Day: December 2, 2014

Guest Review: One in a Million by Jill Shalvis

Posted December 2, 2014 by Tracy in Reviews | 4 Comments

Guest Review: One in a Million by Jill ShalvisReviewer: Tracy
One in a Million by Jill Shalvis
Series: Lucky Harbor #12
Also in this series: Simply Irresistible, Under the Mistletoe (Lucky Harbor, #6.5), Forever and a Day, Once in a Lifetime, It's In His Kiss, He's So Fine, Merry Christmas, Baby, At Last (Lucky Harbor, #5)
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: March 11th 2015
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

As the brains behind wedding site TyingTheKnot.com, Callie sees it all: from the ring to the dress, the smiles, to the tears. It's that last part that keeps her single and not looking. Getting left at the altar will do that to a girl. But when Callie returns to her old hometown, she finds that her sweet high school crush is sexier than ever. And he makes it hard to remember why she's sworn off love.

Tanner is a deep-sea diver with a wild, adrenaline-junkie past - and now his teenage son is back in his life. How can Tanner be a role model when he's still paying for his own mistakes? It's hard enough that gorgeous Callie has appeared in town like a beautiful dream, challenging his best-laid plans to keep his heart on lockdown. Though there's something about being around her again that makes him feel like he can be the man she - and his son - deserve.

 

Tracy’s review of One in a Million (Lucky Harbor #12) by Jill Shalvis

Callie sells romance and the big wedding dream by running an online wedding site and being a wedding planner. The problem is is that she doesn’t really believe in any of the stuff she sells. She was left at the altar years earlier and now she doesn’t believe in love – or at least that’s what she tells herself.

Tanner is a man who has never been in love. He got a girl pregnant when they were just 17 years old and ended up marrying her. Not having any way to provide for his wife and son he joined the Navy but soon received divorce papers from his wife. After years of visiting his son and asking for custody his ex-wife now agrees to the custody but practically dumps their son, Troy off with Tanner and heads off to have fun with her boyfriend. While Tanner doesn’t like how it’s done he loves having his son around him and tries to get to know the sullen boy of 15. When he meets Callie he’s immediately taken with how she calms him and he loves being around her. He also enjoys Callie and Troy interact together.

Callie and Tanner start a bit of a habit of sitting together at the local bakery in the mornings but one day she doesn’t show up as she feels that she’s getting to attached to him – but who shows up at her door? Tanner, bearing gifts of coffee and donuts. The pair seem to have a great time together but Callie keeps telling him that even though they sleep together it doesn’t change anything – they’re just still friends. The problem is that both Callie and Tanner want it to change but neither come out and say it. This leads to hurt feelings and misunderstandings. Once they recognize the truth they’re then ready to do something about it.

I have to say that I really loved both Tanner and Callie in this story. Callie was quirky but levelheaded and Tanner was a bit more out there at times with his adrenaline rushes but also pretty down to earth. Between the two of them they really made just about the perfect couple. I loved how comfortable they felt with each other almost immediately – although Callie did have her moments at first with her klutziness. lol

The story also included a large portion that was focused on Tanner, Callie and Troy, Tanner’s son. Seeing Tanner trying to get Troy to talk to him and trust him; Callie putting Troy to work babysitting her grandmother, Lucille, and seeing his reaction to her – they were all just smile producing moments. I loved almost every part of Troy’s character in the book and thought he was a wonderful addition.

Of course we had to deal with Lucille in this book as Callie is her granddaughter but while she’s still her stubborn old self she was relatively mild in this one. I’ve always thought she was pretty hilarious and she was no different in this story.

Overall this was a great romance and love story that also had a wonderful family element to it. I can’t say it enough – I love this series and I hope it doesn’t end any time soon!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

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

four-half-stars


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Guest Review: Miles from Kara by Melissa West

Posted December 2, 2014 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Miles from Kara by Melissa WestReviewer: Tracy
Miles From Kara by Melissa West
Series: Charleston Haven #2
Also in this series: Pieces of Olivia
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: December 2nd 2014
Genres: New Adult
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Kara Marcus is desperate to forget the past and move on. But she can’t escape her choices—especially when she finds herself falling in love…

Since the first day she stepped into her childhood Southern Baptist church, two truths have been engrained in Kara Marcus’s head: sex before marriage is bad and murder is a sin. And that’s why Kara can never forgive herself for what she did at the age of sixteen.

Now, as second semester of freshman year comes to a close, Kara has stood by her high school boyfriend, Ethan. But as they seem to grow further and further apart every day, Kara realizes that she has feelings for someone else: Ethan’s roommate Colt.

Suddenly, Kara’s clear-cut world shifts out of focus, and she’s torn between what her head tells her is right and what her heart is desperately pushing her to do—even if it means committing another undeniable sin...

 

Tracy’s review of Miles from Kara (Charleston Haven #2) by Melissa West

Kara has been dating Ethan for a pretty long time. Unfortunately she’s not really feeling it for him any longer – especially when his hot Aussie roommate is around. She knows it’s wrong and tries to stop herself from looking at Colt but she just can’t. She soon realizes that she is better friends with Ethan and breaks it off with him. He seems to pretty much feel the same so it’s relatively amiable.

Not long after that Kara finds herself with Colt as he’s staying in Charleston Haven for the summer. The pair hang out but soon can’t deny their attraction to each other any longer. Colt is such a good guy and careful with Kara. He doesn’t rush her with anything and he respects the hell out of her.

Kara spends the summer working at a non-profit clinic trying to decide if psychology is really what she wants her major to be. There she meets Maggie who is 16 and pregnant. At first Kara can’t even bring herself to look at Maggie because when Kara was 16 she too became pregnant. She had gotten an abortion against her wishes (forceful mother) and has a hard time dealing with Maggie but eventually latches on to Maggie rather than push her away. Despite everyone telling her that she’s getting too close to Maggie and too involved she seems to see Maggie as her second chance at having a baby.

The story is not only about the romance and relationship between Colt and Kara but also about Kara finding herself and dealing with the abortion that she had 3 years previously. She grows and learns about herself with the help of several different people – all people who have her best interests at heart.

I loved seeing Kara grow throughout the book. Was she stubborn and pig-headed at times? Oh, yeah, definitely. But she needed to ride that emotional rollercoaster in order to come out on the other side a better person. I also admired Colt for his clear-headedness and insight when it came to Kara. He truly saw her and could read her like a book. He was kind and patient (well, except for that one time) with her and I just adored his character (he was sexy as hell, too! :)).

We got to see Preston and Olivia in this book as well as some other characters that we met in book one of the series. I was happy to see that the friendships, fun and budding new relationships in this book. Based on what I read in this book the next one’s going to be a doozer but in the best possible way. I can’t wait.

Rating: 4 out of 5

This title is available from InterMix. 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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