GRR Reviews Stay by Tia Louise

Emmy gave Stephen her V-card in a party one night. While she did get an orgasm out of it, he just left in a hurry afterwards. And Emmy swore she hated Stephen ever since. Ten years later, Emmy is a divorced single mom working at a dry cleaner with a son that has a seizure disorder. And the ex-husband Burt? Completely ignores Emmy's parenting ("I want my boy to grow up to be a man") and takes him to contact sports despite warnings not to (head hits may exacerbate the seizures!). Then Stephen showed up. He's out of the Navy and his tech startup is doing great. He's rich, and getting richer. And Stephen knew he wanted Emmy back in his life, and he wanted to help her son. Can Emmy work through her hate to allow Stephen to help, and even marry him, supposedly a marriage of convenience?

One part of it, the sass, is good. But the hate is all emotion, no logic. And this was pointed out to her, MUCH later, how silly the hatred was. And it's ROFL funny. "Magic p****". Muahahahaha! OTOH, I find the ex-husband just doesn't work as a credible threat to Stephen and Emmy's happiness. EVERY TIME he showed up, it's ONLY with bluster. He NEVER follows through with his threats. The ONLY time Burt managed to land a real-blow was to embarrass Stephen at his wedding reception (held long after the fact) by ambushing Emmy with a question, and Stephen managed to land a few good punches before he's hauled off.

4/5

GRR Reviews Falling for the Veteran by Alexa Rivers

Cooper returned home from the Middle East physically sound, but mentally... not quite. He still wakes up at night in a panic. Which is why he can only do NSA one-night-stands. He doesn't want anyone seeing him like this. That is... until he met Sophie. // Sophie thought surprising her beau would be fun. Turns out, he's doing the nasty with his secretary. And this time, she is NOT going to take him back... EVER. Sophie decided to change herself and her circumstances... and the first item on the bucket list is to have an NSA fling with the hot guy... Cooper, who's also her best friend's brother. While one's not supposed to fling with "family", what they don't know wouldn't hurt them. It's just a temporary arrangement. Right?

This storyline has been done MANY MANY times, and while the polish is quite good, nothing else really stands out. 3/5

GRR Reviews Wild Temptation by Mari Carr

May desperately needs her job, as personal assistant to CEO Lochlan, to succeed. It's the only way to stay ahead of the bills for her mom and "her" kids she had to take in. She may be young and looks inexperienced, but she works hard, and she doesn't take charity... Until Lochlan. // Lochlan built his company with a little family help, but it's successful now. He was devastated when his existing PA left to hug her grandkids, and her replacement appears to be young, inexperienced, willowy blonde... who may be a submissive. When trouble at home forced May to reveal her life, Lochlan is going to make sure May understands that Lochlan wanted to claim her... and he protects what is his... And they will enjoy doing kinky things together.

Okay, we've seen the trope about the female who did too much. Work 12 hour days, still gets home to make the meals, even WALKS home to avoid paying for a cab or bus fare... Because she refused to accept ANY HELP. You say independent woman. I say masochist. May here is one of those. OTOH, Mari Carr has a way to get the dom/sub relationship described nicely without getting into cliche or douchebag stage. Sex doesn't enter the picture until late in the book. 4/5

GRR Reviews Misunderstood by Katy Kaylee

Ryder Malloy was the star quarterback of his high school team, and best friend of Katie's brother, and practically second son of Katie's family. Until he wasn't. Katie gave up her V-card to him, only to learn later that Ryder had betrayed her brother, and apparently had sex with her brother's fiancee. Years later, Katie is now a PR agent, and her latest client is none other than the bad boy quarterback Ryder Malloy. Ryder apparently had a history of brawling and desperately needs an image makeover to land some endorsement deals. Katie found herself physically attracted to Ryder, but she can't reconcile the fact that Ryder betrayed her brother, and the Ryder she came to know... What if Ryder was simply... misunderstood?

