Review: One Small Thing

One Small Thing by Erin Watt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Beth lives a half life ever since her older sister Rachel died. Her parents are over-protective but also have made their home a shrine to Rachel, stifled by the atmosphere and the helicopter parenting Beth sneaks out and goes to a party in the bad side of town where she meets and hooks up with a gorgeous guy called Chase. The next day, shocked at losing her virginity to a complete stranger, and feeling totally out of control Beth resolves to turn over a new leaf. But her resolves is sorely tested when she goes back to school and finds that Chase is not only a new joiner at the school, but also the boy who was responsible for her sister's death.

For most of the book I flip-flopped between thinking Beth should apply for emancipation from her parents who crossed the line past over protective and into scary controlling and thinking that Beth was too stupid for words and the author of her own misfortune. I was also disappointed that once again female friends are shown as shallow, unreliable and judgemental - but maybe that's me being naive about high school teenagers, as I recall it was like that at senior school. Some of the characters were also a bit too much of a caricature, signalling early on what unfolded at the end.

And yet ...

At the climactic conclusion I was literally on the edge of my seat (on a crowded commuter train) compulsively gripping the seat, on the verge of shouting out (I know!) because the tension was that strong!

Overall, not my favourite Erin Watt but gripping nonetheless.

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Review: The Lucky Dress

The Lucky Dress by Aimee Brown
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 60%.

I feel torn about this book. On one hand I don't want to read it any more, on the other hand I want to know what happens.

Told in alternate present day and flashbacks going backwards in time (for no reason that I could discern) this is the story of Emi Harrison. She caught her fiancee in a compromising position and broke things off then moved to Dallas where she opened up a coffee shop.

Now her ex-fiancee Jack Cabot's sister Hannah is marrying Emi's twin brother Evan and she is not only forced to attend the week long celebrations but also spend time with Jack and his new girlfriend, who only happens to be Emi's nemesis.

I don't know whether Jack really did cheat, the story from Emi's viewpoint really doesn't leave much wiggle room for a plausible explanation. Similarly, if Jack is distraught and desperate to get back with Emi why would he even allow such a nasty piece of work to hang around? I didn't like Emi's BFF Lily, she was pretty judgemental about Emi having two small airline glasses of wine - it was like she had downed a bottle of vodka - and she seems to put Emi down all the time. Hannah was also a Bridezilla and an unlikable character. Maybe, as I write this my feelings become clearer, it is just that I don't like any of the characters. Jack appears (at best) to be too afraid to say no, Emi is just wet and Lily's nemesis might as well have a coat made of Dalmatians.

I want to know Jack's excuse. I want to know if Emi goes back to Jack or starts something new with the sexy bar-owner Liam. But I don't like the characters enough to carry on reading.

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 Ice Princess

The Ice Princess by Elizabeth Hoyt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

The final novella in the Princes trilogy focuses on Coral Smythe, the beautiful courtesan from the previous books who became the madam of Aphrodite's Grotto, known as Aphrodite to the men who frequent the brothel. There is one man who comes to the brothel that she can't work out, Captain Isaac Wargate, a naval captain who disdains both Coral and her women, coming in only to verbally spar with Coral and collect his errant men. Until one day the new majority owner of the brothel auctions a week with Aphrodite as the prize in a game of loo.

Isaac Wargate is strangely drawn to the elusive Aphrodite and wants to get to know her better, despite her profession but he can see she is skittish and so he plays a long seduction game trying to reach the woman behind the (literal) mask.

I enjoyed this, I thought it could have been called the Captain and the Courtesan and frankly I got tired of the fairy stories which unfold at the start of each chapter after the first novel, but overall this was a compact tale which drew me in and finished off the series nicely.

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Review: Hard Sell

Hard Sell by Lauren Layne
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Matt Cannon is a numbers geek with a hot body, one of the Wolfes of Wall Street investment managers he is filthy rich and living the good life until his cousin's bachelor party in Vegas is caught on camera and suddenly the Wall Street Journal has pictures of him with a lap dancer and allegations of drug taking. Suddenly Matt needs a fake girlfriend to reassure clients that he is trustworthy and they can let him look after their money. The trouble is, the only girls that would fit the bill are either (a) totally unsuitable, would make Matt look even worse and would probably blab about the fiction the first chance they got, or (b) likely to take the opportunity to try to put a ring on it. In fact, the only person who could possibly pull it off is Matt's enemy with benefits Sabrina Cross. She's got the looks, she's got the brains, she's even got the connections - the only question is, will they kill each other first?

I don't like to be mean, especially to a writer who has written some of my favourite romances but I have to say I feel that Lauren Layne dialled this one in. All the passion and the angst happens off stage, I'm still not entirely sure I understand what happened between Matt and Sabrina in the past to make them such enemies, or rather I understand why she was unhappy, I just don't understand why he said what he did. I didn't get any of that unrequited love turned to hate anguish that I would expect from this kind of plot and frankly at times it just felt like a tick list of things that rich people do: brunch? Tick. Cocktails? Tick. Charity ball? Tick? Weekend away in somewhere expensive? Tick. Pretty woman style shopping trip? Tick.

This is said with love, Lauren Layne think about whether a new reader would pick this book up and understand the past history between these two, would have heard the barbed comments, felt the sparks, seen the antagonism. My honest guess is not. This is a common error, authors write a series of separate romances as a single extended story, the reader has to read all the books in order to 'see' the backstory, otherwise the novel is just a little bit meh. I thought this was especially disappointing because I loved the first book in the series so much and had such high expectations for this one. Is it just second book doldrums or is it LL's relentless schedule of book releases causing her to just churn books out without suitable regard to character, plot and human interest?

