Tag: Contemporary Romance (Page 35 of 97)

BOOK REVIEW- Addicted After All (Addicted #3) by Krista and Becca Ritchie

July 25, 2018 / Arielle / 2 Comments

Addicted After All (Addicted #3)
by Krista and Becca Ritchie
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Two addicts. One epic love story.

Prepare for the worst.

That’s what Lily and Lo try to do when Jonathan Hale schedules an “important” meeting. The problem: after being swept into the public eye and battling their addictions, they’re not sure what the worst is anymore.

In a sea of many changes—including Ryke & Daisy living with them—Lily realizes that the best part of her fluctuating hormones might just be the worst.

Her sex drive is out of control.

Loren knows that she’s insatiable, but he’s not giving up on her. She’s too much a part of him. And as he carries more and more responsibility, some of the people that he loves doubt his resolve.

In the conclusion to their love story, Lily & Lo stand side-by-side to fight, one last time, for their happily ever after.

I fell in love with Lo like a little girl opening her heart to magic. It always seemed surreal until the moment it became true.

What a ride this series has been. It has been so fun re-reading these books again after having read about their children in the About Us series. While you could read those separately, and even the Calloway Sisters series separately, it makes more of an impact if you had started at the very beginning with Lily and Lo.

And there is a hope, a chance, that he could be more than what I am. That he could be better than me.

Initially I had decided to go back and read this series despite the negative things that I had seen about book one because of how much I fell in love with this family in the Calloway Sisters books. So much so that I felt like I owed it to Lily and Lo. In the other series, which really focuses on Rose and Daisy, I felt like I just didn’t know enough about this couple that had struggled with two very serious addictions for nearly their whole lives. I found myself being put off my Lo’s abrasiveness because I did not understand where it was coming from. I also found myself being annoyed with Lily’s skittish nature and her inability to talk about anything sex related without either turning bright red or hiding. I still came to love them though and connected with them through their talk of all things geek so I wanted a chance to remedy that.

A feeling swirls inside of me—one where you know someone all your life, but in a singular moment they look strangely different. Like you’re unearthing a fragment of them that has never surfaced or been touched before.

By the time that this book came around, the progress that both Lily and Lo have made has been tremendous. Yes, that first book is heartbreaking and hard to read –it’s about two terrible addictions. HOWEVER, if you can weather through it (and I hope you do) it gets better. It’s not all completely smooth sailing, as both of them continue to struggle with their addictions but they TRY. They gain their strong support system and try and they gain hope which is good.

“Fly away with me, Lily Calloway?”
She whispers, “Only if we make-believe that we never, ever have to grow up.”

My favorite part of this book in particular was reading about the pregnancies of Rose and Lily. I almost felt cheated in Fuel the Fire because the last time I had seen the two girls, they had just found out they were pregnant and then then it skipped straight to them having the babies. I wanted to DEFINITELY see a fierce, pregnant Rose but I also wanted to see how Lo and Lily handled it seeing as they weren’t sure if they ever wanted kids. It was delightful. ALSO—that friggen scene where Rose has her baby….INTENSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CONNOR ♥ Loved it.

“For what it’s worth,” I tell Connor, “it’s kind of extraordinary that you can transcend sexual orientations. You’re like an amoeba.”
“Amoebas are asexual,” he says. “I’m more like a god.”

Another important thing that you get to see in these books are the relationships that form between Lo and Connor and especially, Lo and Ryke. Right away in Kiss the Sky you see that Lo and Connor have this really close relationship and hilarious banter but you never really get the gist of how it all happened. I loved being able to see Connor meeting the two and then how Ryke ends up inserting himself into their lives. It really is a special thing and you can really see how much Lo ends up depending on his brother for help staying sober.

“Or you could write one,” I shoot back, rising to my feet. “Perks of having the Hots for a Sixteen-Year-Old Supermodel and Having to Wait until She Turns Eighteen, Only to be Cock-blocked by Your Bastard Half-Brother.”
I flash a bitter smile.
“That title needs some work,” Connor says, clipping on his Rolex watch. “And that’s if we all agree Ryke can write a full-length novel.”

