Contemporary · Mystery/Crime · Romance · Suspense

Fire and ice – Julie Garwood

3407345| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Sophie Rose, a tough and determined newspaper reporter, is the daughter of Bobby Rose, a suave, charming, and handsome gentleman who also happens to be a notorious big-time thief sought by every law-enforcement agency in the country. When the major Chicago daily where she works insists she write an expose about her roguish father, Sophie refuses, quits her job, and goes to work at a small newspaper. Far from her onetime high-powered crime beat, she now covers local personalities such as the quirky winner of several area 5K runs whose trademark is goofy red socks.
Those red socks-with Sophie’s business card neatly tucked inside-are practically all that’s found after runner William Harrington is killed near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, seemingly the victim of a brutal death by polar bear. The Alaska cops want to know why Harrington carried Sophie’s card. With an unerring nose for a good story, she heads north.
What Sophie doesn’t realize is that on her journey from Chicago to Prudhoe Bay, danger follows in her wake. After one attempt on her life, she’s been assigned brash but sexy Jack MacAlister as a bodyguard by the cautious FBI. Amid great peril and deadly intrigue in the unforgiving Alaskan terrain, she and Jack form an uneasy alliance sparked with sensual attraction. But they will soon be fighting more than their growing passion for each other. Powerful forces will stop at nothing to prevent the exposure of the sinister conspiracy Sophie and Jack are about to uncover.

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My thoughts: What I really like with Garwood is that she is such a strong character writer. Especially when it comes to the females. I’m a huge critic when it comes to females and often finds them dumb, childish, meek and excessive. But never with Garwood. I receive pretty much what I expect and it never disappoint me. This one was just as good as always when it comes to the writing, character and such. The plot however I found a little weak. I really liked Sophie’s history and enigmatic father but Jack could have used a little more work and the story a little more depth. I missed that … umpf… in lack of better words.

Nothing bad really, just didn’t earn the last star but certainly not a bad book in any means. This is the 7 book in the series about Buchanan-Renard family and it is safe to say, I will continue it.

Contemporary · Romance · Young, New adult/College

Under Locke – Mariana Zapata

20613920| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: He was my boss, my brother’s friend, a Widower, an ex-felon, and a man I’d seen casually with a handful of women. But he was everything that gripped me, both the good and the bad. Worst case scenario if things turned awkward between us, I could go somewhere else. I’d gotten over epic heartbreak before, one more wouldn’t kill me.

After moving to Austin following six months of unemployment back home, Iris Taylor knows she should be glad to have landed a job so quickly… even if the business is owned by a member of the same motorcycle club her estranged father used to belong to. Except Dex Locke might just be the biggest jerk she’s ever met. He’s rude, impatient and doesn’t know how to tell time. And the last thing they ever expected was each other.
But it was either the strip club or the tattoo shop.

… she should have chosen the strip club.

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My thoughts: Mariana is one of my favorite authors with her unique writing style and thoughtful plots. And even though I often find it a delight reading her books, I can’t say that it I fell for Under Locke. In my opinion, of those book I have read so far, this is certainly the weakest one. I can see how she tried to achieve some strong, kick ass characters but it fell flat on so many levels.

My biggest problem was really Iris and that she certainly is not an character easy to love. She prides herself with not holding grudges, but like 60% of the books is constant nagging about what a dick one character is, what an asshole another are and it goes on and on and on. I can’t stand that type of self-pity and it drives me nuts that she sounds like a broken record. She is almost 25 years old but often acts like 15. Yeah I know she have had a hard life and so on, but then you would expect a more mature woman.

The plot is pretty straight forward. Woman has troubles with finding job, finds a job working for an asshole. Female fall in love with asshole and lo and behold, he is not an asshole after all. Just a man with many layers. Unfortunately those layers was not as deep as expected.

Overall it is a good book. It is quite entertaining and so on but so much dwelling is annoying to read. This book will not change my opinion regarding Mariana Zapata. I see it as a bad day, everyone has one and this book is just one of Mariana Zapatas bad days. Still okay but not as good as I know it can be.

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 · Suspense

The ghost – Jessica Gadziala

39313789.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Sloane has everything she thought she ever wanted- a great career, a great apartment, great clothes, a life she had worked hard for.

Until one night, one chance encounter, one decision that changed everything.

