RESERVED (Love Story)

RESERVED                                 TRACY EWENS

If only life were as simple as making a reservation. 

Makenna Rye Conroy was living the dream—with an amazing husband and a beautiful new baby daughter—when one night changed everything. 

Almost six years after Adam’s death, Makenna and her daughter Paige have built a solid, happy life together. Makenna manages her brother’s trendy restaurant, The Yard, and helps out at Ryeland Farms, the family business, all while navigating the world of private school parenting. Sure, being a single mom has its challenges, but she hardly has time to pack her daughter’s lunch in the morning, let alone think about dating. 

Travis McNulty, the middle child and biggest disappointment of the McNulty clan, is a chef at his best friend’s new restaurant. He gave up apologizing for not being the football hero his family wanted a long time ago. In fact, Travis apologizes for very little these days. He loves creating great food—it’s more of a passion than a job—and he lives life on his own terms with few complications. 

For the past couple years, Makenna and Travis have worked side by side at The Yard, bickering, teasing, and never taking each other very seriously. That is until Makenna has her usual reoccurring dream; but this time, instead of her late husband as the featured man, Travis stands in his place. Travis may be attracted to his best friend’s sister, but she’s a widow and a mother, which tops the charts for complicated in his book. 

As the game changes, Makenna and Travis, with a little help from Paige, have to figure out what they are willing to risk to reserve a table for three. 

MY REVIEW:
     Your young off at college and meet the man of your dreams.  You finish college but oh yeah you run off to Vegas first and get married.  Then the next thing you know you are pregnant.  Makenna Rye Conroy and he her husband Adam were young and in love but scared but excited too.  Five weeks after giving birth Adam passes away.  Makenna is left to raise Paige as a single mother.  It was a good thing she had the family she did and the family business to keep her busy too.
     You see she’d already had been living at the farm so she just continued.  Her brother Garrett, was running the farm with her father so that helped.  Jason lived in Seattle with his best friend Travis McNulty.  As for her mother she ran out on them with some rich dude when she was five.  Her brother had decided to open a restaurant using fresh items from the farm and there at the restaurant where they had a garden.  He asked Travis to be a part of it.
     Being that Jason and Travis are great chefs in their own right you can see how it can only stand to reason the success of their restaurant.  The first time Travis meets Kenna he feels a connection but then he thinks it’s due to knowing her brother and her situation.  But then it happens every time he’s around her.  Travis doesn’t do complications due to his family dynamics.  He’s a kiss and run kind of guy but he is up front.
     Kenna is friendly with her brother’s best friend ribs him like her brother’s and Travis likes it until she stops and she won’t make eye contact.  And all he can do is think about her.  On top of that Paige her daughter had already found a place in his heart was now creating a creator.  You see a couple times that they were at the restaurant she forgot her lunch pail.  The next morning when she picked it up in a rush it was filled with a homemade lunch, all Travis.
     Now though at 5 she was sending “My Travis,” as she called notes with XOXO and happy faces and requests for lunch.  Yup he was a goner.  But Kenna also knows Travis is a player.  And When she once again has what she thought would be the same dream she had been having since Adam died should be it isn’t its Travis.  That freaks her out.  That can’t be because although he’s nice he is a manwhore.
     It’s due to family issues he’s running from what he feels for both Kenna and Paige.  One part that’s major is that his ex-married his brother.  Yup!  So against marriage and family in general not at all for him for sure. I can get when that when it happens to you.  Okay, but it’s time to forgive or move on.  As time moves on Travis continues to bond with Paige and with Kenna.  When Kenna stops talking it all of a sudden becomes a huge problem.

     I love Makenna’s daughter, Paige.  She is so sweet and pure in spirit.  She is such an open little thing.  She brings a life and laughter to this story.  There is a lot of emotional issues from their past they need to walk through.  Kenna was the one that runs in this book which was interesting so you will have a good time seeing this through as to how the work it out to get their HEA.  I give this 5++++ stars.  Provided by netgalley.com.  Follow us at: www.1rad-readerreviews.com.

SHUT OUT (Bayard Hockey #1)

SHUT OUT                    KELLY JAMIESON

From the bestselling author of the Heller Brothers Hockey series comes the first novel of a new hockey romance series featuring a college team whose players are heating things up both on and off the ice.
 
The Bayard College hockey team isn’t where Jacob Flass thought he’d be a season ago. He was a rising star in the Canadian major junior league, cruising toward a spot on an NHL roster—until a single disastrous night on the town brought it all crashing down. Now he’s out of options, except for playing well, studying hard, and staying away from girls. He’s not supposed to be flirting with the hottest, sweetest chick he’s ever met. But how could he possibly stay away?
 
