Sean Kowalski no sooner leaves the army than he’s recruited by Emma Shaw to be her fake fiancé. Emma needs to produce a husband-to-be for her grandmother’s upcoming visit, and, though Sean doesn’t like the deception, he could use the landscaping job Emma’s offering while he decides what to do with his civilian life. And, despite his attraction to Emma, there’s no chance he’ll fall for a woman with deep roots in a town he’s not planning to call home.

Emma’s not interested in a real relationship either; not with a man whose idea of home is wherever he drops his duffel bag. No matter how amazing his “pretend” kisses are…

Title: YOURS TO KEEP
Author: Shannon Stacey
Series: Kowalski Family, book 3
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Carina Press
Year of release: 2011, June 6
Format: eBook
Source: Received an e-ARC from author for review

First line:
“Still as ugly as ever, I see.”
Memorable Scenes:
- the practice kiss > like Sean said: not bad for a practice kiss...
- Sean's sticky notes to Emma > so cute
- magic penis > *grins incessantly* and you'll have to read the book to know why
- the post scrabble sexy scene > wow, I think I need to dust off our scrabble game


Sean Kowalski is looking for a place to call home and another purpose in life then serving his country. He’s a straight-shooter, direct and blunt, reliable and levelheaded.

Emma Shaw is a landscaper. A friend of Lisa’s (Mike's wife), she belongs to the Kowalski’s circle of friends. She’s a tough chick with a soft heart and little bit of a control freak. She’s also smart, quick-witted and dependable. I found her endearing in her love and concern for her Gram's wellbeing/happiness.

Emma needs a fake fiancé to convince her visiting grandmother she's doing fine by herself. But Gram isn't dense and figures out fairly quickly Emma and Sean are trying to pull the wool over her eyes. And that's when the fun starts...

I really loved the romance in this Kowalski book (Ehm…not that I didn’t love it in the previous ones too…). Emma and Sean’s bickering and bantering was just awesome and I liked how Sean kept calling Emma 'Lady' in the beginning. Witnessing them getting to know each other and finding out things about each other and seeing the spark of attraction catch fire and turning into a full blaze, was a joy to read and made this book another keeper on my Contemporary Romance shelf.

There are erotic romance authors who can't hold a candle to the love scenes Shannon Stacey writes. Without any obvious explicitness or crude language she paints some of the best sexy and arousing scenes I've read.

What I also adored about this book is that entire bunch of Kowalski family members. They complete every story in this series and I loved reading about how the previous 2 couples were doing and the additions to the family. The family dynamics are so brilliantly written as they tease, scold and support each other through everything.

And once again Shannon Stacey treated me to a sweet and lovely secondary romance. I wasn’t expecting it but it fitted right into the main storyline and I’m glad she included it as it completes and underlines the family feel of this series. Secretly (okay, not so secretly…) I hope there will be more Kowalski books. There must be as they've become an addiction within my addiction.

I think I’ve said this before but I love Shannon Stacey's dialogues. They flow, they entertain, they inform and they show so much of her characters' personalities. The humor, wit, banter gets to me every single time. Every book in this series has put a big grin on my face and made me feel good. Some things did more than put a smile on my face and just cracked me up. For example the references (even by herself) to Mary's wooden spoon and the wedding box from Emma's early teen years. To incorporate humor in contemporary romance without giving it a slapstick feel is very hard and Shannon Stacey masters this perfectly.

I don't know how Shannon Stacey does it but she does it. I was breezing through the wit, the banter and the heat, even thinking to myself this Kowalski book wasn't as emotionally intense as the previous two were and then BAM! She hit me with the emotions that made me tear up and swallow the lumps in my throat. And yet again she made me laugh through my tears. Well played, Ms Stacey, well played!

Since I don't like being told what to do I don't like to order other people around either but seriously, if you love contemporary romance I strongly urge you to get cracking on Shannon Stacey's Kowalski Family series. They're too fabulous to be missing in your book collection. I don’t say this easily as there are always readers to prove me wrong and tastes vary but I dare you to read this series and not love it.

Favorite Quotes:
His expression implied he was afraid she was some crazy woman who’d gone off her meds and was going to start speaking in tongues or show him the handmade Sean doll she’d crafted to sleep with.

