Books with Beers

Full review at Red Hot Books http://redhotbooks.com/2013/07/review-big-girl-panties/#comment-7271

Honestly, I’m not quite sure how I feel about this book. Anyone who has ever struggled with their weight will immediately identify with Holly and her pain. On the other hand, Logan’s behavior really cut me to the quick and I’m not sure if I really forgave him. Readers will feel strongly about this book one way or another.

Rating: C+

*ARC Provided by William Morrow

OMG. I am going to have to come back later to write a coherent review.

3.5/5

A satisfying conclusion to a trilogy that I still think could've been better slightly edited and put into one story. The the ends were nicely tied up, if predictable.

Having said that, I still enjoyed Kat & Sloane as individuals and as a couple. The respect they showed each other and the gradual build of the relationship made it very satisfying and believable. Not as much sexy times in this one due to the story lines being wrapped up, but what was there was really hot.

Originally reviewed at Red Hot Books http://redhotbooks.com/2013/08/shooting-scars-by-karina-halle.html

If I can sum up this book in one word it is cracktacular. This is the second book in Karina Halle’s Artist Trilogy and is absolutely not a stand alone book. Even though the author states that readers don’t need to read the prequel, On Every Street, I think it goes a long way to understanding all the dynamics at play. I recommend reading it after Sins & Needles. For fans, this book does not disappoint.

Shooting Scars picks up right where Sins & Needles left off. Those of you who are Team Camden will be happy that the book is told from his and Ellie’s alternating POVs.

Ellie chooses to leave with Javier so that Camden can be safe with his ex-wife and son. Camden very much wants to go after Ellie but is conflicted about leaving his son now that he has him back for the first time in years. Javier is comfortably villainous in his success at binding Ellie back to him. As soon as their car pulls away from the curb, the action starts and does not let up. My eyes were glued to the page to see what was going to happen next.

Team Ellie – *sigh* This girl. She finally realizes her love of Camden when she’s thrown back in with her first love, Javier. No matter how nefarious Javier is, Ellie’s weakness towards him is understandable to anyone who’s had a great love. Those feelings, no matter how long ago, linger in our consciousness. She is torn between the future, Camden, the need to be good and normal and the past, Javier and the criminal she is. She’s a frustrating character in this book with her indecision and her lack of acceptance of responsibility for her own actions.

Team Camden – Poor Camden. Cam is the essential “good guy” and for most of the book we see him getting kicked around. Yet, I have to give the boy props for getting back up time and time again to move forward. At one point, I just wanted Camden to grow a pair and start kicking some ass. The last quarter of the book shows Cam turning into Connor. Will it stick? Aside from the wimpy behavior, a few things bugged me about Camden. His internal dialogue about Ellie was overly saccharine and he was more concerned about Ellie than protecting and being with his toddler son that he hadn’t seen in 2 years.

Team Javier – I love a good antihero and he’s got it in spades. He’s “evolved” from the person Ellie left six years ago. During that time, he waged a bloody war to build his empire and if Ellie thought he was ruthless before, he’s stone cold now. He’s using Ellie as a means to an end. Yet, as the story progresses, cracks in façade begin to appear. Javier is not as cold as he wants to be where Ellie is concerned. By the end of the book it appears as if he might be turning a corner? To be sure, Javier is one mean mofo but there is respect because he owns who he is.

Everyone is changing and the reader is left wondering whether for good or bad? Old habits are hard to shake, but when love is at stake, what wouldn’t you do? I was left with conflicting feelings all around and am reserving judgment for the final book in the trilogy releasing in October 2013.

Rating: B-

*ARC provided by Forever (Grand Central Publishing) via NetGalley

Reviewed at Red Hot Books http://redhotbooks.com/2013/08/review-sins-and-needles.html

This book has been getting major buzz since being published early this year. I had put off reading it till now because I was warned about a major cliffhanger. I made a firm resolution to avoid cliffhanger books until the next book is out (Shooting Scars, book 2 in the trilogy, will be out later this month). I steadfastly avoided all posts and conversations about this book because I wanted to go in blind. I’m glad I did.

After a failed scam nearly catches up to Ellie Watt, the 26 year old con artist decides to return to her childhood home at her uncle’s house in California in hopes of regrouping and possibly going legit. Just being in the town dredges up old pains, from the embarrassment of her grifter parents getting busted and fleeing town without her to the awful memories of being bullied in high school.

