Category Archives: 3 hearts

Release Day Review: Coming Apart at the Seams by Jenna Sutton

Posted in 3 hearts, Reviews by

Coming Apart at the Seams by Jenna Sutton

Coming Apart at the Seams by Jenna Sutton
Series: Riley O’Brien & Co. #2 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: December 1st 2015
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

From the author of All the Right Places, a sweet and sexy romance about finding the right words and the perfect fit…

Love can take some time to break in…

Teagan O’Brien, heiress to the Riley O’Brien & Co. denim empire, is anything but a spoiled rich girl. She’s worked hard to secure her place in the family business and can hold her own, in and out of the office. Only one man has ever been able to get under her skin—sexy football star Nick Priest. Years ago they crossed the line from friends to lovers, but he left her heartbroken. Since then, she’s been determined to keep him at arm’s length—no matter how tempting he looks in his jeans…

Nick has fortune, fame, and looks that make most women hot and bothered. But he doesn’t have the woman he really wants. He knows he screwed up when he walked away from Teagan, and now that he has a second chance, he’ll do whatever it takes to win her over—no matter how tongue-tied he gets…

I am always up for reading a second chance romance, since it’s one of my favorite tropes, but lately, the second chance romances I’ve read have been let-downs. While I liked Coming Apart at the Seams well enough, overall, it was an okay read. I got bored a few times and the story dragged a bit, but it was still a good read. It’s sexy, a little angsty, and I really enjoyed reading about a hero who’s determined to take his second chance with the heroine and make up for all the hurts he caused her in the past.

Blunder. Gaffe. Misstep. Error. Snafu. Although plenty of words described the huge, life-altering mistake Nick Priest had made, none of them quite conveyed his stupidity. He’d had a chance with Teagan O’Brien, but he’d blown it. That was his biggest regret, and he had a lot of them.

I really liked the way the author presents Teagan and Nick’s relationship over the years to the reader. First, we’re set in the present, with Nick regretting hurting Teagan and not fighting for her in the past… but he sure as hell is fighting for her now. He knows he messed up years ago, but he’s determined to win back the only woman he’s ever loved. Then, gradually, Nick and Teagan’s past relationship is revealed, and I really adored the way these two grew to be such good friends, even best friends. They felt a connection with one another, and even though they were attracted to each other, they didn’t want to risk their friendship over it. But one night of temptation and passion changes everything, and in the end, leaves both of them hurt – and alone.

I love you. I loved you then, and I love you now. Please give me another chance. I’m miserable without you, and I’m afraid of what the rest of my life will be like if you’re not with me.

Nick has a severe stutter, which has affected his relationship with his father, and inadvertently, his relationship with Teagan. He felt like he wouldn’t be good enough for her, since he wasn’t good enough for his father, so sadly, he made mistakes, but now in the present, he’s going to fight for the woman he loves, even if it seems she hates him. Both Nick and Teagan are flawed people, and while I understood Nick’s reasons for hurting Teagan in the past and Teagan’s reasons for not letting Nick near her heart again, I grew a little frustrated with them. Miscommunication played a big part in their broken relationship, which is something I usually get annoyed reading about. Although, I was very impressed with the way Teagan stood firm in not forgiving Nick, at least not right away. She definitely makes him work for it, for her and her love, and I admired that she’s so stubborn about it.

Overall, Coming Apart at the Seams is a sweet second chance romance, with a little friends-to-lovers mixed in. If the pacing of the book had moved a little faster, I probably would have enjoyed it more, but for those of you who like your romances slow-paced, I would recommend this. This book also sets up the romance in the next book a bit, and I’m intrigued enough by the couple that I’m looking forward to read it!

3 hearts
lacey

Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.

Reading Order: Riley O’Brien & Co. series

 Coming Apart at the Seams by Jenna Sutton 

#1 ~ All the Right Places: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ Coming Apart at the Seams: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Hanging by a Thread: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads (June 7, 2016)

FOLLOW BOOKLOVERS FOR LIFE ON:
✦ FACEBOOK • TWITTER • INSTAGRAM • GOODREADS • PINTEREST • BLOGLOVIN’ ✦

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Early Review: Calling the Play by Samantha Kane

Posted in 3 hearts, Reviews by

Calling the Play by Samantha Kane

Calling the Play by Samantha Kane
Series: Birmingham Rebels #2 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: December 1st 2015
Links: Ebook • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Samantha Kane’s Birmingham Rebels series—perfect for fans of Shayla Black and Lexi Blake—proves that three’s never a crowd . . . at least not for the hard-bodied football all-stars who give teamwork a sexy twist.

