Month: December 2014

Review: No Ifs, Ands, or Bears About It by Celia Kyle

Posted December 31, 2014 by Holly in Reviews | 4 Comments

Review: No Ifs, Ands, or Bears About It by Celia KyleReviewer: Holly
No Ifs, Ands, or Bears About It by Celia Kyle
Series: Grayslake Bears #1

Publication Date: January 6th 2014
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Point-of-View: Alternating Third
Genres: Fiction, Fantasy
Pages: 264
Add It: Goodreads
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two-half-stars
Series Rating: three-stars

 The first day of Mia’s new life in Grayslake, Georgia is not going as planned. The house her grandfather left her looks ready to crumble, boxes cover every inch of the floor and—oh—there’s a bear cub in her pantry. It gets worse when the cub’s uncle comes by and busts out his fur and claws while on her front porch. Then it gets loads better because suddenly there’s a hot hunk of badge-wearing werebear on her lawn ready to rescue her. Yum. Of course, he has to ruin things by trying to take the cub out of her hands. Ha! The cub is hers… No ifs, ands, or bears about it.
Werebear Ty can’t seem to get the curvaceous, delectable Mia to understand that, even if she is one-quarter werebear, she isn’t keeping the cub. Ty is the Grayslake Itan, the clan’s leader, and the little werebear is going home with him… Unless it isn’t. It’s her smile. If she’d stop smiling and being gorgeous, his inner-bear would support him and Ty would get his way. But the beast wants to make their woman happy, so it’s perfectly content to let her do as she pleases. Then things change. Threats arise, danger comes close, and Ty demands she return to his den. No ifs, ands, or mates about that.

This is a free download. It started out really strong, but went downhill after a few chapters.

When Mia’s grandfather passed away he left her his house in Grayslake, GA. He was a bear shifter and so is her father, but her mother was human so, though she’s half werebear, she can’t shift. She’s looking to start over and doesn’t want to get tangled up with the local bears. When she finds a bear cub in her pantry and his abusive uncle shows up to claim him, she lands right in the middle of clan business. When the sexy sheriff shows up to help, Mia can’t deny her attraction to him. But she isn’t interested in starting something with anyone, much less the clan’s Itan (leader).

Ty doesn’t believe in happily-forever, but he sure wouldn’t mind doing some happy-right-now with the sexy Mia. His bear is in full agreement, especially after the way she protected the cub. Except it isn’t long before he realizes he wants more from Mia than a causal fling..and he’s willing to do whatever he has to to keep her around.

I think what this book really needed was a strong editor. I liked the first couple chapters where Mia rescued the cub and she and Ty got to know one another, but from there the story got choppy and the characters started waffling too much.

Ty is supposed to be the Itan of the clan, which makes him the leader. He’s supposedly the strongest, toughest bear in the clan, but he didn’t really act like it. He roared a lot, but he let those who served under him walk all over him. There was a plot against him and Mia and he didn’t pursue it. Supposedly Mia didn’t listen to him because she was the exception to the rule, but no one listened to him.

Mia seemed like a strong, independent woman. She didn’t let Ty walk all over her and kept her head when things got crazy. Except they drugged her so she didn’t lose it when things started going bad and she admitted she was close to being hysterical.It wasn’t written that way, but I was supposed to buy it based on what she said?

Eh..if the story had been cleaned up and the inconsistencies taken care of, this would have been a stellar read. As it is, I barely managed to finish it.

2.75 out of 5

two-half-stars

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Guest Review: Love and Mistletoe by Zara Keane

Posted December 31, 2014 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: Love and Mistletoe by Zara KeaneReviewer: Tracy
Love and Mistletoe by Zara Keane
Series: Ballybeg series #4
Also in this series: Love and Shenanigans, Love and Leprechauns

Publication Date: June 23rd 2015
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three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Falling for her enemy…Policeman Brian Glenn wants a promotion. Studying for a degree in criminology is the first step. When a member of Ballybeg's most notorious family struts into his forensic psychology class, his hopes for a peaceful semester vanish. Sharon MacCarthy is the last woman he should get involved with, however hot and bothered she makes him get under his police uniform. Can he survive the semester without succumbing to her charms? 
Sharon's had a rough few months. She knows her future job prospects depend on her finally finishing her degree. When she's paired with her secret crush for the semester project, she sees a chance for happiness. Can she persuade Brian that there's more to her than sequins, high heels, and a rap sheet?

Tracy’s review of Love and Mistletoe (Ballybeg #4) by Zara Keane.

