GRR Reviews Alpha's Temptation by Renee Rose and Lee Savino

Jackson is the head of SeCure, a top-tier data security company. While he enjoys being rich, he really prefers coding to management. He also has a secret: he's a werewolf, a lone wolf that answers to no pack. His only two regrets in life so far were one, to not catch "Catgirl", the only hacker that got through his defenses years ago, and two, to not take a mate, which increases his chances of going berserk. When he was caught in an elevator malfunction with the new hire Kylie, she somehow drew him like no one ever could. But a normal human would never survive mating with a werewolf... // Kylie had always been fascinated by Jackson... and Kylie has a secret... She was "Catgirl" the hacker that got through Jackson's encryption when she was fifteen. Having a headhunter offering her a position at SeCure was her dream come true. Meeting and working with Jackson? Priceless. She didn't know she was put there by evil forces, ready to bring down Jackson using her as the trojan horse. She had to fight her desire for Jackson and being a pawn in someone else's game... and in turn, learn a lot more about herself than she'd ever suspected...

Better than I first expected. My usual yardstick for shifter romance is the Alicia Montgomery's True Mates series. And this one is... close. 4/5

GRR Reviews Halloween Boo by Sarah Spade

Zach knew very little. He had no idea how long he'd been there, his full name, and so on. He does know that he's a ghost, and can't really affect the real world. And he can't leave the place he's in. He knew there's a resident in "his" place... a beautiful woman named Dani. And he liked her very much. // Dani knew her apartment is haunted. Yes, she knew she lives in Salem. But the ghost was friendly that she started calling him Casper. He even helped her get rid of a bad suitor once. Dani wasn't quite ready to learn that the ghost's real name is Zach, and on Halloween, he can take physical form for one night. And Zach loves Dani... and will show her exactly how... If she'll let him.

Awww, nice. Yes, there's a bit of supernatural in there. And yes, there's sex. And YES, there's HEA. As for how... You'll need to read the book. 5/5

GRR Reviews I'm With Cupid by Sarah Spade

Cole is a cupid (yes, no capital C). He was recruited by Eros to help mortals fall in love, yes, arrows and all that. And cupids are immune to the arrows (job security)  He was about to finish his quota for the year, just before the time window closes, when somehow, despite his invisibility shields, he was spotted peeping (just making sure the couple is together) by the female subject's feisty cousin Sheila. Which is then he found out he has ZERO powers. No wings, no arrow, no invisibility shield. Now a mere mortal, Cole's only hope was to convince Sheila that he needs help to go home to Philadelphia and report to his boss Eros... // Sheila has pepper spray in one hand and car keys in the other, and she's chasing down the peeping tom... When he stopped. His story is crazy... Cupid? Arrows? Magic powers lost? But somehow she believed him. Sheila is now on a quest from Salem to Philadelphia to get Cole back so he can get his cupid mojo back. Cole may not be able to fall in love... but Sheila found herself attracted to the wingless cupid...

Ahhhh...... cute! And you'll like the twist (i.e. the reason why Cole's magic vanished)  5/5

GRR Reviews Basketball Mom by Ginny Baird

Tess, single mom, wants the best for her son, Jake. And Jake wants to be on the basketball team. Unfortunately, his abilities are somewhat lacking. It didn't help when their neighbor, single dad Colin, is the basketball coach, and his daughter, Dakota, is dribbling circles around Jake. In desperation, Jake wished upon a shooting star to become the best basketball player in the state or even the world... But the magic landed on his mother instead. Tess's accidental demonstration at her son's basketball tryouts was filmed and immediately went viral, and Colin's friend, a WNBA scout, came to town to investigate #basketballmom. Tess is overwhelmed, as even she can't explain her freakish abilities, and now Jake's mad at her for "stealing" his wish. Tess is also drooling over her handsome neighbor Colin, but she can't get involved with her son's coach... Right?

