Truly Madly Montana by Fiona LoweMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I feel as though I should start my review by explaining that Truly Madly Montana
was not on my review list. While the book sounded interesting, the bulk of my to-read list is scheduled 3 months out and I rarely have a chance to add such a lengthy book at the last minute. But as the person who sets up the blog posts, I found myself intrigued by the excerpts for the book and really wanted to see if it was as good as they made it sound. So I queued the review copy up on my Kindle, turned on the text-to-speech function, and crossed my fingers that Truly Madly Montana was the kind of book that lent itself to being read out loud while I worked on setting up other posts. For the most part it was, and when it wasn’t it was because I found my attention being pulled away from working and into the story – great for the author, not so great for the blog posts. ;)What I really liked about Truly Madly Montana was that Ms. Lowe gave us two love stories in one book. The primary romance is between Will and Millie. As Millie is the first character we meet in the book (and the one whose excerpts snagged my attention most), I connected with her most. I don’t have diabetes so I cannot even imagine what it’s like to live Millie’s life and yet despite being “chained” to her continuous glucose monitor – aka Dex – she maintains a rather upbeat and cheerful outlook on life. This is why I loved how she approached being Josh’s best man and understood her frustration at the wedding reception when the usurper – Dr. Will Bartlett – showed up and assumed he was still the best man because he made it to the wedding. Adding insult to injury is when Will (the guy she was crushing on last summer) assumed she was gay; while that conversation and the interactions that later stemmed from it were not funny from Millie’s point of view, I found them quite laugh worthy. As Will embarks on being friends with Millie because he’s finally found a woman who has similar interests and isn’t trying to hit on him, she is torn between enjoying her time with him and frustrated because she has been relegated to being “just one of the guys” yet again. But sparks fly when Will learns that he was wrong about her sexuality and the scene that follows is emotional, funny, and hot. The best part is that we’re almost halfway through the book before Will and Millie embark on a romantic and sexual relationship, which allowed their friendship to build first. I enjoyed watching their relationship bloom and develop over the summer, which is what made the conversation that preceded Millie’s return to school so heartbreaking. As hard as it was to watch unfold, I was glad to see that Millie didn’t pull any punches with Will and called him out on his cowardice.
Because of how real the characters felt, I found the romance between Millie and Will to be a bit overwhelming at times. This is where the secondary romance comes in handy as it not only helped to keep Millie and Will’s romance from being “too much” for me to read, it also offered quite a bit of comedic relief and a totally different type of emotional depth. To be frank, when Tara first appears in the book I had no idea why the author had gone off on a tangent as there was nothing in the blurb that pointed to the secondary love story. But Ethan’s arrival on scene and his good natured self-deprecation and friendly personality were the perfect complement for the aloof and far too serious Tara. I loved watching their friendship develop and then progress to more just as much as I did Millie and Will’s. Ms. Lowe did a wonderful job of working Tara and Ethan into the story without pulling the focus away from Millie and Will.
I really enjoyed Truly Madly Montana and will be adding the first book in the series, Montana Actually, to my to-be-read list. Not only did I enjoy the author’s style of writing, I also learned something new. Via conversations and Millie’s actions over the course of the book, the author shows just how all-encompassing managing her diabetes is and just how little control she can have over it despite doing everything right and this left me in complete awe of Millie and every person who has to live with diabetes. This was a great read and I absolutely loved the reality check Ms. Lowe gave Will’s character at the end and how it led to the perfect resolution for Will and Millie. I look forward to reading more from the Medicine River series.
I received a free copy of this book to read and review for Wicked Reads.
Check out the Truly Madly Montana by Fiona Lowe Blog Tour post on Wicked Reads.
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even more. It was a fun and HOT way to pass a couple of hours as Shaye sets out to spend 30 days trying to work Coop out of her system. Much like book one, there is a built-in history between Shaye and Coop. That Shaye has been hung-up on Coop for years helps make the way their relationship progresses from friends to lovers to more believable. While it becomes clear that Coop had no idea how Shaye pined for him over the years, it helps move the story along when his inner musings revealed that his thoughts about her had changed from being friends to her staring in his fantasies quite frequently as of late. Unfortunately for Coop – even if he doesn’t know it at them time – the only reason Shaye is willing to up her game and engage him sexually is that she’s been offered the job she’s always wanted, just not where she wanted and she’ll be moving soon. 
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. Honestly when I first read the blurb I wasn’t sure of what to expect. I loved the relationship that developed between Enrico and Toni and could not understand why he was being paired with another woman. I didn’t see how the author could pull it off, especially as I was looking forward to seeing how Enrico and Toni’s relationship continued to develop. And yet she did with a jump forward in time that worked flawlessly.
is one of my top picks for the Texas series. After the suspense and action surrounding Liam in the previous installment, I wasn’t sure how Ms. Scott was going to top it. Yet she did with a storyline that would feel contrived for many characters, yet is completely within the realm of possibility for Riley considering his wealth and profession. Additionally we got to see Liam stand up for himself and find the family and home he has been looking for. These plotlines combine to make for another installment in the series that has been added to my reread list.
came up for review, I had no choice but to take it because Ms. Wilder has done right by me in every book of hers I have read. And I am tickled pink to report that she has continued to deliver with this book. 
was every bit as enjoyable as books one and two in the series and I cannot wait to go back and read book three to find out how that relationship came to be. 
