Lindsay - from Co2BL

I enjoyed this book much more than the previous book about Nick and Daisy. 

In Last Hit: Reloaded, the relationship is already established between Daisy and Nick, so the action happened quicker, keeping the book moving and keeping me hooked. 

I think the life they’re building together is an interesting one, and wouldn’t mind seeing more about it. 

I was especially interested in the McFadden development for Nick. I don’t really trust McFadden but I could easily see a series about Nick working with McFadden happening. I think it would be interesting. 

I can’t say I enjoyed the Christine storyline. I felt bad for Daisy, that she was having trouble making friends, but I never really liked Christine. I felt bad for her situation, but she did nothing but use Daisy and Daisy accepted that because Christine was her “friend”. I’ll admit that I’m slightly curious about what happened to Christine at the end, but mostly for closure and verification that she is indeed out of Daisy’s life. 

Overall, this was a good story, with decent action and many more steamy scenes than the first book.

The whole time I was reading, I was mentally writing my review in my head. I had phrases that were perfect and I wanted to use. But now, as I sit here having finished the book and attempt to write a review, I don’t know what to say.

I love Caylie Marcoe’s writing. I love Choose Us and as soon as I saw she had another book coming, I put it on my TBR list. I didn’t even need to know what it was about because Caylie Marcoe is always a must read.

I loved Haley & Eli’s story. I had a hard time putting it down. But at the same time, I had a hard time picking it back up when I had to put it down. Don’t take that to mean that it’s forgettable or in any way bad. I was just avoiding the inevitable. This book is sad. Heart wrenchingly sad; it’s going to make you ball your eyes out, soak your pillow and go through a whole box of tissues. And the worst (best?) part is that you know it’s coming. From page one, you are warned. (Actually probably the blurb too but like I said, I love the author’s writing so I’m not sure I completely read the blurb. I saw her name and jumped on this.) But those warnings in the book didn’t deter me. There were some moments of sadness throughout the story. But it wasn’t all consuming. Then a reminder of what’s still in store would come and I’d have to walk away and take a breather. The further I got into the book, the more I dreaded picking it back up because I hate crying my eyes out and had already developed the occasional tear leak.

But the story kept pulling me right  back in. I had to know what was going to happen between Haley and Eli. Would they make it? Would Haley realize she needed him? Sure enough, I got to the point where I couldn’t put it down because I was so far into it and the author had me in tears. The author pulls you in with friends to lovers story and then sucker punches you with the emotion of other events that leaves you a blubbering mess.

Eli was such a great guy. He was always willing to be what Haley needed from him. I can’t think of another book hero that was that patient. He had his moments of frustration with her, which were totally understandable, but he never gave up. He would do anything for her. There was one point, after the inevitable happened, that Haley pushed him away. I was literally screaming at her for being an idiot. I was really hoping, that after everything they’d been through, when that moment came, she would let him be there for her. Unfortunately, she did the opposite, and that really frustrated me because at a time like that, she needed his support.

One of my favorite parts of the book was Haley’s brother. I would really love a book for him to see how he and his girlfriend came together and got their HEA.

I really do love Caylie Marcoe’s writing. She always brings her stories to life. I can’t wait for the next one!

As the author states in the description of this book, this is the same story as He Belongs With Me…only from Leo’s POV. I was glad to get his POV because I loved him but I can’t help wishing the previous book was purely his and Clara’s.

The great thing about this book (well, one of them) was that there wasn’t as much Maggie. I couldn’t stand her in the other book. I’m one to hold grudges against fictional characters so my loathing of her didn’t go away. She was also the downside to this book. But there was far less of her so I was immensely glad of that.

I still loved Clara. She wasn’t the bad girl everyone thought she was and Leo knew that. He saw through her shell and “rebelliousness” and saw the real her. What I loved about this book over the other one is that it wasn’t a love triangle. Maggie made things all about her in the other one so that when Leo and Clara started to find happiness, she threw a tantrum and caused problems, even deciding she was in love with him too. But this book…it was all about Leo’s love for Clara and the lengths he was willing to go to show her that. For that alone, this book is awesome.

