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 Review Accidental Rebel by Nicole Snow

Gwen is just the secretary of lawyer Manny in the tiny town of Finley Grove. She's too busy working to even date, much less get married. Then she got this offer of a lifetime... Pretend to be hot single father Miller's wife for a few weeks with his two kids, and run off to Ireland, all arranged by Manny, her boss. She won't ask what trouble Miller is in. She doesn't need to know. Miller is dreamy... and swoon-worthy, ex-military, great father, but it's all fake... Even if it's a life she wanted. Then she learned why he's running... and it seems the bad guys may have found them...

Now that's a good twist on a "fake marriage" trope into romantic suspense. 5/5

GRR Reviews The Lifeguard by Teagan Kade

Archer is a lifeguard for Miami beach. He's single, fit, and available, and he wasn't looking toward getting tied down... He had a cheating fiancee once and that's enough. Plenty of pretty tourists around looking for one-night-stands... Until he spotted Winter in the water, at night...  And rescued her. And that's just the beginning... // Winter was on the run... and she barely talked Archer out of calling the police. There was no one to trust except Archer, for Winter is in trouble with the Cartel, and its leader called *Serpiente* (the Serpent). And Archer is ready to protect her... at any cost.

Nice job making Archer ex-military, so he knows guns. There's only one problem...  forgot to mention the suppressor. With the way nobody reacting to the shots until they landed, Archer had to be using one. And nobody aims for the neck. Shooters aim for head or torso. Probably don't even need a scope at such a low range (warehouse ain't that big). 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Her Business Rival Billionaire by Eliza Ellis

Fredericka is about to break ground to build a homeless shelter at a plot of land her foundation had been acquiring for a very long time. Her only problem: billionaire developer Charles wanted to build a hotel on the same land. Freddie used to be school mates with Charles, but she had always been poor, and he had always been rich. And as each tries to convince the other to give up, the time they spent with each other allowed each to see the other really is... But Charles as another problem... It seems his business partner needs to have the hotel built... can Charles give up his dreams for Freddie? What about his business partner?

Eh... not too sure about this one. If all the "Irish Mob" wanted was a construction contract, they could have negotiated to have them build the shelter too. Instead, we have a deus ex machina where the business partner withdrew, but not before he left enough evidence to dismantle the mob, and Charles lived HEA with Freddie. Meh. Darkest hour was also really really forced, as if just to introduce the next character in the series.  3/5

GRR Reviews Always Room for Cupcakes by Bethany Lopez

Lila was betrayed by her husband when she found him muff-diving on another woman in parking lot of Starbucks in a car. She took a photo, and plastered it all over town. Now she's divorced and raising three kids alone. That little expose lead to a private investigator, Moose, wanting to hire her for some work, and a group of close friends. Lila's latest assignment seems to be leading her into some drug cartel trying to setup in town headed by someone called Hector... and a sexy guy on a Harley and motorcycle leathers by the name of Cade who rescues her in times of need. But is he a hero... or a hidden villain? And when Hector found her interferring again and again... What will happen to her?

The book is weird, as if it was written by two different authors. The tone was funny and light and happy in the first half, esp. up to the point of Cade showing up and wanted to woo Lila. But the end, when Hector caught up, had a TOTAL tonal shift, with extreme violence (let's just say limbs, death, and destruction) and bondage play first time? Really? 3/5

GRR Reviews Life Support by Teagan Kade

Ethan was the paramedic that arrived and found Sofia unconscious, suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. Sofia woke up with amnesia... She knew nothing about her life. Even the name was from a locket she wore, not from memory. Ethan found himself protecting her, even offering up his own home. When goons showed up, wanting her dead, Ethan had to go back to his old life, as a soldier, to protect who he loved... and as Sofia regained her memory, they will find that very few people can be trusted...

