Contemporary · Mystery/Crime · Romance · Suspense

Slow Burn – Julie Garwood

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107771| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: Every fire begins with a little heat–and in Slow Burn, bestselling author Julie Garwood provides the spark, skillfully blending pulse-pounding action, intense emotion, and characters with grit and heart. The result is an electrifying novel of romantic suspense that will have readers burning through the pages.

An unpretentious beauty who radiates kindness, Kate MacKenna doesn’t have a bad bone in her body–or an enemy in the world. So why are bombs igniting everywhere she goes? The first explosion brings her face-to-face with a handsome Charleston police detective. The second sends her into the arms of her best friend’s brother–a Boston cop who’s a little too reckless and way too charming for comfort. But Dylan Buchanan won’t let emotion prevent him from doing his job: Someone is trying to kill Kate, and Dylan is the only one standing between her and the monster who wants her dead.

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My thoughts: Sometime you seek that kind of book, that gives you a feeling of comfort. That makes you want to settle down on the couch, in bed or in that favorite reading chair. With the biggest blanket (that you bought just to have when you read) with a big cup of beverage of your choice, and just stay there. The world outside does not exist and it is just you and your new friends. And for those brief moments, it all feels okay. Well, this is one of those books for me. And I hadn’t really expect anything less since this is Julie Garwood. I know what to expect and I’m so happy that I got it. It was just what I needed. Garwood is an great writer in this genre and one of my favorite authors. And I always feel so good after one of her books.

Here we get to follow Kate. After her mother’s death her life is starting to crumble around her. But she is a strong woman and refuse to give up. After she almost been blown up twice, in one week, Dylan Buchanan, Kate’s best friends brother, comes to help find out what is happening. He is on leave from his work at Boston PD and since he always had strong, secret feelings for Kate, he can’t let her fend for herself. The situation is intense and fireworks is going off right from the start.

This is a “typical” romantic suspense book. You pretty much know what is going to happen. Though I do not want to call it predictable. I couldn’t early one foresee who the bad guy was in this book. It was easy to see why and there was no secret about the reasons, but it was not as predictable to find out who it really was. It was awesome.

It is a great book. Just what I needed. There is great characters, great development, great story and plot and the way it is unfolding feels real and suitable. There is never any cliffhangers and sometime you get to meet characters that have had bigger parts earlier in the series. Mostly I would say that you can read it as an stand alone. But if you are as OCD as me, I do not recommend it.

Mystery/Crime · Romance · Suspense

Tennessee takedown – Lena Diaz

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18343283.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: A SWAT officer in small-town Tennessee will do anything to protect the innocent beauty whose life has been put on the line in Lena Diaz’s Tennessee Takedown

It can’t be a coincidence that in the past twenty-four hours, three different thugs have tried to kill or abduct Ashley Parrish. Sexy SWAT team leader Dillon Gray saved her, but now he wonders why someone would want to murder the beautiful accountant and why he finds her so infuriatingly attractive.

Then the FBI comes after Ashley for embezzlement, and Dillon knows he must protect her from a killer and prove she’s being framed. Taking her on a hair-raising run through dangerous terrain barely fazes him. But wanting her from more than just one night scares the hell out of him.

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My thoughts: I have read Lena Diaz other series (Deadly Games) and I LOVED it. There is four books in that series, filled with hot alpha males, strong women, incredible thrilling suspense and complicated character relationships. Three of the four books got a 5/5 score and the last one, number four got 4/5. That is how good that series was. Can you imagine my surprise that I found this first book in one of her other series, extremely lacking and disappointing?

I had expected the same level of writing skill and imagination but there was nothing. Nothing! My mind is blank! I feel nothing other than disappointment toward this book. It starts right in the middle of a shootout and then there is action throughout the whole book. There is never a break and I think that is maybe the point that rubs me the wrong way. Ashley is just to TSTL (too stupid to live) and I Dillon is just a used up character with no real depth. I could not connect with them and they more irritated me than anything else. The plot was quite interesting until the end, when it just got too much. I mean, come on, can you be that stupid? I do like the whole stolen identity plot even though it was predictable right from the start.

