4 stars

“…how I hated her, how much I craved her…”

I feel like I have to run and hide after I say this but, in all honesty, I was a lot less “wow-ed” by this book than I was expecting to be. It wasn’t bad at all, I just really didn’t feel anything for it or the characters. I mean, okay, maybe a LITTLE, obviously, I mean I did care for the characters, but nothing that made the story ‘stay’ with me or make me overly attached to them.

I’m still giving the book a 3.5 – 4 star rating because while nothing jumped out at me that I just fell in love with, it also wasn’t bad either and nothing ever rang any of my alarm bells, it just didn’t really make my heart race… which I usually want.

I’ve seen a lot of mixed reviews for this book and I guess I can honestly say that I can truly understand both the really low and the really high ratings… I mean, I guess its about your mood of the moment maybe?

It was basically a light-hearted (but not funny) enemies-to-lovers story that centered largely around the sexual escapades of a boss and his intern. 

I guess to describe it, its the story of Chloe who is working towards her MBA while being the assistant to Bennet Ryan – a “womanizing, arrogant, pigheaded asshat who assumed everyone around him was an idiot.” … in other words: a Beautiful Bastard.

Despite their intense physical attraction, they have an strongly antagonistic relationship at first…. until one day, the UST* snaps and (around 5% into the book) they pretty much just break down and have angry sex in the board room. Then in the stairwell. Then in the elevator. A fitting room. The backseat of a car. Two bathrooms. Almost a shower. And then about 10+ times in bed…. In case you were wondering, this book has a LOT of sex in it. I mean a lot. Its hot but not kinky – just very very frequent and often very very angry. Did I say a lot yet? … hmmmm, maybe, honestly, even too much at times? Or possibly a better way to say it would be too much, too soon.

But about half way through, emotions start to seep into their relationship – or, rather, positive and more romantic emotions and basically, the more they gave into their bodies, the more their hearts slowly began to catch up with the program and they began to fall for each other.

“He looked so different – still my asshole boss, but also someone else now: a man, in my bed, looking like he was ready for round… Four? Five? I couldn’t keep track.”

“Tell me what you want.” My voice is rough with need. “Tell me the things you want me to do to you.”
“I don’t know,” she whispered into my mouth. “I just want to see you come apart.”

Chloe and Bennet had a highly dysfunctional relationship… but one that kinda worked for them. I mean, they spent the first half of the book pretty much hating each other and trying to fuck each other out of their systems which, consequently, disconnected me a little from strongly “feeling” for them because THEY weren’t really feeling it yet. You know?

“So here were the facts: I felt possessive of her. Not in a romantic sort of way, but in a “hit her over the head, drag her off by the hair, and fuck her” way. Like she was my toy and I was keeping the other boys in the sandbox from playing with her. How sick was that? If she ever heard me admit to that, she would cut off my balls and feed them to me.”

It was nice that the story was told in alternating POVs though and that we got to see the man behind the bastard so to speak. It helped soften the way I felt towards him, understanding his frustrations with Chloe that made him act the way he did. That being said, I did really like that Chloe was a smart and sassy heroine who pretty much just threw all his asshatery back in his face so there was no ‘doormat’ syndrome going on here 😛

There were cute moments, some sassy banter, a lot of lust-hate-sex-lust-hate-sex… and some things I couldn’t help but laugh at (like Bennet hoarding all her torn up panties in his drawer *shakes head* LOL)… but I felt a little disconnected from the story. It took a long time (really right up until the VERY end) for them to actually be in a real relationship together and I guess I just usually want more actual romance in my reads.

I feel like I would have gladly traded in some of the sex scenes for more character development I mean, neither of them really ‘grew’ much as people (except to stop hating each other) and neither of them had damaged pasts or had anything in their past that was a mystery or affected their lives in any way… the story has no twists or anything, its really just a straight up enemies-to-lovers story. I guess I would have liked to know WHY Bennet was so mean to her – I mean, yeah, it was sort of explained but I would have wanted a bit of a deeper reason for that degree of asshatery.

There is a happy ending (no cliffhanger) but I did feel it was rushed and abrupt. They kind of solved their problem and then the book was just over. I feel like I really could have used an epilogue.

But… at the same time, I know I’m griping a lot but it really wasn’t a bad read. It just won’t be making my favorites pile and didn’t leave a lasting impression on me or really ever touch my heart emotionally.

However, I read it in one sitting (about 4 hours) and did enjoy my read so, all in all, I am glad I read it… I just won’t be doing a reread.

Rating: 3.5 — 4 stars

*UST = Unresolved Sexual Tension

CASTING –>  click here

Click covers to purchase. Books listed in reading order.

