Reading Update: Page 1

Romantic suspense and Guinness meatballs :)
Happy Sunday, everyone!

I'll Be Watching You by Leslie Kelly pre-order link

Guinness Glazed Meatballs recipe

I actually wasn't a big fan of this glaze, for being Guinness flavored there was something off about the taste :/

Review: Beast

Beast by Judith Ivory
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars

I did a buddy read for this, so for all of my thoughts, comments, and quotes: Beast buddy read

"With him, I became aloud the person I had always been silently inside myself."

This quote right here is what I want to read about and feel when I pick up a romance book.

Beast is obviously a play on the Beauty and the Beast story and while you'll get a true feel for it, the heroine does think the hero is ugly with his scarring for a good while, this almost had more of a Phantom of the Opera vibe.

I'm not sure if it is due to the coincidence of reading about young, spoiled, gorgeous heroines lately but Louise annoyed and lost my interest a fair amount of times. She does show growth towards the end but she got tiring to read about.

The hero was uber vulnerable and this caused him to be prideful and scheming at times. I kind of wanted more of his background instead of the total absorption he had with the heroine. It was hard in the beginning and some middle to feel good about his attraction to the heroine because it was based on her looks, as he didn't know her yet; felt like he wanted her because she was so pretty and prove his looks weren't so bad.

Even with these weaker characters, the story in the hands of this author is worth reading because of beautiful her writing can be. I thought she did a better job in Bliss of showing us the characters' deeper emotions instead of having the characters straight tell us as she did more so here.

Definitely still worth your time but Bliss still holds the crown for me.

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Review: Lord Holt Takes a Bride

Lord Holt Takes a Bride by Vivienne Lorret
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.

Winn doesn't want to marry the man her father picked out for her, he's callous and in love with his mistress. When her friends come up with a plan for her to become a runaway bride, she at first scoffs but after mistakenly receiving a gift that was supposed to go to his mistress from her husband-to-be on the morning of her wedding, she decides to run.

Asher has always been at the mercy of his gambling father but he finally has a plan to get out from under his schemes, until he runs into some curious debutantes and he ends up kidnapped. Needed money and fast, he devises his own kidnapping plot.

Plans go awry as Winn and Asher traverse the English countryside and they find that maybe love isn't as far or impossible as they thought.

She was the heiress he intended to kidnap.

First in the Mating Habits of Scoundrels series, Lord Holt Takes a Bride, started off as a fun, fluffy road adventure romance. Winn and Asher had a sweet chemistry that brought a much appreciated lightness to these currently heavier real world times. Winn's friends were good secondary characters who got introduced and pleased enough to bring interest to future books in the series but I wish they could have shown up more towards the end as their connection with Winn was missed. Asher came on the page with a lot of intrigue, a treasure map and villainous father, but his connection with his friends was a bit murky and his background with his father ended up feeling more fantastical because of how his father was able to pull off such schemes.

It would be simple . . . As long as he didn’t allow anything else—like an inconvenient, passing attraction—to distract him.

I enjoyed Winn's character but her constant dragging herself down about her looks became tiring and sad. There is a tiny little side story, reconnecting romance between her parents and due to her or what the reader first perceives as her unhappiness, Winn's mother constantly makes little comments that become not so innocuous because of how they bite, about Winn's weight. Throughout the majority of the story Winn thinks about how even though Asher is acting and saying how attractive she is, that he can't possibly truly be thinking this. The continuous reiterating of these thoughts by Winn somewhat dragged down what the lighter fun tone for me.

The Shettlemane title was nothing more than a heap of debt and shame, growing larger by the hour.

Like I said, the first half of this was pretty light and fun but the second half had the road romance adventure feeling a bit dragged out as the story seemed to become a bit lost in its place. One too many misadventures, villains chasing Asher because of his father, and Asher in awe of Winn a lot with her putting herself down, it began to meander and slow. Winn's parents' tense relationship actually started to intrigue me more as emotions were brimming from these two as Asher and Winn's began to stall.

