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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0553393723
| 9780553393729
| B00P54ZO3Y
| 4.11
| 1,440
| May 19, 2015
| May 19, 2015
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really liked it
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****Full Review**** 3.5 stars I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content ****Full Review**** 3.5 stars I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Sofia and Killian were childhood bestfriends but a traumatic experience leaves its mark on Sofia and sends Killian on a dark winding guilt trip. They go their separate ways for a few years only to reconnect when Sofia is hired to straighten out Killian's accounting for his gym. They rediscover the friendship that was always there while romantic feelings start to make themselves known. These two are meant to be together but as secrets get revealed they are going to have to fight for it. Once Pure is third in the Shattered Past series but can definitely be read as a standalone, there are mentions of past couples that people who read the previous books will enjoy. Killian and Sofia are both in their early twenties but I still think this read more like a contemporary romance instead of a new adult. They both exhibit sensitivity and at times a lack of confidence that comes with this age but came across more mature in a way that I think will appeal to a broader readership. Killian is going to steal quite a few hearts with his sexy exterior and tender interior. He owns and runs a gym while being a MMA (mixed martial arts) star but has no problem asking Sofia for help when it comes to balancing the books and promoting. Sofia prefers to remain in the background and while she may have diminished her inner flame, Killian still sees it burning. Sofia's rape is obviously a defining moment in her life but as the story goes on her character grows in way that the strength she builds from that moment is the only thing defining her. Sofia easily could have developed into a one dimensional quiet mousey character but the author infused her with this great strong vulnerability that only became stronger and less vulnerable. Killian had almost the opposite progression, he easily could have been left as the tough, untouchable, and muscle bound alpha but instead he is revealed to be multifaceted. He is, of course, strong strength wise but also gentle, kind, and vulnerable when it comes to Sofia. They are adorable together; the story might get a bit cliché and induce some good natured eye rolls but I still found myself fighting big grins. Secondary characters, which mostly consist of Killian's brothers and sister, played a big part in the story and I can definitely see some future leading men and woman potential. The first half was quick reading for me as I was locked into Killian and Sofia sweetly coming together while the second half kind of slowed down. All I can say is bring your umbrella because the angst pours down on you. Our leads start to get a little too emotional and begin to question and guilt trip themselves to death over circumstances tied to Sofia's rape. It's all a little heavy handed and one or two of these angst moments could have been left out as all together it became too much. Now, why I think you all should read this and what I consider the hidden gem of the story is the subtle way Killian builds Sofia up. He is never pushy with her and in fact, the kind way he takes things slow for her will warm your heart, but Killian manages to slowly get Sofia to work out with him and get her to learn self defense moves. In an unmeaningful way that means so much he'll say he wants her to know how to defend herself and then quietly positions her to gain those tools. It's not heavily focused on in the story and why I call it the hidden gem but when Sofia gets herself out of a dangerous situation and says to Killian "I fought because that is what you ingrained in me" it really hit home for me. These two aren't only sweet and sexy together but more importantly stronger together. Killian and Sofia make each other better, what could be more romantic than that? Merged review: ****Full Review**** 3.5 stars I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Sofia and Killian were childhood bestfriends but a traumatic experience leaves its mark on Sofia and sends Killian on a dark winding guilt trip. They go their separate ways for a few years only to reconnect when Sofia is hired to straighten out Killian's accounting for his gym. They rediscover the friendship that was always there while romantic feelings start to make themselves known. These two are meant to be together but as secrets get revealed they are going to have to fight for it. Once Pure is third in the Shattered Past series but can definitely be read as a standalone, there are mentions of past couples that people who read the previous books will enjoy. Killian and Sofia are both in their early twenties but I still think this read more like a contemporary romance instead of a new adult. They both exhibit sensitivity and at times a lack of confidence that comes with this age but came across more mature in a way that I think will appeal to a broader readership. Killian is going to steal quite a few hearts with his sexy exterior and tender interior. He owns and runs a gym while being a MMA (mixed martial arts) star but has no problem asking Sofia for help when it comes to balancing the books and promoting. Sofia prefers to remain in the background and while she may have diminished her inner flame, Killian still sees it burning. Sofia's rape is obviously a defining moment in her life but as the story goes on her character grows in way that the strength she builds from that moment is the only thing defining her. Sofia easily could have developed into a one dimensional quiet mousey character but the author infused her with this great strong vulnerability that only became stronger and less vulnerable. Killian had almost the opposite progression, he easily could have been left as the tough, untouchable, and muscle bound alpha but instead he is revealed to be multifaceted. He is, of course, strong strength wise but also gentle, kind, and vulnerable when it comes to Sofia. They are adorable together; the story might get a bit cliché and induce some good natured eye rolls but I still found myself fighting big grins. Secondary characters, which mostly consist of Killian's brothers and sister, played a big part in the story and I can definitely see some future leading men and woman potential. The first half was quick reading for me as I was locked into Killian and Sofia sweetly coming together while the second half kind of slowed down. All I can say is bring your umbrella because the angst pours down on you. Our leads start to get a little too emotional and begin to question and guilt trip themselves to death over circumstances tied to Sofia's rape. It's all a little heavy handed and one or two of these angst moments could have been left out as all together it became too much. Now, why I think you all should read this and what I consider the hidden gem of the story is the subtle way Killian builds Sofia up. He is never pushy with her and in fact, the kind way he takes things slow for her will warm your heart, but Killian manages to slowly get Sofia to work out with him and get her to learn self defense moves. In an unmeaningful way that means so much he'll say he wants her to know how to defend herself and then quietly positions her to gain those tools. It's not heavily focused on in the story and why I call it the hidden gem but when Sofia gets herself out of a dangerous situation and says to Killian "I fought because that is what you ingrained in me" it really hit home for me. These two aren't only sweet and sexy together but more importantly stronger together. Killian and Sofia make each other better, what could be more romantic than that? ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
|
Apr 07, 2015
not set
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Apr 09, 2015
not set
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Sep 27, 2024
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| 0553390473
| 9780553390476
| B00IQROC1C
| 3.53
| 622
| Jan 01, 2014
| Aug 26, 2014
|
liked it
|
2.5 stars I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Darcy 2.5 stars I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Darcy is just your average schmuck who somehow lands a job as a housesitter for a wealthy heiress. While generally selfish and clueless, Lydia the heiress, decides to allow Darcy to attend a charity event in her place. Darcy has her misgivings but seeing as the charity event will have appearances by the Sonics, her favorite baseball team, she can't quite bring herself to say no. There, she meets Chase Westbrook, one of her favorite players. Chase is a MLB pitcher looking to sign a bigger contract, play for a better team, and finally prove to his dad he is successful. When he sees who he thinks is Lydia the playgirl heiress he decides a night of frivolous fun is order. Darcy is a character that is hard to fully like, she seems to get caught up in the glitz and glamour but ultimately she is outright deceiving Chase. Chase is no innocent babe either, his agent tells him that Lydia's grandfather likes the influence Chase seems to have on her and since the grandfather has a controlling interest in the Yankees, a team Chase desperately wants to play for, he pulls a devious trick of his own to keep who he thinks is Lydia by his side. There is a little depth to the characters with issues from parents and personal insecurities discussed but you probably wouldn't need a life jacket to swim in their waters. As they spend more time together our leads start to develop stronger feelings for each other. There isn't much for emotion written or felt here but the reader can see and understand, to some degree, what Darcy and Chase see in each other. The mistaken identity is eventually found out and gotten over and Chase decides gosh darn it he and his team are good enough. All these happenings and affirmations all happen fairly fast as the ending ends up feeling rushed. This story is a quick read as there isn't too much substance to it but let's be honest, as a reader you know that and buy this book for the same reason reality tv shows are so popular; escapism. It's a cotton candy summer sports themed romance, great for a beach read. Merged review: 2.5 stars I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Darcy is just your average schmuck who somehow lands a job as a housesitter for a wealthy heiress. While generally selfish and clueless, Lydia the heiress, decides to allow Darcy to attend a charity event in her place. Darcy has her misgivings but seeing as the charity event will have appearances by the Sonics, her favorite baseball team, she can't quite bring herself to say no. There, she meets Chase Westbrook, one of her favorite players. Chase is a MLB pitcher looking to sign a bigger contract, play for a better team, and finally prove to his dad he is successful. When he sees who he thinks is Lydia the playgirl heiress he decides a night of frivolous fun is order. Darcy is a character that is hard to fully like, she seems to get caught up in the glitz and glamour but ultimately she is outright deceiving Chase. Chase is no innocent babe either, his agent tells him that Lydia's grandfather likes the influence Chase seems to have on her and since the grandfather has a controlling interest in the Yankees, a team Chase desperately wants to play for, he pulls a devious trick of his own to keep who he thinks is Lydia by his side. There is a little depth to the characters with issues from parents and personal insecurities discussed but you probably wouldn't need a life jacket to swim in their waters. As they spend more time together our leads start to develop stronger feelings for each other. There isn't much for emotion written or felt here but the reader can see and understand, to some degree, what Darcy and Chase see in each other. The mistaken identity is eventually found out and gotten over and Chase decides gosh darn it he and his team are good enough. All these happenings and affirmations all happen fairly fast as the ending ends up feeling rushed. This story is a quick read as there isn't too much substance to it but let's be honest, as a reader you know that and buy this book for the same reason reality tv shows are so popular; escapism. It's a cotton candy summer sports themed romance, great for a beach read. ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
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Aug 05, 2014
not set
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Aug 07, 2014
not set
|
Sep 27, 2024
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| 0062397621
| 9780062397621
| B0151VE6FW
| 3.99
| 1,198
| May 31, 2016
| May 31, 2016
|
liked it
|
Stays mostly in the shallow end, no risk story telling. Hero reminded me a little bit of SEP's Bobby Tom Denton, with charm and flirt. Heroine had abu
Stays mostly in the shallow end, no risk story telling. Hero reminded me a little bit of SEP's Bobby Tom Denton, with charm and flirt. Heroine had abusive past but pretty much glossed over except for mention and device to create ending foil to HEA. Small town cuteness, drama, and series baiting secondary characters. Relationship skirted depth but couple had some fun back and forth. Solid contemporary romance apple pie, good but not terribly exciting. Merged review: Stays mostly in the shallow end, no risk story telling. Hero reminded me a little bit of SEP's Bobby Tom Denton, with charm and flirt. Heroine had abusive past but pretty much glossed over except for mention and device to create ending foil to HEA. Small town cuteness, drama, and series baiting secondary characters. Relationship skirted depth but couple had some fun back and forth. Solid contemporary romance apple pie, good but not terribly exciting. ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
|
Mar 29, 2017
not set
|
Mar 31, 2017
not set
|
Sep 17, 2024
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| 099037713X
| 9780990377139
| B0182HPHQE
| 4.48
| 1,756
| Nov 17, 2015
| Nov 17, 2015
|
it was ok
|
None
|
Notes are private!
