Category Archives: Review
Review: Mermaid Inn by Jenny Holiday
Mermaid Inn
Jenny Holiday
Matchmaker Bay Series, Book 1
Escape to Matchmaker Bay in this hilarious and heartwarming second chance romance from the USA Today bestselling “master of witty banter” (Entertainment Weekly).
Eve Abbott has a problem-actually, make that a lot of problems. And they’re all going to get worse the moment her toes hit the sand in Matchmaker Bay. Once a blissful summer escape, now the tiny town just reminds Eve of loss. Inheriting her aunt’s beloved Mermaid Inn is the only reason Eve is coming back. She’s definitely not ready to handle nosy neighbors, extensive renovations, or the discovery that a certain heartbreaker still lives down the street…
Police Chief Sawyer Collins always does the right thing, even when it costs him everything. Like Evie. He’s spent the past ten years trying to forget her–to forget how right she felt in his arms, to forget the pain in her eyes the day she left. The last thing he expects is to see her back in town or to find that the spark between them is as strong as ever. Sawyer knows this is his only chance to prove that his feelings have always been real… before Eve turns tail and leaves for good.
Includes the bonus novella Meant to Be by Alison Bliss!
4 Stars
Librarian Eve Abbott is determined and a bit angry. Upon inheriting her aunt’s home all those things she left in Matchmaker Bay are brought to the surface putting her determination to sell the house in high gear. Due to a stipulation in the will, Eve now finds herself stuck in the last place she what’s to be. In the proximity of the last person she wants to be around in a town full of meddling people who think it’s their job to match make.
Mermaid Inn is a sweet second chance romance. Eve was an amazing heroine. Life through her A curveball and she went with it. Her character develops so much from the beginning to the end of the book it was like watching a new flower blossom. I love that she decided to take her fears head-on, push through the bad parts, and was able to overcome. Eve pushed herself on many levels throughout this book and I think that’s part of why I enjoyed her so much. Sawyer was noble in his thoughts but his execution pretty much sucked. I love the reasons he did what he did but like a man if they would just learn to talk things would be different. I also enjoyed the tenderness that he had for Eve. They were truly a couple that was meant to be.
A charming lakeside town in Canada sets the stage for a fun and heartwarming second chance at love in Mermaid Inn. Eve and Sawyer take a slow dance around the attraction and chemistry they share. They are truly a wonderful couple together. The lake scenes with Sawyer and Eve are some of my favorites of the book. They show trust and caring along with determination and Hope. Jenny Holiday spin a wonderful tale of second chance love.
Review: Four Money by Jayne Rylon
Four Money
Jayne Rylon
Ever and Always Duet, Book 1
Would it be the worst thing in the world to accept an obscene amount of money in exchange for living with a guy and a couple of his best friends for three months?
Seems like a no brainer. But what if it means sharing their beds, too?
Let’s be honest, Holly would probably do that for free considering how hot, successful, and fun to be around they are.
Besides, if she helps Trent cash in on his inheritance—with a few naughty strings attached—she could pay for the life-saving surgery her mother’s insurance company has denied.
The one thing she can’t afford is falling in love when the man she’s obsessed with plans to ditch her after their ninety days are over.
Four Money is book one of the Ever & Always duet. Holly, Trent, Lorenzo, and Owen’s story will conclude in Four Love.
3.5 Stars
Ms. Rylon hit the reader hard and fast with Four Money.
What would you do for the right amount of money?
Holly is about to her wits end trying to figure a way to pay medical expenses for her mom. Trent is a professional gambler trying to stack the chips to fund the startup for his company. Lorenzo and Owen are Trent’s closest friends, roommates and his poly partners.
Holly is a force for sure, pure willpower and guts with such a caring nature. Trent is smart and funny. I truly enjoyed his personality and passion. We truly only just start to get to know Lorenzo and Owen in Four Money, however their charisma shines through.Opportunity knocked and Trent and Holly answered not know the surprise that was about to become their lives.