Quarterback Tyler Oakes plays hard and parties even harder. That reckless lifestyle nearly derailed his career, and now the Birmingham Rebels are Ty’s last shot at football immortality. But staying out of trouble can take its toll—especially for a man with a taste for girls and guys. Because curvy, gorgeous Randi McInish is just the kind of trouble he’d like to get into.

A tough-as-nails undercover cop, Randi meets her match in Ty. After they get wrapped up together in a drug bust and a high-speed car chase, Randi’s eager to take the notorious bad boy for another wild ride. Turns out Ty already has something in mind. When he introduces her to the Rebels’ sexy new quarterback coach, things start heating up a little too fast for Randi.

Brian Mason coached Ty in college, and boy do they have history together. With Brian taking control on the field and in the bedroom, they were an unstoppable team. But Brian, blindsided by love, ran from his feelings for Ty. He won’t let Randi make the same mistake. Both men agree they need more than each other. They want a woman they can share. And when they make a pleasure play for Randi, all three are sure to score.

The Birmingham Rebels series is one hot, kinky series! Football and threesomes apparently makes for a great combo. I really enjoyed the first book, Broken Play (my review), so I was looking forward to Ty’s story ever since he was first introduced. I didn’t quite like Calling the Play as much as Broken Play, but it was still a seriously hot and fun read. If you were a fan of the first book, you should definitely give Calling the Play a try!

Tyler Oakes is the quarterback for the Birmingham Rebels and is openly bisexual. He’s quite the player, both on and off the field, but he’s been trying to change his ways since joining the Rebels. But one night, he’s caught at the wrong place and the wrong time and ends up in a car chase with an undercover cop named Randi… who he can’t get out of his mind. The two of them jump straight into bed, the chemistry on fire between them, but neither of them expect more, until night after night, they keep coming back for each other.

Randi is one awesome, badass cop. She’s fierce, brutally honest, and has zero filter. I loved her character! She’s definitely my favorite in this book. She’s hilarious and dirty, but she’s also got a good heart. So when Brian Mason (‘the one who got away’) comes back into Ty’s life to try to win him back, Randi bows out of the game, despite her growing feelings for Ty. But both Brian and Ty realize how much they both want Randi, and now they have to prove to her that they’re there to stay.

I liked Ty, but Brian I had a hard time connecting with. I believed in the love between them, but the love between Randi and Brian was too rushed and didn’t feel real. The whole book takes place over the course of a week or so, so the romance grew super fast and was pretty unbelievable. But as individual characters, I liked that each of them had flaws and vulnerabilities, despite how they appeared to everyone else on the outside.

If you’re a fan of menages and kinky books, you should definitely check out this series. It is HOT and dirty, and so much fun to read. The romance might be a little unbelievable, but you’ll still have a fantastic time with the smuttiness.

3 hearts
lacey

Reading Order: Birmingham Rebels series

Broken Play by Samantha Kane Calling the Play by Samantha Kane

#1 ~ Broken Play: My Review • Ebook • Goodreads
#2 ~ Calling the Play: Ebook • Goodreads (Dec. 1, 2015)

FOLLOW BOOKLOVERS FOR LIFE ON:
✦ FACEBOOK • TWITTER • INSTAGRAM • GOODREADS • PINTEREST • BLOGLOVIN’ ✦

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Release Day Review: After Tonight by Annie Kelly

Posted in 3 hearts, Reviews by

After Tonight by Annie Kelly

After Tonight by Annie Kelly
Series: Flirting with Trouble #1 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: November 17th 2015
Links: Ebook • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

She may be the teacher…

All Hyacinth “Cyn” Hendricks ever wanted to do was make a difference in the world. But when she joins the faculty of a Baltimore reform school, she discovers that she’s bitten off more than she can chew. Because the last thing she expects when she meets her newest student is to see the guy she met—and made out with—at a bar last week.

But he’s the one giving her a lesson…

To Cyn, Smith Asher is an enigma. The 20-year old doesn’t look like a high schooler and he certainly didn’t act like one the other night. Despite the smoldering chemistry between them, she knows she has to squash this dangerous infatuation before it gets them both in serious trouble. But her desire for Smith—and his lust for her—quickly grows too hot to ignore. And Cyn soon learns that there is one thing worse than teaching someone you’ve seen nearly naked…

Teaching someone you want to see nearly naked again.

