Tag: Shiloh Walker

Throwback Thursday Review: Fragile by Shiloh Walker

Posted October 24, 2019 by Casee in Reviews | 8 Comments

Throwback Thursday Review: Fragile by Shiloh WalkerReviewer: Casee
Fragile by Shiloh Walker
Series: Rafferty #1
Also in this series: Fragile
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: February 3, 2009
Format: Print ARC
Source: Author
Point-of-View: Alternating Third
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 346
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Six years after trading in his combat gear for hospital scrubs, Luke Rafferty is faced with things just as heartbreaking as those on the battlefield. The abused children being brought in by the pretty redheaded social worker tug at his soul like nothing he's ever known.

For Devon Manning, being a social worker is a rewarding job, but also a constant reminder of her own troubled youth. Devon takes everything one day at a time—unable to form a relationship with anyone except the children she rescues.

When Luke meets Devon, he thinks he might have found what he's been looking for, but in order to get the life he wants, Luke has to break through Devon's emotional barriers and make her realize that his healing touch might be just the complication her life needs...

I didn’t really expect to like Devon. She’s exactly the type of heroine that I can’t really get behind. The heroine that doesn’t need anyone except for herself. The “tough-as-nails, I’ll kick your ass before I let you touch me, I don’t need you” heroine. You know the heroine I’m talking about. That’s the type I expected Devon to be, even while I was reading the beginning of the book. And she is that type of heroine, to a certain extent. She’s is tough, but that’s b/c she has to be. She is closed off from men, but she’ll open up to the right man. She needs family and she needs friends. So she was as I expected her to be, yet she was also more.

When it comes to being a social worker, Devon knows that she’s running on fumes. But she won’t give up. She won’t stop b/c there is always one more child to save, one more child that could be looking for what she looked for as a child. A way out; a way to a better place. The part of her job that she hates the most brings Luke Rafferty into her life. As an ER doctor, Luke deals with the worst of the worst. But the kids Devon brings in always tear at his heart the most. As does Devon herself. Luke never thought about settling down until he meets Devon.

Devon has definite problems with intimacy. What I liked about her was that she was willing to discuss it with Luke. She was willing to overcome her fears to be with this man that she knew was special. As for Luke, he knows a victim when he sees one and he can tell that Devon is one. That’s not enough to deter him from a relationship with her. Soon they’re in a full-fledged affair.

Unfortunately Devon’s work brings her into contact with parents that resent her presence in their lives. One case turns violent when Devon helps a teenage boy out of an abusive home. The boy’s father doesn’t take kindly to Devon’s part in taking him away.

The circumstances force Devon and Luke to get close faster than either of them anticipated. Basically there are two storylines going on here. That was a little much for me. I understand why they were both necessary. They were each there to throw the reader in the opposite direction. I can appreciate that. So even though it was a little over the top, Shiloh made it work.

I was glad there wasn’t a paranormal aspect to this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Rafferty

four-stars


Tagged: , , , , , ,

Review: The Right Kind of Trouble by Shiloh Walker

Posted August 9, 2016 by Casee in Reviews | 0 Comments

Review: The Right Kind of Trouble by Shiloh WalkerReviewer: Casee
The Right Kind of Trouble (The McKays, #3) by Shiloh Walker
Series: The McKays #3
Also in this series: Headed for Trouble, The Trouble with Temptation
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Publication Date: August 2nd 2016
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 384
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Desire won’t take no for an answer.

In the small Southern town of McKay’s Treasure, everybody knows that the handsome local police chief, Gideon Marshall, has been carrying a torch for Moira McKay. It’s also no secret that Moira has been rejecting Gideon since…forever. But after an attack from a mysterious stranger bent on taking down the McKay family, Moira becomes filled with distrust toward most men. Now she wonders whether she’s been wrong about Gideon all along—and if it’s not too late to admit him back into her life…and into her bed...

Gideon has finally convinced his wasted heart to give up on Moira, who he’s loved since he was sixteen years old. Moira’s attack changes everything, however—and he vows to protect her. But how much is he willing to risk for a woman who’s always kept him at bay…until now? And is it too late for Moira to tell him that her love for him has always been locked deep in her heart—and he holds the key?

