GRR Reviews The Barrington Billionaires Books 1-4 Collection by Ruth Cardello

The bundle is of 4 full-length novels and a novella. I may have previously reviewed some of the novels or novellas, but this rating is for the collection. 

The novella was previously reviewed in the anthology of the same name. 

As different members of the younger generation fall in love or met their match, they each have to deal with love and life in their own ways, but always with the support of their large and rich family, but not even love can buy happiness...

Consistent 4/5, worth reading at least. 

GRR Reviews Walker Island Box Set Vol I (1-3) by Lucy Kevin (aka Bella Andre)

THREE BOOK COLLECTION will be rated separately, with an overall rating at the end. These novels are pretty short (barely over 100 pages) and sweet.


Be My Love

Hanna Walker returns to her home, Walker Island, to make a documentary about her namesake, and to document the Walker / Peterson feud that had been going on for decades. She was surprised when Joel Peterson denied her request to access the island archives. When Joel found he can't stop Hannah, he joined her on her quest, determined to see the truth told. But as they started to unravel the mystery around the origins of the feud, they also found their attraction toward each other growing. And love may be the one thing that will finally end the feud once and for all...

Pretty good with a mystery as the framing plot, sort of opposites attract, plus a family feud, good conflicting responsibilities. 4.5/5


No Other Love

Morgan Walker is back at Walker island to launch her organic makeup line, after being a celebrity makeup artist in New York for many many years, and is about to get her own TV makeover show. Having her own family plot growing her own organic plants for her makeup line would be perfect, esp. when she'll be seeing her entire family of sisters and grandma. But that also means she'll see Brian, her ex, whom she broke up with seven years ago... for her career. And this time, he wasn't ready to let her get away again.

Not feeling too much with this one except regrets and promises. 3.5/5


When It's Love

Rachel wanted adventure... Until her BF dumped her when he found she's pregnant six years ago. Left to fend for herself as single mother, Rachel had help from her family on Walker island.  Rachel was not worried about the professional surfer Nicholas in town, as he's there to do a TV show. But when she's asked to step in for a lead role, she found that perhaps, she can use some adventure in her life after all...

Rachel basically has to learn to love again, while Nicholas... is the guy to offer her the chance. Good polish, nothing too special. 3.5/5

Overall rating 4/5

GRR Reviews Sometimes I'm In My Feelings by Anna Black

Anika, Mia, and Legacy go through life in the city, with men they like to f***, men they want to live with, and men they like to kill... well, not literally. Anika, aka "Nini", found herself forcing to make a choice: love someone that can destroy her, or love herself first. Mia found herself a side piece for so long he ended up going back to his wife and kids, leaving her abandoned and alone, despite she being younger, more beautiful, and better in bed. And Legacy, mama to two children, is tired of her man straying and put down an ultimatum... She deserves better, and she'll get it...

This is a three-volume set (600 pages) that  I'm honestly not sure what to think about this collection. It just seems all the characters are douchebags, esp. the men, but the women are hardly blameless. One husband chose to take on a side piece (Mia) from work while his wife goes through post-partum depression, promising Mia "I will leave her, but I have kids so I need to be delicate". So when Mia got tired of being a side-piece, he goes back to his wife, who's through her depression, lost the weight, and started to care about her looks again. But now wife's a jealous possessive b**** who looks over her husband's shoulder at every turn, which makes the guy want to get Mia back. In a different part of the story, Anika finds a kind, rich, handsome guy, who likes her a lot... except he doesn't have a BBC, unlike the multi-timing douche she had been bonking. So now she can't decide whether to keep the nice guy or go back to the unfaithful but oh-so-good cock. You get the idea. It's just very DEPRESSING to read, as if these characters are only driven by their baser-instincts, lust, possessiveness, envy, and so on, instead of love, HEA, and all that. If you dig this sort of "urban drama", you'll probably give it a higher score. I'm not enjoying it, but I appreciate the effort and I can see some people dig this stuff. 3/5

GRR Reviews Mail-Order Brides of Spring Water Box Set (1-3) by Kathleen Ball

NOTE: This Box Set / Collection has three books and should be read in order. While they are independent stories, you get more if you do read them in order.

Book 1: Tattered Heart

Georgia aka "Georgie" lost everything and everyone in the Civil War, in spite of (or because of) high class. And she learned how to live quickly, with the former-slaves teaching and sheltering her. With no other possibilities, she accepted a mail-order bride proposal in Texas with a former-Confederate Captain. But her arrival completely surprised Parker, who was deceived and betrayed by a woman who he believed he will marry after the war. He had no idea his deranged mother had arranged for a bride for him. But he will marry her. He had no idea what depravities and cruelties Georgie would be subjected to while he's away for business...

Detailed, and Georgia was almost broken, which was very hard to read at times. It's mostly about Parker winning back Georgie's trust. 4.5/5


Book 2: Shattered Trust

Max wanted to win his own home offered by Parker and Georgie, and he decided to get a mail-order bride as well. He got Veronica, who came with a surprise: a 4-month old baby girl, even though she claimed to be a widow of 3 years. Veronica was clearly hurt before, and she can no longer live in the town that chose to condemn her (she was forced). Max wasn't sure how to treat Veronica, except very tenderly, and accepted her. Then the baby daddy showed up...

