Review: Ross

Ross by Jennifer Ashley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Not sure why it's taken me nearly a year to read this, started it, put it down and I've only just picked it up again.

This fifth book in the Riding Hard series features Ross Campbell, the brother who has become a deputy sheriff. On patrol one day, Ross comes across a car with a flat tire at the side of the road, complete with bride who turns out to be Callie Jones. The Jones family are wealthy and influential, way above the boisterous Campbell boys, Ross always had a soft spot for Callie when they were at school but he was too nervous ever to ask her out. Ross takes Callie to the church for her wedding, only to discover that the groom didn't bother to wait!

Can Callie and Ross overcome the prejudices of their small town and have a romance?

Set against danger in a small town from gangs and an unscrupulous sheriff, this was a fun romance with just a dash of suspense. Once I got reading I really enjoyed the romance between these two unlikely characters and the young boy/man Manny who they try to pull onto the straight and narrow.

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Review: The Perfect Date

The Perfect Date by Evelyn Lozada
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 32%

Kudos to Angelica who perfectly captured my feelings about the book, here, glad to see I didn't miss anything by giving up part way.

Angel Gomez is a single mom, nurse, part-time bartender studying to get a better life for herself and her son who suffers from asthma.

Caleb Lewis is a baseball player nursing an ankle injury following a shooting, seeking medical assistance on the downlow.

I didn't like either character, it all seemed like a cookie-cutter single-mom meets famous sports star, right down to the mom being a nurse (have you got the idea? She's called Angel and she's a nurse - ie perfect, nurturing, above all other women) working two jobs and having a sick kid (do all nurses have sick kids, is it like a prerequisite?). Duke on the other hand allegedly has a bad reputation but honestly he doesn't seem to do anything to deserve it. There's a lot of casual misogyny but also women putting women down. When Angel is supposed to be studying for her final exams (or something) but is clearly wavering towards going to a party thrown by a reality TV star (who just happens to send her a fancy dress and shoes to wear so she doesn't feel out of place) instead (I didn't stick around to see what she was going to do about her sick kid) I decided to bail.

Not the sweet, charming romance I was hoping for.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Top Secret

Top Secret by Sarina Bowen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Luke Bailey has won a scholarship to Darby College, he's a local but his family is toxic so he rushed Alpha Delta fraternity in order to get housing. He's working two jobs (bar and stripper) just to afford the rent on the smallest room in the frat house and living off cheese sandwiches. He's got a plan, the President gets free board at the frat house so he's going to stand for President against preppy, entitled jock Keaton Hayward.

Keaton Hayward III is third generation Apha Delta, his father (the CEO of a bif pharmaceutical company) and grandfather were both Presidents of the fraternity and he is aiming to do the same. When his sweet, but vanilla high school girlfriend says she wants a three-way for her twenty-first birthday present Keaton is surprised but happy to go along. He signs them up (anonymously) to a hook-up site called Kink and starts vetting potential matches for his gf's big surprise.

When Keaton and Luke start messaging on the app as LobsterShorts and SinnerThree things start off business-like with Luke testing whether Keaton is really happy with the ramifications of his gf's choices, but soon Keaton is sharing his geeky facts about mating in the animal kingdom and the two of them are developing a relationship.

What can I say, two of my favourite authors. I've noticed a theme in their college novels which tend to start off really raunchy and factor 100 on the phoar scale but become sweeter as the characters develop their relationship. This is definitely a rich-guy/poor-guy romance, it's about reaching for what you really want and standing up for yourself and what's right. It's 100% Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy sweet, sexy, articulate, romantic, funny love conquers all.

Wonderful.

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Review: Sight Lines

Sight Lines by Cara Carnes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

I read the first book in this series a couple of years ago, at that time I likened the novel to Elle Kennedy's excellent Killer Instincts series or Julie Ann Walker's Black Knights Inc series. Having read the second book I'm going to downgrade my initial euphoria. This is the spec-ops equivalent of space opera (in my opinion).

