GRR Review Confiscating Charlie by Lucy Leroux

For a "first sex" novelette, Confiscating Charlie by Lucy Leroux was surprisingly sweet romance.

Noah is a retired race car driver (and billionaire) that wanted Charlie, who's technically his aunt (in reality, his father's new young wife's baby sister). Both are making their own way in the world against the disapproval of family; he against the wishes of his father, and she against neglect of her sister who just wants to marry rich and spend someone else's money. Missing her own sister's graduation and birthday? Yep, that sort of heartless BLEEP. 

Unfortunately, the book quickly fell into the "innocent girl likes hot rough sex being manhandled" trope which is why this did not get 5/5

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Man seduces younger woman starved for love, against some family taboos

Overall Rating: 4/5

GRR Review Romancing the Alpha by Alicia Montgomery

Romancing the Alpha is book 3 of the True Mate series, but you don't need to read the previous books (but it helps).

Head of Fenrir Corp, Grant Anderson, who's also the New York Alpha of the Lycans, got drugged by some nasties with some sort of magic potion, and he somehow escaped and got to New Jersey, and was picked up by the New Jersey Alpha, Frankie, who's one of the few Female Alphas around the country. And they developed a relationship from this meet-cute. From there on it shifts to basically a country girl wooed by billionaire alpha trope, albeit with both being Lycans, and the threat of evil Lycans (traitors!) and the nasties (the evil blood mages) in the background, including kidnapping, narrow escape, and more. And as this is a true mate book, it's pretty obvious it'll end in a pregnancy and true mates between the two.

The plot lines are nicely integrated and flow smoothly. Nothing seems to be out of place or forced, including the traitor's motivation. The attitude motivation shift of the MMC and FMC didn't shift that much though. FMC did shift somewhat from fully self-reliant (i.e. "I don't need a man") to "I need my true mate". The MMC on the other hand really didn't shift that much. The action is fast, but the combat between Lycans seem to be a pretty simple affair.

And I'll just say that it seems the bad guys are actually HELPING the lycans producing more of these true mate babies than actually hurting them in any way, doesn't it?

Category: Paranormal

Primary Plot: Alpha of New York Clan of Wolfshifters fell for the Alpha of New Jersey Clan, the only female alpha... while evil blood mages covertly attack the clan

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Review Whirlwind Romance by Alicia Hunter Pace

NO LONGER ON AMAZON (Link to Crimson Romance Website)

Being a anthology / collection, Whirlwind Romance is an interesting mixbag of stories with just one common theme: the FMC and MMC fall for each other very quickly, or a love that was rekindled very quickly. And being short doesn't mean these are short on plot, as some of these are essentially short novels. The Art Historian and the Investigator was a good one, as is the high school prank and the reformed quarterback. The baseball star and the daughter of local baseball hero is pretty good. The quickest read would be the doctor and the nurse in the elevator and that's nice too. The others are somewhat less emotionally evolved. Most of these are at least 3/5 but there were a few stories that are 4/5. Unfortunately, on the average I'll have to give this 3/5 just due to overall quality.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: N/A

Overall Rating:  3/5

GRR Review Cowboy Bought And Paid For: An Older by Crystal Chance

NOTE: NO LONGER AVAILABLE ON AMAZON (GoodReads link)

Cowboy Bought and Paid For by Crystal Chance is about a young woman falling for the older man.

MacKenzie Green agreed to be surrogate for a baby with husband Mitchell and Dana. Then she found herself drawn into a war between them, as Dana's bipolar and and Mitchell... is a pushover. But MacKenzie fell for Mitchell anyway... 

While MacKenzie started with impulse control issues (which is why she, as a college student, agreed to be a surrogate in the first place) and ended up a much better person, both Mitchell and Dana came off as cardboard cutouts. Mitchell only grew a backbone when he discovered some things about Dana, while Dana is just plain batshit crazy. While darkest hour was pretty bad, there was no grand gesture, so darkest hour didn't really count. While HEA was achieved, it was merely an afterthought.

Category: Western // Contemporary

Primary Plot: Surrogate hired by couple ended up collateral damage when a couple fight, while surrogate fell for the guy

Overall Rating:  2/5

GRR Review: And Never Let Her Go by Nancy Glynn

"And Never Let Her Go" is an interesting contemporary romance about an unlikely love triangle and a message from beyond the grave.

Erin Donahue had a career in photography and a man who loved her, but when she found something about herself, she ran because she had to let the man go. Now she lives in a small town of Destiny, IL and embraced her quiet life... Until Slade Callahan, her ex's brother, tracked her down to deliver her a letter... from his brother, her ex... Who killed himself. Callahan wanted to hate Erin, but he was in love with her too, but he had his army tour. Now that he's back, and Erin was no longer with his brother, Slade can't decide whether to love or hate Erin... What was in the letter, and what was the secret that Erin tried so desperately to hide?

As I don't want to spoil the story, I am not going to mention the secret but Erin's emotional trauma was real and the secret was perhaps a bit... emphasized when it didn't have to be, but it had an interesting triangle and various levels of betrayal... Family drama, messy, but if it leads to a present-day HEA, it's good, right?

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Woman is being wooed by her ex's brother, after leaving her ex...

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Review: Blood to Dust by L.J. Shen

Blood to Dust is a tour-de-force by L J Shen that put two very tortured people by circumstances often beyond their own understanding by tormented people exacting their version of vengeance.

Prescott (yes, that's a girl) is a former-blue blood that was kidnapped by Godfrey, a British kingpin and dumped into the care of two goons, Ink and Beat. Ink is just a goon, but Beat... was a damaged soul waiting for a chance at redemption. Prescott wants Beat as a potential ally in her plan for vengeance... and survival, as she knew that she will not survive whatever demented games Godfrey had planned, but she already had unspeakable things done to her by them previously and had escaped once already. Soon, the two joined forces and planned their escape and path of vengeance across California, against a kingpin with almost unlimited resources...

The violence done to Prescott was the kind that will make you wince, but she's a survivor that shows amazing resilience. Same with Nate, who was a gentle soul pushed into violence, and became very good at it. There were minor problems like Nate suddenly became a sharpshooter (6 shots, 6 kills) without ever used a gun before, or the God-like abilities of Godfrey's goons at finding the duo despite all attempts to obfuscate their trail, not just multiple times in the US, but also in UK. The ending was also feeling a little rushed, IMHO. However, the twists revealed near the end was surprising enough that I think those minor problems can be forgiving.

And the sex... It's so raw and so powerful and so rough (and completely consensual) you should really read it to experience it.

Category: Romantic suspense

Primary Plot: woman rallied her jailer to escape and seek revenge against her kidnapper

Overall Rating:  5/5

GRR Review Ready to Fall (Lovestruck Librarians) by Olivia Dade

Ready to Fall is a fun fast and romantic read from friends to love type of slow and sweet romance.

Librarian Sarah, hoping to change her luck in dating, wanted to go after a "slow" co-worker because she lives her life fast, and those who dated her, also "fast", did not work out. To do that, she needed to learn how to ride a bicycle so she can join the "bike retreat" coming in in a few months. She engaged a bicycle repair shop owner Chris, who turned out to be a lean muscle guy... and nothing like she expected, for he has an engineering degree, not a jock. Chris also found that Sarah was nothing he expected either, her dramatic exterior masked a caring personality. Soon, Sarah found Chris to the person she SHOULD be going after... but will Chris get the message?

The darkest hour was pretty bad, but the grand gesture was cute and appropriate. Both characters changed a bit. Chris realized he could love again while Sarah learned that one shouldn't change target criteria just because hunting seem to be slim pickings. The comedic dialog was right on the nose.

