This was okay. Grumpy(h)/sunshine(H), so I found that pairing fun. The H gives golden retriever energy, he’s just really cute and sweet 2.5-2.75 stars
This was okay. Grumpy(h)/sunshine(H), so I found that pairing fun. The H gives golden retriever energy, he’s just really cute and sweet and hard to get mad at. This has a trope I enjoy (accidental pregnancy) but I just wish the build up between the H and h and the tension afterwards were better. Their lust to like to love progression wasn’t very tangible/believable at times. Idk I just wanted a little more from this. It’s also a spin-off from another series so there are a lot of characters/storylines brought up that I’m sure is fun for avid readers but was a bit much at times for a newbie like myself. Overall though didn’t hate it and it kept me reading so ...more
Okay we’re back on track. I enjoyed this book much more than book 2. The quorum gave a little structure to the death defying feats Kira acco4.25 stars
Okay we’re back on track. I enjoyed this book much more than book 2. The quorum gave a little structure to the death defying feats Kira accomplished and things felt less chaotic and random. I also liked the character growth and development that happened in this book. We got to see or interact with pretty much every major character and meet a few new important people which was majorly confusing but in the end I found out that was on purpose (still annoying tho lol). A few important things were finally revealed, especially right at the end there was a confirmed long held suspicion of mine so that was fun. The end of this book was also pretty emosh ...more
I rounded down for this one because I just really wanted to differentiate that I thought this wasn’t as good as book one. I still really enjo3.5 stars
I rounded down for this one because I just really wanted to differentiate that I thought this wasn’t as good as book one. I still really enjoyed it especially the end, but some of it had me doubting how much I actually loved book one lol. I think starting a series is “easier”, in quotes because I don’t think it’s easy at all and don’t want to downplay it, but the follow through is harder in a series so making things make sense, building on the foundations you laid, etc and I don’t think the follow through was that great. This book felt chaotic and things happened without real explanation, and a lot of it felt very gratuitous and overdone. This was like a mix of Harry Potter, The Hunger Games and Throne of Glass, just very much Kira is the underdog (THG) with untold powers that even she doesn’t understand the extent of (TOG) and she’s constantly stumbling into trouble, forcing her to show off and scrape out a win by the skin of her teeth (HP). But she’s playing the long game and has plans no one knows about (TOG) and “governments”/enemies are out to get her making her trials she has to pass in Roake harder than they should be (THG)…I could keep going but you get it. Basically I feel like this book needed to chill a tiny bit. There are other ways to progress the plot than Kira constantly finding danger and showing everyone how impossibly amazing she is every second and inadvertently revealing secrets at a trickle along the way. Don’t get me wrong I’m loving the strong, independent heroine who doesn’t need no man to save her, but I wish there weren’t quite so many life or death situations, it just got redundant. Oh and also the traitor in this book was painfully obvious (as in the last one) and I’m still not super solid on why their betrayal went down the way it did given the consequences it had for others and even themselves ...more
Low 3 stars…I was hoping even though my GR friends rated this similarly that I would manage to love it, but that was not the case. I love a single parLow 3 stars…I was hoping even though my GR friends rated this similarly that I would manage to love it, but that was not the case. I love a single parent trope and cute kids, but that was not enough to carry this book. I found Trevor and Morgan to be pretty boring and their attraction not very believable. There was very little build up to the first time they got together and it felt very abrupt and like it should’ve just taken place later in the novel especially with the weird circumstances of how they knew each other. Also a weird note but I felt like Morgan was moving around too much and had jobs for like 3 seconds before getting fired but none of that reflected on her personality (she wasn’t flighty or irresponsible) so idk I thought it was random of the author to include that like just have her move directly in with her dad or something. In general I just felt like this book was a bit of a hot mess. Ellie, Trevor and Henry’s mom, was so annoying and even at the very end I don’t feel like she was redeemed, she was being bitchy to Morgan until the last second. So that HFN they got was very underwhelming and I don’t feel like much was settled, but ...more
This was fine, kinda cute and pretty cringe, but that was expected. I’ve been reading this here and there while traveling so I don’t have anything supThis was fine, kinda cute and pretty cringe, but that was expected. I’ve been reading this here and there while traveling so I don’t have anything super coherent to say about it other than that I read a smut scene in an old church in Germany lol ...more
Besides the plot being on a shaky foundation: a florist does not need a full-time security detail for over a year after one break-in at her s3.5 stars
Besides the plot being on a shaky foundation: a florist does not need a full-time security detail for over a year after one break-in at her shop (her other brother also has the same and as far as I know nothing scary happened to him to prompt it) I don't care how rich your brother is that's not the solution... I enjoyed this book. I couldn't decide whether to give it 3 or 4 stars so 3.5 it is. It was fun to see the characters I loved so much in the previous book again and find out what they're up to. Vicki and Ty were cute characters and I mostly enjoyed their romance.
