Books
my reviews of books
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Buy Direct from ME!
I’m excited to announce that I have my very own bookstore(s) and you can now buy my e-books directly from me via either my Shopify store or my Story Origin store! Click on the images if you’re someone who wants to support authors directly. My Story Origin sells e-books only, but sells internationally. My Shopify store sells ebooks, paperbacks and audiobooks, but it is set up for the US, because of tax reasons.
I’ve set up book bundles of my series, so there is a New York Friendship Bundle and a New York Spark Starter Set in the Story Origin store. Click on the image below for the links.
New York Friendship Series
Three interconnected, feel-good, standalone, closed-door romantic comedies set in New York City in one box set!
This set includes:
Partner Pursuit: Audrey is a workaholic lawyer who is determined to become a law firm partner. Jake is a fun-loving music marketing executive who would never date a lawyer. When Jake moves in next door, and sparks fly, will Audrey choose love or career?
Is This for Real?: Take one relationship recluse writing a novel with a fake-dating trope. Add in one yummy romantic guy shanghaied for her romcom research. Layer in a history of genuine friendship on top of her recent heartbreak. Is this a recipe for true love or disaster?
Caper Crush: She’s an emotional artist. He’s a reserved accountant. When they team up to solve who stole her painting, will they find love?
“Overall I have loved this series.”
Lemon Nail Fiend Book Blog“[Partner Pursuit] is an old-school romcom! If this book was a movie, JLo or Reese Witherspoon would play the female lead, with Matthew McConaughey as the love interest.”
– StephanieNew York Spark Starter Set
My Book Boyfriend and Love Is an Art – the first two closed-door, happy-ever-after, standalone, interconnected books in the New York Spark series!
My Book Boyfriend: Lily loves her garden. Rupert wants to bulldoze it. When feelings grow, will they blossom or turn to rubble?
Love Is an Art: A Fish Out of Water Romantic Comedy
Tessa: He hates lawyers. So I’m a lawyer pretending to be an artist. Forgetting one tiny detail: I can’t paint. Zeke: She’s the worst artist I’ve ever seen.
“Kathy Strobos has proved to me again why she’s one of my go to authors, for HEA, for feeling happy and warm and making the world feel a better place.”
– Tara from TheWoollyGeek on InstagramFree E-Book Copy of A Scavenger Hunt for Hearts
As always, A Scavenger Hunt for Hearts is free when you sign up to my newsletter.
What do you think of my own e-bookstore?
Have you ever wanted to own a bookstore?
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Shepherd’s Book Recs: Find Your Next Favorite Book
Love Is an Art Shepherd’s Book Recs: Find Your Next Favorite Book! Shepherd’s ask authors for their book recs, and so it’s a great site to find your next favorite read. They asked me to recommend five of my favorite books around a theme with the release of Love Is an Art. I was so honored.
I love their site. It feels like walking into a bookstore and asking for recommendations and being given so many good ones. As they say, “it’s like wandering the aisles of your favorite bookstore.”
As the founder writes:
To start, I’ve asked 9,000+ authors to share five of their favorite books around a topic, theme, or mood and why they love each book. This infuses each book with magic and meaning.
Then, we give readers fun and unique ways to follow their curiosity down rabbit holes and bump into those books and authors. At every step, you meet the person who recommended that book, the book list it came from, and what they are passionate about.
Ben FoxMy Shepherd’s Book Recs: Find Your Next Favorite Book To Read
If you click on the image above or this link to the site, you can read why I chose the books I did.
I wandered around the site and found so many books to read based on their recommendations. #neverendingTBR Lol.
For example, Partner Pursuit would fit in this list of the Best Chicklit Books on Lawyers from a Former Big Law Attorney. If you liked Partner Pursuit, you might want to check these books out. Or if you’ve read any of those books (which includes The Undomestic Goddess and Emily Giffin’s Something Borrowed), then you will probably also like Partner Pursuit.
Fun to Explore: What other authors liked Sophie Kinsella?
There are so many fun ways to explore the site. For example, I searched for other authors who’d chosen The Undomestic Goddess as one of their favorite books. I found the list above, but also a list by Octavia Butler of The Best, Romance, Chicklit and Women’s Fiction Books.
