Book review: IF YOU NEED ME, by Helene Hunting

Toronto Terror #3

Dallas & Hemi

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I wish I would have liked this book more, but I didn’t love Hemi and Dallas, at least not in the beginning.  I disliked the initial scene although I did see the intent to be humorous.  The fact that Dallas gets erections from anxiety is a little weird.  And Hemi’s treatment of Dallas in that initial part of the book felt like it bordered on abuse, as she constantly scolded and threatened Dallas with sending him to a clown assignment, knowing he detested clowns.

Once the book got going and the plot was developing, I got to know Hemi and Dallas closer and could see where they were coming from and I liked them so much more.  Hemi and Dallas knew each other from high school, and whereas Dallas has been in love with Hemi for a long, long time, Hemi always saw him as one of the popular boys of the school and part of the group who tortured her for being unapologetically different.  Hemi has always been driven and focused, unwilling to go along with the popular group.

Many in the Terror hockey organization feel that she’s too much, but Dallas adores her and always defends her.  As they are forced to fake a relation, they get close, their families get close and both are faced with a different version of the reality they thought they knew.

I actually loved seeing those two together, once they got over their initial attitudes and started to work as a couple.  Hemi’s increasing dependence on Dallas softened her and made her more approachable.  She was hard with Dallas but a wonderful friend to her girl brigade.  Once I understood Hemi, I started to like her.  Dallas is an impulsive goof but he’s kind and decent all through, I always liked him, and love how steadfast he was in his feelings for Hemi.

So, apart from that first scene, the book was a delight, it had some wonderful emotional moments, as well as the funny ones.  Dallas and Hemi were wonderful together, and I loved that Hemi found someone who understood her and accepted her as she is, strong and passionate and very much driven, but with an inner core of an insecure girl who needs acceptance.  Dallas provided that and more, and the love and sexy story was wonderful (except the initial scene!).

 

Purchase links

Amazon → https://geni.us/IfYouNeedMeEbook

Website →  https://helenahunting.com/books/iynm/

Add to Goodreads → https://geni.us/IfYouNeedMeGR

About the author

NYT and USA Today bestselling author, Helena Hunting lives on the outskirts of Toronto with her incredibly tolerant family and two moderately intolerant cats. She started her writing career with new adult angsty romance and branched out in sports romance and romantic comedies that will make you laugh and swoon. But sometimes she likes to serve up a little heartache on the way to the happily ever after.

 

Connect with Helena Hunting

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Book review: TEXT APPEAL, by Kylie Scott

Delicious and oh so playful, this was a highly entertaining read! I loved the subtle humor and how humanly imperfect these two characters were!  I also dig the fact that the female character is a romance author and there are frequent references to all the book tropes we love, like second chance, fake relationship, etc.  It’s cute to read an author writing about an author, and get all the difficulties of writing a story that compels readers. 

The start of the book is unique and intriguing.  Riley just moved to this small town, got a new cellphone number and starts receiving messages from someone called Ava directed to Connor, asking for a second chance.  Ava doesn’t believe that Riley doesn’t know Connor and spread the rumor in town that Connor has a new girlfriend.  So by the time Riley makes her first appearance to a coffee shop, she’s the talk of the town and appears in the shop’s dueling jars as “Riley the new girlfriend” versus “Ava the home hero”.

From here and forward, we’re treated to a fun story where Connor finally visits his “new girlfriend” and proposes a fake relationship in order to get the town off his back.  Everyone is rooting for him to get back with Ava and it’s not happening, but he needs help. And the rest is history, as of course fake turns into true.

The humor of the story is great, loved the banter between Connor and Riley and Riley’s witty comebacks. It was super entertaining and fun to read!

