CONCEIT (SE7EN DEADLY SEAL's #1)

CONCEIT (SE7EN DEADLY SEAL's #1)                              ALANA ALBERTSON

Conceit (Se7en Deadly SEALs, #1)Se7en deadly Navy SEALs bound to secrecy about a party that ended in tragedy.

Six months my innocent brother Joaquín has spent in jail for a murder.

Five hours a day I've trained to go undercover to learn the truth.

Four plastic surgeries to transform into a pinup to gain access to their world.

Three shots of tequila I down before I take off my clothes to dance for the SEALs.

Two years since I'd left my soul mate Grant, the only man who can help me now.

One dead stripper found strangled and drugged.

Zero room for error. I'm Joaquín's only hope for freedom. No sin is too depraved, no challenge is too great. Even if it means destroying my soul.

Conceit is a novella of 25,000 - the first of Se7en episodes in the Se7en Deadly SEALs series.

Chronic: Se7en Deadly SEALs Episode Two releases February 2015
 

HUBBY'S REVIEW;
This book is so good and brings you in with a story line and good characters especially with Joaquin a Navy Seal accused of murder and in a San Diego jail. His friend and former Bud’s and Seal team member Grant and the rest of his team are told not to speak to him. His sister Mia who at one time dated Grant, but now is trying to find out what happened to prove her brother innocent? The team even stopped talking to her, so she took matters into her own hands and did a complete make over with cosmetic surgery and all. Very good part of the story. She ended all contact with friends so if anyone tried to get in touch they could not find her during this time. When she makes her appearance back into San Diego she gets a job at a stripe club that the girls from the night of her brothers murdered worked at thinking she can get information or maybe some guys from hi team will come in. She actually gets picked after a month working there by her former boyfriend Grant and figures a private dance would be perfect way to see if see can fool him, if she can the she could fool anyone. This works and then as the story just starts to pick up the book ends and says wait for the next one. I personally read too many books to be waiting for the next book because I forget. So I would give this a higher rating but I like a whole story not book after book. The writing is good and the characters are well thought out so I am going to give four stars instead of three. I got this book from net galley.  I give this 4 stars.

THE STRANGER

THE STRANGER                                               HARLAN COBEN

The StrangerThe Stranger appears out of nowhere, perhaps in a bar, or a parking lot, or at the grocery store. His identity is unknown. His motives are unclear. His information is undeniable. Then he whispers a few words in your ear and disappears, leaving you picking up the pieces of your shattered world.

Adam Price has a lot to lose: a comfortable marriage to a beautiful woman, two wonderful sons, and all the trappings of the American Dream: a big house, a good job, a seemingly perfect life.

Then he runs into the Stranger. When he learns a devastating secret about his wife, Corinne, he confronts her, and the mirage of perfection disappears as if it never existed at all. Soon Adam finds himself tangled in something far darker than even Corinne’s deception, and realizes that if he doesn’t make exactly the right moves, the conspiracy he’s stumbled into will not only ruin lives—it will end them.
 

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
This was a fantastic book that begins with Adam a husband and father of the boys. He is at a draft for a lacrosse team and travel team that normally his wife takes care of. She is at a conference out of town with teachers. Before the draft takes place a man a stranger begins a random or what Adam thinks is a random conversation about something his wife purchased two years ago. He also tells him some other things and then leaves. When Adam decides to go outside the man is already getting into a car and driving away. Later that night still bothered by what the man told him he looks up the charge and then looks into the company to find out what it is that they sell. He has to contact the credit card company for the actual information which blows him away. The next day when wanting to talk to his wife he is put off and the following morning after she comes inside from being on the phone in the back yard she says she will meet him for dinner at a bistro at 7:00 pm. She does not show up and forty five minutes later he receives a text saying she needs a few days. This is when the story takes off and you find out about the stranger and other people that they have and are going to telling secrets. While this is going on Adam is looking for his wife and begins slowly unraveling his wife’s secret from two years ago and at the same time looking at himself. This is not a happy go lucky feel good book. This is full of grit, murder, mystery, suspense and the ending will throw you for a loop. There are multiple characters and story lines and the way the story is written you find yourself not wanting to put the book down for you want to know want happens on the next page, but you have to. I found this to be a great read and hope I did not give too much away. I got this book from net galley.  I give this 5 stars.

THE V-SPOT

THE V-SPOT                                                     WENDY S. MARCUS

The V-SpotHow hot is your night going to get? Take the quiz and find out!

