Series: Hope series

Guest Review: One Perfect Kiss by Jaci Burton

Posted September 7, 2018 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: One Perfect Kiss by Jaci BurtonReviewer: Tracy
One Perfect Kiss (Hope #8) by Jaci Burton
Series: Hope Series #8
Also in this series: Hope Flames, Hope Ignites, Hope Ignites, Hope Burns, Love After All, Make Me Stay
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: September 4, 2018
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
Point-of-View: Alternating Third
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 320
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two-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

The New York Times bestselling author of Love Me Again returns to the town of Hope, Oklahoma where school is in session and love rules the playbook.

Josie Barnes has always craved a sense of home. She's found that in Hope, Oklahoma--she bought a house, has a new job as an English teacher at Hope High, she's made wonderful friends, and she's taking in stray animals that no one else wants. Now she's flirting with fellow teacher and hot high school football coach Zach Powers. But he's almost too good to be true, and Josie learned long ago not to trust in the too-good-to-be-true, because it has always let her down.

A former pro football player, Zach had to pull back when a career-ending knee injury forced him to rethink his future. Now he's happy calling plays as Coach. If he could just get Josie Barnes to stop benching his players for their poor grades, life would be perfect. Instead, she drives him crazy as the stern teacher at school and the sexy woman of his dreams outside of the classroom. He knows she's been hurt in the past, but he wants to be that guy she can trust.

The one thing Josie has never been able to count on is the people closest to her. But Zach intends to show her that what they have between them is a textbook case of love.

Josie and Zach are teachers at Hope High School.  They hang out in the same group of friends and that’s how they met.  They are attracted to each other, but nothing had been done about it until when this book starts.

When our book opens Zach is getting on Josie’s case for putting a couple of his players on academic probation.  When he finds out that they just aren’t doing the work and it’s nothing vindictive, then he calms down and helps his players get their assignments done.  Zach thinks it’s about time he finally ask Josie out as he thinks she’s attractive.

Josie has issues with relationships.  Her mother is a drug addict and Josie pretty much raised herself.  When she went to college she had a boyfriend but after a while of dating he broke up with her and then she found out he had another girlfriend the whole time he was dating Josie.  When Zach starts hanging around she thinks that having a little fun would be good but has no thoughts of it being anything permanent.

I liked Zach and Josie and thought they were good together.  We got to see characters from past Hope novels and that was good too. The rescue animals were a bonus as they were so cute.

My main problem with the story was that it was slow.  I kept putting the book down and then having to force myself to go back to it.  If it wasn’t a book I had to review I would have dnf’d it.  Not that it was bad, don’t get me wrong, but there was just nothing happening that kept my attention.  I also didn’t feel the attraction between Zach and Josie.  How can I enjoy a romance when I’m just not feeling it?

I hate to say this about a Burton book because I normally really like her stories but this one just didn’t work for me.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

Hope Series


two-half-stars


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Guest Review: Love Me Again by Jaci Burton

Posted May 10, 2017 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: Love Me Again by Jaci BurtonReviewer: Tracy
Love Me Again by Jaci Burton
Series: Hope Series #7
Also in this series: Hope Flames, Hope Ignites, Hope Ignites, Hope Burns, Love After All, Make Me Stay, One Perfect Kiss (Hope #8)

Publication Date: May 2nd 2017
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 320
Add It: Goodreads
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

When Loretta Simmons returns to Hope, Oklahoma, after a disastrous marriage, she’s determined to remain independent for the sake of her daughter. The only thing standing in her way is Deacon Fox—the man she loved and walked away from years ago.

Since Loretta owns the bookstore right next to his current renovation project, Deacon can’t escape the woman who broke his heart. Throw in her adorable little girl and one ridiculously oversized dog, and they’re almost a family. Only he can’t be that guy—what they had was once in a lifetime.
But love has a funny way of re-opening a door you thought was firmly closed…

Loretta and Deacon were in a relationship in high school and even talked about their future life together.  Loretta’s parents had other ideas for her future and being the dutiful daughter she’d always been she ended up dumping Deacon and getting married to another man, Tom. Loretta’s life with Tom was anything but fun but she got a wonderful daughter, Hazel, out of her marriage.  When she divorced her cheating, controlling husband she wanted nothing more than to be an independent woman and show her daughter how strong women could be without a man involved.

Loretta moved back to her hometown of Hope after her divorce.  The bookstore she started is next to a building that Deacon’s construction company is working on.  Deacon first meets Hazel and loves her personality.  When Hazel gets a dog Deacon offers to help her with the training.  When he’s out at the farm that Loretta bought he offers to give her a bid for some work that needs to be done around the farm.  This puts him on the farm quite a bit between the training and the work.

Deacon was heart-broken after Loretta broke up with him but he moved on. He dated some and started his own construction company with his friend Reid.  He didn’t hold a grudge against Loretta for breaking up with him and while things are awkward with her when she first returns to town he can’t stop staring at the beautiful woman she’s become.

