GRR Reviews Tycoon Takedown by Ruth Cardello

Melanie, a single mother, just had her son asked where is his father. So she gathered up the courage to travel from a Texas ranch to New York City to find him. Yes, it was only one night. Yes, that's his son. But this emotional journey won't be easy... // Charles, a New York millionaire on top of the investment game, rarely gets asked for a favor by his sister Sarah in Texas. So when Sarah asked him to keep an eye on her best friend Melanie while she's in New York, he can't say no. When Melanie was purse-snatched while on the phone with Charles, he went alpha male protective... only to find Melanie had the situation well in hand... having taken down the armed mugger by herself, and gained the viral moniker "Takedown Cowgirl". Now Charles is totally smitten with Melanie, and Melanie loved the domineering Charles in bed. but Melanie's life and son are in Texas, while Charles lives in New York. Can this relationship ever work? 

Nice, very nice. There is some light bondage in the sex scenes, but it's light sensual bondage. But the more important thing is there is a definitely character arc to both MMC and FMC. Charles started out as the quintessential domineering alpha male who don't want kids or single mothers, and ended up as not only a good father, but also chose to mentor a young man out of a life on the streets. Melanie started out as a woman on a trip of redemption (Must find father of my son) and ended with a father for her child (just not the one she was first looking for) and ended up gaining a family and a lover who did not try to change her (not that she'll put up with it). 5/5

GRR Reviews Aaron by Dale Mayer

Aaron is a former Navy SEAL who suffered a major injury and death of two friends by betrayal... and no one believed him. He wanted a transfer, and he was moved to Hathaway House, Texas, a new ranch/convalescent/rehabilitation home for both humans and animals. He was angry at the world, but he can't be angry at Dani, childhood friend... who runs Hathaway House with her father, simply known as "the Major". // Dani had a crush on Aaron a long time ago, and was also friends with Aaron's older brother Levi. In fact, Levi financed Aaron's transfer. And Dani will make sure Aaron gets the best care, and hopefully, realize his life is not over, and he can be the man he used to be, just maybe a little different. But is Aaron ready to see his future with her? Or will his pride ruin everything?

Good, if a bit slow. Darkest hour IMHO, with pride, works fine. 4/5

GRR Reviews Wild for You by Cheyenne McCray

Jack lost his wife many years ago, and his daughter is all grown up now. Jack hadn't thought about another woman... and his daughter believed that Jack dating anyone else would be a betrayal. So he didn't... until he arrived at Dara's special needs ranch. Dara was his sister Bailey's best friend, and probably had a thing for him for a while, but it was platonic... Until he started noticing her in a very different way. But it's clear his daughter won't accept Dara without a fight... And Jack needs to reconcile the two...

Not bad, nothing about billionaires or expensive wooing, just blue-collar folks (well, well-to-do ones) making a living doing what they love, and falling in love. Good family conflict without overdoing it. 4/5

GRR Reviews The Christmas Compromise by Susan Hatler

Morgan is back in her hometown in Montana, now armed with a cosmetology degree and ready to open her hair salon, and she already leased the place. Running into Dallas at the location is a surprise, which turned into total shock when he also produced a lease, for the SAME LOCATION signed on the same day, and he needs the place for his furniture store... and the landlord is out of the country! It doesn't help that Morgan had a crush on Dallas from way back when... because Dallas is her brother's best friend... and also the one her family blamed for its greatest tragedy. Now forced together, it's clear they have great chemistry together, but will the guilt and blame tear them apart?

Not the first book that featured "double-leased" trope, but well-executed, with a couple layers of mixed feelings on top of it. 4/5

GRR Reviews Trade It All by Ruth Cardello

Lance Barrington has always had a thing for Willa, his sister's best friend, but he broke her heart years ago when he left for college, after taking her V-card, and she hadn't spoken to him in years. So he can't believe ten years later, Willa, pretending to be her twin sister, is the leader of a flash mob congratulating him on his latest project. Now he really wanted to date her, but she's not willing to have her heart broken again... But what exactly did she thought he did that caused the rift between them? And because Willa is practically a little sister, is Lance's attempt to woo Willa okay with his own family?

