Book Blitz & Giveaway - Love, Lies, and Celtic Knots: A Small Town Anthology (Pelican Point, #1)

Love, Lies, and Celtic Knots: A Small Town Romance Anthology
Annie Carlisle, C.A. Miconi, Delta James, Irene Lawless
(Pelican Point, #1)
Publication date: March 14, 2025
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

Welcome to Celtic Knot Winery, where the lush vineyards are ripe with secrets, and love is as rich and complex as the finest vintage.

In Love, Lies, and Celtic Knots, four intertwined romance stories unfold against the enchanting backdrop of rolling hills and grapevines. Each tale weaves its own unique tapestry of passion, betrayal, and heartwarming redemption, proving that amidst the beauty of the vineyard, anything is possible.

Pour a glass and lose yourself in Love, Lies, and Celtic Knots, where every story uncorks a new journey of the heart. Amidst secrets and seduction, these tales remind us that love is the most intoxicating wine of all.

Included in the anthology:
Love’s Hidden Knot by Annie Carlisle
Love Undercover by Irene Lawless
Love Me, Love Me Knot by CA Miconi
Love’s Twisted Knot by Delta James

👉 Enemies to Lovers
👉 Billionaire
👉 Alphahole
👉 Grumpy/Sunshine
👉 Second Chance
👉 One Night Stand
👉 Love Against All Odds

Goodreads / Amazon

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EXCERPT:

“Good morning,” they say in unison.

“He’s here.” Brennen says in a panic, his face draining of color. “I’ll go greet him.”

“That’s my cue to leave.” Sophie waves to us as she leaves through the fermentation room door.

“Wait…” I frown up at Brennen. “Shouldn’t Sophie be here for this? She is the winemaker after all.”

Brennen scoffs. “No. Sophia refuses to be part of this because she didn’t make the wine. I think her exact words were that she wouldn’t serve this swill to pigs.”

I roll my eyes – that sounds exactly like Sophie. The girl is great and all, but she is the epitome of an elitist wine snob. But that is why we hired her.

As the actual winery owner, Brennen has taken the reins of our family business and spent years trying to fix what our father did to our family name, not to mention creating a rift between my two brothers with me playing referee.

As the attorney for both, I’m able to keep one business separate from the other — Brennen’s winery and Ryan’s conglomerate. If Brennen ever found out that I was working for Ryan too, he’d disown me just like he has Ryan. Fortunately, he doesn’t know. Thank god for client confidentiality laws.

“He’s been crazy all morning,” Isabella says under her breath.

We can hear as Brennen and the critic enter the front doors, “Here we go.” I say out loud.

I stand beside Brennen, offering a professional smile as the critic approaches. But the moment Mr. Dawson looks up, his eyes meet mine, and the color drains from my face.

No. It can’t be.

No.

No.

No.

His mouth opens in shock, too, his gaze flicking over me as if trying to process what he’s seeing. My heart stutters in my chest, my pulse thundering in my ears.

It’s him.

The man from last night. The one I left sleeping in that hotel room this morning. The man whose name I never got because we agreed there was no reason for names. But I know every inch of his body. And he knows mine.

Mr. Dawson—the world-renowned wine critic Miles Dawson—is my one-night stand.

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Book Review: Like It's Christmas (Winterstorm Village, #1) by Diana A. Hicks

Like It's Christmas by Diana A. Hicks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Marvelous enemies-to-lovers romance with a holiday theme!

Like It’s Christmas is a new enemies-to-lovers romance set during the days leading up to Christmas and is the first book in author Diana A. Hicks’s Winterstorm Village series. With an engaging main character, a vulnerable leading man, and a close-knit small town that believes in the magic of Christmas, I quickly fell under this story’s spell, and it is the perfect way to kick off some satisfying holiday reading.

Parker Cruz is the assistant to her father, the mayor, and she plans to make this Christmas season the biggest, best, and most successful ever for Winterstorm Village, which depends on the profits from the holiday tourist trade. But when her father is injured putting the Christmas light up on her house, she finds herself having to work with the deputy mayor and local Scrooge, whom she has despised since high school. Rhett Parker has a secret in his past that has estranged him from his illustrious family, whose ancestors founded the town. All he wants is to make Winterstorm Village prosper through his efforts and not because of his family’s reputation, even if that means cutting back the overly generous budget earmarked for Christmas decorations and activities and annoying the mayor’s spoiled daughter.