Four Money packs a punch from beginning to end. Wow. Well written characters, a super fast paced story and plot that will knock you down. Four Money is a chance on life in more ways than one. Reviewer Warring: This book is a Duet and that is stated before I started reading. Ms. Rylon hits us with quite the cliffhanger that I never saw coming. If you are not a fan of cliffhangers, highly recommend that you wait until Four Love release and read them back to back.
Review: Wild Side by Mari Carr
Wild Side
Mari Carr
Wilder Irish Series, Book 9
Kindle Edition, 194 pages
No strings attached? Wrong. So wrong.
Layla moved to Baltimore in search of a fresh start. After too many years in a lackluster relationship, she’s ready to embrace her wild side. Casual is her new middle name and the last thing she wants or needs is a serious relationship.
Finn and his best friend, Miguel are ALL IN on showing Layla a good time. After all, neither one of them is looking for love either. Or so they think.
Until Finn falls for Layla and Miguel falls for Finn and Layla falls for…both men. Then it’s a wild side freefall as the three lovers try to make one plus one plus one equal the perfect match.
4.5 stars
Wild Side is a super hot, yet tender story of moving past being friends and giving into the impulses that lovers crave. Mari Carr blends passion and a bit of suspense give the reader one delightful read.
Finn is finally seeing that the Collins curse is a gift and not a burden. He sees what his family has and wants this in his life. Layla has returned to Baltimore to restart life after the ending of a relationship and to be away from the thumb of her protecting brothers. She wants a wild adventure, to explore her own wild side. Miguel had a rough start but has become an amazing man. Family to him is more than blood. Miguel wants what Finn’s family has shown him.
Wow! Talk about a friends to lovers story. Wild Side is so many good thing wrapped in a beautiful package. Friendship and family, love and adventure, truth and emotions, honestly and self discovery. When desired emotions become tangled within friendship it can either make or break. Finn like Layla, Miguel like Layla and Miguel liked Finn. What they didn’t see coming was the connection the three of them shared together. They gave into the chemistry, attraction and impulse to be something more. Mari Carr more than made the story about love. Sexual orientation didn’t matter it was about their emotions and feelings for each other acting on them and figuring out where they stood with each other. Not only was this an intensely hot, toe curling story it was very endearing and heartwarming as well. It was about love.
Wild Side is a great addition to the Wilder Irish, Collins family series.
Review: Taken With You by Carrie Ann Ryan
Taken With You
Carrie Ann Ryan
Fractured Connections Series, Book 4
1001 Dark Nights
It all started at a wedding. Beckham didn’t mean to dance with Meadow. And he really didn’t mean to kiss her. But now, she’s the only thing on his mind. And when it all comes down to it, she’s the only person he can’t have.
He’ll just have to stay away from her, no matter how hard they’re pulled together.
Running away from her friend’s wedding isn’t the best way to keep the gossip at bay. But falling for the mysterious and gorgeous bartender at her friends’ bar will only make it worse. Beckham has his secrets, and she refuses to pry.
Once burned, twice kicked down, and never allowed to get up again. Yet taking a chance with him might be the only choice she has. And the only one she wants.
4.5 Stars
Meadow and Beckham both have a dark past that intertwined them together but yet only one of them knows. Both have left behind a life and a version of themselves that they are not proud of but have learned from to be the people they are now. Both have found a place where the meaning of friendship and family mean something very different than they are used to.
Both are very guarded of themselves yet trying to just live life. Beckham and Meadow are both broken and together they find a way to heal. They are sweet and passionate separately and together they are explosive.
Taken With You is a fantastic quick read in the Fractured Connections Series. Meadow and Beckham will make your heart pitter patter while catching up with characters from the previous books in the series.
Review: Almost Just Friends by Jill Shalvis
Almost Just Friends
Jill Shalvis
Wildstone Series, Book 4
New York Times bestselling author Jill Shalvis returns to Wildstone with the touching story of finding your place in the world—and the people who make it home.
