Author: Lorelei James

Guest Review: Just What I Needed by Lorelei James

Posted August 2, 2016 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Just What I Needed by Lorelei JamesReviewer: Tracy
Just What I Needed by Lorelei James
Series: Need You #2
Publisher: Penguin, Signet
Publication Date: August 2nd 2016
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four-half-stars
Series Rating: five-stars

Trinity Carlson might be having the worst day ever. And that was before she started drinking in a dive bar, right across from her ex and his new girlfriend. So when she finally decides enough is enough, she grabs hold of a hot, blond stranger and gives him the kiss of his life.

Walker Lund never expected that a chance at love would hit him right on the mouth. Since the moment his brother decided to settle down, Walker has been dodging his family's hopes that he'll do the same. He's never been interested in following in anyone's footsteps. But when he discovers his sexy assailant has given him a fake name and number he suddenly finds himself in the mood for a little hot pursuit...

Trinity is a woman who is not having a good day.  Not only did she have a crappy day but then when she went out to a bar with her friend Gen, Gen got picked up by a (and left with) a hot Irish rugby player.  To top it all off her cheating ex-boyfriend comes over to “just say hi” with his new bimbo and bimbo ends up spilling that they’d been seeing each other for three months.  Yeah, Trinity had only broken up with him 2 months ago.  And the hits just keep on comin’.  When two guys try to pick her up she gives them a fake name, tells them she’s waiting for her boyfriend and then tells them about two hot chicks back in the pool room.

Trinity is watching the front door when she sees Viking God from heaven walk in.  He’s tall, built, has a beard she wants to run her fingers through and a man bun.  Thinking about the lie she told the 2 guys, on top of the possibility that her ex is watching (and the fact that she really wants to kiss this guy) she heads over and plants an awesome kiss on his gorgeous mouth.

Walker really just came to the first bar he saw after a business meeting frustrated the hell out of him.  He didn’t expect some random woman to kiss him but he loved it.  He ends up sitting with her and they get along great.  He’s digging this woman and wants to see her again.  When he tries to call her the next day and finds out she gave him a fake name and a fake number he’s pissed but also upset because he really liked her.  When Walker walks into the local theatre to work on sets and finds “Amelia” painting them he knows that fate is on his side.

Trinity is an artist trying to make a name for herself.  She hasn’t lived in the Twin Cities very long so she’s not familiar with everything going on.  She only has a few people she can call friends and her family is one that she broke from a long time ago.  She really likes Walker but her insecurities start to get the better of her.  She’s a bit neurotic and just assumes that he won’t want to experience her brand of crazy.  She didn’t give Walker enough credit because he likes the woman she is – craziness and all.

Walker is thrilled that Trinity is oblivious as to who his family is.  People who have lived in the Twin Cities for a while know who the Lund family is and woman tend to throw themselves at him because of his family name and the money he has.  Walker is just a working man who owns a construction business and wants to be seen for who he really is – not his family and or their money.  He loves that Trinity treats him like an everyday Joe and gets more attached to her the more time he spends with her.  He knows that she’s the one but he needs to tread carefully so that he won’t scare her off.

This was such a cute book!  I loved Trinity and Walker – both together and separately. While this was a pretty simple love story with not a lot of angst, the relationship between the H/h kept me reading as they were so adorable together.

Walker was one sexy man.  The way he was described throughout the book made him better each time and I found myself wanting to run my hand through his beard and man bun myself!  He was confident about who he was and wasn’t afraid to show it.  He did have some issues with his family – who he was very close to. He loved his family to death but he was hurt and pissed off that they hadn’t been caring about him or his life at all (except his mother and father). Things did get worked out during the course of the book and was done in a way that was sweet and touching and pretty funny to boot.

Trinity, as I’ve said, was a bit neurotic.  I think her childhood with her father and stepmother that made her more so than she would have been otherwise.  She had some serious insecurities but the more time she spent with Walker the easier they became to live with.  She was a fun-loving person and though she babbled sometimes Walker figured out that kissing her brought her back to reality.  🙂

The only stories that I’ve read of Lorelei James’ have all been cowboy romances. While those were good it was nice to read something from her that wasn’t cowboy related.  I very much enjoyed this book and had a smile on my face for most of the time that I was reading.  If you like read fun, light, romantic stories then this is one that you won’t want to miss.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5

four-half-stars


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Review: Turn and Burn by Lorelei James

Posted October 2, 2013 by Holly in Reviews | 0 Comments

Review: Turn and Burn by Lorelei JamesReviewer: Holly
Turn and Burn by Lorelei James
Series: Blacktop Cowboys
Also in this series: One Night Rodeo (Blacktop Cowboys #4)
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: August 6th 2013
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 368
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Series Rating: four-stars

Tanna Barker is a world champion barrel racer. But her personal life has been less of a success, and she’s feeling adrift. After her mother’s unexpected death, her father has remarried, and sold the Texas ranch she called home. Now a rodeo injury has left the restless spitfire holed up in Muddy Gap, unsure what her next move should be.
Until she meets her match in a wild, wild cowboy
Veterinarian August Fletcher has always put his job first. He’s never found a woman who could handle his on-the-road lifestyle. But when sassy, sexy Tanna blows into town, he finally finds the woman of his fantasies. And there’s something between them, but she claims she’s been burned by love ’em and leave ’em road dogs before. How can Fletch prove that he’s in it for the long haul, and that their sizzling relationship is better than winning any rodeo medal? It’ll take some sweet persuasion to convince Tanna that Muddy Gap is where she belongs.

I have a whole host of Lorelei James books in my TBR pile. I have no idea why Turn and Burn is the first one I’ve read. I suspect it has something to do with the fact that I thought she wrote westerns. Which she doesn’t. I have no idea where I got that from.

