GRR Reveiws You Can't Ruin Christmas by Olivia Noble

NOTE: 100 page novella

Mary was dumped by hockey star Sebastian just before Christmas... but her best friend, Sven (and incidentally, Sebastian's brother), is there to help her pick up the pieces. When Sven professed feelings for Mary, will Mary accept? When her family want her to visit, and bring Sebastian, will Mary try to pass off Sven as Sebastian?

Good holiday rom-com that started with a likable heroine and took off from there, with lots of escalation. Best followed with the next volume, as the events overlap. 5/5

GRR Reviews Keith by M S Parker

Keith can't believe his brother, Matt, is willing to marry a spoiled socialite Nikolette just so her daddy will save his family foundation with a cash infusion. Keith met schoolteacher/waitress Veronica at a social event, and despite being attracted to her, decided Veronica is much better suited for his brother Matt. So he set them up together on a date, to break up Matt's plans. Let's just say nothing actually happened according to plan...

Nice, a very nice mix of tropes, and a couple surprises along the way. It's Cyrano mixed with a marriage of convenience and a sibling triangle (of sorts). I kinda hope for bigger karma on Nikolette though. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Going Down on One Knee by Christina Hovland

Velma has her life planned out... She has the perfect guy in mind... Dean, a hunky guy that wears a sharp suit, with a diversified investment portfolio... and a house and picket fence and babies... until he became engaged to her sister Claire. So she needs to find someone LIKE Dean... for herself. And that's definitely NOT Dean's best friend, Brek (short for Breckenridge), who's a tattooed guy riding a Harley, and is band manager for one of the hottest rock bands around. With the group on hiatus, he visits his sister Aspen the wedding planner, only to be roped into the business when Aspen, late-term pregnant, was ordered to go on bed rest and de-stress. Now Brek has to deal with bridezillas, including Velma's own sister, and found himself attracted to Velma. But Velma's spreadsheet, where she graded EVERY potential date on various categories, indicated that Brek is NOTHING like her ideal candidate... In fact, he only rated a 4 out of 10 on the overall score. But he turned her on like no other... Maybe her system's broken?

Awww... a lot of fun as both struggles to define what they want out of life. And the darkest hour even made sense... and so did the grand gesture. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews A Cowboy Billionaire Best Friend's Secret by Hanna Hart

Hunter has his ranch in Wyoming, and it's prospering. He didn't expect Rachel to arrive incognito. He knew Rachel, until she moved in with his country-singer brother and gotten engaged, and was happily pregnant... last he heard. Turns out she had miscarried, and she found her fiancee (Hunter's brother) cheating. She was an emotional wreck and the only friend she could run to was Hunter.  They are fond of each other, but taking that further is not possible until Rachel resolve her relationship status first. When the whole family started to show up and taking sides, is there any chance for this star-crossed couple?

Good conflict build-up, with tons of complications, first hiding secrets, then outright confrontation as the family started to take sides. Good family dynamics without being overly melodramatic, good but not overwhelming amount of angst. Could use a faster pace though, IMHO. 4/5

GRR Reviews Single by Saturday by Catherine Bybee

NOTE: To get the full effect, please read the series starting from book 1.

Karen is the perfect Hollywood wife, except she's keeping a huge secret... She's in a fake marriage of convenience. Her husband, blockbuster star Michael, is actually gay, but needs a wife to stop speculations. She'll get a nice payout after a year and a divorce. And that's only a few months away. Until Michael's brother, Zach, crashed their anniversary party... Karen was not ready for the feeling when she's around Zach. And when Michael was guilted into taking a trip to see the whole clan back in Utah, Karen has to keep Michael's secret... and her own infatuation with Zach. But when Karen and Zach decided to help a teenage couple escape abusive parents... Things went side-ways very quickly...

