Alpha’s Savior by Reece Barden

3 Stars

Hayley's on the run from a stalker who's determined to make her pay. When she saves the life of the local alpha, exposing her new location, Cooper decides he has to make her his.
His to possess, his to love, his to protect.
He's waited a long time to find his mate. He's not going to let her go.
She risked her cover and her life to save him. He's willing to do anything to keep her safe.

Will Hayley be able to accept this whole new world of wolf shifters, packs and fated mates that she never knew existed, or will her past catch up to her and ruin it all?

The secrets that were being kept got old fast and was so frustrating to see it be dragged out. I enjoyed the give and take between Hayley and Cooper. I loved that she worked on being a strong woman even though she had a werewolf mate that could protect her.

Book 1 Shifters of Grey Ridge

Amazon

 

Crossroads by Devney Perry

3.5 Stars

I met West Haven when I was eight years old. He taught me to play poker when I was nine, and we made paper airplanes together when I was eleven. He kissed me when I was sixteen. He was the best part about my family’s summer vacations to Montana. He was the boy who stole my heart. I was twenty-three when life ripped us apart.

Years later, I’m breaking my vow and returning to the ranch, not as a guest but its new owner. West might want me gone, but even he has to admit the only way to save his family’s legacy is with my help.

It’s not easy working side by side and facing those old memories. But this situation is only temporary. We’re at a crossroads. And as long as I don’t let myself fall in love with West Haven again, maybe this is our chance to put those ghosts to rest. Maybe this time we’ll finally be able to say goodbye.

I enjoyed this one a lot but Indy was a lot and West deserved better. The story flowed nicely and was well developed. I loved learning about their history when they are kids and what led to their separation. Once they met up as an adult it was interesting to see how they grew and worked so well.

Book 1 Haven River Ranch

Amazon 

Unexpected Bond by Kaylee Ryan

2.75 Stars

Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, the universe decides to tilt your world on its axis.

I had a plan, and I was moving forward until the day my world was flipped upside down.

It’s a challenge I wasn’t prepared for, but one I had to face.

How do you combine the life you thought you had to the one you’re living?

One breath.

One second.

One minute.

One hour.

One day at a time, you learn to live with your unexpected bond.

OMG this was just weird. Seth meets his forever with Mara but finds out he got her best friend Amelia pregnant. Now this was before they got together so no cheating but I still have the ick cause he knew it was her friend and he wanted Mara. Amelia ends up with terminal cancer and Seth expects Mara to be all in and help him raise his kid. Mara did step up to be mom but overall the book was just meh.

Book 4 Unexpected Arrivals

Amazon 

Omega Lost by CT Rhames

2.75 Stars

I had the perfect pack. Until I wasn’t enough for them.

Omegas are supposed to be cherished. Protected. Loved.

I thought I was—until my pack found their true scent match and threw me away like I meant nothing.

They sent me to the Reassignment Center, where rejected omegas are supposed to find new packs. But omegas like me don’t get fairy-tale endings.

We get two choices:

A low-class pack that no one else wants.

The heat dens—where omegas are used until there’s nothing left of them.

After nine months in hell, I’ll take any pack that will have me. Even if they’re dangerous. Even if they live outside the law.

They claim I’m their scent match. But I’ll never make the mistake of giving my heart away again.

This was a weird one. I wanted to like it more as I liked aspects of it and the idea was there. But the actual book needed work. There was no world or character development. Add in the book being all over the place it was a pass for me.

Book Part of Omega Reckoning

Amazon 

 

Better Than Friends by Jill Shalvis

4 Stars

When Olive Porter’s off-the-grid parents go missing, she reluctantly seeks out Noah Turner, her ex and the only person she both trusts implicitly and not at all.

As a special investigative agent for the National Park Service, Noah’s used to living under intense pressure. Or he was until he got injured on the job. Now unhappily recuperating at home while being smothered by his loving but nosy family, he’d love nothing more than a good distraction.

So when Olive shows up looking like a million bucks, he has to do a gut and heart check. Because nope, no matter what, he can’t fall for her again, the woman who once blew up his entire life and never looked back. How ironic then that his own personal hell (Olive) is also his ticket out of town. The question is, will the risk be worth the reward?

I really enjoyed listening to this book. Olive has had an interesting life. I liked Olive with Noah. Loved that the his sister and mom and her grandma were trying to push them together. They both fought the valiant fight to their HEA. When you find out why Olive left that was heartbreaking and I still don’t know exactly why Noah’s dad did what he did. Overall, good listen.

Book 7 Sunrise Cove

Amazon 

Funny Story by Emily Henry

3.5 Stars

Daphne always loved the way her fiancé Peter told their story. How they met (on a blustery day), fell in love (over an errant hat), and moved back to his lakeside hometown to begin their life together. He really was good at telling it…right up until the moment he realized he was actually in love with his childhood best friend Petra.

 

Which is how Daphne begins her new story: Stranded in beautiful Waning Bay, Michigan, without friends or family but with a dream job as a children’s librarian (that barely pays the bills), and proposing to be roommates with the only person who could possibly understand her predicament: Petra’s ex, Miles Nowak.

 

Scruffy and chaotic—with a penchant for taking solace in the sounds of heart break love ballads—Miles is exactly the opposite of practical, buttoned up Daphne, whose coworkers know so little about her they have a running bet that she’s either FBI or in witness protection. The roommates mainly avoid one another, until one day, while drowning their sorrows, they form a tenuous friendship and a plan. If said plan also involves posting deliberately misleading photos of their summer adventures together, well, who could blame them?

 

But it’s all just for show, of course, because there’s no way Daphne would actually start her new chapter by falling in love with her ex-fiancé’s new fiancée’s ex . . . right?

Took a minute for me to get into the story but once I did I enjoyed it. The premise was cute. Daphne is dumped by her Fiancé and moves in with the ex of the woman who is now dating the Fiancé. I liked Daphne and Miles. They both got screwed over by their partners. The little lie they gave about dating made sense and I loved how upset the exs were about this.

Amazon 

Good Guy Gabe by CB Alice

2 Stars

I’m the responsible guy. The polite guy. The guy my teammates on the Wilmington Juggernauts, the NFL’s newest expansion team, rely on to keep things running smoothly.

When I’m sent to a local quilt shop to pick up a donation for an upcoming fundraiser, I realize I'm something else: the guy who's going to marry Joss Paige, the self-proclaimed but wildly successful quiltfluencer.

Joss is a hermit, hiding in her shop and online community, but I won’t let that stop me from taking her to the fundraiser. There, I learn she’s been shunned by Wilmington high society because of crimes committed by her ex-husband.

I don’t care about her past or her ex. I only care about keeping her by my side, no matter what it takes. White lies and gentle manipulations—they’re for our happiness. The greater good and all that.

But then I find out what her ex-husband did, what it did to her, and what my tiny white lie will do to her.

And it turns out I’m not the good guy after all.

The story was there and should have been good. It started nicely and I was digging it until the first time Joss and Gabe hook up. She isn’t on anything asked for a condom and he lied and said he can’t have kids. That was the minute I was done with the story. It is no longer consenting. I have no problem with breeding kink but this wasn’t that. Also the drama with Joss went on so long that I got I bored with the drama.

Book 1 Wilmington Juggernauts

Amazon