CAN'T HOLD BACK

CAN'T HOLD BACK                                    SERENA BELL

Can't Hold Back (Returning Home, #2)No girl can resist a man in uniform—especially if that man is Nate Riordan. But after an injury in the line of duty leaves Nate broken, body and soul, the soldier finds himself addicted to his pain meds, with no place to call home. Desperate for an escape, Nate reluctantly accepts a friend’s invitation to a new veterans’ retreat. Expecting a little R&R, Nate is shocked when the sight of his physical therapist opens up another old wound: heartbreak.

Years ago, Alia Drake fell hard for Nate, but never made her move. Instead, she set up her sister with the sexy, confident military man, a foolish decision that continues to haunt all three of them. Now, with Nate as her patient, she can make things right—even if it means getting too close for comfort. A healing touch and a little honesty work wonders, fueling a physical intimacy that crosses professional boundaries. This time, with desire in the air once more, Alia won’t hold anything back.

MY REVIEW:
     Alia Drake and Nate Riordan had an interesting beginning.  They met through Alia’s friend Jake.  She and Jake went to college and PT classes together.  Jake was a U.S. Vet who had lost a leg and a teammate on his last tour in the military and was now married to Mira and has a son Sam.  But at the time he came home he had no clue he even had a seven year old son.  But like the soldier he was he took it on the chin and got back in the game stepped up to the plate and won his girl back and met his son and became the dad his son needed. 
     Never feeling sorry for himself he got into the school program because he wanted to help vets who were coming back and having a hard time transitioning.  So he did talks “Life of Purpose.”  He does talks, triathlons, has gone to school and is helping other vets.  Never letting his lost limb stop him from doing anything.  Nate had heard him speak at college career week.  Got on his mailing list and puff he’s at the same picnic Alia and her sister Becca are at.
     Although Alia had seen and liked Nate first she naturally thought of him for her sister first especially since she had just been dumped.  You see the family had its problems as did Becca
Especially educationally so her self-esteem was always low so to make her happy Alia always took care of her needs first.  As she had always done and been told to do.  The thing is he had talked to Alia first and was liking her but when she showed no interest and said she wasn’t available he moved on to Becca.
     Things were good until…
Now two years later Jake had opened a retreat for struggling disabled vets.  He and Mira were going on a vacation for two weeks so he called Alia to come to take his place and work with his clients.  She is so grateful she hates where she is working.  Jake says after the two weeks they’ll see if he can keep her on, if the guys take to her methods.  Just before he turns to leave he says by the way Mira thought I should run this by you Nate will be coming to stay for a while he is coming of Oxy and she said that whole thing with your sister and all that it may be a problem?  She thinks hard about and then tells him no.  But in truth she is so, so worried about it because when they broke up she had a hand in it and her heart was involved too.  She wants the job just too much to blow it now so she know she can make it work plus Jake needs the time off for sure.
     No sooner does Jake leave town and Nate is scheduled for his visit with her the next day and he doesn’t show up for the evaluation for PT.  She has to hunt him down.  It is because he knows it’s her she thinks but then she thinks he can’t know Jake didn’t tell him he said.  So what’s the deal?  When she rounds the building she sees him getting into a kayak and starts to paddle when he is struck with a freezing pain.  She calls out and he sees it’s her and he’s pissed at her, at Jake, at his pain, at the world.  With no effort she takes down a kayak, life jacket, and an oar and glides into it.  Which makes him madder at her ease, yet proud at her strength and lustful over her body.  She goes out to try to help but he is too pissed off.  She finally talks him into showing up to the first visit.  After that things heat up yet not how you would think.  This author has a gift of descriptive storytelling that made me not want to put this book down.  It was intensely sensual without being lewd.

     This story will show you the pain vets go through that have been injured.  This was an unusual fictional story of a PT having a romance with a patient but this was a person she knew way before a she became a PT still fictional.  There’s the sadness, lust, erotica, pain, and humor of the lives of those that serve and how some deal with it.  I give this book 5++++ stars.  Follow us at: www.1rad-readerreviews.com.

COACH MADDIE AND THE MARINE

COACH MADDIE AND THE MARINE        BLAIRE EDENS

Coach Maddie and the MarineAfter the combat death of her Marine husband, grief counselor Maddie Westerfield has thrown herself into helping other families—leaving no time for dating. Which is just fine with Maddie since falling in love again, especially with another man in uniform, is out of the question. No matter how gorgeous he is. Plus, she’s busy looking after her eight-year-old nephew for her deployed sister.

