Books Read 2017

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Kasey Chang
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Re: Books Read 2017

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Finished Forever Marked by Jesse Lorenzo FREE

Ellora is only 23 when her parents died in an auto accident. Forced to take over her father's contractor business, she found herself in the crosshairs of a ruthless man who wanted to possess her at any cost. Barely surviving an attack in her own home, then an assault in the hospital, she took what she could and fled to a different continent, all the way to Scotland, hoping to find safe haven in her parent's hometown. And there she did find a protector in Behr, a working bachelor who can see she has a secret. But her obsessor is determined to bring her back at any cost, because he needs a deal done and Ellora's father was asking too many questions...

The author managed to create a sociopathic billionaire who employed a psycho killer who enjoyed torturing and killing people, even though apparently people are already aware of his tactics. The problem here is I can't tell which is which sometimes. The rich billionaire is "Dalton", but why does he want Ellora except she turned him down once? Gideon was the one who knifed Ellora at her home, and chased her all the way to Scotland, and almost kidnapped her. But how is he going to get her back to the US? Sheesh. This book is just one question after another. Kinda exciting, but made you wonder after you finish "Heh, wait a minute..." 5.5/8

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Finished The Accidental Cougar by Tiffany N. York

Nicole Woods is 41, and content with her life raising her son alone, until she met Wil Blanco. When her son was away for six weeks to his father's place, her friends decided it is the perfect time for Nicole to have a summer fling... With Wil! But Nicole is a bit shy, and Wil soon gets involved in her life, esp. when he became the big client in the ad agency she worked for. Nicole knew she had to keep her hands off... but the more time she spends with Wil, the more tempted she is to violate that policy... even though he's only 25...

Eh, not feeling too much here either. 5/8

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Finished A love of vengeance by Nacy Haviland FREE Prime Reading

Gabriel Moretti, aka "Gabe Moore" was summoned from his European post back to New York at his mentor's request. His mentor, Vasily Tarasov, is the Russian crime boss and he needed someone he can trust, but outside of his normal circles, to take care of a very personal problem... To keep his daughter safe all the way on the other side of the country, in Seattle, for someone in a rival crime syndicate killed her mother Catherine. Eva Jacobs never knew her father, and when her mother died in an auto accident, she vowed to finish her degree and make the best of her life, until Gabe entered her life. He made her tingle in all the right ways, and she gave him her v-card... then found out he's also her boss in this position she was just hired for. She was mortified, it was then Gabe revealed that he was protecting her... from the shadows, for months... from a threat that even he had to honor... His half-brother Stefano Moretti. You see, Gabe is the illegitimate son of Don Moretti, part of Cosa Nostra, and he can never be a "made man" like Stefano. Originally Gabe was simply going to a different family and start over, until Moretti send him to leave a car bomb at the other family's business, destroying them... and Stefano's girlfriend died there as well, and Stefano never forgave him. Gabe lost SEVERAL girlfriends (dead, butchered) and the only one who wanted to hurt him was Stefano... and now that Gabe is involved with Eva... things got very dicey indeed... and there will be a confrontation, between brothers... while a manipulator work from the background... waiting for his chance... using Eva as the pawn... and pawn is meant to be sacrificed...

This novel is 383 pages and feels 100 pages longer. There is at least one or two "too stupid to live" moments, but it was used sparingly and effectively.
6.5/8
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Re: Books Read 2017

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Finished A Forever Kind of Love by Mona Ingram

Charlie needed a new start after being dumped by lame boyfriend, and when her aunt needed a little help on her farm, she thought of it as the perfect vacation. And once Charlie arrived, she found her neighbor Jason to be such a temptation. Jason's last GF decided she doesn't want to be a farm girl, so he's suspicious of any city girls, including Charlie. Then Charlie found a ghost in her aunt's dance hall... His name is Harm, and he's looking for his lost love when he died in 1936, after promising to elope. And his love's name was Charlotte... Charlie's grand-grand-grand-aunt. Charlotte died of a broken heart later, having never remarried, and somehow, both Charlotte and Harm are stuck on this mortal plane, unable to pass. Charlie promised Harm to help any way she can... and she'll need Jason's help to do it...

Good ghost love story paralleled with a present day romance. 6.5/8

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Finished On the Wrong Track by Steve Hockensmith (Holmes on the Range, book 2)

Sherlock Holmes fans Big Red and Old Red Amlingmeyer are working for Southern Pacific as Security... complete with badges, but their jobs never seem to be forthright. A drunk ex-Pinkerton "(in a bad disguise), a Chinese doctor (but totally Westernized) with a lot of secrets, a beautiful woman with even MORE secrets and gift of improvisation, a deadly swamp adder in the baggage compartment... two coffins, and lots of passengers are on the Pacific Express. But soon, the baggageman lost his head (literally!), a hobo king (his own words) was found riding the axles, then the train was robbed, by the same gang who robbed the same train before! AND they left the hobo king dead in their wake. Big Red and Old Red had to do some quick deductifying to figure out who onboard the train may be the mole and who is helping the murderer?

Nice tribute to Sherlock Holmes, but with its own brand of western action. The two Reds are cowpokes, after all. 7.5/8

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Finished Loving Josie by A.D. Ellis
Josie Decker was never loved. She was an unwanted accident in her parents' lives, and was brought up by nannies who are forbidden to show her any affection. She had no spirit for business, rather prefer the arts, but her parents forbid her to pursue those interests, as they are considered "non-essential". When she came of age, she was married off to someone who does not love her. She dreamed of freedom and saved up her money for the perfect escape. When her husband took a hand to her, she escaped by taxi and bus to Torey Hope, to seek an uncle she never knew...

Kyle Martin is a bad boy with too many tattoos and piercings but he's really a good guy. He met his other half, Isabella, very young, and they planned their life together, having built up a life after 18, gotten married, and then slowly tried to get pregnant, but five years of attempts got nowhere. They decided to give up and made love with no pressure, with promise to see each other at the doctor's office to check the latest results. She never made it, having wrapped her car around a tree... and she's brain-dead... and was pregnant. Kyle was devastated, he handled the affairs, then uprooted himself and moved to Torey Hope, hoping for a fresh start.

Kyle and Josie met, and became housemates, and they slowly fell for each other, neither was ready to love, for Josie's abuse ran deep and she had virtually zero self-esteem, was even told that she cannot get pregnant. Kyle was not ready to move on, not even when the ghost of Isabella appeared to prompt him to. But their passion cannot be denied. Then Josie's ex re-entered the picture...
I have problems with villains who are dicks "just because (they can)". And this book has three of them... Josie's parents, AND Josie's ex. At least Josie's parents got their karma (their plane crashed or something, but never explained why they got that way). Josie's ex... is that way just because. No explanation, no whatever. At least the love story's sweet. 6/8
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Finished The Sentinel by Michael Wallace

the Sentinel Battlestation had been waiting for a decade in space, out of touch from their homeworld, but their best weapon is silence... Enemy cannot hit what they don't know it exists. And their enemy is Apex, an avian species that are utterly xenophobic that no negotiation is possible... and captives are eaten as prey. A decade of boredom has left the station crew factionalized into the sentry faction (maintain duty and secrecy), the open faction (we have to find out what happened), and the neutrals. Captain Lin is barely keeping a lid on the tension between the two factions by walking a very fine line... And when an unknown but apparently human warship limped into their system, the tension boiled over, as the open faction was desperate to contact the other ship to learn of any news, while the sentry faction is ready to blow the new ship out of space, believing it to be an Apex trick... or just can't take the chance. For the crew of HMS Blackbeard, the station may be their salvation... if they can find the right faction to ally with, and destroy the other faction before everybody dies... and do it ahead of the impending Apex fleet.

Not a bad yarn, as the station was about to go into mutiny and no way to tell which way will the battle go, not that the crew of the ship is ready to sit passively and allow things to happen to them. The multi-faction interplay and the tension was really good, AND there's a third party at play... This is also linked to the "Starship Blackbeard" series by the same author, which is a decent space opera in itself. 6.5/8

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Stopping Billionaire's Virgin by Claire Adams

Isla and Levi were step-siblings. Isla had a weight problem when young and was teased by Levi forming a forever kind of hatred. Isla went on to own a fitness center but it was barely surviving. When Levi's dad died, he left 80% to Levi and 20% to Isla, making her an instant... BILLIONAIRE. Isla's bestie came up with the plan to seduce then dump Levi to "teach him a lesson", since Isla is not about to hand over her v-card to her nemesis. But the more time they spend together, the more Isla fell in love with her step-brother...

Argh, the plot was lame, the romance was lame, and the setup was even lamer. A virgin plans to seduce a manwhore? WTF? 2/8 I don't even need to finish reading this to get the HEA ending. It was petty revenge doesn't deserve HEA.

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Stopping Another Summer by Sue Lilley

Evie fled the cities to Cornwall (UK) to her grandma's remote cottage after her longtime love Joe's latest betrayal, and fell under the spell of a charismatic rocker Jake, but Joe is determined to win her back... even if he had to go through road trip from hell to do it... but will he be too late?

Honestly didn't feel much here. 4/8
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Finished Only You by Joya Ryan Prime Reading

Paige Levine survived her childhood. She was almost sexually assaulted by her stepdad, but she was not believed not even by her mother, even 10 years later. Instead, she got the undeserved reputation as a drama queen. She moved on, and landed a job in the governor's cabinet as an able assistant to the PR guy, but when the PR guy was forced to resign in a scandal, and money was missing, she found herself unemployed as well. Down and out, she tried to drown her sorrows in tequila, and had quick fling in a bar restroom with a hot delivery guy. Only later, did she realize that was no delivery guy... That was Leo Savas, a shipping magnate and a friend of the governor, and she will be his temporary personal assistant when his regular PA had to take a 3 month leave for family. Paige needed this job, and with her ex boss being in the middle of the scandal, she's persona non grata. When someone leaked the scandal to the press, reporters started to hound her and all her friends and relatives, wondering if she was among those sexually harassed by her boss, or if she had anything to do with the missing money... and the sexual tension between her and Leo threaten to ignite, even as she tries to stay professional...

Tension was actually quite nice. 6/8
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Re: Books Read 2017

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Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
  • Rocks fall, everyone* dies
  • Politics
  • Orbital mechanics
  • ...
  • Space racism
*almost

5/8
It's almost as if people are the problem.
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Finished The Wedding by Zane Morrow

Grace and Blake agreed to get married, but not immediately. They agree they need to go slow, make things right, as both had a bit of rough childhood and neither are willing to jump into things. However, when Miss Tilly, dubbed "Queen of Harper Island", has terminal cancer and really wanted another wedding, nobody says no... so the wedding is in only two weeks... Blake needs to heal his family even though he's somehow always disappointing his mom. Grace has a kid's camp to run, and she really has no time to prep for a wedding. But with a bit of money, a lot of helping friends, and a lot of love... they will find a way...

Short, and actually quite sweet, even if the plot was a little confusing. 5.5/8

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Finished Every Little Kiss by Susan Hatler FREE

Wendy Watts left Blue Moon Bay for Sacramento as soon as she graduated. Wendy loved her grandma, but she hated the town. Her parents were such wandering spirits, they never had a home. When the kids complained, they basically left her and his brother with grandma, and it's sayonara, kids. Wendy made a name for herself in Sacramento as a powerful realtor who drowned her emotions with work, and she's even saved up enough to put a good down payment on a house... Until her grandma died, with a stipulation in the will that she had to come back to town and sell the little B&B Inn her brother had been running with grandma... personally. Wendy did not like the memories of this town, but she did find something she liked... "Max" with his dog Lucky. Wendy settled down to fix up the inn in order to sell it, but she had to dig into her savings, just as the house she had her eyes on back in Sacramento went on the market. To help with the stress, she confided in Max, expecting him to leave in the morning, only to find he's staying... another month. Soon Wendy fell under the spell of the Blue Moon Bay, the inn, and Max's gazes and touch... But Max is hiding a huge secret... something that will make them doubt each other's sincerity... in love and other topics...

Uh... while the stuff is kinda sweet, Wendy just can't make up her mind. She flipped back and forth a couple times in this novel. 5/8

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Finished You Belong With Me by Melissa Storm

Charlie Rockwell always regrets her rash decisions... but she keeps making them. Her latest was adopting the sad-eyed "Rottie", a big rottweiler that was not really trained but she can't handle. A trip to the doggie park backfired spectacularly but also brought her into the world of Will Porter and his golden retriever Tuck. Porter, probably out of pity, volunteered to help her train Rottie, even as he realized Charlie resembles his ex quite a bit, and Will lives a structured life, completely opposite of Charlie. But opposites attract, and seems these two are quite into each other...

Well, adding the pets are cute. 5.5/8

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Finished Protecting Kate / Dark Horse Inc Book 1 by Amy J. Hawthron

Kate MacDonald left her controller ex and her pagentry behind (she was former Miss Kentucky) and went on to run the family ranch and wanted to start an animal rescue, when her ex and her ex-father-in-law, a US Senator, got back in town, wanting to talk to her about some sort of a deal, which she refused to even listen to, muchless consider. However, as one of the "prizes" at a charity auction, she was dismayed to see her ex bidding on her, until a man she barely knew sniped the bid last second and saved her from her creepy ex's family. The white knight turned out to be Trent Dawson, a fellow ranch owner who mostly kept to himself, but also former soldier and horse trainer. But her ex's family are not giving up. What do they want? Whatever it is, it was centered around Kate. First her house got shot at, then her ex turned up dead, and Trent was being framed...

The creepiness factor at the end was really really weird, but not that well executed. 5.5/8
Spoiler:
Apparently, her ex-father-in-law hired a killer to rub off his own son, frame Trent, so he can kidnap Kate and keep her for himself, by threatening her family.
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Finished Promise to Marry by Jessica Wood FREE

A girl and a guy met each other when young, and became the best of friends, but not quite lovers. They even made a bet... they promise to marry each other if neither had married by age 30. But a huge betrayal broke them apart. Now that she's almost 30, she's going home, and to resolve some unresolved business, even though he doesn't want to see her...

First, this is a teaser, as this is book 1 of 3, and this ends on a cliffhanger. Second, the "kids" in this novel in the flashback sequences talk like adults. Third, WTF development right at the end of book 1.
Spoiler:
FMC was a totally innocent girl, then suddenly at the end of book 1 we learned what lead to their breakup... She became an escort, and her client... was his father. WTF?!
You can't just drop a bomb like this when there's NOTHING in book 1 that suggested such a thing. This was dropped out of the blue. It's total bull****. 1/8
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Finished Harper's Island Trilogy by Zane Morrow

This book was basically cut into three parts to maximize the revenue, then repackaged into a single volume to be sold as a complete novel.

