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Too Hot To Handle by Portia Macintosh #BlogTour #RachelsRandomResources @rararesources @BoldwoodBooks

11 Apr 2025 4 Comments

by Ritu in Reviews, Thoughts Opinions & Memories Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blog Tour, Blogger, Blogging, Boldwood Books, Book Review, Book Tour, Portia Macintosh, Rachel's Random Resources

It is blog tour time for another book! This post is dedicated to Too Hot To Handle by Portia Macintpsh

The Blurb

The laugh out loud, sun-drenched holiday romance from MILLION COPY BESTSELLER Portia MacIntosh ✨ Tropes & Themes ✨ ✧ Wedding💗✧ Sun-drenched romance ☀️ ✧Forced proximity 🤭 ✧Sweet and spicy 🌶️✧ 😬Rivals

One bachelorette party. One stag do. One double-booked villa and only one way to decide who gets a competition.

Workaholic Molly is buzzing when her best friend tells her she’s getting married. As maid of honour Molly can’t wait for the perfect bachelorette party in Spain. What could be better than a week in a stunning villa? Sun, sea, cocktails and gossiping – and best of all, no boys allowed. But when the hens arrive they discover that they are not alone. The villa has been accidentally double booked by a group of stags who make it very clear they’re not leaving!

It’s a disaster, and no one wants to give up their place in paradise. Attempts at compromising fail instantly, so their only option is to have a winner takes all competition. Battle lines are drawn and it is girls v boys – but will the competition be too hot to handle?

As their rivalry heats up, and Molly finds herself gravitating towards stag Travis, it’s clear that he’s enjoying the attention – but Molly can’t let herself get distracted, and under no circumstances can she fall for the enemy.

My Review

Too Hot to Handle: Discover the next hilarious romantic comedy from million copy seller Portia Macintosh by Portia MacIntosh
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Lots of fantastic romance tropes rolled into one to make this a proper page turner of a read!
A luxury villa for two weeks in Spain, a destination wedding at a much sought after hotel, four girls (bride included) excited about a hen week, before a glam wedding… what could go wrong?
Finding that the villa was double booked. And there are four rather hunky male specimens already there, and not willing to give up their spot in paradise without a fight!
Molly, one of the ladies group, and a bridesmaid, is here after a break-up, which has left her doubting the male species. And she has a whole heap of work stress to deal with, too.
However, she keeps getting drawn to one lad, Travis, despite a girl pact that they would not get involved with any of the ‘enemies’ and concentrate their efforts on winning the villa for the second week.
This is 100% a romantic comedy with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. It also has the added spice of forced proximity, enemies to lovers, and that underlying spice throughout the trip.
I finished it in a day and thoroughly enjoyed it!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an ARC.

About the Author

Portia MacIntosh is the bestselling author of over 30 romantic comedy novels.

From disastrous dates to destination weddings, Portia’s romcoms are the perfect way to escape from day to day life, visiting sunny beaches in the summer and snowy villages at Christmas time. Whether it’s southern Italy or the Yorkshire coast, Portia’s stories are the holiday you’re craving, conveniently packed in between the pages.

Formerly a journalist, Portia has left the city, swapping the music biz for the moors, to live the (not so) quiet life with her husband and her dog in Yorkshire.

Find out more at www.portiamacintosh.com

Social Media Links –

Facebook: @macintoshportia

Twitter: @PortiaMacintosh

Instagram: @portiamacintoshauthor

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/PortiaMacIntoshNews

I knew You Were Trouble by Sandy Barker #BlogTour #RachelsRandomResources @rararesources @BoldwoodBooks

23 Mar 2025 4 Comments

by Ritu in Reviews Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blog Tour, Blogger, Blogging, Boldwood Books, Book Tour, Ever After Agency Series, Rachel's Random Resources, Sandy Barker

I am thrilled to be on the blog tour for my dear friend Sandy Barker and her latest (and last) installment in the Ever After Agency series, I Knew You Were Trouble.

The BRAND NEW instalment in Sandy Barker’s gorgeously romantic Ever After Agency series. Don’t get mad. Get even.

Kate Whitaker has always believed in love, but when a stranger named Willem shows up on her doorstep, the news he has to share isn’t as exciting as his god-like looks might suggest. He’s come to tell her that Kate’s fiancé is also engaged to his sister.

Kate doesn’t know how she didn’t see the red Jon’s work as an airline pilot having him flying around the globe, the postponed dates, the huge rock of an engagement ring that isn’t her style at all.

