I am madly in love with Mayhem, Minnesota, and I'm sure you will be too if you read this novella collection. The two stories are follow-ups to earlier books in the series, but I think you could still enjoy them on their own as this set. Read my detailed review plus an excerpt. Please leave the author comments and questions all along the tour and take advantage of extra chances to enter the giveaway!
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Mistletoe in Mayhem
A Christmas Wedding In MayhemYou’re cordially invited to the wedding of the century! Please join bride-trying-not-to-be-a-zilla Hennessy O’Halloran and her prince-in-shining-snow-boots as they finally say, “I do.” Unless a rogue wedding planner and a blizzard that takes out the entire Midwest can stop them, these two will get married on Christmas. The town of Mayhem will make sure of it.
A Surprise Baby In Mayhem
The town of Mayhem, Minnesota, is about to have a population explosion…and the Whiskey Sisters are getting more than they expected! While newlyweds Henny and Bryan are anxiously awaiting not one but two little bundles of joy, Jameson and Scott are focusing on planning their own perfect wedding, with only one troublesome toddler in tow. But babies have a way of arriving on their own schedules…and fate has a way of intervening in this quirky hamlet. Now, the couple finds themselves scrambling to beat the clock—and the odds—to their own happily ever after before their unexpected special delivery arrives.
Travel to the quirky town of Mayhem, Minnesota, with these two companion novellas that prove love, and sisterhood, will always save the day.
Read an excerpt:
I pull her into my arms, reveling in the feel of her soft curves pressed against my chest, and rest my chin atop her blonde head. She buries her face into my sweatshirt.
“Hennessy, honey, you need to stop worrying about all the little details. We’ve come this far and, with the help of a whole lotta people, we’re going to have a beautiful wedding. With or without heat. With or without light. As long as you’re there with me, up at the altar, then nothing else matters,” I murmur into her hair.
She looks up at me with pale blue eyes, brows arched in concern.
“Bryan, I don’t consider heat and light ‘little details.’ And the roads—they’re like ice! How will anyone get here safely? How will we get here safely?”
I sigh and brush the hair back off her forehead.
“Do you have any idea how much I love you?” I ask. “And that’s not a rhetorical question.”
“I think I have some idea,” she replies, the corners of her mouth quirking up a little.
I shake my head.
“No, I don’t think you do. I wanted this wedding to happen fast because I couldn’t wait another day to be married to you. Don’t you see? It doesn’t matter—none of it matters. In the end, it’s just you and me taking a vow before God. It’s not the wedding, Hennessy. It’s the marriage.”
Her eyes study mine for a long moment before she puts a soft hand to my cheek.
“I’ll try to stay calm,” she assures me. “And I do know how much you love me…because that’s how much I love you, too.”
I lean down, my lips finding hers. It’s a beautiful, candlelit moment. Until it’s not.
“Noooooooooo, Mama! Miiiiiiiiiiine!”
Our kiss transforms into a double-sided snort of laughter. We pull away from one another, chuckling. When she opens her mouth to say something, I hold up my index finger to stop her.
“And before you worry about Jax being too young, or too unpredictable, he’s a little detail, too. An incredibly loud, incredibly destructive detail…but a little one, nonetheless.”
“Yeah, well, maybe we should reconsider letting him be the ring bearer,” she says.
“Why? You don’t think he can handle it?”
“Uh, well, you know the plastic bottle cap ring we’re using for practice?”
“Yeah…” I nod, wondering where she’s going with this.
“He just swallowed it.”
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**My thoughts**
I already fell in love with the Whiskey sisters when reading their earlier stories, so I was excited to check out this one. I also love the town of Mayhem, Minnesota. There's something special about all of the people there. They take care of their own and do whatever it takes to help make each other's dreams come true. I have to tell you that the way these people step up, especially in the first story with Henny and Bryan's wedding, brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion. I was so happy to see them finally get married, and in total honor of the Whiskey sisters' parents. It's just beautiful.
Move on to the second story and babies are all over the place. A new generation is being born. The pregnancies are not necessarily as easy as you would think. Yet again, the sisters and their families rally together to help each other out in beautiful ways. And yes, I had a couple of beautiful choked up moments while reading this one. This installment also has a lot of literal LOL moments, between the nanny applicants, puppets in church, things that come out of the mouths of babes, and just general Mayhem that is guaranteed to happen with these people.
I love seeing these stories come full circle. I think you could enjoy these novellas without reading the first books in the series, but they will definitely have more meaning if you also give those a shot. I'm also suspecting that more books are going to follow soon, based on some new characters who are introduced to us. I am really looking forward to reading more, because the Whiskey sisters and the town of Mayhem are a lot of fun!
About L.E. Rico
L.E. Rico didn’t set out to be an author. In fact, she’s made a name for herself as a classical music radio host—doing her best to make the music and the composers relevant by putting them into a modern context. It was just a few years ago that she discovered a passion for writing that blossomed into an entire novel. And then another. And another. And, while she still spends plenty of time on the radio, telling the stories of the great composers, she spends even more time composing her own great stories.www.LaurenRico.com
Twitter: @TheLaurenRico
Instagram: LaurenRicoAuthor
L.E. Rico will be awarding a $10 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
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Thank you for hosting
ReplyDeleteCongrats on this tour and thank for the opportunity to read about another great book out there to read. It helps out so I can find books I know my family will enjoy reading. Thanks as well for the giveaway.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great anthology.
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