Grace dedicated her life to Camp Hope, where kids who had lost a parent can spend a little time to heal and share experiences with fellow campers (and counselors). She needed to attend her bestie's wedding as maid of honor, but she also just got the news that the sponsor for the camp, Morgan Industries, is shutting down the camp as a financial drain. Grace hadn't seen Blake Morgan, acting CEO, but years, but to save the camp, she'll do anything. After all, Blake is going to be the Best Man at the wedding as well. However, once Grace got there, things with Blake did not go to plan. Blake had a major falling out with his brother Trent, and when Queen of Harper's Island Miss Tilly ordered Blake to marry Grace, who will be groomed as the next queen (which made Grace a princess of sorts), Blake and Grace have to decide whether they should be together, even though they seem to be hurting each other... And the wedding is planned for only 2 weeks away...

Okay, rich people being douchebags for unknown reasons. Grace was attracted to Blake but for possibly the wrong reasons. Blake had a childish infatuation on Grace having saved her a long time ago when she's a kid, but somehow hated the camp. After realizing how much Grace needed the camp he tried to give the deed of the camp to Grace, but his mom vetoed that, then basically forced him to join the camp as a volunteer for 2 weeks, ostensibly to get him close to Grace and learn about the camp. (?) then Blake had a fight with Trent right at the wedding fighting for the garter toss. WTF? This book was just a confused mess with plot developements that went nowhere, and nemesis who wasn't.

3/8

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Finished Champagne Kisses: A Timesless Love Story by Krista Lakes

Back in 1990 Rachel spent a week on the Florida Coast before starting her career, and fell in love with one of the three soldiers taking leave... Dean. However, when Desert Storm started, Dean went back to his unit, and somehow the two lost touch, each believing the other had abandoned them. Twenty years later, she's assistant to mogul Jack Saunders, when Dean walked back into her life as Jack's new bodyguard. Once again, Rachel and Dean had to choose between duty and love, because the staff are not supposed to fraternize. But there was too much chemistry and history between the two...

Eh, it's okay. Nothing too special about this. 5/8

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Finished Colorado Cabin in the Pines by Jill Haymaker

Penny Anderson was raised in the small town of Peakview CO, and she had imagined a life with Luke Walker in town, on Walker Horse Ranch, and Luke even promised to build a cabin. But she left town, went to Chicago and school, and became a city girl, leaving Luke sulking in town. Years later, Penny is back in town, taking a vacation before the school year starts after she got her degree in education... and a fiancee. Brian was nice to her, but there's none of that spark that she always had with Luke. But Penny's passion was helping kids... and she can't do that in town. Luke can never leave the town, and he's really building that cabin in the pines by himself, so he's staying away from Penny as she's inevitably leaving. Is there a way to give them both what they wanted?

Okay, the hurt was real, but the solution was "hey, there's a kids wilderness camp not that far away!" That's almost deus ex machina, but not quite, as it was revealed mid-book, and only became a solution once she decided she had to stay. OTOH, this sort of "love-interrupted/semi-triangle" plot is becoming a trope. It generally goes like this: "A and B were a couple, until A went away, leaving B broken hearted. A had a separate life elsewhere, found C, even got engaged, but there's no spark, just comfortable existence. A came back to town, reconnected with B, felt bad because may have betrayed C. B stayed away from A because A would be leaving. C came in search fo A, revealing true douchebag nature, prompting A to reconnect with B and cut ties with C. The end"

5/8
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Finished Chasing Eva by Camellia Hart FREE

Evangelina Avery was NOT enjoying her life. She was cheated on more than once, and she was uprooted from her career as a chef to head her father's famous interior design firm, then her father lost his life in an auto accident. Just as she took over, several clients took their business elsewhere. She swore to turn this business around. When their largest client, Stanton Enterprises, also threatened to leave, Eva's needed to talk to Clive Stanton, the CEO, to convince him that moving their business elsewhere is NOT to their mutual benefit. What she didn't know was Clive was well aware of her. Clive had seen her a long time ago, back when they were kids. And being a former FBI agent tapped to take over the family business when his brother decided to retire, he's well aware of familial pressures. But there's more. FBI was aware of corporate fraud and espionage around the Avery company... In fact, Eva's father's death may not have been an accident. And someone leaked confidential info to the clients, which is why they pulled their business. FBI wants whoever was leaking the stuff, and the only way to get to him (or her) is to leave Eva in the dark... and that means Clive have to cooperate. Clive wanted to protect Eva, but keeping secrets from her means betrayal later, and with Clive's (undeserved) playboy reputation, Clive may not be able to keep Eva...

The book ended up seriously unresolved. The investigation went nowhere, apparently will be wrapped up in Volume 2: Loving Eva. The suspense was lame, the tempo was wrong, and book 1 ended with basically a sex scene. 3/8

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Finished Falling Free by Evelyn Adams FREE

Amanda has a great job, and an okay boyfriend. Everything is going to plan... Until she met Michael... by crashing into him while rock climbing. Michael is everything she does NOT want in a man... He's cocky, full of muscle, and zero finesse... and he irritated the heck out of her. Michael wasn't looking for love, or even a relationship. He's too busy building his gym, but Amanda practically fell into his lap... but ran away just as quickly toward the wrong man. As they circle each other, she'll come to realize he's her ever after...

Interesting in that in a book supposedly about "Security" (i.e. romantic suspense), there's ZERO gunplay or fighting here. Good change of pace. 6/8
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Finished Make Believe Wedding by Sarah Mayberry FREE

Andie Bennett had been pining after the man who just married a different girl. She decided to get drunk, and in a fit of stupidity... she signed herself up for the Great Wedding Giveaway... except she didn't have a groom... so she put in Heath McGregor, the only other guy she ever pined after. She thought she tossed the ticket... Except... She won!?!?! Heath, being the great guy he was, suggested that perhaps he and Andie can get engaged for real, and break up later. Except... pretend engagement and marriage often ended up turning real indeed...

NOT getting married is going to humiliate the girl? What century are we living in again? And what's with Marietta Montana fetish? Heath's just too nice. 4/8

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Finished Force of Habit by James Scott Bell FREE

Sister Justicia Marie, aka Sister J, was a former Hollywood celebrity who after way too many screwups, decided to dedicate her life to God. When a nun was viciously attacked, Sister J took it upon herself to find out what happened... and a LOT of people don't like that... The church did not. The cops did not. And the hoods that ran into her... Well... Let's just say her former training made her a very special nun indeed... a vigilante nun.

Oh, this is one kick-ass nun. 6.5/8

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Finished Melissa and the Cowboy by Rosie Harper

Argh, another "one story up front, add a ton of filler" books. let's just say I stopped reading after 2-3 stories. First story also had an anachronism, which is when the author got so enamored of their writing they forgot to check for authenticity. Since when does a cowboy in the Old West talk about blackholes? "I'm no good to you. I am a black hole, I will draw you in." Black hole as a concept didn't exist until 1926!

I am NOT reading 1810 pages. (wasn't kidding) 4/8

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Finished The Nearness of You by Iris Morland FREE

Sara Flannigan left her nasty ex after a nasty divorce. Her mind is on re-establishing herself in her hometown, and provide for her son, who had a cancer scare. She did not count on attraction toward the oncologist, Dr. Harrison Thornton, local royalty. He is handsome, rich, and wonderful guy, but his family would never approve of Sara, who's just from the wrong side of the tracks. But Harrison is quite fond of Sara, who's beautiful, a devoted mother, with intelligence and drive. With Sara determined to deem herself unworthy, it is up to Harrison to prove that Sara is the one he wanted for life.

Good push-pull, though the rich guy was just a bit "too" nice, IMHO. 6/8

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Finished So Unexpected by Amanda Wilhelm

Sara justed wanted to get away from her husband's death and have a little time away when she booked her vacation in Florida with her kids. Ty just booked a flight out to Florida after a fight with his girlfriend and needed a break. He works construction during the week and play in a band at night or on weekends. They met on the beach, and it was attraction at first sight... but they aren't sure what to do about their attraction... She needs to take her kids back to school in the northeast, he has his career in California. They reluctantly parted ways on New Year's Eve, and Sara was sure that was the end. Ty, however, was looking for another way...

Part 1 of a trilogy, this book was basically 1/3rd of a book. 4/8

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Finished Helena's Colonel by Faith Crawford

Another "let's spam the book with 95% more content" book. First story barely makes sense. Mom sent for mail order bride Helena, only to use her as nanny/maid and to entice the broken-hearted colonel out of his depression (after death of his first wife). Once the colonel was mostly recovered, mom sent Helena packing. Colonel found out and caught her and married her. The end. The other stories are so trope, I swore I read many of them already. 4/8

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Finished A Hollywood Deal by Nadia Lee FREE

Paige is the PA of Hollywood bad boy Ryder Pryce-Reed. She's not pretty, not thin, not made of money. She cleans up after her boss's mess, including shooing out all the women in the aftermath of his bacchanalian events, known as "humped and dumped". What she never expected was Ryder asking for her hand in marriage... even though it was a marriage of convenience... his father was threatening to destroy his grandfather's paintings, unless his children yield to his demands... get married. Paige had just found out she was pregnant by her no-good boyfriend and just kicked him out. She was reluctant, but agreed that she can be a pretend bride for a year to one of the most handsome man in Hollywood. But Ryder knew that Paige was more loyal to him than any other woman... INCLUDING his own mother, and loving Paige was a pleasure, not a burden. But when papparazzi were out hunting them for scoops, and Paige's ex threatening to ruin her if she doesn't help him become famous, their lives would get very complicated indeed.

Novel ended up a cliffhanger, to be concluded in book 2. Too angsty, IMHO, with the douchebag father. Ryder wasn't that much of a bad boy... and Paige was way too passive. 5/8
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Finished Dare to Touch by Carly Phillips FREE

Dylan Rhodes is the travel director for the (fictional) Miami Thunder NFL team, and Olivia Dare is a fellow worker he was very interested in. Olivia is technically part of the executive team, but she had a bad break when she was young and she felt she can never be good enough to be in a relationship and keep running away, but Dylan continue to show her how good they can be together, and eventually wore her down...

Kinda trope to have a strong-confident boardroom woman who's deep down deeply afraid of committing to a relationship because she had secretly been hurt before. But otherwise it's a fine read. 6/8

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Finished Come Away With Me by Ruth Cardello

Julia Bennett left home to pursue her dreams in New York City, desperate to show someone her custom jewelry creations, but in the meanwhile, she moonlights as a security guard. And one night, she clocked her boss over the head... Yes, head of the company, Gio Andrade himself. Thinking she'll be fired, she instead got a call to visit him in the office... He was the finest man she ever laid eyes on... She was totally different from typical woman he had around... She has spirit and sass, but she tends to speak before her brain engages, and afraid that she's falling for this man who will surely break her heart. He's fascinated with this woman and wanted to have her, but had some family drama to sort through with his European cousins...

Family drama is not bad, the insta-attraction was a bit too forced though, IMHO. Still, a good tale. 6/8

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Finished For Services Rendered by Patricia Kay

Claire Kendrick was summoned to meet the CEO, Nick Callahan, for a special assignment... shadow him for a few weeks so she can write the article about him in the CEO Magazine. The whole assignment sounded fishy, but nobody wants to say no to the boss, right? Nick is a self-made millionaire by 30, and he's a good guy, and he's handsome. But when Nick revealed his REAL reason for summoning Claire, she was angry... Because Nick made her a proposal... for a marriage of convenience. He claims he doesn't know how to love, but he'll set her up for life, AND her mother too in the nursing home. In return, he needed a wife, and mother of his children-to-be. But Claire doesn't believe she can marry without love...

Eh, not much here. Nick was smooth but doing a Spock impression, explaining how the arrangement was perfect for him. We were into the 30% mark before he made his proposal. Argh. Don't feel the chemistry at all. 4.5/8
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Re: Books Read 2017

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Finished Love's Funny That Way / by Pamela Burford

Raven Muldoon is a hypnotherapist by day and aspiring stand-up comic at night. Her three friends together formed a wedding ring pact way back when... They promised to get each other married if they aren't married by age 30. And Raven was first in line, and they set Raven up with a good guy, Brent Radley. And Brent's nice, but seems to hold a bit of a double-standard when it comes to dating. Things get worse when Raven found out that she connects far better with Brent's brother, Hunter, who's also owner of the local comedy club. While Hunter's no saint, Hunter would NEVER try to get between his brother and "his" girl. But is Brent really that committed to Raven? And which way will Raven go if she had to choose?

Short 150 page tale, not too angst-y until the part between brothers, but it's sure that Brent's bit of an douche, juggling two girls, and Hunter was the real nice guy. 6/8

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Finished The Wedding Season/by Samantha Chase FREE

Tricia Patterson had always been friend with Sean Peterson since elementary school, and they have ZERO desire to go beyond that relationship. She has a career, and he's out doing construction in devastated areas. He promised to come back during the summer and help her through the wedding season... She has SIX weddings to go to in the summer, and she doesn't want to go stag (and get hit on). Sean promised to be her date on all of them, even claim to be her boyfriend if that's what it takes to help her. Unfortunately, fate had other things in mind. When a freak storm stranded Sean with injuries on the other side of the world, Sean decided that his brother Ryan should go in his place with Tricia to the weddings. Ryan honestly doesn't know what the problem is about weddings. Tricia is a great girl and fun to be with. As their relationship became something more, Ryan wonders what sort of relationship does his brother Sean have with Tricia, as he was sorely tempted to add another wedding for the summer...

Cute and funny at times, and there's a bit of a twist.
Spoiler:
Sean was hurt, but he was trying to set his brother up with Tricia, so he pretend to be worse off than he is, and pretended he's still in Asia when in fact he returned to the US for a while.
6.5/8

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Finished Fit for Love / by Brinda Berry

Aiden was a psychology major student, fitness trainer, and bartender. He kissed a stranger on New Year's Eve, and she turned out to be Makenna Ross, songwriter. He wanted her, and her kid too, if she'll have him. And when circumstances intervened, they had a fake engagement, esp. when McKenna's ex appeared. It make his grandma happy too. But McKenna was determined to keep it fake, when Aiden wanted it to be real... and Aiden will do anything to prove to her that she's perfect for him, in spite of her fears and her past...

Didn't feel much here. 5/8
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Finished Pulse of Love by Violet Vaughn FREE

Megan Donovan was a ski bum living without care on her family's fortune on the slopes of Colorado, but her happiness has an expiration date... She had agreed to take over the family business, which means she'll be moving back east. But she's not ready to leave her boyfriend, Nick Merrill, behind. But she knew that Nick is even MORE of a free spirit than she is, and she had tried to keep him at bay for the past three years, not taking it any further than "fun", while never giving the reason why. It is best to bear the burden alone, she thought, Nick wasn't meant to be in a city. But Nick knew Megan was the woman he wanted, and when Nick found out the real reason, he'll make sacrifices too... But can he be happy in the city?

Nice turnaround at the end, with the plot borrowed from the famous "The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry. Good spin on the tale. 6.5/8

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Finished Unspoken by Jen Frederick

AnnMarie was a typical college coed until she wasn't. She went to a house party, got drunk, gave up her v-card to a lacrosse player. She knew what she was doing, even though it was quite bad. It was consensual. She thought that was the end of that. Then a different lacrosse player propositioned her. She refused. He started spreading rumors around campus that she did the whole team, that she has VD, and named her Typhoid Mary. Now the entire campus whispers behind her back. She withdrew from campus, living in an outside apartment, avoiding campus except for classes... until she ran into Bo as her lab partner. He's a former marine, and he fights in illegal underground fight clubs to work off his rage, but he's never violent toward woman. And he saw too much pain behind AnnMarie's eyes. He's afraid he'll break her, but he wanted to heal her instead.

