REVIEW - IF YOU ONLY KNEW #NewRelease by Kristan Higgins

Let me start out by saying that we romance authors are not supposed to review books that we buy and read for pleasure, so I won't be posting this on Amazon as I might normally...

Apparently, I'm not supposed to be a reader anymore, even if I still am and have been dying to read this book for ages. I was neither hired by Kristan Higgins nor her publisher to write this review, and I did NOT receive a free copy for my review. I preordered it and have been counting down the days eagerly until it popped onto my kindle on release day so I could read it.  I get nothing for writing this, I'm just doing it because...dagnabbit this is MY blog. I have an opinion. I should be allowed to share it!!

All disclaimers aside, I've BEEN a huge Kristan Higgins fan. I've never met her, which is good as she'll likely think me a speechless moron when/if that magical day ever comes. I'll probably just stand there and stare, mouth hanging slightly open like a mouth-breathing ape creature, and just say, "Dude. Dude. You're her. Dude." a lot.

*sigh* She made me ugly cry again. Like, blubbering in my office, until my son said, "Are you listening to me? Is it another book?"

*sobsobsob*

Him, "Ugh, I'm going to school."

I loved this book. #truestory

if you only knew
Kristan Higgins
9780373784974

Buy Links
Amazon | AmazonUK | Nook | ARe | Kobo
 
Letting go of her ex-husband is harder than wedding-dress designer Jenny Tate expected…especially since his new wife wants to be Jenny's new best friend. Sensing this isn't exactly helping her achieve closure, Jenny trades the Manhattan skyline for her hometown up the Hudson, where she'll start her own business and bask in her sister Rachel's picture-perfect family life…and maybe even find a little romance of her own with Leo, her downstairs neighbor, a guy who's utterly irresistible and annoyingly distant at the same time.

Rachel's idyllic marriage, however, is imploding after she discovers her husband sexting with a colleague. She always thought she'd walk away in this situation, but her triplet daughters have her reconsidering her stance on adultery, much to Jenny's surprise. Rachel points to their parents' perfect marriage as a shining example of patience and forgiveness; but to protect her sister, Jenny may have to tarnish that memory—and their relationship­—and reveal a family secret she's been keeping since childhood.

Both Rachel and Jenny will have to come to terms with the past and the present and find a way to get what they want most of all.


*** MY REVIEW ***
I thought I knew what this book would be about. Something simple and fluffy to get me through my day and remind me what is good about everything. I thought, well, I'm surely not going to identify with these characters...

As I mentioned, I ended up ugly crying, laughing, and otherwise falling madly in love with an Irishman, but I don't want to get ahead of myself.

This starts out a pretty cut and dry story--Jenny Tate is moving back home because she recognizes her relationship with her ex and his new wife isn't altogether natural or healthy for her. That she recognized this (having a similar relationship in my real life, I comprehend sometimes it takes many years for us to see what is unhealthy in our own lives) and is willing to try for a fresh start says a LOT about her character. She's special, a fighter, and is doing the brave thing. Even if she doesn't feel awfully brave in doing it...

She moves into a house with a grumpy and useless super...who is also the delicious Irishman I mentioned I fell for. He's a hoot! I'm not going to spoil his lines, because they're all brilliant, but I will say he was a huge high point in the story for me--which is good because it does have a lot of dark moments to pull it down.

While Jenny is doing all this, everyone is watching her sister live the perfect life. She's got a handsome and adoring husband, three beautiful triplets, and a lovely house--everything is perfect! But is it? One sext later and she's not so sure anymore.

So Jenny is on a journey to figure out what she really wants out of life while Rachel...is doing the same thing. From the other's perspective, each sister tends to think the other has life figured out. Jenny thinks Rachel is happy and beautiful and altogether did way better at life than she managed. Rachel thinks Jenny is sophisticated, brave and far more interesting than her dull, housewife self.