I looove forbidden romances, so when I read the blurb for After Tonight, I couldn’t wait to start it. A forbidden love story between a teacher and her 20-year-old student… who she actually met the other night and almost hooked up with? Um, yes please!!! I had high expectations for this book, but… it fell a little short of them. Don’t get me wrong, this was still fun and sexy as hell, but I wanted something more. I didn’t really connect with the characters, so I wasn’t as into this book as I wish I had been. It was a little dull at some parts, intense at others, but overall, After Tonight was a very okay book.

Apparently, I’m going to teach Hamlet tomorrow to a room full of teenagers who couldn’t care less.
Oh, and one man who’s seen me almost naked.
Fucking hell.
I wonder if it’s too late to call in sick.

On her first day of student teaching, the last person Hyacinth expects to see is Smith Asher, the man she had an intense connection with the other night at a fantasy club. They may not have technically done anything that night, but she still let loose and let him see her naked… so she’s mortified to realize that he’s actually going to be her student. Now, Cyn is determined to ignore their chemistry and pretend like nothing ever happened between them, but Smith won’t let her forget. Even though he’s twenty, he’s intense, sexy, and very much hard to ignore. He riles Cyn up easily, and the forbidden-ness of their relationship only makes the chemistry between them burn hotter than ever.

“Every day I want you more, and every day I can have you less,” he murmurs.

I didn’t really like Smith, to be honest. He was pushy at times, and very hot-and-cold. His behavior was basically all over the place, so I couldn’t see why Cyn liked him, other than their attraction for each other. I didn’t get or connect with their relationship at all – it was basically only ever sexual between them. I expected a little more from this. I love forbidden romances, especially teacher/student ones, but After Tonight was only… okay. A little boring sometimes, but still plenty sexy. I will say, though, that I didn’t see the plot twist coming at all! That was probably the best part of the book – the author certainly surprised me with a twist I didn’t see coming, but was completely believable.

If you’re a fan of forbidden romances, this might not be the best book, but if you’re looking for something quick and sexy, I’d say why not. The writing was good, but the story and characters weren’t as good as I’d hoped. Still, I’m intrigued enough by the sequel that I will most likely continue the series and give it a try.

3 hearts
lacey

Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.

Reading Order: Flirting with Trouble series

After Tonight by Annie Kelly 

#1 ~ After Tonight: Ebook • Goodreads
#2 ~ Until Tomorrow: Ebook • Goodreads (March 15, 2016)

FOLLOW BOOKLOVERS FOR LIFE ON:
✦ FACEBOOK • TWITTER • GOODREADS • PINTEREST • BLOGLOVIN’ ✦

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Release Day Review: Beauty and the Boss by Diane Alberts

Posted in 3 hearts, Reviews by

Beauty and the Boss by Diane Alberts
Series: Standalone
Publication Date: November 16th 2015
Links: Ebook • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Beauty is about to tame her beast…

Researcher Maggie Donovan has no luck with men, and it doesn’t help that she can’t keep her eyes off of her sexy boss – the one everyone else in the office calls The Beast. Relationships in the office are forbidden. So no one is more surprised than Maggie when she pretends to be his fiancée to save him during a difficult situation. Not only has she put her job on the line, but the future of the company.

Billionaire Benjamin Gale III doesn’t believe in love or romance, but the look on his mother’s face when Maggie tells her that she’s his fiancée is worth millions. Instead of firing her for her insubordination, he goes along with the ruse. In his arms–and in his bed–she’d be everything he could ever want…which is why he can’t have her.

But if he doesn’t let her go, they’ll lose everything…

I was first intrigued by Beauty and the Boss because of the fact that it’s a modern retelling of Beauty and the Beast, my favorite fairy tale! Benjamin Gale III – the Beast – is a cold-hearted billionaire who doesn’t believe in love. Maggie Donovan – the Beauty – is one of Benjamin’s employees… but she thinks about her gorgeous boss a lot. The two of them couldn’t be more different, but when you bring them together, you get something sweet and sexy. I enjoyed Beauty and the Boss – I didn’t love it, but it was entertaining nonetheless. If you love your office romances, you should definitely give this a try.

When Maggie accidentally announces herself as Benjamin’s fiancée to save him from his manipulative mother, she has no idea what she’s gotten herself into. She and her boss may have some wicked chemistry together, but pretending to be in a relationship? And engaged? She doesn’t know how she can pull it off, but she won’t let Benjamin get thrown to the wolves. As long as she can keep her heart from getting involved, then she’ll have no problem pulling of the charade… right?