Ah, nice comedy with a dose of magic. Let's just say Tess doesn't get to keep her ability, but Jake didn't turn into a superstar either. But the love that came from that temporary gift is what lasts forever. A fun tale. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Enchanted, Inc. by Shanna Swendson

Katie knew that New York is weird and wonderful, but this small-town Texas girl is feeling a bit lost in the city. Working as a marketing director's assistant was not a joy when her boss is a boss from hell (blames her assistant for her own lack of organization). It's gotten to the point where even she doesn't notice the weirdness anymore. That's when she got the job offer from MSI... Magic, Spells and Illusions Inc. Turns out, magic is very much alive in the world, and Katie has a special gift: she's immune to magic. Which makes her uniquely qualified as a "verifier" in the magic business... No one can pull off a magic trick on her.  But office politics can be even MORE of a hassle when girls' night out involves fairies, her boss is an actual ogre, and she's got a crush on the shy but powerful wizard who's the head of R&D. Oh, and the CEO is Merwin, better known in history as Merlin (as in King Authur and Camelot). When MSI suddenly got a competitor who wants to sell black magic to the world at large, Katie's solution may be the only way forward...

Interesting take on "urban fantasy", and it's a load of fun to read. Romance is minimal, but everything flowed great. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews The Ex-Princess by Fiona West

Abelia abandoned her princess duties nine years ago and chose to live as a commoner with a menial job and tiny apartment. She was surprised to find royal emissaries arrived to enforce a marriage contract with prince Edward... someone she hadn't seen as a child. // Edward was the "spare heir" until his brother went off the rails and started a rebellion against his own father. Desperate to avoid a war that he's not sure he can win, he needs to marry his best friend, princess Abelia, to present a united front. Unfortunately, Abelia has her own ideas on whether she can be queen, no matter how convincing prince Edward can be. But for the sake of the people, will they do what they must? Or is there another way?

The book left me rather confused. Some parts of it are brilliant or shows signs of brilliance, some parts of it made me wonder what's it doing there. Abelia had her own adventure before she finally returned to her own realm (with lots of bad guys chasing her and her party) but that's merely first part of the story. Once Edward joined the party, it's a series of small revelations (which I will not spoil) on WHY she cannot be his queen, no matter what he says or does. Eventually, you'll get a HEA that ALMOST felt like an afterthought. I felt the plot could have been clearer and better defined. 3.5/5

GRR Reviews Trouble Waters by Carly Fall

Ex-Marine Brody is just surviving on the Texas coast, with a simple order: keep silent about what happened to him, never talk about it with anyone. He did notice his connection to the sea... and his ability to control water. When a mysterious benefactor "Joe Smith" offered him a chance to disappear and start over, he did not hesitate... and thus he became the captain of a special yacht for people who needed... extraordinary protection and discretion. // Rayna has family secrets she dare not reveal; her father is actually a cartel leader, not that he'd ever use her for his own gains... Even when she's trying to rise within the CIA. But when her father told her that a madman has sights on her half-sister, she reluctantly joined her half-sister to protect her, and ended up meeting Brody and his special yacht... whom she had met BEFORE he was recruited by Joe Smith. And it's clear that Rayna and Brody have to work together, as their enemy is far more resourceful than estimated...

Eh, the shift from enemies to friends to lovers is really fast, and not handled that well. The ending was basically a deus ex machina, all because the half-sister won't say who the stalker was.

 3/5

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 Wolf Hunger by Paige Tyler

Dallas SWAT has a secret... its members are all wolf-shifters. Officer Max was attending an awards dinner when he realized he found "the one", the one true mate for him, Lana. And she's clearly a wolf-shifter too... The scent is unique. However, there are two major problems... She's the deputy chief's daughter... and she doesn't know she's a shifter. And Deputy Chief doesn't want Max around his daughter. Things soon grew dire, when hunters, who vowed to hunt down all werewolves arrived in Dallas and started gunning for Lana... and killed her roommate in Austin (where she attended school) and even attacked the police chief himself. Now Max must not only protect Lana... while revealing the truth of her nature, but also show how much she means to him... even as the hunters mount a full-scale attack on the wolf safehouse...

Good action, the interesting escalation by introducing the hunters (keeping shifters secret gets kinda old). The secrets of Lana and Max's origin story gets a little depressing, but they do add to the characters.

