Tag: Rachael Stewart

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Secrets Behind the Billionaire’s Return – Rachael Stewart

This book contains:

  • References to prior domestic violence
  • Teen pregnancy
  • Teen drinking.

Felicity is a single mum running a bed and breakfast in her small hometown doing the best she can to raise her teenage daughter. She’s worked hard to provide for her daughter and proudly rejects the need for ‘charity’ from others.

Sebastian runs a billion dollar international hotel chain with his brother and he’s finally returning home to turn the manor home he’s inherited into another hotel for his chain. Instead of staying at his home he goes to Felicity’s bed and breakfast in the hopes of out-running his past for as long as possible.

Sebastian has returned home and decides to try and reconnect with Felicity in the hopes of delaying confronting the past. While there, he not only discovers she’s taken over the bed and breakfast, she also has a teen daughter.

As they’re reconnecting, new spreads and suddenly their life snow balls into a drama neither of them expected and changes in ways they could never have imagined.

While I love Rachael’s books, there was something a little different to this one. Not just that it’s one in a series (which is rare for Rachael), but also the pacing. Typically, her books have a steady pace that slowly increases until you reach the climax of the story, then you get your slowed down ending. Which is a pretty standard pacing for romance novels.

However, in this one, it had multiple points where it felt like it sped up and slowed down which got a little confusing. While it wasn’t horrible, it was something that I noticed and threw me off a few times as I was reading.

Going back to the story, Rachael’s focus this time around was on generational domestic violence, the long lasting impacts it can have and teen pregnancy. Rachael’s written books with domestic violence involved previously, a couple actually, this new take on the generational aspect of it brought a new take on it that was quite interesting.

I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for when the second book comes along to find out about how Sebastian’s brother coped with it!

Continue to read further down to find out about the author and any extra giveaways available.

Author Bio

Rachael Stewart adores conjuring up stories for the readers of Harlequin Mills & Boon and Deep Desires Press, with tales varying from the heartwarmingly romantic to the wildly erotic.

She’s been writing since she could put pen to paper as the stacks of scrawled on A4 sheets in her loft will attest to, and the lovingly bound short stories that her father would run off at work and proudly share out with his colleagues. Thinking it was a pipe dream to be published one day, she pursued a sensible career in business but she was really play-acting, achieving the appropriate degree and spending many years in the corporate world where she never truly belonged. Always happiest when she was sat at her laptop in the quiet hours tapping out a story or two. And so here she is, a published author, her full-time pleasure, a dream come true.

A Welsh lass at heart, she now lives in Yorkshire with her husband and three children, and if she’s not glued to her laptop, she’s wrapped up in them or enjoying the great outdoors seeking out inspiration.

Giveaway – Win 4x Signed Rachael Stewart Paperbacks and more (open internationally)

4 x Signed paperbacks:

  • Tempted by the Tycoon’s Proposal
  • Surprise Reunion with His Cinderella
  • Beauty And The Reclusive Millionaire
  • Secrets Behind the Billionaire’s Return

And:

  • “Hug” Bracelet
  • Diamond Metallic Pen
  • Heart Post-Its
a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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Beauty and the Reclusive Millionaire – Rachael Stewart

This book contains:

  • Plane accident causing one death referenced
  • Miscarriage.

Catherine is a world-famous actress in need of a break. She’s strong, independent, has experienced a life so different to anything most of us know. Being the daughter of an actress means even her childhood wasn’t anything that most people experience.

Alaric is the big brother of Catherine’s best friend, a billionaire in his own right and a complete recluse. After a tragic accident he took himself off to a private island and hasn’t stepped foot off since.

Catherine is running from her own grief, a grief no one except her best friend and ex can understand. Her best friend suggests going to stay with Alaric to give her the time and space she needs to process and work through her feelings.

But she’s also there to try and convince Alaric to re-join the world and his family. He’s spent so long engulfed in his grief and survivor’s guilt that he doesn’t know how to be anything else.

While this book is similar to the rest of the series in that it’s fairly tame in the sex department; compared to many of her other books, it still has some sex which felt natural. There was no instantly falling into bed together, no dancing around the topic and never quite getting there. Instead, there was a slow burn, conflict in their decisions but the inevitable, natural draw that results in the physical.