When he rested his hand at her waist for a few seconds before sliding it around to the small of her back, she felt her muscles tense and her cheeks burn.
“You can’t be doing that,” he said in the same low, husky kind of voice a man would use to tell a woman he wanted to take off her clothes.
Her mind was frozen, all of her attention on that warm pressure against her T-shirt, and it took a few seconds to form a coherent sentence. “Doing what?”
“You’re as jumpy as a virgin at a frat party.”

She started in on him the second he crossed the threshold from the living room. “I was wrong about you all these years. I always thought you were a smart boy, but you don’t have the brains God gave a jackass.”
“Aunt Mary, I—”
“Don’t you Aunt Mary me, Sean Michael Kowalski. I should go get my wooden spoon and thunk some sense into that thick head of yours.”

Going to work tomorrow would be a good thing, he thought. Even though he’d be alone with her, a little physical labor would do his body good. Maybe if he tired himself out, he could sleep through the night without his dick trying to lead the way to her like some kind of damn dowsing rod.

She snorted and looked out her window. “Oh yes, Sean Kowalski. Your amazing kisses have made all rational thought fly out of my besotted brain. If only you could fill me with your magic penis, I know we’ll fall madly in love and live happily ever after.”
The truck jerked and she glanced over to find him glaring at her. “Don’t ever say that again.”
“What? The madly in love or the happily ever after?”
“My penis isn’t magic.” His tone was grumpy, but then he smiled at the windshield. “It does tricks, though.”
“The only trick your penis needs to know for the next three and a half weeks is down boy.”

Instead of heading straight for the huddle, Sean walked to Emma and pulled her into his arms for a hard, almost punishing caveman kiss that made her skin sizzle and her knees go wobbly. Then he glared at his brother for a few long seconds and went back to his team, leaving Emma standing there breathless and discombobulated.

“Don’t give me that look.”
“What, the you’re being an ass look? Don’t be an ass and I won’t give you the look.”

“I fell in love with him.”
“Oh. Oh, shit.” Lisa shook her head. “Kowalski men do that. They show up in your life and drive you so insane you want to slap them upside the head and then—bam—all of a sudden you can’t live without them.”

One-night stand + two percent condom failure rate = happily ever after?

Bar owner Kevin Kowalski is used to women throwing their phone numbers at him, but lately he’s more interested in finding a woman to settle down with. A woman like Beth Hansen. If only their first meeting hadn’t gone so badly…

Beth’s tending bar at a wedding when she comes face to face with a tuxedo-clad man she never thought she’d see again. She tries to keep her distance from Kevin but, by last call, she can’t say no to his too-blue eyes or the invitation back to his room. Then she slips out before breakfast without leaving a note and, despite their precautions, pregnant.

Kevin quickly warms to the idea of being a dad and to seeing where things go with Beth. After all, he’s not the player she thinks he is. But she’s not ready for a relationship and, given his reputation, it’s going to take a lot to convince her to go on a second date with the father of her child…

Title: UNDENIABLY YOURS
Author: Shannon Stacey
Series: Kowalski Family, book 2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Carina Press
Year of release: 2010, November 1
Format: eBook
Source: Requested from the publisher via NetGalley

First line:
Every time the New England Patriots chalked one up in the win column, Kevin Kowalski got laid.

Memorable Scenes:
- The lipstick-kissed napkin notes to Kevin > hilarious
- Bobby 'talking' to his future cousin > funny
- Christmas gift exchange between Kevin and Beth > teary-eyed
- Hospital scene > so emotional I was sobbing, yet funny too so I was laughing through my tears

Kevin Kowalski is a sports bar owner and a genuinely good guy. He’s smart, sweet, funny and so endearing he made my heart hurt, in a very good way.

Beth Hansen was a bit of a more complicated character than Kevin was. She might be a hard sell for some readers, especially those hard on heroines but I loved Beth. Like a wandering nomad she goes from town to town, working, staying for a few months and then moving on again. She’s independent, self-sufficient, pragmatic, stubborn, proud and smart. Her parents are sweet but overprotective and smothering and IMO a big reason for her wandering nature.

Complementing the great main couple there was a collection of secondary characters that made a lasting impression on me. Of course some of them I already knew and loved from EXCLUSIVELY YOURS, such as Kevin’s (extended) family but there were a few new ones too. Two that stuck with me most were Paulie and Sam and that’s because they formed the secondary romance couple.