Catherine Bybee has a knack of turning what started as a romance into romantic suspense and actually have everything make perfect sense. The darkest hour was masterfully handled and explained. The setup for Karen started at the end of book 1, was handled by book 2, and made references to book 3's adventures. So you really should read the series from the beginning. 5/5

GRR Reviews Her Second Chance Prodigal Groom by Taylor Hart

DJ left town to play football, leaving behind his love Aspen, his abusive father (who never forgave him for not joining the military), and his twin brother Travis. Having Aspen marry his brother after his departure only made it hurt worse. Not even Travis's death in the Middle East, the birth of his nephew, and his father suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's can drag him back to his hometown. Ten years later, the death of his team owner inspired the team to have no regrets... It is time for DJ to deal with his past... But is the past ready for him?

Very nice, lots of grief, regret, and redemption. OTOH, there's a bit about the dementia father actually saying stuff like "how long was I gone?"  I'm pretty sure Alzheimer patients aren't THAT self-aware, but then, what do I know? 5/5

GRR Reviews Love On Her Own Terms by Carol Colyer

Kathleen, upon turning 18, was shocked to find that her parents promised her to their business associate since she was 13... A much older man she had always called "Uncle Elias". She became angry when she overheard that she was "given away" as a part of a business arrangement. In a fit of anger, she chose to be a mail-order bride under an assumed name, and travel out West to marry Dan, a rancher out in Tombstone, Texas, a man she never met... But who is this mysterious stranger on the train? // Dan was lonely in Tombstone running the ranch, and deal with his delinquent brother who only knows how to spend money, not to make any.  Then he learned that his no-good brother had whisked away his bride to a neighboring town, intending to marry her before he showed up...

As an adventure, this is great, as there are excellent twists and turns in the story. However, the pacing seems a bit off, that I almost thought the story ended multiple times, only to see there's more to come. Yet the book doesn't seem to be a "combo volume" or have been serialized. Let's just say more than one guy (let's just say, more than TWO) will be fighting for Kathleen's affection, and some of them will resort to... un... ungentlemanly manners to get what they want. Add the Earps in town, and it'd be fireworks!  4/5

GRR Her Heart's Promise by Carolyne Aarsen

Nadine is one of the editors of the town newspaper, and she's clashing with the new owner Clint. Nadine's father died under mysterious circumstances at work and was blamed for the accident that took his life, something completely out of character. And Nadine held his employer accountable and suspected a cover-up, and used her position to investigate the company. But Clint, as the owner, knew that the paper is running on paper-thin margins and can't afford a lawsuit, something that big company CAN afford, and he needs her to kill the story. It doesn't help that Nadine had a secret crush on Clint back in high school, only to fall for her younger and prettier sister (like all other men do), then broker her sister's heart. On top of that, her mother's sick, her grandmother is matchmaking her to ANY bachelor in town, and her FAKE boyfriend (one made up to appease grandma) turned out to be a real guy and actually do wanted to date her...

Uh, there's a HUGE plot hole in the background that seems the author forgot. Clint supposedly broke Nadine's sister's heart. In reality, he agreed to keep a secret for her. This was revealed in one of Clint's own musings. Yet he couldn't understand Nadine's hostility toward her. WTF? Is this guy STUPID?! Or just absent-minded?  Clearly, author tried to stack on the complications and forgot to verify that they actually make sense while stacked together.  Some parts of it was quite good, esp. when we got to about the half way point when more secrets are revealed and there was a plot twist, but pace is slow, and add logical errors, the book was "okay". 3/5

GRR Reviews Want Me, Cowboy by Sinclair Jayne

NOTE: Part of Wilder Brothers series, Book 1 reviewed earlier

Luke Wilder can't believe he'd got into a fight at Grey's Saloon. All he wanted was a beer. Then someone pretty (judging by her scent) hugged him from behind. He turned around to offer her a smile, she turned white as a sheet and ran off. He wanted to apologize, only to get a punch in the face... from a brother Colt he never knew he had. But Luke is in town for business... talk with fiery redheaded bull breeder Tanner about her bulls joining the IBRA pro league // Tanner is fine being the "quiet" sister (her sister Tucker can take the spotlight). She wants to take over the family ranch and her bull breeding program is already producing results... multiple hundred-percenters (no bullrider made it to full 8 seconds). When IBRA accepts her bulls she would have shown her father she is capable and ready to take over the family ranch, despite NOT being a son. // Luke and Tanner definitely have chemistry, but it's not really proper for an IBRA rep to bed the bull breeder he's trying to recruit. Things got complicated when Luke's famous younger bullrider brother Kane and his mother also showed up in town. THEN Luke realized that he had slept with Tanner's sister Tucker five years ago... And Tucker is also in town...