Category: contemporary

Primary Plot: Teacher hoping to get attention of a different teacher needed to learn how to bike, and fell for the bike shop owner instead

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Review The Billionaire's Assistant by Rose Francis

Billionaire's Assistant can be described as a fairy tale, where an African-American girl out of a group home, down on her luck, living with a stripper riend, got fired due to being assaulted in her bed the night before, was noticed by a handsome rich white guy who made up a position on the spot because he wanted her. Frankly, that's creepy.

Naomi's day couldn't get any worse. She was almost assaulted in her bed the night before, and due to lack of sleep, she arrived late at work and was fired. As she fled in shame, she almost smashed into a handsome stranger, who noticed her plight and offered her a live-in personal assistant position on the spot. His name is Kevin, and he's a billionaire. Things are finally looking up for Naomi... if only she'd accept it and stop feeling sorry for herself... 

The poor girl finally getting a break and a chance at real love. Fairy tale, right? All she has to do is accept it. There is no more struggle, all she has to do is... let it come to her, and only her insecurities and her doubts held her back, then she's like "okay, even if it's temporary it's worth it" and accepted it. The twist at the end was wasted, IMHO. There was really no darkest hour or a grand gesture.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Girl having a very bad day found one man who can save her. Can she love him in spite of her insecurities?

Overall Rating:  2/5

GRR Review Fated Flames: A Witch and Shifter Urban by Luna Noir

Fated Flames is an urban fantasy by Luna Noir between a girl with unknown powers looking for her sister, and a bear-shifter who was hired to investigate.

Bernice is in the city to locate her sister, and she hired Wes, a private investigator who's also a bear-shifter. When Bernice "accidentally" killed a feral vampire with a flame burst that she had no control over, Wes had to keep her safe in the city of Haven, while giving her a little help. They were drawn together. As Bernice pursues her leads, Wes searched his, and Bernice's lead pointed at something hidden deep under the city, at an evil neither had anticipated...

The attraction between the pair was not explained that well other than "damsel in distress", but the development of Bernice from "babe in the city" to someone who can really take care of herself, as well as figure out the whole mystery, was good. it's more of an adventure than romance, IMHO. The plot is quite good with proper pivots as Bernice and Wes chase from clue to clue.

Category: Paranormal

Primary Plot: Girl with unknown powers met a bear-shifter PI in the city to find the girl's sister, stumbled into a dark evil conspiracy

Overall Rating:  3.5 /5 rounded up to 4/5

GRR Review Cowboys of Chance Creek Vol 0 - 2 by Cora Seton

Cowboys of Chance Creek Bundle is a collection of first two Cowboys of Chance Creek novels plus a prequel, this collection are about the three cowboys and the women coming back to town and how these cowboys will woo them.

1) Cowboy Inherits a Bride: hometown country boy and big city chef both inherit a building and had to compete to inherit the place... will they fight or will they cooperate and fall for each other instead?

I find this story too "forced" and the "opposites attract" a bit hard to understand.  2.5/5

2) Cowboy's E-mail order bride: cowboy's friends edited his video rant into a video plea for cowboy wife, and surprisingly, Autumn responded, but Autumn is really there to write an expose to embarrass the pathetic cowboy, except they ended up doing it for real instead. Both are keeping secrets, but neither can deny the attraction to each other.

The setup here makes much more sense as "fake love turn real trope" doubled up works great, and the girl's transition made much more sense here. I rather like it, 3.5/5

3) Cowboy Wins a Bride: cowboy wanted to romance his friend's sister for a while, but she ran off to the city and was only back to attend her brother's wedding. Cowboy launched one last desperate plan... convince her to stay. If he failed, he'll pay for her trip around the world with his life savings. But she's busy trying to prove her worth when she was unappreciated in the city.

This one was not good as the girl ended up being a doormat at her city job and was so mad in getting even that she forgot why she had to leave in the first place. And Jaime was bent over backwards trying to accomodate her.  3/5

All in all, the first story was rather lame, second was good, and third merely average with a lot of exasperated sighs.

Category: Contemporary Western

Primary Plot: N/A  Bundle

Overall Rating:  3/5

GRR Review: Need You for Keeps by Marina Adair

Need You For Keeps by Marina Adair is a deeply divisive book for me. On one hand, I very much enjoy the tension between the pet rescuer Shay Michaels and deputy Jonah Baudouin who had to investigate her for all the little laws she's breaking in the name of her foster animals.

Groomer and pet rescuer Shay Michaels is a softie... She cannot stand by if an animal is in distress, no matter how many laws she had to break, including fostering too many at her place. That brings her into conflict with Deputy Jonah Daudouin, there to enforce the law. Shay trusted the wrong person once and got burned, badly, and prefers dealing with animals than humans. Jonah wanted a chance to be sheriff and that means he can't get involved with a lawbreaker like Shay, no matter how good-hearted she is. But keeping up with Shay becomes a full-time job... And when someone wanted to run Shay out of town, Jonah may be her only ally... 

Shay is so "ends justifies the means" kinda girl it's a wonder how did she manage to survive, much less live in St. Helena, in the middle of Napa wine country. Pairing her up with the straight-laced uptight deputy is fine, but that's basically putting up two self-righteous people against each other, and sparks gonna fly, and it may not be the sexy kind.

The ending incident/climax that saw the FMC Shay in legal trouble (i.e. darkest hour) just sounds so... ridiculously trivial that it's like a smear campaign, and the ending wasn't even much of a grand gesture, but just "oh, I solved it for you, let's happily live ever after." That's... annoying. To summarize, lots of plot if a bit ridiculous, characters are shallow, darkest hour seems to be about trivial stuff, and ending is tell, not show, I'm a bit underwhelmed.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Pet rescuer and minor scofflaw meets sexy deputy with eye on sheriff's post; neither will give in, but they can make out like crazy... right? 

Overall Rating:  3/5

GRR Review: Slave by Sherri Hayes

Slave by Sherri Hayes is hard to rate for me. I have a problem with general non-con and clearly a "slave" is well beyond the pale, and the story of Brianna that had her life shattered and basically beaten into submission was a very very sad one.

Stefan is a dominant in private with consensual women. But a meeting with Darren, a fellow dom, somehow led him down a path into buying a slave named Brianna. Brianna had been broken by an abusive dom and all of her thoughts go to "must please master" and "no more pain". Stefan's gentle touches and firm demands for her to have her voice again made her quiver as to what her next punishment will be.  Can Stefan's gentle coaxing bring some life back into Brianna's eyes?

Stefan's will to "rescue" her is noble, if misguided, as he is, by definition, playing God. By taking over ownership of a slave and trying to "liberate" her, but keeping her be a submissive in a D/s relationship, Stefan is basically trying to play psychiatrist / rape counselor / cult deprogrammer / crisis counselor all by himself without guidance or expertise. That is about as dangerous as as a pre-med student doing a major surgery. Only literary license can explain how did he "succeed", but we don't know how well he succeeded because the book ended on a bit of cliffhanger.

On the other hand, that's "reality" of D/s relationship speaking. If you ignore all that, this is basically the fairy tale of the gentle dom liberating a slave by weaning her off the total 24/7 power exchange and abuse and exchange it for a "voluntary" gentler D/s relationship... because that's the way he plays. It is both noble and selfish at the same time, and perhaps that's the reason I will want to read the next chapter... can Brianna be put back together?

Category:  Contemporary

WARNING: BDSM theme, victim of mental and physical abuse, ends on cliffhanger

Primary Plot:  Gentle dom bought a slave to deprogram her

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Review Texas Rose Forever (A Texas Rose Ranch by Katie Graykowski

Texas Rose Forever is a fun read about two lovers that started off on the wrong foot but came to accept each other as perfect for each other, yet both had to a grand gesture to prove to each other their heart.