As her disapproving uncle will only put her up for a few days, Ellie heads out to find a job. At the local coffee shop she runs into Camden McQueen, an old friend from high school who has transformed from the geeky goth kid she abandoned for the popular kids to a hot muscled tattooed sex on a stick. As is often the case in life, those high school emotional scars seem to continue to cause pains well into adulthood. Camden recognizes an opportunity for a little revenge and Ellie sees him as the means to get her the money she needs to move on. And… this is where everything starts to turn sideways. I don’t want to reveal too much and spoil it so I’ll just say everything goes wrong. While trying to evade the bad guys, Camden and Ellie are forced to rely on each and in doing so, old feeling are realized. Just when these two turn a corner, the book ends with a bang.

Ellie is the definition of dysfunction. Due to some mysterious scam gone wrong with her parents, Ellie’s leg is badly disfigured from an acid burn. She uses this hurt and anger as her emotional crutch against the world; like she has a running list in her head cataloging all the wrongs she’s suffered, from her parent’s abandonment to high school tormentors. The author was smart to include flashbacks because it went a long way to soften her hard edges. I found myself, at times, rolling my eyes at her stupidity. For being a grifter, she made some pretty basic mistakes that didn't make sense to me.

I felt a lot more sympathy for Camden. Throughout the book, past and present, he is unapologetic about who he is. He is abused by his father, berated by peers and cast aside by the one friend he had in the world. Still, the author slyly hints that Camden may not be all that he seems and that definitely has me intrigued.

Halle has set the reader up for a wild ride and I feel like the train is just gaining steam. If you enjoy darker stories with shady characters, I can easily recommend this book.

Rating: B+

Review to come

This series just isn't doing it for me anymore.

I must say that this book was much better than the previous 2. There was a solid, if plodding, plot line. Merit and Ethan were together. Fences were being mending with Mallory. Overall though, the story and characters feel staid and on the verge or getting boring.

I love that Merit and Ethan are together, but we get to see maybe 5% of them interacting as a couple. I realize that romance takes a backseat in UF, but it would have interjected a little liveliness to the relationship.

I know I'm not articulating well, but it all comes down to...meh. If I had paid 4 or 5 bucks for it maybe I wouldn't have been as harsh but at $10 for an ebook, I think I'm done with this series.

Review to come

Lovely lighthearted novella - Review to come

3.5/5

Not my fave IAD book, but not a bad one by any means. I'll keep the review short.

Liked:
- Nix
- moving the story along more (Webb)
- Will & Munro's relationship
- Ronan and all his trash talking
- Chloe had a spine and a mouth on her
- Will as a tortured hero

Didn't Like:
- Will & Chloe's 180 turns in behavior gave me whiplash
- the overuse of sports/soccer analogies
- There wasn't much to the relationship besides sex (shades of Sabine & Rydstrom)
- forced plot points (mainly concerning Chloe)
- Lack of story when Will was captured by the order
- no other appearances of other IAD characters aside from Nix (Malkom Slaine makes a very brief appearance)

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley from the publisher. Though I had problems with the first book, I decided to forge on hoping for a better experience. Sadly, I had to DNF at nearly the halfway mark.
This book was the continuing story of a controlling billionaire, Jesse Ward, and his object of obsession, Ava O’Shea. I was anticipating learning exactly why Jesse was so over the top possessive and smothering and got not only no further information but continued manipulations that bordered on straight up abuse. Ava continued down her path of becoming a TSTL heroine, excusing every one of Jesse’s highly questionable actions.
The ugly co-dependence between the main characters and the complete denial by both Ava and Jesse’s friends make this book arduous and simply not entertaining.

Grade: DNF/F

*ARC received through NetGalley

Reviewed at Red Hot Books http://www.redhotbooks.com/2013/06/review-officer-off-limits.html

Tessa Bailey is becoming an auto-buy author for me. She writes such deliciously dirty talking alpha heroes that just make me sigh. This is the third book in the Line of Duty series and though loosely connected, each can be read as a stand alone.