Nice, good push-pull, and campus bullying was used effectively as a theme. The end was achieved WITHOUT violence, effective use of background. 6.5/8
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Haven't reported in in a while, I see...

Finished Gray Wolf Security by Glenna Sinclair

Russian Cartel tries to push a shipping company around, shipping company hires Grey Wolf... and that got the whole thing rolling.

Wow, she just keep churning them out, almost like a formula. Common security theme, bodyguard romancing client or fellow operative, but a common enemy (whether realized or not). Then in the final volume there's one big fight that somehow everything prior was all related to this one big showdown, yet somehow, it works. This lady knows how to plot. Each of the main characters has some flaw that kept them from love, as expected. A bit trope, but that's nothing new, as romances are trope-ish.

Just to be clear, this is a FIVE NOVEL collection, adding to just over 1000 pages, as they are all set in the same world and happened consecutively. 6/8

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Finished Reed (Allen Securities) by Madison Stevens FREE

Not feeling as much for this one. Librarian got a hot security firm head as a bodyguard, meh.

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Finished BIllionaire's Toys Book 1: The Room by Brooke Ravenwood FREE

1/3rd of a book as a teaser, stereotypical rich billionaire with a kink meets aspirational lingerie designer who needs a lot of orgasms. BORING! 3/8

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Finished Promise Me by Vivian Wood and Willow Winters

Guy loves girl, guy leaves girl for military. Guy f***ed up and is back in town and wants the girl back. She ain't gonna let him break her heart again. ARGH.

Oh, great, ANOTHER SEAL. This guy left, somehow got into SEAL training IMMEDIATELY, and is back after mere four years when his own commander basically told him to get the F*** out because he thinks he's a total f***up by letting his previous team down... Just because he's a sniper and he didn't go out on a mission and his team got slaughtered. Given that it takes over a year to train up a SEAL to deployable condition, the guy was only deployed for 3 years, and he already washed out. You'd think SEALs are tougher than that, someone who made it through Hell Week. The chemistry in town was also really shallow.

4/8

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Finished A SEAL's secret desire by Arabella Steedly

Short 85 page fantasy... The first female SEAL trainee wants her instructor, as they were childhood friends.

The problem here is a SEAL instructor for BUD/S is in his late 20's. (The book portrayed him as a lieutenant at 26, a bit young, but not unreasonable) The trainee is a... CPO?

But a CPO in the navy, according to official stats, usually spent 13.5 years in the navy. While it's possible to get to E7 (CPO) as fast as... 5.5 years, assuming enlistment at 18, that could make her 23.

BARELY little sister. Sounds a bit too young, of course.

AND how can she be unable to defend herself? Being a leggy blonde in the navy, particular a fast riser, would make her a target long before she joined the SEAL training class.

I guess it's BARELY possible... 4.5/8

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Finished Beyond Repair by Susie Tate

Katie is bubbly but a bit ditzy. Sam's surly and intimidating. When Katie's past started to catch up with her, Sam's protective instincts kick in...

I guess it's okay. Honestly didn't feel too much here either. 5.5/8

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Finished Mr. Cowboy by Ivy Jordan

Charlotte caught her BF doing a different girl. She also lost her job. Her bestie encouraged her to date, and found a rugged handsome cowboy, Owen. Charlotte was smitten, but she's cautious, but she decides to go for it any way...

And jealousy sets in, she runs, and her bestie had to explain to her how stupid she was being... 5/8

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Finished Abused and Accused Mail Order Bride by Terri Grace

Antonia ran west to escape an arranged marriage to become a mail order bride, only to be abused by her new husband. When he's found dead, she was the prime suspect and caught. If no one figured out the truth, she'll be hung... except for one humble ranchhand...

Eh... short, but somewhat believable. 5.5/8

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Finished Take Me Tender by Christine Ridgway

Jay Buchannan is burned out on love. Nikki Carmichael had enough of man. The two would have not met except Nikki is a professional chef, and Jay needed a personal chef. But Jay's intrigued at the chef who won't fall at his feet, though even Nikki admit he's tempting. But is this summer fling or something more?

Eh, kinda formulaic by this point. 5.5/8

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Finished Montana Dawn by Caroline Fyffe

Luke McCutcheon is a half-blood, but treated no different from either of his brothers. The shame is on the inside. On the cattle drive, he came across Faith Brown... in a stormy night, giving birth in her rickety wagon, with only her 8 year old son attending. He brought her back to the group, fully knowing Faith is on the run from SOMETHING, which she won't divulge. Faith knew she should stay with Luke, who was kind toward both of her children, and the McCutcheons are good people, but she may be putting them in danger. When Faith's brother-in-law intend to take her back and marry her, Luke intervened. Then bad things started on the ranch, and Faith had to decide between staying, and leaving.

at almost 500 pages, this is a good western romance, if a bit long. 6.5/8
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Finished Heart Racer by Starla Harris Contemporary romance

Olivia bet her last $100 on super-longshot racer Jacob Teller... because he looks so cute. She never expected him to actually win (and got paid 50:1). She was so gobsmacked, she went down to see Jake at the winner's circle, and Jake, upon hearing the story, decided she's his lucky charm and should come with him to the next race as well. Being unemployed and temporarily shacking with a friend, Olivia accepted, and somehow, Jake kept winning. Months later, now rich and enjoying the good life, the pair gets to go across the country, and sometimes, overseas, and while both enjoy the material things, and each other, Olivia started to feel seriously out of place. Finally, when jealousy and inadequacy set in, Olivia picked a fight and left in a huff, going home not much better than she started. Soon after, Jake got into a serious accident on the track near Olivia's hometown, and they finally decided they really do love each other instead of just lust... but Jake will need serious rehabilitation and recovery... Will Olivia be there all the way? And what will they do later?

There really wasn't much to the story. It's insta-lust at first-glance (first night they met, they blew a good chunk of winnings on a 5-star hotel night) then basically f-ed their way across the country, with her like a pit lizard. She had an epiphany that she'll always be jealous (threw a fit at a major event) and decided she had enough, picked a fight, and left. Then spent the rest of the book trying to figure out if it's love or lust. At first word of him in a hospital, she ran to him. Somehow he had stashed enough money that he can live comfortably for a while with her during those few months of winning streak. Then when he finally recovered, he decided he won't race any more. He started as mechanic, and his heart ain't in driving. Phooey.

These two are just shallow as heck. 4/8

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Finished The Billionaire Princess by Christina Tereault Contemporary romance

Sara Sherbrooke, of the Sherbrooke clan, was practically an American princess. Her father ran for Senate. Many of her brothers and cousins are billionaires. But when she was bitterly betrayed by her last lover, who turned out to be a plant by her father's political rival, she gave up on love. She did not expect to find herself willing to try again... with her brother's best friend, Christopher Hall. Chris is a self-made billionaire and owner of Hall Technologies, and knew Sara from college when he and her brother Jake were roommates. While attending Jake's "secret" wedding in Hawaii, Chris managed to get Sara's attention, and they had a brief fling. But neither was sure they wanted more. She wasn't quite ready to trust, he doesn't want to betray his best friend. When both supported a new education initiative, they needed to work together, and their attraction can no longer be denied. But how will they deal with their respective baggage to really build a future?

Ah, the emotional ebbs and flows, and lack of trust was MUCH better in this one, but the logic wasn't there at all. She's behaving as if she's having hormonal problems.
Spoiler:
As explained earlier, her previous lover was a plant by her father's political rival who romanced her, trying to dig up dirt on her father. She was all ready to get engaged and all that. This time, she felt betrayed when some political pundit pointed out that Hall Tech will benefit handsomely from the educational initiative they both supported, leading her to believe Chris targetted her so he can get rich. Then she goes into "I don't want to hear your explanations" mode. Uh... he's ALREADY rich. Probably plenty of companies bid on the contracts. And isn't there an underling who handles the bids?
What Chris did was start a foundation and donated a chunk of seed money and got other companies to contribute to start the initiative first, that somehow convince her he's NOT trying to profit from the whole thing (which he never was).
5.5/8

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Finished Callie by Sharon Srock FREE Inspirational

Callie has nightmares about the one life that she failed in the worst way. Her work lead her to a mother being abused by her husband, but the abused wife won't press charges. When there was a custody hearing regarding welfare of the kids, Callie testified that the mother is fit and mother got custody. Six months later, the father in a drunken rage killed the baby, and Callie felt responsible. She tried to live on, but she cannot let go of the guilt, even though she tried by doting on her grandchildren. At her church Sunday school where she teaches, she noticed a girl Iris, unusually quiet and withdrawn. She felt compelled to investigate, even though she should not get involved... Iris has a huge secret... she and her sister Samantha Evans, were actually raising Sam's baby. Their mother died in a car crash year and a half ago. Their father left them ten years ago... Sam's working multiple jobs trying to make ends meet, and they cannot let any one know there is no adult, or CPS will break up their family. What they don't know is the father is actually looking for them. Steve Evans, the former addict, had found Christ five years ago, and dragged himself back into the light. He was sharing his experience across the country on a book tour, and had hired investigators trying to track down his family. He found the obituary of the wife, and he's desperately searching for the two daughters. When Callie decided to get involved with Iris' life, she will need all her strength and faith to reunite the broken family, and find peace with her own past.

This is an INSPIRATIONAL novel, i.e. a lot of talk about God, not a romance. And it's surprisingly emotional. You'll shed a few tears along the way for the family who had endured so much, and for Callie who felt compelled by God to save herself by saving others. 7/8

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Finished Saving Grace by Sandy James FREE Historical romance

Grace Riley had to find her... brother that she gave up for adoption almost twenty years ago. She had been on the run for that long, trying to get away from a madman obsessed about owning her body. She had been on cattle drives moving from city to city, never in a place for long. However, when she finally heard that the brother's adoptive parents had been murdered, she had to find him... that's how she arrived at Twin Springs ranch... soaked to the bone, running a fever... in the middle of a downpour... and collapsed into the Adam Morgan's arms. Adam Morgan is a widower and owner of the ranch. While he can't complain about his life with his grown and tomboy daughter Victoria and their housekeeper, he was really proud of the two kids he found on the streets and adopted as his own. When a woman out of nowhere was asking about one of his adopted sons, he couldn't help to take interest. As he nursed her back to health, Grace was grateful, and the idea of settling here was tempting, but she's not ready to reveal her secrets just yet. But whoever was after Grace was not yet ready to give up... even after twenty years...
Spoiler:
The "brother" she gave up? Was really her son. She was raped by that bastard and had been after her for twenty years. Crazy SOB, eh?
There is quite a bit of plot here. The resolution was even "kinda" reasonable. (Apparently the bastard became an embarassment to his clan, having spent untold resources trying to track her down for 20 years, and money can't buy everybody...) Grace's brother matthew also romanced Victoria, Adam's daughter. Overall, I think I can give this 6.5/8 as it revolved to "kidnapping and rescue" for the suspense climax.
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Re: Books Read 2017

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I've been doing a lot of rereads lately:
The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde (reread)
The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde (reread)
Seventy Seven Clocks by Christopher Fowler (reread)
Sweet Silver Blues buy Glen Cook (reread)
Bitter Gold Hearts buy Glen Cook (reread)

The two Jasper Fforde books are his Nursery Crimes Division series in which Inspector Jack Spratt solves the murders of Humpty Dumpty (the Big Over Easy) and Goldilocks (the Fourth Bear). There was supposed to be a third novel in the series but it never got written. Too bad - I liked the Nursery Crimes books better than his more well-known Thursday Next series.

I keep forgetting that Christopher Fowler's Bryant & May books are essentially Arthur Bryant's case memoirs which means that even though Bryant has retired, Fowler should be able to write more Bryant & May myteries.

It has been a very long time since I've read any of Glen Cook's Garrett, P.I., books. The first, Sweet Silver Blues, came out in 1987. This is another series worthy of a reread. If you enjoyed any of Cook's Black Company books, these are very much worth your time. Unlike the Black Company series, the Garrett books are pulp detective fiction in a fantasy setting. I know that for some of the series Cook emulated the writing styles of various famous pulp-fiction authors but I'm not familiar enough with the writers to recognize which book emulates which other author.
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." Voltaire

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Finished Billionaire Unbound by J. S. Scott FREE

Chloe Colter seems to be engaged to the wrong man. He's verbally abusive, always putting her down, whether it's her physical attributes or her love of animals. She finally broke away, but he won't take for an answer. Fortunately, she's in her hometown, and she has relatives that supported her, and her neighbor, the somewhat reclusive Gabe Walker, offered her a position on his ranch. Gabe was one of the few men who kissed her (it was New Year's Eve) and there was a hint of sexual tension between them, but Chloe knows it can't go any further... Until she makes a clean break from her abusive fiancee, James... before she can trust any man again. But James is not ready to let her go yet...

Creepy abusive fiancee, woman who breaks free... and a guy who wants her the way she is. Okay, nothing wrong in this picture, but it's pretty average.

5/8

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Finished Set on You by Kelly Collins FREE

Robyn Armour spent 5 years in prison for using excessive force to defend herself. She became that way when she was attacked in college and was saved by a resident monitor, whom she later got engaged to. When a drunk accosted her, she used her training and beat him to a pulp. The fiancee got married while she's in prison and has a kid on the way. Robyn went to live with her cellmates on Second Chance Ranch ran by her friend Mickey, and ran into Keenan, who's from Wyoming but only here to attend the wedding of one of his brothers here on the ranch. Keenan found Robyn interesting, but realized Robyn has some issues she needed to resolve, but they had a steamy fling anyway. Then Robyn's ex-fiance came back and still wanted her... ALONGSIDE with his wife...
Spoiler:
Turns out her attacker, back in college, WAS the resident monitor who "rescued" her and became her fiancee. And he pulled the same trick on his wife... even attacked her the exact same way, and rescued her the same way... WTF...
The mystery was onion-peeled the nicely, and even at less than 200 pages there was plenty of plot to satisfy. The chemistry between Keenan and Robyn was not instant, but rather, built-up over time, as both are trying to figure out a colt who has a penchant for escaping. And the twist... well, let's say I had my suspicions. 7/8

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Finished The Break-up by M J Summers FREE

Courtney Bennett had finally had enough of her husband, Brock McCain. They were the ultimate Hollywood power couple, but he holds everything. She is nothing without him, no money, no fame, and she finally saw what he is. When he got too friendly with a young starlet, she left him, but the papparazzi were after her. She's holed up in a Colorado cabin with her bodyguard, Wes Young, trying to figure herself out, but there is no way out. She's 37 and a word from Brock and she'll be blacklisted for life. She'd have no money, no fame, and no more beauty. And Brock's PR machine controlled the media and told everyone she's mentally unstable and taking a convalescence leave. But Wes slowly made her realize there is life after the breakup, even as Wes realized Courtney was no spoiled princess. He loved before, but military life, including twenty as a Jarhead, meant he had not loved for a long time. As Courtney learned how to stand up for herself, Wes needed to learn how to love...
Spoiler:
Book's climax was Courtney grew a backbone, confronted Brock (while filming themselves) and Brock, in anger, threw her around and she hit her head on a table. Brock called ambulance claiming she's suicidal and he wasn't able to stop her, but the camera footage said otherwise.
6.5/8 for creepy as f*** villain even though it's kinda hard to read about violence.

