Category: 4-Stars

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Book Review: Should’ve Been You  (Man Enough #3) by Nicole McLaughlin 

Should’ve Been You

 (Man Enough #3)

by Nicole McLaughlin 

Goodreads

Amazon

 

Childhood neighbors get a chance at love in Should’ve Been You, an achingly romantic novella in Nicole McLaughlin’s Man Enough series!

National Guardsman Jase Beckford wants to live a quiet life raising cattle and taking care of his mother. His childhood friend and neighbor Hannah is still his best friend, but when he walks into the Walters house one morning and sees her twin sister Becca for the first time in five years, he wonders if he missed out on something special.

Becca Walters has nursed a secret crush on Jase since childhood, but he always preferred Hannah, so she buried her feelings assuming her sister and Jase would one day turn their flirtation into a real relationship. And this Christmas, she is anticipating a proposal of her own, so Jase’s reappearance in her life doesn’t mean anything. Much. Okay, maybe more than Becca would like to admit.

However, when Becca’s sister gets engaged to someone who’s not Jase, Becca and Jase find themselves spending more together. And when secrets are revealed, suddenly those dormant feelings come back to life; but is the possibility of something between them worth risking the happiness of everyone they love?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Turkey Bacon… I have an open mind about many things, I’ll have you know. But the sanctity of pork fat is not one of them.

 

I was just thinking that if you’d been my middle-school teacher, I would not have been able to focus… All men— no matter their age—can appreciate a beautiful woman. Even teachers are fair game for the spank bank.

 

Aiden was a big guy. Goatee, shaved head, enough muscles for three men.

 

Sometimes I miss having a man around. I mean . . . obviously they have their uses.

 

My Review:

 

I enjoyed this quick and entertaining tale of a recent veteran who had returned to his small rural Kansas community while continuing to serve with the National Guard while establishing his new venture into cattle. His human relationships proved to be a bit trickier and considerably more complicated. I had not read the previous books in the series and apparently did not need to as was never confused, although I was feeling the prickling of curiosity as his fellow guardsmen sounded interesting and quirky. The premise was interesting and relevant, the storylines were easy to follow and engaging, and characters were likable and endearing. I was satisfied with the happy for now ending to the blossoming romance and would be interested in continuing the series with all the previous and future installments.

About the Author 

Amazon  Website

Nicole loves to read, bake, make lists, and binge watch an entire television show season in one day. She lives with her husband and three boys in a small town outside of Kansas City.

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Book Review: Diamonds and Dirt Roads Billionaires in Blue Jeans #1 by Erin Nicholas

Diamonds and Dirt Roads
Billionaires in Blue Jeans #1
by Erin Nicholas 
 
                 
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A pretend relationship…within a pretend relationship.

Attorney Evan Stone knows every crazy stipulation in billionaire Rudy Carmichael’s will. After all, he wrote it. And he’s determined to make sure each one is fully met by Rudy’s triplet daughters. Even if that means dating the workaholic CEO, Ava. Or pretending to at least. And even if it means resisting the so-right-for-him-she’s-totally-wrong party girl, Cori.

Cori’s only got three things on her to do list from her dad:
• Move to Bliss, Kansas.
• Run his pie shop with her sisters for a year.
• No dating. For six months.

But stepping in for her sister when it’s clear that Ava and Evan aren’t fooling anyone with their “romance” isn’t really dating. And falling for her sister’s pretend boyfriend while pretending to be her sister…well, that’s ridiculous. No matter how real things feel whenever she and Evan are together.

THE SERIES

Billionaires in Blue Jeans
Not your typical billionaire romances…

A tough corporate CEO, a nerdy research scientist, and a globe-trotting party girl walk into a conference room…

Where the sisters, Ava, Brynn, and Cori, find out they have been named co-heirs to their father’s multi-billion dollar conglomerate. Whether they want it or not.

But they also inherit a list of conditions that have to be met:

One, move to Bliss, Kansas–wherever that is–for a year.

Two, run their father’s pie shop together. Yes, a pie shop.

Three, follow his edicts for their love lives. Yep, he went there.