Okay, the action wasn't actually that bad, but big showdown at the end, or what lead up to it, was just plain TSTL. I mean, who drives up to visual distance of the enemy, and not have a perimeter guard?  4/5

GRR Reviews No Cowboys No Angels by Petie McCarty

Kellen and her entire family left Riverside, West Virginia for a better life, and they eventually succeeded. After her mother died, Kellen found that the old farm was never sold. Determined to sell the place quickly, as it reminded her too much of her past, she encountered the town folks, including one handsome cowboy Luke, who's also her neighbor... and does NOT want her to sell. However, his high-handedness just brushed her wrong. Unfortunately, the town also attracted a mafia operation trying to illegally dump toxic waste next to Kellen's property, and she's already been shot at twice, hoping to scare her off. But her mother did send her a guardian angel... But it can't be Luke...

Eh... there are some bits that are quite good. The conspiracy rolled up nicely. But the guardian angel(s) didn't feel integral to the plot. And Jack just doesn't work for me, as he's just horrible on people, which is kinda hard if he's that good in his... other job. (Hint: he wasn't always a cowboy.) 3.5/5

GRR Reviews Defending Danielle by Shauna Allen

Drew is an elite force recon marine. He has done it all. When one of the missions had gone bad, his team was pulled from the hot zone to recuperate... and as a backup to Senator Lytle's security. Senator's daughter was recently captured by traffickers, then rescued by a SEAL team. Senator wanted to honor the team at an event, and the traffickers vowed revenge. Drew didn't want a babysiting mission, then he discovered that Senator's intern is none other than Danielle, his own high school tutor, who had a crush on him (but he didn't notice then). But he's perfectly willing to love her now, as she's beautiful and smokin' hot. But is she a distraction for the mission ahead?

Sorry to say, but the entire premise is implausible. A SEAL would NEVER accept being honored at a black-tie event (unless they are retired), much less a whole team of them.  And pulling a force recon team to run security detail? Any one ever heard of posse commitatus act? That active military forces cannot be deployed within the continental US?  Security is also atrociously bad for such a high profile event. Trying to make regular military guys play bodyguard just doesn't work for me.  The actual plotting is tolerable, but Dani basically fell into Drew's bed pretty darn quickly. And the bad guys aren't that much of a challenge (not that the force recon guys would let a SWAT team do their job)

2/5

GRR Reviews Broken Hero by Aubrey Wright

Natalie is a skilled lawyer, but she chose the wrong boyfriend, Joey. Turns out, Joey's a mob prince, and he won't take no for an answer. When not even the cops are willing to do something, Natalie had to hire her own security, Garrett. And Garrett is strikingly handsome and powerful. But Garrett has a secret... He's actually working for Joey, because Joey is threatening his sister studying in California. Garrett is supposed to dissuade Natalie from going to the cops... because she knew too much about Joey. But Garrett had fallen for Natalie. How can he extract himself, his sister, AND Natalie from Joey's trap? Can his relationship with Natalie be saved? Or will he be betrayed just like he betrayed her?

Pretty good twists and turns. 4/5

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 The Dangerous Thief by Mallory Crowe

James was an assassin turned bodyguard. Willa is a mob princess turned social activist. He's guarding her, she's determined to right her family's wrongs, after accidentally witnessing her father kills someone. And THEY... are out to stop her. So she goes on the run... and he'll protect her...

The author tries to tie in the previous books in the series by having the others show up as secondary characters, and it sort of works. Willa is about as spoiled princess as can be, but she's still TSTL at times. She wants to suddenly "grow a set of balls" and go back undercover in her own household to get something on dear daddy? ARGH. Yes, there's HEA, but the plot's rather... infantile fantasy. Basically, James had to pull her... uh... ovaries out of the fire.

Category: Contemporary / Romantic Suspense

Overall Rating: 3/5

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

GRR Reviews Con Artist by Alexa Riley

James "not Jamie" is a pickpocket and a cat burglar that works for an underworld father figure. Her life changed when she picked the pocket of Bennett, a very powerful man, who's rich and always gets what he wants. When Bennett realized James took his wallet, he wanted her... not just her head, but her, in every way possible. He will claim her, body and soul...

If you want a "filthy" read, this will do, but there's really not much plot. He plays catch-n-release with her, and she lets him play with her. He then seduces her, and takes her to bed. And he's thinking filthy thoughts like to "breed" her, and put a baby in her, and blah blah blah. Plot? What plot?