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Finished Sultry in Stillettos by Nana Malone

Ricca Munroe, one of the planners at Fantasy Events, is a shy individual with an active imagination... and a sad love life, dating a lot of Mr. Wrongs. She can be promoted to VP, if she will nail this latest contract... if not for her competition, Beckett Mills, who's also her best friend, if man and woman and be such a thing. Beckett always wanted to know if they can be more than friends, but Ricca was not going to take it any further, esp. not when both are competition for the VP job. But when someone was clearly sabotaging their latest contract from within, Beckett and Ricca better figure things out quickly... or it may be more than friendship at stake... but their lives...

Good twist at the end. 6.5/8

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Finished Forget Me Not by Erika Marks

Aspiring writer Mallory Reynolds left Magnolia Bay for New York City to become a writer. She left a lot behind, including her sweetheart Josh Loveless. Her breakout series was erotica called The Lost Diaries of Scarlet under a pen name, and it became a bestseller. She was just enjoying her success when her publisher leaked her real identity. Now people are whispering behind her back, and Mallory decided to go home and hide... and ran into Josh again. Josh spent all his energy on his dream and opened his sports equipment store, and he just invested into a grand re-opening... And found Mallory was back in town. Things were never finished between them, but both felt betrayed when neither were willing to accommodate the other. One can't leave, the other can't stay. Years later, both were a little wiser, but when the scandal followed Mallory home, it would be up to Josh to decide whether he can accept Mallory for exactly what she is... Or will she be forever marked by her creation?

Not feeling much on this one. The old hurts and wounds are fine, and the scandal following her are comedic genius. But the ending about going to school board was actually kinda lame as a grand gesture. 5/8

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Finished Going to the Chapel by Mary Jane Morgan

Claire Coleman had to cancel her wedding in Crystal Springs when she found her fiancee cheating. She was sobbing at the quiet and almost-finished chapel, when she was found by a handsome stranger. Turns out he was the builder who's about to finish the chapel, and Claire's wedding was supposed to be the lead event. And his name was Sam McGinnis. He wanted to comfort her, but can he afford to risk his own heart?

As a meet-cute it's actually quite good. Emotions are there, but at 100 pages there's not that much plot. 5.5/8

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Finished Dare to Surrender by Carly Phillips FREE

Isabelle Masters is done. She left her condo and belongings and wardrobe, and simply drove off, had enough of her cheating domineering boyfriend. She was surprised when she was stopped then arrested... for grand theft auto. And it can only be her darn ex's doing. But then she was rescued by the man she never expected... Gabriel Dare, whom she was fond of, but then she's not the cheating type. Now that she's free, she's not quite ready to trust another man again... even one as delectable as Gabe. But Gabe can be patient...

Basically, the spicier version of the Dare family in Carly Phillip's other series based in Miami, these are supposed their cousins. Characters are nicely rounded, though I was hoping for tighter timelines. The character basically took 3 month break in relationship to "find herself". 6/8
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Finished Her SEALed Fate by Lori Ryan FREE

Logan Stone is a retired SEAL working as a new executive in Sutton Capital, but he's battling PTSD, and can't afford distractions, like the way-too-distracting Samantha Page, head of IT. Neither knew the other's secrets... Logan was temporarily assigned to a blacker-than-black ops to capture head of a crime family. It sent so-sideways, entire team was wounded, one dead, and the crime family (including son, wife, and smaller children) was wiped out except for two members who were not there at the time. And Sam... was a renowned but anonymous hacker who helped the team tracked down the crime family, among other deeds helping the FBI and other agencies. And now the survivors of the family decided to come after them for revenge... Now Logan must fight through his own issues, in order to save Sam and himself.

I have a little problem with the SEAL being hired as a financial executive, even if it's for his "leadership qualities". Once you get past that, the book's actually quite decent, with no plot problems. 6/8

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Finished Tangled Up In You by A. L. Vincent

Emily Breaux had enough of her husband. She worked two jobs while her alcoholic husband got fired for refusing to go to counseling (for his alcohol problem) and because he's always drinking he can't get another job, and just keep taking her money for more booze. After one too many nights coming home to a pig sty Emily finally snapped, took her meager belongings, and went back to her home town of Bon Chance, Louisiana, and her circle of friends, who called themselves the Boonies. She's determined to save up enough money to open her own catering company, and fix up her grandparent's house. She also found Noah Devereaux, a childhood friend, who came home from Iraq with PTSD. They helped each other, and they slowly fell in love... But can they go the distance?

The romance is fine, as this is the slow simmer to a boil kind of romance. My problem is Emily's husband was just NOT a credible threat, despite his constant reminder of texts and voicemails. The ending was a total let down (the guy basically arrived, spat a few insults, then pretty much falls flat on his face without further help). He's only there so Emily can say it to his unconscious form. "meh". 4/8

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Finished Hitched Book 1 by Kendall Ryan CLIFFHANGER

Noah and Olivia are respective heirs of two families that co-owns an old company that employs thousands. The company had hit hard times and needed to get the two married... for the sake of the company. They knew each other since childhood, but he's a manwhore playboy (with a very well endowed package) and she's totally dedicated to business endeavors. There's no way they are getting married... but with thousands of jobs at stake, Olivia agreed to trial period... Noah had to romance her like a real couple would. Noah had no problem with that... he had desired Olivia for a long time, and he relishes the challenge. There's only one problem he won't mention... This marriage of convenience had to produce an heir... soon...

Way too angst-driven to be a rom-com that it was advertised as, it even ended on a...
Spoiler:
Runaway bride, where Olivia disappeared less than an hour ahead of her wedding, because her ex-BF apparently blackmailed her with something, to be revealed in book 2.
3/8
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Re: Books Read 2017

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Finished Hidden Hollywood by Kylie Gilmore FREE

Superstar Claire Jordan found kindred souls with the author of the book that she's adapting for movies, and the fan club. When she confessed that she wanted to date a normal guy, and she really can't stand her co-star but pretend to date for publicity, the book club came up with a candidate... Josh Campbell, local bar owner, all around good guy if a bit too charming for his own ego. All Claire need to do is go in a disguise... and a fake name. Billionaire tech CEO Jake Campbell is weary of gold-diggers. When his twin brother Josh asked him to step in (and pretend to be him for a blind date) so Josh can date someone else, Jake couldn't say no, and "Jenny" was everything Jake wanted and they shared a night of passion. It was supposed to be NSA, but Jake needed to see her... except she has no digital footprint anywhere...

Sexy and funny at the same time, and the twin switcharoo... well, it's kinda... embarrassing. :) 6.5/8

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Finished Bidding on Brooks by Katy Regnery FREE

Brooks Winslow is an ex-olympian that's not ready for a relationship, and considers his boat mechanic, Skye Sorenson, to be his best friend. When Brooks' sister Jessica roped Brooks into a bachelor auction, Brooks handed Skye his no limit credit card so win the auction... at any cost, just so he can avoid any entanglements. What he didn't know was Skye had secretly lusted after him for years, and with a bit of a makeover, Skye was as gorgeous as they come... and Brooks had no problem sailing for a week with Skye... until they realize they can take their relationship to the next level... but should they?

Eh, not much there. 5/8

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Finished The Trouble With Flying by Rochelle Morgan

Sarah doesn't talk to strangers. Aiden's terrified of flying and needs someone to talk to him to distract him. When the two meet on a long flight from UK to Dubai to South Africa, it should have been the worst combination ever, but somehow, they managed to calm each other down and get over some of each other's phobia, as they laugh, argue, and concoct stories about their fellow passengers. They even held hands (accidentally, due to turbulence). When they finally landed in Jo'burg, Sarah couldn't help but to wonder if she can have a future with Aiden... then Aiden kissed her and left. But Sarah has a boyfriend, Matt, who was controlling and demeaning... Matt never liked her imagination or writing... Now Sarah must decide whether to go after what she truly wanted... or stay in the course mapped out for her...

Clean contemporary romance. The problem is Matt was never more than a footnote. His role as a foil was way too light, and never was much of a threat. OTOH the rest of the push-pull was great. 6/8
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Finished Intentional by MK Harkins

Mattie and Jeremy were looking forward to their wedding and starting their life together in Sedona, AZ, when Mattie walked in on Jeremy and her best friend Sarah in bed, she fled. Mattie's parents died young and when the two most important people in her life both betrayed her, she had no one left. She chose to start over elsewhere... at random, and ended up on Mercer Island, Washington. There, she mad Cade, a local musician, who had his own heartache. They bonded, and Mattie wondered if there is a future with Cade. But Jeremy had not given up, for he realized he was also betrayed... and he's out to set things right...

The plotting was decent, but not spectacular. I predicted the problem long before it was revealed, and indeed, the author dropped several hints. The alternating first person POV was both a strength and a weakness here. It gave us insight into all four characters' thought processes, but also made a lot of thoughts petty, and may have been a little TOO MUCH information.
Spoiler:
We don't really need to listen to the thoughts of Cade, or Sarah.
6.5/8

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Finished Healing by Rachel Caid

Anna left her life behind to settle elsewhere with her son Roman, and gave up on dating altogether due to her terrible loss. Noah got out of a relationshp based on lies and not ready to commit to any one. They met and Noah believed he had found what he wanted... a family and a home. And Noah is determined to get past Anna's reluctance... but then someone from their past is back to cause trouble...

Honestly didn't feel much here. 4.5/8

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Finished Rocky Mountain Haven by Vivian Arend FREE

Beth's emotionally abusive husband is dead, and all she cared about is raising her three boys in a small town in Alberta. She was not ready to try sex or love, after ten years of vanilla... Until she ran into Daniel in a Calgary Bar, and her libido, long unused, came alive, and Daniel gave in to her demands... for no-strings non-vanilla sex. But the more they sneak off, but more they realize they are perfect for each other... Not just in bed... However, Beth has a secret she's not ready to share... But so does Daniel...

Actually pretty good as both have some... biological problems they haven't told each other. :) Sex is hot too. 6/8

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Finished Modern Girl's Guide to Vacation Flings by Gina Drayer FREE

Beth ran away from her life to get on a cruise as she can't bear to see her boyfriend dumped her for her younger sister, and they are going to get married. Matt was dragged onto a family vacation / cruise to celebrate his parent's anniversary and was getting setup with a woman she can't stand. When Matt asked Beth to be his pretend girlfriend (mainly because they met on the plane) to save his sanity, Beth accepted due to boredom, but found herself attracted to the big family and found Matt to be charming, and perfect guy for a vacation fling. But as time went on, Beth find herself more attached than she wanted... and Matt found himself completely smitten...

Writing is a little uneven, as both characters flipped out into almost full-blown panic attacks at times, but then never happened again, as if the flip-out was just for comic relief. But I like the slow-simmer romances, and this is one of those. 6/8
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Finished Love on the Range by Sondra Grey

Elizabeth went through medical college as top of the class, but when her father (and mentor) died, the lecherous professor refused to let her graduate unless she agrees to become his mistress, or else he'll ruin her reputation by spreading rumors about she used sexual favors to graduate. She fled Connecticut as a mail order bride to Wyoming, to a rancher Nicholas Rhymer who need to marry by 30 to retain his ranch. Nicholas lost his heart when his love Jessica died in a coach accident, and there are no nearby prospects, and a meek and homely mail order bride seems to be the perfect solution... for a marriage of convenience. But Elizabeth is neither meek nor homely...

No chemistry, slight anachronous dialogue, a female doctor that went through all the training, yet fainted multiple times during the story... The story just doesn't make sense. Having "bonus content" to inflate the page count by 200% (150 to 488 pages) doesn't help either. 2/8

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Finished Married This Year by Tracey Pedersen

Jordan Parker is sad at New Year's Eve. Her besties are getting married, and her date is a douche. In a bit of drunken stupor, she set her New Year goal to be finding the right man and marry him in the next 365 days. Unfortunately, Jordan just keep falling for the wrong guys. A guy who loves nature hikes but considers wild berries a germ risk; a guy that's great in bed but is married with open relationship; a guy that can't stop talking about his ex; and so much more. The only guy who was there constantly was her neighbor Luke, whom she considered off-limits, except he's so good with her dog...

Basically, Jordan looking for love in all the wrong places. Funny, without being too obviously a sitcom. and poignant, esp. at the end when she realized what she was searching for was there all along. 6.5/8
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Finished Montana Brides Boxed Set 1: (books 1-3) by Leeanna Morgan FREE

Forever Dreams -- New Zealand girl Gracie went to Montana as a teacher exchange, but really wanted to find her father instead, and fell for cowboy Trent there. Previously reviewed

Forever in Love -- Amy found herself taking care of a 5-month-old sister, left on her doorstep by her alcoholic mother. With no support network in place, she had to uproot her life and move back to Montana to be amongst her friends... and the cowboy she left behind years ago... Nathan Gray.

Again, we have the problem of Montanans using kiwi terms like "bonnet". The basic push pull is okay, but a lot of the background made no sense. She's a doctor but she never resolved her own childhood trauma (a near rape). The backstory between the two was alluded to but never clarified (why did she ran from the town?) What happened in the barn fire that scarred Nathan? It is as if the author just randomly picked bits from a scrapbook and threw those onto the character.

Forever After -- Nicky needs to stay away from Sam Delaney, mainly because he broke her heart two years ago. But Nicky is the best person to audit the company... It's her family construction business, and her grandpa asked her to. Someone had been embezzling money from the company, tens of thousands of dollars worth, and signs pointed to someone high up. Sam had some problems growing up and had severe commitment issues. Forced to work together, Sam and Nicky will need to confront their unresolved feelings amidst chasing down the perpetrator.

Frankly, Sam just came across as a jerk, even though we were not privy to details of their earlier breakup. And Nicky had a secret she kept as well. There were also plenty of kiwi vocabulary leakthru. I just don't get the sense that Sam realizing that Nicky was the best thing that happened to him. What's different about this time around vs. last time?

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Finished Virgin for the Woodsman by Eddie Cleveland

Cole killed a man to avenge his sister, and ran for the Canadian wilderness, knowing fully well the price he'll pay. He did not count on two bumbling idiots who thought they can track him down, but they are getting close... at least to the right wilderness town. One's an older guy named Cecil, allegedly a private investigator and the other was Abbie, his... assistant. They seem to have minimal tracking skills. When Cecil got drunk that night and tried to assault Abbie in their camp, Cole had to intervene. But once he done that, and Abbey sprained her ankle, Cole had no choice but to kidnap Abbie and show her his secret lair, where Cole told Abbie his story...

