Since we will be moving to a new base in a month, one that’s on the beach, I definitely needed to come up with my beach bag list of reads. It was pretty hard to do but I think I have a good mix going.
Kat Scratched
By: D.T. Dyllin
Genre: Paranormal Erotic Romance
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It’s tough being a cat in a dog eat dog world. Something that Katrina Walker learned the hard way being a were-cat raised by a pack of werewolves. And after her taboo love affair with the future Alpha is discovered, Kat has no choice but to leave the only home and man she’s ever loved behind for good. Or so she thought…
Seven years later Kat is forced to return to pack lands and the man she left behind. But Jason Benson has changed, and so has she. Will she find her way back into the arms of her first love, or will James, the mysterious were-cat wriggle his way into her heart?
Taking Chances
By: Molly McAdams
Genre: New Adult Romance
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Eighteen-year-old Harper has grown up under the thumb of her career marine father. Ready to live life her own way and to experience things she’s only ever heard of from the jarheads in her father’s unit, she’s on her way to college at San Diego State University.
Thanks to her new roommate, Harper is introduced to a world of parties, gorgeous guys, family, and emotions. She finds herself being torn in two as she quickly falls in love with both her new boyfriend, Brandon, and her roommate’s brother, Chase. Despite their dangerous looks and histories, both men adore Harper and would do anything for her, including taking a step back if it would mean she’d be happy.
The Culling
By: J.C. Andrijeski
Genre: New Adult Sci/Fi
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Jet is a 19-year-old skag, one of the humans still living free on Earth following an invasion of creatures called the Nirreth. Squatting in the ruins of Vancouver, Jet and her family eke out an existence underground, hiding from culler ships and fighting off raiding humans.
No one knows where the alien ships take the people they steal, but they never return. When a culler finds Jet, she may discover the truth the hard way…and end up living among the very creatures that have enslaved her.
Red Stone Security Series
By: Katie Reus
Genre: Romantic Suspense
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Miami, Mistletoe & Murder:
Fierce and sexy, former Marine Travis Sanchez has always held himself back from the rest of the world, using his tattoos and piercings as armor. But when the woman he’s wanted for months is in danger he steps in to handle it. Unfortunately the threat to Noel is far from over. Can this sexy and mysterious warrior protect Noel, or will he be the one to shatter her heart?
His to Protect:
No woman ever affected Red Stone Security expert Kell Malone quite like Charlotte Bastien. It’s been a year since that intense night they spent together and he still can’t get her out of his head. When he discovers she’s in Miami-with their three-month-old son-he’s stunned. He’s also determined to make a life with his son and the stubborn woman who has sworn off love. When she witnesses a murder, Kell steps up to protect her and their son, but winning her love proves to be the hardest mission he’s ever undertaken.
Breaking Her Rules:
Iris Tarango is a small-town girl from the wrong side of the tracks; she’s also a decorated former Marine who fought hard to become one of Red Stone Security’s most respected agents. But her perfectly ordered life is turned upside down when she’s assigned to guard the sexy, dominating tycoon she shares a secret history with.
After an attempt on his life, business magnate Wyatt Christiansen calls in major favors to hire Iris as his bodyguard. He knows she’s the best, though he has another motive, too. He sees this as his final chance to win her heart. But when danger spins out of control, all Wyatt can think of is getting Iris out of harm’s way-even if it means losing her love in the end.
Pieces of Olivia
By: Melissa West
Genre: New Adult Romance
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Olivia Warren used to be a normal girl with a bright future.
But on one fated night, everything changed.
Hiding the scars of her past up her sleeves, Olivia transfers her enrollment from Columbia University to The College of Charleston, determined to pursue her own dreams for the first time in her life.
She intends to allow herself a bit of alone time to heal… that is, until she meets Preston.
Preston is best friends with her roommate, completely hot, and off-limits. But the chemistry between them is instantaneous—and as the pair begins to spend more time with one another, their feelings for each other build into something undeniable, something powerful enough to heal Olivia’s deepest scars.
