Three stories of love and longing for New Adult readers by bestselling romance author Jane Harvey-Berrick♥ ♥ ♥DAZZLEDMiles Stephens is a young actor from London. Out of work, unemployable, and fired from his last job, he unexpectedly gets the chance to star in a big-time Hollywood movie.The film is a great success, propelling him to worldwide fame – but when the dream doesn’t match the reality, … doesn’t match the reality, he turns to Clare, lifelong friend and girl next door.
Clare knows two important facts: when you break chocolate, the calories fall out; and that she’s totally in love with clueless Miles.
PLAYING IN THE RAIN – A NOVELLA
Ava Lawton can’t believe her run of bad luck. It’s supposed to be an exciting time in her life: fresh out of college, living in a new state, with a new job, and away from her family at last.
But when she’s forced to quit her job, everything falls apart quickly. Suddenly, she’s alone in a crowd, with no one to turn to.
At her lowest point, a stranger gives her a message that brings her hope.
Now is the time to live life her own way.
Now is the time to choose to be happy.
And maybe it’s time to let a beautiful stranger be part of her life.
Can summer love last a lifetime?
Listed in Huffington Post’s Best Ugly Cry reads
SUMMER OF SEVENTEEN
It was supposed to be the endless summer of sand, sea, and surf. Supposed to be. But, Nick’s life is crashing out of control. His girlfriend and his best friend have declared war, his sister’s constant interference in his life is driving him insane, and there are money problems that won’t go away. Being seventeen isn’t supposed to be this hard.
When cool surfer Marcus arrives in town with a string of women following, Nick sees that there are easier ways to live. But with his life falling to pieces around him, it’s hard to know who to trust.
As the scorching heat of summer grows, events begin to unravel, reaching a shattering conclusion—and a summer he’ll never forget.
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Review for Dazzled:
The first 70% of the book was 3.5*, the remainder 4.5*, for a solid 4* read. Dazzled is a lovely friends-to-lovers romance…not quite YA because of some of the subject matter, but not full-on NA- there wasn’t a whole lot of angst or drama.
I had a hard time connecting with Clare at first. I liked her snarkiness and sarcasm, but I didn’t care for how she treated Miles for most of the beginning of the book, I thought she was kind of harsh at times. But she slowly grew on me, and at the end I was firmly in her corner.
Miles is so sweet and clueless, and at times just plain dense. But then again he’s a twenty-year-old male, what more could we expect! But oh how adorable he was, even while unknowingly breaking Clare’s heart over and over again.
Clare and Miles have been friends since childhood, and they love each other as best friends do. But in Clare’s case, she’s also in love with Miles, and has been for a long time. But she’s never worked up the nerve to tell him, not wanting to ruin their friendship.
Miles is a struggling actor who gets his big break when he goes to the US to audition for a movie and lands the part. Alone and unsure of himself in Hollywood, he convinces Clare to come over on her summer break to help him; he needs his friend by his side. While on location Miles once again falls for his leading lady, much to Clare’s disappointment. But she goes on as always, and their friendship continues on its same path.
Until it just gets to be too much and Clare has finally had enough with Miles- she’s been by his side through the filming, through the heartbreak, through the screw-ups. But there comes a point in life when you wake up and realize things might not work out like you hoped and wished them to, and you just have to move on. This is when I really started to empathize with Clare, and where the book started to get interesting. As much as she loved Miles, she was tired of being second best with him and needed to get on with her life.
Things may have moved a little fast towards the end, but I think that made up for the bit of a slow start. I completely adored the journey these 2 took, as they moved from friends to lovers. Miles is such a doll, and to see him come to the realization that Clare was the one for him, just ahhh! I’m not one who necessarily needs an epilogue for every book I read, but I would have loved one for these 2…something a couple of years in the future, how they are dealing with Miles success, setting up their life as a couple in Hollywood, just a little glimpse would have been perfect.
Review for Playing in the Rain
I can’t stop crying. Sobbing is more like it. I need someone to hold me and tell me it’s just a book.
Playing in the Rain was such a surpirse. I thought it was going to be a sweet little romance with maybe some angst and a little heartbreak. What I didn’t expect was to have my heart completely ripped out! But I loved it, in the way that only other readers could ever understand.
This one is of those books, for as easy of a read (meaning the writing, not the content) as it was, it will stay with me. The characters and the storyline just really got to me, and I will hold them in that special place in my heart reserved for all the fictional characters I love. Cody will be in good company.
Review for Summer of Seventeen still to come.