2018 Book #78 – Hot Pursuit by Rebecca Freeborn

Posted in Book reviews, Contemporary romance, Romantic suspense by rebeccabook17

Title: Hot Pursuit
Author: Rebecca Freeborn
Date finished: 9/5/18
Genre: Contemporary romance, suspense-ish
Publisher: Pantera Press
Publication Date: July 28, 2018
Pages in book: 266
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: NetGalley
NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

Meet wannabe investigative journalist Sarah Burrowes. For Sarah, life hasn’t worked out as she’d hoped. At 30 everyone expects you to have your life together but she’s is in a job she hates and, to top everything off, her boyfriend has run out leaving her shattered and up to her ears in debt.

Heartbroken and fed up, she decides to take her career by the reins and manages to bag the assignment of a lifetime in Europe. The next day she’s on a plane to Barcelona with Nick, the gorgeous and egocentric photographer (who also happens to be her ex’s best friend), hot on the trail of a missing rockstar. With no investigate journalistic experience, Sarah must use all her intuition and wiles to track the rockstar down. But things go far from smoothly – in the assignment, and in her love life.

As Sarah and Nick travel from Barcelona to Madrid and on to Amsterdam, they uncover something much bigger than just a missing rockstar. As things get more dangerous, Sarah must decide if she’s prepared to risk everything – even their lives – for the story of a lifetime.

My rating: 1.5 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

The description of this book sounded like it would be interesting so I decided to give this one a try. I ended up not especially loving it, I just couldn’t connect with Sarah as a character. She spends a lot of the book being treated like crap by either Nick or James and yet she still kept just brushing it off like it wasn’t a big deal. Her relationship with Nick was dysfunctional, those two just could not communicate and they kept lashing out at each other because of it. And don’t even get me started on James, dude disappeared on her and left her alone with a mortgage she couldn’t afford and yet she answered the phone when he called her. I would’ve torn that man a new one and then never contacted him again except to have my lawyer resolve the mortgage issue with his lawyer. So I just had a lot of trouble getting into this story line with the characters and how convoluted the plot was. Unfortunately this one just wasn’t for me.

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

3Sep2018

2018 Book #77 – One More Moment by Samantha Chase

Posted in Book reviews, Contemporary romance by rebeccabook17

Title: One More Moment
Author: Samantha Chase
Date finished: 9/2/18
Genre: Contemporary romance
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: September 4, 2018
Pages in book: 353
Stand alone or series: Band on the Run #3
Where I got the book from: NetGalley
NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

Julian Grayson is taking a break
…from his cheating fiancée
…from his band
…from his life in the spotlight

Charlotte Clark is devoted to her work
…to save the world
…to help the homeless
…to get a broken man back on his feet

When Charlotte Clark offers to pay for Julian Grayson’s coffee, the world-famous drummer assumes she wants something from him. But Charlotte has no idea who he is, and Julian can’t resist keeping up the charade—being incognito is a novelty and a relief. He’ll have to tell her…eventually. But as Charlotte cheerfully undertakes to transform his life, Julian realizes there’s something about her that gives him what he hasn’t felt in years: hope.

My rating: 2.75 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

The description of this book sounded like it would be interesting so I decided to give this one a try. This wasn’t my favorite contemporary romance I’ve read but it was interest enough. The plot was interesting enough to keep me reading but at the same time I wasn’t feeling overly invested in the novel. The characters were ok but Julian and Charlotte were both a little whiny / melodramatic. And I always have trouble getting invested in a story where there’s some rich dude that swoops in and saves the overworked female, because that’s just unrealistic and unfair. I also found the plot to be a tad anticlimactic, or maybe it was just creating drama where I didn’t think there needed to be any, but the tension wasn’t really creating any kind of emotions or anything in me. It was a decent romance novel and I think would be a good beach read for something light and entertaining but it didn’t really capture me.

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

29Aug2018

2018 Book #75 – Leave No Trace by Mindy Mejia

Posted in Book reviews, Fiction, For the love of books, Suspense, Thriller by rebeccabook17

Title: Leave No Trace
Author: Mindy Mejia
Date finished: 8/28/18
Genre: Suspense, thriller
Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Publication Date: September 4, 2018
Pages in book: 336
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: NetGalley
NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

There is a place in Minnesota with hundreds of miles of glacial lakes and untouched forests called the Boundary Waters. Ten years ago a man and his son trekked into this wilderness and never returned.