1. You're a curvy, cute and practical nurse, ready to unleash your inner naughty nymphette for your 25th birthday. You start with...
a. Chocolate cake.
b. Champagne. Lots of it.
c. A blind date set up by your daring best friend.

2. Your guy turns out to be popular (and insanely hot) wrestler Brody "The Bull" Bullock. You...
a. Run for the door.
b. Admire his hotness, then run for the door.
c. Imagine him naked.

3. You're meeting Brody at The V-Spot, a "Voyeur Motel." What are you wearing?
a. A cute sundress with wedge sandals
b. You're not going anywhere without Spanx
c. Doesn't matter. Brody is sexy enough that it's all coming off!

If you selected all of the above, you're in for the night of your life....
 

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
The V-Spot is actually a voyeurism hotel and Emma Masters is there waiting for her blind date that her friend Sadie set for her on her 25 birthday. Emma is a Pediatric nurse in a New York hospital and she runs a tight ship, so when any stars or professional athletes come in they have to go through a series of tests first and then if approved she makes sure they wash their hands and put on gowns. The children’s health is first and foremost. Waiting she is starting to get the feeling that she is going to be stood up when she is about to leave and she realizes who is walking through the door. Brody “the Bull” Bullock, the wrestler and one of the guys she deals with for the last year or so. Yes he is her date and though she tries to get away he will not allow it. He tells her that he had to go through Sadie or she would have never met him. Once they finish talking in the parking lot and some people take some pictures and say some mean things about her she begins to feel better once they are alone. They have one more run in with some people when they are walking outside by the windows before they decide to stay in and he begins to tear down her walls. This takes a little bit of time but he does make her feel comfortable and very sexy for the rest of the night. The night is great and she has had a fantastic time when he begins to talk about dating and she is all for it until the last words out of his mouth are not in public right now just us. He then goes to take a shower and thinks about the words and by the time he thinks of what he said he realizes she is gone. The pictures taken of them make the tabloids and she does not answer or return any of his calls. By the third week the wrestlers are back for a visit and she thought she had it worked out for Sadie to handle them but she gets called away. Not wanting to see him she does everything to avoid him and begins to think he will not show up until at the very last he comes in with a bouquet of chocolate covered strawberries and starts to break her down. She realizes that he really does want to be with her and that they both need to communicate better. This is a very good story, a fast read and does have some erotic parts to it, but overall a good book. I got this book from net galley.  I give this 5 stars.

WANTED (DEADLY SECRETS #2)

WANTED (DEADLY SECRETS #2)                    DEE TENORIO

Wanted (Entangled Ignite) (Deadly Secrets)Ignite presents an all-new romance you won't want to miss...
Some secrets are worth dying for...
Undersheriff and former Marine Rick Trelane had one constant his entire life - his friendship with Whitney Peterson. Through thick and thin, she has never faltered. Never blamed. But when her former lover turns up dead, Rick must look past the walls he's built to the woman he thought he knew inside and out...and discover he was wrong.
Whitney has secrets, deadly ones. The deeper he digs, the more he sees her as a woman he desires. And suspects. But as bodies start turning up, so does the evidence against her. Now the air is thick with secrets and shadows and giving into the longing could turn both their worlds upside down. Because this killer is just getting started...
HUBBY'S REVIEW:
Rick Terlane is the under sheriff and a former Marine. In his home town where Whitney Peterson who has been with him since childhood and they have always been friends. But since he has come back from the war he has had a dark side to him plus after cleaning up the town from an outlaw biker gang that landed him months in the hospital and rehab, he still feels he has let her down because one guy while he was gone got to Whitney. She won’t tell him what happened but one that guy turns up dead it points to her. He does not want to think that she would do anything like murder but then a second body shows up and that one has ties to the first. During the investigation they find a web site that uploaded videos of all different kind including some women being raped. He is now wondering if she in fact is one of those women and just how many more are there. When he starts putting his job aside for his lifelong friend he is torn inside and must find the proof to clear her name because he is realizing that he is falling in love with her. She knows that she is in love with him but does not want him to do anything to lose his job. Really they are both fighting for each other and so are you. There are some twist and turns and when you find out who the killer is by then you really couldn’t care for what these men were doing but it does not stop there for Rick is shot and now you are wondering if they will get together. Read the book to find out. A good story. I got this book from net galley.  I give this 5 stars.