• Buy THE PROPOSAL on Kindle

4 stars.

“I want to be with you, Em. I want to be with you every fucking moment of every fucking day.”

Ohhhh how I love an epic grovel!!

With the start of this book, we are thankfully thrown right back into the OMGOMGOMGOMGGGGG freak out issue we were left off with at the end of book #1, The Proposition. I am SO glad the book didn’t skip forward or anything and allowed us to just jump back in and see the rest of the story unfold.

I gotta say, I totally bought Aidan’s regret over his actions. The dude was just downright miserable (much to my evil satisfaction). Yes, I know it makes me a little evil but after the brutal cliffhanger of the last book, I was okay with a little “Aidan-is-suffering” time. Hearing about him not sleeping, barely eating, wallowing in misery just made rub my hands together with glee cackling ‘more! more!’…. okay, that might be a bit overboard, but you get what I mean, lol, and hey. The guy fucked up. Big time. Buuuuuuut, fuck up or no, he too has a back story. There is a whole part to his past that we didn’t know about in the first book which comes out in this book – the real reason behind his commitment phobias/

But, I mean, at the end of the day, the guy has a really good heart, so then started one of the most epic grovels I’ve read… it was pretty delicious. From balloons, flowers and poetry, to therapy, to mega all-out pampering, to right down on his knees begging… that man was willing to do just about anything to make himself worthy of her.

“A hopeful look entered his tortured eyes. “I’d give anything and everything in this world to redeem myself with you. Just please, please give me the chance.”

And seriously, this scene was so cute!!

 [reading a baby’s onsie] “I’m cute, Mommy’s cute, and Daddy’s…” She tore her gaze up to meet his.
“Daddy’s lucky,” he finished for her.“

Emma too had serious and totally understandable trust issues regarding Aidan. She was holding out for a certain something to happen and I absolutely don’t blame her – heck, I’d have done the same thing.

I guess though, in this book, it was Emma’s turn to “pull a stupid.” Le sigh. I won’t go into detail, but I didn’t like the decisions she made regarding a certain plot point or how she didn’t realize the way her actions would look. Okay, I know that’s very vague – but I’m trying not to spoil anything. I mean, I understood how she dealt with it in the beginning of the book pre-Aidan-grovel. But the 2 ‘scenes’ post-Aidan-grovel were uncool. I mean, if the roles had been reversed and Aidan tried to do that, it would not have been okay. And although I had been sympathizing with Emma for the majority of the 2 books, around 60% through this one, my sympathies switched to Aidan’s side… yeah. It bothered me, but at the same time, it wasn’t tooooooo far drawn out and I will give her brownie points for realizing her stupid after the fact and actually apologizing. It softened my anger, lol.

Then OHHHHH MYYY GODD!!!! I was worried that at the final moment of grovel when those special words we’ve all been waiting to hear had to be said that Aidan might not be able to deliver but BOY DID HE DO IT RIGHT!!!!! Yup, I ended up completely forgiving him for all his previous asshatery. All of it! Forgiven! Poof!

And then the swooooooon began.

Followed by more swoon. And more. And more. And more. Oh, and hotness.

I really liked how it didn’t take them the whole book to work their issues out. They pretty much resolved things by about 70% ish, and then the rest of the book was devoted to their rebuilding and working issues out. After all the angst and heart ache, it was nice to be rewarded with actual full-out swoony times instead of just having it all resolved in the last chapter.

So yes, all you worried folk, there is a full and swoony HEA at the end of this one concluding Aidan and Emma’s story.

“There’s going to be good times and bad times and heart ache and joy. Don’t ever think that because of what happened before that your love isn’t as strong or as beautiful as anyone else’s. its the love that goes through the hardest trials and survives that is worth having.”

But! I did see that there is going to be a companion novel released called “The Pairing” which will follow Pesh’s story. I’m looking forward to it! 🙂

4 stars.

READING ORDER

#1 THE PROPOSITION

• THE PROPOSITION (Kindle)
  
• THE PROPOSITION (Paperback)

#2 THE PROPOSAL <– the one this review is about

• THE PROPOSAL (Kindle)
• THE PROPOSAL (Paperback)

Prequel – THE PARTY (to be read after)

• THE PARTY (Kindle)

• Buy HARD TO LOVE on Kindle
• Buy HARD TO LOVE in Paperback 

3.5 – 4 stars

Opening line:

“Dammit. I knew a four-hour erection wasn’t normal.”

Lol. Ok, can you see why I wanted to read it?

This was another of those books that grabbed me as soon as I read the blurb. I mean, c’mon! This was a book about a cage fighting bad boy who turned to porn to bring in money to pay the medical bills for his little sister left in his custody by his dead beat druggie parents. I was sold right there!

