Hard Justice (Cobra Elite #3) by Pamela Clare

E-Reader Addict Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

After a less-than-stellar 2019 reading year, it was SUCH a relief to end on a book that I wasn’t able to put down!

Quinn McManus and Elizabeth Shields work for Cobra International Securities, which is why – even though they’ve both enjoyed their shameless flirtations for years – they can’t take their strong attraction any further.

When Quinn heads home to Scotland after the news that his best friend has been murdered, he doesn’t believe the police report that the murder was a drug-related robbery. So he calls Elizabeth to see if she can use her tech-genius computer skills to hack into his friend’s phone logs.

Because Elizabeth knows Quinn is prone to acting without thinking through all the consequences, she gives up her much needed vacation time and travels to Scotland to help Quinn unravel the mystery surrounding his best friend’s murder. Between following the meager leads and being chased by unknown bad guys, they also spend some quality time sightseeing and getting to know each other on a much more personal level. By the time the mystery is solved and the bad guys dealt with, they have to decide if – or how – they are going to deal with Cobra’s non-fraternization clause.

Once again, Pamela Clare gives the reader the perfect balance of suspense and sexy. I feel like this third book in the Cobra Elite series dragged a little – especially in the middle. Whereas in the first two books (Hard Target and Hard Asset) we knew who the bad guys were but not what they were going to do, this time it took the entirety of the book to know who the bad guys were and what the reason for the murder was. There was a lot of Quinn and Elizabeth discussing and debating what they already knew, and who could be the bad guy. I think I was as frustrated as they were that their investigation wasn’t going anywhere.

But Ms. Clare nails everything else. The pacing, the chemistry between Quinn and Elizabeth, the steamy and witty dialogue, everything pulled me in and didn’t let go. I sat down after dinner to read Hard Justice and didn’t stop until I was finished. I’m not sure how many books will be in this series, but I hope many, many more. Romantic suspense is my favorite sub-genre to read, but it’s also the hardest to please me because I want equal parts of romance AND suspense. There are few authors who deliver on that, so when I find one who does, it makes me a really, really happy reader!

* thank you to NetGalley and Leap Day Productions for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn

E-Reader Addict Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

This was one of my most anticipated books for 2019. When I saw the ARC for Love Lettering available on NetGalley I hit that request button SO fast, because Ms. Clayborn’s three book Chance of a Lifetime series was fantastic – every single one of them. But all that anticipation also comes with trepidation…will this new book live up to my expectations…will it be as charming and unique as her other books?

The answer…is both no and yes.

Meg Macworth is becoming somewhat well-known in New York City for her hand lettering skills. But a year ago, before her career had taken off, she designed a wedding program for a couple. While designing the program she felt a compulsion to create a bit of a hidden message. Now Reid Sutherland, the former groom-to-be, has shown up at the shop where she meets her clients, demanding to know how Meg knew his relationship was doomed. When Reid makes a side comment about how he hates New York, Meg takes it upon herself to show him all the great signs there are around the city. Their relationship goes from awkward acquaintances, to friends, to falling in love.

The most fantastic thing about reading is that sometimes I enjoy a book because I can relate to the characters or the things they’re going through. Other times, it’s because I’m able to step into someone else’s world. As someone who hasn’t an artistic bone in her body, I found this story about a letterer – and how she “sees” letters, almost like they are living, breathing beings – fascinating.

However…the first 40 percent of this book was SO SLOW. Sure, there were glimpses of the quirky, unique way her characters think, but otherwise it didn’t make for good reading to me. I was having a hard time putting my finger on why that was, and I think I landed on the fact that the first 40 percent was a lot in Meg’s head. There wasn’t a whole lot on interaction between the hero and heroine – or other characters – which is where Ms. Clayborn shines.

It was also often awkward to read because, well, the characters themselves were awkward. Which left me wondering if Ms. Clayborn is a brilliant writer (since she could make me feel the awkwardness), or not. Because for all the awkwardness…this book didn’t pull me right in – which is what I’ve come to expect from Ms. Clayborn.

Had this not been a Kate Clayborn book, I’m sure I would have quit on it much too soon. So many things made me chuckle, and the sense of humor is what kept me reading.