FMC CanDee McCain was tall (6'5" in heels), buxom, sassy, witty, and loves practical jokes. But when her ex Phillip stole her debut novel and passed it off as his own, then left town while she was out writing a genealogy report so her belongings were auctioned off for nonpayment of rent, CanDee had to live in a car and find another genealogy to work on, and her job brought her to Texas Rose Ranch, where she met the Rose clan... Cinco Rose... who initially mistaken her for a stripper. And Cinco is taller than she is, and while it was not love at first sight, CanDee can give just as well she can get. Her ongoing "practical joke war" with "Lefty", the onsite mechanic was epic, and her quick wit left Cinco breathless (in excitement) as Cinco was depressed after divorcing Naomi (who was just after him for his money). But when CanDee's ex tried to blackmail her for more money, it would be up to Cinco and CanDee to save the ranch. 

The flirting dialog was world-class, IMHO, some of the best banter in romance I've read (and I've read several hundred) There were some suspense elements near the end where the crazy ex came back leading to the darkest hour, and CanDee finally learned to no longer be weak in front of her ex, after they reached a bargain where they both held something over the other's head. There was a twist after that what I will not reveal, but it was a very good grand gesture. Both FMC and MMC learned to change and it was a great fun read. I wished for a bit more karma on the evil ex, but hey, one can dream.

Category: Western

Primary Plot: Genealogy writer visits an esteemed Texas ranch, found long held secret, was blackmailed by ex and protected by head of ranch

Overall Rating: 5/5

GRR Review Her Secret Agent: A Novella (X-OPS Seri by Paige Tyler

Her Secret Agent managed to throw us a couple twists in just a novella.

John, head of DCO (Department of Covert Ops) wanted to recruit a fox-shifter called Cree. Except she's a lot more than she expected, and so was her mission. And this is a romance, after all, as they profess their love for each other, but they have to survive a Russian mob ambush... 

Characters are fun, lots of hidden pretext to their actions, and lots of consequences from each action. It's a good fast read, and there are previews for other books to serve as teasers as well.

Category: Romantic suspense

Primary Plot:  Covert agent recruiting a candidate found himself drawn to her while surviving a Russian mob ambush

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Review Protecting Caroline (SEAL of Protection by Susan Stoker

Protecting Caroline is a "SEAL / bodyguard" story between Matthew "Wolf" Steel and Caroline.  However, the FMC was independent to the point of being masochistic.

Caroline and Wolf (and his two SEAL buds) foiled a hijacking attempt but left out the details on how Caroline was the one who spotted the spiked ice. Caroline was used to being in the background, and did not tell the FBI. Later on the East Coast, Matthew developed a relation with the tough girl Caroline, but had to leave for a mission when unknown persons invaded Caroline's residence. Caroline was moved at FBI's insistence to a safehouse, and Matthew and team joined her, but the safehouse was attacked and Caroline taken. Can the SEAL team save her?

There are a lot of problems with the SEAL team conducting operations on American soil, even if it's "unsanctioned". The way bad guys gloat toward the end and how the good guys lost Caroline in the first place is just lame. The FMC is another problem in that she's basically masochistic and anonymous. Cuts that require stitches? Tough it out with paper towels. Don't want to see paparazzi? Sleep on the floor instead of going to a hotel. A Handsome guy interested in her? Can't possibly be worthy, must be a mistake. That's just masochistic, sorry.

Category: Romantic suspense

Primary Plot:  Tough girl who foiled a terrorist attack was kidnapped by terrorists for retribution. It'd be up to the SEAL team to save her.

Overall Rating:  2/5

GRR Review: A Stone in the Sea by A.L. Jackson

A Stone in the Sea is one emotional ride between Sebastian, a rock star, and Shea Bentley, a waitress and single mom.

Sebastian was afraid to fall in love with Shea, but he recognized a kindred soul that both have been grievously wounded by circumstances. However, Sebastian knew bad things happen to people around him due to his fame, yet there is a raw attraction there that neither can deny. However, Shea had some deep secrets she's hiding. And when a beach outing almost turned into tragedy, that deep dark secret came back and threaten to destroy them both.

The emotions are raw and searing, even as Sebastian and his bandmates are fighting for their stage lives, trying not to be recognized by fans, while avoiding being manipulated by their agent/manager who may have killed one of their younger brothers by giving him drugs when he was trying to get clean. My ONLY complaint is this book ended on a cliffhanger ending with the rest to be resolved in the 2nd book Drowning to Breathe (Bleeding Stars Book 2)

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Rock star found a kindred soul in the single mom waitress in a cafe in the middle of nowhere, then her secret threatened them both

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Review Silk and Spurs (Rough and Ready Book 1 by Cheyenne McCray

Silk and Spurs followed the typical romantic suspense formula: a kidnapping. However, this particular variation was done with no "too stupid to live" moments for either the FMC or MMC, and the evil ones get proper karma before the end.

Jessie was to be the photographer for Zane's wedding, but she caught some pictures of Zane's fiancee doing something else. When Zane called off the wedding, the ex-fiancee decided Jessie was the reason and started a campaign to either kill her or force her away, forcing her into Zane's protection... 

The way Zane and Jessie fell for each other was a bit too... convenient, almost like love at first sight. But the subsequent struggles are quite emotional. Still, nothing really stood out.

Category: Romantic Suspense

Primary Plot: Photographer photographed something she shouldn't and now someone wanted to hurt her... forcing her into a cowboy's prtoection...

Overall Rating: 3/5

GRR Review: Chasing I Do (The Eastons Book 1) by Marina Adair

Chasing I Do is a story about reconciliation, rediscovering love, and conflicting loyalty between love and family, and it is a deep pool to dive in indeed.

Darcy Kincaid was once engaged to marry Kyle Easton, the wild child of the Easton clan, but did a runaway bride because Kyle had a case of the slippery dick. However, when Kyle ended up wrapping his car around a tree soon after, Eastons blamed Darcy and there had been no contact. Five years later, Darcy had renovated Belle Mont Manor by depleting her life savings, making it the goto location for wedding venues near Portland, and when Wedding Magazine offered her the cover if a celebrity couple can book their rush wedding there, Darcy jumped at the chance... Only to discover that the best man is her ex's brother Gage. When Gage found out, he immediately tried to cancel the venue or force Darcy out of the planning, but that all changed when he saw Darcy's daughter Kylie, who is no doubt his niece, and suddenly he understood Darcy's position and how the Easton clan had misjudged her. While the idea of Darcy withholding the existence of Kylie from them rubbed him raw, he must convince his family, including his grudge-holding mother, that his plan, which includes winning Darcy's heart, is their best chance...

The ending is a bit too abrupt, and the "darkest hour" wasn't as dark as it could be. There really wasn't even much of a grand gesture. Mama Easton just came across as a callous wounded individual used to get her way no matter the cost. The person changed the most is Gage, not Darcy, surprisingly. Description of slapstick moments that includes a dog and kids are very effective, and there were lots and lots of cupcakes. Enjoyable read except for the ending.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Wedding planner found the next venue's best man was her dead ex's brother; he found he had a niece he never knew about... did his family wronged her for all these years?

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Review: Red Card by Lucy Blake

NO LONGER AVAILABLE ON AMAZON  (Goodreads profile)

Red Card, an MFM romance, can be summarized as two fraternal twins going after the same lady reporter.

First problem was the cover. WHO made up that STUPID picture which had NOTHING to do with the book? The book is about SOCCER!!!!! Not American Football! And the two main stars are one white (well, Latino), one black! This sort of generic cover was stupid. I had hoped they'd have fixed this stupid cover, but really, it's a joke.