CAUGHT UP IN THE TOUCH

CAUGHT UP IN THE TOUCH                   LAURA TRENTHAM

Caught Up in the Touch (Falcon Football, #2)Jessica Montgomery has always lived by three simple rules: stay calm, stay professional, stay in control. Working tirelessly to make it into the executive ranks of her family's business, her dream job of CFO is within reach--if she can convince one stubborn and sexy Alabama restaurateur to take her offer and manage Montgomery Industries flagship restaurant in Atlanta.

On the surface Logan Wilde is all good-old-boy charm and humor, but he can't seem to outrun the hell-raising reputation of his high school years. Although he has thought about leaving his hometown in Falcon Alabama, he has grown to love the town, his restaurant, and his part-time gig coaching the football team.

Jessica estimates it will take a week tops to get Logan Wilde's signature on her generous offer, but their first meeting is anything but professional. Logan shreds Jessica's control and unleashes a passion she didn't know existed even as a deeper connection between them takes root. When her family's manipulations threaten to tear them apart, Jessica has to decide whether her dream is really the CFO job or the man who has unselfishly offered his love.
HUBBY'S REVIEW:
This story begins in the board room of Montgomery industries and Jessica Montgomery standing up to her father in front of the board while he was putting her down and wanting her to go to Falcon Alabama, to hire a new chief for one of their restaurants. He has already turned down two of their offers so he wants a personal touch. She goes their figuring it should take a week at the most to get him to agree with a deal. Logan has just come back from two weeks in the woods and lost his phone in a river or mud bank somewhere and is sitting at his bar needing a shave, bath and a change of clothes when he spots Jessica walking in. He thinks she could pass for a Russian spy and as they begin to speak he realizes that she does not know who he is and just says he is a handyman, which technically he is since he just worked on replacing the gas stove. She is thinking he looks like a mountain man but he comes through to help her out with her car and a place to stay. That is where she finds out that mountain man is Logan Wilde and when she goes back to his restaurant later that evening he looks totally different. The week continues to grow longer and she is getting more involved with the town of Falcon and the people. Especially the ones close to Logan. They are also spending more time together when they can find it between his restaurant and football practice as asst. coach for the high school team. She is beginning to like it there and realizing that she does not like working for her father and that she knows Logan is not going to leave. They become romantic and they open up to each other something they have not done with another person, but still there are problems that need to be worked through and her father causes one of the few, but if they can work through them together they stand a chance of making it, this is a fun and fast paced book. I was able to read it in one day and I liked the characters and the small town. a very good story. I got this book from net galley. I give this 4 stars.

IDLE BLOOM

IDLE BLOOM                                                JEWELE E. ANN

Idle Bloom"What lies beneath my veiled perfection is the ugly truth—my truth, my reality, my destiny."

Vivian Graham has an acceptance letter into Harvard, a badass tattoo, loyal friends, ties to marijuana, a penchant for Dunkin’ Donuts, and her pesky V-card. 

Everyday she takes the Red Line to her job at The Green Pot in Boston while her friends enter the coveted, black iron gates to higher learning. The ramifications from a tragic accident have put her life on hold while time marches on for everyone around her. 

After graduating from Harvard Law, Boston native, Oliver Konrad, moves to Portland to start his career and his life. Three years later, after a horrific discovery, he returns home to trade in his three-piece suit for leather work boots and his suburban home for a condo in Cambridge. 

All he brought back to the East Coast was an aversion to pillows and secrets he keeps hidden behind a mysterious locked door. Oliver’s days are predictable and his nights are lonely until he meets Vivian on the subway. Her long raven hair, green eyes, and mile-long legs are achingly sexy, but the way she "innocently" fingers and licks her Boston Kreme doughnut can only be described in two words—complete torture.

When their paths cross at every turn, laughter is abundant, friendship is easy, and love is unintentional. However, their future seems improbable. 

*This book contains adult situations and explicit content, 17+

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
Vivian Graham is working at a friend’s nursery who sells more than just plants. She also has a group of friends that are always looking out for her, but one friend that she grew up with turns out as the story goes along is really not a friend. She just didn’t realize it until later but he was responsible for the tragic event that put her life on hold after high school and just one reason she has not started at Harvard went. But with her money situation clearing up that is all going to change. One morning like every morning she stops by the doughnut shop for coffee and a Boston Kreme, her staple every day. Once she is on the Red Line she spots a good looking man and the next thing she knows her coffee is on his shirt. Embarrassed she leaves sooner than normal. He like every man is dying as they watch her eat that doughnut and realizes she does not know what she is doing to any of them but they at least didn’t have to pay for a porn movie, it’s just so early in the day. She then runs into him again at the nursery as he is working for his brother who does landscaping. They then find out at the end of the day that they live across the street from one another. He enjoys her company and her spirit but because she is younger than him he does not want to start anything. Of course that does not stop them and when he finds her scares he is the first man to accept her. He on the other hand has scares that you cannot see and it turns out to almost destroy him as well as her. When he finds out about her life he slowly reveals his life and why he is back in Boston, until one day when she finds out his secret and she forces him to go back to Seattle and deal with his past once and for all or they cannot have a future. When he goes back he is gone for months and she begins to think that he will never come back because he is scared with what he has to do, she tells him she can only wait for so long and continues with school. The ending of this book and really this whole book is really very good. The author makes you feel like you are right there with the characters and for the serious parts there are some really funny moments as well. I may not be doing a good job in describing this book, but it is a fantastic book. I got this book from net galley.  I give this 5 stars.