Paulie Reed is Kevin’s best friend and works at the sports bar as assistant manager and waitress. Her POV was surprising at first but I knew it served some purpose and soon I discovered there was a secondary romance in the making. Samuel Thomas 'Sam' Logan IV’s history with Paulie is that she left him at the altar 5 years earlier as she pulled a runaway bride act. I really loved this secondary romance storyline, it was just as funny and romantic as the main romance but never took away the attention.

UNDENIABLY YOURS is another winner for Shannon Stacey! I fell for the Kowalskis in EXCLUSIVELY YOURS and have come to deeply love them in UNDENIABLY YOURS. It's no secret I'm a fan of contemporary romance and I appreciate great family dynamics and kids in my romance novels and with this book Shannon Stacey gave me exactly what I wanted and needed.

When I started reading UDENIABLY YOURS I knew it was going to be good because I loved the first book and this one was going to take me back to that rambunctious and fun Kowalski family and I was not disappointed! Shannon Stacey has a way of writing contemporary romance with characters that just wiggle and shove their way into your heart, whether you want it or not. They have you laughing, crying and cursing at them. They are not picture-perfect and they have flaws and issues but they are so endearing and genuinely trying to get things right, you just have to love them.

Though the impact of UNDENIABLY YOURS wasn't as mind-blowing as the first book I loved this sequel to EXCLUSIVELY YOURS. Kevin was a great hero and the humor, though tidbit more subtle, I crave was definitely shining through Shannon Stacey’s clean, crisp writing that I love so much.

The punch of UNDENIABLY YOURS is definitely in the last part. Shannon Stacey saved the best for last with a last chapter and epilogue that made me cry at Kevin's sweetness and Beth's stubbornness, by the time I came to the end of the pre-epilogue chapter I was bawling. Yet at the same time she made me smile through the tears with the humor mixed into it all.

I don’t think I have adequate words to describe how much I love these Kowalski books by Shannon Stacey. All I can say is: if you love contemporary romance, what the heck are you waiting for? Go buy and read these books!

Favorite Quotes:
Muscles rippled under his T-shirt and, when he stretched for a stack of folded towels, a gap opened between its hem and the waistband of his low-slung jeans. The tantalizing glimpse of abs made her mouth go dry, which was okay because she’d forgotten what she was going to say, anyway.

Or it would be easy work if her body wasn’t tuned in like a quivering antenna to the vibe Kevin was broadcasting.

“Are you going to get all prickly on me if I try to kiss you?”
She tilted her head back so she could see his face. “I guess that depends on how well you kiss.”

We. Part of her was relieved to have a partner in panic and uncertainty, but we was also a level of togetherness she hadn’t expected to share with anybody for a while, especially with a guy whose Rolodex was filled out in Do-Me Fuchsia lipstick.

“If my mother finds out you’re spending Thanksgiving alone, she’ll whack me upside the head so hard with that wooden spoon of hers, when I wake up my clothes will be out of style.

“You know what would cheer you up?”
Licking frosting off his stomach before having hot and sweaty and sticky sex?
“Ice cream,” he said.
“Strawberry?” Not nearly as good, but better for her in the long run.
His grin was on the wrong side of naughty. “Not chocolate?”

Sam & Paulie
“Go out with me. Nobody knows who we are here. I’m just a businessman from Boston and you’re the saucy serving wench who struck my fancy.”
The surprised laughter bubbled up before she could stop it. “Serving wench? Buddy, if I strike you, it ain’t gonna be in your fancy.”

When Keri Daniels’ editor finds out she has previous carnal knowledge of reclusive bestselling author Joe Kowalski, she gives Keri a choice: get an interview or get a new job.

Joe’s never forgotten the first girl to break his heart, so he’s intrigued to hear Keri’s back in town—and looking for him. Despite his intense need for privacy, he’ll grant Keri an interview if it means a chance to finish what they started in high school.

He proposes an outrageous plan—for every day she survives with his family on their annual camping and four-wheeling trip, Keri can ask one question. Keri agrees; she’s worked too hard to walk away from her career.

But the chemistry between them is still as potent as the bug spray, Joe’s sister is out to avenge his broken heart and Keri hasn’t ridden an ATV since she was ten. Who knew a little blackmail, a whole lot of family and some sizzling romantic interludes could make Keri reconsider the old dream of Keri & Joe 2gether 4ever.