But really, they're like us (AND THAT, my darlings, is how Higgins always wins me on these books!) and flawed. Neither is perfect and neither makes all the right choices. They fumble, they second-guess themselves, and they sometimes just want to pull over and get out of the minivan full of screaming kids and bawl.

Okay, back to the delicious and irresistible downstairs super. He's also a redhot mess of a man, but I love, love, love, love this hero. Leo Killian (oh, even the name gives me shivers!) is handsome and brilliant and broken. I looked on Kristan Higgins facebook feed and I can't see that she posted who inspired this particular hero... but I'm thinking something like Sam Heughan from Outlander. Someone dangerously handsome who isn't afraid to tell you he knows he's handsome. He isn't cocky, not exactly, more distanced. Anyway, it isn't how he looks that won me.

It is what he did for Evander James, his student. This man teaches piano and I admit I had to google the piece he plays in one scene. I let the music flow around me, eyes closed, and I imagined sitting in a small room of Julliard myself, hearing and watching a true maestro become one with the instrument. Being gifted can come in a lot of forms, and I think everyone really talented walks away from their gift at some point in their lives--because LIFE.

But, well, this quote:

"Evander needs to be filled up with music. Fill him up."

When you read the book, it will make sense, but I wept.

Higgins writes:

"Just living can be pretty terrifying. I don't know how you do it."

Yeah, that. I so get that. Don't we all??


The triplets were adorable. They made me get a little weepy at my no-longer-tiny kiddos. Hard to say I am waxing poetic about the days of projectile vomit, but I kind of am. Not to mention the gooey wonderfulness of baby Natalia. All of it globbed up to be a wonderful experience for me--a journey with two wonderful and yet believable heroines. They discover themselves, they discover each other, and they even discover their mom (the mending of years old hurt between Jenny and Lenore had me crying again)

To summarize, I'll quote Higgins again:

"But life isn't like that. There are only perfect, glowing moments, like this one, and then there are the everyday moments that weave them together into a shimmering path that can always be seen, even in the dark."

Yeah. That is why I loved this book. Because I didn't just read it, I live it. Everyday.

We all do. Higgins doesn't tell stories, she reminds us why it all matters. Loved that. Loved this book.

Highly, highly, highly recommend.

Happy reading!

xoxo
virg

Ugly Crying Because Higgins ~ A #review of #newrelease In Your Dreams

I preorder every new book by Kristan Higgins which, for a single mama and college student (omg the cost of books) is saying a lot. MOST books? I wait for some reviewers to have at them, just to be sure I really, really, really want to buy the book (otherwise, I'd own ALL the books and be gnawing on the dog for sustenance.) Not Higgins. Preordered this one the MOMENT it became available and, spoiler alert? I don't regret it.

She's yet to make me regret that easy one-click-preorder option Amazon so nicely offers.

Her newest release, In Your Dreams, is yet another tale in the Blue Heron series and focuses on brother Jack--the perfect one. On one hand, how can she fail to make me love Jack? Everyone loves Jack, even the other characters. Former military, a hunk, a family man, the perfect brother and son, the perfect uncle, a winemaker, hot, knows he's hot and uses his powers of hotness for good and not evil (he's EVERYONE's loaner date guy. Have a wedding and don't want to go alone? Call Jack. Have a reunion and need a guy so your former classmates don't know it is just you and your cat? Bingo, call Jack.) and all of that besides being part of the Holland family who readers have grown to love as this series progressed.

On the other hand? Uh, he's too perfect. Way too perfect. Of course it will be easy to love him? What on earth is there NOT to love?

Lots, apparently, because Jack is suffering from some very well deserved PTSD, and his ex-wife (enter Southern Belle Barbie) who is back in town and, well, all that perfect. (Yes, I said he was suffering from the ex-wife and being perfect--that wasn't a misplaced word. These are things to be endured, not perks, promise.)

Because what woman can believe she deserves all that is Jack Holland and can keep him too?

