THE GOVERNESS GAME BY TESSA DARE - ARC REVIEW

He’s been a bad, bad rake—and it takes a governess to teach him a lesson

The accidental governess.

After her livelihood slips through her fingers, Alexandra Mountbatten takes on an impossible post: transforming a pair of wild orphans into proper young ladies. However, the girls don’t need discipline. They need a loving home. Try telling that to their guardian, Chase Reynaud: duke’s heir in the streets and devil in the sheets. The ladies of London have tried—and failed—to make him settle down. Somehow, Alexandra must reach his heart... without risking her own.

The infamous rake.

Like any self-respecting libertine, Chase lives by one rule: no attachments. When a stubborn little governess tries to reform him, he decides to give her an education—in pleasure. That should prove he can’t be tamed. But Alexandra is more than he bargained for: clever, perceptive, passionate. She refuses to see him as a lost cause. Soon the walls around Chase’s heart are crumbling... and he’s in danger of falling, hard.

This is my first title by Tessa Dare, and I can definitely say it won't be my last.

There are a whole bunch of ways to deal with the forced propriety that keeps the hero and heroine in a historical romance from spending a lot of alone time together.  Some of them work well, and others of them feel like complete filler.  I have mentioned before, and I am mentioning here again, that this is a difficult balance, as often there are societal constraints that keep the couple from spending a lot of time alone, and this is one of the hurdles you have to work around in order for the romance to be fulfilling, yet still feel that it is set in a historical time period.

In this case, Alexandra and Chase have a bit of a mistaken identity issue.  She is not the governess he so desperately needs to help him care for the 2 young girls who have come to him as ward of his estate.  Alexandra is not, however, a governess and refuses his offer, no matter how much money he states he is willing to pay.  Following a series of mishaps, she finds herself back at his door and accepting, albeit reluctantly, the position of governess.

Hilarity, mishaps, funerals for dolls (which were really quite clever) and sexual attraction ensue.  And, in the middle of all of this, I found myself charmed by all of the characters.  

While I do see the need for them in the story, I did think that the children were featured a little too strongly and often pulled away from the central story.  That said, in a historical romance, you have to be careful to make sure there is enough plot...as there is not always the possibility of a lot of romance.

I did enjoy this title, I recommend it, and I will be reading others by this author.

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ACE OF HEARTS BY CHANTAL FERNANDO - REVIEW

The New York Times bestselling author of the “swoonworthy and addicting” (Kim Karr, New York Times bestselling author) Wind Dragons Motorcycle Club series is back with more bad boy bikers in this first novel in the Cursed Ravens Motorcycle Club series.

Erin Dawson had the perfect life growing up in a perfect home with a perfect family. Her parents gave her and her sister everything a child could want. But after learning that the man she’s called “dad” her whole life isn’t actually her biological father, Erin is determined to find the man who is.

Armed with her original birth certificate, she finds her father, but begins questioning if her mom had been right all along to keep this information buried. It turns out he is the president of a motorcycle club, which could not be further from the life Erin leads. But, she’s determined to get to know the man who she gets her striking blue eyes from. Despite getting what she wants and finding her biological father, it’s the slightly older, much rougher but incredibly sexy biker Ace that catches Erin’s eye.

As the new “princess” of the Cursed Ravens, Erin is learning a whole new world, but her father has made it clear she is off limits. Will Ace follow his President’s orders or will he put his heart ahead of his duty? A sizzling tale of family and passion, Ace of Hearts features Fernando’s signature “snark and sass” (Booklist) and is perfect for fans of Kristin Ashley.

Growing up, Erin thought she had a pretty ideal life.  Until, that is, she discovers she's actually adopter, and that the man she thinks of as her father is actually her step father.

Her real father, however, is a bit of a mystery and after a little digging around, she discovers he is the president of a motorcycle club.  One of the tough, hard living, clubs parents warn you to stay away from kind of MC...although I am not sure there are any other kind?  No way this can go well, and I admit I was immediately interested in how this was going to go.  Erin, as most of us would, found herself faced with a completely foreign world and a father who lives a life she has nothing in common with.  The idea of a complete innocent walking into an MC isn't new...but the idea of that complete innocent being welcome because of her connection to one of the members felt like a different take on the MC trope.

Ace, after the surprise of Erin showing up wears off, is tasked with watching out for her, and keeping her safe.  Of course, there is an attraction between them, and it is complicated by the fact that she is the daughter of the president of the club and Ace is a member.

There's an element of the forbidden beyond the MC aspect of this that made it fun, however there was a lot of time spent developing the other characters who will be featured in other stories, so this one left me wanting a little bit more of Ace and Erin.  However, overall I did enjoy this title and I do recommend it.

GOING DOWN EASY BY ERIN NICHOLAS - ARC REVIEW

Start the Boys of the Big Easy Series on August 28, 2018!!!

Hot fling or real thing? There are no Big Easy answers in New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Erin Nicholas’s sultry series.

As far as flings go, single dad Gabe Trahan is pretty sure that Addison Sloan is his best bet. Once a month, Addison comes to New Orleans and then…It. Is. On. Until Addison returns to New York, it’s just hot, happily-no-strings-attached sex. And beignets. And jazz. But lately for Gabe, it isn’t nearly enough.

Sure, maybe Addison’s gotten a bit hooked on Gabe. After all, who can resist a guy who’s so sexy, so charming, and so…available? But maybe he’s too available for her right now. Addison’s just moved to New Orleans, and relationships are definitely off the table. Besides, guys always bail when they learn her secret: she’s a single mom.