“Shiloh Walker’s writing just gets better and better...[and] the sex is sizzling.” RT Book Reviews

Gideon has loved Moira since they were teenagers. The feeling was mutual until the day that Moira’s world crashed and burned around her. She was out with Gideon after a fight with her mom when there was an accident. Her parents died and Moira has never been able to forgive herself—or Gideon.

Twenty years later someone has attacked Moira looking for McKay’s Treasure, a legend that has plagued the town of McKay’s treasure for years. Moira’s ancestor was a pirate that always said his greatest treasurer was in McKay’s Treasure. It’s never escalated to violence. Now Gideon can’t follow through with his plans to leave town and finally leave Moira behind. After trying (and failing) to start a new relationship, Gideon knows that the only way to cut the ties that bind is to leave McKay’s Treasure for good. With Moira in danger, Gideon won’t do that.

When Moira learns that Gideon plans to leave town, she panics. She’s long since forgiven him for something that wasn’t even his fault. She believes that there is too much between them to ever allow them to be together, but when she hears that he’s leaving, those things to seem as insurmountable as they always have. Moira convinces Gideon to give her another chance, but she feels that he already has one foot out the door.

Gideon can’t fully trust Moira, but he will take what he can get from her while he can get it. In the meantime, he knows that someone is out to get the McKay’s. All of them. I didn’t read the first two books (I know! I read out of order), so I’m not sure what happened with Neve and Brannon, but I know that people ended up dead, Neve ended up arrested and Hannah got pregnant. It’s all part of a sinister plan by the person that attacked Moira in the beginning of the book.

I did like this book, as I like most of Shiloh’s books. The only part I didn’t like was Moira. Well, it’s not that I didn’t like-like her, she just wasn’t my favorite heroine. There was one scene where she verbally went after Gideon in front of the whole town and that cinched it for me. I really don’t understand why Gideon carried a torch for her all those years. The story was good though. Very interesting. Surprisingly enough, I knew who the villain was from the start when I’m usually clueless. I do think I would have enjoyed it much more if I would have read this series as a set.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5.

three-half-stars


Tagged: , , , , ,

Guest Review: The Right Kind of Trouble by Shiloh Walker

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

Guest Review: The Right Kind of Trouble by Shiloh WalkerReviewer: Tracy
The Right Kind of Trouble by Shiloh Walker
Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Publication Date: August 2nd 2016
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-half-stars

In the small Southern town of McKay’s Treasure, everybody knows that the handsome local police chief, Gideon Marshall, has been carrying a torch for Moira McKay. It’s also no secret that Moira has been rejecting Gideon since…forever. But after an attack from a mysterious stranger bent on taking down the McKay family, Moira becomes filled with distrust toward most men. Now she wonders whether she’s been wrong about Gideon all along—and if it’s not too late to admit him back into her life…and into her bed...

Gideon has finally convinced his wasted heart to give up on Moira, who he’s loved since he was sixteen years old. Moira’s attack changes everything, however—and he vows to protect her. But how much is he willing to risk for a woman who’s always kept him at bay…until now? And is it too late for Moira to tell him that her love for him has always been locked deep in her heart—and he holds the key?

Moira and her family are rich.  I don’t mean a little rich, I mean stupid, I-wouldn’t-be-able-to-spend-it-all-in-one-lifetime rich.  Her ancestors came to the area and Paddy McKay helped keep the Mississippi river clean of pirates way back when.  Unfortunately a man he trusted, George Whitehall, turned on him, accusing him of being the pirate and Paddy was put to death.  Paddy had kept journals and the descendant of the George believes that there is a hidden treasure and that it should be his.  Needless to say the guy’s a little off his rocker but when he attacks Moira she realizes that there’s more to the “accidents” that have been occurring than sheer happenstance.  She wants to seek out Gideon because she’s finally realizing that her decision 20 years ago might have been a bad one, but Gideon is done.

Gideon has loved Moira since he was sixteen years old and he hasn’t ever stopped.  He never knew why Moira kicked him to the curb and has kept him at arm’s length all these years but he’s kept trying to get back in her good graces…until now.  He’s tried over the years to forget her but he’s decided that he can’t live his life this way any longer and that he needs to leave McKay’s Treasure.

When Moira finds out about Gideon leaving she knows that she must take drastic measures to get him back.  She just never expected that “help” to come from an unlikely source.

