I adored the first Lakeside book, Love Next Door so I was very excited to review the next instalment. This is also our first Helena Hunting release of the year and I could not be more excited to be working with her again this year!

I am a member of Helena Hunting’s review team, but I stand by my reviews remaining honest and true.

“Teagan Firestone has always been the dutiful daughter, especially since her mom died. But as her father finally begins to move on, it’s her turn to do the same. Her destination: Pearl Lake, a close-knit community with an entrepreneurial spirit and secrets of its own.

One of them is Aaron Saunders, who dropped out of college to work construction for Pearl Lake’s upper class. He’s a mystery and has a playboy reputation—that is, until he meets Teagan. Neither of them is looking for love, but in a town this small, it’s hard not to let your heart get involved.

As their romance heats up, Aaron’s elusive past comes to light and Teagan is there for him, bringing them even closer together. But when Teagan is forced to face her own demons, her inability to accept the support of friends and family threatens the life she’s worked so hard to build.

Can Aaron love her, even when she can’t love herself?”

Check out my more detailed thoughts below…

• Characters: Our heroine is Teagan, she is Donovan’s sister whom you may remember from Love Next Door. We meet Teagan as she is moving out of her dad’s house and into the apartment above Donovan’s garage. The Teagan we met in the previous instalment seemed like an entitled rich girl, and now being in her head was so enlightening. I loved that she was caring, hardworking, and selfless. Helena matched these what are often seen as positive qualities and turned them on their head in the later parts of the book. Our hero is Aaron, the foul-mouthed construction worker, he works at the company that Dillon and her father run. This muscular, tattooed man comes across as a grump at first, but really he was that classic boy who did not know how to express his feelings so let’s just be moody with her instead. I did really love both of these characters and was invested not only in their romance but their personal journeys.
• Setting: This story is set in Pearl Lake. As Teagan picks up odd jobs all over town, you get to know more about Pearl Lake and its inhabitants. The town dismissed her at first, but as the story progressed she wormed her way into all their hearts. I loved this as it was very much the same journey I was having with Teagan. It was so wonderful to see Teagan and Aaron interact with the cast of side characters, I adored how Teagan formed a stronger sisterly relationship with Dillon and befriended her besties.
• Pacing: Pacing was pretty good overall. My one issue was that it felt like more time was given to Aaron’s problems than Teagan’s. We got more on-page time to see his healing process while Teagan’s used a lot of flashforwards. Despite the rushing, I really think Helena did a good job describing Teagan’s suffering and experiences.
• Romance: These two were sure hot and heavy. I loved that from the very beginning Teagan went after what she wanted. Some characters kiss and go on a first date, but that did not make as much sense for Teagan and Aaron. Their first kiss cascaded quite quickly into a delicious hookup. I adored their relationship journey, how they came to be boyfriend and girlfriend. That Teagan wore her heart on her sleeve while Aaron kept up his guard. I wanted them to work out so badly, I became such a fervent fan of them and this story!

Love on the Lake receives five out of five stars.

You can pick up the story here.

Follow Helena on all her social channels…

Instagram | Twitter | Facebook | Facebook Group | Website | Mailing List

Thank you again to Helena and her team for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!

The post Helena Hunting’s Love on the Lake ARC Review appeared first on ClaryNathanWill.

It is always very exciting to get a traditionally published romantic comedy-style book from Helena Hunting. I have worked with Montlake Romance in the past but Helena has never written with them. Happy to see two of my faves working together.

I am a member of Helena Hunting’s review team, but I stand by my reviews remaining honest and true.

Check out the Goodreads synopsis…

“When Dillion Stitch left her hometown, she had no intention of going back. But when her brother gets into trouble, Dillion reluctantly agrees to return home to take her place at the family business.

Being back in Pearl Lake after all these years feels familiar, but also brings a few surprises. She’s quick to notice that someone new has shown up at the cottage next door. Dillion gets more than an eyeful when she goes to check out the newcomer and meets Donovan “Van” Firestone—her beloved neighbor’s grandson—in all his unclothed glory.

Having gotten off to a rocky start, it’s not long before they begin bickering with each other all over town. All that back and forth inevitably sparks an undeniable attraction. But Dillion’s family has issues, Van’s family resents him, and neither Dillion nor Van feels truly at ease in the small town. For these Pearl Lake exiles, home isn’t just where the heart is—it’s where things get complicated.”

Check out my more detailed thoughts below…

• Characters: Dillion and Van are the main characters of this romance. Dillion grew up in Pearl Lake and when she had the opportunity to move to the big city she was up and off. Now post-break up and out of a job she is back to help her family out and to have a place to land for a bit. I really loved Dillion’s character as she is that fun mix of strongwilled and stubborn. She was a great heroine and Van was a great hero. Van ends up being Dillion’s neighbour as he inherits the house next door from his late grandmother and returns to pack it up. Van spent some summers there as a kid, but by no means is he a true local. Van matches Dillion in hardheadedness, but also an immense sense of determination. All around two A+ characters. There were so many interesting side characters so I am excited to see whom the next Lakeside story would be about.
• Setting: The story is set in Pearl Lake. Helena has discussed how the setting is directly inspired by Cottage Country, Ontario, Canada. I have never been because I am a bad Canadian who has never been to Ontario. Cottage Country is very special to my boyfriend and if the pandemic had not happened. We did have plans to go to one of his friend’s place but naturally, it was not safe to go. The setting was great for this story, as it was two older people returning home to a place they both loved in their youth. I loved the dichotomy of the tourist side and the locals side. I cannot wait to read more about the town’s dynamics in future installments.
• Pacing: I really enjoyed the pace that this story took. Nothing felt too rushed, either learning about each character and the romance itself. I read this book pretty fast and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a vacation read for this summer.
• Romance: This romance was great. Dillion and Van have a major roadblock in front of them, whether or not they will both stay in Pearl Lake. It is a classic burden put in front of many romance characters. I loved how much they struggled to stay away from each other. There were so many great scenes, that I for sure do not want to spoil. So I beg you pick up Dillion and Van’s romance and get whisked away to Pearl Lake.

Love Next Door receives five out of five stars.

You can pick up the story below…

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3oFVab6

Amazon Worldwide: https://geni.us/LoveNextDoorHH

Follow Helena on all her social channels…

Instagram: http://instagram.com/helenahunting 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HelenaHunting
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/Zt1xm5
Facebook Fan group: http://bit.ly/340v5tQ
Website: http://www.helenahunting.com/
Never miss an update! Subscribe to Helena’s mailing list:
http://bit.ly/2MlRKq6

Thank you again to Helena and her team for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!

The post Helena Hunting’s Love Next Door ARC Review appeared first on ClaryNathanWill.

I swear it still feels quite unbelievable that I have again been granted an ARC for a Colleen Hoover novel. It was a milestone for me in my blogging career when I was able to review Regretting You last year. I jumped at the chance to pick up Layla, Colleen’s first foray into paranormal romance.