What really saved this book is the other characters. Chris, Chief Thornton, Donna and so on. I don’t know if Diaz did it on purpose, but it did feel like she put more thought in those characters than what she did in her main ones. That is the only reason I feel I would like to read the second book in this series. The second book is about Chris and I do want to read more about him. *Wink*

Classic/Historical · Fiction/Science Fiction · War/Military · Young, New adult/College

Salt to the sea – Ruta Sepetys

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25614492.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: World War II is drawing to a close in East Prussia, and thousands of refugees are on a desperate trek toward freedom, almost all of them with something to hide. Among them are Joana, Emilia, and Florian, whose paths converge en route to the ship that promises salvation, the Wilhelm Gustloff. Forced by circumstance to unite, the three find their strength, courage, and trust in one another tested with each step closer toward safety.

Just when it seems freedom is within their grasp, tragedy strikes. Not country, nor culture, nor status matter as all ten thousand people aboard must fight for the same thing: survival.

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My thoughts: Wilhelm Gustloffs shipwreck is the greatest in maritime history. Over 9000 people (that’s almost 8000 more than Titanic) lost their lives and yet, almost nobody knows anything about it. I certainly didn’t. My interest for war, historical fiction and that I didn’t know anything about this disaster, was a big reason for me to choose to read this book.

In this book we are following four characters  who all seek peace and freedom from the war that are breaking there country and family’s apart. Some of them, I like more than others but that I think was done with purpose and I understand it in the end. It is a great story, that do play on my emotions and now after i’m done, I do feel a little emotional drained.

It was a really thrilling read and as first book for me to read by Ruta Sepetys, I’m really pleasantly surprised. It started off quite slow and it is a slow burner through most of the book and I did lose interest there for a while, but I really wanted to know how it would end, so I picked it up again. The last chapters went past extremely fast and suddenly the book was over. I do not usually like books that are slow and then all the action is happening right before the book is ending. But it did work in this one. It is a really good book and that I lost focus has really nothing to do with the book itself, but with me who sometimes don’t have the patience for slow burners.

It is a hard read, just have to warn you. There is some terrible human fates that are happening and even if the book is fiction, it is hard to deny that this and probably even worse have happened in real life. I understand why Sepetys won the Goodreads Choice Award 2016 for this book. It is that good.

Contemporary · Romance

Crash – Susan Fanetti

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32613951.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Tulsa, Oklahoma. 1995

Conrad “Radical” Jessup, Sergeant at Arms of the Brazen Bulls Motorcycle Club, has life just about where he wants it: he’s free of a bad marriage, and his club is cruising along healthy and strong, their business relationships as solid as their brotherhood. He’s a contented man, riding his road at his speed.

Until a massive highway wreck brings a blonde on a little sportster crashing into his life.

Willa Randall is making a new life in Tulsa, working hard to put a demolished past in her rearview mirror. Trying to keep herself safe, she’s built a life insulated by locks and walls. Inside those walls, she’s alone, but she feels secure, and that’s enough.

Until a big, tattooed biker holds out his hand and helps her up from the pavement.

A love seeded in chaos grows fast and deep. But when chaos is a constant, can any love endure?

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My thoughts: I have read one book by Fanetti, earlier back in 2016, and I can’t remember on top of my head, why I did not finish the Signal Bend series, but I must have had my reasons. Crash is the first book in the series about another MC Club that do exist in the same universe but still are a standalone series from the signal bend series.

It is a good plot and it certainly had potential, but for me, I had problem with connecting to the characters. And I don’t really know why. They are characters I usually love and connect with. Willa is this strong, kick ass woman, who have been in a shitty situation for like the last 10 years. But she has a fighting spirit and with her protecting dog Ollie she feels strong and ready for whatever will happen and she do not need a man to “save” her. Then we have Rad. Hard skinned, stubborn, overprotecting, sexy and hot alpha male who is happy to finally have peace in his life after a bad childhood and an even worse marriage. But he is open to his feelings and when Willa comes crashing into his life he takes the chance to explore and find even more.

How can I NOT love this? It is like I wrote the plot myself. It is like all that I want from this type of books. But still it didn’t do it for me. When I think about the highlights of the book, it still feels kind of grey and bland for me. I read the story but there was not really anything that captivated me. It is a good read. It’s just not a great read. One thing I really liked is that even though it is predictable, I could point out early in the story, stuff that would happen, it did not happen as I first had expected it. So even if it is predictable, it was not as predictable as I had predicted. Haha.

Fantasy/Paranormal · Suspense

Assassin’s Apprentice – Robin Hobb

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21956219.jpg| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: In a faraway land where members of the royal family are named for the virtues they embody, one young boy will become a walking enigma.