So, a brief recap, Viviana “Quillery” Chambers is 50% of the operational powerhouse known as the Quillery Edge, her BFF Mary is The Edge. Together she and Mary have masterminded more SpecOps missions than anyone else. They were the brains behind the business known as The Hive, which turned out to be a front for a group of terrorists called The Collective.

Mary and Vi developed the cutting edge HERA security program and The Collective will do anything to get its hands on the tech.

In the last book Mary got together with Dylan Mason. He and his six brothers run a rival organisation, The Arsenal, based in their small home town.

Jud 'the Judge" Jensen is an assassin working within The Collective but somehow aloof, when The Collective put a $6 million hit on Vi he steps in to threaten to kill anyone who attempts the assassination because years ago Vi saved his brother Danny when a mission went sideways. When The Collective ups the ante by kidnapping Jud's brother Jud realises he has to make a choice and he chooses to walk away from the dark side and join up with Quillery Edge and The Arsenal.

If you love high octane suspense where everyone has unique skills, everyone belongs to a group with a shadowy name (The Hive, The Arsenal, The Collective, Quillery Edge etc), there are geniuses and spec-ops heroes everywhere and mysterious faceless enemies you will adore this. It's fast-paced, engaging crack-cocaine that doesn't take itself too seriously.

Having said that, Cara Carnes doesn't need her spec-op heroes to rescue her heroines, these gals are more likely to be the ones doing the rescuing! Her heroines are (mentally) strong, extraordinarily bright, focused and loyal through and through. I thought this novel was going to focus on the troubles in the local town rather than Quillery - can't wait to see where the next novel leads us.

If you don't take this too seriously I think you will love this.

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Review: Storm Cursed

Storm Cursed by Patricia Briggs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

How does Patricia Briggs do it? Installment eleven, Mercy and Adam are married and yet the writing is as gripping and enthralling as ever. After the last book where Mercy and the Columbia Basin werewolf pack took a stand to defend humanity against the fae there has been an uneasy peace.

Now Adam has been forced into providing protection to US politicians in a meeting with the Gray Lords of the fae while Mercy is fighting zombie pygmy goats and a coven of witches who are looking to take over. As old allies reveal themselves to be something else Mercy must make alliances with old enemies in order to protect the peace and the citizens she has claimed as her territory.

This has absolutely everything I have come to expect from Patricia Briggs, intricate plotting, a large cast of characters old and new, humour, love, tragedy, suspense. She weaves her story so effortlessly, sweeping the reader along in her wake breathless and hanging on her every word. I truly wanted to read this slowly and savour every sentence, analyse every scene and probe every ulterior motive. Instead I read this book at breakneck speed, barely able to put the book down to do my job.

I only gave it four stars because I thought it could have been waaaaay longer, I wanted to carry on reading for hours and hours. I'm still reeling from the first and last deaths, so different and both made me sad. Where does Mercy go from here?

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Happiness for Beginners

Happiness for Beginners by Carole Matthews
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Molly Baker is nearly 40 years old, living in a decrepit caravan she inherited from her aunt, more at home with animals than humans she runs a rescue centre for unloved or disabled animals which also serves as a therapy centre for children with disabilities or plain anti-social behaviour. Although she lives from hand to mouth, constantly robbing peter to pay paul she enjoys her life to the full. Then one day a famous TV star arrives at the farm with his teenage son Lucas in tow. Lucas has been expelled from school for starting fires and is grieving the loss of his mother to cancer.

Suddenly in Lucas Molly finds a human who she wants to help as much as any of her motley crew of animals, his father's good looks and charm don't hurt either, but when the farm comes under threat from compulsory purchase will it be the end of Molly's dreams?

