Top 3 Reads of May!

4 stars Lord Johnnie by Leslie T. White review

4 stars Indigo by Beverly Jenkins review

4.3 stars Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev review

What were your top reads of May?

Reading Update: 50%

Rye Mallet, a fearless “freight dog” & Dr. Brynn O’Neal, mysterious and alluring, must learn to trust each other so they can protect their valuable cargo from those who would kill for it. 

What could go better with a romance thriller than Cotton Candy donuts? ;)

Tailspin by Sandra Brown purchase link

Cotton Candy Baked Cake Donuts recipe

Review: Lord Johnnie

Lord Johnnie by Leslie Turner White
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thank you to Linda Hilton for the rec :)

This book was so much fun, Raiden wanted to get into the spirit. I told him to give me his best pirate mean mug



He did not disappoint, lol.


"The road of life leaves as strong an imprint on the man as the man leaves on the road, Johnnie. We are all the fruits of our experiences. You can't change that."
"A bitter truth," he agreed.
She studied him a long while in silence. "That girl has altered your outlook, hasn't she?"
"Let's say she clarified it, your Grace."

If you're a fan of Errol Flynn movies or any of variation of Robin Hood tv shows, you'll want to get a copy of this.

Johnnie Rogue was born a bastard, his father supposedly died at sea and didn't make it back to marry Johnnie's mother, while she died in childbirth. With an English mother and Scottish father, living in France was difficult and Johnnie had to turn to thievery to survive. When he makes it back to England he becomes a bold and brash highwayman who eventually gets caught.

"The procedure is simple enough: ye marry a condemned rascal, who as yer 'usband becomes legally responsible fer yer debts. We promptly 'angs 'im, leavin' ye a pretty little widow, free as a bird o' both 'usban' an' debts."

Lady Leanna is dangerously in debt and looks to marry a condemned man, using the loophole of her "husband" being responsible for the debts and when he gets hung, the debts are wiped out because he paid for his "crime". As rogues are want to do in these stories, Johnnie escapes the hangman's noose.

"All right—I'll be honest, I'll tell you something I never spoke aloud before, because, until the moment you walked into Newgate, it was nothing but a vain, silly, hopeless wish." He talked rapidly, as if trying to keep ahead of the restraint of reason. "I have always wanted to be a gentleman! I've hated sordidness and poverty, hated coarseness and vulgarity. Then, miraculously, you came into that hell-hole and married me. In that I saw the hand of Providence. I would have been a fool to have thrown the opportunity away."

While Johnnie might be a rascal, he's actually only wanted to live a lawful life, poverty and circumstance led him down a different road. When he finds Leanna after escaping death, he sees her as his salvation, Leanna does not feel the same way as she has someone else in mind for marriage. There's a sex scene that fades to black very quickly and a deal struck between the two that after one night of pretending to be husband and wife, Johnnie will disappear from her life forever. They leave on good terms but a later possible betrayal leaves Johnnie bitter towards Leanna and leads him to berate himself for thinking he could go legit.

These sodden creatures were without initiative; blindly they subscribed to the old rule of the sea: Grumble you may, obey you must.

We leave land to take to the high seas because Johnnie gets captured by the press gangs, which eventually leads to him starting a mutiny and becoming a captain. He decides to travel to America, because he saw Leanna board a ship with her beau headed there and decides he can't live without her. This desire for Leanna feels a bit empty because the reader doesn't really "know" Leanna and what we do of her, doesn't make her a sympathetic character as Johnnie is the lead and is the one the reader's are endeared to.

There is some high seas action and conscious searching in regards to Johnnie helping out England in what is the tumultuous climate of America and England about to go to war and France slithering around. Strong secondary characters help round these parts, Ben Bottle - also press ganged and helps Johnnie pull off the mutiny and becomes his right hand man, Old Ames - Johnnie searched him out to get information on his father, Ames gets press ganged with Johnnie and becomes his source of information on how to survive at sea as Ames is an old sea dog, and 1st Lt. Yew - forced to stay on after the mutiny and spends most the time being frenemies with Johnnie. There are a couple others, like the Duchess of Tallentyre, Reggie, who I would delight in reading their own books.