Nice, VERY detailed, and basically someone who's down and out, tries to do better, only to be beaten down again. And only faith and love can carry them through. 4.5/5


Book 3: Glory's Groom

Glory grew up in an orphanage, but she's old enough to be married off. She can teach, but is that going to be of any use on a Texas ranch? And what about being a wife? // Kent, a friend of Parker (see Book 1) won the next "house" by marrying Glory. Outside, hooded figures terrorized the freed slave community. Ranch owner Parker decided to hire the freedman as help on the ranch at the same salary as his other help. This leads to conflict with the town, while Glory found many children on the ranch without education and organized a school. But is that enough to sustain a marriage?

Good mix of adventure, and people at their best... and worst. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Maybe Series Collection 1 by Ella Miles

NOTE: This collection is no longer available, in favor of the new collection, which includes 3 more books and a new title.  I'll give each of the books separate ratings.  The overall rating is 3/5 as an average of all three.


Maybe Yes (book 1) -- Kinsley Felton grew up rich and beautiful. She was a model for Seventeen magazine, and she graduated from Yale... but with a mostly useless degree. She can inherit an empire her family had built for a hundred years, if she accepts what her family asks of her... Such as marrying the chosen heir to the empire. But she wants to learn to love by herself... And she thought she had just found the man... Until her grandfather called her and changed EVERYTHING... Her father is dead, and she needs to be wed ASAP to make sure the line of succession will continue. And she needs to meet him ASAP.

I saw where the plot was going pretty early on but the journey there was enjoyable. 4/5






Maybe Never (book 2) -- Kinsley Felton had fallen for Killian... except he wasn't what she thought he was... but an FBI undercover agent who had been infiltrating her family for years. Convinced of her family's innocence, Kinsley refused to take a plea deal. And Killian found himself crossing the line to save Kinsley from herself. But the truth they discovered will shock them both, and sent them on the run around the globe...

This one, I have trouble to stomach. An FBI agent, OFF the case, went to investigate? Took a witness on the run and went rogue?  3/5









Maybe Always (book 3) -- Kinsley has finally learned the truth about her family, and it was devastating. And she is still in love with Killian. To save his career, she had to leave him. To save her soul, she had to bring down the cartel... From the INSIDE. That means going undercover as herself. // Killian knew why Kinsley ran... she is planning something dangerous. He needs to save her, but he has been arrested by the FBI and dumped in prison. Until fate reunited them once again...

I have trouble stomaching this one too. Turned sadism into sex in the guise of torture? That's pretty sick. The rest of the plot was okay.

3/5

GRR Reviews Dearest SEALs Box Set by Blair Grey

NOTE: Collection, contains 5 books: SEAL's Baby, SEAL Billionaire, SEAL Firefighter, SEAL's Secretary, SEAL's Virgin.

This review will be a little different as I'm trying to address the entire collection, as the individual books are not available on Amazon Kindle.

While you do get a lot of reading material (the collection is over 800 pages), the books just come across as rather... mediocre to poorly written. Background information was mentioned and never touched again. SEAL ability and training was never used, and villains are practically infantile. Even names picked are about as generic as they come, with minimal research for viability.

Here are some examples:

A woman of Chinese descent and "still had an attractive Chinese accent" is named "Yuki", which is a JAPANESE name.

Similarly, a Russian girl was named "Aria" (not Russian), and her brother (who stayed in Russia) is named "Andrew" (still not Russian).  If they were named Anya and Andrei it'd make MUCH more sense.

A gang leader picks a fight with a former SEAL firefighter... In front of the firehouse, with a dozen firefighters merely yards away, and police not far behind. And all the gang leader brought was a knife.

In the same fight, this ex-SEAL, instead of going for a disarm-move to take away the knife from the gang leader, goes for a face punch instead.

The plots just do not excite me at all. At best, I felt lukewarm. All five novels are consistently mediocre or worse.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 2/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below.

GRR Reviews Men of Inked (3-book collection) by Chelle Bliss

NOTE: This is a 3-book collection, it'll be rated separately, and there's an overall rating.

Throttle Me -- Suzy had mapped out her life: work hard, get her own career established, find a stable man, get married, live happily ever after. Unfortunately, her plan got derailed when "City", a tattooed Harley rider who works in a tattoo shop, came into her life, by rescuing her one night. They had chemistry together, but City had his heart broken at college and is now a rake and a commitment-phobe. But their relationship had both of them question everything they thought they knew about what they wanted... and City is keeping a secret...

Not bad, different worlds novel is pretty obvious, and scars are pretty trope, but there's some good polish on it and multiple layers of tropes, like biker, Italian, and even a bit of disguise. 4/5

Hook me -- Michael Gallo is the MMA fighter who enjoys the physical domination of his opponent, but a fight ended up with him in the ER, and met Dr. Mia Greco. Mia is having nightmares about all the people she can't save in the ER, and she prefers running the neighborhood free clinic. Michael, who's actually quite smart, wanted to woo Mia, and they have chemistry together, but Mia can't reconcile the fighter who damages people with the caring and sensitive man Michael seems to be...