Search teams found their campsite ravaged by what looked like a bear. They were presumed dead until a decade later…the son appeared. Discovered while ransacking an outfitter store, he was violent and uncommunicative and sent to a psychiatric facility. Maya Stark, the assistant language therapist, is charged with making a connection with their high-profile patient. No matter how she tries, however, he refuses to answer questions about his father or the last ten years of his life.

But Maya, who was abandoned by her own mother, has secrets, too. And as she’s drawn closer to this enigmatic boy who is no longer a boy, she’ll risk everything to reunite him with his father who has disappeared from the known world.

My rating: 3.75 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. I finished this book for ARC August 2018! Love this reading challenge. And this year I’m especially excited because as part of the challenge they added one of my favorite things, reading Bingo! This book will be checking off my “Finish a Mystery Novel” box, since its a mystery/suspense novel.

I read another book by this author last year, Everything You Want Me To Be, and Loved it! So I was excited to see her next release up for review. This book was very different from her first novel but was still a good read. Maya as a character was dark and complicated and I liked learning about her character a little more through each piece of the book. Her relationship with Lucas was intense and the emotion of it really captivates the reader. Lucas himself was also an interesting character. The plot itself was ok, the major plot twist towards the end I didn’t see coming but after that the rest of the plot felt a little off to me for some reason. I did still really like the book though, just not s much as I liked her first novel I think. This was a good book and I’d recommend it!

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

20Aug2018

2018 Book #72 – Cowboy, Cross My Heart by Donna Grant

Posted in 2018, ARC August 2018, Book reviews, Contemporary romance, Reading Challenges by rebeccabook17

Title: Cowboy, Cross My Heart
Author: Donna Grant
Date finished: 8/19/18
Genre: Contemporary romance
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Publication Date: August 28, 2018
Pages in book: 304
Stand alone or series: #1 in the Heart of Texas series
Where I got the book from: NetGalley
NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

New York Times bestselling author Donna Grant takes you deep inside the Texas rodeo scene in the second book in her Heart of Texas series, Cowboy, Cross My Heart, where danger and desire ride side by side. . .

Naomi Pierce isn’t the type to let a cowboy sweep her off feet. It’s not her first rodeo, after all. But when she returns to her Texas hometown, she can’t help but be swept up again in the rough-and-tumble world of hard-riding, bronco-busting good-ol’-boys she loved as a girl. She might be here to photograph her Rodeo Queen best friend. But it’s one fine-looking cowboy who really captures her eye…

Brice Harper is all man, all muscle, and all heart. From the moment he rides into the stadium, he can’t help but notice the beautiful stranger with a camera watching him from the stands. It doesn’t take a zoom lens to see the sparks of instant attraction. But things really heat up when he meets Naomi up-close―and he discovers that someone is stalking her friend. Brice wouldn’t be any kind of cowboy if he didn’t offer to help the ladies out. But can the rough rider keep this spirited shutterbug out of danger―without risking his heart?

My rating: 2.5 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. I finished this book for ARC August 2018! Love this reading challenge. And this year I’m especially excited because as part of the challenge they added one of my favorite things, reading Bingo! This book will be checking off my “Read a total of 500 pages” box, since I’ve done that by now for this challenge.

I read the first book in the Heart of Texas series, The Christmas Cowboy Hero, a couple months ago. In that book, Brice was still a kid in high school, so I was interested to see that they were coming out with book #2 in the series featuring his story. Brice as a hero in his own book though, wasn’t quite what I expected him to be. Not that it was bad necessarily, just wasn’t what I had envisioned for his character. The plot was ok, but the whole story line ended up being a little too cheesy for me. Brice and Naomi were over the moon for each other from the beginning and while I did like how well their characters fit together, it felt almost too easy. There was no conflict between them, which just doesn’t feel realistic. Other than that it was a cute story, just wasn’t one of my favorite romances. I thought it was ok, and I’d still be interested in reading Caleb’s story (Brice’s brother) to round out the series.

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

16Aug2018

2018 Book #70 – Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone

Posted in 2018, ARC August 2018, Book reviews, Fiction, Reading Challenges, Suspense, Thriller by rebeccabook17

Title: Jane Doe
Author: Victoria Helen Stone
Date finished: 8/14/18
Genre: Fiction, thriller, psychological suspense
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: August 1, 2018
Pages in book: 267
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: NetGalley
NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

A double life with a single purpose: revenge.

Jane’s days at a Midwest insurance company are perfectly ordinary. She blends in well, unremarkably pretty in her floral-print dresses and extra efficient at her low-level job. She’s just the kind of woman middle manager Steven Hepsworth likes—meek, insecure, and willing to defer to a man. No one has any idea who Jane really is. Least of all Steven.