Once I got to the second part of the book though, I couldn’t put it down. We have a heroine with a scandalous backstory, who is still trying to find her way as an adult, with a unique career. And in a deep, wide sea of billionaire military alpha males, it’s refreshing to have an awkward, slightly nerdy hero who is unsure of himself and hesitant to go after the girl. We have a relationship that develops naturally, and at a realistic pace. And the best part…when things got bumpy between Meg and Reid, it was SO refreshing to see a heroine face the uncertainty and land on having confidence in their relationship instead of taking some random “facts” and believing the worst about Reid.

At the end of the day, I’m charmed by this book’s originality and how the author doesn’t take the cliched routes with her storylines. My rating really doesn’t reflect how much I enjoyed this story, especially since it took a plot turn I didn’t even come close to seeing! But I just can’t get past how much I didn’t enjoy over a third of the book. I’m glad I stuck with it though. There is a shortage of authors creating such unique characters and original stories, and I can’t wait for Ms. Clayborn’s next book!

Silver-Tongued Devil (Portland Devils #1) by Rosalind James

E-Reader Addict Rating: 🌟

I’ve been a big fan of Rosalind James and her Escape to New Zealand series (as well as a few other random books of hers here and there), so I didn’t hesitate to one-click this one in a new series.

But I tapped out at 40%.

I fully confess that I may be in a mood. The holidays are stressful, I don’t like being cold, and it’s not been a good reading year overall so my patience is thin. I kept coming back to Silver-Tonged Devil for over a week but just couldn’t make myself care about either the hero or heroine. I couldn’t make myself like either of them. There’s a fine line between a heroine who is plucky and has grit..and one who has a chip on her shoulder. And this one had a chip on her shoulder. And if I still don’t have a sense of the hero being a good guy after 40%, will I ever???

I need something that’s going to engage and entertain me right now, and this one was not doing it. So I’m putting this one in my DNF pile and moving on. Hopefully to something that puts me in a better mood.

That Forever Girl (Getting Lucky #2) by Meghan Quinn

E-Reader Addict Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

I was really looking forward to reading That Forever Girl. I’m a big fan of the second-chance romance! Sadly though, this one didn’t completely work for me…

Rogan and Harper were friends growing up, then became sweethearts in high school who made plans for their life together forever. But then a tragic accident took away those plans and Rogan broke off their engagement. Seven years later, Harper suddenly shows back up at home in Port Snow, Maine where Rogan has been living since breaking Harper’s heart. He’s not the least bit happy to see her. When he finds out she plans to stay in their hometown, he’s forced to deal with the past and learn to live with Harper’s presence around town and his family’s incessant meddling.

The thing I love about stories with big families is the banter and bickering between the siblings. With four brothers and a long-suffering sister, there is an abundance of humor with the Knightley family.

But there were a couple big things that really rubbed me the wrong way in this story.

First, I didn’t like that what tore Harper and Rogan apart was held over our heads for 75 percent of the book. I know authors do that to build mystery or drama in the story. But for me? I just get irritated. So instead of being able to enjoy the book, I spend my whole time wondering if the couple’s separation is truly tragic…or just people being dumb and immature. And because I’m cynical I assume it’s because they were dumb, so I’m even more irritated. Also, I don’t generally mind the storytelling technique of throwing in chapters with parts of the past, but this time it just added to my frustration. Just tell me what happened already!!! At least when we FINALLY learn what happened, it truly was sad and tragic. It also included a bit of a plot twist/shocking revelation, but I felt it was an odd thing to throw in considering it would have been such a huge part of Rogan’s life, yet nothing about it was mentioned at all before???

Secondly, as much as I love a good second chance romance, this one irritated the crap out of me because it was written more like an enemies-to-lovers plot – with teasing and jabs and sarcasm in abundance. But it doesn’t work here. Why? Because the hero knows how badly he hurt the heroine, and you can’t make sarcastic jabs and be mean to someone who is genuinely hurting. That makes you a bully. And also an ass hole. Seriously, his behavior had her in tears multiple times and he just keeps acting like a jerk. I don’t get the whole “I’m going to push you away for your own good, and treat you like crap for good measure” thing. ESPECIALLY not from someone who is supposed to be an adult. The whole time I kept wanting him to be kind and tender with her broken and bruised heart, and instead he keeps acting like a middle-schooler. GRRRR. I could understand why Rogan behaved the way he did in the past, I could even understand why he didn’t try to make amends sometime during the past seven years. But even though I thought it was very sweet the way he kept her memory close while they were apart, I was never able to get myself to forgive him for the way he treated Harper when she first came back.

Lastly, I find the whole “love curse” storyline – while not as prominent in this book as it was in the first one – silly. It could be funny, but here it’s not working for me. Then we have the added storyline with the old manor house which started out a little cheese-a-roni, but ended up being kind of sweet in the end.

Despite having such negative feelings toward the hero for the majority of the story, I ended up liking the book. I just wish the hero hadn’t been such a jerk for most of the story. Once Rogan decided to win Harper back, even though some of his methods smacked of junior high antics, I enjoyed things much more. Will I keep reading this series? Eh, I’m not really sure. I’ve enjoyed Meghan Quinn before, but this series is kinda rubbing me the wrong way. So…we’ll see.

Winter Hawk: A Raptor Holiday Novella (Evidence #9) by Rachel Grant

E-Reader Addict Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

I had decided to stay away from holiday themed books this year after last year’s lineup left me feeling more bah humbug and less fa la la la la. But when I saw this novella available from my newest-author discovery I couldn’t help myself!

Leah Ellis found herself fired from her government contract job and stranded without money, a phone, a car, and with no place to go even if she did have any of those things. When she’s met by a man, holding her last name, standing next to a car after being escorted out of the building by military police, she doesn’t have much choice but to accept the ride.Nate Sifuentes wasn’t happy about playing driver for his brother’s car service, but that turns out to be a lucky turn of events when he discovers Leah is being followed and framed for a series of crimes. He’ll need all his skills as a security expert to keep her safe and all his contacts to help prevent disaster.

Romantic suspense is one of my favorite genres, but it’s also the most difficult to please me because I want equal parts of both the romance AND the suspense. And giving a well-developed plot with adequate character development can be extra difficult given the confines of a novella. Yet Ms. Grant did an excellent job with both. The plot was fast-paced and kept me guessing who the bad guy was – which, with how much I read, is rare. I also liked the hero and heroine, but…I had a hard time with the insta-love aspect of their relationship. I like it better when relationships develop more realistically, and I just had a hard time buying this one. It WAS pretty hot though…

I’m definitely going to be reading more Rachel Grant. From what I’ve read of her so far, she nails the suspenseful action-packed plots, and delivers on the romance. I can’t ask for a better Christmas reading present than that!

* thank you to NetGalley and Janus Publishing for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Indefinite (Salvation #6) and Infinite (Salvation #7) – The Indefinite Duet by Corinne Michaels

       
E-Reader Addict Rating: 🌟🌟🌟                       E-Reader Addict Rating: 🌟🌟

2.5 Stars for duet

I’ve been a fan of Corinne Michaels since her very first book. She’s the queen of angsty, heartbreaking, stomach-dropping stories. But lately, I find myself less enthusiastic about reading her new releases and the Indefinite Duet is just one of the reasons why.

Ashton has been waiting patiently for her boyfriend of three years to leave his position as a Navy SEAL so they can start the family he knows she desperately wants. But when Quinn tells her he’s heading out on another mission to unknown parts for an undetermined amount of time, breaking another promise to leave the military, Ashton feels she has no choice but to break things off. Heartbroken, she makes plans to have a child on her own.

Of course, just as she’s started putting her plan into motion, Quinn reappears in her life promising to give her everything she wants. Ashton isn’t sure she believes Quinn when he says he’s all in, so Quinn goes full force into wooing mode. In true romancelandia style, a single night of passion results in a pregnancy. Ashton is thrilled, Quinn is unexpectedly thrilled. Everything is going great.

Then the happy train starts to go off the tracks at the end of book one (Indefinite – Salvation #6).

In book two (Infinite, Salvation #7), the train completely derails – both story-wise AND writing-wise.

This could have been a really intense, emotional story of a woman who loves a man (and the man who also loves her but won’t make a permanent commitment) and wants to have a family with him. Instead we get a heroine who acted like a high school student most of the time. Nothing is more annoying to me than a character who is supposed to be an adult but is immature, and that is exactly what we got with Ashton’s “I love you so much, go away and don’t come back” behavior. Despite that, I could still sympathize with her longing to have a family and the disappointment she felt at feeling like the man she loved would never be able to give her what she wants. I found the writing and the story in book one to be heartfelt and compelling.

Then we get book two, which was melodramatic to the nth degree.

And it’s not that I had any big problem with how the heroine was behaving, or what she was thinking or feeling – after all, you’re allowed to be a little dramatic when you go through traumatic events. Where I got irritated is ALL THE REPEATED ANGST. If Ashton had a thought, she had it 20 times and we got to read it all 20 times. Call me cynical…but lose 15 of those repetitions for all the different laments she had (this is all my fault, Quinn has no reason to stay with me, my life will never be the same, I’ll never get what I want, I don’t know who I am or who I’m going to be from here…), and there’s no need for a book two. The first several chapters were good, but then we get about 60% whining (I’ll admit to being ungracious here – I really do feel bad for what Ashton went through, but I just got tired of reading the same things over and over), before we get more angst, followed by a trite and drawn out epilogue.

Besides the second book being overly dramatic, there’s also the issue of an undeveloped storyline. Cole Securities sends Quinn on a mission to look into who may be leaking information and causing things to go wrong, but there’s very little about exactly what is going wrong and why the bad guy may be doing it. This story was in serious need of a side plot to water down the drama llama, but it wasn’t utilized the way it could have been.

Also, Quinn goes through a traumatic experience in his final deployment, but it doesn’t seem to affect him at all – beyond the epiphany he has about wanting to have a family with Ashton. For someone who had been seriously injured and lost people close to him, he sure seemed rather unaffected by it, and that also seemed like a storyline that could have been utilized to give these books more depth.

I wanted to like this story, especially because I’m a huge fan of the second chance romance. I love that moment when the hero comes groveling back! And Quinn – despite being the jerk who pushes a woman away “for her own good” – actually redeemed himself in my eyes, and was an admirable hero. But book two was too long and drawn out to keep my interest and instead made me cranky. A little angst and drama is good, but too much is NOT good, and that’s what book two was all about.

Hopefully in the future Ms. Michaels will tighten things up and not have her characters go on and on. Or maybe my reading tastes have changed and my tolerance for that kind of storytelling has diminished. Who knows. What I do know is that I didn’t hate this book, but I didn’t like it all that much either. 🙄

The Regret Duet by Aly Martinez

     
E-Reader Addict Rating: 🌟🌟                 E-Reader Addict Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

I’m a huge Aly Martinez fan. I love the stories she creates, with all the twists and turns.

But good grief. The plot for this duet must have been the result of a girls’ Las Vegas weekend where copious amounts of alcohol were consumed. ‘Cause this here was some whacked out stuff. I can’t even give you a synopsis because I don’t think I could give you one without giving anything away. I will tell you this though…the synopsis given for Written with Regret is very deceptive. And I’m not sure how I feel about that. I’m all for a vague synopsis – if an author wants their book to be all mysterious, more power to them! But to have something that is purposely misleading doesn’t sit right with me.

Anyway…

This story is told in present day, with chapters thrown in here and there about a tragic event from the past. I’m not a big fan of this kind of storytelling, and I’m not sure I liked it here, but the thing it had going for it is that the present chapters aren’t littered with hints about the past which are held over the reader’s head. Hooray for that!

For whatever reason, book one (Written with Regret) brought out the snark in me. It started with the hero’s name…how do you even pronounce Caven??? (FYI – it’s finally explained at the end of book two, and rhymes with Gavin…) Then, I didn’t like the hero, and I didn’t feel the four year old was portrayed accurately. And our heroine is an artist who is in her late 20s, selling paintings for a million dollars? Give me a break. I know this is fiction and all, but let’s have things be at least a little realistic. Because we all know nothing else in this book resembles anything close to reality.

I liked book two (Written with You) better. Again, I’m not going to give my own review synopsis here because I can’t even imagine how I would do it without spoilers. But the ending – the whole storyline, really – was made up of one crapstorm after another. Like I said…this was some seriously whacked out stuff with convoluted situations of epic proportions.

Too much alcohol is the only reasonable explanation for how Ms. Martinez came up with all of it.

The only thing I did like was best friend/lawyer Beth, who was the classic Aly Martinez character who’s full of sarcastic wit and snark. Everything else was a mixed bag.