*Slight spoilers* The premise is Vicki falling for her bodyguard, Ty. Sounds fun. Ty is emotionally unavailable due to unresolved grief and abandonment issues (pretty standard romance hero trope) so when he finds himself lusting after his charge he proposes a fuck buddy situation. Vicki agrees and then pretty quickly decides it's not working for her.
My problem with this book and why it didn't get four stars is because Ty comes back and is like 'okay let's be fuck buddies again but I'll be a little nicer, this will still never be anything real and we still have to end it when my bodyguard detail is over' and stupid Vicki agrees like that's really any different than what they were just doing...more
I've rated the last two P. Dangelico books I've read 2.5 stars which makes me sad because I've really loved quite a few books from her. She w2.5 stars
I've rated the last two P. Dangelico books I've read 2.5 stars which makes me sad because I've really loved quite a few books from her. She was a go-to author for me, but now I might need to reassess.
Basically this book just needed a lot of help. It tried to have a plot, but it felt like the author was just throwing a whole bunch of shit at the wall and seeing what stuck and basically everything slid to the floor.
The heroine has a ~questionably~ tragic and traumatic (recent) past that caused her life to implode (I thought this would be a bigger plot element based on how it was introduced but it didn't really have any big implications). She decides to give up her life and job in LA and move to Ojai and work at a farm rescue. Now I follow quite a few farm sanctuaries on Instagram so the animal day-to-day stuff was a highlight for me. However, when it got to be 30% in and I realized all I'd read about was Blue doing farm things and petting cute animals and absolutely no significant interactions with the H (Shane) I got bored and worried. Essentially the first half of the book is very slow and there's nothing going on with the H and h. I can't even really call it slow burn because we didn't even have an ember at this point it was just Blue perving on Shane from afar and nothing happening.
Then the plot of the book doesn't even really make sense: Blue's BFF Jess offers up Blue's place of work to rehab a troubled celebrity: enter Aiden Hughes. But that's not all he comes with an entourage: ...just his brother Shane Hughes. Oh okay so his brother works for him somehow? Nope. He's...decided...to be there for reasons unknown but supposedly he's there to make sure his brother completes his community service so he doesn't go to jail. Not only that but while he's there he'll be doing his own work (he's a writer) and occupying the h's house while he's there so she's kicked out. Does Shane help with Aiden at all? NO. Not a once. And why you might ask? Good question. No idea. No idea why he thought he needed to be there because he and Aiden aren't even on speaking terms and Shane makes no move to mend that situation let alone compel Aiden to fulfill the terms of his house arrest. So for 1.5 months Aiden's breaking rules, bumming around and not doing anything and Shane is no help SO WHY IS HE THERE? Why is Blue kicked out of her house for Shane to essentially have a writer's retreat at a farm and contribute nothing to anyone? See this lack of concrete plot really annoyed me.
So besides the wishy washy plot and the slooooow fucking first half this book was just a little weird. Shane also sings, plays guitar, was in the army and calls Blue pet names in foreign languages from his army times that just seemed real out of place and odd. Then at the end he pulls a big time dick move and I was just so over Shane by that point I was like whatever.
I did read this whole thing so I didn't hate it. There were a few cute moments, P. Dangelico can definitely make me chuckle, but overall I didn't really enjoy this one....more
Gah, I just love Mariana Zapata. It's hard for me to not love something she's written which is why I've been so excited the last few weeks w4.5 stars.
Gah, I just love Mariana Zapata. It's hard for me to not love something she's written which is why I've been so excited the last few weeks waiting for this book to come out and it didn't disappoint.