What I am TRYING to say is that if you have read the Calloway Sisters and fell in love with the characters like I have, you realllllly need to read this series too. It may be hard at first but believe it, it is so worth it being able to get into ALL of their lives, learning about every facet of each of them. I haven’t been able to read anything else since starting this series and am SOOOOO excited to read Some Kind of Perfect (which is basically a 664 page prologue of the three couples growing up and having babies).

“Your name is on her ass,” I state blankly.
“I’m so fucking in love with her,” is all he says. And I believe every word.

BOOK REVIEW: Nowhere Else But Here by Rachel Cotton

July 20, 2018 / Cassie / 2 Comments

Nowhere Else But Here by Rachel Cotton
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
“He was reckless. He was exciting. He was Theo.
And he was a breath of fresh air in my otherwise extremely dull life”

What if the missing person is your missing piece?

Rose has always played by the rules – now it’s time to break them.

Life’s easier when you stay away from other people. Rose Valentine knows that. But some people are impossible to ignore. Take Theo Lockhart. He’s handsome, funny and beyond intriguing. He’s a mystery; one that Rose dreams of solving.

Then one night the mystery deepens. Theo turns up on Rose’s doorstep, desperate to hide out at her house. He’s keeping secrets, and Rose has a million questions. Not least – why did he choose to run to her?

If Rose lets him in, she’ll be going against everything she holds true. It’s reckless, risky – and definitely not in the rulebook. But Theo makes Rose long to break the rules After a whirlwind week of brat-pack movies, midnight snacks and non-stop chat, where do Rose and Theo go from here?

Thank you NetGalley, the author Rachel Cotton and the publisher Ink Road for my free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3.75/5

“Breathe, Rose,” Theo whispered into my ear, and I realised that it was him I was holding on to; I was clutching him like I was drowning and he was the life jacket keeping me from sinking below the water. “Just breathe.”

Meet Theo and Rose. In the beginning of the book, Theo has gone missing and suddenly shows up at Rose’s house, asking for her help. Rose is quite surprised, as she has been nothing more than his chemistry lab partner. So why would he turn to her for help?

And that’s how the story begins. Staying spoiler free, the rest of the book follows the events and ramifications of Rose’s decision to help Theo.

Theo and I were like two ships that were used to passing each other without any interaction, but now we had crashed into one another and we were trying desperately not to sink.

This book is cute. Like really cute. Rose is wonderful and sweet and learns to come out of her shell, while Theo, who is dreamy and damaged and unpredictable, is a great foil. Their scenes are adorable and funny and charming.

Plot-wise, there’s not a ton going on. Most of the conflict stems from characters refusing to just talk to each other or share important information, which then leads to a lack of trust and hurt feelings. However, I honestly didn’t mind too much. I loved Theo and Rose so much that I still found myself enjoying this story even without much happening outside of their relationship.

If you are looking for a cute, fun and quick read, I would definitely recommend this book. However, if you are looking for something with a lot of depth and conflict, look elsewhere.

And, ultimately, I was letting him break down the walls that had taken me for ever to build up so he could worm his way into my hear, capturing it and claiming it for his own.

BOOK REVIEW- Addicted for Now (Addicted #2) by Krista and Becca Ritchie

July 19, 2018 / Arielle / 1 Comment

Addicted for Now (Addicted #2)
by Krista and Becca Ritchie
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
He's addicted to booze. She's addicted to sex... staying sober is only half the battle.

No. More. Sex.

Those are the three words Lily Calloway fears the most. But Loren Hale is determined to be with Lily without enabling her dangerous compulsions. With their new living situation—sleeping in the same bed, for real, together—Lily has new battles. Like not jumping Lo’s bones every night. Not being consumed by sex and his body.

Loren plans to stay sober, to right all of his wrongs. So when someone threatens to expose Lily’s secret to her family and the public, he promises that he’ll do anything to protect her. But with old enemies surfacing, Lo has more at stake than his sobriety.

