Review Round Up #5

Posted April 24, 2019 by Lily B in Reviews / 10 Comments

The Highland Chieftain by Amy Jarecki
Series: Lords of the Highlands, #4, #4
Published by Forever on July 31, 2018
Genres: Historical Romance
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Rating: 3.5 Stars

Heat:

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

He is the last man she would ever marry…After being unceremoniously jilted by her betrothed, Lady Mairi MacKenzie is humiliated and heartbroken – but she’s not desperate. As the daughter of an earl, she won’t give her hand to just anyone, and she definitely isn’t swayed by a last-minute proposal from Laird Duncan MacRae. The powerful clan chieftain may be disarmingly handsome and charming, but he’s not a nobleman. Mairi doesn’t want his pity or his charity – even though his dark smoldering gaze makes her melt with desire.
She is the only woman he could ever love…Dunn may be a battle-hardened clansman, but he’s always had a soft spot for Mairi. For years, she tormented him with flirtation – only to reject him. But he’s not giving up. When Mairi is attacked by redcoats, Dunn goes after the woman he loves. Through brute strength and fierce action, he will protect her life at any cost. But to win her heart, he will have to show her the tenderness in his own.

Lady Mairi MacKenzie has been left humiliated and heartbroken when she is jilted by her betrothed, but she is not desperate enough to accept a last-minute proposal from Laird Duncan MacRae. When Mairi is attacked by redcoats in the forest, Dunn rides to her rescue. But rescuing Lady Mairi seemed to come with a cost because now her father wants Dunns head for “kidnapping” his daughter.

This was a good Highlander read. I really enjoyed Amy Jarecki writing, I think she is a really good author. Although I liked Mairi and Dunn well enough, I found the plot to be a little lacking. I did enjoy the two characters together, the romance was really sweet. I found Mairi’s father to be completely unreasonable in his assumptions and what he did to Dunn. I am still interested in the next book in this series, because it features what looks like a forbidden romance.

Duke of Desire by Elizabeth Hoyt
Series: Maiden Lane,
Published by Grand Central Publishing on October 17, 2017
Genres: Historical Romance
Pages: 308
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Rating: 3.5 Stars

Heat:

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

A LADY OF LIGHT
Refined, kind, and intelligent, Lady Iris Jordan finds herself the unlikely target of a diabolical kidnapping. Her captors are the notoriously evil Lords of Chaos. When one of the masked-and nude!-Lords spirits her away to his carriage, she shoots him . . . only to find she may have been a trifle hasty.
A DUKE IN DEEPEST DARKNESS
Cynical, scarred, and brooding, Raphael de Chartres, the Duke of Dyemore, has made it his personal mission to infiltrate the Lords of Chaos and destroy them. Rescuing Lady Jordan was never in his plans. But now with the Lords out to kill them both, he has but one choice: marry the lady in order to keep her safe.
CAUGHT IN A WEB OF DANGER . . . AND DESIRE
Much to Raphael's irritation, Iris insists on being the sort of duchess who involves herself in his life-and bed. Soon he's drawn both to her quick wit and her fiery passion. But when Iris discovers that Raphael's past may be even more dangerous than the present, she falters. Is their love strong enough to withstand not only the Lords of Chaos but also Raphael's own demons?

Elizabeth Hoyt reminds me time and time again, how much I enjoy her writing and how easy it is to immerse yourself in her world. This book was no different. I love her witty writing style, I also love the humor she weaves into her stories that can at times be a bit on the dark side.

Duke of Desire, thought was an interesting read, wasn’t always an easy read for me. I loved Raphael and Lady Iris. I love how the characters were crafted. How much depth she bought into Raphael’s character through his past. He was such a damaged character and it took him a while to come out as Iris continue to try and break down his barriers.

I really loved these two characters, I thought they were really well crafted. That being said, this wasn’t my favorite background storyline. The chapters with Lords of Chaos went to some disturbing areas and sometimes were a bit hard to read. Despite that, I really enjoyed most of this book and it’s making me want to revisit the books I’ve missed. I really adore her writing.