Check out the Goodreads synopsis…

“From #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover comes a novel that explores life after tragedy and the enduring spirit of love.

When Leeds meets Layla, he’s convinced he’ll spend the rest of his life with her—until an unexpected attack leaves Layla fighting for her life. After weeks in the hospital, Layla recovers physically, but the emotional and mental scarring has altered the woman Leeds fell in love with. In order to put their relationship back on track, Leeds whisks Layla away to the bed-and-breakfast where they first met. Once they arrive, Layla’s behavior takes a bizarre turn. And that’s just one of many inexplicable occurrences.

Feeling distant from Layla, Leeds soon finds solace in Willow—another guest of the B&B with whom he forms a connection through their shared concerns. As his curiosity for Willow grows, his decision to help her find answers puts him in direct conflict with Layla’s well-being. Leeds soon realizes he has to make a choice because he can’t help both of them. But if he makes the wrong choice, it could be detrimental for all of them.”

Check out my more detailed thoughts below…

• Characters: Leeds and Layla are the main characters of this paranormal fantasy. Leeds is a bass player and a songwriter who meets Layla at her sister’s wedding. Leed first noticed her absolutely awful dancing and from then on he was mesmerized by her. I am going to stress now that you should really go into this story as blind as possible, so I am not going to tell you too much more.
• Pacing: This story is paced extremely well. The way Colleen wrote this makes you want to keep reading, just after the first few pages you cannot help but be hooked. She did an excellent job at revealing the information slowly, the mystery was so epic.
• Setting: The main setting of this story was the bed and breakfast where Layla’s sister Aspen had her wedding. A year later Leed decides to bring Layla back to the place they met and the hijinks ensue.
• Romance: In comparison to other CoHo romances I would not say the romance was the key factor in this story. This is not her usual contemporary romance it is a paranormal mystery story. If you loved Verity I think you would really like Layla. If you love her traditional romances I would really push you to still pick this up. The romance between Leeds and Layla is a great backdrop for the larger story. Leeds loves Layla to death and watching him fight for her in different ways over the course of the story.

Check out this Q&A with Colleen…

You have written in many different genres and always keep your fans wanting more. For Layla, you are dipping your toes into a paranormal story that has lots of secrets. How do you describe Layla without giving anything away? #spoilerfreezone 
What is supposed to be a short, romantic getaway for new couple Leeds and Layla turns into an extended vacation full of bizarre occurrences. But no matter how much Layla wants to leave, Leeds is more focused on finding answers for the unexplainable.
The paranormal elements in your story are faint…just a whisper…until they take over. What was it like adding another worldly twist to your writing for the first time?  It was HARD. Super hard. I love using my imagination, but I also love realistic stories, so I found myself trying to pull back on things I didn’t feel were realistic. But then it got a lot easier when I decided to just make Leeds’s reactions sort of mirror what I would do orsay in those early moments. I put a lot of my own thoughts in Leeds’s character. He finds it hard to explain some of the things that happen, so his reactions are probably what my reactions would be at first. Until there was no room left for doubt, anyway. Then his actions veer very far from what mine would have been.
Love-at-first-sight is such a mundane phrase for what these two share. Their passionate relationship seems to move in fast-forward. What is it about these characters that make their connection so instantaneous?
I knew where the story was going to go, so I needed their meet-cute to be believable, fun, and I wanted them to be a couple readers would root for. I probably rewrote that first chapter dozens of times,but I focused mainly on their banter. Sometimes we meet people we instantly click with on so many different levels. Leeds and Layla clicked with their sarcasm, their humor, their taste in music. And she read him without even knowing him. To Leeds that was special. I think he felt seen in a world where he’s often overlooked. 
It becomes somewhat of an inside joke between your couple that, before Layla, Leeds’ always wore a look like he was“dying inside.” The truth is that he was deeply unhappy before meeting Layla. How does she change his life?
Leeds is lonely and holding back on his dreams because of doubts. Leeds sees something different in Layla. She’s carefree, fun and gives him confidence to follow his dreams. In a sense, I think she’s his missing puzzle piece. She fills the parts of him that are empty.  
Before Leeds, Layla doesn’t have a real direction in her life. What does this romance provide to her and why is she so grateful to have found her hero? 
Layla is fresh out of college, living with her parents and unemployed. Leeds’s career gives her focus, and being with him in Tennessee got her out of a place where she probably felt useless and unproductive. 
Can readers expect more paranormal elements in your books moving forward?
I’ll never say never! 

Layla receives five out of five stars.

Follow Colleen on all her social channels…

Website: http://www.colleenhoover.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorColleenHoover/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/colleenhoover
Goodreads: 
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5430144.Colleen_Hoover

Thank you again to Colleen Hoover and Montlake Romance for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!

The post Colleen Hoover’s Layla ARC Review (& Giveaway) appeared first on ClaryNathanWill.

Introduction

Examining the marketing strategy behind Karina Halle’s Discretion perfectly illustrates the nature of marketing within the romance genre and how it differs from the marketing of other genres. In The Book Business: What Everyone Needs to Know, Mike Shatzin and Robert Paris Riger write about the future of the publishing industry, and how romance is shaping it. Shatzin and Riger propose, “at a future date it would be fascinating to study the shift from the mass-market paperback-dominated romance industry to the robust e-book-controlled romance world of today (128).” This paper will tackle one facet of the “robust e-book-controlled romance world of today,” how marketing for these e-books is vastly different than the strategies and best practices for any other genre within the publishing industry.

Catherine Sheldrick Ross’ contract theory of genres states that readers have clear expectations of what they have signed up for (Broadhurst). A writer must satisfy the request of their reader, in the case of romance there are expectations around meet cutes and happily ever afters that authors need to fulfill to make their readers happy. For many romance authors they must market their books as fulfilling the contract in order to bring their readers back for more. Ursula K. Le Guin’s piece “Staying Awake: Notes on the Alleged Decline in Reading” describes the relationship between the reader and the writer as one of mutual necessity (Le Guin). A writer needs a reader in order to have a story and this is the case no matter the genre. A unique aspect of the romance genre is that the marketing strategy also relies heavily upon the reader, the reader as a reviewer is an essential marketing tool that the best romance authors take advantage of. Through examining the marketing done by Karina Halle herself, the publisher Montlake Romance/Amazon Publishing, and the countless reviewers including myself one can garner the uniqueness within the industry of marketing for romance titles.