For the last eight years, Lieutenant David Sterling has lived with the guilt of losing one of his soldiers in an ambush in Afghanistan. So when the opportunity presents itself, he jumps at the chance to help the beautiful widow coach her nephew’s football team. But keeping things strictly professional between them is harder than he expected. And even though he knows a relationship with Maddie will only lead to heartbreak, he can't help falling for her.

MY REVIEW:
     How do you fight a connection that was meant to happen?  You see this meeting had been 8 years in the making.  Both parties had tried to move on and really thought they had until Maddie Westerfield’s 8 year old nephew Andrew decided to take matters into his own hands.  You see Maddie’s sister Callie is on deployment for 3 more months and Maddie is caring for Andrew.  Well, the coach of his football team was deployed too and now they are out a coach.
     Andrew sneaks out of the house scaring Maddie to death only to be brought home by Lt. David Sterling.  At that moment she is feeling relief and anger at Andrew for leaving without permission.  What is killing her though is the man that brought him home is the man that led the charge that got her husband, Frank, killed.  She is feeling shock, anger, hurt, surprise, and wanting a whole lot of questions answered but is too caught off guard.  Yet, she is frozen, she just can’t.  It’s just not the time or the place she has been caught off guard and she thought she had worked through this not to mention she finds him attractive and that is not a feeling she is liking at all.
     When she introduces herself as Andrew’s aunt and gives her name he is taken aback also but does not react.  He is a Marine and stays the course.  After talking with Andrew she says he is off the hook she will find a parent or do it herself.  He’s kind of disappointed because in his mind this would be his way to give back to Frank for him not coming back.  Yet, after her first practice as coast not 10 minutes in parents and boys had turned on her.  It was a good thing David had decided to just show up because the mob had surrounded her and the Alpha Male in him took over.
     Not wanting to admit to her attraction to him the day before considering who he is, she couldn’t keep the admiration and lust from flaring when his Alpha Male shows.  Being in denial they know they can’t take what they are individually feeling but it has been so long for either of them.
     Watch these two maneuver through the landmines of the past pains and heartache.  See how they make it through each day with him being a Marine and her distaste for a relationship with one.  See them both deal and cope with their fears. Will it be together or apart?  Will those fears and pains tear them apart as friends?
     Really enjoyed this story and all the author brought to the table.  Showing the workings of the emotional turmoil that happen when family members are deployed but especially single moms.  The hardships those left behind feel when killed in action and those meant to guide them lose them in action.  I give this 5 stars.   Provided by netgalley.com.  Follow us at:
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ON THE ROCKS