However, I am judging LL from a very high level, the writing is still engaging and flows effortlessly. The characters are all clever and good-looking, the situations are glamorous and sexy, there's a super-cute dog. For an unknown (to me) writer this would have been at least four stars. I just expect more from LL.

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 Memory of You

The Memory of You by Jamie Beck
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Oh Jamie Beck, I had high hopes after you dialled down the angst in When You Knew but obviously the stress was too much and you've reverted to type in this latest novel.

Stefanie Lockwood ghosted her high school boyfriend Ryan Quinn after she realised he could persuade her to give up all her dreams of leaving Sanctuary Sound and exploring a life full of possibilities. Now, after a brutal attack leaves her with a recurring concussion problem she has returned to Sanctuary Sound to set up a construction and decorating business with one of her best friends. One of their first jobs is for Ryan's mother, she wants an extension to give further room for Ryan and his daughter who have returned home after his wife leaves him for another man.

There was just too much everything in this book. Steffi is having episodes triggered by day-to-day events, in which she has flashbacks to the attack, which she subsequently doesn't recall - although the reader is left in no doubt as to what the flashbacks mean. Her two best friends have fallen out after Claire's boyfriend left her for Peyton. Claire is lame after a school shooting incident. Peyton has cancer. Steffi's mother died of cancer when she was a child, her father looks as though he is on the verge of dementia. Ryan hates Steffi for ghosting him, he had revenge sex and ended up getting the girl pregnant while still in college. His wife has left him for a millionaire but still wants half the house AND alimony. Ryan's mother is scheming to get Ryan and Steffi back together. I also found the signalling for the other couples in the series was a bit heavy handed. My prediction is that Claire and Peyton's millionaire photographer brother are secretly in love with each other, ditto Peyton and Steffi's brother Ben.

I wanted less angst and more of Steffi's fledgling building business. I liked the interactions between Steffi and Ryan's daughter and think if there had been less angst flying around it would have been a more enjoyable book because those parts were fun, flirty and cute.

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

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Review: Storm Gathering

Storm Gathering by Rebecca Zanetti
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For some reason I started this book ages ago, didn't like the way it was going and dropped it. Randomly I picked it up again, from the start, and loved it.

Although we have seen glimpses of this previously it is all explained in more detail in this book (hurrah). Maureen Shadow is a plant Biotechnology Engineer working for a way to grow food in a world devastated by the Scorpius virus. Sister to Raze Shadow of Vanguard, she has been kidnapped by Greyson Storm of the rival Mercs gang. Although Maureen was kidnapped ostensibly to act as leverage on her brother Moe and Grey can't deny the overwhelming attraction between them.

This book has been a long time coming, matters have reached crisis point and the Mercs and Vanguard need to decide whether to combine resources to fight President Atherton and VP Lake. Moe and Grey could be the meeting point, or they can be gasoline on the fire which creates mortal enemies.

This series is set in a post-apocalyptic world where the different factions are each trying to locate secret bunkers which have been stockpiling medicines, research and weapons. One of them may hold the cure to Scorpius.

Loved it.

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Review: Silver Silence

Silver Silence by Nalini Singh
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I loved this spin-off from the Pay-Changeling series.

Silver Mercant is a Psy. She manages a worldwide emergency response network whilst also acting as Kaleb Krycheck's assistant.

Valentin Nikolaev is alpha of the StoneWater bears, big, Russian, jovial, he courts Silver in bear fashion by find new and ingenious ways of getting into her secure apartment block to deliver papers and invite her to dinner. One morning Valentin comes to her door only for Silver to collapse, someone has attempted to poison her nutritional supplement. With suspicion falling on her own family, Silver's grandmother, the head of the Merchant family, decides the only place where she can be safe is with the StoneWater bears.

I just loved this, I loved the bears and the way they are actually very intelligent and sneaky but like to hide that behind a facade of fighting and drinking and humour. As befits the start of a new series the novel is more about people and relationships than the over-reaching arc, although there is still the shadow of conspiracies to overthrow Trinity (the new alliance between Psy, humans and changelings).

Awesome!

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Review: The Rose Revived

The Rose Revived by Katie Fforde
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Three young women apply for a job with a new cleaning company, to their surprise the three of them are employed rather than the clearly more qualified older women who were also in the running, the shifty looking boss of the cleaning company says he is looking for quality, classy women to clean for his classy clientele.

May is desperate for money after her boyfriend left her owing thousands of pounds for the mooring fees on her barge, if she can't pay them quickly the site manager will seize her barge and sell it to recoup his fees.

Harriet has run away from her overbearing grandparents who have treated her like a servant, she is actually very good at cleaning and cooking, having done both to her grandmother's exacting standards. She has come to London because she is an artist and she is desperate for an opportunity to learn how to paint. She is also a single mother to a nine year old boy who her grandparents have sent to boarding school.

Sally is a resting actress, since her acting jobs have dried up her journalist boyfriend has become a lot less loving and a lot more critical, she needs money so that she can leave him.

After working for the cleaning company for several weeks the women discover that they have been conned by the owner and decide to go into business for themselves, stealing their best clients as they go. Each of the women meets a man through their cleaning work, but the path to true love is never smooth and each of them has to go on some journey of self-discovery.

I enjoyed this book, however because it was effectively three love stories in one I felt that the ending was a bit rushed.

