Immersed (A Ripple Effect Romance) by Jennifer Griffith-Blog Tour Review

 Posted by  Blog Tours, Book Reviews, Sheila's Reviews
May 302014
 
Immersed tour

Immersed NewProduct Details

 

  • Title: Immersed
  • Author: Jennifer Griffith
  • Series: Ripple Effect Romance
  • Paperback: 152 pages
  • Publisher: HEA Publishing (March 7, 2014)
  • Genre: Romance
  • ISBN-10: 1941363059
  • FTC, FYI: I received a review e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

Book Description:
  Lisette Pannebaker speaks five languages and has a brilliant business plan—personal language immersion. Clients can hire her to shadow them and speak all day in any language they need to learn for business or travel—whatever. But there’s a major hitch: she’s far too pretty. Clients with less than honorable intentions sign up just have Lisette at their side. Solution? A make-under. Way under.It works like a charm. None of her male clients show her the least bit of interest. Until… Erik. Erik Gunnarsson is charming, kind, and smart—everything she’s ever looked for. Even though he seems to have a secret and she swore she’d never date a client, Lisette is tempted to shed her disguise—even if it means jeopardizing her career.

 

 

Excerpt from Immersed :

 

“So…what?”
“Plain and simple: you’re too pretty for this job.”
Lisette rolled her eyes and picked up her brush again, going at the high spots on the wall with vigor. “You’ve been talking to my mom again. Did she finally rub off on you?” Great. Now no one believed in her. Not even Aunt Corky. Just a pretty face.

“No, not in that way. What I’m saying is that your business has merit. It can totally work. But just not with you, the way you are.”

Aunt Corky probably didn’t mean to make Lisette want to cry, but the tears welled in her eyes all the same. This dream had taken every waking hour of the last eighteen months. She’d poured her heart and soul into making it grow, not to mention all the money she’d buried in it—advertising, the office, everything. And her time. Day and night. How entrepreneurs lived past age forty mystified her. She barely had time to keep an eye on her elderly next door neighbors. And when a girl was too busy to serve other people, she was too busy.

Aunt Corky reached over and grabbed Lisette’s hand. “What I’m saying is you need a makeover.”

Lisette raised an eyebrow.

“Don’t raise that eyebrow at me, Z. I’m serious about this.” Aunt Corky folded her arms across her chest. “Not a makeover in the traditional sense. More like a make-under. You know, to make you look less…gorgeous.”
Here it went again, with the appearance factor. Didn’t all the studies say that people who were good-looking had a better chance at success than those who were below average?

“You’re not buying it, I can tell. But think with me. Dark circles under the eyes. A greasy wig. Lines at the mouth. And right about here,” she pointed at her nostril, “a big wart.”

“A wart!”
“Okay, maybe not a wart. That might be over the top. But something that will keep all the pawing maniacs at a distance.” Aunt Corky shrugged and leaned against a dry wall like she’d made her case and the prosecution rested. “Think about it, Z. I mean, you want Immerse to succeed, right? All the years of language skills and business acumen you’ve amassed, they’re going to waste.”
Lisette sighed. Even though she wouldn’t admit it aloud to Aunt Corky, unless something changed at Immerse, things could go south pretty fast. However, she wasn’t convinced it was reason enough to subjugate her dignity and go into daily disguise just to ward off pretenders.
Aunt Corky resumed painting. “Just think about it. Don’t decide now. But if you want to do it, I know somebody. Samantha. A genius with bad makeup. She could absolutely transform you. No one would even recognize you.”
This was crossing over from ridiculous into the absurd.

 

 

My Review:

Immersed is the last novella in the Ripple Effect Romance Series. This one was different from many of the others. It had a funny side to it and it’s characters. Even though there were serious things happening in main character Lisette’s life, there were naturally humorous things going on. You know how some people always have those weird and very quirky events that only happen to them? Well, Lisette is one of those people. You have to LOL as she deals with the strange and unusual in her life. I didn’t connect with Lisette’s mother, but truly liked her Aunt Corky. The main male protagonist, Erik, also adds to the humor in this story. The scene at McDonalds will stay on my mind for awhile. Yes, it was funny. 

The series is wrapped up nicely with Immersed. If you haven’t read them yet, they would be great, short reads to add to your summer reading list.

 Purchase at Amazon

unnamedFDRE9K6NMeet Author Jennifer Griffith
Jennifer Griffith studied French, German, Japanese, and a wee bit of Spanish in her school days. Her grandmother was Norwegian, and Jennifer grew up with lots of Scandinavian traditions floating around, including fabulous cardamom laced cookies called Krumkaker, made on a fancy waffle iron. However, she’d never dream of trying to teach someone any of those languages. And she might botch the cookies. Instead, she writes novels in English, drives her five kids a million places, and laughs with her husband, who came up with the plot for Immersed because he’s just a cool muse like that.