ON THE ROCKS                                          KIM LAW

On the Rocks (Turtle Island, #3)Sassy tomboy Ginger Atkinson would rather be captaining a deep-sea fishing boat than baking pies, yet she still wishes she had a man to bake for. Sure, the pretty redhead is happy running her late father’s Turtle Island ferry business, but everyone in the world is finding love except her. Stuck on the wrong side of thirty, she’s trying to accept singlehood by building a dream home—for one.
In high school, Carter Ridley loved to sneak off with his good friend Ginger to watch the sun rise over the ocean. But after graduation, his path took a different route. One that, unlike Ginger’s, did get him the spouse and house of his dreams. At least, until a scandal shattered everything.
Running from his heartbreak, Carter returns to Turtle Island, where he discovers that Ginger is all grown up. His teenage friend has become the woman he’s always wanted. But will Carter’s pain scare him away from a chance at happiness? Or can he be the loving partner Ginger’s been looking for?
MY REVIEW:
     What happens when forever friends lose track of one another?  After living on the same island, living next door to one another, going to school with one another, being playmates and classmates, nursed each other through bad dates and lost count of just how many sunrises you’ve seen together, how could that be?
     Well, when it came time for Ginger Atkinson and Carter Ridley to go off to college that is exactly what did happen.  Ginger had dreams of being a teacher and Carter a famous writer.  But things change midway through Ginger’s father has a heart attack and dies forcing her to leave college to be with her mother.  Which she totally wanted to do.  She also decides she would run her father’s Turtle Island Ferry business which she comes to find out she is good at.  Not to mention she had missed the ocean and the outdoors.  Now 10 years later she has expanded to other boating experiences ever growing to the business.
     Carter on the other hand went to be an engineer like his father and do his writing on the side.  During college he meets a gal that reminds him a lot of Ginger (Red) and he fell in love and married the law student.  They compromised on Rhodes Island as a place to live since he wanted to live near the ocean and her near the city.  He was building his dream home for his bride and she had an apartment in New York for her work.  Carter traveled a lot never noticing that they were drifting apart because his father traveled all the time and that just seemed normal.  But for his wife it was not if he wasn’t traveling he was working on the house.  Now they are divorced and he has a huge writing career of horror books under a pen name, his dream home, and a bitter outlook on life.  A few months back when his folks dropped in they found out the truth now they call all the time.  Now his sister Julie is pregnant with no baby daddy in site.  She has been there since graduation from college.  So, his mother had been nagging him to go to their house to check in on her for a while and do some writing there since he has hit a dry spell. 
     Carter is already pissed about life but now he is super pissed to be his sister’s keeper and she won’t want it.  Life was sucking big time.  He was off to the home he grew up in.  Never expecting to see the one person he was sad to say he hadn’t thought of in years, Ginger his best friend.  There she was looking as sexy as hell pointing a can of mace at his face when he answers his parent’s door.  “Red?”  “Carter?”
     It just couldn’t be her old crush was back in town after all these years of no contact was it?  Once again she was smelling like fish…I can’t believe this is Red!  Has she changed!  Damn she still smells like fish…which for some weird reason puts a smile on his face and gives him a sense of comfort.  Instead of showing it he gripes about the mace in his face. 
     Is coming back home good for any of them?  Carter’s foul mood and hurt ego is not in the best place, Ginger has lost at love all the way around.  Having her best friend and crush home isn’t helping knowing he never saw her at all like a girl.  His sister has a daughter on the way with no baby daddy in sight.
     Where are they all headed is it any place good for them?  Can Ginger and Carter at least be friends again?  Will either ever find true love or do they really want it?  What causes all the things to fall into place at the end?
     I totally enjoyed this story.  Being I married my high school sweetheart it gave me that “Aw” feeling pretty much throughout the book.  Their bond was set way before they even figured it out.  I give this book 5 ++++ stars.  Provided by netgalley.com.  Follow us at:  www.1rad-readerreviews.com.

FOREVER

FOREVER                                                       J.B. McGEE

Forever (The Finale to the This Series)Tensions run high when Bradley rocks the boat of wedded bliss by inviting Gabe, Sam, Ryan, Joe, and their families to spend Christmas Day with Gabby and him.

Sam finds herself torn between the man she loves and the ones she thinks she doesn’t. 

Will the rift between Gabby and Sam continue to spread? Will everyone be able to finally leave the past behind? 

When tragedy strikes, will they realize everything is temporary except Forever?

Forever can be read as a stand alone novel.

MY REVIEW:
     This story is about two sisters Samantha and Gabby.  Samantha is the eldest and the one becoming a doctor.  Gabby is married now to the wealthy Bradley Banks and she is in college.  Both girls came from a tough background.  You see their father was a drunk who had hit rock bottom to the point where he had struck Gabby.
     Being the good mother she was when she walked in from coming the grocery store to see her husband striking Gabby she took the girls and left him never to return.  When their mom dies of cancer when they were both still in high school Sam took up the mom role because it was only the two of them against the world.  Gabby had a boyfriend who had become abusive and that didn’t sit well she met Bradley at Cade’s wedding and it was love at first dance but when he saved her from Ian her life began and now they are happily married a year now.
     Through Bradley, Sam met two brothers, Joe and Ryan.  Ryan and she seemed to have more in common because they were both becoming doctors.  He does and says all the right things until Joe declares how much he wants her.  She tries to put him off calling it just brother rivalry or one-upmanship but she just doesn’t feel the passion Joe makes her feel on sight.  Yet, his words light up her insides all the way to her feminine core.  She finds herself thinking of Joe when she’s not with Ryan his brother.
     For the holidays Bradley wants to surprise her sister with a trip to where they met.  But he wants to make it a family tradition and wants her and Ryan to share the experience.  She is excited by the trip because she and Ryan are due, though she is so tired from working long hours at the hospital, it will be nice since her and Ryan keep missing like ships in the night.  Plus with the whole Joe thing it will reestablish her connection with the right brother for sure.
     When she and Ryan arrive at Gabby and Bradley’s not only is Joe there but he’s brought a date.  She is model perfect and not only that Ryan knows her too and the connection seems more that just in passing…Now her mind is wondering if he has had her too?  Finding out more about her doesn’t put her at all at ease.  When the overnight tradition ends they have all found out things about themselves and one another they may not have wanted to know.  Now decisions need to be made about the brothers.  Some of the things she learned are deal breakers, some are heart breaking, and others sexy as hell.  So, what should Sam do?  Can her decision cause an effect that changes all their lives forever?  Will it be worth the effects in the end or will she end up losing all the men in her life she ever loved?
     As for Gabby and Bradley they were able to make peace with Ian and Veronica.  The way it all comes about is not the way anyone would have wanted it to be.  Yet, putting the past behind them bringing only the best to their new family that they opened their lives and their home too.  Would her mom understand that her promise was not forgotten that it was completed but in a way she could never have imagined?
     I really enjoyed the characters in this story.  The love triangle between the two brothers loving the same woman was an interesting one.  Yet, the family saga that unfolds as the affair of the heart is revealed is beyond crazy and interesting.  Of course loving family sagas this met all the needs: funny, love story, anger, fear, sadness, and so much more.  I give this 5 stars.  Provided by netgalley.com.  Follow us at:
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THE FRACTURED HEART

