Sandy M’s Duckies Do Series review of Love with a Twist by Calista Fox, Erin Quinn & Mary Leo
Contemporary Paranormal Romance published 10 Jan 15
I had such fun with these authors’ Christmastime stories in their Secret Santa Holiday Collection that when I discovered they’d done the same idea for Valentine’s Day, I had to grab up all three stories, because I knew I’d have a great time with new characters getting through the biggest day of the year for love and romance. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Dirtying It Up by Calista Fox
Published by Amazon Digital Services
I realize with three authors involved there’s three distinct writing styles. While I enjoy Calista Fox’s writing, her work, so far for me, doesn’t fit in with the other two. I said this same thing in my review of the Secret Santa Holiday Collection, and before I began reading this series, I figured this same issue would crop up again. All three authors have no problem conveying the sexual tension between characters and making them steam and burn between the sheets. Ms. Fox just goes that one step further by using erotic words of the trade – cock, pussy, etc. Nothing wrong with that, but for me it’s out of place when placed side by side with the other two stories and isn’t needed.
That being said, I still enjoyed getting to know the first couple in the trilogy, Jasmine and Jake. Jasmine and her two friends, Rose and Daisy, own With a Twist, a trendy and very successful martini bar and restaurant. A year ago when they were out celebrating Valentine’s Day together, since none of them had a man to celebrate with, they came upon a gypsy fortune teller. Being entranced by her beautiful crystal heart, the gypsy predicted the gals would open their restaurant, even gave them the location and date of opening, and each also got a private reading, something special only they would benefit from. After all of this, however, she warned that if all three did not give their love – and also receive the love of the man the heart chose for them – they would lose everything they’d worked for.
The girls gave it all a good laugh and went on their way. But Jasmine’s prediction came true, followed by their success exactly as the gypsy foretold. But now it’s a year later and none of them have found love. Valentine’s Day is just mere weeks away, and they’re hoping the last part of the prediction really won’t happen. That’s when Jake zooms back into Jasmine’s life after having been gone a while. Jasmine has been attracted to him since they met, and though she’s missed him, she can’t believe the heart would choose him for her.
So it’s a Jake who has to work on Jasmine to give him a chance. He’s thought of her often, and it’s now time to move to the next step in life and Jasmine will be part of that. She had a bad breakup and has been guarding her heart ever since. After a bit of hemming and hawing, though, she wakes up and decides she’d put her feelings on the line like Jake has. I’m glad she doesn’t wait any longer, since I’m not particularly fond of the broken-heart-I’m-giving-up-on-men mentality like I used to be. It’s much too prevalent in romance nowadays.
Jasmine waits nearly too long, because the crystal heart is losing its beautiful color, the restaurant and bar are nearly deserted – all the gypsy’s nonsense is coming true, much to her dismay. Which puzzles me, since everything else has come true and she admits it, reluctantly. Therefore, Jasmine grated on me a bit, but because she takes action soon – I’m sure due to the length of the story – I’m a fairly happy camper.
Grade: B-
Summary:
A prophecy whispered in Jasmine Rosso’s ear by a gypsy fortuneteller in San Diego’s Seaport Village leads her to a sizzling night with sexy glass artist Jake Hartnett. But the clock’s running out on the time allotted to fulfill the prophecy, and if Jasmine doesn’t make a true love connection with Jake before midnight on Valentine’s Day, she’ll lose everything she’s worked so hard to achieve this past year…including the trendy martini bar and bistro, With a Twist, that she owns with her two best friends. Worst of all, she’ll lose Jake—the only man she’s ever wanted.
No excerpt available.
Shaking It Up by Erin Quinn
Published by Lucky Me Publisher
I’m glad Erin Quinn kept the fun in her story with the characters’ names, as all three authors did in the Secret Santa trilogy. So here we’re introduced to Daisy L’Amore and Romeo Corazón – perfect names for this second story in the series.
Daisy is the bartender of the three women. With Valentine’s Day bearing down on her, she’s taken by surprise when the crystal heart causes the bar to swirl in color and the floor to tremble and shake, then throw its light on a man just walking through the door – after the handsome bad boy who’s sitting at the bar leans down to retrieve a napkin. Of all the luck! The bad boy should be the one for her, but since the heart chose the nerd with the British accent, Daisy accepts a date with him.
But it’s Rome who’s in her thoughts, and when Daisy is stood up the next night, it’s also Rome who steps in to give her a good time. And, boy, does he give her one hell of a good time. They go directly to his place after a bit of small talk, and they make the earth move in no time at all. But Daisy knows she can’t let her two best friends down, so after that one wonderful night of lovemaking, she accepts another date with the heart’s choice.
Rome can’t believe she would just let what’s between them go, but with no chioce, he lets her go when she asks him to. Even when he receives a rescue call from Daisy when her date goes wrong, for some reason she still won’t commit. I love these two characters. You feel their desperation in more ways than one, and you cheer when one of them finally decides to push their way into love.
Grade: A
Summary:
Fate may have served up the wrong man, but for Daisy L’Amore, love comes with a twist.
Daisy L’Amore is faced with impossible choices. A prophecy given a year ago has Daisy and her two best friends racing the clock to find love before midnight on Valentine’s Day or they will lose everything they’ve worked for, including With a Twist, the martini bar and bistro the three of them own. A crystal heart and a gypsy’s words guide them, but love has a way of making its own rules, and Daisy is afraid to break them.
Romeo Corazón is shaking up Daisy’s world, but will the transformation he brings to her life be the downfall of everything she values? Or will falling in love with the wrong man make everything right?
This story is part of the sexy, martini-inspired With a Twist Valentine’s Day series by Amazon bestselling authors Erin Quinn, Calista Fox, and Mary Leo.
Stirring It Up by Mary Leo
Published by Pryde Multimedia
In this last book, Rose, who is the chef for With a Twist, is just as flummoxed as her friends when Valentine’s Day is nearing and there’s no love for her in sight. But then Jasmine’s cousin, Max, is back in town and she can’t believe he’s finally seeing her after years of being nearly invisible to him. She does her best to keep her distance, but it’s when he makes her face her dreams that Rose is truly lost to this man, despite the fact he broke her heart years before.
Max has always gone after what he wants when he wants. He’s traveled the globe learning from masters in every aspect of life that might tickle his fancy. His feelings for Rose haven’t lessened that wanderlust in him – even as he finally stirs up a passion in her to agree to go with him on his next adventure. Now that she’s able to confront her feelings for the man, she’ll go anywhere with him.
But as that day draws closer, Rose realizes she can’t leave behind everyone and everything that means so much to her – despite her feelings for Max. Will he leave again, without a look back? Can she really let him ago again?
Grade: B+
Summary:
When a gypsy’s predictions begin to come true, Rose Cupido dismisses them as coincidence. But when a past boyfriend, Max Rosso shows up exactly like the gypsy had predicted, Rose begins to think that true love may have finally found her.
Now, Max is stirring up Rose’s emotions and taunting her with an opportunity that could lead her away from everything she’s worked so hard to achieve. Could finding her one true love mean she has to give up her soul or is there another way to have it all?
No excerpt available.
Overall Grade: B
This is another fun trilogy by these three authors, though I have to say it’s not as fun as the Christmas trilogy. But I enjoyed the characters and the girls’ prediction troubles. Shaking It Up is my favorite of the three, which doesn’t surprise me since Erin Quinn is one of my favorite authors. The others are good, but they just don’t live up to Ms. Quinn’s ability to pull a reader into her characters’ lives and keep you invested until the end, no matter the length of the story. All three, though, are definitely worth an afternoon in your fave reading spot.