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2
|
not set
not set
|
Nov 25, 2015
not set
|
Sep 11, 2024
|
ebook
| ||||||||||||||
| 9798988445708
| B0CV5X7QVM
| 3.62
| 34
| unknown
| Apr 30, 2024
|
really liked it
|
3.5 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review What if her days of failure with her 3.5 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review What if her days of failure with her family, the monotony at work, and the regret in her peaceful moments were only half her life? What if, at night, she could go to Ireland and do all that she wished, without having to face who she had been, or who she had become. With the, what might of have been regrets of Jane Austen's Persuasion, a touch of scifi for some speculative fiction flair, and a few elements that reminded me of how I felt about unanswered/left unexplained things in the tv show The Leftovers, The States pulls you into troubled Tildy's life. She's technically an heiress because her family owns a cosmetic empire but that's slowly crumbling as her father makes one bad business decision after another. Knowing her family the way she does, she's the middle child of three girls, she's set up a separate life for herself as a data scientist. When she gets called in by her father for a family meeting, she learns he wants her to give him her shares of the company, sell her grandmother's land in Ireland, and move with the family from New York to Florida. The mention of the land in Ireland drudges up her memories of the childhood love she left behind and we learn why she's so melancholy. Someone like him wouldn't want someone like her, she told herself. The someone he knew her to be. On the heels of learning that her family is going to have to finally deal with their dwindling funds, she comes across an advertisement for a sleep study, run by an old college friend. With a combination of a drug and a sort of brain wave monitoring skull cap, she'll be able to lucid dream for hours. They're looking to help people with things like PTSD be able to visualize ways to help themselves but Tildy wants to live the life she gave up eight years ago. It's a little tv show Severance but Tildy remembers her dreaming, even if she starts to use it too much and her sense of real and fake starts to erode. This was her fifth session, and a sense of menace was now unmistakable. At around 350pgs long, this had moments of feeling like it lit fic meandered, Tildy's feelings about not being able to fully turn her back on her family and punishing herself for it when she chose them over her Irish love, start to feel overly mewling and repetitive in her self-flagellation indulgence. A new character gets introduced about halfway through that brings in some more family backstory, with some mystery/thriller vibes and forces Tildy's hand to finally make decisions. The scfi comes in with an AI named “Russell” that was created by her mother, who died, and is supposed to help the family with life, decisions, and, I guess, a way to feel still connected with their mother. It was one of those The Leftover elements that I felt didn't quite get flushed out enough, along with how Tildy starts to use the lucid dreaming machine too much and the dreams start to have a feeling of menace to her. The Persuasion connection is pretty loose and just about Tildy and the boy she left behind in Ireland, Aidan, and how she regrets it and how he made good. What if she couldn't tell the truth from the lie any longer? This had some slice of life to it, so you're going to have to be ready to sit for more of a long haul. A little into the second half, Tildy starts to grow some backbone and she moves to Ireland and we get her having a little struggle of distinguishing real from the dreams as some fate has her running into Aidan and the friends she'd included in her dreams because of her cyberstalking of him. There was some hinting at possibly some more scifi or fate, as Tildy learns that there was some truth to her dreams. I thought the ending felt a little quick as Tildy suddenly gets decisive after three hundred pages of ineffectual bemoaning; not sure there was enough shown of Tildy building up the strength for this sudden action. Overall, I was captured into Tildy's life but her woe is me attitude was laid on for a long enough time that it did get tiring, the scifi lucid dreaming addition kept me going but some of these elements didn't feel flushed out enough, but the little bit of romance did deliver a pretty sweet ending. This was a little something different story that you're going to have to slow down for, be willing to not get all the answers, but at least give you a little smile at the end. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
|
Aug 24, 2024
|
Aug 28, 2024
|
Aug 24, 2024
|
Paperback
| |||||||||||||||
| B000FC1PD4
| 4.08
| 25,549
| Feb 17, 2004
| Oct 13, 2009
|
really liked it
|
3.7 stars Quick wrap-up: Woman limps back to her hometown where she was a capital B, trying to find a painting left to her by her aunt. The teacher who 3.7 stars Quick wrap-up: Woman limps back to her hometown where she was a capital B, trying to find a painting left to her by her aunt. The teacher who she lied about and got fired owns her childhood home now and is out for revenge, along with everyone else in town. It was all “young tough girl in a push-up bra” because her dad ignored her but showered love on his illegitimate family, but she still refuses as an adult to let down her wall but everyone eventually figures out she's got some caring in her. Fighting, flirting, grit, tears, dated-ness, and laughter. And Gordon, he should have gotten a pov! It was cold outside. She rested her cheek against his shirtfront. He wasn’t even breathing hard as he carried her across the yard with Gordon leading the way. “Furthermore,” he went on, “you will be rested. And”—he gripped her tighter—“sweet-tempered.” “You had more to drink than I thought.” She yawned and closed her eyes. “Go ahead and admit it. You’re afraid of me.” “Terrified is more like it.” She burrowed deeper into his chest. “I’m a handful, all right.” “My worst nightmare.” Oof, this story. It is, obviously, aged in some areas. He was her high school teacher and some of the lines he has when he thinks about how she looked back then, Cringe. But, also, there was a raw fearlessness to the writing, the characters make mistakes, they're so far from perfect, but gah, that delivered hit you in the gut emotion. This was also that blend of funny wild, almost off the rails that the late '90s-early-to-mid 00s had. He wore the raunchiest pair of Levi’s she’d ever seen—threadbare in the right knee, a hole in the butt—an equally ratty gray T-shirt, worn work gloves, and scuffed, dirt-encrusted brown work boots, one of which had a knot holding the shoelace together. An honest-to-God smudge ran up alongside that gorgeous honker of a nose. And he’d never looked more irresistible. She scowled. “Even your hair’s a mess.” I don't even know how to articulate how this descriptive scene makes me feel, but it does, and it's such a blip on the radar scene but I see his hotness and I feel how it makes her feel. It's one of those, we're losing the recipes examples for me. He didn’t say it sarcastically, but she stiffened, and he cursed the part of him that was so terrified of the sentimental that he tainted everything with cynicism, even when he didn’t intend it. I hate when books personally call me out. Anyway, this felt Adult, whether it was the emotions, actions, or words, relentlessly adult. Since you are a lunatic, however, this is the only way.” “You planned this from the beginning, didn’t you?” “Let’s simply say that you’re not the sort of woman who can be permitted to run amok.” One of the best love you warts and all story *I didn't know you used to have to get a blood test before you got your marriage license??? I was enjoying the HEA ending and this little line “Leeann dragged Sugar Beth to the lab for her blood test.” had me losing my mind and Googling for an hour. I hate I'm this way but now I can say, “I learned it from a Romance book!” ...more |
Notes are private!
