December 21, 2017

THE CHRISTMAS COWBOY HERO BY DONNA GRANT - ARC REVIEW

’Tis the season for ex-Navy SEAL Clayton East to come home for the holidays―even if the mood at home is anything but festive. His father is ill. The East Ranch is in financial trouble. And now it’s on Clayton, the prodigal son, to make sure his family doesn’t lose everything.

Headstrong Abby Harper is like a mother to her younger brothers, who she’s helped raise since she was a teenager. Keeping them in line is no small task while she’s also working toward her college degree. And now that one of her brothers has been arrested for stealing cattle at the East Ranch, Abby is at her wit’s end. But there is a silver lining: Clayton East. He believes in second chances, and is willing to give one to her brother this Christmas. Letting beautiful Abby―and the inescapable longing in his heart―off the hook, however, is a whole ’nother story. Could it be that the woman of this local hero’s dreams has been back at home all along?


Abby and Clayton meet after her younger brother is accused of stealing cattle from Clayton's ranch.  The sparks are instant, as is the wariness Abby feels toward Clayton and the fact that he holds the future of her younger brother in his hand.

Clayton isn't really that happy to be back on the ranch, it isn't as successful as it has been in the past due to the lack of attention to detail of his family and a shady accountant, and he has had to give up his career in the Navy to come home.

There were parts of this that I really enjoyed and I thought the relationship with Abby and her brothers and Clayton and his family were wonderful.  I liked the hero worship of Abby's brothers toward Clayton and the willingness of his family to make them feel welcome.

All of this, though took away from the relationship with Clayton and Abby and I felt that there was a slight opportunity missed for their relationship to build while the focus was on the other characters in the story. 

This book felt more like an ensemble holiday story than it did a romance with a central couple and some side characters.

I do recommend this title.  It's a great, warm family holiday romance.
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December 20, 2017

VAN BY SAWYER BENNETT - ARC REVIEW

Score one for the Carolina Cold Fury hockey team as a stone-cold badass melts for a woman who makes his blood run hot.

As one of the league’s toughest enforcers, Van Turner is ruthless on the ice. He plays hard because it’s the only way to channel the rage boiling inside, and a reputation as an A-hole is better than everyone knowing the truth. Van has spent his entire life running from a secret that’s kept him from getting involved in relationships—or accepting lucrative deals with East Coast teams. Then the Carolina Cold Fury makes him an offer he can’t refuse . . . and Van meets a woman he can’t resist.

Simone Fournier is the stubborn one in her family—and that’s saying something, considering her brothers are two of the Cold Fury’s biggest stars. Simone gets what she wants, and what she wants is Van. Still, there’s a part of him Simone can’t reach, no matter how hard she tries. In private, he’s all fire and passion. In public, he freezes her out. Van may want to push her away, but Simone won’t let him go that easily. Because this time, she’s playing for keeps.


Once this book got going and we got to the relationship with Van and Simone, I absolutely loved it.  The push and pull between them, the attraction he tried to fight (not very successfully) and the glimpses of Simone behind the woman who was trying to drive Van absolutely crazy.  All of this was great.

But, what I didn't love was the Simone we meet at the beginning, the Simone who shows up at her brother's house and moves herself in, seeming to feel that what was his (including his roommate) was hers for the taking.  I did not like this Simone, at all.  And, there were a few times where I considered putting this book down, as I was not sure I was ever going to like the heroine.

I did, I must admit, come to really like her, and to see that Simone and the person she brings to the relationship is the exact person Van needed her to be.  Van has a past he doesn't like to talk about, one that he hides from, and that he allows to control him.  He needed someone like Simone, someone to step into his life and want him enough to be able to move past the things he was not able to move past himself.

By the end of the title, I was really a fan of Simone and of Simone and Van.  I liked their relationship and I liked where they ended up, with a new life that they were starting.

I recommend this title.



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INTO THE NIGHT BY CYNTHIA EDEN - ARC REVIEW

Two FBI agents are caught in a merciless vigilante’s crosshairs in New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Eden’s electric Killer Instinct series

Lives will be ravaged as two FBI agents confront a mastermind serial murderer in New York Times bestselling author Cynthia Eden’s new Killer Instinct novel

Sheltered in the shadows of the Smoky Mountains is the suspect who’s summoned FBI agent Macey Night’s fears to the surface. Every day that the “Profiler,” a vigilante serial killer, escapes justice is another day she’s reminded of what it is to be a ruthless predator’s prey. Capturing him is a craving deeper than anything she’s felt in a long time. But Agent Bowen Murphy, equal parts sexy and volatile, seems hell-bent on changing that. Working together—needing, living, and breathing each other—they’re entwined to distraction.

Bowen’s used to operating on impulse: act, don’t feel. Now Macey and the controlled terror behind her beautiful eyes has him rethinking everything, including his rule to never get close to a colleague. He’s willing to fight for a future with Macey, but the consequences of love could be deadly.


Romantic suspense are hard books to review. Discussing the plot can be a spoiler as a twist that seems obvious to one reader will totally surprise another and vice versa, but not discussing the plot leaves for a review in which you aren't able to say much of anything.