For first being published in 1949, this has aged remarkably well. The dialect of the sailors was a little hard to read and understand, forcing me to reread some parts and Johnnie's friend Ben had a tendency to use the saying "Rape me" as a sort of replacement for "I'll be", which threw me a couple times. Other than that, the writing, characters, and story stand strong in this time.

For me, this was more of a swashbuckling adventure than romance. We hardly get to know Leanna and she and Johnnie spend very limited time together. This was more of the journey Johnnie goes on and the five women who send him on it: Mother - dies in childbirth, Leanna - marries Johnnie, betrays him, and inspires hope for him to go legit, Moll - starts off as his friend helping to rescue him only to betray him, Mrs. Bloodsymthe - helps reinforce his loyalty to Leanna and rescues him after she sees him as rescuing her, and Reggie - helps him get the opportunity to escape New York.

Johnnie stays loyal to Leanna after he meets her but he also has a moment where he kidnaps her in front of society, thus taking away any decision she would have made and ruining her reputation; he does eventually leave her to make her own decision on staying with him but I wish we could have gotten a stronger sense of her feelings.

All in all, this was so much fun. If you miss Errol Flynn characters, Johnnie the Rogue's courage, ingenuity, charm, luck, and wit, while longing for Leanna and a life of legitimacy, is a story you'll want to pick up.

Johnnie the Rogue is dead, and John Ballantyne has emerged.



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Reading Update: 50%

 

He smiled crookedly. "As I see it, we are two of a kind —a couple of unscrupulous thieves trying to lift ourselves by the bootstraps."

This is turning out to be some swashbuckling fun!

Review: A Rogue by Night

A Rogue by Night by Kelly Bowen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

“I don't like to be told what I can and can't do. What is right and wrong based on nothing but preconceptions and ignorance.” He stepped closer. “I don't think you do either.”

A Rogue by Night follows Harland Hayward and Katherine Wright as they get caught up in smuggling, doctoring, and falling in love. The Devils of Dover's previous two books starred Harland's sisters and while you could start here like I did, I think I missed out on the hows and whys of Harland's character. We're introduced to him as a surgeon, learn he's also a Baron, and is the go-between in a smuggling business. It's obvious that he doesn't want to be apart of the smuggling, we don't get in depth scenes with him in this capacity, but we don't learn why he is apart of it until halfway through the book; his parents died suddenly leaving the family in debt (this may have been explained in the previous two books). I was also a little unsure of his desire to be a surgeon, where was the passion to pursue this line of work when it is stepping outside the norm as he was a baron? Missing some of this background on Harland's character had him feeling only like a pencil sketch to me and I never felt connected to him.

“I chose to ask for forgiveness rather than permission. [...]”

Katherine was the better flushed out character to me and read strong on the pages. I still thought the why and how she became a de facto surgeon in the army was left unexplained too long in the book. I think some emotional moments that would have endeared her to readers (view spoiler)[(a flashback to the moment she was betrayed by her lover, the war raging as she helped save the lives of soldiers would have been highly emotional) (hide spoiler)] were left out or lost their impact by her simply revealing them in one paragraph. Katherine and Harland were pretty busy from the get go and I missed some time to simply get to know them. Katherine is interested in medicine because of her mother and she got into smuggling because of her father, both explanations or impacts from these past occurrences got lost in the current action; they both could have added to the emotion of current events if given more depth in their relaying.

Forget intrigued. Despite his best intentions, he might also be smitten.

The attraction between the two was pretty immediate, especially from Harland's side. I thought the romance was weak, there wasn't time to enjoy the initial spark, then growing, and eventual succumbing. The situation that led them to travel to London and then France together felt very forced, there already seemed like numerous opportunities for them to be together, Haverhall School (a plot continued from the first two books), smuggling danger, or doctoring. Katherine and Harland were two characters with an abundance of personal similarities, so conceptually, their attraction was easy to understand, but the emotions never came off the pages for me.

If you've read other series by Bowen, most notably Season for Scandal, you'll recognize the character of King and a few others, I have a feeling the clamoring for King's story is going to increase as we get another look at this enigmatic character. Other secondary characters played their roles well, adding to the story and lead characters without stealing the show. The journeys Harland and Katherine go on, the character of the captain trying to shut the smuggling down felt over-the-top at times (did a smuggler kick his puppy once?), they sometimes felt contrived (who the colonel turns out to be at the prison), and a little too many off-shoots but I also enjoyed how Bowen tied everything together.

