Tag Archives: James Fox

Guest Review: Trust In Me by Dee Tenorio

James’s review of Trust in Me by Dee Tenorio
Contemporary Romance released by Samhain Publishing July on July 23, 2013​

Trust In MeSometimes falling in love is the easy part…

A Rancho del Cielo Romance

Locke Jackman is single, childless…and he has a bad case of empty nest syndrome. For years, as he fought tooth and nail to keep his brothers and sisters together after his parents died, his entire life was focused on his responsibilities.

Now his siblings have all moved on with their lives, and there’s no one around to distract him from his overpowering attraction to his sister’s best friend. Their mutual desire is stunning…but then again, so are the secrets keeping them apart.

Susie Packard’s nightmarish marriage taught her what happens when she gives in to her weakness for powerful men. Too bad the big, stoic frowner across the street—the one who sets her bells jangling just by breathing—has her in his sights.

Try as she might to keep her emotional distance, Locke is determinedly knocking down all her walls. But as much as she wants to be the woman he needs, she knows better than most—passion may have its rewards, but every secret has its price.

Warning: This book contains a hot, modern-day Viking seducing his way to the heart of his woman, a stubborn lingerie designer with a world of secrets and a very deep bathtub… Enjoy!

Dee Tenorio is one of my personal favorite authors, so I jumped at the chance to review this one. I’m happy I did because this turned out to be my favorite romance of the year. Continue reading

James Fox Book Launch!

My friends! Big to-do’s at ALBTALBS today! Big ticket item up for grabs too, which is only fitting for a book launch. James Fox has visited with us before, which he mentions below. He’s awesome. And he’s here to guest and tell us about his book. Dust Pan Girl.

BOOK LAUNCH + $50 GIVEAWAY

Hi ALBTALBSers!

My name is James Fox. You might remember me from one of Lime’s “Men Who Love Romance” Series.

I have a brand new book out on Kindle, and I’d like to tell you about it. It’s called Dust Pan Girl and its a Suspenseful Thriller. I know that it is a little out of the ALBTALBS wheelhouse, but Lime likes me. (I just sent Her a box of cherries from my family’s farm in Oregon.)

[He did. It + they were really awesome. Apparently I can be bribed with fresh produce. … And cupcakes. >.> For those of you taking notes.]

This is a book that looks at young love’s most horrific conclusion. Janet and Cort were High School sweethearts. Janet got pregnant and had a little girl. She named her Comet since she saw a shooting star the night she was born. 8 years later Janet runs a small bakery. She is constantly being harassed by Cort for drug money. One night she says no to him and he pulls out a knife. Instead of stabbing Janet he looks down to see his knife in Comet. He runs off as Janet rushes Comet to the ER. She’s OK! She saved herself by carrying her most prized possession in her coat. An old metal Dust Pan.

A reporter happens to be in the ER at the time and takes a picture. The story quickly becomes big time news, and it brings to town a masterful con man. He goes on exacerbating the situation for his own profit.

This is a story about manipulation, threats, exploitation, and the incredible bond between a mother and daughter.

A young girl is stabbed in the dark by her own father. Her mother races her to the hospital only to find out she is okay. She saved herself by carrying her most prized possession. An old metal dustpan that she loves to play with in her coat. The story brings to the small town of Hood River Oregon a con man of unquestionable skill, who will exploit the situation for money.

So for my giveaway I just want one thing from you guys. Comments to this post. That’s it. No purchase necessary. No need for posting of reviews on Amazon. (But that’d be neat too.)

Lime will choose the winner herself on Monday, and send me your mailing address. You’ll need to check back on the comments page to see if you won. I will then snail mail you a $50 Visa gift card.

Thanks everyone and feel free to post as many times as you’d like. Posts can be about anything regarding my book.

So do you read suspense or thrillers? What questions do you have for James? He’s giving me carte blanche for picking the winner, so I have to let you know, I like comments with substance! I included the official book blurb for you as well, just to get things going. 🙂

Debut of Men Who Read Romance: Enter Rock Star James Fox

YOU GUYS!!! I am so flipping excited to finally be able to debut this new ALBTALBS feature, after you know, talking about it for more than a year. I found our reading unicorn! 😉 Our first awesome guest is James Fox. He also writes. And more than that – what I care about – it being all about me 😉 is that he is the newest addition to the ALBTALBS review crew! (See?) So James Fox has been saving my bacon all week. He gets about 50 gold stars.

Without further ado… James.

Hi Everyone I’m James

I’m a Farmer living in Oregon. I have a wonderful Wife, and two great kids.
I have loved reading ever since I picked up my first copy of Calvin and Hobbes.
I would spend hours hidden in the crawlway beneath the stairs of our house reading by flashlight.

1. What’s the first romance that you ever read?
It Had To Be You By Susan Elizabeth Phillips

2. How did you get started reading romance?
When I was in middle school, my Grandpa would babysit me a lot. He was addicted to General Hospital, but wouldn’t let me watch it. Instead he told me to go grab a book off the shelf. There were only two kinds of books in my Grandparents house. It was either Louis L’Amour or Romance Novels. One day I was tired of reading about cowboys, so I picked up It Had To Be You. I remember that it had a lot to do with football, which I liked. It also had a great female lead character named Phoebe. In my head she always sounded like Madeline Kahn.

3. Who is your favorite author and what is your favorite romance novel?
Water For Elephants By Sara Gruen would be my favorite romance novel.
My favorite author is Joseph Heller who wrote Catch-22.

4. What would you like to see more of in romances? (What are your most and least favorite sub-genres?)
Miss Havisham from Great Expectations needs a reincarnation! What I’ve been reading has lacked that sort of punch.
I enjoy romantic suspense the most, but I hate it when the suspense swallows up the romantic storyline.
My current least favorite sub-genre is Vampires, with a permanent pass awarded to the Swedish novel Let The Right One In.
That book was a paranormal romance with young characters done perfectly.

5. What is something you hate (or dislike strongly) in romances?
I dislike it when a characters’ issues are magically solved by the end of the story.
Especially when a characters’ career makes a sudden U-turn. I think authors work too hard at a total happy ending.

6. Do you browse the romance section at bookstores? If you saw another guy there, would you offer recommendations, or ask for any?
This is a secret I’m not supposed to tell you. At the back of every book store there is a hidden room. Inside it’s wall to wall tough guys smoking cigars reading Nicholas Sparks aloud to each other. We haul out our new bodice rippers in hollowed out Harley Davidson coffee table books.
That way the ladies will never suspect us.

7. How involved are you in the romance community?
I follow a bunch of authors on twitter, and chime in on Goodreads.

8. Do your friends/family know you read romance novels?
It amuses my Wife who will point out to any visitor what I’m reading. She’ll point at a romance novel laying around, and then back away like its a hand grenade dipped in hot sauce.

9. What other genres do you enjoy reading, if any, and what are some of your hobbies aside from reading?
I enjoy thrillers, scary stories, and the occasional historical fiction.
Outside of that I enjoy hiking the trails here in Oregon with my kids. I try to run a marathon once a while, and I try to write novels.

Heh. He has a sense of humor, too. So! Let’s give Mr. Fox a warm welcome. And do you have any questions for him? I’m going to say – grill him! 😀 Anything is fair game!