Tag Archives: Humour

His to Protect: A Masters and Mercenaries Crossover #5

By Carly Phillips

Synopsis

Talia Shaw has spent her adult life working as a scientist for a big pharmaceutical company. She’s focused on saving lives, not living life. When her lab is broken into and it’s clear someone is after the top secret formula she’s working on, she turns to the one man she can trust. The same irresistible man she turned away years earlier because she was too young and naive to believe a sexy guy like Shane Landon could want her.

Shane Landon’s bodyguard work for McKay-Taggart is the one thing that brings him satisfaction in his life. Relationships come in second to the job. Always. Then little brainiac Talia Shaw shows up in his backyard, frightened and on the run, and his world is turned upside down. And not just because she’s found him naked in his outdoor shower, either.

With Talia’s life in danger, Shane has to get her out of town and to her eccentric, hermit mentor who has the final piece of the formula she’s been working on, while keeping her safe from the men who are after her. Guarding Talia’s body certainly isn’t any hardship, but he never expects to fall hard and fast for his best friend’s little sister and the only woman who’s ever really gotten under his skin.

Review

I loved Shane in Nobody Does It Better by Lexi Blake and he is a great main character. Bodyguards romances are probably one of my favorite types of action packed romances to read.

Talia Shaw is a scientist trying to protect her formula and is on the run from people who want to destroy it. She is advised to go to an old friend/crush Shane Landon. Shane is a bodyguard with McKay-Taggart. They find out that the people that are after her are always right behind them.

I love Talia’s ability to adapt and not freak out at every turn. And the way Shane is quickly seeing that not all women are like his ex-wife. This is a second chance romance that if I had any criticism to say is that it was too short. I needed more time with Shane Landon.

His to Protect

My Rating:

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Visit Author: Carly Phillips

Her Guardian Angel: A Masters and Mercenaries Crossover #2

By Larissa Ione

Synopsis

After a difficult childhood and a turbulent stint in the military, Declan Burke finally got his act together. Now he’s a battle-hardened professional bodyguard who takes his job at McKay-Taggart seriously and his playtime – and his playmates – just as seriously. One thing he never does, however, is mix business with pleasure. But when the mysterious, gorgeous Suzanne D’Angelo needs his protection from a stalker, his desire for her burns out of control, tempting him to break all the rules…even as he’s drawn into a dark, dangerous world he didn’t know existed.

Suzanne is an earthbound angel on her critical first mission: protecting Declan from an emerging supernatural threat at all costs. To keep him close, she hires him as her bodyguard. It doesn’t take long for her to realize that she’s in over her head, defenseless against this devastatingly sexy human who makes her crave his forbidden touch.

Together they’ll have to draw on every ounce of their collective training to resist each other as the enemy closes in, but soon it becomes apparent that nothing could have prepared them for the menace to their lives…or their hearts.

Review

Of all the crossover stories in this series, this one I was most curious about. It not only crosses over already established series but also genres and I wondered where Larissa Ione would take it. She brought Declan to life and stayed true to the Demonica Underworld series.

This story is action packed. Suzanne is such a great character. She dreams of a different life but knows she has responsibilities and humans that depend on her. Declan doesn’t know it but he has a destiny to fulfill. He also doesn’t know that he has a guardian angel to protect him.

Her Guardian Angel is so good. I love all the characters and it took the Masters and Mercenaries series in a completely different direction.

Her Guardian Angel

My Rating:

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Visit Author: Larissa Ione

Close Cover: A Masters and Mercenaries Crossover #1

By Lexi Blake

Synopsis

Remy Guidry doesn’t do relationships. He tried the marriage thing once, back in Louisiana, and learned the hard way that all he really needs in life is a cold beer, some good friends, and the occasional hookup. His job as a bodyguard with McKay-Taggart gives him purpose and lovely perks, like access to Sanctum. The last thing he needs in his life is a woman with stars in her eyes and babies in her future.

Lisa Daley’s life is going in the right direction. She has graduated from college after years of putting herself through school. She’s got a new job at an accounting firm and she’s finished her Sanctum training. Finally on her own and having fun, her life seems pretty perfect. Except she’s lonely and the one man she wants won’t give her a second look.

There is one other little glitch. Apparently, her new firm is really a front for the mob and now they want her dead. Assassins can really ruin a fun girls’ night out. Suddenly strapped to the very same six-foot-five-inch hunk of a bodyguard who makes her heart pound, Lisa can’t decide if this situation is a blessing or a curse.

As the mob closes in, Remy takes his tempting new charge back to the safest place he knows—his home in the bayou. Surrounded by his past, he can’t help wondering if Lisa is his future. To answer that question, he just has to keep her alive.

