Tag: Jeanette Murray

Review: One Night with a Quarterback by Jeanette Murray

Posted July 14, 2014 by Holly in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: One Night with a Quarterback by Jeanette MurrayReviewer: Holly
One Night with a Quarterback by Jeanette Murray
Publisher: Intermix, Penguin
Publication Date: June 17th 2014
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 306
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-stars

FIRST IN THE SANTA FE BOBCATS SERIES!A one-night stand shouldn’t go into overtime…

She’s daddy’s little girl…or she would have been, had he known she existed. Cassie Wainwright thought her father—head coach of the Santa Fe Bobcats—ignored her purposefully. Come to find out, he had no clue she’d ever been born.Now Cassie is determined to meet the man who’s always been missing from her life. Her mother warns her, being the long-lost daughter of a well-known NFL coach won’t be easy, but Cassie’s determined to stick it out. And before her life turns upside down, she wants one more night of fun.

Starting quarterback for the Santa Fe Bobcats, Trey Owens is tired of being in the limelight. Lucky for him, the beautiful brunette he meets at the club isn’t a local. She has no idea who he is…and she’s down to party.Tomorrow, Cassie will think about her father. Tomorrow, she’ll think about her future. But tonight is for herself and the hottie she found on the dance floor. It’s a match made in heaven—if only for a night…

Cassie’s mom hooked up with her dad some years ago and didn’t bother to tell him when she got pregnant. After a brush with cancer, she finally fessed up and told Cassie the truth – her father is the head coach for the Santa Fe Bobcats.  Cassie gets in touch with him and they decide she”ll go to Santa Fe to meet him and his family – a wife and two girls. Cassie is nervous and decides to go out with her friend (who traveled with her for moral support) the night before the big meeting. She doesn’t intend to do more than blow off some steam on the dance floor, but when a sexy stranger comes on to her she decides not to say no. After a scorching night together, she fully intends on walking away and never seeing him again. Fate – and Trey – have other plans.  They keep running into each other and after she meets her father, Cassie can’t deny she needs a friend.

Trey sort of accidentally on purpose didn’t tell Cassie who he was. He’s so caught up in her liking him for him, he doesn’t tell her he’s really a star quarterback in the NFL. Since Cassie doesn’t follow football she has no idea. The longer he goes without telling her, the harder it is.  Plus, she’s going through a hard time with her father and he doesn’t wan to add to her stress.

Neither of them realize the father in question is Trey’s boss. Since her dad decides to install her in his pool house and treat her like a dirty little secret – blowing off meetings, ignoring her in public and allowing his jealous, dictatorial wife control every aspect of her life – she doesn’t really bring up who he is. Since Trey is hiding what he does, it doesn’t come up on his part, either.  Add in the fact that her father has forbidden her from seeing men while she’s staying with him (something she agrees to because she’s in town temporarily and has no plans to start a relationship) and she’s very careful with Trey anyway.

Of course, the stronger their friendship, the more Trey wants to pursue the relationship. Cassie wants that, too, but she’s committed to forging a relationship with her father and sisters and doesn’t want anything to get in the way of that.

Trey and Cassie were really wonderful together. There was a definite spark between them, plus real friendship. They turned to each other in their times of need, supported one another and really opened up to each other.  Trey’s teammates were a wonderful addition to the story. Cassie fell right in with them and formed friendships with them, too, which was refreshing. Trey didn’t try to keep her out of his life, but instead folded her up in it.

Cassie’s decision to do what it took to forge a relationship with her father was admirable. It wasn’t hard to understand her motives or why she continued to push even when he was avoiding her and she was dealing with her evil step-mother. I did wonder at what point she’d say, “enough” and cut her losses, though. Her desire to have a relationship with her sisters was the only reason she let things go as long as she did, which I understood.  After weeks of being blown off, made to feel inferior, banned from her sisters and even shunned in public, she really needed to stand up for herself.

Her step-mother was a real piece of work. I kept getting all rage-y (HULK SMASH) every time she came on page, which definitely detracted from my overall enjoyment. Plus, Trey acted like an idiot at the end (though, thankfully, it didn’t last long). 

The team and Trey’s friendship with Cassie is what saved the story for me.  The romance was sweet and the emotional entanglements compelling, if not always easy to stomach.

3 out of 5

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

three-stars

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Guest Review: One Night with a Quarterback by Jeanette Murray

Posted July 8, 2014 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: One Night with a Quarterback by Jeanette MurrayReviewer: Tracy
One Night with a Quarterback by Jeanette Murray
Series: Santa Fe Bobcats #1
Also in this series: One Night with a Quarterback
Publisher: Intermix
Publication Date: June 17, 2014
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

She’s daddy’s little girl…or she would have been, had he known she existed. Cassie Wainwright thought her father—head coach of the Santa Fe Bobcats—ignored her purposefully. Come to find out, he had no clue she’d ever been born.