Whew, it's like a soap opera, cowboy style. And let's just say there are more subplots I hadn't mentioned. You don't need to read Book 1, but you'd get more of the twists and subplots if you do read it first.  5/5

GRR Reviews On the Market by Rachael Herron

Liam and his brothers are contractors and house-flippers. Their life is perfect, at least, as perfect as having a foster son driving him nuts can be. Then a TV producer called. They want to do a reality show based on them... with an angle about romance. A woman will buy a house, the brothers will renovate it, and date her. And they'll earn a lot more than just flipping houses. Then the producer, Felicia, arrived. And she fell in love with one of the houses... It's as if it was her dream manifested in reality. Suddenly, she's the contestant, and Liam had to date her. Country boy meets city girl. The Bachelor meets Property Brothers. And their lives will never be the same.

Now that's an interesting setup. Lots of double entendre and hidden meanings. Is it real or is it for the cameras? While reality TV romance had been done many times before, mixing it up with handyman trope is pretty ingenious. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews In the Heir by Ruth Cardello

Brett is a Westerly... and he hides at work to avoid his broken but filthy rich family. Then came the shocker. His grandma, the Westerly matriarch, announced that any grandchildren who marries and invites the whole family to attend, will get their inheritance early. Brett has no interest in marriage, but his brother Spencer quickly announced his engagement to Alisha. Brett was certain Alisha and Spencer do NOT love each other, but he was surprised to realize that he himself is attracted to Alisha... a woman he should not want... // Alisha always considered Spencer and his sister Rachelle a family she never had. While it's true that Spencer and Alisha don't love that way, Alisha will fake marry Spencer to help him get the money to start his business and achieve his dreams. Alisha was shocked to find herself attracted to Brett, Spencer's older brother... The brother she's not supposed to covet...

Wow, now that's a novel combination of tropes... fake engagement / disguise, weird will, AND sibling triangle. Ruth Cardello was definitely at top of her game. 5/5

GRR Reviews Love Damaged by Kelli McCracken

NOTE: This is volume 2 of 3. See Volume 1 review here

At the end of book 1, Mia ran away when Izzie arrived with shocking news that she's pregnant with Ayden's child. However, Izzie's a habitual liar and Mia's return (and unharmed) gave Ayden a chance to reconcile with Mia, only to have Izzie's pregnancy drama interrupt them time after time. (Did I mention Izzie is Mia's half-sister?)  When Izzie fell off the stairs trying to attack Mia, and miscarried, the drama is hardly over, because there are signs of coverup, missing files from her medical records, and more. Then Mia had her own surprise, and one she may not share with Ayden at all...

While I appreciate the emotional roller-coasters, a lot of which feels very... forced. If Ayden told Izzie he won't see her again until she had the paternity test, then Ayden manged to break that promise more than once when Izzie threw a hissy fit, how are we supposed to take Ayden seriously?

Oh, and it ends on ANOTHER cliffhanger. Albeit a bit less so this time.

3.5/5

GRR Reviews Her Fake Christmas Eve Billionaire Boyfriend by Chelsea Hale

Emery threw herself into work when her boyfriend left her for her sister. It has been a whole year, but the wound had only deepened as her sister and his ex are now engaged to be married. Under pressure from mom, Emery made a white lie about going to her new boyfriend's place for the Holidays. But when mom let slip that grandpa had changed, Emery was forced to changed her plans... Except she doesn't have a boyfriend... Then her best platonic friend offered his other best friend, James. // James is rich and handsome, but it seems all the women around him are golddiggers. Desperate to see if he can be attractive without money, he just wants to be just "plain" James. When his best bud needed a little help for a friend, he can't refuse. Until he realized Emery wanted to hire him to be her fake boyfriend around her family. What was supposed to be a day or two with grandpa quickly snowballed into a week with her entire family... including her sister and her ex. James knew he shared something real with Emery, but is it love, or merely friendship? Is it real or pretend? And when his secret was revealed, will their relationship survive?