Review

Close Cover is Remy and Lisa’s story. Lisa is a great character. She could have taken the easy road and not reported her boss for his illegal accounting but she did what was honest and paid the price. No one would hire her and more than one person was after her.

Remy hurt Lisa’s feelings a long time ago and never had any intention of seeing her again. But when someone needed to protect her he stepped right up. (Maybe the money had something to do with it at first.)

Close Cover puts all the characters in this group back together and is so good. Remy and Lisa had crazy chemistry and there was no denying these two belonged together. I would say that if you don’t like spoilers or finding out the resolution to other crossover stories save this book for last or save the epilogue for last. I’m the kind of reader that skips to the end after the first chapter and then goes back to read everything in between so it didn’t bother me. And as always love Ian Taggart.

Can’t wait to see where Lexi Blake goes with Wade Rycroft!!!

Close Cover

My Rating:

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Visit Author: Lexi Blake

With This Man (This Man #4)

By Jodi Ellen Malpas

Synopsis

Jesse Ward is back in the newest novel in the #1 New York Times bestselling This Man series!

Life is good for Jesse “The Lord” Ward. Perfect, actually. He still has the charm, he’s in great shape, and he still reduces his wife, Ava, to a pool of desire with a mere look. He’s in full control, just how he likes it.

But Jesse’s perfect world falls apart when a terrible accident lands Ava in the hospital with a life-threatening head injury. Devastated and angry, he feels like his entire existence hangs in the balance. He cannot survive without this woman’s love. So when she finally comes around, his shaking world begins to level out. But his nightmare doesn’t end there. It’s only just begun. Because his wife can’t remember the last sixteen years of her life. That’s all of him. All of their time together. He is a stranger to her.

Now Jesse must do whatever it takes to find her memories . . . and help her fall madly, passionately in love with him all over again.

Review

Returning to Jesse & Ava With This Man was simply so full filling. Jesse had matured but was still insane, irrational but still loveable.

So many times throughout this story I was close to tears, then smiling, then laughing and falling in love all over again, just like Ava.

With This Man had such depth with so much raw emotion and the storytelling was mature in line with the characters. We jump at times with Ava’s recovery and it was perfectly timed by the author. The connection with Jesse and his beautiful children made my eyes tear and my heartache, this man is simply ferocious for his family.

I loved seeing how Drew and Sam were traveling in life along with of course John, so much is changing for all of them.

There is an element of danger and I did pick this turn of events early on so I was beside myself waiting for the inevitable dramatic moment.

Upon finishing I was ready to start at the beginning and go on the crazy ride again.

With This Man (This Man #4)

My Rating:

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The Escape

By Alice Ward

Synopsis

She needed to escape. I needed to be saved.

Like an angel, Madalyn Durand swoops into my life, rescuing my little girl while I fight for my son. And how is she thanked for her bravery? By having every damn thing she owns taken from her.

Even in her most desperate hour, she’s perfect. Majestic. Me? I’m nothing like her. I’ve failed. At my marriage, at being a dad. I made the Hottest Billionaire Bachelors list, but I can’t protect my kids.

Then I get a second chance.

When my children need me the most, I become a full-time dad, and Madalyn, like some miracle, is by my side. What I didn’t count on was how she would feel in my arms. Under me. Next to me. Maybe forever.

But someone else wants her forever too. Someone she tried to escape, but who won’t set her free.

Can I save her from this evil? Can I save my kids? Myself?

Review

The Escape was an incredibly easy and fast read, it has all the romantic moments but also has a wonderful family storyline.

Xander and his two children were my favourite parts of this story. There were touches of humour but also some moments of sadness with a sensitive subject. Xander definitely stepped up and became the father these two children needed.

Madalyn was an incredibly easy character to fall in love with. From those first few chapters, I wanted her to find freedom from her family. She had such humility and determination and was so caring for Xander’s children.

Xander’s Ex-Wife and Madalyn’s Prince she was being forced to marry created suspense and much drama throughout the story. Towards the end, you knew confrontation was coming and it was perfectly placed within the storyline.

The romantic and sensual moments between Xander and Madalyn had great balance and it was lovely to see their relationship develop.

The ending of The Escape was very enjoyable and neatly tied up their romantic story.

The Escape

My Rating:

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It’s Complicated (Awkward Love # 1)

By Missy Johnson

Synopsis

They call him the Anaconda, and I’m pretty sure it isn’t because he likes snakes.

Nick Jenson is my neighbor. My hot, oh-so-sexy, very-well-equipped neighbor that I’d spend hours watching from the safety of my bedroom window.