But plain Jane is hiding something. And Steven’s bringing out the worst in her.

Nothing can distract Jane from going straight for his heart: allowing herself to be seduced into Steven’s bed, to insinuate herself into his career and his family, and to expose all his dirty secrets. It’s time for Jane to dig out everything that matters to Steven. So she can take it all away.

Just as he did to her.

My rating: 5.0 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. I finished this book for ARC August 2018! Love this reading challenge. And this year I’m especially excited because as part of the challenge they added one of my favorite things, reading Bingo! This book will be checking off my “Start & Finish 2 ARCs in August” box (I’ve technically finished 6 at this point but I’m being strategic with my boxes and 6 is more than 2).

I hope to goodness that someone makes a movie out of this one. #1 it would be amazing (if they did it correctly). #2 this book rocked and I just loved it. Jane as a character was cold-blooded and vengeful, which fit her story in every way possible. There wasn’t much that I didn’t like about this book. Stephen was the perfect villain, someone you love to hate and who gets worse with each turn of the page. He was absolutely a pompous ass and a completely horrible person. Building up so much hatred for him throughout the book just made the ending that much more amazing. This book had one of the best endings I’ve experienced, an immensely satisfying experience for the readers as we vicariously live through Jane’s journey to get the perfect revenge. I couldn’t put this book down but at the same time I didn’t want it to end. I didn’t even mind that Jane was a sociopath, it almost made it more amusing – there were a lot of very dry humor and logical observations about Stephen the asshole. I also thought Jane’s commentary on the cat was funny, calling it a fellow sociopath and all. Honestly this book was a great read and I’d highly recommend it, especially for anyone who likes to see a villain’s complete annihilation.

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

13Aug2018

ARC August 2018 – Update #2

Posted in 2018, ARC August 2018, Reading Challenges by rebeccabook17

ARC-August

I was killing it this week! Between getting stuff done at home and at work and also getting my books read, I have been on point and on target! It was a busy work week and this next week is looking busy as well but I’m committed to reading as much as I can this month. Anyways, so here’s where I stand right now:

MY PROGRESS

August 2018 ARC’s

–Good Luck With That by Kristan Higgins – Read and reviewed (Week 1)
-Our House by Louise Candlish – Read and reviewed (Week 2)
–Smothered by Autumn Chiklis – Read and reviewed (Week 1)
-The Duke of Seduction by Darcy Burke
-Maybe For You by Nicole McLaughlin
-Cowboy, Cross My Heart by Donna Grant
-The Duke with the Dragon Tattoo
-Leave No Trace by Mindy Mejia

Additions

-Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone
-BuzzBooks 2018 Romance Sampler – Read and reviewed (Week 2)

Backlog ARC’s

I’m actually using a reading challenge to help me whittle away at the 2016 and 2017 backlog list, so for this challenge I’d like to get to the following:

-A book told through letters
-A book with a five-word title – Read and reviewed At the Heart of It by Tawna Fenske (Week 2)
-A book whose cover features nature
-A book whose title begins with K, Q, J, X, or Z
-A book you bought (requested) for the cover
-A book written by an author who wrote one of your favorite 2017 books
-A book with a one-word title

Books Read August 6th – 12th

At the Heart of It by Tawna Fenske – 3.0 stars
Our House by Louise Candlish – 3.25 stars
BuzzBooks 2018 Romance – 4.0 stars

Plan for Upcoming Week

This week is going to be super fun! Work will be crazy, as usual, this week. But this coming weekend my husband, parents, and I will be traveling to PA for my cousins wedding. And we couldn’t be more excited for him and his future bride, and to celebrate with my family. We’ll see how much reading I get done, but even if its none it’ll still be a great time. Happy reading everyone!!

13Aug2018

2018 Book #69 – BuzzBooks 2018 Romance Sampler

Posted in 2018, ARC August 2018, Book reviews, Contemporary romance, Historical Romance, Paranormal romance, Reading Challenges, Romantic suspense by rebeccabook17

Title: BuzzBooks 2018 Romance Sampler
Author: Various – see below
Date finished: 8/12/18
Genre: Romance
Publisher: Various
Publication Date: July 12 , 2018
Pages in book: 241
Where I got the book from: NetGalley
NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

These are the samples that are included in the BuzzBooks Romance collection – each excerpt I’ve scored on a scale of 1-5 on my interest in reading the whole book:

