RETURN TO WYLDER by Author Maria Imbalzano **Excerpt Tour** **Review**

Welcome to Notes From a Romantic's Heart. Today, we're featuring Return to Wylder, part of the Wylder West series from The Wild Rose Press. Author Maria Imblazano is here to share some insight into her new release. You can find all the stops on this tour at Goddess Fish Promotions. Don't forget to enter the Rafflecopter drawing for a chance to win an Amazon or Barnes and Noble gift card. The entry form is at the bottom of this feature.

Genre: Contemporary Romance

The untimely death of EJ Hampton’s father kills her dream of practicing law with him in her hometown of Wylder. Heartbroken, she now has two weeks to organize the practice for sale. When she meets her father’s millionaire client Dylan Addison, he is demanding and entitled—yet his charisma captivates her.

Dylan is under pressure to renovate the Wylder Hotel before his father pulls the plug on his project. He needs EJ’s expertise, but she is bent on returning to her life in San Francisco despite the fireworks between them.

EJ walks a tightrope trying to balance Dylan’s needs against her own, but doing so is far more complicated when emotions get in the way.

Find Return to Wylder at Amazon or Barnes and Noble

Also available in print

EJ took a sip of her beer. “It may take some time, but you’ll win him over. If you start coming here at least once a week. Even if it’s just to have a quick drink at the bar or a sandwich at lunchtime. Get to know him, as well as the customers.” She nodded toward the bar at the few-dozen townspeople who all seemed like best friends. “You need to do this with all the businesses around town. What have you been doing for the past five months?” Her brow scrunched as she waited for my sorry excuse.

I would have grinned in an attempt to soften her underlying admonishment, but she might have then assumed I wasn’t taking her advice seriously. I cleared my throat. “I have projects in Chicago that I’ve continued to work on. When I’m in town, I’ve been dealing with contractors, getting estimates. The usual.”

“At least you’re using local tradespeople for the hotel.”

She would know that since she’d reviewed the contracts.

“Was introducing me to Chad your sole purpose in asking me to meet you here?” I had hoped it was because she was as intrigued with me as I was with her. The heat in her eyes when I stroked her palm last night couldn’t have been an illusion.

“Not my sole purpose.” Her sly smile gave me hope. “The Spring Festival is in nine days. You may have seen the signs around town.”

All hope was dashed with this turn in the conversation. I had seen the signs, but it wasn’t something I put in my calendar. Although perhaps I should, to assure I wouldn’t get stuck in traffic if I wanted to get out of town that day. “And?” There had to be more.

“The town’s budget is tight this year, and they can’t afford fireworks. That’s a big draw, so disappointment is running high. There are a few other things that need funding.” She opened her purse and withdrew a folded piece of paper. “My mom is co-chair of the event, and these are their current needs.”

I took the paper and scanned a host of sponsorship opportunities along with the estimated cost next to each. The most expensive by far was the fireworks. I searched her face. “Are you asking me for a donation? I can certainly write a check to contribute.”

“Does your father’s company support community festivities?”

Oh, so this was where she was going.

5 Stars

I'm a big fan of small town western romances, and I've especially enjoyed the variety of the Wylder series. So, when a review tour came up for Maria Imbalzano's new book, Return to Wylder, I knew I had to sign up.

  

I was immediately drawn to the heroine's dilemma of choice. I felt her sadness at her loss. The last thing she need, professionally at least, was an overbearing and entitled client. However, Dylan was such a delight right from the beginning, I couldn't even be angry with him for his privileged attitude. And, of course, the more I got to know him, the more I understood his personality.

EJ and Dylan were perfect foils for one another right from the get-go and it was very enjoyable to watch their relationship progress with just the right amount of steam thrown in for good measure.

I highly recommend this new addition to the Wylder series.

Maria Imbalzano is an award-winning contemporary author who writes about strong, independent women and the men who fall in love with them. She recently retired from the practice of law, but legal issues have a way of showing up in many of her novels. When not writing, she loves to travel both abroad and in the states. Maria lives in central New Jersey with her husband--not far from her two daughters and granddaughters.

Maria's Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Newsletter Sign Up

Amazon Author Profile ~ BookBub ~ Goodreads

Maria Imbalzano will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Thank you for stopping by. I hope to see you again soon.

Nancy

RED VELVET CRINKLES AND CHRISTMAS SPRINKLES by Author Maria Imbalzano **BOOK BLAST**

Welcome to Notes From a Romantic’s Heart. Today we are featuring author Maria Imbalzano and her new holiday romance, Red Velvet Crinkles and Christmas Sprinkles. You can find all the stops on Maria’s tour at Goddess Fish Promotions. Also, don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway. The entry form is at the bottom of this post.

GENRE: Contemporary Romance

Competitive, work-obsessed Bella Simonetti has just been fired from her high-paying job at a Manhattan law firm. At an all-time low, she returns home and helps her parents at their small-town gift shop, but the business is failing and may not make it past the Christmas holidays.

Successful landscape architect Dean Jackson is like a son to Bella's parents. But he's a persistent annoyance to her—he seems to have forgotten his unforgivable blunder thirteen years earlier.

When Bella transforms her parents' gift shop into a cookie cottage, Dean's generosity and magnetic smile are hard to resist, and those feelings of unrequited adolescent love come rushing back. But can Bella let go of the past and accept Dean for the man he is today?

Get the book at: Amazon ~ Apple ~ B&N (Nook)

There came that half-teasing, half-serious smile. To avoid it, she started pulling Christmas balls hung on red-and-green silk ribbons from the large box she’d brought out.

“I can help you hang those in the window. I hid the hooks above the molding last year so we don’t have to remove them every year.”

“Clever.” Her sarcastic tone couldn’t be mistaken.

“We’ll need a ladder,” he determined. “I’ll get it from the back, then you can hand me the balls, and I’ll attach them.”

She slitted her eyes at him. “I want to hang the balls. You can do something else.”

“Fine. But it takes two for this job. You don’t want to be going up and down the ladder each time you hang a ball. It’s inefficient.”

He had a point. She’d have to bury her reluctance to work with him at the risk of coming up with some other childish excuse.

Once Dean brought the ladder to the window, she climbed up three steps and took the first ball from him. Not a well-thought-out plan since her butt was now at his eye level.

“Can you stand over here, please?” She pointed to the other side of the ladder.

“It’s better if I stand behind you, to spot you. In case you lose your balance.” His grin emerged, and she gritted her teeth to prevent a growl.

Maria is a retired matrimonial lawyer who now writes full time. Instead of drafting motions, legal memoranda, and briefs, although fascinating, she now spends her days creating memorable characters and taking them on their emotional journeys through her contemporary romance novels.

Her novel, “Unchained Memories,” won the Wisconsin Romance Writers Write Touch Readers’ Award and the ACRA Readers’ Choice Heart of Excellence Award. “Sworn to Forget,” the first of the four-book Sworn Sisters Series was a finalist for the illustrious RONE award as well as the Book Buyers Best Award. Her novellas, “The Blueberry Swirl Waltz” and “A Song For Another Day” each came in first in their category in the National Excellence in Story Telling contest.

Maria's Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Newsletter Sign Up

Amazon Author Profile ~ BookBub ~ Goodreads

Maria Imbalzano will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Thank you so much for joining us today. Please come back again soon for more authors, books, and giveaways.

Nancy

SWORN TO FLY by Author Maria Imbalzano **Review** **Giveaway**

Notes From a Romantic’s Heart is pleased to welcome author Maria Imbalzano to the blog. Today we’re featuring her new book, Sworn to Fly. You can find all of the stops on this tour at Goddess Fish Promotions. Don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter drawing for your chance to win a $20 gift card. The entry form is at the bottom of this post.

GENRE: Contemporary Romance

 

About the Book

 

Risk-averse ER nurse, Alyssa Beckman, is about to lose her job because of yet another bad decision. In order to put her life back on track, she books a week at a rustic mountain resort to ponder her next steps and rejuvenate. But when she arrives, she learns she’s enrolled in boot camp, an adventure program far out of her comfort zone.

While there, she meets Gabriel Sutton, a world-travelling high fashion photographer who is in danger of losing his clients as well as his status if he doesn’t start following the rules.  While hiking, kayak racing, and participating in team challenges, sparks fly between Alyssa and Gabe as they encourage each other to take different life paths. But will those paths lead them farther apart or bring them closer together? 

 

Enjoy an Excerpt

 

“Why so quiet?” he asked after a while.

“I’m meditating.”

“Really?”

She laughed—a welcome sound. “No. I didn’t take the class yet. I thought I’d just let you do your thing.”

“I can do my thing while talking.” He pointed his camera in her direction and took a photo.

“Can you please give me some warning when you’re going to do that? I can see my request that you not take my picture has fallen on deaf ears, so you can at least give me a heads-up.” She pulled a stemmy reed from her hair.

“Sorry. Can’t do. That’s not the way I work. I like candid shots when the subject isn’t prepared. They’re the best.”

“So I’m a subject now?”

Gabe headed over and sat down beside her, his leg touching hers. A shock wave coursed through him. He inhaled slowly, trying to take back control. When her arm brushed against his, the wave vied with sparks and heat.

Russet eyes held his for only a moment before she disconnected.

He cleared his throat, hoping to clear his head. “You’re an amazing subject. The photos I took of you yesterday on our little walk were so natural. The intensity of your eyes when you were helping Missy, the sympathy on your face, even though you were the ultimate professional—portrayed a nurse in action, helping a patient. Beautiful.”

My Review

4-Sky High Stars

 

Who doesn’t know someone like the heroine, Alyssa? Smart, dedicated, but a tad on the cautious side. When her career is in flux, Alyssa decides to take a much-needed vacation, despite her aversion to travel. Instead of a relaxing break, she’s thrown into chaos of the less-than-cautious kind.

Gabriel Sutton is her exact opposite, daring almost to the point of alienating people His character reminded me of those perfume commercials where the hero’s about to get the girl and then she rides off into the sunset without him. Not that there’s anything wrong with the analogy.

To be honest, I was expecting more romance that what I got. Which, isn’t a bad thing. I had to take a step back and analyze the book from the bigger perspective of women’s fiction. While I enjoyed Gabe’s interaction with Alyssa, I didn’t warn to her as much as I would have liked. However, that’s probably more me than it was her. I wanted her to be more assertive than she was. That doesn’t take away from her character, it just changes her.

If you’re a fan of women’s fiction with a healthy dose of romantic scenes, you’ll enjoy this book.

Meet the Author

 

Maria Imbalzano is a retired matrimonial lawyer who now writes full time. Instead of drafting motions, legal memoranda, and briefs, although fascinating, she now spends her days creating memorable characters and taking them on their emotional journeys through her contemporary romance novels.

Her novel, “Unchained Memories,” won the Wisconsin Romance Writers Write Touch Readers’ Award and the ACRA Readers’ Choice Heart of Excellence Award. “Sworn to Forget,” the first of the four-book Sworn Sisters Series was a finalist for the illustrious RONE award as well as the Book Buyers Best Award.

Maria's Website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Newsletter Sign Up

Amazon Author Page ~ BookBub ~ Goodreads

 

Enter the Giveaway

 

Maria Imbalzano will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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It’s been my pleasuring hosting Maria today. Please come back again tomorrow for another author, another book, and another #Giveaway.

Nancy