Skylar Lynwood knows that Jacob is out of her league. She’s just trying to go with the flow, which isn’t easy when six feet and four inches of total hockey hunkiness is making a play for her one moment, then giving her the cold shoulder the next. Skylar’s head tells her that this rugged athlete isn’t worth her time, but her body says something altogether different. Risking her heart for Jacob may be the craziest thing she’s ever done . . . but she won’t let him shut her out.

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
Jacob has to leave his hockey team in Canada and ends up in New York going to college, and playing for their hockey team. While their one class he must take is about how you treat women when you are dating and no .means no. one of the instructors is a student that he met at a party and is attracted to, but he declined her over to go to a room and so she thinks he is not interested. Once they finally get everything worked out and start to date they realize they like each other more than they originally thought. Each one is dealing with a situation from the year before but they do not tell one another and Skylar feels that he is shutting her out after she comes back from thanksgiving break. When everything breaks through she must deal with her feelings towards him, and he must do the same towards her. They first must tell each other what happened the previous year when they did not know one another. A very good story that deals with sexual assault on college campus, rape, and letting guys know that NO means NO. A very pertinent story for all that is going on in the news. There were some hot sexy scenes between Skylar and Jacob, I found these scenes went along with the story. Overall a good book and I did not want it to end. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

WAITING FOR BUDDY GUY

WAITING FOR BUDDY GUY            ALAN HARPER

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, British blues fan Alan Harper became a transatlantic pilgrim to Chicago. "I've come here to listen to the blues," he told an American customs agent at the airport, and listen he did, to the music in its many styles, and to the men and women who lived it in the city's changing blues scene. Harper's eloquent memoir conjures the smoky redoubts of men like harmonica virtuoso Big Walter Horton and pianist Sunnyland Slim. Venturing from stageside to kitchen tables to the shotgun seat of a 1973 Eldorado, Harper listens to performers and others recollect memories of triumphs earned and chances forever lost, of deep wells of pain and soaring flights of inspiration. Harper also chronicles a time of change, as an up-tempo, whites-friendly blues eclipsed what had come before, and old Southern-born black players held court one last time before an all-conquering generation of young guitar aces took center stage.

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
This is a wonderful written book about Alvin Harper’s travel from Britain to Chicago in 1979. He was wanting to meet, listen, and talk to some of the musicians that he had been listening to for years at a college library on old 78’s. He even had a suitcase full of cassettes of his recordings telling a customs agent, “I’m here to listen to some blues”. Going to Chicago he gives you that back story the blues music, and how it made its way from the Delta to Chicago. Going into detail about the club he was going into and the musicians he was listen to and hoping he could speak to as well. Some or I should say quite a few did talk to him, but there were those who did not talk to foe different reasons. He mentions some of them if they made a tour to Europe, and how when the British invasion started it was a blues invasion in London and other parts of Europe. Some of the blues artists were actually bigger over there than they were here. It was like when it was like when Louis Armstrong went to Paris and became a star long before he was here and still was more popular in Europe than the U.S. that was for some blues players the same. He also touches on how some of the older blues players felt ripped off by white musicians, but also by a few African American record producers. They felt either stole their music or just outright the entire song. Even in 79 some of the older musicians were still alive who had come up from the Delta and some still did not read and write and were taken advantage of when it came to signing contracts. He does talk about players that are hard to find today. Some you can find as back up musicians on some of the older blues records, but finding these are difficult. Not all of them have been put to cd or even saved to the internet. His last part of the book is about Buddy Guy, how he started, who he was playing behind, and when he and Junior Wells got together. Being a blues fan that is really some good music. He talks about Buddy up to and into the 80’s, but now he is huge. Even in the 80’s I had friends who did not know who he was. He talks a little about Stevie Ray Vaughan who had just played guitar on David Bowie’s China Doll, right before he got big, but he was still known as Jimmy’s little brother. For me there was one harp player he listened to by the name of Sly Johnson who could play the as good as Sonny James. Now that is saying something. He also played a mean guitar and had few hit records. I could go on about this book but I would just bore some people, me I’m going to listen to some music. A very, very, good book. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

INTERFERENCE (Pilots Hockey #3)

INTERFERENCE                      SOPHIA HENRY

Linden Meadows doesn’t back down from anyone, especially if her family’s involved. So when her little brother’s new hockey coach benches him in the middle of a game, Linden lets him have it. She also notices that the coach is way hotter than she expects, but Linden won’t let herself get burned by another athlete. Been there, done that—and had a kid at seventeen to show for it.