Second, I have no problem with MFM romance, but this book treats sports like a parody. The new sports network has the initials SIN? Hilarious. Then the keystone cop moment that ended book1? The trio escaped because they're next to the helipad and flew off in their helicopter while a dozen cruisers surrounded the estate. Doesn't anybody take down helo's tail numbers? Don't helos file flight plans and talk to towers? No! Let's just jump in and wave at the keystone cops! Nonsense situations like this are all over the three volumes.

And you pretty much know that in the three volumes, the girl will go from one, to the other then there's going to be a huge fight, and they'll make up. There's a twist at the end that I didn't see coming, but again, it's pretty much (bleep) sports, let's go do the most outrageous thing instead, MFM, on camera. For a sports romance to treat sports so cavalierly is just "bleh".

At least the creepy evil photog got his karma, and there are lots and lots of sex.

As for the bonus content? I hate dark romance, as there's always some non-con involved, and it's seriously mind (bleep). Viewer discretion is advised.

Category: Erotic romance

Primary Plot: Lady report falls for fraternal twins, both soccer stars on different teams

Overall Rating:  2/5

GRR Review Anti Hero by Skye Warren

Antihero gave me a mixed feeling. The romance was pretty good between Sofia and Nate, and the plot was decent, and a couple of the twists are cute, but the flashbacks seem to serve little purposes other than disrupting the narrative flow, making the read very annoying.

Sofia was a reporter working on her story of some political corruption of a senator. She downloaded the latest research onto her laptop and left early to go home... just in time to turn back and saw her building bombed and the backup server wiped out. She got home only to find the landlord dead and intruder in her apartment. Hoping to say goodbye for her lover, Nate, one last time, she left him a message. The tone was desperate and out of character that he came investigating, just in time to save her from thugs. Now both are embroiled in the conspiracy to silence her, and there is even a traitor in the newspaper. Nate had to call in a few favors to keep Sofia safe, but she had to keep prying at the story and keep her in danger...

The flashbacks are about Sofia's history and why she cannot love Nate and his "job". Nate cannot abide Sofia's attitude toward dangerous stories (she will pursue them no matter what). So there's a character arc about how they both came to understand each other's viewpoint and finally accept that it's better to love and risk than no love.

The conspiracy is big enough, but Nate fainting from a single gunshot? Oh, please. Too melodramatic.

Category: Romantic suspense

Primary Plot: reporter running from a conspiracy needs to rely on ex-boyfriend who's a dangerous man

Overall Rating:  3/5

GRR Review Lancelot of the Pines (Louisiana Knights by Jennifer Blake

Lancelot of the Pines is a contemporary "bodyguard" romance between Lance, the hunky deputy, and Mandy, the witness Lance was assigned to protect.

Lance was involved in a shooting, with the local football star the victim (but it's justified!) and really need to get out of town. Mandy's husband had disappeared and a goon tried to kidnap her and only her quick wits let her survive the experience. Cops sent her away from New Orleans to keep her safe, and Lance just came off as arrogant unbeliever who considered her a suspect instead of a victim. When assassins arrive on the scene and Lance rescued Amanda, they go on the run, but assassins keep finding them even when all links had been cut. Who's being targeted: Mandy, or Lance? And how are the assassins finding them? When Sheriff Tate himself arrested Mandy for suspicion of murder, Lance had to decide whether his feelings for Mandy has affected his judgment...

The feelings between the two are real as Lance's instincts tell him that Mandy is NOT a gold digger who wanted to do away with her husband, but why are all the evidence pointing that way? Mandy, on the other hand, knew that she had been a victim, and her husband was very good in covering up the truth... The plot points are actually quite good and the one major question was answered at the end. My one nitpick is Sheriff Tate's arrest of Mandy, as it seems to be forced and rushed (and bail was only 100K?) Otherwise, nice tight suspense romance

Category: Romantic suspense

Primary Plot: Deputy being temporarily exiled out of town was sent to guard a witness whose husband may be involved with organized crime; both ran when assassins came after them... why?

Overall Rating: 4/5

GRR Review: Last Chance to Run by Diana Love

Enjoyed Last Chance to Run, between Angel and Zane, though the conclusion failed to wrap up the situation with sufficient clarity to be satisfying.

Angel was a promising student-athlete when she was railroaded by her father and the DA into a drug trafficking conviction. Once released, she finally found work, only to find that she was hired BECAUSE she had a conviction because her employer Mason Lorde was doing something shady and found her easier to control that way. When she ran, she took some of the recently stolen loot, and managed to stow herself onto a plane heading to Florida piloted by Zane. Angel kept running, but with little resource to rely on, and Zane was clearly smitten by the mysterious, strong, yet vulnerable woman, they will meet again... and again. For Zane is not your typical charter pilot... but a DEA informant...

The emotional ties are real and not melodramatic, and the need to not involve others and keep their identities were paramount. I find this kind of "go away, don't get involved because I can't let you get hurt by people after me" motivations far more believable than the far more vapid "go away, I can't love you because I don't want to be hurt as you'll hurt me eventually" in many romances. The darkest hour was pretty dark alright, but the conclusion was almost all tell, no show and not that satisfying.

Category: Romantic suspense

Primary Plot: Woman on the run with a secret found the one man who may be able to save her, a secret DEA informant

Overall Rating: 4/5

GRR Review SEAL's Honor: A Military Romance (Take by Elle James

SEAL's Honor is about an interesting love triangle between two SEAL team members and the hot helo pilot they share a camp with.

Tuck had an NSA relationship with the hot helo pilot Delaney of the 160th Night Stalkers. They sneak away for some steamy sex in camp whenever possible because they know well enough neither may live another day despite knowing fraternization is a very bad idea. But Tuck doesn't do full relationships. When Tuck's best SEAL bud Reaper asked Delaney to marry him in front of everyone, Tuck was too chicken(poop) to speak up, and when Reaper lost an arm on a mission, Delaney cannot leave Reaper. But how will Delaney handle loving one man and betrothed to another? And what will Tuck do about the situation? The tension is palpable, and the twist at the end was almost worth the wait, as the author managed to milk this triangle for all its worth.

I do want to commend the author for far more authenticity than most SEAL novels. Whereas a lot of SEAL novels just cast them as generic badasses, this one actually had them in/near combat situations and react realistically (though I suspect having a tryst in the middle of a base is probably harder than it is described, literary license and all that).

Category: Military

Primary Plot: Elite helo pilot is in love with one SEAL but accidentally accepted a marriage proposal from another... 

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Review: Rescue Me (TREX Book 2) by Allie K. Adams

Rescue me is a covert agency romance between two very hard-headed people... Spencer, a TREX special agent, and Kathryn, co-head of K-SAR search and rescue agency.

In order to set up a situation and mislead K-SAR, Spencer was forced to let his former lover Kat to live with a lie. Two years later, TREX needs to find a missing 6-year old child, and when the kidnappers were also found dead, K-SAR was called in to help. When Spencer and Kat reunited, their passion reignited. But when additional incidents revealed a threat from inside TREX, the missing kid's kidnapping was NOT the true intent. Someone is a traitor, but who? And how deep are they into TREX? 

The problem in this novel is both characters are just way too... hard-headed. Neither are willing to admit their love for the other (mostly on Spencer's side) even though they are able to have scorching sex. It took some life and death struggle at the end to make them admit their love for each other. However, one didn't get there easily, but both had to have several "too stupid to live" moments on their way there. They don't seem to be acting like highly trained professionals (esp. Spencer) but hormone-driven teenagers. This seems to be a common problem in many of the so-called "military romances" where the male characters act as if they were completely emotionally driven, a couple sharp words will send them into blood-boiling fits despite their alleged background of battle-hardened soldiers or highly-trained secret agents or whatever. That's why this book did not get 5/5 despite having a nice onion-peeling plot that was properly resolved by the end.