Love Is an Art is also featured on the RNA Blog!
Love Is an Art is also featured on the Romantic Novelists Association Blog, along with an interview of me giving writing tips and explaining how my journey to publishing. I think most of you know that I was in the RNA’s New Writer’s Scheme. I cannot recommend that highly enough to unpublished writers. It really made me so happy to see one of my books featured on the RNA Blog. They also asked me what was the inspiration behind Love Is an Art and what was the hardest part of the book to write.
Let’s Talk
Had you heard of Shepherd’s before? Did you go check it out and find any books to add to your #TBR? And if so, please share in the comments below.
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Love Is an Art! Teaser
Look at this great teaser trailer for Love Is an Art. It’s so clever. I love it!
Love Is an Art Book Trailer Love Is an Art Blurb
Love Is an Art Here’s the blurb:
He hates lawyers. So I’m a lawyer pretending to be an artist. Forgetting one tiny detail: I can’t paint.
Tessa: There’s something about the way the blond guy laughs and leans in to listen. My gaze keeps returning to him.
The only problem is, we’re at an art gallery after work, and I’ve swapped my lawyer suit for a paint-splattered shirt. I’m pretending to be a struggling artist, acting as bait to entice a scammer who conned my friend out of thousands of dollars.
I look pathetic. But still, I approach Hot Guy.
Our glances meet, and an awareness shimmers across. He offers to buy me a drink–we’re definitely flirting–and then he asks me what I do.
Just when Scammer Guy is in earshot.
I have no choice but to say I’m an artist. I can tell Hot Guy later that I’m not.But then he says he hates lawyers.
Now what?
Zeke: She’s the worst artist I’ve ever seen.
And I hate that that makes me suspect that she’s lying to me. After my ex-girlfriend cheated on me, trust is in short supply.
She makes me laugh, and it’s one adventure after another with her. Definitely different from my workaholic lawyer ex.
Maybe it’s time to give love a second chance.
All is fair in love and litigation, but when truth and deception clash, can you trust your heart?
*The romcom books in this series are interconnected standalones set in the same world. Each can be read as a pure standalone with a guaranteed happily ever after.
A Scavenger Hunt for Hearts Audiobook!
My author reading aloud of A Scavenger Hunt for Hearts is now all up on YouTube so you can listen to the whole book read aloud by me there. You can click the image above for the link. It’s like attending an author reading but in the privacy of your home 🙂
Let’s Talk
What are you watching/reading? I’m watching My Demon and Please Marry My Husband (both k-dramas). I’m reading When In Rome by Sarah Adams. And I’m hard at work on my next book.
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Let’s do a scavenger hunt with Kiara!
Let’s visit the MoMA with Kiara and see some of the art that she and Finn found as the answers to the clues in the scavenger hunt in A Scavenger Hunt for Hearts!
A Scavenger Hunt for Hearts – the novella
In A Scavenger Hunt for Hearts, Kiara jumps at the chance to dress up as a teacup work of art and participate in a scavenger hunt at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City to win her favorite artist’s painting. She pairs up with a stranger dressed as Rembrandt.
He may not know much about modern art, but he certainly knows how to make her heart beat.
The Scavenger Hunt
So let’s visit MoMA with Kiara and Finn and go on a scavenger hunt!
The first clue is: They did not always leave… Who is the artist? What is the painting showing?
The artist is Jacob Lawrence and it is showing flooding of crops. It explains that people left the South because floods ruined the crops.
The second clue is: Construction by Means of Color — A painting with a red ball flower. What’s the name of the painting and the artist?
The answer is: The Blue Window by Henri Matisse.
Another clue is: Planes of Color. Which painting has a different date on the reverse side? What is the name of the painting and the artist? What is the date on the reverse side?
The answer is: No. 5/No. 22 by Mark Rothko. 1949.
Another clue is: Pantyhose R.S.V.P. Who is the artist?
Senga Nengudi is the artist.
From my prior post with our November 2023 scavenger hunt, here’s a clue: A shimmery painting with pink using industrial materials. “The shimmering, reflective surface she created oxidized and eroded, becoming a kaleidoscopic mirror in which we glimpse fragments of ourselves and our surroundings.” Who is the artist?
