🔖 REVIEW BLITZ 🔖 First Comes Love by Nicole French

First Comes Love by Nicole French

Release Date: June 23rd 2022 by Raglan Publishing

Series: Silver Spoon #1

Pages: 400

Genres: Romance, Contemporary

Xavier Parker gets what he wants.

Richer than God. Hotter than fire. Colder than ice.
Father of my child.
And he has no idea.

As London’s top restauranteur, he has the golden touch, but he rules his world with an iron fist.
Now he’s back in New York with two objectives:
Open the newest hotspot in the city.
And win back my heart, five years after he broke it.

I’d run in the opposite direction, but it’s been so long...
And Xavier knows my recipe.
Passion. Pleasure. Just the right kind of pain.

Imagine his surprise when a little girl opens my door instead of me.
A stubborn, button-nosed four-year-old whose shiny black hair and bright blue eyes look just like his.
There’s a secret in this house, and he won’t stop until he figures it out.

Because Xavier Parker gets what he wants.
And now that includes his daughter.

First Comes Love is the exciting first book in a secret baby romance series from Nicole French! Enjoy a HFN at the end of this book, with more to come of these delicious new characters. 

Amazon US, Amazon CA, Amazon AU 

My Review:

In her latest spin-off, Nicole French delivers the first book in the Silver Spoon Trilogy, First Comes Love. This second chance romance focuses on London’s top restauranteur and a school teacher that will leave you swooning and rooting for the characters until the very end.

At the beginning of the book we are introduced to Francesa Zola, who is getting ready to begin graduate school. With her dreams of studying English Literature, Francesca wasn’t expecting to meet a handsome British man named Xavier Sato. An aspiring chef looking for a job in the city. Their connection was instant and she started to see a future with him. But her whole life turned upside down the minute he walked away from her, before she could even tell him that was pregnant with his baby.

With her heart completely shattered, Francesa made the decision to let him go and hasn’t seen him since. It would take fiver years later for her to bump into him at a friend’s party. Xavier is more handsome than ever and ready to rekindle what they once had. Yet, a lot of things have changed since she last saw him. For one, their daughter doesn’t know who her father is and Francesca fears of what Xavier will do once he finds out. But the more time they send together, the more her feelings for him begin to grow again, only to realize that he has been hiding secrets from her as well.

Growing up as the illegitimate son of an Englishman and a Japanese cook, Xavier Sato/Parker, grew up surrounded by the love of his mom and their love for cooking. A tragedy would bring him closer to his father, only to have Xavier want to make a name for himself without his father’s help. It’s through his hard work that Xavier manages to become London’s top restauranteur and expand his empire of fusion restaurants in different countries. Meeting Francesa changed everything and he wanted her in his life. But the universe had other plans for him and he had no other choice but to leave her behind. Seeing Francesa after so many years apart completely takes him back to the time they once shared and he will not give up until he makes her his again. Nothing could have prepared him to see his very own image as a little girl opened Francesca’s door, referring to her as her mom. A lot has changed in the last five years and he wonders if they can truly have a chance at a future together this time around.

I throughly enjoyed reading First Comes Love, we first get a glimpse of Francesca in the Rose Gold Series, and I was happy to find out that she was getting her own story. It’s the first chapter that really pulls you in and I couldn’t stop reading it. There is a lot of chemistry between the characters and a past that has brought them back together again. A lot has changed since the last time they saw each other and there are things that they need to come clean about with each other. Xavier might rule his empire with an iron fist, but he doesn’t know anything about raising a child and he fears that he might not be good at it. We see him have sweet moments with his daughter and Francesca as he tries to catch up with what he missed. 

Meanwhile, Francesca thought that she would take a different direction from her family, but having a baby made her even closer to them. It’s with their support that she was able to raise her daughter on her own. But just when things are starting to look up good for them, there is a shift in events that threaten to end their shot a a future together. There is so much that we get in this book and I cannot wait to read the next book in the trilogy. It’s a must-read for me, I would highly recommend it! :)

***I received an advanced copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own.***

My Rating:

About Nicole French:

Nicole French is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance. She's also a hopeless romantic, Springsteen fanatic, and total bookworm. When not writing, she is hanging out with her family, playing soccer with the rest of the thirty-plus crowd in Seattle, or going on dates with her husband. In her spare time, she likes to go running or practice the piano, but never seems to do either one of these things as much as she should.

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Connect with Nicole French:

https://www.nicolefrenchromance.com/links 

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🌟 BOOK BLITZ 🌟 Bratva Darling by Sabine Barclay {EXCERPT + GIVEAWAY!}

Bratva Darling by Sabine Barclay 

Release Date: June 28th 2022 by Oliver Heber Books

Series: The Ivankov Brotherhood #1

Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Mafia, Romance

I wasn’t prepared for her…

She just got me to pay three times as much as I wanted for a company I’ll buy and destroy.

