Book Review: Until There Was Us (The Montgomery Brothers #7) by Samantha Chase 

Until There Was Us 

(The Montgomery Brothers #7

by Samantha Chase 

 

Goodreads

 Amazon

B&N

Megan Montgomery has always been the careful type. Except…one time at her cousin’s wedding when she threw caution to the wind and had the steamiest hook-up of her life. But that was two years ago— why can’t she stop thinking about it? So when Megan accepts a job at her cousin’s company, she does everything she can to avoid Alex—knowing he’ll shake up her carefully crafted world.

Alex Rebat’s been living a good life. He loves his career and friends, but like Megan, hasn’t been able to stop thinking about their passionate encounter. And once Megan moves to town, Alex makes it his personal goal to show her that maybe it’s time to start taking a few more risks…

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Her phone beeped, and she let out a small whine. “That sounds like reality calling.”

…her mother was a firm believer in short engagements and long marriages. Basically she believed in fairy tales.

I wasn’t flirting with anyone. I was merely being polite to the woman who has the ability to spit on our food.

You realize that every time you talk about your trip into the woods, your encounter with what I’m guessing was a squirrel gets wilder and wilder right?

 My Review:

I was stunned when I counted over thirty Samantha Chase books on my Read list at Goodreads.  Although, I regret to report that this one is undoubtedly the least entertaining and my least favorite of that collection.  I struggled through most of the first half and had difficulty remaining engaged as the storyline seemed rather repetitive and progressed in extremely slow and tiny increments. Nor could I connect or work up much feeling for the unsympathetic main character of Megan; other than for her love of Double Stuffed Oreos she was rigid, cold, and difficult toward the delectable and perfect BBF of Alex, whom I totally adored. I seriously considered a DNF as over a hundred pages in – I couldn’t comprehend why a sexy, sweet, and romantic man such as Alex would be expending so much thought and effort to forge a connection with her, given her avoidant personality and chilly attitude. Alex had the patience of a saint while I wanted to give the prickly Megan several hard pinches and maybe even a few choice whacks to the head with my Kindle. But I stayed the course and was rewarded for my patience as the second half of the book marked a vast improvement over the Hallmark Channel blandness of first. Glimmers of amusing humor and steam helped to perk up my interest and once the frosty Megan began to thaw, I enjoyed their sweet romance.

About the Author 

 

Website/ Twitter/ Goodreads Amazon

New York Times and USA Today Bestseller/ contemporary romance writer Samantha Chase released her debut novel, Jordan’s Return, in November 2011. Although she waited until she was in her 40’s to publish for the first time, writing has been a lifelong passion. Her motivation to take that step was her students: teaching creative writing to elementary age students all the way up through high school and encouraging those students to follow their writing dreams gave Samantha the confidence to take that step as well.When she’s not working on a new story, she spends her time reading contemporary romances, playing way too many games of Scrabble or Solitaire on Facebook and spending time with her husband of 25 years and their two sons in North Carolina.

Book Review: Fallen Angel – Part 5 by Tracie Podger

Fallen Angel Part 5

by Tracie Podger

Robert Stone and Rocco Sartorri are back, and they have a story to tell!

 

Fallen Angel Part 5 is NOW LIVE!!!

 

For a Very Limited Time you can #OneClick Fallen Angel Part 5 for 99p/99c!

 

#OneClick HERE

 

 

Blurb

 

 I figli devono pagare per le colpe dei padri

(Children must pay for the sins of the fathers)

Robert Stone has an identity. After discovering his father, a far greater dynasty was forged.

But with this dynasty comes new enemies.

From the olive groves of Italy to the boardrooms in Washington, D.C., Robert is to command a business like no other.

Not all wars are fought on a battlefield, most are won in the corporate arena.

Not all wars are bloody – unless you threaten Robert’s family, of course.

Told from Robert Stone and Rocco Sartorri’s point of view, Fallen Angel, Part 5 picks up from the end of Part 4 and explores a unique relationship.

Two powerful men, both with secrets and enemies, come together in this explosive story of revenge, lost love, and hate that spans thirty years.