The artist is: Tsuruko Yamazaki.
And we can’t forget that Kiara is dressed as a furry teacup. Here is the work of art that inspired her costume:
This is Object by Meret Oppenheim.
And Remember to Check Out My Reading of A Scavenger Hunt for Hearts – click on the image below for the link to the YouTube audio!
Let’s Talk
I hope you’ve enjoyed viewing some of the art work in this scavenger hunt. Who are some of your favorite artists?
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MoMA Scavenger Hunt 2023
To celebrate the one-year anniversary of the publication of A Scavenger Hunt for Hearts, I created a new MoMA scavenger hunt 2023 for my readers and my newsletter subscribers! I was amazed at how many pieces of art that were on view for my original scavenger hunt were no longer on exhibit. I held the unofficial scavenger hunt event yesterday at the MoMA.
November 2023 unofficial MoMA Scavenger Hunt
- SECOND FLOOR
- Spiral for Shared Dreams. What is the name of the Aztec Goddess for fresh water, childbirth and sensuality?
- Doors with Bats. When was this work created? What is the name of the artwork?
- THIRD FLOOR
- What was the size of Picasso’s Fontainebleau studio? What is the name of one piece of art he created there?
- A shimmery painting with pink using industrial materials. “The shimmering, reflective surface she created oxidized and eroded, becoming a kaleidoscopic mirror in which we glimpse fragments of ourselves and our surroundings.” Who is the artist?
- Flag. Who is the artist? How many stars?
- Soup cans. How many panels? Why soup cans?
- Dial A Poem. What poet read you a poem?
- 10/27/69. “The works’ tension and free fall—subject to forces beyond the artist’s control—paralleled the social turmoil of the time.” This is part of a series called the Drape paintings. What is the name of the artist?
- Go for a swim. Take a photo in this room of cut-outs.
- FOURTH FLOOR
- Fish. What is the date of creation?
- In A Scavenger Hunt for Hearts, Kiara and Finn enter a room called Motion and Illumination. A video fills a large screen hanging from the ceiling, with a “flying train,” inviting the viewer into a twisting aerial view of a street from 1902. What country is this filmed in?
- Pines and Rocks. When did MoMA acquire this work?
- An artist known for colorful paintings (sometimes with cows in them) who interweaves many of the visual elements of Cubism, Fauvism, Symbolism and Surrealism. What is the name of one of his paintings with a cow in it?
- Henri Matisse. Construction by Means of Color. A painting with a red ball flower. What’s the name of the painting?
- A bicycle wheel. Who is the artist? What is the date?
- Charlie Chaplin becomes a cog in this machine. What is the name of the film?
- Hotel Sauce Pots. What’s the name of the hotel?
- In what room are the water lilies?
- Luncheon in Fur. What is the actual name of this artwork and artist? What is the date of creation?
- They did not always leave . . . Who is the artist? What is the painting showing? What painting is underneath it?
- FIFTH FLOOR
- OOF. What colors are in this painting? What is the year of creation?
- ***Which of the above works of art are mentioned in A Scavenger Hunt for Hearts?***
Thank you so much for participating in this unofficial scavenger hunt to celebrate the publication of A Scavenger Hunt for Hearts! It made me so happy to try this out for real 😊
A Scavenger Hunt for Hearts Read Aloud by Author
My author reading of Chapters One and Two of A Scavenger Hunt for Hearts is now up on YouTube! I will release a new chapter every week.
Let’s Talk
Who are some of your favorite artists? I hope you have a wonderful November!
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My Book Boyfriend Blog Tour #2!
Thank you so much to all the bloggers and reviewers on the My Book Boyfriend Blog Tour organized by Rachel’s Random Resources and here’s post #2 about the tour! For post #1, click here.
Here are some excerpts from the reviews. To see the full review, click on the links. I am so grateful for all your positive reviews and so touched that my words found a home.
Thank you to Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers for this great review: “A great pick for Contemporary Romance fans, and book lovers alike, for the love and laughs, but also the chance to see a bookish ending that’s all deserved!” as well as this lovely quote:
“Today’s the day all your bookish dreams come true! How so? Well, because a particular author took a particular idea 💡 that every book lover has had at some point or another, and made it a reality… in a story at least!”