Frisk Me (New York's Finest #1)

FRISK ME                                                      LAUREN LAYNE

Frisk Me (New York's Finest, #1)Officer Luc Moretti had no idea that his dive into the East River would have him drowning in a media frenzy. No matter how many times he tells reporters he was just doing his job, they're determined to make him into NYC's newest hero. Coming from a long line of NYPD's finest, Luc knows that being a cop has nothing to do with headlines and viral videos, and he's more than ready to get back to life away from the cameras—until he meets the gorgeous but jaded journalist assigned to film a TV special on him.

Ava Sims may be the only woman in NYC who isn't in love with Officer Moretti. That's why she's going after the real story—to find out about the man behind the badge. Ava's determined to keep things strictly professional, but the more time she spends around Luc, even she has to admit there's something about a man in uniform . . . and she can't wait to get him out of his.
 

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
This is a fun fast paced story about a police officer named Luc Moretti, who had jumped into the river in New York to save a little girl. The video of the scene went viral on the web and he was having problems during his shift in doing his actual job. Being stopped throughout the day for photographs his partner liked it though. He came from a long line of police officers, and his father just retired as the police commissioner of New York’s finest. Enter Ava Sims, she does not think there is truly a person that would actually jump into the river to save someone unless they have some kind of angle to play out. No one in her mind can be that kind of person because they don’t exist. She is a television reporter and is assigned to getting the story of Luc Moretti, and turning this into her shot at the real news desk and not out on the street, for she come from T.V. people and her mom and dad tell her each time she calls that her brother and sister are higher up the food chain than she is. She wants to follow Luc and his partner around for a couple of weeks to get footage and though he does not want to do it he is ordered to since the department thinks this will change their image. By the end of the first week she is starting to wonder a bit when he invites her to his parents’ house for Sunday dinner. Surprised she accepts and has a good time and actually likes him a little. But then she starts digging into his past and his dead partner and he feels this is all wrong. He does all of the interviews that are required and on the last one when she thinks he will not show up he does. That is when it hits her after the interview and the way he responded to her that she was wrong but does not know how to fix it. She does fix herself first then she tries on him. The ending is good along with the rest of the book. The characters in the story are great. Especially the grandmother reminded me of an aunt when I visited my Italian side in New York, along with the big meals and the stories and everyone knowing your business, sometimes which is nice. This book is that about family good and not so good, and relationships, and moving forward. A very good book. I got this book from net galley.  I give you 5 stars.

HEART BREAKER (HUBBY'S REVIEW)

HEART BREAKER                                           HARPER KINCAID

Heart Breaker (Break on Through, #2)Love wasn’t in the script… 

Former man-eater Samantha Lockhart has been an actress long enough to be able to spot a smooth-talking player a mile away. Dark-haired, bourbon-eyed, a wicked smile…Kyle Masterson is one of the best.

From his bad-boy motorcycle boots to his good-ole-boy Southern drawl, everything about Kyle screams sex appeal. But after a tragedy hits close to home, Sam tries to convince herself she’s done with players on and off the stage. 

Kyle, a V-twin-riding divorce attorney, has witnessed enough horror stories of love gone wrong to know that while women are welcome in his bed, they’re definitely not in his future. But once the petite, mercurial redhead catches his eye, he can’t think of anything—or anyone—else. 

Sam’s trust doesn’t come easy, but the more time they spend together, the deeper they both fall. Yet just as they’re breaking through each other’s barriers, someone who doesn’t like being upstaged makes a deadly play of his own. And if Sam refuses, she may not be able to breathe a word to anyone…ever.

Warning: Contains a small-town thespian who isn’t easily fooled and a lawyer with a weakness for V-twin engines and sassy redheads.

