Cover Image: Sampler: Best Reads for Your Summer Staycation

Sampler: Best Reads for Your Summer Staycation

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Member Reviews

This was a sampler and it definitely kept my attention. It wasn’t to much to go by but I would look for the finished copy.

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I enjoyed getting to read excerpts from several books. I plan to order & finish all but one (double action deputy- it wasn'tbad, just not my typical genre). Im most looking forward to finishing the friendship list as i have enjoyed all Susan mallery books that I have read so far.

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There is something about Summertime and a good book. I have to say that these 5 books for me are a definite read. Actually these excerpts were such a tease. They drew you in and ended at a point where you just had to know what was going to happen. Stories of best friends, each facing a major life change with the support of each other and of course romance included. I enjoyed how Dana Sue, Helen and Maddie, throwing caution to the winds, were taking a chance on opening a health spa in there small town in Stealing Home. In A Reunion Of Rivals, Quinn and Max are unexpectedly thrown together after a decade apart. Will their romance be rekindled ? In The Girl Next Store, Jude and Iris are two women each returning home, not by choice, both were outcasts in high school. What a coincidence that they are neighbors and soon to become more ? In The Friendship List, we have Ellen and Unity two friends facing challenges and choices to make. Ellen a school teacher raising her teenage son who is about to enter his Senior year,. Will she be able to afford his college? In the background we have her good buddy and single over protective father of Lissa. Do you sense romance in the air between the two best friends? Finally a little different but definitely a want to read ,Double Action Deputy we have Brick a deputy Marshall on leave from his job. I love how the storyline opens on a dark night with Brick encountering a terrified woman wrapped in a bedsheets with duct tape on her wrists. Wow, can't wait to see what happens next. All great choices but the problem is which to read first?

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This is a great collection of short stories, fast stories to read by various authors. All are romances with a happy ending that are a great opportunity to try a new author. This isn’t a genre I read so it was a new experience. The fact that the cover and characters are diverse also played a big factor in me giving this a try. With that said, the stories offer universal themes that will appeal to all walks of life. This is a good option for a quick read.

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These samplers are an absolute treat, pulling samples from all the Harlequin lines, allowing you to sample each book in advance of their publication. I will continue to seek out these titles to sample more from Harlequin's offerings.

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Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin for the chance to sample some books!

This sampler had the first few chapters of five different books, and I'll go through each individually.

THE FRIENDSHIP LIST by Susan Mallery
The cover, with two women on the beach, screams "women's fiction," so I was pleased to find that we did have some romantic interest showing up even at the beginning, though the female friendship was certainly a huge feature and each woman's personal journey is clearly laid out.
I enjoyed the banter between Ellen and Unity, and I was really intrigued by how different their lives were. Ellen as a single mother and Unity as a lonely young widow. Unity's story of losing her husband really hit me, since my husband and I have a similar timeline in mind for kids and this was a reminder that you never know what the future holds. And as someone who has not often had friends my age, I sympathize with her involvement with the senior activities open to the public. I agree with the antagonist, though, that she shouldn't have been competing in sports since she had an unfair biological advantage (I'm super insecure about this kind of stuff, to the extent that in the rare event I was better than someone in high school sports, I would weaken myself).
We don't meet Unity's love interest but we do see that Ellen and the high school coach Keith will have a friends-to-lovers path. It looks cute.
My biggest complaint about this book is that the dynamics with the children disturbed me sometimes, where both Keith and Ellen are hyper-sensitive to teen pregnancy. I mean, I understand, but I think forcing your daughter to show you proof she's taking birth control pills, or immediately thinking "What bitch had trapped him" when you hear your son talking about a girl....those two moments really creeped me out.
Ultimately I think I will read more of this book.

