Book review: HALE BOUND, by Abbi Glines

Mississippi Smoke #11

Hale & Bay

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

When I reached the end and realized this book ended on a cliffhanger, I was actually relieved. There was no way this addictive, delicious story could end yet. It still needed more time to simmer.

Hale is a gorgeous, sexy, fifty-year-old man (thank you for the silver fox, Abbi Glines!), and I knew he couldn't fall without a little more resistance. His life is completely settled. His children are grown and independent, his company is thriving under the leadership of his sons, Ransom and Than, and he enjoys his work in the Southern Mafia under Linc's direction. Everything is exactly as it should be. Then along comes Bay and turns his perfectly ordered world upside down.

Bay is thirty-four and carrying the scars of a bad experience from years ago. To feel safe, she has built herself a carefully scheduled, predictable life. Hale takes her to emotional heights she never imagined, and while she's clearly falling for him, she still doesn't feel entirely secure. Then there is the small matter of his criminal activities, which understandably make her more than a little uneasy.

This story was delicious. It's the classic setup: man kidnaps woman, falls for her but struggles with it, while she finds herself falling for him and wondering if it's Stockholm syndrome. She calls herself crazy for lusting after her kidnapper, and honestly, it was all wildly entertaining. I loved being inside both of their heads as they tried to make sense of what they were feeling.

What I especially loved was how focused the story remained on Hale and Bay, with just enough involvement from Hale's children to enrich the story without overshadowing it.  I loved Slash, the supposedly guard dog, who melted like wax for Bay, and disgruntled Hale.  It was sweet, sexy, and surprisingly tender, without getting pulled too deeply into the darker, more violent side of this world. It felt like a refreshing interlude among the grittier installments in the series, and I thoroughly enjoyed the slower pace and the sweeter romance.

Now bring me the next book!

Purchase links

https://geni.us/halebound

About the author

Abbi Glines is a #1 New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Rosemary Beach, Sea Breeze, Vincent Boys, Field Party, and Existence series. She never cooks unless baking during the Christmas holiday counts. She believes in ghosts and has a habit of asking people if their house is haunted before she goes in it. She finally moved to New England into a home that is 200 + years old with it's own ghosts. She drinks afternoon tea because she wants to be British but alas she being born in Alabama, her life in New England is as close as she will get. When asked how many books she has written she has to stop and count on her fingers. When she’s not locked away writing, she is reading, and/or watching Netflix like the introvert that she is. 

You can connect with Abbi online in several different ways:

www.abbiglinesbooks.com

TikTok @abbiglines

Twitter: @abbiglines

Instagram: @abbiglines

Snapchat: abbiglines

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

Book review: SAVED BY A GOD, by Michelle Heard

Kings of Mafia # 10

Enzo & Rosie

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This story felt like a beautiful farewell gift to the whole series. At the center of it all is Rosie, the bright, funny heart of the Cosa Nostra. She grew up surrounded by danger and power, yet she’s still the girl who loves pranks, jokes, and making every capo say “pretty please with a cherry on top” before she helps them. She’s their little sister, their genius hacker, and the one person everyone protects without question.

And then there’s Enzo, the man who feels everything too deeply and hides it behind discipline and silence. He has always cared for Rosie in his own quiet way, even when he convinced himself he couldn’t have her. Their bond—this strange mix of comfort, routine, and unspoken longing—was one of my favorite parts of the book.

What struck me most was how emotional this story is. Rosie goes through something terrifying and life‑changing, and the book handles her journey with so much heart. Watching the Cosa Nostra rally around her, watching Enzo fall apart and then pull himself back together for her, watching Rosie slowly return to herself—it all hit me so hard. I cried more than once.

The romance is tender and slow, full of care and patience. Enzo’s love shows in the way he protects her, the way he listens, the way he gives her space to heal. Rosie’s love shows in the way she trusts him and lets him lead, little by little, until she’s strong enough to stand on her feet and tease him like she used to. Their connection feels earned, deep, and incredibly sweet.

I also loved the family moments. The capos, the parents, the friends from all the different mafia groups—they all come together in a way that made my heart swell. When Rosie returns and everyone celebrates her, you can feel how much she means to them. It was one of the most touching scenes in the whole series.

By the end, everything comes full circle. Love, loyalty, healing, and family all wrap together in a perfect final chapter. The wedding had me in tears—happy ones.