They will torment Lily until Lo breaks.

And his worst fear isn’t relapsing. He hears the end. He sees it. The one thing that could change everything. Just three words.

No. More. Us.

New Adult Romance recommended for readers 18+ for mature content

“Lo?” Ryke’s voice turns serious. “Hey, talk to me.”
I let out a breath. “Tell me why I shouldn’t.” I pinch my eyes. I want this to end. This torment. These feelings. I want to help Lily without needing something to drown my own thoughts.

“Because you love Lily more than that.”

This book picks up right at the end of Lo’s three month stint at rehab. Lily had already moved in with Rose when Lo left so this is the first time that they will really be tested together since they both made moves to work on their addictions. This is the first book of the series that has both of their POVs which is great because now the reader gets to see firsthand how Lo struggles instead of just seeing Lily’s side of things. I was so glad that his POV was added because in the first book, even though you can clearly see how much he loves Lily, it might be still easy to not like him because let’s face it, he can be a major ass. Once you get to see into his head and how much he struggles and how sometimes even though the first words out of his mouth are meant to hurt a person as much as possible, you realize that he isn’t a bad person. He’s just a fragile human who has an addiction and grew up with a father that has that very same addiction and who could tear Lo down better than anyone else (even if he clearly loves his son—it’s all a pretty messed up and vicious cycle).

Fortunately in this book Lily’s addiction is still a secret so she spends most of the book doing normal things like wading through schoolwork and working for Rose at Calloway Couture. She ended up transferring to Princeton because of her move with Rose and while I don’t think that Lily is dumb, it’s pretty obvious that she only got into Princeton because of her last name (no offense, dear Lily!!). Instead of having Connor the wonder tutor available, she gets stuck with Rose’s jackass friend. Basically I hate him because he gets Lily to cheat by giving her old tests and tries to manipulate Rose/ break up her and Connor’s relationship. He’s the worst—and obviously an idiot if he thought he could break up the nerd stars.

“I don’t know how to live without you.” And I shake my head quickly as tears pool. “And I don’t want to know how. I don’t want to find out.” He is my breath. My soul. My life-force. I have spent forever with him. Being apart is the most unnatural feeling in the world. Three months—I could handle that like a bad itch. Forever without him?

All in all this is basically a transition book that is once again more focused on the characters. While one of the main threads of the book deals with all of the nasty, anonymous tests that Lily and Lo are getting about exposing her addiction, a lot more of it just focuses on the two of them going through their lives while the battle their addictions. Because I read Kiss the Sky first (after Lily’s secret had been exposed) it was actually really nice to read about their lives before they got SUPER chaotic. Obviously they still are really rich and help run their own companies and go to galas…but still. They are safe from the paparazzi and their lives are semi private. Other than their addictions they live relatively “normal” lives.

Certain parts that I loved included Rose and Connor going to different therapists pretending to be Lily and Lo to find the perfect one for Lily. I literally can’t imagine Connor pretending to be an alcoholic with Lo’s attitude bahaha. I also loved their trip to Mexico because we get to see more interactions between Ryke and Daisy and how protective Lo and Lily are. Also there’s the fact that Rose gets drunk so that’s a funny bonus too.

In the end you finally find out who leaks Lily’s secret and it’s pretty devastating for all involved. We see the very beginning of the fallout for Lily and things obviously spiral out of control very quickly. It’s honestly so heartbreaking to see how people treat her..including her own mother and father. What’s also hard is when Lily goes through enough therapy to figure out what might have pushed her down the path she ended up going down. Despite that though, I was reminded how darn funny she is. Sweet Lily is so kind and geeky and I laugh so hard every time she hides underneath Lo’s shirt or climbs up his body like a koala. I love that her and Lo talk about fandoms and and Marvel and that even though Connor is a certified genius, that he doesn’t know what she’s talking about half of the time, lol. Other than the sex addiction I would definitely relate the most to her out of the three sisters. So yes, this might have been one of the “tamest” books of the series but it still was enjoyable to read. Any more pages spent with this group of people is a win for me.