I saw lots of things I probably shouldn’t have. Sometimes I’d touch myself, imagining it were his hands roaming over my body instead of my own. I had just one mission—to find out if the rumors were true.

Then one day, he caught me watching him.

I was mortified. I was prepared to quit college, move to another country, and live the rest of my life saying, “Nick who?” But, apparently, life had other ideas.

Because Nick? Well, he isn’t just my neighbor … He’s also my father’s best friend. If I thought things were difficult before, they were about to get a whole lot more complicated.

Oh, and those rumors? Holy fuck, were they true …

Review

IT’S COMPLICATED is a short, sweet and spicy read. It’s the first book I’ve read from Missy Johnson, but I don’t think it will be the last.

I’m not usually a fan of romances that involve Daddy’s Best Friend. In fact, I don’t recall ever reading one of them before. But this one sounded lighthearted and fun, and that’s exactly what I felt like reading. Despite Nick being Anna’s father’s best friend, the age gap between them was not as bad as I thought it would be. However, I do think that at twenty-two, Anna was too young for thirty-seven year old Nick.

I enjoyed IT’S COMPLICATED, though it did have some minor issues. At times I struggled to follow conversations/thoughts/scenes because they didn’t seem to flow well. I laughed quite a bit, but sometimes the humor felt a little forced. Finally, I think it’s fitting that the series is called Awkward Love, because sometimes when Nick and Anna were together, it was…well…awkward.

IT’S COMPLICATED is told in dual POVs and comes with a HEA for Nick and Anna. While it’s part of a series, each story is about a different couple, so they can be read as stand-alones.

It’s Complicated (Awkward Love # 1)

My Rating:

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Awkward Love Series

Breech’s Fall (Devil’s Wind MC #2)

By D. D. Galvani

Synopsis

From the moment Jiji steps foot inside the Devil’s Wind clubhouse, Breech can’t get her out of his head. She’s beautiful, smart and sassy-all things that drive Breech’s need to it’s breaking point. But she’s not for him. She’s his best friend Fighter’s little sister. He can’t hit it and quit it with Jiji, like he does the others. Either he’s all in or Fighter will have his balls.

Jiji knows exactly what kind of man Breech is and no matter what kind of fire he sets off in her lady parts, she has no intentions of getting mixed up with him and becoming another one, of the many women, he leaves in his wake. She has goals she’s working towards and the world of bikers doesn’t fit in with what she has planned.

But when trouble comes knocking and Jiji finds herself in a terrifying situation, it’s Breech and the Devil’s Wind that must step in to save her. She just hopes they make it in time.

Review

When picking up Breech’s Fall, I had not read book 1 and honestly, this is a standalone and I could easily follow the story and other characters as introduced. This story centers around Breech and Jiji, they have great chemistry and real friendship.

The first half of Breech’s Fall is their story about moving from friendship to acknowledging their attraction and building a romance as they travel together. I did find the pace in the first half a bit slow personally. However, Just want to say the author wrote truthfully about traveling the road together, Jiji’s uncomfortable moments were funny.

We then move to the second half of the story and it has such action, drama and does not stop, I kept turning the pages at this point. There are dark and dangerous moments they build to a fantastic ending that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Breech’s Fall (Devil’s Wind MC #2)

My Rating:

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Justice (Creed Brothers #1)

By K. C. Lynn

Synopsis

Fate made us brothers, loyalty made us family.

A bond that runs deeper than the Mississippi, my brothers and I might not have the same DNA but what we share is far more powerful. Our loyalty to one another and the man who made us a family is stronger than those bound by blood.

The most sought out sharp shooters in the country, our paths were certain, before one woman changed my life and altered the relationship I have with my brothers.

Ryanne Lockwood disappeared without a trace but her memory never faded, torturing me on the darkest nights. Until a twist of fate leads me back to her, sending our worlds to collide once more, and this time, there will be no escaping me.

***

Justice Creed’s bad boy appeal caught my attention from the moment he rolled into town. For years I watched from afar, swallowing up the rumors that surrounded him.

Until we shared a night of forbidden passion. One that destroyed my heart and reshaped my soul, and it sent me fleeing from the only town I’ve ever known.

Now, years later, he’s barged back into my life, uncovering a secret I’ve worked so hard to keep and it’s one that will change our lives forever.

Review

Justice had me hooked from the first chapter, I read in a day, could not put this emotional and beautiful story down. Hannah and Thatcher were standout supporting characters for me, they provided love, humour and poignant moments.

Knox and Braxten, Justice’s foster brothers I fell in love with and I have already added their stories to my Goodreads list. Knox is an enigma and there are still so many secrets to reveal in the next two stories and what amazing women we are yet to meet. It is going to take some incredible women for Braxton and Knox to fall upon the romantic sword.

