Note: I will be reviewing all of the books separately and then as a whole. 🙂 So the individual reviews will be short.
For the Love of Murphy
Publisher: Roane Publishing
Release Date: March 17, 2014
Key Words: Adult, Romance, Sweet, Contemporary, Anthology
Buy lInks:
No Wrong Turns by Lisa A. Adams
Jessica Brannah is escaping from her last heartbreak with a loaded car and a new address. But, when Murphy’s Law finds her stranded in a back country town, she realizes there’s no outrunning love.
Review:
Of all the stories, this one was the cutest. The set up and premise were spot on for me and trust me, I could emphasize with Jessica. The ending was wonderful and I would LOVE a follow up. Sean was the perfect gentleman and hero. 🙂 Just saying…
Falling For You by Michelle Ziegler
Darci’s ready to move on. Too bad the dating pool stinks. Until, a ghost from her past resurfaces—the man she missed out on in college.
Andrew was the one man she’d always loved, but neither of them ever made a move. But, old feelings aren’t the only thing resurfacing of late. Darci’s ex comes crawling back at the most inappropriate time, and with all the testosterone flying, she might not end up with either man.
Review:
I’m such a sucker for a friends to lovers story. Plus, throw in that Andrew was the best friend of Darci’s ex and yes, I’m a goner. What made the story so rich was they way that Ms. Ziegler wove their back story into the current story. These two were in love with each other way before the alter dumping and you could feel it in their tone, actions and words. The scene with the ex, Andrew and Darci at the coffee shop was beautifully written. Plus, come on everyone needs a friend like Abby. 😉
Coffee and Cufflinks by Annabelle Blume
Fresh out of a failed relationship and exhausted by a constant barrage of fiascos at work, Olivia Johnson doesn’t see the man of her dreams standing right in front of her. She tells herself the morning coffee meet-ups with Daren are nothing but coincidence, but even she can’t deny his unequivocal attractiveness. When a night entertaining clients takes a turn for the worst, and Daren shows up where she least expects him, failure starts to look more like fate.
Review:
For me, this one was the weakest in the bunch. I never felt the connection between Daren and Olivia. I can totally identify with all the work troubles, I’ve been there, but for me their connection was too drawn out for me. Overall, I liked it but…
A Slippery Slope by Rebecca Hart
Anne Montgomery is psyched for her girl’s only weekend, despite her friends’ choice of vacation locale—the snowy slopes of Harris Peak Ski Resort—where someone as notoriously accident prone as she has no business being. When Murphy’s Law finally catches up with her, Anne is forced to consider there may be times when it pays to be unlucky.
Review:
By far, this was the funniest. I swear Anne couldn’t win for losing. My one and only time skiing, I ended up in her predictament and its no fun. I was only a teenager but I remember the ride of shame down the hill but at least the guys were good looking. 🙂 Plus, her girlfriends were awesome and there for her. Oh and I claim Devlin. Sorry peeps!
The Shamrock Incident by London Saint James
Florist, Marissa Carmichael isn’t usually a klutz, but she’s in a hurry and having a bad day. In her haste, she loses her balance and tumbles from the back room of her shop, arms flailing. Her less than graceful entrance halted by a headfirst crash into a display case chock full of silk flowers.
Trey Cleary didn’t think his day could get any worse, until he finds. himself picking the side view mirror of his BMW up from the ground. On a mission to do something about it, he locates the flower shop matching the name on the back of the van that mangled his ‘baby’. But, his car is forgotten when a beautiful woman bursts into the room like an out of control whirling dervish, and takes one mother of a wipeout into the shop’s counter. Coming to her aid brings out the hero in him like no one he’s ever encountered, and leaves him with a need to know more.
For Marissa and Trey, this just might be the one time it pays to be unlucky.
Review:
I promise that when I got my tour materials, I didn’t know that this one would be my spotlight. I’m glad because to me its the best out of the bunch. I loved Marissa and Trey from the beginning. They had true depth to them and their story just flowed. It was funny, cute and a bit sexy. Plus, I’m a sucker for a damsel in distress story. 🙂
Overall review:
I loved this anthology. Each story stands on it own. I had my favorites as you can tell. I like my stories sweet and these were sweet but highly romantic in nature. Come on…Sean, Devlin, Andrew, Trey and Daren…sweet but with a gleam in their eye like…oh I can be not so sweet. These women didn’t have a clue when they met their soul mates and that’s what makes this anthology that much better.