Sharon McCarthy and Brian Glenn getting on each others nerves for years. Of course this is a case of they like each other but don’t know how to go about getting near the other person. (If they were in elementary school in historical times Brian would have been dipping Sharon’s braids into the ink well.)

They end up being in the same class at uni as Brian is trying to promote within the police department and Sharon is getting her psychology degree. They end up being put together as partners on a project and this forces them to get over themselves and actually talk to each other like normal people. They find they like each other even more than they thought and start to date.

Sharon’s family has a horrible reputation in the Ballybeg community and her father’s a real piece of work but she promised her mother before she died that she’ll get her degree. I had to admire Sharon for trying to break out of the McCarthy mold and make something of herself besides a criminal. She’s a unique person (and dresses uniquely as well) and that was off-putting to some folks. I was happy that Brian could see past Sharon’s outer dressing to the lovely woman underneath.

Brian was a good guy. He’d had some bad moments in the past when he’d thought the worst of Sharon and her family but he wasn’t one to stick with one thought and never give up. He was willing to accept that Sharon was different and he liked that about her. Together they made an unlikely but adorable couple.

Love and Mistletoe was just a sweet novella and one I really enjoyed reading. If you want a quick fun read with some Christmas spirit then this is a great choice.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

The Series:
Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover

This title is available from Beaverstone Press LLC. You can buy it here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

three-half-stars

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Guest Review: Misunderstandings by Tiffany King

Posted December 30, 2014 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: Misunderstandings by Tiffany KingReviewer: Tracy
Misunderstandings by Tiffany King
Series: Woodfalls Girls #2
Also in this series: Misunderstandings, No Attachments, No Attachments, Contradictions
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: May 6th 2014
Genres: New Adult
Add It: Goodreads
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Just when she thought things were going up…
Two years after a devastating breakup, Brittni Mitchell has moved on from Justin Avery—or so she tells herself. But when she returns to Seattle for her best friend’s engagement party, Brittni finds herself the victim of a disastrously timed elevator breakdown. She’s trapped with the last person she wants to face, and forced to recount the past she desperately wants to forget.

She’s going to have to look back…
When Brittni left her podunk hometown for a big city college experience at the University of Washington, hooking up with a guy like Justin Avery was not part of her plan. Between Justin’s attention-grabbing tattoos, cigarette smoking, and bad boy attitude Brittni quickly chalked him up as “Mr. Wrong.” But his charm was unrelenting, and Brittni’s decision to give Justin a chance quickly turned into the worst choice she ever made.

So that she might be able to move forward.
Now she’s stuck with Justin—literally—and the complicated web of misunderstandings that tied up the truth for two years is about to unravel.

Tracy’s review of Misunderstandings (Woodfalls Girls #2) by Tiffany King

Brittni is back in Seattle for her best friend’s engagement party when she gets into an elevator and it breaks down. This wouldn’t be too horrible if it weren’t for two things A) she hates elevators and enclosed spaces and B) she’s stuck in the elevator with her ex-boyfriend who hates her.

The pair end up talking over the hours that they’re together in the elevator and issues from their past, of course, come up. The book is told in alternating chapters from present to past and back again until later in the book (once they get out of the elevator). I’m not normally of fan of this type of storytelling but it worked for me in this case. We don’t find out what the main problem in their relationship was until later in the book (but I soon figured it out) but that too worked in the end. King kept the story going from pretty seamlessly and it flowed very well. I wasn’t ever thrown out of the story because of the switch in time periods.

I really liked Justin and Brittni together. I wish that their misunderstanding had never happened but I could see how it easily could. Communication is not a big thing in the lives of college students so the situation felt very much steeped in reality. We all know from RL and from fiction that no relationship is easy – it has to be nurtured and it takes a lot of work. The characters in this book had to learn that the hard way, unfortunately. King did great job, however, of bringing the pair together after a life-changing event and I enjoyed the book thoroughly.

Rating: 4 out of 5

 

This title is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

four-stars

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Guest Review: Jingle Spells by Vicki Lewis Thompson, Rhonda Nelson, Kira Sinclair, and Andrea Laurence

Posted December 30, 2014 by Jen in Reviews | 0 Comments

jingle spellsJen’s review of Jingle Spells by Vicki Lewis Thompson, Rhonda Nelson, Kira Sinclair, and Andrea Laurence

To protect Christmas, this family of wizards will have to use a whole different kind of magic…

Part of the Winter clan, the Evergreen family is considered magical nobility. While Evergreen Industries in picturesque Gingerbread, Colorado, might look like an ordinary office building, this is where the magic of Christmas unfolds. Above Santa’s workshop, the Evergreens hold court, manage Christmas and, sometimes against their will and better judgment, fall in love. When it comes to love, the Evergreens know that sometimes you have to play a little naughty to get exactly what—or who—you want from Santa. Celebrate the holidays with Evergreen siblings Cole, Ethan, Dash and Belle in this enchanting collection from New York Times bestselling authors Vicki Lewis Thompson and Rhonda Nelson, Kira Sinclair and Andrea Laurence.

