Hidden Gems

Welcome to Hidden Gems hosted by KJ's Book Nook! Once a month I'll feature a new to me author that I've discovered and fell in love with their books. I'll share the author's bio, one of my favorite books of theirs and a review.

For this month's Hidden Gems I am going to choose...

Jules Barker

Jules Barker is a sweet romance writer with an M.Ed who loves quirky heroines, swoony heroes, and emotional thrills. She knew by eighth grade what she wanted to be when she grew up: an English teacher and a novelist. She’s been teaching secondary English for sixteen years and is thrilled to now be sharing her writing with the world. She still doesn’t feel like a grown up, though.

Jules was raised on a mountain making up stories about the towns in the valley below and singing at the top of her lungs thinking the neighbors couldn’t hear. Poor neighbors. She’s a Korean Drama addict, a mom of two beautifully goofy daughters, and a life-long “hopeful romantic”.

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I actually discovered Jules from Trish LeBaron. You see, there's a group of friends who decided to come together and create the magical world of Moonrise Cove. I loved my visit there so much that I just HAD to keep going back for visits!

Sometimes it's hard to decide which book of an author's I'm going to feature. But the moment I started working on this post I knew it just HAD to be Melt my Heart! Why? Well, there's this epic kiss that had me swooning like there was no tomorrow! Y'all. It. Was. Amazing! And that's all I'm going to say about it because a kiss like that needs to be experienced on your own! 😉 Hehe.

Vera Penwythe never thought she’d go for another relationship so soon, and certainly not a fake one. She’s moved back in with her Gran for the holidays after a humiliating break up left her in debt to her two-timing ex. But when a charming neighbor begs her to pretend to be his girlfriend until his mom recovers from heart surgery, she can’t resist. She yearns to feel needed and be part of something, even if it is all fake. Besides, this way she’ll get the benefits of companionship without the expectations and heartbreak of a real relationship. Vera may have the power to create frost with her hands, but she wishes she could freeze her heart to keep it safe.

Harry Levine never thought lying to his mom would lead to the best mistake of his life. But when his parents’ excessive PDA and a tumbling tower of ice cream tubs lead his parents to assume that Vera is the long-term girlfriend they’ve never met, Harry begs her to go with it. He can’t bear to tell his sick mom that he’s broken up with his girlfriend. Instead, he enlists Vera’s help to keep up the ruse until his mom is on the mend. That just means a few family parties, shared shifts at his dad’s magic-themed ice cream parlor, and—oh yeah, passing Vera off as the picky girlfriend he’s told them about. But what do you do when the lie you started becomes the best thing that’s ever happened to you?

Vera doesn’t trust her bad-guy radar and she doesn’t trust love. But Christmas at Moonrise Cove has a way of working its magic and soon her walls begin to melt. Will she be able to risk her heart to believe that something fake could ever become something real?

You can check out my review here.

Happy reading my fellow Book Dragons!