A Mommy To Make Christmas by Susanne Hampton

A Mommy To Make Christmas

Susanne Hampton

Reviewed by Helen

This is such a moving and heart-warming story can two people who have sworn off the opposite sex for totally different reasons find love and happiness again and bring such joy to a little boy's life at such a special time of the year as Christmas?

Dr Phoebe Johnson has moved to a hot Adelaide Australia from a cold Washington USA to take a temporary position as podiatric surgeon at a clinic she needs to get away for a while after having her heart broken a change of scenery is just what the Doctor needs a new experience working with an excellent Podiatric surgeon Dr Ken Rollins Phoebe hopes to learn a lot and get on with her new life as a single woman she is sworn off men permanently but all that changes when she meets Ken's son Heath who is taking over his father's place.

Dr Heath Rollins has moved back home to Adelaide for a while to help with his father's Podiatric Clinic while he gets over surgery he is a single dad to Oscar and his life evolves around him he has been through a huge loss and Christmas is a bad time of the year for him and he has no desire to get involved with another woman it is just him and Oscar, but when he meets Phoebe things start to change especially when Oscar gets so close to her as well and with Christmas so close emotions are strong.

This really is a lovely story that will have you shedding a few tears but encouraging both Heath and Phoebe to a wonderful HEA that will see you smiling as the barriers that both have erected are broken down and the part that Oscar plays is lovely. I highly recommend this one I loved it.

5/5 stars for a great story

Published December 1st 2015 by Harlequin Medical Romances

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 Reviewed by Nas      

A MOMMY TO MAKE CHRISTMAS by author Susanne Hampton is a December 2015 release by Harlequin medical Romance series.

Dr. Phoebe Johnson moved from Washington to Adelaide to start a new job. She had cancelled her wedding after finding her fiancé had cheated on her. And now she was not interested in any man.

But in Adelaide she came in contact with her handsome boss, Dr. Heath Rollins. A single dad, Heath was also not interested in any long-term commitment. Yet he couldn’t help but fall for the gorgeous, generous and kind-hearted Phoebe. His son also loves her. Could he say ‘no’ to his son?

And would Phoebe make all their dream come true? Could she? And what about Heath’s son asking Santa for a mommy for Christmas. Could Phoebe make the little boy’s dream come true?

A MOMMY TO MAKE CHRISTMAS is a heart-warming romance about miracles at Christmas. Author Susanne Hampton brought this story about second chance at love, healing from past grief and moving to future happiness.

Recommended to all readers of romance.

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The Millionaire's Proposition by Avril Tremayne

Reviewed by Desere

I have from book one been a huge fan of this author's unique fun and quirky way of writing, she is somehow able to take a totally fun heroine , add in a " I am going to kill this man" hero , mix it all with a smashing setting , add a large dose of " I did not see that coming" twists and turns and in the end it's the perfect pick me up read, not every author out there is able to pull it off.

So of course I totally squealed with excitement when I found this gem in review request box, you hear that , yep that's me still squealing ! This read is a ' friends with benefits arrangement read, two nights a week, strictly confidential and for one month only.

Sounds dangerously exciting, well it was meant to be, but lawyer Kate Clearly is so buttoned up that she hears millionaire architect Scott's proposition and immediately whips out a contract for them both to sign, thus kind of taking the thrill out of the entire set up.

But Kate is no dummy, because when Scott sees her in high heels and stockings she has him right where she wants him and all he can do is sign, and the danger - thrill level soars right back up!

Being in the business of ending marriages means that Kate is pretty much jaded about relationships, and thus she is ready to make sure that her little " complicated enigma" aka hotter than hell Scott , will be a complication she solves very quickly before walking away. One one little flaw in her master plan, she 'll have to break her own watertight contract in order to walk away.

First things first , the banter between Kate and Scott was simply put , bloody excellent, as in I was totally addicted to it. It is not every M&B book that I pick up that has this level of boundaries being pushed, it was absolutely electric.