I honestly don't feel the conflict other than she can't see past his gruff tattoed exterior. 3/5

Resist me -- Isabelle "Izzie" Gallo is the baby of the family, and even though she trash-talks just like her brothers, in secret she loves a man who can dominate her, which can be difficult when no one dare get close with so many brothers around. She got one great night with an undercover cop handler James, who was alpha enough for her... But she figured it's one-night, and she snuck off. Later, she went off with one guy "Flash" for a MC weekend in Daytona, and ended up in a MC club, where she was almost claimed by the MC VP... until a disciple stepped in... It was her older brother Thomas, in deep undercover. And Thomas had to call in James to rescue her. She's just too much sass... and he's just too much alpha. But he needs to watch out for her brother Thomas, and she has her own life...

A bit too much sex, as things got a bit kinkier, but other than initial chemistry, and basic inadequacy issues, there isn't much threat to the relationship. 3/5

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 3/5  (average of all 3 ratings)

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews Quinn Security Box Set by Dee Bridgnorth

NOTE: This is a collection of 5 books, which balloons the page count of over 1800 pages.

This review will be a little different from my typical reviews, as I'm trying to evaluate the entire series, instead of one book at a time.

Despite the name suggests it's about a bunch of bodyguards falling for their protectee, it's not. This is really a werewolf series. Really. Paranormal shifters.

Devil's Fist Wyoming is right on the border of Yellowstone National Park, and home to the Quinns, five brothers: Troy, Kaleb, Shane, Conor, and Dean. But they are keeping a huge secret... they are all wolf-shifters had that lived hundreds of years, and Troy is the clan Alpha, the wolf king, of the area, after passing of his father. The town has many wolf-shifters living amongst the populace, who's not aware of their existence.

Then one full-moon night it all changed... a young librarian's colleague was brutally killed by a beast. An ambitious sheriff is determined to get to the bottom of it, and runs into Troy, as Troy sensed the attacker was NOT a wolf... and he found, after piecing together clues... the conclusion is inevitable... He's up against a rogue shifter... with unimaginable mind powers of compulsion. And Troy realized that the young librarian may be his one true mate...

The series goes on to feature each brother falling for another female... but each has his or her own secrets and ambitions.  Kaleb fell for the waitress who had a surprising heritage she's not aware of. Shane was paired with sheriff's fiery daughter who refuses to be protected by her father or be cowed by him. Conor found himself drawn to the deputy Rachel who's determined to get a promotion... by finding out more about the shifters. And Dean ended up falling for a city slicker girl, who has her own surprise for the entire town...

There is definitely a bit of world-building, as the shifter lore here is quite different from the typical shifter lore, but more of a mix between shifter and vampire lore. (Shifter blood turns a normal to a shifter with ties to the original shifter) And there is quite a bit of sex. The UBG does make his appearance from time to time. usually with a dastardly plan that was barely thwarted with some hard fought battles.

All in all, I liked the series, but it seriously needs a new title to tell the readers it's NOT a typical security tale.

Category: Contemporary / Shifter

Overall Rating: 4/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below.

GRR Reviews WOMEN WHO DARE: Three Book Bundle by Bobby Hutchinson

NOTE: This is a 3-book bundle. The three titles included are reviewed separately.

A Legal Affair -- Jenny, from her experience with the court system, wants a law degree to help promote social justice. Zach, the senior lawyer advisor for the free legal clinic, is there to date beautiful law school students. After all, the big shot corporate lawyer doesn't need to be there. But Jenny's love for lost cause horrified his sensible side, and Zach's corporate law and lifestyle is everything Jenny would not want in a man... He's mercenary and rich, and would never imagine going on contingency only for a low-probability case. But for Jenny... can he change his mind?

Swoon-y and above average, as both end up bending for the other, but he bent a bit further. 4/5

Menu for a Wedding -- Francesca "Frankie" has a hat-making business, so shopping for a caterer with her mom for her sister's wedding was not exactly high on her to-do list. At 26, Frankie's the oldest and due to her single status, is considered spinster of the family. When the caterer Eric, who's an ex-footballer (NFL) turned restauranteur met with mother, the menu was NOT settled, nor was Frankie's heart. Eric knew this catering job would not be easy, but he did know he wanted to see Frankie again. When Frankie is determined to put her business first, Eric would have to find help from a different quarter...

Cute, good slow-burn large-family and messy gossip, with the guy being incredibly sweet and impossible to live with. Light mood. 4/5

Island Sunrise -- Charlie, a carpenter, with her two best GFFs just got their dream assignment: a special construction job out in Hawaii, of all places. The only problem is Ben Gilmore, the local liaison, and technically her boss. Their job is to bring an old resort back to life, and Ben's clumsy meetcute ended up with his ankle broken, and the two can't stand each other. But someone is sabotaging the construction project, with graffiti, vandalism, broken equipment, and worse. Ben couldn't possibly leave the "girls" out there... but it used to his aunt's resort, and he needs the job done... and nobody local would do it, believing the place is haunted. As the two get to know each other, their hostility lessened, but that saboteur is still out there...