Righting a Wrong (A Ripple Effect Romance) Book Three by Rachael Anderson-Blog Tour and Giveaway

 Posted by  Blog Tours, Book Reviews, Sheila's Reviews
Apr 182014
 

 

 

Righting a wrong

 

 

Product Details

 

  • Title: Righting a Wrong
  • Author: Rachael Anderson
  • Series: Ripple Effect Romance
  • Paperback: 144 pages
  • Publisher: HEA Publishing (March 7, 2014)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1941363024
  • FTC, FYI: I received a review e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book Description for Righting a Wrong 
Seven years ago, Cambri Blaine fled her small hometown of Bridger, Colorado after her senior year ended in a fiasco. Only Jace Sutton knew the real reason why—that she was a spineless coward. Now, seven years later, her father’s been in an accident and needs help, and Cambr has no choice but to return home. So with trepidation, she takes a leave of absence from the landscape architecture firm where she works and boards a plane, hoping against hope that Jace is no longer around and that the past can stay where it belongs—in the past. If only life worked that way. Jace never expected to see Cambri again. After she’d led him on, bruised his heart, and left town without a backward glance, he was forced to pick up the pieces and try not to hate her for it. Eventually, he put it behind him and moved on, creating a life for himself in his beloved hometown. But now that Cambri is back and looking more beautiful and sophisticated than ever, some of those old feelings resurface, and Jake instinctively knows, for the sake of his heart, that he needs to avoid her at all costs. If only it were that easy. 

Excerpt

 

    She rested her hand on his arm, but when he tensed, she pulled it away. “University Park and Charlotte are beautiful cities with so much to offer, but Bridger isn’t without its charms. Coming back here is like entering a different world.”

 

    “An archaic world.”

 

    “That’s not what I’m talking about,” said Cambri. “People here know and care about each other. When you walk down the street, you pass friends instead of strangers. The air is cleaner, the pace slower, and the world calmer. I’m pretty sure the sky is even bluer.”

 

    Jace slung his bag over her shoulder and leveled her a hard look. “Actions speak louder than words, Cambri. Or are you forgetting you left for bluer skies six years ago?”

 

    Her gaze held steady. “Sometimes it takes seeing other skies to know which is bluer.”

 

    One eye brow quirked as he considered her words. “What are you saying? That you’ve had your fill of city life and want to move back?”

 

    Cambri looked away. Was she saying that? No, of course not. That would be crazy. She was happy in Charlotte. “All I’m saying is that I appreciate Bridger a lot more than I used to.”

 

    He let out a low chuckle that didn’t sound even close to humorous. “Like I said, actions speak louder than words.” He started to walk past her, then paused, looking beyond her to the back door. “You talk of passing friends instead of strangers, but in my experience, friends are really just strangers disguised as familiar faces.” His arm brushed against her shoulder as he left, and an uncomfortable, almost palpable, sensation spread down her arm and landed with a thud in her gut.

 

 

My Review:

 

 It’s always a pleasure to read something written by Rachael Anderson. She writes such great characters, even the grumpy Harvey, father of main character Cambri. Once again this story has characters that we have previously met in the Ripple Effect Romance that we read previously. Readers get a glance at Drew and Eden and what’s happening in their life now. 

 

 

I was happy to get to know Jace better in this book. I really liked him in the last book and wanted to see him find his own love after losing Eden to Drew. I like the realistic scenario of how Jace and Cambri reacted to each other after not seeing each other for six years. There were hurt feelings on both sides after Cambri’s hasty departure from Bridger and after a first kiss with Jace. It was fun to see how they rebuilt their friendship and their love. It was also VERY satisfying to see Cambri rebuild her relationship with her estranged father. It took awhile for them to reconnect, but it felt so good when they did. 

 

 

There are so many things to love about Righting a Wrong, the likable characters, the great dialogue, the build up to the romance and the happy ending. I’m realizing that this series of clean romances will be kept in my favorite’s list. I haven’t read one yet that I don’t like. I’m all ready to go back and read them again. If you haven’t read this series yet, go back to the first and read them in the right order. Then you too can see the Ripple Effects that we have in each others lives. Kudos to all of the authors of this series. I can’t wait to read the next three in the series.

 

Rachael 

Meet:Author Rachael Anderson
 A USA Today bestselling author, Rachael Anderson is the mother of four and is pretty good at breaking up fights, or at least sending guilty parties to their rooms. She can’t sing, doesn’t dance, and despises tragedies. But she recently figured out how yeast works and can now make homemade bread, which she is really good at eating.

Updated Ripple Effect

The Ripple Effect Romance Novella Series
 Enjoy this exciting new series of clean novellas by six critically-acclaimed authors. “Like a pebble tossed into calm water, a simple act can ripple outward and have a far-reaching effect on those we meet, perhaps setting a life on a different course—one filled with excitement, adventure, and sometimes even love.” Book 1: Home Matters by Julie N. Ford Book 2: Silver Linings by Kaylee Baldwin Book 3: Righting A Wrong by Rachael Anderson Book 4: Lost and Found by Karey White Book 5: Second Chances 101 by Donna K. Weaver Book 6: Immersed by Jennifer Griffith

 

 

Blog Tour Giveaway

$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash Ends 4/28/14

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