4.5 stars

“I don’t know what love is. But if I could love anyone…” I pressed a gentle kiss behind her ear, pulling her close. “I would love you. Very much.”

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I love love LOVED this book!! It was perfect!!! SO HEART-WARMING!!!! My heart is overflowing with happy feels!! Seriously, if you want a UNIQUE story that is SWEET, SWOONY, and SEXY, with a romance that is downright freaking ADORABLE, then read this book!!! I loved EVERY single thing about it!!

First, here’s the blurb:

From the moment Lev Leokov spots the young woman hiding behind her hair in the middle of the gentleman’s club, he can’t take his eyes off of her.  For the very first time in his life, he is affected. Having been told his entire life that he can’t process or understand emotion, he considers it a big deal.

When Mina Harris gets caught red-handed with a wallet that isn’t hers, she falls apart. She’s tired, lonely and hasn’t eaten in days.

Lev offers her an ultimatum… A nice warm bed, a hot meal and a job, or the cops.

Mina takes her chances with Lev.
After all, a person with nothing has nothing left to lose.

So basically, he’s wealthy and she’s homeless and absolutely at-the-end-of-her-rope starving! He catches her trying to just steal enough money to get a meal and instead of turning her over to the cops, he takes her home and offers her a chance at a new life.

I turned my face to look into his gorgeous eyes.”Tell me I can leave at any time.”

His eyes on me, I watched as they flashed. Finally, he lowered his face and muttered, “You can leave any time.” He stepped back and away from me. “Although I hope you choose to stay.”

Barely a few pages into the book and all my heart-strings were tugged!! By 6%, I could already tell that this book was going to deliver ALL THE FEELS. And it most certainly did! Again and again and again!

You guys, Lev will straight-up STEAL YOUR HEART. Ahhhh, this man!!!! I loved him!! He had such a heart of gold and I actually really appreciated his ‘directness’. He was a little socially awkward and didn’t understand emotions quite the same way as most people. He was somewhere on the Autism spectrum, displaying signs of I believe Asperger’s syndrome. But I loved the way his whole family and Mina just loved and accepted him exactly as he was. He just saw the world a little differently. Things that were normal to other people were incomprehensible to him, while other things that appeared logical and straightforward to him could often spark hurt or anger in the people around him. But I absolutely adored the way they showed endless respect for the fact that he wasn’t damaged, he was just different. They respected for being exactly who he was and never expected or wanted him to be anything other than himself. I really thought this whole element of the book was portrayed so beautifully!!! I LOVED HIM!!!!!!! He was so sweetly protective of Mina (and his family) that it melted me over and over again.

“Who sleeps in my bed at night?”

I buried my nose in his neck and mumbled, “I do.”

“You do,” he confirmed. “And who makes me smile?”

“I smiled against the stubble on his throat. “Me.”

“Exactly.” He turned to kiss my cheek. “No one else. It’s you. It’s always been you.” He spoke softly, “I just needed to find you. Now that I have you, I won’t be letting you go. Okay?”

“Okay,” I whispered.

Ok I know that teeechnically what I’m about to say is a tiny bit of a reveal, but it’s something that’s shown to the reader quite early on AND it’s something that would have made me want to read the book even more if I’d known about it beforehand so I’m just going to tell you that… Lev is a dad. He’s a single father fighting for custody of his adorable little girl. ALL THE SWOON!!!! Could this man get any hotter?! *thud*

And Mina was such an awesome chick! You guys will love her! She’d been dealt a really shitty hand of cards in life and had ended up at the absolutely lowest place. But given a new opportunity, she grabbed it and worked hard to build her life back up. I’d totally be friends with her given the chance!

Another thing I loved about this book was the family. Lev was very close to his brother and sister and they had a large extended family so there are a lot of side characters in this book and I LOVED THEM ALL. Holy crap. I’m not usually the kind of reader who is all that interested in getting the stories of side characters but I WANT TO READ ALL THEIR STORIES! Every single one. And I’m not even exaggerating. If I had them all in front of me right now, I’d be putting my life right on hold to binge-read the lot of them!

There’s just so much in this book that I loved that I could seriously go on and on but I’m trying not to give away too much. But I most especially appreciated that there was really no stupid drama. Yes, there was certainly conflict. But there were several incidences where things could have easily turned stupid (a big pet peeve of mine), but the characters instead handled these situations so well that I couldn’t help but have respect for them. It’s such a good feeling when you genuinely can respect the decisions made in the story and that you want to just cheer them on instead of slapping them silly. SUCH a good feeling.