Category: Contemporary / Romantic Suspense

Overall Rating: 5/5

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

GRR Reviews Bear to Love by Amy Lamont

Macy is a bear shifter in a family of bear shifters, and has a gift to calm and care for any animals, including humans. // Nash and Gage, both bear shifters, survived their mission and made it back, but traumatized. What they've seen... shall not be talked about, and they found only they can calm each other, else both have nightmares. When Macy decided to help them, she suddenly found herself (and her bear) wanting both of them... even though every bearshifter she knew are monogamous... Will they end up the only MFM paring in known history, even though it felt so right?

The plot is shallow, as basically they are trying to understand their attraction to each other, as it's almost taboo (but it's not, merely unconventional). Sex is pretty hot, but there wasn't much else to it.

Category: Contemporary / Paranormal / Shifter

Overall Rating: 2.5/5 (rounded up)

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

GRR Reviews Rescued by the Berserker by Lee Savino

Knut is a berserker warrior wolf-shifter leading his warriors on a mission to defeat the Corpse King. But when Hazel crossed his path, he knew she will be his... and only his. // Hazel barely escaped from the Corpse King, forced to leave her friends behind. The Abbey taught her that to give in the physical desires is a sin, but Knut not only rescued her from the corpses, but promised to love and cherish her... yes, that way too...

Really, not much there. There's a twist, but it's an old one. No big deal. It's basically insta-lust with trope developements.

Category: Paranormal / Romantic suspense

Primary Plot: Woman escaping from big evil was rescued by wolf-shifter warrior on a mission, who also claimed her as his own

Overall Rating: 2/5

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

GRR Reviews Adam (Seven Sons Book 1) by Kirsten Osbourne

Adam tries to infuse some supernatural elements (each of the seven sons is "gifted" in some way, like empathy with people empathy with plants, and so on) into a romance but it seems to lack the charm and humor from the author's other works.

Adam McClain and his six brothers run the McClain Boys' Ranch, where wayward boys, whose own parents gave up on them, find redemption. What they don't tell people is each of them has special... talent. Father has occasional visions of the future. Adam is an empath... he can sense emotions. Other brothers have power of healing, power of green thumb (plants), animal whisperer, and so on and so forth. When they need a new fundraising coordinator, they interviewed Tiffani Simpson, who recently lost her job. What Adam can't tell Tiffani is he will marry her. It was in his father's vision. But when he left on a date with Tiffani, and something bad happened back on the ranch, he's having seconds thoughts about romance...

Honestly, I just don't get this series. It's way too talkative, and the "darkest hour" was really dumb, and fixed with a simple change of heart. It just didn't read like the author's work at all.

Category: Contemporary / Paranormal

Primary Plot: Can the oldest of seven sons, all of whom have unusual gifts, find love even as he is torn between his duty and romance?

Overall Rating: 2/5

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

GRR Reviews The Blogger vs the Bad Boy by Kellie McAllen

The Blogger vs. the Bad Boy had been retitled with reissued with a new cover, and this iteration is a lot better, with a hint of paranormal but interesting limitations for a bunch of half-angels (or "Celestia Divisa") fall in love with regular humans.

Jake is wealthy, gorgeous, popular, and bad boy to the bone. When his latest prank got him sent to community service, he ended up at a senior home serving meals to grumpy or forgetful seniors. Then he met Charisse, a half-angel. // Charisse's motto is "kindness is the best beauty product of all", and her beauty blog already enjoys a big audience, but she can't stand "the biggest jerk on the planet". Jake found himself wanting the girl who won't have anything to do with him. And Charisse was definitely not impressed by him or his wealth. When a devastating secret was revealed about Jake, Charisse will have to decide whether to use her one miracle in life to save him... from himself.

Cute, sweet, and clean. This is a paranormal romance, but the linked nature of the universe has a good consistency to it, if you read the books in sequence. The paranormal-ness didn't figure into the story until much later.

Category: Contemporary / Paranormal

Primary Plot: Can a half-angel beauty blogger save a bad boy when he learned a devastating truth about himself?

