Category: B reviews (Page 18 of 74)

September Round Up

October 2, 2017 / Kaetrin

Monthly Mini Review

Secrets in Death by JD Robb, narrated by Susan Ericksen – B I always enjoy In Death books to one degree or another so I’d pre-ordered the audiobook and started it the day it downloaded. Secrets in Death is less gruesome than some of the other installments. Sure, Larinda Mars bleeds to death but there is no sexual violence done to her and the villain isn’t quite as twisted as some of them have been.

Susan Ericksen’s narration is always stellar in this series. Her characterisations inform my reading even in print and I hear her voice in my head, especially the Irish lilt she gives Roarke. Continue reading

Her Sexy Challenge by Sarah Ballance

September 25, 2017 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: This is one I bought recently for 99c.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) She might be the one fire he can’t put out…

Caitlin Tyler doesn’t do bridges—she just doesn’t know it until she lands her dream job and freezes halfway across her new town’s towering death span. Cue the cocky, infuriating fireman who goads her off the bridge. He’s hot, but he’s also exactly the kind of guy she wants to avoid…which she manages to do for a whole four hours.

Lt. Shane Hendricks is only two weeks away from leaving Dry Rock. He sure as hell doesn’t need to get involved with a woman he has to rescue twice in one day. The fact that she’s clearly annoyed by him doesn’t deter him from throwing down a challenge—one that proves hard to resist for all the wrong reasons.

They’re moving in different directions. Leaving should be easy, but falling for Caitlin might be the one fire he can’t put out…

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I’ve heard many good things about Sarah Ballance’s writing and I’ve bought a few of her books when they’ve been on special but this was the first one I’ve actually read. Overall, I enjoyed the story but there were a couple of things which bothered me a little. Nonetheless, I have high hopes for the other Ballance books on the TBR of Doom.
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Stay by Sarina Bowen & Elle Kennedy

September 21, 2017 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I’ve enjoyed the previous books in the series.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Can you fall in love with someone you’ve never even met?

Hailey Taylor Emery has a hunch that her favorite client at Fetch–an anonymous virtual assistant service–is actually hockey star Matt Eriksson.

Although it’s against the rules for her to check his file, she’s 95% sure she spends at least part of each day texting with her lifelong crush and catering to his every need. Still nursing a wounded heart thanks to her recent breakup, Hailey is perfectly content with some harmless online flirting…until she has to meet her client. Face to face. Cue: utter panic.

Matt Eriksson is no stranger to heartbreak. He’s still not over the destruction of his marriage, and it sucks to be the only guy on the team who knows the truth–that hockey and long-term relationships are a toxic mix. He barely sees his kids, and dealing with his ex makes him feel insane. The only person in his life who seems to understand is someone who won’t show her pretty face.

But it’s nothing that a pair of fourth row hockey seats can’t fix. Hailey can’t resist the offer. Matt can’t resist Hailey. Good thing he doesn’t have to. Fire up the kiss cam!

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I enjoy both of these author’s books separately and together. Him, Us and Good Boy have all been very successful reads for me. Stay didn’t quite hit the the heights of the previous books but I still ripped through it in only two nights and and liked it very much.
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August Round Up

September 1, 2017 / Kaetrin

Monthly Mini Review

The Butterfly Effect with Jon Ronson – B The Butterfly Effect isn’t a romance. It’s not even fiction. It’s a fascinating series of short podcasts bundled together and currently available from Audible for free. Documentarist Jon Ronson embarks upon a year-long study into the porn industry and the effects of a decision by a German man by the name of Fabian, to start streaming porn on the internet for free. While it’s about porn it’s not sexy or erotic (although due to the content it’s NSFW). It’s about what happened to the porn industry in the San Fernando Valley when Porn Hub, X Tube and the various other free porn streaming services began (they’re all owned by the same company, based in Montreal by the way) and ranges through topics such as bespoke porn, the subsequent boom in high quality sex dolls, the Ashley Madison hack and online piracy. Continue reading

In Skates Trouble by Kate Meader

August 24, 2017 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I bought this for 99c recently.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) He’ll give her what she needs . . .

Addison Williams isn’t looking for romance, but when she encounters an eavesdropping stranger on an adjoining hotel balcony, she figures she’s due a little fun. She just hadn’t reckoned on the “fun” escalating so quickly to “out of control.” One minute she’s flirting with a whiskey-graveled voice in the dark, the next that same voice is telling her to do things. Hot, wicked things.

Cup-winning hockey player Ford “Killer” Callaghan can’t believe he let the anonymous woman who blew his mind slip away into the night. He’ll track her down because once could never be enough—even if discovering her identity places her strictly out of bounds.

Stolen kisses. Secret hook-ups. Deliciously forbidden in every way. Can a passion that started in the dark find a lifetime of love in the light?

Originally published in Hot on Ice: A Hockey Romance Anthology, this sexy prequel to the Chicago Rebels hockey series features an older, curvy woman, a younger, driven hero, and a happily-ever-after you’ll swoon over.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): In Skates Trouble is a longish novella about a star pro hockey player, Ford Callaghan, from a team based in New Orleans coming home to Chicago with the Stanley Cup for his “day with the cup” (it’s a thing; I looked it up.) While on a hotel balcony the first night he’s in town, he overhears a conversation between some women on the next balcony over, discussing how, in their experience, men’s oral sex skills are definitely lacking. One woman in particular, complains that her ex-husband was never able to give her an orgasm. He shamelessly eavesdrops because of course but also he’s particularly struck by the sexy voice of the woman who talked about her ex-husband. He likes not only the sound of her voice but what she says about how she’s taking her life back. He thinks her ex-husband was a jerk. (He’s right.) After the woman’s friends leave, Ford and the woman have an intimate encounter each on their own separate balconies, neither one exchanging names.
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Jack of Hearts by Sandra Owens, narrated by Sebastian York & Amy McFadden

August 7, 2017 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: This is one from my own TBL.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Alex Gentry doesn’t scare easily. Working as an undercover FBI agent in the biker bar he and his brothers co-own, he hangs with deadly criminals in order to gather information. Danger is just part of the family business. But one thing has him terrified: his attraction to Madison Parker.

Madison is the cousin of Ramon Alonzo, son and second in command to a notorious drug lord Alex is trying to bust. Alex has befriended Ramon as part of his cover, and Madison has unknowingly become his informant. Falling for her could risk this case—and both their lives.

All Madison wants is to get her new bookstore business off the ground, and for her creepy cousin Ramon—to whom she’s unfortunately indebted—to leave her alone. If she could only stop fantasizing about his mysterious new friend, Alex…

As the Alonzo cartel investigation heats up, so does their relationship. But will the secrets they’re keeping tear them apart—or get them both killed?

What worked for me (and what didn’t): One has to suspend disbelief a little for the setup of the Aces & Eights series. Three brothers, all in the FBI, run a biker bar in Miami as a cover for their covert investigations. Just how they maintain their cover when they are involved in the take downs of the criminals they catch involves a similar suspension but if one can look past those things (and I could) Jack of Hearts is an enjoyable romantic suspense, with emphasis on the romantic part (right where I like it).
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