GRR Reviews Her Christmas Wedding Fake Fiancee by Jennifer Youngblood

Sofia has a great cleaning business. So when a prominent CEO, Colin, accused her employees of being negligent, she had to investigate personally. But the two alpha personalities quickly collided and neither would give an inch.  Then Colin made Sofia an offer she can't refuse... Be his fake Christmas fiancee to sooth over his family hassling him about finding a wife... and he'll forget the whole thing...

Rom-com, trope-ridden, but decently polished. 3.5/5

GRR Reviews The Exiled Patriot by Jennifer Youngblood

Jayden, reporter, was assigned to interview some eccentric billionaire Lillian Yates about a hidden treasure she's hidden away for someone near her town of Remember near Christmas. But when her quest resulted in her falling into a freezing river, she was rescued by Cannon, a mountain man, and that is clearly not his real name. And then she's snowed in with him. Just who is Cannon, and what tragedy has he witnessed? And while Jayden's curiosity was piqued, she found the truth.... Can she break the story... and betray the man she came to love?

A bit deeper than the usual, the setup seems to be some "meddling", albeit good-natured. The betrayal, however, was trope as heck. 4/5

GRR Reviews Meet Me In London by Jennifer Youngblood and Haley Hopkins

Audrey had been video chatting with William, a genuine Brit that she met online. They hit it off well, and she just told him that she'll be visiting London, and hope he can join her on a tour. However, her flight was unpleasant. A weird guy Aidan shared her cab and seems a bit obsessed with her... and fellow tour member Zane was rude and annoying... and... no William. As Zane slowly worked himself into her heart, and Audrey also felt uncomfortable, as if she's being watched, she started to wonder what did she really feel toward William... Then her stalker actually showed up...

*sigh* It seems the authors cranked this out without actually researching the Brits. Brits don't have a firearms fetish like us Yanks. In fact, the vast majority of London metro police (about 90%) is not armed, and even their criminals rarely use firearms. A Yank living in London, already under suspicion by police, should not have been able to get a firearm. The rest of the plotting is not too bad though. 3/5

GRR Reviews The Jilted BIllionaire Groom by Jennifer Youngblood

Sunny Day (not her real name) left her job and her life behind to save her nephew Ian, who witnessed something he shouldn't. She's now working as a hotel maid in Utah, hoping to stay far away from the bad guy's radar. Bad guy had already taken her sister's life and left Ian an orphan. She never expected to run into her high school crush, Finley, in Utah of all places... // Finley still can't get over being dumped on national TV. Reeling from shock, he left Dallas behind to hide on a family-owned hotel in Utah, only to run into Ian and Sunny. Feeling an instant attraction to her, yet not knowing why, he knew he had seen her somewhere before, Finely wanted to woo her, but she has her secrets to keep...

FOUR problems with the plot, which


CONTAINS SPOILERS


YOU'VE BEEN WARNED


A) Ian just blurt out the secret in his nightmares?

B) A child's rambling is worth killing people over? Fancy lawyers can knock that down easily.

C) How would Finley's family doctor's intern recognize the boy anyway? Where's the link?

D) And the intern wanting the money for himself? Instead of sending a real killer? Phooey.

2.5/5 due to these plot problems.

GRR Reviews Cooking with the Doc by Jennifer Youngblood and Craig Depew MD

Sam was the sole survivor of his unit from a suicide bomber attack at his field hospital in Afghanistan. He found a quaint small town called Clementine, Alabama, to just be a doctor in, hoping his emotional and physical scars will heal in time. // Harper runs the only restaurant in town and she dares say it's the best restaurant in a hundred miles. Life is perfect except for her nemesis, the real estate agent Pepper, who managed to steal her boyfriend. When Sam, the new town doc, was paraded about town by the mayor and had lunch at Harper's restaurant, Harper felt a connection she never had before. But she's wary of betrayal based on her own experiences, even as Sam wanted to woo her. But Pepper also has Sam in her sights...

Have a bit of a nitpick about the setup, as the suicide bomber attack at the hospital was described in detail. My problem with the setup was... the TOTAL LACK OF TRUST in the senior doctor (Sam), who managed to tackle the suicide bomber. Then someone thinking he went bonkers, wrestled him out of the way to the door, which obviously gave the bomber chance to "pull the trigger", but also why he survived the blast. NOBODY realized it was a setup?  Nobody trusted him that he knew what he was doing? Which only made it less believable when Sam later was unable to recognize an ambush (of a different sort) by Pepper. 4/5

GRR Reviews The Secret Song of the Ditch Lillies by Jennifer Youngblood and Sandra Poole

Delia has a perfect life: a handsome and successful lawyer as her husband, money and social status, and a beautiful daughter Sybil. But her life is miserable, due to a ton of regrets in life that she never shared with her daughter, but simply tried to steer her away from. But Sybil wasn't happy with her life in Atlanta. When she discovered her husband was cheating, she uprooted herself and her daughter, Maddie, to a quiet town hour away... which actually is Delia's hometown that she NEVER talked about due to her traumatic experiences. // Sybil thought she would have a simpler life in a simple town, but the town is actually in turmoil, when a legacy land donation has divided the town. When the battle escalated to vandalism, and later murder, Sybil found herself an unwitting pawn. Sybil also found herself in a relationship with local police Kade, who may be the perfect man, if not for his own secrets... and it may involve Delia after all...