Not Emmaline Neal, local cop and hockey player. She's quite sure, from page one practically, that he's not for her.

I've said this before, yet it bears repeating...each time I read the description of one of Higgins' heroines, I think to myself, "Yeah, she and I have nothing in common." Me? Well, I have a really decent case of writer's butt. I have rainbow-bright hair and three kids. I live in a barn with some poisonous frogs, loud and boisterous teenagers, a rescued dog and some no-longer-stray cats and otherwise...

It just doesn't seem likely that I'd find much common ground with an outgoing cop who likes sports and (shuddering) running. On purpose. Like, even if she's not being chased by zombies. Shoot, I don't think that even zombies would make me run...I'd probably meander quickly, figuring it was my fate if one bit me, and hope someone else tripped or something. Running? For fun?

Not in my vocab, sorry.

But Emmaline shared that magical trait that Higgins' heroines all do. I love her. I adored her. I sympathized her and ended the book really bummed that I couldn't call her up so we could hang out. She's flawed. She's strong. She's been hurt and isn't letting it cripple her.

Plus, uh, did I mention Jack is hot? Because yeeeowza.

He cooks, by the way, as if all his earlier traits weren't sufficient to make him hero material. And offers cake as foreplay. I gotta be honest, if he'd been ugly and mean? The cake offering as foreplay might have won me over. I'm easy like that. Also, uh, I like cake. We mentioned writer's butt already, right?

Eh, but I digress.

Without giving away spoilers, I'll say that Emmaline was once in love with a guy who wasn't perfect, but he was hers. He even proposed, planned the wedding...all that. But then he left her for his trainer and since then? Emmaline has been a little gunshy. Well, not gunshy. In typically Higgins fashion, we started the book with one of those unforgettable first sentences, to be honest.

Nothing kicked off Emmaline Neal's weekend like using a Taser.

-Kristan Higgins, In Your Dreams

So when the ex invites her to the wedding in SoCal (to be attended by her parents, her sibling, and a whole slew of folks from her past, Emmaline tries for a date so that, at the very least, the People magazine article which dubbed her the unsupportive ex will be somewhat ignored due to her not being the cast-off badguy.

 Jack? Well, he's got that PTSD I mentioned and no one local either recognizes or seems willing to stop triggering it with their attempts at helping him. He's also got Southern Belle Barbie back in town...and all in all, the offer to fly off to parts unknown and escape winter and the real world? She's kind of doing him a favor. 

Once at the wedding, nothing goes as planned. Even if there wasn't much of a plan to begin with, but still it manages to veer right into the land of hilarity and misadventure. I laughed with these characters. When they got back to town and things continued to spiral out of control? I ached for these characters.

By the end of the book? I cried with these characters. Ugly tears. My kids can now tell simply by the bouts of unrestrained laughter followed by sobs that I'm reading a new Higgins book (or rereading an old one. Both kind of have the same reaction from me, though from the kids I'm never quite as bad with rereading them as I am when I get my greedy fingers on a new one.)

I wanted to hang out with Em, maybe join the Bitter Betrayeds, and then give Angela a hug for being such a great sister.

I wanted my very own Jack, flaws and all, and I only have one complaint. That it ended and I find myself yet again in the gap between Kristen Higgins books. 

( Dear Santa--All I want for Christmas is more Higgins books. I won't lie and tell you I've been a good girl, but...JACK ON THE KITCHEN TABLE. Just sayin. )

Highly recommend. Full of hilarity, poignant bits, and the amazing identifiable nature of the characters I've come to expect from this author.

Now, back to nursing my book hangover...

Note: I did not receive this copy from the author or publisher in return for an honest review. I just bought it because I'm an addict and I cannot resist stuff by this author.