There isn’t too much drama during the book, which allows the main theme of grief to shine through and really be the focus that draws our attention equally alongside the romance. Every instance of drama stemmed from their grief, continuing to build on what we’d learnt to that point.

And then there was the ending. The ending that rounded it all out and gave an awesome happily ever after moment.

Continue to read further down to find out about the author and any extra giveaways available.

Author Bio

Rachael Stewart adores conjuring up stories, from heartwarmingly romantic to wildly erotic. She’s been writing since she could put pen to paper as the stacks of scrawled-on pages in her loft will attest to. A Welsh lass at heart, she now lives in Yorkshire with her very own hero and three awesome kids, and if she’s not tapping out a story, she’s wrapped up in them or enjoying the great outdoors.

Giveaway – Win a prize including 3 Rachael Stewart Paperbacks, Heart Post Its and more (open internationally)

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Win everything shown here!
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Surprise Reunion with His Cinderella – Rachael Stewart

Jasmine and Freddie were high school sweethearts that didn’t work out at the time.

Jasmine comes from a working class, single-mum family and worked herself into extreme wealth on her own merits. She worked hard, she gave up and lost a lot, but she’s determined to make the most of her life and enjoy it.

Freddie comes from a lairdship of Scotland, a wealthy family that’s steeped in traditions and manners that aren’t necessarily relevant today. He’s prepared to fight for what he wants and loves but has learnt from experience that he can’t always get what he wants.

This is a second chance romance set in the Seychelles where Jasmine and Freddie reconnect after almost a decade apart. While their romance didn’t take off like they’d hoped last time, they’re thrown headfirst into a romantic trip when they both sign up for a dating service that matches them together.

In one week away, immersed in romance on their own tropical island, can all the issues from the past be resolved? Or can they find their happily ever after?

Being a sweet romance in comparison to Rachael’s other books, I knew the pace and general feel were bound to be different to most of the books I read. Even then, I found the pace to be incredibly slow, especially in the beginning.

Apart from realising who each other are, the first half of the book felt incredibly slow to me. But given the speed, action, drama etc of the books I read just before this one, I think it’s fairly safe to say I think this came mostly from the sudden change of pace rather than it being actually slow.

By the time we got to the end of the book, we’d ended up with a fair amount of drama, setbacks and hurdles to overcomes. The adversity that Jasmine overcomes by the end is amazing and it definitely gave me a feeling of #girlpower all the way. Especially how she’s supported by those around her.

Continue to read further down to find out about the author and any extra giveaways available.

Author Bio

Rachael Stewart adores conjuring up stories for the readers of Harlequin Mills & Boon and Deep Desires Press, with tales varying from the heartwarmingly romantic to the wildly erotic.

She’s been writing since she could put pen to paper as the stacks of scrawled on A4 sheets in her loft will attest to, and the lovingly bound short stories that her father would run off at work and proudly share out with his colleagues. Thinking it was a pipe dream to be published one day, she pursued a sensible career in business but she was really play-acting, achieving the appropriate degree and spending many years in the corporate world where she never truly belonged. Always happiest when she was sat at her laptop in the quiet hours tapping out a story or two. And so here she is, a published author, her full-time pleasure, a dream come true.

A Welsh lass at heart, she now lives in Yorkshire with her husband and three children, and if she’s not glued to her laptop, she’s wrapped up in them or enjoying the great outdoors seeking out inspiration.

Giveaway – Win a prize bundle of 2 Rachael Stewart paperbacks plus assorted goodies (open internationally)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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Reawakened – Rachael Stewart

This book contains:

  • off page character deaths
  • explicit sex scenes
  • some coarse language.

Olivia is a CEO who lost her husband a year ago and since then has been living her life as if any moment could be her last. She’s confident, successful and knows what she wants.

Valentine, however, is the PR expert who’s been hired to reign in Olivia before she kills herself or permanently destroys the reputation of the charity her and her husband founded. He’s gone through his own trauma with his wife dying seven years previously.

Olivia is spiralling out of control and Valentine is called in right as she takes the plunge in a BDSM club. That one night and the events that follow set the tone for Oliva and Valentine’s entire relationship.

As they work together, their attraction is undeniable and of course it’s not long until it comes out in all the ways it shouldn’t and they learn more about each other than they every thought possible.

Rachael has a tendency to create compelling, sexual stories that capture the very essence that a lot of us wish for. Many of us wish for that instant attraction, the chemistry you just can’t deny. But most of us never get there.