The "hostile meeting" meetcute is good, the transition is good, and the mystery kept the momentum going. The ending was both a bit sad and happy. 4/5

Category: Contemporary / Collection

Overall Rating: 4/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews Spring Fever (Series Starter Collection) by Serenity Woods

Spring Fever is a series starter collection and each book will be rated separately.

As Deep as the Ocean // Mac was very tempted to forge a document and keep the New Zealand vineyard for himself. After all, nobody would know... He's the win expert and he put most of his life into viticulture and winery management to manage the vineyard. But his conscience can't let him do it. After all, the owner called him the son he never had, and his own father had run the place into the ground. So he contacted the only relatives the owner ever had, and they agreed to visit. What he got were three gorgeous sisters... And the oldest, Winifred, or "Fred", has a connection to him. But the three sisters, who did need a new start as well after their life in London (their bipolar mother destroyed all correspondence between them and their father) had ZERO experience in running a winery, bed & breakfast, and the restaurant. And they certainly don't have the money to make the place great again... Unless Fred gets married to access her inheritance. So Mac found himself with the indecent proposal: marry Fred, let her get the inheritance, and put it toward the winery. But what happens when they finally acknowledge they had fallen for each other for real?

This is good, but not great. The dance between their guilt and shame vs. their obligations are pretty good, but the pacing felt a bit off. And the "weird will" trope about marrying to gain access to inheritance is getting a bit old. 4/5

An Uncommon Sense // Grace is a skeptic, and a medium for spirits is just someone to be avoided. But Ash Rutherford is too handsome to avoid, esp. when his daughter is in her class. And Ash was once a doctor... now a widower raising his daughter alone. He does occasionally have an event where he relays messages from the beyond... Something Grace can't believe. // Ash never gets involved with a skeptic, but Grace's love for frilly underwear when she flashed him by accident intrigued him, esp. when he found out she's one of his daughter's teachers. But Grace promised to never fall for a flake... But is he really a flake?

Good touch of the details, as this medium supposedly really does relay the messages from the beyond. Fictional, of course. 4/5

Mr. Insatiable // Kit has a nickname bestowed by his ex's... "Mr. Insatiable". But to Enya, he's just Kit, her best platonic friend. Enya had a very bad trauma when she was 15... She was raped. Eight years later, she still tenses up when she gets in bed with a man... And EVERYBODY is warning Kit and Enya to stay away from each other, keep things platonic. But Enya's desire to feel a proper orgasm led her to have a one-night stand with Kit. And that quickly turned into a torrid relationship. But Enya can't tell anyone about her last secret... the one thing that would never allow her to stay with Kit...

Turns out the secret was a non-issue, but I'm not spoiling that here. 4/5

All in all, 4/5, good consistent quality.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Three book collection of series starters about very different couples

Overall Rating: 4/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews Echo Canyon Brides Box Set - Books 1 - 3 by Linda Bridey

Echo Canyon Brides is a series of historical Western adventures that happen to involve brides. It's more adventure than romance, but a good read nonetheless. Some parts feel a bit ahistorical.

Montana Rescue -- Evan, the sheriff, needed women, esp. wives, to save the town of Echo Canyon, as the gold veins ran out. Josie needed to leave Pullman, Washington, to find a suitable husband. Josie's train derailed on the way and was saved by an Irishman named Lucky. Josie also met the bunch of unusual characters in town, like Evan's aunt Edna, or the potentially evil rich guy with a sinister reputation... But is there a chance at love, when an earthquake struck the area?

Nice complex characters, including some interesting mysteries that will be revealed later in the book, and this series goes on for 11 books. Billy is a native American raised by white folks. He doesn't know his history and it plays into the plot quite a bit. This is at least 4/5

Montana Bargain -- Dr. Winslow Wu, yes, he's Chinese, is a trained veterinarian not that any white guy would hire him to treat their animals except his close friends in Echo Canyon. As the town needed a doctor, It was Winslow who put in an ad for mail-order bride, and got Dr. Erin Avery, a female doctor trained, but can't practice in the East. Having her own practice out west where there isn't a doctor around is perfect for her, but what is with the rich guy in town who seems to be both friendly and sinister at the same time?

Dr. Wu seems to be both skilled... AND a caricature. I only sorta-accept the story how he got trained as a vet (his godfather is the head of the vet school after his family saved his godfather in China) Wu went into business with the folks making $$$ with Lucky's animal husbandry biz, but Wu also seems to know kungfu AND dim-mak (strike at nerve points to help or disable) But it's good. 4/5

Montana Adventure --- Billy and Lucky went to find Lucky's long-lost Cheyenne family, and Lucky was devastated to find he can only reclaim his son, but not his wife, who had remarried and will be relocated soon. When they left, they found two other Cheyenne willing to leave with them... a Cheyenne brave and Nina, a white girl brought up by Cheyenne. When Billy and Nina and the rest were captured by a local family as trespassers and forced to marry, Billy was torn as he had summoned a mail-order bride who should already in town... In the meanwhile, the rich enigmatic man's secret is about to be revealed by the sheriff...