“And you’re the adventure I never expected.”

The ending gave us a reveal and misunderstanding that had Winn immediately thinking the worst of Asher and it had a going through the motions angst ending and extremely serendipitous tie-in for Asher that left me wanting a return to the fun, light, and easy feeling from the beginning. The first half was a fun romp, while the second half lost some of the story's great easiness but if you're looking to disappear into a light road romance this would fit the bill and has some promising heroines for future books in the series.

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Reading Update: Page 1

It’s a cold rainy just issued to shelter in place day for me. I hope everyone is staying safe, healthy, and finding the energy to escape into a good book.
I’m hoping Lord Holt can take me away ;)

Lord Holt Takes a Bride by Vivenne Lorret pre-order link

Slow Cooker Cajun Chicken Fettuccine recipe

I needed to triple the seasoning to get a strong enough taste but then it was yummy.

50%

"I mean, there is a real seduction to having someone listen and know you, accept you just as you are."

More quotes and comments:  Beast buddy read

20%

"My guess is, you can never quite get away from the fact of your beauty, that you live by it. But not tonight. Tonight, if you meet me, you will do so in the dark."

More quotes and comments: Beast buddy read

Reading Update: 10%

The hair on Charles's neck lifted.

Doing a buddy read for this one. For more quotes and thoughts:  Beast buddy read

Review: Total Bravery

Total Bravery by Piper J. Drake
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.

Mali is in Hawaii doing research for a human rights study focusing on sex trafficking, when her principal investigator blows his alert whistle when her and her colleagues are out doing street interviews, she knows she's in trouble. Her former military sister Arin works on the island, so she calls her for help.

Raul has just been hired by Search and Protect Corps, a job his former colleague and friend Arin helped him get. When he gets a call forwarded from Arin's phone because she is currently on a mission and hears her little sister asking for help, he knows he has to act.

Mali and Raul both have trust issues but as they work to find out what happened to Mali's colleagues, the spark between them is getting harder and harder to ignore.

Her laughter faded, and her dark brown eyes sparkled with mischief. “Well, if you're going to get in trouble anyway...”

She bent then, leaning a hand on his chest, and pressed her lips to his.

Total Bravery, is number four in the True Heroes series but you would have no problem picking this up with no prior knowledge. I've only read the first in the series and I never felt lost. The story brings you into the action right away, which really worked for me in some ways and not in others. Raul's partner is a German Sheppard named Taz and, something that I thought was missing from the first book, the author utilized Taz wonderfully. Even though Mali is running and hiding, the way Taz brings Raul to her started the story off cute and exciting. However, jumping right into the danger that sets up the action plot didn't allow for an introduction to Mali's colleagues. When Mali manages to evade the ominous men in suits that caused the leader of her research group to warn people to run but her colleagues all get kidnapped, I didn't have an emotional stake in their danger or any future reveals pertaining to the characters; nixed a supposed surprise ending thread.

A cold nose touched her thigh, and Taz slipped his head under her hand. The big dog pressed against her leg. Raul murmured gently, “We won't leave you.”

Mali was the stronger of the two characters because of getting more background information on her. She grew-up protected by her older sister and this caused her to look up to her but also have some fear towards the violence Arin exhibited in front of her. We get a scene between the sisters where Mali learns that Arin thinks of her in a way that Mali was clueless about and bolsters her confidence. I wish we could have gotten more scenes between the two because their uneasy but loving relationship provided great complex emotions. The same with Raul and Arin, I would have liked to see these two friends together. As the new guy on the job, Raul didn't have any connections and he didn't seem to have family or other friends than Arin, this left some of the different layers of his character blank for me.

She was doing research because she believed people were worth saving. He'd spent the better part of his last assignment proving to people that there was a hell, and it didn't take demons to send them there.

