War by Brittanee Nicole

 

3.75 Stars

I’ve never been a good bet.
I wear my emotions on my tattoo-covered sleeve, I say all the wrong things and I revel in pissing off a certain redhead far more than I should. In other words, I’m the last person the court would choose to parent any child, let alone three of them.

Yet being their father is all I want.

So when the woman I love to hate offers to help make all my dreams come true, I jump at the chance. Marrying Ava is a convenient solution: she's my kids favorite person and the court will absolutely approve of the woman who runs the biggest charity in Boston.

But there is nothing convenient about the way I feel when she fights with me, or when we kiss. And I'm not sure which I enjoy more.

This marriage may have a time limit but I'm beginning to think I'd like to keep my wife. She’ll probably fight me on it, but as they say, all’s fair in love and war.

Tyler needed a wife to adopt his foster kids and Ava was their favorite person so of course he talks her into a fake marriage. They both have drama with their ex’s they are dealing with but overall the story was good.

Book 3 Boston Bolts Hockey

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Gentling the Beast by LV Lane

3 Stars

When the Blighten raided my village, my mother gave me her last words of advice.

“Find the biggest, most fearsome man and throw yourself at his mercy. There is no shame before the Goddess in doing whatever you must to survive.”

Which was easier said than done.

I lived in denial for a time, daydreaming of a handsome prince who would rescue me and take me to his grand castle. Here, we would live happily ever after, making royal babies.

Reality is cold and bitter.

No such prince comes.

And later, when my vulnerability as a bondservant manifests terrifying consequences, an unexpected savior swoops in.

Not a prince, but a hideous white orc and the ugliest beast I have ever met—a mute outcast with shifter blood but who cannot shift.

Only I sense he has a good heart, and I remember my mother’s advice.

Can I overcome my aversion?

Maybe he thinks I am ugly too?

Will I even survive mating such a fierce male?

But if I don’t try, who will be there to save me the next time human predators come around?

And so I decide, one way or another, that the white orcish monster is going to be mine.

The book was a bit disjointed. No world or character building. This all led to a meh kind of read. I loved the concept but wanted it to be more fleshed out. It could be because this is book 2 the info was in the first book so I will be reading that one but if it’s supposed to be able to stand on its own this one didn’t. I did like Doug and Jasmine together and how they came about. 

Book 2 Coveted by the Orc

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Happily Ever Never by Carrie Ann Ryan

4 Stars

I love falling in love.

Only I’m the worst at it.

My friends call me a serial first dater and I can’t blame them.

All I want is a happy ever after, yet all I find are happy ever nevers.

This is my last chance. After this set up with my friend’s tattoo artist, I’m done.

No more dating. No more chances.

If I don’t fall in love with Leo Johnson, I’ll give up on dating.

Even if it shatters my dreams in the process.

I loved this book. May was excellent on first dates but nothing every went past that first date. I loved her with Leo. They just worked and May got to get past the first date curse.

Book 2.5 Montgomery Ink Legacy

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Single Dad Dilemma by Karla Sorenson

3 Stars

A gruff, divorced NFL coach meets his match in an equally grumpy, commitment-phobic neighbor in this warm-hearted and witty romance about family, second chances, and overcoming the past.

You’d think it was the perfect setup: living next door to the grumpy single dad who needs my help with his troublemaking kids—just until football season is over. Swoony stuff, right?

You know who’s not swooning? Me.

I’m as grumpy as he is, and I’m fairly certain that for NFL Coach Barrett King, it was hate at first sight. It’s nothing I’ll lose sleep over because 1) the feeling is mutual, and 2) I’m not a people person. Just me and my dog, Larry, moving around when the mood strikes, is what I prefer.

Except I start getting attached. First to the kids. Then to their father. I don’t know why. He’s overbearing. His attempts at flirting are just growls and glares. But if I ever see that man smile…well, I might tear all his clothes off.