Now Cassie is determined to meet the man who’s always been missing from her life. Her mother warns her, being the long-lost daughter of a well-known NFL coach won’t be easy, but Cassie’s determined to stick it out. And before her life turns upside down, she wants one more night of fun.

Starting quarterback for the Santa Fe Bobcats, Trey Owens is tired of being in the limelight. Lucky for him, the beautiful brunette he meets at the club isn’t a local. She has no idea who he is…and she’s down to party.

Tomorrow, Cassie will think about her father. Tomorrow, she’ll think about her future. But tonight is for herself and the hottie she found on dance floor. It’s a matchup made in heaven—if only for a night…

The night before Cassie is to meet her father she goes out with her friend (who was travelling with her) and meets Trey. They hit it off immediately and end up in bed together. Trey is smitten from almost word one but Cassie is a bit of a hard sell. She doesn’t want anything to get in the way of meeting her father.

When Cassie does meet her father, Ken, who is a coach for the Santa Fe Bobcats – an NFL team – things are…awkward. He invites her to stay in his pool house, which is like a 2 bedroom house, but he imposes rules on her like she’s a teenager. As he’s well known and has an image to protect he tells her no men. Cassie agrees because there are no men in her life but then she runs into Trey again. He’s wants nothing more than to be with Cassie constantly. He’s a Bobcat player but doesn’t tell Cassie as he loves being and average Joe for a change and as Cassie doesn’t share who her father is they have no idea that they have so much in common.

While meeting her father is a wonderful thing for Cassie he doesn’t seem too excited. He keeps blowing off their scheduled lunches and she hardly sees at his house. She does see his teen daughters who she really loves and his judgmental wife, Tabitha, who she doesn’t really love, at all. She’s not sure that she’s welcome but loves Trey and wants to stay. When shit hits the fan however, things might not turn out how Cassie expects.

When I read the blurb for ONWaQ it sounded like a fun, light read. While parts of it were very fun, other parts were definitely more emotional and heart-wrenching than I expected.

Starting with Trey – he was awesome. Though I didn’t like the fact that he was hiding who he was from Cassie (because after he got to know her he should have known that she wouldn’t care), I liked almost everything else about him. He was kind, generous, a great friend, loving, and an all around good guy. He did have a moment near the end when I wanted to smack him upside the head a time or two but he quickly recovered and made up for it in a great way.

Cassie was an independent woman but she was also a people pleaser. I wasn’t sure I liked that part of her. With Trey she was fun and funny while being a straightforward talker. With Ken and with Tabitha she didn’t stand up for herself (especially with his wife!) and that annoyed me as it just didn’t seem like her. She finally grew some cajones and did stand her ground and I appreciated finally seeing that.

Tabitha was a bitch. I kept trying to see things from her perspective – as in, this adult daughter of her husband comes out of the woodwork and her husband didn’t know she existed so how could Tabitha? Tabitha is protective of her children, I get that, but she’s the epitome of a stuck up, high on her own status, rich snob. I hated the way she directed her girls lives as if they had no brains in their heads at all. They couldn’t do what they wanted or wear what they wanted and because of that they ended up going to extremes and breaking out of the mold when if they had been given leeway that probably wouldn’t have happened. She treated Cassie like she was a dirty piece of gum stuck on the bottom of her shoe and that irritated me to no end.

Despite the fact that I wasn’t a fan of Ken’s or Tabitha’s (Ken redeems himself), I really liked the story and the romance in this book. I loved Trey and Cassie together and that made the book that much better. Trey’s friends were wonderful as well and I’m hoping they get their own books in the future.

Rating: 4 out of 5

four-stars

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What I Read Last Week

Posted June 23, 2014 by Tracy in Features | 0 Comments

Hey folks!

Wassup? Hope you’re all well.

Last week was a bit crazy for me/us and our youngest daughter. She graduated from 6th grade which was awesome. I still can’t believe she’ll be starting Jr. High School in just a couple of month – yikes!

With her 6th Grade teacher

On Saturday she had another of her promotions in TKD. She was a little off her game but she still passed with flying colors.