Mali and Raul had a cute start, even though their first kiss happens very quickly and as Mali's character gets revealed more, it made the first kiss seem out of character for her. Their romance felt pushed to the side a bit too much in favor of the plot to find out who and why Mali's colleagues were taken. The villains behind the sex trafficking plot felt a bit whiffed on with their structure and reveal but maybe since they're close to the Search and Protect corps they will show up again. I'm a dog person and I adored the relationship between Taz and Mali and how Taz worked with Raul; Taz made this book for me. I thought the writing was smooth and the author handled the moving parts well, research felt evident in how scenes and characters were conducted, most importantly, it kept me wanting to read but I didn't fully feel the love building between Raul and Mali. Even in the later half of the story Mali was still not thinking a relationship with Raul would be serious. I wish the ending text messages that Raul sends to Mali would have been shown so we could read and feel more of an emotional connection between the two.

She stared up at him. “I am so glad you're here.”

He smiled then, slow and incredibly sexy.

Each book in the series has a main character paired with a dog (keep hoping for a Rottweiler someday!) and I love that. Trust me, you're going to love Taz, the moment where he shuts a car door during a mission was ridiculously cute and high training impressive. This was the second book in the series I've read and even though I thought the romance relationship between the two could have been better, I enjoyed it even more than the first.

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Reading Update: 50%

Good morning! Rainy and cloudy in my neck of the woods.
I told Raiden to give me “alert ears” for this pic to match Taz. My Rottie tried :)

Apples, sweet potatoes, and cinnamon to fuel the first half of my day.
Best wishes and health to everyone

Total Bravery by Piper J. Drake purchase link

Cinnamon Apple Sweet Potato Breakfast bow recipe

Review: The Shape of Family

The Shape of Family by Shilpi Somaya Gowda
My rating: 4 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.

When tragedy befalls a family, blame and grief widen the cracks and isolate the remaining members. A mother who misses her culture, a father who is a workaholic, and a daughter who is searching for an outlet for the pain. The Shape of Family is an intimate portrayal of how lost someone can get when a loved one is taken away and how families can grieve together and separately, trying to find their way back to one another.

Everyone in her family had their secrets, and Karina became practiced at keeping them.

Utilizing first person povs, The Shape of Family, jumps povs and time periods (mostly linearly) between Jaya (mother), Keith (father), Karina (daughter/sister), and Prem (son/brother). The story starts introducing the family through Karina's eyes and we learn that she sees it as Prem and her against the world. With an Indian mother and American father, kids at school constantly remark on her skin tone. Her mother is proud of her culture, while Karina sees any hallmark of it as another way to make her different. She's a bit closer to her father because of this issue and while she has a bestfriend Izzy, Karina ultimately sees Prem as the only one who can feel like her and understand.

This sets-up the emotional foundation for when a couple chapters later, Prem drowns in the family pool. Karina is thirteen at the time and watching him while her parents are at work, she performs CPR but is unable to save him. The guilt she feels from this is obvious and as readers follow her throughout her life, this tragedy and guilt is apparent in every decision she makes. We get povs from her parents, Jaya's guilt sends her searching for answers, which she looks for in religion, and Keith's guilt at his inability to keep his wife from depression and daughter from pushing him away has him throwing himself more into his work. The story though, mainly follows Karina.

“Mr. and Mrs. Olander,” the officer says as they reach the top landing, her hand on the door handle. “I'm not sure what's happening with your daughter. All I know is she needs your love and support right now.”

Karina tries to handle her grief through cutting but when she goes off to college, she finds relief in becoming a new person, no one knowing about Prem. This pushing away and ignoring those emotions works for awhile, until her first love ends up being her first heartbreak and she once again is lost as to how to deal with her pain. Her vulnerability is taken advantage of and Karina finds, what she thinks of as love and family, in a commune with increasingly cult like actions.

This was a poignant dip into how grief can affect a family individually and as a whole. While we get pov looks into how Jaya and Keith are handling their son's death, I thought there could have been more between the two; they divorce and I thought we missed reading/feeling some of that emotional upheaval. Readers also get Prem's pov after he dies and I'm not sure this worked for me. Except for a crossroads moment towards the end, his pov didn't add anything for me and I think having him completely absent would have made the characters stark cut-off even more felt to the reader.