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Review: Maggie's Run

Maggie's Run by Kelly Hunter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Maggie Walker returns to Wirra Station after her great aunt's death. An orphan who nearly died in the car accident that killed both her parents, Maggie has had a chequered history with her great aunt and the boy next door Max O'Connor. She intends to sell the property but Max convinces her to spend three months, learning about how to manage the farm and come to peace with the past before she sells up and moves back to the city for good.

I hate to have to say this because I have enjoyed several of Kelly Hunter's other novels but this was just a bit meh. Maggie has had a difficult childhood and Max has been front and centre for much of her worst moments. He sort of hates her for leaving him, but not really. There's a mild sub-plot about trying to divide the ownership of Wirra Station so that Max gets the land for farming and Maggie has a smaller area around the house to run a wedding planning business. Even worse, it was all a bit fade to black.

If my review seems vague it's because nothing really stuck. There was nothing wrong with the novel, but it also didn't have any grit, it was all a bit greige for me the reader. I saw that the second book in this series is available for request on NetGalley but I won't be requesting it.

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

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Review: Counterfeit Boyfriend

Counterfeit Boyfriend by Cindi Madsen
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Did not finish at 26%.

Ordinarily I love Cindi Madsen novels, she's an auto-request/ one click buy for me but this just didn't do it for me.

Ethan is the more responsible, sensible twin, Evan the lay about good time guy. Evan has promised his girlfriend Gwen that he will go to a friend's wedding with her back in her home town, something which involves a road trip, as support for when she comes face to face with her cheating ex and her former BFF. Unfortunately, the wedding clashes with a boys trip and he has come to the conclusion that he and Gwen aren't really going anywhere romantically. But he's a nice guy and doesn't want to leave her to face her ex alone, so he asks Ethan to pretend to be him, just like they did when they were kids, show her a good time and then Evan will let her down gently when they get back. what could possibly go wrong?

Gwen is a quirky girl, she works as the office administrator for a veterinary practice, she loves oddball facts and she is looking forward to visiting the US's largest lighthouse and other sights as part of the road trip. The only problem is, she doesn't think there's any spark with Evan and she is going to break up with him. But when Ethan, masquerading as Evan, meets Gwen there is definitely a connection, a smoking' hot connection. And so, despite knowing it's a metaphorical car crash waiting to happen, Ethan agrees to go on the trip with Gwen whilst pretending to be his twin.

Why didn't I like this? It felt too juvenile, I know that Cindi Madsen writes NA/YA novels but this felt too young. I could see that the deception was going to blow up in Ethan's face - he knew it too and it felt too stupid. Also there were also too many clues that Ethan wasn't Evan, okay Gwen didn't know he had a twin, but come on - his hair grew like two inches in a few days! Overall, I couldn't suspend my disbelief and wasn't engaged by the story or the proposed road trip.

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

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Review: The Wrong Man

The Wrong Man by Natasha Anders
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the third in a series about three sisters called Daisy, Daffodil and Dahlia who were labelled by their loving parents as the clever one, the prickly one and the pretty one. Poor Dahlia, all she wants is to love and take care of someone. She was engaged to be married until she found out that her controlling fiancee was also trying to blackmail her sister into sleeping with him. She gave up her job at his behest and since then she hasn't managed to get a full-time job. Instead she spends her time doing good. Entertaining at the senior centre, reading to children at the library, volunteering at the animal sanctuary etc. Her clothing reflects her homebody personality, all cardigans, longer dresses and buttoned up collars.

The set up for this book takes place in the previous book but in a nutshell, Lia acts totally out of character and has a one night stand with Daisy's future husband Mason's former business partner Sam Brand at the mixed hen and stag nights. Then, despite her best intentions she did it again at the wedding. Having only slept with the cheating fiancee before Sam, she is horrified at her lack of judgement, particularly because Sam Brand is a foul-mouthed, over-confident, brash man who she dislikes intensely.

Sam gets injured saving a pop star from a deranged stalker. Desperate to escape Hollywood. London and the paparazzi he asks Mason if he can stay at his cottage in South Africa, little even thinking that he might run into prissy princess Dahlia in town. truth be told he'd forgotten all about her and their one night stand. But then Dahlia is pushed into preparing the cottage for his arrival and is a witness to his inability to do the simplest of things like pour a drink or dress himself with his dominant arm in plaster. Irritable, in pain and bored, Sam decides it would be fun to get prissy Dahlia to act as his cook/ cleaner/ driver for a few weeks while he simultaneously tempts her into another torrid encounter in the sack.

When I read the start of this in the previous book The Best Man I hated it. I hated Sam and Dahlia seemed too prissy for my tastes. Boy was I wrong! I just love me a bad boy meets a goody two shoes story and this was a brilliant example. Sam never lost his foul mouth or his crudity, right up to the end he said some things which were just awful and (almost) unforgivable. In fact the only reason I forgave him (as a character) was because he seemed to be equally as horrified by what he said. Dahlia grew on me, from the sort of po-faced, do-gooder with an obsession about getting married that I love to hate she turned into one of the nicest, sweetest, funniest (and sexiest) heroines I've read in a long time.

After the angst-fest of the last book, this is back to the sparkling, frothy, delightful novels that I love from Natasha Anders. I devoured every page with glee. I loved all the characters and nothing felt contrived. A winner.

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

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Review: Famous

Famous by Jenny Holiday
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Four and a half stars. How did I miss this little gem? Maybe it was the cover which, frankly, does nothing for me.

I have to admit the start of the book, seven years ago, also left me a little cold but after that i grabbed me by the throat and didn't let me go.