Oh and the story is told in alternating POVs, both in first person.

This is the first standalone in a new series of standalones. It has a fully resolved ending. NO cliffhanger. If you wanted to, you would be completely fine to stop reading at the end of this book. But there will be more books coming following different couples we’ve already met. And I can’t wait for them!

I loved everything about this book and I highly recommend you ALL pick it up and fall in love with Lev. It’s swoony, sweet, heart-warming, oh-so-sexyyyyyy, and positively awesome. It’s such a feel-good story with amazing characters and a really unique story. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!!!

“They say penguins mate for life.” 

He reached up again and jerked hard at his tie. 

“And I want to be your penguin.”

Nawwwwww, how sweet is that?!

I have only one thing left to say…

Dear Belle Aurora…..
PLEASE WRITE FASTER!!!!!!
Love, Aestas.

Rating: 4.5+ stars! Standalone contemporary romance.

• Buy LEV (Kindle)

“Do you trust me?” he asked… “Because I need you to trust me.”

We could all be so many things. Victims and criminals. Sinners and saints. Devious and virtuous…
Who was I?
And who the fuck was Dylan?

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SQUEEEE!!!! Oh, this book rocked my world!

With it’s sexy mysterious hero, strong feisty heroine, and captivating story, I was addicted to this story from start to finish!! The hero was just the kind of guy I fall in love with the most! He was scarred and sexy… just mysterious enough to keep me wondering, just tortured enough to tug my heart strings, just sweet enough to make me swoon, just dangerous enough to give him an edge, but with that possessive and protective edge that defined him as an Alpha male.

I loved him, I loved her, and I loved the book!!

Ok so first things first. This is how the story was first described to me: “a gritty and erotic romance where a phone call from a mysterious stranger is picked up by the wrong woman and ignites a dangerous game of seduction.” <—— I read that and was SOLD!!

I didn’t think answering someone else’s cellphone would change my life. But the stranger with the low, deep voice on the other end of the line tempted me, awakened my body, set me on fire. He was looking for someone else. Instead he found me.
 
And I found a hot, secret world where I felt alive for the first time.
 
His name was Dylan, and, strangely, he made me feel safe. Desired. Compelled. Every dark thing he asked me to do, I did. Without question. I longed to meet him, but we were both keeping secrets. And mine were dangerous. If I took the first step, if I got closer to Dylan—emotionally, physically—then I wouldn’t be hiding anymore. I would be exposed, with nothing left to surrender but the truth. And my truth could hurt us both.

The story begins with the heroine setting up in a trailer park after fleeing her abusive husband. Everything in her life is upside down and she has so much to figure out. But right after she moves in, a phone rings… only it’s not hers. She answers it and that is the first of many  times that she talks to Dylan.

“You can hang up whenever you want. Say the word and this is over. But if you want to keep going, it’s my rules.”

I clutched the phone in my hand.

“Yes or no?”

My heart was racing ever since that phone call. I’ll also say that I loved the premise of the story and I loved the first chapter but it was the writing of chapter two that fully made realize that this was going to be an awesome book because we got our first glimpse at Dylan’s life… and he caught my full attention.

I thought the author did a really great job of making Annie a very strong heroine. She reached the point where she was no longer going to allow anyone to control her life, and even though it went against everything she’d ever been tought or conditioned to think, she pushed herself to be stronger every day. I loved the way she didn’t just give in to anyone without questioning things or investigating it for herself. After so long being controlled by other people, I admired her drive to be brave and independent.

And I just could not freaking wait to find out more about Dylan. Ahhhhhhh this guy was so sexy and mysterious and clearly tortured in some way. I luuurve tortured heroes!!! With each new phone call or each little snippet from his POV, I’d piece together tiny new bits about who he was and what his past was but it was never enough to get a clear picture so that just made me read even faster. It was kind of like seeing something out of the corner of your eye — the harder you look, the more it slips away but that just makes you even more desperate to see what it is it!

He was forgetting. She was making him forget. 

He came from a long line of villains. And that shit couldn’t be forgotten… He was still the beast. The bad guy in the stories. She just didn’t know it yet. And he was forgetting. He was letting himself forget. Because he’d somehow gotten addicted to the sound of her voice. The way her voice made him feel.

Sometimes it was nice pretending to be the hero.

But it was time to stop.