They are flawed, all three of them, but they belong to each other.

Whims of fate, Keith ended up surviving 9/11 because of a delayed meeting but their son drowns in the family pool, and the fact that there is no set time on how long grief can keep a hold of you, were achingly apparent in this story. The way the characters tried to fill their lives with things that turned out to be empty for them and beginning to see that acknowledging, addressing, and processing their emotions through therapy was helpful to them, was deep and thoughtful. The Shape of Family will have you shedding a tear or two as the Olander family rides the waves of grief.

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Review: Restless Rancher

Restless Rancher by Jennifer Ryan
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.

Yes, he’d been humbled, going from living large with money overflowing his bank account to scraping by.

Second in the Wild Rose Ranch series, the troubled Austin is trying to get his life together. I haven't read the first book and I think that really hurt my enjoyment of this. I had no idea who these people were and our heroine, Sonya, with her sisters and family dynamics, seem to be play a big part in the underlining theme and emotion in the series. I think background knowledge on Sonya's family and Austin as a character would have helped my attachment to these characters. This starts with Austin trying to reform his party boy ways because his rich father has cut him off and his girlfriend has dumped him. Austin inherited a ranch from his grandfather but it is dilapidated and needs a lot of money and repair. Sonya comes into the picture because her sister (heroine from book one) is bankrolling Austin's ranch and she is there to manage and run the books for the ranch.

Numbers made sense to her. Everything lined up. People, the things they did, their capacity to hurt others and inflict such cruelties, boggled her mind.

This was a honestly a mess of storylines for me, the beginning focuses for a while on how Austin's grandfather was a hoarder and lingers on the emotional whys of it, Austin's father badly wants the ranch and now his ex-girlfriend is engaged to his father and his father wants the ex to trick Austin into impregnate her, and Austin working on trying to get his act together. Sonya has her own issues with her family, a mother who lived a harsh life, a job that passed her over for promotion, and dealing with her sisters and childhood. There was a scene where Sonya gets angered and in one paragraph spouts a plethora of trigger warning issues that happened to her mother and it felt like heaping awful traumas on a character just for shock or forced emotional value because of the lack of emotional foundation.

She’d stand by whoever she loved. She’d be a true partner. Adversity challenged her, it didn’t back her down.

The romance between the two is fairly instant and not something I completely believed in because of the lack of solid relationship groundwork. They have some good back and forth moments, made better because of the don't back down attitude of Sonya but the constant fluttering between story threads/plots didn't leave enough time for them to develop. The main plot of Austin's dad wanting his ranch so bad could have worked but Austin's forced mishandling of the situation, he didn't seem too curious as to why his dad would want the ranch in the beginning, and him never checking deeds or information about something inherited and carried so much about.

If you read the first, you'd probably enjoy this more then me but I felt disconnected from the characters, there were too many messy storythreads, and the romance moved too quickly without a strong enough foundation. I've other Ryan works before and enjoyed them, I'm going to just count this one as a one-off.

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Reading Update: Page 1

Best wishes Monday to all that may be feeling the pinch and stress. Sinking into this book and a delicious meal to boost the spirits.

The Shape of Family by Shilpi Somaya Gowda purchase link

Chili-Orange Shrimp with Broccoli Couscous recipe

Wild taste combos but delicious!

Reading Update: 20%

A cowboy and some cookie pie for those mid-week blues.
Happy hump day, everyone!

Restless Rancher by Jennifer Ryan purchase link

Ricotta Nutella Chocolate Cookie Pie recipe

Very rich filling but the best cookie crust I’ve ever made.