|
1
|
Aug 24, 2024
|
Sep 2024
|
Aug 24, 2024
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| 0369703650
| 9780369703651
| B09L51J3RY
| 3.92
| 594
| unknown
| Jun 28, 2022
|
it was ok
|
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. What the h I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. What the hell was Lily Carpenter doing in Honeymoon Harbor? Second Chance Spring is the story of a second chance romance between guarded Lily and Burke, a NFL QB who she broke up with by text. I wasn't aware it was a part of a series, Honeymoon Harbor, when I started it and because of how much series characters play a part in this one, that greatly impacted my enjoyment. Burke is living in New York, where he's the starting QB for the Gotham Knights and trying to figure out if he wants to become a free agent, sign with the Knights again, or retire. He gets a call from his brother that their mother was in a car accident, so he rushes home only to find that Lily, the woman he dated for three months and was already starting to think was the one, now lives in his hometown. And now that day had come. It was time, she knew, to face the music. After having a horrible childhood where her mother, father, and grandmother played tug of war with her through the courts, Lily changed her last name when she was eighteen and tries to live a guarded single life. When she met Burke at a charity function they instantly were attracted to each other but she warns him right away that it can only be hook-ups between them and when Lily starts to have deeper feelings for Burke, she breaks up with him and runs. Bouncing from town to town, Lily remembers how Burke talked about his hometown and how she fell in love with it through his words, so she decides to stay a few months there, only to end up staying and building roots and relationships with everyone. Now two years later and Lily and Burke are coming face to face again. But the one thing Burke knew was that nothing was going to interfere with him coming up with a game plan to win Lily Carpenter. If you're a frequent reader of the Honeymoon Harbor series, you'd probably enjoy all the past characters that make up Burke's family (his mother and father are the novella couple that start off the series) and the townspeople that are at length shown in the beginning. As a new reader, it was overwhelming with so many characters, especially when I was just trying to get to know Burke and Lily. A big chunk of the beginning was more small-town and family fiction as everyone came in and out of the picture. It's mentioned that Lily has a big secret, something to do with not wanting to be recognized by the press and that is why she's fighting hard to stay away from Burke and around 50% she reveals what it is. It has to do with her past and how damaging it was to be in the news, honestly, something that didn't feel like too big a deal to me as a reader and obviously to the characters in the story. Burke shrugs it off, along with the friends Lily has made in the town when she tells them about her past. It was such a non-entity that was supposed to be the block and angst keeping Lily and Burke apart but pretty much flopped as a reveal because of how it wasn't a big deal and not really dealt with again. But just then, in that very special moment, seated on a quilt, sharing tacos with the man she loved, she was living her best life. The second half has the reveal done with and Burke and Lily tentatively try to bond again and I thought here was where the romantic relationship between the two was really going to get going and while they spend more time together finally, there was also a secondary romance taking place and more of that small town, family fiction eclipsing Lily and Burke. There wasn't much to their relationship on page emotional development, more of a condensed stop and go showing of their foreplay, fade to black bedroom scenes, and then some more sexual by-play. Then the ending gives a rushed resolution that even when it's supposed to be the romantic wrap-up to how these two are going to work out being together the story seems to be more concerned with Burke's career. I typically love details to characters and story but this had too many characters in it, all those little details began to feel pointless, trivial, and really slowed the pace down for me. Again, if you're a Honeymoon Harbor reader, you'd probably enjoy this a lot more than me as a newcomer because you would know these characters and care about them. I wanted to get to know Burke and Lily but they were often playing second fiddle in their own book and neither character gave me an emotional connection, which definitely lead to their romance feeling perfunctory. This wasn't about the heat and emotion of a singular romance but rather a broad look-in at the characters of Honeymoon Harbor and a small-town, family fiction vibe. Merged review: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. What the hell was Lily Carpenter doing in Honeymoon Harbor? Second Chance Spring is the story of a second chance romance between guarded Lily and Burke, a NFL QB who she broke up with by text. I wasn't aware it was a part of a series, Honeymoon Harbor, when I started it and because of how much series characters play a part in this one, that greatly impacted my enjoyment. Burke is living in New York, where he's the starting QB for the Gotham Knights and trying to figure out if he wants to become a free agent, sign with the Knights again, or retire. He gets a call from his brother that their mother was in a car accident, so he rushes home only to find that Lily, the woman he dated for three months and was already starting to think was the one, now lives in his hometown. And now that day had come. It was time, she knew, to face the music. After having a horrible childhood where her mother, father, and grandmother played tug of war with her through the courts, Lily changed her last name when she was eighteen and tries to live a guarded single life. When she met Burke at a charity function they instantly were attracted to each other but she warns him right away that it can only be hook-ups between them and when Lily starts to have deeper feelings for Burke, she breaks up with him and runs. Bouncing from town to town, Lily remembers how Burke talked about his hometown and how she fell in love with it through his words, so she decides to stay a few months there, only to end up staying and building roots and relationships with everyone. Now two years later and Lily and Burke are coming face to face again. But the one thing Burke knew was that nothing was going to interfere with him coming up with a game plan to win Lily Carpenter. If you're a frequent reader of the Honeymoon Harbor series, you'd probably enjoy all the past characters that make up Burke's family (his mother and father are the novella couple that start off the series) and the townspeople that are at length shown in the beginning. As a new reader, it was overwhelming with so many characters, especially when I was just trying to get to know Burke and Lily. A big chunk of the beginning was more small-town and family fiction as everyone came in and out of the picture. It's mentioned that Lily has a big secret, something to do with not wanting to be recognized by the press and that is why she's fighting hard to stay away from Burke and around 50% she reveals what it is. It has to do with her past and how damaging it was to be in the news, honestly, something that didn't feel like too big a deal to me as a reader and obviously to the characters in the story. Burke shrugs it off, along with the friends Lily has made in the town when she tells them about her past. It was such a non-entity that was supposed to be the block and angst keeping Lily and Burke apart but pretty much flopped as a reveal because of how it wasn't a big deal and not really dealt with again. But just then, in that very special moment, seated on a quilt, sharing tacos with the man she loved, she was living her best life. The second half has the reveal done with and Burke and Lily tentatively try to bond again and I thought here was where the romantic relationship between the two was really going to get going and while they spend more time together finally, there was also a secondary romance taking place and more of that small town, family fiction eclipsing Lily and Burke. There wasn't much to their relationship on page emotional development, more of a condensed stop and go showing of their foreplay, fade to black bedroom scenes, and then some more sexual by-play. Then the ending gives a rushed resolution that even when it's supposed to be the romantic wrap-up to how these two are going to work out being together the story seems to be more concerned with Burke's career. I typically love details to characters and story but this had too many characters in it, all those little details began to feel pointless, trivial, and really slowed the pace down for me. Again, if you're a Honeymoon Harbor reader, you'd probably enjoy this a lot more than me as a newcomer because you would know these characters and care about them. I wanted to get to know Burke and Lily but they were often playing second fiddle in their own book and neither character gave me an emotional connection, which definitely lead to their romance feeling perfunctory. This wasn't about the heat and emotion of a singular romance but rather a broad look-in at the characters of Honeymoon Harbor and a small-town, family fiction vibe. ...more |
Notes are private!
|
2
|
Jul 22, 2022
not set
|
Aug 04, 2022
not set
|
Aug 13, 2024
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| 1800166923
| 9781800166929
| 1800166923
| 3.36
| 11
| unknown
| Mar 28, 2024
|
did not like it
|
1.5 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review Truth Hurts was a romantic suspense st 1.5 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review Truth Hurts was a romantic suspense story about Assistant District Attorney Sylvie Dunlap going back home for the first time after her sister's death eight years ago. The story gets going right away with Sylvie hiking the mountain that her sister Elaine was found dead on, with a six months investigation finding the death to be accidental. Along with Sylvie on the memorial hike, Duncan, who was Elaine's on again and off again high school boyfriend. Duncan had plans of leaving their small Idaho town too, but after Elaine died, who was also his younger sister Jackie's bestfriend, their mother dies soon after on a hiking accident. Duncan is crushed when Sylvie leaves town right after high school graduation without saying goodbye, having had a crush on her but never acted on it because he felt she was too young for him at the time. Sylvie also had a crush on Duncan but with him being her sister's ex and just wanting to escape the town, she leaves without telling him her feelings. Reunited again after eight years, they find their crushes are going stronger than ever and that their hometown isn't done trying to claim the lives of it's young women. I found this story to need a lot of editing, there were numerous point-of-views from secondary characters that went off on tangents that I felt could have been cut for streamline purposes. The pace was slow for me and I felt like I was slogging through for the vast majority of the middle. Even with the book starting right off into the story, I felt like it wasn't really explained why Sylvie decided now was the time to come back home, it just starts with her there. This also was heavier on the romantic thread for the majority than I thought it would be, the suspense lingers around the edges but doesn't really get going until the later second half. There are no flashbacks to give readers a sense of the relationship Sylvie and Duncan had back in highschool, so when Duncan is pretty much all in for Sylvie in the beginning first half, it felt like insta-love to me; within the first thirty pages we have them kissing. What keeps them apart, and felt dragging, was Sylvie's M.O. of only sleeping with men causally, instead of having relationships with them. There's some bedroom scenes between the two and then jealousy when men from Sylvie's past keep showing up, but not a lot of emotional development between the two. The killer gets a pov, so readers know they are around but while there are numerous red-herrings, the identity mystery is left until the later second half. I thought it was pretty easy to guess the killer but there were two other suspects that could catch other's attention. I usually like to get some insight into the villain in stories, but I felt their pov was over-the-top, went into torture porn territory for me with not for the sake of the character but gratuitous shock value. Along with the suspense thread reveal we get a Duncan reveal that I felt came out of left field and didn't make a lot of sense, how I felt about a good amount of threads in this, if things weren't meandering, they felt unneeded or not developed enough. The later half definitely picked up the pace with Sylvie in danger and it's reveals but I'm not sure I cared enough after having to slog through the middle part. The ending kept going, giving us some role reversal with what's now keeping Sylvie and Duncan apart after the danger was over. Each added chapter just felt like dragging the story on to me and I'm not sure it made complete sense how quickly and easily it was for a character to work for the FBI, not to mention Sylvie felt mostly in name only as an A.D.A. This wasn't for me but if you're looking for a long winded, heavier on focusing on the romantic part in the first half, meanders in middle, but picks up the pace when suspense thread comes back into play, this story had decent secondary characters to wander off with for a while. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Sep 12, 2024
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Sep 29, 2024