Each woman was strong and their men know that about them. Okay, Marissa and Anna did expect to hurt themself; Darci falling for her friend all over again; Jessica realizing that not all men are pigs and Olivia realizing that she didn’t have to stoop to the level that her employers wanted her to.
Again, this anthology was great and I love reading short stories by authors that I would definitely pick up their longer works to read.
Overall rating: 
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20809980-for-the-love-of-murphy?bf=500&from_search=true
The Shamrock Incident
Blurb:
Marissa Carmichael wasn’t usually a klutz, but she was having a bad day, in a hurry, and lost her balance, causing her to tumble through the open door and into the store. It was too late to catch herself. Arms flailing, her forehead connected with the side of the display case that was chalked full of silk flowers. She crumbled down beside it like a limp noodle one minute, and was in the arms of a handsome stranger the next.
Trey Cleary didn’t think his day could get any worse, but after picking up his side view mirror from the ground, he was wrong. On a mission to do something about it, he located the flower shop that matched the name on the back of the van that mangled his BMW and went inside to inform the owner of the issue, only he was sidetracked by a beautiful woman who burst into the room like an out of control whirling dervish. For such a petite looking person she made a huge entrance, and then took one mother of a wipeout. After going to the woman’s aid, Trey realized there was something alluring about her that made him want to be her own personal hero.
For Marissa and Trey, this just might be the one time it paid to be unlucky.
Excerpt:
Tingle-Linga-Ling.
“Pam, someone’s walked in. The door chime is going off up front. I’m sorry, but I need to cut our conversation short. What were you calling about?”
“Nothing important.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. Go ahead and take care of things there.”
“I’ll talk to you later, then.”
“I hope you have a better day.”
“Thanks. Me too.”
Marissa slammed the handset back onto the receiver, swiped her palms along the front of her jeans, leaving a trail of green sparkle smeared down her thighs, and hurried to the propped open door to the shop.
“Hello?” A deep male voice echoed. “Is anyone here?”
“I’ll be right with you!”
She slipped on one of the paper shamrock decorations. As she righted herself, her left foot came down dead center on the tape. “Son of a biscuit eater.” She kicked the shamrock free of her path and, half bent over, started hopping, right knee crooked, foot up, trying to grab the sticky, smooshed wad from the bottom of her shoe.
Her long hair swirled around her face and mouth. She reached for the tape with one hand, swiped the rogue strands back with her other, freeing her vision—doing what she imagined looked like some odd version of a modern interpretive dance—then lost her balance just as she hopped—stumbled—tumbled through the open door, and into the store.
Arms flailing, her forehead connected with the side of the display case that was chock-full of silk flowers. She crumpled down beside it like a limp noodle.
Marissa thought someone said something, except she couldn’t be sure. She tried to concentrate.
The phone was ringing.
Just my luck.
The sound stopped. Started. Stopped…
Maybe, since she was seeing stars and her head was pounding to beat the band, the intermittent trill came from deep inside her skull.
About London Saint James:
London wrote her first short story in the second grade. Her teacher informed her parents she had a big imagination, and as far as he was concerned, having a big imagination wasn’t necessarily a good thing, so she placed her vivid characters, her childhood stories, along with her imagination on the shelf, where they would wither for a while. After all, she needed to grow up and do the “sensible thing.”
Life moved on, London grew up, and the sensible thing earned London a degree in Psychology. She took a serious job in the real world, doing serious things and being a responsible adult, although the need to be a little irresponsible crept in. As a result, she started scribbling again.
Happy to find her imagination was still alive and kicking, she decided to pursue writing, walked away from doing the sensible thing, took on the world of the written word, and has never looked back!
Web: http://www.londonsaintjames.com
Blog: http://londonsj.blogspot.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/LSJRomance
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/LSJRomance
Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/London-Saint-James/e/B005I7KJWY
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LSaintJamesRomance
Facebook Author page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/London-Saint-James/154331444626603
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/lsjromance
Kindlegraph: http://www.kindlegraph.com/authors/LSJRomance
Group Giveaway: $10 Amazon Gift Card & paperback copy of For the Love of Murphy
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For the Love of Murphy Blog Tour Schedule
Thanks for the chance.
This sounds like an interesting book – Thanks for the review and spotlight
Thanks so much for reviewing our book 🙂 I’m happy you enjoyed reading it.
Great review!!
Thanks so much for the review and for being part of the tour. So glad you enjoyed the anthology!
Rebecca
Thanks for hosting!