I wasn’t sure what this book was going to really be about based on the blurb. Obviously, Sandra and her brother get into some kind of trouble and Nick, her brother’s boss, steps in to protect them. But I wasn’t sure what he did to do that. I had a hunch and a hope, but I didn’t know for sure.

This is the second book in this series, but it’s my first book by the author. I didn’t expect the humor in the writing, it was a very pleasant surprise. Nick and Sandra had me laughing all throughout the book with their banter and fighting.

Nick was a nice enigma at the start of the book. Sandra and he were thrown together when she was in the middle of binging on snacks after a break up. They instantly started bickering and there was no looking back.

I did have a few facepalm moments. One was when Sandra followed her brother to a sketchy part of town and into a dive bar. Not only did she stick out like a sore thumb, but she drew attention to herself, distracting Nick in the process. Another moment was toward the end of the book when she ended up in the presence of the bad guy, lied to him and then immediately slipped up. They weren’t horrible moments, but like I said, I had some facepalms going on.

I will say that I did figure out who the bad guy was early on. Actually, as soon as the character’s name was given, I went “That’s the bad guy!”. There wasn’t much build up of suspense. There was one instance of Sandra’s life being in danger but the second time, while technically threatening, wasn’t an event that actually put her life in danger. I kind of wish there had been more suspense.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would definitely read more from the author.

*ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review*

Confession time…the blurb of this book scared me. I’m talking, run in the other direction scared me. So….why did I read this you ask? Well…uh…because I’m crazy!?

Ok, reality is, I’ve been on a stepbrother kick lately. There have been quite a few coming out in the last few months and while some have been pretty decent, others have been…well…really bad. So I’ve been determined to find a GOOD one. But I don’t gravitate toward dark books. And this one sounded beyond dark. But my curiosity got the better of me and I signed up to review it. Again, cue the crazy scared. However, once I started this, I was unable to put it down. I literally read this straight through, in one sitting.

I can’t say that the relationship was pretty, because it wasn’t. It was dark and twisted and downright awful at time. I can’t even say that I loved the characters (particularly Oliver) but (and maybe this was wishful thinking) I felt like I was able to see past the awful things that were said to see that Oliver was in denial and fighting his feelings HARD. He had very good reason to early on since Maya was younger than him, and under 18.

Later, I felt like he continued to fight just because that’s what he’s always done. But there were a few instances where his walls fell and I could see his genuine feelings for Maya. I loved those moments. One was sweet and the other was a stressful situation where there was no pretending. It was a critical situation and there wasn’t any room for pretense. I was a little disappointed that that Oliver didn’t own up to his feelings at this point and reduced the situation to their typical fighting and insults.

Some moments were definitely over the top and had me rolling my eyes because Oliver and Maya were being idiots (mostly Oliver), but I just chalked it up to the dark style, something akin to Undeniable by Madeline Sheehan. It wasn’t pretty. I tried to look beneath the surface of Oliver’s insults and attitude to see his real feelings. Heck, maybe that was hopeful thinking on my part and there was nothing else there, but that’s what I saw and how it was for me. I saw the draw that the characters had, the fight to deny themselves what they wanted and the desperation both characters felt at a very desperate and emotional moment and later when they even admitted to themselves, how they really felt and things still went wrong, they weren’t honest with each other. They never actually communicated and expressed their feelings.

But even with all that, I still enjoyed the book. I enjoyed the writing and would definitely read more from the author. 

Here’s the deal….I both loved and hated this book. So for me, the best way to review this, and rate it, is to break it down in parts.

Part 1 – 5 stars

I really enjoyed this part. Nice set up of the wedding and a great intro to the characters. I loved meeting Sophie and Logan. Loved seeing them meet for the first time. I also loved the instant attraction they had prior to knowing that they were the new step-siblings. I loved the flirting that happened and Sophie’s embarrassing blunders. They had me cracking up.

