Book review: Thorne Princess, by LJ Shen

It’s such a delight to be immersed in the LJ Shen world again.  Meet another of her a-holic male characters who are so entertaining to read and love.  And a heroine who is a hot mess but has the base for a strong sassy heroine.  Well done!

Hallie Thorne is a hot mess but she’s beautiful, charming and caring.  She’s the second daughter of former President Thorne and a complete opposite to her elder sister, who is the epitome of perfection and achievement. Hallie dropped out of community college, has no occupation except for social media influencer, and spends her time hanging out at clubs and drinking with her air-headed friends.  After her last mess, when she had a nip-view accident, her parents had enough and decided to saddle her with a bodyguard, or more precisely, a close protection officer.  And enter my new book boyfriend, Ransom Lockwood, a.k.a. The Robot.

These two were a wild pair, she’s impulsive and stubborn, he’s a jerk and also stubborn.  His assignment is to bring order to her chaotic existence by whichever means necessary, so poor Hallie is in for a shock.  But not for long, because our gal is nothing if not inventive.  She leads the guy in a merry chase, when he doesn’t have her locked in her room.  Eventually, he discovers she has hidden depths.  As we discover those depths, we despair for this forgotten and misunderstood wild child.  

I loved seeing Ransom’s crazy protective side, loved Hallie’s crazy antics, and loved that, unknown to everyone, she did know better than what she was doing, she was doing it out of spite to her parents.  Secrets are revealed that explain a lot!  And will break your heart, too!

I loved how Ransom went from a frozen robotic persona with no empathy into a guy who does have a conscience and sympathy.  Truly, Hallie took this robot and deconstructed him and changed him to a human with frequent moments of jerk behavior.  Same as Hallie, Ransom also had a story that defined his present behavior. I loved their story, loved their banter/squabbles, loved the strong emotions, loved the evolution of both, and loved where they finished.  It was truly a delight to read Hallie and Ransom, my favorite couple…… for now!

Purchase links

US: https://amzn.to/3IfPm4O
UK: https://amzn.to/3jzaIjA
CA: https://amzn.to/3WQHg6K
AU: https://amzn.to/3vmEhY5
 
Free in Kindle Unlimited

About the author

L.J. Shen is a Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Washington Post, and #1 Amazon bestselling author of contemporary, new adult, and young adult romance. Her books have been sold in twenty different countries, and she hopes to visit all of them.
 
She lives in Florida with her husband, three rowdy sons, and rowdier pets and enjoys good wine, bad reality TV shows, and reading to her heart’s content.
 
 
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Book review: The Muse, by Emma Scott

Darkness into light, this is what this book evokes in me.  Ambri was discarded, swept aside from the people who should have loved and protected him, so he turned to darkness.  Until he met Cole Matheson, who is all love and light.  And redemption comes in.

We met Ambri in the previous book, The Sinner.  He was Cas’ demon friend, and he was a pain in the butt, but ultimately, he helped Lucy save Cas and bring him to light.  In his story, Ambri is the same persona, blond and gorgeous, snarky and oh so refined.  I didn’t appreciate him very much initially, until he started to develop feelings and his humanity started to shine.  

Cole was adorable right from the start.  He was everything that is good, generous and giving.  The poor guy is taken on such a rough ride, but through it all, he stays firm on who he is and what he loves: Ambri.

Both Cole and Ambri were riddled with doubts, feelings of worthlessness, not being enough, not being worthy of love.  There were demons feeding them lies about themselves, trying to keep them in a dark circle of doom and despair.  I loved reading as Ambri begins to believe in love and that someone can love him above everything.

Emma Scott writes a brilliant story in that while one’s career is spiraling high, the other’s life is spiraling into doom.  There’s art everywhere, since Cole manifests everything through his paintings.  And everything is picking up speed! We’re taken on a turbulent ride, full of emotions and sexy times, but over all, full of the anxiety of what will happen.  And through it all, what I liked the most, is the conviction that love conquers all.

