Review: Hot Winter Nights by Jill Shalvis

Hot Winter Nights by Jill Shalvis

Publisher: Avon Books

Published: September 25th 2018

Pages: 362 pages

Format: Paperback

Challenges: Goodreads Challenge

Who needs mistletoe? Most people wouldn’t think of a bad Santa case as the perfect Christmas gift. Then again, Molly Malone, office manager at Hunt Investigations, isn’t most people, and she could really use a distraction from the fantasies she’s been having since spending the night with her very secret crush, Lucas Knight. Nothing happened, not that Lucas knows that—but Molly just wants to enjoy being a little naughty for once . . . Whiskey and pain meds for almost-healed bullet wounds don’t mix. Lucas needs to remember that next time he’s shot on the job, which may be sooner rather than later if Molly’s brother, Joe, finds out about them. Lucas can’t believe he’s drawing a blank on his (supposedly) passionate tryst with Molly, who’s the hottest, smartest, strongest woman he’s ever known. Strong enough to kick his butt if she discovers he’s been assigned to babysit her on her first case. And hot enough to melt his cold heart this Christmas.

I think I might have just found my favorite book of this amazing authors. Author Jill Shalvis does it again and I must say this book had me at hello! Well, it had me at by the first page is more like it, though the cover had my attention right away. I have loved everything that author Jill Shalvis has written in the past, but this one has become my new favorite. If I'm really being honest I have loved this whole series of hers. The A Heartbreaker Bay series are ones that I know I will probably read all over again in the near future. 

Don't let the page count fool you though, these are fast reads and the plot line in this story had me wanting more but the last page came too fast, like most books! This book is full of sexy men and an even steamier romance. I must say I love Lucas so much! Honestly, I could gush and gush some more about Lucas. I think I found my new book boyfriend. 

I loved the twists and turns of this book just as much as the characters themselves. I hope Jill Shalvis has plans to write more of this series because I need more right away. Her writing style is something to be admired I only wish I could write like she does. The best thing about her books is I never see the plot twists coming. Which is something I don't get to say often. Though with her books I do.

If you haven't read any books from this series, it's a must! Trust me you won't be sorry. If you enjoy contemporary romance grab you a copy of this book and the rest of the series today. 

New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis lives in a small town in the Sierras full of quirky characters. Any resemblance to the quirky characters in her books is, um, mostly coincidental. Look for Jill’s bestselling, award-winning books wherever romances are sold and visit her website, www.jillshalvis.com, for a complete book list and daily blog detailing her city-girl-living-in-the-mountains adventures.

I'm going to give Hot Winter Nights by Jill Shalvis an Ali's Bookshelf...

Blog Hop #51

Book Blogger Hop is another post I'm going to be trying out and this one has a topic each week, which is something I've been trying to bring to the blog.  I'm really excited about this one because I have a hard time coming up with something fresh to talk about and I'm hoping this helps.

If you would be interested in doing your own post, please CLICK HERE to learn more about this great hop! 

What author do you not read and why? (submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews)

There are a few that come to mind, but I'm only going to name one. This might be a shock to a few people especially this authors fans, but I do not and will not ever read Stephen King. I'm not into the scary thriller type books.  I just don't like them!


What about you? Do you have an author you do not read? I would love to hear from you in the comments below. Please tell me I'm not the only person that doesn't read Stephen King! 

Review: Charged by Gillian Zane

Charged by Gillian Zane 

Published: September 18th 2018

Publisher: Parajunkee Publishing

Format: Ebook

Pages: 480 Pages

Challenges: Goodreads Challenge 

Bobbie Flemming was having one of those terrible, no good kind of days. Her boss yelled at her because of something a co-worker did, her sometimes boyfriend was getting engaged to another woman, and she wore two different shoes to work. To make matters worse, she agreed to be in a charitable “most eligible” auction for her friend Chuck, who won’t speak to her if she doesn’t show up. Bobbie doesn’t feel most eligible, and she definitely doesn’t feel like going on a date with someone so desperate they have to win her in an auction. But when two of the hottest men on the planet, who happen to be twins, show up and outbid everyone, Bobbie thinks she’s won the lottery. Until the one in charge opens his mouth and she realizes he’s bat sh*t crazy. Now, Bobbie’s being whisked off, without her consent, to the middle of Central Park — and what is that — a spaceship? 
This was how Bobbie finds herself stranded on an alien planet, with not two, but four incarnations of the same man. (They do that on their planet, it’s like their thing.) And all four of these hot alien males think Bobbie is their fated charge mate. All Bobbie knows is she didn’t sign up for this. Sure, the sex might be awesome, and the guys might be super-hot, but what does it take to get back to Earth where everything is normal, and there aren’t Emperors who want to kill her?

