Don't miss the latest Shelf Byte podcast feature! You'll hear a spoiler-free book or audiobook review in 5 minutes or less!
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In this episode guest reviewer and #3blogger1series podcast co-host, Nicola Onychuk shares her thoughts on His Package (Objects of Attraction), by Penelope Bloom!  Have you read it already? If so, let's start a conversation about it. Comment below!

​Publisher:  Grand Central Publishing | Hachette Audio
Release Date: October 13, 2015 | October 15, 2015
Format: Audio CDs
Pages: Hardcover: 486 pages | Audio Length: 14 hours 23 mins
Narrator: Christopher Ryan Grant​
Source: Publisher
Genre: Romance, Contemporary Romance
​Rating: 4 bookmarks

​Synopsis: Colin Hancock is giving his second chance his best shot. With a history of violence and bad decisions behind him and the threat of prison dogging his every step, he's determined to walk a straight line. To Colin, that means applying himself single-mindedly toward his teaching degree and avoiding everything that proved destructive in his earlier life. Reminding himself daily of his hard-earned lessons, the last thing he is looking for is a serious relationship.

Maria Sanchez, the hardworking daughter of Mexican immigrants, is the picture of conventional success. With a degree from Duke Law School and a job at a prestigious firm in Wilmington, she is a dark-haired beauty with a seemingly flawless professional track record. And yet Maria has a traumatic history of her own, one that compelled her to return to her hometown and left her questioning so much of what she once believed.

A chance encounter on a rain-swept road will alter the course of both Colin and Maria's lives, challenging deeply held assumptions about each other and ultimately, themselves. As love unexpectedly takes hold between them, they dare to envision what a future together could possibly look like . . . until menacing reminders of events in Maria's past begin to surface.

As a series of threatening incidents wreaks chaos in Maria's life, Maria and Colin will be tested in increasingly terrifying ways. Will demons from their past destroy the tenuous relationship they've begun to build, or will their love protect them, even in the darkest hour?

Rich in emotion and fueled with suspense, SEE ME reminds us that love is sometimes forged in the crises that threaten to shatter us . . . and that those who see us for who we truly are may not always be the ones easiest to recognize. 

*This audiobook was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

​I was really honored to help Tamara with this review of the Nicholas Sparks story "See Me." I have been quite a Nicholas Sparks fan since my emotional high school days pouring over "A Walk to Remember". In the last couple years I have lost track I am sad to realize he has 18 novels in total now! I have become quite behind on his books so I jumped in with fresh "eyes". 

​Publisher: Gallery Books | Simon & Schuster Audio​
Release Date: June 6, 2017
Format: Audio MP3
Pages: Paperback: 350 pages | Audio Length: 9 hours 39 mins
Narrators: Shayna Thibodeaux , Deacon Lee
Source: Audiobook Publisher
Genre: Contemporary Fiction​, Romance
​Rating: 4 bookmarks

Synopsis: ​Despite the odds against them from an embarrassing meet-awkward at a mutual friend’s Halloween party, Carter and Evie immediately hit it off. Even the realization that they’re both high-powered agents at competing firms in Hollywood isn’t enough to squash the fire.

But when their two agencies merge—causing the pair to vie for the same position—all bets are off. What could have been a beautiful, blossoming romance turns into an all-out war of sabotage. Carter and Evie are both thirtysomething professionals—so why can’t they act like it?

Can Carter stop trying to please everyone and see how their mutual boss is really playing the game? Can Evie put aside her competitive nature long enough to figure out what she really wants in life? Can their actor clients just be something close to human? Whether these two Hollywood love/hatebirds get the storybook Hollywood ending or just a dramedy of epic proportions, you will get to enjoy Christina Lauren’s heartfelt, raucous, and hilarious romance style at its finest.

*This audiobook was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

When I first saw the synopsis of this audiobook, I knew I just had to listen to it. I’m so glad that my instincts were correct. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  I usually don’t go for books with multiple authors, but they pulled this off. The story was told from alternating point of views which likely helped to the easy digestion of the two authors writing. 

I feel Evie's pain. While I never have dated someone I that I had to work with, I know the feeling of working in an competitive corporate world where the woman always gets undercut. I understand not wanting to argue with your boss and be deemed a complaining woman....seeing the guy get the edge, get the better customers, the better projects, having an unfair advantage just because he's in the good ole' boys club, not because he's better at this job.