Time Bridge: Cassie by Annie Becker (Oct 16, 2018) – The book summary sounded a little dark, but the time travel aspect was interesting. The book reminded me a lot of books I’ve read in the past by John A. Heldt. Score: 3.5
Tempt Me with Diamonds by Jane Feather (Jan 29, 2019) – I don’t particularly like the race horse aspect that seemed to be a part of the book’s plot. Also the heroine sounds kind of drama-loving, it didn’t sound like it was for me but who knows based off of two chapters. Score: 1.75
Unchained by Helen Hardt (Blood Bond Saga Book 1) (Oct 2, 2018) – Sounded pretty interesting, maybe a little cliched (vamp falls in love with a human) but the characters sounded good. Score: 3.75
The Memory House by Rachel Hauck (April 2, 2019) – I liked the puppy and the mystery baby, story peaked my interest a good amount. Score: 4.25
On Magnolia Lane by Denise Hunter (Last book in the Blue Ridge Romance series) (Nov 6, 2018) – I didn’t find anything in the excerpt overly intriguing, it was ok but didn’t seem exciting. Score: 2.5
As Good as the First Time by K.M. Jackson (Sugar Lake novel) (Oct 30, 2018) – This one sounded interesting, I was eager to learn about what had happened to Clayton and his previous relationship. Score: 4.0
In a Badger Way by Shelly Laurenston (March 26, 2019) – I’ve never been a huge fan of the whole shifter thing. Also there were just so many characters within th efirst two chapters I couldn’t keep everything straight. Score: 1.0
Intercepted by Alexa Martin (Sept 11, 2018) – I got pretty hooked in the story, I’m interested to see what happens with Marlee (even though see was acting a little like a doormat). Score: 4.25
The Sweetest Thing by Judith McNaught (Oct 23, 2018) – First couple chapters seemed pretty cheesy but I’d be interested to hear more about what the TV show was about. Score: 2.75
Their Perfect Melody (Matched to Perfection) by Priscilla Oliveras (Nov 27, 2018) – Seemed ok. Nothing overly thrilling in the first couple chapters. Score: 2.5
Ignite by Angel Payne (Volume 2 – Parts 4-6) (July 31, 2018) – This seemed super interesting, I’ve never read a romance novel with a super hero before. The first couple chapters of this were interesting and steamy. Score: 4.0
The Rancher by Kate Pearce (Nov 27, 2018) – It sounded ok but there were a LOT of characters introduced in the first couple chapters, I could barely keep it straight. It probably would’ve been easier if I had read the previous books. THe characters sounded interesting though. Score: 3.0
Say You’re Sorry by Karen Rose (Feb 12, 2019) – LOVE the involvement of the cult aspect, that always gets me interested. This one sounded like it would be really interesting! Score: 4.5
Solace Island Island by Meg Tilly (Nov 6, 2018) – I loved how fierce the main character was, she had so much spark! And I loved that she gave her ex what he had coming to him, the first couple chapters really had me hooked. Score: 4.25

12Aug2018

2018 Book #68 – Our House by Louise Candlish

Posted in 2018, ARC August 2018, Book reviews, Fiction, Reading Challenges, Suspense, Thriller by rebeccabook17

Title: Our House
Author: Louise Candlish
Date finished: 8/10/18
Genre: Fiction, thriller, psychological suspense
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: August 7, 2018
Pages in book: 416
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: NetGalley
NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

There’s nothing unusual about a new family moving in at 91 Trinity Avenue. Except it’s her house. And she didn’t sell it.

When Fiona Lawson comes home to find strangers moving into her house, she’s sure there’s been a mistake. She and her estranged husband, Bram, have a modern coparenting arrangement: bird’s nest custody, where each parent spends a few nights a week with their two sons at the prized family home to maintain stability for their children. But the system built to protect their family ends up putting them in terrible jeopardy. In a domino effect of crimes and misdemeanors, the nest comes tumbling down.

Now Bram has disappeared and so have Fiona’s children. As events spiral well beyond her control, Fiona will discover just how many lies her husband was weaving and how little they truly knew each other. But Bram’s not the only one with things to hide, and some secrets are best kept to oneself, safe as houses.

My rating: 3.25 stars out of a scale of 5

This book sounded really interesting to me, the idea of what can happen when you don’t really know who your husband is, plus I’ve seem this book featured many times lately as a must read for the summer. I did end up enjoying it but the whole thing just felt overwhelmingly sad. For Fiona to have put so much time and effort into her house, her family’s home, and then to have it torn out from under her so suddenly, must have been unimaginably heart breaking. And the whole “end” of Bram’s story and the tone of his diary entries, you could tell how desperate he was and how hopeless he felt. The author did a really great job (I thought) of projecting the emotions of the characters in the book. And I think many other thriller fans would really enjoy the novel, I just hate feeling so hopelessly sad. There were some pretty good plot twists to the story, and I really liked the uniqueness of the plot line. While it wasn’t quite for me, it was still a really good book and I would recommend it!