Purchase links

Amazon: https://a.co/d/3pO3q2Z

Apple Books: https://apple.co/44XDyxD

Nook: https://bit.ly/3Vhc7M1

Kobo: https://bit.ly/3UW381x

Google Play: https://bit.ly/4f50Mph

Audible: https://adbl.co/450CfxR

Narrated by: Andi Arndt

Add to Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3QUH0U0

About the author

Kylie is a New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today best-selling, Audie Award winning author. She has sold over 2,000,000 books and was voted Australian Romance Writer of the year four times by the Australian Romance Reader's Association. Her books have been translated into fifteen different languages and she is based in Queensland, Australia.

 

Connect with Kylie

Website: www.kyliescott.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6476625.Kylie_Scott

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kyliescottwriter

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/599197093487040

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/KylieScottbooks

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Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kylie-scott

Verve: https://ververomance.com/app/KylieScott

Book review: CARIBBEAN CRUSH, by R.S. Grey

I was completely enchanted with this book! The heroine initially appears to be a bit ditzy but as you read you realize she’s just had a few hard years and she’s just floating, waiting for her bad luck to change. She’s been toiling at a menial job in a travel magazine, waiting for a chance at a travel journalist position but my take is that they were using her with no intent to deliver.

When Casey mentions she knows reclusive Phillip Woodmont, she’s given the assignment to get an exclusive interview during the Aurelia maiden voyage. So she’s cruising along the Caribbean, with a fantastic new friend, influencer Sienna Thomas, and trying without success so get her interview. Her attempts are comical until they finally get it going.  She’s unaffected, beautiful but doesn’t realize it, intelligent and kind. I liked that her actions showed integrity even as she has no shame bargaining with Phillip for her interview.  At the moment, she’s aimless with no home, her future seems dim, but she’s not bitter, just oddly at peace.

Phillip is the kind of man who wants a completely ordered existence, total control all around. He had an ideal girlfriend who filled all the checkboxes but she dumped him. Now, he’s dealing with this rebel rouser who turned his world topsy turvy, irritates him but excites him to no end. 

This is the case of two opposites who have found the perfect partner to balance them. Casey woke Phillip up to life and made him embrace the chaos. Suddenly, he realizes what he was missing and wants more, but she finds she’s not enough. She has no life to speak of and she needs to find her future. There are some very deep moments while Casey grows and realizes she was in a rut. 

I loved casey’s and Sienna’s antics, the beautiful friendship they formed, the love that started forming out from a childhood brief friendship and that now grows from incredible chemistry and passion, the banter and the good times that are the hallmark for a cruise. The romance was wonderful, great development of their feelings, the pull and push of a cruise fling that goes more serious than expected.  I loved Casey, she’s so kind and quirky, there’s just no helping loving her.

This is one of the nicest books this author has written and I had a great time reading! I cringed, laughed, said “oh no she didn’t!” several times, got sad several times, loved seeing Phillip lose control, the dancing on top of the table, it was a great trip!

Purchase links

FREE with Kindle Unlimited!

Amazon: https://amzn.to/48roHf5 

Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/CaribbeanCrush    

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/42J9JzT

About the author

R.S. Grey is the USA Today bestselling author of over thirty novels, including seven #1 bestselling romantic comedies. She lives in Texas with her husband, two daughters, and dog.

 

Connect with R.S.

Website | www.rsgrey.com  

Goodreads | https://bit.ly/3waLWMU  

Amazon | https://amzn.to/3ST7bvq   

Facebook | https://bit.ly/3SSrhWX    

Facebook Group |  https://www.facebook.com/groups/1378399812435745    

Instagram |  https://www.instagram.com/authorrsgrey/        

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Book review: THEIR LAST RESORT, by R.S. Grey

I have been reading RS Grey for years and have adored most of her books, entertained by the quiet, effortless humor she interspaces in her characters and dialogue. This one fell short of my expectations with the contrived humor and the main female character’s immaturity and infantile behavior.