 

The end of an era... #hollows #KimHarrison #review

Anyone else bummed he's not wearing his scarf and spelling cap?
No? Just me? But look at the elfin scruff face!! *siiiigh*

Because for all the changes, some things were immutable truths: friendship transcends all barriers, understanding trumps fear, and great power can always be surmounted by determination. And with Trent, Al, Ivy and Jenks beside me, we had all three. - Kim Harrison, The Witch With No Name





That quote? I think it summarizes all that makes this series so amazing and enchanting. Harrison takes immutable truths of human nature and superimposes them on to fantastic characters a reader can't help but identify with. As Trent once tells Rachel, when her world falls apart, everyone jumps in to try to help. When his falls apart, they try to find ways to pick apart the pieces of the corpse. Rachel proves again and again that no risk is too great and that fighting for love, friendship, compassion, and caring is sometimes the greatest battle we can attempt...so worth it, even if we risk failure.

Ever since the kiss between Rachel and Trent in Ever After, I've been petrified to read the remainder of the series.  The possibilities hinted at with that one lip-lock, the years of watching those characters dance around each other...

The many, many years where I've escaped my reality to be drenched in the Hollows adventures...

I just feared being let down, really. I've been in love with Trenton and hoped he and Rachel would work things out for literally YEARS. And some paranormal series, well, they don't give me a satisfying end to that kind of relationship. Yeah, yeah, yeah, fictional characters, but books become the markers of our lives. Who doesn't hear a song, remembering that song was popular back when you read whatever book? Or have some quotes that not just fit the story, but also our lives and who we were when they read them?

I'm a book addict. I know. Whatever.

So, for my birthday I gave myself the gift of a day off work/school/responsibility. Instead? I cracked open my copy of The Undead Pool. Strap yourselves in, if you're opening that book! So. Many. Things. Happened!!

And I literally cried at some of the moments in the story. Much was payoff for years of watching these characters learn to be comfortable in their own skins. After reading Undead Pool, I again was tempted to just let it lie there. But I couldn't.

So I opened The Witch With No Name and it is KILLING me not to give spoilers away. I will say I cried, laughed, cheered, and otherwise became far more emotionally involved with this book than a normal person should. Characters we've loved? They showed back up on the page and we got to see how they've been doing.

Characters we've rooted for, hoped for happiness for even though everything said they couldn't have it? Things, so many things, happen to them.

And Rachel, Trent, Al, Ivy and Jenks?

OH MY GOODNESS.

Harrison did an OUTSTANDING job penning a book that simply couldn't have been written without the years of setting up this intricate and magical world. I finished the book simply traumatized...

Not because it wasn't satisfying, but because it ended an era. Never again will I crack open a new adventure with this paranormal family I adore so much. Never again will I get to read one for the first time, though finishing it makes me want to (and I will...oh yes, I will...) go back and read the whole series again, back to back, just so I can see it with the knowledge of what will be. So I can frame what I come to know in that last book around what came before, making little things so much more poignant. FANTASTIC series, FANTASTIC ending, and excuse me while I go cry in a puddle because it ends now.

So much in my real life parallels this (as has so much of this series, even if Rachel fought magical foes and I simply walked in a much more mundane world) story and so many things are ending in real life...

I kind of feel like this:

Some quotes that I loved from this series:

"Call me tomorrow," Al said seriously, "I've got a curse that will take care of that. Unless you like the snake in a turtleneck look" - Ever After

"Look," I said, my finger jabbing out to point at him. "I don't like you. Jenks doesn't like you. And Ivy wants to eat you. Start talking." - Every Which Way But Dead

"Itchy witch." - Al...a lot

"I am yours," Trent gasped through clenched teeth, and my hand sprang from him, thinking I was betrayed. Trent fell to a knee, looking up at me, pleading. "I. Am. Yours. Claim me, Rachel! Damn your morals and claim me!" -Ever After

"I want a chance at falling in love.”  My breath came fast. That was what I wanted too, and it hurt more than I thought was possible to survive. - The Undead Pool

"Is this a date?" I asked again, more stridently.
Silent, Trent sat there, his hands on the wheel as he stared at the front door and the neon bowling pins flashing on and off. "I want it to be." - The Undead Pool

I should give you a bunny.(Al) - Black Magic Sanction

"Not if I can help it," I snapped. "And not of a broken heart. If you could, I'd be dead already." -Black Magic Sanction

*kisskiss*
*teartear*
Good bye, Hollows. I'll visit you soon.

