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When Jordan hires her as a tutor, Drew finds she is learning more about life than she planned. Jordan is learning more than academics. She's learning about love. But with their very different backgrounds and families, they may not survive the stresses of a first love.
Eighteen-year-old Charlee Parker met the love of her life in a parking lot-a leggy brunette with a valedictorian medal hanging from her rear-view mirror and an attitude as biting as a Boston winter. Alexandra Woodson was guarded, a 19-year-old orphan set on a bright future in hospitality administration. She never imagined an art student with a penchant for cheesy pick-up lines and stealing parking spaces would crack her rigid exterior and claim her heart. For four years, theirs was an enviable love - evergreen and growing. Unbreakable... until it broke.
Being Principe of an ancient vampire dynasty comes with difficult choices. For Byron Debrek, that means putting the good of her clan and innocent mortals over her own desires. When she falls for the first woman to set her blood on fire in centuries, Byron must harden her heart and walk away. For Amelia Honey, a suit designer at a Savile Row tailor, the six months spent with her first love were the most wonderful time of her life. Byron made her feel like a princess and awakened her darkest sexual desires. But then she disappeared.
Top neurosurgeon Samantha Thomson needs to get married fast and is tightlipped as to why. And with over $200,000 on offer to tie the knot, no questions asked, cash-strapped ER nurse Hayden Perez isn't about to demand answers. The deal is only for a year of marriage, but Hayden's going into it knowing it will be a nightmare. Sam is complicated, rude, kind of cold, and someone Hayden barely tolerates at work, let alone wants to marry. The hardest part is that Hayden has to convince everyone around them that they're madly in love and that racing down the aisle is all they've ever wanted.
Natalie's life is on a precipice with too many failed career moves in the last year. Faced with the loss of everything she has ever worked for, Natalie looks for a way to get out of the city and realign her priorities. When Jessica Morgan places an ad for a new farmhand, she doesn't expect to hear from an urbanite. And when the respondent turns out to be gorgeous Natalie Wells, she's really at a loss for words! Natalie thinks taking a job in the country is a great plan, until she realizes she's attracted to her boss.
Kelli MacCabe is a no-nonsense detective with a tough exterior. Only a select few know her as a loyal, loving friend. Committed to her family, her friends, and her job, Kelli puts her needs behind everyone else's. As a surgeon, Nora Whitmore is used to being in control. The hospital is her life and leaves room for little else. Respected by her colleagues, but misunderstood by the residents, Nora takes what she needs and keeps everyone at arm's length. In the process, she creates unexpected enemies. Tragedy brings them together.
When Jordan hires her as a tutor, Drew finds she is learning more about life than she planned. Jordan is learning more than academics. She's learning about love. But with their very different backgrounds and families, they may not survive the stresses of a first love.
Eighteen-year-old Charlee Parker met the love of her life in a parking lot-a leggy brunette with a valedictorian medal hanging from her rear-view mirror and an attitude as biting as a Boston winter. Alexandra Woodson was guarded, a 19-year-old orphan set on a bright future in hospitality administration. She never imagined an art student with a penchant for cheesy pick-up lines and stealing parking spaces would crack her rigid exterior and claim her heart. For four years, theirs was an enviable love - evergreen and growing. Unbreakable... until it broke.
Being Principe of an ancient vampire dynasty comes with difficult choices. For Byron Debrek, that means putting the good of her clan and innocent mortals over her own desires. When she falls for the first woman to set her blood on fire in centuries, Byron must harden her heart and walk away. For Amelia Honey, a suit designer at a Savile Row tailor, the six months spent with her first love were the most wonderful time of her life. Byron made her feel like a princess and awakened her darkest sexual desires. But then she disappeared.
Top neurosurgeon Samantha Thomson needs to get married fast and is tightlipped as to why. And with over $200,000 on offer to tie the knot, no questions asked, cash-strapped ER nurse Hayden Perez isn't about to demand answers. The deal is only for a year of marriage, but Hayden's going into it knowing it will be a nightmare. Sam is complicated, rude, kind of cold, and someone Hayden barely tolerates at work, let alone wants to marry. The hardest part is that Hayden has to convince everyone around them that they're madly in love and that racing down the aisle is all they've ever wanted.