Deacon falls in love with Hazel and would do anything for Loretta’s incredible child.  Deacon and Loretta get closer and soon start a relationship. Neither are sure it’s the best idea but they just can’t stay away from each other.

Another great addition to the Hope series.  I loved both Deacon and Loretta and I really loved the fact that this was a pretty light and airy story with little to no angst.  The author gave us a lovely second chance romance.

I mentioned little to no angst and one of the things I loved about this book was that Loretta and Deacon were so…adult.  I mean that in the best way.  There were no ridiculous misunderstandings and when it came to Loretta being upset with Deacon, he knew it.  He also said to her that she needed to talk to him about what was bothering her rather than sitting at home by herself being mad at him and him not being about to defend himself if necessary.  I mean, geez, what a novel concept, right?  Two people talking things out and communicating – what is the world coming to? 🙂  That was one of my favorite parts of the book.

Another favorite of mine in the book was, you guessed it, the dog…Otis.  Burton loves animals in her stories and this was a good one.  Otis was a gigantic goofy great dane who was a big love-bug.  Hazel had picked him up at the pound when her mother said she could get a dog.  Loretta was hoping for a small dog like a chihuahua but no, Hazel picked the biggest dog she could find.  It was adorable and so was Otis.  I loved him to pieces and wanted him for my own.

Overall the story was great.  We got to interact with characters from previous books and catch up with them so if you’ve read all of the books in the series you’ll enjoy that part.  The book has a lot going for it – adorable little girls, love, romance, a goofy dog and some pretty hot sex scenes.  It’s definitely a book I recommend as it was just fun to read.

Rating: 4 out of 5

four-stars


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Guest Review: Don’t Let Go by Jaci Burton

Posted September 8, 2016 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Don’t Let Go by Jaci BurtonReviewer: Tracy
Don't Let Go (Hope Series #6) by Jaci Burton
Series: Hope Series #6
Also in this series: Hope Flames, Hope Ignites, Hope Ignites, Hope Burns, Love After All, Make Me Stay, One Perfect Kiss (Hope #8)
Publisher: Penguin, Jove
Publication Date: July 26th 2016
Genres: Contemporary Romance
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three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Brady Conners is hardly the settling type, but when tragedy strikes in his family, he has no choice but to return home to Hope, Oklahoma. Setting up shop to work on custom motorcycles and pass the time, Brady has no intention of letting anyone get close—until he meets Megan.

Pastry shop owner Megan Lee is drawn to quiet, brooding Brady. Their connection is undeniable, and it quickly develops from physical attraction into something much stronger. But with Brady putting up barriers, Megan is afraid to truly open her heart—unless she can convince him to let go of the past…

Brady Conners is biding his time working at his friend Carter’s garage doing body work.  He works nights and weekends painting bikes and loves it.  His ultimate goal is to open his own shop where he can paint full time.  He just doesn’t know if he wants to do that in Hope as there are too many memories there.

Brady grew up in Hope with his family but his brother, Kurt, died after a life filled with drugs and Brady can’t seem to come to terms with the fact that he’s dead.  Everywhere he looks he sees Kurt and he’s cut himself off from everyone he knows in the false belief that if he has no friends he can’t get hurt if something happens.  He may not be aware that’s what he’s doing but it is.  He ends up falling for Megan who owns the local pastry shop and they begin what each thinks is strictly a fling, but both start to get more involved.  Unfortunately, Brady isn’t ready for something more permanent and when he realizes this he may break them both too much to recover from.

In this story Brady is such a sweet guy.  He starts to come out of the hole he’s buried himself in and ends up spending time with his friends.  Yes, they’re friends despite the fact he was trying to keep them at arms- length. When he starts dating Megan he is wonderful.  He’s sweet, thoughtful and kind.  When he finds a dog behind the dumpster he takes it in and turns little Roxie into a biker pup – it’s freakin’ adorable.  Little Roxie is a great dog and anyone who can take such good care of a stray is a good person.  Unfortunately when Brady realizes that he’s getting in too deep he turns it all around and becomes a bit of a jackass for a time.  I didn’t like him at all during those parts of the book but I did understand his thinking and why he did it.  Didn’t make it right, but I understood.