The plot has a nice push-pull, back and forth between the two main characters, and Parker the girl (a differentiation she’s always hated) has a fun posse of girlfriends looking out for her best interests. But I thought the most fun was the townpeople’s traditional belief in love magically blossoming during a holiday snowstorm. When a bad storm hits the village and damages much of the downtown decorations, including the big tree, Parker and Rhett try to capitalize on the superstition and stage a fake relationship, a relationship no one would ever believe otherwise, to keep up everyone’s spirits as they try to recover and salvage the tourist season just until the holidays are over. But will the magic actually prove to be real, and are they headed for their own Christmas romance?

I recommend LIKE IT’S CHRISTMAS to romance readers looking for a great holiday story to get into the Christmas spirit.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Xpresso Book Tours.

View all my reviews

Virtual Book Tour & Giveaway: The Cinderella Romances Series by Petie McCarty

THE CINDERELLA ROMANCES SERIES

by 

Petie McCarty

Contemporary Romance

SCROLL DOWN FOR GIVEAWAY!

SYNOPSES:

The Cinderella Romances...Fall in love with the fairy tale all over again. 

Modern-day Cinderella stories that provide unlimited opportunities to retell the classic fairy tale, happily with returning characters to share in these adventures.

Cinderella Busted, Book One

Once upon a time, in Jupiter Island, Florida . . . 

Billionaire developer, Rhett Buchanan, is forced to inspect a shipment of priceless trees and meets the girl of his dreams instead. A bit jaded where women are concerned—since most are gold diggers—Rhett falls head over heels for the Jupiter Island socialite who only wants him, not his money. Except she isn't the glamorous socialite she appears to be. 

She's the gardener . . .

Betting on Cinderella, Book Two

Once upon a time in Biloxi, Mississippi . . .

Garrett Tucker inherits his grandfather's casino empire and steps into the reclusive billionaire's shoes as the new "Prince of Vegas." Discovering embezzlement in his newly purchased casino in Biloxi, Garrett goes in undercover. His prime suspect? The new finance supervisor . . . a feisty brunette who stole his heart at first sight.

 

Andi Ryan moves to Biloxi to care for her godmother. Taking a job as finance supervisor for the renovated Bayou Princess casino, she discovers someone is skimming from the till. Andi starts her own investigation, worried she will be blamed for the theft when the handsome new owner discovers her godmother likes to gamble.

Industrial espionage is afoot at the Bayou Princess, and Garrett and Andi are soon forced to work as a team to prove her innocence and save the casino before it’s too late.

This swoonworthy modern-day fairy tale joins the other stories in the Cinderella Romances series. Each provides a new opportunity to retell the classic fairy tale, happily with returning characters to share in these adventures.

Par for Cinderella, Book Three

Once upon a time in Cedar Key, Florida . . .

Golf resort developer Aidan Cross is at loose ends. Something feels missing from his life, but that something isn't women. He has too many women chasing him now. To confuse things even more, his yacht breaks down off-shore of his next project site in Florida, and Aidan falls for his only competition in the small town—a woman who wants nothing to do with him or his rakish charm.

Casey Stuart is stuck living in Cypress Key, unwilling to abandon her uncle or the golf course they manage together. She doesn't quite trust the stranger Aidan who shows up in town looking for work, and she vows to steer clear of him and the danger their intense chemistry provokes. Aidan’s stay is temporary, and falling for him promises only heartbreak.

But Casey needs Aidan’s help when she discovers Cypress Key’s mayor is making underhanded business deals, and she ends up on the wrong side of the powerful crook. Aidan steps in to rescue her, but secrets from his past threaten to bogey their new-found affair.

This swoonworthy modern-day fairy tale joins the other Cinderella stories in the series. Each provides a new opportunity to retell the classic fairy tale, happily with returning characters to share in these adventures.

CLICK FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO PURCHASE!

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ENJOY AN EXCERPT:

from Book Three: Par For Cinderella

Silhouetted in the outside light, Aidan looked big . . . and dangerous. Over six feet of pure sin. Too much for her to handle, and Casey officially changed her mind. Turned chicken.

 

Aidan must have sensed her decision to flee like a timber wolf senses his prey. “What are you doing down here?”

 

The deep sensual timbre of his voice vibrated along her spine and created tiny pinpoints of desire along its length. Her mouth had that dry feeling she got at the end of her tour spiel—dry and raspy.

 

“I-I was just going up to bed.”

 

“No, you weren’t.”

 

“I-I was too.”

 

His sexy chuckle rumbled in the darkness, and her skin prickled with anticipation. She couldn’t fool Aidan or herself.

 

Her brain taunted, Flight or fight, make up your mind.

