Delightful Bartender and Rock Star Combo

I absolutely loved this book and laughed so many times while reading it that at one point I couldn't read anymore because tears were streaming down my face.  Here's an excerpt from my review of Perfect Imperfections by Cardeno C. that was posted today on The Romance Reviews:

A world-famous rock star walks into a bar in the middle of nowhere one night might sound like the beginning of a joke, but this lively and often laugh-out-loud romance is no joke, but a wonderfully delightful story.

Jeremy Jameson, often called The Jeremy Jameson by his manager, eludes his entourage and keepers one night and happens on Reg Moore, a bartender with a heart of gold and an easy-going manner that immediately seduces Jeremy.

When Jeremy asks Reg to become his pretend boyfriend and accompany him on his upcoming world tour, Reg, who's always wanted to travel, jumps at the chance. Jeremy is beautiful and charismatic, and traveling with the rock star will certainly be no hardship.

Jeremy, however, turns out to be a prima donna, someone born with a golden spoon encrusted with diamonds. It's no wonder Jeremy's so hard to deal with for everyone but Reg because Jeremy's father, a former rock star, died of a drug overdose and his mother is an aging diva bedding men years younger than she is.

Undaunted Reg is just the right kind of laid back to calm Jeremy during his rants and smother the star in understanding and love, two ingredients missing in his chaotic life. At times they play off one another like Laurel and Hardy, their verbal interaction almost becoming a comedy routine.
Read the rest of the review at The Romance Reviews.

Just One Thing Includes Much More

From my review for Just One Thing by Holly Jacobs that was posted today at All About Romance:

A widow is wooed out of her melancholy by a war veteran bartender who only asks that she tell him "just one thing" when she stops by his bar every Monday.

Artist Lexie McCain's children are worried about her uncharacteristic funk after their father dies in an accident. Lexie has holed up in her studio away from town and friends which is very unusual. After they’ve harassed her sufficiently, Lexie agrees to walk into the nearby small town of Lapp Mill, Pennsylvania, at least once a week. She decides to go on non-busy Monday and makes her destination The Corner Bar, a low-key pub-like establishment where she has one beer and then walks home.

What she doesn't count on is proprietor Sam Corner who challenges her to tell him "just one thing" in exchange for her beer. Lexie agrees to play Sam's game and starts by telling him her name. What unfolds are memories based on the "one thing" Lexie and then Sam let escape from their lips including the painful deaths of Lexie's father, daughter, and finally husband and Sam's traumatic time in the service.

Lexie, who's been a good wife, mother, and art instructor, is floundering, but not morose to the point of being suicidal. In fact, she knows she's got to climb out of her current depression and as therapy starts weaving a tapestry depicting scenes from her life in it.

She's a strong, likable character, a woman without pretensions and with a solid sense of self. Like most of us when a life-changing event happens, she realizes she needs to pick herself up, dust herself off, and forge on with life. But her husband's death has hit her harder then those of her beloved father and daughter.

Read the rest of the review at All About Romance.