Blog Tour & Giveaway ~ Fiance by Friday by Catherine Bybee ~ Spotlight and Review


Look who's back on FBL, Catherine Bybee has released her latest book in the Weekday Bride Series and is touring blogs to promote. Best of all, she's offering a giveaway. Thanks for stopping by and remember to scroll down for your chance to win a Kindle Fire and gift cards. The giveaway is tour wide.


FIANCE BY FRIDAY
The Weekday Bride Series, Book Three
Montlake Romance, Contemporary
August 13, 2013, First Edition
Paperback & Kindle

GWEN HARRISON:
The beautiful high-born daughter of an English duke came to America to take over her sister-in-law’s matchmaking business. But just because she’s the boss doesn’t mean she can’t fantasize about making her own perfect match with bodyguard Neil MacBain. Will the enigmatic man who haunts her dreams cost her more than she bargained for?

NEIL MACBAIN:
The retired Marine can’t deny the effect blue-blooded Gwen has on his troubled soul or his battle-hardened bodY. Bus as a client, Gwen is off-limits—until a threat from Neil’s past returns… and Gwen is caught in the crossfire. Now to keep her safe he will risk it all: his career, his life… and his heart.


PRAISE FOR FIANCE BY FRIDAY

“The hero and heroine come to life with each flip of the page
 and will linger  long after readers cross the finish line.
 –RT BOOK REVIEWS, TOP PICK, 4 ½ STARS

“Bybee takes an elegant titled lady, a dark emotionally guarded hero, a menacing stalker,
and a cast of distinctive characters mixing it all up into an unusual courtship tale
full of danger an sexual tension.”
–PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“The hottest love on mainstream paper…
Ms. Bybee does not disappoint.”
—TJ MACKAY, IND’TALE MAGAZINE, 5 STARS

BUY LINKS:
Eliza flagged down a waitress and ordered a martini. “I see not a lot has changed,” she said after the waitress left.

“What do you mean?” Gwen asked.

“We’re sitting in a bar and your giant shadow is lurking in the back of the building.” Eliza tossed a peanut in her mouth.

“My shadow?”

Eliza looked o the right of the bar. “Yeah. The man who acts like you’re a job but can’t seem to leave you alone. If it was anyone other than Neil I’d be afraid he was a stalker.”

Gwen twisted around in her chair. Sure enough, perched at the edge of a seat on the far side of the bar, sat Neil.

“What’s he doing here?”

His eyes found hers for a brief moment before she looked away.

“I think that’s obvious.”

Her back teeth started to grind. “I don’t’ need a babysitter.”

“I don’t know, Gwen. The last time we sat in a bar I remember a certain someone getting drunk and a couple of other someones getting into a fight.”

She’d never live that down. Gwen and Eliza went to blow off steam in a Texas bar. The cowboys ewre full of “yes, ma’am” and “howdy, darlin’.” They danced and carried on…and yes, she drank a little too much. When one of the cowboys mistakenly took her smile as an invitation for intimacy, Neil erupted form the bar to teach the cowboy the meaning of the word no.

It was the first time Neil had defended her honor, and though she hated to admit it, she got a kick out of how ticked off he became when another man looked at her. “That was last year.”

“What’s changed since then?”

Nothing! It didn’t matter how much she flirted with the man, or how obvious she was about her attraction Neil didn’t bite.

“Everything.” Gwen stood, ready to put Neil I his place. “If you’ll both excuse me for a minute.”

She pushed her way through the crowd as if on a collision course with Neil. He kept his lips in a thin line as she approached and gripped the longneck bottle at his side. Slipping between the woman on the stool next to him and Neil’s massive frame, Gwen slapped a hand on her hip and growled. “What are you doing here?”

He blinked, once and picked up his beer. “Having a drink.”

She wanted to scream. “Having a drink,” she repeated.

He tilted the bottle back, took a swig.

“I know what you’re doing, Neil. And I don’t like it. I don’t want or need a bodyguard.”

“That’s debatable.”

If stomping her foot would knock some sense into him, she’d stomp better than a farm girl in a vineyard.

Poking a finger into his chest, she moved closer. “Do you have any idea how difficult it is to have a love life with a tow-hundred-thirty-pound bodybuilder standing in my way?”

A muscle in his jaw tightened. “Two hundred and fifty.”

“Ahhh!” She did scream now.

He lifted his beer again, but before he could take a swig, Gwen grabbed it from his fingers and tilted it back herself.

In a move that would make Eliza and Karen proud, she pushed the empty beer bottle back into his hand and slid between his thighs.

His jaw twitched again.

The strong musky scent that was pure Neil invaded her senses. She dropped one hand to his thigh and left it there. “This is how I see it, Neil. You have two choices. Either back off or step up.”

Gwen squeezed his thigh before vacating his personal space and marching back to the girls. A satisfied smile stretched over her face.
If you are an avid fan of my blog, then you know that I am an avid fan of Catherine Bybee. This series caught me by surprise. I thought it would be too "fluffy" for me, but when will I learn that you can not judge a book by it's cover or name alone. I had to do some quick reading to participate in this blog, I didn't want to jump in and read Fiancé by Friday, without having read the first two books in the series.