Yet, even amongst those aspects, she always includes a theme. A theme that’s powerful and needs to be heard. While she has included the family violence theme before, she hasn’t done the angle where you’re willing to go along with it because it makes you happy too.

In that way, this is a new angle that also shows how subtle the control can be that still forms a part of family violence. The problem is, where’s the line between wanting to be a better person for someone and it being family violence?

That very question is why I love the fact that Rachael brings it up in her books and makes us think about it. If we can’t think about it, we can’t talk about it. And if we can’t talk about it, we can’t improve on it.

Continue to read further down to find out about the author and any extra giveaways available.

Author Bio

Rachael Stewart adores conjuring up stories for the readers of Harlequin Mills & Boon and Deep Desires Press, with tales varying from the heartwarmingly romantic to the wildly erotic.

She’s been writing since she could put pen to paper as the stacks of scrawled on A4 sheets in her loft will attest to, and the lovingly bound short stories that her father would run off at work and proudly share out with his colleagues. Thinking it was a pipe dream to be published one day, she pursued a sensible career in business but she was really play-acting, achieving the appropriate degree and spending many years in the corporate world where she never truly belonged. Always happiest when she was sat at her laptop in the quiet hours tapping out a story or two. And so here she is, a published author, her full-time pleasure, a dream come true.

A Welsh lass at heart, she now lives in Yorkshire with her husband and three children, and if she’s not glued to her laptop, she’s wrapped up in them or enjoying the great outdoors seeking out inspiration.

Giveaway – Win an e-copy of Reawakened by Rachael Stewart (open internationally)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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Our Little Secret – Rachael Stewart

This book contains:

  • multiple details sex scenes.

Faye is the best friend of the bride and her Maid of Honour. She’s had her own problems over the past few years with the death of her mother and the end of her marriage but she’s happy now.

Meanwhile, Rafael is the brother of the bride, closed off, emotionally cold but o so sexy and irresistible! He comes with the baggage of his parents failed marriage and doesn’t believe that people should get married, including his little sister.

It’s got the typical boy stumbles upon girl and instant attraction. They fight it but eventually get together.

In Rachael’s case we’ve gone back to some explicit sex thrown in for good measure. I mean, can they really fight their attraction long enough to not sneak off to have sex during the wedding festivities in a castle?

But it’s also not Rachael if there wasn’t an undercurrent of something more serious. In this case, she touches on rediscovering your sexuality, learning to move on and families recovering from past trauma together. 

My first thought is that I love that Rachael has gone back to including explicit sex. I’m sorry, but that sweet romance just felt so wrong based on all of her other work I’ve read! She does the steamy sex in amongst such serious stuff so well that I was missing it.

The way that Rachael balances the emotional development and drama with the sex is perfect. You can be with one character all caught up in their head or helping other people or having fun with the family. Then right as you start to go “yea but where’s the romance?” BOOM! Rachael delivers!

I don’t think I’ve read any other author that can balance these aspects so well and create such a compelling story that you’re emotionally invested the whole way through to such a deep level. She’s definitely one of my favourite authors! Which is a first since usually my favourites do series!

Continue to read further down to find out about the author and any extra giveaways available.

Author Bio

Rachael Stewart adores conjuring up stories for the readers of Harlequin Mills & Boon and Deep Desires Press, with tales varying from the heartwarmingly romantic to the wildly erotic.

She’s been writing since she could put pen to paper as the stacks of scrawled on A4 sheets in her loft will attest to, and the lovingly bound short stories that her father would run off at work and proudly share out with his colleagues. Thinking it was a pipe dream to be published one day, she pursued a sensible career in business but she was really play-acting, achieving the appropriate degree and spending many years in the corporate world where she never truly belonged. Always happiest when she was sat at her laptop in the quiet hours tapping out a story or two. And so here she is, a published author, her full-time pleasure, a dream come true.

A Welsh lass at heart, she now lives in Yorkshire with her husband and three children, and if she’s not glu ed to her laptop, she’s wrapped up in them or enjoying the great outdoors seeking out inspiration.

Giveaway – Win an e-copy of Our Little Secret by Rachael Stewart (open internationally)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Terms and Conditions –Worldwide entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then I reserve the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time I will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

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Tempted by the Tycoon’s Proposal – Rachael Stewart

Welcome back everyone, thank you for being patient with me while I took a slight break. I wanted to make sure you got quality reviews without me stressing too much or not getting any sleep.