So in Harry Potter’s epic final words, “All was well.”

BOOK REVIEW: Under Locke by Mariana Zapata

July 13, 2018 / Chelsea / 11 Comments

Under Locke by Mariana Zapata
Purchase on: Amazon
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
After moving to Austin following six months of unemployment back home, Iris Taylor knows she should be glad to have landed a job so quickly... even if the business is owned by a member of the same motorcycle club her estranged father used to belong to. Except Dex Locke might just be the biggest jerk she’s ever met. He’s rude, impatient and doesn’t know how to tell time.

And the last thing they ever expected was each other.

But it was either the strip club or the tattoo shop.

… she should have chosen the strip club.

He squeezed me to him, tight. “But you don’t gotta worry about anything. There’s only a few things I’ve ever given a shit about. Everything else… is seasonal, as Ma would say.” He pressed his mouth to my temple, whispering, “Then there’s you.”

That moment when you know an author has changed your life forever….it’s this one. This moment. Yes-I have posted only two other reviews previously for said author, but like with your love life-if you know, you know. And here? It’s unmistakable to me that Mariana Zapata was someone I was destined to find right when I needed a push for happiness in my life.

When exactly I’d started looking forward to spending time with him, I had no idea. When I started eating up those little smiles at Pins and those little secrets we shared… I have no idea either. But I had. I’d grown to accept the fact that I had a massive attraction to someone who might not be capable of liking me in return.

We can’t choose who/what we love (I mean… we can, but c’mon) or why we love it-sometimes something or someone just falls into your lap and it’s meant to be. And the emotions that are invoked when I pick up a Zapata book can’t be faked nor embellished. Nothing about these books are perfect-in fact, I’d even venture to say that my stuck up ass would have lifted my nose in the air not even two years ago and refused to finish this story because of some of the editing errors-few though as there are. But they’re perfect for ME, right now, here and in this moment. And I refuse to believe these characters wouldn’t have stolen my heart, anyway.

“Babe, I’ve handpicked everythin’ and everyone in here. I know what I want and I get what I want,” he breathed. “And I keep what’s mine.”

I won’t make this as long as my other Zapata reviews because, well, if you’ve heard me gush about one of her men, you’ve heard me gush about all of them, really. Her books tend to have the same formulas, the same macho-ness, the same heroine psycho-babble inside their minds….but, somehow, they always seem to touch me in different ways. How in the world do you explain that? But, I will say this: This is by far the most different MZ to date.

“What do you think?”
“Jaywalking?” I laughed.
“No.” I turned my head to look at him over my shoulder. “Indecent exposure?”
All he did was stare at me for the longest moment in history in response. When I snickered, he blinked, one side of his mouth tipping up just barely.
“I don’t think I’ve ever let anybody gimme as much grief as you do.”

The guy was a bit grittier, the story not a sports romance, and the end result a little different. Yes, there were a LOT of similarities-wonderful friends, hilarious banter, devoted man, amazing storyline, hate-to-love, but that’s, for me, where the similarities ended. For one, the guy in this book was a lot, hmm, gruffer. He wasn’t frills and flowers-he was a tattoo shop owner and a member of a motorcycle club. He didn’t conform to what I’m accustomed to, and I dug it-I dug it hard. And, MZ is the QUEEN of slow-burn, yes? Well, the MC’s get together MUCH earlier in this story so we have a lot more couple time-which I just plain adored. And this story-line, while not completely dastardly, had a more menacing undertone. So, ya know, just a smidgen (and I do mean SMIDGEN) of peril to dash on an already beautifully concocted sundae of feels.

His laugh was hard. “Honey, you and me, we’re more than just friends.”
And… I was dead. I had to be.
Dex scrubbed his fingers over his lips again, his glare violent. “Look at you. I never stood a fuckin’ chance.”