Sounds like a recipe for disaster, right? But the girls are going to have some help. Evan, Parker, and Noah, best friends and lifelong residents of Bliss, are equally fascinated with and dreading the idea of meeting the triplets they’ve heard so much about. The small town guys didn’t know their kooky friend, Rudy, was a billionaire until he was diagnosed with cancer. But they did know he was a guy they would do anything for. Even help his very fish-out-of-water daughters navigate small town life. And make pie. And maybe fall in love.

It’s possible Rudy knew exactly what he was doing when he wrote his will.

It’s equally possible that he was completely crazy.

No matter what, everyone can agree on one thing…Bliss, Kansas is never going to be the same.

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My Rating:

 

Favorite Quotes:

 

There was plenty to mourn when it came to her and her father. His death was not even number one on the list.

 

He’d actually thought briefly about how a six-month public relationship with her would keep him essentially celibate, but then he’d quickly stopped thinking about that when he’d started to hyperventilate. He’d told himself he could make it for six months. He was a grown man, for God’s sake. He could sacrifice for a greater good. People went off to war, after all. And into space. And…other places where they couldn’t have sex for long periods of time even if he couldn’t think of one at the moment.

 

I’m sitting here feeling like a regular, dumb-ass guy who just happened to rub a lamp and ended up with a goddess genie in his lap and I was hoping to get a really good taste of you before you figured out how much better you could do.

 

You should never say all of it to me… All is a lot with me. I’m best in small doses.

 

My Review:

 

Diamonds and Dirt Roads was an entertaining and enjoyable read despite the somewhat complicated premise that featured well-educated, wealthy, and privileged identical triplets who were vastly different in personality and temperament, and requiring them to adhere to precise social and vocational stipulations while living together in a small-town, and gasp working in a pie shop selling their own creations, or forfeit billions in inheritance.  I enjoyed the well-crafted and multileveled storylines, which were as insightfully thoughtful as they were cleverly amusing. The characters were endearingly quirky, enticingly complex, and whip-smart. I reveled in Ms. Nicholas’s storytelling, clever levity, sharp wordplay, humorous and titillating verbal sparring, witty banter, sassy word duels, and provocative teasing. And in the midst of all this upheaval, role reversals, and family drama, a sweet, transformative, and steamy love story took root where it was not supposed to, which of course, made it all the more alluring. 

 

About the Author

 

Erin Nicholas is the author of sexy contemporary romances. Her stories have been described as toe-curling,  enchanting, steamy and fun. She loves to write about reluctant heroes, imperfect heroines and happily ever afters. She lives in the Midwest with her husband who only wants to read the sex scenes in her books, her kids who will never read the sex scenes in her books, and family and friends who say they’re shocked by the sex scenes in her books (yeah, right!).

You can find Erin on the web at  www.ErinNicholas.com, www.ninenaughtynovelists.blogspot.com, on Twitter (http://twitter.com/ErinNicholas) and even on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/erin.nichola…)

 

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Book Review: A Devil of a Date (Supernatural Dating Agency Book 2) by Andie M. Long

A Devil of a Date

(Supernatural Dating Agency Book 2)

by Andie M. Long

Goodreads

Amazon

 

My best friend made a deal with the Devil… 

I now run The Supernatural Dating Agency, a discreet section of Withernsea’s finest matchmaking service. Yeah, I’ll do all the work while Shelley makes babies with her gorgeous vampire husband. 

It’s not like I’ve anything better to do anyway. My ex is now a newly-turned vamp struggling to accept he can no longer admire his own reflection, and I don’t care what Ebony ‘sees’, Kim is not about to date a wolf; he has better hair than I do.
Then Lucy Fir, fresh from the gates of guarding Hell, decides she wants me to find her a boyfriend. He’ll need to be a Knight in shining inflammable armour with her temper. Can I find her a date, or is my new career damned before it’s even started?
Welcome to Withernsea and the Supernatural Dating Agency, for readers of Michelle Rowen, Gerry Bartlett and Michele Bardsley who like their humour to have bite. 