For a romance written by a guy, it's actually quite decent... Except for one glaring problem. The guy built his own cabin in the woods, presumably by hauling equipment from the nearby town. That's quite believable... But there is this problem of... keeping warm. How does he disguise the smoke and fireplace / chimney? A column of smoke in the middle of a forest is obviously as heck, even if the building cannot be seen from the ground. Still, better than average! 6/8

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Finished An Astonishing Match by Barbara Dunlop FREE

Hunter Vashon is on an interesting mission... because his grandma asked him to. Gram and her gang have a matchmaking algorithm and they found the ideal match for Hunter's brother Hammond: Kalie Gray. But Hammond is a suit and tie kind of guy, and Hunter, being the rebel of the family and owner of his own construction firm, prefers t-shirts and jeans... and Kalie... is a machinist who moonlights as a dirt tracking racing pit crew. The more time Hunter spent with Kalie, the more he wanted her for himself, rather than for his brother. But Gram was sure their match cannot possibly be wrong... What's Hunter going to do? What will Kalie do when she found out and when she met Hammond?

Rom com, and quite funny. 6/8
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Finished A Chance to Come True by S M Spencer

Caity just gave up her job and her home and moved to little town of Willows (Australia) to become a full time writer, away from distractions, esp. men. But a trip into town brought her into orbit of Tom, and his three children. His marriage was a failure, but his family ties are strong. And he wanted no complications. When the two meet... well, let's just say neither was prepared to accept what they felt for each other...

Not too bad, but nothing too out of the ordinary either. 5/8

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Finished The Future of Love by Sharon Cummin

Jenny is Gavin's secretary. Gavin's friend best friend John is stepfather to Kyle. Kyle had watched Jenny from afar for a long time. Gavin had repeatedly stated to Kyle that Jenny is off-limits, and Kyle had respected those wishes, even watching Jenny get married to the wrong man. When Jenny got divorced, Kyle found that he still can't have her... but a family vacation to Hawaii gave him the opportunity to take that one step further... a vacation fling. But that when Jenny's ex complicates the picture, and the family seem to have problems with the relationship, can the two love birds find their way to each other?

Way too angst-y and too many complications, as well as a large cast for the heck of it... too many brothers / half-brothers / and so on. 5/8

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Finished Claiming Carlos by Rachelle Ayala

Choco Sanchez had been best friends with the head cook, Carlos Lopez, at the family Filipino restaurant in San Diego, CA for a very long time. Both are comfortable with each other, neither wanted the relationship changed. That was shattered when a restaurant consultant Johnny Dee came to make over the restaurant... AND Choco as well, and Carlos is not taking that lying down. Who is Johnny Dee, and why is Choco's father letting Johnny's mother Miranda run the restaurant? Does this have something to do with Choco's secret? When someone threatened to expose Choco's secret in order to get Choco away from Carlos, so cousin Julia can marry Carlos, Choco walked away, but Carlos wasn't ready to let that happen, even without a penny to his name...

Wow, this is one big family and a big mess, but in a dramatic way. And the author knows Asian culture well, with good Filipino references. 7/8
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Finished The Last Valkyrie by Dietmar Arthur Wehr SCIFI

Synthetic Intelligence Val Ky Ree shut herself down after drifting into the unknown after a climactic battle. She woke up when someone disturbed her hull... and found thousands of years have passed... and her creators, the Aesir, are gone. She is the last of her kind, and she found the beings that disturbed her rest, the humans, worthy of protection... for there are only a few thousand humans left in the cosmos... someone blasted Earth with a planet killer asteroid, wiping out everything on the planet. The other worlds, collectively known as The Compact, may have destroyed Earth, and treat human ships lower than scum. Val Ky Ree helped the humans achieve parity, while gathering resources to find out what happened to her creators, and found the Terran myth of the Valkyries worthy. But when a threat from the past was found to be arriving in this galaxy, Val Ky Ree is alone in facing down an enemy that took 10 millennia to return....

Not a bad tale, 6/8

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Finished The Matchmaker Bride by Shadonna Richards

Sophie is the newest matchmaker for Stone's Elite Matchmakers, an agency that specializes in elite and discreet matchmaking for the rich and famous. Her first assignment was to interview Carlos Bradley III, who needed a marriage of convenience ASAP, no reason given. In reality, Carlos needed a bride so he can fight for custody of an autistic child, whose mother had expressed no interest in the child until it was learned that the child is worth a fortune in inheritance. Carlos found himself attracted instead to Sophie, rather than any candidates she proposed. When Carlos also found that Sophie's volunteering at a school with autistic kids, she's perfect for him. But Sophie's job prevents her from dealing with clients... even though she enjoyed Carlos' attention...

Ah, nice twists here and there. 6/8

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Finished Inferno Falls Trilogy by Aubrey Parker

Book 1: Boss's daughter -- Riley James graduated and is coming home to learn from her father's real estate company... and ran into her father's protege, Brandon Grant, who also is running the company... Brandon found himself drawn to Riley, but can he romance the boss's daughter and not betray his mentor's trust?

Book 2: The Forbidden Muse -- Gavin lost his love and his bandmate, and his will to create music... Until Abigail sang her heart out and broke down his walls. Gavin no longer knows what to do... Abigail reminded too much of what he had lost, but her talent and love cannot be denied...

Book 3: The Second Chance -- Maya found herself a single mom when her man, Grady, left town to satisfy his wanderlust. She got by in town being pursued by multiple men as "easy", but Grady is back, and Maya's plan to cope came crumbling down, and nothing will be the same ever again.

These books are a bit too angst-y for me, IMHO, but the characters are definitely complex and above average for romances. 6/8
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(1024 reviews posted, not all are books, of course. Just broke through the top 3000 reviewer barrier)

Finished Up for Grabs by Heather Young-Nichols

Flannery left home for college half a nation away. Raised by a single mother who's always pinching pennies, she's self-reliant to a fault. She dedicated to being a geek, and was surprised when an ace student (and rich and handsome) Cain liked her and wanted to date her. Then disaster struck. Her scholarship evaporated due to an internal scandal, and it is too late to apply for anything else. She cannot contemplate living without Cain, but with no money to pay for tuition and such, she will be forced to move back home. She took drastic measure... made inquiries about selling her virginity to afford college... then Cain found out and felt thoroughly betrayed...

Angst-y, aye. Very angst-y. But everything's logical. 6/8

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Finished Dansel in Danger by Olivia Jaymes FREE

Ex-DEA agent Jason Anderson is trying to rebuild his life after being held captive and tortured by a narc cartel. He was starting his security business, and with friends he's slowly coping, but he barely sleeps at night, alone, until his neighbor, Brinley Snow asked him over to join her for dinner, having admired him for a while. But the dinner was quickly interrupted when Jason's brother asked Jason to invite the lovely Brinley down to the station for a chat. Someone was found dead, and in his pocket was the address of Brinley's house, which she bought not too long ago. Turns out the house has a cold case attached to it... a wife was murdered, and a husband was the prime suspect, but not enough evidence. Who was the dead man and why did he have the address? How was he involved? Then the house was broken into. And Brinley has her own secrets, having fled the east coast. Then another woman was attacked, and a creepy admirer of Brinley keep showing up unannounced... But Jason is determined to protect Brinley from all threats... and perhaps finally sold the cold case as well, and the present murders.

I don't know what authority Jason was investigating with, but he was Ex-DEA, not current duty LEO, and unless the local police deputize him (if that's even allowed) he really has no authority to do anything. Other than that, there were enough red herrings thrown ALL OVER the place, and you're wondering which way the story go. As a mystery, the story is good. It's somewhat less satisfying as a romance. 6/8

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Finished Just the Way You Are by Christina Dodd FREE

Hope Prescott is living in Boston as an operator of the only live answering service in the city. She was 15 when her family was destroyed. Her parents died in a car accident in Mexico, and they were immediately accused of embezzling the local church, and the three sisters and their foster brother were split up, and nobody in town said a thing. Hope was intensely distrustful of all rich people, and when she trusted someone with her past, those people immediately turned on her, forcing her to NEVER mention her background, EVER. But she built up relationships, nonetheless, with people she talked to almost every day, and one of them was Griswald, the butler of the rich playboy Zach Givens. When Hope took a container of chicken soup when she heard that Griswald caught a cold, Hope found that Griswald wasn't old or gruff, but handsome, intense, and good-hearted. They developed a relationship. What Hope did not know was the person she believed was Griswald was actually Zach Givens, and while he wanted Hope, he was willing to treasure Hope's trust for he was intolerant of golddiggers and being "Griswald" gave him freedom to be who he is... and when Zach learned of Hope's past, he sent the real Griswald to locate her siblings. But when Zach's enemy found out about Hope, they exploit her as Zach's weakness... by exposing Zach's deception. Zach, along with the unlikely allies of united by Hope, will have to brave the den of a notorious mobster to mount a rescue mission...

Good plotting, excellent twists and turns. A master is truly a master (the author generally writes regency romances) and she even shared her outline at the end of the book to show her plotting. 7/8
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Finished Somewhere along the way by Ruth Cardello FREE

Luke Andrade is one of the brothers in a rich family, the peace maker, but all that stress wasn't good for the soul. After he went to Ohio to attend a funeral, he never expected to meet the most charming B&B owner, Cassie Daiver. Cassie grew up with a druggie mother and was molested by one of her mother's "boyfriends". She left her mother behind after turning 18 and never looked back, and a chance encounter landed her in Defiance Ohio, where she landed a deal that got her running the charming little B&B. She knew Luke Andrade was way out of her league, but he doesn't think so. But he had too much family problems to deal with, and she wasn't about to entrust him with her secret... She wanted a family, a baby by herself (donor sperm) but so far she hadn't succeeded. When he had to go back to New York for a family crisis, and tried to leave her out of it, how will she take the situation? Or is that the big breakup?

The insta-lust was a bit abrupt. The family drama, however, is what made this special, though I'd say the mother was such a bitch to hold a grudge for several DECADES, just to ruin people for that? Sheesh. 6/8

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Finished Accidental SEAL by Sharon Hamilton

Navy SEAL Kyle Lansdowne needs to find his team buddy and the best place to start was his house. He was not prepared for the woman who entered the house... Christy Nelson. She was a new real estate agent who was given the wrong address to do the open house, and her encounter with Kyle left her hot and bothered, but in a good way, even though she was scared out of her wits. Kyle went back to apologize the next day, even as he tries to find out what happened to his team buddy. But the most he searched, the deeper the problem went. Soon we have dead people, Feds, and more crawling all over the place... and a giant conspiracy... and Christy will end up as a pawn... Can Kyle and the other SEALs manage to keep the lid on, while rescuing Christy and other innocents?

Technically this is NOT SEAL abuse as while these SEALs are in the US, with guns, they are NOT doing so under orders, but more of a "wink-nudge" acknowledgement to be disavowed at any time. As a thriller, it's actually quite good with various twists and turns. 6/8

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Finished An Officer's Promise by K. Langston FREE

NYPD Detective Ryker Cunningham comes from a long time of folks wearing blue, and so are his brothers, but he never forgot his first love, MaryAnn, who lost her parents in 9/11, then married the wrong guy who abused her. After suffering enough, she finally spoke up, and the responding officer was Ryker, who rescued her. But is she ready to have a second chance? Can she accept Ryker's dangerous career? Will her crazy ex do something drastic?

Short, fast, and decently plotted. 5.5/8

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Finished Stranded with the Cyborg by Cara Bristol FREE

Brock Mann has an impossible assignment, even though as an operative with Cyber Ops, he specialized in the impossible, with his various cybernetic enhancements. The problem is he was tasked to babysit a diplomat... someone he knew from ten years ago, when he was working security... then first-daughter Penelope Isabella Aaron, aka PIA (or Pain in ***). She was so mad at him for his diligence ("interference" to her), she framed him for sexual misconduct (with her). Now she's an ambassador he needed to escort to a summit, but threats have already been issued against her. When the trip took a very bad turn and they crashed on a quarantined planet, he may be her only chance to stay alive...

Frankly, for an elite operative, his security was horrible. How can he not check over the crew manifest? 4/8

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Finished Letting Go by Anthony Awtrey

Alex Thompson is rich, but he had been living with the guilt that his wife had died at childbirth, giving birth to twins. A frivolous lawsuit, anonymous harassment calls and more kept him on the edge, even five years later. His latest move brought him and his family to yet another city, and encountered Molly McDill, a struggling single mom who lived next door. But Alex's nemesis has a timeline, and that involves getting rid of Alex... and Molly if they're in the way. Molly's ex-husband also reentered the picture, making things even more complicated. Who is after Alex, and why?

Pretty good thriller. 6/8

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Finished Blaze / Grizzly Brothers Book 2 by Terra Wolf

Reagan's sister Sadie just got married in Alaska after falling in love with the bear-shifter Diesel. Reagan fancied after one of the two remaining Grizzly Brothers (actually triplets), Blaze and Hunter. Reagan prefers Hunter, but in her drunkeness after the wedding she propositioned the wrong brother, Blaze. However, with bear-shifters, once you mate, you do so for life. And Blaze will have to convince her that he was her future...

Short shifter romance. The "wrong guy" schtick wore off pretty quickly. 4/8

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Finished Making Her Melt by Amber Lin

Lia had plans with her long-term BF Chris, but she also cannot forget her best friend Ethan. When push comes to shove, she will have to make a choice...

Feels like it ended in the wrong place. 4/8
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Re: Books Read 2017

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Finished: A Forest of Stars: The Saga of the Seven Suns Book 2 & Horizon Storms: The Saga of Seven Suns Book 3 by Kevin J. Anderson

Book 2 was a little better than book 1 and Book 3 was a little better than book 2. Series going well.

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Finished: Prince of Thorns: The Broken Empire Book 1 by Mark Lawrence

Fantasy in a non-Tolkien setting. Darkish in tone. Interesting world that is introduced well over the course of the novel. Good first entry in the series, just starting book 2 now.

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The Last Colony: Old Man's War Book 3 by John Scalzi

I've read several novles by John Scalzi and enjoyed them all and this one did not disapoint. More politics and less military in this book compared to the first two books in the series. Some good mysteries and hidden agendas. Old Man's War and Fuzzy Nation are still my 2 favorite from Scalzi but this was a really good book.

A small note on the narration. If you've read my previous book comments then you know I am not as into humor as most people. Most of Scalzi's novels have some humor or a sarcastic tone to one degree or another. I read the first two Old Man's War book physically on kindle and read them mostly straight, or at least much more straight then the narrator does. The narration is quite sarcastic throughout. I got used to it but it was a little too much for me in a couple places. Take this with my preferences in mind as this was proablaly a plus for most people. I'll just have to stick to kindle copies for the rest of the series.

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Finished: Lyonesse: Suldrun's Garden by Jack Vance

Old school fantasy with a strong British folk lore feel. Its was ok. A little too rambling for my personal taste.

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Finished: The Lost Fleet: Victorious by Jack Campbell

A good conclusion to a good series. Tied up the main plot and revealed some aspects of a hidden element. Good ending while leaving room for more. I know there are more books in this world even though this was the last in this series. I will take a break but good chance I'll be back.