She knows who I am. The bratva doesn’t scare her.

Intelligent, brave, and unstoppable.

I’ll make her mine.

She doesn’t know it yet, but we’re soulmates.

I’ll take her to her limits. Then give her all her heart desires.

The Bratva Darling is an interconnecting, standalone Dark Mafia Romance with a HEA and no cliffhanger. It contains extra-steamy scenes that will make your toes curl and your granny blush. This is book one in The Ivankov Brotherhood, a six-book series that’ll keep you warm at night.

Amazon

{EXCERPT}

Laura 

As I sit across from the four Kutsenko brothers, I press my lips together to keep from drooling. No four men should be so strikingly handsome. Not all from the same family, anyway. I fight a valiant battle against letting my gaze drift toward the eldest, Maksim, whose ice-blue eyes bore into me. After years of negotiating billion-dollar investment contracts while facing countless ruthless businessmen, I’ve learned to keep my expression studiously blank. But it’s a true struggle today. Instead, I focus my attention on the squirrelly lawyer sitting across the conference table. While he’s disingenuous with each comment, he’s a good negotiator. But I’m better. How cliché am I?

While I feel Maksim watching me, I focus on Dmitry Yakovitch as he continues to argue the merits of the venture capitalist company I represent, RK Capital Group, merging with Kutsenko Partners. What he means is the merits of Kutsenko Partners acquiring RK Capital Group, then stripping it and making it another money-laundering shell corporation. While most people in New York have little awareness of the Russian mafia, I do. The Kutsenko brothers’ names appear on no titles or deeds anywhere in New York City, but it wasn’t difficult to determine which shell companies likely belong to them. Their assumption that I’m unfamiliar with them is proving beneficial to me as they continue to whisper amongst themselves in Russian. I think they may even believe they’re convincing me that they don’t speak much English.

The senior partners of RK Capital Group know who I’m negotiating with, though they may not know I’m aware of these Russians’ more nefarious operations. They’ve given me the go-ahead to agree to a merger with an eventual acquisition, but only for the right price. A price to the tune of twenty billion dollars. Considering an investment firm like Goldman Sachs is worth nearly one-hundred-and-twenty billion dollars, my clients’ asking price appears reasonable.

“Mr. Yakovitch, I shall stop you now.” I raise my left hand, pen caught between my index and middle fingers. When I have his attention, I lean back in my chair and casually twirl the pen over my index finger and thumb. “Fifty billion is my clients’ asking price. You know that. Your clients know that. RK doesn’t oppose the merger. What they oppose is the insulting offer you’ve made. It’s nearly noon, and I’m hungry, Mr. Yakovitch. I have a delicious ham sandwich waiting for me. I even have three chocolate chip cookies waiting for me. If we aren’t going to make any progress, I shall let you go, so I can move onto my eagerly anticipated lunch.”

I cant my head just enough for me to appear as though my gaze rests solely on the opposing attorney’s face, but I can see each Kutsenko brothers’ reaction. My face battles yet again against showing my emotions as I fight not to smirk. Their muted but surprised expressions confirm what I already know.

“Please tell your clients to make a reasonable counteroffer, or I will conclude this meeting and enjoy my ham sandwich and cookies.”

Dmitry glares at me before turning to Maksim and his three brothers. In rapid Russian, he doesn’t interpret my suggestion. Oh no. There’s no need for that. I can’t catch every word because his voice is too low. But I catch something along the lines of “The bitch refuses to budge. What now? A f*cking ham sandwich. More like a stick up her *ss.”

Maksim swivels his chair to look at his brothers. In Russian, he says, “Fifty billion is ridiculous. She’s not so stupid or naïve not to know that. My guess is they’ll settle for twenty billion. We offer fifteen.”

“That’s barely better than what we already offered,” Aleksei, the second-oldest brother, argues. “She’ll be eating the f*cking sandwich and dipping her cookies in milk before we walk out the door. We need the buildings.”

“We offer twenty, Maks,” Bogdan, the youngest, insists.

As I watch the brothers discuss, their voices barely lowered, I pull my lunch sack from the black leather satchel by my feet and set it beside my laptop. It’s a ridiculously pink floral bag with an embroidered monogram, the L and D overlapping. It’s an empty prop, but they don’t know that. I watch as five sets of eyes narrow. I offer a smile that would appear innocent in any setting other than this meeting. It’s patronizing, and I know it.

