Release Day Review: Darkest Before Dawn by Maya Banks

Posted in 3 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

Darkest Before Dawn by Maya Banks
Series: KGI #10 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: October 27th 2015
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The Kelly Group International (KGI): A super-elite, top secret, family-run business.
Qualifications: High intelligence, rock-hard body, military background.
Mission: Hostage/kidnap victim recovery. Intelligence gathering. Handling jobs the U.S. government can’t…

The enigmatic Hancock has been both opponent and ally to the KGI teams for as long as they’ve known him. Always working a deep game, Hancock’s true allegiance has never been apparent, but one thing is for certain—he never lets anything get in the way of duty.

But now, his absolute belief in the primacy of his ultimate goal is challenged by a captive he’s been ordered to guard, no matter how much she suffers in her prison. She’s the only woman who’s ever managed to penetrate the rigid walls surrounding his icy heart, but will he allow his perplexing feelings for the beautiful victim to destroy a mission he’s spent years working to complete or will he be forced to sacrifice her for “the greater good.”

This is my first KGI book, though it’s not my first Maya Banks read. I was previously a big fan of the books I have read from her, so I was excited to read Darkest Before Dawn, and plus, I love a good romantic suspense. It wasn’t too difficult to get into this book, given that I haven’t read any of the other KGI books, but unfortunately, what prevented me from fully enjoying this was the insane amount of repetition. The premise of Darkest Before Dawn had great potential, but I would’ve enjoyed this book so much more if a ton of the narrative had been cut shorter.

Honor Cambridge is on the run from a terrorist organization out to kill her, trying to survive one day at a time in the Middle East. She’s a headstrong, fierce, honorable woman who’s been through so much yet still keeps her head held high. She’s close to freedom until Hancock intercepts her journey – she believes he’s there to save her, but little does she know that she’s a pawn on his chessboard.

Hancock is a mercenary – deadly, cold, unfeeling, and loyal to his duty to a fault. He and his men do things that no one else wants to do in order to help the ‘greater good’. Unfortunately, when that means sacrificing a sole person for the greater good, then that’s what he must do. Hancock’s objective is to take down Maksimov, an evil man who’s killed thousands of people, and the only way to get access to Maksimov is through Honor. So Hancock sets it up so that she believes he’s taking her to freedom, when in fact he’s leading her something worse than death. But what happens when he grows to care for his captive, and wants to make a life with her?

While I really enjoyed Honor’s character, Hancock was a miss for me. I got annoyed when he kept going on and on about the ‘greater good’ and trying to reason with himself that what he was doing to Honor would be worth it. Honor was the main reason I was able to keep reading, though the repetition of everything got old fast. I found myself skimming chunks of the book to get to the dialogue, because all the unnecessary details were just too boring.

I really wish this book could’ve been shortened, because I did enjoy the action and suspense. I liked the way the romance played out, that it wasn’t too rushed or too fast. Darkest Before Dawn was mainly an okay read – I wish I could’ve loved it more, but it was just too wordy for my taste.

Reading Order: KGI series

#1 ~ The Darkest Hour: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ No Place to Run: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Hidden Away: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#4 ~ Whispers in the Dark: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#5 ~ Echoes at Dawn: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#5.5 ~ Softly at Sunrise: Ebook • Audible • Goodreads
#6 ~ Shades of Gray: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#7 ~ Forged in Steel: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#8 ~ After the Storm: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#9 ~ When Day Breaks: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#10 ~ Darkest Before Dawn: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads

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12Oct2015

Review Tour: Slow Play by Monica Murphy

Posted in 3 hearts, Blog Tours, Reviews by Lacey

Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for Slow Play by Monica Murphy!

Slow Play by Monica Murphy
Series: The Rules #3 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: October 13th 2015

Newly broke girl Alexandria Asher just wants to live a normal life. After her parents are sent to prison on embezzlement charges, she enrolls in college under her mother’s maiden name and tries her best to pretend she’s someone else.

Tristan Prescott is everything Alex is trying to avoid. A seemingly egotistical, lazy, rich jerk, she dumps her beer on his head when he comes on to her one night at a party. This only spurs Tristan into action. He loves nothing more than a challenge. And the beautiful Alex is exactly the type of challenge that intrigues him.

Despite her reluctance, Alex finds herself quickly involved with Tristan. Underneath that playboy exterior is a good guy, a sweet and sexy guy who she is undoubtedly falling for. What they both don’t realize is the actions of Alex’s parents are the reason for so much tragedy in Tristan’s family. And when Tristan discovers who Alex and her family really is, can he forgive and forget?

