Always a fan of Peggy
Bird’s romances because she conjures up the best characters, and with THE
PROFESSOR’S SECRET, new from Crimson Romance, she did not disappoint.
***eARC
provided by author in exchange for an honest and unscripted review.
Blurb for THE PROFESSOR’S
SECRET:
English professor
Claudia Manchester secretly writes spicy romances as April Mayes, the Queen of
Steam. She wants to keep her side job under wraps till she’s secured tenure,
but when she’s pressured by her agent to appear at some out-of-state
conferences, she agrees … if she can go in disguise. Dressed as her sexier
alter ego, she meets historical romance writer and high school history teacher
Bradley Davis and passion ignites. But can true love be built on lies? And will
he still want her when she reveals her real self?
~*~ ~*~
~*~ ~*~
As
Sir Walter Scott said, “O, what a tangled web we weave, When first we practise to
deceive.”
Claudia
Manchester is a professor of English Lit at Portland State University, and is
eagerly awaiting her chance to secure tenure but there’s only one problem…she’s
also a romance writer and her agent wants her to start attending author
functions such as writers conferences. Her pen name is April Mayes. When she
finally gives in to her agent’s request, she agrees to go but only if she can
go as April and not as Claudia – in disguise, in other words – but as her alter
ego instead of her staid professor self. April is known as the Queen of Steam and
so as April, Claudia discovers a whole new side of herself.
When
she encounters a hot and handsome
fellow romance writer, high school history teacher, Brad Davis, she discovers
that April is much more willing to have fun than Claudia ever was. But what happens
when Brad discovers the truth that April/Claire isn’t the real her?
Knowing
that a lot of romance writers use pen names, this was a fun story for many
reasons. As an aspiring author, I’ve considered the use of one myself but since
I’m not a very good web weaver, I
figure it would be more trouble than it’s worth to try to keep a cover story straight. Just the problem
that poor Claudia seems to find herself in when Brad, who also writes under a
pen name – Davis Churchill – begins to unravel her woven web but instead of coming clean, she creates yet another
persona tangling her web even more so.
I
love how Peggy infused the world of romance writer conference with all that
comes with it. How she plunked this poor introverted college professor/sexy
romance writer smack down in the midst of it with the undeniably delicious
temptation of Mr. Hot and Handsome Brad Davis to keep her on her toes, sweating
her woven web, and trying to grab a moment when she can breathe even as she
wishes he’d steal away her breath again.
I’ve
never had the luck to attend a conference but I know Peggy has and I’m so glad
she wrote a story that allowed us to experience one even if only through
Claudia and Brad’s eyes. Peggy always creates the most real, alive, and
wonderfully delightful characters, people that I would thoroughly enjoy knowing in
real life. Claudia and Brad are no exception. They are wonderfully clumsy, each
trying to impress, and deceive, while trying to make a connection that will
last. Whether, she’s Claudia, April, or Claire, our heroine is as sweet,
complicated, and adorable as any romance heroine and Brad is definitely her hero.
If
you love sweet, flirty, and terrifically fun romance, I highly recommend
reading THE PROFESSOR’S SECRET by Peggy Bird. It’s a quick, fun read that will
have you wishing for your own nom de
plume to secret behind in hopes of meeting your own Mr. Hot and Handsome.
Happy
Reading Everyone!
THE PROFESSOR'S SECRET by Peggy Bird, Crimson Romance, available now in ebook formats at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Kobobooks.
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