Natalie's life is on a precipice with too many failed career moves in the last year. Faced with the loss of everything she has ever worked for, Natalie looks for a way to get out of the city and realign her priorities. When Jessica Morgan places an ad for a new farmhand, she doesn't expect to hear from an urbanite. And when the respondent turns out to be gorgeous Natalie Wells, she's really at a loss for words! Natalie thinks taking a job in the country is a great plan, until she realizes she's attracted to her boss.
Kelli MacCabe is a no-nonsense detective with a tough exterior. Only a select few know her as a loyal, loving friend. Committed to her family, her friends, and her job, Kelli puts her needs behind everyone else's. As a surgeon, Nora Whitmore is used to being in control. The hospital is her life and leaves room for little else. Respected by her colleagues, but misunderstood by the residents, Nora takes what she needs and keeps everyone at arm's length. In the process, she creates unexpected enemies. Tragedy brings them together.
Entrepreneur and innovator Kadrienne Davenport gets results. A demanding executive and stickler for punctuality, Kade throws herself into work to avoid hurting anyone, convinced she only causes pain to those she loves. When Jennifer Spencer meets an incognito Kade at a conference, sparks fly. But when Kade unexpectedly becomes her boss, Jen's problems multiply. The company she founded is going broke, her grandmother's dementia is worsening, and her attraction to Kade -- her difficult, brilliant, charismatic mentor -- is growing.
Kendal Richoux's life began during the reign of Egypt's only female pharaoh. After accepting the opportunity to drink the elixir of the sun, Kendal becomes immortal and the Genesis Clan's slayer. History has taught her the dangers of getting too close to anyone who hasn't harnessed the power of time.
When her first love walks back into her life, Harriet Locke is thrown - because Sally McCall still looks as gorgeous as ever. The trouble is, Sally doesn't trust Harriet, and with good reason: she hasn't forgotten the past. Sally loved her once, but 17 years later, is that still the case? And if it is, there's just the small matter of living in different states, as well as convincing Sally she's worth taking a chance on again. Will Harriet and Sally be lucky enough to find love twice in a lifetime?
Danielle Stevens is Hollywood's "next big thing" in a long line of next big things. When she goes to Dallas to prepare for a role - shadowing Detective Harper Jeremiah - she's not only running from her fame...she's also running from a stalker. Harper Jeremiah wouldn't recognize a Hollywood actress even if she bumped into one on the street. But the perceived babysitting gig quickly turns into a protection detail as the threats against Dani escalate.
Grieving over the loss of her family and feeling like her life is unraveling, Lindsey McDermott quits her job, gets a puppy, and retreats to her grandparents' home in the Texas Hill Country. She spends her solitary days walking childhood trails and reminiscing, trying to reconcile the conflict within her as she struggles with survivor's guilt. After the death of her husband, Hannah Larson needs a change. At the suggestion of her mother-in-law - and against her better judgment - she and her son Jack move to tiny Utopia and into her husband's grandmother's house.
All work and no play has Autumn Primm in the market for a little excitement. Her Venice Beach coffee shop, The Cat's Pajamas, is her pride and joy, but the time has come to take off the apron and see what the world has in store. Kate Carpenter needs to get away. And quick. A former firefighter, Kate's been crowned her town's new hero for reasons she can't quite get behind. A free flight and some time off have her fleeing the scene to sunny California. Dreamy Autumn Primm was never supposed to be part of that bargain.
Nora Calhoun keeps her life just like her Provincetown B and B, neat and tidy. She's thrilled when her niece, Graham, comes to stay with her while completing her graduate fieldwork aboard the Dolphin Fleet. She's less than thrilled when Graham starts hanging out with Willa Lange, a sexy wanderer who works for the Fleet and seems to have her sights set on Graham. At the encouragement of her sister, Emerson, Will's short stay in Ptown becomes a fresh start. She's doing great - a decent job, a place of her own, and new friends. But when she meets Nora, she finds herself pining for more.