The thing that impressed me the most about this story was that the author did such an amazing job of building palm-tingling, heart-racing, scorching hot sexual tension between Dylan and Annie even though, for the majority of the book, they’d literally never even met!!!!!! It was seriously impressive! That was the thing that made me the most wary about this story when I first heard about it — building the foundation of a believable relationship literally only over a phone — but it worked SO well!!! I felt their connection just as though they were standing in front of each other.

“Are you safe?” he asked.

The question with it’s implied concern bit into me… Tears burned my eyes. No one had worried about me. Not in a very long time…

“Yes.” My voice was gruff and thick. “I’m safe.”

“You sure?”

I got the sense that if I told him no, that I felt threatened or scared, he would do something about it. Arrive at that metal door to help me.

The temptation to trust him was not insignificant.

But the upside of their physical separation was that it allowed them, well especially her, the freedom to open up to each other in a way that they may never have otherwise done given both of their pasts. Without any physical strings to each other, they could also talk about their most erotic fantasies without any fear of judgment. And let me tell you, it was HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT!!! This is definitely a scorching romance so if you’ve been looking for something sexy and sizzling to read, definitely pick this book up!

The story is told in alternating POVs — hers is first person (and is the majority of the story), and his is third person (making him even more mysterious) and I found the transition between them smooth and very well done. Oh my gosh, this book is filled with amazing quotes! I have so many highlights!

What he heard in her voice told him everything he needed to know about her. That she was scared, but she was trying… In her voice he could hear every dark and forbidden thing she craved. And he wanted to give it to her. Everything she wanted and the things she didn’t know to want, yet.

How far would she go?

She wanted dark? He had all the dark. All of it. And he’d show her every midnight corner of it.

The pacing is really great — the story is always moving forward and there’s never a dull moment. There are twists and surprises, a great sense of community that is build with the supporting characters, a very strong and erotic connection between the main couple, and a really unique plot. I genuinely loved it!

Now, since this is a 2-book series, the number one question I’m being asked is whether this one has a cliffhanger. Technically, yes. But, if you ignore the very last two pages, then it’s more of a hopeful happy-for-now ending. I mean, let’s be honest, the last two pages were thrown in to hook readers into the next book. Like, obviouuuuusly no matter how bad it gets, the issue will be resolved and it’s external to the relationship so *shrug* since things were good between the hero and heroine at the end, I was fine with this ending even though technically it is a cliffhanger (but only because of the last two pages). Also, good news is that the sequel is live!

All in all, I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait for the next. It was sexy, mysterious, intriguing, exciting, thrilling, romantic, sweet, gritty, and addictive. I highly recommend it!

“Hey.”

“You okay?”

I smiled at his familiar opener. “Why do you always ask that?”

“Because it’s the only thing that matters.”

Rating: 4.5 stars. Contemporary Adult romance. 2-book series.

PS: I’ve since read the sequel and thought it was a wonderful conclusion to the series!

• Buy EVERYTHING I LEFT UNSAID (Kindle)
• Buy EVERYTHING I LEFT UNSAID (Paperback)

_______________________________

*** FULL SERIES ***

Both books are about the same couple.

#1 EVERYTHING I LEFT UNSAID
Buy for Kindle | Buy in Paperback

#2 THE TRUTH ABOUT HIM
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“I don’t know how to stop loving him.”

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HOLY WOW!!!! What a beautiful story!!!

This book OWNED my heart!! I loved every single word of this deeply emotional and powerful love story. It was raw and honest, but passionate and heart-felt. I cried, I hoped, I swooned. I was rooting for this couple so hard. Without a doubt, this is one of the best books of the year! I highly recommend it!

I connected to this story from the first few lines. The writing was absolutely gorgeous. I have endless quotes highlighted in my book. This author’s writing style flows so smoothly that I found myself unable to stop reading. And I especially loved  that she showed a very rarely-seen side of contemporary romance by tackling both the subjects of marriage and divorce… Many romances end in marriage and a happily-ever-after. But this is a story about a couple who has been together for almost ten years. They love each other deeply but their marriage is undeniably broken, and so they reach a painful decision to separate. However, their separation makes them reconsider everything they’re about to lose in a different light and realize that they aren’t willing to truly let go or stop fighting for each other… My gosh, you guys. If you’ve ever been in a serious relationship, regardless of whether or not you’ve experienced a similar situation to this couple, I can almost promise you that something within this book will hit home or resonate in some way.