Review: Claimed By a Scottish Lord

Claimed By a Scottish Lord by Melody Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.5 stars I was pleasantly surprised with how sweet the hero was in this, pretty gone for the heroine once meeting and getting to know her. Had some magical elements trying to tie in Arthurian legends but was ignored for most of the middle of the book. Some other mystery murder, hidden villain threads that were too loose to make a lot of sense and care about. The last 15%ish was about wrapping those up and I felt it killed the HEA good feelings a bit. Wish this had focused on the couple more because they were so very sweet and good together. There was a scene towards the end where the hero arrived home after weeks of being away that nailed the emotion and heat perfectly. Definitively worth a read if you can find it

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Reading Update: 30%

And just that fast in the cold, dark cavernous dining hall with the world asleep around them, they were two people quite different from what the world saw.

Review: Starting Over at Blueberry Creek / Bonus Novella: Sealed With a Kiss

Starting Over at Blueberry Creek / Bonus Novella: Sealed With a Kiss by Annie Rains
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 Brenna's parents were killed in car accident, she gave up college and lost her fiance to take care of her younger sister. Running her mother's bakery has made her a nice living but it is not her dream. After her sister moves out and starts her dream job, Brenna can't help but think it is time for her to get a second chance at her dreams.
Luke is new to Sweetwater Springs but he's already acting fire chief, finding himself in the middle of a sister fight, and falling for his neighbor.
Brenna and Luke think they know what they want in life but they're going to find out what they need.

“So we agree. Neither of us is kissing the other,” he said.

New to the Sweetwater Springs series, others could start comfortably here, like I did, and not feel lost in the series. I enjoyed the easy pace and lead in to this small town and Brenna and Luke's lives. These two have been neighbors for a couple months but Luke has been a bit standoffish because of a relationship that went sour that he had with his previous neighbor in a different town. I thought there could have been more background on this relationship as I didn't really grasp the emotional importance of it and why it made it so Luke didn't want to even become friends with Brenna. His reservations don't last very long though and he finds himself with Brenna pretty soon.

They were taking things slow but his racing heart had somehow missed the message.

Brenna's character had a quiet composure, even when she snaps a bit and throws banana pieces at her sister. She came off solid as she stepped up to take care of Eve, her sister, even while Eve acts immature and bratty to her. I would have liked to have more scenes with her aunt and friends to draw her character personality out more. Brenna and Luke were pleasant together, this was a kissing but bedroom door closed story, so their friendship on the road to love was highlighted more than their physical relationship. They have some hurdles to get over, Brenna thinking a long distance relationship would never work and Luke not wanting to open up about the burns on his back that he received in a fire that killed his brother, but for some ending quick dramatic fighting, they were a pretty relaxed couple.

He leaned toward her, pinning her with his gaze. “So what is it you want in this moment, Brenna?”
“You,” she said simply.

I thought the story could have benefited from utilizing of the setting, involving the town and townspeople more, the most shown secondary character was Eve and she was more irritating with her immaturity than young growing pains. The fire station scenes didn't provide a lot for Luke's character as most involved Eve and another firefighter who disrespected Luke, to the point that they mouth-off when Luke catches them about to make-out at work, the scenarios lacked a feeling of professionalism, thus realness. The characters also seemed to jump from point A to point B, without a connecting thread between. Brenna was at work then home, Luke was at work then home, the writing flow was fine but substance that makes a story fulfilling was missing for me.

The bedroom door closed and more low-key story and couple could be elements others would enjoy. If you're a reader of the Sweetwater Springs series then you'd probably enjoy revisiting the town and residents more than a new to the series reader like me. 

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Reading Update: 50%

Good morning! Starting the day off with this combo of blueberries.

Homemade whip creams melts fast, y'all :/

Hope your Saturday is starting off just as fantastic!

Starting Over at Blueberry Creek by Annie Rains purchase link

Vegan Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes recipe

These were delicious, I added the blueberries to stay on theme :)

Review: Highland Sword

Highland Sword by May McGoldrick
My rating: 4 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.

Uprooted from her home after her father's murder, Morrigan has fled to the Highlands. There, with her step-mother, step-sister, and their husbands, they continue to fight to get out from under the yoke of the English.

