When I found out Jodi Ellen Malpas was writing a standalone I was crazy excited. Factor in the premise of a bodyguard falling for his client, and The Protector was an easy sell for me. Perhaps my expectations were a bit too high, but this wound up being a middle of the road read for me. It wasn’t my favorite, but I didn’t hate it.
Go ahead and call me a skeptic. I read The Pact and The Lie, and I confess I’m in the minority of people who didn’t care for either. I’d all but given up on the McGregor series. In fact, I was thisclose to not reading The Debt, but some friends encouraged me by saying the series keeps getting better. I decided to take a chance on this book—fully prepared for disappointment mind you—and it really paid off. You can tell Karina Halle put a great deal of thought and time in developing two amazingly sympathetic characters. When Jessica and Keir meet, it’s surprising how very similar they are. Both are with dealing PTSD—albeit in different ways. Jessica was a victim of a terrorist attack, leaving her physically impaired, so her scars are more visible. However, Keir’s wounds are no less real. In addition, the choices they made in the past have resulted in emotional devastation in the present. You wind up with two shattered individuals who are drowning in pain, guilt, and many secrets, but they just may be able to help heal each other’s brokenness. “I love every broken part of you and how well it fits with every broken […]
Kudos to Marni Mann for daring to delve into the area of dark erotica. It’s a risk that takes her well outside the boundaries of her previous novels, and while the premise is intriguing, unfortunately Prisoned just didn’t resonate with me.
Plain and simple, After I Do is absolutely phenomenal. It’s a touching story about marriage, and what happens long after the honeymoon phase has ended. I suspect readers who’ve never been in a committed, long-term relationship may not be as affected by the book because it’s less about falling deeply in love than it is about slowly falling out of love. However, as a woman who has been married for twenty years and known my husband for more than half of my life, the story really resonated with me.
There’s something to be said for trusting your friends with a book recommendation and diving in without reading the synopsis. So many people told me I had to read this book, but I didn’t know much about The Fall Up other than the fact that the protagonists meet on a bridge under mysterious circumstances.
Do you enjoy a healthy about of suspense with your romance? If so, I think you’ll love Sugar Rush, the second book in Sawyer Bennett’s Sugar Bowl series. It’s like book crack for an angst addict with an insane amount of tension and devious scheming that keeps you on the edge of your seat. This book is not a standalone. The beginning of Sugar Rush overlaps with the final seconds of Sugar Daddy’s ending.
With It End With Us, Colleen Hoover has easily delivered my favorite book of hers yet. It’s profound and entirely enthralling. This story gripped me from the first chapter and refused to let go until the very last word. It left me fundamentally changed and in awe of Hoover’s talent.
Lisa Renee Jones pulls out all the stops in this romantic suspense that’s full of intrigue, passion, and power plays.
This is the third book I’ve read by Renée Carlino, and I must say she knows how to weave an intriguing tale. In Swear on This Life, she has created a unique story that is engrossing as well as thought-provoking.
R.S. Grey certainly knows how to feed my sports romance addiction—not to mention my Summer Olympics obsession. In Out of Bounds she takes the sport of competitive gymnastics, adds in a fabulous enemies to lovers scenario, tons of heat, and a touch of forbidden romance, and—voilà—you’ve got a winning combination.
Meghan March serves up another winning addition to the Beneath series with Beneath These Chains. This is the third book in the series, and it’s filled with intrigue and suspense, plus all the steam I’ve come to expect from Ms. March. This story is about Lord—Con’s brother—and Elle—Vanessa’s best friend from Beneath This Ink.
Vi Keeland delivers a solid forbidden office romance in this enjoyable standalone. I’m used to bosses being jerks in these types of stories, but Bossman exceeded my expectations by featuring a unique and alluring hero.