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Review: Friend Request by Laura Marshall

Posted October 13, 2017 by Lily B in Reviews / 9 Comments

Friend Request by Laura Marshall
Series: standalone
Published by Grand Central Publishing on September 5th 2017
Genres: Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 384
Format: Kindle Edition
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Rating: 3.5 Stars

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

A paranoid single mom is forced to confront the unthinkable act she committed as a desperate teenager in this addictive thriller with a social media twist. Maria Weston wants to be friends. But Maria Weston is dead. Isn't she?
1989. When Louise first notices the new girl who has mysteriously transferred late into their senior year, Maria seems to be everything the girls Louise hangs out with aren't. Authentic. Funny. Brash. Within just a few days, Maria and Louise are on their way to becoming fast friends.
2016. Louise receives a heart-stopping email: Maria Weston wants to be friends on Facebook. Long-buried memories quickly rise to the surface: those first days of their budding friendship; cruel decisions made and dark secrets kept; the night that would change all their lives forever.
Louise has always known that if the truth ever came out, she could stand to lose everything. Her job. Her son. Her freedom. Maria's sudden reappearance threatens it all, and forces Louise to reconnect with everyone she'd severed ties with to escape the past. But as she tries to piece together exactly what happened that night, Louise discovers there's more to the story than she ever knew. To keep her secret, Louise must first uncover the whole truth, before what's known to Maria--or whoever's pretending to be her--is known to all.

The book follows a woman named Louise who gets a facebook request from a girl named Maria Weston, but Maria Weston is dead isn’t she?

We are thrown into a past/present kind of situation where Louise remembers a girl named Maria being a new transfer student in her school. At that time Louise was struggling to fit into this group of popular girls with her friend Sophie, who basically uses her and isn’t really nice to her and ignores her. So Louise befriends Maria, but when Sophie notices it, she deliberately drags Louise out of that relationship and the girls start bullying her and being completely nasty to Maria.

This book has triggers for drug abuse, bullying, and I think sexual abuse.

So Louise gets sucked into this popular world where girls use drugs and they thought it would be funny to spike Maria’s drink with Esctesy during something called the leavers party. Well, Maria disappeared from that party after the incident and everyone believes she jumped off a cliff, but there is no body so no one knows for sure what happened that night, or do they?

I felt the book started out slow at first, but eventually it begins to build momentum and I found myself invested wanting to know what was going on.

I found Louise to be a very passive kind of character. She lives in the shadows of what she had done, she is single divorced mom and her ex-husband part took in that whole incident of supplying the drug and being a part of.

I had a hard time liking Louise. I felt like she was very, I don’t know, she just existed as a character? Like there were several scenes in the book that I wanted to throttle her because despite the fact that she has a son the survival instinct in her takes quiet the time to kick in.

I was disappointed greatly by the ending. I was actually just cringing the entire time I was reading it and I found it physically painful to read it, because I hated the ending. It could have been so good, but Louise as a character just made me so angry at the end and the whole reveal flopped. Like all the build up the mystery, it could have gone somewhere so much better, but it didn’t.

The whole part, featuring the past and what they did to Maria was really hard to read at times as well because their actions just felt so unwarranted and you just feel for the girl.

Overall, this was interesting to begin with. I did struggle with Louise on several parts. Including, not being able to understand her not reaching out to the cops in certain situations and also the ending just flopped for me.

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Review: Second Chance Summer by Jill Shalvis

Posted September 28, 2016 by Lily B in Reviews / 34 Comments

Second Chance Summer by Jill Shalvis
Series: Cedar Ridge, #1
Published by Grand Central Publishing on June 30th 2015
Genres: Romance
Pages: 368
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Rating: 4.5 Stars

Heat:

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

RESCUE ME
Cedar Ridge, Colorado, is famous for crisp mountain air, clear blue skies, and pine-scented breezes. And it's the last place Lily Danville wants to be. But she needs a job, and there's an opening at the hottest resort in her hometown. What has her concerned is the other hot property in Cedar Ridge: Aidan Kincaid-firefighter, rescue worker, and heartbreaker. She never could resist that devastating smile . . .
The Kincaid brothers are as rough and rugged as the Rocky Mountains they call home. Aidan has always done things his own way, by his own rules. And never has he regretted anything more than letting Lily walk out of his life ten years ago. If anyone has ever been in need of rescuing, she has. What she needs more than anything are long hikes, slow dances, and sizzling kisses. But that can only happen if he can get her to give Cedar Ridge-and this bad boy-a second chance . . .

I know, I know I am reviewing these out of order, but I kind of read them out of order. Once I got my taste of Jill Shalvis and My Kind of Wonderful, I knew I had to go back to book 1 and read about the other brother - Aidan.

Once again, I wasn’t left disappointed. Jill Shalvis delivered everything I was hoping for in Second Chance Summer. A second chance romance that left me swooning. It was snarky, it was romantic and it was fun. Filled with characters that I have grown to love from the second book, I was eager to find out all the juicy details of the relationship between Aidan and Lily.

Lily bailed on Cedar Ridge years ago after her sister’s and father’s death. Feeling like it was all her fault, she never looked back, leaving Aidan Kincaid in dust and confused.