A Mafia romantic suspense for readers over the age of 18

 

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quote:

 

Salvatore was not the most attractive man; in fact, he was what we would have said back in the village, a man who should have been drowned at birth. Short, fat, and sweaty…

My Review:

 

This was not a stand-alone volume and although I had read and enjoyed all previous books of this series, I struggled with and battled my way through this melancholic and gritty installment. But holy bloodbath Batman, it was just not my cup of tea… The narrative was well beyond my comfort zone for carnage and I was heartbroken by the callous indifference and brutality displayed by several of the main characters.   And there were far too many assholes!   The overall tone of the story heavily tipped the scale to the negative range of emotion with a near constant thrum of tension and angst, as well as anger, resentment, and copious servings of sorrow.

 

I will take personal responsibility for a major part of my discontent being due to my own faulty memory. It would have made a significant difference and been much easier to follow and remain engaged had I recently read or reread the previous books to refresh my recall of past events, as I had forgotten far too many salient details and story points.   My limited pea brain did not retain several chunks of the data stream required to fully grasp the continuing tale, important information and critical details that unfortunately were not recapped.   The storylines were intriguing yet complicated and at times I was quite frustrated and nearing the point of itchy exasperation, much as I would if attending an advanced physics course where the concepts being discussed resided in a stratosphere far and above my level of comprehension, yet Ms. Podger’s word voodoo held me hostage and I couldn’t stop reading. If I had a magic wand or Hermione’s Time-Turner, I would go back and start the beloved series from the beginning and skip over the disturbingly brutal images, which I’m sure would be a vastly more enjoyable experience. Lesson learned.

 

Excerpt

 

Robert – Chapter One

It was in a small room in a villa in Tuscany that my life changed forever–again.

Everything I knew, or believed, had been a lie. Just over Forty years of thinking one man was my father, and that he had been killed with my mother, was disproved with a simple DNA test. I barely remembered him; I hardly remembered my mother. Just a week after discovering the letters, I’d found the man who would protect my wife, who was the love of Evelyn’s life, was also my biological father. To say my head had been fucked up was an understatement.

****

“Do you want to talk?” I heard. I had been sitting on the edge of the fountain in the courtyard of the villa.

I looked up to see Brooke walking toward me. I patted the wall.

“Sit with me,” I said.

She picked up my hand and threaded her fingers through mine as she did. I stared at her for a moment. Her blue eyes were ringed, faintly, with dark circles and laugh lines fanned out across her skin. She looked tired and I guessed my overactive brain working day and night had been the cause of that.

“How do you feel today?” she asked gently.

I sighed and closed my eyes; I raised my face to catch the last of the day’s sun before I spoke.

“Better. One minute I have no biological family; the next, I have a father, a half brother and a half sister. It’s been a little difficult to process all that,” I confessed.

“No shit,” she replied, with a chuckle.

I turned to look at her. I shifted my body until I was facing her and traced my fingers down her cheek.

“I’ve been a complete prick this past week, haven’t I?”

She tried to hide the smirk. “I know of Mr. Angry, Mr. Playful, Mr. Sarcastic, and all the other misters that make up Robert Stone, but I’m a little unsure who’s with us right now.”

“Mr. Honest?” I offered.

“Ah, it could be. Therefore the answer would be, yes, you have been a complete prick this week. But with good reason, Robert,” she said.

I laughed quietly.

“Have you spoken to him today?”

Initially, after I’d discovered Rocco was my father, we’d talked, he’d cried, but then sadness settled over me. Forty years of memories were shattered on the opening of an envelope that contained evidence and I struggled with it. I’d endured years of abuse at the hands of my aunt, yet I had a father who could have rescued me from her. It was an unrealistic thought, of course, he didn’t know about me, but it bothered me.

 

 

For a Very Limited Time you can #OneClick Fallen Angel Part 5 for 99p/99c!

 

#OneClick HERE

 


 

 

Start the Fallen Angel series TODAY!

 

On the first day of her holiday to Washington, DC, Brooke Stiles meets Robert Stone.

Dark eyed, damaged and dangerous – Stone has never had a normal relationship for fear of his past being exposed. Not knowing how to respect nor love, he struggles with his feelings for a woman who makes him question everything that he is.