When Jason Taylor isn’t taking abuse from hockey moms, he’s patrolling the streets as a member of the Bridgeland PD. After Jason pulls Linden over for speeding, he begins to see that there’s more to her than a big mouth . . . or a lead foot. Their chemistry leads to good company, intense conversation, and an intimacy that pushes beyond the boundaries of friendship. And yet Linden’s decision to keep her now three-year-old son, Holden, is a painful reminder to Jason that his own mother gave him up for adoption.

Linden’s sure she’s found the man to round out their family. But when Holden’s deadbeat dad forces his way back into the picture, Jason starts to back off. He needs time—to heal, to grow, and to love with all his heart.
 

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
This is the third book in this series and you do have a few characters from the other two books. First Auden who found out long after her mother passed away that she had an older brother that the mother had given up for adoption. They find and met each other in the first book. This story is about Jason her brother, but also from a family that after they adopted him had two natural children them took in foster kids, and now not wanting to be empty nesters adopted twin boys who are now 12. A big family but he is still dealing with feelings of being discarded by his birth mother and does not think he is fit to be a father or in a long term relationship. He moved from Detroit to Bridgeland in order to get more experience as a police officer which he was in Detroit, but was looking at a layoff. This way he could get time on the job, experience, so he could move back to Detroit. Besides police work, and working out at the gym he spent the other time coaching a youth hockey team. He played in college and a little in minor league, but knew he would not make the pros like his brother London which the second book is about. During the game he sits one player and swears at him at the same time a women walking by says watch your language coach. He has noticed her before at the games and thinks she is his mother. Wrong, sister. Linden Meadows has been fighting to barley stay above water living with her mom, brother, and three year old son which she gets no support from, but a judge still granted the father visitation. The father who was a local football star has never taken responsibility for his son, and is always late, is a total f- up but his dad allows it for some reason. He has no job. Any way Jason meets Lindon officially a few nights pulling her over for speeding. He lets her off when she says she has a family emergency, but follows her to her house and she asks him why he is following her and he says since she had an emergency wanted to see if he could be of assistance, or call for an ambulance. Frustrated she says no and storms into the house. A few nights later he shows up where she works and sits at her station. He brought his mother and though she is busting his chops she likes him and his mother, and agrees to go out with him on a date. She has not gone out or anything in 4 years. Just work, school, and most importantly her son. She has a good time and they continue dating, but each one of them have things they need to work out together and he needs to come to grips with the idea of his birth mom throwing him away like dirty cloths. She helps him with this but he is still scared. The story takes you through four months and you as a reader are hoping he pulls his head out of his ass. I will say I do like the part of him taking care of Holden’s deadbeat father. I also like her dealing with the adoption issue. Because no matter what being adopted myself there are always things you must work through. This was a good book going along with the first two books, but you don’t need to read them to read this one. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

ALWAYS MY GIRL (The Shaughnessy Brothers #3)