Satisfaction for Insatiable ReadersMalloch Books gave this lovely review on Instagram. Their feed has many great book recommendations, so definitely follow them on Instagram: “This ticked so many boxes for me: community, library, book-based romance. I found this to be a perfect summer read with lots of swoon worthy moments and happy little dances along the way. I found Rupert adorable, he gave major Labrador vibes, and I just wanted to hug him.”
This review definitely made do a happy little dance 🙂
Books, Life And Everything also gave this lovely review: “This is a well written, enemies to lovers romcom, with a varied cast of characters and a great community feeling.”
“There is plenty of humour in the story and a wry look at people’s reading habits and likes. I enjoyed all the sessions which Lily led in her book club – her love for reading is quite infectious. Most of all, the secondary characters add real colour and humour to the story to go alongside the growing romance which you feel is inevitable.”
Books, Life and EverythingYorkshireCarly’s Book Reviews recommended My Book Boyfriend as “the perfect summer read,” but also made this interesting point:
“I enjoyed that the two main characters Lily & Rupert are both huge book worms, because mainly it’s the female protagonist that loves books so it was quite refreshing and the romance was adorable.”
Yorkshire CarlyMore Reviews from My Book Boyfriend Blog Tour #2
Thanks so much for these reviews too! I agree that book readers are definitely sexy, don’t you?
“Rupert was an ideal bookish hero with oodles of swoonsomeness and proved book readers are sexy. “
The Enchanted Emporium Bookshelf“I could see this as a Hallmark movie, it’s that cute.”
Inspired by PMDDI also recommend following these bookstagram accounts for more great book reviews:
“This was a cute, heartwarming, enemies-to-lovers story and I really enjoyed it.”
https://www.instagram.com/mrsljgibbs/?hl=en“It was wonderful to read about books in a book.. . I love New York and books set there always have a special place in my heart. The setting was accurate–felt like I was in downtown.”
https://www.instagram.com/bookishllly/“Strobos gives us a quick and light read, with realistic characters showing community as well as friendship, my heart felt warm for them all. . . This is an author I will be picking up again and a series I will be following.”
https://www.instagram.com/nlcraigwrites/Let’s Talk
Thank you again to all the book bloggers and to Rachel’s Random Resources! Next up is the book tour for Love Is an Art!
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My Book Boyfriend Blog Tour
Thank you so much to all the bloggers and reviewers on the My Book Boyfriend Blog Tour organized by Rachel’s Random Resources!
It was amazing! Here are some excerpts from the reviews. For the full review, click on the link for each blog.
My Book Boyfriend was such a cozy, lighthearted, and heartwarming read! The bookish theme absolutely won my heart. I was looking for a quick read for my long flight back home for the semester break, and this was just perfect. The story played out like a rom-com movie in front of my eyes. It was so enjoyable!
Lily and Rupert had sizzling chemistry from the very beginning of the story. I really enjoyed seeing how they worked through the conflict that divided them! The witty banter, along with their bookish conversations, just made me melt. One of my favorite parts of the story was the realistic dispute between Lily and Rupert. Many enemies-to-lovers books have a supposed “enmity” just for the sake of it, but the way the trope was implemented in My Book Boyfriend was perfect!
I loved seeing how Lily and her friends came together to save the community garden. The community vibe was present all throughout the story, which made reading it so touching. The NYC setting was such a bonus too!
Highly recommend!
What Irin ReadsMany of the book bloggers have been reviewing my books since the beginning, and it makes me so happy that they keep signing up to review another one. I consider that the hugest compliment! And I’m also so thrilled that new bloggers have signed up.
Reviews from Returning Bloggers
Thank you to Zooloo’s Book Diary for this review: “I devoured this in one setting. I knew I would. Kathy’s writing is so easy to lose yourself into. She writes real characters, whose plight are relatable and generally feel pretty real! I feel like this could be a story your friend is going through. I adore Lily and Rupert.”
As you know, Splashes Into Books always creates a rhyming review–and I’m always blown away by her ability to do that. She called My Book Boyfriend a “fab, fun read.” And here’s part of the review:
“Can she trust him to be true or is he leading her astray,
Can they be together, come what may?
