Tag Archive | romance

Hard to love a model #modelbehavior

Feb15

Model Behavior ♥♥♥

Synopsis

Ben and Olivia (Livvie) have been friends for a long time. He is a wealthy businessman. She is a model. Ben decides to drop the gauntlet and start the 24 hours he has to complete 7 tasks in order to sleep with Olivia.

While Livvie is content to friendzone Ben, he is determined to do what it takes to prove that he is in for the long haul. He wants a long-term romantic relationship.

Opinion

The book…two words: EMOTIONALLY CHARGED

From the synopsis, I was expecting Livvie to be an ice queen. In the beginning, I thought that I did not like her. She makes out a crazy list of things that Ben has to do before she will sleep with him. Who does that? And when he is having success with the aforementioned list, she tries to sabotage him?

Why Livvie? Why?

Ben tries to make his case:

“I’m reasonably attractive.
I like to think I can make you laugh even when you’d rather throw me out a window.” – Ben

Throughout the book, I thought he explained everything adequately and was sincere. I could not understand why Livvie would continue to be a jerk. Here was a guy that was trying to show her how much he cared.

“He’d spent the past five years of his life looking for ways into her life.”- Ben

“I hate men like you.” – Livvie

Not the response I was hoping to hear from Livvie. I kept reading because I really hoped there would be a HEA ending. However, once Livvie elaborates, I felt sorry for her and wondered how this all would end. She protected herself emotionally the best she could. Her modeling career left her so jaded that she was blinded as to what could be happiness.

Livvie thought she knew him, but she had a lot to learn about his complexities instead of pigeonholing him in the simple “rich guy” category.

Ben struck me as a true romantic. While he does not know the full extent of Livvie’s emotional damage, he truly believes his love for her can overcome any barrier. As sincere as he was, to really love Livvie, he has to understand the reasons behind her reluctance. As he developed in that way, my heart fell for him a little bit more.

My only critical comment was that the ending seemed sudden. After all the buildup, I wish there had been an epilogue. I wanted needed more page time for the happy couple.

Should you buy? Yes. This not your standard fluff Harlequin romance. For me, I enjoyed the way that my initial view of Livvie changed throughout the book as I got a fuller picture of who he was. It has some steamy parts but not a lot. Ben is trying to bridge the gap from friendship to lovers while Livvie avoids him at every turn. The author does a fantastic job of giving the render insight into the characters. I think that there is enough depth of character development but not in a melodramatic way. I think you will be entertained.

As a side point, there is some crude language, not excessive, but it is there.

I received ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Save me from the Billionaire

Jan5


The Billionaire’s Salvation:: (The Billionaire’s Obsession ~ Max) ♥♥♥

Synopsis

Max is a billionaire whose wife Mia was missing in what appeared to be a drowning. Two years later, Mia reappears. However, because of a head injury, she has amnesia. Max is not leaving her side. He is ecstatic to have a second chance with his wife who was thought to be dead. Mia wants to remember what happened so that she can figure out what happened to her during the two-year disappearance.

Opinion

Ummm. The plot to this story was more convoluted than I usually have patience for. I gave this book a lot of leeway because I liked the first two books in the Billionaire’s Obsession series.

Before the disappearance, Max thought his love for Mia was too intense. Not wanting to overwhelm her, he reigned in his true emotions. That only made him seem more distant. The more “distant” he became, the more Mia tried to change to what she thought he wanted her to be so that he would stay. The more she changed, the more Max tried to stay away since he thought he was loving her too much. It was a vicious cycle.

 Max- “I’ve always adored you, but I’m not sure we ever really knew each other.”

Yeah. What we have here is a failure to communicate.

Now that Max has her back in his life, he is determined to let her know how he really feels. Of course, there were the usual “You’re mine” and “You belong to me“declarations all throughout the book. He cannot be obsessed if he does not definitively make his claim. However, I cannot explain why his declarations were lacking something. I did not have the same warm fuzzy feeling as with Sam and Simon. I think the main reason is because, other than the fact that he was adopted, he had no real problems in his childhood. Why does he have issues? What did he have to overcome to find love?