Megan was just a whirling dervish!  She opened her shop every day, baked and ran a booming business and then went home and baked and cooked.  She seemed like she had everything in her life in perfect order except for someone to share it with.  I thought Brady was perfect for her but I could see where he would get scared.  Megan was wonderful but she lived and breathed “Susie homemaker”.  Any man not wanting to get in too deep in a relationship could see this.  I guess that’s why I found it so strange that Brady was so good to Megan as it was so obvious that what she wanted was permanency.  Also, after hearing about her baked goods I want to try them myself. J

While the book held a sweet romance it was slow reading at times.  As much as I usually like Burton’s writing I found myself putting the book down more than once and moving on to another book.  I would always go back and pick it up but…it didn’t completely hold my attention all the time.  Despite that I liked finally reading about Brady and his life as well as the wonder of Megan.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

three-half-stars


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Guest Review: Make Me Stay by Jaci Burton

Posted December 1, 2015 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Make Me Stay by Jaci BurtonReviewer: Tracy
Make Me Stay by Jaci Burton
Series: Hope series #5
Also in this series: Hope Flames, Hope Ignites, Hope Ignites, Hope Burns, Love After All, One Perfect Kiss (Hope #8)
Publisher: Jove, Penguin
Publication Date: December 1, 2015
Format: eARC
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Reid McCormack is back in Hope to renovate the old mercantile. Then he plans to go back to Boston, where he's built a successful career. But beautiful florist Samantha Reasor is a distraction Reid hadn't counted on. Samantha intends to convince Reid that Hope is where his heart has always been, and coming home might be the best choice he could ever make.

Reid loves his job as an architect and he loves having that job in Boston but when he heads home to do a reno job on a building that he and his brothers bought he finds he misses his hometown of Hope, Oklahoma.  As much as he misses it he knows his life is in Boston.

Sam loves Hope and loves living there.  She single-handedly runs a florist and does a booming business.  On top of that she lives down the street from her aging grandmother and checks in on her on a regular basis.  She is excited about the old mercantile being renovated and checks in with Reid regularly to see how the work is going.

The pair feel an attraction to one another and eventually begin a sexual relationship but all with the thought in mind that Reid will leave as soon as the renovations are completed.  The longer Reid stays, however, they each realize what they’ll be giving up if he leaves for good.

This was a very sweet story with not a whole lot of angst and I loved that.  Sometimes I just need to read a book that’s got a romance that has it’s issues but not too much conflict.  It DOES happen from time to time in real life, I’m sure of it! 🙂

In Make Me Stay we got to revisit characters from previous books and go info on them but the main focus was on Sam and Reid and their blooming love.  They were both really good people who cared about others and took care of their own.  Reid was especially wonderful taking Sam’s grandmother into his fold as well and it warmed my heart to see his acceptance of her and what that would mean for him and Sam in the future.

Overall this was a very heartwarming novel that I really enjoyed reading.

Rating: 4 out of 5

four-stars


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Guest Review: Love After All by Jaci Burton

Posted March 27, 2015 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: Love After All by Jaci BurtonReviewer: Tracy
Love After All by Jaci Burton
Series: Hope series #4
Also in this series: Hope Flames, Hope Ignites, Hope Ignites, Hope Burns, Make Me Stay, One Perfect Kiss (Hope #8)
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: March 31st 2015
Add It: Goodreads
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

High school math teacher Chelsea Gardner has the perfect plan. She’s tired of dating all the wrong men, and after years of frustration, she’s developed a foolproof list of requirements for finding “The One.”
Bar owner Sebastian “Bash” Palmer finds Chelsea beautiful, smart and fun, but he thinks her list is ridiculous and unnecessary. Intent on proving Chelsea is looking for love in all the wrong ways, he offers to help her find the “perfect” man.

Chelsea knows Bash isn’t the right guy for her—he barely meets one of her criteria—but there’s something about the charismatic man that has her yearning for things that are most definitely not list approved.
Because sometimes, a relationship that looks totally wrong on paper can turn out incredibly right…

Tracy’s review of Love After All (Hope #4) by Jaci Burton

Chelsea Gardner knows what she wants in a man and she won’t settle for anything different. She even has a list of qualities and requirements to check off for when she goes on dates. The problem is that she’s incredibly attracted to local bar owner, Bash, and he fits NONE of the requirements. Chelsea has dated a lot in the past but after she makes her list and goes on a few more dates she gets frustrated. She decides to take Bash up on his friends with benefits offer until she finds Mr. Right but things go a little awry the closer the pair gets.

Bash is not looking for a relationship. He was married once and decided after his divorce that he was never going there again. He starts up with Chelsea and loves every minute of their time together. In fact he finds excuses to spend more and more time with her until they’re almost acting like…a couple.

Another great story in the Hope series. I really liked Bash and Chelsea together and thought that they played off of each other really well.

Chelsea, at first, was a hard pill to swallow. I think she was SO focused on her list that it started to annoy me. Especially as I could see that what/who she needed (Bash) was right in front of her. Eventually she calmed down and I liked her a whole lot better.

Bash was hot and sexy and a really good guy. He had his issues but he was willing to work them out and I admired him for that. I loved how he loved that little dog of his (Lou) as it showed what a kind person he was.

Overall a great book and a nice addition to the series.

Rating: 4 out of 5

This title is available from Jove. 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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