One of the things I loved most about this story was that there was no ‘good guy’ and ‘bad guy’. No black and white way to lay blame. No cheating, no abuse, no actual horrific catalyst for their separation. There was no grand mistake that drove them apart. Instead, it was just little things, daily things, things taken for granted, efforts that weren’t made, feelings or perspectives that weren’t considered…

“He wouldn’t even look at me.

I thought back and tried to remember the last time he looked at me, really looked at me, and couldn’t remember. When was the last time he saw me? When was the last time we hadn’t been fighting long enough for his clear blue eyes to look into mind and make a real connection?

It had been years.

Maybe he had never seen me.”

My heart went out to both Kate and Nick. The tension in their marriage had gotten to the point where they fought more than they got along. Somewhere over the years, the connection that kept them functional as a unit has been lost. She reached a breaking point. Their marriage was toxic. Every time they tried to fix it, they fell further apart, bringing out the worst in each other and leaving them both miserable. They still loved each other, but they couldn’t stand each other, and she especially needed to get away.

“Had I just made the most colossal mistake of my life?
No. This was right.
But then why did it feel so… wrong?”

But they both actually meant well, even if they’d made wrong choices, and the one thing that I could always just tell was that there was never a single moment when they stopped loving each other. It was just a painful situation, and a justifiably broken marriage, and the hope that maybe somehow their love could be strong enough to heal the damage.

My God.
IT. FELT. SO. REAL.

The thought processes, internal dialogue, the emotional turmoil, the uncertainty, the fights, all just felt so believable. It doesn’t matter whether or not you can relate on a personal level to what happens in this story, I just think anyone will be able to appreciate how believable the situation and emotions were.

It wasn’t that easy. I couldn’t shake our relationship or the hold he had over my heart. 

Not everything about him was bad. In fact, most of him was good and beautiful and right. But with me, he wan’t those things and I wasn’t either. 

But how was I supposed to let go of him? I loved him. I loved him for ten years and knew nothing but loving him.

How could I walk away from him?

They didn’t immediately decide to divorce, they started with a separation. But a few months later, they began to run into each other in random places — like the grocery store — and I swear, every time they crossed paths again, my heart just yearned for them to work things out. God, I could feel the potential there for them to fix things. Their separation gave them the time and distance to reevaluate themselves and their relationship, to realize what they were losing, to see the best in each other in ways that their married lives had unfortunately made them forget. It gave them both room to realize what they wanted from life and each other, to come to terms with the mistakes they’d make, and to see what they could do to fix things… and more importantly to decide if they wanted to. I think that everyone makes mistakes in life, but it’s how we handle them that defines us.

“There are all kinds of reasons people get divorced.
No reason is right or wrong, just different.”
But mine felt all wrong. All of my reasons felt wrong.

We’re told the entire story from Kate’s POV, so we only get to see Nick through her eyes. And I’ll be honest, in the first half of the story, I was fully behind her choices, but as the story progressed (especially around the half way mark), I began to see something in Nick that the years of hurt in her marriage were keeping her from believing — and that was his desire to fix things. I could see that everything he did was, in one way or another, an effort to mend things between them. And I even got a little frustrated that she couldn’t see it. Ok, that’s not entirely even true, I was a LOT frustrated. I wanted to shake sense into her. How could she be so blind to how hard he was trying?! It got to a point where I began to blame her. But then I stopped to think. We’re told the reasons why she wanted a separation after the fact. But she lived them. So we’re coming into her story in the middle whereas she lived through Nick’s mistakes from the beginning, so her perspective has a lot more history behind it than we’d experienced with her. We came into the story when she was at the end of her rope and at a point where Nick began trying for the first time in a long time, so I think that is something that needs to be remembered at this point in the story.

Regardless, my heart ached for him, but because there are always two sides to every story, I also knew her distance wasn’t unwarranted. I guess she’d just reached her personal limit, but I just wasn’t ready for her to give up on them yet. I wanted her to keep fighting even when it wasn’t fair of me to want that.

“Be in control. Be in control go your words and actions. Take control if it doesn’t come naturally to you. Do something other than throw away a perfectly good man and a perfectly good marriage because you’re tired of going through what every other married couple on the planet goes through.”

The important thing about the situation in this book is that neither party was completely to blame for what happened. And I have to admit that even though there were times when it was incredibly painful to read their story, I still LOVED reading their journey back to each other. The author portrayed it so beautifully and with such clarity that I couldn’t help but fall deeply in love with this couple and their story.