Born on the wrong side of the sheets, Fitz, son of Chivalry Farseer, is a royal bastard, cast out into the world, friendless and lonely. Only his magical link with animals – the old art known as the Wit – gives him solace and companionship. But the Wit, if used too often, is a perilous magic, and one abhorred by the nobility.

So when Fitz is finally adopted into the royal household, he must give up his old ways and embrace a new life of weaponry, scribing, courtly manners; and how to kill a man secretly, as he trains to become a royal assassin.

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My thoughts: This is an complex book with many layers. Great read and a lot different from all those YA Fantasy books that seem to take over the shelf’s in the bookstores. It is a slow burner and I don’t have a good history with slow books, since I easily get bored. I did however not get bored with this book but I’m not used to read fantasy anymore (read a lot as an kid) and it took me awhile to get used to the writing style and language. So it was quite “heavy” for me in the beginning. Fantasy is often written in a different kind of rhythm and has words not that common in today’s literature (that I read anyway). It is more medieval, proper and sentences are usually a lot longer with more describing words. So it took some time for me to get used to it again, but eventually my reading speed went up and it got much more easier for me to enjoy the book. I do think that if I read the book in my own language, it would have been easier from the start. But I find reading on English suits me better in the long haul so that’s why I stuck with it.

The book is about Fitz. The bastard boy, son to the king in waiting. Not officially acknowledged by the royal house, he lives with the king in waiting’s first hand man. Eventually he gets mixed up and pushed in to situations beyond his own control and you get to follow him through his childhood years, becoming the Kings man and fight for more than life.

The world Hobb has built in this book is amazing. The environment is livid, the Red Ships terrifying and the story over all, insanely enthralling. This book is the first one in the Farseer Trilogy and the first book in the 16 long series about The Realm of the Elderlings.

I read this book for the first time as an kid. Not remembering much more than that it was a great book and that I had a crush on Fitz, I am now happy that I chose to read the book in an adult age. It is certainly a hidden gem  and it is sad that it took me 15 years to read it again.

Classic/Historical · Fiction/Science Fiction · Romance · War/Military

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows

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2728527.jpg| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: “I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers.”

January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she’s never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb….

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society’s members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

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My thoughts: This is an brilliant, work of art. Brilliant! That you could write a complete story like this, with good character development and fantastic environments and different story lines, just by the form of letters, is beyond me. It is really fantastic and I’m completely in love. I love Juliet, Isola, Kit, Sidney and not at least Dawsey. I love them and that the book eventually ended, made me a little sad.

In this book you get to follow Juliet. An unmarried writer who tries to find herself now that the war is over. London is a broken city and she lives temporarily in a borrowed apartment since her old one got bombed to ruins. She is an strong minded book lover who will not settle, but feels lost in the new world. We get to follow her trough letters to her best friends Sophie and Sidney. Later on to her new friends on the island Guernsey. She wants to write a book but are not happy with the subject she first had chosen. In a pursuit for something she care and want to write about, she travels to the island too meet hear new friends and finds more than just a book to write.

To write a book completely trough letters is an brilliant idea in my opinion. I cannot see the book been written in any other way now that I have read it. I must say that at first I was skeptical. But it gave me as an reader the freedom to imagine and use my mind to fill in the blanks that where not written in words. It felt liberating somehow. The book is written with warmth and humour even though the aftermath of the war is a huge part of this book, and it makes it emotionally hard sometimes.

But as great as it is, it has one flaw in my opinion. First I gave the book a five star rating but after my emotions had settled down and I started to really think about it, I wanted to end it to four stars. That is because of the ending. It ended perfectly, but it went to fast, did not fit in with the rest of the book and I got the feeling that the authors just wanted to get it done. Be over with. But then I looked in the book and wondered, should I really take of a star for ten pages in the end that was not to my complete liking? It felt unfair so I left the rating as I first had put it.

This books also comes as an movie in 2018. I love movies made on books I have read and really looking forward to it. 🙂

 

Everyday things

Why does that make me less of a reader?

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IMG_1591I was watching one of Peters (Peter likes books) videos on Youtube and he briefly talked about all the negativity a public reviewer get and specially when talking about audio books. And I thought I should write a post about my opinion since I have experienced some of that negativity personally from the bookish community for no other reason than that I read eBooks. I don’t write much about what format I read books in on my blog or GoodReads. I don’t feel the need to clarify if it is a physical, audio or a eBook in my reviews since that has nothing to do with the book itself. But apparently it is important when it comes to defining me as an real or a fake reader.