The best way I can describe this book is that if the Hallmark Movie channel wrote a Christmas book, it would be Jingle Spells. Whether this is a good or bad thing probably depends on your feelings about Hallmark style holiday movies. Do you like quick little stories with lots of cute but not much substance? If not, this is not the book for you. In the right mood, I like a cutesy holiday movie, which was pretty much how I felt about Jingle Spells.

The book contains four connected novellas, each one about one of the Evergreen siblings: Cole, Ethan, Dash, and Belle. The Evergreens are wizards who live in Gingerbread, Colorado and are in charge of Christmas. They direct the elves who make the toys, manage the human Santa, keep the world believing in holiday magic, and just generally make Christmas happen.

Though the stories are all connected (and should be read in order), each story is complete and traces a couple. What did I like? The premise is kind of ridiculous, of course, but for some reason at Christmas that kind of ridiculous seems more whimsical than idiotic. It was funny to imagine what it would take to organize Christmas. The siblings have to deal with HR issues (with the elves), a Santa Claus going through a midlife crisis, public relations situations, etc. It’s an entertaining premise. The sex scenes were on the whole hot and interesting, which actually kind of amused me in a book with elves and Christmas cheer. Despite the fact that each story is written by a different author, I thought the style remained fairly consistent throughout. Each sibling did have their own “voice,” but I didn’t notice any inconsistencies or jarring changes between each section.

While I enjoyed myself, the stories are very, very light on world building and character development. Things that are seemingly a big deal, like how if people stop believing in Christmas the magic will die, are never explained, just mentioned. There are supposedly other wizard clans, but they don’t seem to interact or have much to do with the winter clan. There’s no real explanation for why the Evergreens are in charge of Christmas or how the current set up came to be. Each story ends VERY abruptly, too. In some of the stories (notably Cole’s and Ethan’s), there are some seemingly huge obstacles preventing the couple from being together, but then they’re just dispensed with in a couple pages of exceptionally weak explanation leading into a rushed, permanent HEA. I was left feeling frustrated that just when the stories were getting good, they were over (which is often the way I feel about Hallmark style movies, incidentally).

I really only wanted one or maybe two stories–more depth, less breadth. I’m not sure whose story I would like to see most. I was very interested in uber-smart, logical Cole and would have liked to hear more about him, but Ethan was a charmer and really adorable. Dash was sexy and intense and brought a much-needed edge to the book (if you can call a guy who makes Christmas ornaments and enchants the magical sleigh “edgy,” which you probably should not). I definitely thought Belle’s story was the weakest. As a character she was kind of melodramatic, her hero was forgettable, and the plot of that book was a bit too cliche and twee, which is saying a lot in a cutesy Christmas book. I would have preferred a longer story about any of the brothers rather than a rush through all of them like we get here.

I’m glad I read Jingle Spells, but like a made -for-TV holiday movie, the Christmas cheer is fun but fleeting.

Grade: 3.25 out of 5

This book is available from Harlequin Nocturne. You can purchase it here or here in e-format.  This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

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Joint Review: Blonde Date by Sarina Bowen

Posted December 29, 2014 by Rowena in Reviews | 6 Comments

Joint Review: Blonde Date by Sarina BowenReviewer: Holly and Rowena
Blonde Date by Sarina Bowen
Series: The Ivy Years #2.5
Also in this series: The Year We Hid Away , The Year We Fell Down , The Understatement of the Year (The Ivy Years, #3), The Shameless Hour (The Ivy Years, #4), The Fifteenth Minute (The Ivy Years, #5), The Fifteenth Minute (The Ivy Years, #5), The Year We Hid Away (The Ivy Years, #2), Extra Credit
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: July 9th 2014
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Point-of-View: First
Genres: Fiction, New Adult
Pages: 98
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

A blind date. A nervous sorority girl. A mean-spirited fraternity prank. What could go wrong?

As a sorority pledge, there are commandments that Katie Vickery must live by. One: thou shalt not show up for the party without a date. Two: the guy shall be an athlete, preferably an upperclassman.

Unfortunately, Katie just broke up with her jerkface football player boyfriend. Even worse, her last encounter with him resulted in utter humiliation. She’d rather hide under the bed than attend a party where he'll be.

