Top Ten Tuesday/ Summer Vibes Books

I’m doing this in May, and the temperature is already in the higher 20s, so summer is sure to be with us. Yesterday, I added my 150’s read to my Goodreads challenge, so the aim is to read 50 books to reach 200 by the end of May/June. I first said May, but I realised it’s a bigger bite than I can chew. Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl, who has a new weekly topic.  

June 3: Summer Freebie (Pick any topic you can think of that fits into the category of “summer”. If it’s winter where you are, switch it up!) Since, as we know, I love finishing book lists so I looked at my Kindle and downloaded 14 books, which covers gave me summer vibes. I got extra since I think I read some of them already.

Goodreads Blutb:

One night. One drunken mistake of a night and Carrie Harrison is forced to pretend to be engaged to her obnoxious, deadbeat, inconveniently gorgeous, Neanderthal of a neighbor or risk losing her job. How hard can it be? As long as she doesn’t get too close, as long as she treats their relationship as a business arrangement, she can pull off this fake engagement, keep her job, and maintain her sanity. Except that the more time she spends with him, the harder it gets to deny her attraction to him, and the more she gets to know about him, the harder it is to remember why she hates him.

One night. One night taking care of his gorgeous, sweet, funny neighbor, and Cody Reynolds is finding it hard to remember his priorities. He needs to focus on building his winery and proving to himself and everyone else that he won’t fail. His past mistakes have caught up with him and the owner of his dream property won’t sell unless Cody can prove he’s planning to stick around Catalpa Creek for the long term. When the perfect solution shows up on his doorstep and asks for his help, he offers her a mutually beneficial deal. A deal that will work as long as he can ignore the very real feelings he’s starting to have for his neighbor. Feelings that could ruin what should be a sexy, fun role play.

Goodreads Blurb:

Trevor Merriam doesn’t like being ordered around by his older brother, much less to a sleepy Irish village to complete a business deal for their family company.

Worse: the owner of the land he needs to buy doesn’t want him there. In fact, Becca O’Neill loathes him so much that she won’t even serve him the award-winning scones her famed Wild Irish Rose Bed and Breakfast is known for.

Even worse than that (and not getting scones is bad in Trevor’s book): Becca has an ornery cat, a mischievous Irish setter, and a famous ghost all intent on making sure he fails. Then there’s the woman herself. If she weren’t so indignant about his business offer, they might have a good romance budding.

Worst of all: his Uncle Arthur and Aunt Clara Hale show up from Dare Valley hoping to help him get hitched—not exactly the help he was looking for.

How in the world is he going to make this deal with his heart—and his dignity—staying intact?

Goodreads Blurb:

The road to self-discovery leads Maverick Kensington deep into the heart of New Orleans. The colorful characters, beautiful scenery and a hot mess of a woman he finds along the way offer him the perfect place to reinvent himself.The French Quarter and Blue Bayou are exactly the change of pace he’s looking for, helping him escape the soul-sucking work he does for his father’s company.Carys Matthews is young and inexperienced. Having her family’s hotel dropped in her lap after her mother’s untimely death, she’s struggling to keep her head above water and keep the hotel’s doors open. She doesn’t have time for relationships, but Maverick Kensington is worth an exception. Besides, his stay is temporary and a fling never hurt anyone, right?His passion and business know-how is exactly what she needs.Her carefree spirit is what he wants.Their whirlwind relationship is one for the books until truths are untold and assumptions are made. Everything comes to a screeching halt just when they were getting to the good part.There’s always been a saying around the eventually, everyone comes back to the Blue Bayou. Will Maverick be the exception?

Goodreads Blurb:

They’re engaged in a dangerous game of espionage. But the bigger scandal these two ladies risk is the joy they find in each other’s arms…

England, 1807. Miss Melanie Bright longs to escape the shadow of disgrace. Still haunted by her parent’s mistakes, the shunned debutante seizes on a hopeful chance by sharing a roof with a well-respected noblewoman. But when her patron proves to be a beautifully reckless daredevil, she’s quickly seduced by the breathtaking promise of foreign escapades.

Lady Evelyn Prynne hides deep wounds behind her madcap reputation. Determined to track down and expose a French spy, she refuses to let her gorgeous guest become a distraction. Yet as they face perilous gaming halls, Lebanese deserts, and gunfire side by side, she’s intrigued by the backbone of steel beneath her delightful new companion’s dainty exterior.

Wondering if the ton’s favor is still her coveted goal, Melanie questions why she’s so desperate to please her tough benefactress. And even as Lady Evelyn revels in having found a confidante who can finally keep pace with her fiery nature, she continues to plunge them into darker dangers.