Seven years ago Evan Winslow was at the centre of a s@#t storm as a result of his father's art Ponzi scheme. He goes to his friend's wedding to test how far into persona non grata territory he has fallen and discovers it's pretty much all the way as he's pursued by a pack of paparazzi. Whilst scoffing internally at the atrocious bridesmaids dresses he is struck by the unusual appearance of the oldest/ tallest bridesmaid. As an artist, Evan can almost feel how he would paint this stunning woman in a series of fantastical scenes. When the two of them finally meet it's like an amazing meeting of minds, Emmy's a writer with a way with words to match his imagery. But when Evan finds out that this woman is only nineteen to his twenty-six years old he knows it can go no further, especially when his every move is scrutinised and published in every rag across the country.

Fast forward seven years, Emmy has reinvented herself as an internationally successful pop superstar (think Taylor Swift), she writes, she sings, she plays guitar, but she is slowly being suffocated by the weight of her own success. She feels as though she is stuck in a gilded cage where her every move is scheduled for years in advance and her management team have her on a hamster wheel of touring and albums and personal appearances until she could scream. When she is co-writing a song temporarily entitled Song 58 she snaps and decides to run away, but the sad thing is that there is no-one and nowhere that she can think of that could (or would) keep her safe and respect her privacy. Until that long ago rooftop discussion with Evan comes to mind - he once offered to help in any way she needed and for some reason she believed him. Evan lives in small town Iowa and is a history of art professor seeking tenure at the local college.

What follows is a delicious small town romance between a formerly notorious artist turned art history teacher and a pop star who's never known real life, who can't cook or drive because 'people' have always done that sort of thing for her. Despite her fame, Emmy is the opposite of a diva, she loves people and slowly insinuates herself into Evan's small town life, cleaning and restoring his big run-down house while incubating new songs for her album.

I loved this. The romance was believable and sweet, the way in which Emmy and Evan healed each other without even realising was beautifully written and the interactions with Evan's elderly neighbour, his colleagues and the children he helps in the after-school art club are lovely without being cloying or over-done. even the sex felt realistic, that crazy mix of hawt and funny that only happens in real relationships where you can laugh at yourselves and still feel horny.

I can't wait to read the next one!

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Review: The Serpent Prince

The Serpent Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well isn't that just typical? I read the entire series just so that I could understand the true depths of depravity Viscount Simon Iddesleigh had sunk to and why he was referred to as a devil, and I have to say I don't get it.

Lucy Craddock-Hayes is happy with her life, living with her father, a retired Navy Commander, she spends her days sketching and doing good works in the village. She has had a sort of understanding with the local vicar for the past three years and she fully expects him to propose ... one day. Then, while out seeing to the sick and elderly she comes across a naked man lying in a ditch. At first she thinks he is dead but when she realises that he is still alive, barely, she has him carried to her home where she nurses him back to health.

Viscount Iddesleigh has been set upon deliberately by men in the pay of a group of men who want to get rid of Simon permanently. The reason why they want to kill Simon is slowly revealed during the book. I rather liked Simon in the country. He was just the sort of sophisticated, witty, debonair nobleman that I was expecting. He brought back memories of two of my favourite Georgette Heyer books Devil's Cub and Venetia, both of which feature dissolute heroes and innocent, good heroines. Unfortunately, I felt this book lost its way a little when Simon returns to London. Simon became less an avenging sword and more like a man who had lost his mind. Lucy on the other hand, seemed to become a little bit of a religious prig.

Overall, I liked this the least of the three books and my favourite is probably the first, or the second, gah, they were both wonderful but this fell flat for me.

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Review: Playing Dirty

Playing Dirty by Amy Andrews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Valerie King is having a pity party for one on her twenty fourth birthday, drinking alone at a bar when Kyle Leighton, the newest signing for the Sydney Smoke, approaches her. Val knows exactly who Kyle is, as the daughter of the Smoke's coach Griffin she knows all about the team, but Kyle clearly has no idea who she is. Val knows it's a monumentally bad idea but doesn't care, he's funny and gorgeous and just what she needs to distract herself.

The next time Kyle sees the gorgeous one-night stand she's at Henley Stadium wearing a Sydney Smoke cap, but nothing can disguise that beautiful titian hair. He's so excited to see her he rushes up to kiss her, but is rudely awakened when his new, very grumpy, coach orders him to let go of his daughter. Griff gives Kyle a choice, keep away from my daughter or you won't play rugby for the Smoke.

Kyle knows he needs to stay away from Val, and he will once he has a chance to talk to her about that night. But when he finds out that she owns his favourite bakery and she offers him a lifetime supply of free pastries his choice doesn't seem quite so obvious any more.

I loved everything about this book. I loved Kyle, the golden son in a large family, many of whom have only a glancing acquaintance with the right side of the law, his dedication to rugby and his feelings for Val. I loved Val, struggling with daddy issues, running her own business and yet so kind to everyone, fitting in with Kyle's raucous family and the Smoke's WAGs with equal ease.

As befits an Entangled Brazen imprint the sex is hot and steamy but it fits right in with the plot, from the raunchy one-night stand to the hot, hot, hot encounter in the bakery everything is just right.

Another fantastic romance from Amy Andrews and the glorious Sydney Smokes.

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

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Review: Break Your Heart: A Small Town Romance

Break Your Heart: A Small Town Romance by Tracey Alvarez
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Sam Ngata and his brother Isaac have a huge opportunity for their business Kauri Whare to provide sculptures and furniture to a chain of boutique hotels in the midwest USA. The only problem is that in selling the family nature of the business, and Isaac's relationship with Nat, Isaac and Sam have given the client the impression that the family also includes a significant other for Sam. Now the owner's son Eric and his wife Julia are coming to Bounty Bay to view the business and, if they like what they see, sign the contracts so Sam has to find himself a fake girlfriend and, potentially, soon to be fake fiancee. Sam likes the single life, dating a series of women, riding his Harley, drinking beer with his mates, surfing. Who wants to be tied down to one woman, forced to go home every night, no freedom to just go where the mood takes him.