I don’t do forever. And Barrett—serious, thoughtful, sexier than he has any right to be—doesn’t do short term. We’re headed straight for disaster.

But if we're willing to take a risk, maybe this story won't end in heartbreak. Maybe what started as the perfect setup for two imperfect people just might end in love.

I loved the kids in this book so much. They were just adorable. The adults less so. The back and forth went on too long between Barrett and Lily. I also struggled with Lily wanting to leave even though she was happy where she was at.

Book 2 The Kings

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Stalked by the Kraken by Lillian Lark

3 Stars

A matchmaking witch, an ancient sea creature, and the sex contract they make.

Welcome to the Love Bathhouse where desire and acceptance are in the water.

The Witch

Celibacy is a bad look for a matchmaker.

Especially a matchmaker who works at the kind of paranormal bathhouse that would have grandmothers clutching their pearls.

A worse look is a matchmaker experiencing a crisis of confidence.

I am that matchmaker.

We need raw magic, desperately.

And now a mysterious man walks into my office, offering me the exact solution I need.

The problem is that he wants to be matched… with me.

Matching doesn’t work for me; I found that out the hard way.

The Kraken

I saw her and the creature inside me wanted.

She doesn’t want a relationship. She says that the most we can have are the three nights she promised me, but the dark part of myself isn’t going to let the woman who snared its attention go.

I found her. I hunted her. She’s mine.

I’ve loved other books by Lillian Lark but this isn’t one of them. I am glad I didn’t read in order because I wouldn’t have continued the series. The book felt disjointed. I loved the idea of the book. I just wished for it to be better paced and put together.

Book 1 Monstrous Matches

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Sated in Ink by Carrie Ann Ryan

3 Stars

Ethan Montgomery thought he had his life figured out until the moment he and his best friend, Lincoln, met a woman in a wedding dress drinking wine out of a paper bag. Love has never been in the cards for him because he doesn’t realize what is right in front of him.

Lincoln’s done his best to ignore his feelings for Ethan and focus on his art. Yet the moment Holland enters the picture, all bets are off and sparks fly.

Only Holland is fresh out of a disastrous relationship that ended with her running away from her cheating groom. She’s not sure she can trust a man again—let alone two.

But the attraction between them cannot be denied and sometimes there’s no going back—even when their pasts try to break them apart.

The frustration I had with Holland, Ethan, and Lincoln. They all wanted out so the other two could have their HEA. It got old really quickly. I also felt like the ending was too rushed.

Book 13 Montgomery Ink

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A Proposal to Die For by Molly Harper

4 Stars

Jessamine Bricker loves a plan. Contingency plans and pros-and-cons lists are her love language, and because of that, her proposal planning business is thriving. But with rent costs rising at her office building, Jess jumps at the chance to plan a proposal between her snobby high school classmate, Diana, and her very wealthy boyfriend, Trenton Tillard…the Fourth.

Roped into joining Diana’s ”pre-bridal” retreat at the exclusive Golden Ash resort, Jess hopes to fade into the background, get some work done, and maybe find some time to unwind. Their first day is anything but relaxing: Diana is furious about the mountain spa’s lack of cell phone reception, the couple next door argues constantly, and Jess swears she just saw a drug deal go down. To top it all off, she’s warned to stay out of the woods by the gruff and sexy chef, Dean Osbourne. Is this a retreat or a horror movie?

As Jess tries to do her job while placating the bride-to-be and her increasingly over-the-top demands, she spends more and more time with the resort owners, finding herself much more in tune with the laid-back Osbourne family than her social climbing “boss.” Between a meditation garden-related drowning and Jess’s discovery of a body in a sauna, it's clear that deadly secrets abound at the Golden Ash. Now it’s up to Jess to unravel the mysteries here in the mountains—before all her plans are cancelled…permanently.

I loved this murder mystery with just a bit of romance. The characters were well developed and so was the world. I loved how the mystery played out. As well as the back and forth between Jess and Dean. Definitely looking forward to the next one.

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