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Finished: Eisenhorn (A Warhammer 40,000 Omnibus) by Dan Abnett

As per the title a Warhammer 40k book (3 novels and 2 short stories). Tells the story of Inquisitor Eisenhorn hunting heretics, fighting xenos, fighting chaos and warp, and doing other inquisitor like things in the name of the Emperor of Mankind. Action and adventure. I don't play Warhammer 40k tabletop but have always found the lore of the world interesting. Having never played and this being my first book in the world I actually watched two long youtube videos on the history of the rise of Mankind and the Emperor of Mankind that I found much more compelling than I was expecting and really made me look forward to reading Eisenhorn. I did quite enjoy the book but admittedly not as much as I was expecting to.
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Finished Meant for Love by Christine Kingsley FREE

Lissa Winters wanted the marriage, kids, and white picket fence, but her dream man, Jesse Kincaid, wasn't ready for her... ever. Jesse can't keep the family store afloat, but his father isn't the understanding type, not does he appreciate Jesse's alternate solutions, such as turning half the store into a boutique (which was Lissa's idea). Jesse was also a bit traumatized by his childhood and deemed himself unworthy of marriage, much less a wonderful girl like Lissa. It's the irresistible force (love) meets the immovable object (don't love me)... Then a discovery forced them to confront each other's issues...

Way too angst-y, and the complication forced a darkest hour, but I still don't quite figure what's the breakthru that resolved that. There was no grand gesture that I saw. 4.5/8

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Finished Special Delivery by Laura Browning

Holly Morgan was dumped by her crazy ex-fiance Spence when he discovered she's pregnant. He was proposing marriage, but he turned it around and claimed she was entrapping her. So she left heart-broken, but had to take care of her little brother. Then months later, with her pregnancy further along, Spence came back wanting the baby, apparently after finding out his new girl, Seely (Cecilia) can't get pregnant and he needed an heir ASAP for some inheritance. After stalking her (and police wasn't helpful in enforcing the restraining order), Holly and her little brother took off in the middle of the night, and ended up in Mountain Meadow, Virginia, a quiet little town, and came to know Lt. Jake Allred of local police. Holly had been let down by police before, but when a freak snow storm stranded them together, Jake ended up delivering her baby. Noelle. Jake was sure Holly is the girl he wanted in his life, but the problem is convincing Holly... and protecting her and the baby from Spence, who is still out there...

I have a slight problem with the ending. It wasn't really resolved by the FMC or MMC, but rather, by a third-party (who was also victim of the antagonist, Spence) However, it was definitely above average. 6.5/8

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Finished Truth or Date by Susan Hatler

Gina Hall wasted TEN YEARS on a man who won't propose and broke it off. Her bestie Kristen, playing truth or dare, dared Gina into going out with a "nice guy" Ethan. But when Gina had to plan a party for the office playboy Chris Bradley, Chris dared her to play his girlfriend to get a flirty colleague off his trail. And Gina found Chris was much more fun... but he's not sticking around... And Gina now must make a critical choice... Go with the sure Ethan with no spark, or fight for Chris and risk breaking her heart and wasting on another player who won't commit?

Good triangle, if a bit too... obvious? 5.5/8

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Finished A Single's Guide to Texas Roadways by H. Claire Taylor

Natalie cris-crosses Texas looking for love in all the wrong places, and met a lot of interesting men, including triplets (who fortunately did not try to play switcharoo on her), ex armed forces, jet-setter, and more. She had many prospects, but it's often right guy wrong time, or wrong guy right time or even wrong guy wrong time. So is she ever going to find right guy at the right time?

Kinda fun travelogue / romance / serial dater scenario, with a good dose of humor. 5.5/8

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Finished Time for Love by Marie Force FREE

Dr. David Lawrence, the only doctor on Gansett Island, betrayed his love, the golden girl of the island, Janey McCarthy, and had to rebuild his life , and watch Janey engaged to Joe, and became pregnant. He still had yet to forgive himself, even as he saved lives and limbs on the island, but a new woman may yet tempt his heart. Daisy Babson needs a fresh start on the island when her boyfriend Truck Henry abused her, leaving her battered, both physically and mentally. Her visits with Dr. David became her bright spots of the day, even as she reminded herself she's not ready to trust a man, nor can she ever be worthy of a doctor. As the two are slowly drawn toward each other, neither can deny their attraction, but neither are ready to go all in in their relationship...

Started with insta-lust, and Truck was never much of a threat. David's backstory was actually quite good. (He had cancer scare and he basically had a self-destructive period including cheating on Janey, and never forgave himself even as he responded to treatment) If the rest of the plot wasn't so uneven (insta-lust, paper-cutout villain) it'd rate higher. 5.5/8

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Abandoning Stalker by Elena Davinski

Sophia is a businesswoman who is strong and independent, but she wanted support of a group of elite investors known as the Wrecking Crew. And one of the crew is Brad Thorpe, who's handsome, sexy, rich, and cocky... and he seems to have taken a special interest in Sophia... but he's alternately warm and fuzzy, and stalkerish. He's alternately warm and cold. He's sabotage his meetings making her look like a fool, then apologize profusely in private... What is his game... why was he doing this to her?

I basically stopped reading when he blackmailed her (with a tape of him seducing her into his bed) into playing BDSM games, including handcuff, AT WORK, after breaking into her home and work multiple times. If this is "dark romance", I don't like it.

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Finished Mastering Her Senses by Laura Kay FREE

Quinton Ross plays hard, and his club, Blasphemy, reflects that, as it contains some toys that and setups that really plays with senses of his play-dates... and he plays dom, but he doesn't want a full-time sub, just someone to play with. Cassia Locke was a sub, and actually scheduled a session with Quinton two years ago, but a caving accident left her deathly afraid of the dark... and her breakdown at Blasphemy brought her back to Quinton, who decided to help her overcome her fear. But as she slowly emerges from her shell, it may be Quinton who was about to lose his heart...

BDSM as fear therapy... That's interesting therapy, but that also makes this better than your typical lame BDSM tale. 6/8

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Finished Those Who Dare by Phil Ward WW2 Military Novel

Lt. John Randal of US 26th Cavalry Regiment was "volunteered" to the British Army, just as the British Expeditionary Forces were forced to retreat from the Germans at Calais and Dunkirk. With a ragtag unit he was able to buy four days for the forces at Dunkirk to retreat to British Isles, and came to the attention of Churchill and others each to establish a raiding force to take the war to the Germans any way they can... But in his way, are tons of bureaucracy, intra-branch politics, wartime shortages, and more...

The viewpoint seems a bit uneven. Sometimes, we're at detail level as we follow soldiers on raids, but sometimes we skip over a lot of stuff (like actual fighting) and focus on specific incidents, like Randal was willing to blow up a bridge full of civilians in order to save the forces at Dunkirk. Still, it seems to be a good story. 6/8

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Finished The Kiss that Launched 1000 GIFs by Sheralyn Pratt

Grace and Ashton cohost "Battle of the Sexes" radio talk show and the two argues like an old couple, listeners wonder if they have anything sparks behind the scenes. Although in reality, Grace has a fiancee, Phillip, who, according to her, is perfect. When the news came that the talk show will be canceled due to poor ratings, Grace and Ashton both engage social media and other advertising campaigns trying to drum up more listeners, and a charity kiss (to raise money for a worthy cause seems perfect. But that kiss... changes everything.

Nice references. 6/8
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Finished Emma's Dream by M. Lee Prescott FREE

Ben Morgan went home to his family ranch, doctor's orders. He was totally stressed out from his business in California, but he can't wait to go back. That is, until he ran into Maggie Williams... Well, technically her car. Ben and Maggie had a one-night fling... Almost six years ago. And the feeling was still there... even as everybody in town wanted to warn him off of her... being a ranch hand on his family ranch and being a single mother... But soon Ben realized Maggie's daughter Emma... was his, and Maggie was determined to not let Ben break her heart again, since he's surely heading back to California as soon as his doctor declare him fit, nor would Maggie take any charity. But Ben started to realize perhaps what he sought wasn't in California after all...

The stereotypical "secret baby" trope, but polished to a high shine. Add some family drama, some jealous woman in town, and a lot of push-pull, and it was quite enjoyable. 6/8

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Finished Wrangling the Cowboy by Piper Sullivan FREE

Struggling cook Clara Bloom is going nowhere at 23, and the only job she can find was cooking for a ranch (and housekeeper) for a guy who seems to barely tolerate her, even though he's one beefcake she'd like to... uh... never mind. She still has her V-card, and he's her boss. But Asher Hawthrone did not grow up ranching. He was a city slicker once, an investment banker. When his heart almost gave out, he changed careers and traded his condo for a ranch. When his wife didn't like the change of scenery, he divorced her. He's done with city girls... Until Clara came along... But she wanted to open a restaurant... in the city. The two should not want each other, but they do...

I guess it's okay. 5/8

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Finished Her Backup Boyfriend by Ashlee Mallory

Straight-shooter lawyer Kate Matthews plays by the rules... Until her blue blood ex-boyfriend got engaged and a big promotion, and she blurted out she has a boyfriend too... But she doesn't. When her neighbor Dominic Sorenson volunteered to help her look over her house for renovation, she can't help but notice that Dom was one heck of a hunk... and when she brought up the idea of playing her boyfriend, he was quite fond of the idea, as he has some interest in Kate himself. Before you know it, Kate and Dom are a couple... but is it pretend... or is it real? When there are hints that Kate's promotion to junior partner may be on the line based on her marital status, and Kate found out that her firm may have breached ethical rules in defending one of their clients... Kate has a bigger decision to make than love and career...

Ah, the stakes getting raised nicely, and goals shifted. Nice twist. 7/8

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Finished Night with a SEAL by Cat Johnson FREE

Jon spent ten years in the SEALs, but red tape is starting to hamper their operations. And he can't quite forget Ali, even though it was supposed to be a one-time fling. Ali can't quite forget Jon either, as both struggled with their realizations. Jon's finally back, only to find that a terrorist took Ali and Darcy (one of fellow SEAL's sister) and others hostage in a bank, decisions have to be made...

Hard to rate. WHile there is no SEAL abuse, the romance part seems a bit thin, as the couple basically found their one-night-stand to have serious lasting effects. And the hostage situation were resolved without SEALs help. 5/8

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Finished Since I found you by Mary Jane Morgan

Paige Dillingham cannot trust any men... They all walked away from her life one way after another. She dedicated herself to her one passion, delivering babies as a midwife, and share in the happiness... Until one man tempted her heart to perhaps try once again. Justin Coleman is brother of one of her patients, and he's not ready to settle down just yet, but he found Paige courageous and fascinating. But when Justin wanted more, Paige's old fears surfaced, because she had been keeping a huge secret...
Spoiler:
She can't have any babies, after losing her baby a while back.[/url] Geez, I could have guessed that near the start of the book. And obviously Justin have a hard time accepting this, as he will want a family. blah blah blah blah. 5.5/8

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Finished His Perfect Bride by Merry Farmer FREE (Spicy version, i.e. with sex scenes) Historical Western Mail Order Bride romance

Corva Collier had to escape her life in the East and mail order bride to a little town of Haskell Wyoming was her last chance. She was an artist, but her life in the East did not allow her to pursue that. She did not expect to find her husband a cripple who can barely walk, and did not really wanted to marry her. But Franklin Haskell (yes, the town's named after his relatives) was an honorable man, and between marrying Corva to help her vs. sending her back and marry some other women in town with designs on his fortune, Franklin chose Corva, even though he surely does not deserve her. But Corva thought the same... surely a lowly painter does not deserve the richest man in town with a good heart... So in a way, they are perfect for each other...

Merry Farmer has good plotting skills and good ramp-up on the conflict. Just ignore the generic cover. 6.5/8
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Finished Make Me Scream by Missy Winters

Melodi moved to a small town, and she didn't expect to be romanced by the big and intimidating Jason... who's into bondage... and the perfect gentleman.

BDSM romance, really? Who the f*** tells the girl he saw the first time "Do you liked to be tied up?" And instead of running out screaming "help! pervert" she's secretly hot for the guy and willing to give him her v-card. Argh. This is the kind of **** written by authors who don't give a **** about the "scene" or standard protocols, and basically want to copy Fifty Shades. 3/8

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Abandoning Chasing the Star Garden by Melanie Karsak

Steampunk Romance? Really? The world's kinda interesting... In the year 1823 (Steampunk universe) Lily Stargazer is racing her airship in the world airship grand prix, but she just lost the London Leg to the Yanks. Then an intruder jumped onto her ship, slid a kaleidoscope down her pants, told her to fly to Venice, then jumped off the airship tower and killed himself. What is this device, and why are people willing to kill (or die) for it?

Cavalier drug use (apparently opium and absinthe are the drugs of choice in Steampunk...) no side effects, and somehow this leads to some grand conspiracy ... I guess I don't know history enough for this alternate universe to interest me. No rating.

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Finished The Trouble with Scarecrows by Dorlana Vann

Brenda Fisher needed to get over her ex, Larry, who dumped her publicly. She knew what kind of guy she wanted, and it does not include her... "neighbor" Neal Parker. Neal's former boss (and friend) Larry had allowed him to stay at his apartment while Neal pursue his culinary degree. Unfortunately, Brenda, who actually owns the apartment, is here to evict, and Neal had to convince Brenda to let him stay. When Neal found out Brenda's need, Neal offered himself as a scarecrow... scare away the crows, i.e. unsuitable suitors so the right one can approach Brenda, by enlisting the help of Zadora, the third neighbor who is also facing eviction. But when Brenda found out she was manipulated, she changed the rules and up'ed the stakes...

I don't get the plot, honestly. Things just keep happening, one after another, and I guess Neal and Brenda are supposed to become a couple, but I honestly don't feel much despite the clever premise. 4.5/8

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Finished Mistakenly Married by Victorine E. Lieske

Penny is jobless, broke, and about to become homeless. When her online boyfriend "William" offered to marry her in Las Vegas, she thought this will save her, and when he arrived via limo, he was smokin' hot, and the marriage was quickly over. THEN she realized she married the wrong guy. This buy is "Harrison Williams", not "William (something)". And while Harrison was in Vegas to get married so he can access his trust fund, he thought he was marrying someone arranged by his brother, not this girl expecting "William". Penny was distraught as "William" actually stood her up... and now she's married to the wrong man, but he was so nice... and when he told her about his needs, and promised to pay her 50K when it's over, she reluctantly agreed and went with him to meet his stepmother... After all, what can go wrong?

As you can guess, what can go wrong, probably did. Penny's old job (as a tribute singer) wanted her back. Harrison found out that her stepmother had spent his trust fund from 15 mil down to 15K for cancer treatment for the family driver / her part-time lover, then bad investments, but didn't tell him due to "appearances". William turned out to be in his 40's and married, and still trying to seduce Penny even in person after his lies were exposed. The ending was a deus ex machina... Harrison's brother, who got his portion of trust fund, agreed to take over as CEO, and give a sizable chunk (1-2 million) to Harrison as seed money for his restaurant. Now if only Harrison can get Penny back, who left thinking he doesn't need her any more after getting his trust fund...