He squeezed me tighter. His strong arms encased me in a protective shield that promised everything would be all right. We fit so perfectly together. His body was just tall enough to tower over mine in just the right way. I could tuck my arm under his or reach up and wrap them around his neck and either way was comfortable. When we lay in bed, his body could cover my back perfectly. His leg were just long enough to entwine with mine and make me feel tiny. His arms were the perfect length to hold me against him. 

I had never really noticed before, at least not in this complete, awstruck way.

If I left this man, would I ever find anther body so suited to mine? We were like puzzle pieces i the way we came together. And I didn’t know if I would ever fit into another puzzle. 

Maybe I didn’t want to.

By 90% ….. I WAS SOBBING!!! In a good way, I promise, don’t be scared. But OMG, the feels!!

THE FEELS!!!!!!!!!!!

I loved experiencing Kate and Nick’s story alongside them, even though it completely put my heart through the wringer. And most importantly (and this is a really BIG one for me and I’m gonna come right out and say it) I loved that neither of them slept with anyone else during their separation, and neither of them dated. There is literally no unnecessary drama in this book and other than the issues they have to work through, you’re never really made to question their love for each other. You’re shown clearly that they’re both lost without each other. So the point in question isn’t whether they love each other, it’s whether or not they can make a healthy marriage work. Gah. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!!!

His body pressed against mine with a possessiveness I had never felt from him before. It was like he was declaring that I was still his, that I was still his wife. 

Until every last paper was signed, I still belonged to this man.

I really mean it when I say that this book owned my heart. I keep thinking about it. Little parts of the story keep playing over in my head. My mind keeps drifting back to Kate and Nick… and I just don’t want to let go of their story yet. More than anything, I think that’s the strongest mark of a well-written book.

If you’re looking for a deeply emotional love story that’s raw, honest, powerful, and that will show you a very unique side of the romance genre, then I highly recommend this to you. The tagline of my blog is “reviews of books that make my heart race, have a beautiful love story, and a happy ending” and this book was exactly that in every way. I loved it. Absolutely LOVED it.

“You own me, Kate. You will always own me.”

Rating: 4.5+ stars. Standalone contemporary romance.

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“This is it. This is my new life. Alone. Quiet. Still. This isn’t how it was supposed to go. Ben and I had mapped out our lives together. We had a plan. This wasn’t the plan.”

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*wipes tears*

Woah, this book really just hits you right in the feels. My heart feels like it’s just been run over. Truthfully, I’ve had this book sitting on Kindle for over a year while I worked up the courage to read it. But recently I read another (unrelated) book by this author Maybe In Another Life and really fell in love with her writing style so I decided to make this my next “emotional” read. As it turned out, earlier today I was in the mood for reading something with ‘deep feels’ so I started reading this and was crying within the first few pages. Emotionally, I was right there with the heroine. The writing gives you this play-by-play of her thoughts and feelings and I connected. It was almost too painfully believable because I was feeling for her so strongly. Absolutely heart-wrenching, but incredibly well written. I really loved this book. If you’re ever in the mood for an unconventional love story and a really emotional read, definitely give this a try.

I’m going to share the blurb with you because I actually feel its a beautiful and very accurate depiction of the story. God, even reading the blurb makes my heart hurt. But this is exactly what this book is about:

I know that many of you are going to read that blurb and either think that maybe this book is too sad, too emotional, too much for you. But I wanted to try and give you my thoughts and experience reading it so that maybe it’ll make it a little less scary.

First thing — I cried three times. Once right in the beginning when Ben died, and twice later on at poignant moments of healing. But this isn’t a book that I sobbed my way through. Even though the actual subject matter of losing a spouse is deeply painful, the focus of this book is on Elsie’s healing.

I’ve been asked several times if this book has a happy ending… well, I feel like it had the happiest possible ending given the situation. Ben is really dead and that doesn’t change. Elsie will never stop loving him and he will always remain in her heart. This is not a story of “love after loss”, meaning that we do not see Elsie move on and fall in love with anyone else within this book. But over the course of the story, she does reach a point where she can healthily keep living on. You’re left in a hopeful place.

I’ve also been asked if this is a romance… and I’d say it’s more of a story of healing that has a love story within in, but it is not a romance (in the genre sense of the word). Romances almost always have happy endings, and we all know from the blurb that this book doesn’t end with Ben and Elsie living out their lives together happily. Ben dies in the first few pages, but it still is a love story… and a very beautiful one at that. To quote Ben’s mother, “In that short time, you had more passion than some people have in a lifetime.” 