I enjoyed reading this, especially Luke's poetry and the ragtag assortment of three legged, PTSD, blind animals that Molly cares for. I enjoyed the gentle humour associated with looking after animals with personality. I even enjoyed Molly and her assistant Bev's daily guesses as to the rock star t-shirt the other assistant Alan will be wearing. The biggest disappointment in my opinion was the hero, Shelby. I found him too self-centred and focussed on his career and age-inappropriate girlfriend rather than his grieving son. Also, this just seemed to be a very long book for not very much happening, I think it could have benefitted from either more plot strands or some significant pruning as I didn't feel that there was a passing of time to account for the length of the novel.

Recommended for fans of All Creatures Great And Small.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: A Random Act of Kindness

A Random Act of Kindness by Sophie Jenkins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Fern has a stall selling vintage clothes at Camden Market in London, having lost her job as a personal shopper for a large department store. She has always had a love of fashion, probably because her mother Annabel is a former model.

A random act of kindness to a stranger introduces Fern to Kim, a pensioner buying a dress for his wife, Dinah, an 89 year old woman with an amazing haute couture wardrobe, and David. Told through sales blurb for different vintage clothes we see Fern find romance, friendship and a career.

For anyone who loves fashion the talk of Westwood, Biba, Chanel, Lagerfield et al is divine but it's also mixed up with Top Shop bargain finds and repurposing. Fern is a genius at seeing what people want from clothes, how they want clothes to make them feel, from a job interview outfit, to a mother-of-the-bride ensemble to a prom dress - she helps each of her customers feel better about themselves.

This is a feel good, fashion-forward, sweet romance, but TBH the romance is all about the clothes and our 'hero' is more of an afterthought.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.



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Review: Crashing the A-List

Crashing the A-List by Summer Heacock
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Clara Montgomery was a children's book editor until the publishing house she worked for was bought out by a soulless e-book retailer. Now she's unemployed, sleeping on her little brother's (extremely uncomfortable) couch and working for her brother's fiance's rather shady Uncle Charlie emptying storage units. When she comes across evidence that a famous British actor called Caspian Tiddleswich was once a male escort she and her BFF briefly consider selling the information to the gossip rags but her conscience gets the better of her. Unfortunately after one too many drinks Clara accidentally leaves a drunken rambling message on Caspian's phone. What she mean't to say was don't worry I have the information safe and I won't share it, what it sounded like was an attempt at blackmail. Clara recalls nothing of the call until an irate Caspian tracks her down and threatens to report her to the police.

Instead of reporting Clara to the police Caspian does some blackmailing of his own, forcing her to accompany him to dinners, parties and other social events to appease his 'people'. In addition, he is such a jerk that every second in his company is an exercise in self-control for Clara so that she doesn't throat-punch him.

I love me an enemies to lovers romance and this was a great one, full of antics, weird relatives, fancy parties, peculiar storage units, snarky repartee and lovable characters. However, I have to say the first chapter or two didn't grab me, Clara's BFF was a bit too full on and there was a lot of so-called 'zany' humour which I don't like. But once Caspian appeared the one-liners and the snark were just perfect.

I will look out for other books by Summer Heacock, she writes relatable, intelligent characters with humour and flair (also as a Brit I liked that her British hero didn't have lots of fake British sayings).

I was invited to read a free copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: Kiwi Rules

Kiwi Rules by Rosalind James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After her almost-fiance sells out their start-up business and shafts her in the process Karen Sinclair falls into a depression: no flat, no fiance, no job, new city. Only her big sister and brother-in-law manage to drag her out of the pit and persuade her to fly to New Zealand to inspect a high-end glamping business which her brother-in-law is thinking of buying.

Jackson 'Jax' MacGregor is a former model turned soldier, after a roadside bomb took his leg he has returned to New Zealand to recouperate. His heavily pregnant sister has asked him to act as tour guide for an American millionaire who may want to buy her high-end glamping business.

Jax and Karen first meet by accident on the beach Karen sees him emerging from the sea like some water god and then tries to rescue him from a group of teens who have stolen his crutches. Jax can't believe this aggressive American who seems intent on saving the poor cripple and turning an irritation into a full scale battle. Sparks fly in more ways than one until they realise they have been set up by their respective families.