Sophie was 16 and Logan 18…so I was wondering how the author was going to bridge the gap of ages until Sophie was an adult, and I got my answer…which brings me to….

Part 2 – 5 stars

I also really enjoyed this part. I loved seeing how Sophie and Logan were coping & fighting their attraction on her 17^th birthday. I loved her birthday celebration that turned into a quasi-date night for Sophie and Logan when everyone else had plans.

Again, Sophie’s blunders continued, and she says they only happen when she’s around Logan. And I could see how that would happen. Both of them are fighting their attraction because they’re “family” and she’s nervous and that leads to some unfortunate…uh…incidents. They were hilarious (well, to me). Part of what I loved about the birthday “date” was the pizza on the bench in the park. And no, it’s not because it was pizza (anyone that knows me knows pizza is my go to food…always). I loved the scene because it was sweet and filled with the connection between them. And the end of the night was just heartbreaking when Sophie refused to go there because of their family connection.

Skip ahead one year and you finally have Sophie’s 18^th birthday. Logan is done waiting, he’s finally going to claim the woman that’s claimed his heart. The dinner scene was probably one of my favorites.

Unfortunately, the night did not go as planned for Logan. Just as he was on the verge of spilling his guts and putting his heart out there, Sophie and Logan received some devastating news. This brings me to part 3…

Part 3 – 4 stars

After the horrible events on Sophie’s 18^th birthday, Logan and Sophie stuffed their feelings into a box and went about life as sister and brother/best friends. They were both dealing with loss and they were there for each other. They helped each other through their grief, always turning to each other during hard times. I loved this part because it just reinforced their connection and deepened their relationship.

Both had finished college, got jobs and started their lives. Sophie was dating a complete douche canoe that didn’t deserve her. Man, I couldn’t stand him! I was actually surprised that she was still with him. I saw the twist with him coming a mile away. To be honest, I was hoping for it because I couldn’t stand him and I wanted him gone!

Sure enough, Sophie finds out he’s not the prince charming he pretends to be and she runs right to Logan. This is the part I’ve been waiting for! It met all my expectations and surpassed them! I loved Sophie and Logan together during this part. I loved seeing them together. And of course, now that both are single, those pesky feelings for each other start rearing their ugly heads. They still fought it but it came to a head and FINALLY! they got together…and IT. WAS. HOT.

Unfortunately, guilt reared its ugly head (seriously, who invited guilt to the party!? It just ruined what could have been the best book ever!). So, feeling guilty, Sophie takes off, ignores Logan and with hurt feelings all the way around we jump forward another year.

*sigh* Up until this point, I was seriously loving the book. It had 5 stars written all over it for me. But I got ahead of myself. *humorless laugh* I actually had the thought of “Man, I’m on a roll with awesome books! I hope I find another one after this.” And I totally jinxed myself because no sooner did that thought cross my mind and this book took a turn for the worse for me.

Sophie was stupid for cutting Logan off completely. Logan… was a complete idiot. My issue came with the change in Logan. He went from a great guy that’s beyond hot and loves Sophie to a complete jackass. I actually wanted to go all QoH on him for his actions. It just didn’t seem like him. At one point, when he threatened the contract for her business, I had to put my kindle down and walk away from the book. I just couldn’t stand Logan at that point.

I was thankful that he seemed to come to his senses shortly after going home after his stupid ultimatum to Sophie. And I was especially happy that Sophie had a good head on her shoulders and turned him down. It would have seriously pissed me off if she had agreed to his awful deal. I was glad that she stuck to her guns and said no. I was also pleased to see that he wasn’t a jerk about her saying no and she still got the contract. And thus began the intricate dance of will they or won’t they. I have to say that I was beyond pleased with the party and how things went down. Yes, I wish Sophie hadn’t run from him…again…especially after that letter from her mom. But, I love the chemistry between Sophie and Logan and loved the scene where they FINALLY talked and got together.