Marketing Done by Karina Halle Herself

An essential marketer in the romance genre is the authors themselves. The nature of the genre puts pressure on many romance authors to release books at a rapid pace. Karina Halle herself has published close to fifty books in less than ten years of writing. So, for an author like Karina Halle much of her fan base supports her overall rather than latching onto a particular book, and it is up to her in many cases to market her own books. Karina Halle started independently publishing in 2011 with the first book in her Experiment in Terror series, Darkhouse (“Darkhouse (Experiment”) Jumping forward to today, close to fifty books later Karina Halle has amassed over 4,500 members in her Facebook Fan Group(Karina Halle’s (Anti)Heroes,over 37,000 likes on her Facebook page (Karina Halle), over 12,400 Twitter followers(@metalblonde),and 31,500 followers on Instagram (authorhalle). It is on these platforms where her marketing for her books will take place. In the case of Discretion there was a heavy marketing presence before the release.

The marketing began from the day Karina Halle announced that Montlake Romance had acquired The Dumonts series. All three books in the trilogy had Goodreads pages, which prompted fans to quickly add the new stories to their to be read shelves and they began to post about their anticipation online. This was quite strategic as now Karina Halle’s fans were anticipating the release for months and because of this they were generating buzz online for months prior to release. When marketing was to be done closer to the release date many potential readers would have already had a familiarity with the anticipated series.

This leads us to the most anticipating drops in the romance reader world, the cover and synopsis reveal. The day before the cover reveal, Karina Halle took to her Facebook Fan Group, Karina Halle’s (Anti)Heroes to announce the cover and synopsis. These Facebook Fan Groups are vital places in which marketing can occur as it is a space in which the people in it will be very suspectable to wanting to read what you’ve written. By posting the cover and synopsis a day early to fans within this group, Karina Halle makes the fans here feel special and she makes group membership look like an easy way to gain exclusive content. Facebook Fan Groups allow for readers to feel more connected to the authors, and this connection pays off. Facebook Fan Groups also provide the ability for author takeovers and promotion. In this example another author Melanie Harlow posted a giveaway for her latest release Insatiable in the Karina Halle’s (Anti)Heroes group. Karina Halle also posts in other author’s Facebook Fan Groups in order to promote her books. These types of posts support and grow the overall community of romance writers, readers, and stories. Then later, on the actual cover reveal day she posted about the release on her public facing social media accounts. Within her posts on the cover reveal she positions her release as “think Dynasty crossed with Crazy Rich Asians (but make it Fashion! And French!)” Piquing her readers interest through positioning she eludes the reader to what they have signed up for, yet still leaves room to put her own spin on it and surprise her readers with twists and turns.

The next significant phase in Karina Halle’s own personal marketing is the weeks before release in which she continually reminds her readers in a certain number of weeks or days that Discretion is coming. These types of posts tend to contain teasers of what is to come in the upcoming novel. The example post provided, showcases how the teasers not only states a quote or passage from the book, they also illuminate aspects of the story and characters through the chosen imagery. Hence the man in the teaser who is portraying Olivier is tan in skin tone to highlight his Western European roots. In all the teasers for the second book in The Dumonts series Disarm, the woman in the teasers is of Indian descent in order to accurately portray that the leading lady of the story, Seraphine is of Indian descent.

The final stage of the marketing campaign from Karina Halle’s perspective takes place on the actual release day. On August 6^th, Karina Halle took to her social media accounts and shared her excitement about her latest release. Her Instagram featured a picture of herself with a finished trade paperback edition of Discretion. Karina advertises the book as a standalone romance in order to make the book seem approachable to new readers. Karina Halle also shouts out how to read her book, specifically she highlights the fact that it is available for free as a part of Kindle Unlimited. As well as referencing the fact that it is available in eBook, paperback, and audiobook in order to satisfy every readers preference for format. Karina Halle’s marketing starts to taper off here, she does naturally mention the book and celebrate any successes it sees on the Amazon charts. She does have to move on though pretty quickly as her next release followed soon after. Karina Halle does not go on a publicity tour or get any media attention. She moved on to discussing writing The Younger Man an independent published story she was working on, now releasing on December 11^th, 2019 (“The Younger”). As well as another independent release that came out on October 19^th, 2019, The Royal Rogue the fourth standalone story in her Nordic Royals series (“The Royal”). Karina Halle soon also began marketing the standalone sequel to Discretion, Disarm which released on November 19^th, 2019 (“Disarm (The”). Karina Halle has to repeat this process: cover reveal, teasers, and release day marketing with every new story. With a case like Discretion she even got another boost of marketing as upon the release of Disarm, she was once again able to market Discretion to new readers.

Marketing Done by Amazon Publishing

In most cases, romance authors do not have a publishing company behind them. Mike Shatzin and Robert Paris Riger write, “Romance, a huge category overall selling 156 million units… is now 96 percent e-books, and a controlling share of these—55 percent of romance units—are self-published independently (128).” For much of Karina Halle’s career, she was self-published and relied upon her own marketing and the enthusiasm of her fans through word of mouth to spread information about her latest releases. Many more authors are turning towards Amazon for help as through programs such as Kindle Unlimited and Audible exclusive releases romance authors are being rewarded for their dedication to their craft and the hard work they put into every story.

In Discretion’s case it was published under the Montlake Romance imprint of Amazon Publishing. Montlake Romance lacks its own social media presence so all marketing from the publisher is done on Amazon Publishing’s pages. During the release month of August, Amazon Publishing did market Discretion to their followers through promotional imagery and videos. Leading into September, Amazon Publishing began to include Discretion in videos as a part of a lineup of some of their other recent releases.

Amazon Publishing tagged Karina Halle in these posts and wrote similar body text to what Karina Halle wrote in her publicity posts for her own book. Yet Karina Halle’s social media posts have more engagement: more likes, comments, and shares. Karina Halle has spent years cultivating a fan base, while Amazon Publishing is still relatively new to the world of romance book publishing. Their strategies are good, they match the work that public relations companies such as Social Butterfly PR and InkSlinger PR have been doing quite effectively within the genre for years. It will take time for Amazon Publishing to become respected amongst the romance community due to the highs and lows of Amazon’s relationship with the community. Inventions like CreateSpace and Kindle Unlimited have gotten romance books into the hands of readers for which authors will be forever grateful. For every good side, there is bad though and Amazon has been bad to romance authors. Amazon has the power to decide if people see your book, specifically if the algorithm will show the book to potential readers. Lauren Blakely learned the hard way when months after her book The Engagement Gift had been released Amazon contacted her to let her know the book was deemed “erotica” based on a number of reviews that had described the book as such. Amazon refuses to recommend erotica to readers, so Lauren Blakely was told her book would no longer be recommended to potential readers. This forced Lauren Blakely to take the book off Amazon and to write more chapters in order to flush out the more love story aspects of the book to prove to Amazon it was not a hardcore erotica novel. Other authors, specifically Jay Crownover have had their release dates completely ruined when Amazon does not review their e-book in the timely manner, that they said they would and consequently the book does not go live on release day. It is cases such as these that have eroded the trust between Amazon and the romance community. In order for Montlake Romance to become successful at marketing to romance readers they will need to mend the broken relationship the community has with Amazon.

