TJlovestoread. Romance Reviews & More

“I promise…”

Two very simple words, very beautiful and powerful ones as well. Words Lane Parker could never repeat after the ability to keep them was taken from him.

This book will throw Nolan Ryan type curve balls at you with its unexpected twists. It's also touching, sweet, sexy and that will pull at your heart strings and leave you completely content and satisfied after you’re finished reading.

I was hesitant to open this book even though I knew the story would have a happy ending. The blurb doesn’t provide much information and it gave me the impression it would be too angsty, too heart-breaking and sad. 

“This is how life worked out for us. It sucked really bad for awhile. It was awful… But now… now it’s incredible.”

Don’t be afraid to pick it up. It’s as beautiful and powerful as the two little words I open my review with. And of course, after reading it I totally get why the author and reviewers won’t give more specifics. It would have totally ruined my reading experience if I had known about those twisting curve balls. All you really need to know is that the plot is about an incredibly handsome, virile, loyal, loving, protective man who has tirelessly been looking for his girl. 

“I will find you and I will make sure that you know you’re my everything.”

Every sweet tender moment made me smile, every touching, heartbreaking, bittersweet one made my chest feel tight or plain out made me cry, every sexy interaction made me blush. In general every bit of this book had my complete attention.

I’m so glad Kimberly hadn’t revealed more about him in the previous books. I really enjoyed putting together the pieces that reveal the Lane enigma. When before he was “just” an incredibly great friend and protective brother type now he’s one of my most swoon worthy book boyfriends.

“Every day I wish I had found you sooner so I could love you longer.”

Something I that will make or break a story for me is the heroine. I feel that a good relationship should be well balanced and Kimberly has not only given us an intriguing plotline but also an admirable female lead who was perfect for Lane. 

I also enjoyed having the rest of the gang. Even though this book can be read as a standalone and you wouldn’t miss a beat. Since I’ve read the previous books it was great having more of them in this one.

“This group was a lot of fun… the dynamic between them was awesome.”

I promise I loved it and I’m sure you will too.

For more of my reviews or those of my best book buds visit our blog

This book gave me a ride on the let’s get in touch with all your emotions rollercoaster. It shocked me on more than one occasion, it made me laugh and smile, cry and fall in love. It’s a remarkably sweet debut novel from author J. Nathan that will grip you from its tragic start and keep you engaged with its fun and sexy banter, and heart rendering moments ‘til the very end. And one thing’s for sure, it will “seep right down to your bones.”

I’ve considered really hard about what to put in my review regarding the book’s plot because even though you can piece together some things, it still stunned me more than once and I would really hate to give anything away. I also think the blurb does a very good job at telling us what we need so I’ll include that and then tell you my personal thoughts about it.

On the outside, Hayden is every girl's living breathing fantasy, brooding and devastatingly gorgeous. He spends his nights losing himself in alcohol and faceless girls, but it's all just a facade. An elaborate cover for the emotionless shell of a man he is. One who harbors too many secrets and destroys lives the way his was destroyed. It’s the reason he avoids relationships and keeps everyone at arm's length…

Until Alex

Alex’s life just shattered into a million pieces, leaving her with more grief than she knows what to do with and guilt so deep it’s destroyed the carefree girl she once was. Now she’s hundreds of miles from home, living with an aunt she doesn't know, finishing senior year at a college she’s never been to, and trying desperately to get through a single day without breaking down. She's never felt more alone in her life... 

Until Hayden

The trouble with Hayden is who he wants to be and who he is are in constant flux. And though he’d die before letting Alex learn the truth about him, he can’t be sure he's strong enough to let her in…or push her away. She’s the one person who just might see the real him.

The book grabbed my attention and heart right from the beginning. I was barely 2% in when I was in shock and hurting for Hayden and then smiling because of the smart mouthed girl that had just met the broody “hottie” with dimples. It’s incredible writing when you are so devoted to a couple of characters you barely know. 

These two incredibly sad souls told their story from alternating points of view. And even though I think Hayden’s perspective went to the corny side at the end, I really enjoyed being in their heads.

Even though Hayden was broken and angry at the world, he was also sexy, and his pain didn’t blind him to what Alex had to offer, showing his flip side, which was sweet, loving and made me swoon and “I smiled a big stupid grin” repeatedly.

Alex’s patience and understanding with Hayden’s hot and cold attitude never frustrated me and I really admired her strength of character. She was a very grounded and real person.

The story unfolded at a perfect pace, letting us know what we, and the characters, needed for their connection to build and grow. Their sizzling chemistry was off the charts. 

“I'd have to touch you.”
He nodded… “I hope so.”
“You might have to kiss me goodnight.”
His eye focused on my lips. “Oh, sweetheart, you can count on that.”

I loved and was equally frustrated watching them get to know each other.