Fun read, this *could* have bee a 5/5, but in the end I chose 4/5.

Category: Historical Western

Primary Plot:  Series of Historical Western adventures that happens to involve mail-order brides in the fictional town of Echo Canyon

Overall Rating: 4/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews Men Out of Uniform: 6 Book Omnibus by Rhonda Russell

Men Out of Uniform bundle has the first six books in the author's series, but with previews, blurbs, and more, actual content is probably 100 pages less. And they are actually quite good, with no major fact abuse.

As there are six books, I'm not going to summarize each and every book. They are all about a bunch of ex-rangers now doing security work, like bodyguard, investigations, and that sort. All have good twists upon the standard "undercover" tropes. All are quite good.

Category: Military

Primary Plot: Good collection of six military romance with ex-rangers doing security, bodyguard, and investigative work, and falling in love

Overall Rating: 4/5

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews The MacKenzies: Omnibus Books 1-5 by Liliana Hart

The McKenzies omnibus is a collection of five novellas in the series that are somewhat uneven, but not too bad.

Dane: Bad boy Dane is back in town. He left behind Charlotte Munroe to make a name for himself. He's back to claim her. But Charlie has no intention to take him back... His prior betrayal cut too deep... and she has a reminder every day... their son. She was sure Dane is going to leave again... But their attraction to each other can't be denied...

Angst-y, but the secret baby trope can only carry the story so far. 3/5

Thomas: Doctor Thomas Mackenzie had rescued damsels in distress before, but usually not right in front of his family farm, when a car, dodging a cow, smashed right through the fence his brothers had just fixed. The woman's hurt, and bleeding from a gunshot wound. Who's she, and how did she get here? Thomas knew this is the woman for him, but will she accept that? Esp. when it's clear she's keeping secrets?

It's a bit of insta-lust here, the attraction isn't that well explained. 3/5

Riley: Maggie is in trouble. Her boyfriend sent her an artifact, then disappeared off the face of the Earth. He told her to go find Riley MacKenzie, an Egyptologist, and the artifact, allegedly cursed, has people all over the world fighting, and perhaps, killing for it. Maggie saw Riley, and he's everything she'd dreamed of in a man. And a snowstorm will test their resolve... but when bad guys close in, they'll see what they're truly made of...

Good twist on the romantic suspense short 4/5

Cooper: Sheriff Cooper Mackenzie is also a BDSM player. He was surprised to see Claire, 10 years his junior, in a BDSM club he was doing a stake-out, sitting on a mobster's lap. Claire wanted Cooper for a very long time, and being a librarian, she researched the subject extensively before embarking on his attempt to seduce Cooper... by becoming his perfect sub... And Cooper has no choice but to claim her for his own... if only to keep her out of trouble...

As a BDSM novel, it's actually not bad, but nothing that special either. 4/5

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: N/A -- collection

Overall Rating: 4/5  (rounded up)

NOTE: Tropes are now in the "Labels" below. 

GRR Reviews Love Letter Collection (A Timeless Romance) by Karey White

Love Letter Collection is an anthology of clean romances with the common theme of a letter. There are three contemporary and three historical romances in this collection. As they are rather short, I will not spoil them. There are stories such as love by correspondence, letter kept from long time ago, surprise letter from a stranger, and so on. They are all good, and the editor did a good job picking them, rather than just randomly grab stories. I wouldn't say they are extraordinary, but they are good, and being short, they are also fast reads that should lave you satisfied.

Category: Contemporary / Collection

Primary Plot: N/A Anthology of clean shorter romances that all had to do with a letter, good quality overall

Tropes: various

Overall Rating: 4/5 

GRR Reviews The Billionaires of Belmont Boxed Set by Shadonna Richards

Billionaires of Belmont series feels a bit lacking in the ending and polish departments. I will review the two books separately as they are separate books.

The setup was as follows: Jonah E. Belmont III had been given 6 months to live. Intending to see his children settled, he gave all his children one year to marry or settle into a long-term relationship... Or get written out of the will. And that would include all his bastard children too.

Book 1: Billionaire's Bride for a Day

Dane Romano-Belmont is one of the bastards of Belmont that was accepted and even took the surname. A love affair left him broken. A woman used him as rebound but went back to her ex, only to come back when she found he's a Belmont. He refused her (of course). Now he worked as the GM of the flagship hotel, content with work until he saw Olivia McAlister. Olivia was supposed to be wed on Christmas day... but on the night before the wedding, her groom did a runaway groom. She had practically put him through law school and his new salary was supposed to cover them both. Now she's groom-less, homeless (she already canceled her own lease, anticipating honeymoon and move-in), and about to be humiliated in front of her entire family and friends. And Dane, the kind GM... was the hottest man she'd ever seen. And he's willing to be her groom for a day. Then her ex died in a car crash, and angry loan-sharks demanding her to cough up the money, forcing Dane into alpha protector mode... But even as he kept telling himself "she's just in shock and needs a rebound", and she's telling herself "he just wants me as a friend", they are falling for each other... hard.