ALWAYS MY GIRL                    SAMANTHA CHASE
Sometimes the love that's closest to you is the hardest to see.
Quinn Shaughnessy's two older brothers have found their true loves ... but Quinn's not about to join that parade. Nope, as he tells his best friend Anna, there's a lot more to life than getting tied down to one person. He's positive tomboy Anna will be on his side - except she's inexplicably developing other interests - even dating! Suddenly Quinn is seeing Anna in a very different light.
Quinn has been Anna's buddy since they were both five years old. She can tell him anything - except the one big secret she's been hiding for years - that she's fallen in love with him. Now Anna is determined to make a life for herself that doesn't include pining for Quinn. Falling in love with your best friend? Easy. Telling them how you really feel? Impossible.
MY REVIEW:
     Quinn Shaughnessy always had a need for speed.  He was a boy who had to push the envelope until his mom would push back.  His mom was a woman of her word and although Quinn at 6 was quite the sweet talker to most all females even then he could not budge his mom or her rules.  So when she said no racing on his bike she meant no racing your bike.  On this day he was caught red handed.  Although he had to try to sweet talk for it was in his DNA she would not relent.  He was told to put his bike away.  As he was turning to do it his mom was being flagged down by the new neighbor and her kids.
     Quinn always the curious one stopped to hear what was going on but with also the hopes that his mom would also forget the bike punishment and want to talk alone and tell him to go ride his bike.  The lady was Mrs. Hannigan and her son, Bobby 8-years-old, and daughter Anna 6-years-old.  Bobby was the same age as his brother Hugh.  Mrs. Hannigan wanted to know if his mom wanted to come over?  But she couldn’t because his mom explained that she had twins napping and her older boys too.  She would need to go back inside but she was more than welcome to come inside and visit.  Then she offered to introduce Bobby to Hugh.
     Then his mom did the worst thing ever said to put up his bike and show Anna the jungle gym.  What?  A girl?  Him?  Really?  So he starts walking not saying a word she says if he is putting his bike away couldn’t they both ride because she has her bike?  He looks at her like she has two heads.  He says no that his mom said to put it up and that he got in trouble for riding too fast.  She’s right you know you do but it was cool.  When he looks at her she is dressed not like a girly girl but like a cool girl.  Then he snaps out of it and says no he wasn’t she says yeah-you-were!  He just shakes his head.  She asks about the jungle gym he says behind the garage.  He thinks girls are weird.
     She asks what does he like for dessert?  He says cake.  She says Oh!  That her mom was going to serve her chocolate chip cookies.  Knowing he was punished he knew dessert was more than likely off the table for that night’s dinner too.  She says how about going to her house to grab a few of the cookies and box drink to have while playing on the jungle gym.  This time when he looked at her she didn’t look so bad after all.
     Jumping 24 years ahead.  Quinn and Anna are still best friends.  Although Anna has always wanted more Quinn has just never seen her that way.  He has seen her as more or less a tomboy in tee shirts.  So she quit the job at the pub and got into real estate.  She changed the way she dressed and even started dating once in a while.  All to get the attention of Quinn.  Nothing does it like her sitting by the pool.  Because now her best friend Zoe, is getting married to Aidan Shaughnessy, Quinn’s oldest brother. She is to be the maid of honor to Quinn’s best man.
     Well, when Quinn arrives he’s already in a pissy mood.  You see he had grown up to a world champion race car driver who quit at the top of his game after a friend of his was killed in a terrible accident.  Now he has a automotive and restoration business not to mention he has now opened several other locations so he is never home with his family.  Which he likes since they were always cramped as kids.  He’s still cocky and outspoken so spending the weekend trapped (how he sees it) with his family and a few friends on an estate with no amenities, bar, is not his idea of fun.  He can’t figure out with his brother’s hotel just a half hour down the road why they are staying at the estate?  So when he is greeted by his older brother on his way to the airport telling him to see Zoe in the back by the pool for room assignments he knows that can’t be good.
     So when he walks back there the first thing he sees is this sexy full curvy woman laying by the pool on her stomach in a bikini.  With a large hat on.  He figures it’s one of Zoe’s friend’s.  When Zoe meets him midway to the woman and tells him she’ll get him a drink and show him to his room.  He says you do that I’m going to introduce myself.  Zoe just smiles because she knows what’s coming.
     Quinn sits down next to the woman and says, “Hi!  Wanted to introduce…”  When the woman turns over and says, “Quinn…?”  He jumps up almost falling.  Face turning beat red his eyes fill with what looks like anger Anna thought.  He asks what she thinks she’s doing?  She says relaxing until he’s interrupted.  He then looks at her and tells her she needs to go in and put some clothes on before his brothers get there.  Better yet her brother got there.  Anna could only blink at him at first in disbelief after all these years Quinn was finally seeing her as a woman.  But then she got pissed off…
     This was a funny yet a heart wrenching story of two friends who finally after years of being wonderful friends together find and even hotter romance.  Yet they allow what others think, believe, or say to cloud their judgement of their own good common sense about what and who they are together.  The torment of self-discovery and past life choices we make can make you think out loud in this story of Anna and Quinn.  Sometimes we do for others out of love for them without thought to our own self-respect.  Or we tend to take more than we give emotionally out of self-preservation.  One thing for sure the chemistry that Quinn and Anna have is an atomic blast.  It isn’t until they forget that they are a unit that they lose sight of the prize.  I give this 5++++ stars.  Provided by netgalley.com.
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GLASS CEILINGS (True Heroes #2)

GLASS CEILINGS                     A.M. MADDEN

When a perfect new love is shattered, two hearts will do anything to pick up the pieces. In this sizzling novel from the bestselling author of Stone Walls, irresistible heat leads to sensual thrills—and a secret that changes everything.

Two years ago, Nick Farley was undercover as a bartender in Chicago. The tough-as-steel FBI agent was working all the angles to build a case against a local crime syndicate, but even his intense focus was no match for the sight of Angela Cavello’s plump pink lips pulling on her drink. All Nick got was one night—the longest, hottest, sweetest night of his life. It could have been the beginning of something real. Instead, she walked away—and Nick watched her go.