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Jul 30, 2024
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Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 0062847678
| 9780062847676
| B075QC3G2N
| 3.81
| 420
| Jun 19, 2018
| Jun 19, 2018
|
it was ok
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I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Shiloh is a U. I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Shiloh is a U.S. Marshall in the Paranormal Investigation Unit. Her have to be available at all hours job makes relationships difficult, to say the least. However, her current boyfriend Vincent has her wondering if maybe more could be on the horizon, until a Vampire decides to take over a trailer park. It is all on Shiloh as her boss goes missing, black magic is creeping around, and enemies and allies get switched around. First in a new Urban Fantasy series, Stray Magic doesn't mess around in dropping you into the world, so much so, I felt a bit lost and overwhelmed in the beginning. This is the first in the series but I couldn't help feeling I was missing some background in regards to character relationships. There are some info dumps for the world building but with references to super computers and advanced technology alongside a video rental store and flip phones, it was hard to set the story in a time and place. The acknowledgment of some supernatural and paranormal beings, being known to the world, is just that, a brief acknowledgement. I would have liked a more thorough explanation of the world; this feeling was tied into feeling like this wasn't the start of the series. Told in first person from our heroine Shiloh's point-of-view, she is our leader through the story. She is half djinn half human with abilities to grant three wishes and has Quarrel pheromones that are hard for her to control. She is tough, snarky, and fun to follow along with but it was hard to feel her emotional connection to the other characters, thus, making secondary characters feel vaguer. This story is basically Shiloh trying to solve a mystery with supernatural beings and seemingly involved in, not a love triangle, but love quad. Shiloh has her boyfriend Vincent, who, she keeps saying, she wants more with, the vampire Tennyson who she spends the most time with and while it seems there may be more on his side, there are leanings from her, and her co-worker and ex, Jaxon. What we get from her thoughts about Jaxon are mostly, her observations about how hot he looks, how pretty his eyes are, and remembering how much she liked him in the bedroom; it doesn't feel deep. There seems to be or was a deeper relationship between them but we never see it and I never felt it. The mystery/thriller angle of investigating who is behind the necromancy and black magic was fun to follow along with but we barely got to know the villain and the wrap-up of that part was rushed. There are some shocking twists along the way but some felt unsupported making the plot threads feel wild and loosely thrown about. Shiloh was a solid character but emotional connections to secondary characters helping us get to know them and create a setting and world was lacking. There was an outline of the supernatural world but random components (Shiloh's quarrel pheromones, Crux sexual transport) were thrown out there and never really integrated with the story and characters. There are loose ends at the end of the story with part of the mystery not solved and the quad love angle getting a twist. If looking for a female lead urban fantasy with supernatural beings running amok, this would fit the bill, just be prepared for this to feel more like a dry first reading and hope for emotional connections/understandings/payoffs to come in the second. Merged review: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Shiloh is a U.S. Marshall in the Paranormal Investigation Unit. Her have to be available at all hours job makes relationships difficult, to say the least. However, her current boyfriend Vincent has her wondering if maybe more could be on the horizon, until a Vampire decides to take over a trailer park. It is all on Shiloh as her boss goes missing, black magic is creeping around, and enemies and allies get switched around. First in a new Urban Fantasy series, Stray Magic doesn't mess around in dropping you into the world, so much so, I felt a bit lost and overwhelmed in the beginning. This is the first in the series but I couldn't help feeling I was missing some background in regards to character relationships. There are some info dumps for the world building but with references to super computers and advanced technology alongside a video rental store and flip phones, it was hard to set the story in a time and place. The acknowledgment of some supernatural and paranormal beings, being known to the world, is just that, a brief acknowledgement. I would have liked a more thorough explanation of the world; this feeling was tied into feeling like this wasn't the start of the series. Told in first person from our heroine Shiloh's point-of-view, she is our leader through the story. She is half djinn half human with abilities to grant three wishes and has Quarrel pheromones that are hard for her to control. She is tough, snarky, and fun to follow along with but it was hard to feel her emotional connection to the other characters, thus, making secondary characters feel vaguer. This story is basically Shiloh trying to solve a mystery with supernatural beings and seemingly involved in, not a love triangle, but love quad. Shiloh has her boyfriend Vincent, who, she keeps saying, she wants more with, the vampire Tennyson who she spends the most time with and while it seems there may be more on his side, there are leanings from her, and her co-worker and ex, Jaxon. What we get from her thoughts about Jaxon are mostly, her observations about how hot he looks, how pretty his eyes are, and remembering how much she liked him in the bedroom; it doesn't feel deep. There seems to be or was a deeper relationship between them but we never see it and I never felt it. The mystery/thriller angle of investigating who is behind the necromancy and black magic was fun to follow along with but we barely got to know the villain and the wrap-up of that part was rushed. There are some shocking twists along the way but some felt unsupported making the plot threads feel wild and loosely thrown about. Shiloh was a solid character but emotional connections to secondary characters helping us get to know them and create a setting and world was lacking. There was an outline of the supernatural world but random components (Shiloh's quarrel pheromones, Crux sexual transport) were thrown out there and never really integrated with the story and characters. There are loose ends at the end of the story with part of the mystery not solved and the quad love angle getting a twist. If looking for a female lead urban fantasy with supernatural beings running amok, this would fit the bill, just be prepared for this to feel more like a dry first reading and hope for emotional connections/understandings/payoffs to come in the second. ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
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Jun 04, 2018
not set
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Jun 16, 2018
not set
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Jul 29, 2024
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| 0062851853
| 9780062851857
| B07TV72V5J
| 4.20
| 744
| Mar 31, 2020
| Mar 31, 2020
|
it was ok
|
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Adria unde I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Adria understood how her past had affected her. A piece of her was broken. She accepted that. She lived with it. Third in the Wild Rose series that follows a group of sisters that had a difficult childhood, Tough Talking Cowboy, was a sobering read. Aria's mother had drug issues when she and her twin sister Juliana were growing up, this lead to Aria experiencing grooming and child abuse as she tried to protect her sister. While Aria's mother is still a sex worker, she's managed to keep herself clean and start a new business with her friend, Juliana hasn't been as lucky and battles a drug addiction due to feeling guilty over what Aria did to keep her safe. Aria and her other sisters (heroines from other books in the series) manage to get Juliana in rehab and Aria moves to her friend's ranch to be closer to Juliana and start their new business. His gaze landed on the scars on his chest, then swept down to the ones covering his side, hip, and thigh. “It’s not pretty.” Drake was an Army Ranger who had to retire due to injuries from an IED, he's covered in shrapnel scares and has major leg damage. He's severely suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and just had his fiancee end things. His sister and brothers are worried about him but he can't contain his anger and pain about how his life is now going. When Aria shows up and he finds out she is staying in the cabin he likes to go to for quiet, he has a total melt down that ends with him holding Aria in a strangle hold as he is lost in a flashback. Due to the abuse Aria suffered in her childhood, she is no stranger to PTSD and, almost, too calmly handles the situation she is thrust into (she plays a game on her phone as Drake holds her against his body with his hand around her neck). These two definitely have deep pain but they also just want someone to love and love them, their pain brings them together. “And I will do whatever it takes to prove to you, you are not broken. And maybe I’ll convince myself that I’m not either.” If you couldn't already tell, this is a very heavy toned book. The issues both characters are dealing with are deep and scaring. They have a fairly immediate attraction to each other and decide that in order to fix a couple of their issues, Aria not being able to trust men enough to enjoy sex and Drake thinking he's impotent, decide to sleep together to work on them. By the 30% mark, they're pretty much all in with each other and the story seems to want to lean to them being cured already, which for how deep their issues were, obviously, seems too quick. Then by 50% marriage and babies is being discussed and yeah, I thought the romance was really rushed. “You needed her. Now she needs you.” With Aria and Drake not really having any more emotional hurdles with each other, the focus shifts to Drake rehabbing his leg, Aria's business opening up, and Juliana coming out of rehab. The story felt more like a general fiction than romance genre to me. There's a very late angst moment involving Juliana that added even more to the heavy tone and at a point where I want to be starting my happy sigh as my couple really sinks into their love with one another, there was just more sadness. The last two chapters acted as epilogues and all the joy I wanted to experience while reading along in the story, was hurriedly dumped here. “Just because you can’t see my scars doesn’t make them any prettier. They’re a part of me. They’re evidence I survived.” She flexed her hand under his. “These are a part of you now, Drake. They are proof of what you’ve been through, your strength, your resilience.” The way these two characters met and then ended up together made me feel like they would have went for anyone, they early on talked about just wanting someone to love and the way they thought it could be a cure all, I never felt the specialty between them. I also didn't like how in the beginning Aria blatantly disregarded Drake's psychiatrist's opinion on their arrangement. This ended up being more heavy toned, less focused on romance than I was looking for, and lacking some joy. Merged review: I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Adria understood how her past had affected her. A piece of her was broken. She accepted that. She lived with it. Third in the Wild Rose series that follows a group of sisters that had a difficult childhood, Tough Talking Cowboy, was a sobering read. Aria's mother had drug issues when she and her twin sister Juliana were growing up, this lead to Aria experiencing grooming and child abuse as she tried to protect her sister. While Aria's mother is still a sex worker, she's managed to keep herself clean and start a new business with her friend, Juliana hasn't been as lucky and battles a drug addiction due to feeling guilty over what Aria did to keep her safe. Aria and her other sisters (heroines from other books in the series) manage to get Juliana in rehab and Aria moves to her friend's ranch to be closer to Juliana and start their new business. His gaze landed on the scars on his chest, then swept down to the ones covering his side, hip, and thigh. “It’s not pretty.” Drake was an Army Ranger who had to retire due to injuries from an IED, he's covered in shrapnel scares and has major leg damage. He's severely suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and just had his fiancee end things. His sister and brothers are worried about him but he can't contain his anger and pain about how his life is now going. When Aria shows up and he finds out she is staying in the cabin he likes to go to for quiet, he has a total melt down that ends with him holding Aria in a strangle hold as he is lost in a flashback. Due to the abuse Aria suffered in her childhood, she is no stranger to PTSD and, almost, too calmly handles the situation she is thrust into (she plays a game on her phone as Drake holds her against his body with his hand around her neck). These two definitely have deep pain but they also just want someone to love and love them, their pain brings them together. “And I will do whatever it takes to prove to you, you are not broken. And maybe I’ll convince myself that I’m not either.” If you couldn't already tell, this is a very heavy toned book. The issues both characters are dealing with are deep and scaring. They have a fairly immediate attraction to each other and decide that in order to fix a couple of their issues, Aria not being able to trust men enough to enjoy sex and Drake thinking he's impotent, decide to sleep together to work on them. By the 30% mark, they're pretty much all in with each other and the story seems to want to lean to them being cured already, which for how deep their issues were, obviously, seems too quick. Then by 50% marriage and babies is being discussed and yeah, I thought the romance was really rushed. “You needed her. Now she needs you.” With Aria and Drake not really having any more emotional hurdles with each other, the focus shifts to Drake rehabbing his leg, Aria's business opening up, and Juliana coming out of rehab. The story felt more like a general fiction than romance genre to me. There's a very late angst moment involving Juliana that added even more to the heavy tone and at a point where I want to be starting my happy sigh as my couple really sinks into their love with one another, there was just more sadness. The last two chapters acted as epilogues and all the joy I wanted to experience while reading along in the story, was hurriedly dumped here. “Just because you can’t see my scars doesn’t make them any prettier. They’re a part of me. They’re evidence I survived.” She flexed her hand under his. “These are a part of you now, Drake. They are proof of what you’ve been through, your strength, your resilience.” The way these two characters met and then ended up together made me feel like they would have went for anyone, they early on talked about just wanting someone to love and the way they thought it could be a cure all, I never felt the specialty between them. I also didn't like how in the beginning Aria blatantly disregarded Drake's psychiatrist's opinion on their arrangement. This ended up being more heavy toned, less focused on romance than I was looking for, and lacking some joy. ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