Marketing Done by Fans (Specifically Reviewers)

With the Amazon dynamic described above, it should come as no surprise that I will argue that the most prevalent marketing comes from the readers themselves, in two ways through fan excitement and through the work of reviewers. The aforementioned Karina Halle’s (Anti)Heroes is where these fans congregate and form a succinct marketing strategy. That strategy is the teasers to share, the promotional images to spread, the book cover to swoon over, and the release day celebrations. Karina Halle’s fans are encouraged by positive interactions with her and with other fans to pick up Discretion, review Discretion, and share their love for Discretion with other readers across the social internet. The nature of today’s internet has allowed for almost any fan to naturally and easily transition into a reviewer, thanks to such platforms as Goodreads. It is these fans that demonstrate where and how to get your hands on a copy.

The nature of the romance genre is that not every store will be able to carry all fifty books Karina Halle has ever published. Some authors have more success regionally, for example Helena Hunting a hockey romance writer from Ontario has many of her books in store in the Indigos of the greater Toronto area (“MEET CUTE”). While for someone like Karina Halle despite being a born and bred Vancouverite not a single trade paperback was available at any of the Indigo locations in the lower mainland (“DISCRETION by Karina”). This is common with every Karina Halle release, but is truly the norm with most romance authors. The best retailers for romance novels remain independent speciality stores, such as The Ripped Bodice in Los Angeles, California or Amazon for both the trade paperback and e-book format. BookNet data may demonstrate this book as a break-even book, maybe even a flop. BookNet data from September 20^th, 2019 stipulates that the book sold thirteen copies in the first seven weeks it was on sale (Broadhurst).Then compare that to two days after release on August 8^th, 2019 the book was a number one bestseller in the Billionaire Romance category on Amazon. This is marketing at work there was so many teasers and posts spread around about Discretion being on Amazon and being in Kindle Unlimited that much of the book’s success was on that platform. Despite Karina Halle’s Canadian heritage there was no considerable Canadian campaign, she chose to work with an American publisher, and the top retailer in Canada never carries any of her backlist.

The most influential marketers for romance authors, such as Karina Halle are her reviewers. As a reviewer myself I can speak to the process of obtaining the advance reader copy (ARC), writing the review, and sharing the review on social media. It was within the Karina Halle (Anti)Heroes Facebook Group that I first saw talk surrounding the ability to request the ARC on NetGalley. As Mike Shatzkin and Robert Paris Riger describe it, “a service… which makes it easy and much cheaper than it would otherwise be to distribute physical proofs to get the book in front of potential reviewers (40).” NetGalley is a great bridge between the publishers and the reviewers, as the publishers such as Montlake Romance can directly send a reviewer an e-galley that will transfer directly onto the reviewer’s Kindle device. Once you have been approved for an ARC by the publisher a reviewer is contacted by email with both a link to download the book on NetGalley and any specific notes from the publisher. Romance reviewers are used to a fast pace of reading, reviewing, and posting. In many cases an author will work with a PR company rather than with NetGalley and in many of those cases reviewers will have less than a week to read the book. NetGalley on the other hand caters more to traditionally published books so the books are actually finished months before release, which is not always the case with independent published books. For Karina Halle’s next release, The Younger Man, for which I am also reviewing I received the ARC on December 4^th and are expected to produce a review for the 11^th of December. While for Discretion I was given over a month to read the story and then craft a review. Montlake Romance was an immense help during the review writing process. Similarly, to the PR companies I am used to traditionally working with the reviewer is provided with a release blitz or a blog tour promotional package. This promotional package contains all the necessary information used to inform aspects of a review blog post, such as promotional images and teasers, excerpts from the story, links to the author’s social media, the author’s bio, and links to where the book can be purchased. These media promotion kits are essential as they promote a succinct strategy for the marketing campaign for an author’s new release. Reviewers are able to market the book using the teasers and excerpts that the author and the publisher wants people to get excited about. The final step in this process is to have all the reviewers post their reviews, collect them up through NetGalley or a Google Form, and interact with these reviewers on social media. Karina Halle will spend the days after a new book releases interacting with reviewers online, on Twitter for example she will like, comment on and re-tweet, reviewers’ tweets about their reviews. Reviewers will post their reviewers all over the internet from their blogs, to Twitter, to Goodreads, to NetGalley, to Amazon, and to BookBub. Fans ultimately trust reviewers over publishers when it comes to recommendations, so working with a well-established and well-loved reviewer goes a long way towards an effective marketing strategy.

Conclusion

Through examining the marketing of Karina Halle’s Discretion, one can gather just how unique marketing and publicity are in the world of romance publishing. The reader plays an essential role in the marketing of romance novels through interaction with the author, through spreading excitement about an upcoming release, and ultimately through dedication in reviewing. This does not discount the marketing done by the author herself, as Karina Halle is her best advocate online. As for Amazon Publishing, in a romance community dominated by independent publishing developing their marketing strategy will be an uphill battle. The hegemony of Amazon has not been stopped by traditional retailers and traditional formats in the face of digitally disruptive technology such as eBooks, Kindle Unlimited, and CreateSpace. I have no doubt that the hegemony of Amazon will make its impact felt in the romance publishing world as it has in the wider publishing industry.

Works Cited

Broadhurst, Jamie. “Readers and Genres.” Pub 350, 20 Sept. 2019, SFU Harbour Centre, Vancouver. Lecture.

“Darkhouse (Experiment in Terror #1) by Karina Halle.” Goodreads, Goodreads, Inc., www.goodreads.com/book/show/11356211-darkhouse.

“Disarm (The Dumonts #2) by Karina Halle.” Goodreads, Goodreads, Inc., www.goodreads.com/book/show/45693765-disarm.

“DISCRETION by Karina Halle (Paperback).” Indigo, www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/discretion/9781542008532-item.html?ikwid=discretion&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=0.

Halle, Karina. Karina Halle’s (Anti)Heroes, Facebook , www.facebook.com/groups/912577838806567/.

Halle, Karina. “authorhalle.” Instagram, www.instagram.com/authorhalle/.

Halle, Karina. Discretion. Seattle, Montlake Romance, 2019.

Halle, Karina. “Karina Halle.” Facebook, www.facebook.com/authorkarinahalle/.

Halle, Karina. “@MetalBlonde’s Twitter Bio.” Twitter, twitter.com/MetalBlonde.

“MEET CUTE by Helena Hunting (Paperback).” Indigo, www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/meet-cute/9781538760185-item.html?ikwid=meet+cute&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=1.

“Montlake Romance Media Kits.” Montlake Romance Media Kits, Amazon , montlakeromancemediakits.com/book/9781542008532.

Morden, Christina. “Karina Halle’s Discretion ARC Review.” ClaryNathanWill, 14 august 2019, clarynathanwill.com/.

“The Royal Rogue (Nordic Royals #4) by Karina Halle.” Goodreads, Goodreads, Inc., www.goodreads.com/book/show/48196387-the-royal-rogue.