Olivia tries to put her own past behind her and trust Preston, but she discovers that his past might be more present than she ever bargained for…
Shelter Me
By: Catherine Mann
Genre: Contemp. Romance
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Staff Sergeant Mike Kowalski wants only one thing after he gets home from Iraq: to sleep in a king-sized bed with clean sheets. But first, he has to hand off his fallen commander’s dog, Trooper, to his family without handing off his heart to Sierra…
Sierra McDaniel needs a break. Her family life is crazy, and when she’s not mucking out kennels, she’s slogging through grad school. Sierra certainly doesn’t want another dog, especially one that reminds her of her father. And she definitely doesn’t want to see Mike with that charming smile of his…
But Trooper has a mission of his own. Before too long Mike is moving to the ranch to lend a hand—and hoping for his own second chance with Sierra.
Hopeless
By: Colleen Hoover
Genre: New Adult Romance
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Sometimes discovering the truth can leave you more hopeless than believing the lies…
That’s what seventeen-year-old Sky realizes after she meets Dean Holder. A guy with a reputation that rivals her own and an uncanny ability to invoke feelings in her she’s never had before. He terrifies her and captivates her all in the span of just one encounter, and something about the way he makes her feel sparks buried memories from a past that she wishes could just stay buried.
Sky struggles to keep him at a distance knowing he’s nothing but trouble, but Holder insists on learning everything about her. After finally caving to his unwavering pursuit, Sky soon finds that Holder isn’t at all who he’s been claiming to be. When the secrets he’s been keeping are finally revealed, every single facet of Sky’s life will change forever.
Remember When
By: T. Torrest
Genre: New Adult Romance
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Years before Trip Wiley could be seen on movie screens all over the world, he could be seen sitting in the desk behind me in my high school English class.
This was back in 1990, and I cite the year only to avoid dumbfounding you when references to big hair or stretch pants are mentioned. Although, come to think of it, I am from New Jersey, which may serve as explanation enough. We were teenagers then, way back in a time before anyone could even dream he’d turn into the Hollywood commodity that he is today.
In case you live under a rock and don’t know who Trip Wiley is, just know that these days, he’s the actor found at the top of every casting director’s wish list. He’s incredibly talented and insanely gorgeous, the combination of which has made him very rich, very famous and very desirable.
And not just to casting directors, either.
I can’t confirm any of the gossip from his early years out in Tinseltown, but based on what I knew of his life before he was famous, I can tell you that the idea of Girls-Throwing-Themselves-At-Trip is not a new concept.
I should know. I was one of them.
And my life hasn’t been the same since.
The Ranger
By: Monica McCarty
Genre: Historical Romance
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Embedded deep behind enemy lines, Arthur “Ranger” Campbell is prized for his razor-sharp senses and his ability to blend into the shadows. But when Arthur infiltrates the clan of the chieftain who murdered his father, his heart is locked on revenge. Inside he faces unexpected resistance from the sweetest of obstacles—a honey-haired siren who is his enemy’s daughter.
Intrigued by this ruggedly handsome newcomer to her father’s forces, the vivacious, enchanting Anna MacDougall is a woman whose skill at uncovering deception rivals Arthur’s own. Though yearning for a quiet life with a good man to love, Anna is drawn to this mysterious knight whose eyes devour her but whose words push her away. As danger, treachery, and the threat of looming war draw them closer into each other’s arms, a warrior made of steel must make a choice from the heart: love or revenge.
From Baghdad With Love
By: Jay Kopelman & Melinda Roth
Genre: Non-Fiction
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When Marines enter an abandoned house in Fallujah, Iraq, and hear a suspicious noise, they clench their weapons, edge around the corner, and prepare to open fire.
What they find during the U.S -led attack on the “most dangerous city on Earth,” however, is not an insurgent bent on revenge, but a tiny puppy left behind when most of the city’s population fled before the bombing. Despite military law that forbids the keeping of pets, the Marines de-flea the pup with kerosene, de-worm him with chewing tobacco, and fill him up on Meals Ready to Eat.
Thus begins the dramatic rescue attempt of a dog named Lava and Lava’s rescue of at least one Marine, Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman, from the emotional ravages of war.
From hardened Marines to war-time journalists to endangered Iraqi citizens, From Baghdad, With Love tells an unforgettable true story of an unlikely band of heroes who learn unexpected lessons about life, death, and war from a mangy little flea-ridden refugee.