Buy Links:
Amazon • Amazon UK • Barnes & Noble • iTunes • Kobo

Slow Play is the third and final book in Monica Murphy’s The Rules series (which I have really enjoyed), and it is Tristan’s story! I had high hopes for Tristan’s book because I love a good manwhore redemption story. And while I liked this book well enough, it’s not my favorite of the series. Slow Play is mostly okay – I adored the heroine, but Tristan was pretty hard to like. It’s a slow, sexy read that fans of the series might want to try, but I have mixed feelings about it.

Ever since his two best friends have fallen for their girls, Tristan Prescott is making up for Shep and Gabe’s losses by hooking up with one girl after another. Tristan firmly believes that he will NEVER fall in love – it’s just not for him. But when he meets Alexandria Asher, she’s the first girl to ever hold his intrigue for more than a night. And yes, he’s pretty much an asshole the first time he meets her… and for a majority of the book. But he’s relentless in his determination to have Alex – first just in his bed, but eventually, as he gets to know her more, he wants her in his life.

From the moment I’ve met Alexandria, nothing’s been normal. It’s like I’m in a different realm, especially tonight.

Alex has enrolled at college under a different last name to distance herself from the mess that was her past life. All she wants is to be normal, but the second she meets Tristan Prescott, her life is anything but normal. Despite the crazy intense chemistry between them, she manages to dodge nearly all of his moves. But it’s when Tristan shows his vulnerable, sincere side that Alex can’t help but gravitate toward him. I LOVED Alex. I loved how headstrong she was, how she was able to deflect and stand up against Tristan so well. The two of them are definitely well-matched, and I really enjoyed getting to know both the steamy parts of their relationship, and the more heartfelt parts of it.

“You feel it,” he whispers. “I touch you and it’s like electricity sparks between us. I look into your eyes and I feel like I’m fucking drowning. And when I kiss you, I never want to stop.”

Slow Play is… well, slow. Incredibly slow. Alex wants to truly know if Tristan’s intentions are, maybe not honorable, but real. She wants more than just one night with him, and Tristan sets out to prove that he wants both Alex and her heart. And it takes a long while for their relationship to progress. Alex lets Tristan in, but not by much. She still keeps parts of her life a secret from him. And sadly, the plot with Alex’s family being involved with Tristan’s wasn’t as fleshed-out as I expected. It’s not until nearly the end that secrets are finally revealed.

I wish I could say I loved it, but Tristan just didn’t click for me, and that brought the book down a bit. I didn’t feel like he was truly redeemed from his asshole reputation, but I did appreciate that he was completely faithful to Alex since the moment he meets her. Still, I wholeheartedly loved Alex, and Monica Murphy’s writing is so easy and fun to read, so maybe fans of the series will love this book more than I did. It’s a good book, but again, just not my favorite of the series.

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

Reading Order: The Rules series

#1 ~ Fair Game: My Review • Ebook • Paperback• Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ In the Dark: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Slow Play: Ebook • Goodreads (Oct. 13, 2015)

New York Times, USA Today and international bestselling author Monica Murphy is a native Californian who lives in the foothills below Yosemite with her husband and three children. She’s a workaholic who loves her job. When she’s not busy writing, she also loves to read and travel with her family. She writes new adult and contemporary romance and is published with Bantam and Avon. She also writes romance as USA Today bestselling author Karen Erickson.

Website • Blog • Twitter • Facebook • Goodreads • Amazon Page

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14Sep2015

Early Review: Falling for Danger by Chanel Cleeton

Posted in 3 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

Falling for Danger by Chanel Cleeton
Series: Capital Confessions #3 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: September 15th 2015
Links: Ebook • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

The author of Flirting with Scandal presents her third book in a sexy contemporary romance series about three sisters in a powerful political family, the scandals that threaten to destroy them, and the passion that drives them…

Kate Reynolds has just graduated from college and is determined to make it on her own. Her job as a junior political analyst at the CIA is a dream come true and the perfect opportunity to find answers about the night that’s plagued her for four years—the night she lost her fiancé, Matt, on a Special Forces mission in Afghanistan. Kate’s consumed with uncovering the truth and avenging the man she loved and lost, even if it means risking her own life to prove that his death wasn’t an accident.

When she gets too close to discovering what happened that fateful night and danger arrives on her doorstep, Kate’s stunned by the man who comes to her rescue. Together, they begin to dig for the truth, fighting to stay alive as they’re dragged down into a world of secrets and lies. But when the threat hits close to home, Kate must choose between vengeance and a future with the man who’s ignited a fire inside her that she thought died long ago.

I was really looking forward to reading Falling for Danger after reading the snippet at the end of Playing with Trouble. The heroine’s supposedly dead fiancé turns out to be alive! And he’s back in her life! How could I NOT read it after finding that out? But the romance didn’t quite pan out the way I expected it to. While I enjoyed Falling for Danger, it wasn’t quite the epic conclusion to the series I was hoping for.