Ursula K. Le Guin, Staying Awake: Notes on the alleged decline in reading, Harper’s Magazine, February 2008

“The Younger Man by Karina Halle.” Goodreads, Goodreads, Inc., www.goodreads.com/book/show/45446297-the-younger-man?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=arfk8AWsb8&rank=1.

The post The Marketing of Discretion by Karina Halle appeared first on ClaryNathanWill.

Discretion by Karina Halle is the first book in The Dumonts series. The Dumonts series is a three-book deal Karina Halle signed with Montlake Romance, an imprint of Amazon Publishing. Karina Halle is a New York Times bestselling author of fifty novels in the contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and horror romance genres. Looking at Discretion’s packaging and positioning by Montlake Romance, and the larger Amazon publishing team reveals a book that was deliberately designed as a follow up to what fans of Karina Halle and the romance genre agree upon as how a novel within the romance genre should be packaged and positioned.

Packaging

Amazon made the decision to publish the book as a trade paperback, foregoing the decision to publish the first edition in hardback. This choice is aligned with those of publishers who publish equivalent romance novels such as Forever, Atria, William and Morrow. Montlake positioned the book as valuable as an e-Book by selling it at a low price on the Kindle Store and by placing the book in the Kindle Unlimited program. The package design is the same across all markets, as Amazon is selling an English language version across its various global sites.

In terms of cover design, Montlake Romance went with the work of Hang Le (Halle), an industry leader in romance novel cover design. Hang Le has done many covers for Karina Halle before including, My Life in Shambles, Nothing Personal, The Swedish Prince, After All, Before I Ever Met You, and A Nordic King to name just a few (@byhangle). Leading romance authors such as Sierra Simone, Sarina Bowen, Melanie Harlow, Jay Crownover, Emma Chase, and Jennifer L. Armentrout (@byhangle).

Hang Le’s style is to make a series or an author’s books have a coherent style through the use of similar fonts and placements. In the case of Karina Halle, many of her books designed by Hang Le follow the style below

The covers of The Dumonts series that have been released so far are Discretion and its sequel Disarm.

There is a consistency of font choices with Karina Halle’s name appearing in Bodoni and the respective titles appearing in Versus Regular (“WhatTheFont”). The font choices are perfect as Bodoni’s history sees it used all over high fashion magazines, and the story features the Dumont family that works within Paris’ high fashion industry. The cover image for Discretion, is in line with both Karina Halle’s cover history, as well as many of the covers of bestselling romance novels. The classic imagery of featuring the male protagonist on the cover can be seen across the genre. Discretion’s cover model is Mitchell Wick and the photo was taken by Wong Sim (Halle).

The back cover features the lede “There’s rich. Then there’s filthy rich,” then the book description, and some imagery of the French Riviera where the book is set. The lede on the physical edition of the book differs from the lede online. On both Goodreads and Amazon, the lede is as follows, “From New York Times bestselling author Karina Halle comes a delicious saga of wealth, luxury, and scandal—and the wicked secrets of success behind an envied family dynasty.” (Goodreads and Amazon.ca)

The lede on the trade paperback edition has problems connecting to the image on the cover. The man pictured on the cover does not immediately scream wealth to me, maybe him pictured in a suit with an expensive watch on his wrist. There is even a scene in the book where the male protagonist, Olivier goes to a masquerade ball. If that scene was depicted on the cover it would have better reflected the wealth of the Dumont family as stipulated in the lede. The use of the word filthy here has a double entendre. Olivier Dumont is filthy rich, being the son of a wealthy family dynasty. The word is also supposed to allude to Olivier’s talents in the bedroom. A staple of the romance genre, the man is experienced in the bedroom and brings great pleasure to the female protagonist.

Turning the tables now to look at the online lede, which is longer and eludes to symbolic capital. Within the online lede of the description Karina Halle is highlighted as a New York Times Bestselling author. This mention is an appeal to Karina Halle’s symbolic capital, as your book appearing on the New York Times bestseller list is a great honour. It demonstrates to a larger audience that your book is reaching a wider audience, as Everett Rogers would say the book is reaching the early majority or even late majority, not just the innovators and early adopters. (Broadhurst) Karina Halle made the New York Times Bestseller list back in March of 2016, when she hit the number three spot on the E-Book Fiction list (“The New York Times Best Sellers”). This lede is longer first explaining that Discretion is first in a saga, as it is the first book in a three-book series. The choice not to display that the book is the first in the series on the cover is deliberate. In order to attract a wider readership, the series is one of related standalones with different protagonists set in the same world, in order to encourage readers to read any of the books in the series in any order. This lede also mentions the nature of secrets which is a big part of Discretion. The cover model can be seen as quite mysterious, the nature of him in profile rather than staring at the reader in a straightforward manner illustrates that he has something to hide.

Positioning

Discretion is positioned as a suspense romance book by Amazon. As a piece of genre fiction, the story is not positioned for a literary fiction crowd, rather it would be categorized as commercial fiction. The focus for Discretion is ultimately on the story, rather than on the writing style placing it firmly in the commercial fiction category. Discretion perfectly fits within the contract theory of genre fiction outlined by Catherine Sheldrick Ross (Broadhurst). It honours the rules around a happily ever after or HEA and a meet-cute that are essential requirements in a romance story, requirements that the reader expects the author to fulfill.

The book description eloquently displays how Montlake Romance is positioning Discretion. Following the different versions of the lede is the book description:

“The Riviera means indulgence—if you’ve got money. For Sadie Reynolds, a down-on-her-luck student, the Riviera means dingy hostels and back streets. When a wrong turn puts her in jeopardy, the last thing she expects is to be saved by the most handsome stranger she’s ever locked eyes with. When she later wakes up in a luxury suite with a Mediterranean view, she’s in the tender care of her rescuer: Olivier Dumont, France’s most eligible bachelor, billionaire hotelier, and heir to the Dumont fashion fortune.

Olivier also owns his reputation for scandal. But Sadie is unlike any woman he’s ever met. Her humble persona and wild innocence promise real passion. He’s promising Sadie something too: anything she wants. From Bordeaux to Cannes to Paris, Sadie’s past in America is swept away and replaced with a fantasy too good to be true.

Pulled into Olivier’s orbit of wealth, glamour, and excess, Sadie discovers that the Dumont dynasty comes with a legacy of wicked secrets. And Olivier’s secrets may be the most damning of all…” (Goodreads and Amazon.ca)

The description of Discretion positions it as a book that will fulfill the task of the escape. Clayton M. Christensen discusses how “we ‘hire’ products for a specific ‘job’ (Broadhurst).” Discretion, other books by Karina Halle and many stories within the romance genre are “hired” for the “jobs” of independence and escapism. The independence of a mother taking time away from her busy life and family, the book provides escapism taking her away to a foreign place, to a life of luxury she can only dream of. Sadie, the protagonist is the gateway to this escapism as she is a young woman who is rescued by a dreamy French billionaire.