This book goes back and forth between the present day with Elsie living with the aftermath of Ben’s death and forming an unlikely, but ultimately healing relationship with his mother… and the past in which we see the development of Elsie and Ben’s relationship from the day they met until their last day together.

It’s a really powerful read. I really felt for this heroine. It’s an emotional read, and it is sad at times, but at the same time, I wouldn’t necessarily consider it a completely “sad read” because half of the book revolves around them falling in love and those parts are really sweet and happy and romantic. But overall, there’s no denying that this book deals with one of the most heart-wrenching situations imaginable.

My eyes are parched from crying, my limbs weak… I shuffle over to Ben’s side of the bed as I get groggy and fall asleep. “I love you,” I say, and for the first time, there’s no one to hear it.

There are very few books though that have ever made me cry when I was writing my review, but this is now apparently one of them. I was just now listening to music as I was writing and looking through quotes from the book to use, and I read this one (below) and teared right up…

“I wanted you to have his wallet and this.”
She pulls his wedding ring out of her purse.
I was wrong.
I do have triggers.
I start crying. I put that wedding ring on him myself, my hand shaking while his was steady as a rock. I remember seeing it on him the next day thinking that I never knew how sexy a wedding was on a man until it was my ring, until I put it there.
…
“I loved him, Susan,” I say… “I loved him so much.”
“I know you did,” she says. “He kept a copy of his proposal in his wallet. Did you know that?”
I perk up. She hands the paper to me, and I read it.
“Elsie, let’s spend our lives together. Let’s have children together and buy a house together. I want you there when I get the promotion I’ve been shooting for, when I get turned down for something I’ve always hoped for, when I fall and when I stand back up. I want to see every day of your life unfold. I want to be yours and to have you as my own. Will you marry me? Marry me.”

The feels!!! *sniff*

In all honesty, I can only handle reading stories like this at very specific times. I usually end up “sitting” on them for months (or years) after I hear about them while I mentally work up the courage to read them. And then I wait for just the right mood to hit me before I start reading. But ultimately, they often end up as favorites because of the intensity of the emotions. This book is definitely going on my favorites list.

This author writes very beautifully and her stories give a very honest depiction of what her characters go through. Each of her books are standalones (not related to each other at all). I’ve read two of them and loved them both, and I have one more left that I’m definitely looking forward to reading as well.

Oooooh, and this book has a movie deal!! Dakota Johnson will be starring as Elsie. Right now, there isn’t too much more info on it, but I’ll keep everyone posted as soon as we hear more about it!

Rating: 4.5 stars. Standalone.

• Buy FOREVER, INTERRUPTED (Kindle)
• Buy FOREVER, INTERRUPTED (Paperback)

_________________________________

ALL BOOKS BY TAYLOR JENKINS REID

All standalones (not related to each other at all).

MAYBE IN ANOTHER LIFE
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FOREVER, INTERRUPTED
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AFTER I DO
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“God, I wanted to believe in heroes again.”

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Mia Sheridan is, without a doubt, one of the most talented authors I’ve ever read. Her stories are unique, her writing is beautiful, and I’ve loved every single book she’s written. Grayson’s Vow was no exception. It told an unconventional but passionate love story that grew out of the most unlikely circumstance. What began as a marriage of convenience turned into a love that would last a lifetime. I was hooked from the first few pages, and now, having finished it, I can absolutely call this a new favorite recommendation!

Here’s the thing, this book actually has a bit of a different vibe than most of Mia Sheridan’s books. While her previous books are more serious in tone and often even heart-wrenchingly emotional, Grayson’s Vow was a little on the lighter side. While I absolutely adore the deeply intense romances we’re used to reading from this author, I quite enjoyed the light-hearted feeling this story had. Bear in mind, it’s still a serious romance, but you’ll see what I mean when you read it… it just feels lighter, somehow, in comparison.

The story starts out focused on our heroine, Kira, who is currently homeless and out of options. Refusing to accept help from her father, she’s determined to find a way to make it on her own. This is when her path crosses with Grayson Hawthorn’s, a gorgeous, suit-wearing ex-con whose name she remembered because it was her father who had influenced the severity of his sentence. With a record like his, he was unable to get the loans necessary to help keep his family’s vineyard running. In this, she saw an opportunity….

“I have a business arrangement to offer you.”

I lifted one brow. “A business arrangement?”

She nodded… “Yes, well, in actuality, Mr. Hawthorn, I’m here to propose marriage.”

I laughed, almost spewing the sip of coffee I’d just taken all over my desk. “Excuse me?”