Overcome with fury – and entranced by the Nordic god’s piercing blue eyes and quiet allure – Kate agrees to accompany Willem to his hometown of Amsterdam to help break the news to his sister. Yet what begins as a simple gesture of support soon twists into a deliciously devious plan to get back at Jon.

Kate is drawn into a world of retribution, revenge and – unexpectedly – romance. Because sometimes the best way to get over someone is to get under someone else…

A laugh-out-loud romantic comedy about broken trust, sweet revenge, and the surprising places we find love. Perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella and Emily Henry.

My Review

I Knew You Were Trouble by Sandy Barker
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

😭😭😭 I’m not crying for any negative reason; it’s because this may be the last in the Ever After Agency Series, and I have become so invested in the characters that reappear, story after story!
But let’s not dwell on my sadness. Let’s embrace the fun of the story!
There’s a little twist in the tale this time, as Poppy, our favourite matchmaker from the Ever After Agency, engages in an activity for a client that is most definitely not matchmaking!
Poppy’s client, Kate, is reeling from discovering that her fiancé, Jon, is a two (three?) timing serial fiancé. Having originally found him through a match with another agency, Kate contacts Poppy for some help with revenge!
Oh, but the plot thickens. Kate finds she has feelings for the Thor-like Nordic Willem, who opens her eyes to the deception she has suffered. And he happens to be fiancé #2’s brother…
I’m not saying any more about the plot because you need to read the book, but suffice to say it was so engaging that I read it in one sitting.
We have a bit of travel, lots of ‘will they-won’t they?’ moments and some great side characters in the form of fiancé #2, almost fiancé 3, and Kate’s cousin Margot, who is hilarious!
I love that though the story is about a particular client, we get constant updates about Poppy, a pivotal character in all the series books. And her life is about to take its own new turn… are you sure this will be the end, Sandy B?
Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an ARC.

Purchase Link – https://mybook.to/KnewYouWereTrouble

About the Author

Sandy Barker is a writer, traveller and hopeful romantic.

Sandy’s first novel, One Summer in Santorini, a romantic comedy set in Greece and inspired by her own real-life love story with her partner, Ben, was published in 2019 by One More Chapter (HarperCollins), launching the 5-book Holiday Romance series. Also with One More Chapter are her Christmas Romance series, celebrating her favourite time of year, and The Dating Game, a stand-alone romcom set in the world of Reality TV.

Sandy’s new 5-book romcom series with Boldwood Books is about the Ever After Agency, a bespoke matchmaking agency based in London, with a brilliant cast of characters and settings around the world.

Facebook: @SandyBarkerAuthor

Instagram: @sandybarkerauthor

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/SandyBarkernews

Bookbub profile: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/sandy-barker

Under One Sky by Zoe Folbigg #BlogTour #RachelsRandomResources @rararesources @BoldwoodBooks @zoefolbigg

08 Mar 2025 Leave a comment

by Ritu in Reviews Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blog Tour, Blogger, Blogging, Boldwood Books, Book Review, Book Tour, Rachel's Random Resources, Under One Sky, Zoe Folbigg

My Blog Tour visit for Under One Sky By Zoe Folbigg.

From bestseller Zoë Folbigg comes this beautiful, romantic tale of finding love in the most unexpected places. Under the midnight sun of Arctic Norway, Cecilie goes online looking for friends, and stumbles across Hector Herrera. They start chatting and soon realise that they might have just fallen in love. But there’s a Hector lives thousands of miles away in Mexico. And he’s running from a tragic past.

Cecilie’s whole life has been anchored by sticking to what she knows and her job at the cafe in the town in which she grew up. Can she really make a leap of faith for someone she’s never met? And will Hector break free to change the path he’s on?

An unforgettable story about two people, living two very different lives under the same sky, and whether they can cross oceans, seas and fjords to give their love a chance.

My Review

Under One Sky by Zoë Folbigg
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Told from the viewpoint of three characters, this story is set in multiple locations, from Arctic Norway, Mexico and England.
Cecilie is a young woman who has never veered further than the country she was born in, Norway. She leads a self-contained life and is happy not to be too involved in anyone else’s life.
She strikes up an online friendship with Hector, known as The Mexican by many in Cecilie’s life, but this becomes something more profound.
Then there is British Kate. A woman who is struggling in her marriage, with a man who doesn’t appreciate her, and with a tenuous connection to Hector.
There is a lot of time hopping within the story which can get a little confusing, but essentially, we are following how Cecilie and Hector met in a chatroom, how their relationship developed and all that happened in between.
Kate’s chapters did feel a little redundant, as she is not really involved in Cecilie and Hector’s story, per se, until the end of the book. Maybe she deserves her own story.
Many thanks to Boldwood Books for an ARC.