A fun read full of character and dilemmas, too,
Where sometimes you hope your dreams can come true!
For my complimentary copy of this book, I say thank you,
I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and this is my honest review.”
But definitely check out the full poem review at Splashes Into Books!
Tizi’s Book Review brought some tears to my eyes as she wrote: “There are authors that you don’t even need a blurb of their books to know that you will read it anyway. And Kathy Strobos is for sure a great addition to that kind of list of mine!” As did Tara’s Bookish Blog: “Kathy Strobos has proved to me again why she’s one of my go to authors, for HEA, for feeling happy and warm and making the world feel a better place.”
So we were already on a sure thing for me in knowing I’d enjoy this book, but in case these things aren’t ticking your boxes, I shall add that Kathy’s writing is wonderful, it’s engaging, the kind of writing where you forget your reading and two hours later you swear it was only 5 minutes ago you opened the book. She writes fantastic characters, ones I love or fall in love with, never perfect, always realistic, relatable and flawed people you really connect with.
Tara’s Bookish BlogThank you so much to Beauty Addict for this touching review (and definitely check out the rest of her review on her site):
“Having already read and loved Partner Pursuit and Is This For Real? by Kathy Strobos – I knew I was going to love My Book Boyfriend just as much – and I totally wasn’t wrong.
Beauty Addict
My Book Boyfriend is a beautifully written story with fantastic characters – a total must-add to your TBR pile this summer.Thank you so much for these reviews too!
“This was a great summer read, it was a real page turner… A great quick cozy read
https://www.instagram.com/scotsbookworm/This was a cute romance. . . This made me reminisce about all the times I visited my younger sister when she lived in NYC.
https://lisalovesliterature.bookblog.io/Such a cute, easy read with a great take on the enemies to lovers romance trope. . . I flew through this so fast, I was instantly hooked.
https://www.instagram.com/insomniacbookwormbookreviews/Let’s Talk
Thank you again to all the book bloggers! I’m going to do a Part 2 to cover the rest of the reviews. Such positive reviews make it all worthwhile!
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Go on a date with Love Is an Art
Go on a date with Love Is an Art! The paperback is now out on Amazon!
Here’s the blurb:
He hates lawyers. So I’m a lawyer pretending to be an artist. Forgetting one tiny detail: I can’t paint.
Tessa: There’s something about the way the blond guy laughs and leans in to listen. My gaze keeps returning to him. The only problem is, we’re at an art gallery after work, and I’ve swapped my lawyer suit for a paint-splattered shirt. I’m pretending to be a struggling artist, acting as bait to entice a scammer who conned my friend out of thousands of dollars.
I look pathetic. But still, I approach Hot Guy.
Our glances meet, and an awareness shimmers across. He offers to buy me a drink–we’re definitely flirting–and then he asks me what I do.
Just when Scammer Guy is in earshot.
I have no choice but to say I’m an artist. I can tell Hot Guy later I’m not.
But then he says he hates lawyers. Now what?
Zeke: She’s the worst artist I’ve ever seen.
And I hate that that makes me suspect that she’s lying to me. After my ex-girlfriend cheated on me, trust is in short supply.
She makes me laugh, and it’s one adventure after another with her. Definitely different from my workaholic lawyer ex.
Maybe it’s time to give love a second chance.
All is fair in love and litigation, but when truth and deception clash, can you trust your heart?
I’d like to take you on a date with Tessa and Zeke in Brooklyn.
Go on a Date with Tessa and Zeke in Love Is an Art
Zeke and Tessa have their first date in DUMBO, Brooklyn. DUMBO stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. That’s the Manhattan Bridge framed by the buildings.
Then Zeke and Tessa walk down to the waterfront and see this pathway, which has such a beachy feel.
And indeed it leads to beach down by the East River.
From there, let’s head back to the restaurants. Look at that beautiful Dutch architecture. I just love the rounded windows.
And walk up to rooftop of this building. There are more restaurants up top here so Zeke and Tessa grab dinner. Here’s a view out one of the windows.
Here’s one last view to leave you with! But the date continues now with a bike ride. And much more.
Thank you!
Thank you so much to all the readers, reviewers and bloggers who have already left such positive reviews of LOVE IS AN ART. I can’t wait for you to meet Tessa and Zeke!