Oh, and then, to make things even better, in the opening scene he meets Alexa, a nurse in the emergency room when he shows up sporting a raging 4+ hour erection (can you say awkward??) . They have instant chemistry but she’s literally the complete opposite of him. She’s a sheltered virgin from a wealthy, protective family with her whole life set up for her. Can these two people from opposite worlds make it work? And can Alexa be okay with the idea that the guy she’s falling for is a porn star?

“He was a freakin’ porn star. A bad boy with a capital B. not someone I should crush on, but there it was all the same, pulsing in my chest. A want, a fierce desire I couldn’t tame. Something I definitely wasn’t supposed to explore.”

“I didn’t explain it was the romantic, softer stuff… because frankly, none of that mattered. It was porn, and that was all she was going to see. She would never know about the little girl in my custody, and the mortgage, groceries, or utilities I was responsible for.”

This book rode the line between serious and lighthearted really well. The story was told in clear cut, alternating POVs and really just dove right into the story – no fluff!

Cade was a yummy Alpha male hero! Responsible for his sister since he was a teen, he was a caring, doting, protective older brother who was literally willing to do anything to give her the best life he could, but he was also just this sweet, hot bad boy who was falling in love with a girl who he couldn’t stop thinking about.

Alexa was a heroine that I felt I understood. Her worries made sense to me, she had a big heart and really tried her best to be understanding of Cade’s situation, but at the same there are some things which are just not okay, you know?

Pretty much everything about their situation made them wrong for each other but they just couldn’t stay away. Despite all that, they just fit together really perfectly.

The book only actually took me about 2 hours to read. My PDF ARC copy was 184 pages (50,000 words-ish) – so really about half to 2/3 as long as a regular full length novel. And I guess my only real complaint would be that I wish it had been longer. And I don’t mean at the end. I actually felt that the progression from start to finish was really good and I was happy with where the epilogue ended the story (yes, its a happy ending!), but what I mean is that I wish everything had been just a little more fleshed out all around.

I liked the story, I liked the characters, I liked everything about it, but I just didn’t feel overly emotionally connected to it. Which is ok! I mean, you don’t have to read every book clutching your heart, but I did notice that a few scenes (or jumps between chapters) felt a little rushed. But its a nice shorter read for those nights when you’ve got work the next day and don’t have time to commit to a whole big novel.

There’s steam (he IS a well endowed porn star after all and she IS a virgin *waggles eyebrows*) and an easy-to-read writing style that sucks you into the story.

All in all, it was a cute, short read. I wanted ‘more’ but I enjoyed it.

Almost 4 stars.

• Buy HARD TO LOVE on Kindle
• Buy HARD TO LOVE in Paperback 

• Buy UP TO ME on Kindle

“Happily ever after doesn’t come easy. But for love, it’s always worth the fight.”

4+ stars.

100% spoiler-free review!

Ok, I know a lot of you may have read the official blurb and all but I really don’t want to say anything about the plot here in terms of what this book is about. If you haven’t read book #1, Down To You, then you should absolutely read it first because this book is a direct continuation of that story. If you HAVE read book #1, then all you need to know is that the story line we were left off with continues in this book, develops, branches out and concludes happily.

There is a big twist though! Yup, another twist! An exciting one!! *grins* Teeheehee. I really liked it! Aaaaand that twist leads on into an awesome little tid-bit that we get at the end of the book that leads right into a third book!! Yes, a third book! *happy dance* I’m  quite excited to see how it all plays out!  But you should know that this book has a resolved, happy ending. No cliffhanger. So your hearts can rest easy.

Just like with the first book, this one has clear cut, alternating POVs giving you the whole story while fully immersing you in the characters’ thoughts and actions. Its fun too because you never feel like you’re missing out on a part of the story even when it branches off temporarily into separate story lines.

K, in the interest of keeping this spoiler free, I’m just going to never mention the hero’s name. Lol. Feels a little weird, but I think its the right thing to do 😛

But yeah, my favorite Davenport is back in full yummilicious, panty-melting swing. Seriously. The things that man SAYS just make my heart race! He’s thoughtful and sweet but with just enough bad and good boy in him to keep things interesting! Haha, Olivia’s best friend says it best:

“And just as I suspected. I’ve been worrying my ass off and you’ve been having multiple orgasms at the head of a Greek god’s penis. Figures.”

In this book, he asks for trust and, given some of the things Olivia knows about him, its a bit of a leap of faith. She has trust issues too given her past but she trusts him with her life and her heart and its up to him to prove himself worthy of it.