Other than the deus ex machina ending the book was actually quite clean and enjoyably funny. 6.5/8

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Finished Marriage on the Prairie 4-book collection + bonus

Another spam book... The collection does indeed include 4 novellas about mail order brides, but these are pretty lame, as they include way too many descriptions, violating the show, don't tell rule. Some of them contained decent twists, but really, a cancer surgeon in Texas in the 1800's? Eh... And the "bonus content"? Same **** included in other "spam content". 3.5/8

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Finished Wilde Bear by Heather Hildenbrand

Xavier Wilde and his crew at Blue Bear Search and Rescue are bear-shifters best suited for work in the mountains, saving lives. He dedicated himself to this job, after losing his father on these mountains during a rescue while he was in town looking for a good time. He swore off women ever since, but the new DOT liaison Laurel may change his mind... There's something about her that is different... and soon Laurel revealed herself to be a fox shifter... and the two fell for each other hard. But neither was prepared to share all of their secrets, and the team apparently attracted an enemy... someone who wanted to ruin the team for some reason...

I honestly don't get "shifter" romances. Some of them are actually quite readable, but what's the point of having an animal side when all the love-making was using the human side? With werewolves there's at least some lore and true mate or whatever to draw upon. Shifters in this universe don't really even hide (much) but there is much discrimination around against them. 4/8

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Finished Seaside Dreams by Melissa Foster

Bella came back to Wellfleet, MA every summer to be with her girlfriends, but this summer is different... She sold her house in the city and quit her job, intending to reinvent her life. She did not expect to meet the new police officer Caden. Caden left Boston with her son Evan after his partner was killed in the line of duty and he decided he can't risk his life and Evan's future. Caden never felt love, not even the accident that gave him Evan all those years back, until he saw Bella, and he was determined to romance her properly. But when Evan fell in with the wrong crowd, will Caden have to give up Bella to give Evan the attention he deserved?

Proper amount of angst, but not too much. 6/8

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Finished Close Encounters of the Sexy Kind by Karen Kelley FREE

Mala from planet Nerak is tired of holograms and not even her fully functional companion unit can distract her enough. She wanted to visit Earth, and meet a real man... and find out if "sheriff" is really as good with pleasuring females as he is in the videos. So she took a ship and took off... and crash landed on Earth near a small town in Texas... and stumbled into Sheriff Mason McKinley. Mason already heard the news about supposedly UFO crash, and three reporters from a national rag are in town chasing bogus stories. He was checking out the alleged UFO report when he rescued Mala, and Mason does NOT believe in aliens and UFOs. Mala found Mason to be exactly what she had hoped to find... a virile strong man... but sensing the mood, she neglects to mention she's from Nerak... She just needs a few days to explore the planet and the terrain features of one sexy sheriff... As long as the Elders on Nerak don't send someone after her...

While funny, some plot made no sense. When her companion unit arrived in a 2nd ship, her companion unit ended up romacing a female here on Earth. Why? And since when do three reporters resort to kidnapping the sheriff and Mala trying to get a scoop on the alien story? Why? How the heck did they transport the space ship away from the original site any way? Hello? 5.5/8 It could have been higher if these logical problems are resolved. It actually is kinda funny as Mala keep getting into trouble by saying the wrong things at the wrong time. And what are the chances Nerak females are identical to human females (including getting impregnated by terran male?)
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Re: Books Read 2017

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Finished Pretty Instinct by S. E. Hall Contemporary Romance

Elizabeth "Lizzie" Carmichael lives on the go with her best friends, the Foster Brothers (Jarrett and Rhett), with her uncle Bruce the driver, and Conner, her brother, as they travel from one town to the next as traveling musicians, playing a gig here and there. Connor is an adult but acts like a kid. Later we learned that he suffered a traumatic brain injury and entered a coma, and woke up as if he regressed X years, and this injury (which was never talked about) plus her mom's suicide later, lead to an irreconcilable split between Lizzie and her father, whom she blamed for both. When Lizzie had to kick a member of the band off the bus, they were forced to consider canceling the next gig, until they spotted a guy with a guitar case and bag on side of the road. They invited him onboard as they need another performer. He is Cannon Blackwell, and he had been dumped by the side fo the road by his girlfriend, who apparently had her tubes tied without telling him, then when he confronted her in the car, basically ordered him out, dumped out his stuff (except his phone), and drove off (and never came back). Cannon was actually a pretty good vocalist and guitarist, and he fitted in right away, even as he came to appreciate this dysfunctional family... And Lizzie especially. And as Lizzie fell in love with Cannon, both have to struggle with issues. Both cannot stand betrayal, and as both fall madly in love with the other both are weary of even the possibility of betrayal... but Cannon slowly made Lizzie realize she cannot shelter Connor the way she had, and she needed to confront the past that she didn't know.

There was a twist at the end that I suspected, but it was a very powerful and emotional one. The scorching sex helped too, but may be a turn off for some.

7/8
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Finished Tempting Sydney by Angela Corbett (w/ Dude's comment)

Sydney had her life planned... finish law school and eventually get a judgeship. With no time for relationships (and men in general), she is nonetheless best friends with her friend Brynn who's into research on sex (with herself as research subject, along with any one she sleeps with). That is, until Sydney came across the new local mechanic Jackson West, when she had to get her baby '69 Camaro properly serviced... and Jackson "Jax" wanted to service her too... and he's just so tempting that even Sydney can't resist...

Eh, I guess it's okay. And "Dude's comment" is somewhat interesting, but more of a gimmick. 5/8

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Finished Sexy in Stilettos by Nana Malone FREE

Jaya Trueax, event planner, was hyper-organized, until she was blind-sided by her entire family, including her ex-fiancee, when she prepared a presentation to her client her way and was fired from her family business. With no fiance, no job, and fully humiliated, and still expected to attend a family wedding in a few weels, Jaya left the office in tears, and ran into total stranger Alec Danthers in the elevator, who let her cry on him. Alec is a half-blood whose father was one of the richest man around, and he was just here to resolve the problem of his brother Max who pulled a disappearing act, leaving the clubs and restaurant he was supposed to manage in a mess. Alec was a bit of a manwhore and live for the moment, and was surprised to find himself falling for Jaya, the sassy-listmaking and uptight woman, and he lead Jaya to see her true worth... and be a bit more spontaneous, but is that enough for Alec to consider settling down, even as he tries to untangle his brother's mess, which apparently involved the mob...

The mob references are a bit on the light side, and too vague. The rest are quite good. 6/8

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Finished Sisters in Love by Melissa Foster FREE

Danica Snow was the designated "smart and practical daughter" of the family, and as a therapist, she had to give reasonable and conservative choices. She was turned away from being a youth counselor into her current career because there is no money in the other field. She had to satisfy herself with some pro bono work with kids in the Big Sisters program. Danica would have never encountered Blake Carter, a player who satisfies himself with quickies and one-night stands... Until Blake's business partner and best friends died in a skiing accident, leaving him to console the widow and her son, making him realize that he desperately needed a change, but not sure how and seeking guidance. Danica and Blake felt something, but professional ethics prevented her from making any moves, even as she realized the way she had been living herself was in denial of her true self, and maybe she does need to let loose a bit, but can she help Blake while indulging in her needs? Can she deal with her Little Sister's problems as well? Or would it be too much burden on her relationship?

Actually pretty good, lots of layers of problems that folded upon itself and escalated properly. 6/8

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Finished Three Days of Rain by Christine Hughes

Jacob Morgan had been living in the bad memories of the past... of incredible grief and betrayal, by his wife Madison. It took two years, and encounter with the visiting girl, Lily Burns, to make him feel somewhat normal again, so he can love again. But just as Jake was revealing it all to Lily, Madison is back in town...

Wow, this is one of the saddest stories I've ever read. There is NO HEA in this story. This is a f***ing tragedy. This guy basically loses EVERYTHING.
Spoiler:
Madison is emotionally unstable, and abandoned both Jake and baby Joey in the hospital and just left after giving birth prematurely. Except the baby died hours later. She stayed away two years, only came back after she learned she had brain tumor, inoperable. Lily found herself pregnant at the same time, then had a miscarriage. On the way to hospital with Lily, Jake crashed the truck and the resulting head injury basically killed Lily and the unborn child. Madison died a few months later with her brain tumor, leaving Jake all alone, having loved twice and lost twice.
7/8
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Re: Books Read 2017

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The Great Hunt (Wheel of Time 2)
The Dragon Reborn (Wheel of Time 3)

The braid-tugging and skirt-smoothing are very much a thing.
It's almost as if people are the problem.
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Re: Books Read 2017

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"B" is for Burglar by Sue Grafton - audio book - read by Mary Peiffer
Track of the Cat by Nevada Barr - audio book - read by Barbara Rosenblatt
The Shape Shifter by Tony Hillerman - audio book - read by George Guidall
Sundance by David Fuller - audio book - read by R.C.Bray

We drove up to Minnesota for a funeral so listened to audio books while on the road.
"B" is for Burglar - Several people have recommended Sue Grafton books. The local library has several on cd (but not "A is for Alibi") so we gave her a try. It was pretty good although I thought the book title only marginally had anything to do with the story (murders seem to be the main thing in most mysteries). In this one the main character was hired to find a woman who was to inherit a couple thousand dollars. The plot was pretty twisty and a lot of the side characters were fun - I hope they show up in future stories (although I suspect the old woman in Florida won't since the PI lives in California).

Track of the Cat - Nevada Barr is pretty reliable but not scintillating. The best part of her books is always the setting - national parks and other wilderness areas. This one was extra fun because we've hiked in some of the areas she describes.

The Shape Shifter - I love Tony Hillerman's books but didn't like the reader all that much. Hillerman usually has his detectives looking into two apparently related mysteries that turn out to be part of a single larger crime. In this story, Joe Leaphorn, now retired from the Navajo Tribal Police, investigates the appearance of a Navajo weaving that supposedly burned up in a fire at at trading post years ago. The threads he eventually pulls together include an unsolved theft of two buckets of pinion sap and an old robbery in which the head criminal double-crossed all his cohorts.

Sundance - According to history (and so far as I know nobody knows for sure), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were killed in a shootout with Bolivian police. In this story, Harry Longbaugh (the Sundance Kid) was actually in prison at the time - under the name "Harry Alonzo". The story begins with his release from prison. He wanders into town, trying to figure out how to find his wife Etta Place, is forced to kill the son of the sheriff who arrested Longbaugh/Alonzo twelve years earlier, and then has to flee. Information from his sister-in-law leads him to New York where his search leads to the Wobblies and anarchists. At the same time, he is dodging ex-Pinkerton Charlie Siringo who has figured out who Alonzo really is and is determined to capture him.
I thought this story was well-written and the narrator, R.C.Bray, was quite good.
"Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." Voltaire

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Finished Luke by Emily March

DEA agent Luke Callahan was forced to quit the force after going after the killer of his partner Terry personally. Now all he wanted was to go fishing with his brother ... Until he found Maddie Kincaid showed away on his houseboat... apparently sent by his father (whom he cannot stand). Maddie Kincaid was accustomed to trouble... she was daughter of a famous rock star couple that she had to had her name legally changed to avoid the papparazzi and prefers to have a normal life in a tiny little town... Luke's hometown, Brazos Bend. But when she cleaned up an old neighbor's house, she found enough magic mushrooms worth MILLIONS, then the old neighbor wound up dead, so she ran, and was pointed toward Luke by Luke's father, Branch, who's still in town. Luke found Maddie to be irressitable, but being sent by his father puts a damper on things. He agrees to look into the problem, and stumbled into a conspiracy, for there was a killer in Brazos Bend, who had killed before, and even in a small town, there were a lot of secrets that people want to stay buried...

Nice tale of two people who cannot trust others, yet were forced to by circumstances. 7/8

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Finished Haven on the Riverwalk by Eileen Cruz Coleman (short story)

Maggie, on the run from her abusive boyfriend who held a secret over her, found herself stranded in the small town to Solomon's Island, Maryland. She wanted a place to start over, and when local bike shop owner Dustin invited her to stay, she relented and found the town to be as charming as expected, and Dustin to be irresistable. But the happy life may soon came to an end when her ex showed up in town, intending to force her back, and her secret and her heart exposed...

The plotting wasn't bad, motivations are all there. Decent story over all 6/8

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Finished Game of Love by Melissa Foster

Ellie and Dex had once been neighbors when they were children. Then one day Ellie was sent to a different foster home, and they lost touch... Until she showed up one night at his door, four years ago, and they fell in love that weekend. Then she left before he woke up, leaving him broken. He's now a rich software developer, and she's had enough of her life. Chance encounter sent both of their feelings rushing back, and this time, Dex won't let her run again...

Angst-y, but not too much, and a bit too much formula, but still nice. 6.5/8

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Finished Warm Winter Kisses by Juliet Spenser (short story)

Hannah runs the B&B in town and life is good, until she fell for the hunky detective Liam... who's also her best friend. She doesn't want to ruin a good thing, but he had been waiting for three years, and he's tired of waiting any longer, esp. when a storm stranded them together...

Nice short. 6/8

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Finished Falling for Fitz by Katy Regnery

Fitzgerald "Fitz" English and Daisy Edwards fell in love in high school, until one tragic day that tore them apart, and Fitz respected her wishes: they did not contact each other, ever. A decade later, Daisy is back in town, and they found that they are somehow still in love with each other. That is a problem as Daisy's engaged, and she's actually home to marry... someone other than Fitz. Now Fitz have to convince Daisy he is her forever after before its too late.

Ah, good back and forth, but this condom malfunction business was too much. (twice on the same girl, really... maybe we should blame the guy). 6/8

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Finished Some Like It Perfect by Megan Pryce FREE

Delia Woodson is an artist... and broke, and homeless. She's crashing on friend's couch, and her only gig was painting angels on an office ceiling. Jack Cabot is rich, powerful, and likes it alone. He didn't wanted the complication of women, but his mother hired the artist redoing his ceiling, and spending days with the artist made him realize... there's definitely something missing in his life...

Cute, but why can't the CEO have a temporary office? The forced cohabitation was a bit forced, pardon the pun. 5/8

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Finished Summer and the Groomsman by Cathryn Hein FREE

Summer Taylor, the new beautician in the town of Levenham, has a horse, Brinky, that likes to roam. It didn't help that the ranch she had the horse boarded was a bit run town and fences are developing gaps, because the owner, Gav, was basically drinking himself into oblivion. When Gav's brother Harry came to visit, and always ran over the horse, Harry has no kind words for Summer, but Summer is not a shrinking violet. Harry was back home to attend a wedding, and he was shocked to find his spa appointment was with Summer, and realizing he had not been gentleman, he set up to ask her for her forgiveness, not that Summer fogives easily, of course, about the insult to her horse Binky... but there's no denying that they had a thing for each other...