Overall Rating: 4/5

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

GRR Reviews Melody (North Shore Book 1) by C. L. Stone

Melody is a hard book to describe. It's a bit fairy tale, a bit paranormal, a bit mystery, and a bit romance.

Melody spent all she had to get away from her drugged out husband and finally walked away with divorce, even as her mother constantly nagged about finding a job and keeping a husband. She has little more than clothes on her back, and she ended up on Juniper Island, with maybe 3 dollars in her pocket. The bus driver dropped her at Mayana, a restaurant that serves hard-working locals... and tourists. The owner Tonac makes delicious meals, but he doesn't always charge for them... he doesn't serve what people want... but what they need. And when Melody tasted the food, she knew why... Tonac's food affected people in unique ways... visions, courage, precious memories... She just had to get a job there, and Tonac accepted her without question. Locals started coming in droves, and people are happy... But there are folks on the island who do NOT want Tonac to succeed, and when Melody is caught in the middle, she'll discover just how deep the secrets really run on this island...

Without spoiling anything, let's just say Tonac is... a bit of a disguise, and so are many of the friends of Tonac that Melody got to know. As for what, you'll have to read the book.  Once you get through the weird but slow beginning, you'll start to appreciate the book a bit more.

Category: Contemporary / Paranormal

Primary Plot: Woman arrived on the island and found work at a cafe run by a mysterious chef, what secrets is he hiding?

Tropes: family secrets, protector, woman in peril, chef, evil enemies

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Reviews Tempted by the Wolf: A Werewolf Shifter by Alicia Montgomery

Tempted by the Wolf is the grand finale to the 6-book series where the threat to the wolf shifters by the blood mages will finally be resolved... one way or another. It helps if you know the shifter lore or the setup from the previous 5 novels, but it's not required. To recap...

Meredith, a lone wolf (unaffiliated with any clan) was caught stealing from the New York clan and is spending 10 years of "house arrest" for her penance, and her latest assignment is to babysit the captured warlock Daric, who was once fighting at their archenemy's side. But Daric was forced and wanted Stefan's defeat as much as anyone... Not that the Lycans can take the chance, of course. Then Meredith's "brothers" came calling... Their adoptive father is dead... and it may have something to do with their archenemy, Stefan. As Daric and Meredith came to accept each other's loss, their attraction to each other grew. But when the latest attack from Stefan came from an unexpected quarter, will Meredith be the one weakness that will destroy Daric... or the one strength that will allow Daric to defeat Stefan?

The callbacks to previous novels are nice, and all the new lore seems to make sense. I do have a problem with the darkest hour AND ending being a bit convenient but the final fight was nice and tense right up to the final moment. And let's just say, if you read the previous novel, you'll get a kick out of ending here.

Category: Paranormal

Primary Plot: the evil blood mage's plan to destroy all the lycans can only be stopped by a turncoat mage and a rogue lycan...

Tropes: shifter, opposites attract, forced proximity, evil enemies, kidnapping

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Reviews Divine and Dateless (Eternally Yours) by Tara West

Divine and Dateless by Tara West managed to put a lot of humor into a subject that should not be funny... death and unrequited love. It's about the afterlife and the odd struggles to go all the way up to heaven if you aren't already going there.

Ashley is dead. She accidentally electrocuted herself getting ready for her Internet date. She totally deserved it because she was tired of the circuit breaker of her hair dryer popping that she glued it in. She was so ditzy, she thought the grim reaper (in street clothes) was her Internet date. When she reported to Pete with her grim she got assigned to... Penthouse level. Aka Heaven. Unfortunately, very next day she was told there's a mix-up... She had to go down a level and work her way back up, and her credit checker (who controls how fast she goes back up) apparently hated her, even as she has seriously what may or may not be unrequited love on her grim. When Ashley unexpectedly demonstrated haunting powers, she got a different job... combating demons (and desecraters) through hauntings back at level 1 (mortal plane) but the danger there is if she fails, the demons can drag her to hell...

