Death Rides the Desert by Sara Bourgeris

4 Stars

A haunted ranch. A clever fox. Ghosts who won't shut up.

Claire Caldwell came to Arizona to sell her great aunt’s ranch, lick her wounds, and escape back to Chicago.

Then the ranch decided it wanted a new owner.

A copper furred fox starts leaving gifts on her doorstep. Translucent cowboys appear in the barn. A woman who died in 1985 cooks tamales in Claire’s kitchen like she never left. And somehow, the dead all seem to know one thing Claire does not.

She can see them.

When the most hated man in Perdido Springs turns up dead on Claire’s property and the sheriff waves it off as an accident, the ghosts make it clear. Someone in town is lying. Someone is dangerous. And everyone had a reason to want the victim gone.

With a mystical fox at her side, a house full of chatty spirits, and a too handsome veterinarian who keeps showing up just when she needs him, Claire has to solve a murder nobody wants solved.

Before she becomes the next ghost haunting Whispering Saguaro Ranch.

Welcome to the desert, where the dead do not rest and the living keep secrets.

I loved this book. It was cute in so many ways. It was cozy paranormal romance. I figured out the killer from the beginning but getting all the information was interesting. If moved nicely but could have used some character development. I will be reading more in the series.

Book 1 The Haunted Ranch

Amazon 

Knocked Up by my Fated Alpha by Jennifer Eve

2.5 Stars

Getting cheated on the night before my wedding?

Fine. I just slept with a ridiculously hot stranger.

Too bad he turned out to be my ex-fiancé’s uncle...And my new boss.

After losing my parents and my wolf, being forced into a political marriage was the last straw.

So, I ran.

Finding a job to make ends meet should be easy enough, right?

Unless my boss is Damien Blackwell—

Sharp, ruthless, my one-night stand and my ex’s uncle.

I’m his new assistant—faking smiles while hiding the way my body betrays me every time he’s near.

We’re supposed to keep things strictly professional.

Until he corners me behind closed doors, and every line between us starts to blur.

Then—his long-lost mate returns, with no memory of their breakup.

Perfect timing.

Except I’m already pregnant.

With his pup.

The writing in this book was so bad. At one point I swear Damien kills another character but than later talks about banishing him. I went back and reread to make sure I wasn’t confusing characters. There were also grammatical issues and it read like a high schooler wrote it. Besides the writing issues I also didn’t like how Damien treated Raven and she just takes it. I struggled to finish the book.

Book 1 Knocked up & Claimed

Amazon 

One Night Hand Stand by Julia Kent

3 Stars

Who accidentally has a one-night stand with her yoga instructor?

Yep. Me.

How did I accidentally sleep with someone, right? I know what you’re thinking. Whoops! I slipped and inadvertently inserted Tab A into Slot B.

That’s not quite how it went.

But my yoga instructor is really, really skilled with Tab A, if you know what I mean.

Slot B never had it so good.

What am I supposed to do now, as I walk into my yoga class and find the guy I ghosted this morning… there, in front of the class, perfectly aligned and grinning at me like he remembers touching all my chakras.

He's perfect. Too perfect. He's so perfect he's ruining my job.

I'm an investigative reporter, working on spec for an article for a national magazine, and my job is to find all the ways this yoga chain is corrupt.

The only thing criminal here is that I can't have him in Slot B ever again. And I would. I'd turn myself into a paper doll book if that's what it took for more of that action.

I want him. He wants me. Nothing I do will make him back off because the chemistry is off the charts.

Except for one pesky little thing:

We’re at cross-purposes.

I need my exposé to get the job of my dreams. He needs to sell his stake in the yoga chain before I expose the corrupt current owner.

That makes him my enemy. My nemesis. The guy I have to get around to get ahead.

And now we’re supposed to hate each other.

But who ever let that get in the way of love?

I struggled so hard with this audiobook. I don’t know if it was the narrators or the story but I wasn’t a huge fan of this book. Both Case and Sarah irritated me and I didn’t really care if they got their HEA. I also felt the book was so slow to get anywhere. It might have been a better book to read then to listen too.

Amazon 

Kiss from a Rose by Maya Alden

2 Stars

He built an empire, but forgot to cherish his queen.

So, she found herself by leaving him. Can he find her by following?

Because when is a kiss from his Rose not just a kiss—but a second chance?

Gray Rutherford had it all—a thriving business, a luxurious home, and a family he adored. Yet, when his wife Rose leaves him after twenty years of marriage, he's forced to face the bitter truth: he's taken her devotion for granted.

Confronted with his failings, Gray embarks on a desperate journey to reclaim the love of his life and prove that she is indispensable to him.

On the cusp of forty, Rose Rutherford stands at a life-altering crossroads. Tired of feeling invisible and undervalued in her marriage, she leaves her affluent Atlanta life for Angel Island to manage a friend's B&B as her friend faces the end of her life.

When Gray arrives, intent on reconciliation, Rose is torn between her newfound independence and the past she left behind.