And, as always, my favorite parts included both jealousy of the MC (yaaassss Zapata), the slow burn, and the NEED to protect the heroine at all costs. So, naturally, what I always love in most any book-it just is always done so well, here. Now….like with any book, I’ll be candid-There was more here I could see people having a problem with than her other works. And it’s hard for me to say what those things are because they just plain don’t bother me. The only tic that lightly bothered me was Dex’s southern lilt. It was an adjustment for me, because I’m super picky with speech in stories. But, other than that, what might bother people include, but are not limited to, the virgin heroine storyline, the motorcycle=bad boy trope, the more ‘aggressive’ nature of Dex (fists first, questions later (SOMETIMES)), the possessive feel he has for Iris even when they aren’t together-NONE of this bothers me, and, frankly, tons of books have guys that get jelly and are possessive of the girl they adore, but I suppose, on top of everything else, this might be harder for others to swallow. Just my honest opinion, there. See? I can be rational and unbiased for the sake of others.

I finally had it though. Only one of us could be a moody shit, and that would be me.

And, finally, I just plain adored the sex scenes in this one. Yeah, I know, weird of me to say-but in every MZ you know there is at least ONE explosive scene we all wait for at the end….but I felt these sex scenes were, by far, the most well-written and the most addicting. Perhaps it has to do with the timing in the other stories where we wait so long that we are extremely picky, but I just know that this one was my favorite, so far, of the three. And, I’ll be honest, I just LOVE the bad boy/virgin trope. SORRY NOT SORRY.

I was swallowed whole by emotion. By this terrifying thing that had to be love because it hurt as much as it soothed.

Once again I have gushed myself into oblivion, but I did it with no frills and I think this is what this book needed and deserved. It wasn’t a cutesy sports romance like the others (they were far from cutesy but what else could I explain them as?), and it needed more subtle reviewing. I adored this book, like all the others, and I cannot wait to order my signed copy. I hope everyone continues to give this amazingly raw and honest author rave reviews-because she deserves all the hype. All of it.

*****

When you’re having a bad week and nothing else makes you happy-You’ll always have Zapata…

Nothing makes me happier or relaxes me more. Or, at least, that’s how I feel :)))

View all my reviews

REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: I Think I Love You (Oxford #5) by Lauren Layne

July 11, 2018 / Jen / 4 Comments

Over the years, I have fallen so hard for the Stiletto and then the Oxford series. I absolutely adore all of the characters and I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to them. While this can be read as a standalone, if you’re familiar with the previous books then you will get to see all of your favorites! So check out my 4 Star Review below and enter to win a copy of this fabulous book! Enjoy!

REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: I Think I Love You (Oxford #5) by Lauren Layne

I Think I Love You (Oxford #5)
by Lauren Layne
Purchase on: Amazon, iBooks
Add to: Goodreads

Synopsis:
Brit Robbins knows that dating in New York City is hard—she just hoped to have it mastered by age thirty. But after yet another promising suitor says they have no sparks, Brit decides it’s time to torch her dating game and try a new plan. And who better to coach Brit through the art of seduction than the guy who first gave her the “let’s be friends” card?

Hunter Cross has always figured there’s nothing his best friend Brit can do to surprise him. But Brit’s request is a surprise he doesn’t see coming—and one he’s definitely not prepared for. Hunter and Brit have always been careful to keep things perfectly platonic, but the fake dates and faux flirting are starting to feel like the real deal. And soon Hunter realizes he has taught Brit too well. Not only has she become an expert at seduction, the man becoming thoroughly seduced is him.

Review:

I Think I Love You was a wonderful end to the Stiletto/Oxford Series. We got to catch up with every couple from the previous books, and I loved seeing all of the people I had fallen in love with. And while his book could easily be read as a standalone, I definitely recommend going back to the very beginning with Julie and Mitchell in After the Kiss from the Stiletto Series. Trust me, it’s so worth it! This final book was about Hunter and Brit and their story was sexy, charismatic, funny and charming!

“Brit.” He waited until she looked at him. “That dress you’re wearing. I approve.”
“Yeah?” She mimicked his question from when she’d complimented his glasses.
“Oh yeah.”
Brit suddenly couldn’t breathe, and her hands felt a little shaky, her face hot.
Well, then . . .
Well, then . . .
What did she do with that?
And why did it make her feel like this?

