Tag: three-potatoes

Make Me Yours (Bellamy Creek #2) by Melanie Harlow

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He’s my brother’s best friend.

The hot single dad next door.

And one accidental sext later, my massive crush on him is no longer a secret.

It’s my own damn fault. I’m thirty years old, for heaven’s sake. I’m a kindergarten teacher and a (reasonably) responsible adult. I should know better than to get tipsy and draft a fake text listing all the dirty things I wish Officer Cole Mitchell would do to me.

I wasn’t supposed to hit send.

He wasn’t supposed to see it.

And he definitely wasn’t supposed to text back telling me to go on . . .

Because after that, things escalate quickly.

Cole is everything I’ve ever wanted. He’s sexy and protective. A devoted father to his little girl. A dedicated cop the whole town adores. The kind of guy you can trust to keep his hands to himself, even when you’re desperately hoping he won’t.

I’m not the girl he thought he’d end up with, but after all this time, I might finally get the chance to say the words I’ve always dreamed of . . . make me yours.

Book: Make Me Yours (Bellamy Creek #2) by Melanie Harlow
Published: November 23, 2020
Pages: 371
Genres: Romance, Heroine loves siblings best friend, Men in Uniform
Format: Kindle
Date Read: October 6-11, 2021
Rating: 3.5 Potatoes 🥔🥔🥔

I did not read the first book in this series but I’m always a sucker for books where the hero is friends with the heroine’s brother so I wanted to give it a try.

I’m still undecided on a true rating for this book. I liked it, I enjoyed reading it, but i felt it needed a little bit more. I enjoyed the characters and loved our hero and heroine but we needed to understand them better. I also would have liked there to be more realistic timeliness and not so much instant love/relationships and such.

All that being said, I truly did enjoy this book and it was a good read!

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.

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!

Vivian's List by Haleigh Lovell

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Her brother’s best friend. A list. A love story.

After ending a horrible, scarring relationship, Vivian embraces her freedom by making a sexual bucket list. When her brother’s best friend, Liam, finds it, sparks fly and hearts open.

Can Vivian heal one steamy encounter at a time?

Book: Vivian’s List by Haleigh Lovell
Published: September 13th, 2013
Pages: 290
Genres: Romance, Freebie on Amazon, New Adult, Erotica
Format: Kindle
Date Read: November 16-22nd, 2018
Rating: 3.5 Potatoes 🥔🥔🥔

I really enjoyed this book – it was very ewll written and wasn’t boring by any means. The reason for me giving this book a 3.5 was that is just ended. Things were finally looking up, they were finally on the same page and boom – book over. I know that this is just to get you to read the next one, I know, but I can’t stand cliffhangers.

Other than that I had no complaints about this book. Good read!

Bound By Honor by Cora Reilly

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A modern mafia fairytale.

Born into one of the leading mob families in Chicago, Aria Scuderi is a mafia princess known for her beauty. What many consider a gift means her doom when she’s forced to marry Luca Vitiello to bring peace between two mafia dynasties. Luca is the future Capo of the New York Famiglia, a man known for his brutality—and for crushing his cousin’s throat with his bare hands.

Aria is terrified of marrying a monster like him. He may be one of the most sought-after bachelors in New York, thanks to his good looks, wealth and predator-like charisma. But Aria knows the bad boy aura isn’t just a game; blood and death lurk beneath Luca’s striking gray eyes and arrogant smile.

In her world a handsome exterior often hides the monster within; a monster who can just as easily kill as kiss you. Yet, there’s no escaping the arranged bond, much less a man like Luca. He’d follow her to the end of the world. Her only chance to survive in a marriage with Luca is to gain his affection and work her way into his heart—even when rumor has it that Luca doesn’t have a heart to begin with.

A mafia princess known for her beauty given to a monstrous man.

Even monsters have a heart.

She has every intention of working her way into his.

Book: Bound By Honor by Cora Reilly
Published: December 14, 2014
Pages: 253
Genres: Romance, Mafia, Erotica, Freebie on Amazon
Format: Kindle
Date Read: November 10th-12th, 2018
Rating: 3 Potatoes 🥔🥔🥔

I have loved other books by this author and while this was a good read and I read through the pages eagerly, I felt like there wasn’t enough build up between the characters. They went from hating to loving each other and I couldn’t understand why. There weren’t enough special moments or anything for me to see that’s why it was leading in that direction.

I did enjoy the cast of characters and am interested to see how the rest of the series turns out. If the book was longer I’m sure there would have been more moments between the main couple.

Baby Fever Promise by Nicole Snow

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WE CAN’T DO THIS AGAIN. I’M FAKING OUR SECOND CHANCE…

ROBBI

Once, Lucus Shaw was my everything.
First kiss. First surrender. First man to promise me a ring, children, a life together.
I remember his rogue smirk, his soul stinging kiss, the blistering words that always made him a little dangerous.
I gave him my body for one insatiable night. He gave me secrets, heartbreak, and hatred.
Friends, to lovers, to mortal enemies. Our tragic destiny.
But I survived. Adapted. Moved on.
Fate doesn’t care.
Luke’s back, and I have to pretend we still have a Cinderella romance to save my career.
Hate never fades. It rages when we lie to the world, when we lust, even when I’m begging for his baby.
What if hate can’t save me anymore? What if the man I swore I’d never give a second chance gives me baby fever for real?