Vee Sullivan is Sam's sister Tui's former best friend. She, Gracie and Nat own a clothing shop called Bountiful and it's doing well but it's not in the best lace to get tourist footfall. What would be really helpful would be to move to one of the remaining vacant retail spaces at Kauri Whare, Nat and Gracie have been trying to persuade Vee but she is too proud to ask for mates rates from the Ngata brothers. Things are tight for Vee, trying to build a fledgling business whilst being a single mother to two year old Ruby, she just can't stretch to paying the full rent on one of the fancy retail spaces just yet.

Of course Vee would be the perfect ready-made fake girlfriend complete with cute-as-a-button daughter, if only Sam can persuade her to participate.

Once again Tracey Alvarez has written a cute, funny, captivating and sexy romance sparkling with humour and the joys of life in a small community. Sam is super sexy but totally clueless when it comes to women, particularly sparky Vanessa Mae Sullivan. Vee has agreed to be Sam's fake girlfriend for a week, all she needs to do is remember that this isn't real because it would be all too easy to fall for this kind and funny guy she's known practically all her life.

Although this is the fifth book in the series it is easy to read as a stand-alone.

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Review: The Summer Getaway

The Summer Getaway by Tilly Tennant
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 74%.

I tried really hard to finish this book but frankly I found all of the characters to be unsympathetic, verging on dis-likeable.

Sixteen years ago Ashley Moon went on a summer holiday to Ibiza she would never forget, a one-night stand with a boy called Haydon (no surname) left her pregnant with a bogus phone number. For the first time in forever she and her daughter Molly are going abroad on holiday - to France to celebrate Ashley's step-father's mother's 100th birthday (I hope that made sense).

Haydon is a music teacher and divorced with a fourteen year old daughter called Ella. His ex-wife and her new boyfriend are thinking of moving down to London and taking Ella with them so Haydon decides to take advantage of a late offer from a pupil's father and rent a villa in France for a week's holiday with Ella.

Imagine Haydon and Ashley's surprise when they discover that after sixteen years of no contact they are staying next door to each other in France.

So, here I am, 74% of the way through the book, six days into Ashley's holiday and she STILL hasn't told Haydon that Molly is his daughter. Nevertheless the four of them, plus various wider family members, have managed to spend several days together. Ashley has to be one of the most infuriating characters I have ever read. She hasn't seen this guy in sixteen years. They had a one-night stand. She gets jealous if she sees him with another woman. She thinks she can't trust him. So she won't tell him he has a daughter. Her own mother can't understand what is taking so long. Haydon on the other hand is one of those parents who thinks that others need to tip-toe around their precious baby. His daughter gets upset and he thinks it's the fault of the other children instead of the natural outcome when there are two fifteen year olds and a younger child. Goodness only knows why he likes Ashley, she's wetter than a cold weekend in Seattle.

The book was too slow, do we really need 245 pages of Ashley faffing about before she tells Haydon he has another daughter? I suppose realistically I wanted the novel to be about what happens AFTER she breaks the news not this will-she, won't-she wobbling. Maybe I'm too old, I identify more with Ashley's exasperated mother than I do with her?

It's a pity because I've read Tilly Tennant books in the past and really enjoyed them.

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

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Review: Down Deep

Down Deep by Kimberly Kincaid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Our hero, Ian Gamble, is a lieutenant at Remington's Station Seventeen fire station. A former Marine, he is drinking alone at the The Crooked Angel Bar and Grill, the hangout for the fire station, to commemorate the anniversary of the deaths of his team-mates on his last mission. The last thing he needs to be distracted by is the hot bar manager with the intriguing tattoo and piercings.

Kennedy Matthews has dragged herself out of North Point's worst neighbourhood by her finger nails to have a career, an apartment and a life she is proud of, but she hasn't forgotten the survival skills she honed from growing up in an area rife with crime, drugs and prostitution.

When Kennedy and Gamble are alone in the bar late at night someone sets off a fire in the dumpster behind the bar, Gamble thinks it could be a disgruntled customer that Kennedy forcibly ejected from the bar but something about the way Kennedy reacts to the car they see speeding away from the scene.

Soon Kennedy and Gamble are embroiled in investigating an arsonist who plans to detonate explosions in several buildings across Remington.

So, I've decided that this series is a sub-genre I like to call sexy-suspense. The books are a pretty good mash-up of a sexy contemporary fire-fighter romance and a romantic thriller. So you get some quite graphic and scary descriptions of fire-starting and the seedier side of life, together with loads of smokin' hot sex (pun intended).

I thoroughly enjoyed this, the plot was engaging and fast-paced, the villains were suitably dastardly and the smexy times were steamy. Even better? Kennedy avoided the classic TSTL mistakes of other heroines so kudo for that.

Recommended for those who like more plot with their romance, more sex with their thriller and two tough characters who fall in love naturally without any manufactured angst.

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 Leopard Prince

The Leopard Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Just loving this series!

We turn to Harry Pye, the second of the three friends brought together by the Agrarian Society. Harry is the steward of Miss Georgina (George) Maitland's Yorkshire properties. George is that unusual thing, an unmarried woman with money and property of her own, left to her by an aunt. She and Harry are travelling together to the estate, following disturbing news that someone is killing sheep on a neighbouring farm, when their carriage overturns in driving rain and the two of them are forced to take shelter over night in an abandoned cottage.