Discretion has been positioned without endorsements from other authors or any leading publications such as Publishers Weekly, Booklist, or the New York Times Book Review. Positioning within the romance genre tends to follow the weak theory of positioning. As John Phillip Jones stipulates the average consumer is intelligent but apathetic (Broadhurst). The same is for the book consumer, so spending lots of money, time, and effort on glowing endorsements is not effective in the industry. The huge majority of romance novels feature endorsements from readers either from Goodreads reviews or book blogs rather than industry elites. Though many authors still end up endorsing books through social media buzz, rather than having endorsements appear on the physical package.

The trade paperback edition of Discretion from Amazon lacks any mention on a suggested retail price or SRP. This may deliberately relate to how Montlake Romance has positioned the book. Discretion within the Canadian market was only easily available through the Amazon website. No physical copies were available in any of Indigo stores in Vancouver’s lower mainland. I could find one store in the Toronto area that may have had one copy of the book. The only route Indigo had for purchasing this book was through their online store, for the price of $18.95 (Indigo). While on Amazon.ca the trade paperback costs $15.35 and the E-book only $1.99 (Amazon.ca) Amazon has positioned this book deliberately to be read by many as a part of the Kindle Unlimited program. The Kindle Unlimited program offers unlimited access to over a million E-books that can be read on the Kindle or on the Kindle App for the price of $9.99 a month (Amazon.ca). This program is positioned for the avid reader and Discretion along with the romance genre in general is as well. Speaking from experiences I have had with romance readers online they read so many books and that gets expensive. So, a program like Kindle Unlimited is so popular within the genre as a way for romance readers to save money while still getting to read all the steamy stories they love.

Montlake Romance has positioned Discretion to an audience of Karina Halle fans and loyal romance genre readers. The physical package has its issues, at least the copy I was sent the image and lettering on spine does not properly line up with the physical width of the spine. This book was not positioned to be bought and sold in a physical trade paperback, the E-book is priced at a reduced rate and is available in Kindle Unlimited. These choices display how Amazon has positioned this book in the Canadian market as a fun, adventurous, escapist e-book read.

Bibliography

Amazon.ca. “Discretion (The Dumonts Book 1).” Amazon.ca, Amazon.com Inc and affiliates, www.amazon.ca/Discretion-Dumonts-Book-Karina-Halle-ebook/dp/B07MYXWMQW/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1RABYVY8NI5H&keywords=discretion+karina+halle&qid=1571086941&sprefix=discretion%2Caps%2C215&sr=8-1.

Broadhurst, Jamie. “Harry Potter and the Perils of the Blockbuster.” Pub 350, 11 Oct. 2019, SFU Harbour Centre, Vancouver. Lecture.

Broadhurst, Jamie. “Readers and Genres.” Pub 350, 20 Sept. 2019, SFU Harbour Centre, Vancouver. Lecture.

@byhangle, Hang. “byhangle.” Instagram, www.instagram.com/byhangle/?hl=en.

Goodreads. “Discretion (The Dumonts, #1) by Karina Halle.” Goodreads, Goodreads, Inc., www.goodreads.com/book/show/43806074-discretion?ac=1&from_search=true.

Halle, Karina. Discretion. Seattle, Montlake Romance, 2019.

Indigo. “Discretion, Book by Karina Halle.” Indigo, www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/discretion/9781542008532-item.html?ikwid=discretion&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=4.

“The New York Times Best Sellers.” The New York Times [New York], 5 Mar. 2016, www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/2016/03/05/.

“WhatTheFont.” My Fonts, My Fonts Inc., www.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/.

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Helena Hunting is the queen of hockey romance! So I was over the moon to see her write this hockey romance trope, the relationship blocked by team dynamics as the female love interest is someone’s daughter. In A Secret for a Secret’s case, Queenie is the general manager’s daughter, but that does not stop a beautiful relationship that blooms between her and the team’s goalie, Ryan Kingston.

Check out the Goodreads synopsis…

“From New York Times bestselling author Helena Hunting comes a new romance about trading secrets, breaking the rules, and playing for keeps.

My name is Ryan Kingston, and I’m a rule follower. I’ve never been in a fistfight. I always obey the speed limit. I don’t get drunk, and I definitely don’t pick up random women at bars.

Except the night I found out that my whole existence has been a lie.

I got drunk. And picked up a stranger.

Her name was Queenie, and she was everything I’m not: reckless, impulsive, and chaotic. We did shots and traded secrets. And ended up naked at my place.

She left me a thank-you note in the morning and her panties as a parting gift. But no way to contact her.

Six weeks later I’m sitting in the first official team meeting of the season, and there she is. I neglected to mention that I’m the goalie for Seattle’s NHL team.

And Queenie? Turns out she’s the general manager’s daughter.”

Check out my more detailed thoughts below…

• Characters: Queenie and Ryan Kingston are the main characters of A Secret for a Secret. I wanna start with the boy scout himself Ryan was adorable, sweet, and a breath of fresh air for the genre. The vast majority of the time when it comes to hockey romance it is the male player who is quite the hotheaded alpha. Ryan instead is a rule follower, who drives like he is always on a driving test. I am biased as a rule follower myself, I loved Ryan! While Queenie is the chaotic, artistic, lively opposite for Ryan to be attracted to. She is such a strong female lead, a girl all of us women won’t help but relate to in some way. Her insecurities are in line with many women and watching her self-esteem and confidence grow over the course of the story was heartwarming.
• Setting: Seattle is the setting for the story, as Ryan plays for the new Seattle franchise team and Queenie’s father is their general manager. I am a PNW girl so I have a soft spot in my heart for Seattle, I wish Helena would allow it to shine just a bit more outside of the fact it was raining frequently haha. What I love often about how Helena sets her books though is that they are surrounded by the team, in their homes, in the arena, in the box the WAGS watch the games from. I absolutely adore the close-up picture of these hockey player’s lives that she paints with the setting.
• Romance: Gotta love when that hookup becomes more right? What a fun trope to watch a beautiful romance bloom from. The depth that these two fell hard and fast for each other brought me to tears. To read from Queenie’s perspective leant a view on how a relationship can help you see the best in yourself and help you to appreciate your own worthiness. Maybe I connect with this a little too hard, I feel very similar in how my relationship strengthens me and has helped me with a range of insecurities from body image issues to being overly shy. For Ryan love allowed him to task risks, to go outside his comfort zone and to ultimately stand up for himself and what he most wants in life. His character development on this front was marvellous and the book delivers a sweet payoff for his arc pertaining to his more rebellious side. Queenie and Ryan bring out the best in each other and for as many times Queenie describes herself as a chaotic storm, a hurricane in Ryan’s life. Ryan counters that with simply displaying the nature of their relationship of one of jovial laughter and a trust that can hold even the darkest of secrets.