Brooke falls in love with him and as their relationship grows she learns who he really is.  Her future is set. She is to heal her man and mend his broken soul. But can she do the one thing that he asks?

This is a story of an ordinary woman who falls in love with an extraordinary man and has to discover whether she is strong enough to forgive him his past.

 

Part 1 is FREE on ALL Platforms!!!

 


 

 

 

Author Bio

 

 

Tracie Podger currently lives in Kent, UK with her husband and a rather obnoxious cat called George. She’s a Padi Scuba Diving Instructor with a passion for writing. Tracie has been fortunate to have dived some of the wonderful oceans of the world where she can indulge in another hobby, underwater photography. She like getting up close and personal with sharks.

Tracie writes in various genres, Contemporary Romance but likes to explore relationships that are not always easy and there isn’t always a happy ending, Romantic Suspense, Thriller, and Erotic Romance. She likes to have her books feel real with realistic timelines and with strong women who don’t run because the going gets tough. Sex is important between loving people, therefore all her books contain graphic scenes. However, the character’s relationship is more important. 

If you would like to know more, please feel free to contact her, she would love to hear from you.

 

Social Media Links

 

Facebook    Twitter    Amazon    Instagram

 

Website    Facebook Reader Group

 

Facebook Book Club

 

 

 

Book Review: Hate, Date, or Mate? (Supernatural Dating Agency Book 3) by Andie M. Long

 

Hate, Date, or Mate?

(Supernatural Dating Agency Book 3)

by Andie M. Long

 

Amazon

 

The seer says I’m destined for a wolf shifter called Darius…

Personally, I think Ebony has had too much vodka again. She says I’ve now started a Were war due to my date with a shifter from a different pack.

Just as I admit to myself that I like Darius, I find my Red Riding Hood fantasies are going to have to wait—because he’s not talking to me. Am I only interested because he’s playing hard to get? Do I like the chase?

To take my mind off things, I start dating a cute human guy – and then there were three.

Of Darius, Jett, and Seth. Who will I hate, date, or mate?

Welcome to Withernsea and the Supernatural Dating Agency, for readers of Michelle Rowen, Gerry Bartlett and Michele Bardsley who like their humor to have them howling.

Buy Hate, Date, or Mate to see if Kim succumbs to her fate, or has left it too late.

 .

 My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

We are not dudes… I hate people use that word for everyone. Makes me think I’ve grown a penis, and I didn’t realise.

 

But I’ve gone off coffee. I mean that really is the Devil’s work, it’s got to be. Making me go off coffee and doughnuts is the worst evil I’ve ever encountered.

 

It was a lot to take in. When thinking of the future and marriage and babies you thought about changing your second name, not your DNA.

 

My Review:

 

I truly enjoyed the first two books in this series, but this one, errr – cue record scratch… But, paranormal is not my jam,  meaning I’m not up on the mythology, nor am I particularly motivated to expend the energy for the complicated world building and rules, which I personally find rather tedious, although I did find the notations of “rules of the shifter handbook” to be highly amusing. I adore Ms. Long’s irreverent, and saucy humor, which made periodic appearances throughout this tale, but it just didn’t have the same sparkle and clever wit I’ve come to expect from her work. I did come away from this read with an addition for my Brit vocabulary list for mardy – which is a sulky mood, and according to Wiktionary is often paired with other words to form common phrases such as “mardy bum, mardy cow, and mardy bugger.”   So while I may have wanted to throw my Kindle or whack the main character of Kim with it while reading, I didn’t walk away from this book empty handed or a total mardy mare 😉

About The Author 

After twenty+ years of thinking about it, at the age of forty, I decided it was time to finally WRITE THE BOOK or forget about it. I studied two Open University Courses in Creative Writing and finally wrote my first novel. I’ve now written a ton of novels and have the ideas for so many more!

I live in Sheffield with my son and long-suffering partner. We now have a beautiful fur-baby called Bella. When not being a partner, mother, employee (I also work for the NHS) or writer I can usually be found on Facebook or Pinterest.

I’ll be signing in Newcastle 2017 and York 2018.

Stalk Andie Here: