2021 ARCs

R E V I E W ➠ Risky by Aurora Rose Reynolds

(Adventures in Love #2)
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Everly never expected to move back in with her parents, and she definitely didn’t expect to do so as a single mother. But with the father of her son suddenly out of the picture, she’s had to make some adjustments to her plans.
Now Everly has one priority: to make a life for herself and her boy. And Blake, her sometimes infuriating but admittedly handsome employer at Live Life Adventures, doesn’t factor into her future as anything more than her boss.
But it seems the guy who’s about as friendly as a grizzly bear has a soft spot for her and her son…and the more time she spends with him, the more difficult it is to remember why giving in to the chemistry between them is a bad idea.
Now, with their future on the line, they’ll have to decide if love is a risk worth taking.

RELEASE DATE: May 24, 2021

If you know me even a little I won’t repeat myself with Aurora’s books & me. I know every single one of her books like the back of my hand. HUGE FAN! That said, I was so ready for this book #2 in the new series! We get BLAKE the grumpy and sexy friend.

To recap just a little this is a wilderness adventure type of series. There are friends who co-own a adventure business and in Book #1 it’s very sweet and I loved every word. This one I was prepared for because I knew BLAKE was next and he was the very grumpy hunky hero in book #1. But wait, this will break your heart and mend it in the sweetest swooniest ways!

Blake is harboring secrets which is making him to be more uptight, needing to be in control and grumpy. After all he has a lot on his plate, but he takes it day by day. It’s not easy being around people but still feel alone. In comes our heroine who I LOVED from the first moment. Single-Mom divorced beauty who moves back to her hometown, is pretty much at the low point. What’s more is that she goes to cover the front desk of her father’s firm (the receptionist happened to be a sassy grandma who has a better love life than the heroine) and that’s where she meets Blake. It was not a good meeting. The next one isn’t as good but it only gets better. I am really trying not to just tell you guys the whole story because I totally want to. This is very sweet, heartbreaking and there is the cutest little baby and a hunk involved, need I say more?!

If you want grumpy hero, single-mom, swoony and an adventure…this is for you. Also highly recommend reading Book #1 in this series RUSHED!

Rating: 5 out of 5.

TOP 2021 MUST READ!
Romance: ♡♡♡♡♡
Steamy: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Triggers: NA
Standalone/Series: (Adventures in Love #2)
Type: Single-Mom, Grumpy Hero, Little Enemy-To, Swoon
Recommended: ☑ HIGHLY ☑

R E V I E W ➠ Surrender to Me by Kelly Elliott

(Boggy Creek Valley #4)
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Arabella Adams was the one woman I would have laid my life down for, no matter the circumstance, because that’s what you would do for your soulmate. But when she broke up with me our senior year of college—for no reason or explanation at all—my world as I knew it fell completely apart. My heart was instantly ripped from my chest…and it was a pain I felt in my very soul, and one I never truly recovered from.
Now, here I am, ten years later, and I’ve finally learned the real reason Bella pushed me away. So, I must prove to her that anything that happened in her past—our past—doesn’t change the way I feel about her. After all, soulmates never stop loving each other, and even a decade later, I will make her see that I will protect her until the day I die.
Because you see, we promised one another we wouldn’t keep secrets, wouldn’t hide parts of ourselves that the other wouldn’t understand. Except, well, I lied. Because the moment I find the person who took Bella from me all those years ago, I’m going to make him pay for every lost moment of the past ten years, and nothing—not even the fact I’m a cop—will stop me from inflicting the same level of pain on him that Arabella and me endured all this time.

RELEASE DATE: January 25, 2021

Not my first read by the author, she is a favorite and I also have read all the books in this series! Be ready for a EMOTIONAL ROAD with this one in the best ways possible! *sigh*

Kelly really sometimes gives us that heart-ache we crave for and love. This book has it all, the romance, the heart, all the emotions, sweetness, sizzling chemistry, memories and a pain that no one should ever endure. Really truly heartbreaking and just thinking back on it, even after weeks of reading it and now writing the review, my heart breaks. When the heroine breaks up with the Hero during their HS ages, he has no idea the pain, the embarrassment and the torture she endured. But just wait until the hero finds out the truth, his heart beats for both of them.

A love like this doesn’t come around often, but when it’s broken by a unforeseen horrible event, you just really never know how strong you have to be for the other until you’re at that moment. Watching these two come together was beautiful you still get the amazing side characters and previous series books, but this book really focuses on the issue and the H&H. I didn’t think I’d needed it as much until the end. A beautiful HEA for a tragic story is just what your heart will need, so I highly recommend this book as well as the others in this series. I don’t want to give out too much because you truly have to get all the effect of this story, even if it’s painful.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Romance: ♡♡♡♡
Steamy: 🔥🔥🔥
Triggers: NA
Standalone/Series: (Boggy Creek Valley #4)
Recommended: ☑ HIGHLY ☑

R E V I E W ➠ Beyond the Play by Kaylee Ryan

(Out of Reach #3)
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Parker
Of all the hot guys in the club, of course I find myself tangled up with a baseball player. Our chemistry is out of the park, igniting as his athletic body moves next to mine.
I know exactly who he is, but the infamous Holden Bailey has no idea who I am, or my connection to the team. I prefer it that way. I give in to one dance with Holden and send him home alone.
He can have any woman he wants, but for some reason, he wants me. His pursuit is relentless. He wrote the playbook on being a player, though. Giving in could cost me my heart.
Holden
I thought getting traded to the Blaze was life changing, but it’s nothing compared to meeting Parker Monroe. From the moment she bumps into me on the crowded dance floor, I can’t tear my eyes away.
She’s gorgeous, intelligent, and definitely not interested. At least not in the player the media portrays me to be. I need to convince her that with her, I’m authentic, and what we have is the real thing. Game on.
When the truth gets twisted, it looks like I’m playing her. But she has it all wrong. The way I feel about Parker is beyond the play. She’s my end game. 

RELEASE DATE: January 4, 2022

Not a new author to me. In fact she is a one-click author for me. I have been waiting like everyone else hoping she’d give us more since Book #1 in this series when it wasn’t a series yet. To say this one was sweet GAH so so sweet, you can say it was a SWEET CHASE!

Holden Bailey has just been traded. Not that he was complaining too much but he was leaving behind what he knew. He then goes out and sees the most sexiest woman that does something to him which hasn’t happened in a very long time. Only that woman, she knows exactly who Holden Bailey is, the only problem is he has no idea who she is. He finds out in the best ways possible and now it becomes an issue. Maybe not one where the league would mind due to all the circumstances but definitely the outlook Parker has on Holden really messes with his need to have her. And not just for one night.

This is such a fun and sweet but VERY SLOW BURN story that will have you SWOON at the end.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Romance: ♡♡♡♡
Steamy: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Triggers: NA
Standalone/Series: (Out of Reach #3)
Recommended: ☑ HIGHLY ☑

R E V I E W ➠ Sexy as Sin by W. Winters

(Underworld Kings)
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I took the fall for a crime I didn’t commit, and it cost me everything. Including the only woman I ever loved.
I’m not the man she fell in love with. Four years behind bars made me harder, colder… with a temper I can’t control.
But one look at Kat and nothing else matters. I’m broken without her and a shell of a person I used to be.
She is my one and only. My addiction and my sanity. I could never imagine how time would change everything and how far we’d drift apart…. but she can’t deny this heat between us and she can’t hide the way her body reacts to mine.
Kat was mine once and nothing can ever change that.
I only hope the secrets of the past four years don’t tear us apart the moment I make her mine again.

RELEASE DATE: December 21, 2021

Not new to me author, but new enough where I think she might ne new a lot because all the books I’ve read by the author it’s always somehow new to me. That said this one took me by surprise.

Cillian and Kat have history. The characters had amazing chemistry from the get go. The story line kept me engaged, it wasn’t anything that pulled me in but I enjoyed it. This standalone dark-romance with a MC twist, I think I truly just wanted more in the end. It was steamy, interesting, sexy, sweet and dark…in the end I just went how can I email the author to ask for more or a full one as a continuance. Great short read.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Romance: ♡♡♡
Steamy: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Triggers: NA
Standalone/Series: (Underworld Kings)
Recommended: ☑

R E V I E W ➠ Hold Me Forever by Layla Hagen

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As the hockey league’s star goalie, I live by three simple principles:
1. Keep a pristine image.
2. Work hard on the ice.
3. Don’t piss off the bosses…too much.
I was killing it until a mishap tarnished my image. Now, management has me cleaning up my reputation and coaching a bunch of kids. And damn, those little punks are growing on me, and so is the program coordinator, Kendra.
I’m hellbent on proving myself, but my attraction to Kendra takes me by complete surprise. Her defenses are up, but I like a good challenge.
Management’s directives are clear: “Kendra is off-limits.”
But there’s a reason I’m the best. I won’t let anyone stand in the way of what I want.

RELEASE DATE: Jan 18, 2022

Not new to me author but one where I have given it many tries and I just could not get into the writing style. I really love sports romances and wanted to give this a try as well. I am still the same on not being able to connect with the writing style but that’s just my personal preference. I did enjoy the cute story and their connection.

The hero is a hockey player nursing an injury. A passionate one at that, he loves to help and one of his things is volunteering with children. That is where he meets the heroine, she is a volunteer coordinator and they pretty much hit it off from the beginning. Their chemistry was there and at times it was fun and at times it was very hot and heavy. Both of them complimented each other and I also enjoyed the side characters and family dynamic.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Romance: ♡♡♡
Steamy: 🔥🔥🔥
Triggers: Personal
Standalone/Series: Standalone (Interconnected)

R E V I E W ➠ Only One Mistake by Natasha Madison

(Only One #6)
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From the Something So Series comes
Michael Horton
Being traded after fighting with your coach on air isn’t exactly a good look.
With one mistake under my belt, I knew I needed to focus on the game, and nothing else.
But everything changed when I went to pick up my nieces and came face to face with my very pregnant one-night stand from six months ago.
Jillian
Two pink lines changed all my plans.
So did the guy I had a one-night stand with, a man who made me laugh and smile, a guy who I called to share my unexpected news with only to find out his number was no longer in service.
Once more let down by the opposite sex I figured I was doing this on my own.
Then one day I was staring into the eyes of the man I hated, the father of my baby.
All it took is only one mistake to change everything

RELEASE DATE: JANUARY 4, 2022

Just when I can say that the last one was my favorite in this series Natasha gives us this and now THIS is my favorite. Both the hero and heroine were out of the norm for me to love but because of their big hearts, I fell in love with both of them individually and together.
When Hero finds himself traded, moved to a new city & with no food in fridge in his new condo…he goes out to seek at least one thing he can control food. The heroine finally said yes to a blind date, after a very long time and in the end found herself dreaming of the man that recently walked in who is hotter than sin but NOT her blind date. The gods were in both their favor that day and night, after they spend the best and sexiest night of each of their lives together, fast forward to a few months. That’s where I am leaving the review because, the actions of one night will give you one of the sweetest with a lot of fun and most romantic story.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Romance: ♡♡♡♡♡
Steamy: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Triggers: NA
Standalone/Series: (Only One #6)
Type: All Tags at bottom of this page!
Recommended: ☑ HIGHLY ☑

R E V I E W ➠ Shelter by Kristen Proby

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Remi Carter has survived her fifteen minutes of fame and is putting LA in her rearview mirror. As a former reality show contestant, she’s trading staged expeditions and faked wilderness tours for real adventures. Only one fluke storm in Glacier National Park has her stranded with a handsome man, and adventure takes on a whole new meaning.
Seth King is as rugged and sexy as he is annoyed to be trapped with Remi. Probably because she ghosted him at the local bar not three days ago. But she’s got her reasons for ditching him, and twenty-four hours in an abandoned Montana cabin with the wildlife biologist isn’t nearly enough time to explain.
As tempting as he is by firelight, she’s been burned too many times.
Except one day together and suddenly her travel van doesn’t hold as much appeal. The open road feels lonely. Remi’s about to learn that shelter is more than a safe place to weather a storm.
Shelter might just be the man himself. If he can give her a reason to stay.

RELEASE DATE: December 14, 2021

Not my first read by the author and I have read Book 1 as well as all the interconnected books in this! I was sooooo excited for this one! *happy sigh* The King Family oh how I’ve missed them!

Seth King has a past that no child should ever go through. Coming from that and then coming out at the end, he has a great life now. A career, the farm, his family and friends…then in comes Remi at the local bar. Seth is so drawn to her, but she ends up ditching him. But for good reason. Forward a few days and he finds himself trapped with the heroine in a cabin, all due to her NOT listening to him in the first place. Their one day there is where you fall in love with them together! I think I just loved their hearts, together and alone, they both have over come so much and still they are willing to at least try and put themselves out there. Granted the heroine was a little harder because she is still living her trauma.

The hero and heroine both bring the best out of each other, and together SO SWEET! *SWOON SWOON SWOON SWOON* on the hero too! This is so real, romantic, adventurous, fun and sexy! A MUST READ!

Rating: 5 out of 5.

A MUST READ!
Romance: ♡♡♡♡♡
Steamy: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Triggers: NA
Standalone/Series: Series Book #2
Type: All Tags at bottom of this page!
Recommended: ☑ HIGHLY ☑

R E V I E W ➠ Mine to Keep by Kennedy L. Mitchell

(Protection #4)
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An unlikely friendship, a stalking ex, and a serial killer on the loose.
FBI profiler Charlie Bekham prides himself on three unique talents: hacking any database, making women swoon with a cocky smirk, and letting no one see the desperate man buried deep. When a string of murders in Louisville, KY, requires extra help, he’s forced to partner with the brilliant yet shy Special Agent Rhyan Riggs to hunt the killer. Long nights of working the case fan the growing attraction between them, making Charlie question if “just friends” is enough.
Special Agent Rhyan Riggs is running from her past—a narcissistic ex, to be exact. Determined to move on from the terrible breakup, she focuses solely on her career… until him. Special Agent Charlie Bekham. Covered in tattoos, cocky as hell, and bad-boy hot, he’s exactly the type she should avoid at all costs but can’t seem to stay away from.
With more victims and at a dead end, Rhyan does the unthinkable—she puts herself in the killer’s sights. When the killer takes the bait and disappears with the woman Charlie’s fallen for, can he piece together the remaining clues before Rhyan becomes the next body found?

Mine to Keep is the fourth book in the interconnected standalone Protection Series. Each book can be read as a standalone, but because of character crossover, reading from book 1, Mine to Protect, is suggested. Due to foul language, discussion of emotional abuse, mention of suicide, and detailed intimate scenes, this book is recommended for readers 18+.

RELEASE DATE: December 13, 2021

Not my first read by the author, and I have read the previous books in this series.

Special Agent Rhyan Riggs is a very strong heroine that looks at herself a lot harder than needed to. She is definitely learning on how to forgive herself and love herself more. That’s my favorite part about all this, aside form the fact that the hero is SWOONY over the top in the best way and is a patient man when it comes to our heroine. They really seem different but are very much alike and fit so well together! I think what I loved is how the hero loved the heroine for all her quirks.

I am not a fan of work-romance anymore, I think a heavy doze of it it gets a little too much for me. This is a heavy doze of action and suspense, and as much as I love it from this author, it’s been a personal struggle to keep up with that trope type. This has nothing to do with the writing because the author is AMAZING at suspense. That said, I enjoyed the connection these two characters made, the road to it, and all the in between like the banter and funny you get. I won’t get too much into it because it involved the side characters (which by the way I also enjoyed very much).

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Romance: ♡♡♡
Steamy: 🔥🔥🔥
Triggers: Personal Dislikes Only
Standalone/Series: Series Book #4
Type: All Tags at bottom of this page!
Recommended: ☑ HIGHLY ☑

R E V I E W ➠ Love Stories by Samantha Young

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A collection of contemporary romance novellas from New York Times Bestselling Author Samantha Young.
This volume includes novellas previously only available exclusively to newsletter subscribers. They have now been collated into this romantic collection of modern love stories.

Includes:

The Forbidden Christmas Gift:
It’s Christmas at Shaw’s Department store in Edinburgh! Reid Shaw should feel nothing but gratified by his success. But he’s not satisfied because the sexy Scot wants forbidden fruit for Christmas: Evan Munro. Reid’s Evan’s boss. He’s thirteen years older than her.
Oh … and she’s his best friend’s little sister.

New Year’s Eve:
After Ryan drunkenly kisses the object of her crush, Joe—her sister’s father-in-law— at his son’s birthday party, all she wants to do is avoid Joe for the rest of eternity. But when they find themselves stranded alone together on New Year’s Eve, Ryan discovers Joe most definitely doesn’t want to avoid Ryan…

Loving Valentine:
Micah Green has loved Valentine Fairchild for over ten years; ever since they were kids brought together by Micah’s difficult family life. Too many outside factors have gotten in their way, pushing them further apart over the years. But Micah, no matter how hard he tries, can’t forget her. When he finds a way to see her again, he realizes he’s wasted too much time loving Valentine from afar. Now he just has to convince her to let go of their past so they can move on with their future. Together.

Ember in the Heart:
When Ember Bonet overhears her sister’s fiancé’s best friend uttering rude remarks about the Bonet sisters at the engagement party, she instantly dismisses him as a pretentious man-child. Then said man-child, Foster Darwin, moves into the house next door along with his five-year-old daughter, making him hard to ignore.
Foster can’t believe his best friend, Colt, omitted to tell him the spinsterish Bonet sisters live in the house next door to his new home. Problem is, Ember Bonet is anything but spinsterish. From the moment they met, Foster has fought an overwhelming attraction to her. An attraction he has no time for. Not only is he determined to prioritize his daughter Georgie, he can’t fail his own father again. And Edward Darwin has made it clear that Foster must settle down with the right woman. Unfortunately, his family’s idea of ‘right’ isn’t the sexy massage therapist next door who’s eleven years his senior.
Determined to keep her distance from Foster, Ember fails when it becomes clear he and Georgie need support in their new life together. But proximity to one another is too great a temptation, and physical chemistry soon turns into so much more. If only Ember could get over their age difference and Foster his family pride…

RELEASE DATE: December 6, 2021

Not my first read by the author, and this was a little new to me from her, you get 4 short stories in this and I will be giving a review on an over-all of all. All were SHORT & SWEET, I think because they are novella’s it made it a little hard to really fully get into it. I would honestly say that I would have loved all of these in full shorter but full books. It was very festive, lot’s of romance, action, hot scenes and sweet kisses!

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Romance: ♡♡♡♡
Steamy: 🔥🔥🔥
Triggers: NA
Standalone/Series: A Novella Collection
Type: All Tags at bottom of this page!

R E V I E W ➠ Little Mate by Elena M. Reyes

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There’s no one above a KING…And yet, I’m restless.
I’m an uncontrollable beast that throbs in time with the heartbeat lulling me closer while a sweet, feminine scent overtakes my senses. I’ve never felt this before—a hunger so frenzied that I’m lost to its call.
This siren’s song is solely meant for me, and I give in without pause or question.
Because I know and accept.
A single drop of blood running through her veins is worth more than every soul walking this earth.
She is now what tethers me to this world.
And the second I see her face, I’m done for.
Nothing fucking matters.
I AM DARKNESS.I AM SIN.
I AM YOURS.
I’ll live and breathe for my Queen. My pretty girl.

RELEASE DATE: December 6, 2021

Not my first read by the author and not the last, I have read all of her books and I probably will read anything the puts out. I love her Hero all about his Heroine vibe in any genre! This prequel is EVERYTHING! I have read Little Lies and this was the perfect before and backstory to the amazing freaking love these two characters share. I loved everything about it, from the historical aspect to the fights, the sorcery and then the chemistry between mates! Vampire meets his little match!

I am really happy to see the pre, because reading little lies I always wondered so this was perfect. You get the back story, the action, the killing, the feeding, the heat, romance and steamy scenes. The chemistry in this was even more explosive than Little Lies and that one was heated. All makes sense now.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

A MUST READ!
Romance: ♡♡♡♡♡
Steamy: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Triggers: NA
Standalone/Series: Prequel to Little Lies
Type: All Tags at bottom of this page!
Recommended: ☑ HIGHLY ☑

R E V I E W ➠ Same Ol’ Situation by Lacey Balck

(Burgers and Brew Crue #3)
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Isaac
 I’m about as straight-laced and by the book as they come. They call me Numbers, the man in the office of Burgers and Brew, the restaurant and bar I co-own with my friends. Routine and spreadsheets, that’s how I spend my day. I’m a creature of habit, from the designer clothes to the same girlfriend, I crave the pattern I’ve become dependent on.
 Until said girlfriend breaks up with me for the umpteenth time, and I find refuge in a woman who is my exact opposite.
 I’m intrigued and completely out of my element, yet that doesn’t stop me from spending time with her. Even if I consider her off-limits, something about her calls to me.
 The problem is I just might lose a friend because of it.
 BJ
 Most of the time, I would never look twice at Isaac Thompson. He’s all suits, ties, and expensive dress shoes, and I’m…well, not. My time is spent at the tattoo studio I work at, day and night, designing badass ink for clients who want the best. I have no room in my life for a relationship, nor do I care for the messes they always create.
 Until Isaac finds me stranded on the road, and I end up inviting him inside.
 Now, I can’t stop thinking about him. He’s so different from any man I’ve ever known, which is why we decide to keep it casual and fun.
 Let’s just hope I can keep feelings out of the arrangement, so I don’t get burned.

RELEASE DATE: December 7, 2021

Not my first read by the author, she is part of my one-click author and I sadly have to say that this is maybe the 2nd ever book I’ve read by her that I did not connect with and extremely like. I think it had a lot to do with the fact that the hero just had come off a on-off relationship and the heroine’s boss was her ex and they were still so very close. So I was not able to connect to the connection between them. It was hot for sure and some parts I loved and swooned but it just did not cut it for me. And that’s okay we all have our own likes, so this is my personal preference, I would still recommend it for sure, I love this series!

These two couldn’t be more opposite. We have the hero who is straight laced and proper, the heroine who is wild and free, that’s the best way I can describe her. She is full of life and tattoos. She works at the tattoo parlor and the hero is part owner of her brother’s bar/brewery they all own. Their chemistry was very much there but their actions made me lose their connection while reading. That said, these two have a fling and keep it that way until one or the other gets too serious. The ex-gf of hero plays a part in this, as well as the heroine’s boss who’s her ex-bf. Very fun, wild and exciting, lot’s pf steamy scenes and sweet moments.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Romance: ♡♡♡
Steamy: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Triggers: Personal
Standalone/Series: Series
Type: All Tags at bottom of this page!
Recommended: ☑

R E V I E W ➠ Cruel God by Bella J.

(Underworld Kings)
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My name is Rex Cain…but you can call me god.
I am the ruler of the Cain empire—a legacy built from the blood and bone of others. Here in my kingdom, only the strongest survive, and only the wicked can thrive.
That’s why I took my father’s life before he had a chance to take mine. But my life doesn’t flow through my veins. It flows through hers, the girl he tried to take from me. The woman I’ve stained my hands in blood for.
My most prized possession.
My weakness.
My butterfly.
She thinks I’m her savior, and I’ll burn kingdoms to the ground to keep it that way.
While she waits for me on her knees, I’m a king who reigns without mercy. While she obeys my every command, I’m a dictator who starts wars. And while she breathes, I’m a man with something to lose.\
My name is Rex Cain, and she is my Hope.

RELEASE DATE: NOVEMBER 22, 2021

Not my first time reading this author and I do like her writing style and her DARK. This though, this was a dark of the color dark and then add about 100 x’s more. And then add a few more! I read and like dark romances but this was very twisted, fucked up but also beautiful in it’s own ways.

The darkness in this will break you, and the little hope will make you shed tears.

That is the best way I can describe this book. This is on the line of dark and darker, I can’t explain it without feeling every emotion while reading this, from curious to turned on to in fear and sad. My mind was at war with my libido during this whole book and it brought out all the feelings at the same time…I wasn’t even sure about the surrounding while reading just captivated in the moment. Unfortunately the more I read the more my mind won over, and I think this hero or rather anti-hero was a bit too much in my eyes. The lines were blurred to begin with but he was so far away that I finally realized that liking the kinds of this anti-hero isn’t something for me. I love dark, alpha, dominant, possessive but this one just went beyond that, the punishments, his thoughts, the other woman…made me angry the more I read. It wasn’t so much the situations which may be the fucked up thing about me here but more of the I was missing the actual Romance, yes even in this darkness I wanted that little hope and feeling…I never got it. What I also did not get which I was kind of waiting for to justify it all, was the romance. I know people will say well this is a dark romance but where is the romance part? This review went from 5 stars to 4.5 down to 3.5 and on the verge of it being a final 3 star which makes me sad because I think had I had that romance and affection between the H & H it would have been okay for me, not to mention the fact that the heroine barely speaks at all. I know there was a warning on this book but just not for me.

p.s. you do get a little of that romance at the very end, but for me it was too late. Just in case you’re reading my review and wonder if there was any at all at least. To each it’s own, had I had that sooner and throughout this would be a different review. Best of luck to the book.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Romance: ♡♡
Steamy: 🔥🔥🔥
Triggers: HIGHLY TRIGGERS & PERSONAL DISLIKE
Standalone/Series: (Underworld Kings)
Type: All Tags at bottom of this page!

R E V I E W ➠ She’s The One by Kelly Elliott

(Boggy Creek Valley #3)
GOODREADS
AUTHOR WEBSITE
AMAZON

BLURB

The day I first laid eyes on Abby Boyer, I knew she was the one. The girl I would marry and spend the rest of my life with, and I vowed to do everything I could to make her happy.
There was just one problem, I couldn’t make her happy during one of the darkest moments of our marriage. No matter how hard I tried, my love for her wasn’t enough to make her stay.
I’ve spent the last two years of my life trying to forget how much I still loved her.
Wouldn’t you know it, now that I finally managed to move on, Abby shows back up in Boggy Creek. Out of the blue. Here to stay.
They say time heals all wounds—well, two years wasn’t enough time to cover up the scars of our broken past because I still feel the pain like it was yesterday. My wounds are still healing, and not even my love for Abby can fix us…but will that love allow me to forgive her and finally move on?

RELEASE DATE: November 30, 2021

Not my first read by the author and I have read the previous series books too! This one I was thankfully pre-warned by Kelly because she knows me too well and knows my dislikes so I VERY MUCH appreciated that. That said I did truly wanted to straggle BISHOP.

This one took me by surprise to be honest, and in a good way that is. This second-chance romance really is truly about the Hero and Heroine and even thought I was expecting something at the turns, it was mainly a calmer story if you will. Still packed with action and the banter and chemistry, sneaky chemistry…but more calmer. What’s heartbreaking is the heroine, she puts herself back out there and wants to get back what she lost, she is older now, more smart and more in control….but yet she still can’t control one thing: fate. Once I got past when I wanted to kill Bishop that one time, I cried, laughed and swooned! I can truly say that this is one of my favorites in the series. Expect to have all your emotions brought out, the chemistry, the feel between H&H is unreal I don’t even know how to put it into words, but for all the heart break and hurt the after the storm was beautiful!

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Romance: ♡♡♡♡
Steamy: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Triggers: NA
Standalone/Series: Series Book #3
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Recommended: ☑ HIGHLY ☑

R E V I E W ➠ Hot Mess Christmas Express by Claire Hastings

(12 Days of Kissmas )
GOODREADS
AUTHOR WEBSITE

BLURB

On the seventh day of Christmas, some of the swans are missing…
Caleb is hot. Sienna is a hot mess. But after just one night together, a mix-up causes this delightfully dreamy doctor to freeze out the reluctant pharmaceutical sales rep.
For two years, Caleb has given Sienna the silent treatment until a holiday wedding at the Seven Swans Inn forces him to acknowledge her existence again. And despite their chilly past, the forecast for Christmas quickly becomes hot and steamy.
‘Tis the season for mistletoe kisses, but when the magic wears off will this second chance be nothing more than a second heartbreak?