For Lindsay Kent, Vineyard is her dream job. She's thrilled when her boss leaves her in charge (well, half charge) and tells her to feel free to make changes. Lindsay has tons of ideas that she's been dying to put into action, and this is her big chance to increase the success of the business and prove she's more than ready to run things solo. But getting the boss's daughter on board is harder than expected. The uptight and annoyingly attractive Piper is blocking her every move. For Piper Bradshaw, Vineyard is not her job. She already has one.
Dakota Scott has spent her entire adult life trying to outrun her past, but even the privilege and reputation her family name affords her haven't helped her forget. Her mother's mental illness and the memory of the night that haunts her from so long ago won't release her. When the one woman with the power to set her free shows up, Dakota is drawn to her, but she is a painful reminder of everything Dakota has been trying desperately to escape. When Jessie Weldon returns to her hometown after thirty years of avoiding it, she knows she has demons to face and a conflicted past to resolve, but she has no idea love awaits her. Can she give her heart to Dakota with the tragic past that lies between them?
All her life, Annie Prideaux has suffered through her brother's constant practical jokes. But Jake's last joke is one too many, she decides when he sets her up on a blind date with his friend Drew - neglecting to tell his straight sister one tiny detail: Her date is not a man but a lesbian. Annie and Drew decide it's time to turn the tables on Jake by pretending to fall in love with each other.
Self-made business owner Dale McGuire has always enjoyed two things in life: women and fast cars. Now in her mid-30s, she's restless and can't work out why. Then one day a 10-year-old boy turns up, claiming to be her son, and her simple ordered world turns upside down.
The only thing that frightens shapeshifter Selene Rhodes more than the full moon is the idea of falling in love. Selene Rhodes has lived her whole life with a terrible secret: not only can she take the form of any animal at will, but once a month the full moon transforms her into a fierce wolf-creature without a human conscience. Managing her condition means living by a strict routine, and more importantly, abstaining from intimate relationships with human beings.
Home from college, Megan spends her days in her east wing room of her parents' palatial estate overlooking the pool house where her sister has taken up residence. Her sister Ashley spends her days wildly bucking convention, bringing home a bevy of female lovers, each one more dangerous than the last, and making love to them by the pool - in plain view of her sister, their conservative parents, and their bewildered staff. Ashley stays out all hours, goes places that she doesn't tell anyone about, and keeps secrets that only she knows. Then one night, Ashley is murdered, and when the case grows cold, Megan immerses herself in her sister's underground life in order to find out who killed her and why.
She starts by finding Ashley's diary and begins a sexual odyssey all her own. Will she find the answers she seeks or will her growing relationship with one of Ash's exes blind her to the real truth?
Would you consider the audio edition of Punishment with Kisses to be better than the print version?
Both Meagan and Ashley. Even though Meagan is main character, her sister Ashley is the reason this story exists. It keeps you going I think until about the last 5 or 6 chapters I kind of figured it out but it was still a good story. Suspense and puts a new spin on screwed up family dynamics.
What does Alexandria Wilde bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
Alexandria Wilde did a great job with narration emoticons and individual voices perfect.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
Yes because you wanted to know what the heck was going on.
Any additional comments?
Hope to read more by Diane Anderson Minchell
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
Noir, mystery, murder, scandal, and lesbians rolled up into one. Diane Anderson-Minshall writes whip-smart noir mysteries with strong, sexy women at the helm.
Our story: a wealthy family's youngest daughter runs around with all kinds of women and stays out 'til all hours—until she doesn’t come home at all. Her older sister delves into her world to try to get to the bottom of it, but she may be in over her head.
Think: Chandler's "The Big Sleep," but get rid of Bogart and let Lauren Bacall do her own investigating—and seducing.
Narrator Alexandria Wilde did a wonderful job on this. She has a real talent for hitting the right tone in each scene.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful