A Highland Wolf Christmas

A Highland Wolf Christmas by Terry Spear has an alpha wolf and a strong she-wolf who fall for each other. Calla is a party planner who was hired by the MacNeill clan to plan their Christmas celebration. Guthrie MacNeill is the financial adviser for the clan and he has to assist Calla in the party planning. The story is described this way, but I found it was more of a carry over from a previous book. Calla is being protected by the MacNeill clan from her ex-fiancee while she is planning their Christmas party. Guthrie is one of those assigned to protect her, and both he and Calla try to fight it when they start falling for each other. Unfortunately, this book wasn't a stand alone to me. I enjoyed the story a lot, but there were so many references to story lines that had happened before this book and no explanation for those who hadn't read the previous story. I will most likely go back and start this series over from the beginning because the writing was strong and enticing, and I would like to get the back story for this one. This story gets a 4 star rating instead of the 5 stars that it probably would have gotten if the back story had been explained better.

Amazon Goodreads

Bound by His Desire

I really enjoyed Bound by His Desire. It is the story of Nick Rhodes, a wealthy businessman and Pamela Bishop, the woman he hires to be his assistant. Nick notices Pam for the first time when she is walking down the aisle towards him at his best friend's wedding. It wasn't the first time they'd met however, the first time was the previous night at the rehearsal dinner. Nick was wary to hire Pam because he is attracted to her and has a rule about not dating his assistants. They do end up working together and things get more complicated from there. Pam was really good at calling Nick on being a jerk to her and the fact that he kept running hot and cold with her. One minute he'd be kissing her and then the next he'd be treating her like she was a piece of trash. I'd get frustrated with Nick's treatment of Pam, but I could also see it was because he was torn and scared. Nick had something happen to him that was the reason for his hard rule about not becoming involved with his assistants, so when he can't seem to deny the attraction to Pam it makes him question things. This book gets 4.5 stars from me along with a desire to read the book before this one and any that come after. This is a must read for romance fans.

Amazon
Goodreads

Finding Home

Finding Home by Roxanne Snopek fell short for me. This is a story of a woman who moves back to Marietta Montana, where she spent a short piece of her childhood, and the man she loved while they were both in high school. Samara Davis moved back as a widow, with her daughter Jade. Their house wasn't ready for them to move in and when Samara goes to look at the house, she finds out that the foreman on the job is her high school love Logan. I had a problem with how the relationship progressed between these two. It just didn't feel natural or real to me. It seemed like the entire story was written at the last minute and just didn't keep me enticed. I don't think I'll be reading this one again. I love the Marietta books, but not this one. It gets 2.5 stars from me.

Amazon
Goodreads

Sing Me Back Home

Sing Me Back Home was a sweet story that involved falling in love with a first love again. Maya and Jack were high school loves, but things ended rapidly right after graduation. When Maya moves back, she is divorced and Jack is widowed. They end up dating again, but Jack holds himself back because Jack doesn't want to lose someone else he loves. I enjoyed this story, but there was one issue I had with it. The author did more telling than showing with the characters. There were things like "They talked" instead of showing the conversation. I also wish there would have been more interaction with the character's teenage daughters. The writing style brings this down to a 3.5 star rating. I did enjoy the story and will probably read this one again despite those complaints. It is a good addition to the Marietta Montana books and worth reading.

Amazon
Goodreads

Cowboy on Her Doorstep

I really enjoyed Cowboy on Her Doorstep by Pam Mantovani. This is the first book I've read by Pam and it definitely won't be the last. Logan has spent the last 5 years in the military and the night before he left he slept with his best friend Kendall. He didn't know it at the time, but she got pregnant with his baby. Kendall kept the fact that she had a child from Logan, but when he comes home she admits that her daughter his also his. They develop feelings for each other as they get to know the other one again. Logan was sexy and strong. He was adamant about getting to know his daughter, but he also respected that Kendall knew Marissa (their daughter) better, so she knew when the right time was to let Marissa know that he was her father. Kendall was scared to let Logan in, but understood that Marissa needed to know her father. I got a kick out of how Logan and Marissa met for the first time and liked that Marissa didn't particularly like Logan because she thought he was being mean to her mom. They did end up loving each other and their relationship developed in a realistic and heartwarming way. This book gets 4.5 stars from me and I hope that there will be a sequel of Logan's brother and Kendall's best friend.

