Release day mini mash-up: Historical romance, sci-fi and NA

All three of these books are out today!

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Duke of My Heart (Season for Scandal #1) by Kelly Bowen
Scandal can be handled...
Captain Maximus Harcourt, the unconventional tenth Duke of Alderidge, can deal with tropical storms, raging seas, and the fiercest of pirates. But he's returned home from his latest voyage to find a naked earl—quite inconveniently deceased—tied to his missing sister's bed. And he has only one place to turn. Now he's at the mercy of the captivating Miss Ivory Moore of Chegarre & Associates, known throughout London for smoothing over the most dire of scandals.

Miss Moore treats the crisis as though it were no more serious than a cup of spilt tea on an expensive rug. As though this sort of thing happened on the job every day. Max has never in all his life met a woman with such nerve. Her dark eyes are too wide, her mouth is too full, her cheekbones too sharp. Yet together, she's somehow...flawless. It's just like his love for her, imperfect, unexpected—yet absolutely true. ~ Goodreads

Source: e-ARC provided by publisher for review

My thoughts: I love, love, LOVE Bowen’s characters, especially the heroines, and Ivory Moore was no exception. She is whip smart, resourceful and kind. I wish the story held up as strong.
There’s scandal, romance and mystery in Duke of My Heart and it was good – just not un-put-downable good like other Bowen books I have read.


Inversion Point (Chaos Station #4) by Jenn Burke, Kelly Jensen

Zander and Felix's relationship has been to the brink and back: the Human-Stin War, imprisonment and an actual death/resurrection. Zander's death, to be specific, and the experience has left him…changed. The mysterious race known as the Guardians chose to revive him and appointed him as their emissary. A high honor, but he could do without the group of would-be cultists following him around the galaxy.

When a recently discovered species destroys a stin probe, Zander's new role soon commands all of his time and focus. The human ambassador—Felix's ex-lover, much to Zander's annoyance—pulls them into strategy talks aimed at preserving galactic peace. Soon everyone is relying on Zander's Guardian tech to telepathically communicate with the strange aliens.

Only Felix seems concerned with the strain piling up on Zander, but he has his own resolve tested when the very stin that imprisoned him show up to a summit. Zander and Felix will both have to find a way to face their doubts and preserve their love—while preventing another galaxy-wide war. ~ Goodreads

Source: e-ARC provided by the publisher for review

My thoughts: This is one of my favorite series and perfect for a binge read if you haven’t started it yet (My Speed Date Review of the first three books in the series).

I thought Felix & Zander had already hit their breaking point by now, but the authors manage to surprise me with each installment, pushing our heroes a little bit further.

While it's hard to watch them hurt (again!), I like how it makes F&Z confront difficult issues. Theirs isn't an easy relationship. Finding each other again, after so many years apart, was just the beginning. This is the installment where they need to decide if staying together to work things out is worth it - even though it would be easier to walk away.

As always, the action was pulse pounding, with a few surprises, that promise an epic conclusion in the upcoming last installment of the series. It will be sad to see it end but these two (& the crew) deserve a HEA..

There were several repeated phrases that were a tad annoying but otherwise another solid installment in the series.

Anatomy of a Player (Taking Shots #2) by Cindi Madsen

This bad boy is about to get played…

After getting her heart broken by a player again, Whitney Porter is done with men. She's focusing on her future career and her first assignment at the college newspaper: Posing as a sports writer for an exposé on the extra perks jocks receive. But Hudson Decker, the bad boy of the hockey team, is about to test her resolve. To keep herself from breaking her no-sex rule with the temptingly tattooed athlete, she decides to use him for a side project: Anatomy of a Player, to help Whitney—and women everywhere—spot a player, learn what makes him tick, and how to avoid falling for one.

With his life spiraling out of control, Hudson Decker's looking for a distraction. When his teammates bet him that he can't land the gorgeous but prickly new reporter, he accepts the challenge, boasting he'll have her in bed by the end of the semester. But Whitney is so much more than Hudson expected, and soon enough, he's in too deep. The last thing he needs is another complication, but staying away isn't an option. One thing's for certain: this girl totally throws him off his game. ~ Goodreads

Source: e-ARC provided by the author for review

My thoughts: Anatomy of a Player is book #2 in the Taking Shots series. I loved book #1, Getting Lucky Number Seven, and Cindi is an auto-buy author for me. She takes on old, tired tropes and gives them a fun, fresh twist. I did like the first book a bit more than this one, but you can’t go wrong with Madsen or Anatomy of a Player if you’re a fan of NA or looking for a hot hockey player romance!

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*Do you have new releases you would recommend?