Tag: read 01/2021

When the Night is Over by Lily Foster

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The last time Charlotte Mason saw Simon Wade, he was shoving a paper bag from the pharmacy into her hands with a morning-after pill inside.

Even though he literally left her holding the bag, when love is true it’s limitless…and sometimes it’s blind. She wants more for Simon than the ties that bind him to their dead end town. He has one shot at a better life, and she’ll stand aside so he can take it.

Nearly four years later Charlotte is still nowhere to be found, and it’s not as if Simon hasn’t been looking. How can he forget the girl who still haunts his dreams?

Book: When the Night is Over by Lily Foster 
Published: September 20, 2020
Pages: 346
Genres: Romance, New Adult, Freebie on Amazon
Format: Kindle
Date Read: January 25-27, 2021
Rating: 3.5 Potatoes 🥔🥔🥔

I almost stopped reading this book several times during the first 20%. I didn’t like the tone of the prologue and the first few chapters didn’t pull me in enough.

I continued on because the summary for the book sounded so interesting to me but the book had a completely different feel than the summary did. I’m glad I continued because the book started to get really good and I did not want to put it down again.

There were many parts of this book that I did not like but I loved how raw and realistic it was. This book read like something that could have truly happened and I know similar versions actually have. The characters flaws were real and not over the top.

I enjoyed this book and I did like Simon some of the time but I loved Charlotte. Was she perfect? No. But she made her choices and stuck with them. She went with the best decision for everyone and always tried to do the right thing. She was a very strong heroine.

I liked Simon and Charlotte as a couple but I felt like there was no emotion between them. They loved each other, yes, but I couldn’t feel it through the book like I normally can in romance books. And I don’t know why that is.

Overall, I did like this book but I feel like it was lacking in a lot of areas. To me, the premise did not live up to the book itself.

Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover

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When Tate Collins meets airline pilot Miles Archer, she knows it isn’t love at first sight. They wouldn’t even go so far as to consider themselves friends. The only thing Tate and Miles have in common is an undeniable mutual attraction. Once their desires are out in the open, they realize they have the perfect set-up. He doesn’t want love, she doesn’t have time for love, so that just leaves the sex. Their arrangement could be surprisingly seamless, as long as Tate can stick to the only two rules Miles has for her.

Never ask about the past.
Don’t expect a future.

They think they can handle it, but realize almost immediately they can’t handle it at all.

Hearts get infiltrated.
Promises get broken.
Rules get shattered.
Love gets ugly.

Book: Ugly Love by Colleen Hoover
Published: August 5, 2014
Pages: 337
Genres: Romance
Format: Kindle
Date Read: January 22-25, 2021
Rating: 5 Potatoes! 🥔🥔🥔🥔🥔

This book is a must read. Go, go now- find it!

I have read a handful of Colleen Hoover’s books and I am never disappointed when I select them. They drag you in and take you on a roller coaster of emotions; this book was no different.

I loved the evolution of Miles and Tate’s relationship. It wasn’t instant love or even instant like since they pretty much just tolerated each other at first.

Miles back story just broke my heart a little bit more every time we got a peak at it. I knew it could only end badly as more and more was shared and I was right- it was devastating. Poor Miles has been to hell and back and I completely understand his reluctance to be in any kind of relationship.

I loved the character of Tate- she truly cared about people, especially Miles. And I love how her strength shined through when it was needed.

My favorite character in the book was Cap! I loved his advice and his random thoughts and sayings. I loved his relationship with everyone in the building. It makes me wish I had a Cap in my life!

The ending of this book had me crying legit tears of joy. I was so happy for everyone! It’s not surprising to me since this author always does a fabulous job of wrapping up her books. Brava Colleen Hoover, you have done it again!!

Now, what do we need to do to for a sequel to this book, even if its about the other characters in the book? I need more glimpses of the future!

Playing for Keeps (Hot Jocks Book 1) by Kendall Ryan

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I’ve never been so stupid in my entire life.

My teammate’s incredibly sweet and gorgeous younger sister should have been off-limits, but my hockey stick didn’t get that memo.

After our team won the championship, and plenty of alcohol, our flirting turned physical and I took her to bed.

Shame sent her running the next morning from our catastrophic mistake. She thinks I don’t remember that night—but every detail is burned into my brain so deeply, I’ll never forget. The feel of her in my arms, the soft whimpers of pleasure I coaxed from her perfect lips…

And now I’ve spent three months trying to get her out of my head. Which has been futile, because I’m starting to understand she’s the only girl I’ll ever want.

I have one shot to show her I can be exactly what she needs, but Elise won’t be easily convinced.

That’s okay, because I’m good under pressure, and this time, I’m playing for keeps.

Book: Playing for Keeps (Hot Jocks Book 1) by Kendall Ryan
Published: August 13, 2019 
Pages: 390
Genres: Romance, Athlete, Freebie on Amazon, Heroine loves siblings best friend
Format: Kindle
Date Read: January 21, 2021
Rating: 3 Potatoes 🥔🥔🥔

Elise-
“I’ve always been enamored with him, from his quiet confidence, to his dedication and hard work on the ice, to his hard won smiles and casual attitude.”

Justin-
“My hear starts to beat faster as she grins up at me. Well damn, I didn’t know I still had one of those.”

Elise and Justin have clearly has more than pseudo-sibling feelings for each other for years but even after their one night stand, they still take quite a bit of time to admit their feelings, which I enjoyed. I liked that they didn’t fall into insta-love with each other.

