Romance

Reeve – Jessica Gadziala

37285282| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Reeve
I had long since given up hope of the pursuit of genuine happiness. It wasn’t possible after all the sh*t I had been through. I had my siblings, my club, a purpose in life. It was enough.
Until I came across her.
She represented everything that I knew I couldn’t have – stability, a future, a way out of my past.
And, it seemed, the harder I tried to keep her at a distance, to protect her from my reality, she only got in deeper, only pulled me closer.
Then, one night, an old face popped up in Navesink Bank. And everything changed forever.

Rey
I liked my life. I liked the freedom and simplicity of it, even if it was, perhaps, a little lonely.
Then one night, there he was.
With the saddest eyes I had ever seen.
He represented everything my life didn’t need – chaos, violence, uncertainty. But, at the same time, everything it was lacking – companionship, connection.
He tried to fight it, to keep up his guards, to keep me at arm’s length.
But, well, fate had other plans.
That was the night everything changed.
Down an alley, facing down a new, yet familiar, big bad in Navesink Bank, forcing us together, making us confront the reality of what was happening between us.
Trapped together, waiting for the winds to blow over, he finally trusted me enough to let me in, to give us a shot, to invite me into his family.
That is, if all of us survived the upcoming storm…

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My thoughts: Rey was a character I thought I wouldn’t like. To hippy dippy, flower power, peace on earth, mumble jumble for my taste. But god damn she is hilarious. Down to earth, smart, funny and I see a lot of myself in her. And her total love for animals, self-reliance, her easygoing nature and somewhat different lifestyle is just wonderful. I love her and it’s not often I love a female character more than the male one. But in this I did. And I feel almost a little sad that it wasn’t longer because I would have loved to follow her more. She is just that good and Gadziala did a great work without making her over the top.

Overall the book is a typical Gadziala book with some hot scenes and complicated characters, history and an interesting future. It was nice to know Reeve’s story. I loved his brother and Reeve he had a pretty large role in Cyrus book but you never got to know what his history really was. But everything makes total sense now. And all the side characters is just so fun to follow and get to know.

There was also a huge plot twist that will go on for at least a couple of books forward. Not a major cliffhanger yet, but I’m looking forward do see how that will evolve.

Fantasy/Paranormal · Mystery/Crime · Romance · Suspense · Thriller/Horror

If looks could kill – Heather Graham

731806.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Madison Adair didn’t witness her famous mother’s brutal murder. But she saw it. Saw the gloved hand…felt the knife strike…knew her mother’s terror.

That was a lifetime ago. But the nightmares have returned; only, this time they’re of a faceless serial killer stalking women in south Florida. A killer she can’t see but who knows she is watching. Surrounded by her family, Madison knows she should feel safe, but she doesn’t.

And how much can FBI agent Kyle Montgomery protect her, when he can’t let go of the past they’ve shared? Madison is Kyle’s only link to the killer, but can they find the truth before the killer strikes again? Because sometimes, it’s what–or who–you can’t see that holds the greatest danger….

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My thoughts: Nah! Nothing for me. Quite the same as always. Horrible history, broken hearts, murder mystery, stalker, new killings, FBI, macho man, irritating female protagonist and a situation that just feels dumb. Come on, they hardly talk but they do argue a lot. About the same thing over and over. If they actually had talked early in the beginning, the arguing would probably not have been as bad. And I probably would have liked the book a lot more.

It was a fast read without any real depth. The murder mystery was quite interesting, but you didn’t receive any clues to who the killer are so the whole guessing game for me fell flat. Oh Graham certainly tried to make other characters seem guilty but it was too obvious so I actually dismissed them from my “who the killer is” list early on.

Not overly fawn over the characters either. There is some stuff happening that just make you lose the respect for that character and creates a situation that is just awkward. To be quite frank, Kaila and Dan (two side characters) relationship and short chapters about them, are the one thing I actually liked and felt had the most depth. And the book was not even about them.

It is probably time to realize that Graham is not an author for me. I have read five of her books but not one of them have received a higher rating than 3 star. Average rating is 2.8. It is time to spell the flowers and confess to myself that it doesn’t matter how much the synopsis appeal to me, she is just not an author that I like to read. Unfortunately.