LUKE

I was her first, and I’ll damned sure be her last. I made a promise.
Robbi’s an addiction I can’t quit. A million of her icy looks won’t make me forget what we had.
How delicious she looked when I brought her to her knees. How she ached for more. How she ripped my heart out when vicious lies ended us.
This isn’t over. Love never fades. I’ll make our fake kisses real.
It’s not too late to have it all: my ring on her hand, my name on her lips, my baby in her.
She’ll beg for me again before we’re done playing pretend. Oh, how she’ll beg.

Book: Baby Fever Promise by Nicole Snow
Published: March 5th, 2017
Pages: 330
Genres: Romance
Format: Kindle
Date Read: June 28th-July 2nd, 2018
Rating: 3 Potatoes 🥔🥔🥔

So I’m not sure where to start with this review. I didn’t love this book but I don’t hate it either. It definitely got me all fired up when I see the mistakes both the hero and heroine made but I had a hard time getting on board with this book. I just kept thinking that certain things didn’t make sense.

This couple made me go nuts with how bad they were with communication. They did not need to be apart for 5 years – it was so unnecessary! Yes, Luke should have opened his mouth about what he knew to give her a heads up but she also shouldn’t have been so nasty to him and shoved him out of her life when he technically didn’t do anything wrong. Trust is a huge issue, I get that, but she could have at least tried to understand where he was coming from. I understand being angry in the heat of the moment and not thinking clearly but when they spoke a few days later she had had time to calm down and think rationally. I think I felt bad more for Luke than Robbi!

“No matter how sexy he is, how well he calls to my senses with his mad inks and muscle, I’ll never forget our unique pain. I’ll never forgive him for hiding what he knew, for letting his father prey on us, or for abandoning me in the end.”

What? Five years have passed in this story and I’m seriously baffled by her thought process here. I get that her mom twisted her thoughts around but I really am confused as to why she has jumped to these conclusions. Yes, Luke backed off but she basically PUSHED him out of her life. The only thing he can be accused of is not telling her what he knew before she found out herself.

Luckily, after a lot more drama and yet another huge misunderstanding and speed bump, they got things right in the end and were granted a fairy tale ending – which they rightfully deserved. Both of them.

I don’t hate this book but I don’t think I will be reading it again – it was certainly interesting enough to keep me reading but I just can’t deal with the hero and heroine’s issues with each other.

Only for You (Unforgettable You #1) by Beverley Kendall

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College freshman Olivia Montgomery is thrilled at the chance to start over, escape the rumors that plagued her in high school. And she can finally put her juvenile crush, Zachary Pearson, where he belongs–in her past. Then her unrequited love strolls into her French class, shattering Olivia’s newfound peace, and the feelings she’d thought buried for good come rushing back. Now she can’t shake her unwanted attraction to the one guy who can twist her stomach into knots with just a smile…but has never given her the time of day.

Zach’s good looks may have always gotten him his pick of girls, but it’s the star quarterback’s skill on the football field that gives him his pick of the Big Ten colleges. To escape the crushing demands of his win-at-all-costs father, Zach opts for a private university in upstate New York where…his present and past collide. And the one girl he’s always wanted but can’t have–and a class trip to Paris–turn out to be the ultimate game changer that has him breaking every one of his rules.

Book: Only for You (Unforgettable You #1) by Beverley Kendall
Published: December 30th, 2012
Pages: 294
Genres: Romance, New Adult, Freebie On Amazon, College
Format: Kindle
Date Read: September 25-29, 2017
Rating: 3.5 Potatoes 🥔🥔🥔

I’m not sure how I feel about this book. I almost wanted to take a day and think about how I wanted to word my review. Did I enjoy the book? Yes. Did I love it? No. Would I read it again? Probably not.

It was a good book, I enjoyed a lot of the characters and it was a decent read but there was nothing that made me want to block out the world for a few hours in a mad rush to finish this book. It kept me engrossed enough to continue reading but there was nothing extraordinary about it, at least for me.

That being said, check this book out – you might feel differently than I did. This review can also be found on my blog The Book Potato

Give Me Love (Give Me #1) by Kate McCarthy

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Evie Jamieson, a former wild child, is not only a headstrong, smart-mouthed trouble magnet, she is also a lead singer with a plan. That plan involves relocating her band, including her two best friends guitarist Henry and band manager Mac, to Sydney to kick off their dreams of hitting the big time.

Jared Valentine is the older brother of Evie’s best friend Mac and also the man determined to make Evie his. They strike up a long distance friendship which suits Evie because she’s determined to avoid the distraction of love, not only because it doesn’t fit in with her plan but because twice in the past it has left her for dead. Moving to Sydney however, has put her directly in Jared’s path and he has decided it’s the perfect opportunity to make his play.

Unfortunately Jared, co-owner in a business that ‘consults’ in dangerous hostage and kidnapping situations, makes an enemy who’s determined to enact revenge. When this enemy puts Evie in his sights, Jared not only has a fight on his hands to make her his own, but also to keep her alive.