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release Date: May 2, 2017
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 314
Source: Publicist
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: 2 bookmarks

​Synopsis: On the cusp of turning fifty, Adam Sharp likes his life. He’s happy with his partner Claire, he excels in music trivia at quiz night at the local pub, he looks after his mother, and he does the occasional consulting job in IT.

But he can never quite shake off his nostalgia for what might have been: his blazing affair more than twenty years ago with an intelligent and strong-willed actress named Angelina Brown who taught him for the first time what it means to find—and then lose—love. How different might his life have been if he hadn’t let her walk away?

And then, out of nowhere, from the other side of the world, Angelina gets in touch. What does she want? Does Adam dare to live dangerously? 

* This book was provided by BookSparks in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to love this book and I did, for the first third. Sharp taut writing, quirky characters and scenes and an intriguing plot line had me eager to set myself down for a great read. Unfortunately the plot got in the way as well as Simsion’s heavy handed reliance on music as a structural device and some overt sexism. 

‘The Best of Adam Sharp’ is essentially a romance novel detailing Adam Sharp’s 22 year frustrated love affair with Angelina Brown. Brown and Sharp meet and immediately fall hard for each other, separate due to their inabilities to make a commitment, and reunite 22 years later for an exploratory week-long tryst in France. Will Adam and Angelina finally be together? Should they? Simsion creates a complicated setting for Adam and Angelina to to decode and explore during their week in France abounding with the sensual delights of a gorgeous villa, fine foods and world class booze, intense sexual attraction  - and Angelina’s husband, Charlie. 

Publisher: Lara Adrian, LLC | Tantor Audio
Release Date: January 16, 2017 | April 25, 2017
Format: Audio MP3
Pages: Hardcover: 214 ebook | Audio Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins ​
Narrator: Summer Morton
Source: Publisher
Genre: Romance, Contemporary,  Erotica
​Rating: 4 bookmarks

Synopsis: Passion knows no bounds...

Avery Ross is living a dream. After struggling all of her life to make ends meet, a chance encounter with a powerful, darkly handsome man has catapulted her into a dazzling new world of penthouse luxury, elegant parties, and a wild, consuming passion with her billionaire lover, Dominic Baine. Nothing is out of his reach in business or in pleasure, yet the only woman he wants is her. Nick sweeps her to sensual heights she has never dared explore, commanding her body the same way he commands her heart. Yet Avery knows the fantasy she’s living cannot last.

With dark secrets and a dangerous enemy haunting her past, Avery must find a way to trust Nick with the truth before it destroys everything they share. But Nick is harboring secrets of his own as well. And when they come to light, Avery will be forced to decide if the love she feels for Nick is strong enough to endure a betrayal she may never be able to forgive. 

*This audiobook was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

If you haven’t read book one, For 100 Days, no problem. You can start here. Lara Adrian knows how to include enough of the history without info dumping the reader so you’ll be able to jump right in easily. This trilogy has a lot of the genre familiar tropes. A not so rich woman with a murky past who falls into bed (and possibly love) with a sexy, rich, domineering and powerful man with his own set of emotional hang ups.  Lots of things going on in this book are typical to the genre tropes, and yet - going into it knowing what type of book to expect makes it more enjoyable.  It’s a fun, quick and easy listen. 

I'm a huge fan of Lara Adrian's Midnight Breed series, so when I learned of For 100 Days and then I got the opportunity to listen to it on audiobook, I jumped at it.  Read my review and find out why For 100 Days earned a 4 bookmark rating! But before you do, watch the interview I did with Lara last fall. She gives me the scoop on this title! 

Publisher: Lara Adrian, LLC | Tantor Audio
Release Date: May 24, 2016 | August 16, 2016
Format: Audio MP3
Pages: Hardcover: 375 ebook | Audio Length: 9 hours and 34 mins 
Narrator: Summer Morton
Source: Publisher
Genre: Romance, Contemporary,  Erotica
​Rating: 4 bookmarks

Synopsis:  Pleasure has a price . . .

Just when everything in my life is falling apart, I find a chance to turn it around--to step into someone else's glittering world, if only for a little while. I become someone new, no longer the woman defined by an ugly past, but a woman freer and bolder than myself. A woman who isn't afraid to explore every passion, even at its darkest, with a mysterious and seductive man who believes my mask is real.