This book was such a rollercoaster for me. I’m still not on board with the change in Logan. I get he was hurt and even heartbroken, but I’m just not down with the way he treated her. His only saving grace was that he realized pretty quickly how big his error was. But overall, I really did enjoy this book. It’s a solid 4.5 stars. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series!

*There is a HEA, this is a stand-alone* 

I seriously love Jessica Lemmon’s writing. This is my second book by the author and again, she pulled me into the story.

I really enjoyed Landon & Kimber’s story. I love the history between them and how she had a crush on him going back to their childhood. However, no matter how great Landon was (and he was beyond great), he just doesn’t live up to Evan. He stole my heart in Bringing Home the Bad Boy and there’s no topping him.

I loved seeing Evan and Lyon in this book. It was nice to see them prior to their book.

One of the things I loved most was that over the course of the book, you get to see “The Tin Man” unrust and start feeling again. I love the way Landon opened up around Kimber. Some of my favorite parts were when Kimber was babysitting for Lyon. Lyon was full of energy and kept Kimber and Landon on their toes.

Kimber and Landon had great chemistry. I just wish they had listened to themselves and each other instead of other people. Well…I wish Kimber hadn’t listened to other people. I really disliked her mom. Yeah, she was excited about being a grandmother but she was so blinded and bitter by events in her past that she gave Kimber bad advice. She thought about herself and not her daughter and what she would want. This is the second book with Gloria in it and the second time she’s given crappy advice to someone about a Downey brother. I can honestly say that I really dislike her. Based on what happened in Bringing Home the Bad Boy, I’m assuming she’s going to get a book and while I’m looking forward to it because of who the guy is and because it’s going to be by Jessica Lemmon, it’s going to take a lot of work to make me care about Gloria’s HEA.

On to the next Jessica Lemmon book!


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THE FUNK HAS BROKEN!!!!! Well, I say that but I can definitely see another one on the horizon. This book will be a hard act to follow.



There are only a few books that leave me feeling like they deserve more than 5 stars. By that, I mean that I’m typically happy to dole out 5 stars to books I love but there are only a select few that leave me wishing the scale went up to a million. This was one of those books.



I’m also in a weird emotional position of wanting to scream from the roof tops about how amazing this book is and holding it close and wanting to keep it a secret because I loved it so much and know that other people will love it too and then I’ll have a fight on my hands for Evan. *and I'm ready...see:*



But the book and author totally deserve the screaming from the roof tops so…

I’ll admit that the first thing to catch my eye was the cover. The guy is smoking hot. The blurb wasn’t an instant “READ ME!!!!” but it called enough for me to put this on my TBR list. But then this horribly amazing thing happened…I was in a book funk. It was massive…lasting the whole of 2015 (seeing as it’s January, it’s technically not that long but it feels like it’s been forever). I’ve gone through countless books trying to find something to read, even reading some of them (with mixed results), but nothing was really holding my interest.

I started this on a lark. I never expected to be pulled into the book and fall in love with the story, characters…everything. I wanted to live in this book.

From page one I was transported to Evergreen Cove and into the lives of Evan, Charlie and Lyon. I didn’t want this book to end. I found myself checking the % of how far I was into it, dreading the 100% mark. I wanted to stay with Evan and Charlie forever.



I loved Charlie. She was funny and quirky and sweet and caring and just all around amazing. She was also insecure and unsure of her worth when it came to love. The more you found out about her, the more I hated her ex Russell for how he treated her. On the surface he was nice and sweet but he undermined her, looked down on her and overall, made her feel like crap. Add to all of that the fact that he cheated on her then returned to take advantage of her good nature and spewed his horrible venom at her, making her doubt herself and her relationship with Evan and Lyon, and I seriously wanted to go all Queen of Hearts on him…well, after some long drawn out torture. I seriously loved when Evan went all alpha and stepped in to protect his woman and punched that jerk!