This was an epic, emotional, beautiful ending to the Kings of Mafia series. I loved Rosie, I loved Enzo, and I loved every moment of their journey.

Purchase links

Amazon: https://geni.us/aSw9

About the author

Michelle Heard is a Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling Author who loves creating stories her readers can get lost in. She resides in South Africa with her son where she's always planning her next book to write, and trip to take.

 

Connect w/Michelle:

Website: https://michelleheardauthor.com

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

FB Readers Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/118971435201074

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authormichelleheard

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Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18108320.Michelle_Heard

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Book review: UP TO NO GOOD, by Abbi Glines

Mississippi Smoke #10

Forge & Elsie

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This story delivers that perfect blend of angst, vulnerability, and slow‑burn emotional intimacy that I love reading. It follows two people, Forge and Elsie, who are each carrying their own brand of heartbreak, and the magic is in how they slowly—almost reluctantly—become each other’s safe place. The author captures grief and anxiety with such clarity that you feel it in your chest, but she balances it with moments of warmth, humor, and family reunions that make the heaviness worth it.

What really worked for me is how naturally the relationship unfolds. There’s no insta‑love, no forced drama—just two wounded souls finding unexpected comfort in each other. Watching one character rediscover laughter and the other finally breathe without feeling like the world is collapsing… it’s tender, intimate, and deeply satisfying. And yes, the sexy times are potent, but it never overshadows the emotional core. It enhances it.

The pacing is tight, the tension delicious, and the emotional payoff absolutely worth the ride. My only complaint? I could’ve used a few more pages of pure, indulgent swoon at the end—but that’s just because I wasn’t ready to let them go.

A heartfelt, addictive romance that leaves you warm, delighted, and wanting just one more chapter.

Purchase links

https://geni.us/UTNG

About the author

Abbi Glines is a #1 New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Rosemary Beach, Sea Breeze, Vincent Boys, Field Party, and Existence series. She never cooks unless baking during the Christmas holiday counts. She believes in ghosts and has a habit of asking people if their house is haunted before she goes in it. She finally moved to New England into a home that is 200 + years old with it's own ghosts. She drinks afternoon tea because she wants to be British but alas she being born in Alabama, her life in New England is as close as she will get. When asked how many books she has written she has to stop and count on her fingers. When she’s not locked away writing, she is reading, and/or watching Netflix like the introvert that she is. 

You can connect with Abbi online in several different ways:

www.abbiglinesbooks.com

TikTok @abbiglines

Twitter: @abbiglines

Instagram: @abbiglines

Snapchat: abbiglines

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

Book review: A HATEFUL NEGOTIATION, by Tijan

Some love stories start with sparks. Creighton and Blake’s starts with bruises. Both products of the foster system, they carry that bone‑deep sense of being unwanted—the kind that stains every instinct, every reaction, every belief about themselves. And in Creighton’s case, that ache is amplified by his own self‑diagnosed “psychopath tendencies.” By fourteen he’s already a young criminal, numb to right and wrong, convinced he has no soul. And then an eight‑year‑old girl with a bruised face steps out of a car and jump‑starts the dead organ in his chest.

From that moment on, Blake becomes his axis.

His purpose.

His line in the sand.

Creighton protects her with a ferocity that terrifies everyone else. If someone hurts her feelings, he reacts. If someone threatens her, he eliminates the threat. The world calls it obsession. I call it devotion—because Blake is also his conscience. She sets one rule: “No one good and no one innocent.” And he follows it for years, not because he believes in morality, but because she does.

Blake’s dream has always been painfully simple: a normal life. Normal people. No foster‑kid stigma. No shadow of Creighton’s world. So they strike a deal—she can leave, study in New York, live her life, as long as she accepts a disguised bodyguard and the occasional financial help she pretends she doesn’t need. Creighton stays in Cincinnati… until he doesn’t. Because where Blake goes, he follows, even from a distance.

And then come the territorial clashes with the Kings of New York—Tristian West and Ashton Walden—and suddenly Blake’s quiet brownstone life with her four housemates collides with Creighton’s underworld. Parties turn into danger. Coincidences turn into chaos. And the mayhem is delicious.

What unfolds is a roller coaster of mafia politics, kidnappings, torture, threats, and turf wars. Through it all, Blake proves she’s no fragile flower—she can handle herself. But with Creighton? She melts. And that contrast is everything.