Frankly, the threat really made no sense. Loan sharks should know better than to go after a woman with no means to repay the loans her boyfriend took out. And what did Dane do? Not that much. The ending was almost all tell, no show. All in all it's barely 3/5.  It's more 2.5/5.

Book 2: Billionaire's Promise

Baby Brandon Knight was left on steps of a church by his mother and eventually adopted by a childless couple and given his current name. He grew up into a private investigator and developed security-related tech, and was working for the Belmonts when he suddenly found he was also a Belmont Bastard... and the offer to settle down was for him too. Brandon cared not for the Belmont fortune, but a professional organizer Faith Johnson here to help the Belmont Patriarch Jonah organize the family letters made him reconsider. Faith Johnson may be uncluttering other people's lives, but her own is a mess. An ex-fiancee drained her bank account AND maxed out the joint credit card, leaving her scrambling for $$$ to care for grandma in a nursing home. This professional organization service will pull her out of debt, and the Belmont account and the Ellimore account would give her some breathing room. Brandon Knight made her heart go flutter, but the Ellimore account... made her skin tingle, and not in a good way. Something is not right in that house... But was it the house, or was it her?

Without spoiling the story, let's just say Faith will be the really surprised one. But the suspense was not revealed properly, IMHO, or integrated into the plot that well. The solution, where Brandon gets to do his white knight thing felt really "tacked on". The reason made sense, but it didn't integrate into the plot that well. Again, the ending is all tell, no show. This one may have been rated 2/5.

Both together averaged out to be still 3/5, but it's really really close to slipping back to 2/5. Compared to other masterpieces, these are mediocre at best.

Category: Contemporary / Collection

Primary Plot: Two novel combo featured an interesting setup, but the individual plots feel un-integrated into the romances overall

Tropes: billionaire, different worlds, collection, weird will

Overall Rating:  3/5

GRR Reviews Wishful Romance Volume 1: Books 1-3 ( by Kait Nolan

Wishful Romance Volume 1 contains three novels that will be rated separately below. While the characters are nicely drawn, some of the decision process or the plot doesn't quite make sense.

Book 1: To Get Me To You -- Norah was betrayed by her fiancee and her company. She thought she closed the deal for the betterment of the town. She ended up doing the exact opposite. When she confronted her fiancee and his father, the company head, she was escorted out the door. She ended up in Wishful, MS, hoping to redeem herself. She fell for the town's charm, and Cam, the local hunk.  Cam needed to keep the big box store away from the town, and Norah was perfect. Together they mount to campaign to sway the town council, but Cam wasn't sure a city girl like Norah will ever stay in town...

I guess I don't quite understand a big box store can move in and just "destroy" local businesses with no gain. What happens to the big box store later? Closing a location cost $$$ too. 3/5

Book 2: Be Careful, It's My Heart -- Tyler ran the hardware store in town for several generations, and always performed in the town theater when there was a chance. But several years ago, her partner and boyfriend Brody, left town to pursue something else. She had not performed since. But now, the news of the theater may be closing for good (and possibly be bought and converted into something else) brought Tyler out of 'retirement' for one last-ditch effort to raise the money... just as Brody came back to town... as her co-star. What secret was he hiding this time?

Almost a deus ex machina, at least it kinda feels that way. But it works with that last-minute twist, but relied on her overhearing something that reached the wrong conclusion. 4/5

Book 3: Know Me Well -- Riley has been living alone for a while... she's very self-reliant, because her mother is always looking for a man to save her. Riley bought the town pharmacy, but she's forever juggling bills and barely staying solvent. She had a crush on Liam, her best friend's older brother, but Liam left to join the Marines. Now staff sergeant Liam is back, but Liam wants to fix things, which irked Riley to no end. When one disaster after another hit the pharmacy, and Riley's mom also asking for help (again after getting into a fight with her boyfriend while out of town), Riley is overwhelmed and will have to make some painful decisions...

Riley's independent to the point of abrasive, where ANY attempt to help... (heck, she doesn't even ASK for help, even in form of advice from the previous owner!) is rebuffed out of "principle". That's just... stubbornly masochistic. The part about her mother finding herself is good, but did she find herself? 3/5

All in all, call it 3/5 due to averaging.

Category: Contemporary / Collection

Primary Plot: N/A, collection. Charming collection of three small-town romances, but two were flawed while one's above average

Tropes: betrayal, small town, evil enemies, different worlds, performer, return, reunion, best friend's sibling, family drama

Overall Rating:  3/5

GRR Reviews The Harrisons Boxed Set: Books 1-3 by Alexa Bloom

The Harrisons Box Set 1 by Alexa Bloom is a decent collection of three novels. I'll review each separately:

Once In a Big Dream: Joe Harrison is getting out of jail after serving five years. He's just working as a ranch hand until Rose came to visit the ranch as a photographer. Rose is a pampered girl but she hated her mother's endless snobby society lunches and events. She wanted to be a photographer, not a society wife like her intended fiancee Geoffrey wanted. Her visit to the ranch and the chance encounter with the handsome ranch hand made her mind wander about the possibilities. But such a match is not possible, even as Joe had to deal with the reason he went to jail in the first place...