Ah, the lack of communications, such a trope in romances, with some complex issues, secrets, and circumstances limiting the communications. Family is good, and the lack of communication is almost understandable. 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 Where Forever Ends by K Street

Saylor is stuck. It has been a while since she's a widow. She survived for her son Knox, but she's broken on the inside. She needed the support of her family so she moved back to Maplewood Falls. And finding Jase, her brother's best friend, and former crush, offering friendship, was... good. For Jase had been there before... // Jase knew that Saylor will be... skittish, as he'd been there before. He will help Saylor pick up the pieces. But what about his own heart?

Nice, very nice. The heartbreak came across perfectly. Breaking down at the sight of certain items, unable to let go of the memories. It takes a strong woman... and strong supportive man to work through the heartbreaks. And the kid's cute too. 5/5

GRR Reviews The Right Guy by Kate O'Keeffe

City girl Taylor is a skeptic, until her bestie dragged her to see a psychic and got a prediction that she'll find "the one" within two weeks, with a very specific description. Now she can't help looking for men with green eyes wearing an orange shirt... Except for one... her bestie's big brother Jake, the infamous womanizer. He does have green eyes, but he wasn't wearing an orange shirt, right? // Jake is the head chef of the hottest restaurant in town, but he'd been kinda lusting after his kid sister's bestie, Taylor, since a kiss they shared as teenagers. When both had to attend a wedding in Cabo San Lucas, Taylor found herself looking for green eyes and orange shirt... while Jake has to decide whether to go after Taylor for real this time, even though his own sister had warned him to stay away from "her girls"...

Ah, the "everyone but you" comedic trope, but very nicely executed. AND it's kinda set in San Francisco. Very enjoyable. I think some plot points like Jake's restaurant's fate could have been handled better.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

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

GRR Reviews Say Yes by Katy Kaylee

Gwen is a divorcee chef and restauranteur who moved back home, needing a fresh start, after she caught her husband cheating. Ryan is her little brother's best friend, now all grown up, younger, but not by much... and a rising Hollywood star. And Ryan wants to bed her. It was incredibly flattering, and sex is out of this world... Until she got pregnant because she forgot to renew the hormone shots. But she's already well on the way to reopen the restaurant, and he's away for 4 months doing a movie shoot... and Ryan's friend (Gwen's brother) is being a total leech and brat hating on Gwen's "success" and attention for two decades... When Gwen's pregnancy was revealed, she panicked and told Ryan it wasn't his (when it totally was)... Can their love survive the lie?

The plot involving Gwen's brother seems a bit underbaked, and the darkest hour didn't seem that dark, which basically is Ryan throwing a hissy-fit.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

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

GRR Reviews The Billionaire's Scandal by Nadia Lee

Meredith is a single mom that took over the CEO position of The Lloyd Development after the ouster of its previous CEO in a scandal. Before this, she's best known for running several charities. When a client, Daniel, demands Meredith to accompany him to visit his upcoming resort's job site and see how far its behind (despite status updates that says everything is on-time), she had to go. Daniel and Meredith knew each other, for she's his baby sister's best friend, and she had always a thing for him. Now forced to work together to resolve the problem, Daniel and Meredith found themselves falling for each other. But Meredith had kept a secret for many years. When Daniel's enemy made a devastating endgame move, forcing Meredith's secret into the open, will their affection for each other survive?

Didn't quite like the deus ex machina ending, but everything else up to that, including the secret, was magnificent.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 4/5

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

GRR Reviews Moonshine Kiss by Lucy Score and Claire Kingsley

Cassidy is a deputy in the small town of Bootleg Springs... with her father as the sheriff. She always had a thing for her neighbor, Bowie Bodine, except he's always brotherly to her. Except there are no other candidates to date in the small town... and near town. When the cold case of the disappearance of Callie Kendall heated up again, Cassidy welcomed the work, until the detective on the case seems to be looking for clues of a murder... committed by Bowie's father, who disappeared a few days after Callie's disappearance, and is refusing to accept any evidence pointing elsewhere, as well as alienating the entire sheriff's department. //  Bowie knows he can't have his little sister's best friend. He promised and he will keep that promise... But she lives right next door... and when Cassidy's investigation strikes a bit too close to home, he's stuck between telling Cassidy to back off (which affects her job), and his need to protect his family (his brothers and sister)... Until this situation changes one night, thanks to a stray bat...