Macey and Bowen are partners. And, they are attracted to one another. There are some clues at the beginning to how much Bowen actually cares for Macey, but he has kept things professional and has made sure that he puts their career with the FBI first.

When Macey needs comfort as her past and her present start to connect, Bowen is there, and they make an agreement, eventually, to be professional during the day, but to reserve the night for them to be together. This works, for a little while. Until the relationship starts to bleed into the day, and they have to deal not only with a killer, but with their developing relationship.

I enjoyed this overall. There were points that I thought moved a little too quickly, and some of the relationship seemed to be skipped over. I wanted a little more of the development at the beginning, but I did enjoy it overall.

I do recommend this title.



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December 19, 2017

EDGE OF TURH BY BRYNN KELLY - ARC REVIEW

A woman searching for the truth…

Kidnapped and thrown in an underground prison, journalist Tess Newell thinks she’s a goner. Stopping the terrorists holding her hostage seems impossible—until the arrival of a mysterious prisoner whose smile masks an edge more lethal than their captors.

A soldier with the darkest of secrets…

A French Foreign Legionnaire bound to a brotherhood that is both his blessing and curse, Flynn launches a daring escape—but honor won’t allow him to abandon the brazen, alluring reporter whose prying questions could bring down his world. The only thing more dangerous than the enemy close on their tail is the searing passion threatening to detonate between them…


Tess and Flynn worked as a couple in the suspense portion of the book, the kidnapping, escaping, running and then trying to get the information to stop the terrorists...all of this was compelling and interesting.

But, I felt that there was not enough of them as a couple when no one was shooting at them.  Their first encounter is in the midst of fighting, and running, from their kidnappers and you expect this from a romantic suspense...but there also need to be interludes where the couple is together in a way that makes you think they will be able to stay together when the bullets stop flying.  This was, I thought, a little light.

Not enough to make me not able to enjoy the book, but light enough that I was left wanting a little more than I got from their relationship.  Now, what I got was hot and interesting.  I believed their romantic and personal attraction to one another and I thought his backstory was interesting.

Overall, the book was constructed well and was paced well.  The light in the "real world without bullets" romance did make this more of a "happily for now" ending for me, but as this is the 2nd book in the series, I am guessing there will be others and you will get the chance to see Tess and Flynn as a couple, at least mentioned in passing.

This was my first title by this author and I enjoyed it enough to be looking forward to her next title!



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BLOCK PARTY BY STYLO FANTOME-RELEASE BLITZ



Title: Block Party
Series: Twin Estates #3
Author: Stylo Fantôme
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: December 19, 2017

Blurb

Things you need for a good Block Party:

1. Awesome food

2. Great Music

3. Fun games

4. A secret spot to hook up with your even-more-secret girlfriend.

Liam Edenhoff is a simple creature. He likes women, tacos, and sex. As long as he has those in his life, everything is good. He's finally realizing maybe he's just not cut out for relationships - surely there's got to be a woman out there who'd be okay with roof top margaritas, casual sex, and no attachments.

Enter a new neighbor - one who is allergic to commitment and prefers her sex casual but frequent. She's seen him at his worst and is still willing to play his games, on three conditions - discretion is a must, casual is key, and absolutely no drama. Sounds like the perfect arrangement. What could go wrong?

Famous last words when dealing with neighbors.

This story contains scenes of a graphic sexual nature, multiple uses of coarse language, and more tacos than is healthy or sane to read about. Reader discretion is advised.

This is the third installment in the Twin Estates series



This is my first book by Stylo Fantome, and I will definitely read others. her sense of humor and her take on the different situations the characters find themselves in was interesting. I liked the characters and the writing overall, and the plot moved smoothly and was paced evenly.

This is the 3rd book in the block party series and it is focused on Liam and Ayumi. Liam seems to be the less serious of the group of friends, the one who people don't really take seriously and the one who got his heartbroken in a previous book in the series. Ayumi is serious. She takes everything seriously and lives a life that is focused mainly on her work.

The relationship between them shouldn't work, they should be too different. But, what they quickly realize is that the other is not what they thought, and they are each very different than they seem on the outside.

While it is technically a standalone, I was left feeling that I had about 75% of the book. There are crossover characters, which is fine in a standalone, but there are also references to past events. Don't get me wrong, that is fine in a standalone book that is also part of a series...but the issue for me with this is the references to the past events were used in a few places to move this story forward. When the plot hinges on knowing the details of something that happened in another book, for me, it ceases to be a standalone title.

I did enjoy this, and I do recommend it; but more for people who have read the other books in the series.




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Author Bio


Crazy woman from a remote location in Alaska (where the need for a creative mind is a necessity!), I have been writing since ... forever? Yeah, that sounds about right. I have been told that I remind people of Lucille Ball - I also see shades of Jennifer Saunders, and Denis Leary. So basically, I laugh a lot, I'm clumsy a lot, and I say the F-word A LOT.

I like dogs more than I like most people, and I don't trust anyone who doesn't drink. No, I do not live in an igloo, and no, the sun does not set for six months out of the year, there's your Alaska lesson for the day. I have mermaid hair - both a curse and a blessing - and most of the time I talk so fast, even I can't understand me.

Yeah. I think that about sums me up.
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