A Buckeye Girl Reads

 

A Big Thank You to Tasha at Truth, Beauty Freedom and Books for recommending this one to me!

 

I think I'm one of the last people to read this book, and honestly I don't know what took me so long to read Loretta Chase.  This is book three in a series, but works well as a stand alone. I love that about historical romances-you can read them all out of order and not be completely lost!

 

I loved Lord Dain and Jessica. They were everything you want in a hero and heroine. He was an alpha male that had serious commitment issues, and she was independent and spunky. I love how Jessica confounded Lord Dain by her actions. The secondary characters were great, and I loved her idiot brother. He just made me shake my head in disbelief that anyone could be that well, dumb.

 

I think this book is going to be a re-read when ever I want to lose myself in a book. It's just one of those magical reads.

Bonnie Turkle, multimedia historian for the Kentucky Commission of Tourism, is dispatched to Mud Creek, a tiny eastern Kentucky town, with few prospects but many oddballs, to rescue important artifacts from McBride’s Music Hall. Now fallen beyond disrepair, McBride’s was once a jewel of the early American music scene, an intersection of the country-western and rhythm and blues circuits. The former owner’s grandson, Will McBride, who also happens to be Mud Creek’s esteemed mayor, would like nothing more than to see the place bull-dozed in favor of a factory that will provide much-needed jobs to his citizens. But Bonnie finds evidence of a legendary musical event at the music hall and her plans to turn it into a museum put Mud Creek’s economic future at risk – not to mention the growing flirtation between the two of them. If Will and Bonnie can’t find common ground, the town’s past and future will be lost

I have to be honest, I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I read this on a rainy day, and it was just a perfect choice to cheer me up. Bonnie was a refreshing heroine. She was full of spunk, not afraid to tell her love interest to shove off or do what she thought was right even if it wasn't the most popular opinion in town.

This is the second book in the bluegrass series, but totally works as a stand alone. After I agreed to read this for review, I discovered it was book two in a series. I attempted to read book one, but didn't like the heroine at all and ended up not finishing it. So I was really kicking myself for agreeing to read a contemporary romance-they so rarely work for me. I'm not sure why, but this one was just as quirky as the first one, but I totally loved it.

Bonnie and Will had me laughing out loud a lot. I loved the sizzle in their relationship whenever they met. You could just feel the heat even when they were just talking-I love that in a romance! While the two aren't in an actual relationship for the book, it just worked well-that surprised me as well, because normally books where they overcome obstacle after obstacle annoy me, but this time around the personalities of Bonnie and Will were so enjoyable that I didn't mind it at all. The secondary characters were all lovable and just as quirky as Bonnie and Will were. I love how the small town of Mud Creek just came alive and made me want to live there.

Rhythm and Bluegrass is just a cute and fun romance that has a little bit of sizzle, a little country, and a whole lot of spunk.

I'm going to be in the minority when I say this, but I really didn't care for this book. It saddens me, because I really thought I would love it. For the first half of the book I did. I loved how Cami gave Julian crap for being so moody and awful to everyone. I enjoyed it when she threw a muffin at him for being so mean once. I got to the 70 percent mark in the book and as soon as Cami and Julian got together I started struggling to continue reading it, and I don't know why because the romance part between them was really well done. The problem was with me-I just couldn't connect to either of them as a couple, but loved them otherwise. I just thought the tropes used were really predictable, and this was one of those Young Adult books that I just felt old reading it because so many little things bugged them that had I been in the age demographic this book was meant for I think I would have over looked them and fallen head over heals for Julian and Cami. As it stands, I think Cami was just a little too perfect...but at the same time it was nice to have a normal YA heroine who was just concerned about school, work and boys and not much else.

 

One of the things that really bugged was that we were told over and over again how many hours Cami works at her dad's restaurant, and how she passed out once from not taking a break because she worked all day long. You know what bothered me about that? There are labor laws that say a minor can't work more then 5 hours a day without taking a break. I know it's her dad's place and all, but having worked a lot of places I can't see why her dad just didn't follow the law and make sure she got her breaks, etc. I know that's the adult in me being sensible, but I had to wonder why it took so long for her dad to cut back on her hours, etc in the book. 