Yet staying home would mean letting him win.

Enjoying herself tonight was out of the question. She could only hope to get through the evening without her blind date noticing that he was spending the evening with a crazy person.

Andrew Baschnagel is living proof that nice guys don’t finish first. He’s had his eye on Katie since the moment her long legs waltzed into his art history class. So when her roommate sets Andy up to be Katie’s date, he’d be crazy to say no. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a lot of practice with either girls or parties. Yet.

“Blonde Date is nothing short of brilliant.”— KimberlyFayeReads.com

“I loved the preceding Ivy Series books but this novella has just become my favorite.”— Booknerdian world

Keywords: sports romance, new adult, college, basketball, novella, sororities, fraternities, humorous romance

Rowena: Holly and I challenged ourselves to do more joint reviews, one review a month this year and in true Holly and Rowena fashion, we fell behind. So this month, you get two reviews from us.

The first review we did was The Year We Hid Away by Sarina Bowen and it was a book that both Holly and I LOVED. That’s saying something because Holly doesn’t love every single book she reads. So kudos to Sarina Bowen for that book.

This review will be about Blonde Date by Sarina Bowen. It’s the short story that features Scarlett’s roommate, Blonde Katie and Bridger’s friend Andy.

I really enjoyed this one. I thought Andy and Katie were great fun to read and get to know. My only gripe? Andy and the Celtics. Just, ugh.

What did you think?

Holly: I think you’re a dork for caring who his team was. Lol Although. ..I don’t think I could love a man who likes the Raiders,  so I guess I can’t talk.

Rowena: You can think that all you want but a Lakers fan will never willingly cheer for a Celtics fan. And I’m a ride or die Lakers fan. I’d have to be considering the seasons we’ve been having lately.

Holly: Can I just say, Andy was adorable. I loved how nerdy he was. When he realizes Katie is nervous, and he decides to help her figure out a way to make the party more bearable? LOVE!

Rowena:  I made an exception for Andy because he was just too freaking awesome. I chose to not blame him for his choice in basketball teams.

The game that Andy chose to play with Katie to get her through the party was too freaking cute for words. I loved that throughout the entire date, Andy was trying to make Katie at ease and I really liked that Katie let him. He really shined at that party and their cute little inside jokes was fun to read about.

What I really liked was how this whole story is going on during the same time as Bridger and Scarlett’s story so the little tid bits lined up and had me grinning like a fool. The music they heard coming from the other room, the laughing and dancing? Hahahahaha. I loved it.

Holly: I loved that, too. Normally I don’t like it when a romance story is set over such a short period of time, but the way this was told, it worked. I loved their entire date, from Katie’s confession and Andy’s reaction, to the game he devised and even the way he managed to make his point to Katie’s ex without making it a big deal.

The thoughts Katie has about slut shaming and her feelings about some of the choices she’s made really made me think, too. Bowen does that a lot. Make me think, I mean.

Rowena: She made me think a lot too. That’s good sometimes and it worked for this story. What I liked about Katie is how real she is. She thought and acted the same way I would done in her shoes and I liked that she was so real.

Holly: I agree, she was very real. So was Andy, for that matter. He wasn’t over the top, he was just a regular guy. He was cute.

What did you think of the last chapter being told from Dash’s (Katie’s ex) point of view?  Do you think he can be redeemed?

Rowena: More than anything, I was confused by the last chapter being told by Dash. Is he getting his own book? Do you know? I know that Bella (Mike Graham’s best friend and the team student manager in The Understatement of the Year) is going to get her own book but who is her hero? Do you think it’s Dash?

I think he’s redeemable. If Cora Carmack can redeem Silas Moore from her Rusk University series and Lisa Kleypas can redeem St. Vincent, I have every faith that Sarina Bowen can redeem Dash. Come to think of it, I want Dash’s story so fingers crossed for me.

Holly: I haven’t heard if Dash is getting a book. I think part of the reason the chapter was from his POV was to impart more info about Katie and Andy without upping the word count. But yes, it makes me think we’ll see more from him in the future. I’m not sure how I feel about that. What he did was pretty bad. It’ll take some serious work on Bowen’s part to redeem him.

Rowena: I thought Bowen told a great story in not lot of page time and the entire thing just worked for me so I give it 4 stars.

Holly: I’m going to give it a 4.25. Initially I would have given it a 4, but after doing a reread I’m upping it. I loved Andy and Katie even more the second time through.

Rowena’s Grade: 4.0
Holly’s Grade: 4.25

The Ivy Years

four-stars

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