***RELEASE DAY BLITZ!! Review, Q&A with Laura Kaye, and a trailer!!! Hard As It Gets PARTY!!!!***

My Review

I’ve always had a thing for a man with ink and Kaye gives us a hero marked with art so beautiful it writhes across the pages and into your heart. Nick is a hero, served his country and stood up for what he believed in. Becca is a woman on a mission—to save her brother at all costs. When these two passionate characters meet up on the page, sparks fly and the results are PHENOMENAL! Chock full of suspense, military intrigue, and deliciously funny and realistic characters, Kay delivers a one-two-punch and hits all the notes of an edge of your seat adventure. When you add in the obvious chemistry and oh-my-lord sexiness (I’ve never read of a punching bag that turned me on more than this one), I have to say this was a read I absolutely devoured. I’m sincerely hoping that future installments of this series trace the storylines of her well-developed secondary characters because Kaye managed to introduce quite a lot of them while we skated from sexy to snarky…both Nick’s brothers in arms and his staff at Hard Ink have me completely intrigued. This story is a romance, so I expected Nick and Becca to fall in love and the tumble was glorious. Sexual tension snapped almost as tight as the corded muscles of Nick’s irresistible and tatted up arms. If you’re looking to steam up your holiday season, you can’t miss by grabbing a copy of Hard as It Gets. This reader is excited to have received a copy in exchange for an honest review—and, baby, lemme tell you it’s going to be a while until my glasses stop being fogged up from the steam of it.  I’ll be picking up book two on preorder because I can’t WAIT to see what else she has in store in future installments. Fantastic read, kudos to Kaye for this awesome book.

Q&A WITH LAURA KAYE

HARD AS IT GETS is one steamy read! How did you first get into writing?

 

Thanks so much! And thanks for having me here! I’ve been a writer all my life. I’m a historian by training, so writing non-fiction was a part of my job for the fifteen years I worked as a college professor. But I started writing fiction in 2008 in kind of an unusual way. I hit my head on July 4, 2008. I didn’t think much of it that day, but soon after I realized I’d really hurt myself, and it turned out I had a minor traumatic brain injury. As I recovered, I was filled with an amazing urge to be creative, so I started taking guitar lessons (still not very good at that!) and wrote my first novel in 12 weeks (fortunately, I’m better at that LOL!). The experience of writing that first book was truly transformative. It was what I was supposed to be doing, so I revised that book until it sold and kept writing new ones. And I haven’t looked back since!

Why did you choose to write romance?

 

I had been an avid reader of paranormal romance for years at that point, so I wrote what I loved. But I also picked romance—unconsciously, I think—because to me it’s an incredibly hopeful genre. Romance stories are inherently stories about people who can’t find love or think they don’t deserve it who overcome the odds and find it in the end. In the years leading up to starting writing, I experienced a number of very hard personal losses, so writing in this genre was one way I worked through those issues.

 

What does “Hard Ink” refer to? What importance do tattoos play in your story?

 

Hard Ink is the name of the Rixey brothers’ tattoo shop in the Hard Ink series. Nick and Jeremy Rixey are co-owners, though Nick (the hero of book one, Hard As It Gets) prefers to be more of a silent partner, despite Jeremy’s efforts to put Nick’s artistic talents to work. In this series, tattoos are a way people remember, pay penance, or highlight what’s important to them. The act of creating permanent marks on skin has deep meaning to them. And the shop creates a gritty setting where diverse kinds of people meet and interact in the series. I really love it!