 

 

I still can't really pinpoint where this book went wrong for me and why I ended up not enjoying it as much as I thought I would, but it might have something to do with the tropes in this book just not doing it for me, but  I still always feel bad when I don't love a book like I think will....

 

 

 

Dare you to was a wonderful sequel to Pushing The Limits. It was powerful and emotional, and I ended up loving Beth and Ryan just as much as I did Echo and Noah.  While this is a second book in the series, it can be read as a stand alone, but I don't think Beth's story would be as powerful without reading book one first.

 I have to begin this review by saying how much I adored Ryan. I loved how he met Beth on a dare when he was out with his friends-they were trying to see who could get the most phone numbers, and Ryan lost when Beth shot him down fast. Neither of them except to see each again after that incident-but then Beth gets into trouble and has to go live with her Uncle Scott Risk, a famous baseball player who has moved back to Ky, but lives  out in the middle of nowhere.

Beth is furious-she doesn't want to leave Louisville to go live with an Uncle who she believes has pretty much abandoned her for his career.  She's especially not happy when her Uncle arranges for his neighbor's son (who happens to be Ryan) to show her around school. Ryan can't believe Beth is the same girl he tried to ask out because she looks completely different & he's still all about winning the stupid dare from his friends...only the dare has turned into Ryan having to go on a date with her.

I know this all sounds like a typical young adult book, and a bit stupid, but it's not I promise you. Beth's home life in Louisville was pretty shitty and she took a lot of crap from her mom's boyfriend and she overcomes a lot of trust issues in this book. I loved watching her grow and that her Uncle was there every step of the way trying to make up for not being with her. He doesn't cave into her demands, and pretty much is a pain in her ass-which I liked a lot. (I kinda loved her Uncle Scott because he was such a normal guardian) 

Beth wasn't the only one with issues. On the outside Ryan seemed like he was Mr. Perfect and your typical popular Jock. However, his family life was a mess-his dad had secretly disowned his brother, and Ryan was fighting to do what he wanted vs what his dad (who was an overbearing jerk) wanted him to do with his life.  Watching Beth and Ryan come together was wonderful  and painful at the same time. I just wanted to shake some sense into both of them, because they both did some stupid stuff. 

While some of the trouble Beth had with her mom's boyfriend seemed pretty over the top to me, it was just nice to see a main character from a YA book not have a perfect life. She struggled a lot with leaving her old life behind, and I felt really bad for her friends Noah and Isaiah who all along just wanted to protect Beth from her situation. I can't wait to read Isiah's story in Crash Into You.

Katie McGarry is now one of my favorite YA authors to read, and I look forward to reading more by her.

It had a lot of great potential, but I was bored for a lot of it. ):

Loved Ryan...Beth grew on me..full review to come.

I liked this one a lot. Full review to come.

this was cute, but fairly predictable.

Sadly, this was a dnf for me. I really wanted to like it, but just couldn't. Full review to come.

This book is more of a 3.6-3.9 range...Out of all three books in this series, this one is my favorite. :) Each book has gotten a little bit hotter, and this one was sizzling! Kevin and Sam (Samantha) were just so stubborn, tough and vulnerable at the same time. I adored them. Sam is a single mom, and is working an inspector for the city. Kevin's family owns a construction company and the project they are working on needs the approval of the city inspector if they are to open on time. There's just one catch-they don't have enough water pressure and instead of caving into the good boys club, Sam tells Kevin that she isn't going to pass them unless they meet the code. Both are instantly attracted to each other-Kevin loves how Sam wasn't afraid to shut his ass down and stuck to her guns-even if it did threaten his project.

The two go on their way, but Sam feels bad about shutting down his operation because she used to be in construction herself and knows how costly something like that can be, so she works to see if she can find an alternate solution that would make both of them happy. She finds one, and much to her surprise meets up with Kevin much sooner then she expects to. He's the uncle of the little boy her daughter, is friends with at daycare and the two little ones had made plans to meet at the boardwalk over the weekend. They all end up spending the day together, and sparks fly between Sam and Kevin. I loved how nice Kevin was to her daughter, and oh I just wanted to give that man a hug. He's going through some serious issues, and spending time with Sam and her daughter made him realize that he needs to say no more often and take more care of himself. I normally don't like books with single moms (I'm a shallow reader) but this one is the exception to that rule. Sam's daughter was just so cute, and didn't detract from the romance at all. If anything, I loved how she showed a different side to both Kevin and Sam.