If you’ve read the previous books, you know that Hunter and Brit both work at Oxford and have been best friends for the last six years. But over that time, Brit’s dating life had been dismal. She was desperate to figure out how to secure that second date, how to find a spark with someone else and ultimately feel sexy. Who better to ask to help her than her bff, Hunter! Right?

She stretched, the hem of her shirt riding up just enough to show a sliver of skin. A couple of weeks ago, he wouldn’t have noticed.
Now? He noticed.
And it wasn’t just that. He noticed the way she walked. The way a strand of hair tended to fall across her lips after she’d applied lip gloss and then laughed. He noticed the way she was with his family, as though she was a part of it. . . .
Brit tilted her head and gave him a curious look. “You okay?”
No. Not even fucking close.

While I ultimately knew how this book was going to end, I loved watching the journey. You see, Hunter and Brit didn’t see each other as anything more than best friends. So while Hunter was helping Brit work on her dating skills, I loved how a moment or feeling would make them pause. And even second guess what happened. Because they shouldn’t be feeling sexual tension or interest in each other right? They were just best friends, that was it. But the further they went down the road of helping Brit’s dating life, there were more and more moments where electricity seemed to course between them.

Brit skated away, doing a little half jump, but Hunter remained still for a moment longer, a bit jarred by the fact that he hadn’t touched her because of her plan; he hadn’t been trying to teach her anything.
He’d touched her because he wanted to.
And he wanted to do it again.

From the previous book, I Knew You Were Trouble, I liked Brit. It was impossible not to like her loving, friendly attitude. She had this way of making you comfortable while also wanting to be her friend. She definitely rocked the girl next door vibe hard and I loved her for it. And when she was around Hunter, I loved their moments together. Their friendship felt so solid and real and I loved watching it slowly turn into something more.

Brit turned toward him, catching his eye and giving a wide smile.
Hunter’s chest tightened, and for an awful moment he wondered if it wasn’t his dick that was going to cause him the real trouble.
What if it was his heart?

Hunter at times tested my patience. He didn’t always make the best choices and he could be clueless when it came to Brit. But he had a good heart and he loved her, so I was patient with him. Thank goodness he had great friends to help steer him in the right direction when needed! I actually loved being in Hunter’s head, when we alternated between them, because his thoughts were so complicated. Yes he was sexy, loyal and tried to do right by Brit but I loved how honest he was with himself. So I easily saw all of the good that Brit saw in him and I kept my fingers crossed that it would all end up good in the end!

“Hunter,” Brit said with a laugh. This time she put her hands on his arms and actually tried to move him aside.
He still didn’t move.
She looked up, her expression confused. “Hunter?”
He stared down at her. Don’t do it. Don’t do it, man.
Fuck it.
Hunter bent down and captured her mouth with his.

I Think I Love You is definitely for those that love friends to lovers romances and who want to see what all of their favorites, from the previous books, are up to. This book was such a wonderful end to the Oxford and Stiletto saga and I’m so thankful that I got to go on this journey and discover so many books that I treasure with my whole heart. And if you haven’t read the previous books in the series, I can’t recommend them enough. They were absolutely amazing!

*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book, provided by Random House – Loveswept. All thoughts and opinions are my own.*

Now Available:

AMAZON | B&N | iTUNES | KOBO | GOOGLE PLAY

Reading Order & Links: Amazon (click on covers) & iBooks (click on titles) *Each book can be read as a standalone, but best enjoyed in order.*
Irresistibly Yours #1 Reviews: Jen Chelsea	I Wish You Were Mine #2 Reviews: Jen	Someone Like You #3 Reviews: Jen Chelsea
I Knew You Were Trouble #4 Reviews: Jen	I Think I Love You #5 Reviews: Jen

About Lauren Layne:

Lauren Layne is the New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than two dozen romantic comedies. Her books have sold over a million copies, in nine languages. Lauren’s work has been featured in Publishers Weekly, Glamour, The Wall Street Journal, and Inside Edition. She is based in New York City.

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