Then book got sappy with all the times they said “I love you”.

It might be a big surprise to you, but I am not a romantic. If the couple realizes early in the book that they are in love, I need for them to have major conflict for the rest of the book to help them understand that their love is real without a doubt. In this case, they were so in love the whole book with no real conflict. Real conflict , in my opinion, is not easily resolved with communication.

The whole book could be chalked up to a major misunderstanding.

Side point #1: It seemed Max’s frequent use of profanity did not fit his personality. I thought it was unnecessary.

 Side point #2: Mia got on my nerves. Considering she was a victim of domestic violence from a previous relationship, I tried to be understanding. But it got to a point where I thought she was being totally ridiculous.

 Overall, I did not think The Billionaire’s Salvation was as good as the first two in the series. I will continue reading the series because I love, love Sam and Simon. I will probably read any book where they make an appearance. I must say that I am looking forward to Travis’ story because he seems to have what it takes to be another one of my dreamy book boyfriends.

Should you buy? Since this was my least favorite of the series so far, probably not. If you have Amazon Prime borrow it.

Red Hot compilation – MEGA review time

Dec20

Red Hot Obsession (10 book compilation)

I cannot rate the whole book with one rating because the ratings for the stories varied greatly. Plus, there were a few that I did not even waste my time reading. Most are full length novels- meaning between 100-200 pages. I bought the whole collection on sale for 99cents one weekend. I thought that if only one book was entertaining, that was still a good price.

These are the books that I thought were worth reading ♥♥♥

That First Kiss (Night Calls Book 2) (J.C. Valentine) – favorite book of this whole compilation. It was not anything outstanding but the story was cute. Piper and Tate have a quickie is a club bathroom (ick!) Friday night and find out Monday morning that they are working together. Oh joy! As you can imagine, hilarity and much sexual tension ensues. (writing a post about this one later)

His Wicked Games: A Cunningham Family Novel (His Wicked Games #1) (Ember Casey) – Lily has staked out Calder’s mansion because she wants to force him to honor the agreement his father made regarding a donation to their non-profit organization. Calder is not moved, but then decides he will play a game where the winner takes what they want. They are both dealing with some things.

In the Meh category ♥♥

 

Stories in the compilation that I did not Read ♥

 Layers Deep (Layers Trilogy Book 1) (Lacey Silks)– no happy ending until book 2 – at least the author had the consideration to tell me before I spent my time reading it. Thank you Lacey Silks!

His Indecent Lessons (Sky Corgan)– synopsis: Professor’s carnal knowledge lessons with a student. My opinion: Not for me. I tried to read it but the heroine was annoying and immature sounding. She was a college student so that probably has a lot to do with it. The professor’s lesson (the one scene I read as I tried to finish) sounded clinical instead of romantic.

Sorority Pledge Collection: Steamy Books 1-5 (Sorority Pledge Saga)(Daizie Draper) – six novellas and no happy ending until book 10? I’ll pass. I’m not buying another 4 books for a potentially lackluster story.

Billionaires in Disguise: Rae (Complete Series, Episodes 1-9): A Romance Novel(Blair Babylon) – synopsis: Part one of the story about a college girl romance with billionaire. Started reading it but did not finish because (1) the last 3 books (see above) were strike outs (2) I was tired of reading first person point of view stories and (3) the heroine seemed to be making some unwise choices. On a separate but kind of related note, I read another book by the same author (part of the same Billionaires in Disguise series) and I was indifferent towards those characters as well.

So this is how I felt for most of the compilation.

That was fine though because from an economical point of view, I spent 50cents each on two books that I liked. I got 8 mostly rubbish books but I choose not to focus on that.

I love a story with heart

Sep10


The Heart of Devin MacKade (The MacKade Brothers) ♥♥♥♥

Synopsis

In the small town Antietam, Devin has loved Cassie for 12 years. When they were younger, he hesitated to make a move, not knowing that she would marry the first man who showed her interest in an effort to escape a miserable home life.