Surprisingly enough, Rachael has ANOTHER book out! How does she do it?!

Like all her books there is a sensitive theme woven throughout the story that the characters need to work through. In this case its about grief and the loss of loved ones.

On one hand, you have Sophie who feels responsible for her 7-year-old sisters’ death when she was just 14 and took her sledging. On the other, you’ve got Jack who feels responsible for his wife’s death because he didn’t come home on time and she took their daughter to a park and was killed. In both cases they were accidents and yet these events changed everything for both of them.

I’ve never been a big fan of the insta-romance stuff, but I know it’s kinda necessary when you’ve got a limited word count and so much emotion to fit in like Rachael does. For some reason this one bugged me more than most of her books though.  I feel like that’s because of why they get so close, and how quickly they seem to change to make it work.

I feel like in real life it wouldn’t be that quick which kept me from becoming fully immersed in the story. It doesn’t stop it from being a great romance and a story of overcoming the fears that hold you back. It’s just not something I fell wholeheartedly in love with like some of her other books.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this review; on Monday I’ll be reviewing The Runes of Destiny by Christina Courtenay. Continue to read further down to find out about the author and any extra giveaways available.

Author Bio

Rachael Stewart adores conjuring up stories for the readers of Harlequin Mills & Boon and Deep Desires Press, with tales varying from the heartwarmingly romantic to the wildly erotic.

She’s been writing since she could put pen to paper as the stacks of scrawled on A4 sheets in her loft will attest to, and the lovingly bound short stories that her father would run off at work and proudly share out with his colleagues. Thinking it was a pipe dream to be published one day, she pursued a sensible career in business but she was really play-acting, achieving the appropriate degree and spending many years in the corporate world where she never truly belonged. Always happiest when she was sat at her laptop in the quiet hours tapping out a story or two. And so here she is, a published author, her full-time pleasure, a dream come true.

A Welsh lass at heart, she now lives in Yorkshire with her husband and three children, and if she’s not glued to her laptop, she’s wrapped up in them or enjoying the great outdoors seeking out inspiration.

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Unwrapping the Best Man – Rachael Stewart

Welcome back everyone, Rachel is back with a follow up novel to Getting Dirty and it’s amazing!

I was really hoping there’d be a sequel to Getting Dirty and I had my wishes granted in a way I wasn’t expecting! Who knew the bartender was hiding so much and it’d take the PR queen to get it out of him?!

We start off at a wedding in Scotland where Cait finally convinces Jackson to sleep with her. And this is when we start to discover the issues that Jackson has struggled with for years. We had no idea about any of this until now and it’s exactly up the alley of Rachael’s style to bring in difficult topics.

If this was the first of her books I’d read I’d think she was copying 50 Shades of Grey, but I know better. Although the Mrs Robinson vibe is still there with an underage boy being seduced by a married woman, there were marked differences between those cases and Jackson.

In this case, Cait and Jackson work through his issues together over months and in ways I wasn’t expecting. Who knew so much could happen in just 6 months and in the way that they did?

I have a couple of fav bits including the car scene and the very last chapter. I don’t want to say more than that coz it might ruin it for you, but I felt like those were major breakthrough moments for them. Jackson more so given everything he’d been through, how he felt about it and the lasting impacts on his mental and emotional health.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this review; on Monday I’ll be reviewing A Christmas Wedding at the Castle by Eliza J. Scott. Continue to read further down to find out about the author and any extra giveaways available.

Author Bio

Rachael Stewart adores conjuring up stories for the readers of Harlequin Mills & Boon and Deep Desires Press, with tales varying from the heartwarmingly romantic to the wildly erotic.

She’s been writing since she could put pen to paper as the stacks of scrawled on A4 sheets in her loft will attest to, and the lovingly bound short stories that her father would run off at work and proudly share out with his colleagues. Thinking it was a pipe dream to be published one day, she pursued a sensible career in business but she was really play-acting, achieving the appropriate degree and spending many years in the corporate world where she never truly belonged. Always happiest when she was sat at her laptop in the quiet hours tapping out a story or two. And so here she is, a published author, her full-time pleasure, a dream come true.

A Welsh lass at heart, she now lives in Yorkshire with her husband and three children, and if she’s not glued to her laptop, she’s wrapped up in them or enjoying the great outdoors seeking out inspiration.