When you throw in the fact that I’m not sure why this needed to be a duet, I’m finding myself less enthusiastic about this author. Which is a shame because her Wrecked and Ruined series is one of my all-time favorites. I miss the days when authors would give us complete stories in a single book. Maybe they think their readers are afraid of long books? I don’t know. But to this reader it feels like a cash-grab because neither of the books in this duet was great. I will confess to being a total cheapskate. But I’m also not opposed to paying money for really good books with really good stories. I just don’t think that’s what we’re getting here. So on top of being underwhelmed by the stories, I’m bitter about the lost dollars…

Will I keep reading Aly Martinez? Yeah, of course I will. I’m not going to let a couple less-than-stellar stories put me off her books. She’s had far more great ones than ones I didn’t like and I have my fingers crossed that the next ones will be more to my liking.

The Proposing Kind (Brew Ha Ha #4) by Bria Quinlan

E-Reader Addict Rating: 🌟🌟

I was so excited to find out Hailey Tate and Connor Ryan were getting a sequel – SO excited – because I don’t like “happy for now” endings, which is what we were left with in The Catching Kind. And it’s always fun to revisit favorite characters!

Hailey and Connor have been together for five months now. When Connor wakes Hailey up early one morning rambling about things, including something about getting married, Hailey isn’t sure if it was a proposal…or not. So she calls an emergency meeting with all her friends and gets various and assorted opinions about what to do. In the meantime, Connor is acting a little odd – even for him – and Hailey ponders whether or not she’s ready to make such a big step.

Unfortunately, this sequel fell a bit flat for me. I’m sure part of the reason why is because I absolutely LOVED The Catching Kind. I don’t even like the fake relationship trope, or the enemies-to-lovers trope (both of which were represented in that book), and I loved it. I’ve even pointed to The Catching Kind as fake-relationship-trope done right in several other reviews! So I went in with some pretty high expectations.

I think where this one went sideways for me is in the amount of Hailey and Tate we get. It started out well – with a quick scene where Connor behaves like his impulsive self, which leaves Hailey scratching her head. From there, it’s all mayhem and internal monologue. Mostly mayhem in the internal monologue. The other characters from the series flit in and out, making brief appearances. And I didn’t connect with any of it.

I actually started this book way back in July 2017 – right when it was released. But then I got sidetracked by another book. Then another. Then another. And next thing I knew it was back on page 18 of 22 on my Kindle books list. When I found myself caught up on my ARC reading the end of November I decided to go back and catch up on some of the books that had gotten buried, and when I found The Proposing Kind I knew it would be a good one to read while on vacation. It did provide a couple hours of entertainment, but failed to warm my heart the way the others in the series did. Still, it was good to get just a little bit more of the Brew Ha Ha gang, even if it wasn’t completely satisfying.

Ride the High Lonesome (Outlaw Trail #1) by Rosanne Bittner

E-Reader Addict Rating: 🌟🌟🌟

Last week was Thanksgiving here in the United States, a time where we reflect on the things we’re thankful for. Every time I read a western, I’m thankful I was born in the late 20th century. I’m also thankful for good books.

Kate Winters lost her husband in the Civil War. With nothing tying her to Indiana, she joined a small wagon train heading to Oregon, where her brother and his family live. But somewhere in the middle of Utah the group was attacked by outlaws and Kate barely escaped with her life. After several days of wandering she came across another group of outlaws in the process of hanging a man. Hiding behind some bushes she waited until they left, only to discover the poor man hanging wasn’t dead. After much effort she’s able to cut him down and nurse him until his strength returns.

Luke Bowden can hardly believe he’s still alive, and he’s grateful to the beautiful woman who saved his life. But he has to get to the closest town – which is over 20 miles away – so he can retrieve his cattle and get revenge on the men who tried to kill him.

Ride the Lonesome High is a good old fashioned western, complete with outlaws, cattle rustlers, and saloon shootouts. The story was action packed from beginning to end, and for the most part I really enjoyed it. What I didn’t enjoy was the repeated internal thoughts by both the main characters, which is what dropped the rating down a star. (On the upside, at least it wasn’t about how hawt the hero is…so there’s that.)

Historical romance isn’t a genre I actively try to read, but this book kept me engaged from the first page, all the way to the last. So I’ll definitely be looking to read more from this series!

* thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review