|
Sep 20, 2020
not set
|
Sep 30, 2020
not set
|
Jul 23, 2024
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| 0063337606
| 9780063337602
| 0063337606
| 3.67
| 1,846
| Jul 02, 2024
| Jul 02, 2024
|
it was ok
|
I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review What could be better publicity for my writin I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review What could be better publicity for my writing career than a romance author looking for her own happily ever after? Jac is thirty-two and just moved back home after getting a taste of what she thought was her dream of being a successful author living in New York. However, the dream was short lived, that big three book publishing contract disappears when her first book tanks and the second barely sells and she spends all her money trying to be the fun, single, successful author living in the big city. This leads to a drunken night of answering an online casting call for a reality tv show where the contestants battle it out for love, a la The Bachelor. I lean forward toward him eagerly. “And who am I?” I ask. He flashes me a sly grin. “A lit match on a very dark night.” If you're a fan of The Bachelor, then you might end up liking this more than me, but you're going to have to want to see the underbelly of what makes the show. Told all in Jac's pov, it's clear that all these events have already happened and the reader is getting the backstory, the story catches up to the present in the latter second half. We see Jac have a one-night stand before she's set to start filming and, oh no, the one night stand turns out to be Henry, a producer on the show. This sets-up the whole, are the feelings between them real or is Henry “producing” Jac to make great tv? Along the way, Jac feels an instant connection and chemistry with the man everyone is vying for, Marcus, and there's a little bit of a love triangle. I say little bit, because this is more about Jac trying to find herself. I keep questioning what's real and what's not and who I even am or thought I was. Jac is set-up to be the “unlikable heroine” in the story and the tv show. And here's the thing, while I didn't actively not like her, I grew disinterested in her and the story. It's toned in pretty bitter vibes, bemoaning botox, having to be skinny, looking a certain way, etc., which yes, all tiring issues women have to deal with but I'm not sure I ever felt Jac actually being tired and done with it. She uses all these advantages she has to “win”, which she likes in her “I want to stand out but am uncomfortable being the center of attention” personality. There's some annoyance that this is her “role” but, to me, her jaded personality doesn't really hate it, it's bothersome to her but she's written fairly dead inside, excuse me, “walled off” (works if character is walled off to other characters but me as the reader probably needs to see/feel at least some of the behind the wall emotion) and I can't say I ever really felt her hate it, because she fits the mold, even if it takes some energy for her too. Secondary characters never truly get filled out, this being all from Jac's pov and her sucking all the air out of the room. And that's not what I meant, it's never what I meant, because the happiness I need is so much bigger than romance or fairy tales or beautiful dinners where I starve because starving is how everyone might like me best. That's not real. That's not what I want. I don't know, maybe I've just read too many, “publishing is horrific”, “people on social media are horrific”, and toned writing that brings not a single ounce of joy to the characters or world. This is coming from someone who's nickname was “Daria”! I like jaded, cynical, and unlikable women because usually the character is saying a whole lot through these characteristics. I'm not sure the author accomplished what she set out to here, Jac felt like empty “not like other women”. And, at the risk of being like a social media reviewer character quoted in the story, because that seems like the du jour thing to do right now, I wouldn't recommend this for the romance, not strong enough for me. I would recommend this is you want more of a bitter toned story about how reality shows like The Bachelor aren't really about the love. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
|
Jul 20, 2024
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Aug 04, 2024
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Jul 02, 2024
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| Brom
*
| 1250622026
| 9781250622020
| B0CQHL43VF
| 4.04
| 354
| Sep 17, 2024
| Sep 17, 2024
|
liked it
|
2.7 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review Devil wants me in his belly like a 2.7 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review Devil wants me in his belly like a wiggle worm. Evil in Me started off on a fast chaotic note, Adam is trying to fight the voice in his head telling him to kill. He's powerless as he watches himself burn down a synagogue and stab the Rabbi and his wife to death. Readers are let in that it's a ring that has clamped itself onto Adam's finger and is feeding him these urges. As Adam hacks off his fingers trying to get the ring off, it just keeps spider crawling back onto another one until Adam takes his own life. The story then jumps from 1951 Brooklyn to 1985 Enterprise, Alabama and twenty-three year old Ruby. “I am Lord Sheelbeth...your savior, your master.” The flames flared as she spoke. One of my favorite parts of this story was how the author took the time to develop the supernatural background. Taking from religious mythology and giving it some spin, Brom gives us the ring's story. It's from a time when gods ruled and Lord Sheelbeth was in her heyday, until the Baalei Shem cut the ring off Sheelbeth's finger, cut out her eye, tied her to the ring, and imprisoned her in a hell. While Sheelbeth can weave urging magic into songs sang by the souls she has taken throughout her life, that are manifested as worms in her belly, she can't force anyone to act on these urges. This is done by Beel, a shedim (one of god's unfinished souls), who Sheelbeth had previously imprisoned and can possess the body of the ring wearer, controlling their body. I wasn't well versed in these religious stories, so don't fear if you aren't either, I had no problem understanding everything. We get povs from Sheelbeth, Beel, and later another demon, Vutto, controlled by Sheelbeth, to expand their characters and even though they come from a hell, don't be surprised if you start to feel for them. With the beginning giving us the introduction to the ring, it sets-up a great foreboding feeling as we get to know Ruby. She's on her last week of community service, stopped taking her medication for bi-polar, and just trying to white-knuckle it and not lose it over how everyone aggravates her. Listen, she had some legitimate reasons to. When she heads over to Mr. Rosenfeld's home, the same last name of the previously murdered Rabbi, you know things aren't going to go well for her. Sure enough, the ring ends up on her finger and then we're on a ride to save her life. Josh was the Rabbi's brother and manages to give Ruby a heads-up on what's happening, even manages to douse the ring in red powder (angel's blood) to cloak Sheelbeth's power, while they try to find a way to get it off Ruby's finger. While the ring is cloaked, Ruby is still possessed by Beel, but he's been looking for a way to get from under Sheelbeth's control and helps as much as he can with finding a way to break the ring's grasp. I got . . . bored. Help is to be found in Atlanta where Josh knows a Dr. who specializes in ancient Hebrew mythology and theology. There, they learn that if Ruby sings a song from the heart, with the help of many souls, they can compel the ring off. Which is perfect, because Ruby used to be in a punk band and her ex-bandmate just happens to be in Atlanta. The second half gives us ghosts, demons, murder, redemption, and a serial killer. I wasn't really a fan of the Richard serial killer addition, his pov and addition felt clunky added on and honestly the story would have been better without it, wanted kick him out of the band. Along with Richard, Ruby's almost step-father had a story arch that made me think there can be too many musicians in a band, Ruby was the lead singer and could carry this story without those two. The ending was a wild ride and had some of that chaotic punk music feel but like Ruby's band The Night Mares, this story needed a drummer to anchor it, Ruby had enough characterization for lead singer and Sheelbeth and Beel easily could have anchored but they got pushed and rushed aside too much by those characters I wanted cut-out; the story threads were riffing all over the place without a solid connecting feel. This was a supernatural story that had horror, punk music and satanic panic '80s highlighting, and heart from some unlikely places, fun but off the tracks at times. (The author also did a really cool collaboration with a punk band, The Maxines, to produce some of the original songs created in this, make sure to check those out!) ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Sep 12, 2024
|
Sep 25, 2024
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Jun 17, 2024
|
ebook
| |||||||||||||
| 0843944382
| 9780843944389
| 0843944382
| 4.08
| 1,376
| Oct 1998
| Jan 01, 1998
|
liked it
|
3.5 stars *This is a #TBRChallenge review, there will be spoilers, I don't spoil everything but enough, because I treat these reviews as a bookclub dis 3.5 stars *This is a #TBRChallenge review, there will be spoilers, I don't spoil everything but enough, because I treat these reviews as a bookclub discussion. Zanita scrunched her shoulders and warily glanced around the room. She had no idea what he had been talking about, and now she had no idea what she had been talking about. But he thought he knew what she was talking about. I'm going to start by saying that 97% (admittedly not up to Tyber scientific standards) of this story is goofy fun, which makes the extremely dark moment at 90% whiplash the hell out of you. I'm going to try and recapture the light fun I had reading for most of the story but I can't help but feel that 90% moment as I look back at the story. Buckle your seat-belts, because Mario Cart wishes it had banana peels to make you spin-out the way this book does. Tyber stared at her, speechless. Again. When he did speak, his voice held a note of awe. "You are completely non-linear, Zanita." Zanita is a reporter for her local paper, in which her grandfather is the editor. She's been regulated to soft stories as her grandpa doesn't want her in any danger. In an effort to break out and maybe get picked up by a bigger newspaper, she decides to go rogue and investigate Xavier LaLeche, a man claiming to be able to heal with psychic energy. However, Zanita is a bit left of center and she mistakes signing up for the psychic seminar with a physics one, taught by the world renowned Tyberius Augustus Evans (I will refrain from always typing out his full name, but know in my heart I am). Tyber is delightfully confounded attracted to her and he's pretty much instaloved from the moment they speak. Zanita's favorite saying at the moment is “Men, boil them in oil!” and wants nothing to do with a relationship, but Tyber is a Chris Hemsworth look-a-like with a PHD, she's only human, folks! Tyber creates situations to get her back in his orbit, a movie night, and a pool party, where she's the only guest!, you sly Dr., you, and when he learns that she's trying to investigate LaLeche, he comes up with a plan to help her, make sure she's safe, and work to lower her guard towards a relationship. He was shameless. An unconventional, incredibly alluring, no-holds-barred kook! Zanita really liked him. The plot of them investigating