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Losing Control – Rachael Stewart

Welcome back everyone, I know Thursday’s aren’t my usual posting days, but it’s publication day for Rachael again!

I always look forward to a new Rachael Stewart novel. They’re always short, steamy and suck you in so much it doesn’t take long to read.

In so many ways this one did all that. And yet, something was still missing. It took me a while to place it, and I think it comes down to the lack of details of the characters business and town. In her other books, Rachael has enough detail about these that you know what job people do, you know where they’re living, and you get little details to describe the location as you’re going.

Even after finishing the book I don’t know what the family business does, other than something techy. And even though we got a little bit location description, it was so sporadic and minimal that it didn’t feel like I got to picture the location at all.

On the other hand, the level of detail provided in the characters history, backstory, thoughts, emotions etc was phenomenal. I don’t know if she’s ever done to that level of detail before. But, there’s also a downside to this as well.

I know it’s traumatic, but I did feel like the mention of why Alexa hates Cain so much was talked about too much. It felt like it controlled her life rather than being something that she’s either over, processed or is still processing.

I’m so glad Rachael used this as the sensitive topic for this book. It’s another topic that really isn’t talked about enough and needs to be recognised and accepted so people CAN feel like they can talk about it. I just felt it controlled Alexa too much. But I’ve never gone through that, so maybe that is an accurate perspective of someone who’s gone through it.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this review; on Monday I’ll be reviewing Summer Island by Natalie Normann. Continue to read further down to find out about the author and any extra giveaways available.

Author Bio

Rachael Stewart adores conjuring up stories for the readers of Harlequin Mills & Boon and Deep Desires Press, with tales varying from the heartwarmingly romantic to the wildly erotic.

She’s been writing since she could put pen to paper as the stacks of scrawled on A4 sheets in her loft will attest to, and the lovingly bound short stories that her father would run off at work and proudly share out with his colleagues. Thinking it was a pipe dream to be published one day, she pursued a sensible career in business but she was really play-acting, achieving the appropriate degree and spending many years in the corporate world where she never truly belonged. Always happiest when she was sat at her laptop in the quiet hours tapping out a story or two. And so here she is, a published author, her full-time pleasure, a dream come true.

A Welsh lass at heart, she now lives in Yorkshire with her husband and three children, and if she’s not glued to her laptop, she’s wrapped up in them or enjoying the great outdoors seeking out inspiration.

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Getting Dirty – Rachael Stewart

Welcome back everyone, as you can probably tell I’m in a massively busy review period. I mean, 3 reviews and a wrap up post in one week?! What have I gotten myself into?

I had a bit of a slow start to reading this one without the travel time to and from work but that’s going to be normal for me this yr now that I’ll be working from home more. I ended up finish this off on my flight to Perth which I think was 4 hours well spent.

Like many of Rachael’s books this was marketed as an erotica, yet it didn’t feel like one to me. Yes, there was explicit sex scenes. Yet the sex felt like it was a part of how Ash and Coco shared their feelings and emotions.

The way Rachael made this happen was how she included both Ash and Coco’s thoughts and feelings before, during and after those encounters. By adding that depth to the sex it felt like it had its place and really added to the story in a meaningful way rather than just to add some spice.

Another thing that’s consistent across Rachael’s novels is a message she’s trying to convey. They could be about domestic and family violence, addiction or any number of themes. For Ash and Coco, I felt the themes of trust and communication in relationships.

Although I also got a sense she was including how money, power and social status can impact and define relationships. Including those between family and friends. It was a powerful reminder that these simple things that we often take for granted can make or break relationships.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this review, on Monday I’ll be reviewing Of Night and Dark Obscurity by Nicola Italia. Continue to read further down to find out about the author and any extra giveaways available.

Author Bio

Rachael Stewart adores conjuring up stories for the readers of Harlequin Mills & Boon and Deep Desires Press, with tales varying from the heart-warmingly romantic to the wildly erotic.

Despite a degree in Business Studies and spending many years in the corporate world, the desire to become an author never waned and it’s now her full-time pleasure, a dream come true. 

A Welsh lass at heart, she now lives in Yorkshire with her husband and three children, and if she’s not glued to her laptop, she’s wrapped up in them or enjoying the great outdoors seeking out inspiration.

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