Buy A Devil of a Date if you like your romance…HOT.
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My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

I’d kept up with certain things in Hell. We had computers though the internet was limited to what Satan felt we needed to know… Fashion was easy to keep up with as the new residents came fully dressed and I gained an envied designer wardrobe from the many rich wives who’d killed their cheating husbands. That’s how my love of Louboutins had started.

  

Well, I thought he couldn’t shock me any more than the day he brutally murdered me, but it seems he’s doing his dang best to try. No one wants to hear their child shouting about how much they love pussy unless there’s a family pet.

 

I need to see this neighbour if he looks like Jason Momoa. Do we need any sugar?

 

My Review:

 

After escaping hell, the transition from demon back to human wasn’t going smoothly for the disgruntled and exasperated Lucy Fir, she still had 2 small horns (hidden by colorful headbands) and was prone to spark flames from her fingertips when riled, which proved hazardous to an annoyingly flatulent roommate. Kim, the supernatural dating specialist wasn’t fairing much better despite having access to and taking creative liberties with, the large dating database. I always enjoy Andie M. Long’s sly humor and creative imagination (naming a demon Lucy Fir – come on – say it aloud if you need to). Yet I was a bit out of sorts with this installment, as I didn’t find the characters as endearing or engaging as I had with Shelly and Theo from the first in the series, although I was warming to them by the end of the tale. Multiple species presented unique concerns and received cameo appearances – angels, demons, vampires, werewolves and werecats, witches, mere people, pixies, fairies, seers, brownies, Satan (of course), and even an incubus, all clearly living among us oblivious humans. I particularly enjoyed Lucy’s spectacular dating failures with my favorite being the new angel who could not fold his wings close enough to fit through a door – smirk – brilliant.

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.

 

Stalk Andie:

 

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Book Review: Saturdays at Sweeney’s (Sweeney Sisters #5) by Ashley Farley 

Saturdays at Sweeney’s

(Sweeney Sisters #5)

by Ashley Farley 

Goodreads

Amazon

 

Members of the Sweeney family, young and old, chart their courses for the future in this final installment of the bestselling Sweeney Sisters Series.

When the seafood business Lovie Sweeney established sixty years ago is destroyed by fire, she finds herself at the center of an arson investigation. What really happened that night? Is Lovie responsible for starting the fire or is her family under attack from a sworn enemy?

The loss of their family business leaves the Sweeney clan in flux. Samantha faces the challenges of rebuilding the market while her son, Jamie, on track to graduate from college in six months, must decide whether to make his permanent home in Prospect or move to Charleston where a new special someone resides. At age forty-five, Faith, who has never fully recovered from an abusive marriage, is on a quest to find her true passion? Jackie is distraught when her son, Sean, flunks out of college and struggles to find direction in his life without his twin brother to guide him. A medical diagnosis brings the sisters closer together and threatens to change family dynamics forever.

The Sweeney women remind us that it’s never too late to begin a new endeavor and to never stop chasing your dreams until you draw your last breath.

 

My Rating:

 

Favorite Quote:

 

Did you fail sharing time in kindergarten?

My Review:

 

I have enjoyed this relevant and engaging series featuring three divergently different Lowcountry sisters and their addled yet feisty mother.  Throughout the series, the sisters have faced a great deal of dispiriting hardships and challenges.  This fifth and final installment of the series was fraught with tension from the beginning as it started with a fire to the family business that brought on a truckload of trouble and opened a channel for either a complete loss or a new opportunity.  Each household, although while also blessed in many ways, was struggling with significant and overwhelming issues as well as the overriding critical element of the swift deterioration their elderly mother’s mental faculties.  This concern was hitting close to home for me there is a rapidly ticking clock, and not an if but a when, until I will be facing this same despicable dilemma.  Ms. Farley’s insightful narrative captured their inner conflict and turmoil with sensitivity and occasional hits of amusing levity which I fully appreciated as I’ve always found it preferable to laugh than to cry.  I will miss the Sweeney sisters but was more than satisfied with their swan song.

