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Love Him or Leave Him

08 Monday Jul 2013

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9781622661930_200Love Him or Leave Him is a wonderfully fun, sweet story about second chances and finding home.  Connor and Becca were high school sweethearts but their romance was destroyed by rumors.  Years later, Connor is now back serving as sheriff and Becca finds herself once again attracted to him.  But she’s close to being able to enjoy the life she’s always dreamed about and a relationship with the man who broke her heart isn’t in her plans.

I really liked Becca.  Although I didn’t have a brother I had to take responsibility for, I did grow up in a small town.  Because I left for college and didn’t go back, I understand her yearning to see more of the world, but I also know how wonderful living in a small town can be.  It can be limiting but it can also be nice to know the people you see every day.  That’s the comfort that Connor finds in the town after having been to less than pleasant parts of the world.  He’s still suffering from those things he’s experienced and those ghosts are dragging him down.  Thought it is a long and hard road, I really enjoyed the journey these two made getting back together and realizing how they can fit their hopes and dreams into a shared life.  There’s a little bit of a mystery over some pranks that are happening in the town, but it’s mainly a catalyst to get these two to straighten out their futures.

Love Him or Leave Him is the second story in Daniel’s “Small Town, Big Dreams” series but other than seeing more of the quirky, and thoroughly enjoyable, townsfolk it really doesn’t make a difference.  But if you haven’t read its predecessor Construction Beauty Queen I highly recommend it.  It is just as cute and funny with that right amount of romantic angst.  I love this town, it reminds me of Susan Mallery’s Fool’s Gold, and I can’t wait to see more of it.  Hopefully Daniel has plans to bring us more from Kortville, Illinois soon.

Suddenly Beautiful

05 Friday Jul 2013

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cover32265-mediumSuddenly Beautiful is so much fun!  It has a touch of paranormal flair but at its heart it’s just your everyday love story.  Nikki loves her boss, has for years, but he’s content to leave her in the assistant category of his life.  Then one drunken night he’s overpowered by his desire for her and crosses the line (granted he’s a demigod, son of Aphrodite, and he was drunk on Ambrosia, the elixir of the gods, that lowered his guard and released his secret wants.)  But Tor doesn’t have time for a personal life, especially with a demigoddess like Nikki, who doesn’t even know that she’s the daughter of Ares, so he just wants everything to go back the way it was.  Except now that his feelings for Nikki are out there, he can’t ignore them.

This was such a fast read – it took me just a few hours and I loved every minute of it.  Nikki is sassy, fun and quite a hoot once her demigoddess status is revealed.  She had a bad relationship with her mortal mother and has no idea who her father is.  She handles it well when she finds out that he’s actually a god – having a deadbeat dad is bad enough, but finding out he’s the god of war can’t be easy.

Tor is all macho male, with his own parental issues.  Unlike Nikki, he actually does know who his goddess mother is and is one of the few demigods who was actually raised by his god parent.  But that leaves him with his own troubles.  All he wants now is to lead a normal(ish) life and dating someone who can turn him to stone or give him a goat tail isn’t exactly part of that plan.  It is entertaining to see him struggle against his growing feelings but once Nikki is out of the business box he put her in and in his personal life, he’s a goner.  His dealing with his mom is a delight and I got a kick out watching his feathers get ruffled.

Suddenly Beautiful is the perfect choice for a funny, sweet, sexy beach read with just that touch of fantasy thrown in to keep your imagination hopping.  Kick back with a frosty beverage and allow Brux to sweep you into her entertaining world of gods, goddesses and their irreverent off-spring.

Honey Pie

03 Wednesday Jul 2013

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cover28426-mediumDonna Kauffman’s “Cupcake Club” books are as sweet and addictive as the goodies the group bakes.  In her newest, Honey Pie, Honey D’Amourvell has come to Sugarberry Island to set up shop in the building she inherited from her aunt.  It’s the perfect opportunity for her to start a new life . . . only she finds the space already being used, leased to the much-loved owner of Babycakes, and she has no idea what she is going to do.  With the help of the Cupcake Club, and massively sexy mechanic Dylan Ross, will Honey find a place to call home after all?

I absolutely could not put this book down.  I loved Dylan and Honey – they are both, for different reasons, loners.  Dylan had a very difficult childhood, one that was very much the topic of gossip, so he prefers to live a very quiet, solitary life on the fringes of society.  He keeps to himself and lives a decent life, helping where he can but hoping mostly to be left in peace.  Honey has what her aunt called a gift but which she sees as a curse – when she touches someone she sometimes sees things that have happen or will happen in that person’s life, most often traumatic and extremely emotional things.  So she avoids people to try to keep from getting these visions, but that has left her very lonely and she is hoping that she can change that on Sugarberry.  When Dylan, a natural fixer, finds out about Honey’s troubles he wants nothing more than to help, putting the two on a course that will change their lives forever.

One of the best things about this series is that each book can stand on its own.  Returning readers will love the chance to catch up with everyone while first time readers will enjoy Honey Pie just as much.  Kauffman does a fantastic job of bringing to life people that you would love to call friends and her world is so richly crafted that I want to jump on a plane to go for a visit.  The characters are charming and quirky but so loving and accepting.  One of them states that living on the island is like living in a giant group hug and that extends to the reader as well.  I always feel right at home as soon as I read the first word in a “Cupcake Club” story. 

Honey Pie is a feel-good, sigh-worthy, laugh-out-loud, gooey confection of a romance that will make your summer that much sweeter.

Rush Me

02 Tuesday Jul 2013

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In Rush Me, Rachael Hamilton stumbles into the wrong party one night and suddenly finds herself in a world inhabited by NFL football players …. and at odds with popular quarterback, Ryan Carter.  Rachael knows nothing about sports, preferring a world of book and theater, but she somehow finds herself friends with some of the team, which means she also ends up spending time with Ryan.  As they spend time together, Rachael quickly realizes that some of her initial judgments about Ryan were wrong.  Can she let herself give in to the sexy, smart athlete or is she playing a very dangerous game? 

This was a very fast read for me – I finished it in just a day – and I loved the plot, although I’m not sure I understood all their problems.  Rachael tends to run from romantic entanglements and gets very defensive when pushed, which causes problems with Ryan who doesn’t have a lot of experience with real relationships and also tends to get defensive easy.  It doesn’t lead to a very easy road to love for the two. 

I can see his perspective pretty well – he’s the golden boy of sports and has had everything handed to him, including girls.  Yes, he works hard but the life of a multi-millionaire athlete has fewer everyday problems than for average people.  He tends to give up when faced with trouble in his relationship with Rachael because he’s never had to work at one before.  But he’s also a decent guy.  He works hard for his team, he cares about the other players and those less fortunate, he is nice to his fans and he does charitable works.  He may be enjoying his playboy life but that is understandable and he’s quite appealing. 

It’s Rachael I’m not sure I understand … and sometimes even like.  Mostly she’s a very fun character but she has these bi-polar moments and has a hair trigger on her emotions.  Over all though I thought she was great and very entertaining.  There were actually a couple of moments that made me laugh out loud.  And I loved Ryan’s teammates – they are big, bad football players with quirky attitudes and a good sense of fun – and I really hope to see future books about this team.

Some readers might be put off by the writing style.  It’s not quite as tight as it could have been and there were a couple of times that I was confused by the timeline, but it moved very quickly.  Rush Me may not be a lighthearted read, instead dealing with some convoluted on-again off-again relationship problems, but it is definitely an engaging one and I quickly found myself hoping for a happy ending for them.  And I think that Parr did a great job of giving them one that works.

A Bad Boy is Good to Find

30 Sunday Jun 2013

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cover28966-mediumAll in one day, Lizzie Hathaway’s entire world implodes.  She finds out that the man she loves is only after her money, all of which her father lost in a very public scandal.  Since being good has gotten her nothing, Lizzie decides to be very bad.  Conroy Beale does love Lizzie but he can’t imagine that the New York heiress would still want him if she knew he was just an auto mechanic with a glossy veneer.  When she runs off after finding out the truth, Con decides to let her go … until she starts showing up in the tabloids during drunken binges.  So he goes after her, intent on drying her out, but Lizzie wants revenge and the perfect opportunity to exploit her new notoriety for money lands in her lap.  They’ll go on a TV show to get married, followed by a quick divorce.  Con agrees but has no idea that they will be doing this in the small Louisiana town where he grew up … and has been running from ever since.  Can Con face his past?  As her attraction to Con proves too hard to resist, can Lizzie trust her heart and, most importantly, Con?

Con appeals to me so much.  He had a hard life growing up – poor in a tiny swamp town, with an abusive, alcoholic dad.  He worked hard to do something with his life but he’s still broken.  He might put on a good show but he’s avoiding a lot of emotional damage that needs to be faced and unwittingly Lizzie forces him to do just that.  And it is the best thing that ever happened to him.  He gets the chance to let go of so much baggage and see the kind of future he could have.  Con takes a lot of abuse from Lizzie, partially because he thinks he deserves it but also because he knows she needs an outlet.  As she works through her anger and is forced to spend time with Con at such a vulnerable point in his life, the harder it is for her to resist him.