LaLeche is definitely there but, it's also kind of loosely strung together. Your enjoyment of this is going to hinge on if you want bananapants additives, Tyber lives in a reworked Victorian mansion that has a labyrinth of mythological topiary creatures and generally sounds like the Winchester mansion, Tyber's bed is a giant oyster, maple syrup is at one point drizzled down into her bush (seriously, this seems more logistically problematic than sexy??), and Zanita can't get any sleep in the beginning because of The Hogs (rogue pack of pigs) and goofy side-characters, Tyber lives with a former scientist that now thinks he's the cook on a pirate ship, talking/acting accordingly, a cat named Hambone, that well, this was Zanita meeting him: "And this is Hambone." The cat raised a chubby paw. Zanita knelt down to shake his paw. "Hi, Hambone, pleased to meet you." She swore the cat grinned at her, an aunt of Zanita's that might just put a Lady Danbury in her place, a little kid that when asked what his father does, he answers with: He replied innocently, "He does women.", and a My-Maggy, which frankly, I'm not totally sure where she came from but she's described as a “battleaxe” once, so welcome to the party. For the first time in her life, she lost her inhibitions; she screamed and hollered and had one hell of a time. These two had off-center byplay that I enjoyed and you're also going to get some steamy scenes. Can I just say, can we get back to the main female character getting to “screamed and hollered and having had one hell of a time”? I mean: He slid into her like a steel pylon through molten ore., we used to be a proper genre. I really enjoyed their brand of chemistry, sure it's goofy interactions with physics cross-talk at times but there was absolute sweetness in the way Tyber handled Zanita: Zanita never knew if it was Tyber's regular routine to sit on the porch swing at that hour, or if he stopped his work just to wait for her to come home so they could sit and unwind together after the day. All she knew for sure was that she began looking forward to their quiet hour before dinner. And tell me why this goofy little scene had my eyes watering out of nowhere: Courage. She sucked in a deep breath. "Tyber, we need to talk about this—" "Hey, look," he interrupted her, "one of the tropical fish is staring straight at you with a strange glint in its eye." "Where?" She peered over her shoulder at the tank. He swooped across her. "Zanita, really, how could a fish affect a strange glint?" His eyes danced with mirth. And something else. Something suspiciously close to the quarter deck. "If they're your fish, they could. Get off!" "Know how fish kiss? Like this." His open mouth covered her own. He raised his head, strands of his hair brushing across the peaks of her breasts. "They look like this, don't they?" Pressing his lips together, he sucked in his cheeks, causing his lips to bow out like a fish's mouth. Leaving his mouth tightly closed, he moved his pursed lips up and down while crossing his eyes. It was the funniest thing she had ever seen. Peals of laughter caused her to clutch her stomach. Tyber untied the sash on her robe, bending over to nibble her midriff with his undulating fish lips. Zanita couldn't stop laughing. It tickled and every time he raised his head to stare at her with those crossed eyes and moving lips, she was gone. Zanita is about to say that she thinks she should move out of Tyber's house, she feels herself getting too attached and is ready to run, Tyber feels her fear and with a little panic of his own and understanding of her, he distracts her and brings her back to him. You can read manipulation in his actions throughout the book, sure, but this is also romance fiction, so I inherently know (also add in some of those emotional nuances) that Zanita loves him, so you can also read his love and understanding of her. It could read corny but I've been reading some newer contemporary romance that could use a return to some of this sweet and “corny” fun between two people falling in love; fun can have depth, too! "To remove the temptation from you; it's obvious to me, Tyber, you can't help yourself from acting like a boyfriend." Think. Think. "You've got this all wrong, baby." "I do?" "Yes. I'm not acting like your boyfriend. I—" Think! "I'm conducting an experiment." "An experiment?" Her brows furrowed as she mulled this over. "What kind of an experiment?" What kind of an experiment! I'm testing my sanity. "It's… it's an experiment on… High Energy." Now, on to that ending, it was a bit rushed in regards to how they find out the way to prove that LaLeche is a fraud and without much fanfare, Zanita writes her article. The article angers LaLeche in a way that has him acting out a villain that felt wildly too dark for this story. (view spoiler)[He traps Zanita in her apartment and physically acts to rape her until she fends him off by saying that the FBI is onto him. (hide spoiler)] Oops, yeah, I forget to say that the FBI is sideline in this. The real fear felt by Zanita in this moment was heavy hitting, made even more so by how the previous 90% of the tone was goofy fun. This dark moment just didn't fit and honestly threw me enough that I lost a ton of the light fun I was having reading this and colored my experience. We get Tyber comforting her and dealing with LaLeche (he does literally dick punch him before the FBI arrests him, so slight return of good feelings) and then Zanita finally making a move, which I loved, Tyber deserved that after all the putting himself out there he did. I did see this has a sequel, with Tyber and Zanita back in action, and if I ever feel like goofy fun again, I'll probably read but I'm not sure I'll be able to fully relax as I'll be on guard for another really dark moment. *I was in love with the Tyber tightie whitey book cover but my god, look at that Kindle cover. THE LIGHTENING ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 14, 2024
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Jun 19, 2024
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Jun 14, 2024
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Paperback
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| 0451412788
| 9780451412782
| 0451412788
| 3.77
| 1,809
| Oct 06, 2009
| Oct 06, 2009
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it was ok
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This is apparently a spin-off series. I highly recommend reading Darkyn, the series it spins off from. Otherwise, you'd be like me and have no idea wh This is apparently a spin-off series. I highly recommend reading Darkyn, the series it spins off from. Otherwise, you'd be like me and have no idea what in the total Earth is/was happening. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 14, 2024
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Jun 25, 2024
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Jun 14, 2024
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Mass Market Paperback
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| 1335458182
| 9781335458186
| 1335458182
| 3.71
| 1,423
| Aug 26, 2021
| Jun 04, 2024
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really liked it
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3.5 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review But Finn hadn't needed to be told: 3.5 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review But Finn hadn't needed to be told: he'd always known Zoe was off-limits. Meet Me in Tahiti is the third book in the Meet Me series about four childhood friends that experienced a traumatic car accident in their senior year that has left lasting marks on each one in different ways into their adulthood. Zoe was the rich girl fairy princess that her parents and everyone in town coddled, this only increased when she became a paraplegic after the accident. Finn was the boy who had to drop out of school to work three jobs to help his ailing mother, but for a summer where they both worked at a restaurant together, Finn and Zoe recognized and were drawn to something in the other. For two years they danced around each other until after Zoe's accident has Finn finally making a move, only to be rejected harshly by a Zoe who was hurt and in pain about her new circumstances. Now, when they meet twelve years later, they're still drawn to each other but that old pain is still there too. He wanted time with her. This had a sweet and lightness to it, with a first half that had Finn just absolutely sick for Zoe that captured my heart. I'm serious, when Zoe shows up at his hotel resort, oh yes, kid from the wrong side of the tracks Finn does good and is now an owner of six hotel resorts, he's supposed to fly out the next day. He keeps making up excuses, and it will have you almost feeling sorry for the guy because of how helpless he is over her. We get some reminiscing flashbacks to Zoe and Finn during that summer together and then the two years and ultimate breaking point of when Zoe was harsh with him. The angst is all about Finn during his younger years staying away because he didn't feel good enough for Zoe and how that has carried over to him as an adult. Finn staying at the resort with Zoe though, is all about him wanting to show her that he's good enough for her now, so he's pretty much all-in from the beginning. Zoe for her part, felt too young and unexciting for the two years older Finn when they younger and now as an adult, still won't believe that he could ever like her like that. So, we have two people who are both wanting to get together, Zoe finds adult Finn even more attractive and definitely wants to start something with him, so why is this book three hundred pages? Well, we do get that sweet yearning and tension in the first half but the second half drags out with multiple rinse and repeat moments of stop, go, and misunderstanding. She laughed. “Are you only interested in one thing?” There was the smile, the glow, the heat, that promise. “Depends how you classify one thing.” One thing. The one thing was her. When they meet back-up as adults, Zoe is twenty-eight and Finn thirty, they do have some younger feel to them, especially Zoe with her “giggling” and covering her face whenever she's flustered, if the giggling hadn't been repeated so many times, it wouldn't have tripped me up as much, because these two did have a sense of reverting to their when-we-met younger selves that, mostly, worked tone. They share some kisses in the second half but the door is firmly closed in this one, they're headed to bed and then Zoe's waking up in the morning with a quick mention that they did sleep together. And it was at that precise moment that Zoe fell in love. I really enjoyed how Zoe's disability wasn't an element of the story but rather a part of her character, she's a travel writer and while she obviously acknowledges, lives, deals with other people's missteps, and thinks about accessibility, it wasn't forced but simply the fabric of her life. Having Finn growing up with a mother who taught him a lot in this regard and then him, obviously, thinking about Zoe when working to design the resort in Tahiti, really laid down a strong foundation building block in their relationship. All the secondary characters played their parts and helped to fill out the world and add to different dynamics of our two main characters. There's not a lot of the series connection friends in this but they share phone calls for some appearances. As the vast majority of the story takes place at the island resort, you'll also get some great tropical setting with descriptions of food, flowers, and some boat rides. I lost my heart to Finn and how much he just wanted to be around Zoe in the first half but there were a bit too many stop and repeat moments in the second that wore me out some. There's a grand gestures ending, covert by Finn and overt by Zoe, that will make you smile and if you're looking for an island setting and a sweet, trembling but trying couple, you'll want to pick this one up. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 28, 2024
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Jul 02, 2024
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Jun 08, 2024
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Paperback
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| 1944571663
| 9781944571665
| B0CM733GHV
| 4.53
| 408
| Jul 19, 2024
| Jul 19, 2024
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really liked it
