Friday Fling - Romance for a Good Cause!

 

During Friday Fling , I share with you a "just for fun" romance book or novella that I read and really enjoyed.  It will generally be a "mini review" instead of a full review and I'll often stray from my YA focus into the realm of adult romance (which, in case you're curious, is my not-so-guilty pleasure).  These are books that I think are fun, quick reads that are definitely worth checking out!

While I was already obsessed with Entangled Publishing, their Love Knows No Bounds Anthology is a truly phenomenal set of novellas for a very worthy cause. As someone who's studied/studying to work in education, children with autism are very special young people and I can truly appreciate the struggles  that a family with a child on the autism spectrum face.  I hope that if you haven't already, you'll consider buying this great anthology for just $2.99.  100% of the net profits go to support Autism Speaks.

Buy it! Amazon | B&N

Sooo....The Devil is on Twitter. You probably shouldn't follow him? Right? Well, shy Faye Albert figures it's harmless--probably a joke, really--so she follows him, realizing much too late that she actually HAS bound her soul to the Dark Prince...forever. Unless, of course, she can figure out how to Unfollow him...which appears to be harder to do than you'd think.  She enlists the help of coworker Christopher White, the man she's had a hopeless crush on forever.  As they work together to find a way to undo her contract, she finds the attraction is mutual and wonders--is it true love or a trick of the devil?

Faye is such a fun character to read about. Her antics in dealing with the attention heaped on her by men as a result of her little contract with the Devil are quite amusing. I really enjoyed watching her relationship with Christopher develop throughout the story and found myself hoping that he was the real deal--not just another Devil-induced lust-driven man in her life that day.  It was fun to see how her personality changed in little ways as she felt the love of someone else and felt like she could start to open up more. She finally didn't let her model roommate walk all over her.  Ultimately, this was a fun novella to read and a great start to the anthology.

It's not easy being a single-mom with a special needs child and Anna should know.  She's been on her own for a long time raising Bowen, her 8-year-old autistic son.  He's picky about food and textures, but the boy adores being in the kitchen.  When Bowen's therapist sets up cooking lessons for him with her sexy brother, how's Anna going to resist the sexy man who deftly and gently handles her son and whose smoldering good looks make her weak in the knees?  Surely she doesn't have the time and energy for romance...

Bittersweet is the second story in this new anthology from Entangled Publishing and it absolutely stole my heart.  Complete with fabulous mother-son relationship, sexy chef, and meddling friend, this story is sure to warm your heart as well.  It's a beautiful story that I think demonstrates the difficulties of raising an autistic child but also shows just how special it is to have a relationship with a child like Bowen.  The dynamics between Anna and Bowen (and eventually Leo) will melt your heart from the very beginning.  If you buy this anthology for no other reason, buy it for this story.

In attempting to grant his mortal wife eternal life, Caden is banished from heaven and destined to search for his wife's soul in every life from then on.  When he finally finds her, he must convince her to love him in only 5 days time without revealing their true connection from her past life. Will he be able to convince her that they are destined to be together before it's too late?

Of the three novellas in this anthology, this was probably the hardest for me to really get in to, possibly because it starts off in the far-reaching past and has a different tone than the other two stories. It's a bit darker and the paranormal element definitely sets it apart. However, giving it a day or two's space after reading the first two, I started over and dove into this story headfirst and absolutely fell in love. The relationship between Cade and Phoebe is full of sexual tension and mutual attraction.  I found myself desperately hoping that Phoebe would figure out what was up and allow herself to love Caden. Caden is so tortured over the possibility of losing her--and this time forever.  Phoebe's subconscious clearly remembers SOMETHING and you want her to just GET IT already. It's really a great PNR novella.  Well written and developed for such a brief story. Nina Croft is definitely a romance writer to explore. :) (Oh, and her Indulgence novel, Blackmailed by the Italian Billionaire, is AWESOME. Just FYI.)