HUBBY'S REVIEW;
Samantha Lockhart, an actress and a self-proclaimed man-eater. She is with a man in her apartment not really into him when she gets a phone call from the police saying that her parents were involved in a traffic accident. She kicks the actor out which she was getting ready to do anyway because he was talking and her sister and her drove back to their home town about an hour outside of D.C. when arriving they are told that their parents have passed. They together move into their old home and she begins to remolded the home. Her sister finds a teaching job right there in town, but she does not go out. She stays in mostly to do the remolded and runs to home depot, not going on any additions just being in a funk that she can’t seem to get out of. Finally she goes to a neighbor’s Super Bowl party and she is attracted to a man that she later finds out is a player. He is a divorce attorney named Kyle Masterson, he starts talking to her but she tells him that she does not want anything to do with him. She then goes back into theater and gets a roll but later finds out that a director that she does not like to work with. He really like to torment her. Kyle meanwhile was still working on being with and then when they finally did get together he blew it the next morning, so now he was actually worse than he was before. He was still working on her but really it was one of her friends that helped push them along. She was trying to figure everything out from her parents death to the house to going back into acting that so much was happening to her at times I felt Kyle character was to forceful with and twice I felt that I did not listen to her and just pushed his way on her so she finally gave into him. I don’t know if that really would work because she needed for him to listen to her and he did not always do that. Maybe I am looking at this from a father’s perspective but just my thought. The rest of the story and how he takes care of her when she really needs him to was good so I am a little torn between the two sides of him. Overall this is a good book. I got this book from net galley.  I give them 4 stars. 

FATE BOOK TWO (FATE BOOK SERIES #2)

FATE BOOK TWO (FATE BOOK SERIES #2)        MIMI JEAN PAMFILOFF

Fate Book Two (Fate Book Series, #2)Missing: Hot Italian Bodyguard Last Seen Wearing Tux... 

Dakota Dane's bodyguard is the sort of guy every man fears and every woman dreams of: chiseled abs, face of a male model, and tougher than nails. Except with her, of course. And those glimpses of Paolo's soft side are just as sinfully addictive as the rest of him.

So when he proposes to take their relationship to the next level--marriage--Dakota can't deny the thought of becoming his makes her pulse race and her knees go all wobbly. Unfortunately, when the big moment finally arrives, Paolo is nowhere to be found.

Was it something she said?

Dakota's heart won't move on until she finds out, but is she ready to face her dangerous world alone? Or will Dakota have to let go of everything she loves simply to survive?

NOTE: While reading book #1 (Fate Book) enhances the story, FATE BOOK TWO is a stand-alone story.

HUBBY'S REVIEWS:
Dakota and Palo, were supposed to get married. She 19 and he 23, he Palo being her bodyguard, but when she entered the church he was not there and her father who she really did not trust said he would find him. Not knowing at first what to do her and her mother go back to Chicago and after a littler while they are in the Caribbean on an island. Dakota still not trusting her father because of the business he does for the government and that Paolo worked for him. She decides to look for him herself and through a series of changes of identity she ends up in Italy and then somehow manages to get herself into every place she needs to find him. She finds out that not only did her father lie to her once again but so did Paolo. When she comes back to the U.S. She realizes that once again Paolo is not going to show up and she decides to move on with her life when she gets arrested one night and declines all the help that she normally would have with her father and Paolo. When she is released he is their outside of the police station and not wanting to go with him she leads him to a coffee shop. There she explains to him that she is moving on and though she loves him she is going to live not just go around life to breath because she is not going to end up like him when she dies alone with no one by her side, she is whiling to walk away because he has and she does not want to see him ever again. It does not end there but I will not spoil the ending. I found parts of this book hard to believe, but it is just a story. It is about second chances and what you are going to do with them and for that reason it is a good book. The action scenes do make this for a fast read and that also helps this book. Overall a good book. I got this book from net galley.   I give this 3 stars.

THE BOY WHO GRANTED DREAMS

THE BOY WHO GRANTED DREAMS           LUCA DI FULVIO

The Boy Who Granted Dreams1909. Ellis Island. Arriving off one of the many transatlantic freighters are Cetta Luminita and her illegitimate baby boy Natale, fleeing the poverty and violence of their Southern Italian hometown. Having sacrificed everything, and endured every possible shame, Cetta has but one wish: that her baby should be an American, and grow up with the freedom to decide his own destiny. As they alight, US Immigration officials give Natale a new name: Christmas. 