I really enjoyed the setting and the strong women showcased in the story. The heroine, her friends, and even the band of old women are independent and not afraid to be themselves. That’s so refreshing.

Tanna Barker is broke and injured and needs a place to lick her wounds and decide what to do about her future. Muddy Gap, WY seems like the perfect place. On her first night in town she meets a sexy stranger she decides to take to bed. After a hot night between the sheets she disappears the next morning, even though she secretly wanted to stay.

No one could have predicted her one-night-stand would turn out to be the local veterinarian, or that he’d be pissed that she disappeared without leaving her name or number. Especially the man himself. August Fletcher is a man with no time for a relationship. He enjoys sex as much as the next time, but his vet practice keeps him on the road way too much for a regular girlfriend. But that doesn’t stop him from wondering “what-if” about the sexy new lady in town. Tanna is everything he’s ever wanted in a woman…except she isn’t going to stay. Muddy Gap is nothing more than a temporary stop for her, while it’s his whole life.

They end up burning up the sheets, but they both keeps parts of themselves hidden from one another. It isn’t long before they both want more…but are they too afraid to reach out and grab it?

As I said, I enjoyed how strong Tanna was. She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind or grab for what she wanted. She was a tough cowgirl who’d been kicked hard but life but not brought down. Fletch was the perfect counterpart for her, since he was just as tough but also had a soft side she needed to lean on. They started out as lovers but quickly became friends. Tanna wasn’t quick to open up to him, but Fletch still gave her support, whether he realized it or not.  Just as she offered comfort and support to him.

The story could have become bogged down with their emotional issues, but the witty banter and sexual chemistry kept the story moving. All in all a solid read. I’ll be reading more of James soon.

3.75 out of 5

This book is available from Berkley. You can buy it here or here in e-format.


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Guest Review: One Night Rodeo by Lorelei James

Posted July 1, 2013 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: One Night Rodeo by Lorelei JamesReviewer: Tracy
One Night Rodeo (Blacktop Cowboys #4) by Lorelei James
Series: Blacktop Cowboys #4
Also in this series: Turn and Burn
Publisher: Penguin, Signet
Publication Date: August 7, 2012
Format: Print ARC
Genres: Westerns
Add It: Goodreads
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

All it takes is one night to change a cowboy’s life…

Barrel racer Celia Lawson knows better than to tangle with bull rider Kyle Gilchrist. The sexy cowboy’s love ‘em and leave ‘em ways have earned him a reputation on the rodeo circuit, and he’s always seen her as his best friend’s kid sister. But after one wild, tequila-fueled night, Celia wakes up to find out she’s gotten herself hitched—to a man she never should have married!

When Celia insists on an annulment, Kyle has no good reason to say no—except he isn’t ready to let go of his new bride. But then Kyle inherits a sprawling Wyoming ranch, and seizes the opportunity to enlist Celia’s help. She agrees to lend a hand—with two conditions: He has to get up to speed as a rancher within six months; then they’ll get a divorce. And their marriage will be in name only.

Kyle gives in to Celia’s demand, yet he's ready to prove to her he has what it takes to turn their one night rodeo into a lifetime of love….

Celia Lawson and Kyle Gilchrist have been friends for a long time but they’ve also been adversaries.  They would snipe at each other constantly and push each other in ways that others didn’t.  That was until Kyle started falling in love with Celia.  Yeah, they still argued but for the last couple of years, it was mostly arguing about Breck, her boyfriend.  Kyle thought she could do better, and she could.  One night in Las Vegas they both get shit-faced and wake up married.  Celia is all for a quick annulment but Kyle finally has Celia right where he wants her and he hopes he can talk her into never getting an annulment.

The day they wake up from their drunken stupor Kyle gets a call from his mother.  She says that his father is dying.  Kyle’s confused because he’s never known his father and his mother has always been closed-mouthed about the man.  She comes clean but not in time for Kyle to get to Wyoming and see his father before he dies.  The father DID leave Kyle everything – his ranch, his equipment, and all his money.  Kyle has been saving up for years to buy his own ranch so this is a gift from the gods.  Kyle knows little about ranching and he convinces Celia to stay married to him for six months, teach him about ranching and then she can go her merry way. He hopes after that time she’ll want to stay with him, of course.

Celia is a lot less opposed to being married to Kyle than she lets on. She agrees to the marriage continuing and they start out in harmony – taking care of the ranch. They have their ups and downs and deal with it in their own way. They both have secrets from the other but their own insecurities may be the thing that tears them apart forever.

Where do I begin? There are so many good things to say about this book that I’m not sure where to start. Celia is finally coming into her own, spreading her wings and becoming the woman that I knew she could be. Her brothers – though I liked them in their own novels they had completely discounted their sister in their lives and I didn’t like them too much for that. Celia had lost so much and I knew that Kyle could give her so much of what she needed: love, affection, romance – not to mention the fact that he listened to her about their ranch and didn’t try to second guess her or downright ignore her like her brothers had. Abe and Hank started to make up for their mistakes in this book but I think it will take a long time before they can come up to scratch. Celia flourished with Kyle and I loved seeing them together.

Now Kyle could be an ass when he was in his own head and being a guy, i.e. non-communicative. However that didn’t happen all that often and he was a kind and loving man. He was raised by a single mom and because of this was respectful and not dismissive with Celia. He really showed her another side of him that others didn’t see. He did have a freakin’ boatload of insecurities, as did Celia, but they worked them out and in the end came together in a great way.

I really like this series so far, some books more than others, but overall I definitely think it’s a winner.

The Series

Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover

Rating: 4 out of 5

four-stars


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