A Secret for a Secret receives five out of five stars.

You can pick up the story below…

Download your copy today or read for FREE in Kindle Unlimited!
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2PuergO
Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/SecretforSecret
Amazon Paperback: https://amzn.to/2PwTgec
Amazon Audio: https://amzn.to/2YYr8U2

Follow Helena on all her social channels…

Instagram: http://instagram.com/helenahunting 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HelenaHunting
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/Zt1xm5
Facebook Fan group: http://bit.ly/340v5tQ
Website: http://www.helenahunting.com/
Never miss an update! Subscribe to Helena’s mailing list:
http://bit.ly/2MlRKq6

Thank you again to Helena Hunting, Montlake Romance, SocialButterflyPR, and Netgalley for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!

The post Helena Hunting’s A Secret for a Secret ARC Review appeared first on ClaryNathanWill.

I could not be more excited to bring you another Karina Halle review, love my fellow Canadian so much, she always kills it!

Check out the Goodreads synopsis below…

“From New York Times bestselling author Karina Halle comes a seductive novel of riches, romance, and redemption.

In the Dumont fashion empire, no heir has a reputation as decadent, arrogant, and ruthless as that of Pascal Dumont. Every transgression, an indecent pleasure. Every woman, a conquest. And none is more challenging than his new personal assistant, Gabrielle Caron. She’s defiant, alluring, and a mystery Pascal can’t wait to solve.

A former family servant and daughter of the head maid, Gabrielle’s returned as suddenly as she left eight years ago. No longer an awkward teen, the ethereal young beauty has amassed a wealth of resolve. She’ll need it. In hire to the devilishly charming scion, she’s come back for one reason only. And she dare not whisper why.

But as the nights grow more intimate at the Dumont maison, Gabrielle realizes that the last man she believed in is the one man she can trust with her secrets. For Pascal, falling in love means more than his own redemption. It could mean saving Gabrielle’s very life as they confront a dark and scandalous past…together.”

Check out my more detailed thoughts below…

• Characters: Pascale and Gabrielle are the main characters of Karina’s latest story. Pascale has been with us from the beginning, mostly in a villainous role. Finally getting into Pascale’s head was so worth it, to see that he is really a boy scared to death of what his father is capable of. And this fear towards his father spurs every action in Pascale’s life. Gabrielle was super interesting, she is someone who has channelled her hardships in life into a hard exterior. Once you get to know her a bit better you see just how multidimensional she is.
• Setting: The Dumonts has taken place mostly in Paris and it has been wonderful. Karina does such a phenomenal job of depicting the setting of Paris.
• Romance: I had been hoping to read Pascale’s love story for a long time. I was so ready to redeem him. In actuality it was so much better Gabrielle lets Pascale be his true self and what more could you ask for in a relationship.

Disavow receives five out of five stars.

Follow Karina at the links below…

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkarinahalle/ 
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2vo9pq4 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorhalle/ 
Join her Reader Group: https://goo.gl/wpCBSS 
Stay up to date with Karina by signing up for her newsletter here: https://goo.gl/Ve4eCh

Thank you to Karina and her team for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog. And be sure to enter the giveaway below!

The post Karina Halle’s Disavow ARC Review appeared first on ClaryNathanWill.

Who doesn’t love more hockey romance from the Canadian Hockey Goddess herself Helena Hunting? This All In series started strong with, A Lie for a Lie and this strength continues into A Favor for a Favor.

Check out the Goodreads synopsis below…

“From the New York Times bestselling author of Pucked and A Lie for a Lie, a new stand-alone romance about trading favors, battling wills, and winning love.

When I joined Seattle’s NHL expansion team, I thought it was the start of something great. But nothing ever goes the way you expect. Take my introduction to my new neighbor. She came rolling in on the hot mess express at midnight, making a racket while she tried to get into my team captain’s apartment. Did I mention that he’s married to a woman who definitely was not her?

Imagine my surprise when I end up with an injury that has me out of the game for weeks, and she’s the one to offer to help me. I should probably add that she’s not the captain’s mistress. She’s his sexy, pastel-haired younger sister.

So we come up with an arrangement: she rehabs me so that I can get back on the ice sooner, and she can add a professional athlete that isn’t her brother to her client list. Seems simple enough. As long as I can keep my hands to myself and my hormones in check.”

Check out my more detailed thoughts below…

• Characters: Stevie and Bishop are the dual point of views that Helena provides in this wonderful story. Stevie is the little sister of RJ, who was the male love interest of the first standalone in the series. Stevie has lived her entire life in the limelight of her brother and she is sick of it. Despite her drive for independence and making her own choices, you do see the cracks in her facade of a baby sister who just wanted the love of her bigger brother and the rest of her family. Bishop is RJ’s teammate and due to confusing circumstances comes across as an asshole at the beginning of the story, but he is really a big softie.
• Setting: Seattle is the setting as we have switched to focusing on the new Seattle franchise that was beginning to be established back in the Pucked series. I am a PNWesterner so I love Seattle dearly so I love focusing the story here. I just hope in the third standalone it features the city itself just a bit more.
• Pacing: This was paced quite well, a bit slow to the action but it allowed for a wonderful slow burn and lots of sexual tension.
• Romance: Talk about two people who needed each other dearly. People burned by love, loss, and life in non-average ways. Watching them give in to their desires for each other and their larger in life love was absolutely joyous.

A Favor for a Favor receives five out of five stars.

You can pick up the story below…

Amazon US → https://amzn.to/31LPGjq 
CA → https://amzn.to/30zMMgT
UK → https://amzn.to/2QlrVOr
AU → https://amzn.to/2IhEofr
Amazon Universal → mybook.to/aFavor4aFavor

Follow Helena on all her social channels…

Instagram: http://instagram.com/helenahunting Twitter: https://twitter.com/HelenaHunting
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/Zt1xm5
Facebook Fan group: http://bit.ly/340v5tQ
Website: http://www.helenahunting.com/
Never miss an update! Subscribe to Helena’s mailing list:
http://bit.ly/2MlRKq6

Thank you again to Helena Hunting, Montlake Romance, SocialButterflyPR, and Netgalley for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!

The post Helena Hunting’s A Favor for a Favor ARC Review appeared first on ClaryNathanWill.

With help from Montlake Romance, I am available to provide an exclusive excerpt, author interview, and a rafflecopter interview if you stick around until the end of the review.

I cannot even properly describe what this opportunity has meant for me. CoHo is the pinnacle of the genre, a monolith, a superstar! I am so grateful that getting closer to the team at Montlake this year allowed for the opportunity to review for Colleen. Earlier this year I was denied a copy of Verity and it stung, I wanted to read an ARC of Colleen’s so badly. To now be receiving my chance with a book like Regretting You. It is such an honour as this book is a masterpiece, the best book I read all year. A book I want to gift to anyone and everyone, I want to scream from the rooftops about just how phenomenal Regretting You is! As Publishers Weekly puts it “this is Hoover at her very best.”