The last thirty percent was top notch writing and drew me into Katherine and Harland's lives but this was ultimately hurt by the lack of emotion, chemistry, and spark I felt was missing between the two. Flashbacks to previous moments in the lead's lives would have created a stronger emotional base and had me feeling these characters more, especially Harland, the issues from his former marriage/wife felt very foggy. If you've been a reader of this series or Season for Scandal, you'll probably enjoy seeing Harland get his happily ever after and getting a peek at King, but I'm not sure I'd recommend starting here.

And because no matter what she tried to tell herself, they were indeed the same. Different. Alone. Untouchable. Until the moment when they weren't.

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50%

"My lord---"

"Harland," he growled. "You don't get to do this to me and then call me my lord." He was breathing hard, desire still blazing from his dark eyes.

Reading Update: Page 1

A rogue and shrimp pasta, double yummy!

A Rogue by Night by Kelly Bowen pre-order link (May 28th) 

Ravioli with Seafood, Spinach, and Mushrooms (I left these out because, Bleh!) in Garlic Cream Sauce recipe

Review: Cowboy Rebel

Cowboy Rebel by Carolyn Brown
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

He had a bad reputation. Nikki had a crazy mother and an even more demanding work schedule. He could sure look past her issues if she could see past his.

Fourth in the Longhorn Canyon series following along a family and friends in Texas, Cowboy Rebel stars Tag, the always in trouble Baker boy and Nikki, the bestfriend of Tag's sister Emily. Nikki has always been attracted to Tag but never wanted to get involved with a bad boy, her mother's issues are enough for her. Tag's had his eye on Nikki but even though he is trying to clean up his act, he's not sure he is good enough for her.

But then would she care as much for him if he didn't have just a little bit of wild in him?

This was my first read in the Longhorn Canyon series, I think I missed some of the beginning spark between Tag and Nikki, there is talk of the two really starting to notice each other at Tag's sister Emily's wedding (Cowboy Brave). For all the talk of Tag being a rebel, he has decided to clean up his act, so there is no bad boy antics in this one. As a new reader, I wasn't completely feeling why he thought he wasn't good enough for Nikki. It's mentioned that he ran with a tough group and his bestfriend died in a motorcycle accident when he was seventeen, why Tag decides to “live like he was dying”. If you are a country music fan, you'll enjoy all the mentions of country songs and how the author picked songs that match the emotions or scenes that are happening when the song is mentioned.

Tag ended up feeling a bit of a blah character, Nikki had more life to her. Her relationship with her mother was sad but written in a very realistic way; I liked how the mother was completely demonized for having OCD, hypochondria, and the way those presumed issues (she's not diagnosed) amplified or caused her maternal bonding issues. The storyline involving Nikki's father ended up lacking an emotional punch as it felt like a manipulated happy ended with an unnecessary red-herring mystery side-plot.

The actual action/danger plot also ended up feeling forced, a friend from the crew Tag used to run with appears out of the blue and suddenly is angry Tag won't hang with them anymore. This leads to Nikki being put in danger with an almost eye-rolling second ending conclusion. Our characters had actual emotionally charged backgrounds, Tag with his friend dying, Nikki with her brother dying, mother, and father issues but the author never really delves deep enough in them to make the reader feel.

It had taken her a while to understand that family didn't always share DNA.

Even though I haven't read the others in the series, I enjoyed the friendships showcased with Nikki, Emily, and their Fab Five; I like when characters have relationships outside the romantic one, feels like the character gets flushed out more. If you are a reader of the series, you'll greatly enjoy all the reappearances of past couples and get caught up on their lives, there are also numerous side characters who look to be waiting in the wings to star in their own books.

There wasn't a lot of steam to this book, any bedroom scenes aren't until the latter half and the two sex scenes (I think one sentence to mention they have sex happened two other times) are only about two paragraphs long. There just didn't end up being enough umph, spark, or chemistry between Tag and Nikki for me and some of the story threads felt dragged out, manipulated, or not delved deep enough to strike emotion. However, if you're a reader of the series, you'll enjoy catching up with characters, if you like to listen to a soundtrack while you read there are plenty of country songs mentioned, or want a pretty darn close to clean read, this would trip those triggers.