Contemporary · Romance

Lady luck – Kristen Ashley

18869204.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Is love in the cards?

Since birth, Lexie Berry has had nothing but bad luck. Orphaned at an early age, she had a rough childhood and a boyfriend who was murdered. Now the beautiful, stylish Lexie is determined to change her luck and her life. But first she’s got to make good on a promise: to pick up Ty Walker from prison. One look at the gorgeous ex-convict and Lexie knows she’s in trouble-and already thinking about taking a walk on the wild side . . .

For five years, Ty was imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. Now he wants revenge on the people who framed him. Yet when the high-stakes poker player sees the leggy Lexie, he suddenly has other desires on his mind. Realizing that Ty is innocent, Lexie tries to stop his plan for vengeance and help him become a better man. But as Ty battles his inner demons, dirty cops and criminals plot to take him out. Can he and Lexie find a way to escape the past?

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My thoughts: I love, love, LOVED it. It is so incredible that I do not know how I will be able to put it into words.

I can’t understand how Kirsten Ashley keeps spit out fantastic books with wonderful characters without it ever being boring. I’m serious! Not once in it was I feeling bored. I should have. It is 500+ pages with a lot of things happening, a lot of characters and a lot of details. But no, never and it was amazing.

I love Lexie and how goofy she is. She made me smile more times than I can count and was genuinely funny. KA did an astonishing work with her and she is (on top of mind) my favorite female character so far. And Ty is just that brilliant, hard, grumpy mountain man but it didn’t took long for Lexies goofiness to bring out that warm, sticky core you just know is there because, come on, it is a KA book after all.

The storyline and plot fits perfectly with the history of the characters and nicely in with the previous books. It is some suspense, a lot of romance and a real feel good book. It is such a winner and one of those “You just have to read it”. It is an emotional roller coaster but it is so worth it in the end.

Contemporary · Romance

Edison – Jessica Gadziala

36357979.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Lenny
I have one mission in life.
Revenge.
I didn’t have time for anything else.
Let alone the mysterious, unfairly good-looking member of a local outlaw biker gang.
But Edison is not the kind of man to be easily ignored, and the closer he gets, the more I seem to sway from my mission.
Until the unthinkable happens.

Edison
She’s special.
That has always been my type, women with that ‘something’ that you can’t quite put your finger on. And Lenny with her knife-sharp tongue, stubbornness, and guards thicker than almost any I had ever seen, yeah, she had that thing. And I wanted to put my finger on it.
Finger. Mouth. Tongue… everything on her.
But Lenny is hiding things.
And it wasn’t until her world shatters around her that I finally get to see what was beneath them all along. And it is more than I could have ever hoped for. It’s something I want to hold onto. I guess the only thing left is to get that through her stubborn head as well…

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My thoughts: I have not read a book by Gadziala for way to long and now that my prohibition of buying books have been lifted, of course my first one was one of her books. I have missed her. I have missed her books, her writing, stories and her world in Navesink Bank. I have missed to get to know more of the Henchmen men and see what will happen with all that is happening in the crime capital of USA. Edison was also an character who intrigued me right from the start. He was so dark and mysterious in the earlier books, that I just had to start off with him since he was the next one to read in the series.

This is the 10th book in the series about the Henchmen in Navesink Bank. Gadziala have built a whole world with different series that are linking together. The Henchmen will probably be my favorite. Well I did love the Mallicks family (still have one more book to read) and I can’t wait for The Grassis to be published and the Professionals are also a great series, but it is the Henchmen who made me fall in love. And what’s so great is that it is so different from many other MC series out there. Her books always have a kick ass female character and awesome alpha hero sexy man with a moral compass who points in the right directions and have great female values. It is hard not to fall in love. My biggest problem often are that I find the books to be to short. 😛

Edison was a lot deeper character than I thought he would be and his story about his life and traveling through Europe was just fantastic. And I loved Lenny. She has walls thicker than the earth’s crust and the way the relationship grew between them was just perfect. And the ending was so fitting to it all that I have nothing more to say.