I felt a bit... ambivalent about this book. The slow boil between Cassidy and Bowie is VERY good, but the Callie investigation, which was left as a cliffhanger, left me unsatisfied. It's clear the detective is looking to find a murder instead of evidence. Why was he assigned to the case, given his own backstory, is a question left unanswered. The book is also a bit too long at almost 400 pages.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 4/5

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

GRR Reviews My Brother's Best Friend by Layla Valentine

Mel and her brother relied on each other. When her brother found a rich sponsor, Tyler, who bought into his idea of a fitness center mated to virtual reality, it was a dream come true. They became best friends and business partners. And Mel fell for the hot billionaire... and even had a fling... But Mel is leaving soon... only to learn later that Tyler forced her brother out of the fitness center chain. Five years later, Mel is an up-and-coming personal trainer, and her brother is an office drone... When Tyler came back into her life. Tyler wanted Mel back into his life, and Mel was torn between her loyalty to her brother and her heart's yearning for Tyler. When her brother found out, it was will lead to tragedy... and perhaps... a chance of redemption...

Not bad, but Tyler is just stupid. How can they be best friends and not know how each other reacts to stress?

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 4/5

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

GRR Reviews The Princess Deception by Molly Jameson

Lizzie, the wild child of the British royal family, is famous for her scandals. She has multiple tattoos and seems to have a new partner every week, and the paparazzi ate that up. When she ran into Phillip, an old friend of her brother Jamie, sparks flew. It helps that Lizzie had a secret crush on Phillip for a while... // Phillip was jilted by his woman, or at least he thought was his woman when she chose someone else. Phillip, a bit despondent, accepted Lizzie's attention. He agreed to help her rehabilitate her image by creating an image that they'd been together. After all, he's the goodie-two-shoes, so squeaky-clean, he's running for Parliament soon. And this fake liaison between the two worked almost a bit too well... Now she's wondering if it can be real, and not merely a PR campaign... Can she learn to be a good girl for once?

Not feeling much with this one. This "alternate universe" British monarchy just grates on my nerves sometimes. This one was a bit more tolerable than some of the other books in the series. There is a sense of that tremendous weight upon one's shoulders being a royal, and how different people found different ways to cope. However, the flip from party-girl into charity-girl seems a bit abrupt.

Category: Contemporary

Overall Rating: 3/5

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

GRR Reviews Tell Me by Abigail Strom

Jane is the quiet sister, for she can never hope to compare to her vibrant sister Samantha. She had a hankering for the family friend Caleb, who's also a real cowboy from Colorado, but she never said anything for Caleb is also Sam's business partner in an adventure company. Caleb did push Jane to go after what she wanted, but Caleb and Jane have nothing in common except Sam... Until tragedy struck... and Sam's last wish was for Jane to scatter her ashes on a specific mountaintop, and to do that, she will need Caleb's help. But is Jane really going there just for the final wish, or is she going there to meet a man that could be the man of her dreams, that's NOT Caleb?

Hmmm... I liked the book right up to the end when he did the "my cowardly stupid self-sacrifice" thing. He ran away when he got jealous and hurt, and he reasoned it away as "I am no good for her, she's better off without me, and be with someone she really likes"... Which is, obviously completely the WRONG interpretation. GAH!

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Bookseller must honor her sister's last wish by enlisting her unrequited love's help, but she cannot love him... Or can she?

Overall Rating: 3/5

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

GRR Reviews Caught Up In Us by Lauren Blakely

Kat is about to finish her graduate degree and making her way as a jewelry designer, then she realized her business mentor for this semester is none other than Bryan, the man who broke her heart five years ago. Bryan was Kat's brother's best friend, but he knew there could be nothing more than a fling. Even now, Kat's professor has a no-hanky-panky policy so there can be nothing between Kat and Bryan... but Kat was never over Bryan, and there was too much chemistry between them to be denied... But Kat needs her degree. How can this problem be resolved?