He’d promised me that he’d love me forever. Where did forever go?

Kate Reynolds is on a mission to take her father down. She’s determined to expose her father for the fraud that he is, and to uncover the link between him and the reason why her fiancé, Matt, was suspiciously killed while in Afghanistan. In the four years since Matt’s death, her life has become about avenging her lost love, and there’s nothing that will stand in her way. But one night, someone breaks into her home, and she comes face-to-face with last person on earth she expected: her dead fiancé.

I really liked how determined Kate was. I could feel for her and the pain she went through with losing Matt. She’s a girl hell-bent on revenge, and I couldn’t help but admire that. She’s also never stopped loving Matt, so when he appears, she’s struck by all the feelings that come rushing back in. But four years took their toll on Matt, and he’s not the same boy she knew and loved.

She was the one constant in this never-ending purgatory where I was stuck somewhere between life and death, a walking ghost.

Matt has changed a lot over the years, no longer the carefree boy in love with his best friend. His time in Afghanistan was rough and heartbreaking, but he survived, only to hide away from the people he loved the most. Matt is pretty gruff, dark, and intense… but I struggled to like him. He’s the main reason why I didn’t love this book like I wanted to. I guess I just never really understood why he had to stay away from Kate, if he loved her so much. We never really get an explanation – or rather, Matt never gives Kate an explanation for why he faked his death and what he did over the last four years. Kate was hurt and devastated over his ‘death’, and it would’ve been nice if Matt tried to make up for the hurt. And while it was obvious that Kate still loved Matt, I didn’t feel the love Matt still had for Kate. I needed more from Matt, I really did.

The suspense in Falling for Danger was pretty mellow. It was slow in the middle and then rushed at the end, so I didn’t really become invested in the mystery/suspense. The ending wasn’t as dramatic as I’d hoped, but it was still a good end for all the characters.

I wish I could’ve loved this book more. I had such high hopes based on the premise, but since I didn’t like the hero, I couldn’t fully enjoy the story. If you’re a fan of the series, I’d recommend you read this if you want to know how the series plot-line involving the Kate’s father turns out. Hopefully you’ll love more than I did! Not to say Falling for Danger is a bad book – it just wasn’t as good as I hoped.

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

Reading Order: Capital Confessions series

#1 ~ Flirting with Scandal: Ebook • Goodreads
#2 ~ Playing with Trouble: My Review • Ebook • Goodreads
#3 ~ Falling for Danger: Ebook • Goodreads (Sept. 15, 2015)

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4Sep2015

Early Review: Into My Arms by Lia Riley

Posted in 3 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

Into My Arms by Lia Riley
Series: Off the Map #3.2 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: September 8th 2015
Links: Ebook • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

“You’re here because I want to touch you.”

Beth Jacobs spends her days slogging away in a corporate “fish bowl,” as the hard-working assistant for one of North America’s youngest dot-com billionaires. Aleksander “Z” Zavtra is the definition of dark and dangerous with a sexy Eastern European snarl. He’s also ruthless. Curt. Exacting. An infuriating man she loves to hate. While Beth hardly sees him, it’s as if he’s always watching her . . .

Z doesn’t do romance. But he never expected to be captivated by a whip-smart, fiery assistant who just so happens to share an uncanny resemblance to the beautiful face that haunts his dreams. He craves Beth. He wants to stroke her skin, to feel her heat beneath him. And what Z wants, he gets. And for one weekend, the lines between employer and employee are blurred as Z and Beth give themselves completely to the dark pleasures they’ve both been dreaming about.

I LOVE office romances, so that’s why I was really looking forward to reading Into My Arms even though I haven’t had the chance to read the Off the Map series. Thankfully, this story can be read as a standalone. While I liked this novella, it just wasn’t fleshed out enough for me – I didn’t have enough time to become fully invested in Beth and Z’s story.

Beth is up to her eyeballs in debt thanks to her parents, and so she can’t quite leave her tiresome job as the assistant for slave driver Aleksander “Z” Zavtra, billionaire and CEO of Zavtra Tech. She’s never even met her boss, as he only communicates with her through email and phone, so it’s a huge surprise when Z invites her to his home one evening.

Z has always been intrigued by Beth since the second he saw her. He comes off as a cold and unfeeling man, but deep down, he has scars that prevent him from reaching out to Beth – until now. Now, he opens up his home and his secrets to her, hoping that she won’t turn away from him once she knows the darkness he carries inside him.

“You kiss me with your eyes every time you look at me.”