Goodreads Amazon

Undeniable

Undeniable by Ashley Simone was a hot novella that had one big flaw...it was a cliffhanger. I enjoyed how hot the story between Allie and Zac was, but not enough to pay $2.99 for the next in the story. It is approximately 70 pages and too cryptic for me to get invested in as little of the story as there was. Allie and Zac meet at the diner where she works, then they happen to meet again at a bar. Well, for some reason Zac won't go up to Allie's place with her. When Allie answers Zac's add for a prostitute, he will have sex with her. (The reason Allie needs to answer the ad is because her brother got mixed up in drugs and owes someone $20k, so this is her way to get the money for him.) If the story wasn't a cliffhanger I'd probably be giving it 4 stars, but as it is the story gets 3. I'll definitely pick up the other two stories if they become free, but I'm not paying $2.99 for so little story.

 

Goodreads

Amazon

The Honeymoon Prize

The Honeymoon Prize is a sweet story about two friends who have always wondered what it would be like to be together but never acted on their feelings for fear of ruining their friendship. In some ways it was what I expected, but in other ways it wasn't. Nick needed a wife to keep his job and try to prevent the wives of his clients from hitting on him. Who does he ask to be his temporary wife? His best friend, Addie. They have known each other since they were 5 and that's why Nick thinks she'll make the perfect wife. Nick and Addie were entered into a contest by a friend of Addie and won an all expenses paid honeymoon and new wardrobe. The catch that the friend neglected to tell them is the honeymoon was also a reality TV show. Because of the show, the couple is forced to kiss and that leads to their feelings coming to the surface. I really enjoyed this book and give it a strong 4.5 stars. I'll definitely be reading it again.

AmazonGoodreads

Season for Desire

Season for Desire wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. I couldn't get into the story as much as I should of been and when I did get into the story I didn't stay in it for long. There was too much emphasis put on secondary characters and not enough put on the main characters. I don't need to know what the Heroine's sister's fiancee thinks about his upcoming wedding. The constant switching of perspectives was one thing that pulled me out of the story. The blurb of the story says, "Audrina pursues mischief with gusto, attending scandalous parties and indulging in illicit affairs." The only thing that is really shown instead of told is about her affair because that is what gets her into trouble and how she meets the hero Giles. Neither Audrina nor Giles were very strong characters. I expected them both to have pretty strong personalities, but they went along meekly with what their fathers told them to do. I give this story a 3 star rating and unfortunately don't foresee reading it again.

AmazonGoodreads

Loves Own Reward

In Loves Own Reward by Dana Ransom, Charley risked her life to save a little boy and almost got killed trying to go back for his parents. She didn't know it at the time, but she saved the only grandchild of a rich family. The grandparents of the boy offered Charley a reward and she took it. Jess McMasters was also at the wreck and he was the one who prevented Charley from dying. He is a journalist known for taking the most heart warming thing and bringing out its ugly side in a way that captivates readers. Jess decided his latest story was Charley and why she took the money. She says she doesn't know what she'll do with it, but Jess is determined to prove she did everything for selfish reasons. He keeps the fact that he is a reporter and is writing a story on her to himself as he continues to get closer. What he doesn't realizes is Charley is truly a good person and its going to turn his cynical side upside down. This was a good book, but Jess seemed a little more Beta than I was expecting. I tend to read books with really Alpha men so Jess was a nice change. He actually knew that he was screwing up and made some (halfhearted) attempts at letting Charley know what he was up to. This was a good story although a bit long (never thought I'd say that but I did). This gets 4 stars along with adding this author to my to read list.

AmazonGoodreads

His Every Fantasy

I got sucked into His Every Fantasy by Delilah Devlin very quickly, but unfortunately it didn't hold me like many others have. Kara and Sergei meet when he rescues her from where she was being held captive after being kidnapped. Kara was kidnapped because she was a virgin and was going to be sold into the sex trade. What I found so hard to believe was how much Kara became the aggressor when it came to sex. She was the one who initiated losing her virginity and then went from zero to full on BDSM with Sergei. To me, it seemed like she should be introduced to sex and then slowly introduced to the BDSM lifestyle. She got into exhibitionism and letting his friends play with her far sooner than seemed realistic to me. While the sex play was happening, the kidnapping story made no progress. One thing I tend to like about action books is the story continues to move along and progress is made even while the characters are falling in love and having sex. This story was far too focused on the sex aspect and didn't have enough progression outside the bedroom until the end. It wasn't a bad story, but it wasn't great either. I'd rate His Every Fantasy 3 stars.

 

Amazon

Goodreads