Angela has made some mistakes in her life, but Nick was never one of them. Nor was the baby boy he doesn’t know about. But Angela has been running from a stalker for so long that she’s forgotten how to feel safe. So when Nick suddenly reappears in her life, Angela faces a moment of truth. She wants to trust him and reveal her secrets—her life and the life of their son may depend on it—but first she needs to know that Nick can handle her past, and promise the one thing she most craves: a future together.


Glass Ceilings is meant for mature audiences 18+ due to sexual content and adult situations. Glass Ceilings is a stand alone novel from the True Heroes Series.
Loveswept / Random House Edition

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
This book starts off with a bartender Nick Farley beating everyone who has challenged him at darts and his friends cheering him on. You find out as the story goes on that he is an undercover agent for the FBI, and he is gathering information on the owner of the bar for a sting operation. This is all good until he is attracted to a woman who comes into the bar with her cousin named Angela. He is taken away by her looks and when she finally does talk to him that just seals the deal. After a few weeks of asking her out her cousin leaves her at the bar and he gives her a ride home. They start to spend a little more time together and as his case is winding down he ends up at her place early in the morning they spend most of the time not sleeping. It is at this point when he tells her that he is an FBI agent working undercover and will be going back to New York in a few days. She does not have any problems with that and wants to meet him in New York in a few weeks. Fast forward two and Nick is now Deputy Director of the New York office and is walking into an interrogation room. The person who is sitting at the table is Angela and her ex-boyfriend that he did know about two years ago because they broke up was found shot in his apartment and he has her cell phone # on his phone. Needless to say he is pissed because she is there in front of him, but he did not know she even made it to New York because as the story explains they stopped talking after eight weeks. After she leaves she waits for him to leave the building because she has some other news that she needs to tell him. They go to an out of the way diner where she explains that he is the father of a two year old boy, and after seeing a picture he knows he is the father because the boy looks like him. This is when the book goes back and forth between past and present. Want happened up to and after they stopped talking on the phone. Her explaining many things as the story goes along as you the reader are still trying to figure out who killed her ex and how and why is there a mob war between two families. There is a lot going on but it is written in a way that keeps you connected with both past and present, and you get a feeling that there is a dirty agent but it was not the person I thought. Which was a good twist. Will they work through their past two years and find the love that they once had. Read this book to find out. A very good story! I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 5 stars. 
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PLAYING BY HER RULES (Sydney Smoke Rugby #1)

PLAYING BY HER RULES                       AMY ANDREWS

In this grudge match, the first to score… 

When style columnist Matilda Kent accidentally lets slip that she was once involved with the captain of the Sydney Smoke rugby team, she suddenly finds herself elevated to the position she’s always wanted – feature writer. The catch? She’s stuck doing a six-part series on her ex. Still, there’s no way she can turn down a promotion…or the chance to dish the dirt on the guy who so callously broke her heart.

…could win it all!

Tanner Stone wants to be involved in a feature series about as much as he wants to snap an Achilles. But the thought of seeing Tilly again is a bonus—and has him more worked up than he wants to admit. Only he’s not prepared for how different she is – all cool and professional. His Tilly is still in there, though…and he still wants her, now more than ever. All he has to do is charm her into giving him a rematch. And this time, winner takes all!