Crossing Lines is the hottest of the three books, and has just a touch of bdsm in it. I loved how there was a lot of hot sex in this book, but yet at the same time there was more romance in it and I loved that. I also liked how just when I thought the big "misunderstanding" was going to be predictable, there was a twist that I really enjoyed in it.

The Heat Wave Series by Alannah Lynne is a terrific series you don't want to miss. Each book works well as a stand alone, and is different in heat levels. I honestly can't wait to go through Alannah's backlist now. ;)

This book is more of a 3.6-3.9 range...Out of all three books in this series, this one is my favorite. :) Each book has gotten a little bit hotter, and this one was sizzling! Kevin and Sam (Samantha) were just so stubborn, tough and vulnerable at the same time. I adored them. Sam is a single mom, and is working an inspector for the city. Kevin's family owns a construction company and the project they are working on needs the approval of the city inspector if they are to open on time. There's just one catch-they don't have enough water pressure and instead of caving into the good boys club, Sam tells Kevin that she isn't going to pass them unless they meet the code. Both are instantly attracted to each other-Kevin loves how Sam wasn't afraid to shut his ass down and stuck to her guns-even if it did threaten his project.

The two go on their way, but Sam feels bad about shutting down his operation because she used to be in construction herself and knows how costly something like that can be, so she works to see if she can find an alternate solution that would make both of them happy. She finds one, and much to her surprise meets up with Kevin much sooner then she expects to. He's the uncle of the little boy her daughter, is friends with at daycare and the two little ones had made plans to meet at the boardwalk over the weekend. They all end up spending the day together, and sparks fly between Sam and Kevin. I loved how nice Kevin was to her daughter, and oh I just wanted to give that man a hug. He's going through some serious issues, and spending time with Sam and her daughter made him realize that he needs to say no more often and take more care of himself. I normally don't like books with single moms (I'm a shallow reader) but this one is the exception to that rule. Sam's daughter was just so cute, and didn't detract from the romance at all. If anything, I loved how she showed a different side to both Kevin and Sam.

Crossing Lines is the hottest of the three books, and has just a touch of bdsm in it. I loved how there was a lot of hot sex in this book, but yet at the same time there was more romance in it and I loved that. I also liked how just when I thought the big "misunderstanding" was going to be predictable, there was a twist that I really enjoyed in it.

The Heat Wave Series by Alannah Lynne is a terrific series you don't want to miss. Each book works well as a stand alone, and is different in heat levels. I honestly can't wait to go through Alannah's backlist now. ;)

This was cute! I can't wait to read the other two books in the series.

This was cute! I can't wait to read the other two books in the series.

This got off to a slow start, but I really liked the second half. Full review to come soon.

Good start to a new series, can't wait to see where this goes...thought the ending was a little rushed.

Adored this one.
Lick was just well, lickable! Simply put, I adored it. This is one of those rare times where I just want to tell everyone to buy it, because it's just that good! I was going through a reading spell last week where nothing stuck. I'd get to the 70% point of whatever book I was reading and would be bored silly. It became a struggle to finish anything I touched. I was talking about this on twitter, and one of my friends on there, KatiD said what got her out of her slump awhile back was Lick by Kylie Scott. I decided I didn't have anything to lose, and since the blurb looked great I took the plunge and bought the book.

I was not disappointed. I finally had a novella that I read in almost one sitting. Lick has everything a novella should be: a spunky, independent heroine, sigh-worthy hero, and adorable and lovable secondary characters that you just want to hug and tell them everything will be ok.

I don't know who I loved more in this book Ev, or David...both were fantastic main characters, and I alternated from loving them both to wanting to shake some sense into them. I think what I loved both about them was the attraction they had for each other, and the fact that they didn't compromise what they believed in to be with each other. I loved that Ev gave David crap when he deserved and vice versa. I also loved that they were together most of the book, and even though they had to work to be together, it just worked and didn't feel forced just to move the plot line along.

This was just a great, hot read, and I really hope that the other members of the band get their own story. Lick is just one of those books that became an instant favorite and I can tell I'm going to have re-read it whenever I get into another book funk. This review just really doesn't do the book justice on how I loved it to pieces. :)