She saw him as a means to an end and was determined not to let her heart be involved. But he saw her as a spoiled rich princess who’d fallen far from her throne. Given the almost antagonistic sparks that flew between them from the start, theirs was planned as a marriage of convenience, and nothing more.

“I had to admit his looks had swayed me, too. He looked like every hero in every fairy tale I’d ever dreamed, come to life. And, God, I wanted to believe in heroes again.

But sometimes, I supposed, a girl has to be her own hero.”

You could just feel this air of anticipation and tension around wanting them to get to know each other more and fall in love, but understanding that they weren’t quite there yet. Luckily for them though, sometimes initial judgements aren’t the most accurate and the more time they began to spend together, the more they slowly began to feel attached to one another… Then, one kiss changed everything…

This story was told in dual POV so, despite the outward indifference they initially showed each other, the reader was privy to their real feelings so you just knew that it was only a matter of time before their relationship would progress down the path you were hoping for.

I waved my hand. “I’m sure you’re aware that women find you… appealing of some unknown reason.” I shrugged.

“Appealing?”

“Hot, panty-melting,” I elaborated.

He stopped and I did as well, turning to face him. The look on his face was filled with amusement. “This topic interests me. I’d like to stop and discuss it further.”

I have a real soft spot for damaged heroes, and Grayson’s past was really heart-breaking. Everything he’d suffered through though had shaped him into a bitter, arrogant man who trusted no one. He’d been wounded so many times that his hurt and the walls he’d built around himself had almost become a part of who he was. But luckily, he still had a good heart and even though they had quite a rocky start, being around Kira’s fiery attitude slowly, and over time, brought out a better side of him.

“I shouldn’t be delving more into Grayson’s hidden torment. It’d only make me love him more. Wasn’t that just the way with women? And I was no exception. What was sexier on a man than great abs and a heart full of hidden torment? They should bottle it and sell it by the truckloads. Or perhaps write a book: “Abs and Hidden Torment: A Man’s Guide to Bagging Babes.”

He did mess up a few times, and I definitely had moments when I wanted to shake sense into him, but it’s hard not to forgive a good grovel. And, in that respect, he certainly delivered…

I had a wife to find and some grovelling to do. I was going to grovel so hard they might need to find a new word for it.

I also have to say that while this is completely a contemporary romance, it almost feels like a fairy tale — capturing the well-loved feeling we often associate with stories like Cinderella, or Beauty and the Beast. Perhaps this can be it’s own fairy tale? The Witch and the Dragon. I rather like the sound of that!

Forget the price and princess. I always imagined the real story was between the witch and the dragon.

And finally, I loved the little bits of wisdom sprinkled throughout the book from Kira’s grandmother. They really rang true with regards to all life, and not just this story…

“Watch what people do when they think no one’s watching, love. That’s how you’ll know who they really are.”

All in all this was a really great read that showed a new side to Mia Sheridan’s writing and delivered a unique love story that I’m happy to add to my favorites list. This is a complete standalone novel (not related to any other book by this author) so if you like the sound of it, you can dive in at any time!

Rating: 4.5 stars! Standalone contemporary romance.

• Buy GRAYSON’S VOW (Kindle)
• Buy GRAYSON’S VOW (Paperback)

A Hollywood Superstar. A Small Town Girl.
Opposites shouldn’t always attract.

• Buy HOLLYWOOD DIRT (Kindle)
• Buy HOLLYWOOD DIRT (Paperback)

Sexy, fun, and fantastically well written, with an intense hate-to-love Hollywood romance that’ll make your heart race!! 

That’s exactly what this book was and I love love LOVED it!!!!

There’s a special feeling you get when you start a genuinely fantastic book where you can just instantly feel that it’s a winner. I was less than a page into this book before I’d fallen in love with it. From the start, the story had this almost palm-tingly feeling of anticipation, excitement, and intrigue to it… and with Alessandra Torre’s strong, captivating writing, I found it to be unputdownable!

“Cole Masten was the epitome of walking sex and had every woman in town drooling over his arrival. Every woman but me, that is. I couldn’t be. For one, he was an ass. All cocky attitude and no manners to speak of. For two, he was — for the next four months — my boss.”

Secrets are fascinating. We’re all drawn to them. And Summer Jenkins’ sleepy Southern town of Quincy, Florida was brimming with them. Almost 50 millionaires and billionaires lived within the grand total population of 7000 folk, but you’d never know if you looked by looking at them. They quietly went about their lives, never boasting of their wealth, until super-star actor Cole Masten found out their secrets and decided to turn them into a blockbuster movie.