Contemporary · Romance · Suspense · War/Military

Midnight Revenge – Elle Kennedy

25476363| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Out of all the stone-cold mercenaries in Jim Morgan’s black ops organization, Derek “D” Pratt is the most intimidating. He is tight-lipped and covered in tattoos, and even the other guys on his team are afraid to ask him about his past. D’s been off the grid for years, but after his teammate Sullivan is mistakenly captured in his place, D is forced to come out of hiding and face his demons.

When D lands in Mexico, he’s ready to risk everything to save his friend. To complicate matters, Sofia Amaro, a feisty doctor whom D had a one-night stand with months ago, has tracked him down. And in an instant she’s unintentionally caught up in his life-threatening rescue mission.

Now D must extract not one but two people from the most violent world he’s ever encountered. And one of them is carrying his child..

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My thoughts: This is a damn good book. Pretty sure my heart stopped at least two times while reading this. Fast paced and action packed and I loved it. Not my favorite in the series however but a pretty close second, I must say. This series and Elle Kennedy is really starting to be one of my all time favorites. Her writing is so good and easy that just reading her words makes me feel god. Then we look a little deeper and reading her story and just like that I’m lost, in love and forgotten the world around me.

This book is about Derek “D” Pratt. An character who have been around for most of the series. He is a hard son of a bitch with a past darker than anyone can imagine. I didn’t like him at all the earlier books, but I do now understand why. It took me a while to really connect with him, but then I had Sofia. She is a wonderful character with just the right amount of umpf, stubbornness, quirkiness and she has a really smart head on her shoulders. There is no way you do not like her. I really liked that there was no love at first sight, no lost love or heartache in the beginning of the book between those two. I liked that they “knew” each other beforehand but the lack of sappy, fluffy love made it more believable and the suspense unbearable.

Then it is always nice to meet the characters from the earlier books. Book number 6 ended on a small cliffhanger and this one gives you all the answers you need about what happened. It’s not completely over and done with but I would not say that there are a cliffhanger so you can rest easily.

Kennedy do like to create tension in her plots and between her characters and I think it is the way she does it that makes it so good. She is always balancing on the edge and if you have not read this series, I do have to say “what, you have not read it? You just have to read it!!” 😉

Chick Lit · Contemporary · Romance

The thing about love – Julie James

27246123| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Two undercover FBI agents can hide who they are from everyone but each other in the latest novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Suddenly One Summer

FBI agents Jessica Harlow and John Shepherd have a past. The former lawyer and cocky Army ranger clashed during their training at Quantico, gladly going their separate ways after graduating from the Academy. Six years later, the last thing either of them expects is to run into each other again–assigned to work as partners in a high-profile undercover sting.

For both of them, being paired with a former rival couldn’t come at a worse time. Recently divorced from a Hollywood producer and looking for a fresh start, Jessica is eager to prove herself at her new field office. And John is just one case away from his dream assignment to the FBI’s elite Hostage Rescue Team. In order to nail a corrupt Florida politician, they’ll have to find a way to work as a team–a task that becomes even trickier when they’re forced to hole up at a romantic, beachfront resort as part of the investigation. Suddenly, the heat behind their nonstop sparring threatens to make the job a whole lot more complicated. . .

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My thoughts: Damn it, I went in the chick lit trap again. I was scrolling in my book list on my kindle (I have like 70 books on it) and stopped at the title. It was one of those titles that I have had in my kindle for a long time and just kept scrolling past and now I thought that “Now I have to get it read”. I wouldn’t had bought it if I didn’t want to read it at some point. Often when I do that, read a book that I have had for a long time but never really come to read, I just do it and more often than not, find the book wonderful. Well not this time.

James is a new author for me. Never read anything by her but several of my GoodReads friends have and many of them have given her books high scores. So I was not prepared for the boring hours to come. The book is about Jessica and John, who hated each other in the FBI Academy, and now six years later have to work together in an short undercover ploy. I had extreme problem with connecting to the characters and already two chapters in the book, I was bored. But it was too early to DNF it so I kept going. There is nothing exciting with the story and it’s pretty predictable. They hate each other and then they don’t. They do their work, not much is happening, it is a pretty boring case and then the work is done. No suspense, no angst or heavy love. No history or old girlfriends/boyfriends who come forward. No great writing or a story that you think about while not reading. It was quite a relief when I was done and I was so ready to move on.