Growing up in the Lower East Side of New York with his mother, who works as a prostitute, Christmas is determined to be a success, whether a decent person or a gangster. The city is ruled by gangs from each community, Italian, Jewish and Irish, and survival is dependent on ruthlessness and strength. But Christmas has a vivid imagination, and an ability to tell stories that people want to believe...and thus is born his imaginary gang, the Diamond Dogs, which earns him respect within the ghetto. All this changes the day he saves the life of a rich Jewish girl Ruth, and despite their different backgrounds, he falls hopelessly in love with her. When circumstance tears them apart, Christmas vows that he will find her, by any means possible.

A sweeping saga of love and hate set in the Roaring Twenties, The Boy Who Granted Dreams is the story of Christmas and Ruth; the story of the dawn of radio, Broadway and Hollywood; and above all, a story about believing in the power of dreams.
 

MY REVIEW:
This is a fantastic story and no review can describe this story in the manner in which the author wrote it. It starts with a beautiful young girl in Southern Italy, who is blond and because of the way she looks the Pardon of the area is keeping his eye on here. Her mother fearing that she will get pregnant makes her a cripple by using a rope and tying a shoulder and a leg so she looks hunched over. This works for a while but when a friend of the Padron’s who is missing a leg sees her working in the fields he takes advantage of her. She gives birth to a baby boy she names Natale. Cetta Luminita now decides to leave Italy and go to America for a better life for her son. She will do anything that needs to be done to see that through. On arrival in Ellis Island she is taken off to the side and her sons named is changed to Christmas. She is also taken by a guy by the name of Sal who finds them a place to live and takes her every morning to her job. They slowly fall in love which is one part of this story. As Christmas, grows up he forms a factious gang the Diamond Dogs and his stories begin. He then meets a girl Ruth who was taken advantage of and some other things happen to her, he and his friend take her to the hospital and her grandfather wants to give him a job but instead he asks for the job to be given to his friend. This is really where the story takes off, for Ruth and her family go on a journey and Christmas is always searching for her. Bill the man who did the horrible things to Ruth moves from New York and you still follow his terror of people always hoping he will get his. Then Cetta and Sal become closer and she is no longer working in her place. As for, Christmas he does find his place at a radio station and when a man hears him one night telling a story he realizes he must put him on the air. He also comes across a few gangsters from that time the big one being Rothstein, who for most of the 20’s was running New York until he killed. You are wanting Christmas and Ruth to get back together but you don’t know if they will. This book is full of hope and at the same time there is a depression going on so you don’t know what will happen next. This story really reminds at times of my father telling me his stories of New York as a boy during the 30’s and all of the different neighborhoods you had to walk through and with our family coming from Southern Italy and settling in the Bronx at times I could remember back to my dad telling me stories of his father and uncles. Really this is a story of many peoples immigration to the U.S. and it is a wonderful story and well written and much better than my review. A fantastic book. I got this book from net galley.  I give this 5 stars.

Crash & Burn (Tessa Leoni #3)

CRASH & BURN (TESSA LEONI #3)                 LISA GARDNER

Crash & Burn (Tessa Leoni, #3)My name is Nicky Frank. Except, most likely, it isn’t. 

Nicole Frank shouldn’t have been able to survive the car accident, much less crawl up the steep ravine. Not in the dark, not in the rain, not with her injuries. But one thought allows her to defy the odds and flag down help: Vero.

I’m looking for a little girl. I have to save her. Except, most likely, she doesn’t exist. 

Sergeant Wyatt Foster is frustrated when even the search dogs can’t find any trace of the mysterious missing child. Until Nicky’s husband, Thomas, arrives with a host of shattering revelations: Nicole Frank suffers from a rare brain injury and the police shouldn’t trust anything she says.

My husband claims he’ll do anything to save me. Except, most likely, he can’t.

Who is Nicky Frank, and what happened the night her car sailed off the road? Was it a random accident or something more sinister given the woman’s lack of family and no close friends? The deeper Wyatt digs, the more concerned he becomes. Because it turns out, in the past few months, Nicky has suffered from more than one close accident. . . . In fact, it would appear someone very much wants her dead.

This is my life. Except, most likely, it’s not. Now watch me crash and burn.
 