Paige and Cole work for a sumptuous resort located in Turks and Caicos.  Paige does excursions and guest activities while Cole is the assistant director.  They have this sort of enmity going on that I quickly recognized as restrained lust. Cole is the truer one, he likes Paige, recognizes she’s fighting the attraction and lets her get away with her antics. But I hated that one of her antics was acting attracted to another employee that was very clearly dumb as a post and possibly gay. I found her actions beyond juvenile, ranging into petty.

When a hurricane arrives and forces a proximity between them and all the curtains fall down, I finally get the brilliant writing I expect from this author.

“The sun is starting to set behind her, warm colors streaking across the sky. She’s encased in it, pure sunshine backlit by all that golden light. She’s the antithesis of everything I knew growing up. Vibrant and exciting. She’s all the colors of Oz, and I’m dumbstruck Dorothy.”

This last part is everything I love about this author, quiet humor, brilliant prose, lovely characters who are funny in the midst of their loving each other, and slight angst to balance all the emotions.

It was entertaining when it wasn’t irritating, but still lovely when it pertains to Cole, who was a saint, a shy but assured individual, who loved Paige from the first moment he met her, but let her get away with all the histrionics.  He loved her quietly and I loved him for it.  In the end, he won the book for me. Paige was enchanting and charming, except when Cole was present.  I could tell she was delightful and the life of a party, a little naive, and very friendly.  Just not with Cole!

Purchase links

FREE with Kindle Unlimited

Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/tlr     

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/48GG3WJ 

About the author 

R.S. Grey is the USA Today bestselling author of over thirty novels, including seven #1 bestselling romantic comedies. She lives in Texas with her husband, two daughters, and dog.

 

Connect with R.S.

Website | www.rsgrey.com

Goodreads | https://bit.ly/3QFatBZ

Amazon | https://amzn.to/45rjZg3

Facebook | https://bit.ly/47w7wcU

Facebook Group | https://bit.ly/47vJiPU

Instagram | www.instagram.com/authorrsgrey

Newsletter | https://bit.ly/3YBhaqB

Book review: A VERY GRUMPY FATHER’S DAY, by Kayley Loring

Very Holiday #4

Declan & Maddie again

 It’s short, it’s sweet, it’s funny and very hectic.  Declan and Maddie are married and have a 10-month baby girl Ciara.  They’re very happy and very much in love with their baby.  But, their life is very busy and they have been several weeks unable to be together to have sexy times.  And it’s making Declan grumpier than normal and Maddie more frustrated, both with her high-maintenance husband and the over forty unpacked boxes from their recent move to the Upper East Side. 

Their quest to find a slot of time to have mommy and daddy alone time, and to find someone available to babysit baby Ciara is hilarious.  Declan is super protective and not everyone is qualified to babysit his baby.  

This story was as charming as it was funny and I had a great time reading it.  I love a story that shows a couple years after they HEA and I loved seeing this couple as passionate for each other as they were in their book.  Declan continues to be a grump but he’s adorable with his baby.  It’s pretty much guaranteed he’ll be putty in her hands in the future.  And when Billy is included in the brothers and cousins shenanigans, much havoc is guaranteed to happen! Fun times!

Purchase links

https://bit.ly/3WNdstg 

Also available in audio ➩ https://adbl.co/43DpjvQ 

Add to your Goodreads TBR ➩ https://bit.ly/AVGFDGR

About the author

Amazon Top 25 and USA Today bestselling author Kayley Loring had a fifteen-year career as a screenwriter in Los Angeles (under a different name) before moving to the Pacific Northwest to pen steamy romantic comedy novels. Now she’s breathing cleaner air, writing dirtier words, and staring at her computer screen until her eyeballs dry out instead of getting facials and going to the hair salon. Read or listen to Kayley’s books when you want to laugh, warm your heart, and enjoy top-notch banter, strong heroines who need to be chased, lovable characters you’d want to know in real life, and swoon over perfectly imperfect book boyfriends.

Learn more at www.kayleyloring.com

Come join Kayley in her Facebook reader group! https://www.facebook.com/groups/kayleyville

Follow Kayley on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kayleyloring/