DOUBLE ACTION DEPUTY by BJ Daniels
This cover did a great job of screaming "Not for you" -- cowboy hats are always an instant signal to me, I just don't enjoy Westerns whether historical or contemporary. So I skimmed through the sample pretty quickly. Two things, 1. Brick Savage is an amazingly on-the-nose romance hero name and it was a source of great amusement. 2. it seemed like the helpless woman we meet in the first scene, and then who has an attempt on her life, would be the heroine, but then we get this woman Mo's point of view, who did the attempting, and it wasn't screaming Evil Villain Monologue. So I'm very confused about who the heroine actually is. But not curious enough to read the book, because Westerns and romantic suspense are not my thing.

STEALING HOME by Sheryl Woods
I was irritated at the first scene with cliche divorce, husband has affair with younger woman, blah blah blah. But I'm really interested in this group of women starting a gym and cooking classes in an old Victorian house, it reminds me of the Bride Quartet by Nora Roberts. I am a little nervous about the attitude toward health (the disparaging reference to people who ate fried chicken and couldn't get out of their recliners) but I appreciated the discussion of the danger of eating disorders.
I appreciated the reminder that this was coming to Netflix - and I just checked and it's here! I watched the trailer and I'm intrigued. So yes I think I will check out both the book and the TV show!

A REUNION OF RIVALS by Reese Ryan
Reese Ryan is a local author whom I've met before at events and I'm so excited whenever I see her name mentioned anywhere! And she gets the most gorgeous covers. However, second chance does not appeal to me and all the reminiscing about what went wrong the first time was not convincing me that them reconnecting would be a good idea. So I'll be skipping this one, even though I have enjoyed some of her other books such as THE BILLIONAIRE'S LEGACY.

THE GIRL NEXT DOOR by Chelsea M Cameron
I was a little skeptical when we got first-person narration, found out that one of our heroines is just 22, and saw her ogling the other heroine through the window. But I liked Jude's point of view, with the lobster fishing and the crocheting to keep herself occupied, and I thought it was really cute when they made lobster rolls together.
I'd heard about the Carina Adores launch this summer, and I'm tentatively excited. I hope it gives queer romance authors a chance to find a wider platform through mainstream publishing, though I also have mixed feelings about potentially relegating queer romance to a single line (kind of like the discussion around Harlequin Kimani prior to its discontinuation).

Conclusion
I appreciated the chance to read a collection of samples as many of these books I'm not sure I'd have organically run across given that I tend to stay away from "women's fiction" and go for straight romance. But surprisingly the two with women's fiction vibes, the Mallery and Woods, were the two that were most intriguing, and I also may try the Cameron as well. Frankly, for all 3 of them I'll probably check my library first since I am extremely picky about full-price purchases and already have a massive e-book collection.

Thanks again for the opportunity to read and share some feedback.

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This was a delight and gave me a taste of the great new romances I have to look forward to. Can't wait to dive into the complete stories from some talented authors.

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This sampler gives readers a glimpse at 5 of the best romance titles from Harlequin this summer.

This was a great taste at the books and I'm looking forward to reading them in full, especially The Friendship List by Susan Mallery.

Many thanks to Harlequin and NetGalley for the early look.

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Very happy to have this! Gives some great suggestions for Summer reads. I always love something like this that's put together and makes finding something you know you will like a lot easier. Great suggestions to pass onto friends too.

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Really enjoy these little samplers! They always make me excited for upcoming releases, especially the one from Chelsea M. Cameron and Reese Ryan!

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Good sampler, excellent for passing on suggestions for beach reads to friends and family. Probably not appropriate for students but very happy to have this!

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I can’t review this listing on GR as it’s a sampler, but I really enjoyed all the excerpts I read! Super stoked to read the full length versions.

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I love samplers like this. It’s a great way to see what’s coming from familiar authors (Susan Mallery!, I’m talking about you!) and try out new authors (Sheryl Woods, how have I missed you?). Thanks for providing this for us!

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Happy to read this samplers and discover what will be next. It was an interesting and engrossing read.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

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Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I love this opportunity to read excerpts of new works from cutting edge authors to help determine my upcoming reading experiences. It is a privilege!

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