I have to say I was a bit frustrated with Moira in the first couple of books, knowing that she’d thrown Gideon over with no explanation.  I guessed as to why she pushed him away and I was partially correct.  I just can’t understand why she held out for 20 years!  Poor Gideon, I’m not sure how he lived in the same town as Moira.  Seeing her all the time and not being able to be close to her.  That would have driven me insane.  I was happy when Moira finally pulled her head out of her ass and got Gideon back.

The suspense portion of this story was decent.  I had figured out who the bad guy was in book 2 so it wasn’t a surprise – that doesn’t mean it wasn’t well-laid-out.  I thought the slow build up to the reveal was well written and I liked the small clues that Walker put out there over the course of the three books.

This second chance at love story was a good one,but the suspense portion was pretty heavy.  I do wish that the romance and the suspense could have been balanced a bit better.  Overall I thought this was a good conclusion to the McKay series.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

three-half-stars


Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Guest Review: The Trouble With Temptation by Shiloh Walker

Posted May 5, 2016 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: The Trouble With Temptation by Shiloh WalkerReviewer: Tracy
The Trouble with Temptation by Shiloh Walker
Series: The McKays #2
Also in this series: Headed for Trouble, The Right Kind of Trouble (The McKays, #3)
Publisher: Macmillan, St. Martin's Paperbacks
Publication Date: May 3rd 2016
Genres: Suspense
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Love is the greatest risk of all.

After seven days in a coma, Hannah Parker remembers nothing about the accident that landed her in the hospital—or how she ended up pregnant with Brannon’s baby, the man she’s loved since high school. Her body and heart have burned for him for years, and when she wakes up, he’s sleeping by her bedside, anxious to keep her safe at all costs. But as Hannah struggles with her amnesia, a threat looms closer—one that could have deadly consequences if she recovers her memories. She will have to trust Brannon completely if she is to keep what haunts her at bay...and their baby safe....

Brannon McKay spent the last ten years fantasizing about Hannah. In his mind, he’s explored every passionate scenario he can think of while, in real life, Brannon took their budding relationship and threw it away with both hands. Hannah doesn’t remember what happened but now that she is awake, Brannon would rather die than watch her walk away again. When Hannah and his unborn child’s lives are threatened, Brannon must stake claim to the woman who has held his heart captive for years...or risk disaster tearing them apart...

Brannon McKay has kept everyone at arm’s length since his parents died when he was 13.  He thought he’d been dealing with life pretty well but he’d never gotten over his hidden feelings for his little sister’s friend Hannah.  Being five years older than her he knew that she was too young for him so he tried to get her out of his mind.  Now that they’re all grown up he’s tried to stay away from her but when she finds his wallet while she’s out running and brings it to his apartment, all his good intentions fall to the wayside.

Hannah has had a crush on Brannon for forever so when they fall into bed together she loves it. Brannon however, doesn’t seemed so enamored with her and says something that he later states was misconstrued.  Brannon tries to fix things but ends up bungling it further.  That day Hannah witnesses a murder and then crashes a car while trying to get away. After that things take a strange turn.  Hannah end up in a week-long coma and when she wakes up she can remember who people are (except herself) but her memories are Swiss cheese. When she finds out that she’s pregnant she believes Brannon when he says they’ve been together.  Brannon neglects to tell her of their discord right before the accident but since he’s not letting her slip through his hands again he’ll do anything to get her to stay with him.

So this is book 2 in The McKay’s series and I have to admit I had some mixed feelings about it.  At the end of book one we were given the intro to book two.  This into repeats at the beginning of the second book so starting it off was a little redundant (good if you A) hadn’t read book one or B) it had been a while since you’d read book one).  I got over that and quickly moved on to the rest of Brannon and Hannah’s story.  I really liked the pair of them together but felt that Hannah’s reaction to Brannon’s statement that he doesn’t want anything but sex was a bit overblown the first time around.  When she finally remembers it – cuz you know she’s gonna remember it – it’s overblown once again.  After seeing how loving and caring he had been for the weeks since she had been out of the hospital she should have recognized his feelings for her were strong.  Yeah, I would have been pissed that he’d kept the info from me but I would have moved on quickly as Brannon had obviously changed.