MY REVIEW:
     Matilda Kent who was raised by her grandmother almost since birth in fact she was two weeks old when she and her father moved in.  Poor Gran had suffered another blow when Matty’s father Gran’s son took his own life.  Her Gran was an odd duck but it never bothered Matty. 
     Especially, when she started dating and fell in love with Tanner Stone one of the most handsome and popular rugby players at school.  But Gran had taught her to be proper and although she wanted to be with Tanner sexually she just couldn’t until she felt comfortable.  He never complained or pushed her.  They just loved being together no matter what they were doing.  She was there for him watching all his practices and games.
     Gran just loved Tanner he would help her around the house without being asked.  They would talk and joke but he also knew he rules.  He could not be in her room and no being fresh.  He did as she said gladly.  Then one day Matty surprised him and went all the way.  But going down on each other was out of the question so he was not to go there and he was okay with that too.
     Tanner was a happy man he had rugby, Matty and sex.  No worries as far as he was concerned until Matty talked about not going to college and following him around until he got picked up by a pro team.  But she had gotten a full ride to Stanford for journalism and Tanner knew she could not pass that up.  Being a journalist had always been her dream.  He couldn’t let her throw it all away for a maybe.
     Tanner came up with a sure fire plan to get her to go.  It would make her leave and being mad at him enough to go was the only way to do it he thought.  Now eight years later he might not have been so quick on the draw and rethought that whole plan but he did it and had to live with it.  He might not have involved Jessica Duffy (the popular girl, cool chick, queen bee, mean girl) and the one that went after Matty at every turn.  She had been snobby and merciless in how she disliked those beneath her like Matty, who had been caught in her crosshairs more than once.
     She would call her the “Odd nerd girl” which she ignored okay.  Her sad attempts to snag Tanner hadn’t worried Matty either because she was that secure in her relationship with Tanner.  She would never lie though and say that she sometimes felt less than in her “A” cups to her double “D’s.”  That Jessica Duffy had done numerous guy’s and was good in bed to hear the guys talk.  Yet, it had only been the last 8 months of their 2-year relationship that her and Tanner had been together sexually.
     So, on the day she walked in and saw Tanner kissing Jessica Duffy her world went spinning out of control.  She went home packed for Stanford.  She was going and not looking back.  Tanner felt what he had done needed to be done in order for Matty to achieve her dreams and he never wanted to hold her back.
     Now 8 years later Matty has to write a six-piece expose about Tanner who is now a big time rugby player.  She has plans to filet him for what he did to her with Jessica Duffy.  Can she?  Is he who she thought he was?  Is she where she thought she was?
     A lot of emotions can cloud our judgement when we rely on them only.  We have to look at all the facts before we rush to judgement something still not learned even at Stanford by this journalist, especially when it came to matters of the heart.  It is harder to do in real life than on paper that is for sure.  I enjoyed to story but wonder how it could or if it really could be applied in real life because emotions are such a powerful experience.  When we bruise those along with the heart wow, stand back.
I give this 5 stars.  Provided by netgalley.com.  Follow us at:

www.1rad-readerreviews.com.


UNDER THE SURFACE (Alpha Ops #4)

UNDER THE SURFACE                ANN CALHOUN

Welcome to Eye Candy, the East Side’s hottest nightclub where the bartenders are hot, the cocktails are fancy, and danger lurks just under the surface…

Eve Webber, the gorgeous and savvy owner of Eye Candy, knows better than anyone that growing up on the wrong side of the tracks comes with certain complications. Determined to run a clean business and fix up the East Side, Eve’s plans get temporarily stalled when a potential new hire walks into her bar. The sexual chemistry crackling between them is a potent distraction…even if she refuses to mix business with the promise of pleasure.

Detective Matt Dorchester lives by strict rules that have kept him alive in impossible situations. When his latest undercover assignment has him playing a bartender, his desire for the passionate owner has him breaking every single one. Eve is in danger and her life depends on his secrecy. But once their attraction reaches a climactic conclusion, Matt must make a desperate choice: Tell her the truth about who he really is―or risk a once-in-a-lifetime love to save her life?

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
Eve Webber is gorgeous, sexy, and smart. She has opened a bar called eye candy and she has big plans. She does not want to see her dreams blown up because of some guys from her old neighborhood. Growing up on the wrong side of the tracks she knows a lot of shady people and they come to her with a deal to launder money out of her bar for the drug operation. Not wanting to be part of that she goes to someone she knows in the local police force. She helps them with bank numbers and names. What she doesn’t know is that her new hire as a bartender is an undercover police detective. His name is Matt Dorchester, and his job is to protect her and get information. What neither of them were expecting was to fall for each other and when she finds out that is a detective she is pissed, but they work through that. Once the operation is over she is hoping that he will contact her, but he has his own past that he must work through first. Will they get together and if he does get his act together will she still want him in her life? These questions will be answered if you read the book. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 4 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

LIKE IT'S THE FIRST TIME

LIKE IT'S THE FIRST TIME             AVA STONE

Good guy Jason Cole always tries to do the right thing for everyone - his cancer-ridden mother, his best friend, even his neighbors. But when his first love - Emery Reid returns home for Christmas with a giant ring on her finger, Jason is determined to do the right thing for him.
Emery left Wheston to pursue her dreams on the New York stage. A cramped apartment and barely scraping by, her luck changes once she starts dating an up and coming director. But when she returns home for the holidays and sees Jason after all these years, she can't remember why she ever left home in the first place. Will she take another chance with her fist love or keep her eye on the dreams she's worked so hard to obtain?