THE FRACTURED HEART                        SCARLETT COLE

The Fractured Heart (Second Circle Tattoos, #2)All things, when placed under pressure, eventually break or leave a mark.

Tattoo artist Brody "Cujo" Matthews knows how to keep things simple. In life and in love. Abandoned as a child by a mother who refused to stick around to raise three boys she didn't want, he's intent on staying clear of complicated women. The only things complicated in Cujo’s life are the killer tattoos he designs and inks. That all changes when he’s asked to help organize his best friend Trent's engagement party, which means working with Trent's fiancée's best friend, Drea, the definition of high maintenance and sizzling curves. And the one woman he doesn’t want to walk away from.

Andrea "Drea" Caron is broke and tired. After years of caring for her ailing mom, she's at the end of her rope trying to manage the piling medical bills, two jobs, and a life placed on hold. She certainly doesn’t need the added frustration of a sexy playboy tattoo artist messing up her best friend’s engagement party or her carefully balanced life. But when Drea witnesses the abduction of a woman from the café she works at, she can’t help but turn to Cujo who’s determined to prove to Drea that he’s someone she can count on forever…but as they attempt to bring the truth to light, someone is working to bring that forever to a sudden, deadly halt.

MY REVIEW:
     When you come from a broken home that alone is enough to scare you.  Finding out you were never wanted well…puts you in a whole other mindset all together.  Either way the fear of abandonment is something you never get over.  Some deal with it with humor and never allowing themselves to become attached, which would be Brody (Cujo) Matthews.  Or there is the closed off.  I got it all together, and yet say something I don’t like and I can bite your head off before you know it’s gone.  Which is Andrea (Drea) Caron.
     Brody is a guy who is ever evolving who was offered a scholarship to art school in Chicago yet didn’t go.  He secretly owns half of the tattoo business and several others yet wants no one to know.  He goes to the gym regularly and is active in outdoor sports.  He loves his father for sticking around when his mother bailed.  He loves his two brothers, sister-in-law, but especially his twin nieces.  Not to mention he holds his friendships dear as they do for him.  Hence going into business with Trent his best friend since kindergarten.
     Now Trent and Harper his girlfriend are getting married and they are having an engagement party that both Harper’s friend Drea and Cujo asked if they could help plan it. (Individually of course but you should have seen their faces when they were told they were working it together.  Right before the two left for a prearranged vacation.)  Which made Drea nervous.  She didn’t think Cujo had it in him to be serious and responsible enough to do it.  Yet, after their first meeting she was starting to question her own prejudgment of him.  With her background she had learned never to rely on men especially but people in general.
     You see Drea was meant for college, it was all set.  Until the day she came home to show her dad her perfect term paper and he was loading hefty bags with his things into a station wagon she had never seen before.  Never to return.  Leaving her to care for her mother with a deadly lung disease and all the bills.  Since then she has been working to provide for the family and now she is pulling two jobs with no end in sight and her mother berates her at every turn for either not being home to keep her company or not working enough to get her better machines or better foods.  She’s tired beyond words and as if that isn’t enough she saw a woman kidnapped by gunpoint.  Now the same gunman has come back looking for something the lady had but now he knows all about her and her family…
     Cujo is starting to have feelings he had never wanted to have for any woman and Drea’s having those same for him.  Where can it go?  Should it?  Or will the gunmen end all the romance before it starts?
     I so enjoyed this book it had a romance, mystery, suspense, it had sadness, joy, and pain.  You find yourself at times tensed up with your heart racing as things start to heat up in so many ways in the bedroom the most.  You won’t go wrong with this book it’s all that and a bag a chips.