So Hollywood arrived, one quiet Sunday afternoon, with their trucks and noise and equipment, soon overrunning her small town. And bringing her face to face with one of the world’s sexiest, most famous, and most swooned-over men… who she happened to hate on sight.

“Don’t do that.”
“What?” He straightened off the porch railing.
“That smile thing. It’s creepy.”
He stopped smiling. “Ten million Americans would disagree with you.”
“Then ten million Americans are idiots.”

His good looks weren’t nearly enough to get him in her good graces. With his lack of manners and cocky attitude, she had no problem telling him exactly where to go (or kneeing him soundly in the balls the first time he tried to kiss her). But there are two sides to every story, and luckily we were given both.

He wasn’t a bad guy — in fact he was a pretty good one, but was in the middle of an ugly divorce and still hurting from his soon-to-be-ex-wife’s stinging betrayal. He also came from a world of smoke screens and lies, where privacy was the most highly coveted luxury that even the richest stars couldn’t buy and where personal lives were dragged through the mud for the public’s entertainment. The combination of everything had in fact naturally fashioned him into what would easily appear to be… an asshole.

“People in Hollywood will build you up just so that they can rob you blind. You gotta be an asshole to not be assholed. Don’t ever forget that.”

So when contrasted with her Southern upbringing of manners and hospitality, it was no surprise that the the sparks between them flew right from the start.

“Can you put on some pants?” she snapped, looking back at him, her eyebrows raised accusingly. “It’s rude to waltz around with your junk out.”

The sexual tension was delicious!!! They were so busy hating each other that they barely realized they were falling in love. It was this intense mixture of lust, hate, attraction, frustration, and desire… they couldn’t stand each other, but were still drawn closer. However I really appreciated that they didn’t just fall into bed. The build-up was perfectly drawn-out — teasing and enticing you further into their story.

“There should be laws against men who could kiss like that. With a mouth that dominated yet begged. Tongue that teased yet delivered. Tastes that dipped into an addicting stream and hooked a woman after just the first hit.”

Ohhh and the humor!!!! It was just brilliant. Witty, snarky, sassy, and totally hilarious — I laughed and chuckled my way through several scenes, especially the ones involving Cole’s new pet chicken (err, sorry rooster) named Cocky. Yep, rooster. Pet. Not dinner. Beloved pet. Omg, those scenes were pure GOLD!!!!

“I just got a baby rooster,” Cole started.
“I can see that,” the man drawled. He leaned forward, his chair creaking, and peered through the thick plastic. “Why’d you bring it with you?”
“I don’t know. I thought it might need to be checked out, or you might have questions, or it might not be able to be left alone…” Cole’s voice trailed off, and he realized exactly how stupid he sounded.
“It’s. A. Chicken.” The toothpick in the man’s mouth fell out as he spat out the words. “It’s not a pet. You don’t name the thing and give it a bedazzled collar.”
“What does it eat?” Cole snarled, taking Cocky’s tub down off the counter and setting it on the floor, his boot pushing it to a safer location, a little to the side.
“Corn.”
Cole waited for more. And waited.
“Just corn? Nothing else?”
The man raised his eyebrows. “It’s. A. Chicken.”
…
“Anything else I’d need for it? Medicine or vitamins or shots?”
“It’s. A. —“
“Chicken,” Cole finished. “Got it.”

And finally, there is some serious hotness in this awesome story! Cocky attitude or no, Cole had me swooning and fanning myself. And I’m pretty sure you’ll be doing the same once you ‘ve met him.

“I’ll pin you down and won’t stop until my mouth is imprinted on your mind and your taste is my fucking middle name.”

See?? *winks*

Oh aaaaaaaaaand there’s a cool twist to the direction of the story that isn’t mentioned in the blurb and that I’ve chosen not to mention here just because I honestly think it’s more fun to just discover it as you go. There was nothing about this book that bothered me, I have zero complaints. It really was a winner!

I genuinely LOVED this book! I read it cover to cover in one sitting. It was additive and utterly delightful to read. The writing was top notch, the humor was on point, and the intense hate-to-love romance kept my heart racing!! This was a smart, sexy love story with incredibly strong writing. I highly recommend it!!!

Rating: 4.5+ stars. Standalone Contemporary Adult Romance.

• Buy HOLLYWOOD DIRT (Kindle)
• Buy HOLLYWOOD DIRT (Paperback)