“I don't know what this is. This thing between us... But I really need it.” ~Hayden

As the book got closer to the ending, “my heart ricocheted off the wall of my chest.” It got so intense I couldn’t get to the happy fast enough. I felt like I hit the jackpot with this book and I’ll be looking forward to J’s next book. 

* I was given an ARC of this book for an honest review from Netgalley. The excerpts are from that copy. *

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4.5 stars

This book will certainly Taint you with curiosity and then grip you with its sometimes outrageous but mostly lonely, broken and sweet protagonist.

Before I tell you a bit more what I enjoyed and what didn’t do it for me, I would like to remind ourselves that this is an erotic work of fiction romance meant to entertain. It is not a hand book or a self-improvement manual. Although in my opinion it does state some very interesting facts.

“The wife drives the ship. She is the puppet master. But in order to maintain a happy home, you must let the man believe that he calls the shots.”

I mention this because I am a bit late in the reading/reviewing queue and because of it noticed some not great reviews, which is normal, but a lot of controversy as well. Really guys, the blurb not only caught my eye, it left my jaw a bit slack. That in itself is a good enough hint that the story would have more than a few shockers. So please, do your homework and spend your time and money wisely. I’m almost certain that that’s what most authors want, second to sharing with us part of their writing talent.

So, Justice Drake. Brilliant and ingenious entrepreneur or crass, chauvinist asshole? Perhaps a little bit of both, giving us an incredibly handsome on the outside, charming, egotistical and a bit dejected man on the inside. He has the name of a super hero “Never fear! Justice Drake is here… Ready to slay the villains of Scottsdale with double-headed dongs and acid lube lasers.” Mostly I think Justice Drake is an antihero, one of my favorite kind of heroes.

Drake’s chosen and very lucrative profession is to show “Stepford” wives how to sexually satisfy their wealthy but wayward husbands with very “unconventional, seemingly cruel and brash, techniques.” His job description requires a certain level of professionalism but he has also chosen to detach and isolate himself in general. Although that doesn’t stop his “sadistic soul” to rejoice in the discomfort he causes his clients.

Allison Elliot-Carr is one of those clients, but she is also different from all the rest. “She’s just so damn perfectly imperfect that it’s endearing,” with an authenticity that made her not belong there even if circumstance would indicate she does.

Her presence in his Oasis causes him to break all his strict and well defined rules, she has weakened his defenses, forcing him to face his loneliness and self-worth.

S.L. did a great job delivering this story from Drake’s point of view in its entirety. She tempered his crudeness with humor, although sometimes dry and sarcastic, and even further endearing him with his incredibly expressive inner thoughts.

“This is my favorite part of the day—when gravity pulls that scorching, desert sun above, coaxing it into the outstretched, jagged arms of mountains and cacti.”

And when he isn’t battling himself over confusing emotions,

“I’m not even sure what to make of this girl. First she’s calling me an asshole, and now she’s asking me about ice cream flavors.”

“Yeah…even her snorts are adorable. And fuck me. I’m using words like adorable.”

the way he sees Ally is both swoon worthy and heartbreaking all at the same time.

“With eyes the color of the ocean and her halo of fire burning as bright as the desert sun, she speaks to me. And while she is raw and sullied, tainted by this beautiful hell, her words breathe life into the darkest, loneliest parts of me.”

Because he’s not just a lonely man with questionable self-worth. She’s married to another man. A sad and seemingly unsolvable reality.
This love story captivated me with its original and daring plot, and kept me turning page after page interested in wanting to know more of its very complex hero, to read about the sexy attraction between Drake and Ally as well as his sweet and lyrical musings. It made me laugh and then when I was least expecting it, it hit me an OMG and WTF twist I couldn’t have imagined. I loved it and wish I had more.

“Justice + Ally”

One last though about the 4.5 stars. There were a few times when I thought Ally was being too naïve. There was also a particular scene I could’ve done without. Just the implication of what happened would have been enough with no gory details.

For more of my reviews or those of my best book buds visit our blog.

A very grabbing prologue 

“I want to make you mine.”

with a story that fell short. This first instalment of The Love Trials serial simply wasn’t to my taste and I even found it a bit disturbing.

I wanted something short to read. This was on a friend’s TBR and blurb seemed interesting so I gave it a go. What the blurb failed to mention is that this is about a clueless, barely legal, fresh out of high school, virgin who “falls in love” with Hunter, one of her teachers, and blindly follows him to his second job. Which is as a sex teacher in the very philanthropic Lovers’ Academy. Yes, the owner is very concerned helping young women with their future.

“Why are you bringing girls here for free to teach them to seduce men? What do you get from it?” 
“The pleasure of knowing that I made a difference.”

If I had the money I think I would make a difference in a sports or musical program. But that’s just me.