Category: Romantic suspense

Primary Plot: Two agency heads had to confront their romantic past and misunderstanding while confronting a present-day conspiracy

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Review: SEAL for Her Protection by Paige Tyler

SEAL for her protection shows how important research (or access to sources) is important to accuracy, as this SEAL romance is MUCH better than typical "SEAL romance" trash around. However, the characters are just a bit too perfect to be human.

Haylee was a reporter that decided to go out beyond the local army's protection and was captured by Boko Haram, then rescued by US Navy SEAL raid. Months later she ran into the SEAL that rescued her, Chasen back in the US Navy Base in Coronado, and they started dating... and fell for each other hard. However, Haylee felt unsafe sometimes, as if she was being watched. Was it the corrupt politicians she was investigating? Could it be her overprotective cameraman? Or was it just a case of jumpy nerves from her PTSD? 

Haylee shows compassion and dedication, but sort of oblivious recklessness when it comes to investigating some leads into her story, and she didn't change by the book's end. Same with Chasen. He's handsome as a GQ model, tough as a SEAL as they come, and can make love like nobody's business, not to mention dispatch bad guys left and right. He really has no vices and no weaknesses except he got a little distracted thinking about Haylee! The rest of the characters are minimal. The twist was telegraphed pretty early on, but the plot points were good. All in all, more than competent SEAL romance, but no standout moments.

Category: Romantic Suspense

Primary Plot: Reporter once rescued by SEAL encountered her rescuer, and wanted to date him, even as someone stalked her... but why?

Overall Rating:  3/5

GRR Review: No Turning Back (The Kathleen Turner Se by Tiffany Snow

No Turning Back features the tough yet shy Kathleen "no nickname" Turner and the two brothers that she loved: Blane Kirk, ex-SEAL hotshot attorney, and Kade Dennon, an assassin for hire.

Kathleen is a law firm runner by day and bartender at night. When her friend was murdered and she may be next, she had to reach out to Blane for help, and both were surprised to find it was Kade stalking her. Then all three found they are embroiled in a conspiracy that involved fraud and data centers, and have to united forces to survive. 

It is an interesting triangle where Kathleen was as tough as she could be without being a delicate wallflower, yet obviously need a little manly help at times. The plot is expertly spun and sexual tension between the two brothers and Kathleen with unrequited love in one and happiness in the other was poignant and the adventure is excellent. Fun fast romantic suspense read.

Category:

Primary Plot:

Overall Rating:

GRR Review: Crazy Little Thing (A Bell Harbor Novel) by Tracy Brogan

Crazy Little Thing by Tracy Brogan managed to write a rom-com that's both light-hearted and hopeful, but the FMC, Sadie Turner, was just too... self-sabotaging, and Desmond "Des" McKnight, the MMC, was almost too perfect.

Sadie needed to take a vacation at her aunt Dody's lakehouse to put her life back in order, but the house comes with two cousins (one's gay), two slobbering dogs, and the old but very active (and forgetful) Aunt Dody. Desmond is the new doctor in town, who's got everything... tall, tanned, handsome, and great with kids. And apparently he's too perfect for Sadie as Sadie is determined to keep him at arm's length because she's damaged from the way her father walked out that just about destroyed her mother mentally, and later, mother's death at cancer also destroyed her physically, which basically made her hate all men... if she can make an exception for Desmond... 

I personally found Sadie to be way too self-defeating and Desmond way too perfect. However, the author maintained the momentum with the extra characters as well as Aunt Dody's bonus revelation (that has a bearing on Sadie's current circumstances) that brought it above mediocre. However, the unbalanced couple made for a not quite perfect novel.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Wounded woman went to lake house to recoup, ran into hot neighbor / doctor, and was determined to NOT let him into her life...

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Review: Sold to the Hitman by Alexis Abbott

Sold to the Hitman is a "mafia bad boy romance" that's best described as a fairy tale, where an ultra-conservative religious girl that was home-schooled, never dated, never had sex, never been to the city... i.e. a total "babe in the woods" in every sense, was suddenly tossed onto a human trafficking auction, bought by a Bratva hitman (to save her) to be his wife (mainly to save her from a worse fate), and she could only fall in love with her provider and protector.

The book fell into the trope of "Siberian iceman assassin". The actual killings are not bad, if a bit inspired by the game Hitman. The romance and sex are pretty good, but the hothouse flower girl's innocence was played up too much, IMHO, and the ending a bit rushed as if one big hit and "it's all over". Good effort, but didn't quite feel satisfying at the end. Add to the rather shallow and trope characters, there's really not much to this romance.

Category: Bad Boy

Primary Plot:  The Most Innocent Girl Bought by a Ruthless Assassin to be his bride

Overall Rating:  2/5

GRR Review: The Passion of Patrick MacNeill (The Mac by Virginia Kantra

Passion of Patrick MacNeil is an interesting romance between a doctor and her patient's father. Most of the threat is from self-rationalization "I can't possibly do that" or "I'm not good enough for that".

Former marine Patrick MacNeil is a regular at the burn ward of the hospital, needing regular treatments for his young son's injuries in the fire that also killed his wife. Young burn surgeon Kate Sinclair love the spirit of the young MacNeil that the nurses called him "Iron Man", and felt attraction toward the dedicated young single father, but they both told themselves this cannot happen. Patrick wanted a family but cannot love another while his son still needs rehabilitation. Kate felt she cannot get involved with a patient's father as it breached professional boundaries... 

Both are denying themselves with a lot of angst. There's a secondary plot about how Kate's superior may be having problems either with himself or with Kate's performance, but it was pretty minimal threat. Most of the problems are each trying to rationalize their own fears and finally realizing how stupid they are. All in all, it can get emotional but it's not like super-passionate stuff.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Doctor and her patient's father fall in love, then both believe they acted out of bounds, and spends rest of the book circling each other pretending not to be in love until the end

Overall Rating:  3/5

GRR Review: Hearts of Clover by Danielle Stewart

Reading Hearts of Clover just reminds me that this book is basically a teaser, as both "books" added together makes one proper length novel at 272 pages. Furthermore, new characters were added at random and old characters disappear without a trace. The town of Clover was just weird, and lots of plot points were left unresolved for book 3 (and maybe book 4) with cliffhanger endings. Altogether, it feels incomplete.

Devin, a successful businessman, is about to be very rich, but he has a revenge deal in Clover in the works. The town had wronged him... railroaded him into a murder conviction that had him spent years on death row before Innocence Project finally got him out. Now he's going to take revenge on the entire town... by turning it into a landfill and wipe out the police department. The girl he left behind, Rebecca, is still in town, is a single parent, and periodically beaten and have her money taken away by an addict "boyfriend". When Devin convinced the town council to fire the entire Sheriff's department that railroaded him, the whole department went rogue and started waging guerilla war against the town. Now Devin must call in more help to save the town he had swore to destroy... 

The characters of Click and Jordan are interesting, but ultimately feel tacked-on as they didn't appear until book 2 and ultimately have their own plot line separate from the Devin / Rebecca plot line. All in all, it just felt... incomplete, with too many bits left hanging.

Category: Romantic Suspense

Primary Plot: Wronged man return to town to destroy it, found his woman being abused in town, then had to save the town from rogue cops by calling in more help

Overall Rating:  1/5

GRR Review: Alien Portals by Ruth Anne Scott

Alien Portal can be roughly described as 3/4 scifi and 1/4 romance. And the romance doesn't feel that well integrated, but rather, mostly an afterthought.

Galadriel was drawn to this museum exhibit about this precursor civilization like no other, that she spent as much time as she could next to it, then one day she decided to trespass into the area where this wall had been excavated from, and fell through a portal into a different world, and was saved by a humanoid alien called Vyker. Vyker was trying to save the future from the darkness for he is, literally, caretaker of the light, and the last one. And somehow, Vyker and Galadriel, plus a few other adventurers, will have to figure out the puzzle of the portals, to save all of existence. 