I was excited to start reading this book so as soon as I got my hands on it, as well as soon as it downloaded onto my Kindle I started reading it right away.  I knew right away as soon as I finished chapter 1 that I was going to love this book and it didn't disappoint. There were times when I wanted to, okay I take that back, I did yell at my Kindle screen and there were times when I wanted to throw it across the room. I promise I did no such thing, but I still wanted to. This book brought out so much emotion in me and I know it will do the same for you.


Author Gillian Zane's characters are so easy to connect with and so easy to fall in love with. Her writing style is perfection and this book was exactly the type of book I needed when I read it. I was actually in a bit of a book hangover slump, but this book brought me right out of it. I need more books by this fantastic author, like immediately!

 
I must say there are a few hot steamy sexy scenes, with just the right amount of fantastic characters, so it's a perfect mixture for an adult book. Well written and honestly this book was hilarious.  Charged was my first time reading a book by this author but it won't be my last.  I highly recommend Charged by Gillian Zane for any of you readers that are looking for a well written, funny but steamy book. This won't be the last time you will see this author on my blog, I promise you that! I'll be getting a few more books of her's to read here shortly, will probably go do that now.

 
Oh wait, I almost forgot I must comment on this cover! Isn't it beautiful? I love all the color and the font of the title.

I'm giving Charged by author Gillian Zane an Ali's Bookshelf...

Author Guest Post: Can books help kids cope with life?

Today I have a guest post to share with you from author Fiona Ingram.   I'm also excited to see what she has to say about this topic. It's not like anything else I've share with you all here on the blog.  I want to thank this fabulous author for sharing her thoughts with us as well. So get yourself a snack and something to drink. Let's see what this author has to say.

Can Books Help Kids Cope With Life? 

Can books help kids cope with life? Life issues are sometimes a challenge for kids to comprehend. Although most parents wish to shield their children from the tragic side of life, many times reality intervenes, and the parent may be powerless to adequately comfort their child when dealing with a sad or traumatic situation. Death, disease, divorce, moving to a new house, loss of a pet, bullying, experiences with alcoholic or abusive parents, and drugs form part of a long list of potentially negative life experiences. The death of a beloved grandparent, parent, sibling, friend, or an important adult can have a potentially devastating effect on a young person. Books can offer the kind of therapy that a child will appreciate and in a format that they can understand.

Stories, either fiction or non-fiction, enable children to identify with characters and sad or devastating events and relate these experiences to their own lives. Children are then able to recognize and understand how other people respond to frustration and disappointment. This helps children develop empathy and understanding of human behavior. It can also enable children to respond to discussing issues with a parent or responsible adult such as a teacher or therapist.

Today’s books also have opened discussions on a variety of previously taboo topics or at least topics that were avoided. These issues can include:

• bullying at school;

• negative comments regarding a child’s weight, appearance, or lack of athleticism;

• tolerance of differences among peers, such as income levels, religious beliefs, nuclear families vs. broken homes, etc.;
• a parent’s history with substance, emotional, physical, and sexual abuse;

• long term changes in living situations, such as the arrival of stepchildren or grandparents;

• issues such as homosexuality and lesbianism, especially where a parent decides to ‘come out’;

• unique abilities and challenges faced by peers or family members with special needs, i.e., autism or Down Syndrome, debilitating illness, or illness or trauma resulting in disability, etc.

Regardless of the issue tackled or the story composed, a book’s therapeutic effectiveness will be enhanced by:

• age-appropriate language;

• honest and realistic characterizations;

• an avoidance of explicit preaching while allowing the reader to make the moral connection through critical thinking;

• a good, well-written story with relevant illustrations

Books are essential guidelines between covers and the younger kids start reading, the better they will be equipped to deal with the many curve balls that will be flung at them. Of course, even the best written book embracing a particular problem is not a cure-all, and parents should take note that books cannot replace the expert advice of a health care professional where necessary. However, using books for emotional healing will often be a solid step in helping a child understand and accept the realities of life, even when harsh and unpleasant. 

 Continuing the adventure that ended in Britain just a short while ago, cousins Adam and Justin Sinclair, with their friend Kim Maleka, are now hunting for the third Stone of Power, one of seven mysterious stones lost centuries ago. The third stone might be located in an ancient city, hidden in the depths of the Mexican jungle.

When their small plane crashes in the jungle, Adam, Justin, Kim, and James are rescued by an uncontacted tribe. James, who is wounded, must stay behind as the kids, with only a young boy, Tukum, as their guide, make their way through the dense and dangerous jungle to find the city. River rafting on a crocodile-infested river and evading predators are just part of this hazardous task.