Nice complications, even though the earlier history seems a bit vague, about breaking her heart.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Woman found her business mentor for graduate school was her ex, the heart-breaker, and they are not over each other...

Overall Rating: 4/5

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

GRR Reviews Love in a Snow Storm (Pine Harbour Boo by Zoe York

Love in a Snow Storm is actually a small town romance, not technically a snow storm. It utilized the "my best friends' little sister" trope quite well, as well as the reverse, "my brother's best friend I've always wanted", to full effectiveness. Add a few b-plots, and it turned into a satisfying romance.

Jake Foster knew he should never get involved with his best friend's little sister, Dani Minelli. There was too much of an age gap between them, despite knowing each other since they were children. Dani knew Jake would not pay attention to her due to her brothers, but that didn't stop her pining. Years later, Jake owned his construction company... and Dani is back in town as the EMT. When circumstances are finally right, Jake and Dani started their secret liaisons. But when Jake's one-time-stand arrived in town pregnant, things got very very complicated indeed...

It's not too serious, and it was sigh-worthy, to swoon. You should read this sweet, cute, and fun small-town romance

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Woman return to her town as EMT, wants her brother's best friend she had pined after for a long time; will he love her?

Tropes: paramedic, secret liaisons, pregnancy, triangle, best friend's sibling, sibling's best friend, small town

Overall Rating:  4/5

GRR Reviews Bride by Mistake (Montana Born Brides) by Nicole Helm

Bride by Mistake seems to send a mixed message about love. A woman pined for a guy that's marrying someone else, so she "settled" for the guy that does want her, even though he's her brother's best bud and this can destroy both of them, esp. when there are some... consequences.

To recap, Kaitlin Shuller had wanted one man in her life, but she had no choice but to watch that man marry someone else... and attend their wedding. Heart-broken, she's determined to get something right... seduce the "bad boy" that had NEVER noticed her before... Beckett... Her brother's best bud and business partner. Beckett had tried to outrun his bad boy reputation for a while, but can't. When Kaitlin offered herself to him... including her v-card, he can't refuse, because he really did have a soft spot for her, even though she's his best bud's little sister. But that one night of passion has dire consequences... However, Beckett is determined to do Kaitlin right... by sticking by her, even if he had to seduce her again and again...

Basically, girl's a basket case, and guy is noble and doing the right thing. It's too... trope-ish.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Girl pining for another settled for the guy she could have... for one night. He wanted longer term... if she'll let him

Tropes: fling to a thing, jilted, unrequited love, sibling's best friend,

Overall Rating:  3/5

GRR Reviews The Language of Love by Jean Saunders

The Language of Love is about letting go of the past in order to forge a future. I didn't feel too much chemistry between the two characters though, but the setting of Amsterdam was certainly refreshing.

To recap, Annette had loved once... she married her love young... and lost him when she's just 20. She believed she will never love again, and she threw herself into her flower business. Eight years later, she's among the who's who of florists in London, and she's started to feel loneliness... Until the Dutchmen Pieter Van Ness came to visit. He is the brother of Annette's friend, who's getting married, and wanted Annette to do all the flowers. And Pieter makes no secret that he wanted Annette for himself... preferably in his bed, and Pieter is VERY charming and persistent, and Annette found herself unable (or unwilling) to resist his advances... but she must do so, for her heart's sake... Or is that just... cowardice?

I honestly don't feel too much about the chemistry between the two, on any Pieter would want Annette when there seems to be an infinite number of women he can charm. I feel a bit more setup, about how much he heard from his sister could have benefited here, but wouldn't that make Annette more of a sister than a potential bedmate? But overall, I liked the book well enough.

Category: Contemporary

Primary Plot: Widow having problem letting go after 8 years of solitude in face of a persistent charmer

Tropes: widow, sibling's best friend, scars

Overall Rating: 3/5