Featured Guest: Sabrina Devonshire and The Open Water Swimmer

Romance Reviews Submitted by Authors Presents

A Special Presentation for eXtasy Books author Sabrina Devonshire

The Open Water Swimmer

Written by Sabrina Devonshire

Published by eXtasy Books

Cover Art by Carmen Waters

Contemporary Erotic Romantic Suspense

187 Pages

The Open Water Swimmer—book synopsis from eXtasy Books

The elite swimmer Dana’s destined to fall in love with is also destined to die. Can she change his fate?

When children’s mystery writer Dana Thomas has recurring nightmares about a swimmer drowning in a race, she aims to change his fate. Her plan to remain objective makes a serious splashdown when she meets her “mission”, a towering blue-eyed man with the best cut set of pectorals she’s ever seen. Going incognito as a feeding station volunteer for FINA World Cup series raced, Dana travels to Greece, Portugal, Honduras, and Tunisia to try to protect him. When heat between the pair sizzles, Dana falls hopelessly in love with this man destined to die.

Elite swimmer and former Navy fighter pilot Jeff Dickson keeps dreaming he’s drowning. Recently dumped by his long-time girlfriend, who found him too competitive, Jeff believes his driven personality and international travel schedule can’t mix with love. When Jeff meets Dana, he’s instantly attracted to her voluptuous and mysterious personality. When Jeff learns she’s been stalking him for weeks at swimming races, he decides she must be psycho.

A series of fateful events before the final race lead Dana to believe her nightmare is about to unfold. Anticipating a dive-in and rescue scenario, Dana is shocked to discover that’s only the beginning. Can she change the fate of the man she loves and survive?

Book Review of The Open Water Swimmer

The Open Water Swimmer by Sabrina Devonshire isn’t your typical sports romance which is one of the reasons I loved this sensational novel. While the sport of open water swimming is definitely well understood by the end of the book, the author clearly put some thought into drawing the reader into her plot by building momentum with the appropriate development of a full-fledged romantic suspense.

A delightful novel with descriptive language, The Open Water Swimmer was written by an author who not only knows her sport, but also has a strong sense of place which she can convey to her readers with a deft hand. True to the sport and her story, Sabrina nails down the mechanics and vividly describes the events and her setting without sacrificing the budding romance. SabrinaDevonshire delivers a fast-paced romantic suspense while building a fiery chemistry between her hero and heroine, often a real task for writers when they’re writing so much action into a manuscript.

The verbal banter between the characters is often witty and always conveys a natural chemistry destined to win a romance reader's heart. There’s never a dull moment in this Sabrina Devonshire novel.  She takes us by the hand and leads us through a wonderful adventure.  Expect a few bumps along the way because her characters face challenges and all romantic suspense readers will enjoy watching the extreme measures Sabrina’s characters take to overcome them. You’ll enjoy every twist and turn. In the end, you’ll reach a satisfying conclusion that will keep you running back for more from author Sabrina Devonshire!  

~Reviewed by Destiny Blaine~

International bestselling eBook author Destiny Blaine loves to read her fellow authors’ books. To find out about her current projects, visit her blog at: www.destinyblaine.blogspot.com. For information on her upcoming writer's workshop, visit: http://destinyblaineworkshop.blogspot.com 

Featured Guest: Sabrina Devonshire and Message from Viola

Romance Reviews Submitted by Authors Proudly Presents

A special presentation for invited guest Sabrina Devonshire

Review Written by invited reviewing author Cameron D. James

Message from Viola Mari

Written by Sabrina Devonshire

Published by eXtasy Books

Erotic Romance/Soft Science Fiction 

162 Pages

           Message from Viola Mari  book synopsis from eXtasy Books

The man who makes Marissa crazy is the only man she wants. But it’s a bad time to let lust call the shots when a comet cloud is careening toward Earth and Marissa’s the only one who can save everyone.

World-renowned oceanographer and meteorite specialist Marissa Jones uncovers evidence that a comet cloud will soon destroy Earth. When aspiring writer and her best friend Jennifer begs her to take a Saturday morning sci-fi writing class, Marissa reluctantly agrees. Writing her real-life story as fiction gives her an astonishing new perspective on the anomalous set of craters she discovered off the La Jolla Coast. But this favor for her friend stirs up more than scientific results…writing teacher Justin Lincoln goads her constantly and taunts her with his irresistible curly blond locks and steely physique he knows only too well make women drool. Marissa teeters on the edge of anger and raging attraction for this irritating man. But it’s a terrible time to let lust call the shots when the world’s about to end and Marissa’s the only one who can save everyone.

Book Review of Message from Viola Mari  

Message from Viola Mari was an unexpected romantic sci-fi delight. I should preface by saying I’m a huge sci-fi fan and have become incredibly picky over the years when it comes to the genre. I know what I like in sci-fi and I know what I don’t like—and I have no patience for the stuff I don’t like. So, I was understandably hesitant when I read the blurb for Message from Viola Mari and realized it had sci-fi elements.

As I dove into the book, I was completely taken by the sci-fi aspect. There are craters on the ocean floor that occasionally disappear and reappear later. And people start going missing. Oh and there’s that impending comet, that will end all life on earth. With all of this sci-fi doom that Marissa knows is coming, no one believes her because, well, it sounds ridiculous.  And because she’s a woman.

But, as this is a romance book blog site, you probably know there’s some steamy love and hot sex in there. Author Sabrina Devonshire does not disappoint. Marissa, at the urging of her best friend, signs up for a sci-fi writing class and immediately falls head over heels for her professor. But, being the strong, independent woman that Marissa is, she fights him every step of the way. The sparks that fly between them and the words that are tossed across the room are fun to read and experience.

Marissa is a strong female protagonist that won’t let a man push her around—and during a fight scene later in the book, she kicks some serious ass—so it takes her a while to lower her defenses and let Justin, the professor, in. Their relationship gets off on a bit of a rocky start, but soon thrives. That is, until, well…you’ll have to read the book to find out what happens.

Message from Viola Mari was a pleasure to read—a nice blend of romance and science-fiction. It has a quick pace and fun characters that keep the reader flipping pages, and both the romance and sci-fi keep you gripped until you reach the end.

 ~Reviewed by Cameron D. James~

Cameron D. James is an author of gay erotic romance. He loves books, coffee, chocolate, and cute Starbucks baristas. You can find out more about his novel, Autumn Fire, and free short story, Go Deep, on his website, as well as find links to his WordPress, GoodReads, smutty Tumblr, non-smutty Tumblr, and Twitter.