Never had he had something as sweet, or addictive, as Maggie Donovan. Pretending to love her would be a pleasure if it meant he got to kiss her. Hold her. Touch her.
Make her scream out his name.

Benjamin is a workaholic, with no time for relationships, and least of all, love. His company is his life, but when he and Maggie begin their charade, he starts to see that maybe there’s more to life than just work. Maggie is a sweetheart of a character, able to bring out the laughs and smiles out of Benjamin, which has rarely happened in the past few years. I really enjoyed the way their relationship progressed as they slowly fell for each other. It was sweet how they grew to trust each other and become friends, and the banter between them was fun to read.

“You make me… happy. I didn’t think I knew what that was, or if it was even a real thing, until you. But now I do, and I don’t want to let go of it. I don’t want to let go of you.”

Beauty and the Boss is fun and sweet, and a good way to pass the time. There isn’t anything particularly amazing that made me love this book, but it’s still a satisfying read with plenty of sexy times.

3 hearts
lacey

Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.

FOLLOW BOOKLOVERS FOR LIFE ON:
✦ FACEBOOK • TWITTER • GOODREADS • PINTEREST • BLOGLOVIN’ ✦

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Audiobook Review: Dragonfly by Leigh T. Moore

Posted in 3 hearts, Reviews by

Dragonfly by Leigh T. Moore
Series: Dragonfly #1 (full reading order below)
Audiobook Publication Date: October 20th 2015
Length: 6 hours and 33 minutes
Narrated by: Christy Romano
Links: Audible • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an audiobook in exchange for an honest review

Falling in love changes everything.

Three bad things I learned this year:

  • People you trust lie, even parents.
  • That hot guy, the one who’s totally into you, might not be the one.
  • Things are not always how they appear.

Three good things I learned this year:

  • Best friends are always there for you, even when they’re far away.
  • That other hot guy, the one who remembers your birthday, just might be the one.
  • Oh, and things are not always how they appear.

Anna Sanders expected an anonymous (and uneventful) senior year until she crossed paths with rich and sexy Jack Kyser and his twin sister, Lucy. Pulling Anna into their extravagant lifestyle on the Gulf Coast, Lucy pushed Anna outside her comfort zone, and Jack showed her feelings she’d never experienced – until he mysteriously withdrew.

Anna turned to her internship at the city paper and to her old attraction to Julian, a handsome local artist and rising star, for distraction. But both led to her discovery of a decades-old secret closely guarded by the twins’ distant, single father.

A secret that could permanently change all their lives.

The audiobook of Dragonfly is a quick, fun listen. I really enjoyed Christy Romano’s narration – she did a great job with portraying the teenage main character’s voice. While I didn’t love the story, I still appreciated the way the author was able to make her high school characters realistic and relatable. I’d definitely recommend this audiobook if you’re a fan of romance with realistic teenage characters and high school angst/drama.

Anna Sanders is that very typical high school senior girl who, in between dealing with school and college, has one mess of a romantic life. She has a fling with the hot and rich Jack Kyser, whose father practically owns the town they live in, and her feelings for Jack eventually grow into something deeper. But when Jack withdraws from her, her best guy friend Julian is always there for her. It’s obvious that both boys care deeply for Anna, and vice versa, but I felt like only one of them was really meant to be with her.

As many times as Anna annoyed me with her wishy-washy attitude, I really enjoyed the way she took the time to think over her feelings for both boys before making any rash decisions. I’m not a fan of love triangles but the author handled it better than I expected in this book.

There’s also a mystery involving Jack’s father and Julian’s mother, and Anna slowly unravels that secondary story throughout the novel. This mystery definitely made listening to Dragonfly much more interesting, especially when I sometimes grew tired of the romance.

The best part of listening to Dragonfly is definitely the narration. Christy Romano is fantastic! I love her voice. Dragonfly is a good start to Leigh T. Moore’s series, and while I didn’t quite love it, I’m still curious enough after finishing this to continue with the series. Anna and Julian were by far the most interesting characters, and I’m looking forward to more of them in the rest of the series!

3 hearts
lacey

Reading Order: Dragonfly series

   

#1 ~ Dragonfly: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Undertow: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Watercolor: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#4 ~ Mosaic: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

FOLLOW BOOKLOVERS FOR LIFE ON:
✦ FACEBOOK • TWITTER • GOODREADS • PINTEREST • BLOGLOVIN’ ✦

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.