Now, after a scandal leaves her out of a job, she must take what is left of her dignity and come back home. The last thing she ever wanted was to run into Aidan, but as luck would have it, not only did she run into the now sexy firefighter on her first day back in town - but also in the most embarrassing fashion.

Aidan has no idea why Lily left, especially not when everything he thought, was going great between them. She broke his heart and he was hoping the girl would not find a way to shatter the walls back down again. But the attraction pulls them back together, and before he even realizes, he might be the only thing that can help Lily heal and move on from her dark past.

Love this, love this so much. The passion, the banter, the love between the Kincaid clan and especially the romance between Lily and Aidan. The book had me laughing and bought a lot of joy into my heart. It was a great read, it’s even better for those days where you need a pick me up, because Shalvis is just so great and the dialogue, with moments that kind of stick with you long after the book is done.

Aidan really made the book for me. A firefighter with a lot of heart, he was just amazing. The passion and the amount of work he put into his job, his care for saving people is apparent and endearing.

Also, can we just sit back and talk about the prank the brother’s have going between them? Each one gets to pick an embarrassing underwear and the other has to wear it and if called upon, most prove that they are wearing it. Seriously, so amusing.

Anyway, if you haven’t given Jill a shot, I highly recommend her. I cannot wait to get my hands on Jacob’s story.

Memorable Quotes

Mitch grinned at him. “Man, you just had your bones totally jumped by a nearly naked chick. We almost had to resuscitate you. Fireman Asphyxiated by Boobs, news at eleven.”

“How long are you going to pretend you don’t see me?” he asked.

“Forever?” she asked.

Okay, enough of this. “It’s just a set of keys.”

When she still hesitated, he revealed the cookies in his other hand, jiggling them enticingly.

Tags: brothers, funny, romance, small town

Review: My Kind of Wonderful by Jill Shalvis

Posted September 26, 2016 by Lily B in Reviews / 41 Comments

My Kind of Wonderful by Jill Shalvis
Series: Cedar Ridge #2
Published by Grand Central Publishing on December 22nd 2015
Genres: Romance
Pages: 368
Format: Paperback
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Rating: 4 Stars

Heat:

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

UNEXPECTED AND UNDENIABLE...
Bailey Moore has an agenda: skiing in the Rockies, exploring castles in Europe, ballroom dancing in Argentina. Now that she has a second lease on life, she's determined not to miss a thing. What she doesn't realize is that item #1 comes with a six-foot-one ski god hot enough to melt a polar ice cap. She doesn't want to miss out on him either, but Hudson Kincaid isn't the type of guy to love and let go. And as gorgeous as Cedar Ridge is, she's not planning to stick around.
As head of ski patrol at his family's resort, Hud thinks he's seen it all. But never has he run into someone like Bailey. She might look delicate, but her attitude is all firecracker. And her infectious joy touches something deep within him that he's been missing far too long. Now he'll just have to convince Bailey to take a chance on her biggest adventure yet . . . something rare and all kinds of wonderful.

Guys! I cannot believe that as a lover of romances that it took me this long to pick up a Jill Shalvis book. No, really, I am quite embarrassed. Once I read My Kind of Wonderful, which of course I was unable to put down, I have crowned Jill my new Queen of Romance.

Jill’s writing in romance is exactly what I crave. I love the humor, I love the banter and I absolutely adore the quirky characters that dig their way into your heart.

Bailey and Hudson were the main characters of this book, though the rest of the Kincaid clan pops up in the book - with the exception of Jacob. Hudson was wonderful, even if he does come with a bit of baggage. He feels terrible about what happened between him and his brother Jacob and feels completely and utterly responsible for his mother and her state of mind. Between taking care of his mother, worrying about the whereabouts of his twin brother and taking care of the resort - Hud has no space for anyone in his heart.

Bailey was fantastic. She is a cancer survivor who has a list of things she wants to do in life, especially since she is now free of cancer. She is hired to paint a mural for the Kincaids at the resort, where she runs into Hud. The attraction between the two is crackling, and no sooner do they start a small fling, that quickly develops into something more, a lot more than either of them are willing to admit.

This book was quite a ride. The interaction between the Kincaid clan alone just made the entire journey worthwhile. The way they pick on each other is both endearing and amusing. There is a lot of love there, even if for the most part they are all step-brother’s and sisters. The Kincaids significant others fit into the series perfectly. The book made me laugh, it brought joy into my heart and had me completely hooked. I am now looking forward to more from Jill and I will be reading the books that I have missed out on.

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Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Memorable Quotes