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Reading Update: Page 1

Yee-haw! Can’t wait to see if the good girl can rope in the former bad boy

Cowboy Rebel by Carolyn Brown pre-order link 

Chili Lime Chicken Tacos with Grilled Pineapple Salsa recipe 

Review: Sniper's Pride

Sniper's Pride by Megan Crane
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

After being sent to the hospital twice over her shellfish allergy, Mariah is starting to think there is something nefarious going on. She's in the middle of getting a divorce from her emotionally abusive husband who doesn't want the embarrassment of a divorce as he is gearing up to run for office. Her late night YouTube surfing has led her to contact a group of men who call themselves Alaska Force.
Griffin isn't a fan of prissy blonde women after he found his wife and bestfriend were cheating on him. He's days as a Marine sniper have given a particular set of skills but have also made him think he shouldn't be around civilians. When Mariah shows up looking for help, his guard is instantly up.
While Alaska Force tries to determine is Mariah is really in danger, Griffin fights his own battle against falling for the client.

They were men without ties. Some without pasts.

The Alaska Force is made up of former military men, second in the series Sniper's Pride, focuses on Griffin. I have not read the first in the series but I had no problem jumping in here as the author gives sufficient background on the group and how everyone ties in together. Our heroine Mariah is a new character and has the grace and backbone of a girl who grew-up on the wrong side of the tracks and had to survive the snake pit of high society.

Griffin came off a bit harsh with Mariah in the beginning, he was making her pay for the pain his ex-wife cost him, I'm not sure I fully forgave him for his attitude. It was also excessively pushed how he felt he couldn't be around civilians. I read a good amount of romantic suspense, so maybe I'm just worn on this trope but I felt there wasn't enough given of Griffin's personality for me to believe in why he felt this way. Griffin says it over and over, the telling me all the time but not showing which leads me to not feeling.

Mariah was the stronger of the two characters, her admitting that she married to escape her family and poverty, to building up enough self-esteem to leave her marriage, and standing up to Griffin. Her character was sweet, strong, and funny. The chemistry between the two wasn't as strong as I would have liked, a lot of my issues was due to how rude Griffin could be to her at times. Their first sex scene felt a bit out of nowhere and their “I love yous” seemed very quick.

We get to see a couple of the other members of the Alaska Force, a teased romance between the founder and a grumpy cafe owner, but I would have liked to have seen more scenes between all the guys or Griffin's friendship with them, I think it would have filled out his character more.

All in all, this was basic line romantic suspense, Griffin was a bit cardboard cut-out alpha male, the villain was kind of fantastical, and the danger had the heroine needing to be rescued. Tropes that rom suspense readers look for, they just weren't given a fresh feel or much umph behind them.

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Reading Update: 15%

A Cinderella tale gone wrong, a mysterious group of former military men, and a vegan sandwich 👄

Sniper's Pride by Megan Crane purchase link

Ultimate Vegan Buffalo Cauliflower Sandwich recipe

Review: The Scent of Murder

The Scent of Murder by Kylie Logan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

People stumbled over their words. They blundered when it came to their feelings. Dogs always knew what to do. She could always count on a dog.

Jazz is an administrative assistant at an all girl's Catholic High School and trains cadaver dogs on the side. When helping to train a friend's dog, they actually end up finding a real human body. When Jazz realizes that she knew the girl murdered, she sets out to find who could have possibly done this.

This is first in a series that doesn't have a cliffhanger ending but will obviously continue following our central character Jazz. The story is told from her point of view and we are introduced to her detective ex-boyfriend Nick, along with her colleague best-friend, brothers, fellow cadaver dog handlers, and mother. Jazz's father died in a fire a year ago, she's dealing with the grief, along with the loss of her dog Manny, and lingering attraction to Nick.

Even with Jazz vaguely remembering Flori (the murder victim) from her going to the school Jazz works at, it seemed a bit of a stretch as to why she was going around trying to conduct her own investigation. There were even a couple of times that she tampered or withheld evidence that could have ruined Nick's investigation. The murder mystery itself threw out enough red-herrings to be interesting but some misleads ended up feeling very contrived.