I liked this book but I did not love it. I enjoyed the characters and read this book over the course of a day but there was something missing from this book and I don’t know what it is. I just feel like I needed more from it- more emotion, more realism from the characters, more everything. I liked the summary of the book and I think I just expected more from it overall.

I don’t think I will be reading the next book in this series but I would be more than happy to check out another one of this authors books!

Shatter Me (The Jaded 1) by Alex Grayson

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Pain.

That’s a word Bailey Winsor knows well, having endured it since she was a child from the people who were supposed to protect her. Just when her life appears normal, something Bailey has never experienced, she meets a man and falls in love.

Love can be deceiving.

Bailey jumps from the frying pan that was her childhood into the burning bowels of hell, which is her sick and twisted husband. It’s hopeless. Suffering more years of abuse, Bailey eventually realizes she has no choice but to run.

Forced to stop in a small town in Ohio, Bailey encounters a town full of people that welcome her with open arms, especially Jaxon Walker, the tattooed and pierced local bar owner. Bailey has secrets she’s unwilling to reveal. Jaxon senses her fear and refuses to give up trying to discover them.

Will Bailey be brave enough and learn to trust Jaxon with her deepest secrets? Will Jaxon be strong enough to protect Bailey when her past comes knocking at her door?

Book: Shatter Me (The Jaded 1) by Alex Grayson 
Published: January 12, 2015
Pages: 241
Genres: Romance, Abuse, Tattoos/Piercings, Freebie on Amazon
Format: Kindle
Date Read: January 20-21, 2021
Rating: 4 Potatoes! 🥔🥔🥔🥔

I’m still crying big, fat, ugly tears as I write this. This book had me feeling allllll the feels- anger, sympathy, laughter, joy, heartbreak, and the list goes on. This book pulled me in, chewed me up in every way and spit me back out again.

I love the characters in the small town of Jaded Hallow! I love how everyone just banded together and was there for one another.

One of my wishes for this book was that there was a little more time for Jaxon and Bailey to build up the trust between them before they got into a relationship. I know time passed and they grew closer but I would have liked to see more of those moments instead of them being glossed over.

Jaxon, Jaxon, Jaxon… he is definitely ranking up there on my book boyfriend list! I love how truly kind he was and how he thought nothing of helping a stranger in need. It made him all the more sexy.

Bailey was a strong heroine, even though she didn’t believe she was. It takes an enormous amount of strength to leave an abusive relationship. There are so many that never get enough courage to do so!

The ending of this book destroyed me in more ways than one. I don’t want to spoil anything but the death of a character I loved gutted me. And I really didn’t like the way the characters death was handled in the book by the other characters at all. It might just be my opinion but the aftermath of the characters death didn’t seem realistic.

The epilogue, Jax and Bailey’s happily ever after, had my tears turning to happy ones. Those two more than deserved it!

I would recommend reading this book but beware- the abuse scenes in this book are not for the faint of the heart and are pretty graphic.

Dirty Like Me (Dirty 1) by Jaine Diamond

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A gorgeous rock star.
An indecent proposal.
How can a girl resist?

Struggling barista Katie Bloom doesn’t even know who Jesse Mayes is until she inadvertently wins the coveted role of sex kitten in his hot new music video. But by the time she’s in bed with him, she knows his reputation.

Love maker. Heartbreaker.

Making out with a stranger in front of a camera crew isn’t how Katie imagined herself getting over a broken heart, but when Jesse touches her, sparks fly. The sex is fake but the chemistry is real, and soon the steamy video is blazing up the charts.

Then Jesse makes Katie an irresistible offer: act as his girlfriend for six weeks while he promotes his new album. The only catch? Their sizzling make-out sessions will be for the cameras only.

Which is fine with Katie, since she’s not about to trust her heart to rock’s most legendary lover. Her body? Maybe…

Book: Dirty Like Me (Dirty 1) by Jaine Diamond
Published: November 2, 2016
Pages: 404
Genres: Romance, Musician, Famous Hero, Tattoos/Piercings, Erotica
Format: Kindle
Date Read: January 17-19, 2021
Rating: 4 Potatoes 🥔🥔🥔🥔

I really enjoyed this book and the characters in it. One thing I wished for, and its the main reason this is not rated 5 Potatoes, is because the characters weren’t as fleshed out as I would have liked. We barely got to know Jesse and Katie and we know next to nothing about the secondary characters. I wanted to know more about everyone!

The character of Jesse was very hot. I love that, as famous as he was, he wasn’t a jerk about it and didn’t make Katie feel inferior for not being famous. He was strong when he had to be but also sensitive and kind too.

Katie’s characters was also fun for me to read. I like that she was always aware of how she really felt and what she was doing. She wasn’t in denial or pretending to be something she wasn’t. She was true to herself and I loved her for it. I also loved that, in the end, she fought for Jesse and I enjoyed reading the way she went about trying to prove her love.

I did not care for how the book ended. The epilogue did not wrap up the story, it was the beginning of the next book about Jessa to get you interested in it. While I did enjoy reading a bit about the her in the eplilogue since she wasn’t in the book much, I would have preferred the eplilogue to be about Jesse and Katie. I needed more, I wanted more and I felt like the ending wasn’t as wrapped up as I would have liked without it being about Jesse and Katie.

This book was still a great read! I might check out some of the other books in the series.