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I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review With both parents now dead, learning the tru I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review With both parents now dead, learning the truth wouldn’t hurt anyone except herself. Don't Look Back is third in the Evidence: Under Fire series, and while you'd miss out on arriving fully in the know about interpersonal relationships of characters, I didn't have a problem starting the series with this installment. There's enough nudging in of recaps to get new readers in the know and the beginning gives a flashback to a big moment between our leads, Kira is rescued by Rand; readers of the series will feel like they're just picking up where the last book left off. If you've been a reader of Suzanne Brockmann or binged through the tv shows The Night Agent, The Old Man, and Bodyguard (British), then you're definitely going to want to pick this up. She was flattered he wanted to date her, but she had no doubt he would crush her heart even more than her first love had. Kira's father has died and she's found some papers of his that leads to many questions as to why he took so many trips to the island of Malta. With how sheltered her parents kept her, she always wondered if her mother defected from East Germany and her father smuggled her into the United States. After getting kidnapped by a billionaire terrorist and almost dying (#2 Trust Me), Kira decides it's time to get her first stamp on her passport and find answers on Malta. Helping out one of her friends, she's set-up to teach three classes on a military base about respecting and protecting artifacts to soldiers, when she comes face-to-face with Lieutenant Commander Randall Fallon, the Navy SEAL who asked her out before she was kidnapped, ended up rescuing her, and then ghosted her. “Kira, I’m pretty sure I’ll follow you anywhere.” Rand is pretty sure Kira's father kept him away from her by deleting his emails and sending a fake email from “Kira's boyfriend” to get him to back-off. When he see's Dr. Kira Hanson will be on base, he's not going to let this second chance go. As she's shooting him down a second time, they hear actual gun shots and suddenly Kira's life is in his hands again. Since these two previously met in the prior book, Rand's attraction is already built-in and while there is an issue from a previous relationship in Kira's past that has her scared to give Rand a chance, she's also already attracted to him, I missed seeing some of their building attraction. While these two spend the vast majority of the story together, Rand ends up following Kira to Malta, reprising an undercover role, and they have some steamy open-door scenes, the romance still felt like only around 30% of this story, this was heavy on the suspense. She paused, pulling him to a stop. She turned and rose on her toes and kissed him. Brief and soft. “I really like you, Randall Fallon.” If you're into the suspense side, though, you're going to love this. When Kira goes to Malta to search out secrets, she gets way more than she bargained for. Even though her dad went to Malta multiple times, he told Kira he was trying to recover art stolen by Nazis, she discovers her father was involved in spy games. At around the midway point of the story, a big reveal happens and Kira is spun into a world of conniving Russian oligarchs, family secrets, and trying to stop an attack on United States soil. As this is an ARC, I don't want to spoil too much of the suspense plot threads, but just know, some you won't see coming and some tie back into book two. It's all suspenseful and at times the cast of characters really blows-up but it's tightly plot contained enough that, you won't need sleep, you'll need answers. Her past was a mess, but he offered her a future. She wasn’t alone anymore. The research additives, Malta setting descriptions will fascinate you, military jargon and actions give a good enough realism feel, and, because I'm a history nerd, I enjoyed one of my favorite named summits, Seasick Summit, getting a shout-out. Rand did his part as the strong, capable, little hot piece that uplifts and believes in the heroine. I thought the multiple mentions of Kira's social anxiety and feeling shy felt a bit overdone, as her character never showed anything but self-assured and her not believing Rand really wants her felt a little forced as he was always the one to ask her out and pursue. Together, they worked appealingly. The story takes place only a little over a week, and while I could have stood for more romance focus/development, the suspense was suspense-ing, this was packed full of plot threads weaving in, out, and together, delivering a heck of a ride. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 14, 2024
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Jun 24, 2024
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Jun 06, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| 9798989986804
| B0D2V9PD4C
| 3.59
| 136
| unknown
| Jul 09, 2024
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really liked it
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3.5 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review “On the dotted line I’m Calvin Gold 3.5 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review “On the dotted line I’m Calvin Goldberg. People called me Cal until the ’76 Olympics. After I got the bronze, well, someone thought Bronze Goldberg sounded funny.” Blood and Mascara was a story with all the noir hallmarks, a seemingly broken down PI, women at every turn, murder, and mystery. The first half felt a little lighter blue noir as we get to know our PI Bronze, he's traveled a heck of a road, from a Judo bronze medalist, to an investigative reporter who solved a serial killer case, to only be almost killed by that killer, to alcoholism to cope with what he saw, fired from his job, to four years of sobriety and working as a PI. There's a sense of hope through Bronze as he has been sober for a while and building up romance between him and his upstairs landlady, Iris. This all gets derailed though, when an adultery case he was working on has Bronze the last man to see a congressman alive before he was murdered. Suddenly, he's working with his old detective friend Roth, and the FBI as they try to untangled a mystery that could involve an international hitman called “The Machine”, which leads into a second half that skips right over gritty and into dark noir. Of course it wouldn’t balance the scales. Not even a little bit. (There was no one watching the scales.) (There were no scales.) As with any good noir, the atmosphere is key, set in 1997 Washington D.C., most of the atmosphere is felt through the characterization and writing style. Bronze smokes his cigarettes, with alcohol always haunting, and he has his share of women playing roles in his life. This had multiple character povs, with Iris getting the second most to Bronze, and she supplied her own brand of world weary, with wanting to keep changes in her writing career, being middle aged, and deciding if she actually wanted Bronze, or the idea of him. The story is laced through with more and more information to what lead to Bronze becoming an alcoholic and losing his job, the final massacre committed by the serial killer, but we don't get the full picture until the end. This story utilized the style of focusing on a character to only fade out to a flashback to give another puzzle piece to why they are the way they are, if you're a timeline linear reader, you'd probably struggle. You’re young and in pain. Then you’re old and hopeless. With the flashbacks that were giving us character pieces, the main murder mystery is playing out and comes fully into play in the second half. It was a bit convoluted with some moving parts but things come into focus as Roth, Bronze, and Iris hone in with their investigation. I thought the ending moment where Roth info dumps the hows and whys of the tale felt unneeded, by that time it was pretty clear what had happened and this felt a little dumbing down. What I also felt wasn't needed, was the serial killer's pov as he commits the massacre. We're all aware of how these men feel about women, I didn't need to sit so long in his thought manifesto, which felt less like character development and more gratuitous. Between this and Bronze's “awe of women” that he mentally hashes through, I was somewhat worn out on how women were being discussed; it's not enough to make you put the book down, but, being a woman myself, it's an exhaustion that I don't search out to feel in fiction. The main character in a story must believe in a lie. The big lie that will come undone in the end. The ending gave us a ramping up that flew back and forth between life and death situations, answered all the questions, and after all the dark and grisly, returned to it's more beginning little light with some hope. I enjoyed feeling the noir atmosphere, the mystery came close to having one too many knots, but Bronze was a character that was memorable and I'd go with him anytime on an investigation. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 14, 2024
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Jun 18, 2024
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May 30, 2024
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Paperback
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| 0008706662
| 9780008706661
| B0CT7QGW5S
| 4.13
| 8,729
| Jun 14, 2018
| Jul 18, 2024
|
really liked it
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3.5 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review ‘Maybe,’ she thought, ‘this is what 3.5 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review ‘Maybe,’ she thought, ‘this is what following your heart feels like.’ The Story Collector was a story of finding your way after you've lost it, with tales of fairies and loads of charm. The story opens with some tension as Sarah and her husband have obviously decided to split and it's time to have that first Christmas now apart. Sarah's at the airport when a ceramic sheep and newspaper article about locals saving a fairy tree about to be cut down, all lead to Sarah changing her ticket from home to Boston, to Ireland. There, what could be considered little puckish intervenes, lead to Sarah staying in Thornwood village, where she'll heal, find herself again, and maybe find love again. Her mother and her sister Meghan were the practical ones, but Sarah and her father were the dreamers. Or at least she used to be. All of the magic seemed to seep out of her after The Big Bad Thing. Maybe Ireland was the place to find it again? It's obvious that something traumatic happened to snap Sarah out of the routine of slowing losing herself in her marriage over the five years they were together (it gets revealed later in the story what this was, but it's fairly obvious it was (view spoiler)[a miscarriage (hide spoiler)]). Sarah's dealing with grief and a bit fogged from it when she arrives in Ireland but gets led to Thornwood. There, she ends up staying in a cottage and finding a diary of a young girl named Anna that lived there in 1910. The diary tells the story of an American coming to Thornwood and Anna becoming his assistant as she leads him around the village to listen and record people's stories of “The Good People”. The story then alternates between Sarah's timeline and Anna's and we get fairy stories with Anna and the American and Sarah learning to heal and meeting the owner of the cottage she's staying at. Even a broken heart still feels. Grief and loss, along with good and evil stories of fairies are throughout the book but they're never explicitly dived down into, more touched on to keep a lighter tone to the story. The first meeting between Sarah and the cottage owner where she's picking flowers in a field and he's the tall conservation officer who reprimands her for picking the flowers, he has his own grief tied into he doesn't want her picking the flowers, will have a little zing hit you, as you feel the promised magic between them (especially when his little yappy dog clues Sarah into what a softie he is). There was also a little building romance in Anna's timeline as her and the American slowly grow to know one another, but like the grief and frightening tales of fairies, the romance is more touched on, than delved into. I greatly enjoyed the charm of this one but thought for the taking it's measured time pace for most of the story, the ending felt very rushed. Anna's story has some ending drama and a wrap-up that may leave some left wanting and while Sarah's story has her healing and becoming herself again, her happily ever after came abruptly in a way that I didn't feel I got to sit and enjoy the ending ride, it went too fast. Regardless of the rushed ending though, this story will have you feeling the magic and I recommend if you're wanting something that acknowledges the struggles of grief but doesn't completely darken the tone, tells tales of the fairy folk, and will overall charm you. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jul 20, 2024
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Aug 10, 2024
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May 17, 2024
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Kindle Edition
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| 0063329581
| 9780063329584
| 0063329581
| 3.62
| 1,412
| May 21, 2024
| May 21, 2024
|
really liked it
