Blog Tour Review: The Good Sister by Rachael Stewart

The Good Sister by Rachael Stewart

Published: 21st August 2018

Publisher: Deep Desire Press

Pages: 205

Available on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Rating: 5/5

Blurb

HE WASN’T HERS TO LOVE … BUT HER HEART DOESN’T CARE…

When Isla Evans agrees to switch lives with her rising star of a twin for three weeks, she has no idea the move will thrust her into the same bed as her teenage celebrity heartthrob, Bradley King. Trapped there at her sister’s request, she gives her desire free reign and finds herself falling hard and fast.

And she’s not alone. 

Bradley wants a wife to tick all the boxes, save for one: love. It’s not part of the deal, never was, never will be. But when he returns home early to find his hopeful-fiancée behaving all sorts of different, he likes it. A lot. Suddenly, he wants a real marriage, with all the trimmings, and he will stop at nothing until he gets it.

But this Hollywood HEA faces one big hurdle—she’s not who he thinks she is…

Review

The Good Sister by Rachael Stewart is a hot and steamy romance which also has some substance. Carrie has asked her twin Isla if she will swap lives with her for three weeks as being a famous Hollywood actress is taking its toll on her. Reluctantly Islas agrees and heads to L.A. all set to follow Carrie’s instructions about what she can and can’t do while she’s there. There’s just one small problem, Carrie has forgotten to mention that her latest boyfriend is Bradley King, Isla’s teen crush. So, when Isla wakes up in Carrie’s bed with Bradley naked beside her she’s not sure what she can do except carry on the pretence. As Isla continues with the charade she realises that lust isn’t the only feeling she has for Bradley. But how will he react when he finds out the truth?

This may be a short novel, but it really does make an impact. The chemistry between Isla and Brad is instant and makes for some steamy, passionate moments which leave them just a bit sweaty. I loved Isla’s innocence as she tries to do the right thing and keep her hands off her sister’s boyfriend, without much luck as Bradley is a man who makes her heart and her body sing.  

The steamy romance may be the big storyline in this book, but I also loved the back stories behind our main characters as it really added some depth to them which you don’t often see in this genre. With, The Good Sister Rachael Stewart has created a well-rounded story which flows well and was a joy to read. I can highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys an erotic contemporary romance. This may be a new to me author but I’m looking forward to reading more of her work.

Thank you to Rachael Stewart for sending me a copy to review and Rachel’s Random Resources for inviting me to be part of the blog tour.

About the Author

Rachael Stewart adores conjuring up stories for the readers of Harlequin Mills & Boon and Deep Desires Press, with tales varying from the heart-warmingly romantic to the wildly erotic.

Despite a degree in Business Studies and spending many years in the corporate world, the desire to become an author never waned and it's now her full-time pleasure, a dream come true.

A Welsh lass at heart, she now lives in Yorkshire with her husband and three children, and if she's not glued to her laptop, she's wrapped up in them or enjoying the great outdoors seeking out inspiration.

Social Media Links –

Website: www.rachaelstewartauthor.com

Twitter: @rach_b52

Facebook: www.facebook.com/rachaelstewartauthor/

Purchase Links

Amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/Good-Sister-Rachael-Stewart-ebook/dp/B07FYDT2J9

Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Sister-Rachael-Stewart-ebook/dp/B07FYDT2J9

Giveaway – Win an e-copy of The Good Sister by Rachael Stewart (Open Internationally)

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

To enter the giveaway click on the link below

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/33c69494119/?

Bind Blog Tour: Review & "Hey Bestie! The Secret to Creating Heroines You Want as a Best Friend" by Sierra Cartwright

Bind by Sierra Cartwright

Published: 5th May 2016 (paperback)

Publisher: Totally Bond

Pages: 320

Available in Paperback and on Kindle

Order now from Amazon

Blurb

Only one man can help her. Is she willing to pay his price?
Faced with the potentially overwhelming loss of her family's fortune, Lara Bertrand turns to the one man who can help her, the gorgeous and powerful Connor Donovan.
She knows he's dangerous to her on every level. Only desperation would drive her to make such a risky proposition. After all, she knows all about his ruthless nature and relentless determination to succeed.
When the classy, elegant Lara walks into his office with an outrageous proposal, Connor is stunned and more than a little intrigued. Ever since he first met her, he's been attracted to the cool beauty, but she's more than kept her distance.
Connor is absolutely willing to help her out. For a price. He not only wants her hand in marriage, but also her total submissive surrender...