I did finish the book instead of DNF it and that was only because of the one thing I liked with the book. The banter and jokes they kept throwing back and forth. When they talked to each other or other characters, it actually was pretty funny and I liked the way those parts was written. But it was all the other things in between that totally ruined the book. SO, I give it a one star rating. As a whole, I did not like the book at all, but bits and pieces I did and that saved the book from a DNF. That has to count for something. Now that I’m done with the book, I do however, realize that I should have DNF it. Just a waste of time in my opinion but done is done. Time to move forward.

Chick Lit · Contemporary · Humor/Funny · Romance

Neanderthal seeks human – Penny Reid

17673307| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: There are three things you need to know about Janie Morris: 1) She is incapable of engaging in a conversation without volunteering TMTI (Too Much Trivial Information), especially when she is unnerved, 2) No one unnerves her more than Quinn Sullivan, and 3) She doesn’t know how to knit.

After losing her boyfriend, apartment, and job in the same day, Janie Morris can’t help wondering what new torment fate has in store. To her utter mortification, Quinn Sullivan- aka Sir McHotpants- witnesses it all then keeps turning up like a pair of shoes you lust after but can’t afford. The last thing she expects is for Quinn- the focus of her slightly, albeit harmless, stalkerish tendencies- to make her an offer she can’t refuse.

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My thoughts: Sometime I wish that GoodReads had the function to choose half stars when it comes to rating. Because this is one of those books that are more a 4 star in rating than a 2 but did not quite reach all the way. So more like 3,5. It is a good book, I liked it, but the 300 + pages of self esteem rant totally destroyed it for me.

Janie is a great character. She is a little naive, stuck in her own head and do not have the best ways to handle feelings. She is witty, a lot insecure and a lot more “girl” than what you first would think. And by that I mean, that constant rant about how “big” she is, tall, big feet, big hands, big ass, big hair and so on. Everything is big with her. She is according to herself not beautiful, and definitely not in a league for a good looking man like Quinn. And when she is done ranting about her body, she goes on to her mind and personality. She is freaky, she talks to much, she can’t flirt, she know too much uninteresting trivia, she is uncontrollably gabby, and on and on and on. And when she is done with that, she starts to rant about events, what she did that particular event and what the persons there did, reacted and so on. I do understand low self esteem. Been there, done that and at some ways still are fighting with it. Everybody does! But there is a limit of how big part of a book it should take. I’m not a big fan of mental insecurity and angst. Some can be great. Too much I just feel I want to punch the character in question and say “there is more to life than this”. It should not take over. And here it takes it all.

If we scaled it back like 50% but kept the rest of the story, I would probable be a five star, freaking loved the book, book. So that’s too bad. Reid did however do a great job with not including Quinn in this rant. He did not confirm or deny her verbal rants. (The most of them was mental though). I loved that he didn’t try to change her toughs through words, but by action. And he kept asking her, pushing her out of her shell and genuinely was intrigued by her mind and personality. So the rants did ease up a bit towards the end. It is a great love story where there is more than a female with hot sexy body and a alpha caveman, with psychotic tendency. Besides, I did learn a lot of facts since Janie is a trivia nut and talk about a lot I didn’t know but now do.

Great story. Funny. Loved the way it started. The whole situation with family and friends was funny and awesome. Was some angst, but not much and it was quickly over. Loved that there was several bad situations but they had not much to do with each other. There is no cliff-hanger, nicely tided together in the end! Can be a great series to follow. Not every girl in this series is like Janie I hope. One is enough.

Contemporary · Mystery/Crime · Romance

Beating Ruby – Camilla Monk

30212829| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: Life hasn’t been quite the same for computer engineer Island Chaptal since March, an OCD-ridden professional killer, burst into her life to clean her bedroom and take her on a global chase for a legendary diamond. Sadly, the (hit) man doesn’t just break bones; he breaks hearts, too.

Since then, Island has found solace in Alex—the perfect boyfriend—and Ruby, a software project about to revolutionize online banking security…for the worse. When Island’s boss is found dead after allegedly using Ruby to steal a vast fortune, it’s up to her to clear his name and recover the money. Someone else wants answers, though, and this time, Island might be in over her head.