Ryanne was such a beautiful, strong and resilient character. Her strength and love she showed for Hannah was simple perfection.

Justice and Ryanne have intense chemistry and the way the author built their relationship over the entire story was perfect. Each moment and change to deepen their relationship just made this whole romantic story such a pleasure to read. There is a highly erotic moment towards the end, it was pivotal and held such meaning.

Justice left me so satisfied and I cannot wait to return to this family, these three men are incredibly strong yet sensitive and their love and protection of Thatcher simply put is admirable.

Love the cover of Justice. The flow of the entire story held my attention and made my heart beat with love and anticipation.

Also on a side note love the thanks for Bloggers on her Acknowledgements!

Justice (Creed Brothers #1)

My Rating:

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Three to Ride (Nights in Bliss, Colorado #1)

By Lexi Blake/Sophie Oak

Synopsis

Re-released in a second edition with two new chapters and additional new content.

Rachel Swift is a woman on the run.

A stalker sent Rachel’s world reeling. Now she’s running for her life, and Bliss, CO, seems like the perfect place to hide. Bliss is a strange little town, filled with artists, nudists, and the occasional conspiracy nut. It’s a good place to start over.

Max and Rye are just the men to catch her.

Horse trainer Max and Sheriff Rye gave up on their dream of finding one perfect woman to share long ago. Rachel walks in, and they’re both in love and fighting their true natures.

A town like no other….

When Rachel’s past catches up with her, all of Bliss is in danger. Rachel knows she should run, but how can she leave behind the love she’s found with Max and Rye and the home she’s built in Bliss? With her whole town behind her, Rachel is ready to make her stand. It’s time for her to get back in the saddle and ride.

Review

This is a re-release of Three to Ride. I loved this book the first time I read it and loved it even more this time. This ménage has so much heart, humour, suspense and sacrifice. These three are perfect for each other.

Rachel is a strong character that has an incredible will to survive. Though her life is thrown into complete turmoil she manages to find the good in people, even those who have a gruff exterior (a.k.a Max). She just has to get past the fact the Max’s brother is the sheriff in Bliss.

Max has got the entire town of Bliss fooled into thinking he is this short tempered and bad behaved man. It just takes the right woman to show who the real Max is.

I love Rye. He is Max’s twin and he is willing to sacrifice the type of relationship he would have with the woman of his dreams and his brother. Rye wants to make sure the Max is happy.

Lexi writes so much depth into each character. Bliss may be a fictional place but after reading these books it seems so real. And I love the additions she made to the story. I love the blending of the Masters and Mercenaries into this series.

Three to Ride

My Rating:

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Visit Author: Lexi Blake / Sophie Oak

Fearless (Rosewood Bay #1)

By Carly Phillips

Synopsis

Fall in love with the Wards…

Mechanic and garage owner, Kane Harmon is used to the wealthy beautiful women visiting his beach town. He doesn’t get involved because he knows most females would merely be slumming for the summer.

Except Halley Ward isn’t just passing through. She lives a solitary life in a bungalow on the beach. A woman tormented by her past, distant from her wealthy family, different from Kane’s usual fare of town girls who know his M.O.- Don’t expect more than he’s willing to give.

Kane rescues Halley and her broken down car from the side of the road and instantly he’s hooked. She says she’s not interested in him. He knows she lies. And he makes it his mission to bring her back to life, to return her emotionally to her family. To show her the colors around her were as vibrant as the ones she puts on her canvas.

Until past meets present and threatens all the progress they’ve made. Then it’s Halley’s turn to step up and stand up for the relationship and life she’s finally coming to believe she deserves.

A Standalone Novel

Review

Fearless is my first book by this author and I really enjoyed her style and flow of the story. Definitely a standalone however I do hope we see more of this couple in the next two stories with her sisters. It is an easy and quick read and Kane and Halley were a great couple. Both the Harmon and Ward families play their parts and provide moments to help cement this couple.

Phoebe was a great character and I am definitely looking forward to her story. Missing younger sister is a real mystery and she will probably end up with the best story being the last sister with so many secrets and where is she being the big question? Is she in the town? Who is her father?

Towards the end of the story, I was surprised at Halley’s decision and deeply upset for her. It did feel slightly rushed and I put that down to the fact I simply was not ready to say goodbye to Halley. She was a beautiful girl who had an awful start to life and her anxious behaviour is understandable. Kane was no-nonsense and slowly built his way into her life and it was believable and he was a solid guy.

Fearless is a great story about taking a chance, believing in your someone and finding love when you thought it would be safer to be alone.