Welcome to today’s stop on the blog tour for Penny Reid’s Happily Ever Ninja!
Happily Ever Ninja by Penny Reid
Series: Knitting in the City #5 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: January 19th 2016
There are three things you need to know about Fiona Archer… I would tell you what they are, but then I’d have to kill you.
But I can tell you that Fiona’s husband—the always irrepressible and often cantankerous Greg Archer—is desperately in love with his wife. He aches for her when they are apart, and is insatiable when they are together. Yet as the years pass, Greg has begun to suspect that Fiona is a ninja. A ninja mom. A ninja wife. A ninja friend. After fourteen years of marriage, Greg is trying not to panic. Because Fiona’s talent for blending in is starting to resemble fading away.
However, when unexpected events mean Fiona must take center stage to keep her family safe, her response stuns everyone—Greg most of all. It seems like Greg’s wish has come true.
Except… not.
When all is said and done, can Greg handle this new version of his wife? Will his irrepressible cantankerousness push her away? Or can the couple find a way forward without either being forced to step back into the shadows?
This is a full length, 100k word novel, and is the 5th book in the Knitting in the City Series. All books in the series can be read as a standalone except book #1.5
Buy Links:
Amazon • Amazon UK • Barnes & Noble • iTunes • Kobo
Each marriage is a living thing, just as complex as the two individuals within it.
I became of huge fan of Penny Reid’s ever since reading her Elements of Chemistry series last year, and honestly, I just can’t believe I hadn’t read her books sooner. I’m obsessed with her writing and her brilliant, intelligent characters. In Happily Ever Ninja, Greg and Fiona Archer are just… wonderful. They’re not perfect, and their marriage certainly isn’t, but this is a couple who will do anything and everything for each other and their children. The respect and love they have for each other is beyond anything I’ve ever read, and Fiona and Greg will forever be a couple I look up to.
If you’ve read Ninja at First sight, then you know how Fiona and Greg met and fell in love. Well, Happily Ever Ninja takes place a marriage, two kids, and 18 years later. Fiona is currently a stay-at-home mom, and Greg’s work takes him around the world for long periods of time. Fiona has been raising Jack and Grace nearly alone, but she keeps her burdens hidden so they won’t strain her marriage. She’s not about to complain about Greg leaving to do what he loves and support his family, but the stress and fatigue of being a mom, wife, friend, and practically a ninja have taken their toll on her.
“You shouldn’t let people walk all over everything you believe, take advantage, or discount your feelings. If you don’t prioritize your feelings, no one else will.”
Greg and Fiona’s marriage is put to the ultimate test when Greg is kidnapped while working in Nigeria, and Fiona has to use the skills she honed at her previous job (I’m so not spoiling that for you) and unleash her inner badass to save her husband and love of her life. And holy hell, is Fiona one badass chick. I LOVED Fiona. I was #TeamGreg in Ninja at First Sight, but I was completely #TeamFiona in Happily Ever Ninja. Who knew this badass mom had even more badassery inside her!?
A lot of things took my by surprise in this book, and while I wouldn’t say it was bad, some of the things were just unexpected. I was expecting Happily Ever Ninja to be straight-up contemporary romance, about a married couple working through their marriage troubles, but it ended up being a lot more romantic suspense. There was sometimes too much action that took me out of the story, because all I really wanted to read about was Fiona and Greg and their marriage. Still, even though the story went in a completely different direction than I expected, I was still able to thoroughly enjoy and appreciate the way Penny Reid portrayed Fiona and Greg’s marriage.
“I love you wildly, madly, completely, Fiona Archer,” he growled, then groaned on a broken breath. “I love you always.”
I am not married and I don’t have kids. Yet Penny Reid and her magical ways were able to make me completely connect with Fiona and her frustrations. There aren’t a lot of books that feature a married couple, so I loved this introspective look on marriage – and what I learned is, bottom line, marriage is hard. Greg and Fiona experience stress, hardships, sacrifice, and plenty of other strains, but they never once give up on each other or their marriage. Even through the ups and downs, at the end of the day, these two could make each other smile.
“My heart keeps discovering new ways to love you,” he whispered, like it was a secret. A magnificent, beautiful, perfect secret.
Greg is my dream husband. Yes, he makes mistakes like any other person, and I got frustrated with him along with Fiona, but when it boils down to it, this man is utterly and completely devoted to his wife and family. So yeah, I loved Greg. I loved Fiona. I loved the way that even after 14 years of marriage, their relationship is ever changing and developing.
This book really had it all. Humor, excellent writing, unique characters, action, a romance to root for. I’m definitely going to go back and catch up on the series because I just can’t get enough of Penny’s books!
Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.
Now here’s an excerpt from Happily Ever Ninja! ❤
“What are you doing?”
“What do you think I’m doing?” He unbuttoned his pants and unzipped them.
Perhaps it didn’t make any sense, but I didn’t want Greg to see me naked. Not when I was still furious with him. Not when he was angry with me. Even though we’d been together for eighteen years, married for fourteen, and made two children together, when we were arguing I didn’t like the vulnerability of bare skin.
“Oh, no. No, no, no.” I sat forward in the tub, hiding my nakedness. “We haven’t talked through everything yet. I’m angry with you, and I know you’re still upset with me.”
He shrugged. “Then we’ll have angry intercourse.”
“We’re not having intercourse.”
“Then I’ll give you angry cunnilingus.”
Damn him, but that made me laugh.
Greg’s eyebrows bounced once on his forehead and he grinned, his pants falling to the ground.
“I don’t want any of your angry oral sex, thank you very much.” I crossed my arms over my chest, endeavoring to keep my expression stern . . . and failing.
“Of course you do. Angry oral sex is the best kind of oral sex. And we are so rarely angry with each other. We should take advantage of this opportunity.” His thumbs hooked into his boxers with the intent of pulling them down.
“Do not take off your boxers.”
Greg didn’t remove his boxers, but he didn’t withdraw the threat of his thumbs either. “You know, I’ve heard it’s a good idea to fight while naked. I think I read that in a very important medical text book written by Albert Einstein’s cousin, Dr. Olga Einstein.”
Reading Order: Knitting in the City series
#1 ~ Neanderthal Seeks Human: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#1.5 ~ Neanderthal Marries Human: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ Friends Without Benefits: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Love Hacked: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#4 ~ Beauty and the Mustache: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#4.5 ~ Ninja at First Sight: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#5 ~ Happily Ever Ninja: Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
SEX! It all started with sex, between my parents. Personally I don’t like thinking about it, but whatever works for you is a-ok with me. No judgment. The sex happened in California and much of my life also occurred in that state until I moved from the land of nuts (almonds), wine, silicon… boobs, and heavy traffic to the southeast US. Like most writers I like to write, but let’s get back to sex. Eventually I married and gave birth to 2 small people-children (boy-6, girl-4 as of this writing).
By day I’m a biomedical researcher with focus on rare diseases. By night I’m a knitter, sewer, lino block carver, fabric printer, soap maker, and general crafter. By the wee hours of the morning or when I’m intoxicated I love to listen to the voices in my head and let them tell me stories. I hope you enjoy their stories.
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Chloe Neill was born and raised in the South, but now makes her home in the Midwest—just close enough to Cadogan House and St. Sophia’s to keep an eye on things. When not transcribing Merit’s and Lily’s adventures, she bakes, works, and scours the Internet for good recipes and great graphic design. Chloe also maintains her sanity by spending time with her boys—her husband (also her favorite landscape photographer) and their dogs, Baxter and Scout. (Both she and the photographer understand the dogs are in charge.) Visit her on the Web at www.chloeneill.com.
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