Check out the Goodreads synopsis below…

“From #1 New York Times bestselling author of It Ends with Us comes a poignant novel about family, first love, grief, and betrayal that will touch the hearts of both mothers and daughters.

Morgan Grant and her sixteen-year-old daughter, Clara, would like nothing more than to be nothing alike.

Morgan is determined to prevent her daughter from making the same mistakes she did. By getting pregnant and married way too young, Morgan put her own dreams on hold. Clara doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Her predictable mother doesn’t have a spontaneous bone in her body.

With warring personalities and conflicting goals, Morgan and Clara find it increasingly difficult to coexist. The only person who can bring peace to the household is Chris—Morgan’s husband, Clara’s father, and the family anchor. But that peace is shattered when Chris is involved in a tragic and questionable accident. The heartbreaking and long-lasting consequences will reach far beyond just Morgan and Clara.

While struggling to rebuild everything that crashed around them, Morgan finds comfort in the last person she expects to, and Clara turns to the one boy she’s been forbidden to see. With each passing day, new secrets, resentment, and misunderstandings make mother and daughter fall further apart. So far apart, it might be impossible for them to ever fall back together.”

Check out my more detailed thoughts…

• Characters: There are a few characters who deeply affect the story including the protagonists, the mother-daughter combo of Morgan and Clara, along with their immediate family including Morgan’s husband/Clara’s father Chris, Morgan’s sister/Clara’s aunt Jenny, Jenny’s partner/Morgan and Chris’s high school friend Jonah, and the boy Clara has a crush on Miller. Each character has a deep effect on both Morgan and Clara, as they bring about deep losses and pain. This story is about how Morgan, Clara, and other characters cope with this pain.
• Pacing: Colleen was a mastermind of plot twists. The nature of how the small pieces of the bigger puzzle fell was phenomenal. I could not help but be on the edge of my seat the entire reading experience.
• Romance: This story was one of multiple romances. I cannot even go into them too deep because of spoilers. You need to pick up this book, go in as blind as possible. Trust me! It will be so worth it.

If I haven’t convinced you yet check out this excerpt…

I give Regretting You five out of five stars.

Montlake has kindly provided an exclusive interview with Colleen…

You are ‘label-less’ in the fact that you write in several genres. Readers never know what to expect next. If someone asks, how do you label yourself?
When I self-published my first novel I had no idea what genre to put it in. I thought I had written a drama but it turns to that I had written a romance. I’ve learned a lot since then, but I still don’t put a lot of weight in genre when I write. When your best friend is begging you to read a book, it’s not going to matter what genre it is when someone you trust is passionate about the story.

To keep all of your stories and characters straight, you must be very organized.
I’m the most disorganized person you will ever meet! I have no schedule. I can’t wake up before nine in the morning. I probably don’t go to bed until like three in the morning. I usually work about 16 hours a day. 

What happens if you get blocked when you are writing? 
If I get stuck writing, I go for a drive and play music. Music really helps me plot. I love The Avett Brothers, X Ambassadors, Airborne Toxic Event…I could go on and on. 

What can you tell readers about your latest release Regretting You?
I would spoil it if I told you about it! Most of my books are like that. I can’t say what they are about or it spoils it. But I can say that Regretting You is told from a dual point-of-view centered on the inner lives of both a teen and adult protagonist.

Sounds like lots of different types of readers will be interested!
Absolutely. I wanted to write a book that bridged the gap between young adult and contemporary romance so that mothers can read with their daughters. I think it’s exciting to see people sharing reading experiences. 

Follow Colleen at the links below…

Website: http://www.colleenhoover.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorColleenHoover/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/colleenhoover
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5430144.Colleen_Hoover

Thank you again to Collen and her team. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog.

The post Colleen Hoover’s Regretting You ARC Review appeared first on ClaryNathanWill.

With help from Montlake Romance, I am available to provide an exclusive excerpt, author interview, and a rafflecopter interview if you stick around until the end of the review.

This story is totally in the vein of Karina’s past romantic suspense novels. She is an amazing author, one of my faves so I am always excited to review for her regularly.

Check out the Goodreads synopsis below…

“Seraphine Dumont seems to have it all: she’s gorgeous, brilliant, and part of one of France’s most illustrious dynasties. But underneath the facade, Seraphine struggles to hold it all together. Besides grieving her adoptive father’s suspicious and sudden death, she also shares a tenuous role in the family business with Blaise, her in-name-only cousin. As tumultuous as their history is, he may be the only member of the deceptive Dumont family she can trust.

Seraphine is a temptation Blaise can’t resist. The torch he’s carried for years still burns. It’s his secret—a quiet obsession just out of reach. Until his brother demands that he spy on the increasingly cagey Seraphine, whom their father considers a dispensable Dumont outlier. But the more Blaise watches her and the closer he gets, the more he sees Seraphine may have every right to be suspicious. And she could be the next one in danger—from his own family.

As blood runs hot and hearts give in, Seraphine and Blaise have only each other. But can their love survive the secrets they’re about to uncover?”

Check out my more detailed thoughts…

• Characters: Seraphine and Blaise are the main characters in Karina’s latest installment in the Dumont series. Having met them in the previous book I had thought I had made up my mind about who these characters were, but in true Karina fashion, she made me second guess the conclusions I had drawn. Seraphine is a Dumont in name alone, having been adopted by the family as a young orphan of Indian descent from London. She is an outsider, and many Dumonts have never and will not ever see her as a true member of the family. This deeply affects every move she makes, and she sure is very calculating. Blaise is Seraphine’s cousin, and being from the evil branch of the family I had already discounted him. What Disarm eloquently displays is that Blaise has many sides to him and that he is truly an outsider as well.
• Setting: You cannot beat Karina’s books set all over Europe. The Dumonts transports readers to a lush Parisian setting.
• Pacing: Karina always paces her books extremely well.
• Romance: Seraphine and Blaise as I described above are both outsiders within their larger family. It was this fact that made them perfect for one another, in a world that pitted itself against them. Seraphine and Blaise only have each other to lean on, and they both have such a rich history of finding solace in each other. There is the taboo element of this romance, they have been in fact raised as cousins. They are not blood-related, instead they are the perfect example of even when you fall in love with the worst possible person, that loves finds a way.

If I haven’t convinced you yet check out this excerpt…

Montlake has kindly provided an exclusive interview with Karina…

If you want to keep in touch with Karina, follow her below…

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkarinahalle/ 
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2vo9pq4 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorhalle/ 
Join her Reader Group: https://goo.gl/wpCBSS 
Stay up to date with Karina by signing up for her newsletter here: https://goo.gl/Ve4eCh

Thank you to Karina and her team for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog. And be sure to enter the giveaway below!

The post Karina Halle’s Disarm ARC Review appeared first on ClaryNathanWill.