 

She suddenly recalled her earlier decision following Janie’s call—to grant herself the month with Aidan. Better for her to have him than let Deedee steal him away. Casey had fully intended to enjoy every single minute of that month with Aidan before she’d chickened out just now. Instead of running away, she could enjoy the feel of those broad shoulders and muscled arms presently filling up the doorway. She could also allow herself a good long stare at that perfect butt when he turned, and maybe even enjoy that kissable mouth with those please-never-take-them-off-me lips.

 

“Stop looking at my mouth,” Aidan growled, “or you’ll be sorry.”

 

Her heart ended her dilemma. Go for it.

 

She could feel his unseen eyes track the movement of her chest, rising and falling with each hard-won breath. Time to force the issue for them both.

 

“K-Kiss me,” she whispered. Frozen in place, she left the outcome up to Aidan.

 

He didn’t move a muscle for three lifetime-lasting heartbeats.

 

One . . . he doesn’t want me.

 

Two . . . he’s still angry.

 

Three . . . my own fault.

 

She turned for the stairs, and he had her in two strides. His arms snaked around her waist and yanked her tight to his chest as his mouth took hers. This was no tender, make-up kiss. This was all need and desire and maybe a little punishment too.

 

She didn’t care. Her fingertips had gotten their Christmas wish, and Casey buried them in the silky hair at his collar, luxuriating in the soft texture and wanting to keep him close. Even that didn’t stop the tingling in her fingertips.

 

Aidan's tongue teased at her lips, then swept inside and tangled against hers. She grew lightheaded as she reacquainted herself with the moist sweetness of his mouth, tinged with a hint of beer. A joyful reunion after the fear of separation, and she intended to savor every sexy nuance of flavor.

 

He growled low in his throat and turned his head to deepen the kiss. Casey just prayed he wouldn’t stop kissing her. Aidan had to care about her. He didn’t, couldn’t kiss another woman like this. Could he? An image of Deedee flashed behind her eyelids.

 

She pulled back, but her fingers refused to relinquish their hold on his soft curls.

 

“What was that for?” he asked, his voice rough with desire. “Not that I’m complaining, mind you.”

 

“I don’t want to be just friends,” she whispered.

 

“Thank God.”

AUTHOR GUEST POST:

Please welcome Petie McCarty, the author of today's featured series, to the blog!

Things that Inspire Me to Write

by Petie McCarty

For me, probably the biggest inspiration for my stories and characters comes from my love of movies. I am a huge movie nut. Love to watch the brand new ones on the big screen and all the older ones on my cable movie channels, the favorites alas even dozens of times. My DirecTV DVR is full of movies I love to watch over and over. I admit most are action adventures or thrillers and a handful of romances. But no horror movies. I have too active an imagination I suppose, but I can’t watch horror movies or risk nightmares that tend to stick around. No zombies or undead for me. Luckily I don’t write those too.

There are so many things to glean from motion pictures—so many well-loved tropes old and new, limitless story trails to massage into your own, a surplus of character types combined with their looks and emotions and motivations. I don’t mean copying characters or stories but pieces, favorite pieces, from these movie treasure chests. How characters glare or laugh, and what makes them glare or laugh. Some have no sense of humor, yet that alone makes them hilarious at times. The quirks of one or more of these characters when overlaid on a character you are trying to create can increase their complexity which makes them considerably more interesting.

Watching people provides the same type of inspiration but the ones in real life tend to wander off and don’t often agree to sit still while you study them. 😊

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Petie spent a large part of her career working at Walt Disney World—"The  Most Magical Place on Earth"—where she enjoyed working in the land of fairy tales by day and creating her own romantic fairy tales by night, including her new series, The Cinderella Romances. She eventually said good-bye to her "day" job to write her stories full-time. These days Petie spends her time writing sequels to her regency time-travel series, Lords in Time, and her cozy-mystery-with-romantic-suspense series, the Mystery Angel Romances.

 

Petie shares her home on the Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee with her horticulturist husband and an opinionated Nanday conure named Sassy who made a cameo appearance in No Angels for Christmas.

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REVIEW:

4 stars!

Heartwarming second chance romance! 

Cinderella Busted is the first book in author Petie McCarty’s fun and frothy Cinderella Romances series, and it kicks off these fairytale retellings in style. When specialty nursery owner Lily Foster is mistaken for a wealthy Jupiter Island socialite, she decides to go with the misunderstanding and enjoy a fun evening out among the local rich and famous. What she didn’t count on was falling head over heels for her billionaire escort nor for him to be the money behind the development company trying to run her off her land. 