Another part of the story is the killer from book one.  Hannah witnessed a murder and since her memory is unreliable she doesn’t know if she actually saw who the murderer is.  We are lead to believe that it’s one person at the end of book one but that changes in book two. The main thing that really pissed me off in this book (spoiler ahead…) is that we don’t find out who the killer is by the end of the book!  Gah!  I really and truly hate that. I get that this is a three-part series but come on – why did she have to do this to us?  I guess I’m just not a very patient person.

A third part of the story was about yet another murder (there’s a lot of them for such a small town!) that takes place during the course of book two. This one made me so sad even though we hardly knew the murder victim.  I guess the way it was described with the assassin and all (which was well done) just made me consider how scared the person much have been and quite frankly it freaked me out a bit.  So that part I consider good but freaky. 🙂

Overall the story was a good one but because of the fact that there was so many stories going on at the same time I didn’t feel quite as affected by the romance as I had been in book one.  As I said, I really liked Brannon and Hannah together but wish we could have known them a bit better by the end of the book.   So despite the lack in the romance department I’d still recommend this story.

Rating: 3.5/3.75 out of 5

three-half-stars


Tagged: , , , , , , , ,

Guest Review: Headed for Trouble by Shiloh Walker

Posted May 4, 2016 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: Headed for Trouble by Shiloh WalkerReviewer: Tracy
Headed for Trouble by Shiloh Walker
Series: The McKays #1
Also in this series: The Trouble with Temptation, The Right Kind of Trouble (The McKays, #3)
Publisher: Macmillan, St. Martin's Paperbacks
Publication Date: December 29th 2015
Genres: Suspense
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

SHE'S A SMALL-TOWN GIRL WITH BIG DREAMS.

Nine years ago, Neve McKay fled her small Southern town and disapproving family to seek a career in the big city. Now she's finally coming home-and hoping for a fresh start. But the relationship that shattered her world still haunts her. And even among her nearest and dearest, she doesn't feel safe. . .

CAN THIS BAD BOY BE THE ANSWER TO HER PRAYERS?

Ian Campbell is a pure Scottish muscle-as hard and handsome as they come. But when Neve walks into his bar, his heart melts. . .and he vows to have this gorgeous and somewhat vulnerable woman in his life-for better or for worse. What is Neve's tragic secret? And how can Neve expect Ian to protect her, when doing so could put his own life at risk? The only thing Ian knows for sure is that he will do whatever it takes to keep her out of harm's way-and in his loving arms. ..in

Neve is 28 years old and has been away from her home, McKay’s Treasure, since she was 18.  At that time she had had an argument with her brother and sister and had left while mad.  In the ten years that she’s been away her life has been a roller coaster of ups and downs.  She went to college, became a model, and got involved with a man who later became an abuser.  She’s now back in her hometown and while not anxious to see her brother and sister, she feels like that is exactly where she’s supposed to be.  The man who had been abusing her, William, is still after her and while she knows that he’ll find her sooner or later she feels like she can finally relax a bit – especially when she’s around Ian Campbell.

Ian is a transplant from Scotland.  He met Neve’s brother, Brannon, when he was in college and the pair have been like brother ever since.  The minute he sees Neve he wants her.  He should let the fact that she’s Brannon’s little sister bother him but he doesn’t. After a short time spent with her he knows that she’s “it” for him and he’s ready to make things happen with her.  Unfortunately, with the background that Neve has had she’s hesitant to rush into a relationship despite the fact that it feels so right. She wants to play it safe with Ian but he has a way of drawing her in and changing her mind.

This was a sweet romance with a nice bit of suspense thrown in.  I really liked Ian and Neve together and was so happy when they finally decided to date.  He really made her happy and after everything that Neve had been through in her life she deserved to have a big fat HEA.

There were other things going on in McKays Treasure along with the Ian and Neve’s romance.  We had Brannon getting together with his neighbor, Hannah, who has been in love with him since high school.  We had the chief of police, Gideon, who apparently used to date Neve’s sister, Moira, but something happened there.  They still love each other but at one point Moira had married another man.  She’s since divorced but I’m anxious to read about what went down with those two.

Overall I really enjoyed the whole book and can’t wait to read book two in this series as we are left with a bit of a cliffhanger.  You can still read this story as it nicely wraps up Neve and Ian’s romance but we definitely have unanswered questions by the end of the book.

Rating: 4 out of 5

four-stars


Tagged: , , , , , , , ,