Evan. How do I describe pure perfection? He’s like my dream man (Nero) all grown up and hot and tattooed and AMAZING. Evan has been through a lot in the last four years. He lost his wife, has been raising his son and is now selling his business and moving to start a fresh life away from the bad memories of how his wife died. My heart broke for him and his experiences. I wanted to reach through my kindle screen and comfort him every time he remembered how his wife died. It’s rare for me to fall in love with a fiction character and love the heroine just as much. So I was really glad Evan had Charlie there to help him move on. One of the things I loved most was the fact that once Evan realized that Charlie was an attractive female, and that he was interested in her, he never deviated from that path. He let his interest be known and when it was reciprocated, he went about making them happen. He knew what he wanted and went after it. There was stuff they had to work through since Charlie was his wife’s best friend, but there was never a time when he was interested in someone else.

I never once doubted Evan or Charlie’s interest in each other. Their chemistry was off the charts and their antics often made me laugh. I also have to say that I loved Lyon. It’s been my experience that kids in books are…difficult to get right. Either they’re never around, around too much or they don’t act like real kids. But I thought Lyon felt like a real boy! (sorry, I couldn't resist the Pinocchio reference.)

This book was pure perfection.



I have not read any books by this author before, and I deeply regret that. After I finished this book, I went to see what else the author has written and I have seen her books around…I just haven’t read them. So, upon completion of this review, I’m embarking on a journey through her backlist.

***I received a copy of this book via NetGalley for an honest review.***

I really enjoy books by Colleen Masters. She knows how to craft a story to draw you in and keep you hooked. Thank goodness I didn’t have to work today because I started this when I woke up this morning, intending to only read “for a little bit” and before I knew it, I was at 75% in the book and since I was that far, I went ahead and finished the book. :D

I really enjoyed the set up of the story, the connection that was built between Emerson and Abby. They were high school seniors, just weeks before their 18th birthdays. Their parents were dating and living together, forcing them together. They had a clear cut plan…one night and then they go their separate ways because the next day, their parents are getting married. Well….things didn’t quite go as planned. They got their night, and the parents got married but…things blew up after that.

I wasn’t sure what was going to happen after the parents got married, but I can say I didn’t expect what did happen. My jaw dropped, I started laughing and had an OMG moment. Of all the things that could have happened, I never would have guessed that!

Where I started having a few issues was the present day/adult version of the characters. Emerson felt like an adult. He’d been through a lot with his mom after things blew up between her and Abby’s dad and he found something he loved and was good at, created a career, traveled and Abby…didn’t. She went to college and was looking for a job. That’s fine, I’m cool with that, heck, I’m living that! But she was stuck living in the past, under her the thumb of her grandparents. So when Emerson and Abby met up again, by chance, he acted like an adult and she acted like the high school girl she was last time they saw each other. Her response to seeing him was to run from him. I don’t really have an big issues with the story, but I wish that the adult time for the characters were longer, fleshed out more. With them having spent more time together.

Pretty early on in their reunion, Abby and Emerson face a challenge regarding work and their newly rekindled relationship. And true to her nature, Abby wants to run from Emerson. But she gets some advice from the last place I’d expect….her dad. He’s basically be absent from her life for the last 8 years and he barely acknowledged her before that…and after the way things went down 8 years ago, I had issues with him being the one to “make her see reason” (totally my words, but I can’t think of another way to phrase it).

My one other issue was Abby’s grandparents. At one point in the book, Abby takes Emerson to the tree house in the backyard. She says that her grandfather built it and that he’s a good man. They may be rich, but their good people. I had assumed that the grandparents in question were her dad’s parents since the grandpa built it for her dad when he was a kid, but…if that’s the case, I want to know what happened between that part of the book and actually meeting the grandparents. The people that were introduced during the wedding scene were the furthest thing from “good people”. They were snobby and rude and just plain horrible. And the way the later treated Abby was awful. So I was left wondering if the grandparents were the same “good people” she had referred to.