I give this 5++++ stars.  Provided by netgalley.com. 
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CONTROLLED BURN: BOSTON FIRE #2

CONTROLLED BURN:BOSTON FIRE#2    SHANNON STACEY

Controlled Burn by Shannon StaceyRick Gullotti lives the good life. He fights fires, dates beautiful women—though none long enough so they cast wistful glances at jewelry stores—and has great friends. And thanks to helping out the elderly couple who own his building, his rent is low. But when concerns about their health lead him to contact their only son, his life starts getting away from him.

Jessica Broussard has no interest in leaving sunny San Diego or her cushy corner office for Boston, but her father—who happens to be her boss—dispatches her to deal with the grandparents she's never met. She's unprepared for the frigid winter, loving relatives who aren't the monsters she's been led to believe, and the hot, scruffy firefighter who lives upstairs.

At first, Jessica is determined to get back to her comfortable life as quickly as possible. All she has to do is talk her grandparents into selling their monstrosity of a house and moving to a retirement community. But she underestimates Rick's dedication—and his considerable charm. Nobody's taking advantage of his friends on his watch, even if that makes the tempting southern California girl with the long legs his adversary. Unfortunately for them both, the only thing more urgent than the matter at hand is their sizzling chemistry, and it's quickly becoming too strong to resist.
MY REVIEW:
     This author always seems to provide all the things I love in a good romance family saga.  What I like most is she seems to include the township into the conflict adding to the comedy and the pain that keeps this saga moving.
     What is heart breaking about this story is Jessica Broussard is in her mid-thirties and has never been married.  That’s not the sad part.  The sad part is she has never really had a mother’s love or her dad’s for that matter.  You see her mother ran out on them when she was three (still have questions about that one.)  Her father has been emotionally unavailable the rest of the time.
     She was made to believe she had no one but him.  Now this is the sad part…he told her his parents were not good people and alcoholics.  Not worth their time.  So, her whole life he has groomed her to take over his financial management company of which she is V.P. but due to his 4th divorce it is now in her hands.
     Due to the fact that a call comes in for him concerning his father from the emergency room in Boston and they wouldn’t discuss it with her she calls him.  Before she can say what she needs he says handle it.  So, she does.  She delegates at the office and goes remote and takes off to Boston to meet and check on these so called grandparents in California.  Her plan: move them to a retirement home, sell their home, and get out of town.  But as soon as she arrives she meets Rick Gullotti. 
     Rick tells her he is a renter on the third floor but she can tell by how guarded he is that he is much more to her grandparents.  Once she explains who she is he takes her in.  Needless to say it was a shock to them all because her grandparents had no idea they had a granddaughter at all.  They ask her to tell them about herself and she does.
     Rick doesn’t hear anything to suspect she is there to hurt the people he has come to love like family but something doesn’t feel right.  He knows he can’t let his attraction for her stir him in the wrong direction.  Even if her lips are the kind that look so inviting.  It’s when he brings in her bags and things that he sees the note pad with house comps for the surrounding neighborhoods that his feathers go up and he knows he needs to watch Joe and Marie’s back even from their sexy as hell granddaughter.
     Now they are having to not only give each other room to see if each other is truly trustworthy but they have to get to know each other’s through Joe and Marie’s eyes as well and vice a versa.  Davy is an alcoholic with nothing but hate for his parents and it seems like nothing but total manipulation when it comes to his daughter.  Who can Jessica believe?
     I totally enjoyed this story but wished there had been an epilogue.  I feel it left so many things up in the air.  Did they get married?  Did they buy the house?  Did the father make peace with his parents?  Otherwise, the relationship she forged with her grandparents was so nice and the father well…I love the firehouse and the firefighters within.  I give this 4 stars.  Provided by netgalley.com. 