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
This was a good book but it did take me awhile to get into the story. I put the book down three times after reading about a chapter each time and then I just picked it back up and thought it has to pick up. I must say after I hit the 50% mark the story line that the author had started did just that and all of the different characters that were being described earlier were now able to flow free and the story took a whole different and a much new and exciting pace full of twists and turns not knowing what to expect on the next page. For example you don’t know if the main character’s husband is really trying to kill her or not until you get almost to the end. For that matter the main character is not who you think she is either. Once you thought you have everything figured out you don’t and that makes for a good story. There are many little side stories that go along with the main story some help the story along and one is about the lead detective and his girlfriend and her fears and how they work through them together. I think really for both them and the lead character it is working through the past in order to have a future. It is a good book and I am sure it is just me for what took place at the beginning of the book. An exciting book with a good mystery. I got this book from net galley.  I give this 4 stars.

BENEATH THESE CHAINS

BENEATH THESE CHAINS                          MEGHAN MARCH

Beneath These Chains (Beneath, #3)I was raised on the streets, so I know things are rarely as simple as they appear—especially this rich girl showing up at my pawnshop demanding a job.
She’s the most tempting thing I've ever seen, and I'll be damned if I can make her leave.
Shit just got complicated … but when it comes to her—I want complicated.
We're both fighting our own demons, and our only chance at a future is to let go of the past.
But will we be strong enough to break free from beneath these chains?
BENEATH THESE CHAINS may be read as a standalone, but is best enjoyed in the following series order:

BENEATH THIS MASK (Book 1)
BENEATH THIS INK (Book 2)
BENEATH THESE CHAINS (Book 3)
 

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
Lord owns a pawn shop and he thinks he is doing pretty well but he is losing money. He finds out that the girl who is working the front is also stealing from him, so he fires her and it ends up being a scene in front of the store. Ellie now comes in the picture and Lord does not want to hire her but she won’t leave and because of her stubbornness she also tells Lord that a lot of his items are priced far too low and she proves it. After he looks up the items and sees that she is right he still does not want to hire her because someone like her rich and beautiful does not belong in that neighborhood. She does not back down and so this part of the story is set. Then you have the gangster who runs part of that hood who wants her as one of his but Lord says she is his and they have to make it look like they are a couple. He finds out after a while why she is their because she is looking for her father’s watch who her mother gave to her step brother that her mother married his father just a few months after her father’s death. He traded the watch for drugs. While this is going on the girl he fired turns up dead and then a few days later after a guy pins Ellie on street right before Lord gets there he also turns up dead. The police are looking at Lord and now he must clear himself and her plus look for her watch and then you have her mother who has been drinking since her new marriage and the step father also giving her hassle. With all of this they also find out that they are attracted to each other but must get everything cleared up so they can have a relationship. When you are getting to the end there are some twists and turns that make the a little better and Ellie also gets past a couple of her fears. This all makes for a good book and a good story. I really liked this book. I got this book from netgalley.  I give this 4 stars.

LAST CHANCE HERO #9

LAST CHANCE HERO #9                                     HOPE RAMSAY

Last Chance Hero (Last Chance, #9)Ross Gardiner has had his fill of difficult relationships. Returning to Last Chance after a rough divorce, the town's handsome new fire chief just wants safety and stability-a tall order given his dangerous job and the way he has the attention of all the single women in town. All except Sabina Grey, the girl who stole his heart when they were teenagers. 

Sabina knows a lot about playing it safe. Always the good girl, she's now responsible for her antiques store and caring for her sister. But having Ross in town brings back the memory of one carefree summer night when she threw caution to the wind-and almost destroyed her family. Now that they are both older and wiser, will the spark still be there, even though they've both been burned?

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
Ross Gardiner, has come back to Last Chance and is the fire chief. He also is divorced and is looking for a new start. He was hoping it would have been with Sabina, but because of a fire that caused her sister to be hurt her senior year she now feels she cannot move on until her sister has found her own happiness. Saving up for a trip for when that happens another old classmate shows up in town and because Sabina, feels she did not treat him right when they were in school she agrees to go out on a date with him. Though Ross is engaged to her sister he is jealous because he always liked Sabina, but it never worked out for them to go out together when they were in school. Now at the same time someone is starting fires and they call in the ATF, this adds another character to the mix and along with the normal crowd if you have read any of the books this is the standard fair. You also have the ladies from both churches in town, the one women who everyone listens to when she gives a premonition about being with the person you are meant to be with. This time she is a little confused about which sister and this adds to the story. This is a little different than the other books in that the mystery this time is actually who is starting all of the fires and when you find that out it also helps close out what happened the night of her senior year when she left her sister at home by herself. All of this added to the story and actually made this a very good book and one of the better ones in the series. This is a very good read and you don’t need to read any of the other books to be up to speed with this story. I got this book from net galley.  I give it 4 stars.