Big city girl Keri Daniels is a reporter for a glossy entertainment magazine and has been forced into getting an interview with her high-school sweetheart now turned famous and reclusive author. It’s either that or she loses her job as her pit-bull boss has put it. With her job on the line, she heads to her hometown in New England to see if Joe will still give her the time of day after she left him to chase a career under the bright lights of big city Los Angeles. Joe is going out of town on the annual camping vacation with his family and presents her with a challenge: He wants her to come with them and for every day she sticks it out with them, she gets a question asked and answered.

EXCLUSIVELY YOURS was funny, touching, endearing, sweet, hot and high on family dynamics. I think this book was contemporary romance at its best. The characters had a highly realistic feel to them and were easy to relate to. They weren’t picture-perfect but flawed and yet very likeable despite those flaws. They aren’t afraid to admit mistakes and own up to them and their own behavior. The Kowalskis are a day-to-day family with day-to-day issues. A family that laughs, fights, talks, bonds, has fun and goes through rough patches together. They were all amazing characters and I loved them all, from Leo to Bobby and from Mary to Steph.

I loved the clean, crisp writing style. I laughed out loud on numerous occasions. The brotherly humor between the Kowalski men and the way the characters were able to make fun of themselves, the children, especially Bobby with his camera, I gobbled it all up and loved it. The humor is what totally reeled me in with this book. I read it in almost one sitting because I just couldn’t stop reading. Books like these make me want to abandon other subgenres in romance and stick exclusively to contemporary romance.

Despite the flaws, issues and problems within the Kowalski family EXCLUSIVELY YOURS is a feel-good romance if I ever read one. When I finished it, I was hoping Shannon Stacey would treat us to more of this family and this kind of books and luckily for me, she’s confirmed that book 2 is scheduled to release this fall and will be Kevin Kowalski’s story. This made my day because I loved Kevin in this book and can’t wait to read his story in UNDENIABLY YOURS. In the meantime I have Shannon’s other books to read because I could smack myself for not reading her work sooner, it’s damn good writing! I am going on a Shannon Stacey complete backlist reading binge and she’s shot straight to my auto-buy list.

People who know me know that the thought of camping makes me break out in hives. I’ve gone out camping twice in my life and both times were disastrous. The fact that with EXCLUSIVELY YOURS Shannon Stacey made it sound fun and even have me thinking of giving it another try maybe, says enough about how much I liked this book and her writing powers of persuasion. I am so very glad I requested to review this book for my Carina Press Week because if this is a taste of what Carina Press has to offer I am going to be a very happy reader!

EXCLUSIVELY YOURS is one of the best contemporary romances I’ve ever read. It’s the epitome of a character-driven story that’s bound to nestle in your heart and head and remain there for a long time. Though not high on the kind of emotional intensity that blows you away, it definitely tugs on the heartstrings with a cast of endearing every-day characters, their problems and the way they try to work through them. With EXCLUSIVELY YOURS Shannon Stacey has earned the first perfect 10 of 2010 for an eBook release on my blog.

Quote:
Keri to Terry: “People sometimes hurt the ones they love trying to protect themselves from being hurt. Love means second chances sometimes.”

10 out of 10



As announced last week my Carina Week will not be without a fabulous giveaway, courtesy of Carina Press! Up for grabs here on the blog is one coupon code worth $ 15 to spend at Carina Press, buying the books you'd like to try out. Believe me, if what I've read is an indication, there is something for everybody and the books I've read were gems in their genres, each and every one of them. Okay, now to the important part. How can you win this coupon code? That's easy.

• Just leave a (meaningful) comment on the posts during my Carina Week.
• Each comment will give you an entry.
• There will be 6 Carina Week blog-posts so that gives you a maximum of 6 entries if you comment on every post. Mind you, you don't have to comment on every post, it just gives you more chances if you do.
• Make sure you leave your email address with your comment (or email it to me, through the contact link in the left sidebar if you don't want to publicly leave your email address) because it's needed to be able to claim the code.
• On Saturday June 12th I'll tally up the entries and pick a winner via random.org

I also announced last week that there would be 2 coupon codes of $ 15 each so you might wonder, what of the other code. That one will be the prize in a Twitter-giveaway so if you want another chance at it...keep an eye on my Twitter-account this week and get tweeting because each tweet including the hashtag #CarinaWeek will be entered for the Twitter-giveaway.

So there you have it...2 chances to win an opportunity to get your mitts on some Carina Press gems!

Have fun! And hope to see a lot of you this week!