Of course, their old adversary Dr. Khalid is close behind as the kids press on in search of the lost city of stone gods. But he is not the worst of their problems. This time Adam will clash with a terrible enemy who adopts the persona of an evil Aztec god, Tezcatlipoca, and is keen to revive the ancient tradition of human sacrifice. Adam, Justin, and Tukum must play a dreadful ball game of life and death and maybe survive. Will they emerge alive from the jungle? Will Dr. Khalid find the third Stone of Power before they do?

Fiona Ingram is a children’s author, but up until a few years ago, she was a journalist and editor. Something rather unexpected sparked her new career as an author—a family trip to Egypt with her mother and two young nephews. They had a great time and she thought she’d write them a short story as a different kind of souvenir…. Well, one book and a planned book series later, she had changed careers. She has now published Book 3 (The Temple of the Crystal Timekeeper) in her middle grade adventure series Chronicles of the Stone, with many awards for the first book,

The Secret of the Sacred Scarab, and a few for Book 2, The Search for the Stone of Excalibur, and one already for Book 3! She also teaches online novel writing for aspiring authors and she finds that very satisfying. Relaxation time finds her enjoying something creative or artistic, music, books, theatre or ballet. She loves doing research for her book series. Fiona loves animals and has written two animal rescue stories. She has two adorable (naughty) little dogs called Chloe and Pumpkin, and a beautiful black cat called Bertie.

You can find Fiona at –

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/secretofthesacredscarab/

Website: www.chroniclesofthestone.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/FionaRobyn

Author Site: http://www.FionaIngram.com

Blog: http://fionaingramauthor.blogspot.com

GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2868182.Fiona_Ingram

Thanks again author Fiona Ingram for sharing your thoughts with us today.

Homeschool: The First Few Weeks

Alright I know, you're looking at the title of this post and wondering what in the world I'm doing posting something about homeschool here on Ali's Bookshelf. Right? Well I'm hoping you will enduldge me for a few and let you into my life for a little bit. I don't usually post life posts here on my blog, but like I've been saying for a few years now I really want to. So here's the new plan, I will be posting some homeschool posts here on the blog every once in awhile and more than likely will have some vids on my Youtube channel as well soon. 

As some of you might know already, well okay a lot of you know already at least by the title anyway, that I'm a homeschool mom now! The reason's I decided to homeschool is actually going to be posted in another post very soon, but let's just say that it had a lot to do with the school's around me and them not wanting to teach my autistic son. Now with that being said, I am only homeschooling my son, my daughter wanted to stay in school. So that was her choice.  

 Today I want to give you a glimpse into my life the past couple of weeks and show you what I've been up to. I know I haven't posted here much and that's the main reason. I do plan to change that very soon! I've read a lot of books, so I have a bunch of reviews to write and post, this is your warning...get ready!

The first couple of weeks of our Homeschool, which is called Justice Academy, has been a whirlwind of change for us. It's been great for my son and I've actually enjoyed it as well. At first, I was so nervous, doing as much research as I could and worried I wouldn't know what to do, but as I started to plan and get in the groove of actually teaching it started to become enjoyable. I get so much more time with my little man, who is in 6th grade now and doing the 8th-grade math. Which is crazy to me! Just saying.

There are hurdles we have to cross, with him being autistic we have to do short lessons and take a lot of breaks but the best thing is it's up to us what we do and how long we work on each lesson. He gets what he needs and that was my main goal when I started this journey.  I wanted him to love reading and learning again, which is something he was really hating. I never wanted my kids to hate reading, you all know that I love it and have been reading to them since, well before they were even born. So as a mom who loves reading it broke my heart to see him start to hate it. Now even with it only being our third week officially, he's back to loving it. Because I give him the choice on what to read and I get the chance to read to him. Which you all know I'm loving just as much as he is.

Anyway, let's take a look at what we've done in the past couple weeks.

This is just a few images of my son doing his work throughout a few of the days. Mostly math which he loves. The book above is going to be reviewed here shortly on the blog. He loved it and got a huge kick out of how the actual book felt like a Lego. Go Scholastic for that one! 

We did a really cool science experiment too where we left a raw egg in vinegar, did you all know that it would eat the shell off of the egg and the egg would bunch after 7 days? Seriously, I had no clue.  

We have a lot of fun in our homeschool, but he's learning so much and for that, I'm a proud Momma!  Oh and I almost forgot he's learning to type. He has a hard time writing and it frustrates him because his hand doesn't have the muscle memory to actually hold the pencil for long periods of time, anyway, I'm teaching him to type which he's loving so far.  Also have plans for a cooking class!

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into our homeschool life and I hope you all don't mind these types of posts here on the blog. If you would like to see more, please leave me a comment below and I will gladly post more. Also if you would like to see more, you can always follow me over on Instagram,  I post on my daily stories images throughout our day.