clean romance | The Opinionated Woman's Musings

On Tour with Prism Book Tours.

Katia’s Promise
(Shores of Indian Lake #4)
by Catherine Lanigan
Adult Contemporary Romance
May 1st 2015 by Harlequin Heartwarming

Katia Stanislaus is a top insurance agent in Chicago, but her company is about to fold if she can’t pull off a miracle. She convinces her boss to relocate to Indian Lake where she lived as a child and broke the heart of the one man whose account would be enough to save her job and her company. The only problem is that Austin McCreary has been a near recluse since the day Katia left him. Austin won’t take her calls and appears set on revenge for the pain Katia has caused him. Just seeing Austin, catapaults Katia back to the time when she was 16 and so very much in love. But it was just a teenage crush, wasn’t it?

Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Harlequin

TOW Opinion ♥♥♥

I thought this book was going to be the typical lost teenage love rekindled. To an extent it was, but there were enough twists in the story to make it interesting.

Katia has got herself in a bind by speaking way too fast when trying to save her job. I understand she wants her boss to see her as the savior for the company, but she was very optimistic in thinking that Austin was going to forget what happened 18 years ago as if it meant nothing to both of them. She apologized and hoped that everything would be okay. She had years to deal with what happened, but he just received the missing parts to the story.

Austin was bitter and distrustful in the beginning. That was understandable considering she broke his heart royally when they were teenagers. I was sympathetic with him up to a point. There were a lot of factors that kept them apart when they were younger. But then his frequent silent treatment spells started to wear on my nerves.

By half way through the story, I was not sure how I felt about both of them. Katia could not wait for Austin to process his emotions because she needed to make the sale. At the same time, Austin did not react like a mature adult when he felt like she was using him. Personally, I got that impression too. That does not justify his actions though.

Should you buy? Despite the minor annoyances, the book is worth reading. If I am saying that, you know that they have must have had a happy ending. A rich guy finally gets with his childhood sweetheart.The pace was well written and there was enough external conflict that helped the plot develop. I think that “heartwarming” is another way of saying that this was a clean romance. There was no foul language and love scenes consisted of nothing other than modest kissing.

FTC Disclaimer: A copy of this book was given in exchange for an honest review.

Other Books in the Series

Love Shadow (The Shores of Indian Lakes) A Fine Year for Love (Shores of Indian Lake #3)

Links for Love Shadows
(Shores of Indian Lake #1)

Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Harlequin

Links for Heart’s Desire
(Shores of Indian Lake #2)

Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Harlequin

Links for A Fine Year for Love
(Shores of Indian Lake #3)

Amazon – Barnes & Noble – Harlequin

Catherine Lanigan is the bestselling author of over thirty published titles in both fiction and non-fiction, including the novelizations of Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile, as well as over half a dozen anthologies, including “Chicken Soup for the Soul: Living your Dream”, “Chicken Soup for the Writer’s Soul”, “Chocolate for a Woman’s Heart”, Chocolate for a Woman’s Spirit”. Ms. Lanigan’s novels have been translated into over a dozen languages including German, French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Chinese, and Japanese. Ms. Lanigan’s novels are also available on audio-cassette, CD and on electronic format. A prolific writer, she is always writing wonderful stories. She has several titles only available in ebook format on Amazon.com Several of her titles have been chosen for The Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Clubs. Her novel, The Christmas Star, won the Gold Medal Award Top Pick from Romantic Times Magazine for December, 2002, and has also won Book of the Year Romance Gold Award from ForeWord Magazine as well as Book of the Year Romance from Reader’s Preference. In March, 2006 Divine Nudges: Tales of Angelic Intervention and the second in Lanigan’s Angel Watch series of books, was published by HCI, the Chicken Soup for the Soul publisher.

Website – Goodreads – Facebook – Twitter – LinkedIn – Pinterest

Tour Schedule:

April 19th – Launch
April 20th – Coffee Books & Art
April 21st – Deal Sharing Aunt
April 22nd – The Written Adventure
April 23rd – I Am A Reader & Zerina Blossom’s Books
April 24th – LeahSay’s Views & The Opinionated Woman’s Musings
April 26th – Wishful Endings & Letters from Annie (Douglass) Lima
April 27th – Christy’s Cozy Corners, i blog 4 books, & Getting Your Read On
April 28th – Mel’s Shelves
April 29th – Katie’s Clean Book Collection
April 30th – Lisa’s Research & Reviews
May 1st – Grand Finale

Cover Reveal & Tour Giveaway

$100 Amazon Gift Card
3 ebooks of Katia’s Promise by Catherine Lanigan
Open internationally.
Ends May 8th

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Just Joe (Harlequin More Than Words) ♥♥♥

Synopsis

Stacy is the executive director of a charity called Bounties from the Garden. She is trying to keep her charity financially healthy to allow her to serve the community and grow the program. Times have been hard, so she is participating in a dance competition to try to win the top monetary prize.

Joe is a realtor and volunteer at Bounties from the Garden. Over time, he realizes that he is falling for Stacy.

The book is inspired by real life heroines.

Opinion

For most of the book, the romance is extremely one-sided in the sense that Joe is only one that is open to the idea of them being in a relationship.

“I knew that kissing you would be magic.” Joe

Stacy, on the other hand, is very resistant. She does not have time for romance. She has decided, before she even knew Joe, that she does not want to be in a relationship with him. When he first asked her to dinner, she bluntly told him that she does not date.

I volunteer at a few non-profits in my area and know that it takes a special kind of person to be the executive director of a charitable organization. They have to be doing it for the love of serving others and they need to be passionate about the organization’s mission. For those reasons, I gave Stacy a lot of leeway in her behavior and attitude.

Stacy has had some bad relationship experiences in the past and this causes her to be prickly and bitter. She was not a man-hater, but lacked trust in any man’s ability to stay around. Fear of rejection causes Stacy to lash out repeatedly and in the end she almost ruined her chance at happiness.

Joe has had his share of tragedy in his life as well. In contrast to Stacy, he was more positive and learned that life is precious. He has adjusted his priorities and concentrates on what is most important in life. He sees past Stacy’s cantankerous behavior and focuses on her good qualities.

“I like the way your hair sparkles in the sunshine.” Joe

Should you buy? Sure, especially if you want a clean romance. Once you get past being so snappy and irritable, the story is actually kind of heartwarming. I like the fact that the story is inspired by true life heroines. Bravo Harlequin!

Book details from Goodreads
Kindle Edition, 67 pages
Published April 1st 2013 by Harlequin Special Releases
series Harlequin More Than Words
Available on Amazon