“Damn.” One corner of his mouth thinned and he shook his head and followed her up the stairs. “Come on, Jazz. What we had, was it that bad?”
When she turned the key and shoved the door open, her smile was hard-edged. “ Even after all this time, you haven’t figured it out yet, have you? And I thought you were a smart guy. Don’t you get it, Nick? It wasn’t that bad. It was that good.”

The romance takes a big backseat to Jazz trying to figure out who killed Flori, Nick only appears a handful of times. We don't get any flashbacks to when they were in a relationship, it's discussed how it ended because of how their schedules never worked out. The author leaves some hope for them to get together again and the relationship will obviously be progressed further in the next book. There is some background given on Nick but his character isn't really felt, I never felt like I knew him. With this being all from Jazz's point of view, she obviously dominates and for the most part was a strong enough character to control the story, her motivations were sometimes a bit weak.

Jazz's involvement in trying to catch Flori's murderer was somewhat shaky but the mystery was stirring enough to keep me reading. The romance between her and Nick was extremely anemic and more of a tease to lead you to read the next to see if they can make time for each other. Jazz's world was sketched out enough to set a solid foundation for the series, I would have liked even more of her side job with working with cadaver dogs. This was a fair starter book to a series, hoping the next in the series colors in the sketching.

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Reading Update: 50%

A woman looking for answers, a hot detective, a cute doggo, and enchiladas

The Scent of Murder by Kylie Logan purchase link 

Ground Turkey Black Bean Enchiladas recipe

Review: The Truth About Lord Stoneville

The Truth About Lord Stoneville by Sabrina Jeffries
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“You forgot something when you left Halstead Hall,” he said hoarsely.
“What?” Her heart leapt into her throat as he strode purposefully toward her.
“Me.”

I buddy read this, to read all my thoughts, comments, and quotes - Truth About Lord Stoneville buddy read

This was definitely trope-y but the author infused enough charm and enticement between Oliver and Maria to have me liking this. The grandmother Hetty was a joy and the siblings also were fun to read about interacting and I'm going to want to continue on reading in the series. There isn't really anything new here and some depth is missing but there can be comfort and satisfaction in trope reading and this provided that.

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Review: Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors

Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.3 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The truth was, he was right about many things—things she could change, like how she treated people. He was also wrong about a few—things she could not change, like who she was.

In this start to the Rajes series, Sonali Dev gives us an emotional look into a royal Indian family that migrated to America. The title gives a clue that Ms. Dev took inspiration from Jane Austen, Trisha is our arrogant still waters run deep Mr. Darcy while DJ is our making some snap judgments Elizabeth. There is also a villainous Wickham character, older sister (already married) worried about her beau wanting someone else, sick younger sister, mother pressuring children to get married, and other little takings that Pride and Prejudice readers will recognize. It's all inspired by and not based on and I loved how Dev put her spin on the tale.

It had been fifteen years. Fifteen years since Trisha had been shut out of her brother’s political career, the family’s most precious dream.

The beginning focuses on Trisha, a young brilliant brain surgeon, and the dynamics she has with her family. Her family is rather large but I never felt overwhelmed with characters, Dev is amazing at weaving sibling, parent, cousin, and grandparent relationships into the fabric of the story. We learn how Trisha feels like an outcast in her family because of how a friendship (Julia Wickham) ended up hurting her brother Yash, a US District Attorney gearing up to make a run at California Governor. I can't even put into words how Dev expertly touches on and relays all those complicated family feelings; you'll get sucked in believing the Rajes are a real family and probably personally connect with some of their issues.

“Looks like we’re stuck together for the sake of our sisters.” He pulled the door shut, put the car in gear, and shot off around the looping driveway, watching her disappear in his rearview mirror. She didn’t look any happier at the prospect than he was.

DJ comes into the story with the opposite of a meet-cute with Trisha, leaving him to believe she's an arrogant snob. He also turns out to be the older brother of Emma, a patient of Trisha's. Emma has a brain tumor that other doctors have said is inoperable, but Trisha has developed a way to remove it, however, it would leave Emma, an artist, blind. Emma wants to refuse the surgery and DJ is mad that Trisha won't heavily push her. They are forced to spend more time together when, because of his friendship with one of Trisha's cousins, leads to him catering for her brother Yash's campaign fundraiser. Further complicating matters is Trisha's past enemy, Julia, snaking around DJ and Emma.