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ONCE KISSED

ONCE KISSED                                              CECY ROBSON

Once Kissed (O'Brien Family, #1)Tough-as-steel cop Curran O’Brien is quickly rising through the ranks of the Philadelphia police department. But when his rookie partner is almost killed under his watch, Curran just wants to prove he still has what it takes to walk among Philly’s finest. So he’s pissed to be stuck on a cushy security assignment for the DA’s office . . . until he gets a good look at the sweet, straitlaced intern he’s supposed to protect—but not touch.

Tess Newart recognizes Curran instantly. How could she not? Back in college she tied this former frat boy to the bed with her argyle socks! That sizzling one-night stand was the only indiscretion Tess ever allowed herself. She has survived law school so far, despite being pushed to succeed by her overbearing father. Now that she’s interning on a major case against a ruthless crime boss, she won’t jeopardize her career by giving in to temptation again. She just never expected temptation to look so damn hot in uniform.

Tess knows her father has other plans for her, and they don’t include Curran. But soon she’s falling for him all over again. And when danger emerges, Curran will prove just how good a bad-boy cop can be.
 
MY REVIEW:
     Many years before Contessa (Tess) Newart and Curren O’Brien met in college when Curren was a big shot frat boy. One with an athletic soccer build and a smile all the girls wanted pointed in their direction. With his eyes showing that twinkle of promise that they might be his date that night.

     Tess though, she always knew that she was not his type. Her father kept such a heavy hand that he even picked out her old maid boring clothes including her argyle socks. Curren would always say hi to her but before she could get her thoughts together he was already checking out or moving on to talk to one of the beautiful sexy girls. Which always hurt her feels if truth be told.
     Yet, this one night she caught Curren’s attention and held it to the point where they ended up in her dorm room. One thing led to another and before you knew it she had him tied to her headboard with her argyle socks and riding him hard. It was an all-nighter she was a lot wilder then even Curren had dreamt she would be. The only problem being the president of the college, her father, caught them the next morning. That was the last time he saw her until today.
     Present day. Tess’s dad still has total control over her life. Yet no one knows it but her step-mother and she can’t be trusted since she is just in it for the prestige. He treats her like a lap dog too. She’s one semester away from graduating law school and she is interning for the Assistant D.A. Declan O’Brien. She is about to get the shock of her life not because she is being asked over the lawyers that work in the law library to work with Declan on this high profile case not that is the easy part. No she is about to be told she is having a protective detail. The one they pick is the logical choice in the long run because Declan for sure can and does get along and love his family and his brother is a cop for Philly PD, Curren O’Brien.
     Curren has been on desk duty due to his rookie partner being shot on his watch. So, he is not happy when he is picked to do this watch of security detail that is to guard a meek librarian. When he meets the woman he is told her name is Contessa. He can’t understand why he feels like he knows her? He keeps stealing glances at her when he looks down and sees her argyle socks totally giving her away. At which time he lets it slip out loud “Argyle!” She wants to die. It’s Tess his little Minx from college. This detail is looking up for him.
     This story is not only intense but oh so funny. The author has a way with words that had me rolling. Crude to some maybe but in context. The relationship between Tess and her father was heart breaking and oh so abuse to her. I give this book 5 stars. Provided by netgalley.com. Follow us at:
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FIGHTING DIRTY

FIGHTING DIRTY                                       SIDNEY HALSTON

Fighting Dirty (Worth the Fight, #5)With his preppy clothes and horn-rimmed glasses, Enzo Silva is the last dude anyone expects to find in a mixed martial arts gym. A wealthy Brazilian banker who never had to fight for anything, Enzo’s stuck in the amateur circuit—but he burns to make the pros. Maybe that explains the heat he feels whenever he’s around Jamie Lynn Calhoun. The pint-size, magenta-haired bartender with the Texas drawl is everything he’s not . . . and everything he craves.

Tough as nails and independent to a fault, Jamie Lynn—JL to her friends—works hard to pay her bills and keep life simple. Enzo is doing his best to complicate that. Even though she likes to bust his balls, he’s got some kind of a nerdy-hot vibe that makes JL wonder if she might finally be able to let her guard down. It might do the boy some good to spend some time in her world, where blood, sweat, and victory are as sweet as the first taste of real love.
 
