Category: Book Reviews

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Book Review: A Stranger on the Beach

A Stranger on the BeachA Stranger on the Beach by Michele Campbell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book! Through the first part of it, the author did an outstanding job of planting seeds that made me doubt who was telling the truth and who was lying. At any given moment, I could swing my “allegiance to the truth” between Aidan and Caroline. By Chapter 26, I was convinced that Aidan was a creepy stalker. By Chapter 42, my notes read, “Wth is going on?” and “What’s real and what isn’t?” And by 52, my notes were nothing but “Omg, no way!” (and variations thereof). I cannot stress what a fantastic book this was. It is an absolute page-turner and a perfect “end of summer” novel. I cannot recommend it enough. Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for a complimentary, pre-release digital ARC.

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Book Review: A Stranger on the Beach

You need to go grab this book…NOW!

It started as a reasonably straightforward plot; a woman (Caroline) finds out her husband (Jason) is cheating and finds solace in another man’s (Aidan’s) arms, then deals with the aftermath of the “affair.”

Or is that the truth of the matter?

It isn’t long before events start happening that make both the reader and Caroline question everything. Or should the reader believe Aidan?

The author deftly manipulates the action to keep the characters off-balance, and in turn, that keeps the reader off-balance as well. And that is the beauty of the book. I kept going back to re-read passages to see if I could figure out what was happening. By the time I got to the end, I wanted to read the whole thing over again to find possible clues.

As I mention in my Goodreads review (below), the twists come periodically at first. But roughly halfway through, the tension and the action speed up, and the hits and twist come fast and hard.

Reading this book was the absolute equivalent to a roller coaster. There is a slow build, but then holy hell, hold on to your seats for the rest of the ride.

It’s an excellent page-turner and a great way to spend a few days – especially if you need an escape from the coming school year or pressures of work. Lose yourself in this twisty thriller. You won’t be disappointed.

A Stranger on the BeachA Stranger on the Beach by Michele Campbell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book! Through the first part of it, the author did an outstanding job of planting seeds that made me doubt who was telling the truth and who was lying. At any given moment, I could swing my “allegiance to the truth” between Aidan and Caroline. By Chapter 26, I was convinced that Aidan was a creepy stalker. By Chapter 42, my notes read, “Wth is going on?” and “What’s real and what isn’t?” And by 52, my notes were nothing but “Omg, no way!” (and variations thereof). I cannot stress what a fantastic book this was. It is an absolute page-turner and a perfect “end of summer” novel. I cannot recommend it enough. Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for a complimentary, pre-release digital ARC.

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Blog Tour w/ Review: Southern Gentleman

I came to the Charleston Heat series in the second book, so of course, I had to go back and read the first one immediately. Then I was left waiting impatiently for the third one to be released.

I am happy to say that my wait is over, and I was not disappointed.

This time, it’s Julia and Greyson’s story. I loved that they had to work together in spite of butting heads with each other – which was just the adult equivalent of him pulling her pigtails at school because their chemistry is off the charts.

I liked Julia’s profession. I thought it gave the author the opportunity for some great insights into the romance genre. I also liked that her side passion was a nod to her father. That was a small but essential touch that added depth to her character.

I particularly related to Grey’s feelings about relationships and why he was reluctant to enter into anything permanent. I did think that he was a little bit over the top with how people were disappointed in him, but it made sense when evaluating his attitude towards work – he needed to be successful and didn’t like having to settle for anything less.

Also, I want to take a second to acknowledge the details that the author shared about Julia’s pregnancy. For those of us who will never experience it, I thought she did an admirable job of the “warts and all” aspects. I liked how both Julia and Greyson readily admitted that they had no clue about what to expect, but that they were strong enough to recognize what they wanted.

As always, the sexy scenes are incredibly hot – the author is one of the queens of building that tantalizing burn that gives you that swoop in your stomach as you realize the feelings between the characters.

This is another excellent read in a fantastic series. I hope she keeps finding couples to focus on for a while yet. I’m not ready to let these go.

Southern Gentleman (Charleston Heat, #3)Southern Gentleman by Jessica Peterson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I love me the boys of Charleston Heat, and this book is no exception. I especially appreciated the depth of the characters and the events that shaped their relationship. While the unexpected pregnancy trope is popular (no spoilers, it’s right there in the title info), the author cuts right to the point. The “Oh no, what should I do” doesn’t take up half the book, which I appreciated. We got to jump right into how Julia and Grey were going to deal with the pregnancy and beyond. I also appreciated that the expected sexy times were as hot as always. Another winner from Jessica Peterson! For more thoughts on this 5-star read, visit my blog at Fireflies and Free Kicks Fiction Reviews. This review was written based on a complimentary, pre-release digital ARC of the book.

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Blog Tour w/Review: Clear My Name by Paula Daly

This book drew me in right away with the premise of Innocence UK, a group that takes cases in which people may be imprisoned unjustly. I have always been fascinated with how “justice” works, so this looked very promising.

I thought Tess was an interesting character. It was apparent that she had issues of her own and used her job as a way to avoid dealing with her problems. However, when her latest case caused her to visit the town in which she grew up. Past and present collide to make one page-turner of a book.