So where does romance fit into all this? Well, Galadriel and Vyker fall for each other, of course, never mind the sheer amount of coincidences that must align for that to happen, that Vyker is basically human anatomically and knows how to pleasure a human female despite the enormous power he wielded.

Evaluated as a pure adventure story involving time portals, this is not bad, as the plot points wrap up pretty well by the end. In fact, if you file away all the romance parts, the story will still work, which is why I say the romance feels... tacked-on.

And the bonus content is just crap.

Category: Science Fiction

Primary Plot: Woman fell through a portal and met the last lightkeeper of the universe, who, with some other adventurers, must save all of existence

Overall Rating: 3/5

GRR Review Material Witness: a Romantic Suspense by L.A. Mondello

Material Witness by L A Mondello started with a rather interesting meet-cute, then shifted to forced proximity and suspense. However, the darkest hour and grand gesture seem to be missing in a romance and instead. replaced with a big shootout ending. Thus, it works as suspense, but not that well as a romance.

Crime novelist Cassie Lang (real name: Juanita Cassandra Alvarez) walked into Rory's Bar in Providence to research being a call girl in a bar to gather some observations for her character sketches, and a cool blue-eyed handsome guy in leather jacket came over to chat... when all hell broke loose. Someone from the outside shot up the entire bar with an automatic weapon, and Cassie seems to be the only witness who can identify the shooter and driver. The handsome hunk turned out to be PPD detective Jake Santos, and dead in the bar was a notorious gang boss and an FBI undercover agent. FBI wants to put Cassie into witness protection, but Cassie only trusts Jake to protect her, and reluctantly FBI agreed. But when unknown assailants attacked the FBI safehouse, prompting Jake and Cassie to flee, there is a mole in FBI, and now no one is safe.

The problem with this novel is, as explained before, Jake and Cassie learning a lot about each other's assumptions, and Cassie finally taking charge of her life taking inspiration from her character "CJ" is cool and all, but the "darkest hour" was too vague, and there really wasn't much of a grand gesture to resolve the situation. The suspense resolution: a huge shootout, in front of a courthouse, was just stupid, as is the sudden revelation.

Frankly, I think the author, Lisa Mondella, using a slightly different name to distinguish this series from her contemporary romances, need to plan her endings a bit better.

Category: Romantic Suspense

Primary Plot: Detective must protect a crime novelist as a witness to a hit on a gang boss, but there's a leak in the law enforcement...

Overall Rating:  3/5

GRR Review: First Response (TREX Book 1) by Allie K. Adams

First Response was billed as a prequel that sets the stage between Agent Spencer Allen and K-SAR head Kat Doyle but we rarely see them together in this story, as this is really Allen trying to solve a human trafficking case. The two stories barely intersect. The case was more interesting and action-packed than the mere 40 page short story suggests, but the romance? Ain't much here.

Category: Romantic Suspense

Primary Plot: TREX agent squeezing in a little romance before going off playing superspy

Overall Rating:  3/5

GRR Review: Texas Wishes: The Complete Series by Kristina Knight

Texas Wishes Trilogy is a collection of three novels chronicles the romances of three Witte family girls: Kathleen, Vanessa, and Monica.

The responsible Kathleen Witte somehow drunkenly married her high school crush now fashion photographer Jackson Taylor. Kathleen woke up on a beach, naked, with Jackson, both wearing a wedding band and have NO memory of how they got there.

The socialite Vanessa Witte fell for the ranch foreman Mat (who's not using his full name). Vanessa found out she's pregnant from that one-night drunken stand with the very handsome Mat. But she can't "settle" for merely a ranch foreman... can she?

The rodeo girl Monica Witte fell for the town veterinarian Trickett Samuels, but she's the wandering sort who needs to roam... or can she settle down with a good man?

The characters are varied but there's always the common theme: home is where the heart is, with a sort of underlying theme... don't drink too much and do something really stupid (unless you're lucky enough to sleep with the guy you will marry). It's three stories of three couples learning about each other and come to a compromise on how they will handle being and going home.

Heartwarming, usually, with a bit of family drama, and often, a lot of self-denial (i.e. "I can't possibly be in love with him/her, I don't do relationships") that were eventually overcome. And sex scenes are quite good if slightly on the repetitive side.

Category: Contemporary Western

Primary Plot: N/A, Collection

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Review: Bewitched Series Box Set by Hazel Keys

Bewitched series is a collection of stories about lovers who started out as friends, but basically denied their feelings until they realized how much fun it could be. David and Amelia were best friends before they became lovers.

The couples all have delightful stories to tell about how they somehow breached the dreaded "friend zone". The stories are not super long so there were not too many conflicts and push-pulls, but they are all fine stories. I think I enjoyed the Jake and Stephanie one best because there was a bit of false identity trope used as well, plus some funny bit where Jake thought Stephanie was a lesbian.

All in all, they are good fast reads.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: N/A, novella collection

Overall Rating:   4/5

GRR Review: BACKSTRETCH BABY by Bev Pettersen

Backstretch Baby, a contemporary romance by Bev Pettersen, managed to infuse thoroughbred racing with a suspense thriller and a romance with a pair of unlikely main characters:

Eve Lewis is the trainer relegated to a small track with a misfit crew and misfit horses. A rash of thefts and sabotages had almost destroyed her job when Rick Talbot entered her life. Rick was asked by one of the horse's owner to join her at the track as a handler to find out what is going on. What they found were their interest in each other... and a conspiracy, but of what? When a body was found nearby the stakes are raised to the breaking point...

The mystery and suspense were integrated nicely with the romance and there were enough red herrings to throw readers off on who may be the real perp. Very much enjoyed this novel.

Category: romantic suspense

Primary Plot: undercover detective working as horse handler at racetrack romances horse trainer and unravels a conspiracy

Overall Rating:  5/5

GRR Review: Caught by Stella Noir

Enjoyed Caught, a hitman romance by Stella Noir, with a pretty fresh take on the "false identity real love" trope. But the FMC seems to be wasted as her hobby was never brought up again.

Joe Mars is a hitman on his last hit where he can retire to his respectable day job when some unknown girl witnessed his last hit, and he could have killed her, but did not, but he was unable to catch her. Weeks later, in his respectable persona, he found her, Nike, as the same fundraiser dinner, trying to seduce him as a bet from a friend, and he was only too happy to oblige, if only to learn what did she really know... but he can't bring himself to kill her. For they are genuinely fond of each other. But one day, either of them may slip up... Then someone threatened to expose Mars...

I was surprised at who made the grand gesture to resolve the story, but I rather enjoyed the ending. However, Nike's fascination of rooftops and parkour prowess was never discussed again other than the beginning. I feel that was somewhat of a wasted potential. And the characters were rather shallow, IMHO, other than the tension  between them.

I do have to warn people about the bonus novella though. It's a "Dark Romance" novella that deal with kidnapping and BDSM. Reader discretion is advised.

Category: Romantic Suspense

Primary Plot: Hitman on his last hit left a witness alive, then he found her by chance, and decided to seduce her to see what she knew...

Overall Rating:  3/5

GRR Review: Something More Than This by Barbie Bohrman

Something More Than This by Barbie Bohrman is an interesting pseudo-triangle... Which man should

Katy Lewis is a sports reporter who may be in love with her boss, Dylan, but did not act upon it. Then her first crush, Connor, came back into her life (and town), and Katy started getting advice from everybody from her two overbearing brothers to her hilarious roommate... Things get harder for Katy when a co-worker put the moves on her boss Dylan. Should Katy find out if there's something with her old crush Connor, or should she do everything she can to secure Dylan, despite him being her boss?

