Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Blog Tour/Review: Sun and Moon by Lee Strauss



Sun & Moon by Lee Strauss
(Book One in the Minstrel Series)

Coming January 26th!

If you’re a fan of the movie Inside, Llewyn Davis, ABC television’s Nashville or Colleen Hoover’s upcoming novel, "Maybe Someday", the Minstrel Series is for you!

The Minstrel Series is a collection of contemporary romance novels set in the singer/songwriter world. The books are companion novels, with shared settings and characters, but each are complete standalone stories with a HEA (happily ever after) and no cliffhangers!


Katja Stoltz is a risk-taking singer-songwriter hoping to make it in the indie music scene in Dresden, Germany. Micah Sturm's a brooding uptown banker on a quest.

Driven to the streets, Katja is picked up by Micah - but he doesn't want what she thinks he does. There’s an undeniable attraction between them, a gravitational pull they both struggle to resist. Katja knows she mustn’t fall in love with this handsome enigma. There’s something dark lurking beneath the surface. He could be dangerous.

And even if her life isn’t on the line, her heart most definitely is.


*not erotica - no explicit sex or coarse language

Katja is a singer/songwriter and she starts out down on her luck. She needs rent money by tomorrow and one of her roommates told her if she didn't want to be out on the streets, she better put her shapely legs and the rest of her youthful body to work. We learn what's happened to her in the past three days to bring her to the point she's at now and some of her background with her family to show why she moved. While she's flashing her legs, she keeps reminding herself why she needs to do this, even though she's also arguing hard against it. 

A car stops for her, so she gets in and is pleased to see he's young and good-looking. She had the impression this was his first time picking someone like her up. She introduces herself and learns that his name is Micah and he's half-American, half-German. Micah takes Katja back to his place and feeds her dinner. He then pulls out his sofa bed, tells her he'll still pay her but wants her to sleep there. She's relieved but still a little wary.

She finds herself drawn to Micah, but leaves and then ends up back at his place. They're attracted to each other but he keeps her at arm's length. One of the bedrooms in his apartment is always locked and Katja really wants to learn what's on the other side of that door. Will his secret tear them apart or bring them closer together?

When I first started reading, I had to check to make sure this wasn't going to go down a road I didn't want to travel. I was relieved when Katja met Micah and he was a gentleman. I LOVED their story! There was just enough revealed to keep me guessing and Micah's secret was a surprise to me. Katja and Micah's relationship grew over time which I liked and made me fall in love with them as a couple. I enjoyed their conversations and I totally fell in love with Micah. There were definitely obstacles for them to overcome and my heart broke for them at one point. 

There are some great side characters that add a lot to the story as well. This book is billed as an HEA (happily ever after) so the ending didn't come as a surprise, but I enjoyed the journey to get to that point. I recommend this to anyone that would enjoy romance between two unlikely people--an indie singer/songwriter and a banker. This book was hard for me to put down. I look forward to reading more in this series and hope there's more Katja and Micah to come!

My Rating=5 Stars

Content: Passionate kissing; they do live in the same apartment but sleep in different rooms. There might be mild swearing, but I honestly don't remember.

This series is an exciting collaboration between Lee Strauss as an Indie Author and several very talented Indie Singer-Songwriters. Four original songs produced by Norm Strauss are featured in Sun & Moon and are performed by award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter Kim McMechan. MP3 links are included at the end.

Check out the music video!


All the songs from the Minstrel Series can be found at Bandcamp.

The Minstrel Series also has its own Facebook page. Go Like it to follow all the upcoming Minstrel Series news!

Pre- orders now available at the pre-release price of 2.99! 
(Price goes up after launch)


Lee is giving away prizes to celebrate the upcoming launch of Sun & Moon

Enter to win a $50 Amazon gift card, MP3s of all four songs featured on Sun & Moon, and a 12 month calendar from Dresden, Germany featuring many of the settings found in Sun & Moon.

Dresden, Germany
About Lee Strauss: Lee Strauss writes romantic mixed genres set in the past, present and future for YA and adult readers. She also writes light and fun stuff as Elle Strauss. She divides her time between BC, Canada and Dresden, Germany, and enjoys drinking coffee and eating chocolate in both places. Find out more at www.ellestraussbooks.com.

Twitter: @elle_strauss
YouTube channel

a Rafflecopter giveaway

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Great review! I love being able to read a book once in a while that just ends...No need to buy the second or third, but can read all of them when you want, and in any order you want!

Taylor Dean said...

Love a good, clean romance! Seems like they're really hard to find these days!

Unknown said...

Thanks for the feature and your great review! :)

Post a Comment