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
Emery has come back to her home town after being in New York for four years struggling to become an actress. After finally having a lead part in a show she feels good about her future, but she knows the struggles can come back at any time. Now home and seeing friends and people from around town she finally runs into the one person she was hoping she would not, Jason Cole and Emery were always together it seemed from the time they met in second grade until she left for New York. She finds that she still has feelings for him that she thought would have gone away, and he has never forgotten about her. His life has taken a far different turn. His mother has breast cancer and soon after she was diagnosed his father took off to live in a different town with a different women. Dealing with a lot of anger the last person he was not expecting to see was Emery, and then to top it off she has a ring on a certain finger. She cannot figure out why he is acting different towards her until he tells her the obvious she is engaged and as much as he still loves her he cannot take it again if they were to be together for her to just up and leave like she did after they graduated from high school. She did not ask him to go with her, and when she thought back she wondered why because she loves him and now is wondering if she is really in love with her fiancé or not. This becomes more evident when he is always finding reasons not to be there with her, and then when she finds out that she is doing things behind her back that will not be good for her career she knows what to do. Will Jason still want her and will she go back to New York or maybe L.A. and will she ask Jason this time? Read the book to find out. this story has a lot of emotions and also deals with cancer and the family members, the care givers of the love ones and how they deal with the pain they have when a loved one is suffering. A very good book. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

FOOLING AROUND

FOOLING AROUND                   NOELLE ADAMS

In this steamy novel from New York Times bestselling author Noelle Adams, a notorious tech mogul makes a mild-mannered woman an offer she can’t refuse. What he gets is a battle for control—and a million-dollar affair.

Eric Vincent isn’t in the habit of asking for help. As the founder of a lucrative sports videogame franchise, he’s accustomed to getting his way and enjoying the fruits of his hard-earned success. Then all his illusions of dominance are shattered by a skiing accident that leaves him hobbled, facing a string of surgeries and months of immobility. The only way he’s going to survive is with someone by his side to anticipate his every desire. Someone who will devote every waking second to his comfort. Someone like Julie Nelson . . .

Julie’s life revolves around other people: her students, her parents, her sister. But even she has her limits. Julie has zero interest in playing personal assistant to Eric Vincent, a man who’s as arrogant as he is charismatic . . . until he ups the salary to one million dollars for three months’ work. Soon Julie’s struggling to bite her tongue—and resist the chemistry that draws her to Eric. But after one scorching kiss, Julie decides it’s finally her turn to be selfish. And this time, she’s going to get what she wants.

Includes a special message from the editor, as well as an excerpt from another Loveswept title.

MY REVIEW:
     Julie Nelson had come from a humble background.  A father and mother that truly loved her and her sister but only gave what they could afford.  Never any false dreams or promises her.  Mom was a no nonsense woman.  Her dad was more the romantic dreamer if you had to pick one.
     But the joy and laughter was there.  Her father would take the family camping at least until their teen years and her sister Marie became too big for her own britches.  So would hear stories of some of her friends staying in fancy hotels and going to fancy places.  She remembers her parents coming up with some sayings about being grateful but after that the trips started falling away.
     While she was off at college for her PhD in History six years ago her mom had suffered several strokes where it caused partial paralysis and speech problems.  Yet, when her dad ended up with pancreatic cancer six months later they could not manage.  Now six years have passed and eight months ago Julie’s father passed away just a week ago her mom suffered another massive stroke leaving her in a coma with DNR orders.  So, she had to sit and watch her mother slowly die like her father.
     On the day she passes she was leaving the hospital and gets stuck in the elevator with an alpha male from hell.  Well, maybe not that bad but rude anyway.  Rich and always used to getting his way even to the point of being a bully.  Yet, it could be he had a cast from thigh to ankle.
     Anyway after they were rescued from the elevator she gets a call from said man Eric Vincent but she doesn’t recognize the name because they never exchanged names.  She ask what he wants.  He says he wants to hire her for 3 months to be his aide/assistant.  Since she was so good at it on the elevator.  She had to think back to remember.  He tells her, the repositioning of his foot on the wheelchair and giving him a bottled water from her purse without him even asking or skipping a beat.
     She says no that her mom had just died that day and they would be having her funeral in the next day or so when he said he would pay her one hundred thousand dollars.  When she said no again a few more times he ended up at one million dollars for three months of working with him.  She was about to say no again but he said think about it he would call back on Friday and then hung up before she could say no.
     By the end of the funeral and her over dramatic sister taking all the glory for caring for her mother when she hardly did a thing.  Or even visited her.  Then when she started planning her life that was the last straw.  She had enough she was taking the job with Eric.  She needed her life back.  That is if Eric didn’t make her bite off her tongue with all his pompous remarks or him barking at her.
     Could she really work with this sexier than hell man?  The man who was rude, loud, and mean?  Or would she end up quitting after the first day?
     I enjoyed this story.  It surprised me with some heartwarming scenes inside of the fluff.  I give it 4 stars.  Provided by netgalley.com.  Follow us at:

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A FAIRYTALE BRIDE (Chapel of Love .5)

A FAIRYTALE BRIDE                HOPE RAMSAY

A CHAPEL OF LOVE SHORT STORY

After a very public career disaster, journalist Jeff Talbert-Lyndon wants to escape from the world. Picturesque Shenadoah Falls, Virginia, seems like the perfect place to relax and regroup before heading back to real life. But when he discovers the charming bookstore Secondhand Prose - and its lovely, slightly overwhelmed owner- he finds a part-time job and a very tempting reason to stay...