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 2/5

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

GRR Reviews Dirty Secrets by Lauren Landish

Dominick is the don of the city. Allison "Allie" is a headline pole dancer in one of his clubs. But she's not down and out... She was a classic ballet dancer until an accident almost destroyed her. She chose exotic dancing to get out of her medical debt faster, and teach ballet in the day-time with dreams of opening her own dance studio. He has a guard on her, due to an incident at the club before. She pretends she didn't know while appreciates his protectiveness, yet chafes at the restrictions. But she can't help being intrigued... They are opposite in every way. He's order, she's chaos. He's cold, she's hot. And when they come together... sparks will fly...  And this time, she's not turning away...

Dom's not your typical "crime boss" and he's very protective of his employees, esp. Allie. It's worth swooning over. They have a lot of push-pull with subtexts. Allie speaks her mind and will not be caged, not that Dom really want to cage her. It's more about personal struggles than external threats. Plot wise, not too much happens. It's all about the push-pull, the seduction.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 3.5/5 rounded up

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

GRR Reviews A Chance at L.O.V.E. by K L Myers

WARNING: Ends on cliffhanger

Lincoln Oliver Vincent Eastwick (AKA L.O.V.E.) is a rich man who hadn't feel love, and refused to settle. For a good cause, he allowed himself to be a part of bachelor date auction... masked. In the meanwhile, his nephew is to undergo heart surgery for a congenital defect. And the doctor's name is Lillian Vicci... a very lovely vision indeed. // Dr. Lillian Olivia Vicci (AKA L.O.V.) is a pediatric cardiac surgeon who barely escaped from her mafia family. She moved to Virginia to setup her practice, but she can't settle down, for she's barren. When her best friend used her paddle to win the date with Linc, she's horrified and elated... For Linc is handsome and rich, but also her patient's surrogate father. But their chemistry cannot be denied. That is... Until her father suffered a heart attack and will soon retire... and she will be married off to the *consigliere* soon to be promoted to godfather...

Auction and date was good, the rest was meh. Add to the -1 for cliffhanger.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 2.5/5 rounded up

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

GRR Reviews HOT SEAL by Lynn Raye Harris

Navy SEAL Dane "Viking" Erickson and his team just got assigned to Hostile Operations Team (HOT)... a no-name multi-service elite operation that handles the toughest assignments and never gets the glory, and this latest one is a doozy, since not only he'll be taking down a terrorist org who managed to steal a drug smuggling sub from the Colombian narcos, the terrorists have a nuke and can be detonating it anywhere along the East Coast. Things just got tougher when he realized their DEA liaison is none other than his ex-wife... Ivy McGill... // Ivy had dedicated her life into taking down the Ruiz Cartel that killed her mother. She didn't believe in men any more, after Dane joined the SEALs instead of staying with her. But working with the man who betrayed her? It may be the worst part of it all. // No matter their past hurts, they have to work with each other to track down the rogue sub. But when the cartel came after her, believing she had a hand in stealing the sub, will Dane and his SEAL team save the day and still catch the sub?

The scenario is plausible, though I kinda wonder about the security setup, and the "fumbling assassins" trope. The 'working with the ex' trope, however, was executed VERY nicely. And the twist reveal was very good as well. But the sub ended up as an ancillary plot, which is kinda meh. Still, this is not a technothriller, but romantic suspense. And there's a twist about Ivy's past. A bit cliche, but it works. This gets a -0.5 for minor technical details screwup.

Category: Contemporary / Romantic Suspense / Military

Overall Rating: 4.5/5 (rounded up)

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

GRR Reviews Whiskey and You by H J Bellus

Jack Jarvis aka "JJ" is an oil tycoon in Texas, and he let people know he'll crush anyone who dares to cross him. And he did, many times, often personally, with his own fists. When one of his neighbors messed with his land, and warnings went unheeded, he arranged for a little meeting. When the man tried to pawn off his wife as payment, JJ took her (for the girl looks famished, enslaved, and mistreated). But the debtor turned out to be far more dangerous than expected... He turned out to be a Cartel man, and he wants his "wife" back. JJ will have to protect the woman and the daughter she was forced to give up... and blood will be spilled...