The author showed her magic again but ensuring the book is fun, flirty and really hot!!  The characters were all the kind that you know exist in real life, but you never get to go inside their minds, you can't hear their thoughts, you can't see behind the image they show the world and if you are anything like me, you will understand when I say that it is a truly irritating thing to know you need to get into the person's soul in order to really understand them, but you just can't breach that wall. The author took me deep into the minds, the thoughts and the emotions of the characters and I was thrilled beyond belief.

A really sexy and I mean really sexy read filled with just the right amount of humor to keep you laughing and enough emotion to really get you thinking. The perfect " hero is a little screwed up, heroine needs to be knocked down from her pedestal sexy romance explosion " read.  And I cannot end off without telling you about the totally romance perfection ending, it sent my heart soaring, my mind racing and wishing I could be Kate, Scott you rock!

5/5 Star review
" One month, one contract , two hearts racing towards the ending" 

To Catch a Star by Romy Sommer

Reviewed by Desere 

Ever hear about those types of princesses that are all ice and no fire at all? Yep me neither, for you see in real life the layers of ice are always hidden and in front of the public they are always sweet and kind and make us all wish we could be her.

In the latest read from Romy Sommer we meet Teresa Adler she is the ultimate Ice Princess, with a heart as frozen as the winter landscape of her beloved home, Westerwald, BTW don't you just love that name? It sounds so magical, and fits right in with this book, because magical it was !

Teresa has belonged to a inner circle of wealth, privilege and position all her life, and could definitely do with a little magic to unfreeze her ice cold heart. The magic comes in the form of Christian Taylor, heartthrob, movie star and bad boy! Always going against the rules he sets his sights on Teresa, the one thing he was told he cannot have.

But whilst Christian tries to get the woman he can't have , Teresa on the other side of the setup holds the ultimate clue to the secret of Christian's parentage, and with every touch she's comes closer and closer to melting at his feet and telling him all.

The main characters were both written very well and pretty darn close to realistic! Christian was as bad boy actors go written with perfection, bad-*ss, a little rude, too confident and strong and leading the pack, it was as infuriating as it was entertaining.

Teresa was a bit of a " am going to slap this woman over the head " character. I did not at all times agree with her decisions, yes I realized that this is probably the way it goes when one has a ice cold heart and then suddenly it starts to fill with feelings of joy and all the warm fuzziness, but more than once I just could not bring myself to agree with her down right stupid decisions , of course knowing this author always has a trick to it, I was eager to see just what she was up to and thus I was kept on the edge of my seat to discover what exactly lies beneath the ice princess's cold exterior, and when the moment does emerge it was just WOW did not see that one coming !

The backdrop settings were as magical as they were simply screaming romance and without a doubt more than once I felt as if I was right there seeing it all. I am taking away a special message of everyone has a reason for being bad or even frozen to the core, but there will always be someone that is able to crack through the layer of ice or even see the good hiding behind the bad, it's a matter of trust and understanding.

I recommend this read for all fans of fairy tale romance reads, a truly lovely afternoon escape into a world of princess find her prince which I know every woman out there dreams about every now and then, Romy Sommer has brought it life for us and believe me you don't want to miss this one!

5 star review

" He's determined to melt her heart, she's afraid to break his wide open" 

Return of Dr. Irresistible by Amalie Berlin

Reviewed by Desere

Amalie Berlin is back!! And this time she takes us behind the scenes of the circus. Yes you read it right I said circus. Now this might seem a little weird because as we all know she writes medical romances and the circus doesn't quite seem to fit.

But I can with all honestly tell you, she totally made it work! We have Jolie Bohannon who loves the world of traveling, the circus and is also the girl that Dr Yummier than chocolate Reece Keightly abandoned many years ago.

So naturally when she sees him again she has mixed emotions. Anger, rage, happiness, delight you name it all those girly emotions men point out to us all the time is a waste of time. Reece experiences a similar topsy turvy set of feelings but as all men are he prefers to not think about how off balance it makes him feel.

With Jolie pretty much still hating the man and him pretty much wanting to avoid her the atmosphere is a very dull one, that is until one hot passionate, scorching tryst set's a show into motion like no other you've ever seen.  If only Jolie can learn to trust him again, and if only Reece would stop protecting her, stop controlling life and start listening for once!