The blurb is super vague so I feel like anything I say in my review will be a spoiler lol just keep that in mind if you read this. Also I suck at writing spoiler free reviews in general so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
When we meet thirty three year old Aurora De La Torre she's been on a road trip the last few months after getting divorced a year ago. Feeling lost and adrift she decides to try and settle in the quiet Colorado mountain town she grew up in before tragedy tore her family apart and forced her to move. Fourty two year old Tobias Rhodes is a game warden in Colorado and has a fifteen year old son, Amos, that goes behind his back and rents out the apartment above their garage to Aurora to get enough money for a guitar he wants which is how they all meet.
Rhodes is delicious. He's 6'4" with silver streaked hair, physically fit, taciturn and grumpy, just all around a really solid MZ hero haha. He's a retired Navy officer who took an unconventional path to fatherhood and that story is really sweet. His job lead to him being a pretty absent father for most of Amos' life, but circumstances forced him to retire and move back so he could live with Amos about a year ago and in some ways they're still settling into the new dynamic.
Aurora came to Colorado to find some roots and feel closer to her mom who tragically and mysteriously died while hiking 20 years ago which lead to Aurora moving in with her aunt and uncle in Florida. Her mom was an avid hiker and loved adventure. She had a lot of notebooks filled with her favorite hikes and Aurora decides to try and do some of them even though she's out of shape and hasn't done anything outdoorsy in decades. She also starts working with her old friend, Clara, at her outdoors outfitter store which leads to Aurora seeking advice from Rhodes and them starting to bond a bit over a shared interest. Rhodes & Aurora's relationship starts off pretty rocky, as any great enemies-to-lovers romance does, but her being genuinely kind and the sweetest human of all time eventually wears him down.
Throughout the book there are really three main characters: Aurora, Rhodes and his teenage son, Amos. I'm such a sucker for a single parent romance and this also had two of my other favorite tropes: age gap and enemies to lovers so this book really hit the spot for me. I especially love when the kids have a meaningful story arc other than being a cute plot device and I feel like Amos really did. *Spoilers* Aurora's ex is a world famous singer and even though they were technically common law married he kept her existence a complete secret from the public as well as the fact that she wrote all of his music. Girl. I'm so sad for her that she put up with the kind of treatment she did for 14 years, but I guess love has made people do crazier things. Anyway, I mention that because her love of music and writing helped her bond with Amos, an aspiring blues singer and guitar player. Watching the shy, quiet teenager bond with Aurora was one of my favorite parts of the book. Not only was their relationship sweet, but Aurora being in their lives really seemed to help deepen Rhodes and Amos' relationship as well. Father and son were so cute especially that time they thought she was leaving ...more
Wow, first off I loved this book as evidenced by my 5-star rating, but omg, what a journey these characters went on. A large portion of this book was Wow, first off I loved this book as evidenced by my 5-star rating, but omg, what a journey these characters went on. A large portion of this book was agonizing. These characters are not having a good time for obvious reasons. If you've read Gunner and Anna's book, you know some of what Stone went through already, so I wasn't expecting a light book by any means, but oh boy was this shit heavy. Not only that, but we get Cherry's story as well and that girl has been through it and keeps going through it.
I'm definitely the type of reader that feels all the feels the characters go through, especially if it's well written and I feel a connection to the characters which was definitely the case here so I cried a lot and teared up even more. The EMOTIONS we go through in this book... My God.