No obvious flaws, proper escalation, with an ending and lead-in for sequels. Not bad. The bad guy is evil enough but too psychotic for me.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 3.5/5 (rounded up)

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

GRR Reviews Loved by You by Cheyenne McCray

Fiona O'Shea traveled the southwest with her daughter, selling hand-made jewelry and do some clog dancing to make ends meet. She was betrayed by her Irish clan when she wanted out, and sold to a rival clan member as a virtual slave. She was raped but eventually escaped and raised her daughter, but always ready to run. Until Justice McBride found them. // Justice knew he had to get to know the fiery redhead better when he saw her dance at the Prescott AZ Christmas festival, and when he rescued her from her abusive ex Gilroy, he knew he must protect her and her daughter. But Gilroy is ready to "reclaim" his property through any means necessary...

Animal tranqs delivered via blowdarts? Really? The plot is trope, and the fight scenes are not particularly good.

Category: Contemporary Western

Overall Rating: 3/5

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

GRR Reviews His Miracle Baby by B B Hamel

Elias is the "bad boy" son of mayor who builds custom motorcycles for a living. Alexa is a junior clerk in mayor's office. She was told she can't get pregnant, so she had a one-night stand with Elias. Two months later, she found she had somehow gotten pregnant, even as problems surrounded Elias... The mayor had racked up a huge debt with the mob, and they are out to collect... on anyone related, and that includes Elias, Can Elias keep Alexa and his unborn child safe, and extricate himself from the mess?

The buildup works only partially (why wreck the shop at all? That just cost more money on the long run. And isn't the shop insured?) but the solution didn't work for me. Neither did the ending.

Spoiler:

Turns out, mayor does have enough assets to pay, if he liquidated everything, so the mob boss killed him, Elias signs away everything as the then heir, and leave with Alexa and unborn child to start over somewhere else. This really makes no sense.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 2/5

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

GRR Reviews Avalanche by Cambria Hebert

Bellamy had a father... and watched him die at the hands of the mafia. Her testimony put away one of the mob bosses and landed her in WITSEC. She lived alone and quiet for two years, until the mob came for her, but she managed to escape. With nowhere to go, the only place she thought of was Caribou, Colorado, where she fell in love with a boy named Liam, only to be betrayed eight years ago. // Liam is an Olympic caliber snowboarder who is taking it easy after an almost-career-ending injury. Working at his father's resort, he's being groomed for taking over, but his mind can never forget "the girl who got away"... Until he literally ran into her in the resort lobby... Trying to check in without an ID. Liam immediately put her up in a room, realizing she's running from SOMETHING, but she won't share. Keeping it platonic is difficult, but he won't let her get away again. When the mob came for her again, can he protect her?

For romantic suspense, this is actually not that bad, except for the initial premise: why head for a ski resort, when she has practically no money?

NOTE: Good cut-off point, though it also leaves stuff for two more novels as their adventure continues.

Category: Contemporary / Romantic suspense

Overall Rating: 4/5

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

GRR Reviews Dirty CEO by Mickey Miller and Holly Dodd

Vince is known as CEO of Chicago... the capo of Italian Mafia after the death of his father. He and Kelly should be enemies, but it's like Romeo and Juliet... Kelly's the prodigal daughter of the Irish gang, with a degree in accounting, but temporarily moved back to Chicago... currently cooking the books for the family bar (and other unmentionable businesses). Vince and Kelly had a thing together, until their respective families broke them apart. When one of Kelly's cousins got killed on a raid on the Italian side, all-out war is on the horizon. But Vince has a plan... Vince will be seen in public with Kelly, essentially declaring a truce. And Kelly agreed that for the good of the city, even her relations with her family comes second. She was about to make a run for California, as soon as she gets enough of her own money. But Kelly soon was reminded how good Vince is in wooing... but someone is out there, watching... waiting...

There was something I liked, then the plot took a random turn and let's just say, I don't like the resolution. That wasn't a twist. It was a TOTAL surprise out of the left field, and it didn't really make sense. Sex is pretty hot, and the two characters have good chemistry. If the climax and ending made more sense it'd gotten a better score.

Category: Contemporary / Romantic suspense

Overall Rating: 3/5

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