Every so often when you read a book, you'll come across that ONE character who you just love to hate. These characters stand out with their actions, their words, and so much more. There is just something about them that has you hoping they do not get a redemption arc in any future books from the author.
Who are the characters that I have a love to hate relationship with? I'd love to tell you.
It takes a lot for a character to stand out for me. I need them to grab hold of my attention, and wish for more of their story, or wish to see them appear as major side characters in future books in the series. I want to celebrate their happy moments, I want to cry with them during their sad moments, and I want to be by their side during the difficult times. When that happens these are often the characters that I wish I could befriend in their fictional worlds.
I read a lot of books. A LOT. Therefore choosing favorites is always a difficult task. However there are some characters that stand out more than others. It's these characters who are just screaming "I'm your favorite", and "don't you forget about me". Believe me when I say there are quite a few that stand out. Today though I'm only going to share five of them. Maybe I'll revisit this in the future and do a secondary post. Time will tell.
Who are some of your favorite characters? Any specific reason they stand out?
Happy Reading,
Laura
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Meet Helena Hunting
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Charming, hilarious, and emotional...When Sparks Fly is Helena Hunting at her very best!
Avery Spark is living her best life. Between her friends, her sisters, and Spark House, the event hotel her family owns, she doesn’t have much time for anything else, especially relationships. She’d rather hang out with her best friend and roommate, Declan McCormick, than deal with the dating scene. But everything changes when she is in a car accident and needs someone to care for her as she heals.
Declan avoids relationships, giving him a playboy reputation that he lives up to when he puts a one-night stand ahead of a promise he made to Avery. While he may not have been the one driving the car, he feels responsible for Avery’s injuries and is determined to make it up to her by stepping into the role of caretaker.
Little did they know that the more time they spend in compromising positions, the attraction they’ve been refusing to acknowledge becomes impossible to ignore. When they finally give in to the spark between them, neither is prepared for the consequences. Their love is fragile and all it will take is a blow from the past to shatter it all.
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Excerpt
Commotion from across the field catches my eye. Two of the riders seem to be at odds with each other. The hand on hip, head tip, nose-to-nose business gives me reason to believe there’s some kind of disagreement happening.
“That doesn’t look very friendly.” I nod in their direction.
“Maybe the horses need a time-out,” Harley mutters.
I give her the side-eye, and she fights a smirk.
“Uh-oh, we have hand and hobbyhorse flailing,” London says, pulling my attention back to the field. The argument seems to be heating up, not cooling down.
“You need to deal with that.” London gives my shoulder a shove. She’s amazing with finances and she’s great at connecting me with the right vendors, but dealing with conflict is not her strong suit.
“Not in the mood to mediate stuffed horses?” I drop my bag on the ground beside Harley’s feet and briskly cross the field as the argument escalates to yelling. I’m about twenty feet away when one of the men hauls off and whacks the other one with his hobbyhorse.
“Whoa! Whoa! Gentlemen! Time-out. That’s not very sportsmanlike conduct!” I call.
My admonishment goes unheeded, and the two men begin dueling with their hobbyhorses. The bigger of the two jabs the other man in the stomach and snatches his hobbyhorse when he loses his grip on it.
“Gentlemen! Please!” I shout, but it’s hard to be heard over their yelling and the newly formed crowd of hobbyhorse enthusiasts who have gathered and are now heckling the fighters.
Two other men toss their hobbyhorses to the hobbyhorse-less man with shouts of “Kick his ass!”
And here I thought this was a chill sport. Apparently I’m very, very wrong.
The hobbyhorsers face off again, each one holding a broom horse between their legs and another like . . . a sword, maybe? It reminds me of medieval jousting. Especially when they start stomping their feet, pawing at the ground, and prancing in place. I know things are about to escalate when they shake their heads back and forth, braying loudly and breathing out through their noses in a hardy snort.
Then they run toward each other, while yelling. Even if they’re beating on each other with stuffed horse heads, I’m not interested in anyone ending up with a concussion.
I jump in between them before they collide, which I realize a second too late puts me in a very perilous position. However, the man on my right swerves at the last second and ends up crashing into the trough, toppling it and at least half a dozen of the “feeding” hobbyhorses. The other man skids to a stop mere inches from me, loses his balance, and falls backwards onto the ground. It rained yesterday, so while it’s sunny and dry now, the ground is still soft and mucky. And he happens to land in a seriously squishy pile of muddy grass.
He also manages to hit himself in the family jewels with the hobbyhorse. He rolls onto his side, clutching the muddy horsehead and his junk. It’s quite the spectacle. Before it turns into absolute mayhem, I grab the megaphone from the group MC and shout, “Whoa, Nelly!” like an idiot.
However, it does the trick. Every single one of them freezes. “Rider number seventeen and twenty-three, you are disqualified from this round for roughhousing and inappropriate use of your hobbyhorse!” I’m totally making this up on the fly, but someone needs to get these guys under control, and they don’t seem to be able to manage it on their own.
The guy who nut slapped himself—number twenty-three—picks himself up off the ground and hobbles gingerly over to the bench, which is now assigned to disqualified hobbyhorsers. Number seventeen throws himself down on the other end with a huff.
I lower the megaphone and cross my arms. “This is supposed to be about team building and sharing something you’re passionate about. If you want to joust, I suggest you either join a club or interview for a position at Medieval Times.”
About Helena Hunting
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of PUCKED, Helena Hunting lives on the outskirts of Toronto with her incredibly tolerant family and two moderately intolerant cats. She writes contemporary romance ranging from new adult angst to romantic sports comedy.
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Well today I'm excited because she just revealed the cover for one of her upcoming (May 2022!) releases, Starry-Eyed Lover.