The problem with Alexa Bloom's evil characters is they are utterly irredeemable, which makes them a bit flat. They don't give a **** who they screw over or how many people they hurt as long as they get ahead. This novel has so many douchebags around the ONLY decent people seem to be the couple. It's a part of her writing style, and it works. 4 out of 5.

Once In a Blue Kentucky Moon: Tatum fled for her life after a disastrous marriage... so bad she dared tell no one. She worked as a horse handler and ended up on Lockwood Farm, once famous for rearing champion racehorses, but with no derby winners in recent years, it is heading steadily downhill. Blake Harrison, the current owner, is barely holding on, and even the new colt is not enough to raise his spirits. So why was he so drawn to the new stablehand with haunted doe-eyes? Tatum's web of shameful secrets started to unravel, even as Blake was forced into a terrible choice: can he save the family legacy... or the woman he loved?

This one still has evil, but the choices don't quite seem as acute, but the woman really made no sense. TELL SOMEBODY, darn it! She's clearly not handling the situation! I still don't get what the f*** does this no good husband of hers actually do, besides trying to pimp her out or something. She has the sense to flee, but she doesn't have any sense of self-preservation otherwise! It's almost exasperating to read. 3/5

Once in a New York Minute: Laura Harrison's conniving ex-husband ruined her by emptying her account just before her spring fashion show. She sulked for a bit on the family farm, then decided to head back and start her own show again. A chance meeting with an old friend Marcus, a single parent, lead to a temporary living arrangement when her condo association kicked her out (because her ex also stole all her furniture and damaged the walls). Laura developed feeling for Marcus, but Marcus is a fashion photographer and deals with supermodels weekly, and Laura can't complete. But when fashion sharks started to circle again, and can Laura deal with the worst betrayal of all?

While reading it the scenario really sounds dire. However, upon reflection, the scenario makes ZERO sense.

SPOILER WARNING

SPOILER WARNING AGAIN

The scenario was her evil ex sets up a rival studio and recruited a spy to steal all of Laura's designs, and somehow managed to do a fashion show 1 day ahead of Laura's studio. The fashion industry called Laura "copycat". This makes no sense. How does this bogus studio make any money? What was the "endgame"? The evil is "only there" to mess with the heroine, and serves no other purpose! That makes no sense! 2/5

Combine them together, it's 3/5

Category: Contemporary / Collection

Primary Plot: N/A, three novel collection of mixed plot, complicating the love of the couple in question, some are good, some are not

Tropes: different worlds, triangle, cowboy, ranch, evil ex, conspiracy, betrayal

Overall Rating:  3/5

GRR Reviews ClickandWed.com Boxset, Books 1 - 3 (Cli by Bonnie R. Paulson

ClickandWed.com 1-3 tried to make the idea of a modern mail-order-bride work (marry someone sight unseen) and for the most part, it works, but the story seems to lack a certain spark

Book 1: With this click I thee wed -- She's a lonely divorcee whose own family doesn't want her and her ex treats her like a doormat, not only turning the entire town against her (even though he's the one cheated), her ex is suing her for emotional abuse. He's a rancher who stands to lose his parent's house and ranch, and had his heart broken when he realized his now ex-wife married his prestige, not him. Yet the pair somehow got married when she got drunk and clicked on "I do"... Now she's flying across the country to meet her husband for the first time... Can this work, even when it was so... crazy?

Somehow, the evil douchebag didn't get his karma. The tale didn't quite have the spark of "strangers got married" stories of other authors. It just feels too... detached somehow. 3/5

Book 2: I_do.com -- A young doormat woman, pushed by her family into EVERY decision (as if she has no will of her own), was emboldened by her best friend into taking the biggest chance of her life... She walked out of her wedding to a man she does not love (and earned a hard slap on her cheek from her mother, who then disowned her), and went off to meet someone she had not seen... and be wedded by proxy... basically a modern mail order bride! Can such a romance work?

The new husband is okay, and there doesn't seem to be any karma for the parents either. it's all about her getting a spine. And while it has the character arc, it didn't quite have the touch of other authors like Kirsten Osbourne or Merry Farmer who also wrote books based on similar premises. The husband was kinda boring. 3/5

Book 3: DIY Vows -- the BFF of the previous novel's heroine (the same woman who paid for the setup) is going to be matched with someone in SF/Oakland, with a top compatibility score... 99.5%. But he's actually just betting with his brother on a dare, even as he's fixing up his mother's historical building in Oakland... or trying to. He is being stretched too thin, as he can't do both at the same time. She's a handywoman who can't wait to get out of her stupid town, and she's setting up her own "The Home Doctor" renovation / fix-up contractor business when it's clear the guy she matched does NOT want a wife. So she tried to keep her "kinda-wife" and the "Home Doctor" identities separate, even as she fixed up his house. What she didn't know is he knew she's both... and he's falling for her... hard...