Other than those few issues, I did enjoy the story. I loved the connection & chemistry between Emerson and Abby. The book was entertaining and kept me hooked to read it in one sitting,

I’ll admit that while I love the NFH series, I haven’t always had the best of luck with all the books. I had a hard time connecting with the third book but the series was redeemed with the trip to the past with book 4. I’ll also admit that I tend to forget about this series with all the other books that are out there. So this was one I wasn’t highly anticipating like other people. The release sort of snuck up on me. The advantage of this is I didn’t have the built up excitement and high expectations. That worked in my favor because while I haven’t read through the reviews yet, I have seen the ratings and this one wasn’t as well loved as some of the previous books.

But it worked for me. Granted, Danny royally pissed me off when he messed with Jodi’s food. Anyone that remembers my review of the second book in this series knows, you don’t mess with a girl’s food! Bradford or no Bradford! They don’t like it when their food is stolen so they shouldn’t steal a woman’s food! (Especially pizza but seeing as that was book two, I’ll move on…*muttering to self…Stupid Trevor*) Getting back to Danny pissing me off…the stunt he pulled with her car…not cool dude. So not cool.

One of the things I loved most was Danny’s nickname for Jodi…Tinkerbell aka Tink. Lol, I’m not typically one for nicknames, but I loved that name and it suited her perfectly! It got to the point that I couldn’t even remember her name and just thought of her as Tink.

My one issue actually came with the Bradford family. Don’t get me wrong, I love that family. My biggest complaint for book 3 was that I didn’t get the connection and there wasn’t much of the characters we’d already come to know and love. But in this case, there was almost too much togetherness. I really didn’t mind Trevor and Jason. Trevor especially since he and his wife own the apartment building Danny and Jodi live in. And Jason just because I love him. I didn’t even mind the occasional visit from Danny’s brother Adrian. Especially since he’s a doctor and lord knows poor Jodi was in constant need of a doctor. But the family trip was too much for me. Add in the fact that apparently Jodi witnessed not one, but two buffet sessions with the whole Bradford family and it was just too much. Mostly because they tend to blur together since all of them say bastard every other word. (for the record, I don’t have a problem with that but when you have 20 guys all sounding the same, it become too much to keep straight).

Speaking of those buffet sessions…they were hinted at in book two, but Zoe was in the bathroom when it happened so she missed it all. Jodi saw everything and it left her in the fetal position under a table. So…I would really like to know exactly what went down to leave her so traumatized. 5 books in and we’ve never seen it. I want to see the horror. Because it has to be bad to make people cry and curl up under a table.

Other than that, I did enjoy this edition of the Bradford family and can’t wait to read more. :)

Holly Lane is JB Morgan’s debut novel about first loves, lost loves, reunions and a Christmas miracle!

I must admit that I’m not a huge fan of Christmas stories. I know I’m definitely in the minority with this one but Christmas books make me think of winter and being cold and honestly…give me a setting of the beach and I’m totally there! So, in a way this was perfect, because Hollie and Layne meet in Hawaii when both of them are on vacation.

The story starts out in present day and then goes back in time (not that long, we’re not talking Outlander here ;) ) and shows you how Hollie and Layne met and fell in love while on vacation.

I have seen some other reviews and I will agree with them that this is a sweet book. There’s really no angst, no love triangles, no horrible childhoods with abuse, no traumatic experiences that will keep the heroine from connecting with the hero…nothing you’d typically find in a New Adult novel. And to be honest, it was refreshing. After a while, for me, NA books tend to all start blurring together because they all have the same elements. I’ve burned myself out on them recently and have been looking for something different so this definitely fit the bill.

I really liked Hollie and her friends. They felt like real people, people I could be friends with. One of the things I loved was Hollie’s internal commentary of the events going on. She sounded so real. And the author did a good job of portraying her emotions. In the beginning, when Hollie and her friends are on their way to Hawaii, Hollie’s nervousness and fear of flying came through loud and clear.