Wow what a read! It was full of stunning colorful characters that had me laughing, wishing I was part of their remarkable magic set up in the world of the circus and shedding tears for the pain they go through.

The character of Reece was a very likable one but only here and there, as he varies between being a nice guy and this tyrant type whom I wanted to give a good couple of whacks over the head ever now and then, and at one stage I even wished I could hang him from the top of a circus tent and teach him a lesson in being nice! But as we all know there is a always a reason behind everyone's actions and his first surprised me a little and then completely intrigued me. Through this character the author showed that not everything in life is meant to be controlled, there are somethings that we just need to learn to accept and just go with the flow every now and then, no one likes a control freak even if he's downright sexiness overload!

The character of Jolie was all kinds of awesome fun and crazy!  I adored this woman to bits! Fun, funky, fresh and totally outrageous enough to make even the most serious of the serious out there laugh their heads off in under a minute of being in her presence. I felt sad that she could not easily trust Reece again, but I could also understand the difficulty that lies within the task. Once someone has broken your trust it's just never easy to say "Okay what the heck I trust you again." There is always the risk that the person will simply just break your trust again and who needs a heartache all over again? Any woman will tell you that they most certainly don't need it one bit. The author ever so slowly let Jolie 's inner believe that there is good in everyone shine through and showed her as I think we are all meant to be, when someone breaks our trust it is best to not immediately trust them again, be cautions but also remember that everyone has the right to a second chance. Everyone is worth your time, in the end if they betray you again then at least you will have the knowledge that you gave then that second chance leap and did your part as a good person.

I am taking away a message of the past will always influence our future decisions. But when we allow it to overshadow rational thinking and our human nature instinct it's time to let the past go , life is trying to tell you that you've held on to it too long.

I highly recommend this read for all fans of the special medical romance books with lots of drama and heartfelt emotion. Amalie Berlin has proven she's one of the best medical authors of today and her stories will forever have a place on my reading shelf !

5/5 star review
" She's about to show him the crazy side of the circus and he'll become her love sick fool" 

Burned by Sarah Morgan

Reviewed by Desere

I still remember the first Cosmo Red Hot Read I read by Sarah Morgan called Ripped! It was all kinds of hilarious funny and extremely super hot.

So of course I jumped at the chance to read her second CRHR and oh my was it all kinds of awesomeness! The author once again gave that super sexy flair of passion meets reality meets humor all neatly wrapped with a big bow of amazing writing!

The story tells of Rosie and how her perfect zen balance is thrown for a serious loop when her former coach and lover Hunter Black becomes her new boss!

Talk about awkward!  I for one would feel so out of place and would lose more than just my zen. But Rosie decides she won't go all nutty with all the sexual energy crackling between them, she'll instead go a little slutty and take what she wants but this time it's play by her rules or no playing at all. Poor Hunter has no idea what he's in for.

I really loved the sexiness of this read, the super hot chemistry between Rosie and Hunter was off the charts, and had this certain sneak around kind of feel about it making it all the more sexier.

The characters were very well written and nicely developed for a short read. None of that "I am missing this part about the personality or What? Why? What did I miss?" I know from previous short reads by other authors that it so very often happens that all you have a super red hot sexy story but no substance into the characters and it all just seems too rushed, not the case in this read, nice work Sarah!

Aside from sexy heat, fantastic chemistry, well developed characters there was also the fact that this is a fantastic well written second chances read.

I totally loved the ending in this read, it was so sweet, so kind so melt my heart inspiring it took my breath away. But am of course not going to tell you, you will need to read it for yourself all I will say is " Happy Birthday Ninja!"

5/5 star review
"She's been burned once before but this time she won't go down in flames" 

More than a Convenient Marriage? & No Longer Forbidden? by Dani Collins

Reviewed by Desere 

I have become completely addicted to this author's books and I will add it has happened much faster than with other author's books.

Dani Collins has a simply magical way to draw me in from the first chapter and to entrance me to the point where if anyone tried to talk to me to or interrupt me in any way whilst reading a Dani Collins book I would turn into the " Can't you see I am reading?" type of person in under two seconds.