This book obviously does NOT treat itself seriously and makes fun of a lot of institutions. All calls to God (including swearing as well as utterances during sex) are handled by operators in call centers in purgatory. And even dead people can have allergies... and bad bosses who don't give a ****. It's quite hilarious.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Woman in purgatory adjusts to her circumstances and fell in love with the grim reaper who brought her there

Tropes: opposites attract, fish out of water, secret world

Overall Rating:  5/5

GRR Reviews Taming the Beast: Book 5 of the True Ma by Alicia Montgomery

Taming The Beast managed to throw a new wrinkle into the Lycan and Witches vs. Blood Mages war with yet another pair of true mates, from a very unexpected direction!

Shy and nerdy Lycan scientist Dr. Jade Cross does research for the Fenrir Corporation, which is a cover company for the New York clan of Lycans (werewolves, wolf-shifters, whatever you call them). She lives a quiet genius life and buried her wolf so deep she can no longer shift. When she was kidnapped one day, Fenrir called in reinforcements in the form of Creed Security, headed by Sebastian Creed and his crew of security specialists to help rescue Dr. Cross. Sebastian found himself drawn to Dr. Cross, and the feeling is mutual, yet both denied their calls. For Sebastian knew there is a beast locked inside him, and he did not dare to let the beast out. But when the evil blood mages came up with another gambit to destroy the Lycans, the Lycans formed a plan to counterattack that involved Dr. Cross, Sebastian, and a mage who claimed he switched sides...

Lots of actions, lots of secrets, lots of angst, for Sebastian's secret shall be revealed. Which will not be spoiled here. Both have denied their true nature for too long, and that is the struggle they have to endure together. For they are indeed each other's true mate. Definitely a thumbs up.

Category: Paranormal / Romantic Suspense

Primary Plot: lycan scientist fell for the gruffy security specialist who rescued her, but both are hiding secrets. When the evil blood mages attack, both will realize their true callings

Tropes: kidnapping, fated mate, conspiracy, evil enemies

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Reviews To Save A Mate: Somewhere, TX Saga (Vo by Krystal Shannan

To Save A Mate by Krystal Shannan is a good variation on the shifter romance, by making it about sacrifice first, and love later.

Kara McClure lost everything in a single night. Her parents had just died in a car crash, and just as she's seeking solace, she found her boyfriend muff diving on her sorority sister. Stumbling in the dark, she walked into the path of a truck... Luke VonBrandt had watched Kara from afar since high school, but he's not the kind to butt into her life uninvited. But when he ran her over with his truck... He used his once-in-a-lifetime bonding spell to pour his essence into her... to save her life. He's a werewolf, and the bonding spell was supposed to be for bond mates... Luke is risking his one chance in life for completion to give life to a girl... who may not love him back.

Very angst-y, as Kara is now bonded to Luke, but not completely. You can probably guess they will get their HEA at the end, but there is a lot of mistrust and learning for someone to learn about the family, including all its secrets. My main problem is there were quite a few bits of the story that's a bit too... expository, and Kara's cheating BF didn't get enough karma. But this is an interesting variation on on the werewolf romance genre.

Category: Paranormal

Primary Plot: Shifter just used his bonding spell on a girl who may not love him back... in order to save her.

Tropes: secret world, shifter, forced proximity, fated mate

Overall Rating:  4/5 (rounded up)

GRR Reviews The Right to Bear Arms (Wild Operatives by Vivienne Savage

The Right to Bear Arms is a standard "strong protector" romance with the proviso that the protector is a bear shifter. However, there are some serious logical problems when it comes to the actual protection, that brought it back down to "mediocre".

Daniela Reyes finally divorced her abusive husband after he turned the house down. She took the settlement money from insurance and went somewhere remote to start over. She did not want to fall for the attractive widower Russ just down the lane. The black bear that visits her backyard seems to be the only distraction... Russell Hawkins is indeed a southern boy with charm, and a widower. He has retired from the service but occasionally gets called out on special assignments that required his... special talents. Falling for the voluptuous divorcee down the road was not in the cards because he's a werebear... AND the black bear that roamed her yeard. But he can't tell her yet... Until her evil ex came back... crazier than ever...

It takes no imagination to see Russ goes all protective bear mode... That's where the problem is. However, to explain this, I have to spoil the story.

