Release Reviews: Speakeasy: Sarina Bowen
Speakeasy (True North #5)
Sarina Bowen
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Release Date May 29, 2018
Sometimes you fall for Mr. Right. And sometimes for Mr. Right Now…
May
Did you hear the one about the girl who walks into a bar and catches her live-in lover kissing someone else? No? You’re the only one in town who missed it.
Luckily Alec is there to wrap me up in strong arms and carry me out the door before things get too ugly. And that’s not all Alec is good at. Our unexpected chemistry makes him the perfect rebound guy.
Alec
I should know better than to hook up with my rival’s little sister, but the fiery look in May’s eyes really turns my crank. She needs cheering up, and I’m just the guy for the job.
It’s not like I’ll fall in love. Not even after a string of scorching hot trysts, and the realization that we’re good at the same things: wild nights and familial disappointment. I don’t do love, never have, never will. So this is the perfect arrangement, for both of us.
Nobody would approve, but nobody has to know…
May Shipley's life is falling down around her. And Alec Rossi just happens to be the Not-So-Shining-Knight-In-Armor around to help her when she needs it. They did not really know each other, but he provides comfort in a time of need. And they have hot chemistry and a need to blow off steam.
Neither are looking for a relationship. She is untrusting and getting over a break up, and he is usually a manwhore. But they can make each other feel good and noone has to know. He is the perfect rebound guy with no expectations, and they make each other laugh.
They are used to people watching them and waiting for them to screw up. And that is because they have made mistakes. But they also need people to see their intelligence, strength, and to actually support them and not inadvertently make them more insecure.
May has done a lot of good things, but is also judged for her mistakes and past relationships. She has moved home under the watchful eye of her family and is glad to find something to make her smile. But she has issues that she has to be mindful of and it makes her feel unworthy and she lacks trust in her own judgment at times. Alec seems like an uncomplicated safe bet as long as know one finds out.
Neither are looking for a relationship. She is untrusting and getting over a break up, and he is usually a manwhore. But they can make each other feel good and noone has to know. He is the perfect rebound guy with no expectations, and they make each other laugh.
They are used to people watching them and waiting for them to screw up. And that is because they have made mistakes. But they also need people to see their intelligence, strength, and to actually support them and not inadvertently make them more insecure.
May has done a lot of good things, but is also judged for her mistakes and past relationships. She has moved home under the watchful eye of her family and is glad to find something to make her smile. But she has issues that she has to be mindful of and it makes her feel unworthy and she lacks trust in her own judgment at times. Alec seems like an uncomplicated safe bet as long as know one finds out.
Alec Rossi is honest, hardworking, funny, and charming. He has even more plans for his business, but there are some roadblocks to his dreams, and his life has also just become more complicated and chaotic. His new attachment to May is unexpected, but he is also a man who knows what he wants and can be decisive. But May can be a challenge.
I liked these two together. They had similar issues in some ways. But in other aspects they could appear to be a bad match with the most obvious being she is a recovering alcoholic and he is a bar owner. There are also family ties and negative history that add complications.
I liked these two together. They had similar issues in some ways. But in other aspects they could appear to be a bad match with the most obvious being she is a recovering alcoholic and he is a bar owner. There are also family ties and negative history that add complications.
I am glad that May finally got her own book. We have seen her take some unexpected turns as far as her actions and relationships during this series. I liked that she was a work in progress and was still figuring out what she really needed in a partner and what she needed to do for herself. And Alec was in his own mode of self discovery and carving out his future.
This was sweet, funny, sexy, and had a bit of angst and a few surprises. There is some serious subject matter but it is handled well and realistically. It brings back most of the characters from the series that we have come to love. I like how they are a dynamic, entertaining, and sometimes dysfunctional group. But they react the way they do because of love. It is a good addition to this family-centric series where the characters are real, genuine, and definitely have a few flaws.
I was gifted a copy.
Alec Rossi is used to having low expectations set for him, but he has big plans for his business and high expectations for himself. He is a genuinely good guy, hardworking and honest, though he does have a bit of a chip on his shoulder when it comes to the Shipley family.
Alec is in the right place at the right time to be a rock for May as she finds her live-in lover with an ex, obviously having rekindled their romance while Danielle still lived with May. He is the perfect support for her while she struggles to face the moments after her revelation as well as helping her decide her next steps in the moment in a calm, level headed manner.
I loved watching these two build a friendship and then realize there was more than friendship between them. Neither was looking for a relationship, nor would they have predicted the other would be a good match. But as their friendship grows, each discovers that there is more than just what a person shows on the surface.
This took some twists I wasn’t expecting, but I loved the way it was woven together. Alec’s business propositions, May’s struggles, and the tentative friendship they find amidst the flaming chemistry make for a fun, if at times angsty, read.
I loved seeing previous True North couples. With close ties to the Shipley and Rossi families, there were quite a few former favorites in the background of this story. There are plenty of Shipley’s left to continue the series, and I love the little glimpses we’ve gotten into some of their characters. This family and community is a close knit one and their ties run deep.
I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Bittersweet (True North #1)
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If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the orchard.