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My Book Boyfriend: #1 in American Humorous Fiction
My Book Boyfriend achieved #1 in American Humorous Fiction on Amazon and received a Best Seller orange flag! In addition to the Top New Release flag! A HUGE THANK YOU to all my readers! I am still so happy.
Thank you also for all the great reviews!
My Book Boyfriend: #1 in American Humorous Fiction
I particularly appreciate these reviews who find My Book Boyfriend humorous.
“I’ve been searching for a writer like Sophie Kinsella . . . fun and witty and I’ve found her!” – Thank you Ellen! (Amazon review)
“It was Cozy with just the right amount of comedy and romance!” – Thank you Vex (Amazon review)
“Lily and Rupert were fun main characters, and the cast of minor characters really added humor to the story. I was so glad that Rupert wasn’t cast as a heartless billionaire; instead he was a book-loving good guy. This book will be adored by fans of Hallmark movies. – Thank you Southern Chick! (Amazon Review)
BONUS CHAPTER!
Don’t forget to sign up to my newsletter for an exclusive newsletter excerpt: Chapter Ten at The New York Public Library Gala from Rupert’s perspective.
The New York Spark Series
I’m also super excited for you to read Tessa’s story next in Love Is an Art! Tessa is Miranda’s roommate in Caper Crush, and she is one who finds the lawyer for the community garden in My Book Boyfriend when Tessa can’t serve as the garden’s lawyer because it’s a conflict of interest for her law firm. Love Is an Art is at the proofreader now. So I am so thankful for those reviewers who want to read the next book in the series.
“Loved it all and I can’t wait for the next story in this series. They had great banter as a couple. Must read.” Thank you D. Rivera!
“I found this a delightful story, with wonderful characters who don’t give up on their hopes and dreams, but look for compromise as well, and will look forward to reading more by the author. It’s definitely 5 star material.” – Thank you Helen! (Bookbub)
Thank you to my readers!
I still can’t believe it!
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Love Is an Art Cover Reveal
I’m so thrilled to reveal the cover for Love Is an Art, my fake identity romantic comedy! Isn’t it absolutely gorgeous? Thank you so much to my cover designer, Lucy of COVER EVER AFTER. I can’t wait to hold the paperback in my hand. I’ve been writing this since 2021, and I’m still revising it as we speak.
Love Is an Art Blurb
He hates lawyers. So I’m a lawyer pretending to be an artist. Forgetting one tiny detail: I can’t paint.
Tessa: There’s something about the way the blond guy laughs and leans in to listen. My gaze keeps returning to him.
The only problem is, we’re at an art gallery after work, and I’ve swapped my lawyer suit for a paint-splattered shirt. I’m pretending to be a struggling artist, acting as bait to entice a scammer who conned my friend out of thousands of dollars.
I look pathetic. But still, I approach Hot Guy.
Our glances meet, and an awareness shimmers across. He offers to buy me a drink, we’re definitely flirting, and then he asks me what I do.
Just when Scammer Guy is in earshot.
I have no choice but to say I’m an artist.
I can tell Hot Guy later I’m not.
But then he says he hates lawyers.
Now what?
Zeke: She’s the worst artist I’ve ever seen.
And I hate that that makes me suspect that she’s lying to me.
After my ex-girlfriend cheated on me, trust is in short supply.
Tessa makes me laugh, and it’s one adventure after another with her. Definitely different from my workaholic lawyer ex.
Maybe it’s time to give love a second chance.
All is fair in love and litigation, but when truth and deception clash, can you trust your heart?
*The romcom books in this series are interconnected standalones set in the same world. Each can be read as a pure standalone with a guaranteed happily ever after.
Love Is an Art will release on October 10 in e-book and hopefully sooner in paperback.
New York Spark Series
This is the second book in the New York Spark series. The main female protagonist is Tessa, a corporate lawyer with a passion for doing what is right. She helped Lily in My Book Boyfriend by finding a lawyer for the Oasis Community Garden. She was also in The New York Friendship series as Miranda’s roommate in Caper Crush.
Love Is an Art Cover Reveal
I love cover reveals! Thank you so much to all my readers! I hope you love Love Is an Art!