They do nothing to make up for being dicks to Rose. Gray claims to love Rose so much and can’t imagine his life without her but allows his secretary to be a bitch to her. Their kids treat her horribly because of how he treats her. Then they are shocked she wants a divorce. She moves in to help her friend and the family still thinks she will come running back. When she doesn’t come back they track her down and beg for her forgiveness by saying they will change. She just forgives them the minute they start making an effort.

Book Apart of A Modern Vintage Romance

Amazon 

Blood Sweeter Than Honey by Chiara Forestieri

2 Stars

Gideon

After leaving the military and an all-too-violent past behind, I craved nothing more than solitude—a peaceful life carved out under open skies and green pastures. So, when the local sheriff asks me to take in a mysterious woman, I’m far from thrilled. I’ve spent the last five years celibate and untouched by romance, surrounded only by honest work and the gentle souls of the animals on my ranch. Yet with every moment I spend in Winnow’s presence, some unseen cord winds tighter inside me, drawing me toward her. Soon enough, the urge to protect her—truly care for her—settles deep in my bones, impossible to ignore. I’m starting to believe I was made for this woman—and she, for me.

Winnow

After surviving a war and a traumatic past, I was endowed with the Duchy of Cerulia—thrust into a life I never wanted, bound by a duty I never chose. I’ve been shackled between the urge to walk away and the aching need to give my people the peace they’ve long been denied. It doesn’t take long for the weight of responsibility to wither my soul. So when a rare chance for a vacation appears, I seize it—only for everything to go horrifically awry.

Just when I think all hope is lost, the universe rewrites my path in the most unexpected way, and I find myself with nowhere to go but into the arms of a gruff cowboy—my soulbound.

There were so many tropes in this book. It was too many and made it hard to read. The SA and torture scenes were talked about but not really addressed or resolved. I almost DNF so many times reading this book because it didn’t make sense.

Part of Fated to the Cowboy

Amazon 

 

Not Mine to Love by Rose Lucas

3 Stars

Patrick McLaren: CEO of McLaren Hotels. Helicopter pilot. Part-time adrenaline junkie who treats frostbite like a mild inconvenience. The kind of man who can silence a boardroom with one raised brow.

Which is deeply unfortunate, because I, Georgie Fitzgerald, have been sent to his remote Scottish hotel to overhaul their IT systems. That means weeks of working in close proximity to him and his lethal combination of jawline, arrogance, and disdain.

And I know exactly what he thinks of me, because the man doesn’t bother hiding it.

I’m his best friend’s little sister—the pity hire who tanked her interview and only got the job because my big brother pulled strings. The tech gremlin occasionally allowed out of her cupboard to reset the router before being shoved back in again.

He climbs mountains for fun. I break into a sweat ordering coffee. He’s brooding intensity in a bespoke suit. I’m anxious energy and catastrophic overthinking in a cardigan.

It doesn’t matter how hard I work to prove myself at his company. He doesn’t notice. He doesn’t notice much about me at all.

Which is fine. It’s not that I want his attention. It’s just… I can’t help being shy. I can’t help that I’m still rebuilding myself after someone else tore me down.

But maybe I’m tired of being anxious, apologetic, router-resetting Georgie who lives in the background, worrying about what everyone thinks. About what he thinks.

Maybe it’s time to reclaim my narrative.

And maybe that includes claiming him.

Patrick was a fucking idiot. He ruined the book. I liked Georgie and wanted more for her. I was curious why she had the issues she did. She did forgive him too quickly. He screwed around with her life from beginning to end and she just took it. Her brother doesn’t want them together so he dumps her. Someone at work says she did something wrong and he believes them without investigating. It wasn’t until the entire team came together and threatened to quit for him to finally believe her.

Book 3 Billionaire Brits

Amazon 

No Ordinary Love by Maya Alden

3 Stars

I broke her heart, but I will win her back.

Because mine is...No Ordinary Love.

Lucas Covington had everything: Charleston's old money, a successful family business, and Amara—the strong, brilliant professor who turned his world upside down.

One careless conversation destroys it all.

When Amara overhears Lucas admitting he's still torn about his recently single ex and not sure if he loves her, she walks out, leaving behind the life they were building and the man too blind to see what he had.

As Lucas tumbles back into a toxic relationship with his high school sweetheart, he realizes just how badly he screwed up. Amara was the woman he needed, the one who made him feel alive. The one he loves.

Unable to heal her broken heart, Amara decides to leave Charleston. When Lucas finds out, he pulls every string he can, forcing her to stay in the city under the guise of a high-profile consultancy gig.

Now, with Amara back in his orbit but not in his arms, Lucas has to fight harder than ever to win her back. But with his ex-girlfriend digging her claws in and his own mother backing her, it's a battle he might not survive.

It's going to take a hell of a lot of groveling and facing his darkest truths to prove to Amara that his love is no ordinary thing.

I don’t know why I read this book. It was from an ad and it made it look so good. But it was just ok. Lucas was an ass but does make up for it. She should have left and stayed gone.

Book A Part of A Modern Vintage Romance

Amazon