 

About the Author  

Ashley Farley writes books about women for women. Her characters are mothers, daughters, sisters, and wives facing real-life issues. Her goal is to keep you turning the pages until the wee hours of the morning. If her story stays with you long after you’ve read the last word, then she’s done her job.

After her brother died in 1999 of an accidental overdose, she turned to writing as a way of releasing her pent-up emotions. She wrote SAVING BEN in honor of Neal, the boy she worshipped, the man she could not save.

Ashley is a wife and mother of two young adult children. While she’s lived in Richmond, Virginia for the past 21 years, part of her heart remains in the salty marshes of the South Carolina Lowcountry where she grew up. Through the eyes of her characters, she’s able to experience the moss-draped trees, delectable cuisine, and kind-hearted folks with lazy drawls that make the area so unique.

Visit her website at http://www.ashleyfarley.net for more information. Or sign up for her newsletter using this link: http://ashleyfarley.net/get-your-free…

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Book Review: Crazy Sexy Notion by Sarah Darlington

Crazy Sexy Notion

by Sarah Darlington

 

My former best friend…is now a hooker… 


MICK 
After a terrible breakup, the crazy notion hit me to look up my childhood friend. With half a country between us, I haven’t seen Raven since the day my dad rushed in and saved me from the Sandy Hill Trailer Park. But I loved Raven as a boy, and now I need to find out if I could love her as a man. Only problem: her profession. 
Come to find out—she’s a prostitute. 

RAVEN 
Mickey Lawson 
Yeah, I hate that guy. 
Really, he’s only a faint memory now, but at one point in time he meant everything to me. 
My protector. My savior. My best friend. 
I was ten. 
Then he left. 
Now he’s back. 
Fifteen years too late.

**CRAZY SEXY NOTION is a standalone.**

 

My Rating:

 

Favorite Quotes:

 

It didn’t help that this man had to be straight up handsome, too. Like Clark Kent handsome… He even had on dark frames, as if he really were trying to channel Clark Kent up in the front seat. Good thing I’d always been a Batman fan.

 

I had a feeling I was about to see the side of him that turned smart girls, like Sandra, stupid.

 

His blue eyes were sincere and kind, staring at me like I hung the moon in his eyes. He knew the worst about me and…still, he’d only ever looked at me with adoration.

 

 I knew my life was never going to be the same… You aren’t the little girl I remembered—you’re so much more.

 

 My Review:

 

I have only read two of Sarah Darlington’s books, but I plan to remedy that as soon as is humanly possible. She has mad storytelling skills. Her characters tend to be uniquely quirky train wrecks, less than admirable and deeply flawed screw-ups, and some have even been absolutely obnoxious and cringe-worthy. However, despite their countless poor choices, missteps, and transgressions, I find myself a bit tense with conflict before pulling toward them and wanting good things to happen for them to balance out the poor hands they had been dealt, and such was the case with the low-rent/trailer-park raised waitress/part-time hooker character of Raven in this engrossing tale.

 

Raven was jaded, temperamental, impulsive, easily angered, crass, and impatient. She was also beautiful, highly sensual, and a survivor. She was doing the best she could muster given her limited opportunities and heart-breaking history.   The writing and storyline of Crazy Sexy Notion held me captive, even when I wanted to give the exasperating characters a hard pinch or whack to the head I couldn’t stop reading and finished the book in a day. Prepare for lots of expletives, characters you’ll want to smack, heart-squeezes, sizzling sensual scenes, and an addictive tale that proved hard to quit. I can’t wait to see who and what Ms. Darlington conjures up for me to love/hate next.

 

About the Author

 

Website 
Twitter
Goodreads

Sarah Darlington grew up traveling the United States (Navy Brat here!)—although, she’s called Virginia home for most of her adult life. She’s the proud mom of an intelligent 5-year-old boy with autism, who makes every day an adventure, and a 1-year-old red-headed little girl who is as fiery as her hair color. She believes in true love, soul mates, unicorns, rainbows, and that Hogwarts really does exist. Before having kids she worked as a flight attendant. And when she’s not writing, she’s busy plotting her next grand adventure (aka vacation).