Only Gabe’s not running. Worse, he’s thrilled. But Addison never signed up for ever-after romance, and Gabe won’t settle for anything less. Now it’s a battle of wills—and when it comes to the woman he’s falling for, Gabe isn’t above playing a little dirty.

Gabe and Addison have a good thing going in the Big Easy.  She's in town for one weekend a month, and he puts his real life on hold to spend that one weekend with her.

Only, it's getting harder and harder to let her go on Monday morning, knowing there are no plans to see one another again, no plans to allow one another into their real lives.  And, as this also allows both of them to avoid those real life complications, it works for both of them...or so they tell themselves.

Until Addison moves to New Orleans, and doesn't plan to tell Gabe, because her life is complicated and there's a deal breaker, or so she thinks, and she is afraid to face the idea that what works so well for them on the one weekend per month they see each other may not work on a permanent basis...and she is afraid of getting her heart broken.

We've all been where she is, hiding from something that could be real, and probably already is, because we are afraid of taking the risk and getting our hearts broken in the process. Addison is ready to walk away.  The problem, is that Gabe is tenacious and he is going to follow her.  He is going to be where she is, and he is going to show her that he fits into her life in NOLA and that instead of complicating it, he makes it whole.

It takes her a bit to get there, and the break up part of the book is in the middle, which I enjoyed.  The reader isn't really a part of their weekends in New Orleans, so in order for the emotional investment of the story to work, this is treated almost like a second chance, with a couple of characters with a scorching chemistry and a history...but one that they are having to build from the beginning with a new set of circumstances.

It was a fun read, I enjoyed this title, and I am looking forward to the others in the series!

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TALL, DARK & IRRESISTIBLE BY ERIKA WILDE - ARC REVIEW

A complete stand-alone story, TALL, DARK & IRRESISTIBLE is a fun, flirty swoon-worthy romance!

When it comes to love and happily ever after, Leo Stone is a disbeliever. Having been left at the altar by the one woman he thought he'd spend the rest of his life with, he's vowed to keep his heart to himself and enjoy the one thing he knows won't affect his emotions... hot, dirty sex. Except, what's a guy to do when a gorgeous woman asks him to be her stand-in boyfriend for two weeks — with benefits? Sign him up, please! 

A drunken night one year ago, Peyton Bishop used Leo Stone's name and photograph to convince her overly-protective parents that she was safe living in New York City — in part thanks to a boyfriend she adored. Except Leo, the hot guy she's had a secret crush on since college, has no idea he's been cast in the role of her lover. With her cousin's wedding coming up, and her parent's expecting to meet this mysterious boyfriend, Peyton is forced to come clean and ask Leo a huge favor. 

Leo agrees to be her stand-in boyfriend, but what's a pretend couple to do when their fake feelings start to become oh-so-real?

What possible harm could come of using someone you knew in college, and had a crush on, as a pretend boyfriend so your overprotective parents don't worry? And, if you have a graphic designer friend photoshop him into a few photos, and share them with your parents...who will ever know?

No one will know, no harm will come from it. It will be just fine. 

Until those overprotective parents use a family wedding as an excuse to start insisting that they meet this boyfriend...of almost a year.

OOPS.

Peyton and Leo don't even live in the same city. Peyton is building a life in New York, although it's struggling a bit, and Leo has a successful business in San Diego, meaning he's available for the local charade, but anything more and their lives just don't work together.

Which is a real shame as the attraction in college was mutual, it's still there, and neither of them are doing a great job of resisting the other. Good thing they stop trying.

I enjoy books like this, as long as the game doesn't get cruel to the people they are fooling. If it goes on too long, or others start investing in the truth of the relationship, and I find myself becoming disengaged with the characters. This didn't happen in this title, as the ruse is for a short period of time and the attraction is instant (well, a hold over from before) so the rapid connection they develop makes sense for the story.

The connection they have is also scorching, which adds to the believability of the situation. When you really believe the two characters are fighting to keep their hands off one another, it's easy to believe they would be willing to go along with a lie, and it's also easy to believe that the connection would quickly lead to more.

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SAVED BY THE COWBOYBY A. J. PINE - REVIEW

Cowboy to the rescue

Once upon a time, Sheriff Cash Hawkins left his simple life for something bigger---and came home with a broken heart. Now he has everything he needs right here in Oak Bluff, California---his job, his dog, and a quiet ranching town best explored on the back of a horse.

Olivia Belle believes in fairy tales---just not for herself. So when her boyfriend drops to one knee at his sister's wedding with a proposal that is more business than romance, she hightails it out of San Francisco in search of the only evidence she knows that true love exists---her grandparents' lost love letters from fifty years ago.

When Olivia speeds into his town like a modern-day Cinderella in her ball gown and glass slippers, Cash's careful existence is finally thrown for a loop. Maybe the answer Olivia's looking for is in Oak Bluff, but the life she ran from is more than 200 miles away. As for Cash . . . he knows a thing or two about being left on bended knee. Olivia Belle could be his happily ever after . . . if this runaway bridesmaid doesn't run off with his heart.

Cash and Olivia are characters who appear in book one of the series, and there was clearly an interesting story going on with them, so I was glad to see that they were getting their own story within the Crossroads Ranch stories...although I wish it had been a longer one.

I usually feel this was about novellas, especially if they are about a new character, or one you have been introduced to and the novella is being used to tie up a story or to fill in gaps.

In this one, you meet Cash and Olivia, rather amusingly, in the middle of a disagreement, and this sets the tone for most of their relationship.  They both think they each want different things, so it is a little bit of a surprise to them (although not really to anyone else) that what they really want is one another.

There was, possibly, a little more story than could be totally fulfilled in a shorter novella, so the ending felt a little quick, but I still enjoyed this title, and I recommend it.