The last person Griffin Shipley expects to find stuck in a ditch on his Vermont country road is his ex-hookup. Five years ago they’d shared a couple of steamy nights together. But that was a lifetime ago.
At twenty-seven, Griff is now the accidental patriarch of his family farm. Even his enormous shoulders feel the strain of supporting his mother, three siblings and a dotty grandfather. He doesn’t have time for the sorority girl who’s shown up expecting to buy his harvest at half price.
Vermont was never in Audrey Kidder’s travel plans. Neither was Griff Shipley. But she needs a second chance with the restaurant conglomerate employing her. Okay—a fifth chance. And no self-righteous lumbersexual farmer will stand in her way.
They’re adversaries. They want entirely different things from life. Too bad their sexual chemistry is as hot as Audrey’s top secret enchilada sauce, and then some.
Steadfast (True North #2)
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She’s the only one who ever loved him—and the only one he can never have.
Jude lost everything one spring day when he crashed his car into an apple tree on the side of the road. A man is dead, and there's no way he can ever right that wrong. He’d steer clear of Colebury, Vermont forever if he could. But an ex-con in recovery for his drug addiction can’t find a job just anywhere.
For Sophie Haines, coming face to face with the man who broke her heart is gut-wrenching. Suddenly, he’s everywhere she turns. It’s hard not to stare at how much he’s changed. The bad boy who used to love her didn’t have big biceps and sun-kissed hair. And he’d never turn up to volunteer in the church kitchen.
She knows it’s foolish to yearn for the man who returned all the heartsick letters she wrote him in prison. But the looks he sends her now speak volumes.
No one wants to see Sophie and Jude back together, least of all Sophie's police chief father. But it's a small town. And forbidden love is a law unto itself.
Keepsake (True North #3)
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Our 4.5 star reviews
Our 4.5 star reviews
There's a first time for everything.
Lark Wainwright used to be fearless. Her life was a series of adventures, each one more exhilarating than the last. But her recent overseas adventure was one too many. Now she’s home and in one piece. Mostly. But her nights are filled with terror.
When her best friend offers her a stay at the orchard in exchange for help at the farmers’ markets, Lark jumps at the chance to spend fall in Vermont. But her nightmares don’t stop. Desperate to keep her fragile state a secret, she relies on the most soft-spoken resident of the Shipley Farm to soothe her when her dreams prove too much.
Zachariah is a survivor, too. It’s been four years since he was tossed aside by the polygamist cult where he grew up. He’s found a peaceful existence on the Shipley’s farm, picking apples and fixing machinery. But getting thrown away by your own people at nineteen leaves a mark on a guy. He doesn’t always know what to make of a world where movie quotes are the primary means of communication. Before hitchhiking to Vermont, he’d never watched TV or spoken on the phone.
Actually, there are a lot of things he’s never done.
Zach and Lark slowly grow to trust one another. One night they become even closer than they’d planned. But Lark may still be too broken to trust anyone. When she pushes Zach away, he will have to prove to himself that he's good for much more than farm labor.
Sarina Bowen
Our 4.5 star reviews
No last names. No life stories. Those were the rules.
Once upon a time a cocky, copper-haired tourist sauntered into Zara’s bar. And even though she knew better, Zara indulged in a cure for the small-town blues. It was supposed to be an uncomplicated fling—a few sizzling weeks before he went back to his life, and she moved on.
Until an accidental pregnancy changed her life.
Two years later, she’s made peace with the notion that Dave No-Last-Name will never be found. Until one summer day when he walks into her coffee shop, leveling her with the same hot smile that always renders her defenseless.
Dave Beringer has never forgotten the intense month he spent with prickly Zara. Their nights together were the first true intimacy he’d ever experienced. But the discovery of his child is the shock of a lifetime, and his ugly past puts relationships and family out of reach.
Or does it? Vermont’s countryside has a way of nurturing even tortured souls. The fields and the orchards—and hard won love—are Bountiful.
Sarina Bowen
Sarina Bowen is the RITA® Award winning author of over two dozen contemporary and LGTB romance novels. She most recently hit the USA Today bestseller's list in February, with Brooklynaire. Formerly a derivatives trader on Wall Street, Sarina holds a BA in economics from Yale University.
Sarina Bowen is a New Englander whose Vermont ancestors cut timber and farmed the north country since the 1760s. Sarina is grateful for the invention of indoor plumbing and wi-fi during the intervening 250 years. On a few wooded acres, she lives with her husband, two boys, and an ungodly amount of ski and hockey gear.
Sarina's books are published in a dozen languages on four continents. In 2016, The Romance Writers of America honored HIM by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy with a RITA award for Best Contemporary Romance, Mid-Length.
Sarina Bowen is a New Englander whose Vermont ancestors cut timber and farmed the north country since the 1760s. Sarina is grateful for the invention of indoor plumbing and wi-fi during the intervening 250 years. On a few wooded acres, she lives with her husband, two boys, and an ungodly amount of ski and hockey gear.
Sarina's books are published in a dozen languages on four continents. In 2016, The Romance Writers of America honored HIM by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy with a RITA award for Best Contemporary Romance, Mid-Length.
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