December 24, 2011

BOOK REVIEW: Exclusively Yours by Shannon Stacey

Book:  EXCLUSIVELY YOURS
Author:  Shannon Stacey
Publisher: Harlequin
Category:  Adult Fiction

Payback is a Bitch.

That’s what Keri Daniels, celebrity tabloid writer par excellence, realized after reuniting with Joe Kowalski, the reclusive best selling author whose heart she broke 20 years ago.  To keep her job she needs to get the dirt on Joe, who would only grant an exclusive interview if she goes with him on the two week annual Kowalski family vacation of Doom, which means no cellphone, no computer, lots of bug bites, pesky children and Terry, Joe’s twin sister and Keri’s former best friend who loathes her to death. 
Quitting the trip is impossible because as per contract (yes Joe actually drafts a contract), Keri can only ask one question for every day that she stays with him.  so she goes and gets reacquainted with the entire family plus plus.  And falls back in love with the same man whom she only left in college for dreams that still hadn’t entirely come true.  But eventually the same problems arise.   Keri needs to finally figure out if her happiness is in California with her job or with her first love Joe Kowalski.

I loved Joe and Keri.  They are such fun characters to read.  the situations they get into are laugh out loud funny.   add to that the entire Kowalski family which is full of crazy yet full of love. I like Joe’s twin Terry.  she can be annoying in wanting to stop Keri and Joe from getting back together (which makes you root for them more) but you know she’s coming from a good place having been the rejected former BFF of Keri. Exclusively Yours is un-put-downable as every page leaves you asking: will they or won’t they?.     Eventually happiness finds them all… except one…. which brings us to the sequel.  UNDENIABLY YOURS, the story of Kevin, Joe’s younger brother.

Shannon Stacey reminds me of author Kristan Higgins in that her characters are funny, witty, memorable and easily relatable.  Though when it comes to the sexy moments, Stacey adds more fire and leaves you wanting.  She brings new excitement to contemporary romance.  Suffice it to say I highly recommend this book for your enjoyment.   
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1 comment:

  1. John Michael CummingsDecember 26, 2011 at 3:07 AM

    re: book review request by award-winning author

    Dear Reading Tsinoy:

    I'm an award-winning author with a new book of fiction out this fall. Ugly To Start With is a series of thirteen interrelated stories about childhood published by West Virginia University Press.

    Can I interest you in reviewing it?

    If you write me back at johnmcummings@aol.com, I can email you a PDF of my book. If you require a bound copy, please ask, and I will forward your reply to my publisher. Or you can write directly to Abby Freeland at:

    Abby.Freeland@mail.wvu.edu

    My publisher, I should add, can also offer your readers a free excerpt of my book through a link from your blog to my publisher's website:
    http://wvupressonline.com/cummings_ugly_to_start_with_9781935978084

    Here’s what Jacob Appel, celebrated author of
    Dyads and The Vermin Episode, says about my new collection: "In Ugly to Start With, set in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, Cummings tackles the challenges of boyhood adventure and family conflict in a taut, crystalline style that captures the triumphs and tribulations of small-town life. He has a gift for transcending the particular experiences to his characters to capture the universal truths of human affection and suffering--emotional truths that the members of his audience will recognize from their own experiences of childhood and adolescence.”

    My short stories have appeared in more than seventy-five literary journals, including North American Review, The Kenyon Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, and The Chattahoochee Review. Twice I have been nominated for The Pushcart Prize. My short story "The Scratchboard Project" received an honorable mention in The Best American Short Stories 2007.

    I am also the author of the nationally acclaimed coming-of-age novel The Night I Freed John Brown (Philomel Books, Penguin Group, 2009), winner of The Paterson Prize for Books for Young Readers (Grades 7-12) and one of ten books recommended by USA TODAY.

    For more information about me, please visit:
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Michael_Cummings

    Thank you very much, and I look forward to hearing back from you.

    Kindly,

    John Michael Cummings

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