My sister is not live tissue. But DJ Caine was wrong. That’s precisely what Emma had to be to her, because Trisha knew exactly what to do with misbehaving live tissue.

Trisha is harder to warm up to right away, she is a bit arrogant but Dev deftly draws out her character through showing how she grew up, the dynamics, her guilt, her love for her family, and the very essence of what makes Trisha such a brilliant surgeon. Her character is a master class in giving what people need from you while still staying true to your core and finding someone who understands and loves you because and despite it all. It takes a little longer to get to DJ but Dev gives him as much depth and breadth to his character as Trisha. His background, parent's situation, racial and class divisions, relationship with surrogate mother, and being responsible for Emma at a young age, breath life into his thoughts, feelings, actions, and motivations.

The romance is all at once the background and motivation for the story, family dynamics steal the show often enough but without those dynamics driving the story, the romance would not flourish and feel as complete the way it does. Their relationship is very biting at first but as Dev peels back the layers on Trisha and Dev, it becomes clear how they are talking at cross purposes to each other and you begin to root for these two to clear up misunderstandings and give into what their hearts are trying to tell them.

As I said earlier, there is no way to touch on all the characters and threads that make this such an enriching full story. I don't know if it is a term but this read like literary romance, Dev beautifully began a woven tapestry of the Raje family. I've called Dev a “lip quivering” author and while the emotions can be quite raw at times, there is always an underlining hopefulness to her writing that makes me believe that love will win in the end. I'm utterly invested in the Raje family and can't wait for the next in the series.

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70%

“Stop pretending that you don’t care,” he said hoarsely. “We both care, and you know it. I care more than you can possibly imagine.”

More comments & quotes - Buddy Read Truth About Lord Stoneville

50%

Why were men such complicated beasts anyway? Relationships felt like full-time babysitting jobs crossed with high-level code cracking.

Dev is a "lip quivering" author, can't read her books in public because of the striking emotion.

50%

“Angel . . .” His eyes were heavy-lidded as he stared down at her. “You’re . . . amazing.” 
I’m fallen, she thought.

More comments & quotes - Buddy Read Truth About Lord Stoneville

30%

One thing was certain—there was more to the Marquess of Stoneville than met the eye. And more to this battle with his grandmother than she’d expected.

Wanting to add a "Team Grandma Hetty" t-shirt to my wardrobe :)

More comments/quotes - Buddy Read Truth About Lord Stoneville

Reading Update: Page 1

Late night reading and food dessert :)

Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev purchase link

Slow Cooker Brownie Pudding

Reading Update: 10%

She had the sort of upbringing that Americans seemed to prize and Englishmen to despise. A mother who’d been a shop-keeper’s daughter, and a father who’d been an illegitimate American of no consequence? Who’d fought in the very revolution that had cost Gran her only son? He couldn’t ask for better.

More comments and quotes - Buddy Read Truth About Lord Stoneville

Review: Every Last Breath

Every Last Breath by Juno Rushdan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Maddox is an officer for the Gray Box, an organization so deep undercover that most people in the know, don't know about it. Nine years ago Maddox told her father, who she didn't know worked for the CIA, about a gathering of Russian mobsters that resulted in her almost fiance's, Nikolai, father's death and eventually Nikolai's. Maddox sees the work she does for Gray Box, neutralizing threats against the U.S. and taking out terrorists, as repentance.
Cole Matthews is what was emerged from the ashes of his former life but when some Russian mobsters attack him, he knows his cover is blown. When he is recused by Maddox and swept into a fight to stop a bio terror attack, he realizes that the past is never really the past.

They’d been as close as two people ever could be. He’d lived for her, killed for her, and, in a million ways, died for her.

Every Last Breath, is the start to the new series Final Hour and was a high energy, quick moving, and loaded story. There are numerous characters and story threads thrown at the reader right from the beginning, Maddox's co-workers at the Grey Box, the father and son villains, the threat of the enhanced small pox strain releasing, and Cole and Maddox's history. I had some problems keeping all the Grey Box characters and their relationships clear in my mind. Castle works with Maddox and is actually her brother but even though it seems they aren't that close (there was mention of how much Castle took care of her in the past) I still felt like their familial bond wasn't felt, her brother could have been any of the characters.