A Bad Boy is Good to Find is fiery and heartfelt, seductive and emotional, with compelling characters fighting a lot of demons.

Home Run

29 Saturday Jun 2013

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cover22537-mediumCory Brand should have it all.  He’s a major league baseball player, one of the stars, but off the field his life is out of control … and recently he’s not doing all that well on the field either.  A couple of mistakes soon get him sent back to his small hometown, where to save his career he must coach a little league baseball team and complete an eight week recover program.  Cory wants to get out of town as fast as possible but stuck there for two months he quickly realizes he can’t escape his past.  Forced to confront it, will Cory learn from his past and find the path to redemption?

Home Run is an emotional rollercoaster, full of moving characters and heartrending difficulties.  Some might see a book blatantly manipulating reader emotions but that’s ok, I enjoyed it.  I felt so bad for Cory.  Yes, it could be just a case of “poor little rich boy, he has so much” but his formative years were so traumatic it isn’t a surprise that he has problems now.  Although I would have expected that his family would have sought professional advice on how to reach him before this point, maybe they realized that it wouldn’t do much good until he was ready to hear it.  This kind of second chance is definitely something that you have to want.

Cory screws up through most of the book but readers are slowly given the details about what made Cory into the man he is and the things that could turn him into the man he wants to be.  His is a faith based recovery but the book is not overly preachy if that isn’t your thing.  I did tear up a couple of times – it may be a little too heavy handed or cheesy for some, but occasionally you just need an uplifting tear-jerker and this is definitely one of those.

Two of a Kind

25 Tuesday Jun 2013

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Susan Mallery welcomes us back to Fool’s Gold with Two of a Kind, a poignant, heart-warming love story full of wit, tenderness and passion.  Freakishly smart Felicia Swift has always been a bit of a misfit.  She grew up at a university, more of an experiment than a kid, and went straight into the military where she worked with special ops teams doing logistics.  Now she’s going to help her friends open the bodyguard school and hopefully finally find a home.  Gideon Boylan just wants a place where he can be left alone.  Years spent as a POW has left scars both physical and emotional.  And even though they shared a steamy night years ago, Gideon knows that he can’t give Felicia the family she wants.  But as they find their attraction still as strong as ever, will they discover that they are perfect for each other, faults and all?

I couldn’t wait for this book to come out because Felicia was such an engaging character in Just One Kiss and I loved the idea of super-sexy, super-troubled, Gideon.  Two of a Kind is a wonderful story and both characters are flawed but so very charming.  They’ve led totally different lives but ended up in the same place, a little bit on the outside, and together they find a place to belong.  Felicia and Gideon are sweet together and I love the emotionally charged interactions that Mallery very deftly creates for them.

With Two of a Kind, like always, Mallery treats readers to humorous dialogue that pops, a strong story-line that touches the heart, and memorable characters so real you expect to run into them at the store.  Although it’s not a requirement to have read Just One Kiss I would recommend it – not only will it give you more understanding of the complex, addictive characters you’ll find inhabiting Fool’s Gold, but it’s a fantastic read all on its own.

Act Like You Love Me

19 Wednesday Jun 2013

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Act Like You Love Me-500Brynn McAdams marched to her own drummer in high school – an awkward, geeky drummer – but now she’s all grown up and nothing like that girl.  At least she believes so most of the time.  Then her crush, still handsome and out of her league, comes back to town to help direct her community play and get his family’s lake house in shape to sell . . . and doesn’t recognize her.  Now she can use her acting ability to pretend to be someone else, a confident girl who Sawyer would be attracted to.  Sawyer’s last girlfriend was an actress and things ended so badly he never wants anything to do with one again.  Too bad he can’t ignore his attraction to Brynn.  She’s sweet, funny and most importantly honest, nothing like his ex.  The closer they get, the guiltier Brynn feels, but can she come clean about who she really is without losing Sawyer forever?

I’m not a big fan of deception romances – where someone is lying to or misleading the other – but I can kinda understand why Brynn did it.  They aren’t that far out of high school and those teenage years can leave some deep scars.  I get that she didn’t expect the relationship to progress as far as it did and that she quickly was past the point where telling the truth made sense.  She’s an appealing characters, foibles and all, with a little Lucy Ricardo in her so that things quickly spiral away from her.   Plus Sawyer states that he has no intention of staying.  Mix that in with her believing that he couldn’t really like her anyway and her reasoning becomes a little more believable.