It's mental games: she's playing some, he's playing some, they pretend they don't know about each other's games but they do... Somehow, I failed to see how that translates to romance. But at least the plot was pretty good. 4/5

All in all, average series. It's certainly innovative, but seem to lack that certain spark, whether angst or comedy or other.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: N/A, collection, three books about modern equivalent of mail order bride finding their love with a mate they never met...

Tropes: marriage, mail order bride, collection, different worlds, disguise, jilted, weird will, arranged marriage, family pressure

Overall Rating: 3/5 (average of 3)

GRR Reviews Brides of Beckham: The First Four Books by Kirsten Osbourne

Brides of Beckham: First Four Books collection is a nice collection of mail order bride stories that did not break any new ground, but instead, relied on good characters and decent twists on the tropes with proper polish to deliver enjoyable stories.

Mail Order Mayhem -- when Maude was told by her family she must marry a repulsive man, she chose to become a mail order bride and went out west to be wife of an Iowa farmer instead. She fell for the strong handsome farmer, but does he feel the same? When her "fiancee" came calling, will she ever escape?

Mail Order Mama -- Emily's mother is marrying again, and the daughter won't be able to stay. With nowhere to go, Emily chose to marry herself out West, and married Benjamin, who has two children he's trying to raise alone. But Emily didn't know the two kids are hellions who had run off all nannies prior to her, or any prospects... But Emily will whip these two kids into shape... without violence... except she can't forget how Benjamin tricked her...

Mail Order Madness -- Susan can't live with her younger siblings anymore (there's like 11 of them and they are all hellions) so she joined mail-order bride agency and married herself out West to Texas to someone who didn't want kids. Except upon arrival... it wasn't her groom... but his brother... Her groom had died via a stray bullet two weeks prior, while she's on her way. But the brother offered to take his place and marry her... Except he has four kids. And they are NOT nice either. Can this ever work?

Mail Order Mix-up -- Ellen and Malinda had never been apart. When their papa died and the bank is repossessing the farm, they had nowhere to go. It happens that the two brothers in the same town out West in Colorado are both looking for mail order brides... Ellen wanted the sheriff, and Malinda wanted the banker. They arrived in the Colorado town and each immediately fell for one of the brothers... Only to find they each fell for the wrong one! But is the wrong one really the right one for them?

Each of these are definitely 4/5, with good polish in the plot and all the decisions make sense within context of the story, with some genuine agony in the decision-making. All in all, enjoyed it quite a bit.

Category: Historical Western

Primary Plot: N/A, collection, see above for summaries

Tropes: mail order bride, triangle, evil ex, single parent, family pressure, sibling problem, wrong twin/brother

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Reviews A Billionaire For Lexi: Holiday Novella (Th by Ruth Cardello

A Billionaire for Lexi is a 3 novella anthology from three bestselling authors, and each of the novellas is a short fast read, though none are particularly deep.

NOTE: Technically a collection is a group of works from the same author, while an anthology is a group of works from different authors. This is technically an anthology, as they are from Ruth Cardello, Jeannette Winters, and Danielle Stewart, but it will be referred to as a collection for tagging purposes only.

Clay Landon is a playboy, and he doesn't do relationships... Until Lexi Chambers... who's just as rich and just as free as him, and she's not impressed at all. Lexi doesn't want trouble with the rich Barringtons, as her sister just married into it, but Clay tested her resolve to stay unattached. As the two dance around each other, they come to realize their feelings may go deeper than first thought...

World-renowned chef Vincent Moretti was attending a charity event at a resort, but it was snowed out. When the kitchen can't even seem to serve any food, he went to investigate and found Renita Gallo... daughter of a famous chef attempting to uphold her father's reputation, even though she's a teacher, not a chef... Vincent was smitten by her tenacity and helped her out, but she can't stand this handsome but arrogant... CHEF?

Nolan is fuming that he's spending his Christmas alone at a coffee shop while his sister is spending cozy nights as she just married a billionaire. Holly McNamara is on the run, and meeting Nolan is a perfect opportunity for her to get out of town. When Nolan was called to attend a charity function and present a charity check, Holly offered to come along. Nolan and Holly found they enjoyed each other's company very much, but Holly was keeping a huge secret. When someone spotted Holly for who she was, she elected to leave, but Nolan is not ready to see her go just yet...

Each of the novellas is centered on a bit of holiday spirit, and have shared characters, as this is technically a part of the Barrington family series. They are not particularly deep reads. At first I wanted to rate these three stars, but I upgraded them to 4 as they have consistent quality. Though they are really like 3.5 stars.

Category: Contemporary / Collection

Primary Plot: N/A, shared universe of the rich and famous in the Barringtons series

Tropes: too many to list, see tags below

Overall Rating:  4/5