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3.7 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review For many years, I'd had a single goal 3.7 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review For many years, I'd had a single goal in life: never ever move back to Evergreen, New Jersey. It feels like Delfina is finally getting her big break when she gets a coveted slot at a make you or break you comedy festival. Wanting to really hone her set, she quits her job at a pub and comedy club, only to walk in on her boyfriend of three months with her roommate. Suddenly, Del is jobless and homeless and on her way back to the hometown she never wanted to see again ten years later. We disagreed, we argued, we sometimes found ourselves alone and then things happened that were never mean to happen. That was it. Told all from Del's point-of-view, Summertime Punchline had all the highs and lows of being late twenties, your friends all in different places in life, coming into who you really want to be in your career and personal life, finally dealing with those pesky childhood traumas, and an added bonus of a second chance romance. Del was raised by her grandmother, her parents were substance abuse addicts, her mother fatally overdosed when she was young and her father was a deadbeat flitting in and out of her life. While this didn't really deal with Del missing her mother (she was very young when her mother died and her grandmother sufficiently filled the role for her), she did have unresolved issues with her dad. Her issues with him not being there for her when she was a child ebbs and flows throughout the book, finally looking at how it effected her and then how she feels and is willing to move forward now that he has been clean and sober for years. It was a little bit of a different take, with Del wanting to forgive him, and while I'm one to lean more sinking into the hurt, pain, and staying behind walls characters, I did enjoy this kind of restoring route of Del's moving on. So, if you're looking for a forgiveness and willing to build daughter-father relationship, this would hit those points for you. Flirting on a Ferris wheel was one thing, but sharing bunk beds? Pretty early in the beginning, Del runs into Eddie, her high-school nemesis, friend, and crush. There are flashbacks in this that stretch throughout the whole book to show moments in their friendship that lead to them being close and also ending up not talking for ten years. It's basically that high-school relationship of two kids that have strong feelings but don't have the maturity to deal with them yet, along with not the best home-life mucking things up even more for them. We do get more of an insight into who Eddie's character is in the later second half of the book, as Del and him talk, exposing to readers his story. I did feel some chemistry between them and was rooting for them to get together, they at turns had some good by-play and steamy scenes but I still have to lean this is more Del's journey than Del and Eddie together; a good romance but not the main point. His next words came out slow, dark eyes burning into mine. “No games.” If you remember me being excited about the mention of the tv show “Hacks” in the blurb, well, it was a little less in there than I expected. Del's move back to Evergreen and staying with her grandmother is for her to be able to rewrite her whole set, because it was all about her relationship with her boyfriend and after the breakup she can't do those jokes anymore. The story seemed to constantly want to stay away from Del actually doing or focusing on this, the moment that really only corresponds is the moment she realizes that she's made her set jokes all about her, making the joke on her, and she doesn't want to do that anymore. However, it doesn't seem like she really wants to be a stand-up comedian too much either because then we get how she is a great singer and maybe wants to be a musician too? It felt a little bait and switch, but she ends up morphing into a kind of Bloodhound Gang comedian with writing songs that are funny. (She performs a song about her crappy dad memories and everyone was hooting and hollering in the audience, didn't really tickle my funny bone but, ymmv) I felt the ending rushed the resolving of the issues that Del had been wading through, ending up dampening some of those satisfied feelings you get after journeying with the character. This had more of a happily-for-now (an epilogue does expand on this more) but you'll still enjoy how Del and Eddie end up. This was a great beach read that had those summertime vibes (boardwalk ferris wheel!), secondary characters you'll love (Alfonso! I want a Nan and Alfonso romance stat), a romance that was slow in the making but all the better for it, and main character Del coming into her own in the best way. A debut that makes me exited for what comes next from the author, pick it up this summer! ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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May 28, 2024
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Jun 2024
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May 17, 2024
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Paperback
| ||||||||||||||
| 0063308436
| 9780063308435
| 0063308436
| 3.68
| 34,360
| Jul 16, 2024
| Jul 16, 2024
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really liked it
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3.7 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review A nanny job should be a cakewalk, r 3.7 stars I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review A nanny job should be a cakewalk, right? The Au Pair Affair is second in the Big Shots series were the friends of the main couple from book one, get their time to shine. Tallulah is in a cafe across from Burgess' penthouse, when she catches a clip of the hockey player elbowing an opposing player in the nose. Even though her gut told her she could trust Burgess and really got along with his twelve year old daughter Lissa, the trauma of surviving one man who hid his true self until it was too late for Tallulah, is now resurfacing. Even when Burgess walks into the cafe and Tallulah gets those calming vibes from him, she's scared to trust herself. It's not until Burgess' scheme to pay the majority of rent to make sure Tallulah is safe with a teammate's almost step-sister, that Tallulah decides to trust her instincts and take the job. While Burgess is trying to respect the boundaries of their age difference, eleven years, and boss/employee dynamic, Tallulah is ready to act on all that steamy chemistry between them, but wants to keep it no strings. Burgess knows they have the real thing though, he'll accept nothing but hearts fully committed. “Give me a chance to show you that you’re safe with me.” I had no problems jumping into the series here and liked how the story got rolling right away. Tallulah and Burgess had palpable heat right away, something that Bailey excels at and was much appreciated. Bailey also knew what she was doing when she made Burgess the one who wanted their relationship to be real and committed. Having him lay his cards out right away, his serious feelings for Tallulah, worked because it plays into his more mature age, thirty-seven, and helps take away any ick feelings to their boss/nanny relationship with giving Tallulah the decision making control. Tallulah wants to sleep with Burgess but is still working to fully reclaim her daring, live life to the fullest self after her traumatic experience (we get Tallulah telling Burgess about what happened later in the story). Burgess was never pushy but never let an opportunity to show Tallulah who he was pass-by, he says he'll be her bodyguard when she's nervous to do some daring bucket list items, like skinny dipping. It all works because he's there supporting her, while having the hots for her, and Tallulah's in the driver's seat for their encounters but always getting tempted by Burgess. Tallulah did a little skip as she reached him and his heart followed suit. Yeah. Yeah, she was worth trying for. Along with Tallulah learning to trust herself again, there's some of Burgess having angst over his age and how it's leading to the eventual end of his career and how he's having issues connecting with his daughter Lissa. There's not a lot of hockey in this, more like peripherally job shading in but how Tallulah bonds with Lissa and helps Burgess' relationship with his daughter definitely added a sweet strengthening block to their relationship. Just when Tallulah is deciding to fully go with her gut, some of the danger on the horizon hinted at comes into play and the second half has an angst moment where Lissa's preteen emotions and hopes throws a wedge into Tallulah and Burgess' relationship and when Burgess gets a serious injury, he lashes out with hurtful words, shattering some of that trust Tallulah had built up. He usually defended other people, but . . . she’d come to his defense? The third act breakup happens early enough in the latter second half, that we get a good look at Burgess actionable working for it to get Tallulah back and a believable working through her emotions Tallulah. A little forced proximity at the wedding of book one's couple, will probably delight readers of the series as they get another look at their HEA. Overall, this felt more refined than earlier works of Bailey I've read and I thought made this read even better, the hotness is still there but I believed in the emotion even more. There feels like a set-up happening between one of Burgess' teammates and the teammate's not quite step-sister that has me desperately wanting to read their book and I hope it's next in the series. This, had Burgess knowing what he wants and won't compromise for it but always supporting and protecting and Tallulah building herself back up with her own strength but only growing stronger when she leaned on Burgess' support, and hotness, don't forget the hotness. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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Jun 28, 2024
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Jul 06, 2024
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Apr 17, 2024
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Paperback
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WhiskeyintheJar
>
Books:
contemporary
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my rating |
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| 4.11
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really liked it
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Apr 09, 2015
not set
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Sep 27, 2024
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| 3.53
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liked it
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Aug 07, 2014
not set
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Sep 27, 2024
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| 3.99
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liked it
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Mar 31, 2017
not set
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Sep 17, 2024
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| 4.48
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it was ok
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Nov 25, 2015
not set
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Sep 11, 2024
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| 3.62
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really liked it
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Aug 28, 2024
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Aug 24, 2024
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| 4.08
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really liked it
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Sep 2024
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Aug 24, 2024
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| 3.92
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it was ok
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Aug 04, 2022
not set
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Aug 13, 2024
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| 3.36
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did not like it
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Sep 29, 2024
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Jul 30, 2024
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| 3.81
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it was ok
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Jun 16, 2018
not set
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Jul 29, 2024
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| 4.20
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it was ok
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Sep 30, 2020
not set
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Jul 23, 2024
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| 3.67
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it was ok
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Aug 04, 2024
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Jul 02, 2024
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| Brom
*
| 4.04
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liked it
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Sep 25, 2024
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Jun 17, 2024
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| 4.08
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liked it
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Jun 19, 2024
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Jun 14, 2024
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| 3.77
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it was ok
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Jun 25, 2024
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Jun 14, 2024
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| 3.71
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really liked it
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Jul 02, 2024
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Jun 08, 2024
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| 4.53
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really liked it
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Jun 24, 2024
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Jun 06, 2024
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| 3.59
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really liked it
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Jun 18, 2024
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May 30, 2024
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| 4.13
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really liked it
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Aug 10, 2024
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May 17, 2024
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| 3.62
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really liked it
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Jun 2024
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May 17, 2024
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| 3.68
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really liked it
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Jul 06, 2024
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Apr 17, 2024
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