With no options left, she enlists the help of Quinton Baird & Associates, who promptly inform her that she has to leave it all – the career, the apartment, the life she had worked so hard to build for herself – behind.

If all that wasn’t enough, her entire future – and life in general – was in the hands of a man whose coworkers called ‘The Ghost.’ Because that was what he did; he ghosted people, hid them, gave them new lives, made them impossible to find.

With no other choice, she agrees to his terms, climbs in a car with him, and travels almost clear across the country toward her new life. But the long hours on the road – and even longer hours in cabins and hotel rooms – together start to show her things. Like how unhappy she had actually been, how hollow her life was, how much she had denied herself in the name of superficial success.

And maybe, just maybe, how much she was starting to see how wrong first impressions can be, and how much a person can begin to mean to you when you decided to let them in…

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My thoughts: Such a sweet story. You mostly knows what to expect while starting a Jessica Gadziala book. Sweet, funny, sexy, sometimes a little angst filled, exciting and a lot of hot. And this is certainly not an exception. But I did miss a little more suspense. I know I’m always say that about her books and I do know she is not that type of author. But I’m that type of reader and little more suspense either in the case or in the relationship would have done it for me. But it is still not in any way a bad book. I really loved it. I loved Gunner and Sloane. How due to preconceptions, their relationship started off on the wrong foot and when they finally realized that not everything i s what it seems, it really started to hit it off.

There is a lot of tension in this one. Tension in the case, the situations and between the characters. But still it is easy and fun to read. Maybe because you already know how it will end but that doesn’t bother me. You get to know some of the other characters and oh my, my heart is breaking for Kai. He has his own book next in line in the series so I do someday in the near future get to know what will happen.

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.

Adult fiction/Erotica · Chick Lit · Humor/Funny · Mystery/Crime · Romance · Suspense

Sweet Dreams – Kristen Ashley

18656253| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: She’s ready for the ride of her life . . . 

Lauren Grahame is looking to reinvent herself. After leaving her cheating husband, Lauren moves to Carnal, Colorado, and gets a job as a waitress in a biker bar called Bubba’s. It’s a nothing job in a nowhere joint . . . until Tatum Jackson walks in. Lauren has never seen a man with such good looks, muscles, and attitude. But when he insults her, Lauren doesn’t want anything to do with him. Too bad for Lauren he’s also the bar’s part owner and bartender.

When the rough-around-the-edges Tate meets the high-class Lauren, he thinks she won’t fit in at Bubba’s. Yet there’s more to Lauren than meets the eye, and Tate soon sets his mind on claiming her as his own. Before long, the desire burning between them is heating up the cold mountain air. But when violence strikes the town, Tate must reveal a dark secret to Lauren-one that may put an end to their sweet dreams.

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My thoughts: Overall I would like to describe the book as deep, complex characters, complicated, thrilling, butterflies in my stomach, knock me on my head, god damn perfect with that satisfying ending, horrible tearful chapters and beautiful closing. I can’t enough English words to try explain what I’m feeling. But for me, this book, was pure perfection and exactly what I needed, wanted and sought.

KA is starting to be an addiction. I literally have to prevent myself from binge reading all her books. That is how good she is. And this is as usual a book who takes hold of you from the first page. It hooked me and never let go. I’m happy I started reading this only a day before the weekend because work at Friday was awful. I could not stop thinking about the book. I dreamed about it in the nights and on the days I only wanted to look myself in my home, abandon society, all my responsibilities, sleep and food. All I wanted was Lauren and Tatum.

It is a sweet story really. I love the characters and how diverse they were. Ashley is such a great author who writes these perfect characters that are deep, complicated and so easy to love or hate. I get invested in all her books and it is like I know them. I connected so hard with this one that when I ended the book, I could not stand starting a new romantic book right now. That is how huge impression this book, these characters and their story made on me. I can only say, read it! Hopefully you will to, love it.

Contemporary · Romance

Rock chick revolution – Kristen Ashley

15752757| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Ally Nightingale has secrets. Secrets she doesn’t even share with the Rock Chicks. But two men know what she’s up to. One has her back. The other has her heart, but he doesn’t know it.

As Ally rewinds the last year of her life, she knows two things. One, she’s never going to get what every Rock Chick should have—her own Hot Bunch guy. And two, she’s a Nightingale through and through. She just isn’t sure what to do about that.