Fast forward to the present day: Cassie is now divorced with two children. Her family carries the emotional scars from the domestic abuse that was a daily occurrence. Her ex-husband is in prison and Cassie is trying to heal.

Still hopelessly in love, Devin is now sheriff and has a list of reasons/excuses to see Cassie every day. Cassie is ignorant to the depth of his feelings.

A friendly gesture ignites the passion between them but can their love last?

 

Opinion

Devin has everything going for him: looks and charm. In my mind, I think he is probably a hotter version of Andy Griffith. It was sweet that he had loved Cassie for so long. When he sees his chance to make a move, he tries but thinks that he might have unintentionally friendzoned himself. I understand that he does not want to make the same mistake he made years ago, but she is not the same person she was years ago either.

“Was he going to have to settle-always- for protecting, for watching over, for being the dependable friend, the favorite honorary uncle?”

Cassie likes Devin’s company but thinks that is all it could be in their relationship. There is the added embarrassment (in her mind) that he is the sheriff and knows more than anyone else about the mistreatment inflicted by her ex-husband. She has only known abuse when it comes to physical relations. When she experienced tenderness from Devin, she does not know what to think. He makes her feel things that she did not know were possible.

“Why did you kiss me like that?”

I loved this story because the characters were so lovable. I could empathize with Devin’s frustration and impatience when things did not go according to his plan. He knew he had to maintain that delicate balance to help her move forward with her life while she healed from the past hurt. Additionally, Devin had to be concerned about the emotional well-being of Cassie’s two children. They were dealing with the consequences of their father abusing their mother. As for Cassie, I admire her strength. She was emotionally abused by her mother and physically abused by her ex-husband, yet her spirit was not completely broken.

In the end, The Heart of Devin MacKade is not a love story between a man and woman. It is a love story between a man, a woman, and her two children.

Great story! Loved it. This is a classic romance to be expected from Nora Roberts.

FYI: While The Heart of Devin MacKade is available for $7.99 on Amazon, I saw The MacKade Brothers Bundle: The Return of Rafe MacKade\The Pride of Jared MacKade\The Heart of Devin MacKade\The Fall of Shane MacKade available for $9.99. What a steal!!!

Can’t buy me love

Apr10

Can’t Buy Me Love (The Eligible Billionaires) (Volume 1) ♥♥♥

Synopsis:

Meg is Cole’s executive personal assistant and the lead working on closing a deal that would be a major win for Cole’s company. Due to an unstable childhood because of a mother who was not discerning with her bed partners, Meg has a rule not to engage in a physical relationship with her boss.

Cole is CEO and his executive assistant has been getting under his skin. Although he suspects that he might be in love, he does not want to succumb because of his major trust issues. Yes, they are justified concerns, but he cannot assume every person is out to get him.

Opinion:

Both main characters are emotionally damage, but Cole’s distrust is almost the downfall of the relationship. At least in the end, he addresses those issues in the correct romantic way. Meg was a good, strong female. She was spunky enough to stand up for herself and walked away when she needed to do so. She might have been crying when she left, but she made her exit with her head held high. She was the ultimate professional and thought a lot about safeguarding her reputation.

Overall, I totally liked Meg. She had her principles and she stuck to them so that she would not be accused of ending up like her mother. Cole was okay, but even better once he realized that what a gem he had in Meg. For most of the book, he was the stereotypical alpha-male who did not know what to do when love had his life spiraling out of his control. Plus, Cole’s lack of empathy for the position he put Meg in was slightly annoying to me. While he might have lost money if she was a gold-digger, Meg would lose her professional reputation, and possibly future career opportunities, if people thought she was sleeping with her boss.

In many ways, Can’t Buy Me Love was your typical boss-secretary romance. The story was entertaining and the conflict was well played. I gave the book 3 hearts instead of 4 because it took a while for Cole to learn his lesson.