Handsome and commanding, enigmatic and irresistible, billionaire Dominic Baine is an obsession I cannot afford and should not risk. He ushers me into consuming new pleasures and addicting new desires, until the line between my real life and the fantasy one I've stolen with him begins to blur.

I know I cannot keep my truth from him. I know my past will not stay buried forever. But before I can make it right, everything comes crashing down. I have deceived this powerful, dangerous man . . . and now there is a price to be paid.

*This audiobook was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

We're back again with another installment of The Bourbon Kings.  Read on to find out why The Angels' Share earned a three bookmark rating. ​Read my review of The Bourbon Kings (book one).

Publisher: NAL | Penguin Audio​
Release Date: July 26, 2016
Format: Audio MP3
Pages: ebook: 426 pages | Audio Length: 12 hours 35 mins
Narrator: Alexander Cendese
Source: Audible
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Review Date: April 26, 2017
​Rating: 3 bookmarks

Synopsis: In Charlemont, Kentucky, the Bradford family is the crème de la crème of high society—just like their exclusive brand of bourbon. And their complicated lives and vast estate are run by a discrete staff who inevitably become embroiled in their affairs. This is especially true now, when the apparent suicide of the family patriarch is starting to look more and more like murder…

No one is above suspicion—especially the eldest Bradford son, Edward. The bad blood between him and his father is known far and wide, and he is aware that he could be named a suspect. As the investigation into the death intensifies, he keeps himself busy at the bottom of a bottle—as well as with his former horse trainer’s daughter. Meanwhile, the family’s financial future lies in the perfectly manicured hands of a business rival, a woman who wants Edward all to herself.

Everything has consequences; everybody has secrets. And few can be trusted. Then, at the very brink of the family’s demise, someone thought lost to them forever returns to the fold. Maxwell Bradford has come home. But is he a savior...or the worst of all the sinners?

The drama continues! In the second installment of this three book saga, Lane and Lizzie again take center stage and seem to be the center-point of the story. All of the family take on larger roles in the book and Lane's siblings get a fair amount of time. Ward gives us lots of detail on each of their story lines.  Edward and Gin are mostly equally on the page, and Maxwell gets a moment of his own.  I enjoyed that we delved deeper into the history of the family and we start to uncover even more family secrets. We get closer and closer to finding out who killed William Baldwine. 

​This week I'm sharing an contemporary romance audiobook.  If you enjoy a little spice with your romance, be sure to check out Ruthless. Read on to find out why Ruthless earned a 4 bookmark rating!

Publisher: Berkley /Recorded Books
Release Date: August 9, 2016 
Format: Audio CDs
Pages: 352 | Audio Length: 11 hours 31 mins
Narrator:​ Alexandra Shawnee
Source: Publisher
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense
Review Date: February 22, 2017
Rating: 4 bookmarks

The first in a sexy contemporary romance series featuring the Lawless siblings—from New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake.

Synopsis: The Lawless siblings are bound by vengeance. Riley, Drew, Brandon, and Mia believe the CEO of StratCast orchestrated their parents’ murder twenty years ago to steal their father’s software program. And there’s only one way Riley can find some solid evidence...
 
Heir to the StratCast legacy, Ellie Stratton hires a new attorney to handle a delicate business matter—and she’s shocked by her attraction to him. Over the course of a few weeks, Riley becomes her lover, her friend, her everything. But when her life is threatened, Ellie discovers that Riley is more obsessed with settling an old score than in the love she thought they were building. And Riley must choose between a revenge he’s prepared for all his life and the woman he’s sure he can’t live without... 

*The audiobook has been provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Ruthless is an utterly romantic romance with a dash of suspense. It’s a light and fast read with a good audiobook narrator. If you’ve been reading heavy books and need a pallet cleanser, this is a great option.

This was a strong start to the series. At the end of Ruthless, I found that I cared about the Lawless clan. I want to see all of the Lawless brothers in their own happy ending.  Due to their circumstances, I think it'll be a long road for them.  Riley was a good choice to start with. While he was just as serious about resolution and justice for their parents, he also saw the bigger picture. He was able to grasp onto what his father would want for him and his life. Only thanks to that he was able to really care about Ellie and move past the vengeance.