Synopsis

Jamie just moved to New Orleans and is experiencing her first Mardi Gras. Colin is a computer programmer who meets Jamie at a bar while helping out his friend the bar owner. After she accepts his offer to show her around Mardi Gras, passions were high fueled by their instant attraction. Plus Mardi Gras licentiousness stoked their simmering flame into a combustible event.

Alas, at the end of the night they get separated.

Knowing nothing more than first names, it was difficult for either party to follow up on the one night stand.

Colin’s ex-girlfriend helps him find Jamie. Meanwhile, Jamie, recently out of a very traumatic breakup with a sports celebrity, cannot decide if she wanted to be found or not.

They navigate their way through the relationship, dealing with ex’s and insecurities. In the end, they discover what is important while confessing their love for each other.

Opinion

This is one of those cotton-candy-types of romances. Sweet. Light. Fluffy.

The characters were amusing. I loved Colin. He was a cutie and a nurturer. Not my usual surly hero but a Prince Charming. At least he was a gamer computer programmer. I am more of a geek than jock girl.

However, I thought Jamie was overly neurotic. I know that she has reason considering she went from riches to rags plus no friends when she broke up with her sports celeb boyfriend. But get over it already! It was like she wanted to move on but could not.

Plus she had an annoying habit of micro-analyzing Colin as if he was just like her jerk ex. Since she was fresh out of a relationship, she should have taken it more slowly with Colin. Or at the very least, she should have been more open about (1) why she is relationship shy and (2) what drama she was still dealing with. It is exasperating that she wanted a relationship with Colin but wanted to shut him out at the same time. No wonder, he did what he did (not excusing him but saying I understand his frustration).

I thought the book happened all in one night/weekend. I was prepared to scoff at the early protestation of love. That was not the case. A plus in my book.

Overall, this is light fantasy romance reading. Series of very fortunate coincidences and they end up with a HEA.

This book in real life: two people have a one night stand during Mardi Gras never to see each other again even though they live in the same city. THE END

Should you buy? Even as annoyed as I got with Jamie, I think there were enough good points about this story to recommend reading. For the most part it is a predictable Harlequin romance.

The Commander finds love

Jun25

The Commander (Red, Hot, & Blue)

Synopsis

Now that all the SpecOps team members have their happy endings (this is the The Red, Hot & Blue series), Hank, the commander, is the focus of the story. Everyone looks up to and respects Hank. He has been a constant in their military career, like a father figure to most of them. Since he is larger than life for them, he cannot talk frankly to them about his feelings or what he wants out of life.

Lois is the mother to members of Hank’s SpecOps team. Just because she has adult children old enough to get married, does not mean she is some dowdy, old lady content to sit at home in her rocking chair waiting for the grandchildren to come. She is spunky, spirited, and energetic. She loves her sons, their girlfriends, and embraces everyone she meets with open arms.

Since Hank does not socialize with his direct reports, the image he had in his head about the way Lois (called Mama by his men) looked and how she actually looked was totally different. Before this book they knew of each other but had not met in person. When they finally meet, Hank was not prepared for the fact that she was hotter than his matronly mental image.

Opinion

I have mentioned in previous reviews that I like it when the characters are mature. I cannot remember reading a romance where the characters were in this age bracket; however it totally worked for the story.

Lois is a hardworking woman who was unfortunate the first time around when it came to love. At least she has her sons that will do anything for her. She spoils them but not too much. I think I liked her so much because she sounds like my ideal book mom.

Hank is a rugged, mature man who touches my heart too. I think he was realistic enough to admit that his failed relationship was partially his fault. Given his position, he did not really have anyone he could talk to about personal matters.

It feels funny calling the characters by their names since up until this point, they were Mama and Commander. I was as happy that Lois and Hank found each other as I would be about my parents (or my friend’s parents) finding romance. I skimmed over the love scenes though. Who wants to read about their parents making out? Ughhh. I rather not think about that. Oh the visuals.

Overall, I liked The Commander (Red, Hot, & Blue) because it was different from what I am used to reading in the sense that the characters were more mature age wise. Bravo to Cat Johnson for this storyline. Like the other books in this series, there is some graphic language and love scene detail.

Should you buy? It is worth the prices. While this story is full length, read the other stories in this series to get the full effect of who Lois and Hank are. Out of all the books, this is definitely the sweetest of all the story lines.

Book Details
ebook, 81 pages

Published December 31st 2013 by Samhain Publishing

Series Red, Hot & Blue #12

Fierce #YAromance novel not quite

Jun20

Fierce (New Adult Romance) – #1 Fierce Series

Synopsis

Autumn is a self-proclaimed nerdy good girl in her first year at college.

Hunter is also a college student but he is a bad boy. As a testament to his badness, he is in an illegal frat club (more like a fight club).

The two meet and are drawn to each other. They have some classes together. They hang out more and more with each other as their relationship develops.

Opinion

This book was not my cup of tea for many reasons.

ONE: I like characters that are mature. Autumn was not. I rolled my eyes at the overused “Oh my God” and the many variations of the phrase. Since the story was written in first person from Autumn’s POV, I got even more annoyed with her character because she seemed to lack common sense.

Example 1: drug deal scene. She was shouting at Hunter WHILE he is trying to do a covert drug deal. I am in no way condoning that type of illegal activity. I do know that drawing attention to people who are trying to hide their nefarious dealings usually ends up with a person getting shot.