Little does George know that Harry grew up in the local area and has a history with the local magistrate Lord Granville (this was very confusing for me as I have just read a book by a different author which also features Lord Granville). Granville is convinced that Harry is the person poisoning his tenant's sheep and demands that George sack him and turn him over for justice.

This is real old school historical romance, the vile Lord Granville despoiling women left, right and centre. Old grudges, illegitimate children coming out of the woodwork, and drunken aristocrats starting fights in the local bar. All set against the backdrop of a wealthy aristocratic woman falling in love with the son of a gamekeeper, aided and abetted by her loyal servants.

Loved it, and I wasn't even looking forward to reading this one, I just wanted to read the third book and can't bear to read out of order!

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Review: The Lieutenants' Online Love (Mills & Boon True Love)

The Lieutenants' Online Love (Mills & Boon True Love) by Caro Carson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Let me say if it hadn't been for a Dear Author review here, I would never have read this book which would have been a pity. The old (and new) cover together with the Mills and Boon imprint would have turned me off. What do they say about not judging a book by its cover?

At heart this is a retelling/ reimagining of the film The Shop Around The Corner or the remake You've Got Mail. Thane Carter and Chloe Matthews have been corresponding using pseudonyms through an app for several months. She's BallerinaBaby and he's DifferentDrummer. Over the past few months the two of them have built up a wonderful friendship online based on shared taste in movies and humour. Little do they know that fate is going to bring them together as superior and subordinate MPs at Fort Hood. To add to the intrigue, they actually meet face to face at a block BBQ and really hit it off before Thane realised that the gorgeous woman he's been talking to MUST be the new duty MP in his brigade and therefore strictly off limits.

Just like the films it reimagine, in the book Thane is the one with all the knowledge, but it brings him a lot of pain too. I'm ashamed to say I had tears rolling down my face for at least the last 20 minutes of the book as Thane tries to protect Chloe's reputation by lying to her.

I loved it.

Edited because of numerous typos!

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Review: The Kiss Quotient

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I saw a great review of this book which tickled my fancy so I got myself a copy.

At heart this is a reverse Pretty Woman romance. Stella Lane is a high-functioning woman with Asperger's. She has a fantastic job analysing sales trends for a major online retailer and she can fake interactions with other people but she finds it difficult and stressful. Her mother is desperate for grandchildren and keeps threatening to set Stella up with one of her friends' sons. When a co-worker tells her she is uptight and maybe if she had more sex she would enjoy it more she decides to take his advice literally and hires herself a male escort.

Michael Phan is a half-Vietnamese, half-Swedish fashion designer/ tailor/ martial arts instructor/ part-time escort. He had to give up his dream job in New York when his mother got sick and now he is stuck working several jobs to support his mother, grandmother and sisters. He is sick of pretending to fancy rich women who treat him like a sex-toy and have no interest in him as a person. He thinks Stella will be just another of these women until he sees the young, prim, librarian-looking woman waiting for him. When a wonderful 'date' falls apart when Michael tries to take the date to the next level Stella realises she doesn't need sex practice, she needs dating practice and hires Michael to act as her pseudo boyfriend to teach her how to behave whilst dating.

I really enjoyed reading this book, not least because of the novel characters and the sensitive and consistent portrayal of autism. I was fascinated to read the author's note at the end of the book that explains why she wrote the book.

Both Stella and Michael were relatable, engaging characters, although both of them thought that they were unloveable to an almost ridiculous degree, and I really enjoyed seeing into their lives and watching their romance. I see there is a second book due out next year and I will definitely keep my eye out for that one.

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Review: A Study in Treason: A Daughter of Sherlock Holmes Mystery

A Study in Treason: A Daughter of Sherlock Holmes Mystery by Leonard Goldberg
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

DNF at 6%.

This is totally on me, I didn't really think this through and requested the book from NetGalley without remembering that I loathe Sherlock Holmes and that condescending way in which he explains the most ridiculous observations that lead him to conclude that an elderly Japanese travelling salesman with one leg sat in the chair by the fire. If you like Sherlock Holmes then I'm sure, based on the (very) little I read, that you will love this. The style and vocal patterns appears to be the same. Unfortunately, as I have explained, I don't like the style.

My bad!

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

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Review: Lord of Secrets

Lord of Secrets by Erica Ridley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Miss Eleanora (Nora) Winfield has been summoned from her family's sheep farm in the West Midlands to act as a lady's companion to her (distant) cousin Lady Roundtree whilst that lady recovers from a fractured ankle. She's homesick and lonely, treated as a servant, invisible and overlooked she finds her employer catty and an incurable gossip but eight weeks work as a paid companion could help her brother and aged grandparents enormously, taking them from the brink of destitution to almost comfortable so she'll grit her teeth and get on with it.

At Lord Carlisle's ball Nora runs into a handsome gentleman by accident whilst carrying a glass of lemonade to her employer. The gentleman is the first person to actually 'see' Nora and she is struck by his good looks and his charming manners. Later in the evening the gentleman, Mr Heath Grenville, approaches her to ask her to dance and is horrified to discover that she is little better than a servant (and consequently far beneath the heir to a baronetcy).

Heath Grenville is the older brother of three sisters, two of whom have had their own books. He is very aware that his duty to his family and his future role is to marry a woman of impeccable lineage, one who will not bring any hint of scandal to the family. Yet he can't help but remember a young woman with red hair and a pink dress who acts as a companion to Lady Roundtree.