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

8Aug2018

2018 Book #67 – At the Heart of It by Tawna Fenske

Posted in 2018, ARC August 2018, Book reviews, Bookish 2018 Reading Challenge, Contemporary romance, Fiction, Reading Challenges, Women's fiction by rebeccabook17

Title: At the Heart of It
Author: Tawna Fenske
Date finished: 8/7/18
Genre: Fiction, women’s fiction, romance, romantic comedy
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Publication Date: October 3, 2017
Pages in book: 336
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: NetGalley
NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

TV producer Kate Geary is in unscripted heaven. She’s piloting a reality series featuring her favorite self-help guru, Dr. Vivienne Brandt. The Dr. Viv—whose nuggets of wisdom helped Kate get through some of her toughest times. Thanks to Dr. Viv, Kate is almost on the verge of figuring everything out. That is, until Jonah Porter, the superhot book nerd Kate just spent an amazing date with, appears at the show’s first meeting.

Jonah did not want to get reeled into a world filled with invasive crews, pushy network execs, and over-the-top drama, but a connection to the story leaves him no choice. Fortunately, Kate—hot, smart, and funny—helps make it bearable. Now they’re both on the verge of violating their contracts as they find themselves sneaking around off set. But the cameras have a way of finding out everyone’s secrets…especially the ones that can break hearts.

My rating: 3.0 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. I finished this book for ARC August 2018! Love this reading challenge. And this year I’m especially excited because as part of the challenge they added one of my favorite things, reading Bingo! This book will be checking off my “Finish a 2017 ARC” box. PLUS! The fun never ends, since this is from my 2017 Backlog list, I am also completing this book as part of the 2018 Bookish Reading Challenge, for the “a book you picked up based on the title” category.

I had read another of Fenske’s books, Now That It’s You, a couple years ago and really enjoyed it. I have to say I wasn’t as thrilled about this one’s plot but overall I still did enjoy it. This was a solid romance novel for me but wasn’t anything that really grabbed me. I liked all of the characters, Kate especially seemed like a very strong woman and I really admired her. The insight into reality television was also interesting and learning about how the show featured in the book was produced. The show itself was an unusual idea that made me curious how that would turn out in real life. Other than that I would say it was pretty standard but still a good book. I would recommend it!

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

2Aug2018

2018 Book #64 – Set the Night on Fire by Laura Trentham

Posted in Book reviews, Contemporary romance by rebeccabook17

Title: Set the Night on Fire
Author: Laura Trentham
Date finished: 7/31/18
Genre: Contemporary romance
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Publication Date: July 31, 2018
Pages in book: 336
Stand alone or series: #6 in the Cottonbloom series
Where I got the book from: NetGalley
NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

Ella Boudreaux has a lot to prove to her family, friends, and foes—and to herself. So when her marriage ends she decides to invest her energy and money into a place that brings back some of Ella’s happiest memories: the Abbott brothers’ garage. Maybe, if she puts her mind to it, she can teach skeptical, stubborn Mack Abbott how to make the business a true success. Which would be a lot easier if the hunky mechanic didn’t make her motor run quite so fast…and hot.

Mack was furious when his brother, Ford, sold his share of the business. He’s in no rush to team up with a wealthy divorcée who shows up to the garage in stilettos—and the longest, sexiest legs he’s seen in forever. But Ella’s grit and determination won’t quit…and soon Mack can see that she’s been down a few rough roads herself. Neither Mack nor Ella can deny the fierce attraction that’s revving up between them. Could it be that true love has been in the backseat all along…and they’ve finally found the key?

My rating: 3.5 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

At this point I’ve read a few of the books in this series, I’m starting to become pretty invested in this family! It was great to read about Mack’s story, and to see him deal with his family issues. And Ella was a unique blend of strong and insecure, fierce and soft. Mack and Ella really were pretty perfect for each other, and the romantic chemistry between them was really well written! Mack has had a rough time the past few years and I was glad that he opened himself up to Ella, since she is such a generous and loving person. There were some pieces of the story that felt pretty cheesy / corny, but overall it was a sweet story. The ending kind of fizzled out for me a bit, it felt like there almost should’ve been something more that happened. I guess anti-climactic is a good way to describe it. It was still a good story though, romantic and light-hearted. I’m interested to see if the author continues the series and if so where she takes it.

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page