Sawyer has his own problems stemming from watching his dad succumb to Lou Gehrig’s disease while he was in high school.  Seeing his mom have to take care of his dad while he faded away left scars, especially with Sawyer’s fear that it could happen to him too and that his wife would have to do the same thing.  Throw in a bad relationship and it’s a given that he’ll be a little romance shy.  And really, who could blame him for being upset once he finds out that Brynn lied to him.  It’s a romance so of course it works out, but it would be totally understandable to have him walk away.

Dani from Falling for Her Fiance plays a supporting role as Brynn’s friend and it’s fun to get an update on her and Wes.  But if you haven’t read it, don’t worry.  Dani does a great job of filling in any of the relevant details that might apply to this story.

In Act Like You Love Me,  Cindi Madsen gives us a fast-paced and interesting read, one that pulls you in right away and makes you impatient for Brynn’s runaway car to crash.  I mean that in a good way – you know things are going to get messy but you care enough to see it to the end.

The Rule-Breaker

14 Friday Jun 2013

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The Rule-Breaker is amazingly sweet and devastating at the same time.  Ranger Eli Weston is spending his leave helping his best friend’s family construct a memorial.  His friend committed suicide while in the Middle East, the things he had seen too much for him to handle.  Only Eli knows what really happened and is doing everything he can to keep that secret – he found the body and told everyone it was an accident.  To make things even more stressful is the undeniable attraction Eli feels for his best friend’s ex-fiance.  Shelby Monroe also feels that attraction … and knows Eli’s secret.  Now she’s getting letters threatening to reveal the truth and only Eli can help.  But will they be able to work together to guard the truth about their friend?

This story just broke my heart on so many levels:  the unbearable things that Micah saw that lead him to commit suicide, the burden that Eli thinks he carries alone, the guilt he feels about his feelings for Shelby, that their romance seems to be doomed because of their loyalty to and love for a mutual friend.  The world isn’t pretty and war especially so.  The men and women who give up so much, not only the soldiers but those who love them, are a very special breed.

Eli’s had a tough life but he found a second home with Micah and his family.  A home, though, that was originally threatened by his feelings for Shelby and then even more so after Micah’s death.  He’s got a very strong sense of honor and loyalty that makes it hard for him to give in to the attraction to his friend’s love, regardless of whether Micah is in the picture or not.  Shelby’s attraction to Eli made her realize that even though she loved Micah, she wasn’t in love with him, so she ended their engagement.  With him now gone, she has the same conflicting feelings that Eli does.  But with the help of friends and family, they eventually work through their problems.  There’s a little bit of mystery involving who is sending the letters about their secret, but the core of the story is about the two of them accepting their feelings for each other and their friend.

I think my favorite part of the book is actually a secondary plot involving Shelby’s friend Mavis and local businessman Lee.  Lee suffers from a stutter that makes him sound like Elmer Fudd and it has made romantic relationships very hard for him.  He’s an amazing man – smart, kind and handsome – but he’s had a hard time with women.  I almost wish that he’d gotten a story of his own because he is so compelling but I was very happy to have him finally get the girl.

Pick up The Rule-Breaker only if you are okay with shedding a few tears before the happy couples get it right in the end.

Loving a Prince Charming

12 Wednesday Jun 2013

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Prince Seth has been betrothed to Princess Rosamund from the time she was born, when she was cursed by an evil king.  Kira has been Seth’s friend and bodyguard since they were kids.  Even if their feelings for each other go deeper than friendship, Seth’s honor won’t let him act on them.  Now Seth has found out how to end Rosamund’s curse and the two set out alone to do just that.  But how can he save Rosamund with true love’s kiss if his heart belongs to another?

Loving a Prince Charming is the latest in Danielle Monsch’s “Fairy Tales & Ever Afters” series, following Loving an Ugly Beast.   Like the previous story, this one is a quick read coming in at under 80 pages.  This time we get a unique look at the tale of Sleeping Beauty, from the prince’s perspective, with interesting characters and a compelling story.  Seth takes his job as future king very seriously and he honors his commitments, even those that his heart rebels against.  The friendship that he has with Kira is very sweet.  They know each other and love each other, even though they know it can’t go anywhere.  There’s a bit of adventure as Seth and Kira go to rescue Rosamund, but the core of the store centers around their love and whether duty is stronger than the heart.

I have really enjoyed Monsch’s stories up to this point and I’m looking forward to more.  She gives a new voice to well-loved fairy tales, a happy ever after with her own special twist but without losing the magic.