Piper Manning’s about as tough as they come, she’s had to be. She raised her siblings and they’ve thankfully flown the coop. All she has to do is finish fixing up the lake house her grandparents left her, sell it, and then she’s free.
When a massive storm hits, she runs into a tall, dark and brooding stranger, Camden Reid. There’s a spark there, one that shocks her. Surprising her further, her sister and brother return, each of them holding their own secrets. The smart move would be for Piper to ignore them all but Cam unleashes emotions deep inside of her that she can’t deny, making her yearn for something she doesn’t understand. And her siblings…well, they need each other.
Only when the secrets come out, it changes everything Piper thinks she knows about her family, herself…and Cam. Can she find a way to outrun the demons? The answer is closer than she thinks—just as the new life she craves may have already begun.
4.5 Stars
Almost Just Friends is almost too real. Heart and home, trust and sacrifice, hurt and healing wrapped in a tale family and love.
Piper thinks she got herself on the right track. She has a game plan, lots of lists and more than enough will to accomplish the goals she sets. Piper is as fierce and tenacious as they come. Growing up fast, caring for her siblings and trying to make the best of what they had, has given Piper a hard edge, but the woman has a heart like no other. She is not a stranger to sacrifice, and she would sacrifice over and over again for those she loves.
In blows a storm that lights a spark with a stranger, carrying her siblings home and a bucket full of secrets to make Piper’s head spin. Just wanting a new life became something altogether different than what she want. But needed more than she knew. With a handsome Cam knocking on her romance door, her siblings and their respective secrets eating at her, Piper’s new life hands already began.
Almost Just Friends is all about family, those born to you and those you choose to bring in. Hot messes and all. Life is not always easy but those around you make it a lot better. Ms. Shalvis twisted wit and humor with emotion and life’s choices that make people people discover who they are and whom they want to be. Piper and Cam captivate reader with the depth at which they will go and of just who they are. A story you truly don’t want to miss.
Review: Hero’s Haven by Rebecca Zanetti
Hero’s Haven After years of struggling, Haven Daly has finally accepted that she’s nuttier than a fruitcake. Why else would she see visions of a beautiful but tormented male every night . . . and actually believe she can talk to him, even feel his touch? But thanks to those dream journeys, she can paint images nobody else on earth can duplicate. In each brush stroke, she captures the blatant masculinity and raw desire in his eyes that promise he’s coming for her…and soon.
She’s the light that keeps him going. . .
Quade Kayrs has already suffered a lifetime of pain and torture. Completely isolated, he kept his sanity thanks to one beautiful female, a vision with kind emerald eyes. In the end, her soft voice led him out of hell. Now, naked and alone, he’s in a strange world that bears little resemblance to the one he left behind. All he knows is Haven. All he wants is Haven. His final mission? To protect her from the evil hunting them both—whether she likes it or not . . .
4 Stars
Quade Kayrs has spent more than a few lifetimes living and dying in pure hell. The only thing that seems to keep him going are those few moments, those glimpses of a beautiful woman invading his realm. Haven Daly thinks she’s crazy but unique is a more appropriate way to describe her. A fiercely independent woman, an amazing artist and a girl on the run.
Driven by visions and a pull Haven and Quade start the wheels of motion on something that makes epic look small. Through an action packed, fast paced, dangerous story Haven and Quade build a sexual tension that practically just off the pages. The banter between these two is top notch. Their chemistry is intense as is everything else going on in the book. The depths they easily went to for one another made every bit of craziness so worth.
Hero’s Haven is a true on the edge of your seat read. Once I started, I couldn’t stop reading until I was done. Strong characters and fabulous world building are just the start of why I enjoyed. The action scenes are spot on and engaging. And let’s just say those hot moments are definitely on fire. Ms. Zanetti kept Haven and Quade’s story moving yet nothing felt rushed or unnatural for the story. A true heart pounding, blood pumping read.