Nora sends drawings and caricatures of the people and places she sees in London back to her family, partly because she has difficulty reading and writing but partly to share her life with them. Unfortunately her brother shares some of the caricatures (anonymously) with a contact and the next thing she knows her sketch of Lord Wainwright, which she laughingly titled 'Lord of Pleasure' has been published in a London newspaper and is the talk of the ton. Not only that, the paper will pay her five pounds for every caricature she sends them - provided of course that they are of the ton. Nora is torn between wanting to earn money to help her family and horror at being exposed as the artist who dared to lampoon a member of the aristocracy - she knows if the artist's identity is discovered she will be sacked and bring censure down upon her cousin's family.

This was immediately gripping, I love a romance featuring a lowly lady's companion, especially one who draws vicious caricatures of the stupidity and ridiculousness of high society and throw in an untameable puppy and you've got me hooked. It would have got a higher rating if Heath hadn't come across as a leetle bit of a prig, so dismissive of all the eligible young ladies of the ton and so judgemental if they so much as smiled in his direction, despite his own mother's obsession with marrying off each of her offspring. I also felt that there was a lack of angst/ tension - whilst that was a twist to confound my expectations it also felt like the ending slightly puttered out.

Nevertheless, another fun read from Erica Ridley. I am SO stoked about the next book ... can't wait.

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

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Review: Set the Night on Fire: A Cottonbloom Novel

Set the Night on Fire: A Cottonbloom Novel by Laura Trentham
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

At the end of the last book we found out that Ford Abbott (the second oldest Abbott son) has sold his quarter of the family business to fund his gambling debts. He sold the share to a wealthy divorcee called Ella Boudreaux. Mack, the oldest Abbott, is furious and has a stand-up row with Ella in the middle of a swanky party and vows to do everything in his power to bring the business back into Abbott hands.

Ella Boudreaux left an abusive marriage, she knows everyone thinks she's a gold-digger but the reality is somewhat different. She bought the share in the Abbott garage in memory of her older brother who loved cars and taught her to drive when she was just twelve years old. She's determined to carve out a new life, alone, in Cottonbloom starting with the Abbott garage.

I had really high hopes for this one, the start of it kind of reminded me a little of Sutton and Wyatt's story and I was hoping for a rich woman meets surly mechanic romance with a soupçon of Pride and Prejudice thrown in for good measure. Of course the reality was somewhat different.

Mack is floundering, he and his brother are at odds, his two younger brothers are happily loved up, his mother (who he hasn't seen since he was young) has resurfaced, and even the bolthole of the family business has been contaminated by Ella buying Ford's share. He's lonely and troubled that his relationship with Ford has broken down so badly, and maybe a bit guilty as well. He takes all of his frustration and guilt out on Ella, but this sophisticated little society woman has a steel core and won't stand any of his bluster. At the same time as he is fighting her with every fibre of his being he is also very slightly turned on by her feisty attitude and refusal to back down.

I liked this, I like the small town vibe, the family business, a woman building a new life for herself without having to put others down in the process. But it wasn't without fault. I felt that Ella's constant references to her saintly brother were repetitive and became tiresome. Similarly, she jumped to ridiculous conclusions about Mack and his motivations. I thought she was being ridiculously obtuse and determined to think the worst, no matter what Mack did or said. Luckily, Mack made it all better. He was a big gruff intimidating man who finds recipes on Pinterest and makes art from metal.

If you like second chance romances with couples who have faced adversity and come through it stronger, small towns and BBQ then this is the romance for you.

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

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Review: Dating for Keeps

Dating for Keeps by Coleen Kwan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Lily Baker is the original odd-ball. Bullied at school, then home-schooled, pet bearded dragon, interested in crocheting, eclectic clothing tastes (think a top made of men's ties and clashing patterns/ colours), and a tendency to say whatever comes into her head when she gets nervous. She's always wanted a sterotypical hallmark movie life: husband, kids, dog, white picket fence and has been pushed into using a dating app by a co-worker and is on her way to meet her date when her car is hit by a truck door opening unexpectedly in the car park. The guy who owns the truck, Caleb Willmett, is a contractor who visited her father's business a few weeks back looking to see if he wanted to enter into a partnership. Caleb is everything she isn't, extremely good looking, confident, known as a player, and no interest in ever settling down (and male, obvs).

When Lily's date goes all wrong Caleb is there to witness it, but rather than mock her he's kind and sympathetic. So she comes up with a kooky plan, Caleb should give her dating advice and in return she will put in a good word for him with her father.

Inevitably as Caleb and Lily spend more time together they feel an attraction, but with diametrically opposed views on marriage it can't go any further, can it? Then a drunken pity-party leads Lily to make up a boyfriend to take to her college reunion ...

I only wish I understood what each of the Entangled imprints mean't - then I would know what to expect. This is a very sweet romance. Nothing more than steamy kisses and a hand on a bare knee and as a consequence it has a slightly unrealistic feel. Also, and this shows how truly shallow I am, I found Lily's clothing choices to be so weird that I couldn't get over it. A grown woman who dresses like an eccentric child - just odd.

I am a fan of Colleen Kwan's novels but this one missed the mark for me - mainly because I'm not a fan of sweet, clean romances and my ambivalence towards Lily rather than an issue with the novel itself.

Recommended for fans of sweet romances.

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

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Review: Blazing Summer

Blazing Summer by Denise Grover Swank
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Summer Butler was a teenage TV star, famous as an amateur detective with the catchphrase "Gotcha". Her mother mismanaged her career and stole her money and her co-star Connor persuaded her to fake a sex tape which cancelled the show and tanked her career.