While I like both characters, I have some problem empathizing with "stoic masochist" characters, i.e. the character who simply sit there, accept abuse s/he do not deserve, all the while staying silent, muttering "why fight, what's the point..."  And Ryder here is one such character. OTOH, the darkest hour and grand gesture are great. 4.5/5

GRR Reviews Stepdad Surprise by Caroline Lee

Jackie Novak ran from her abusive gangbanger boyfriend after her daughter Kalli was born. A kind priest sent her to River's End Ranch in Idaho, and even helped her change her name. Content to enjoy life raising her daughter, she did not expect the attention of local cowboy Cooper. // Coop can see that Jackie is keeping the hurt inside, and she does not trust easily. But he can change her mind slowly. Until her evil ex resurfaced, intending to exact revenge...

Okay, a bit formulaic, but with good details and nice use of existing characters. Yes, the fairy lady is still there. (Those who read this series will know what I am talking about. And yes, this is book 53)  :)   4/5

GRR Reviews How to Wed a Quarterback by Genevieve Goodwin

Ruthie never wanted to get involved with an athlete EVER again due to a bad experience. As fund-raising manager for a charity, Ruthie makes sure the events go right, even appeasing the star quarterback Corbett "Super Cooper". That is, until he, trying to throw off his cling-y ex, announced to the public that he and Ruthie are engaged, only fifteeen minutes after meeting her! Corbett now had to undo this, fend off his ex (who's NOT deterred), AND make it up to Ruthie...

Hmmm... Actually quite good, except for his evil ex being completely psycho. That makes her one-dimensional and kinda lame. 4/5

GRR Reviews her Billionaire Lifeguard by Sophia Summers

Trey and his friends/co-workers are vacationing in Mexico. Being half of a top cosmetic company means he hadn't taken time for himself for a while. While on the beach, he found a woman who seems to be immune to his charm. her name is Scottie, and later when they meet again, she mistook him for a lifeguard. And he decided to continue pretending to be a lifeguard. When he found out Scottie is actually the daughter of his deceased hero and business mentor, he's determined to help her, even as he realized she was betrayed by her BF and board, and despite her escape, they were still trying to ruin her, in order to gain full control of her company. But when Scottie learned that Trey may be pondering a business venture with her enemy, will she ever trust him again?

Eh... The resolution was so fast it felt like a deus ex machina. That was not handled well at all. 3/5

GRR Reviews His Dream Baby by B B Hamel

Connor lost his son Ryan when the mother Harper simply disappeared one day with him. Only years later did he find that Harper had died in a different city... and he immediately travelled there. Which is where he met Leah.  // Leah was asked by Harper (her cousin) to be the legal guardian for little Ryan. But Harper is a Gallo, and Gallo is known to be a crime family, and they want little Ryan to be "raised right". When Connor also showed up, Leah had to accept Connor's help, even as she fear that Connor is there to take Ryan away from her. But the Gallos are not giving up to make Ryan theirs...

Uh... For supposedly career criminals and crime family, the Gallos are a bunch of hamburglars. A WRITTEN warning to the couple that outright states that they will DIE if they don't hand the kid over? WTF?! And despite having multiple vehicles and dozen men surrounding the couple, they somehow let them get away? Sure, it's kinda sexy, but enemy is just flat out STUPID. 2/5

GRR Review Her Forever Cowboy by Debra Salonen

Anne is about to get the promotion to executive level in her hotel management job, while being a single mom. But her stepfather's plea brought her and her daughter Zoey back to Silver Rose Guest Ranch for the summer. But it is also here that she will meet the man who broke her heart... the cowboy Will. She can never fall for a cowboy again. // Will had to take several months off recuperating when he was sidelined by a major injury. With nothing else to do, he should enjoy managing his grandpa's guest ranch... But Anne is also there. Will is determined to win the World Championship... and he will return to the circuit soon... even if he had to break her heart again.

Okay, good amount of angst, reunion, and all that.  But the plot doesn't offer that much new. 4/5