Some (note some, not all) people seems to thinks that a real reader are those who only read physical books and often feel them self compelled to tell everyone just that. Other thinks that if you read books (physical or not) you are a reader. That do however not include magazines, comic books or audio books (why not I wonder?). Then there are people, like me, who do not care as long as you read. Because isn’t that the most important thing in the end? Then I see arguments like “Listening is not reading”! Yeah? Says who? Okay, fine. Down to the core, listening is not technically reading since you do not “read” the words, but you still take part of a book right? And aren’t that reading then? If you are blind and “see” a movie, haven’t you seen the movie then because you listened and not seen it with your eyes?

I often get negative comments on that I read so many eBooks. I love all the formats that are available for me as a reader and I utilize them all to my own satisfaction. I will always love physical books! The feeling of them, the smell, the written word on paper, but I do mostly read eBooks. I could be full of myself and say that I read eBooks because I want to save the environment and all that blah, blah, blah. But no, I’m a lot more selfish than that. I’m stingy! English eBooks are often a lot more cheaper than the physical book, and I read mostly eBooks because I read 100+ books a year and do not have the money to buy them nor the room to store them all. And I do not see any fault in that. I don’t think I’m any less of a reader than you because of it. And I love audio books. It makes me able to take part in books, while working and earning my pay check so that I can buy all those books I read. How wonderful isn’t that?

So, to be mean and judgmental is something I don’t feel belong in the bookish community. Books should unites us and learn us that we do not have to think the same about everything. That we all should be able to accept and discuss the books we read without personal attacks just because you can’t change another person’s opinion. And I think we should be happy that the all the options are there and that it makes it easier for people to take part in the literate world. With all the social medias like Facebook and what not I think it is easy to get shallow and forget that there is more. In my humble opinion, books bring us back to earth.

What are your thoughts about the topic?

Fiction/Science Fiction · Thriller/Horror · Young, New adult/College

Rot & Ruin – Jonathan Maberry

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7157310.jpg| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: In the zombie-infested, post-apocalyptic America where Benny Imura lives, every teenager must find a job by the time they turn fifteen or get their rations cut in half. Benny doesn’t want to apprentice as a zombie hunter with his boring older brother Tom, but he has no choice. He expects a tedious job whacking zoms for cash, but what he gets is a vocation that will teach him what it means to be human.

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My thoughts: I don’t know if I’m just incredibly lucky or if I have found a way to choose good books. Because my five star ratings and good books just keep pouring in. And I’m a little surprised. As much as I love Joe Ledgers series by Maberry (still more than this), not one of those books (that I have read) have received a five-star rating and yet this one does. But One thing is for sure, Jonathan Maberry takes my mind and heart by storm, Again!

This is a wonderful book and I am surprised over how much I loved it. It is a little different from what I normally read and it is a Young Adult book. YA books are often not for me due to that I often find the books a little meek and dramatic. Not in a good way. Anyhow, this book was nothing like that and it evoke feelings that I did not foresee it would.

Here we get to follow Benny. A fifteen-year-old teenager who live in a world post zombie outbreak. He was too young when the outbreaks began and he can’t remember a world before the Zombies. And I totally loathed Benny in the beginning. Yikes I hated him. Later, he grew on me and by the end of the book, I loved him. Him and his brother Tom. Tom however was old enough to remember the world before the zombies and he is the reason Benny still is alive. But misunderstandings and half-truths have made their relationship hard and they are not that close to each other as brothers should be. Different circumstances outside their own power makes them thrown together and they must work together and fight for their life’s and what’s right.

I often feel that Zombies, like vampires, are a subject that have been done to many times that there is nothing new about it anymore. But I think that Maberry has taken a step back and brought the subject back to its core and just stayed with what’s simple and that worked in favor of the story. It feels real and totally perfect. It even made me cry some parts.

I short, I totally loved it and can’t wait to read the other books in the series. I have ordered the whole box from Book depository and hope it will arrive soon.

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I’m really happy that I was able to find this book signed. I ordered it from some guy in USA and it took almost tree weeks for it to arrive. But I’m really happy and this is the first signed book on my shelf. Totally worth the money. 🙂

Contemporary · Romance · Suspense

Midnight rainbow – Linda Howard

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350523| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: Grant Sullivan had been one of the government’s most effective agents, and he’s agreed to rescue Jane Hamilton Greer, a wealthy socialite possibly engaged in espionage. In the time they spent together, questions of guilt and innocence began to fade against the undeniable reality that two people from such different worlds should never have met.