Review: Murder Ink by Lorraine Bartlett
Murder Ink
Lorraine Bartlett with Gayle Leeson
Victoria Square Mystery Series, Book 6
Published December 31, 2019
Berkley Books, 304 pages
The charm of Victoria Square may prove to be only skin deep when murder follows the arrival of a tattoo parlor in town in this latest installment of the New York Times bestselling series.
A tattoo parlor on Victoria Square? Some of the merchants get hot under the collar at the proposal, but could they be driven to kill to stop it? That’s what the sheriff’s office and Katie Bonner want to know when the building’s owner is electrocuted with his own saw.
Meanwhile, tensions rise when a hot chef takes over the square’s tea shop. Will Katie have three men vying for her affections, or will her rival take the tea cake?
3.5 Stars
When a tattoo shop plans to open on Victoria Square it shakes up more than the merchants view of what business should be on the square. When the owner of said tattoo shop dies one of their own is the prime suspect.
Katie is the owner of Artisans Alley and Tealicious as well as president of the Victoria Square Merchants Association. She is a strong woman, not intimidated and an amazing entrepreneur. Katie finds herself in the middle of murder, trying to help a friend, playing detective and trying not to second guess everything she sees. There were moments when I thought Katie was overreacting and other when I thought, girl you got this together.
Murder Ink is my first read in the Victoria Square and an enjoyable one. It did take me to be to catch up with who was who and how they all worked together but I got it. I enjoyed the mystery that kept me guessing. I’m a romance reader first and foremost so Katie and Andy’s romance and squabbles were a bonus to this read. The writing style of Lorraine Bartlett is fun and keeps the pages turning. I was able to feel like I was right at home with these characters even though this was my first read of the series.
Review: From Flame and Ash by Carrie Ann Ryan
From Flame and Ash
Carrie Ann Ryan
Elements of Five Series, Book 2
NYT Bestselling Author Carrie Ann Ryan continues Lyric’s epic journey in this spellbinding sequel to From Breath and Ruin.
Lyric lost her past, her friends, and even her connections to both worlds when she found out about the Maison realm and her calling. But now she must put that aside and travel back to the Maison realm to continue her training as the Spirit Priestess. Only her journey isn’t to Rhodes and those she fought alongside before. This time, Easton and the other Obscurité warriors will stand by her side as she tries to unlock her final three elements.
However, just as she starts to learn more about what she’s been prophesied to do, a Seer’s wish and the calling of the Lumière kingdom calls her forth, thrusting Lyric into another journey where she must trust those on both sides of the age-old war to survive…and keep those she loves safe.
4 Stars
Carrie Ann Ryan gives readers a compelling and suspenseful read with the second installment of the Elements of Five Series, From Flame and Ash.
Lyric has lost all she’s known while coming into the new person she’s become. This journey takes her Obscurite Kingdom and into an age old battle of light and dark. Lyric makes stunning leaps coming into her power and learning to find her place. Lyric truly opens her mind to the reader allowing them to see all the struggles she deals with. Lyric’s quest to unlock her elements is captivating and magical. Lyric proves her strength time and time again as her world gets tipped upside down on more than one occasion.
Carrie Ann Ryan has something truly special going on with From Flame and Ash. Lyric is an amazing character. She goes with the flow, even as the flow has her life in and out of danger. The amount of growth we’ve seen from her in just two books is part of what kept me flying through the pages. The world building Ms. Ryan has put into the Elements of Five Series is outstanding. From Flame and Ash get very high praise in my book. I should note that YA/NA is not my normal cup of tea when it comes to reading but Ms. Ryan caught me with Lyric’s adventurous saga.
Review: Twist of Fate by Jill Shavlis
Twist of Fate
Jill Shalvis
Heartbreaker Bay Series, Book 8.5
1001 Dark Nights
When the one you want …
Daisy doesn’t believe love is ever-lasting, so it’s ironic as hell that she parlayed a business degree into a wedding planning business. More ironic still is her latest job bringing her back into contact with the man who’d taught her that love can’t last.