Hot on the heels of a broken engagement, kindergarten teacher Story Brooks dashes across the country to be at the bedside of her estranged father, a New York cop. In the hospital she runs into her father’s protégé, Daniel Chase, and sparks fly. The only hitch in the plan is that dear old Dad forbids Daniel from hooking up with his daughter. This lasts all of a hot second and by the time Daniel takes Story home, he has her pinned up against a wall. She decides to use him for fun while she’s in town and as a way to get back on her feet after a long disappointing relationship, but both of them get much more than they bargained for.

Story is a cheeky girl who appears self-confident despite lingering insecurities from her ex and abandonment issues with her father. She is in a bit of an emotional block while coming to terms with the fact that she basically wasted the last 2 years on a guy that she really didn’t connect with and feeling like a failure. I liked that she stood up for herself and didn’t wallow.

Daniel was the one who threw me for a loop. I had expected a straight up cop hero but got a heart aching tortured hero - my favorite! Daniel grew up shuffling between foster homes, drifting without someone to give a crap about him until he joined the police force and was taken under the wing of Jack Brooks, Story’s father. Daniel matures in police work, but sticks to his womanizing ways because he doesn’t know how to care; he wasn’t ever taught. When Story tells Daniel she loves him and he says that’s the first time anyone had ever told him that, I wanted to rip my heart out and serve it on a platter to him. He just slowly unravels as this sensitive man underneath who survived a horrible childhood and ultimately just wants to belong to someone.

The sex between these two is insanely hot and all the dirty talk had me fanning myself. Besides the sex and romance, I loved all the banter in this book – Story and Daniel, Daniel and his boys, Story and her friend, Hayden. It really kicks up the fun and gives the main characters more depth. There is a slight twist to the story at about the 80% mark that was unexpected and felt a little unnecessary but that was really the only blemish on the book.

I really recommend this book for an unexpectedly sweet and sexy story! I can’t wait for the next one!

Rating: A-

*ARC Provided by Entangled

Reviewed at Red Hot Books http://www.redhotbooks.com/2013/06/review-this-man_18.html

Grade: C-

Ava O’Shea is a young successful interior designer who is sent to consult on a job in the country at an exclusive place called The Manor where she meets the enigmatic owner, Jesse Ward. From the first moment, of course, there is a connection. While Ava tries to keep her poise and professionalism, Jesse obsessively pursues her until she gives in.

I picked up this book because I actually received an ARC of the second book, Beneath This Man, and I have a thing about reading series in order whenever possible. After reading the blurb and knowing full well what kind of book I was getting into, I forged ahead.

Jesse is a controlling, possessive, borderline stalker. I can excuse these behaviors in a book provided that they come with proper character motivations or explanations. I love reading a good alpha, but this is not him. Jesse behaves like a petulant child when Ava ignores him. This is a man supposedly in his mid-thirties who hits redial non-stop because Ava won’t answer his call when she is at work. He basically stalks her wherever she goes and claims it’s for “her protection”. Again, this can be done so the reader can make peace with an unsettling action, but there is no basis or explanation for his reasoning other than he’s afraid she’ll get hurt in the big bad world. Finally, I found it vaguely insulting that Jesse’s age at 35 was considered “old”.

I found Ava even more frustrating because she would, at times, have a spine, ignore his calls and refuse to bend to his will and then throw that all out of the window basically because he was hot. Now, I agree that a pretty face can excuse some sins, but not when a man is dictating your every move and then throws a toddler-like tantrum. The author was trying to paint Jesse as a Dominant but there is nothing kinky about the sex. He’s just simply controlling and it has nothing to do with sex.

Overall, the scenes and descriptions were extremely repetitive and the smexy scenes were uninspiring (if I had to read one more time about lace underwear, I swear...). This book could’ve easily been reduced to a novella, which might have improved the overall enjoyment. Despite all the disappointments, I do admit there was a spark to the book and I am hoping the next book will be more fleshed out with better writing. This book is for the super fans only.

3.5/5

This was a perfectly fine book. It just didn't really catch me as some of her other works (Something About You). She's still an auto-buy author for me.

3.5 stars. Better than most NA out there. No cliffhanger. Will review later.

3.5 stars

Chase always gives a good read even when they aren't my favorite. She always writes such dry witty banter that just smile when reading. Recommend for a solid enjoyable read from a trusted author.