At times sitcom, at times friends-to-lovers, this novel presented an interesting love triangle, and how being more than just friends can really really ruin the relationship unless it was properly confronted and resolved. The grand gesture was cute and very fitting if a bit short.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Woman wanted her boss, then her old love came back. Which man should she go for?

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Review: Begin Again by Christy Newton

Begin Again is an emotional journey of a wounded woman and a jilted man coming together in the small town of Pleasant Valley, Indiana.

Maisie lost her unborn child and her husband in a tornado two years ago. While her body had healed, her mind had not, including PTSD and body image issues due to her scars. So when the new veterinarian in town, Ryan Tucker, tried to cheer her up, she wasn't quite ready, but soon, he wore her down somewhat, only to have her panic attack resurface, but he was persistent, and gradually her walls fell... Then his secret came roaring into town.

The twists are pretty short and resolved relatively quickly,, and the emotions are raw, but the guy basically has no faults thus weren't that satisfying. All in all, a short but sweet and emotional romance.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Woman who lost almost everything meets a man who still wanted her, then his secrets got exposed...

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Review: The Bargain by Christine S. Feldman

The Bargain by Christine S. Feldman managed to fuse three themes: redemption, self-realization, and fondness to love into a single story without getting too sappy while giving each character an arc to travel and grow into with a pseudo-love-triangle.

Shannon Mahoney had a crush on her boss Drew Kingston since high school and ten years later, she's the receptionist in his company, and she still couldn't express her affection for him. Then Drew's brother Michael stormed back into town, desperately trying to make amends and trying to preserve the family legacy, but Drew will not listen to him. Michael reluctantly enlisted Shannon's help. If Shannon can get Drew to at least hear Michael out, Michael will teach Shannon how to win Drew's heart. Initially suspicious of Michael's motives and acting to protect Drew, Shannon entered into the bargain, and slowly realized that she had wasted years of her life pining after something she can't have, never realized her own confidence as a woman... and she actually preferred to spend time with Michael instead of Drew...

It's clear that Shannon is the main character as she's the one with the most change, both change of heart and change (no longer infatuated on Drew) of the body (letting her red hair down, wearing skirts instead of pants...) Michael was seeking redemption and understood that fighting with his brother was not preserving their parent's legacy, and Drew... came out to be the most shallow one of all. Enjoyed the read overall.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Woman pining after the unavailable boss had to deal with boss' brother who wanted to make amends; he'll teach her how to catch her boss; she will help him by talking to her boss.

Overall Rating:  5/5

GRR Review: Reckless in Texas by Kari Lynn Dell

Reckless in Texas by Kari Lynn Dell was a contemporary western novel. I have lived in Texas but have not gotten into the rodeo scene at all, so this book was fascinating to read as for how the team worked to ensure safety, and both characters are sufficiently deep without making them too self-absorbed in their own misery.

Joe Cassidy is one of the top bullfighter in the rodeo scene, but a fight with his boss' son and noble intentions misinterpreted forced him to get away from his toxic boss whom he felt too much loyalty due to 15 years rise from nothing. When a temporary position (just 3 rodeos, a few weeks of work at most) opened up, it was the perfect opportunity for him to get away and cool down. Violet Jacobs is fearless, the only female pick-up man in rodeo, but she was too busy to have a life, having to deal with the Jacob family rodeo show, care for the cattle, the horses, and her 5-year old son (from a one-night stand). When her senior bullfighter went down for good, she had to hire a replacement, and she got Joe Cassidy instead. who came loaded with his own baggage. Joe did not plan to stay around, but Violet was everything he never knew he wanted, including that crazy family. If he can only convince her that he's the one she wanted as well.

The rodeo scenes are excellent, though I admit being an ex-Texan had something to do with understanding more than the lay-person. The fine mess of a family is rather endearing. The cast of characters is quite large, but they are also setting up for subsequent books in the series. The pace was a little on the slow side, and the "darkest hour" was not quite clearly defined, but the grand gesture was pretty obvious, and the ending sweet. If you like cowboys and rodeo, you should like this book

Category: Contemporary // Western

Primary Plot: A champion bullfighter had to walk away from his toxic job and took up a temporary position elsewhere, and fell for the single mom who's also the head of the small family rodeo.

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Review: Cooked by Kristen Flowers

Cooked by Kristen Flower featured two definitely mismatched people coming together and discovering more about themselves and each other. It was a fun read.

Evelyn is a sou chef working for a toxic boss waiting for her day to open her own restaurant. Remi is a rich playboy looking for a chance to prove himself to his stern father. When Evelyn was unfairly taken advantage of by her boss, Remi hired her on the spot to be his personal chef, with every intention of seducing her (a very different challenge from his usual... companions). When both ended up choosing the same property for a deal neither wanted to lose, it's war of the sexes! Who will give in? And will they realize what are they really fighting for? 

The proper motivation of each character are very poignant and felt dear to their hearts and essential to who they are, yet both fully realize (perhaps not at first) what really drove them. The darkest hour perhaps wasn't as dark as it could be, but the grand gesture is very well done indeed.

The two bonus novels that came with the package, however, were rather messy.

In Fourth Down and Dirty, College football jock tries every trick to seduce his nerdy (but full-figured) tutor who turned out to be good in bed. So much stereotype here it could make one wince.

In Hayden I Hate You, Allison woke up to find a controversial video game's main character looked exactly like her that her life was ruined, and her confrontation of the game designer, Hayden, did not go as planned. The plot was so convoluted and requires an evil person's confession (unprompted) to conclude. It was a total mess.

All in all, read Cooked for its flavor (ahem!) and you can probably read the 2nd but skip the 3rd one.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Rich playboy hired chef with intention of seducing her, but found each other fascinating. When both wanted the same location for a business, who will win?

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Review: The Trouble With Goodbye by Sarra Cannon

"The Trouble With Goodbye" by Sarra Cannon has some good lead-up to the romance, but the ending was a bit fuzzy and vague.

Leigh Ann Davis left town two years ago for college on the East Coast, leaving her boyfriend and family control behind, but something happened to her there. Now she's back in town, and she was hoping to resume her life in town, except she's got this big wound that never healed, and she's just facing all the reasons she left town (her family)... And all the reasons she came back (her friends). She met Knox Warner, a troubled young man with similar haunted eyes to hers and they fell for each other as she knew he's everything her family will not accept if she's to resume her life in town...

There is usually a pretty obvious "beat" in romances, which culminates in a "darkest night of the soul" (OMG there's no way they'll be together after this), then a grand gesture leading to the problem being solved and we get the happy ending. In this book, the "darkest night" moment was pretty obvious (when the FMC and MMC were separated and both his and her secrets were revealed), but the grand gesture was a bit fuzzy and there's a relatively long lead up to it that left me impatient as in "get on with it".

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Woman who left town for school came back, wounded, but can't talk about it. She fell for the town bad boy with similar wounds, that her family would never accept...

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Review: SEALs of Honor: Books 1-3 by Dale Mayer

SEALs of Honor Book 1-3 is a collection of books about a SEAL team that got sent on missions, and somehow ended up with the subject of the mission fall in love with one of the SEALs. The plot was somewhat interesting, but again, extremely un-SEAL-like this can only be regarded as "SEAL-abuse" stories

What's worse the author relies on kidnappings and other violence against the FMC for the plot, and the SEAL team fight to get her back, only to lose her AGAIN to yet ANOTHER kidnapping. It's utterly HILARIOUS at times to read the FMC knocked over the head, drugged, chloroformed, punched, beaten, slapped, kidnapped multiple times, ALL IN THE SAME BOOK! As bodyguards, these SEALs are utterly INCOMPETENT, and they somehow end up with the girl! And this pattern was REPEATED throughout the three novels! Sure, these girls are tough cookies and but really, this is just HILARIOUS to read.