Good, but again, not great. The darkest hour is basically hypocrisy... She said she can't trust him because he lied, but her hiring him was a lie as well. But then, they usually are.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 4/5

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

GRR Reviews Love Desired by Kelli McCracken

Mia inherited a famous music retreat from her grandpa, and wanted to keep it great. She wants to find the "gems in the rough", the bands that need a little help to make it into the big times, and she believes she found one... Breaking Silence, and the leading man, Ayden. But having an evil ex Leslie had soured her to men in general... yet there's an undeniable attraction between her and Ayden... // Ayden and his band can't break out of the local scene, and the invitation from Mia to spend time in Music Haven was a dream come true. Ayden had been burned before... He really thought Izzie loved him, but he's never going back. Mia clearly cared, and the attraction is mutual. But Leslie has plans, just as Izzie revealed that she's actually Mia's half-sister. Ayden and Mia's relationship will be put to the ultimate test...

WARNING: Ends on a HUGE cliffhanger. Must read Volume 2: Love Damaged.

I have a little problem with Leslie and Izzie. I don't sense their "purpose", the reason for them being evil. It's as if they are evil just because they can, just to mess with the main characters. And for a music retreat, the band doesn't seem to do much of anything musical there. But the twists and turns are good enough I'm giving this a good rating... -1 for cliffhanger.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 4/5   (includes -1 for cliffhanger)

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

GRR Reviews Her Billionaire Valentine by Jewel Allen

Dani came to visit her Irish pen-pal Jonathan over Valentine's Day. She hugged the ruggedly handsome Irishman who met her at the airport... Only to find that was Jonathan's brother, Aidan, and he's not pleased. // Jonathan and Aidan just took their company public, and it has a net worth of 9 BILLION Euros. But Jonathan was usually too busy. Picking up his brother's pen-pal was just another errand Aidan does for his brother. Aidan was sure Dani was just a golddigger... Until that hug... // Dani did not know both brothers are billionaires. She thought she was in love via email to Jonathan, but it turned out the videos she got was actually of Aidan. Now with two brothers paying her attention, can she choose the winner to her heart?

Now that's a proper way to write a triangle. I am not going to spoil who wins.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

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

GRR Reviews Falling for the Best Man by Joanne Dannon

Jonah was elated when he met Kaylah, who's beautiful, smart, witty, and kind. He was crushed when he found she was dating his brother, and he had to get away. When he was asked to be the best man at his brother's wedding, he can't refuse. But can he really break up his brother's wedding? // Kaylah haven't had a family for a long-time and marrying would give her the family she wanted. But the man who made her heart sing... is not her fiancee, but the other brother. With only two days to go before the wedding, Jonah's confession turned her world upside down. Did she commit to marry for family and gratitude, not love? And what will she do about it if she did?

Oh, good push-pull, but two days to break-up a wedding for an epiphany... A bit fast. Still, 4/5 for sure.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 4/5

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

GRR Reviews Loving the Wrong Brother by D L Stewart

Miranda has always loved Chance Palmer but hates Sam Palmer, the younger brother. In a small town, Chance was always there to save her, and she worships the ground he walks on. While Sam... let's just say he's always there at the most embarrassing moments of her life, even at the graduation ceremony wardrobe malfunction. But Chance never gave her a second glance. Five years after graduation, Miranda is hoping to find some money to finish her design degree, while the Palmer brothers need a little help taking care of their construction business. And the help Chance hired is Miranda... Miranda slowly started to realize that perhaps, Sam was not as "evil" as she thought. When a wildfire threatens to destroy the town, Miranda has to decide that perhaps, she was loving the wrong brother all along.