Review
Bind by Sierra Cartwright is the first novel in her new trilogy The Donovan Dynasty. This first book focuses on Conner Donovan, the CEO of Donavan Worldwide and his relationship with Lara Bertrand CFO of Bertrand Holdings Inc.

Lara is a woman who knows exactly what she wants and usually how to get it. In order to save her family business from financial ruin as her father’s business practices become more and more lack lustre Lara knows she needs a like-minded soul on the board of directors. Enter Conner Donovan, someone who has already shown an interest in parts of the business and Lara decides the man to help save her business.

As Lara makes her proposal to Conner, that they be married, in name only so he can join the board and help her out vote her father’s decisions she doesn’t expect the answer she gets. Yes he’ll marry her but in return Lara must surrender herself to him completely and in doing so she will experience things she’s never even dreamed of. Will Lara put her heart on the line and surrender to Conner to save the business or will she find another way?

As someone who doesn’t tend to read too many BDSM novels I wasn’t sure what to expect with Bind. I like my novels to have a believable plotline and relatable characters and not just sex scenes, something I’ve found lacking in other novels of this genre. In Bind I think Sierra Cartwright has balanced these two factors perfectly. I found the plotline convincing, the characters relatable and the chemistry between them sizzling which made for some scorching sex scenes.

I loved the dynamic between Conner and Lara, they’re both very intelligent, work well as a team and as a couple they are hot, hot, hot! I loved how connected they seemed to be. Conner had wanted a completely submissive partner in the bedroom but in the boardroom he seemed just as happy to let Lara take the lead.

I also loved their relationships with other people which I felt were very genuine. My favourite relationship was between Lara and Erin, Conner’s sister. These two savvy business women have known each other a long time and bounce business ideas off each other as well as relationship advice, so it was good when Erin didn’t instantly side with her brother when Lara mentions quarrels the two have and I just loved her phrase “chicks before dicks”.

I really enjoyed reading Bind, it had everything I wanted in an erotic fiction novel and has left me eager to continue on with this trilogy and find out what brothers Cade and Nathan have in store for us. I’d give Bind five out of five.

Thank you to the publishers for sending me a copy to review and for asking me to be part of the blog tour.

And now over to Sierra

Thanks for hosting me on your blog. I love your clean, inviting layout. 

Hey, Bestie! The Secret to Creating Heroines You Want as Your Best Friend

by Sierra Cartwright

There has never been a time in my life that I didn’t write. I penned my first book when I was nine, and my mum was my first editor. She corrected “babby” to baby and “haven” to heaven. I don’t know if my spelling improved, but from there, I moved onto longer works and handwrote a Star Trek fanfic at age thirteen. I also drank my first-ever pot of coffee on the night I stayed up until three a.m. to finish the first draft. Both are habits I’ve yet to break.

I wrote nine full-length novels before I eventually sold a book to Harlequin/Silhouette. Back then, there was massive competition for each slot, something like a thousand or two thousand
submissions for each that was accepted.

 The good thing about the years of rejection was the fact I honed my craft. I went to seminar after seminar, including one from Robert McKee and another from Donald Mass. I entered competitions, participated in critique groups that actually used red Sharpies to mark-up manuscripts, attended monthly writers’ meetings. I devoured all the books on writing that I could get my hands on. And I studied characterization.

Perhaps the most important lesson I learned was from my agent at the time, Irene Goodman. She was talking to me about heroines, and she said, “Think about the friend you’d like to have.The sassy one. The one who says outrageous things. The one who isn’t afraid to say the F- word.” (Irene, however, used the real word. It was unexpected and shocking.)