Of course, next time I’m hearing voices in my mind, I’m telling the Twins to get lost!

Purchase links

Download today or read for FREE with #kindleunlimited 

Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vHMypZ

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

     

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3is6fMs

About the author

Emma Scott is a USA Today and Wall St. Journal bestselling author whose books have been translated in six languages and featured in Buzzfeed, Huffington Post, New York Daily News and USA Today's Happy Ever After. She writes emotional, character-driven romances in which art and love intertwine to heal, and in which love always wins. If you enjoy emotionally-charged stories that rip your heart out and put it back together again, with diverse characters and kind-hearted heroes, you will enjoy her novels. Visit www.emmascottwrites.com

 

Connect with Emma

Website: https://www.emmascottwrites.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10405165.Emma_Scott

Amazon: https://amzn.to/2yUnFKJ

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

Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/906742879369651/

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

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

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

Book review: Where Waves Break, by Julia Wolf

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
June is nannying Diego Garza’s four year old son, Camilo.  This job fell from heaven for June, because she had just left her father’s practice and had no other job offers.  But there’s a problem with the job: she’s been crushing on Diego for years, and living in his house, being so near to him, is proving to be very difficult.  Unknown to her, Diego didn’t remember June from years past but he’s certainly noticing her now!  The attraction is strong and near irresistible, especially after that incident where she caught him being naughty in the shower.  

This book was irresistible in several levels.  June is an adorable character.  Sweet and unassuming, she has an inner strength that is belied by her impulse to always apologize.  Diego recognized from the start that she has a submissive attitude and the fantasies were running wild in his head. 

Also, June is a fantastic nanny because she gets little kids.  She has an uncanny ability to communicate with them and they all become fascinated with her.  There were several scenes where kids shun their parents in order to be with June.  And Camilo is a sweetheart, hyper dynamic, a chatterbox, and utterly needy of a mother.

Diego swore near and far that he was done with women, that his life was now only his son and his work, famous last words when he met June.  For June, being with Diego was partly a dream come true, and part nightmare because he’s her employer and she won’t cross that line.

I loved June’s sweetness and Diego’s intensity, Camilo’s adorableness and the secondary characters who added so much to the story.  The book was full of characters from Unrequited and The Seasons Change rock bands, a ton of kids, plus Diego’s parents.  The sexy times were super steamy, once Diego caught on June’s naughty desires.  I loved the hugs! Diego gives yummy hugs!

Purchase links

Book review: Ice Burn, by L.A. Cotton

What a great story about loss and getting over a profound grief!  Dayna lost her big brother to cancer and it really broke her up.  She left her small town of Dupont Beach and went to Boston to study, but what she was really doing was hiding from her grief.  

Once she graduated, she got the urge to go back home, to her parents house, and face her sadness.  Her boyfriend Josh came with her, but it was immediately apparent to me that he was a Mr. Right Now, not a Mr. Right.  And he was quickly turning into a Mr. Wrong! He didn’t mesh with the family, he didn’t like the small town, he had other ideas how he liked to spend his time.  So he left for his permanent job in Toledo and they left their future in the air.

Dayna’s parents are so sweet and accepting, and they clearly had already dealt with their loss.  Her brother’s best friend Carson, was in town for the summer, and you can tell how close he is to Dayna’s parents, and he’s like an older brother to Dayna.  He brought one of his ace hockey players who had been in slight trouble at Lakeshore U and was in a time-out at his house.  He has history of anger management (as in, lack of) but he’s such a promising player that he’s being handled.  

When Dayna meets Aiden Dumfries, something inside her lit up.  The sadness she was carrying inside starts to disappear, she’s coming back to life.  He has a bad reputation, but inside the bad boy is a little boy who grew up under his father’s criminal reputation and was constantly on the defensive.  Once he feels he has Dayna and her family on his side, all his sharp edges start to smooth out.  