From New York to Zürich, it’s going to take the return of a cleaning expert, a mini-octopus, and Island’s wits to beat Ruby. All while deciding whether to trust a man who already jilted her, or one who may have his own deadly secrets…

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My thoughts: This is the second book in the Spotless series. It is not a standalone and you will have to read the first book before this one to really understand some of the references. I would recommend that you do not read this review either if you haven’t read the first one, since it will be a little “spoilerish”. There are things I can’t discuss without referring to the first book. You do not have to worry if you already have read the first book.

You have been warned!

In this book we gets to follow Island, 6 months after the Tokyo fiasco and finally in a good place again. Then her boss goes and kill himself, her big project gets stolen and there is something that doesn’t feel right to her. As a new, stronger, woman she sets out to try and find the truth about what really happened, but she finds more truth than she had barged for. Then in walk March and you could say that the whole situation gets a 100 times worse. Or better. Depends on your point of view.

I can’t say that this book is as good as the first one, but it is still good. Not as fast paced and explosive but still entertaining. It was nice to meet all the characters again. The whole March and Alex situation is certainly entertaining but still a little hard to wrap my mind around. It was not until the end that I really understood what have been going on the whole book. By then I felt some things could have been changed on, written in another way to give the story a little more depth about those three characters. There is no cliffhanger per say, but still an indication that there will be a third book. Now I know that it already exists a third, but at one point there wasn’t. You can see that in the book. I do however not like Islands passivity in this book. She stands in situations with blind eyes and takes no action until the end.

I think the third book will be really entertaining and I would recommend this book to anyone who would like to have some explosive action, quirky characters, secrets, funny humor and heartwarming love.

Contemporary · Mystery/Crime · Romance · Suspense

Slow Burn – Julie Garwood

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.

Romance · Suspense · War/Military

Rekindled – Kaylea Cross

19547589.jpg| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis:He left her when she needed him most…

Four years ago, Dr. Grace Fallon lost everything that mattered in a terrorist attack she barely survived. Now she’s stronger than ever and in Pakistan with a UN-sanctioned team for the most important assignment of her career. She’s dedicated her life to eradicating the world of chemical weapons, and long ago accepted the inherent risks associated with her job. Until the man whose memory has haunted her for so long suddenly reappears and inadvertently makes her the target of one of the most dangerous terrorists on the planet. Forced to accept Alex’s protection, it’s impossible to deny the white-hot attraction still burning between them. And while she trusts him to guard her from this new threat, Grace must once again decide whether to risk her heart to the man who once shattered her entire world.

Now he’ll risk everything to win her back…

Four years ago, NSA agent Alex Rycroft left Grace because had no choice. But never again. Malik Hassani has escaped custody, he’s on the run, and has locked onto Grace as a means to target Alex. This time Alex will do whatever it takes to protect her—and convince her to give them another chance. Walking away from her nearly destroyed him and now that she’s back in his life, he can’t let her go. When the unthinkable happens and Grace’s life hangs in the balance, he’ll sacrifice everything to save her—including himself.

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My thoughts: I’m glad I finally got the chance to learn more about Alex and his history. He is the oldest character in the books and the most mysterious. I really liked the plot but it was somewhat slow written. And I feel that in a situation as the 5th book is taking place, should not be slow. At all! I did however like that I got to know how it would go with Dunphy. The 4th book quite ended on a cliffhanger when Dunphy regarded. It was hard to read but with a great end. Perfect when it comes to the circumstances.

Alex end Grace though  is quite slow and some what repeatably. Grace is hurt and I understand that but then they dont really talk about it. It just “fixes” itself and that was an downer.

The story about the terrorist is as exciting as ever. Cant say to much about it without giving out spoilers.

There is one more book in the series. It is an short book on 160 pages and more or less suppose to wrap any loose ends. I have read the five books in the series and will at some point in the future read the last one to. Just to be done. But I dont really feel the need to it. This book did not end on any cliffhangers and what ever question i sit left with is not that important to get an answer to. But I will still read it.