts~
Outlander fans raise your hand. Okay put them down. Now jump up and down and yell because you've just found the next book you're going to absolutely adore, love, and probably spend a lot of time wondering why you can't be the main character, Bethanny Anne Anderson.

As outlander-esk as the synopsis makes it sound like, Time for a Highlander is like the irreverent second cousin of Outlander. You know, the one who cracks jokes and hits on the bride at her wedding. It's a hilarious erotic romance that will make you smile and laugh just as much as it will make you sigh with longing. And believe me, Quinton MacLeod will make you do just that. 


The plot was very cool and relatively unique as far as time traveling to the highland goes. Fate messed up big time and he is using Bethanny to fix what he did wrong. It was just enough added extra to distinguish this book, while still maintaining some mystery and intrigue. While the plot is fun and interesting, it's the characters that make this book sing to life. Aforementioned hulky highlander has just the right amount of broodish distrust to balance out Bethanny's spark and witty banter. 

Maxine Mansfield is a very talented romance writer. Her scenes are steamy, but not crass, and are absolutely something that can keep you up at night (or encourage you to jump your husband when he comes through the door!). If you haven't read one of her books before, Time for a Highlander is a great starting point and will probably endear her to you forever. 
~Try an Excerpt!~
Beth’s eyes flew open as warm hands gently shook her awake. “Elspeth, are ye or are ye nae still a maiden?” She stared up into the stormy blue eyes of Lard Quinton MacLeod and shook her head no, then nodded yes. “Which is it?” She cleared her throat. “I swear to you, m—my lord, Elspeth Frasier MacLeod’s body is still untouched by any man.” Quint smiled as he slowly brought his lips to hers. He chuckled. “Nae for long it isna.” The heat of his kiss as his lips captured hers burned Beth with a passion that seared her to the depths of her being. She was helpless, defenseless against the onslaught. She opened in surrender as his tongue slipped between her lips. It was heaven. “To begin with, yes, Bethany Ann Anderson’s body is dead, mashed flat as a pancake. Trust me, not a pretty sight. You, madam, have been given a new body. Well, really, it’s a very old body, as you are now in the past. Close to four hundred years in the past to be exact, in late March of Our Lord’s year 1643. You are presently at Frasier Castle on an island off the coast of Scotland, and you are now in the body of one Lady Elspeth Frasier who, after suffering a rather nasty fall and fatal bump to the head during dinner last night, no longer has need of it.” Beth paced back and forth before the fireplace. How exactly did one go about explaining the unexplainable? With her next pass, Quint pulled her onto his lap and nuzzled her ear. “It’s the middle of the night, my Beth. Ye said we need ta talk. If neither of us says anything, its nae talking, ye ken?” She blew out a breath and looked her husband straight in the eye. “I’m not who you think I am.” Quint chuckled. “Who are ye then? Ye look like my wife. Did the sidhe steal in through the window in the middle of the night and carry off my Beth? Are ye simply a pretty little boobrie they left in her place?”
~Meet Maxine!~ 

Hi, my name is Maxine Mansfield and I write fantasy, erotic romances. I live in the far northern state of Alaska where the summer days are long and the winter nights even longer.

I have one very special man, his three equally special children, and our six delightful grandchildren in my life. Not to mention a very bossy African Grey parrot named Gabriel.

Oh, and Gnomes! many, many gnomes.

Maxine will be awarding a $25Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Thursday, September 8, 2016

Blog Tour! Pure of Heart by Auria Jourdain (+$15 Amazon GC Giveaway!)

Title: Pure of Heart
Author: Auria Jourdain
Series: N/A
Pages: 270
Date Published: 2015
Publisher: Crimson Frost Books
Format: Kindle
Genre: Historical Romance
Source: Goddess Fish Blog Tours
Buy Me!

Synopsis:
A ghost child left to die in a French forest, Contesse Blanchefort seeks her long-buried past after her adoptive father dies at the Bastille. Embarking on a quest across England with a pagan woman and a rogue Gypsy, Contesse falls ill in London, and her companions are forced to seek help. With overwhelming compassion, physician’s apprentice Eric McEwan nurses Contesse back to health, but discovers that her exotic accent and pale features set his heart ablaze...her mere touch brands his soul. Passion blooms as the two discover their love for one another—with disastrous consequences.

Upon his expulsion from Cambridge, Eric must battle his domineering grandfather’s wrath. When family tragedy strikes, he must return to his provincial home and confront his abusive past. Carrying on with her quest, Contesse struggles to free herself from her childhood as sinister details are revealed. Without Eric, she’s lost. But love is strong...can they conquer their demons to find one another again?
~Try an Excerpt!~
Dumbfounded at this new information, Contesse shook her head. “I had no idea! All these years, and our country doctor couldn’t explain what was wrong with me…a child with skin and hair as pale as a—” A gasp escaped her lips, finally uncovering the epithet the old crone had called her. “She called me a ghost!”

“Who? Your mother?”

Folding her arms across her chest, she glanced away. “No. The old woman that haunts my dreams. She took care of me when I was a child…before Edouard found me. She was right…look at me!”

Eric pulled her close and forked his fingers through her hair from the roots to the ends. Trailing a light finger down her neck, he husked, “She’s daft, Contesse. You certainly feel real to me…pure and innocent, like an angel…”
Contesse inhaled sharply as desire surged through her veins. Waves of desire invaded her body with his mere touch. A flush of warmth crept up her cheeks, her womanly folds moistening in response to his husky voice. What’s he doing to me?

Entwining his fingers with hers, he searched her face. “Have you ever been kissed?”

She lowered her eyes, unable to face him lest she burst into tears. “Oui. Once. But he didn’t want me either.”
With a sympathetic shake of his head, he tipped her chin up and stared at her. “Then he’s a fool. God, but you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen...”
~Meet Auria!~ 
History buff, Francophile, and hopeless romantic that demands an HEA—it’s the perfect mixture for writing romance! With fond childhood memories of reading on quiet afternoons, I loved the "happily ever after" sweet teen romances, but I quickly plunged into the world of historical romance—my get-away-from-real-life transporter. Add in a degree in Political Studies with six years of French, and twenty years later, I’m living my dream. With three published novels, 7 finished, and several more in my head, I have years of work ahead of me!
 Auria will be awarding a $15 Amazon or Barnes and Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.