And for that very reason I make sure no one can find me when I sit down with one of Dani's books. In her December 2 in 1 release I was once again swept into a world filled with such amazing romance, passion and pure magic I was lost to the world for two whole days!

In the first read More than a convenient marriage? the author tells of rich, powerful off the hook sexy Gideon. He has everything a man could ever want including a beautiful wife. At least that is what the outside world thinks and sees.

The real life of Gideon involves his loving wife Adara filing for a divorce, and as we all know is one heck of an embarrassment to a Greek ! He won't take it lying down but he will take Adara lying down in his bed over and over again until she realizes this is no longer a business arrangement this is a marriage made for keeps.

I ADORED this book it was filled with such raw emotion from both the hero and heroines's side I was constantly bawling my eyes out, tissues were everywhere and had I let the outside world in they would have thought I was trying to overcome a serious loss, red, puffy eyes from start to finish!  The one thing that stood out for me the most was how the hero and heroine don't bottle up their problems they actually let it out and got to talking.

The message I took from this book was that communication is vital in any relationship, no matter if it's a business arrangement of a romantic involvement. Without communication everything that you think has been slotted into place by a mere look or a nod of the head, it will crumble if you don't actually voice our thoughts.

5/5 star review
"From the ashes of heartache and misery a new life is borne" 

The second story in this 2 in 1 release we meet Rowan she is the only woman that has ever been able to twist and turn Mr I don't love Nicodemus Marcussen 's control. He has always wanted her but due to family circumstance or rather scandals in the night she is forbidden to him.

But when tragedy hits Rowan comes back into his life and this time they are forced to confront their most forbidden desires.  Only Nic has his own idea of what and who Rowan really is, and that will never change unless secrets start coming to light.

Another brilliant, heartfelt, gut wrenching read that brought forth so many emotions I was on a rollercoaster of madness. One minute I wanted to grab the hero and smash his head in, he was so arrogant and so mean at one time I felt my heart break for the heroine's stake!

The author gave such excellent and insightful POV's for both characters that once you get into their minds and thoughts it all just perfectly falls into place and instead of wanting to bash the hero's head in I wanted to hold him close and do everything possible to bring him back to life.

The deep dark whole of despair the author plunges her character into was so amazing it took my breath away. It was so realistic  I felt my heart start to race and my pulse pounding away at the very raw emotion.  I loved how the author let the family scandal, secrets, assumptions and misconceptions develop into a mind blowing romance , when it all slotted into place I shouted out " So that's it!"

The author had me on the edge of my seat and begging for more ! I am taking away a message of we all think we know someone, but in actual fact we only know what we see. If we take the time to really get to know someone and all their secrets we will be able to see they are just like us, trying to get through life as best they can, and love is a powerful emotion in the world of facing our troubles.

5/5 star review
" Love is never forbidden when it 's too powerful to ignore" 

I highly recommend both these reads for all fans of romance. The author write passionate, heartfelt and realsitic romances that will blow you away with powerful raw emotion and have you believing in love in under sixty seconds. 

Flirting with the Forbidden by Joss Wood

Reviewed by Desere

Everyone that knows me, knows that I am a big, big, big fan of Joss Wood's books. I have read them all, fallen in love each and every time and been amazed and in awe of how stunning the stories are that she creates.  Each book just as lovely as the one before.

In Flirting with the Forbidden she again gave me the kind of characters you want to hug to make it better, she gave me beautiful backdrops that blew me away, and had me wishing I could be right there to experience it all.

But the most important thing she gave me this time around, was a totally kick ass awesome story! And those kind are the very best and my addiction!  The kind that leaves you breathless, begging for more, not wanting the book to end and with every page it just keeps getting better and better.

The book tells of Morgan, princess to the world of diamonds. Her life comes under threat and who better to protect her than sexy, sexy, sexy bad ass protect-me-all-night-long Noah Fraser. Of course both Morgan and Noah are so attracted to each other that all the water in the ocean cannot douse the flames, but Noah is a professional and he never gets involved with his clients, Morgan on the other hand wants him and won't back down till she has him.