As they tour some of New Zealand's most beautiful countryside and enjoy some of the athletic pursuits the country has to offer the intrepid explorer Karen and Jax gradually fall in love, but if he intends to return to his regiment and she intends to return to the US what future can they have? Is this just a holiday fling?

So, the rating is a mixture of two things. The characters and the plot which I really liked and get a solid four stars, and the BDSM stuff which I personally find off-putting and which spoilt the book for me. I don't object to BDSM per se but I don't understand why it seems to be an all or nothing kind of deal - kind of like they can't have sex any other way which isn't normal. I also felt that Jax was subconsciously compensating for the loss of his leg by being so dominant and ordering Karen around. I get that outside the bedroom Karen and Jax were equals but to me that's a bit like saying he only shouts at her in private - still not acceptable. Anyway, it is obviously an issue for me - others have said that it wasn't overdone and they didn't mind it - so I guess you assess your own views.

Otherwise, this book reads like a advert for holidays to New Zealand, full of amazing scenery, beautiful food, tons of sports, amazing local culture all wrapped around a romance between two strong characters who have been battered but not defeated by what life has thrown at them. Rosalind James is a great writer and her deep love of EnZed shows through every page, I loved Jax and Karen and their story.



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Review: The Bride Test

The Bride Test by Helen Hoang
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Esme Tran is a poor single mixed-race mother living in the slums of Ho Chi Minh City, cleaning toilets for a living and sharing a tiny apartment with her mother, grandmother and daughter. One day cleaning a toilet in a fancy hotel she strikes up a conversation with one of the ladies using the bathroom which results in a fairy-tale offer - come to the US and meet the woman's son and hopefully get married. Esme jumps at the chance of a better future for her daughter and the opportunity to possibly find her American father, Phil.

Khai Diep has problems expressing emotions the way others do, especially after the tragic death of his best friend a decade ago. A tax genius he nevertheless exasperates his traditional mother who desperately wants him to marry a good Vietnamese woman and have lots of lovely grandchildren. Khai doesn't have the heart to tell his mother than he can't love anyone - he just doesn't have the capability but forced by his domineering mother to play host to Esme for several months, and to squire her to three family weddings, he comes to find this strange woman oddly fascinating.

I really liked Helen Hoang's previous novel, The Kiss Quotient but this book just didn't resonate with me in the same way, maybe because Esme and Khai both, in different ways, found it hard to understand their environments and were too similar in that respect? Also I didn't really click with either character, not in the way I empathised with Stella Lane in the last book.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read, a bit like Crazy Rich Asians meets The Kiss Quotient but didn't have that extra wow factor of the first book.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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Review: The One & Only ( A Clean Billionaire Romance )

The One & Only ( A Clean Billionaire Romance ) by Maria La Serra
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 27%.

First, let me say that I am having a really off time with books. I have 54 books on my Kindle and I don't want to read any of them, so this may not be all the book's fault.

This is a classic tale of rivalry, Staci Cortés is a dating columnist at a popular New York magazine she wants to write more insightful pieces so when her boss makes her co-editor of a new online magazine she is over the moon, until she discovers that her co-editor is the boss' son, and her nemesis, Greg McAdams. Clearly there is a history with Greg, probably from years ago when Staci was (I'm guessing) a lot larger than she is now, a history of which he is blissfully unaware. So this had all the makings of a fun romantic comedy in the vein of How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days, unfortunately for e the reality fell far short.

From the little I read Greg came across as a sweet, thoughtful, professional guy with a soft spot for Staci. Staci on the other hand came across as an unprofessional psycho, behaving really badly and escalating matters when Greg does nothing in retaliation. When she talks about him being a gentleman and her wondering what crazy antics she can pull off (while they are on a work date) I decided life was too short to waste on unpleasant characters.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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