Wow... I loved each one of them, but I have to say I think this one captured my heart and my attention from page one. The description of each character came to live for me, their uniqueness was so completely perfect it amazed me. Each character was given their own depth and reality.   It is so worth reading. If you have been putting it off, don't. This is Catherine Bybee at her finest. There is life and pain and love and hope and it is so real and honest that you can't help but love it.




 BIO:

New York Times & USA Today bestselling author Catherine Bybee was raised in Washington State, but after graduating high school, she moved to Southern California in hopes of becoming a movie star. After growing bored with waiting tables, she returned to school and became a registered nurse, spending most of her career in urban emergency rooms. She now writes full-time and has penned novels Wife by Wednesday, Married by Monday, and Not Quite Dating. Bybee lives with her husband and two teenage sons in Southern California.  

CONTACT LINKS:
www.catherinebybe.com
catherinebybee@yahoo.com
catherinebybee.blogspot.com
twitter.com/catherinebybee



a Rafflecoptergiveaway

Marooned with the Maverick by Christine Rimmer

Marooned with the Maverick
by Christine Rimmer
Published June 18th 2013 by Harlequin

We apologize, dear readers, for our brief hiatus in publication. The offices of the Rust Creek Rambler were damaged in the Great Flood, but we are now filing our reports from a bar stool at the Ace in the Hole. And do we have scandalous news for you!

We have it on good authority that during the storm, gorgeous rapscallion Collin Traub was stranded with our beloved kindergarten teacher Willa Christensen—alone. In a barn. Overnight. No one knows why, but Willa could barely stand the sight of Collin before. And now? Oh, readers—we don't like to kiss and tell. But our sources tell us that the sexy Rust Creek cowboy has set his sights on lassoing the sweet schoolmarm …for good!
My Thoughts:
This was a double win for me, being a fan of Christine Rimmer and Montana Mavericks. This was a quick paced book. The story centered around a flood that tore through the small town of Rust Creek Falls. For many in the east coast Hurricane Sandy is still fresh in their minds, in 2012 the Hurricane obliterated a substantial chunk of the Atlantic seaboard.

The heroine has been avoiding Colin for the past four years, he walks into a room and she walks out. After getting saved by Colin during the town flood, her feelings for him start to change.. She begins seeing more of the "man" and not the playfully mischievous person he has been labeled to be. Between the two of them, they struggle with these feelings for one another... will love prevail? The romance is not overly steamy, just a simple romantic read.

This story introduced you to many great characters, we cheered and cried for their losses. The author did a great job depicting the flood and the how a small town pulled together. I can't wait to read what is in store for the characters, how their lives intertwine and how Rust Creek Falls I'm really looking forward to the read the rest of the series and find out how the people of Rust Creek Falls repair their town and their lives.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
View all my reviews

Debbie Macomber ~ Starry Night

Starry Night: A Christmas Novel
by Debbie Macomber
Expected publication: October 8th 2013 by Ballantine Books

’Tis the season for romance, second chances, and Christmas cheer with this new novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber.

Carrie Slayton, a big-city society-page columnist, longs to write more serious news stories. So her editor hands her a challenge: She can cover any topic she wants, but only if she first scores the paper an interview with Finn Dalton, the notoriously reclusive author.

Living in the remote Alaskan wilderness, Finn has written a megabestselling memoir about surviving in the wild. But he stubbornly declines to speak to anyone in the press, and no one even knows exactly where he lives.

Digging deep into Finn’s past, Carrie develops a theory on his whereabouts. It is the holidays, but her career is at stake, so she forsakes her family celebrations and flies out to snowy Alaska. When she finally finds Finn, she discovers a man both more charismatic and more stubborn than she even expected. And soon she is torn between pursuing the story of a lifetime and following her heart.

Filled with all the comforts and joys of Christmastime, Starry Night is a delightful novel of finding happiness in the most surprising places. 
My thoughts:

When I saw that Debbie Macomber had a 2013 Christmas book, I knew Santa came early!! And when Sawyer O’Halloran, from Brides For Brothers (Midnight Sons, #1) played a cameo, I knew this was going to warm my heart.

Our heroine is torn, she has been overlooked as an up and coming journalist worthy of more than the "Society Page". When she finally has had enough, she is given one chance .... get an interview from the recluse author Finn Dalton... Someone who has literally fallen off of the radar. Well that doesn't stop Carrie for hitching a plane ride to Alaska right on the door step our hero, Finn.

It got somewhat sappy in the middle, will Carrie break her promise to Finn and write his story.... Will Finn trust Carrie enough to take great care of it. Don't miss this light hearted romance...

Yes I do love a sweet romance every now and then, isn't that what Christmas romances are about. LOL. Hopefully I will be able to find some more of these to prepare me for the months ahead! Debbie Macomber can add another winner to her ever popular Christmas books.


My rating: 4 of 5 stars