Layne…oh man, I’m not quite sure what to say about him. There were times where he was too good to be true (more on that in a moment) and others where I wanted to smack him. But overall, he was a great guy that fell for Hollie and would move heaven and earth to get to know her and be with her. I really felt bad for him when Hollie wasn’t entirely truthful about her past, not that there was anything to hide, she just didn’t tell him her true story. Going back go the too good to be true thing…Layne was a nice guy, never a jerk. He never treated Hollie like crap and it while I do enjoy jerk heroes that redeem themselves, it was refreshing to read about a genuinely good guy. He’s only too good to be true because I doubt I’ll ever find a guy like him. Curse JB Morgan for making him so perfect! ;)

I do know the story behind why Layne and Hollie didn’t spend much time alone together, but I have to say I wish they had more private time. Group time is great and all, but I loved the private moments when it was just them.

One of the best parts of the book by far was Layne’s friend Miller. He totally stole the show of any scene he was in. He cracked me up!

One other comment I need to make, it’s not a complaint or anything, just a word of warning in case people miss the author’s note in the blurb….this is a clean romance. I’m not opposed to this but I’ll also be honest and would have liked to see just a tiny more steam between Hollie and Layne…but I’ve also been corrupted by my steam loving blog partner Nikki. ;)

But overall, this was a great first novel from JB Morgan. I can’t wait to read more from her!

Once upon a time, I used to count the number of KA books I had read. But now I've read so many that I've lost count. I bring this up for a reason. I've read quite a few of KA's books. Some I've loved and some have been a trial for one reason or another. But one thing that has never happened, in all of her books I've read, is she has never made me cry. Until now.

I stated in my review for the first book of this series that It’s been my experience that there aren’t many authors that do contemporary and paranormal well. I was really surprised when I liked the first book. Even more so when I pretty much loved the second book. So that gave me high hopes for this book. And I'm happy to report that I wasn't the least disappointed.

You pretty much get the beginning of this book as an epilogue to book 2, <b><i>With Everything I am</i></b>, so I knew basically how this was going to start. I wasn't the least bit surprised by the instant connection between Abel and Delilah. There are times that I have issues with the suddenness of a relationship but it worked here. Delilah was understandably upset and freaked out after she met Abel but she quickly realized her connection to him and threw herself into her new life.

Abel...well, he surprised me. I don't know what I expected but it wasn't him. I guess because Lucien was an old world vampire with class and sophistication and Callum was royalty as King of the werewolves, I expected something similar out of Abel. So I was really surprised to see how removed he was from the paranormal world and that he was a biker. I never would have thought that would have worked but it did.

I also have to add that I love how much we saw of Lucien, Leah, Callum and Sonia in this book. I loved seeing the friendships that they had and how they all became close friends.

I realize that ARCs are precious commodities, especially when they come from this author. There were a few events that happened in this book that I would love to talk about and vent over but this is an ARC, most people haven't yet read this and it is the end of the series (which saddens me) so I don't want to spoil anything. I will say that for the big twists, there was one I really liked and was surprised by and there was one I hated down to my very soul. The second one made me cry and as a reader that holds grudges against fictional characters, it will probably keep me from rereading that part of this book. And I have to say that I wish there had been greater retribution handed out...but that's just my inner vampire coming out.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and the whole series. It definitely ranks up there with my favorite books by Kristen Ashley.

For the most part, this book was awesome. I was pulled right into the story from page one. My heart broke for Lizzie and what she was going through with her parents. The author actually brought me to tears a couple times.

Lizzie felt like a real person. She wasn't the perfect girl that never does anything wrong. She made mistakes and compounded them because she got in over her head. Case in point was sleeping with a guy she knew had a boyfriend. She courted trouble and dug herself deeper later and it came back to bite her in the butt. I could totally see it happening in real life.

As someone that loves history and has a degree in it, I loved that a lot of the story revolved around her history class and meeting with Connor for tutoring. Don't take that to mean that history will be shoved down your throat and you'll be bored to tears, because you won't. I just loved reading about someone that had a great love for history (Connor).