Her resistance to him finally makes sense: she wanted him to change. To be better. To be normal. But Creighton only has a heart where she’s concerned, and once she accepts that, she adapts. She grows. She realizes the power she holds over him and uses it—not manipulatively, but lovingly—to shape the life they can actually have.

Creighton’s devotion is absolute. He would burn the world for her.

Blake’s love is quieter, slower to bloom, but just as fierce.

And for a man who claims he has no soul, he shows more integrity than half the “good” people in his world. No sex trafficking. Children protected. Employees’ families cared for even after death. He says it’s about loyalty. I say it’s the soul he swears he doesn’t have.

The action never stops.

The romance is slow burn but emotionally loaded.

And watching Blake come into her own—accepting what she can’t change him and bending the rest to her terms—was incredibly satisfying. Watching Creighton be tamed by a girl who is beautiful inside and out? Even better.

My only gripe: seeing West and Walden at war with Creighton hurt my heart, because I loved them in their own books. Walden especially got a little too intense at times. But peace eventually comes, so I forgave it.

Tijan always delivers: riveting characters, twisty plots, humor, emotion, and flawed people trying to be good enough for the one person who matters. Creighton embodies that perfectly. He knows he’s not good—but he loves Blake too much to ever let her go.

Sigh.

Purchase links

FREE with #kindleunlimited! 

Amazon: https://bit.ly/4forSch

Amazon Worldwide: https://mybook.to/B2HZ

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/46K8Z1w 

Listen to the audiobook!

Narrated by: Benjamin Sands & Mia Madison

Audible: https://bit.ly/3MUJSkB

About the author

Tijan is a New York Times Bestselling author that writes suspenseful and unpredictable

novels. Her characters are strong, intense, and gut-wrenchingly real with a little bit of

sass on the side. Tijan began writing after college and once she started, she was hooked.

She's written multi-bestsellers including the Fallen Crest series, Ryan's Bed, Enemies

and others.

She is currently writing many new books and series with an English Cocker she

adores.

Connect with Tijan

Website: http://www.tijansbooks.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4851199.Tijan

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Tijan/e/B00DJG52QE

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

Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/tijansreadergroup

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tijansbooks/

X/Twitter: www.twitter.com/tijansbooks

TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@tijan_author

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tijan

Book review: CRAVING REVENGE, by Michelle Heard

Kings of Mafia #6

Augusto & Yuki

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book is an emotional roller coaster in the best way — a dark, gripping romance wrapped in family loyalty, trauma, healing, and the slow blooming of trust.

At its core, the story follows Yuki, a young woman raised under the crushing weight of duty and secrecy within the Japanese underworld. Her life has never truly belonged to her — every choice, every breath, every step has been dictated by the men who control her fate. The loneliness and quiet suffering she endures are portrayed with heartbreaking clarity.

On the other side of the world stands Augusto, the powerful Don of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra. Despite his brutal world, he comes from a family overflowing with warmth, loyalty, and fierce protectiveness. When their paths collide under violent circumstances, everything spirals into a chain of events neither of them could have predicted.

What begins as a clash between two criminal empires slowly transforms into a story about healing, identity, and unexpected tenderness. The romance is a true slow burn — shaped by fear, guilt, compassion, and the gradual rebuilding of trust. Watching Yuki rediscover her own worth, and seeing Augusto’s hardened exterior soften as he learns who she really is, is incredibly moving.

The author balances intense action, emotional depth, and cultural detail with a skill that kept me hooked from start to finish. There are moments that hurt, moments that soothe, and moments that feel like a breath of fresh air after years spent underwater.

All the elements that I love are present: slow burn romance, protective hero with soft heart, heroine who rises from trauma, found family, and hight stakes mafia drama (very gory!).

It’s passionate, violent, tender, and unforgettable — the kind of book that leaves you thinking about the characters long after you close it.

Purchase links

US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FTV7D69F

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FTV7D69F

CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0FTV7D69F

AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0FTV7D69F

About the author

Michelle Heard is a Wall Street Journal, and USA Today Bestselling Author who loves creating stories her readers can get lost in. She resides in South Africa with her son where she's always planning her next book to write, and trip to take.

 

Connect w/Michelle:

Website: https://michelleheardauthor.com

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

FB Readers Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/118971435201074

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authormichelleheard

Amazon: https://amazon.com/author/michellehorst

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18108320.Michelle_Heard

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/michelle-heard

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@michelleheard_author

Newsletter Signup: https://preview.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/p6m4o4