Then on Sunday we attended her dance recital. She takes an intermediate tumbling class at a dance studio and as the studio was having their yearly recital she was in it. 🙂 She did a great job there as well and I was very proud of her…for everything she did last week! 🙂

While playing chauffer to my kids (and feeling like a mobile ATM) I got a little bit of reading in:

I started off the week with Men of Smithfield: Sam and Aaron by LB Gregg. A great story about Sam who is a Smithfield resident and pretty set in his ways. Aaron comes to town and mixes everything up – but in a good way. You can read my review of this one here. 4 out of 5

Next up was One Night With a Quarterback by Jeanette Murray. This is the story of Cassie and how she finds out who her father is when she’s a grown woman. They make contact and now Cassie is meeting her famous NFL coach father for the first time as well as his wife and 2 teen daughters. She also meets Trey who is one of her father’s players but she has no idea who he is and he doesn’t share that fact. It was a good read and I’ll post my review of this one this week. 4 out of 5

Rowan’s Lady by Suzan Tisdale is a medieval historical and book 1 in the Clan Graham series. This story follows Arline who has been wed to a horrid man, Garrick, who treats her like a prisoner. Her marriage contract states that if she doesn’t conceive in 1 year, 1 month and 1 day from the wedding he could get the marriage annulled – which he definitely plans to do. As he doesn’t have sex with her there’s no fear of getting her pregnant. Garrick then kidnaps Rowan Graham’s 4 year old daughter, Lily, and Arline takes care of her to save her from Garrick’s cruelty. Lily is rescued and Arline is set free after the annulment and ends up at Rowan’s keep acting as Lily’s governess. Rowan really likes Arline but isn’t sure he can share his heart again after the death of his wife. This was a pretty great story. There were quite a few times that Arline needed saving which got a little old, and a little long and slow a time or two, but overall it kept my attention and kept me reading. 3.75/4 out of 5

After finishing the previous book I picked up book 2 in the Clan Graham series – Frederick’s Queen by Suzan Tisdale. This story follows Frederick who was Rowan’s first in the previous book. Frederick won’t inherit the Lairdship from his father but would like to be a Laird. When given the chance to marry Aggie McLaren and become Laird of the clan McLaren when her father dies, he takes it. Aggie is mute and her father is beyond cruel. She’s had many horrible things happen to her in the past and has many secrets – including the fact that she can talk, just with a stutter. Aggie and Frederick end up falling in love but between her father, his first, a female clan member and an evil neighboring Laird life is dangerous and not exactly easy. FQ was another really good book by Tisdale. This one was slow in a few places and had some parts that were hard to read (a rape – but not complete details, and some nasty torture). Overall a good story though and I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series. Too bad it won’t come out for another year or so. 🙁 3.75/4 out of 5 

Last for the week was A Tiger’s Claim by Lia Davis. Shayna, who is the adopted daughter of an Alpha, runs off after an argument with her father and ends up getting attacked by mutants – shifters that are stuck as half man half wolf. She is saved by Travis who takes her home to help her heal. She goes into heat and he takes care of her, of course, and discovers that she’s his mate. They end up with his daughter and mother back at Shay’s father’s compound but the danger from the mutants isn’t over. This was an OK read. I think this could have been a better read if it had been longer so that it could get a little more in depth with the characters as well as the background of how everything with the mutants started. It also needed a good editing as extra words and misspelled words became very annoying. 2 out of 5

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Mended by Kim Karr 

Happy Reading!

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Guest Review: The Officer Says, “I Do” by Jeanette Murray

Posted July 27, 2012 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 1 Comment

Lori’s review of The Officer Says, “I Do” by Jeanette Murray.

Captain Timothy O’Shay is on pre-deployment leave in Las Vegas when he meets Skye McDermott. For once, Tim lets loose and the two hook up. But in the morning, Tim wakes up to discover he’s married to a woman who’s the polar opposite of what he always envisioned in a wife.

But Skye is sure that this is fate, and that they are destined to be together. Can she convince him to stay with her before he’s deployed?

This was an enjoyable read. A story of opposites attracting, when a strightlaced, yeah, kinda boring on the outside man meets a hippie free spirited woman. I liked how Tim was willing to really think about things and stood up for his wife when questioned by his friends, his parents, and his coworkers. And I liked how Skye, in turn, tried to be who she thought he wanted by toning herself down.

Of course, their confusion could have been avoided if Tim had just opened his mouth and told Skye that he liked her just the way she was, but not doing so fit his personality. He’s a thinker, an analyzer. So until he had it all worked out in his head, he wouldn’t talk.

Also? Hated both the CO and his wife, but pretty sure I was supposed to. They definitely represent old school military (which I’m sure still is rampant among higher ranks), and their attitudes made sense in that role. But I still hated them.

Also, loads of sequel baiting here with Tim’s sister and his best friend, but I’m looking forward to reading it.

3.5 out of 5

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

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