Example 2: Autumn’s relationship with her friend Evie. Her friend Evie is a lesbian who has a crush on her. Instead of telling the girl she does not feel the same way, she refuses to address it. It was almost like she was leading the girl on. Evie had to pointedly ask her what the status was. If Autumn was as good of a friend as she proclaimed, it should not have come to that.

TWO: How is Hunter still in college? He does not go to class most of the time. And when he is in class, he is not paying attention. Plus, I did not get the impression Hunter was the most adept fighter. The reason for his joining the fight club did not make much sense either. As with fighting in book or movies, my first thought is “How is it that the person does not have brain damage yet?” I think Hunter did have brain damage but does not realize it. He got hit in the head a lot.

THREE: By the end of the book, the author tried to bring all the elements of the story together, but it seem forced to me. After all Autumn had been through, she was still acting like a juvenile and it annoyed me. Meanwhile, Hunter magically appears to save the day at the end. How he extricated himself from his own precarious situation and still had time and the mental capacity to be a hero while defending his girlfriend is beyond me.

I read other reviews of this book and wondered if we were reading the same story. The reviewers were talking about how great Hunter and Autumn were. I was scratching my head trying determine if I was being too hard on the characters. In the end I decided that even though I know I sound like a grumpy old lady, I thought it was all ridiculous. I was reminded why I do not read young adult romance novels.

Should you buy? I do not recommend it. However if you like teen hero/heroine romance, you might enjoy it.

Can’t help falling in love #Sullivanseries – #BellaAndre

Jun10

Can’t Help Falling In Love (The Sullivans Book 3)

Synopsis

Megan is a widow whose first husband was an adrenaline junkie died in a plane crash. Now mother a 7-year old daughter, she lives in an apartment in San Francisco. When there is a fire, the firefighter who saves her and her daughter is Gabe. While she is attracted to Gabe, she has a rule not to date men whose jobs are dangerous.

Gabe is a firefighter who is used to being the hero. However, he gets tired of people putting him on that pedestal and expecting him to be perfect. That is why he has a rule not to date women that he saves while firefighting. The rule was a result of a failed relationship that he attributed to that fact. Even though he tries hard to avoid a relationship with Megan, it seems that the attraction is too strong.

“There was an earthquake going on inside her from nothing more than Gabe’s hot eyes staring at her from across the room.”

Opinion

Gabe was a hottie firefighter. Love him. When he decided what he wanted, he was a man with a plan.

While in the beginning Megan and Gabe has their reasons for thinking they were not right for each other, it seemed the rest of the characters were conspiring to ensure they got together. Megan’s daughter was the most devious of the bunch in that aspect. It was humorous the way that Gabe and Megan were fighting the attraction.

“The growing heat in his eyes was response enough for her to realize that she already gone off course on the whole ‘nothing but friends’ thing”

I understand Megan’s reasons for trying to avoid a relationship with Gabe. As the wife of a firefighter, I know the reality of fighting fires is that their lives can be in danger. But after a while, I wanted to tell Megan to get a grip. She was sending so many mixed messages to Gabe. At least she worked out all of her hang ups and let herself be happy.

SIDENOTE: A long time ago (about 3 years), I read a book by Bella Andre and I thought it was trashier than my normal trashy. I cannot remember the story line but I remember thinking it was ridiculous. For a while I would not read any of Bella Andre’s books. I think because I have a soft spot for firefighters, I decided to give her a try again. I enjoyed reading “Can’t help falling in love” and I am looking forward to reading other books in the Sullivan series.

For the record, this book does not qualify as a trashy romance.

Accidental Abduction – Blood, Boobs, and Carnage #Blogfest #bloodboobscarnage

May18

I am participating in a blogfest called Blood, Boobs, and Carnage

The terms were simple- choose a movie, book, or television show that fits the theme. It can be any genre that fits the bill – fantasy, science fiction, action, adventure, western, thriller, etc. This Blogfest is hosted by Alex J Cavanaugh andHeather Gardner.

I chose the book Accidental Abduction

Synopsis
Tren is an alien that thought he was beaming up some fish from earth to sell on the universal market. He didn’t mean to abduct the human female too, but now that he has her, he wonders what to do with her.

Megan was drowning in the ocean after her boyfriend pushed her off a boat. Instead of dying, she is beamed up on to a space ship. While she knows she should be more subdued, she cannot resist being mouthy.

Tren prides himself in staying in control of his emotions and actions, but Megan pushes all his buttons and ignites his baser instincts. When she is kidnapped on purpose, he will stop at nothing to get her back.

Opinion
This book. Where do I even start? I guess I should explain why I chose it for the challenge.

Blood

When Tren decides that he is not going to deny how he feels, his enemies see kidnapping Megan as a way to manipulate him. THAT does not go well for them. He has no mercy when it comes to eliminating his enemies. Funny thing, Megan is gets a guilty thrill on the fact that he killing all these aliens to save her. She is trying to be shocked, but at the same time, she is like

Boobs

It is a romance.
Tren has no nipples!
And he says she is weird for only having two breasts.

Carnage

There is a line of entrails from evil villains that tried to kidnap Megan, but failed miserably. It is the wild, wild west in the universe and no one messes with Tren’s mate and gets away with it. She gets kidnapped twice and both times Tren is like

Overall, the book made me laugh. Tren was not trying to pick up a human to be his mate, it just happened. Megan was cheeky, brazen, bold, and audacious as ever. Tren tried to intimidate her, but she had nothing to lose. To be fair, he did keep threatening to sell her. She was just calling his bluffs. With all that sexual tension going on, there was only one way it was really going to go.

Book details
Accidental Abduction (Alien Abduction Book 1)
Length: 142 pages