The SEALs are just generic badasses in this book. While there are occasional bits that refer to the SEAL training or mission, sending a SEAL team to conduct covert surveillance in... Germany? Really? (That's the third book) That's just hilarious. There are occasional bits of WTF situations, like someone shot through window of a small jet to kill the pilot. Doesn't work like that, at least not without a sniper rifle, and even then it's not a sure kill! Then there are the magical abilities of the bad guys to somehow find and kidnap the FMC again and again.

The romance parts between the action scenes are fine, but overreliance on kidnappings and violence against FMC for plot is inexcusable.

Category: Military / Romantic Suspense

Primary Plot:  N/A (Three volume collection)

Overall Rating:  2/5

GRR Review: His Hostage by Willow Winters

His Hostage is, to put it simply utter crap. The characters are a total joke and none of the decisions makes any sense.

Elle bailed out her mother time after time even sacrificing her own scholarship, her savings, and her grades. Elle was about to drop out of school altogether when she discovered her mother had lapsed yet AGAIN. She decided to do ONE single discretion... Make out with an insanely hot guy in a bar. Next thing she knew she woke up in that hot guy's bed... But why are the hot guy's relatives looking at her funny? Why does she felt as if she did or knew something she shouldn't have? Why is the hot guy holding her hostage? Does he want to love her or kill her?

WARNING: Remainder of this review is full of spoilers.

Elle is a TOTAL doormat and this never changed. She's a total doormat just cleaning up after her mother's mess. Vince, aka "hot guy" is actually the Valetti family underboss,  and was nice to her. They ended up in bed, then Elle witnessed something she shouldn't have. Vince gave her a roofie which may or may not have messed with her memory, but then Vince was smitten (after ONE f***) Vince decided the only way to keep Elle safe is to keep her permanently... by impregnating her (WTF!?!?) which means he had to tie her up and bed her repeatedly and keep her around. This makes f***ing no sense!  Oh, and this somehow turned her on so much she became a "rope s***" that she begs for more bondage play. WTF?!!?!?!

Category: Bad Boy / Dark Romance

Primary Plot: Innocent girl fell for a hot guy, then his folks all looked at her funny... did she do something wrong and saw something she shouldn't have?

Overall Rating:  1/5

GRR Review: Getting Out of Hand: Welcome to Sap by Erin Nicholas

Getting Out of Hand started with a pretty basic setup... and ramped up to various complications to a satisfying conclusion.

Geek achiever Mason Riley was invited to go home to the class reunion and visit his old school crush, who's now mayor, but falls for Adrianne, the behind-the-scenes new girl instead. Adrianne needed a quiet place to escape her high-pressure life and now she just wanted to open her candy shop... Until Mason won the bid just to dance with her. But Mason is the ubergeek that can get away with insulting the vice president of the US, and Adrianne... is a quiet girl who wanted a quiet life. This can't possibly work... right? 

It is the execution that raised this novel out of the "average" romances. However, in doing so, they also have to rely on more than a few stereotypes for the secondary characters, and there is a whole passel of them. There are a couple other bits about wanting Mason to invest in a new shopping center in town and a major plot point there for one cannot know if Adrianne loved Mason BECAUSE he is good for the town, or good for both of them? There are some other points like Mason's work in improving the world needs him more, and why Adrianne came to Sapphire Falls and cannot leave, but those are mere complications. There's also sort of a multi-way pull with Mason's best friend Lauren (who's mostly lesbian) for a little more complication.

The pace is generally fast with a lot of setup for sitcom situations that may leave you chuckling, or just roll-eyes hah. The main characters are pretty well developed. Mason was both a giver (want to fix the world) yet enough pride for himself (I don't care if it's the Veep). Finding Adrianne had triggered his selfish side, i.e. why shouldn't I indulge on my own needs for a while? Adrianne, on the other hand, was the behind-the-scenes girl away from the limelight, yet willing to go to bat for Mason... and for love.

I enjoy the generally upbeat sitcom-y mood of the series. While some of the setup is a bit ridiculous (the mayor invited the prospects because she dated them before or knew they had a crush on her) they added to the "charm" of the book, IMHO.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot:  Geek genius with fame returned to his home town, and fell for the new girl in town intending on a quiet life...

Overall Rating:  5/5

GRR Review: Trucker by Jamie Schlosser

Trucker can be described as what is basically a cozy romance between two young people.

Angel had no one left. Her aunt died. Her father had died earlier and only her mother was in a prison in California. She left her foster family when the school ended to see her mom. On the way, she encountered Travis, a long-haul trucker. Travis, barely 21, operated the rig with his best buddy Colton in Hank and Son Trucking. Travis is heading home to Tolson Illinois, population 320 when he picked up Angel. On the way, Angel fell in love with Travis, and vice versa. Even as Angel get to know the small town, she knew she can't stay. But will she ever o back to Travis?

The reason I called the novel "cozy" is there really wasn't much emotional swing for either character, except for two, and those aren't like "life is ending" type emotional swings (well, let's just say the swing near the end of the book for Angel is debatable, but it has nothing to do with the romance) The OTHER emotional swing for Angel was resolved within the next chapter (though the way it was resolved is funny as heck). There really isn't much "evil" except the crazy stalker ex (Travis didn't even make out with this "ex"!). Most of the book was Angel falls for Travis and vice versa but fights to save her v-card past her 18th birthday

There were just two minor quibbles with the book... If Tolson Illinois has a population of 320, how could it have a thrift store with such a selection that inspired multiple shopping trips that can afford to sell a leather jacket for less than $2.00? And also, for two virgins, they seem to really know how to have sex when the time came.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Girl trying to reach West Coast found one good guy whom may be good for her... in Illinois

Overall Rating:  3/5

GRR Review: Joy and Anger by Jennifer Blake

Joy and Anger is an interesting suspense / mystery / romance set in the bayous of Louisiana.

Julie Bullard is a director making a movie about people of the swamps of Louisiana, and she needs the help of the legendary Cajun Rey Tabary, aka "The Swamp Rat". Julie needed a consultant to ensure the authenticity of her movie, and Rey normally would want nothing to do with some pampered Hollywood types but a sudden influx of drugs into his swamp made him want to get close to the crew to find out who may be the link. Julie noticed the various accidents on set and suspect Rey was involved, even as they deny their attraction to each other. When there's a death nearby, trust became an issue...

Both characters and the exotic locations were described to good effect, and the plot is quite competent with blended tropes of secret identity, doubt about the other person's true purpose, the exotic blend of unknown danger vs. handsome attraction. My main problem was the pacing and the title and cover. Pacing was a bit on the slow side, and the title and cover had NOTHING to do wit the novel.

Category: Contemporary / Romantic Suspense

Primary Plot:  Director making a movie about the swamp people of Louisiana meets legendary swamp captain who suspects that the director or her crew may be a part of smuggling operation into his swamp...

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Review: Because of Lucy by Lisa Swallow

Because of Lucy explored the depths of how family obligations can tie in so many ways, and how it can put a damper on love, and it takes a special woman to love in spite of such hardships.

The story is about Evan, someone who's a master charmer with knowledge of literature and poetry, and Ness, one resistant to such charms, living in a university town but not going to school, stubbornly resisting the path set by her parents. As Ness finally get to know Evan, he had to leave because of someone called Lucy. Who was Lucy, and why does she have such a strong hold on Evan?

The twist was good, and emotions raw and powerful, if a bit long. I enjoyed it.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot:  Young woman resisting family obligations found a man she liked, but he keeps running off because of someone called Lucy...

Overall Rating:  4/5