There is a lot happening in this story, Maddox trying to get Cole, who turns out to be the fiance she thought was dead, to help get her into an underground auction to buy an enhanced small pox strain, Aleksander and Val (the two villains) maneuvering to buy that same small pox strain and then trying to orchestrate releasing it on American soil, and the story thread of a mole in the Grey Box. These action threads pretty much dominate the story. The romance thread of Maddox and Cole having a past and then reconnecting didn't have enough time or breathing room to have me emotionally connecting to them. Their past has them already having feelings of love, we don't really get to see them develop them. They spend a good amount of time together but the hunt for the villains takes up most of the time and emotional energy, what we get is Maddox shying away from trusting Cole after he lied to her about his death and Cole still smarting over what he feels was a betrayal by Maddox and being super protective of her, even though she has the skills and knowledge to take care of herself in this world.

As a romance story, this fell short because Maddox and Cole didn't have the depth and time to emotionally grip me but as a suspense, this definitely had the energy and danger to capture my attention. The beginning is very busy with a lot of characters thrust at you and as the story progresses, plots and threads add up but my attention was still captured. Now that the introductions have been made and characters, along with some relationships, and threads have been laid out, I'll look forward to more of a focus and development of more emotional aspects in the next. This series looks to have the potential to have a lot of thrills.

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50%

Things between them were complicated. Tainted. Broken. And it wasn’t all her fault. Any path forward was murky as smog and littered with land mines. He still harbored deep -seated resentment for her betrayal. She was pissed at how he’d handled the fallout and left her behind. And there was her chosen profession to consider. A real shit sundae with a spy cherry on top.

Reading Update: Page 1

I can't wait to dive into both of these!

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Sweet Potato Nachos recipe

Review: The Hellion

The Hellion by Christi Caldwell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

He glanced up from his task, and that slight movement sent a dark lock tumbling over his brow, lending him a boyish look. “Cleopatra Killoran, I’d wager there isn’t a thing you don’t know how to do.”
And just like that, Cleopatra fell in love. Hopelessly, helplessly, she lost her heart to Adair.

I know this is listed as #1 in the Wicked Wallflowers series, but it did not read that way for me. Adair's brothers are married, there is a lot of talk about the villain that they finally vanquished, and the deal Adair's family made with Cleopatra's brother happened in a previous book. I was kind of lost as to who was who and what had happened, I also was missing caring about a lot of people.

The second half was better than the first for me, everyone gets kind of cleared out so the focus can be on Adair and Cleo. Cleo annoyed the heck out of me with all her running, her go to move when she gets overwhelmed is just to take off and she definitely does it. Adair was a little blah, I've read his character many many many many times. They seemed nice together but didn't trip any triggers for me.

I did like the author's writing and flow, I think not having read the previous series really hurt me here; I'll probably put them on the tbr.

Adair dropped his brow to hers. “Marry me."

We did get this moment, I always enjoy a lovely brow to brow moment :)

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Review: Indigo

Indigo by Beverly Jenkins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I did a buddy read for this over on BookLikes, for all my discussions, comments, and quotes:
Prologue - Ch 4
Chs 5-10
Chs 11-16Chs 17-end

I've read a couple other Jenkins' books, this was my favorite. I loved all the historical references, tidbits, and weaving in that she did; I can't even tell how many hours I spent learning about people, places, and events she included. Galen was a roguish character that I probably let his charm get him off the hook, he was pushy and I wasn't a fan of how he forced Hester into finally agreeing to marry him. Hester was an amazing heroine, strong, soft, smart, and willing to give as good as she got. I enjoyed their banter in the beginning and could see how they fit together in the end.
I would say the only way this shows its age is in the sex scenes. While I liked how penetrative sex wasn't their immediately go to, the wording in sex scenes was a bit flowery for me.
The world building and secondary characters were amazing and I can't even tell you all the side characters I wish had their own stories or novellas.
This is a must read for historical romance readers, the history woven in is what we all come for and Hester and Galen were strong, sweet, and loving.

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