Aidan has soldiered for England and now as a barrister, he fights to bring justice to his fellow Highlanders. With his brother at his side, he works to establish rule of law in this turbulent time.

Politics, entrapment, spying, blackmail, and love come alive in the highlands.

Her insides burned with sadness, and rage.

Highland Sword is third in the Royal Highland series and would work best read after the first two. The connecting thread in the series is Cinaed Mackintosh (Highland Crown), he is the secret son of Queen Caroline and looked upon by rebel Scots as to be the true king and savior of Scotland against the harsh treatment of England. In book one, Cinaed marries Morrigan's step-mother and thus begins her connection to the plot thread. The beginning of this and a lot of the story focuses on the turmoil of Scotland at the time. Morrigan's father was killed in a raid where rebels were thought to be meeting. The authors center the misdeeds of the English on the character Sir Rupert Burney to help draw a clear picture of what was happening at the time. Sir Rupert appears in all three books and works as a spy master for the Home Office and abuses his power by blackmailing and orchestrating entrapments.

Her feelings for Aidan Grant were beginning to confuse her. She wanted some distance from him, but at the same time she enjoyed having him near. She was attracted and yet still afraid. Not afraid. Cautious.

Our hero comes into the picture as he is chasing down a man he thinks has worked for the Home Office and Sir Rupert and can give testimony against them, therefore saving his current clients from the noose. The man, Robert Sparrow, ends up being Morrigan's uncle and the source of a childhood trauma, he raped her when she was twelve years old. After a scuffle in an alleyway, Aidan and Morrigan meet and Aidan is intrigued by this woman who gave him a black eye. When Sparrow is moved to the castle Morrigan is staying at, he's dying of cancer, she is forced to confront her past.

The political climate and historical setting is done very well, you're going to have to enjoy stories leaning heavier on the historical part of historical romance. I loved the character of Aidan and how calm, strong, and easy he was with Morrigan. Unfortunately, we don't get a lot of him and the political threads did steal away from their romance; they just didn't spend enough time together for me. Aidan was constantly on the move trying to build his case for his clients and Morrigan was stretched thin herself. While Aidan was working to defeat Sir Rupert in the courts, Morrigan finds allies and turns a blackmail situation against her to her favor.

With one sweep of his hand, he cleared the desk. Books and papers crashed fluttered to the floor. He lifted her onto the edge.

The emotions between the two were felt, even though their time on page was too fleeting and left me wanting more. Morrigan's struggle with facing her past was dealt well in that it wasn't the center point of her character, it shaped her but didn't define her and I wish such villains were done more in this way. Her thoughts and feelings regarding not wanting to burden her family with knowledge of her pain and not be a detriment to Aidan's budding political career provided some deep emotional moments. There was a lot being said in this series, governments utilizing the law and courts in underhanded ways was the main message in this one, and I appreciated the historical details and weaving of real people, places, and events. This had an exceptional hero who I wish had more time to shine with the heroine as their relationship was sweet and flaring at times. If looking for a historical series that will give you plenty to go off and learn about on your own, Royal Highland does that, along with compelling and loving heroes and heroines. 

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50%

His entire body became aware of her awareness. He'd thought her beautiful from the first moment he saw her in Inverness. But she had an aloofness that made her mysterious, an untamed fierceness that he found fascinating. Being near her was like standing by a loch at the onset of a summer storm. He wanted to be swept away.

Reading Update: Page 1

Welcoming March in with a green cover and Guinness dessert

Highland Sword by May McGoldrick pre-order link (Mar 31)

Baileys Dark Chocolate Guinness Bread recipe

The icing packs quite the punch! This was delicious and left just enough Guinness leftover to wet my whistle :)

Top Three, err, Five Reads of February

Bliss was the standout but I had 4 books tie in ratings. Feb. was a great reading month for me :)

What were your fav reads of the month?

5 stars Bliss by Judy Cuevas

3.5 stars Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal

3.5 stars Unforgiven by Jay Crownover

3.5 stars Beauty Like the Night by Joanna Bourne

3.5 stars Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert