Monday, August 27, 2012

Review & Giveaway: Blame It On Texas by Christie Craig - Blog Tour


Title: Blame It On Texas
Series: Hotter In Texas #2
Author: Christie Craig | Website
Available: 8/28/2012
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Contemporary Romance

Source: Received from publisher in exchange for my review











Synopsis via Goodreads:


Zoe Adams has always been content with her quiet nights at home, watching TV alone-until her life turns into a real-life episode of Unsolved Mystery Hunters. The story of a kidnapped girl triggers unexplained memories, and Zoe is dead-set on figuring out why. Her search leads her to one of the Lone Star State's richest families-and to sexy PI Tyler Lopez.


Tyler has sworn off women, especially redheads with killer curves who poke their noses into his clients' private lives. Still, he can't deny the attraction any more than he can deny that some of Zoe's crazy story makes sense. But when she becomes a hit man's target, this cold case starts heating up. Suddenly, Tyler will do anything to protect Zoe-even risk his heart.


My thoughts:



As I've mentioned numerous times before, contemporary romance is not one of my "go-to genres". I'm unbelievably picky, but yet again Christie Craig has managed to seriously rock my socks. I love the world she has created in Texas. I love the three hunks that make up the private investigating team, Only In Texas. And I love the women she created to win their hearts.

Blame It On Texas was just as wonderful as its predecessor, Don't Mess With Texas, if not better. Christie Craig has combined mystery and romance to create a book that will keep you reading way past your bedtime. Tyler is a character with so much depth. Now that isn't something you can typically say about love interests in a romance novel. I admired his intelligence and compassion for others (especially his strong family values). And he likes cats. Like likes them enough to save them from becoming road kill. Having been called a crazy cat lady more than once; I'm a sucker for any man who has a soft spot for felines. His love match, Zoe, was unbelievably sweet with a wonderful sense of humor (and another cat person, Yay). I couldn't get enough of these two together.

Blame It On Texas also contains a secondary romance that focuses on the relationship between Rick and Ellen, who we met in the first book of the series. I enjoyed catching up with Ellen again. I was intrigued by her in the first book and just knew she had a story to tell. I will admit it took a bit for Rick to win me over, but eventually he did. His character really seemed to evolve the most over the course of the story.

The mystery behind Zoe's identity was a great one. I had to fight the urge to skip to the end and unravel all the mysteries. Thankfully patience won, and I was able to hold out. It was so worth it! Now my only complaint is waiting for the next book in the series. It sounds like it is going to be another great read!

Cover thoughts: Hmm. So I only seem to weigh in on covers when I have an issue. This version of Tyler really doesn't fit my imagined Tyler. I can't recall if Tyler's father's background was mentioned beyond his abusive nature, but I'm pretty sure Tyler is of Hispanic decent. He speaks Spanish and his last name Lopez. Yet, cover guy appears to be Caucasian. Maybe Tyler is half white? I'm not real sure, but would have loved to see a hottie Latino on the cover. Being married to a hottie Latino has perhaps made me a tad biased. Just saying.....





Check out this fun video!


If you enjoy Christie's books as much as I do, don't forget to check out her YA titles written under the pseudonym, C. C. Hunter!


Giveaway Details:

3 copies of Blame It On Texas are up for grabs courtesy of Hachette!

Open to the U.S & Canada
Book will ship from publisher
No P.O Boxes please
Winners are subject to Hachette's 1 copy per household rule
Ends 9/2/12
Please leave a comment with a way to contact you to enter (email, Twitter, etc) 

14 comments:

  1. Congrats on the new release. This book sounds fantastic. Can't wait to read it. Loved Don't Mess With Texas. I laughed out loud.

    e.balinski(at)att(dot)net

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  2. Thanks so much for the giveaway. I love Christie's books.

    janie1215 AT excite DOT com

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  3. Been waiting for the Nook book to come out. Loved the first one and can't wait to read follow-up! Sincerlykate1@hotmail.com

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  4. Thanks for the giveaway.I would love to read this book. It sounds really good. Please enter me in contest. Tore923@aol.com

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  5. Blame It On Texas sounds like a great story and I'm looking forward to reading it. I think it's going to be a lot of fun watching the sparks fly between Zoe and Tyler.

    Barbed1951 at aol dot com

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  6. Very nice review. Sounds like a good book.

    bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

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  7. I got my sister hooked on the first book and now we're both looking forward to more by Christie Craig.

    Cambonified(at)yahoo(dot)com

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  8. Ooooo...I'd love to read this book! Great giveaway...thanks for the chance to win this book!
    lgm52@hotmail.com

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  9. I love Christie Craig's books and can't wait to read this one! I have been patiently waiting for another one. :)
    amy(at)remus(dot)net

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  10. Wow! First a huge thank you for the such a wonderful review!!! And from one feline lover to another!!! I have four of those feline suckers. LOL. And then another big wow for all the posts here. Do you have any idea how good it feels to read these short posts by people who like me and don't even know me? LOL. Seriously, I'm walking on air now. So thank you to everyone. Here's hoping you enjoy the book as much as I enjoyed writing it.

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  11. Great review. This sounds cute. And you're right, he doesn't look very Hispanic. Maybe a deeper tan would help.

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  12. It looks like a fun story.
    mce1011 AT aol DOT com

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  13. Oh, yeah that cover doesn't really work then! But, it sounds like a great romantic read. :)

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  14. I'm right there with you on contemp romance. But if she managed to rock your socks off, I may have to give this one a shot.

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