Stars Like Gasoline

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Title: Stars Like Gasoline

Author: Jessika Grewe Glover

Genre: Romantic Thriller

Release Date: April 25, 2023

Cover Design: Miblart

When Celia, a Florida art curator, purchases the haunted house of her brother’s deceased fiancé, the spirits threaten her life and her career. To rid the home of the malevolent ghosts, she enlists the help of her brother, Oscar, and Adrian, the best friend of Oscar’s late fiancé. The three are about to be thrown into a chasm of events involving a dead French artist, a Dutch aerospace heiress, and a missing Japanese painter who is presumed to be dead. Not to mention a stalker who begins to threaten Celia and Oscar.

 The link between these events appears to be a hidden journal from the 1980s, belonging to a revered French artist, that Celia discovers in the home. As Adrian helps decipher the clues, an attraction burns between him and Celia, raising the stakes of the game someone is playing with their lives. A game that no one might make it out of alive.

“This book was amazing! It's a contemporary romance, with a little paranormal thrown in. The characters were so relatable, and their reactions were so organic to their character. I love the lyrical way the author writes and how all of the different storylines wove together. Beautifully done, I definitely recommend this book!” -Nicole, ARC reviewer

“…Trust me when I say that this book is amazing and so well written. I was sucked in by the paranormal aspect and found that the story has so many ties in various ways. it reminded me of the movie Six Degrees of Separation. How one person can be connected to various people in different ways… Go and pick up this book so you can thank me later. I devoured this story and will continue to follow this author. Her lyrical ways of storytelling are so different and all consuming. I give this book 5 stars.” —Merritt Townsend, ARC reviewer

"The book is sharp, witty, and had the right mix of mystery, terror, love, and kept me guessing till the end when all the pieces fall into place.

I should think most of us want a book that leaves us feeling as if the characters will invite us into their home for fine wine, good conversation and a few extra secrets after turning the last page.” -Becca Baisch, ARC reviewer

 

Jessika Grewe Glover lives in a secret lair above Los Angeles with her British husband. She is the mum of two exceptional humans and one rescue bulldog, has a slight obsession with history, style, art, vampires, and making chocolate dragons. When not writing, she can be found traveling, eating, looking for alternate realms, and often bantering in song lyrics. She is the author of the Another Beast’s Skin series. Stars Like Gasoline is her first contemporary novel.

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Beyond the Book: Review

 

Book Blurb:

Carrie had always lived a charmed life, but restlessness gnawed at her soul. She dreamed of a different future, but dramatic changes are taking place in the South. Her heart and mind would soon be tested by fire – sweeping away dreamed of freedom as chaos descends.

Carrie Cromwell comes of age as the storm clouds of the Civil War swallow America. Born with a fiery spirit and a strong mind, she finds herself struggling between the common wisdom of the South and the truth she has discovered. The activities of the Underground Railroad and her close friendships with the Cromwell Plantation slaves create difficult choices. But when her decisions put her at odds with her heritage and challenge her dreams, will she be able to give up all that is precious to her?

My Review:

Storm Clouds Rolling In is about the Civil War, and I like reading about the war so when I looked at the book reviews I brought the first book in the series.All total there are twenty books which are labeled The Bregdan Chronicles.The reviews are off the chart good, and even that first novel is still an Amazon bestseller. 

I read book one. I was not impressed. Okay, maybe having set the stage in book one, she’d really get down to the action in book 2. Nope. This is where I should have stopped reading, but there’s nothing wrong with the plot, and I did want to know how it came out so I bought books three, four, and five, which took us to the end of the war. I couldn’t bring myself to finish all those books. What was wrong with them? Here’s what I didn’t like:

1.The characters are not especially believable. I’m sure there was instances such as she described, but overall the characters she focused on did not act as I believe most people would. For example, do you really think a plantation owner whose family had held the land for generations would give it to an ex-slave because he now understood that slavery was wrong? I don’t think he would. 

2.Two characters would be talking to each other, and you’d turn two pages and two different characters would be having the same conversation. 

3.I could maybe forgive numbers one and two, but what made me finally stop reading was the pacing of the novels. It plodded. To me, it seemed as if she was drawing things out just to write more books. 

Evidently, judging from the reviews, lots of people disagree with me. You may read it and love it, but I’m done with it. I don’t suppose by chance any of you have read it and enjoyed it? If you have please tell me what you see that I don’t see.

Embrace the Suck

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Title: Embrace the Suck

Series: an OPS Protector Romance Book 8

Author: Giulia Lagomarsino

Genre: Romantic Suspense/Protector Romance

Release Date: April 24, 2023

Cover Design: T.E. Black Designs

Photographer: Reggie Deanching RplusM Photography

Cover Model: BT Urruela

Embrace The Suck is book 8 in the OPS Protector Romance series and should be read in order.

I should have just stayed home.

I thought I could get away and relax.
But that was scrapped the first day when Dash and FNG followed me on vacation.
It was supposed to be a trip to reset my brain.
To get away from all the women flooding work, desperate to be involved and blow stuff up, throw knives, and eat shawarma with the resident psychopath.

But they weren’t the worst part of the trip.

No, that would be the woman that shouldn’t have ever stepped foot in a desert.
Whining and complaining were not supposed to happen on this trip.
But it did.
I should not have had to fight off a rabbit in a yurt.
But I did.
And that bighorn sheep…

But that was only the beginning of the worst vacation known to man.
Then there were bullets, enemies coming from all directions, and the sexiest, most annoying woman directly in the center of it.
And I had to protect her.

They say vacation is fun.
They’ve never been on one with her.

“Can I ask why you came here instead of…a spa?”

“A spa would have been nicer,” she panted. The path took a steep decline and she grabbed onto a boulder, leaning against it as she tried to breathe. “It’s so hot out here. I could be in a sauna right now.”

“A sauna is hot too.”

“I know that, but it’s good for your skin, your lungs…” She waved her hand in front of her face. “I feel faint.” She glanced up at the rising sun. “Is it just me, or is that sun really bright?”

Her flushed red face would be sexy if she were under me in bed, but out here in the sun, it only showed her intolerance for any kind of exertion. “It’s barely up yet. How do you expect to survive hiking out here?”

She pulled a water bottle from her pack and chugged it. “I’m always up for a challenge. Granted, this one is not exactly what I’m used to, but I’m no quitter.”

She stood, shoving her water bottle into her pack at the same time. But she was off balance and fell sideways, screeching as she fell and started to roll down the hill.

I pursed my lips and nodded as she tumbled in a very ungraceful manner until finally coming to a stop when the ground leveled out. “That seems about right.”

I'm a stay at home mom that loves to read. Some of my favorite titles are Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Horatio Hornblower. I started writing when I was trying to come up with suggestions on ways I could help bring in some extra money. I came up with the idea that I could donate plasma because you could earn an extra $500/month. My husband responded with, "No. Find something else. Write a blog. Write a book." I didn't think I had anything to share on blog that a thousand other mothers hadn't already thought of. I decided to take his challenge seriously and sat down to write my first book, Jack. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed writing. From there, the stories continued to flow and I haven't been able to stop. I hope my readers enjoy my books as much as I enjoy writing them. Between reading, writing, and taking care of three small kids, my days are quite full.

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