A Christmas Fling by Beth Barany

Blurb:

What if falling in love put the life you cherished in jeopardy?

Dahlia, a Santa’s Elf, has twenty-one days left before Christmas to create the best toy in the world without using magic or revealing her true identity. Stuck on how to complete the prototype and working as a temp in San Francisco’s financial district with no time for love, will her Christmas fling get her unstuck, or will she turn her back on her beloved career for her heart?

Liam, an up-and-coming financial analyst, swore off women after getting dumped by the love of his life. He just found out his ex is going to the company Christmas party with his rival Michael Hendricks. Up for promotion against Hendricks, Liam has to win the favor of his boss. His best bet is to invite the vivacious secretary Dahlia to the party. Will Dahlia be a welcome distraction, or will she turn his life upside down?

Review:

I bought A Christmas Fling because the blurb didn’t make sense to me when I was putting together the Marketing for Romance Writers Newsletter, which is not a good reason to buy a book. It turns out Santa’s Elves get a year off from the North Pole to live among humans as a human. During this year they have to support themselves at human jobs, live in human abodes, and invent a toy without the use of magic that will earn them the rank of Master Elf. Dahlia is at the end of her year, and she just cannot get her toy to work. She’s worried she’ll return home and be assigned to Janitorial Services.

Liam is up for a promotion, and his main rival has already taken his fiancé from him. His boss is a “family values” kind of guy. If Liam shows up stag at the Christmas party, it will diminish his chances for the promotion. He needs a “girlfriend”—fast, so he asks Dahlia, the vivacious temp, to pretend to be his sweetheart. Of course, in order to pull of the charade, they have to get to know each other.

A Christmas Fling should have grabbed me and sucked me in. Maybe I’m Christmassed out. I only watched two holiday movies this year. I’m probably the only reviewer who found it tepid and wasn’t particularly engaged. I also don't like the idea that Liam needs a girlfriend in order to get a promotion. A company that promotes men based on whether or not they appear to plan to have families will hold women back for the same reason, because they would believe women should stay in the kitchen barefoot and pregnant.  Besides, I don't see what one's marital status has to do with one's ability to perform a job.

And here’s a SPOILER ALERT. I really hated the end. Dahlia wins an award for her toy, which she was supposed to have completed without help. At the very last minute Liam looks at the toy, realizes what the problem is, gives her the tool to fix it, and she does not admit that. I do not think she should have accepted the award without admitting she had help. I don’t like people who cheat on their final exams. Even if she had engaged me, Ms. Barany would have lost me there.

I do not recommend this book.

Length: 112 Pages

Price: $2.99

Buy Link: http://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Fling-Magical-Romance-Adventure-ebook/dp/B00H8GPVKS

Thanks for visiting. RIW

Death Runs in the Family by Heather Haven

 

Lee Alvarez’ ex-husband, Nick—a man she divorced with joy in her heart and a gun in her hand—sprints back in her life only to disappear again. She’d love to leave it at that, but could he be responsible for the recent death of her cousin, who keeled over at the finish line of a half-marathon in front of hundreds of spectators? As PI for the family-run business, Discretionary Inquiries, Lee follows the clues to Vegas, where she joins forces with Shoshone PI, Flint Tall Trees. Together they uncover a multi-million dollar betting syndicate, a tacky lounge lizard act, and a list of past but very dead runners, plus future ones to be offed. At the top of the ‘future’ list is the love of her life, Gurn Hanson. Hoping to force the culprits out in the open, Gurn and Lee’s brother, Richard, plan to run San Francisco’s famous Palace to Palace 12K in only a few days. Lee aims to keep the two men she loves from hitting the finish line the way her cousin did—not in a dead heat, but just plain dead! With more at stake than she ever dreamed possible, Lee is in a battle against time to stop the Alvarez Family’s race with death.

Okay, I’m prejudiced.  This is the third book in the Alvarez Family Murder Mystery series and the first two were five-star, kick derriere page-burning, hold-your-breath reads.  I’ve been waiting for this book the way I waited for the next Jim Butcher Harry Dresden book, or the next Harry Potter, or Mary Janice Davidson’s next Undead book, etc.  I had no doubt Death Runs in the Family would be just as good as its predecessors, nor did my cats, Acey and Tinkerbelle (who are fans of Rum Tum Tugger, Lee Alvarez’s cat).  Ms. Haven (and Tugger) did not disappoint any of us.  In fact you (and your cats) should see Tugger in this one!  Not sayin’ anymore, other than to tell you this is an absolute MUST READ!  

You don't have to have read the first two books to enjoy this one, but you'll want more of this warm, loving, funny, crime-fighting family's nail-biting adventures.

Okay, Acey!  Of course I’ll let you have your turn.

Tugger!  Dude!  I guess you don’t need any more advice from me.  That was some fancy paw work there in this book.  You really got in there and saved the day.  Your human, Lee, was ready to go to the ends of the Earth for you, but you did pretty well for her, too.  I’d salute you if I could stand on my hind legs and raise my paw that way.  I guess I’ll just rub my scent on the corner of Rochelle’s computer before I walk off the keyboard and give you a tail flick.  Oh, she’s setting out some catnip.  Guess she has more work to do.  Me-ann, she has her shoes on, and that stupid alarm’s going off.  She must be going somewhere.  Maybe I can sneak out and go play at the auto museum when she opens the door.  Bye Tugger.  Keep up the good work.  Oh, hey, Tinkerbelle says hi.  She’s sticking her whole butt up in the air and mrowling.  Shameless tabby.  I thought Rochelle got her fixed.  Women!

Acey walked away from the computer, so I guess I can add a quick note. Liana (Lee) Alvarez is still the featured guest on my other blog.  Hop next door and meet her. Here's the link. Rochelle Weber, Author  Tink and Acey are over there saying hi, as well.

Length:  226

Price:  $5.95

Buy Link:  MuseItUp Publishing

You’ll notice I always include the publisher’s buy link.  That’s because authors usually receive 40% of the book price from the publisher.  Editors and cover artists usually receive about 5%.  When you buy a book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or another third-party vendor, they take a hefty cut and the author, editors and cover artists receive their cuts from what is left.  So, if a book costs $5.99 at E-Book Publisher.com and you buy from there, the author will receive about $2.40.  If you buy the book at Amazon, the author will receive about $0.83.

Downloading the file from your computer to your Kindle is as easy as transferring any file from your computer to a USB flash drive.  Plug the USB end of your chord into a USB port on your computer and simply move the file from your “Downloads” box to your Kindle/Documents/Books directory.  I actually download my books using “Save As” to a “Books” file on my computer that’s sorted by my publisher, friends, and books “to review,” and then transfer them to my Kindle from there.  That way, if there’s a glitch with my Kindle, the books are on my computer.  Your author will be happy you did when he/she sees his/her royalty statement.