Lily Foster has always been driven to excel at school or work; she wanted to make her father proud. But now that he’s gone, she’s the owner of the family nursery business and making it a success. She’s done well for herself except when it comes to her personal life, as she’s always been too busy and focused to have any fun. I couldn’t blame her for wanting to have one fun evening out with the handsome Rhett Buchanan. Her mistake was in not revealing her true position at the nursery right away. She made an assumption that Rhett wouldn’t accept her for herself. 

Rhett Buchanan, a self-made billionaire, is much like Lily in his drive and focus. He made an assumption about Lily’s presence at the nursery based on what she was wearing. He was smitten from their first meeting, and their time together only solidified his initial feelings for her. However, his history with women, including a devastating betrayal at an early age, has left him wary of any woman’s motives for wanting to be with him. With deep-seated trust and self-esteem issues, it doesn’t take much for him to assume the worst about Lily’s masquerade. 

The couple’s relationship runs from one end of the strong emotions spectrum to the other, and all in one week’s time. The chemistry between the two is unmistakable, and their tempestuous relationship reveals the depth of their emotions for one another. Each has good friends in their corner who can see how well they are suited for one another and try to get them back together. However, there are also a couple of dirty players working to throw a monkey wrench in the works for their own benefit. The back-and-forth twists and turns make for an exciting and heartwarming romance. 

I recommend CINDERELLA BUSTED to romance readers who enjoy second-chance romances, fish-out-of-water tales, and enemies-to-lovers storylines.

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Book Blog Tour & Giveaway: Doc Showmance by Zoe Forward

Doc Showmance
Zoe Forward
Publication date: January 10th 2023
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance

From USA Today bestselling author Zoe Forward comes a new enemies-to-lovers veterinary RomCom.

I would say Dr. Ian Todd is my archenemy. But that would require us acknowledging each other, which we haven’t done since we graduated veterinary school.

He’s famous. As in, he’s the world’s “Sexiest Veterinarian Alive” with his own wildlife TV show and a string of glamorous girlfriends.

I’m infamous as a reality TV emergency veterinarian with a snark mouth, take-no-crap attitude, and zero dating life.

When asked to fake a romance with him on TV to boost my ER show’s ratings, I want to say no-way, but the extra money will pay off my brother’s loan shark debt. Even though Ian broke my heart, playing his love interest shouldn’t be hard, especially if it means getting to watch him squirm.

Lines get blurred when the TV setups stop feeling fake. Can I chance this might be real love?

Goodreads / Purchase

My Review:

4 stars!

I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to see what happened next!

Doc Showmance was a fun and sexy enemies-to-lovers contemporary romance, and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough! Told from the point of view of both Amber and Ian, the story explores the realities of life making a reality TV show with all the humor and drama, laughter and tears, as the two main characters work out their pasts with each other and slowly to come to the realization that they may want a future together. 

Amber is a spitfire with her heart focused on her animal clients and her human family of foster brothers and sister. She’s so vulnerable when it comes to Ian; it was almost painful to read about her having to get involved in the show with him. Ian regrets his past actions, embarrassed by the prank he’d been a party to, but craves Amber’s forgiveness for the entire story. They are surrounded by some great supporting characters, such as her foster siblings, as well as some truly awful individuals, his entire family, and their co-worker, Dr. Kovac. 

I thought the reality TV show plot was fascinating as it gets the two former classmates together but adds to their confusion about what is real and what is artificial or for the camera. The story moves quickly while maintaining an incredible level of tension between the two. I enjoyed the enemies-to-lovers plotline, but this one is also a second-chance romance when the entire backstory is revealed. For those that need to know: this story contains adult language, explicit sexual situations, violence, and animals requiring emergency medical intervention. 

There is a bit of a continuity issue regarding a confrontation with Ian’s brother, though. When it comes up later in the story, the individual responsible for what occurred switches from Ian to Amber and then back again. Also, I felt the ending was a bit drawn out, and although well written, it felt somewhat like it was just an opportunity to have another, albeit great, sex scene. 

I recommend DOC SHOWMANCE to readers who enjoy contemporary romances featuring enemies-to-lovers, second-chance romance plots, stories with pets, or a veterinary hospital setting.

Author Bio:

USA Today bestselling author, parent, wife, veterinarian, chocolate lover. Author of spicy paranormal and contemporary romances. Zoe Forward brings readers the perfect combination of action adventure, romance, humor and a bit of magic.

Her novels have won numerous awards including the Prism, Readers’ Choice Heart of Excellence, Golden Quill, Carolyn Readers Choice Award, and the Booksellers’ Best Award.

You can find her residing in the South with a menagerie of four-legged beasts and two wild kids

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