The plot was well-paced. There was enough action to keep everything moving along, but it was methodical and didn’t feel like details were crammed in. Everything unfolded in a natural way, which I appreciated.

I also liked the way the author interspersed the flashbacks for both Carrie (the “case” that Tess is working on) and for Tess herself. The characters were similar in many ways, and the backstories of each woman illuminated the parallels. That being said, the method also gave me just enough information to keep me guessing and second-guessing what I thought I knew. I love it when a book does that.

Of course, this being a crime novel, I’m not going to give away the ending, but I will say it’s a good one. There were also a few twists that I did not see coming (I think one of my notes was “Oh, no WAY did that just happen!”) If you are looking for a cracking good entertaining novel to get you through the end-of-summer doldrums, pick up Clear My Name. A definite five stars. You won’t be disappointed.

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Blog Tour w/Review: Simply Irresistible

There was so much to like about this book; I am not exactly sure where to start.

Romances often involve conflict, or tragedy, or somebody needing to be healed by the love of the perfect person. Those all work as tropes in the genre. But sometimes it is nice to have a simple romance that harkens back to an “easier” time, to when romance was just a guy and a girl meeting and falling in love. Simply Irresistible is that type of book.

Melanie and Tyler work in the same building for two different magazines and have noticed each other from afar. Once they meet, the romance starts as they have friendly arguments over which decade is better, the 80s (her opinion) or the 90s (his).

As they meet each other’s families and their relationship progresses, they suffer a few ups and downs, both professionally and personally. The whole plot reminded me of a movie from their favorite decades. I got a definite “Never Been Kissed” vibe from the interplay between the two. A significant plot point even directly references “Sleepless in Seattle.” The author did a great job with creating the atmosphere to keep the reader in this frame of mind.

That would probably be my only complaint about this book. I wish that Melanie and Tyler had more discussions about the decades they loved. I would have enjoyed reading more perspectives from both.

In case you haven’t guessed by now, I’m an 80s gal, but have a soft spot for the 90s as well. This book was right up my alley and was a refreshing change from some of the other books I’ve read lately. I highly recommend this book even if you’re not a fan of the decades. You’ll love Melanie and Tyler. Thank me later 😉

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Book Tour and Review: Deserve to Die by Miranda Rijks

Welcome to my stop on the Blog Tour for this amazing book. In short, you don’t want to miss this one, so go get it to read, NOW!

But if you need more convincing, read on.

The opening chapter of this book was a total shocker. I thought, “If it starts like this, it is going to be tough to keep the level going through the whole book.” It may have been tough for the author, but whatever work went into it was worth it because it definitely kept the level of intensity throughout.

The author used everything from characters lying to gaslighting to allusions to past events to propel the plot, but always with a very deft hand. I never felt manipulated or had that “Oh, come ON” feeling. You know, the one you get when the author throws something into the story that seems to come out of left field and is solely there to bridge from one event to another? Boy, do I hate those.

But not to fear, none of those here.

I also thought that the characters were complex and fleshed out completely, and the interactions were natural and true-to-real-life, especially Tamara. She had a creepy vibe from the beginning and it was just delicious to watch how her character developed – the glimpses of her reasoning along the way were believable and it was satisfying to see the entire arc.

I did think that Stacey was a somewhat weaker character – I did think that there could have been a little bit more addressed to make her character’s arc a little more believable, but that’s being nitpicky.

And let me just say that for once, the tag line of “…a heart-stopping ending” was entirely accurate. I found myself holding my breath through the last few pages. Do yourself a favor and go pick this one up today!

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Blog Tour w/Review: Bodyguard to the Billionaire by Nana Malone

I wanted to like this book because I am a fan of the author. But I have to be honest and say that I was not sure where it was all going at any given time.

First, there appeared to be a mashup of reality and fiction when it came to locations. Unless I missed something, it got confusing as to how the monarchy fit into the world at large. For example, Derrick/Theo’s mom lived in New Jersey, but most of the action took place on an island? The mixture of the two made it difficult for me to get into the plot.

I also thought that the relationships, as explained at the beginning, were too complicated as if there were previous stories with these characters so I should have already known who they were. (Maybe this was part of a series, and I didn’t know it?) But there were several times throughout the story where I made notes that relationships were overly complicated or didn’t make sense.

What I did like was the role reversal of the female being the bad-ass and the male needing protection. I thought that part was well-done, and the author could have gone stronger with it. Actually, having the agency that Zia belonged to be a real one would have been more exciting.

I did like the plot point regarding Theo (Derrick), although I did guess at least parts of it very early on. I thought the whole tech aspect to his participation was interesting but still didn’t buy into the entire over-arching “father as detractor” scenario.

In looking at the notes that I made while I read, I have “too complicated” and “uneven” more than a few times. I guess that is what it all boils down to – it did not feel like a smooth read. Here is hoping that the next book answers some questions and is more comprehensive.

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Blog Tour w/Review: Wait For Me by K.L. Grayson

This book went a completely different direction than I thought it was going to, and I am happy that it did.