In the first book in this new series Summer is desperate to avoid bankruptcy so she pitches a reality TV show in which she plays amateur detective, the TV mogul buys the idea but embellishes it - she'll do her detecting in her old home town of Sweet Briar, Alabama, the wacky small town with its own Facebook gossip page and her estranged grandmother and cousins, oh and just to add a cherry to the icing on the cake, her mother lords it up there on Summer's earnings. In the first TV show Summer solved a murder, despite the best efforts of her producer (the evil Lauren) to make Summer look ridiculous and she has been brought back for a second series as co-producer.

Everything should be rosy for Summer, producer rights, successful first series, reconnecting with her childhood sweetheart but things never go to plan. First, she still wants to clear her cousin of setting the first that killed her parents and grandfather, Lauren is playing dirty and there's an arsonist on the loose.

With a portfolio of loser, boring matters to investigate Summer confronts car thieves, cheating wives and pet alligators, but her attempts to clear Dixie's name lead her into direct conflict with some very powerful people and endanger the lives of those closest to her.

Confession, when I started reading this on my Kindle I accidentally started in the middle of the book (at the really exciting bit) and didn't realise for a while. That threw me for a while and I found it difficult to start back at the beginning. Which is all a big excuse why the review is a little bit late.

I liked this but I do feel that there are too many villains for such a small sweet town. How realistic would it be that half of the police force are corrupt/ incompetent when the citizens are so good? This reminds me of NA/YA TV series like the OC or 90210 where everyone has drama, drama, drama. Everyone knows everyone else's business because Maybelline posts everything to her Facebook page, but at the same time the town is chock-full of secrets.

This is full of small town Southern humour, sweet tea and gossip, yet there are also crimes, drugs and cover-ups which lurk beneath the surface. If you can suspend disbelief it is a fun detective read.

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

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Review: Tempting as Sin

Tempting as Sin by Rosalind James
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Lily is the twin sister of Paige from Guilty as Sin and Rafe is the younger brother of Jace from the same book. In the epilogue of the first book we saw that Lily and Rafe had already met and clearly did not get on. This book starts three weeks earlier than that epilogue and explains the backstory to all the antagonism.

Fast forward a few months, Rafe's ex-girlfriend is stirring up trouble by circulating edited videos which make it look like he is at the very least intimidating, if not abusing, her. He decides to leave Hollywood and hide out at his brother's cabin in Montana whilst learning how to ride a horse for his next film in which he plays a rural sheriff.

Lily is an interesting dichotomy, the ex-wife of a famous Hollywood actor, she owns a lingerie shop in Sinful, Montana but also has a small free-holding on which she raises chickens and dwarf goats and grows her own fruit and vegetables.

Their beginnings are a romance trope, a night of stepping outside their comfort zones, assumed identities and insta-love, which falls apart when they realise they are about to become in-laws. When they run into each other a few months later they have each had time to reflect and realise they each behaved badly - slowly a romance develops involving a stray child, a goofball dog, secret identities and humiliating riding lessons.

I absolutely adored the first book in the series and I did enjoy this book but I have to say I didn't like it as much as the first book. However, I am not sure how much my views on this book have been coloured by: (1) reading Rosalind James' blog; and (2) reading the early chapters on the blog. I felt that this book lost its way and (maybe) went in a different direction to the way Rosalind James originally intended (I believe that the release date was delayed, although that may have been for personal reasons) and so the first 25%-33% of the book felt sort of rudderless to me, like Rosalind James didn't know where it was going. But, as I say, I may be projecting what I inferred from reading her blog onto the book.

Lily and Rafe are two genuine, caring, lovable people who have been burned by the plastic Hollywood lifestyle, too kind for their own good. Add in a big, dopey cross-breed dog, a gun-shy neglected child and the uncanny twin sense and you have a funny, sweet, charming romance featuring adorable characters.

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Review: Iron and Magic

Iron and Magic by Ilona Andrews
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5 stars, 10 stars - who cares?

So, in case you've been living in an alternate universe, this is a spin off from the awesome Kate Daniels series.

Hugh D'Ambray, the creator and leader of the Iron Dogs, was the right hand man of Roland, an omnipotent magician, thousands of years old, able to wield magic like no other. He made a mistake, after hundreds of years of loyal service and he was dismissed, exiled, banished. Drowning himself in a bottle Hugh is brought back to reality by his former centurion commanders who inform him that one of the Golden Legion, Landon Nez, is systematically killing all of the Iron Dogs. Despite his profound depression at being cut off from his pseudo father figure, Hugh still has enough loyalty to his men to try to save them, but without money or land ...

Hugh's second in command identifies a group of witches, occupying a castle, who are in desperate need of soldiers to protect them from a concerted effort (by Landon Nez) to buy their land. An unholy alliance is brokered between the witches and the soldiers, but because both sides have a reputation for reneging on agreements, the agreement is sealed in the most old-fashioned of ways - a marriage.

I have to admit, I always had a soft spot for Hugh, even after all the terrible things he did, so I was over the moon to see he had his own series. And what a start this is. A Taming of the Shrew kind of political marriage. Strange creatures, dogs, a horse who thinks he is a unicorn, vampires, more than one god, sarcasm, pain and gore. It's awesome.

Words fail me, it's poignant, it's sexy (phew Hugh), it's violent, there's magic and modern technology, this is everything that we love in the Kate Daniels world. I was on the edge of my seat and 300+ pages went by in the blink of an eye. And if you follow my reviews you know I rarely gush and probably 60-75% of my reviews hit the middle of the road three stars.

All I can say is, if you loved the Kate Daniels series then you will love this too.

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

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