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My thoughts: Somewhat cliche and predictable but at the same time exactly what I needed to get over my hangover from the Kristen Ashley book I read last. This is one of those old school, romantic suspense that are the core of what I love with an romantic suspense book. We got the strong, independent woman who do not need her father or any other man to “take care” of her. We have that alpha, jaded military man who has forgotten anything according to love and a woman’s touch. We have some bad men, corrupted governments, spies and a hunt trough the jungle. All to save there lives and there country.

It is not this great literary work of art but it is still beautiful and did what it was suppose to do. Now I’m ready for other adventures. 🙂

Monthly summary

February Summary

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February is over and it has been a great reading month for me.  14 books have read and when February ended I was reading two books so it looks like my reading spree is going into March to.

Favorite book this month: Is Rock Chick Regret by Kristen Ashley without question.

Least favorite book this month: My least favorite will probably be After the dark by Cynthia Eden. I was just not happy with that book.

Number of physical books: 3.
Number of e-books: 9.
Number of audiobooks: 2.
Total pages: 5123 pages.
Female authors: 9.
Male authors: 6.
The fire witness is written by two authors, one male and one female. 3 of these authors was also new to me.

30836269After the dark – Cynthia Eden
Settings: Alabama, USA Pages: 384 Published: 2016
Genres: Suspense, romantic, contemporary and thriller.
My rating: 2/5
Links: Review
Book 1 in Killer instinct series.
Grin & beard it – Penny Reid23337863 
Settings: Green valley, Tennessee, USA. Pages: 389 Published: 2016
Genres: Romance, contemporary, humor and funny.
My rating: 5/5
Links: Review
Book 2 in Winston Brothers.
22608022Take the Key and lock her up – Lena Diaz
Settings: USA Pages: 370 Published: 2014
Genres: Romantic, suspense, contemporary
My rating: 4/5
Links: Review
Book 4 in The deadly games series.
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The treatment – Mo Hayder
Settings: London, England. Pages: 499 Published: 2001
Genres: Crime, Mystery, horror, thriller, fiction.
My rating: 5/5
Links: Review
Book 2 in The series about Jack Caffrey.
35450200Cyrus – Jessica Gadziala
Settings: Navesink Bank (fictional), New Jersey (USA)
Pages: 232 Published: 2017
Genres: Romantic, contemporary
My rating: 4/5
Links: Review
Book 9 in The Henchmen MC.
587315The horse and his boy – C.S Lewis
Settings: Narnia Pages: 224 Published: 1954
Genres: Classical, young adult / children, fantasy and fiction.
My rating: 4/5
Links: Review
Book 3 in Narnia.
23519826The doll house – M.J Arlidge
Settings: Southampton, England. Pages: 434 Published: 2015
Genres: Mystery, crime, thriller, fiction.
My rating: 4/5
Links: Review
Book 3 in The series about Helen Grace.
377941221943 – D. Clarke
Settings: Harlem, New York, USA Pages: 237 Published: 2017
Genres: Historical, Fiction
My rating: 3/5
Links: Review
This is an copy I got from the author against a honest review.
30555488The underground railroad – Colson Whitehead
Settings: USA Pages: 357 Published: 2016
Genres: Fiction, “historical”
My rating: 2/5
Links: Review
27742535Christmas from hell – R.L Mathewson
Settings: USA Pages: 242 Published: 2015
Genres: Romance, contemporary, funny, humor.
My rating: 5/5
Links: Review
Book 7 in Neighbor from hell series.
36582442A man too old for a place too far – Mark W Sasse
Settings: A little all over the world. Pages: 307 Published: 2017
Genres: Contemporary
My rating: 4/5
Links: Review
Book 1 in the forgotten child trilogy.
16085509The fire witness – Lars Kepler
Settings: Sweden Pages: 576 Published: 2011
Genres: Crime, mystery, thriller, fiction, suspense
My rating: 4/5
Links: Review
Book 3 in Joona Linna series.
23398610Midnight captive – Elle Kennedy
Settings: Dublin, Ireland Pages: 368 Published: 2015
Genres: Romantic, suspense, military, contemporary
My rating: 5/5
Links: Review
Book 6 in the Killer Instincts series.
13184992Rock Chick Regret – Kristen Ashley
Settings: Denver, Colorado, USA Pages: 504 Published: 2011
Genres: Romantic, contemporary
My rating: 5/5
Links: Review
Book 7 in the Rock Chick series.