While the story starts with popstar Nora wanting to break out from the younger persona that made her famous (think Miley Cyrus without the craziness). After a twist in her life that causes a mini-meltdown (think Britney Spears with an umbrella but for a legit reason), she heads home to her brother Nick’s house to get her head together. Grayson is a single dad raising three young children, who also happens to be Nick’s best friend. Nora and Grayson meet casual, and the story takes off from there.

I want to focus on Grayson because so many romance novels these days have unapproachable or unrealistic heroes. Don’t get me wrong; a moody billionaire has his place in the romance world. But I found it very refreshing that the hero was a single dad trying to do right by his kids, especially considering that the six-year-old was dealing with some difficult issues.

The kids made a lot of this story for me. Emma especially wins a cuteness award (loved the thought that went into the accuracy of her pronunciation). It was always clear that the kids were the primary concern, in spite of the growing attraction between Nora and Grayson.

I did think that the whole backstory to the kid’s mom was a little bit much and in some ways didn’t seem to fit, but I do understand how the author had to make clear just how awful she was. I also felt that a few of Grayson’s reactions were over-the-top. I got that he was concerned for his family, but where he placed the blame seemed misguided.

I loved the resolution though; it’s been a while since I have read such a sweet ending. I’m not one to use a lot of slang, but it gave me all of the feels! If you’re looking for a cute romance with a little heat and some adorable kids, you should grab this book.

Oh, and a special shout out to the “Thin Man” reference.  Loved that the brother and sister were Nick and Nora!

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Blog Tour w/Review: Indecent Intent (Amatory #2)

I thoroughly enjoyed the first book in the Amatory series, so I had high hopes for this one. Ivan was somewhat of a mysterious character in the first book, and I was looking forward to his story.

While there were some good plot points, I felt that ultimately his story wasn’t fleshed out as well as Sebastian and Annaliese’s from Seductive Sacrifice.

I liked the Russian Mafia angle and thought that the way Daniela was brought into the story worked well. It gave their relationship an interesting angle and allowed them to “find each other” after perceived betrayals.

That’s one of the things that didn’t work for me. The assumptions that each of them made were reasonable based on their history. However, so much conflict could have been avoided if they had just talked to each other. Ivan’s blow-ups and Daniela’s meltdowns seemed contrived and did not help the advancement of the plot. It got frustrating.

A strength of this book is the sexy times. I don’t remember the last time I read a book that had so many hot sex scenes. But therein lies another thing I noticed in this book. The sex became very repetitive. In fact, it seemed as if the plot was more to get from one sex scene to another – sort of like reading a porn movie. I didn’t get the same feeling from the first book.

There is also another point that I must address. It didn’t influence my review but needs mentioning. I recognize that this is an ARC and may not have gone through a final editing process. However, there were several points where transitions were very rough and got confusing.

This is still an interesting series, and I did like how the third book was set up in this one. I look forward to reading it, regardless, but I do hope that the third book comes roaring back to the style of the first one.

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Blog Tour w/Review: Making Up by Helena Hunting

Full disclosure: I hadn’t read any of the other books in this universe, so it was all new to me. The only time I could tell I was missing something was how offhanded the descriptions of Griffin’s brothers’ and cousins’ relationships were. But, this could have been a read-alone just as easily. That’s how I approached it, and it totally worked for me.

Right off the bat, I was hooked because setting the opening scene in a sex toy shop was unique and entertaining. It also was a great perspective on Cosy’s personality. I thought she was the more fleshed-out of the two “leads,” but that might also be because Griffin appeared in other books, so there might have been more depth there. Regardless, I liked his personality a lot.

I also think that the author captured Cosy’s temperament. A college student in her early 20s would be prone to over-reacting and not always being level-headed about any complications thrown her way. For that reason, Cosy’s reactions seemed very real, and they didn’t bother me as some tantrum-throwing heroines have in other books (not naming names).

The plot was fun. I appreciated the juxtaposition of the two lifestyles and how quickly the plot moved along. There was not a lot of over-thinking or overwrought drama. Although, the twist thrown in a little over two-thirds of the way in was a good one (and something else that someone already familiar with the universe might have seen coming).

My only complaint about this book is the cover. I am beginning to feel like there is an over-saturation of shirtless man covers, and it tells me nothing about the story itself. Women are smarter than picking up a book simply because there is a hot body at the front. I would have loved to have seen a cover that had two characters in the clothing particular to Cosy and Griffin – or with an allusion to where they meet (acknowledging that marketing can be fickle about that stuff). It’s time to start getting creative with the covers!

Making UpMaking Up by Helena Hunting
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am fast becoming a fan of Helena Hunting’s books, mainly because her characters are usually just a tad off the stereotypes often found in the genre. I liked both Cosy and Griffin for a few reasons. First, ya gotta love a gal who works in a sex toy shop (a great way to open). Second, I liked that Griffin was not the usual uptight billionaire dude who was all about work – he was open and playful pretty much from the start. I appreciated that it wasn’t a total 180-degree character change for either. I enjoyed their story and recommend this book. For more thoughts, please visit my blog at Fireflies and Free Kicks Fiction Reviews. Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press (Swerve), and the author for a complimentary, pre-release digital ARC of this book.

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