Good amount of angst and realizations, proper escalation and application of external threats to push things along.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

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

GRR Reviews Double Trouble by Deborah Cooke

Maralys is the "bad twin" compared to her twin sister, Marcia. Maralys is single after divorcing her no-good husband who ran off with her money, and since her sister has a great family, she can spoil their kids, and don't need any of her own. Her brother-in-law James is a famous lawyer in town. it should have been the perfect family, so Maralys was surprised to find that family disintegrating. James was fired when he found that he wasn't the biological son of the law firm's founder after more than two decades of service. Marcia just ran off leaving James with the twin boys, and Maralys had to help. Maralys found she's attracted to James, but worried about being a substitute for Marcia. Then she found out what secret James had been keeping for so many years...

Ah, the twin-switcharoo, but with several good twists upon the theme. However, the ending was wrapped up a bit TOO neatly, IMHO, and forgiveness given too quickly. Yes, there's quite a bit of betrayal involved. James and Marcia knew they aren't right for each other, but apparently both are too ashamed to admit it and dragged it out for way longer than they should, but it **sorta** makes sense, once you read the story, which I am NOT spoiling.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: "Bad" twin falls for her sister's husband after her sister ran off and family disintegrating fast...  Was she just substituting?

Overall Rating: 5/5

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

GRR Reviews Cold Hard Cash by Frankie Love

Cold Hard Cash is a "commoner falls for royalty" novel, albeit set in the music world.

Cassius went to jail for protecting a female friend. He turned to rap and he found he has a talent for it, esp. when his brother became his manager, and the girl he protected became his girlfriend. And he became the rapper "Cashflow". But his life changed one night. Before a local show, he found his girl necking his brother... and the same night, he was discovered by Kendricks Music Group which will make him famous. But at what cost? // Evangeline Kendricks is a princess of the music industry, but she hated the control her father has on her life. She no longer wanted to play music despite her Julliard education, but her father just dismissed her objection. Leaving her father's office in a rage, she ran into Cassius also leaving in a rage over his girl in his brother's arms. With some shared grief over betrayal, they got together, perhaps out of a sense of rebellion, perhaps out to test her limits... but when Angel was forced to choose, she chose his career over her desires, and was forced to break his heart. But they are not done with each other... They reconnected later... only to run into Cassius' old crew from the hood...

This book is good but left me wanting in several places. The darkest hour was somewhat forced and resolved with a simple change of heart (her father giving in and accepted her relationship with Cash). It was good, but it could have been better.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Newly minted rapper fell for the music mogul's daughter, but when her father objects, can she let him go to save his career?

Overall Rating: 4/5

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

GRR Reviews One Hour To Midnight by Shirley Wine

One Hour to Midnight has a TON of plot twists that rivals some of the best thrillers, but the characters ended up not that likable for me.

Veronica gave up her infant son to her dead lover's family. She was 17 at the time and she really thought it was the right thing to do. Ten years later, the man she gave up her child to, Leon, reappeared with shocking news... "Their" son Jordan is dying of leukemia and they need her to test for a bone marrow transplant ASAP. Veronica is torn between the love of her child and fear of being hurt again by the family that only brought her pain... Ten years ago, she fell for the charm of Leon's brother, only to find out he is married with two kids. Then she was convinced to give up her flesh and blood. But Leon rescued Veronica that night from a fate worse than death, so perhaps she owed him something. But Leon's wife had died two years ago, and Leon wanted Veronica to marry him now, and produce a "savior baby" just in case the bone marrow transplant did not work. But Leon's other family, his brother's widow and two children (remember, Veronica was the "other woman") seem to hate Veronica, even as Leon realized his dead wife, who was barren, may have conspired to trick Veronica out of her child...

I really do enjoy the plot twists, as each revelation was shocking... and forces you to see the characters in a different light. But I somehow did not find the main characters that likable. Veronica at times still talks and thinks like a 17-year-old girl instead of a 27-year-old woman. And Leon... Being one of the ultra-rich (even though he had to liquidate a lot of **** ten years ago to fix his brother's mess) just feel like a robot alpha at times (alpha guy that just takes care of you, only for you to realize he'd taken over your life nicely, with very few smiles). For character complexity and plot, this is way up there, but overall, this novel is not like the best it can be.

Category: Contemporary / Suspense

Primary Plot: Woman may have to marry her dead lover's brother to save her biological son, even as they found old betrayals and secrets

Overall Rating: 4/5

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