Tag: Catherine Bybee

Review: Not Quite Crazy by Catherine Bybee

Posted June 4, 2018 by Holly in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: Not Quite Crazy by Catherine BybeeReviewer: Holly
Not Quite Crazy (Not Quite, #6) by Catherine Bybee
Series: Not Quite #6
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Publication Date: March 6, 2018
Point-of-View: Third
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 315
Add It: Goodreads
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two-half-stars
Series Rating: three-stars

From New York Times bestselling author Catherine Bybee comes the sixth novel in the warm and witty Not Quite series.

No one drives in New York City. Everyone knows that, including California transplant Rachel Price. But that doesn’t stop her from driving into the city. From Connecticut. Every single morning. Rain or shine…or snow.

When she runs the charismatic and good-looking Jason Fairchild off the road, their immediate spark is met with bad timing. There is also one tiny little detail: Jason is her boss. And a woman as intelligent and dedicated to her career as Rachel knows not to date her boss.

As CEO of a private jet company, Jason Fairchild is more used to flying than driving. But if he hadn’t chosen to drive home one night, he wouldn’t have met the slowest—and most irresistible—driver in the entire metro area. Jason has never had time for love. Or dating. Or really anything that doesn’t involve work. But when he finds out that Rachel is the newest superstar in his marketing department, he can’t help wondering if fate has other plans…

Not Quite Crazy the sixth book Bybee’s Not Quite series. I didn’t read any of the previous ones. I don’t feel like I missed out on much by skipping the other books, though the “happy couples want everyone happy” bits got kind of annoying.

I really liked Rachel and Jason together. She has guardianship of her deceased best friend’s son, Owen, and I really liked him as well. The three of them together had a great family relationship. Sadly, there wasn’t enough of Rachel and Jason, nor the three of them together to make this work.

Neither of the central conflicts of the plot worked for me.

1) Jason is the owner of the company and therefore Rachel’s boss. This was problematic in that it was never properly explored. Rachel has major concerns – legitimate ones – that she could lose her job if their relationship goes sour. She worries she’ll be thought less of by her peers and that her work won’t be taken seriously. Jason agrees she’s right to have concerns and even discusses with his brother (and business partner) how the company lawyers would advise against a relationship, and yet he still pushes for a relationship. Something about the way it was done really bothered me. The power imbalance really stood out, and I never felt like Rachel had a choice in the matter. She told Jason no, he did it anyway, the end.

and

2) Owen’s father’s family wants custody of him. I admit I’m not an expert when it comes to family law, but I had a major problem with the way the custody aspect was handled. Rachel was given guardianship in California as stated in her best friend’s will. Then paternal grandparents show up and say they want custody. Owen is 15. He’s never met them before. She agrees to move from CA to CT to be closer to them in order to avoid a court battle for custody, though it the father’s family never actually tried to go for custody. They just threatened and she moved. She claims grandparents would get custody over her no matter what so she has to keep them happy. But, she has guardianship! He’s never met the grandparents. He’s only seen dad a couple times in his life. And he’s 15! He can decide for himself where he wants to live. Regardless of that, however, unless I missed something major, Rachel hasn’t explored her rights as guardian through any legal channels. There’s a brief mention of an attorney advising her to keep in contact with the grandparents, but that’s it. She hasn’t hired an attorney or done any research. Similarly, the grandparents didn’t go through any legal channels to gain custody. They threatened to, which was enough to make Rachel move closer to them, but that’s it. The whole thing seemed contrived and silly.

The hearing at the end worked much better for me, but still. I didn’t really buy into such a flimsy reason for Rachel to be in CT or for her natural concerns about dating her boss to be pushed aside in favor of the “emergency” with Owen. I did enjoy Bybee’s writing, however, so I may try another book of hers in the future.

2.5 out of 5

Not Quite

two-half-stars


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What I Read Last Week

Posted April 9, 2013 by Tracy in Features | 4 Comments

I’m so behind this week! So sorry!

Last week I was feeling a little bad and hoped I wouldn’t get sick. Yeah, no one listened to me and my hopes and I got the cold and headache from hell. Just an all around bad week but I’m recovered now so that’s a good thing! 

I also have some news about my sister who lives in Kansas.  She was diagnosed with breast cancer at the beginning of the year after multiple tests.  She is the first one in either side of the family to have it and it’s been a bit of a crazy time mentally – for everyone.  (I want to say mind fuck because it fits it so well.  For my sister more than anyone.) On the first of April she had a double mastectomy – luckily they caught it very early – and she’s home and doing really well so far.  Obviously there’s pain but she’s been a trooper from what I understand.  My mom has been with her since the day before Easter and I’m so happy she’s able to do that and be there for her.  My mom put some info up on her blog about what Allison went through just to be diagnosed (the cancerous lump was NOT found via regular mammogram – fuckin scary!) so if you want to read more you can go here.  Anyway, any prayers you might want to send up for her would be more than welcome. 🙂

Not much happened last week except sickness and lots of reading so I’ll get on to what I read last week (I’m not putting in author links this week – sorry!):