MY REVIEW:
     Travis on the other hand, on her behalf, had given up hope and had encouraged Jamie     When you come from an out of control background, with junky and alcoholic mother, who sleeps around and is jealous of you, yeah well who a knows what tomorrow will bring.  Let alone a future Jamie Lynn and her twin brother Travis Calhoun had to work as soon as they could walk if they wanted to survive.  Even though Travis was a minute older than Jamie Lynn she took on the big sister roll to be tough.  Because of their mother’s verbal abuse toward her daily, sometimes hourly. When she was younger it tore her apart but as she got older she fought back.  Holding out hope that one day her mother would find recovery.
 Lynn to do the same by back away and having no contact with their mother at all.  Yet, she just couldn’t cut the ties completely.  Now as an adult she was a spit fire pixie.  On any given day her hair was a new bright short color, her gorgeous blue eyes outlined in black, and dressed goth still at 30.  Her way of telling all those who called her “trailer trash” “FU!” or was there more?  She works at the local “Pier’s bar.”  There she seemed to talk to daily a friend of her brothers Lorenzo (Enzo) Silva an up-tight banker type who was working out at the same gym as her brother to be an MMA fighter.
     Enzo went daily to have a drink but mostly to talk to the little “Pixie” as he called her.  He had become obsessed with her and with her and couldn’t get enough of her.  Not only did he find her interesting to watch but her personality was engulfing.  She was as sexy as all get out and she was such a free spirit.  She had a way with people and always had a smile.  So, he kept asking her out but she kept saying she had other plans.  One day she had to do it he kissed her and boy time stopped for them both.  He could see it in her eyes.  He says, “One day you’ll be begging for another one.”  Yeah right Pretty Boy! Was her response.
     Then there was that day Enzo did prove himself enough to make her curious.  She had also been interested in him too but do to her background and his conceitedness she couldn’t or wouldn’t let him see it.  You see Enzo had been groomed to take over his father’s company on day as well as marriage to his father’s best friend’s daughter, Marianna.  It was their way of keeping the two most powerful families in power.  The only problem with that is Marianna and he had made better friends than lovers or even spouses.  Now it has been a little over a year since the separation and now the divorce s final as far as he is concerned it’s over.  Two years of a horrible marriage and 1 year separated yet his father is pissed at him for not turning his cheek at Marianna screwing his ex-best friend, Gino.  Which is why he jumped at the chance to leave Brazil to come to Florida to handle the merger for the business.
     Enzo feels he gave up so much for his family to do what they wanted like the family business instead of MMA fighter and marrying Marianna and not marrying for love.  That’s why when he met Jamie Lynn she was so refreshing to him.  She was everything he wasn’t times five.  She was her own person, bold, brash, yet loving and kind.
     See if these two opposites can come together and make it work.  Or will outside sources cause uproars that make them back away from one another.  Or will their past come to haunt them.  I enjoyed Jamie Lynn’s character so much.  Her spunk and feistiness are what all women want to be known for.  She had her hang-ups but never let any of it really get her down.  She took her private cry and moved on because what would get done otherwise if she didn’t do it?  I give this book 5 stars.  Provided by netgalley.com.  Follow us at:

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BARBARA LONGLEY AUTHOR OF: THE TWISTED ROAD TO YOU HERE FRIDAY 7PM

We are Welcoming Here on Friday Barbara Longley

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Struggling with both PTSD and the trauma of his ex-wife’s infidelity, retired marine Wesley Holt seeks a simple civilian life. His favorite waitress at the Perfect Diner secretly stirs his heart. Yet Wes—scarred by betrayal and racked by guilt over his fallen comrades in Afghanistan—stays quiet, convinced he can never love again . . . or be loved.
Waitress and single mother Carlie Stewart hides fear behind her smile. Her ex-husband has escaped from prison and wants their son—and revenge. When the fugitive arrives to wreak havoc, Wes insists Carlie and her son stay with him for protection. Finally daring to let her guard down, Carlie divulges her dark past to Wes, and to her surprise, Wes appreciates her strengths and longs to trust her with his tattered heart. The safer they feel with each other, the more trust and passion grow. But can they overcome the demons in their pasts—and the heartbreak they’ve carried into the present—to build a lasting future together?
THE TWISTED ROAD TO YOU, by Barbara Longley
          “Sometimes you stare at me so hard, I swear I can feel you taking me apart bit by bit. It’s like you’re studying each component part to find out what makes me tick.” She searched his face. “You are, aren’t you? You’re figuring me out.”
          “Not exactly.” Wes ran his hand over the back of his sweaty neck. Mostly he’d been undressing her in his mind. Should he tell her that? Probably not. 

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