I loved this story of a couple who have broken pieces but together make up a complete whole, and each one fill out the hole inside of the other.  

Purchase links

https://books2read.com/iceburnLU

About the author

USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of over forty mature young adult and new adult novels, LA COTTON is happiest writing the kind of books she loves to read: addictive stories full of teenage angst, tension, twists and turns.

Home is a small town in the middle of England where she currently juggles being a full-time writer with being a mother/referee to two little people. In her spare time (and when she’s not camped out in front of the laptop) you’ll most likely find LA immersed in a book, escaping the chaos that is life. 

Book review: Kings of Linwood Academy series, by Callie Rose

I read this delightful series on the first days of the year, just what I needed to take my mind of this dreadful Covid illness!  

Harlow and her mother Penelope leave their shabby house in Arizona and travel to Fox Hill, Connecticut, for a new job and new opportunity to improve their lot.  Penelope is to be housekeeper at the mansion of Samuel Black, and Harlow was registered to study in an exclusive private school in the district, Linwood Academy.  With the six figures salary Penelope was offered, they have high hopes of getting rid of the crippling debt they incurred in Harlow’s treatment when she had leukemia at ten years old.  

The mansion was huge, the owners seemed to be kind, things were good, except for the bullying Harlow is subjected to at school, typical when a new, poor student arrives at a posh school.  In spite of this, Harlow is a great student and a great worker and she has no problem in helping her mother at her work in the mansion.  The son of the owners, Lincoln, is part of a claque called the Kings and they reign supreme at the school.  There’s a strong attraction between Linc and Harlow but there’s also mistrust irradiating from Lincoln.

When Harlow and the kings witness a murder of a school student, the trauma brings them together.  And when Harlow’s mother is arrested for the murder of the student, the story gets super dramatic, and Harlow demands that they help her clarify the murder to prove her mother’s innocence.  The series covers the work Harlow and the kings do as they investigate and shows how they fall for each other.

The author did a great job in developing the character of each of the kings, including the twins Dax and Chase.  Initially I thought that the love interest would be between Lincoln and Harlow, with Dax, Chase, and River as close friends, but as the story develops through the three books, we see that relations develop between Harlow and the other three.  I usually have an ick reaction to reverse harems but the author did a great job in presenting a lot of tenderness and affection first before turning it into sexy times.  There’s a lot of hugging and comforting and banter within the group.

The first two books end in cliffhangers and I could’t help grabbing the next book in a hurry to read what happens next.  The suspense is great, there are several layers in the story, since within each of the houses of the kings there are issues, plus there’s a ton of bullying and intrigue at the academy.

Harlow’s relation with her mother is heartbreaking, as Harlow works hard to solve the murder to clear her mother.  Likewise, Penelope struggles to reassure her daughter that she trusts justice will be done and she will be found innocent.  There are moments you can’t help but cry because they try to envision being together in the future without a plexiglass between them.  Every time Harlow visits her mother at the jail, they end with palms meeting at the clear wall, with “I love you”, truly heartbreaking.  The kings are relentless in helping Harlow, even when they get in trouble with their parents for helping her.  

This was a super entertaining read, a lovely love story, four boys who were perfectly portrayed, each one different, each one unique, and each one lovable. Harlow is magnificent, in her quest and her intelligence as she works for her mother’s innocence.  Best way to start the year!

Purchase links

The Help:  https://amzn.to/3ikhk4Z

The Lie:  https://amzn.to/3GgMOku

The Risk:  https://amzn.to/3jY6zWl

About the author

Callie Rose is a bestselling author who loves to write books that will grab you by the feels and not let go till the very last page. She loves twisty plots, tortured bad boys, strong FMCs, and redemption stories where that shit is *earned*.

For new release updates and other fun goodies, sign up for her mailing list: https://www.callieroseauthor.com/newsletter

She promises not to bite (or spam you)!