As I have already said this story was AMAZING, the author created the perfect balance of super sexy heat and completely drained me emotionally. I was heartbroken for Morgan and Noah both, and I could not get enough of the way the author let me in to both their minds. I hung onto each and every word and yes my both was gaping open quite a number of times, which I can tell you had the people around me staring like I was a complete idiot, I did not care one bit, I was only too happy to get lost in the world of Noah , Morgan and the beautiful mind of Joss Wood.

I am not as per usual going to go into detail on each character because I really want each and every reader to read this book. I will say this, the message I took from this book was a common one that all of us are know all too well, but the author's reminder was just what we all need to bring us back down to earth. Don't bottle up your feelings, or hide from your problems. The longer you hide the worse it will get, face up to it and if there is a chance for someone to support you no matter what the issues are you face, grab it with both hands because it for darn sure won't come along every day.

I highly recommend this book for all fans of romance. It was super sexy, loads of crazy fun and all wrapped up perfectly with this author's signature blend of romance meets reality. Thank you Joss Wood for letting me into that beautiful, creative mind of your's.

PS Our secondary characters James and Riley were just as hot as main characters Noah and Morgan and I cannot wait for the author to bring us their story!

5/5 star review
" Bad ass soldier gets tempted by the world's most valuable diamond" 

First Responders Volume One by Donna Alward

Reviewed by Desere

I have always had a really strong love for the firstresponders of our world. They risk their lives to save our's at a very high cost. They are the real hero's of the world and no matter what they will always be there. But just like the rest of us they are human and they have lives, hopes and dreams.

They hurt and love just like we do, so of course being a reading junkie I completely adore books focused on the lives of firstresponders. And who better to tell us about it then the fabulous Donna Alward!

In this volume one of two I was taken on two journeys of romance, passion, suspense and mind blowing wow factors !

The first read Off the Clock is about paramedic Gabe Brenner, he witnesses an car accident and of course naturally rushes in to help, what he finds is his best friend's sister in the car and she's pregnant!

There has always been a deep connection between them, but Carly is has just walked away from a crumbling marriage and is not ready to start anything up with anyone. Only she does not count on Gabe finally after all these years try anything and everything within his power to convince her that he has been waiting for her and this time he is not letting her go.

I love this read very much, being a novella the romance develops fast but not at a too fast pace. It had just that right balance of second chances mixed with everything happens for a reason. The characters were well written and the story it self hit all the second chances notes I as reader need to fully enjoy a good old fashioned second chances read.

At the end of the read I took away the message that most people think it is all over when they are alone, but there is always someone that will want to help you, all you need to do is give them the chance.

5/5 star review
" The clock of romance ticks at the just the right minute" 

The second read in the book tells of a ex soldier Jake, ever since the first time they met he has been a thorn in Constable Kendra Givens's side, she had to put his sexy butt in a cell, her job but still , who wants to put a gorgeous man in jail! So when she is called to a break and entering at his pub she is completely surprised that Jake is now a very competent business man. And this time he won't simply let her handcuff and throw him in jail, he wants to be handcuffed to her forever, if only she knew how to trust him.

This was another stunning novella, I loved the character of Jake so very much, the man has been through hell and it shows, but he still pushes to get to the top as best he can, perfect hero material. Kendra was such a heartbreaking character with issues of trust it broke my heart and I cried so, so, so bad!

The read was packed full of emotional heart wrenching romance and all blended with that little bit of passionate danger elements that just makes always makes me go 'Wow, I so want more!"

At the end of the read I took away a message of gaining a person's trust is the hardest thing you can do, you can show them you love them in a million different ways, tell them repeatedly but if you don't allow them to see your trust it will simply never work.

I highly recommend this book for all fans of romance, it was everything readers need from novella's. Short and sweet enough to get to the romance point fast enough but not hurried so that it feels like you missed two chapters. It had such stunning emotional impacts on me as reader that the stories and characters are ones I will always remember each and every time I see a happy couple or a romance blossoming!

5 /5 star review
"In the line of duty is where she wants to be, not in line of losing her heart" 

I look forward to volume two hitting the shelves and hopefully very, very VERY soon!