SPOILER AHEAD

YOU'VE BEEN WARNED

Russ, who's supposed to be ex spec ops, was unable to disarm one thuggish ex abuser, in either bear form OR human form! He basically goes up to the ex, roars, and get shot multiple times! That is just... stupid! That of course, sets up the reveal ("Yes, I am your bear.") but really, that was REALLY forced. The romance is okay, but that major lapse in logic, IMHO, really ruined the story.

Category: Paranormal / Romantic Suspense

Primary Plot: Werebear fell for the new divorcee in town, and had to protect her from her crazy ex.

Tropes: disguise, shifter, protector, woman in peril, evil ex

Overall Rating: 3/5

GRR Reviews Feels Like the First Time (Untamed) by Ciana Stone

Feels Like the First Time feels like a romance writer's first attempt at writing from high school. It contains non-sensical plots, way too many "too stupid to live" moments, special powers that lead nowhere, stupid beyond belief crminals, escalations that made no sense, and a deus ex machina ending. I honestly don't understand why so many people gave it high marks... It's utter disaster of a book.

Lily Ridenger is in a serious bind. Her husband had gambled her family ranch away. Her bank account is near zero, she has no place to live, and she just wrecked the company big rig on her first day on the job (through no fault of her own). What's worse, she was rescued by her first love, Clint Marsh. When she was informed that she had been terminated, she also found herself stranded in a strange town, and when Clint offered his spare room on his ranch, she was in no position to refuse, esp. when she does have ranch experience. And when their unresolved feelings came back, it's stronger than ever. However, it all went sideways when Lily's husband, on the run from loan sharks, decided to make Lily his lifeline, and squeeze money from Clint if necessary... But Clint and his brother don't play nice...

To explain the problem, I'll have to spoil last half of the book.

SPOILER AHEAD

TOLD YOU SO

Lily has pyrokinesis... She can start fires with her thoughts. That's obviously of absolutely no use, as the only time it really came to use was helping start a distraction (later) and burned down her own ranch (which lead to her being stranded and rescued by Clint at the beginning).  And NEVER mentioned again.

Her husband Eddy, having lost the ranch, decided to squeeze money out of his wife, who had nothing left... why? Does that even make any sense? He knew how much she's worth... NOTHING!  Oh, and how did the cheating husband Eddy find her anyway? She's stranded in the middle of nowhere, right? Who are these loan sharks that are totally stupid, trying to collect from someone who has nothing?

Not only are they stupid, they also kidnap Lily and tried to ransom her to Clint and his brother. How do they expect two ranchers to suddenly come up with 500K cash in just a day or two?

Clint and brother rescued Lily without killing anyone, but Clint's brother got shot. They just went home, apparently not worried about ANY retaliation! How stupid is this?  Where's the law? Nobody gave a **** about the law.

Then Lily decided to run away as not to invite more trouble. Oh, really, how would that stop the retaliation if any?  You think the loan sharks who resorted to kidnapping would just leave Clint and his brother alone? Huh?

Instead of running anywhere, Lily suddenly remembered she has an old coin stash at her burned down ranch, so she went back and found it, and suddenly one of the coins was worth a ton of money, so she not only paid her husband's debt, for also paid for the divorce AND give him a stipend to leave her alone. (Really? A loser to coughed up his wife to loan sharks will honor a divorce agreement?) So she arrived at Clint's ranch with $$$. The end. This is a classic deus ex machina... something comes out of nowhere and saved the day. So why have that fire starter thing at all?!!?!

NONE of the elements really come together. Characters make too stupid to live decisions. The threat is non-sense. Add the deus ex machina ending, and you have a real snoozer that says the author had not really finished writing school. The plot points individually seem okay. When you put them all together... NONE of which fits. That's not a novel, but a word salad.

Category: Contemporary / Romantic Suspense / Paranormal

Primary Plot:  Woman lost her ranch to her loser husband, was rescued by her first love, then her loser husband came after her for even MORE money she doesn't have...

Tropes: protector, woman in peril, evil ex, kidnapping,

Overall Rating:  1/5  (I don't give 0's)