Melissa Portman is fighting a losing battle when it comes to saving her grandmother's store - and selling the historic building may be her only option. Yet when a handsome stranger wanders in one day, she wonders if her very own fairytale is just beginning...

HUBBY'S REVIEW:

A short story about a journalist who is trying to hide, and a bookstore owner who is trying to save not only her store, but the building. Jeffery Talbot Langston got let go from the magazine he was working for when the story he wrote about a political figure was being ridiculed as wrong and his source being an ex or would be ex. Leaving everything and wanting to be rid of his name as well. He ends up in a small Virginia town. This is where he meets Melissa Portman who is trying to hang onto her grandmother’s book store, but is having a rough time still grieving from her passing and a tax bill that is due on the building. In walks Jeff who does not wants to be noticed but cannot help noticing the woman who is working in the store. He comes back the next day and finds out she is the owner and he volunteers to help her put the store in order. Against her better judgement she agrees and hence the romance starts. First just flirting. Then they get serious but he must come clean with who he is and he must fix something that is going on in town with his aunt. A cute story fast read and for the most part even though you know what is going to happen Hope Ramsey does make it interesting. A good book. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 3 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

THE FAMILY MAN

THE FAMILY MAN                   KELLY EADON

TEMPTATION NEVER TASTED SO SWEET...

When life hands lemons to Beth Beverley, she makes mouthwatering lemon squares. Mostly because they're coveted by the sexy single dad who owns Belmont's most popular coffee shop. But that's where her crush on Griffin has to end. Her sweet treats are selling like crazy cakes in his shop, and she doesn't mix business with pleasure. Too bad his sinful smile has her flirting with the idea of forever.

Griffin Hall definitely needs to keep his eyes--and his hands--off Beth. Since he's traded in late-night gigs and partying for bedtime stories with his little girl in his arms, he doesn't have time for anything else. So why does Beth's big heart and easy way with his daughter make him finally feel alive again? But there's a little secret Beth doesn't know, something he can't bear to tell her . . .

MY REVIEW:
     When you're young you think of blowing town especially if you come from a small farm town in Ohio.  For a Griffin Hall who learned to play guitar at five and mastered the bass off a CD he got his hands on in junior high he was going places.  He ate, drank, and slept MTV and VH1 focusing on the finger work the bass players had. Until it clicked one day he was writing his own riffs in high school.
     A friend in high school got a band together.  They managed to get a good following and become popular.  After a year college he dropped out Thorny Lemon went on to become a national success.  They traveled all over the world.  Although he loved the music the traveling sucked.  Not for the reasons you think.  He enjoyed seeing new places when he got to explore but that was hardly ever.
     But then one of the groupies he had slept with ended up pregnant and he became a father.  He sued for custody and won.  He left the band and became a fulltime parent to Mabel.  He now owns a coffee shop in Belmont called Little Ray of Sunshine. 
     Every three days there is a friend of one of his employees who has becomes has become his also, that supplies muffins.  She is just gorgeous.  Beth Beverly is just one of the sexiest women he has ever met.  Yet, when she is around he becomes a sixteen-year-old hormonal boy.
     He loves that every time she brings in her muffins she has tried a new and excitingly new recipe.  She is in new and odd styles that suit her too.  She still looks great in whatever she wears though.  She’s open and friendly and always has a smile.
     He so wants to get close to her but Mabel’s grandparent’s had tried so hard to use his past associations with the band against him and the lifestyle they felt he lived while in the band that it left him gun shy.  They live a good quiet life.  One that is healthy and happy for Mabel in order to protect her and keep her safe.
     I enjoyed reading this story.  I was a parent of a blended family as well as a child of divorce and know all too well of the fish bowl effect.  You always feel like you could or have made the wrong move.  You try to live off the radar until you feel like a ghost of who you are.
     Not good for you or the children.  One day you either say “F it” or you lose yourself.  And Griffin had to finally make that choice or lose out.  Beth had choices as well and her struggles were just as real.  I give this 4 stars.  Provided by netgalley.com.

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