RELEASE DATE: December 7, 2021

This author is fairly NEW to me, I haven’t read enough to determine the style fully so this was a fun read I got from the author because I was complaining on a certain read at that time and this got me out of it. I said fun read I meant it, you get both characters that are pretty strong and then they also share and have history. It was a fun festive ride is what I will say and the hot-head on the Hero was a turn on & off at the same time to me, the swoony moments were great but when he was a A-hole he WAS one for sure. Thank you Claire for sending this over to me I had fun reading it and it got me away from the bad book that I had read at that time and to be able to continue reading more ARCs!

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Romance: ♡
Steamy: 🔥
Triggers: NA
Standalone/Series: (12 Days of Kissmas )
Type: All Tags at bottom of this page!
Recommended: ☑ HIGHLY ☑

R E V I E W ➠ Covert Vengeance by Kennedy L. Mitchell

(SEALs and CIA #2)
GOODREADS
AUTHOR WEBSITE

BLURB

He’s desperate for revenge… and her.
Navy SEAL Tony “Flakes” Hackenbreg’s career and sanity ride on the upcoming mission to hunt and capture a known ARMs dealer. Being forced to partner with the dangerously beautiful CIA agent Elliot Smith is the last thing he wants or needs. With her love for explosives, sassy mouth, and a body most men would kill for, Elliot is everything he never knew he needed. Nights and days forced together the two shift from enemies to partners before morphing into a sizzling attraction that neither try to resist. But keeping Elliot protected during the covert mission proves to be the hardest challenge of Tony’s career.
She’s willing to kill anyone who stands in her way… except the one SEAL whose commands she’s eager to obey.
Elliot Smith’s last operation to Colombia cost her everything: her flawless mission reputation with the CIA, her partner, and nearly her own life. With vengeance on her mind, she doesn’t want or need a mouthy, dominant SEAL monitoring her every move like an overprotective babysitter. But when he sneaks past her defenses, making her open up about her past and hopes of a future, Elliot wonders if she’s finally met her equal.
When tension turns to passion in the middle of a covert mission they miss the signs of a trap, putting Elliot’s life in the evil hands of their shared enemy. Can Tony find her before the ARMs dealer slips away with the only woman he’s ever loved or will Elliot be lost for good?
Covert Vengeance is a standalone, no cliffhanger, SEAL romantic suspense novel. Each book in the SEALs and CIA Series can be enjoyed on their own; however, because of character crossover, reading the series in order is recommended. This series is suggested for mature readers due to detailed intimate scenes, discussion of abuse, violence, and foul language.

RELEASE DATE: November 19, 2021

Not my first read by the author, and I have not read Book #1 in this series. Mainly because I am a 50/50 on suspense action books. I have read Kennedy before and I have enjoyed her style and writing, and when I say she is really good at suspense I MEAN IT! I think for me not just with her books but in general with that is I usually miss the romance the overly-top just plain romance and Kennedy has also done a great job incorporate that into a lot of her suspense books but this one I was just missing it more I think. The action overtook it for me. But that’s just my personal preferences. Over all the suspense, action, characters in this was on point.

In the beginning I was confused on who the hero was going to be only because of the circumstances, which is why I DMed the author asking freaking out hehe that said once I got to the point of what was really going on in the beginning my heart broke a little for all of them. SEAL Tony Hackenbreg and CIA agent Elliot Smith are both strong characters and together it was a wild and real journey is the best I can describe this without giving too too much away. One thing I will say was wow besides the writing style and words is the remarkable research done on military and everything around and in between. You can truly see that the author went thoroughly on details. These two characters join forces and the story that unfolds is a thrill!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Romance: ♡♡
Steamy: 🔥🔥🔥
Triggers: Personal
Standalone/Series: (SEALs and CIA #2)
Type: All Tags at bottom of this page!
Recommended: ☑