I started off the week with Dangerous Refuge by Elizabeth Lowell. This is the story about Tanner an LA cop who is in the Sierra Nevada’s due to the death of his uncle. He knows almost from minute one that there’s something off about his uncle’s death and starts to quietly investigate. He does this with the help of Shaye from the conservancy that the uncle was going to sign the land over to at one point. They work together to find the killer as well as fall in love. Good book. You can read my full review tomorrow her on the blog. 3.75 out of 5

Next up was Big Boy by Ruthie Knox. This was a great book about a couple who only see each other once a month and role play. Unfortunately that isn’t enough for either but they’re not sure they can make it work otherwise. You can read my full review for this great book here. 4.5 out of 5

Before the Moon Rises by Catherine Bybee. The story is about Janet, a nurse whose last patient of the night goes from unconscious to totally ok – freaking her out just a bit. The patient, Max, is a werewolf and for some reason just didn’t come to as quickly as normal and was found in the streets of LA. Max is taken with Janet and asks her out. He ends up not only taking her out but falling hard for her. Unfortunately his arch enemy also has fallen for Janet and would like nothing more than to cause Max pain and takes Janet. This was a decent story yet a bit strange. Max seemed a bit odd at first even though I knew going in that he was a werewolf. In the end it was good but short. 3 out of 5

Next up was Lord of Wicked Intentions by Lorraine Heath. It’s FINALLY Rafe’s book in the Lost Lords of Pembrook series. Rafe is intrigued by Evelyn who is being sold as a mistress to the highest bidder – by her half brother. He hates her because she’s the daughter of their father’s mistress and wants her gone NOW. Rafe intends to make her his mistress but alas love gets in the way. It was a really good book and I’ll be posting my review for it later this month. 4 out of 5

Unbroken by Melody Grace was the story of Juliet who goes back to a town that she hasn’t been in for 4 years to pack up the family’s summer house as it’s to be sold. Four years prior she had had a scorching summer with Emerson and was devastated when he broke it off as they had made plans for their future. The book is about the couple seeing each other again and the feelings that that brings out in them. I basically thought the story was mess. I liked the writing in the story as it completely kept me engaged but the characters in the story acted immature and their love was more obsession than love, imho. I read this one for The Book Binge so I’ll let you know when my review posts. 2.5 out of 5 (as I said in my review – it would have gotten a 1 if not for the writing.) 

Taking Shots by Toni Aleo is the first book in the Assassins series. The Assassins are a pro hockey team in Nashville and their captain, Shea Adler, sees photographer Ellie Fisher and wants to get to know her better. The story covers their relationships, their troubles, Ellie’s insecurities and more. You can read my review for this one here on the blog on Friday. 3.75 out of 5

Finding Forgiveness by Dana Marie Bell is an m/m story about wolf shifter mates who haven’t mated. One mate, Ben, believes that the headaches that he feels his mate Dave have are due to alcoholism when in fact they are debilitating migraines. When Ben finds out what he’s done – he hopes that Dave will find it in his heart to forgive him. The story was cute – pretty hot and I really liked the sense of humor. 3 out of 5

Next was Ten Reasons to Stay by Sabrina Jeffries. An Earl who is only half English and has been living in his mother’s country of India sets foot on English soil after many years only to catch a horse thief in his stable. The thief ends up to be Eliza who is trying to run away from her uncle who plans on marrying her off to a man she’s never met. She’s trying to get back to her school to seek help from the headmistress. The Earl, Colin, ends up locking up Eliza in his house until he can get to the bottom of things as he doesn’t believe her story. During the course of the story the two fall in love but it’s rather quick. Good story though. I’ll review this later this month. 3.5/3.75 out of 5

Beauty and the Blacksmith by Tessa Dare was wonderful. This novella is set in Spindle Cove and is Diana Highwood’s story. If you’ve been reading the series you know that Diana’s mom is set on getting her married to a title while all Diana wants is the local blacksmith. I’ll be posting my review of this one in the next couple of weeks but know that it was good. 4.5 out of 5 

Last for the week was Reaper’s Property by Joanna Wylde. This is a much harder and harsher type of romance than I normally read but it was oh so good. The story is set, for the most part, in the inner workings of a motorcycle club. If any of you watch it just think Sons of Anarchy and you’ll get the gist. The story is about Marie whose brother gets involved with the Reaper’s Motorcycle Club. Some of the members start coming over to talk to him and Marie, who has just left her abusive husband, meets Horse. Horse wants Marie from minute one but Marie has serious problems with what they call their women in the MC – like sweet butt, property and old lady. She eventually has to make a decision about being with Horse to save her brother but it’s a great way of getting her to be with him which is all he wants. Like I said it’s definitely a harsher romance but it was really good and I can’t wait to read the next book in the series. 4 out of 5

My Book Binge Reviews that posted last week:
Let it Be Me by Kate Noble
Only Lycans Need Apply by Michele Bardsley
Love is Blind by Elizabeth Cole
Bite Me, Your Grace by Brooklyn Ann

Happy Reading!


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