** This review contains possible spoilers pertaining to The Fall and The Mind. ** Having read The Fall and The Mind, I was more than ready for Rose to find happiness again. I had high expectations for this book, and Kate Stewart absolutely delivers.
I devoured Ella Frank’s Temptation series, so when I heard she was coming out with a new M/M series I was excited to jump on the Sunset Cove series train. Finley is the first book and it revolves around Daniel Finley, a lawyer who briefly appeared in the Temptation series. It’s not necessary to read the other series to enjoy this book though.
I don’t have a lot to say about Trust except Ella Frank blew me away. It’s like she peeked inside my mind, saw everything I hoped to feel, learn and see, and then she wrapped it all up in an appealing package just for me. Sometimes a series peters out and I find myself wishing the author had quit while she/he was ahead. I thought the Temptation series just kept getting better and stronger.
It’s a fair assessment to say this is a dark book. I don’t read a lot of these types of books so I was hesitant, but it’s not quite as dark as I feared. Baylee is victimized, but the most disturbing things occur in the first half of the book when Baylee is being held captive by her twisted abductor, Gabe.
A dark student-teacher romance is not something you come across often. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever read one. I don’t read a lot of dark romances, and student-teacher hookups involving minors make me hesitant. The synopsis for Dark Notes intrigued me, though, and the performing artist in me loved the fact that the book incorporates music. I decided to give it a go, and the payoff was well worth the risk.
Somebody find me a 12-step program because I am seriously addicted to this series. ARCs be damned. They’re going to have to wait. It only took me three days to read the first two books and I will start the final one, Trust, as soon as I finish writing this review.
Try is the first book I’ve read by Ella Fox and only my second M/M book. It pushed me a little bit out of my comfort zone, but it was impossible for me to put down.
That Thing Between Eli & Gwen is a really cute story, but it took me awhile to warm up to it. Eli and Gwen meet on their worst day ever. Gwen’s fiancé runs away with Eli’s bride on his wedding day. He’s left at the altar, she’s left without a ride home, and they’re both left to suffer the public humiliation.
This was a tough book for me to get through, and I can’t fault the quality of the writing because it’s excellent. Perhaps I should have paid closer attention to the blurb because it makes no secret of the fact that the main character, Sadie, enters into a love affair with her neighbor, Finn. In my mind though, there’s “justifiable” cheating in a fictional world where I’m rooting for the two cheaters to get together because the partner/spouse is so annoying, abusive, and obviously just plain wrong for the lead character. Things aren’t so cut and dry in Slip of the Tongue and the prolonged affair made me very uncomfortable.
Midnight Lily started out as a really strong 4.5 star read for me. I loved Holden’s struggle, the mystery surrounding Lily, and the way her love gave him the motivation to heal. Somewhere around the 70% mark though, the story seems to lose its way.
When Tillie Cole says A Thousand Boy Kisses is a tearjerker she certainly isn’t lying. I had to keep my box of tissues on hand throughout the majority of the book. Honestly, there was one point where I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue. I’m so glad I did, however, because despite my initial misgivings, the book is quite touching.
Brooke Blaine’s L.A. Liaison series is quickly becoming one of my favorites. I didn’t love this book quite as much as I enjoyed Licked, but it’s still a huge win. In Hooker, Ryleigh, Shayne, Quinn, and Paige are back and sassier than ever! This time around, it’s Shayne’s turn to find love.