Is accepting the love he’s so desperate to give worth the risk to both her heart…and her life?

Book: Give Me Love (Give Me #1) by Kate McCarthy
Published: March 15, 2013
Pages: 328
Genres: Romance, Musician, New Adult, Freebie On Amazon
Format: Kindle
Date Read: September 13-15, 2017
Rating: 3.5 Potatoes 🥔🥔🥔

I’m not really sure where to start with this review. Did I like this book? Yes. Did I love it? No. Did I enjoy a lot of the characters? For the most part.

Evie and Jared were a great couple, when they were together. I understand they both had their hangups due to previous relationships and that they were each having trouble overcoming them. I get it. But it was like the movie groundhog day – the same thing kept happening over and over. Something would happen and Jared would freak out and disappear while Evie would deal with the pain in her own, unproductive way. It got old, quick. However, I am happy that they were finally able to get their crap together and work everything out!

I’m not really sure where I stand on Mac’s character. I have a very love/hate relationship with her since one minute I was happy with her and the next I wished she would disappear. Maybe, if she gets her own book, I’ll understand more of her feelings and get some clarity as to what was going on with her in this book.

I enjoyed Evie’s bandmates and would have liked to have seen a bit more of them – I’m sure they have a bigger role in the other books. And I loved Jared and Mac’s brothers – I definitely would love to read more about them.

I enjoyed this book but I’m not sure if I’m going to read the rest of the series. Then again, you never know!

A Time to Give (About the Baby #1) by Kathryn Shay

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In a TIME TO GIVE, Ben Cassidy has lost everything. A former CEO of a company he built and benefactor of a soup kitchen he started, he was tricked by an unethical vulture capitalist who cheated him out of everything. Ben hit the skids, but now is trying to get his act together. He allows himself to go to the soup kitchen as a guest once a week because it’s the single thing left of his accomplishments.

Emily is a volunteer at the soup kitchen and attracted to Ben from day one. But she suppresses her feelings because he’s a guest. For months, she keeps her distance but one night, when she gives him a ride home, they end up in bed together.

That one encounter changes everything between them until Ben learns two things: she’s the daughter of the man who destroyed him. And she’s also pregnant.

Follow these two people in their struggle to accept each other, their circumstances and the deep attraction they share. Poignant scenes involving all the characters reveal how difficult it is to repair broken promises and unrealized dreams.

Book: A Time to Give (About the Baby #1) by Kathryn Shay
Published: January 18th, 2017
Pages: 384
Genres: Romance, Freebie On Amazon
Format: Kindle
Date Read: June 21st-24th, 2017
Rating: 3 Potatoes 🥔🥔🥔

I really liked the premise of this book and I absolutely love the author but for some reason this book just didn’t “do it” for me. It was a decent read but there was just so many things about it that I just couldn’t get on board with. I liked the hero and heronine well enough but the story itself could have been a lot longer. The main characters weren’t happy with each other for the longest time and then out of the blue everything is going well and the hero wants to do things to make the heroine happy. It all just happened too quickly for me.

That being said, it was still an good enough read to get 3 stars in my book.

Single Dad's Bride by Melinda Minx

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I have one month to find a bride or I lose my daughter.
They say a tattoo artist with a dirty mouth can’t be a kickass father.
Bullsh*t. But my lawyer says I need a wholesome bride to convince the judge.
I know just the perfect girl—hell—I think she might even be a virgin.
Only problem? She’s my sister’s best friend, and she hates my guts.

When my best friend’s brother asks me to marry him, I nearly slap him in the face. I’m pretty sure he’s teasing me—just like he always has—but marriage isn’t something to joke about. Not when I’m pushing thirty with no hope in sight. And not when I’ve always had a huge, stupid crush on him.

Then he tells me he’s serious. He needs me to do it so he can keep his daughter.

I have to refuse. He’s always treated me like crap, which makes my feelings toward him even more sad and pathetic.

How can I not have a crush on him though? He’s always wearing a thin, tight undershirt that shows off his cut abs and broad shoulders, and despite what some people say about his chops as a father, he’s as sweet to his daughter as he is mean to me.

Maybe I can say “yes.” I’d be doing it for his daughter, not for him. And I certainly wouldn’t be doing it with the sad hope that he’d look at me as anything other than his sister’s dorky friend—that he’d touch me and make me—no, definitely not that.

Book: Single Dad’s Bride by Melinda Minx
Published: March 12th, 2017
Pages: 378
Genres: Romance, Erotica, Freebie on Amazon
Format: Kindle
Date Read: March 28, 2017-June 21st, 2017
Rating: 3 Potatoes 🥔🥔🥔

I read this book almost in one sitting and truly enjoyed it. I loved Deacon, I thought Rita was a decent heroine and I absolutely adored little Elsie! My only issue with this book is it was very short and I would have liked to have seen the storyline more fleshed out. I don’t like it when there is no build up between the hero and heroine and they fall into insta-love.

That being said, I did enjoy this story and definitely wouldn’t mind reading it again!