Before Nancy arrives to her weekend training at the academy, which I might add she sneaks off to without telling her parents or friends, she meets Amber and Shannon, who will be her new “classmates.” I wonder what the women that fought for equality and women’s liberation would think about Amber’s aspirations?

“I came because I want hot sex to get me a powerful man on Wall Street. I want to live in a penthouse on Fifth Avenue and I want a summer home in the Hamptons... And sex will get me that.”

Nancy also meets and is attracted Jaxon. Prince uncharming and the academy’s owner. Once at her destination she finds out her “love and soul mate” will be another girl’s sex tutor, that he doesn’t recognize her, and that Jaxon has never taught but has decided to be Nancy’s teacher. 

I think maybe the plot wouldn’t have rubbed me the wrong way so much if Nancy was an older woman simply looking to satisfy her curiosity, instead of an incredibly naïve and “silly little girl”who is way in over her head.

Because the writing is good and the plot is intriguing. It being a serial ended in a cliffhanger that left me perversely curious when Nancy accidentally overhears Jaxon conspiring with his father against her.

Truthfully I hope I can find a review with spoilers for the next installments or locate some good reviews where my issues are addressed so I can decide whether or not to continue reading this serial. I do have several of J.S. Cooper’s books on my TBR which will now look at more carefully and bump at least one to the top of my list to get a better feel for her writing. 

The conclusion to Gabrielle and Braden's story!!!

funny, sweet, smexy with a touch of banter that makes you laugh hard in and out of the courtroom... We even get UFO's in this one LOL...

Review to come

Totally recommend

4.5 stars

This book will certainly Taint you with curiosity and then grip you with its sometimes outrageous but mostly lonely, broken and sweet protagonist.

Before I tell you a bit more what I enjoyed and what didn’t do it for me, I would like to remind ourselves that this is an erotic work of fiction romance meant to entertain. It is not a hand book or a self-improvement manual. Although in my opinion it does state some very interesting facts.

“The wife drives the ship. She is the puppet master. But in order to maintain a happy home, you must let the man believe that he calls the shots.”

I mention this because I am a bit late in the reading/reviewing queue and because of it noticed some not great reviews, which is normal, but a lot of controversy as well. Really guys, the blurb not only caught my eye, it left my jaw a bit slack. That in itself is a good enough hint that the story would have more than a few shockers. So please, do your homework and spend your time and money wisely. I’m almost certain that that’s what most authors want, second to sharing with us part of their writing talent.

So, Justice Drake. Brilliant and ingenious entrepreneur or crass, chauvinist asshole? Perhaps a little bit of both, giving us an incredibly handsome on the outside, charming, egotistical and a bit dejected man on the inside. He has the name of a super hero “Never fear! Justice Drake is here… Ready to slay the villains of Scottsdale with double-headed dongs and acid lube lasers.” Mostly I think Justice Drake is an antihero, one of my favorite kind of heroes.

Drake’s chosen and very lucrative profession is to show “Stepford” wives how to sexually satisfy their wealthy but wayward husbands with very “unconventional, seemingly cruel and brash, techniques.” His job description requires a certain level of professionalism but he has also chosen to detach and isolate himself in general. Although that doesn’t stop his “sadistic soul” to rejoice in the discomfort he causes his clients.

Allison Elliot-Carr is one of those clients, but she is also different from all the rest. “She’s just so damn perfectly imperfect that it’s endearing,” with an authenticity that made her not belong there even if circumstance would indicate she does.

Her presence in his Oasis causes him to break all his strict and well defined rules, she has weakened his defenses, forcing him to face his loneliness and self-worth.

S.L. did a great job delivering this story from Drake’s point of view in its entirety. She tempered his crudeness with humor, although sometimes dry and sarcastic, and even further endearing him with his incredibly expressive inner thoughts.

“This is my favorite part of the day—when gravity pulls that scorching, desert sun above, coaxing it into the outstretched, jagged arms of mountains and cacti.”

And when he isn’t battling himself over confusing emotions,

“I’m not even sure what to make of this girl. First she’s calling me an asshole, and now she’s asking me about ice cream flavors.”

“Yeah…even her snorts are adorable. And fuck me. I’m using words like adorable.”

the way he sees Ally is both swoon worthy and heartbreaking all at the same time.

“With eyes the color of the ocean and her halo of fire burning as bright as the desert sun, she speaks to me. And while she is raw and sullied, tainted by this beautiful hell, her words breathe life into the darkest, loneliest parts of me.”

Because he’s not just a lonely man with questionable self-worth. She’s married to another man. A sad and seemingly unsolvable reality.
This love story captivated me with its original and daring plot, and kept me turning page after page interested in wanting to know more of its very complex hero, to read about the sexy attraction between Drake and Ally as well as his sweet and lyrical musings. It made me laugh and then when I was least expecting it, it hit me an OMG and WTF twist I couldn’t have imagined. I loved it and wish I had more.