Not too bad as there's family dynamics in addition to the horse, and circumstances. 5.5/8

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Re: Books Read 2017

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Isgrimnur wrote:The Great Hunt (Wheel of Time 2)
The Dragon Reborn (Wheel of Time 3)

The braid-tugging and skirt-smoothing are very much a thing.
Welcome to a quarter of a century ago! Don't worry, eventually a better writer takes over.
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Kasey Chang
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Re: Books Read 2017

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Finished Colorado Sunset by Jill Haymaker FREE

June Meyers divorced her cheating husband when she found him fondling one of his 20-something students six years ago. Now, with all the kids grown and off to college and making their own lives, June found herself truly alone, in her 50's, and she chose to embrace a road trip with only her dog as her companion, to eventually visit her son and his family in California. Upon driving through Colorado, she was temporarily stranded in Peakview, Colorado when her car broke down and came to know Jeff Walker, a rugged cowboy of Walker Ranch similar to her in age, still grieving over death of his wife due to cancer eight years ago. While neither was looking for a relationship, both wondered if there is something more than infatuation, but June had to head for California. When June came back for a cattle roundup vacation at the dude ranch nearby, Jeff has a chance to convince her not to leave this time...

Good push-pull, esp. when it comes to babyboomers (the couple is in their 50's) and empty-nesters. 6/8 The nemesis (June's ex) was kinda lame.

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Finished Love Life by Lexy Timms FREE

Antonio Rivera, who now goes by Tony Rivers, came from the ganglands of LA, where his mother was a dance teacher and had once aspired to greater things until she got pregnant and had to quit dance school. He had won a scholarship to a prestigious performing arts school, and came to know Blake Smithson, and Allison "Allie" Holbrook, fellow students. Blake is the kind of rich bully who ruins people just because they're in his way. When Allison liked Tony because Tony treated her normally (she came from money but was trying to get out from under her father's control), Blake made it his mission to mess with Tony any chance he got so he can woo Allie for himself. It didn't help that Allie's father don't believe in woman making a career for herself... To him, daughters are commodities to be traded for alliances and to be married off to rich man. As Allie and Tony carry on in school, Blake's harassment reached fever pitch when police raided Tony's locker on a tip that he may be dealing drugs (and found nothing) but the rumor mill is turning overtime...

Plotting was a bit jarring. Suddenly near the end, Blake was no longer a problem, then we had a bomb dropped on us... Allie's father came and basically threatened to ruin Tony if Allie doesn't quit the school and go back under his control, which sets up for volume 2. While Allie did say her father was a PITA, this was pretty much out of the blue. 4/8

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FInished Unknown by Lexy Timms FREE

Leslie grieved hard when her husband died young due to aggressive cancer at merely 24. Now even her fortune as a bestselling author (under a penname) could have saved him. It took her months to settle herself enough to move on, and she moved across the country to start over, and gained her neighbors as friends. When she decided on a vacation, she brought them along to an exclusive Caribbean island resort that catered to the super-wealthy, which included a handsome actor that she's interested into knowing. And the best part is he had no idea who she really is... but he had his own problems, including an ex who sleeps about town, while blaming him for her infidelity. Can leslie love again, after burying her true love?

Way too angst-y, and characters seems quite shallow. How did the ex arrive on the island without the actor knowing any way and tracked him down? Who drags two neighbors to the Carribean even if she's richer than sin? There's something that just feels... off somewhere. The story also ended with a bit of a cliffhanger so setup for Volume 2, as basically Leslie chose to cut the vacation short and ran home to leave the actor with his own mess. Volume 2 starts with the actor showing up on her door asking her to take him back. 4/8

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Finished Roped by Karen Kelley

Josephine and her friends decided to play 'scavenger hunt' with a sexy twist, and Josephine was up frist... She had to go seduce a sexy cowboy... or exile herself for two weeks on a remote island (which would kill her career). Josephine always worked hard, and really had no idea how to play, or how to have mind-blowing sex, for that matter. It was just her luck that she came across Levi, and he's everything she dreamed a cowboy would be... and willing to take her places she had never been. But when she realized she may be falling for this perfect cowboy lover for real, she ran in the morning. What she didn't realize is this cowboy has a secret too, and he will find his "Josie" and explain to her there is nothing wrong with falling for a cowboy...

Ooooh, turns out this cowboy is actually a rich billionaire. *sigh* Such formual. 5.5/8

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Re: Books Read 2017

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Finished Montana SEAL by Elle James FREE

Hank "Montana" Patterson was forced to return home after a very bad mission when news came that his father was shot in Montana. The bullet was meant for the neighbor, now a Hollywood megastar, Sadie McClain. Sadie has a stalker that won't go away, but he's there at every turn. Now, someone tried to kill her. Hank assigned himself as her bodyguard, while finding out who shot his father... and found himself falling for the girl he used to know...

Tell you the truth, I forgot half the book and now have to re-listen to it. :)

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Finisehd Unconditional by Melody Grace FREE

Carina McKenzie fled her past and broken dreams for home at Beachwood Bay. She wanted perfect home, perfect man, and perfect look, but she realized it was all a lie as a face she puts on to the world. So she went home. She met Garrett Sawyer, who was marked by past betrayals, and swore to never love again. The two both believed they cannot love again, but perhaps they can piece together a whole heart out of two damaged halves...

Didn't read any of the previous novels, as this was a continual universe with Garrett having played secondary roles in previous novels. Didn't feel too much for either characters though. 5/8?

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Finished Come Monday by Mari Carr FREE

Keira Collins stepped into the role of surrogate mother to her six younger siblings after her mother died, and worked at the family pub for just about forever. Now at age of 27, she is squeezing in classes at local college, and has no time for romance. However, the English professor William Wallace (yes, he knows about the Braveheart references) stirred her blood in ways she cannot quite describe. Will saw Keira's problem, for he recognized a submissive, a people pleaser, because Keira craves control over her life, and hides her own beauty. However, he cannot, in good conscience, bring an innocent into his D/s lifestyle, but their needs cannot be denied. As Will slowly break Keira out of her shell, Keira started to feel guilty about leaving her family to fend for themelves... Will she run back to her family role and forsake her love?

Surprisingly emotional journey through lite kink, I just find someone who's that innocent a bit TOO perfect as a sub. 6/8

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Finished Wild Sky by Andrew Stanek

The world is back in MAD (mutual assured destruction), in a world of teleportation war, where countries commanded "gates" that can teleport warheads and spaceships with gates can sent down destruction anywhere. However, the "nano-second war" initiated by a terrorist named deaf_mute, destroyed a significant amount of the world's gate infrastructure (research, manufacturing, etc.) by commandering most of the drones both in space and on the ground. and deaf-mute was never apprehended. When one of the undeclared gateships, the WIld Sky, apparently mutinied, and is on the way to seize a secret US base with the longest-ranged gate ever built, US Space Navy dispatched Captian Christian Garner to hunt down the renegade ship and to prevent the base from falling into the wrong hands. But Garner soon found out that deaf_mute is still active, the mission he found himself on is likely suicidal, and command has a secret agenda they are not sharing with him...

While the book has good twists and turns, basically Garner was a total loser, failed ever engagement despite doing his best, and you'd be cheering for deaf_mute and his buddy, but the end of the book, with Garner laughing in the background. 6.5/8
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Re: Books Read 2017

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Finished Isabelle by Anita Claire FREE

Isabelle was stuck in her life. She has a dysfunctional cycle with her on-again-off-again boyfriend Paul. They drive each other crazy, but after a while she misses him and goes back, and the cycle repeats. She's in a job that's soul-stealing, as her boss only cares about looking good than doing his job. She had to live at home because housing in Silicon Valley cost too much, and her Chinese mother was really traditional (young woman should not open doors). Even worse, her friends were falling in love, making her feel lonely. A trip up to the mountains with friends almost ended in disaster, but also allowed her to meet two hot brothers, Jordan and Jake, who saved her. Will this relationship be the one that broke her dry spell?

Not as charming as Hita (previously reviewed), this one nonetheless features an interesting cast of characters and the main character learning who true friends are and start standing up for herself. 6/8

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Finished Love and Deception by Chantel Rhondeau

Carlie Hollis had been hiding for six years, desperate to stay hidden against unknown enemies that wanted her dead. She wanted to stay in Sayle, Washington to run her deli, so she cannot reveal to anyone her true identity, and her past. Until she met Nick Kendall, who came to her rescue in the karate dojo. They slowly fell in love. Unfortunately, Nick is actually a secret agent in a ultra-secret agency tasked to protect the US through ANY means necessary, and his superiors are convinced that Carlie was a terrorist hiding something that can devastate the US economy. When Nick obtained the truth from Carlie, he was not believed. When the order was passed on to terminate Carlie, Nick did the unthinkable: he activated his bugout plan and took Carlie to Canada... but then their enemies found her there...

The plotting was actually quite good, with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing and reading till the end. You know who's the bad guy, but not the why until the very end. 7/8

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Finished Queen of the Void by Michael Wallace Mil-Scifi

Former pirate Catarina Vargus was trying to slip through a hidden jump point to establish her own colony when she was ambushed and taken back to Earth and offered a bargain she could not refuse: she'll get a new battlecruiser, and get to establish her colony, but out in Scandian space, to serve as a forward base to support Albion navy's expedition to defeat the alien Apex threat. However, Scandian space is full of Starwolves, marauder ships full of desperate men driven from their home planet by plague, in search of plunder. Enraged by the intruders, the Scandian pirates vow to destroy the fleet and capture the supplies and base she brought in...

Good scifi adventure with a lot of fleet fighting and what seems to be decent 3D tactics. 6/8

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Finished Daring the Pilot by Jeannie Moon FREE

Keely Andersen is back in Marietta for her doctoral research, as she hadn't been back except for short visits for ten years. When her truck broke down outside of town, she was rescued by and old friend, and her brother's best friend, Jonah Clark. Jonah was ex-Army helo pilot who got tired of deciding who shall live or die on the battlefield, and retired to become an S&R pilot instead. Rescuing Keely brought back a lot of memories... and evoked a lot of possibilities. Both will have to fight for their heart when circumstances call for their attention... including toward each other.

Eh, tolerable, and not very memorable. 5/8
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Re: Books Read 2017

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Finished Finding Love Bundle by Serenity Woods

4 novels, each intro to their own series

The Perfect Gift

Seducing Summer

Treat With Caution

My Christmas Fiancee

Summary coming later. Overall reaction: not bad, probably 5-6 out of 8.

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Finished Filthy SEAL by Amy Brent

Ex-SEAL (now a 'contractor') was pulled home from the Middle East: his estranged wife died in a car crash leaving him a widower and a single father. His next door neighbor is a 19-year old sexpot named Lolita. Care to guess what happens next?

Despite the raunchy sex, there's actually a plot to the whole thing, which is somewhat surprising. Wife's death was NOT an accident... and Lolita didn't just want sex. I actually have to give this 6/8

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Finished C791 by Eve Langlais

Joe was a cyborg formerly known as X109GI, and leader of the cyborg revolt when leaders order the cyborgs to be terminated. He was captured and the only person to get a reaction out of him was the new technician, Chloe. When Joe escaped from the prison, Chloe was kidnapped to go along, for Cyborgs makes excellent lovers, even though they can't propagate their species. But Chloe is hiding a deep dark secret even she didn't know about...

Eh, scifi wasn't that bad, but sex feels a bit tacked on. 5/8

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Finished The End of May by K B Richards

Marcella May Burke has finally achieved her dream: moving to New York City. She wanted to take the city by storm, preferably by working in fashion and she has the guts to succeed. Living with her boyfriend was a start, until he turned possessive and stalkerish. She found a great job by getting to know someone, but an early indiscretion came back to haunt her with dire consequences. An indecent proposal turned into something more that crushed her soul. A visitor's death sent her life into a downward spiral that has no chance of recovery until she hit bottom...

I don't quite understand the viewpoint used in this, as it's not quite first person and not quite third person. It just reads... weird at times. And the story was pretty sad, as Marcella's life basically crashed one thing after another. It's got an HEA, but it took several darkest hours to get there. 6/8
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Re: Books Read 2017

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Finished The Player by Denise Grover Swank

Divorce attorney Blair believes marriage should be based on practicallity, not passion. Her doctor fiancee is perfect, and they are about to be married in only a few weeks. But the closer she got to the wedding date, the more she was reminded of her lack of passion now... and of her boyfriend in law school, Garrett, whom she believed cheated on her. Suddenly, her world was turned upside down. Garrett turned out to be her fiancee's cousin... and nemesis, and latest addition to the groomsmen. But she cannot go back to Garrett, as her job may be on the line... but Garrett, who may have slept around a bit after Blair refused to hear him out, had not found any one to settle down with... None compared to Blair. Now he must risk family war to stop the wedding and convince Blair to come back to him, but he may be underestimating his nemesis... who has several backup plans in motion...

Wow, the nemesis in this case really has a couple tricks up his sleeve, and those are devious alright. I'm afraid Garrett comes across as a doofus willing to do anything for love, rather than someome with a brain. And it's the girl that saves the day. But it's one heck of a novel. 7/8

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Finished The Distance Between Stars by Nicole Conway

Joseph Clancey woke up from an IED attack in the Middle East, and found he had lost his ability to speak. He was discharged and found work as a handyman back in his hometown, living at home, with his brother and his wife, and little prospect of future. He found work as handyman at Filibrault Manor, which needed a lot of fixing up. Then one day, he found that someone had added a message to the notebook he used to communicate... Someone named Beverly. She was a virtual prisoner in the manor, but not of her choosing. She is deathly allergic to the sun, and since then she had been cut off from virtually all outside contact. Joe was the only new person she had seen in recent years. And they developed a relationship... and Joe was determined to liberate her from her prison... even if he can never see her again...

I find the bad guy in this story not quite believable. Beverly was a ballerina until stress caused her symptoms of UV allergy (enough to go into shock) to manifest. Her father was a rich prick who only wanted her when she became famous, and had a legion of lawyers dragged her mother to court and forced mother to give her up. Then when she can no longer perform, locked her away and took away all her access to internet, phone, TV, etc. and had a housekeeper to lock her up every night like a prison. WTF?! This makes no F***ing sense. Once she ran away, trying to find her mother, but that ended in disaster when her cash ran out and her father told police it was a suicide attempt. WTF?! This is like evil just because. At least ending is kinda sweet. 6/8

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Finished Matt by Jeanne St. James

Matt Bryson came home from Middle East broken with PTSD. Fortunately, his family is supportive, and he has a job as the local police with his two brothers, Max (the chief) and Marc. When Max's wife gave birth, Matt found the attending OB/GYN Carly Stephens bossy and very attractive, and immediately dubbed her "Dictator Doctor". When Matt had to respond to an accident with a deer, he was surprised to find that it was Dr. Carly, who totaled her SUV. When he discovered she lived in a bad part of town, he offered up his house, as he had to live outside, in a tent, due to his PTSD issues. The two found each other irresistable... physically, and what started as no-strings sex, came to mean a bit more. But Matt can't ever deal with children, having seen too much, and Carly wanted one, but can't really adopt without a stable foundation. Is there even any room to compromise? And when Matt's PTSD got worse, can Carly convince Matt to seek help before it's too late?

Not bad when it comes to push-pull 6/8
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