I came away from that conversation feeling as if I’d been gifted with The Secret about how to create my heroines, and I changed my approach. Rather than just looking at pictures for my character board, I began to consider the traits I want in my bestie.

I want her to be courageous, in a way I wished I was, confident, in a way I aspire to. And she needs to be flawed. No one wants to be friends with someone who is absolutely perfect—how boring and intimidating. We want to hang-out with someone who is real, who makes us laugh, who we can share our secrets with. We want them to eat ice cream with us when we go through a breakup, sneak a latte into the hospital ward after surgery, or drink a little too much on girls’ night out. I endeavor to create heroines who are admirable as well as fun, interesting and have a huge heart. And by seeing her interact with her friends, we see what type of person she is. So, it’s a good bet that my heroines will all have some they can call, “Bestie.”

 On the surface, Lara Bertrand, the heroine of Bind, my latest mass-market release, has it all. She’s the daughter of a successful businessman, educated, intelligent, beautiful.

But she’s hiding a secret. Her family’s business is teetering on failure. And no matter what she suggests, her father won’t listen to her. Connor Donovan, the devastatingly handsome CEO of Donovan Worldwide, has made a play for part of her family’s business, and the businesswoman in her thinks they should agree.

Lara takes drastic measures. She approaches Connor and proposes. To her, the arrangement is logical. He’ll get a seat on the board, meaning he’ll be able to bypass her father and takeover certain divisions. The problem is, this means she will be betraying her beloved father.

Lara is speechless when Connor says he’ll help her, but only if it’s a real marriage. And he will expect her to be his sexual submissive.

Of course, it’s a post-Fifty Shades of Grey world, so Lara has an idea of what that might mean.But she has no idea what it means to her, especially when he obliterates all her expectations and gives her shattering orgasms. She’d assumed it meant one thing, and it turns out that his oh-so sexy attention feeds a hunger she hadn’t known existed.

She changes, evolves, becomes a different person because of her experiences with Connor. One thing doesn’t change, though. I would still like to go out for dinner and a glass of wine with Lara and her friend, Erin.

Oh, hey. Would you like to join us? I’m buying the first round.

Book Review - Wolf Bride by Elizabeth Moss

 

Publisher: Hodder Paperbacks

Published: November  2013

Pages: 352

Wolf Bride begins in the Tudor court of Henry VIII just months before Queen Anne Boleyn met her untimely end. The story follows the relationship between Lord Wolf, a solder in the Kings Court and Eloise Tyrell, one of Queen Anne’s ladies-in-waiting.   Lord Wolf comes to court to claim Eloise as his bride. She accepts but is determined not to surrender herself to this man she barely knows.  However from their very first kiss it is obvious there is a deep passion between them, which despite the barriers they both put up eventually, erupts into some hot sex.

I love the two main characters in this book; they are very well written and very believable. Lord Wolf does seem to reflect his namesake and be quite “wolf” like. Obviously being a soldier he has the ability to hunt and kill his prey, but he also seem very wary of emotional attachments which I perceive as very “wolf” like. Also while reading there seems to be many hints that he has piercing deep eyes which were very sexy. I loved the way Eloise tried so hard to resist Wolf because she is determined not to submit to a man who doesn’t love her; but then whenever she sees him so just seems to go weak and fall into his arms because the lust for him just takes over.

As a huge fan of anything related to the Tudor era I thought it was brilliant the way the Queen Anne’s misdemeanours were woven into the background story, but did not take over from the relationship between Wolf and Eloise.  I also love the way the necklace on the cover is similar to the iconic necklace which Anne Boleyn wore with the pearls and the gold letter “B”, don’t know if this was intentional  but I love it.

Another thing which was really good was the way the author hinted at the relationship which is the focus of the second book in the trilogy, a brilliant way of making you want to read the next book, which I do very much.

This is a brilliant erotic fiction book; I loved the storyline, the characters and the sex scenes. This book totally deserves 5/5.