The Cage was brutal. If you didn't read Gunner's book this will be a *spoiler* so stop reading, but if you did read Gunner's book you know Stone had to kill Crash in the Cage ...more
I really liked this little holiday novella, I was expecting it to be overly depressing, but it wasn't. I'm glad this starts about a month after Red paI really liked this little holiday novella, I was expecting it to be overly depressing, but it wasn't. I'm glad this starts about a month after Red passed away because seeing him decline and the fresh grief of the day it happened would've been waaaay more sad. That said the plot line with Saxon's dad was annoying and Bull's choice especially makes no sense...anyone with one brain cell would've known to never bring his dad around Jenny without permission let alone leave them alone together like what the actual fuck ...more
Good conclusion to Lily & Jack's arc, as with the first trilogy of novellas though there's no epilogue or feeling of things being finished, it just kiGood conclusion to Lily & Jack's arc, as with the first trilogy of novellas though there's no epilogue or feeling of things being finished, it just kind of ends, but the over arching storyline with the club is ongoing obviously so we'll see them around....more
Great continuation of this series. This is again the first of 3 novellas for one couple: Jack and Lily. Lily is a female MC member, which I've never rGreat continuation of this series. This is again the first of 3 novellas for one couple: Jack and Lily. Lily is a female MC member, which I've never read about or heard of in a book before though I'm sure others exist. It's not my favorite dynamic, I feel like when you read an MC you just really have to embrace the gender roles (however outdated they are) whole heatedly so it's strange this time around, but not necessarily bad, just new and different for me. There’s a lot of misogyny to contend with so we'll see how this unfolds....more
Overall, I enjoyed these first three novellas which encompass Saxon and Jenny's story, but their story definitely isn't finished. I see there's anotheOverall, I enjoyed these first three novellas which encompass Saxon and Jenny's story, but their story definitely isn't finished. I see there's another novella for them after Jack and Lily's trilogy of novellas so I assume that will wrap everything up, but her dad's cancer shit is just gonna be really depressing so I'm not looking forward to it ...more
Still really like the story and characters so far but the first lady clause was disgusting, ridiculous and easily avoided. I have nothing against voyuStill really like the story and characters so far but the first lady clause was disgusting, ridiculous and easily avoided. I have nothing against voyuerism, it can be really sexy in books but *spoilers* this was hard to read and not hot at all until it got slightly better at the end, but it shouldn't have happened at all. No one should be forced to have sex in front of others and saying she chose to do that isn't really true. She didn't want to, she felt she had to and wasn't into it at all, that makes it icky and not hot to me. I get that it's MC and unconventional but this club seemed pretty mc-lite until this and yes I know it could've been super dark if they'd followed it to the letter but since they didn't AT ALL I have no idea why they even went through with any part of it...doesn't make sense. Either commit and go full dark MC or don't ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ also annoyed that after all that he hasn't said anything about removing that rule from the books... They fucking better, so gross and awful....more
So in my opinion this was definitely the best of the 3 books in this holiday novella series. This was my first book by this author so I didn't know whSo in my opinion this was definitely the best of the 3 books in this holiday novella series. This was my first book by this author so I didn't know what to expect and I was pleasantly surprised.
The H in this book, Sam, just got out of the Marines and is dealing with PTSD, which I felt like the author handled well and made this a deeper more meaningful read than I was expecting for a holiday novella. I definitely connected to these characters much more than in the first two books and really felt their chemistry and tension. I love the slightly forbidden nature of the brothers best friend trope and this was pulled off well. I loved that they were best friends too.
That said there were a couple issues with formatting like the title page says "Untitled" and then in small font "Kane Family Christmas" which is the name of the series. There's also two more "Untitled" that show up on the authors table of contents and are really just supposed to be page breaks but the ebook is treating them like chapters... So "chapter 4" "Untitled" "Chapter 5"...Just really obvious easy stuff to catch for a professional author, I'd think. It only bugs me because I'm someone who checked minutes left in chapter quite often so having the book think a chapter is over when it's not is annoying to me. There were a couple grammar issues, one continuity thing I noticed, nothing major and they didn't detract from my enjoyment of the novella. But something I really don't like is that this novella really ends at 87%. Going back to the table of contents it just says "chapter 20" which would make that last chapter nearly 20% of the book which is crazy. I did notice before I read this that the first two books had page counts of about 150-160 where as this one was claiming 190, turns out it's really the same as the others and she just stuffed chapter 20 with an excerpt from another book of hers. I don't have a huge problem with authors including excerpts of other books, but I don't think books should end before 90% and I don't think excerpts should be hidden inside chapters. Put it on your table of contents so we know when the book really ends. Just a little shady, imo....more
I'm in a big book slump. I've been re-reading a ton, partly because I don't have any new releases to be excited about, but also because nothing soundsI'm in a big book slump. I've been re-reading a ton, partly because I don't have any new releases to be excited about, but also because nothing sounds good...more
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