Book review: Emma of 83rd Street, by Audrey Bellezza & Emily Harding

This modern take on Jane Austen’s Emma is just fantastic!  I read Emma many years ago and yet I could get a sense of how this book’s Emma was similar to Austen’s Emma.  I loved that the story is based in Manhattan’s Upper East Side and loved the group of characters.  

Emma is a little entitled, thinks she can matchmake her friend Nadine and make her over into a more fashionable self.  Sometimes you get the feeling she’s like a puppet master and she’s moving the strings.  In spite of her machinations, she has a heart of gold and her essence is to help others.  Her father is a riot with his horrible kale smoothies, her sister Margo is a little intrusive and dominant but she also means good.

I loved broody Knightley.  I don’t remember the character in Austen’s book, but this one was perfect for the story and perfect for Emma.  The slow burn in the story, Emma’s ingenuity in not recognizing the chemistry between them, her constant optimism were all the layers that made this book so enjoyable.  Poor Emma was so deluded and she was the last one to even realize her feelings, it was so cute.

The transition from friends to lovers is slow and completely believable.  Actually, we knew they were in love way faster than they realized.  I loved that it was a slow burn, no sexy times until later in the book, so we were delighted with a beautiful story, completely dependent on character and plot line.  It was beautiful and now I want more.  There’s a character, one of Knightley’s friends, called William Darcy so I already have designs on the next book!

   ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

ARC sent by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Book review: Irresistibly Broken, by J. Saman

I’m so glad I requested this book to review!  These characters are so intense and their relation was equal parts banter and sizzling foreplay.  I had a great time reading their story!

Aurelia had a very sad childhood.  Born to a ruthless and ambitious woman who barters her beauty and youth in exchange for money and status, Aurelia has been carted from marriage to marriage.  One of her mother’s marriages was to Zaxton Monroe’s father, owner at the time of Monroe Fashion.  Zax hated his stepmother, and like a little jerk, he took it against Aurelia and was cruel to her.  She was eleven years old at the time.

At present time, Aurelia is just starting her first day of work at Monroe Fashion.  Zaxton is the current CEO and Aurelia is hoping he won’t see her, since she’s to start as a lowly intern.  But she’s mugged as she’s arriving to work, Zax rescues her and then learns who she is.  His father helped her get the job so he suspects her and starts watching her closely.  And this is when the fun begins.

Even if her life has been difficult, Aurelia never lost her ability to be positive and make the best of what she’s got.  So she sasses Zax every time he’s grumpy with her, and is incorrigibly cheerful. She really rocked his world!  Never before he’d encountered someone he doesn’t impress, doesn’t get to obey him, and talks back at him almost constantly.  The poor guy is frustrated but he also realizes he was cruel to her when she was little so he has some guilt.  She’s so sunshiny to his grumpiness and I loved how exasperated and fascinated with her he was.  

There are secondary characters who are a blast and add so much spice to the story, mostly Lamar, who is irreverent and walks all over Zax and Aurelia.  Zax has his group of friends from when he was in a rock band who are like his family.  Aurelia only has one girlfriend Iris, but soon finds her group of friends inside Monroe Fashion.  She’s brilliant, creative, uber talented and everything that Zax needed to jump start his dead heart.  By the end, he’s a cheesy smiling loving guy and it was a beautiful transformation. so glad I requested this book to review!  These characters are so intense and their relation was equal parts banter and sizzling foreplay.  I had a great time reading their story!

Purchase links

Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited!

http://geni.us/IrresistiblyBroken

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3RHiGn1

About the author

J. Saman is a USA Today bestselling author who is addicted to Diet Coke, sour candy, and indie rock. She swears way too much (especially after a glass of wine) and has a penchant for sarcasm (or so her husband and children like to tell her).

She's an admitted lover of second chance romances, love triangles, and the perfect amount of angst. She is best known for writing contemporary romance filled with smart, strong women, and sexy alphas who have a softer side--especially for their women.

 
Connect with J.
Website | https://www.jsamanbooks.com
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