Be Here Friday July 31 at 7pm PST SJ Hooks Author of: Absolute Lovers See Excerpt

Be Here
Friday, July 31
At 7pm PST?
SJ Hooks


Author of:

Professor Stephen Worthington has been schooled in the bedroom by free-spirited student Julia Wilde. But what started as a casual arrangement has turned into so much more—at least for Stephen.

Head over heels, Stephen is tired of being just “sex buddies.” Julia’s resisting, but her blithe attitude towards keeping it casual may just be a front. Can he prove to her that their amazing sexual chemistry can mix with romance and ultimately win her heart?

In this eagerly awaited sequel to S.J. Hooks’ successful first novel, Absolute Beginners, readers will find themselves riding alongside Stephen and Julia’s highs and lows as their friends-with-benefits relationship reaches a crossroads. Absolute Lovers’ humor and romance will tease and delight both dedicated fans and new readers alike.

Absolute Lovers is the final installment in the Absolute Novels series.

This novel contains mature content. 



HUBBY'S REVIEW:
Julia and Stephen are back and this book opens with them together after the funeral of her grandfather (pops). She is for the most part starting with Stephen at his place and other than a surprise visit by his mom and step father their relationship though neither of them calls it that is going good. They have made up for Stephen’s drunk night when he graded one of her papers wrong. If you have not read the first book Absolute Beginnings, you will find that Julia is 10 years younger and is one of Stephens’s students in his Lit. Class in college. She has been flirting with him and then one night outside of his step brothers sports bar he gives her a ride home and from their they start meeting each other just casually, for her anyway for him he still can’t get her out of his mind. The second book they actually grow together as a couple and during finals he cooks dinner for her and lets her study and use his office. They go on a few trips together over the summer because she now is no longer his student and if they are scene together it is not a big deal. Two things happen that make them come together emotionally more than just the sex part. The first being the annual 4th of July party at his mother’s and stepfather’s house. He has now changed into a more confident man with her and her when she meets one old friend of his that hurt him she takes charge and puts her in her place. They did not see it but as a couple they were stronger and better for each other than either one realized. The next was when he finds out that she was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and she was going to pass on it but he would not let her. After four months apart her friends come over to tell him they think she is having trouble over in London, not eating or sleeping. He sees it that night and decides to do something about it and it is something he would not have had the courage to do from the beginning of the first book. A fantastic story of two people coming together and giving the other one what they are lacking and becoming a couple with all of the fears of what people are thinking but doing it anyway. A good book. i got this book from netgalley.  I give this 5 stars.


The moment I felt her come, I lost all control, grabbing a hold of her to chase my own pleasure. It was wild, savage and nothing had ever felt better. My orgasm completely took my breath away and the delicious contractions that her climax created prolonged mine for what seemed like an eternity. I was vaguely aware of the fact that I roared out her name but all I could focus on were the mind-blowing sensations flowing through my body.
I collapsed on top of her, panting and shaking just like she was underneath me.
“Oh, God,” I groaned, rubbing my face against her neck.
"Holy shit," Julia gasped. "What the hell was that, Stephen?"
"I don't know. But I loved it."
"So did I. You were in control, so amazing . . ."
"Stephen?" I heard a voice calling from somewhere.
My entire body froze. Someone was in the apartment!
"Who the fuck is that?" Julia whispered.
"Shhh," I whispered back, rolling off her.
"Are you okay?”
I recognized the voice and my blood turned cold.
Fuck! It's my mother!
"I'm all right!" I called out, completely panicked. "Don't come in here! I'll be right out!"
Julia quickly covered herself with the duvet.
"It's my mom," I whispered.
"What?" she shrieked, sitting up.
"Don't worry, she won't come in here," I whispered, all the while praying that I was right.
I jumped out of bed, closed the door and started dressing frantically while Julia watched me with an expression that was somewhere in between amused and panicked.
"What are you doing here?" I shouted while I tried to remember how one worked buttons.
The task suddenly seemed impossible.
"We're here for lunch," a second voice called out. "You invited us, remember?"
Oh, God! Richard is here too!
I wanted to kill myself for being such a gargantuan idiot. I had completely forgotten that my parents were supposed to come over today. In all my excitement it had slipped my mind and now I had to face the fact that my idiocy was the reason why Julia looked like a deer caught in the headlight.
"Stephen," she whispered. "My clothes are on the living room floor. They know you have a girl in here."
"Either that, or they think you're a cross-dresser," she added with wide eyes.
I honestly can't decide which option is worse right now.





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