“Justice + Ally”

One last though about the 4.5 stars. There were a few times when I thought Ally was being too naïve. There was also a particular scene I could’ve done without. Just the implication of what happened would have been enough with no gory details.

For more of my reviews or those of my best book buds visit our blog.

Review to come... Excellent serial!!!

Loved it... it's a serial... review on book 5 :)

Holy s***t

Review to Come

BEAUTIFUL amazing read

review to come

Loved it..... swooning over Ansel.....!!! sooo sweet.. and Frech..

Review to come

Loved it!!! It was even better to read this story from Matt's POV...

Oh Dear... cover, me no like...
Stiff dude... like a manequin and the tats.... are those stickers???

3.5 stars
A New Adult novel with nothing "new" to provide.

When I say it has nothing new, I mean the book is trite.

Keegan, 20 years old, in college. She had a hard life growing up with a single Mother. She had to grow up even more when said Mother got herself pregnant. Keegan almost takes care of her sister Sarah (adorable BTW) like a Mom. She is tired of this life, she want’s her Mom to step up, mature and be there for her sister, in a way she wasn’t for her. She finally decides, after a very funny conversation with her best friend Macie, to look for a roommate so she could live her life, on her own. She finds a roommate alright, a tall, handsome, broody roommate.

Camden lives alone. He is looking for a roommate…Why? I have no clue whatsoever because the author failed to explain why he wanted someone to live with him in the first place. To share some expenses, maybe. The later comes to mind because he is requesting a lot less rent than others. He owns/manages a gym (yep, the guy is like the epitome of fit), he is broody, controlling, bossy, possessive, overbearing but also, protective and sweet when he wants to. He comes from a good and stable family and has 3 brothers (all hot, of course).

Did I say the book is trite..? so far the same formula right?
Cam meets Keegan and the first thing she hears him say is “the chubby one”. Keegan has self-esteem issues, she feels overweight (she is a size 10, which is not overweight in my book). She keeps comparing herself to her “perfect” friend.. As always, the heroine has a crazy-whorish-bubbly-daring-caring-pretty-hot best friend who keeps daring her to do things, to go the extra mile, etc. As always our heroine thinks shit of herself and keeps doubting her decisions and actions throughout the book. Is this trite enough?

I liked the beginning of the book, it looked promising even if clichéd but, I just couldn’t warm up enough to Keegan; she was sweet but very immature and impulsive. Camden had to put up with a lot of shit from her and if I would have been him, I would have dumped her ass. I really hate a TSTL heroine, especially when such girl overreacts, jumps to conclusions without getting facts, etc… it was just too much.

I also couldn’t get the controlling/kinky side of Cam.. I mean don’t get me wrong, it was hot and all that but.. where did it come from? I just couldn’t put two and two together. OH and BAD POINTS on safe sex… condoms missing from the first encounter to the last… not a word spoken about birth control and STD’s….I understand this is not mandatory in a book, but having read so many lately I know it is a recurrent theme and, us readers expect authors to address the issue on the books since they are “contemporary” and the positive guidance and responsibility should be mentioned….. at least to be safe and please all of us.

I also didn’t get the whole Macie and Dodger thing… you’ll see if you read the book… I just cannot fathom a girl getting angry with a guy she is starting to date seriously when he refuses to f**k her right away.. IT IS CALLED RESPECT and waiting should not be an issue, on the contrary it should be something to cherish from a partner… so points deducted Macie….

The story was “good enough” that picked my interest and I finished with a smile… it has a sweet undercurrent and the brothers are just adorable. I will read the next one, definitely; I am intrigued with the rest of the brothers….

.... 3.5 ....

This is definitely not a five star read. This definitely has nothing to do with FSoG and I don’t understand the comparison (maybe the billionaire and girl out of college theme is always going to be compared to 50?). Whatever.. back to the book.

We have a strong heroine for once! Yes, during the first 100 pages or so I was loving the girl… then… BAM! Whiplash personality. She begins a relationship with Blake and her emotions are all over the place, she behaves like a mature woman one minute and like a petulant child the next.

The hero wasn’t dominant, jus cryptic and cero forthcoming. He needed to provide Erica with reassurance and failed to do so, until near the ending. He gets his act together and finally shows some backbone in order to put the petulant child in her place… from there things regroup, the book sets a better pace and then… damn, it ends with a cliffy…. A good cliffy BTW, the plot gets pretty interesting and I can see, in the future a better book when we get number 2.

There is no need to dig deeper, or to provide a more thorough review. This is a book that if the blurb gets you interested, you should read. This is the kind of book that you need to read in order to form an objective opinion. The premise is good; it is an interesting debut novel but it is poorly executed in many ways.

Anyway, I ended up completely hooked and, I want to know more…. The plot thickens….

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