AUTHOR BIO:

Sabine Barclay, a nom de plume also writing Historical Romance as Celeste Barclay, lives near the Southern California coast with her husband and sons. Growing up in the Midwest, Sabine enjoyed spending as much time in and on the water as she could. Now she lives near the beach. She's an avid swimmer, a hopeful future surfer, and a former rower. Before becoming a full-time author, Sabine was a Social Studies and English teacher. She holds degrees in International Affairs (BA), Secondary Social Science (MAT), and Political Management (MPS). She channels that knowledge into creating engrossing contemporary romances that will make your toes curl and your granny blush.

Website, Instagram, Facebook, Amazon, Goodreads

{GIVEAWAY!}

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🔖 REVIEW BLITZ 🔖 All the Wright Moves by K.A. Linde

All the Wright Moves by K.A. Linde

Release Date: June 21st 2022 by K.A. Linde Inc.

Series: Wright #12

Pages: 257

Genres: Romance, Contemporary

A sexy brother's best friend roommates romance set in the world of the Wrights from USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde…

When I moved in with my brother’s best friend, I thought it was temporary.

Weston Wright would be in LA with my brother for six months. I’d get the place to myself to get back on my feet. A perfect plan.

Until he comes back and asks me to stay.

I take one look at those beautiful baby blues, the dimpled smirk, and muscled arms, and say yes. I want to say yes to a lot more, but I’ve dated exactly one boy my entire life, and not only did he cheat on me with my bestie, now they’re engaged.

I don’t even know where to start with dating. But when I mention it to Weston, he offers to teach me how to date. No strings attached.

All I have to do is not fall in love with him…or let my brother find out. 

Amazon, B&N, Apple, Kobo, Google Play, Audio

My Review:

K.A. Linde is back with her twelve book in the Wright Series with All the Wright Moves. This emotional and page-turning brother’s best friend/friends-to-lovers romance will leave swooning and rooting for the characters until the very end!

As a wedding planner working at the Wright Vineyard, Nora Abbey, has been able to be a part of a lot of couple’s special day. So it’s natural for her to think about that moment when she’ll get to do it for her own wedding. But just when she thought that she was close to getting to that point, Nora finds her boyfriend kissing her best friend. To make things worse, they are now engaged and she is left to wonder if she’ll be able to get over the heartbreak that two very important people in her live caused her. Moving in with her brother’s best friend was only meant to be temporary. West has proven to be a great friend to her and he has been there for Nora since her ex cheating on her. So when he asks her to stay after he comes back from L.A, Nora quickly accepts. She wants to move on from her past and West offers to help her. Yet, being at close proximity to West at all times has her starting feelings for him. She knows that West will most likely move to L.A. with her brother and starting anything with him will hurt her even more. But what happens when they cross the line of no return and her heart is suddenly on the line all over again?

It hasn’t been long since Weston “West” Wright’s life completely changed after finding out a secret that his dad had been holding onto for so long. A whole new life that West wanted to know more about so he from from Seattle to Lubbock, Texas in the process and it has been the best decision he’s ever made. His passion and talent for music got noticed by the lead singer of Cosmere, Campbell Wright. It’s after the band’s keyboardist quit that Campbell asked West to fill in and it has changed his life yet again. Campbell gave West the job of a lifetime and promises to not disappoint him, which also means staying away from Nora. But after getting to know her more, West finds it difficult to not want to be part of her life. Then a turn of events happen and he’ll have to decide if he is willing to let go for his dream career for the love or his life or walk away from her all together.

I absolutely loved reading All the Wright Moves, the characters are relatable and the story line will leave you wanting for more. I loved West, he is charming and talented. Nora is able to lean on West from the very beginning, they have similar pasts that bring them closer as well. We get to see them go through ups and downs. Ultimately they have to decide if having a shot at a future together is worth it, especially when it comes to losing their dream jobs. I really enjoyed Linde incorporating characters from her previous books, not just within the Wright world. I do wish the author could have expanded on some topics a little bit more, but the ending was perfect. I would highly recommend checking out this book as well as the rest of the series, you won’t regret it! :)

***I received an advanced copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own.***

My Rating: 4.5/5

Meet K.A. Linde:

K.A. Linde is the USA Today bestselling author of the Avoiding Series, Wrights, and more than thirty other novels. She has a Masters degree in political science from the University of Georgia, was the head campaign worker for the 2012 presidential campaign at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and served as the head coach of the Duke University dance team. She loves reading fantasy novels, binge-watching Supernatural, traveling, and dancing in her spare time.

She currently lives in Lubbock, Texas, with her husband and two super-adorable puppies.

Visit her online at Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @authorkalinde.

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