Is the one you can’t have…
To say Diego has been taught the hard way to bury emotions is an understatement. But when he’s called home to help the brother he hasn’t seen or spoken to in years, that’s one thing. It’s another entirely to also come face to face with the first woman he ever loved. First and only…
Can love conquer all?
Daisy’s learned to depend only on herself, and Diego is and always has been an island of one. And yet when they’re together, even when they’re bickering, still wary and haunted by memories of what was … it’s magic. The question is, how to find their way back to each other…? (less)
4 Stars
Diego Stone is a little less than happy about returning to San Francisco for his brother’s wedding. Issues from years passed, in family and love, have kept Diego away for more than a decade. Even with the rocky relationship with his brother, Diego agrees to be part of the wedding.
Daisy Evans is an amazing event planner. She struggled for many years to be able to live her dream and be what she wanted to be. After years of hard work she returns to San Francisco and begins to make a name for herself. Agreeing to help a friend with his wedding puts Daisy in a position where she will be face-to-face with her first love. A love she has yet to get over.
Twist of Fate is a sweet and romantic second chance at life. Daisy and Diego have chemistry to spare and their attraction has not wavered one bit through the years. Yet they both harbor feelings of hurt and loss with each other. When their love started they were both young and life was just beginning, yet life also happens. Years have not taken away from the love they shared, they just had to find away to be able to open themselves to each other. Through a series of wedding planning events Degio and Daisy rediscover what they had and more. They open the old wounds, gash it out and begin their healing and life together.
Twist of Fate is a wonderful introduction to Ms. Shalvis’s Heartbreaker Bay Series for those who have yet to read and nice treat for those who have. I very much enjoyed this visit to Heartbreaker Bay with Degio and Daisy.
Review: Rough Ride by Jayne Rylon
Rough Ride
Jayne Rylon
Powertools: Hot Rides Series, Book 5
Sevan has been keeping secrets. She’s not the errand boy everyone at the Wildfire outlaw motorcycle gang thinks she is. No, she’s been playing a dangerous game, hunting their president from inside their ranks in the name of revenge. And if anyone finds out, they won’t hesitate to kill her.
Levi Jansen has always been drawn to Sevan, even when he thought she was a scrawny male mechanic named Rivet. He can’t blame her for that since he’s been hiding plenty too. As an undercover agent, he’s relied on his tenuous partnership with ex-con, Ransom, to infiltrate Wildfire and build an ironclad case against them.
As the three of them swirl deeper into darkness, they’ll need to rely on each other to find their way out, and back home to Hot Rides. Otherwise they’re doomed to become exactly what they’ve been fighting so hard to defeat.
Allowing themselves to be distracted by desire would be the stupidest thing they could do. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to ignore the sizzling attraction between them, complicating everything.
This is a standalone book in the Hot Rides series and includes an HEA with no cheating. The series is part of the greater universe where both the Powertools and Hot Rods books are also set, so you can visit with many of your previous favorite characters and see what they’re up to now!
4 Stars
An undercover cop, an ex con and a woman disguising herself as a man have found themselves tangled in danger and on a dark mission with revenge in their sights. Each carrying a secret and damage to their souls. Rivet, Ransom and Levi return the MC, to take it down.
I can’t decide if Rivet is bravest, smartest woman or crazy with a death wish. The things one does for revenge. The woman is deep, intense and fears nothing. Ransom and Levi are equally as intense yet so very alpha. While Sharing similar characteristics these two men could not be more different from each other. Each of their scars cut deep but make them the man they are.
Rough Ride is an intense, white knuckled, oh so hot ride. Dark and dangerous with the intent on nothing but revenge. Yet three people somehow find their way to each other in a completely messed up situation. The wrong move could be it for all three. Rivet, Ransom and Levi found something beyond beautiful in a mess of darkness. They learn to lean on and trust one another. Ms. Rylon pulls out all the stops and kept me flying through the pages. Rough Ride’s dark edge and intensity, fast pace and good plot line, and passion beyond passion makes this installment of the Powertools Hot Ride my favorite.
Coffee Books Life 