Describe Becca—what do you love most about her? And Nick?

I’d love to! Because I really loved writing these characters!

 

Becca Merritt is smart and strong and honest and protective. I really loved the way she was willing to stand up for those she loves, even against people and forces who might be stronger and even a little scary. There’s a scene in particular when she dresses down Nick’s Special Forces teammates after a fist fight where I was particularly cheering for her! LOL

 

Nick Rixey is, omg, so freaking hot, you guys! He’s brooding and tortured and honorable and when he falls he falls  so hard. I especially loved Nick’s mix of hard, alpha edges with his artistic side. When Nick shows Becca what her idea for a tattoo might look like on her skin, it’s just scorching!

What significance does the military play in the book?

Military themes are central to the whole Hard Ink series. The military isn’t just sexy window dressing nor is it just there to provide an intriguing backstory. The prior SF guys are this series are entirely defined by their military experience good and bad. It informs their identity, their sense of honor and duty, their view of the world, and of course gives them the skill set required to fight the battles they face in the series. The overall series mystery the characters are working to solve revolves around a military conspiracy in Afghanistan, so even though they’re out of the Army, the military themes are central.

If you could describe your book in a 140 character tweet, what would it be?

In #HardAsItGets, an ex-soldier joins forces w/his dead commander's daughter to regain his tarnished honor & save her brother from a gang

Is there a particular author or book that has influenced your writing?

There are a number of authors that have influenced me, but if I had to pick one it would be J.R. Ward. A lot of what I know about how to write sexy, authentic male point of view comes from reading her books. And I definitely learned the importance of a good bromance to a romance novel from her Black Dagger Brotherhood series, too. Given my ginormous fangirling, you can only imagine how flipping excited I was when this happened:

“Edgy, sexy, and full of suspense! A great read from a great new author!”

~J.R. Ward on Hard As It Gets

You guys, I bawled like a baby in the middle of a huge workshop put on by my publisher. For real. LOL

What advice would you give aspiring writers looking to get into the publishing industry?

Here’s my advice:

1) Write, write, write. You can’t revise what you haven’t written and you can’t sell what you haven’t written. And the psychological and emotional boost you’ll get from writing “The End” for the first time cannot be overestimated.

2) Revise, revise, revise. That first time you type “The End”? Yeah, you’re nowhere near done. Your book will need to be edited, by you, several times before you ever put it in front of an agent or editor. You get one shot with them, so don’t waste it by not showing them your very best and most polished work.

3) Find critique partners. And your mom, siblings, and best friend do not count (unless you’re really lucky, like me, and your best friend happens t also be a professional author). You need other aspiring writers in your genre who will give you honest but constructive feedback about how to improve your manuscript. Let them catch all the embarrassing goofs and plot holes you thought you caught before it gets to an agent or editor.

4) Want to be a professional, then act it. And by that I mean join the professional organization(s) of the genre in which you write. Through them you will find classes to help hone your craft, critique partner match-ups, networking opportunities, calls for submission, and other opportunities invaluable to breaking into publishing.

5) Don’t give up. You will hear way more no’s than yeses, particularly early in your writing career. Stick with it. Believe in yourself. Give yourself one day to wallow in the rejection and eat a bunch of chocolate and then get right back on the horse. If your first book doesn’t sell, chalk that up to learning and write a second.

What can fans of HARD AS IT GETS look forward to next?

I’m currently writing four series: two contemporary (Hard Ink, Heroes) and two paranormal (Hearts of the Anemoi, Vampire Warrior Kings). I’ll have books from all four of those releasing in 2014. My next release is Hard As You Can (Hard Ink #2) coming 2/25/14!

About Hard As It Gets:

Five dishonored soldiers.

Former Special Forces.

One last mission.

These are the men of Hard Ink.

 

Tall, dark, and lethal...