Z and Beth’s novella was… okay. I liked reading it, but it could’ve been better. I never got the chance to connect with either characters, and there was a lot of info dumping with Z and Beth’s backstories. What I really enjoyed was the hot chemistry between them, and the deep bond they form during that one weekend at Z’s home.

“Who knows when our chapters will end? None of us know how long our stories will last. All we can do is make sure the pages are filled with life.”
“And you think we can write a happy ending?”
“I don’t know, but I’d rather try than not.”

I’m sure if you’re a fan of the Off the Map series, you’ll want to read Z and Beth’s novella, but reading as someone new to the series and with no previous knowledge of who Z and Beth are, Into My Arms wasn’t quite what I’d hoped it would be. There wasn’t really any forbidden-ness or excitement in this novella that I expect there to be in an office romance. Still, the characters were intriguing enough to keep me reading. I highly enjoyed the writing, so I’m definitely open to reading Lia Riley’s other books.

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

Reading Order: Off the Map series

#1 ~ Upside Down: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Sideswiped: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Inside Out: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3.1 ~ Carry Me Home: Ebook • Goodreads
#3.2 ~ Into My Arms: Ebook • Goodreads (Sept. 8, 2015)

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31Aug2015

Early Review: Delayed Penalty by Sophia Henry

Posted in 3 hearts, Reviews by Lacey

Delayed Penalty by Sophia Henry
Series: Pilots Hockey #1 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: September 1st 2015
Links: Ebook • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

She closed her heart long ago. He just wants to open her mind. For fans of Toni Aleo and Sawyer Bennett, the debut of Sophia Henry’s red-hot Detroit Pilots series introduces a hockey team full of complicated men who fight for love.

Auden Berezin is used to losing people: her father, her mother, her first love. Now, just when she believes those childhood wounds are finally healing, she loses something else: the soccer scholarship that was her ticket to college. Scrambling to earn tuition money, she’s relieved to find a gig translating for a Russian minor-league hockey player—until she realizes that he’s the same dangerously sexy jerk who propositioned her at the bar the night before.

Equal parts muscle and scar tissue, Aleksandr Varenkov knows about trauma. Maybe that’s what draws him to Auden. He also lost his family too young, and he channeled the pain into his passions: first hockey, then vodka and women. But all that seems to just melt away the instant he kisses Auden and feels a jolt of desire as sudden and surprising as a hard check on the ice.

After everything she’s been through, Auden can’t bring herself to trust any man, let alone a hot-headed puck jockey with a bad reputation. Aleksandr just hopes she’ll give him a chance—long enough to prove he’s finally met the one who makes him want to change.

I was intrigued by Delayed Penalty because I’m a sucker for sports romances AND I heard it has a hot Russian hockey player! While it wasn’t quite what I expected, Delayed Penalty was still a good debut with lots of potential. I didn’t quite manage to connect with the characters, but the story overall was fairly enjoyable.

Auden Berezin needs to find a way to earn tuition money after losing her soccer scholarship. Luckily, since she’s fluent in Russian, she gets a job as a translator for Russian hockey player Aleksandr Varenkov. Unfortunately, Aleksandr turns out to be the jerk she met the other night who did not make a good first impression. Now she’ll have to be around him all during season to help him communicate with the media. She doesn’t like Aleksandr, and even worse, she hates that she’s attracted to him.

Auden was an interesting character. She’s got a lot of internal scars, as a girl who’s used to losing people. She’s a bit judgmental towards Aleksandr, even when he tries to apologize for being a jerk. But once they move on and agree to be friendly, things start looking up between them. Auden and Aleksandr spend a lot of time together, and they open up to each other. Auden finds herself connecting with Aleksandr in a way she’s never connected with anyone else. They bond over lost parents, a love for sports, and all things Russian, and eventually start to fall for one another.

Could I let myself fall in love with Alexkandr Varenkoc when I knew falling caused injuries?
Scraped knees and palms would heal, but what about a lacerated heart?

I enjoyed this story, even though I felt like it was a bit all over the place. Too many things are going on at once, and it was difficult for me to connect with anyone or anything. I really didn’t like Aleksandr in the beginning, though he grew on me in the end. Auden and Aleksandr’s romance is a slow but sweet one, but I just didn’t feel the chemistry between them.

“Everything I do and everything I am is all for you, Audushka.”

All in all, Delayed Penalty was a good, but not great book. It had a lot of potential to be another fantastic sports romance, but things got a little hectic, plot-wise. I really hope the stories in the upcoming books of the series will be more fleshed out, because I’d definitely give this author another try.

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

Reading Order: Pilots Hockey series

#1 ~ Delayed Penalty: Ebook • Goodreads
#2 ~ Power Play: Ebook • Goodreads (Feb. 16, 2016)
#3 ~ Interference: Ebook • Goodreads (May 3, 2016)

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