About the Author

Zoë Folbigg is author of Amazon number-one bestseller The Note, based on the true story of how she met her husband on her daily commute and Amazon Prime’s biggest selling Kindle book of 2018. Zoë has written for magazines and newspapers in the UK and around the world; she wrote a weekly column in Fabulous magazine documenting her year-long round-the-world trip with ‘Train Man’ – and now lives with him, their sons and their cat Margot in Hertfordshire. Her seventh book Five Days is out 26th July 2024. You can follow her on Instagram @zoefolbigg

Social Media Links –

Facebook: @ZoëFolbiggauthor

Twitter: @zoefolbigg

Instagram: @zoefolbigg

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/ZoeFolbiggNews

Bookbub profile: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/zoe-folbigg

Happily Ever After by Jane Lovering #BlogTour #RachelsRandomResources @rararesources @BoldwoodBooks @janelovering

19 Feb 2025 Leave a comment

by Ritu in Reviews Tags: Blog, Blog Post, Blog Tour, Blogger, Blogging, Boldwood Books, Book Tour, Happily Ever AFter, Jane Lovering, Rachel's Random Resources, review

I am thrilled to be on the Blog Tour for Happily Ever After by Jane Lovering!

Andi Glover loves nothing more than a good book.

Any book in fact because when you’re raised by unconventional parents who think school’s for squares, alongside a deeply conventional sister who escapes home as soon as she can, fiction is eminently preferable to reality.

The only problem is that fiction isn’t the best way to learn about the real world. When Andi starts her new live-in job at Templewood Hall for the eccentric Lady Dawe and her enigmatic son Hugo, it’s tempting to think she’s fallen into the pages of one of her favourite gothic novels.

But the plot twists at Templewood Hall are stranger than fiction and it’s not long before Andi questions if she’s living in a romance novel or a whodunnit. Bumps in the night, a missing heir, ghostly apparitions and secrets that have been kept for generations – the mysteries mount up. Then there’s the inscrutable gardener who seems to appear when needed – is Andi right to hope for a happily-ever-after end to her story?

My Review

Happily Ever After by Jane Lovering
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Happily Ever After is a Gothic-inspired mystery with a slow-burn romance that picks up pace towards the end.
Andi arrives at Templewood Hall and is accosted by a rude gardener before she is interviewed for a position that she hopes she’ll get because she has no qualifications for anything else and nowhere else to go.
She lived a pretty unconventional life with her parents, moving around regularly and living in a converted bus. An opportunity arises for her to have a more normal life, though I’m not sure her position at Templewood Hall is anything close to normal!
Tasked with cataloguing the many books in Lady Tanith Dawe’s library, Andi lets her love of books create a whimsical dream of falling in love and marrying the rather gorgeous son and heir, Hugo. However, she is covertly given the real reason for Lady Dawes’ wanting the library organised, and it has a bit of a twist.
Is there romance? Yes, there is, but it doesn’t pick up speed until the book’s latter pages.
But Andi’s love of the classics is evident in her dreams of what might be, and the chapter headings are a great nod to those classics. Some may find Andi a difficult character to like. She doesn’t always appear to help herself, but things change as the story progresses, and she has the ending she deserves.
I tell you what, that Lady Dawes – she is a piece of work! A bit deluded!
For me, the hero of the book was the feline, called The Master (we never find out his real name!), who smells of fish and takes a real shine to Andi, being her shadow, trying to sleep in her bed, and even getting her out of some scrapes!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an ARC.
Purchase Link https://mybook.to/happilyever

Author Bio –

Jane Lovering is a bestselling and multi-award winning romantic comedy writer. Most recently Jane won the RNA Contemporary Romantic Novel Award in 2023 with A Cottage Full of Secrets. She lives in Yorkshire and has a cat and a bonkers terrier, as well as five children who have now left home.

Social Media Links –

Facebook: @jane.lovering

Twitter: @janelovering

Newsletter Sign Up: https://bit.ly/JaneLoveringNews

Bookbub profile: @janelovering