But as her secrets are revealed, the men in her life react. Darius Tucker, a lifelong friend, as usual takes her back. Ren Zano, the man she loves, isn’t quite so sure. The Rock Chicks, Hot Bunch and the entire gang at Fortnum’s weigh in, and a Rock Chick Revolution starts brewing.

It’s up to Ally to control it and prove what she knows down to her bones.

She’s a Rock Chick, she deserves her hot guy and she’s going to keep the one she wants…

Because she’s a Nightingale.

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My thoughts:I have been waiting and looking forward to Allys story through out the whole series. This is the eight book and since she has been a big part of the Rock Chick buildup and that her character have had pretty big parts in the earlier books, I thought I knew her pretty well. I was however pleased to learn that there was more to her than I first thought. She is probably the deepest character in the whole series. You get to know her on a completely other lever since you get to follow her and her action/reaction to the other Rock Chicks Sh*t going down.

The book is build a little different than the others. Here, Ren is already in her life and Ally is not in that kind of trouble as the other Rock Chicks have been in there own books. The plus with this is that the whole relationship buildup and fights, is pretty short, done and over with. Then certainly gets old after seven books so I was pleased. When the story really starts (after highlights of the last 13 months) it is more steady, calm but not in any other way less hot than what you are used to in the other books. The story is also a little more personal than what I would expect and it was nice. Refreshing. But in no other way bad.

The biggest problem I have is that is is a little to slow. There is to many things going on, but no one is really deep or action filled. I missed the suspense. I missed the nail biting, sitting on the edge, shaking my knees feeling that I was expected. I can certainly understand why it took KA 5 years to resume the Rock Chick series, since this was like an ending. It was done and the action is over with. No more hot bunch and no more Denver kickass. Since KA has a lot of other books and the few I have read, I have loved I do not see that as bad thing. But now, after this one I do understand why she never tried to continue it, until earlier this year.

I fair warning, this book did produce a lot of tears from me. Good tears, but still tears and there was a lot of different feelings in a lot of different levels. Just so you know. 😉

Contemporary · Romance

The Gamble – Kristen Ashley

18246040| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Love is the greatest gamble of all…

Nina Sheridan desperately needs a timeout vacation. With a fiancé who can’t even remember how she takes her coffee, Nina wants some distance to rethink her engagement. Flying halfway around the world from England to a mountain town in Colorado should do the trick. But when she finds a gorgeous man at her rental cabin, Nina’s cold, lonely adventure suddenly heats up.

The owner of the house, Holden “Max” Maxwell is surprised by the beautiful woman who turns up at his door. But when Nina becomes ill, Max spends days nursing her back to health. A private man with a broken heart, Max finds himself drawn to the strong-willed woman. Soon it becomes impossible for Nina and Max to deny their growing attraction to one another. Yet even as these two wounded lovebirds think about taking a chance on a relationship, a dangerous secret from Max’s past emerges-and threatens to end their love for good.

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My thoughts: O my heart, please calm down! This book was all kinds of sweet and adorable. Right into your heart, knock you on the ass, wonderful. What it is with Kristen Ashley and her books that leaves you with this warm, fuzzy feelings when you are done. She is certainly a great storyteller and even though I felt this one was somewhat predictable, I didn’t mind. Because I was lost and cozy deep in the story and loved my journey to the end even though I had pretty much figured it all out.

KA is a fantastic writer with the ability to write great Heroes and Heroines you can not do other than love. Specially the guys. I loved Max. I loved how real he was. With his history, life and courage. I’m not a big fan on the the dead spouse plot, but it did work in this book. It didn’t get a lot of focus which I believe is the reason for that it worked. I really liked Nina too, though she was a little to immature for a grown woman in the middle of her thirties and with the bad history and experience as she had, I feel she should have been able to handle some stuff a lot better than she did. But I could ignore it for the most part and just enjoy her and Max and the story unfolding. There is also some great second characters and side plot unfolding beside the main one. There is also another small love story at the side and it is just wonderful to take part of it.

This is a book that sucks you in. You do not have a choice. And when done, you also want your own A-frame in a Colorado mountain with your own Mountain main. I do not have a A-frame in the Colorado mountain and will probably never have since I then have to move to the other side of the world. Fortunately, I already have my Mountain man so i’m okay with that.

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!!” 😉