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| Cover Designer: Monique Amie http://moniqueaimee.com/ |
When it comes to her sisters and their family’s event hotel, London Spark is willing to sacrifice almost everything, including her love for all things creative in exchange for the role of business administrator at the Spark House. So when a multi-million-dollar company asks for a meeting to discuss a potential partnership, London is determined to prove to herself and her sisters that she can win them over. She thinks she has the partnership in the bag until the company’s arrogant CEO hijacks her presentation.
Jackson Holt has lived his adult life avoiding relationships and focusing instead on his company and charity work. But when he met London months ago, he decided to take a chance, only for the timing to be wrong. So imagine his surprise when he walks past a conference room to see London again. Determined not to waste a second chance to get to know her, he inadvertently inserts himself into planning an event at the Spark House. While he may get to spend time with London, he realizes he needs to keep it within professional boundaries. But as soon as their event is over, all bets are off.
After spending months dating, but not really dating, and with their work entanglements over, London and Jackson are finally ready to take the next step in their relationship. But between Jackson’s secretive past and London’s struggle with her sisters, London must question where she really stands—not just with Jackson, but with the Spark House, too.
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About Helena Hunting
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of PUCKED, Helena Hunting lives on the outskirts of Toronto with her incredibly tolerant family and two moderately intolerant cats. She writes contemporary romance ranging from new adult angst to romantic sports comedy.
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SURPRISE!
Love on the Lake, a steamy and emotional small town standalone romance in the Lakeside series from New York Times bestselling author Helena Hunting is coming March 15th 2022, and look at this gorgeous cover!
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?
Reserve your copy today exclusively on Amazon!
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Love Next Door is the brand new release by Helena Hunting! We are taking a break from the world of hockey, and we are headed to Pearl Lake. This small town romance is sure to capture your attention, and you just might see a few familiar names pop up.
If you’re wondering about the tropes for Love Next Door, well the main one is enemies to lovers, with opposite sides of the track as a good secondary (rich vs well, not). However, it could also be viewed as a slight second chance, or maybe more of a missed connection. When you read the book, come back and tell me your thoughts about it that one.
Dillon recently had her relationship end, and she is also out of a job when a sudden phone call has her returning to the one place she’d rather not go...home. Pearl Lake is your typical small town where everyone knows what is going on with everyone, and that is a huge part of why Dillon has stayed away. When Bee died, Dillon was also named the executor of the estate. Bee was her next door neighbor growing up, and she was like family. Bee helped to take care of Dillon, so it only seems natural that Dillon is now helping out with this. So returning home to help family is also the perfect chance to check in on the property. Donovan (Van) is Bee’s grandson, and he used to love spending time in Pearl Lake during the summers. It was a chance to escape from the city, and have a lot of fun all while spending time with Grammy Bee. Shortly after arriving to Pearl Lake, Van finds out some news from back home. Someone had taken $3 million dollars from his mother’s charity. And whoever took that money, has framed Van. Everyone thinks it’s best that Van stay in Pearl Lake until all this blows over. Oh, and in addition to all this, Van was fired from his job. So why not spend the summer in Pearl Lake, and work on fixing up Grammy Bee’s house. You can see where this is going, right? These two are destined to bump into each other. Did I mention that Van and Dillon have been talking through email? They have, and Van is under the assumption that Dillon is a guy. He’s in for quite the surprise. And Dillon, well she thinks she’s talked to Van on the phone before, and let's just say she isn’t fond of him based on what he’s been saying. Classic enemies to lovers!
It is no secret that I LOVE the books that Helena Hunting writes. I love her characters, the setting, and all of it. I think I’ve read just about all of her back titles with the exception of a few books from the Pucked series, and the books she has co-written. Yeah, I’m a bit obsessed. Sorry not sorry. I say that to say, this wasn’t my favorite. I mean it was still good, but I didn’t feel the connection to the characters or the setting. The world building wasn’t there for me, and that bummed me out. BUT, the story was good. The characters intrigued me on their own. I am really curious about Dillon’s brother, as that storyline captured my attention. I wanted to know what was going on, and how that all played out for him. Yes there were aspects of Dillon and Van’s story that had me curious, but not enough. I was curious who was framing Van. I was curious who Dillon had been speaking to regarding Bee’s property. I was curious about the summer kiss, from years prior, that Dillon spoke about. But that’s where it ended. Their actual relationship, well I didn’t feel it. It didn’t seem like the characters fit. Maybe it was me, and maybe I didn’t read this story at the right time.
Let’s talk about the rating. If you follow me on Goodreads, then you’ll know that it is listed as 3 stars, but in my review I say 3.5. And that’s where I feel it fits. It was a decent story, and the characters/romance had potential. It just fell a bit flat. So that’s that. Since this is listed as Lakeside #1, I will definitely be back to read the additional books in the series. Just because I didn’t feel it between Van and Dillon doesn’t mean that I won’t connect with future characters/storylines. Plus if Helena is writing it, I’m reading it.
Thank you for taking time to read my thoughts,
Laura
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.
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New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of PUCKED, Helena Hunting lives on the outskirts of Toronto with her incredibly tolerant family and two moderately intolerant cats. She's writes contemporary romance ranging from new adult angst to romantic sports comedy.
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Thank you to Helena Hunting and Social Butterfly PR for providing me with an advanced copy of Love Next Door.
NYT and USA Today Bestselling author, Helena Hunting lives outside of Toronto with her amazing family and her two awesome cats, who think the best place to sleep is her keyboard. Helena writes everything from contemporary romance with all the feels to romantic comedies that will have you laughing until you cry.