I really liked the friendship that developed between Connor and Lizzie in the beginning, after her parents died. They had some banter and brutal honesty between them and it just clicked. It even worked when they started flirting. But once they got together, I didn't quite feel the connection as much. It was there but it wasn't strong for me. Maybe I needed more build before they went there? I don't know. But I did like them as a couple.

However, I did have a couple issues with the book. One was a scene that was out of place, or it felt like it was out of place for me. Now, I read an ARC so this could change, but there was a scene when Lizzie's brother's disappeared on her and when she thought they had returned, she opened the door to the social worker. Then the scene jumps to Lizzie have a few hours before having to pick up her brothers from school then it went back to the social worker's visit and the boys not there. So needless to say, I was really confused. My next issue was Sophie. I loathed her. The author did a great job on her for that. She was completely horrible and psycho. My issue was that nothing ever happened to her. She never faced consequences for her blackmailing and vendetta against Lizzie. Lizzie faced consequences for what she did and what Sophie was doing but Sophie never faced consequences and I wish she had. My last issue was the end. Yes, there IS a HEA. That's not the issue here. My issue is what happens with Lizzie and her brothers. While I get why it happened the way it did, I didn't like it. I just couldn't help by feel like everything she went through was for nothing when it all fell apart at the end. And I'll be honest and say that the end was what knocked this down from a 5 for me. Now, just because the end didn't work for me, doesn't mean that others won't love it. Just call me odd.

This was my first book by author Dahlia Adler but it won't be my last.



***I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.***

So, a few weeks ago Nikki and I decided to start a Sunday Spotlight on the blog. 

Traditionally we've only posted reviews, blog tours, cover reveals and promos. But we decided to branch out into regular posts that are book related. 

This week Nikki's talking about her favorite hot book covers and the steamy stories found within those covers. Stop by and check it out. And if you have any recommendations for her, she'd love to add to her TBR list! 

Sunday Spotlight: Book Cover Porn

And if you know any authors that are interested in doing a guest post, here's the sign up sheet: Confessions of 2 Book Lovers Author Guest Post

When I first read the description of this book, I thought it sounded good. I was a little unsure of the Dragon portion of the book just because even though I think the authors mean this:




All I can picture is this:



And that just makes me giggle and lose interest. But that's what I remember from my childhood of Dragons so...it's a constant battle with my imagination while reading.

While this did involve Colin being a dragon, it wasn't him constantly turning into one, so there weren't that many scenes where I had to battle not to picture the funny one.

This book was a lovely combination of historical romance, paranormal, mystery and shapeshifter (yes, it's part of paranormal but it's also different).

I was intrigued from the first page. Colin is visiting with a friend's family in the country and on the first night, someone sneaks into his room. This is a total accident because it wasn't supposed to be Colin's room. But it sets the scene for some lovely sexual tension between Colin and Regina aka Reggie. During this exchange, Regina unexpectedly learns what Colin is...and we learn that Reggie is special herself. So these characters are instantly connected because they're different.

I loved them together. Neither were expecting to meet someone but they did. They didn't meet someone like them, but they met someone that accepted them for who they were.

I was surprised by the ghost/haunting element. I didn't expect to actually like it. It was the main plot device to move the story forward (I'm not complaining) and it was full of action. I was quite literally glued to my kindle because I couldn't put it down. I had to know what happened next! I found it refreshing that the major fight/battle scene wasn't saving the heroine. Yes, protecting her and making sure the bad guy/ghost/thing didn't go after her was a consideration for Colin but overall, he wasn't fighting to save the heroine from the evil clutches of the ghost. And that was refreshing.

This was my first book by the author but it definitely won't be my last. I found this to be very enjoyable and would definitely read more!

Reblogged from Barbara ♥ Lindt Ninja ♥

I have absolutely no idea if this teaser was meant to be taken seriously, I hope not, but it is so epic I can´t stop laughing. Love it lol

If anyone wants to win a signed paperback of ´The Hope That Starts´ once it is released in January head over to Heidi Hutchinson´s Facebook page.

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