At 563 pages, this is practically a saga, and while the plot is intricate, it honestly felt it really should be 100-200 pages shorter. We are treated to plenty of flashbacks to Delia's childhood that explained her regrets which I won't spoil. Let's just say Delia wanted to escape, but eventually... was forced out, without sufficient preparations. But she made do, and never looked back (except with regrets). And she'd NEVER wanted Sybil to experience what she did... And what's the ONE PLACE she never wanted Sybil to go to? Yep, that's where she ended up. Both characters are exquisite, with strength and weaknesses we can relate to. I really wanted to give this 5/5 but in the end, it had to be 4.5/5 due to excessive length.

GRR Reviews The Unstoppable Patriot by Jennifer Youngblood

Landry is a star running back for the Georgia Patriots, but his love life was apparently a bit of a mess, after leaving his love, Daphne, behind six years ago and there hadn't been anyone serious since. When a car accident left him with retrograde amnesia, and he lost 6 years of memories, he found that the world has changed, and nobody would tell him why Daphne is not at his side. Desperate to woo Daphne back, it's clear that EVERYONE is keeping secrets from him, esp. who is the father of Daphne's child, and these secrets may destroy him... or set him free.

Eh... Not feeling much about this one. It's pretty obvious who the kid belongs to, and holding grudges for years never is healthy, and parents are just... nasty, all in the name of "love". 3/5

GRR Reviews Her Lost Chance Boss by Jennifer Youngblood

Reese loves her boss, Adam, but her boss had married her best friend, and she can't get between them. So she simply wished them the best and went on working for him as his assistant. Death of his wife didn't really change things, until one day, he admitted his love for him. And he kissed her, but she can't... and Adam promised never to bring it up again. Four years later, Adam's daughter wanted to put him up on a blind date and wanted Reese to show Adam how to date again. Reese is extremely conflicted. She both wanted Adam to be happy, and jealous that it wasn't with her. Can she admit to herself that she should go for what she wants... Or will she stay safe and not risk her heart again?

Sweet, but the threat a bit... Meh.

Spoiler: It's a ploy by the daughter to push them both together.  Though the combination everyone-but-you and Cyrano plot was a great rom-com plot. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Love on the Rocks by Jennifer Youngblood and Sandra Poole

Artist Liam is a carefree bachelor living the high life on Oahu, Hawaii, until his best friend and business partner, Maurie chose to be engaged to Cooper. It was then Liam realized he wanted Maurie for himself, and his instincts told him there's something very wrong with Cooper. // Maurie had a crush on Liam, but Liam can't ever commit, and Maurie is tired of waiting around. When Cooper asked, she accepted. When Liam warned her, she chalked it up to jealousy, and his wooing, "a day late and a dollar short". But Liam's investigations has attracted some unwanted attention... of a potentially deadly kind...

Good romantic suspense though Cooper didn't cover his tracks that well. Didn't even change his hair color? Sheesh.  4/5

GRR Reviews The Twelve Hour Patriot by Jennifer Youngblood

McKenna and Tate had a history... For her first case, she helped Tate check up on his girlfriend on whether she's a golddigger. Tate is a NFL backup quarterback and he has a rich ranching family in Texas. Unfortunately, the case blew up in her face when she was caught kissing Tate by the girlfriend. Years later, Tate was getting strange threatening emails that warned him "day of reckoning is coming". One college QB had died, and another is in a coma, and both had received similar warnings. Is there a serial killer out there gunning for Tate? Tate, who despises media, wants minimal security, and the only choice seems to be hiring McKenna. But can a PI be a bodyguard, when they don't even know why the QBs are targeted? And what about the growing attraction between Tate and McKenna?

While the intrigue is good, some plot points felt really forced, like "I refuse to have a team of bodyguards, and the ONLY other choice was the hire the woman who hated me." You get an explanation for why later (no spoiler here, let's just say it's a bad experience) but it's literally "too stupid to live" decisions, several times over.

Category: Contemporary / Romantic Suspense

Overall Rating: 3/5

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

GRR Reviews The Persistent Groom by Jennifer Youngblood

Silver divorced her no-good husband Riley when he was mean to their Downs-syndrome daughter. Riley cheating was the last straw. It took her two years, but her event planning business is now thriving when she got the plum job, organizing the charity auction by the Texas Titans football team. Unfortunately, it also means she had to meet Ace Sanchez, the man who really had her heart... and Riley's chief rival back in school. Ace is now a star running back for the Titans, and one of the most eligible bachelors in the city. He had a humble beginning working for his family restaurant, and seeing Silver against just means he wanted her back. But Riley and his mother are NOT ready to let Silver go... as his divorce had already ruined her social standing. And this ex-MIL is ready to ruin both Ace and Silver if she will not re-marry Riley... and she has some dastardly plans in the works...

I can understand the entitled boy Riley and the evil and doting mother, but the way the whole thing was resolved... Uh... It's basically a deus ex machina. It has good parts, but the lame ending kinda ruined it.

Category: Contemporary / Sports

Overall Rating: 3/5

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