“Can you trust me? Please! I know I’ve not given you many reasons to, but this one time, just go with your heart. I promise you, promise you, I won’t let you down.”
…I want to be worth the risk. I want her to finally fall for the right guy.

The plot was fun and exciting, the sex was hot, the banter made me laugh out loud… there was a blend of kidnappings, mafia deals, shootouts on the one hand and tender, hot, sweet moments on the other. It didn’t lodge my heart in my throat at anytime, and in that way was almost a little just fun and relaxed. Basically, it was perfect for my Saturday afternoon 🙂

“Wrapped up in him, in his bad boy ways and his good guy heart, is my whole world. Somehow, while I wasn’t looking, I fell. And I fell hard. 
For my soul mate. For the love of my life. For my hero. 

4+ stars

Here’s the reading order and where-to-buy links:

• Book #1: DOWN TO YOU (Kindle)
• Book #2: UP TO ME (Kindle)

Casting:

• **** Davenport (lol, I’m not saying his name!): Click here and here

** NEW COVER ALERT **

This paperback will be available on August 6, 2013.

• Buy THE COINCIDENCE OF CALLIE & KAYDEN on Kindle 

4 stars

“The corners of his lips tug up into a sad smile. “I can handle scars, especially ones that are on the outside.”

This was a quiet yet beautiful read about two survivors of abuse beginning to find trust and healing in each other. I really enjoyed it despite have my heart ripped to shreds by the HUGE BRUTAL CLIFFHANGER at the end!!! I’m not even kidding. It. Is. Brutal!!

This book really highlights the horrors of childhood abuse of all kinds and the lasting damage inflicted on its victims. The story has got a very gentle, quiet feel to it, but at the same time, really draws you into it.

“I want to find out what it’s like to be touched by someone I trust; someone I gave my permission to.”

Can I just say first how much I adore books with clear cut, chapter-by-chapter alternating POVs? Its like you literally get the absolute, complete story from both sides without ever wondering who’s eyes you’re seeing the world through. Its like a full immersion into the character’s mind.

Callie was a quiet, shy characters who had withdrawn into herself away from the world after what happened to her one horrible night many years ago. And Kayden was this gorgeous, totally swoonilicious guy, scarred on both the inside and the outside, who she hadn’t really spoken to since the sixth grade when she suddenly cut off all her hair and lost all her friends. He had spent his whole life living in fear of his father’s hand and being made to feel like absolute dirt. Given the mindset he grew up in, he keeps himself in a meaningless relationship – one he knows is meaningless – because he doesn’t feel worthy of more.

But when a coincidence leads Callie to save Kayden one night, both their lives are changed.

But after their encounter, Kayden dreams of her, feels protective of her, and wants her even though he holds himself back – unable to believe he could deserve her. But the more time they spend together away from their homes, away from the memories of hurt, the closer they get, the stronger their trust builds and together, they begin to heal.

“I trusted him once and I decide to do it again. I just pray to God he doesn’t shove me down and break me, because I’m already in too many pieces and I just don’t know how much more breaking I can take.“

I’ll admit, I did really love this book right from the beginning but it is VERY slow building. I mean, really! Its not a bad thing at all. But you should just know that going in.

Honestly at about half way through, I was enjoying it but I was wondering a little bit where the huge ‘wow factor’ was that everyone was talking about…

But then the angst started to build and build and the ending just hit me. Hard. No, I should say it CRASHED into me!

HOLY. FREAKING. CLIFFHANGER!!! It almost felt like it was half a book. I kept flipping forward, sure there must be more pages that were missing! In some ways, I wish I had waited to read both of them back-to-back because, right now, my heart is just aching not knowing what happens!

This book touches of domestic, physical and sexual abuse and its long term impact on the everyday life of its survivors. On people who aren’t broken by it, just damaged and yet still are functional people. It gave the story a depth and a realistic feel to it because of how non-exaggerated it was. It was subtle, quiet even, but you felt it. You really felt it. This book didn’t ever give me that heart-racing feeling (except at the end when I was freaking out, but that’s different), and yet I still felt quite connected to the characters and really enjoyed the book.

I’m not going to give any spoilers here at all regarding the cliffhanger but, without any details, I’ll say that I wondered a bit about the circumstances around the ending scene for a while after I read it. I wasn’t sure why a certain character would have done what they did. But then the more I thought about it, the more I understood it. It was a ‘real’ decision. Not a storybook perfect one, a real one. Probably the wrong call if you were to get all judge-y and to look back on it but still, life isn’t perfect. Sometimes in life you make the wrong calls. Sometimes you can’t and don’t correctly predict what someone’s reactions will be. And sometimes you pay the price…

Rating: 4+ stars.

SERIES READING ORDER