Trouble just walked into Nicholas Rixey's tattoo parlor. Becca Merritt is warm, sexy, wholesome--pure temptation to a very jaded Nick. He's left his military life behind to become co-owner of Hard Ink Tattoo, but Becca is his ex-commander's daughter. Loyalty won't let him turn her away. Lust has plenty to do with it too.

With her brother presumed kidnapped, Becca needs Nick. She just wasn't expecting to want him so much. As their investigation turns into all-out war with an organized crime ring, only Nick can protect her. And only Becca can heal the scars no one else sees.

Desire is the easy part. Love is as hard as it gets. Good thing Nick is always up for a challenge...

 

Read Chapter 1 of Hard As It Gets

Buy at Amazon | B&N | iTunes

About Laura Kaye:

Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over a dozen books in contemporary and paranormal romance. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Newsletter SignUp

 

The Elusive Wife Review!

The Elusive Wife
Callie Hutton
Entangled Publishing

Blurb:

Jason Cavendish, the Earl of Coventry, is trying to discreetly locate his unwanted and abandoned bride among London society to request an annulment. However, he doesn’t remember what she looks like because he was blind drunk at his arranged wedding and hasn’t seen her since.

The fascinating Lady Olivia has captured the Earl’s attention. Newly arrived from the country to stay with her school friend for the Season, she is appalled to discover that her husband, Lord Coventry, doesn't even recognize her. She's not about to tell the arrogant arse that she is his wife. Instead, she flirts with him by night and has her modiste send her mounting bills to him by day.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned… Too bad this woman finds her husband nearly irresistible.

Buy Links

Amazon | All Romance Ebooks | B&N | Entangled | iTunes | Kobo | Sony

My Review:

I've long been a fan of historical romances featuring a rake and a woman spunky enough to give even a jaded man a run for his money. Hutton delivers all that this trope is known and loved for with a dash of flair. 

Jason lived a life dictated by a father who didn't care about what he wanted or needed. When a dictate from the grave commands he marry, Jason understandably wishes to rebel his father's last effort to control him. Getting sloshed, he only has vague memories of his wedding and a blurry memory of the enchanting eyes of his bride.

Lady Olivia fascinates Jason from the moment he meets her. Unfortunately for him, she knows exactly who he is and has no desire to engage in a flirtation with a rake...who abandoned her on their wedding day and didn't even bother to be sober for the event. 

Watching him chase the very woman he's trying to evade set up for an entertaining story and Hutton delivered on the sexual tension, humor, and engaging characters which made this book a true pleasure to read. I highly recommend this book as I loved everything about it. Great read!!

For more about this author, find her online.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Just One of the Guys- Kristan Higgins

Just One of the Guys by Kristan Higgins
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Chastity is a jock and the only daughter of the O'Neil family of firefighters. She rows and she is a giant.

I honestly thought I had nothing in common with this heroine and there was no way Higgins could possibly make me identify with her.

Ha! Higgins always makes me identify with the heroine. What was I thinking?

Chastity also can't find love. In a small, charming town, filled with men like the Tooth, what chance has she got?

Especially when she gave her heart years ago to orphaned (by default)now firefighter and adopted brother, Trevor.

Oh. Mah. Hero Material.

Trevor is everything you want in a guy. He gets her. He loves her. He calls her mom "Mom" for goodness sake. Not to mention the mind boggling sex...

But years ago, they had their shot and it didn't work out. So she tries out Dr. McDreamy...who is everything she should want, but nothing she needs.

I was bawling like a baby when we got to the HEA on this one. The speech from the hero...gah, I was a puddle. If you don't cry for this one, you have no soul.

But it's those good tears. You know the ones. The ones that leave you wanting just what Chastity found and hoping your hero is out there, thinking that kind of stuff about you even if you don't know it?

Higgins knows people and she knows her romance.

I would give this one ten stars if Goodreads had a ten star option. If you want to laugh, sob and fall in love a little, snag Just One of the Guys and get to know one awesome jock.

View all my reviews