Goodreads Blurb:

Ava Archer misses her best childhood friend most especially during the month of April. Ask any tax attorney, it’s a lonely, grueling time of year. Luckily, Ava has just received a surprising and delectably absurd offer from her posh doppelgänger at work. She must pretend to be the aforementioned posh co-worker for one night at an extremely fancy party; a party so fancy, there exists absolutely no chance anyone will recognize her or suspect her ruse…

Desmond (Des) Sullivan is a thief. And not the heart-of-gold kind. He’s the steal-from-the-rich-and-give-to-the-also-rich-so-he-can-get-paid kind. He does, however, have one firm rule never steal what the target can’t afford to lose. After a brutal falling out with his father, Desmond hasn’t returned to Chicago in over ten years. But when a good friend is swindled and something priceless is stolen, Desmond must return home, both as himself and his thieving alter ego. Infiltrate a dangerous secret society of the world’s most elite billionaires while leveraging his estranged father’s resources and not blowing his cover? Sure. No problem. Or it wouldn’t be a problem if Ava Archer hadn’t just walked into the room, wearing a ridiculous wig, speaking with a preposterous accent, and pretending (badly) to be someone she’s not.

Goodreads Blurb:

Leath Elliott is a seventeen-year-old competitive shooter living with her mother in Woodvine, North Carolina. Leath’s father was killed in a tragic accident when she was fourteen, and her friend Victor Santana has been there for her every step of the way since. But the friendship starts to change when Victor develops deeper feelings for her. If that wasn’t complicated enough, newcomer James Turner, an emancipated minor with a dark past, wanders into her sights. Leath is captivated by him and wonders if he might be the boy of her dreams—literally.

Goodreads Blurb:

A small town girl. A big league ball player. A whole knew ball game.

Jake Pulling in eight figures a year as star pitcher for the Chicago Jaguars, there’s no shortage of parties, booze, and women. I’m a beast on the mound and between the sheets but when my social media presence becomes a major problem, the team’s owner brings in a PR expert to clean up my image. Andrea Diggers is the complete opposite of every girl I’ve ever met. She’s smart, classy, and completely off limits. Which makes me want her even more. I’ve always loved a challenge, and Andrea has no idea I’m about to get her to play…on my terms.

Andrea Cleaning up Jake Napleton’s image may be my hardest assignment yet, and not just because of the secrets he keeps deeply buried. Working alongside the six-foot-six arrogant, filthy-mouthed man is a challenge in restraint. He screams poster-boy for favorite mistakes with his chiseled abs and rippling muscles. And I want to take him up on every dirty word he’s said. But he’s not the only one with something to hide. Our attraction may be immediate. Potent. Dirty. But is it enough to withstand our shadowed pasts?

Goodreads Blurb:

Stone Hickman is the last of a dying breed. The former Marine believes in integrity, service to his country, a hard day’s work, and taking care of his loved ones. When he meets the clever Pepper Griffin, their obvious attraction has him ready to count the stunning beauty among the people that he cares for. But Pepper doesn’t share the instant connection. In fact, she wants nothing to do with him. And for honest, straightforward Stone, not knowing why only makes the rejection worse.

Pepper Griffin is the epitome of scrappy. For years she’s struggled to make acting her career without any help at all from her famous father. While she’s still accepting meager roles with little screen time, her best friend has steadily risen to the height of fame. To make matters worse, that very same friend is happily in love, newly engaged, and wants poor Pepper, whose love life is as sad and pathetic as her last film role, to serve as her maid-of-honor while Pepper’s enemy, Stone Hickman, is sure to be the groom’s best man.

Though Pepper despises the best man, she loves the bride-to-be more. To keep the peace, Pepper willingly includes Stone in the wedding planning process. When the unlikely pair find themselves stranded in a snowstorm while searching for the perfect venue, they’ll have to work together to survive the chill even if that means thawing Pepper’s heart.

Goodreads Blurb:

He’s the hot, tattooed bad boy that I traded insults with…and now he wants my help?

Knox Holland is in a jam. After an incredible first year on the pro motocross circuit, he should be on top of the world. Instead, his bad reputation has landed him without a team. He’s untouchable and desperate to turn it around.

Which is how he ends up at my gym asking me to train him. As a college gymnast with two Olympic medals to my name, I know a thing or two about the pressure to succeed. Last season I choked and then injured myself before I could show the world that I’m not a twenty-year-old has-been.

Focused on the future, I can’t afford to get distracted. But I recognize the desperation in Knox’s eyes, and I can’t say no to him, either.

It should have been an easy task, but nothing about Knox is easy. One minute we’re arguing, and the next I’m enjoying his shirtless handstands a little too much.

Falling for him would be a mistake…

Goodreads Blurb:

Apparently, my wingman is my wackadoodle mom. Working twelve-hour days, I’ve made Fur Bebé Co a rising star in the world of doggie high fashion. But when my idea for designer pup activewear gets stolen and my mother arrives in a dominatrix outfit—long story—I’m not only stripped of my promotion and reputation, but my job too.

Lucas, Fur Bebé’s hot new CEO, becomes enemy numero uno. He’s going to be sorry…eventually.

Out of cash and snubbed from the industry, I move into Mom’s Winnebago, AKA, Hell on Wheels. When Lucas and Mom go undercover as bikers on a pup rescue mission, Mom lands on the cover of Hog Honeys. Now they’re BFFs. Lucas is a Harvard MBA, and I’m a community college grad, but with our painful pasts, we get each other. Except falling for him could destroy everything.

For me, finding love, forgiveness—and myself—may just take my wackadoodle wingmom.