. Even though Ms. Hoover managed to rip my heart out and make me cry with both the Prologue and the Epilogue (as well as a few scenes in between), I loved this book. Confess is meant to remind us that while the vast majority of people don’t find their other half until they’re adults (if even then), there are a special few who do find love as a teenager. Auburn and Adam were among that minority, but because of a terminal illness Auburn had to say goodbye to Adam at 15 (and I’m tearing up as I remember that scene). But Confess also shows us that some of us are so deserving of love that we get a second chance at finding true happiness, even if it’s not with our first love. 
has taken me on a rollercoaster ride of emotions I never expected to experience with this series. Hope for? Yes. Actually get from a series of erotic novellas about a high class gigolo? Nope, I really didn’t expect it. And yet, you took me on a journey of highs and lows, broke my heart and put it back together only to rinse and repeat that action, and turned me on quite thoroughly as Logan found that as much as he excelled at sex, he was even better at it when he cared for the person he was with. 
and this time he’s brought backup. After the hot mess of a client he was with in Filthy for the Night, it was really nice to see him spend time with someone who is actually deserving of his attention and appreciates the extra touches that Logan provides. In this installment Logan’s long-time client Ava has requested a ménage with Logan and another male, but without double penetration. To help fulfill her fantasy, he contracts with a younger gigolo he knows and trusts – Trey – and they proceed to spend the night making Ava’s fantasy come true; spectacularly so as Ava gets so caught up in the evening’s festivities that she takes the ménage farther than she ever expected. And I loved every page of it.
because Ms. Alexander refused to say whether or not the book contained cheating and while this is not a hard limit for me, I was interested in how it would play out in the book. While I will neither confirm nor deny the existence of cheating, I will say that if it’s a deal breaker for you and you really want to know before you buy the book, then download the sample because the author addresses that issue within the first chapter of the book and I for one loved how she did it and how it set up the remainder of the book.
introduces us to the crew of the Malcolm, a small independent freighter. Leading the motley crew is their queerbent captain Mik and his partner Gan; a handicap ex-soldier Buck who keeps a steady level of alcohol in his system at all times; a klepto-kitty by the name of Xia; and the focus of this installment, Rita, the ship’s mechanic and backup pilot. But we learn over the course of the book that the crew of the Malcolm is more than just a collection of colleagues, they’re family…and when you mess with one, you get them all.
and realized that it was the same Kyle and I was going to get to read his story. The opening scene was priceless and had me hooked on Tiffany’s character almost immediately. That girl was trouble with a capital ‘T’ but the kind that left me laughing at her antics rather than worried about how things could go badly. Although after that first spanking as an adult, you would think Tiffany would have learned to tread more carefully around Kyle, but then how would that have made for an entertaining read? 
. This book is raw and it is intense. It is not a love story, it is a story of revenge and love just happens to find its way in. What happens to Laney and what it drives her to do is ugly and yet the story is beautiful in its honesty. Laney tells you from the outset that she is broken and not a nice person and on this point, she does not lie. Black Iris deals with bullying, sexuality, mental illness, and addiction and it does it in a harsh yet truthful way. If you are okay with reading ugly truths, then proceed. I think you will quickly find yourself immersed in a dark and thought provoking story. But if you're looking for a hearts and flowers romance or a story of redemption, stop now because Black Iris is not it. 
was a fun way to spend a couple of hours. At almost 30 years-old, Jacy has been so focused on school and her career that she is still a virgin. To be fair, her four brothers have had a hand in that as well by running off and warning away nearly every eligible single man in a three-county radius. So what’s a socially awkward woman to do in order to turn in her v-card without her brothers interfering…again? Like any young busy career woman, Jacy joins an online dating site in an effort to meet guys. The catch – which I loved – is that NotMy1stRodeo.com is an online dating site for people who are divorced or widowed. Clearly Jacy is neither of these, but she’s not going to let a little white lie stop her from meeting a man who she’s willing to spend a few hours with and get that itch scratched once and for all. And Ray Mitchell seems to be just the cowboy to do that, until Jacy spends some time with him, gets to know him, and realizes that she might want more than just one night with him.
picks up exactly where Part One ended, with Shock telling Liv that he was terminating their contract and sending her home. Now our girl Liv may be slightly broken (I’ll get to why in a minute), but she has no problem standing up to Shock and refusing to leave. While it wasn’t surprising for Liv to jump to the conclusion that Shock didn’t want her because he found out that she had only had sex once in her life, what was surprising to me was how he worded his why. It wasn’t because of her inexperience. And while it was due to her being raped (that was Part One’s big shocker), it wasn’t because he considered her broken. Shock didn’t want to be the second man in her life to force her to have sex. While it is true that he took advantage of her need for a loan, Liv had come to realize that their contract gave her an excuse and the courage to do what she hadn’t done since her rape – enter into a sexual relationship with a man, but specifically with a man she trusted. 
was an absolutely beautiful story and I loved every page of it. What you should know first and foremost about Misfits is that while it is a ménage it is a ménage romance. By that I mean that the focus of the book is on the relationships that develop between Tom, Jake, and Cass. If you’re looking for a novel that is more sex than story, then Misfits is probably not the book for you. However, if you’re looking for a book that focuses on the characters, their lives, their hardships, their successes, their relationships, and their love, then Misfits may be right up your alley. 
because I enjoy her writing, the blurb was intriguing, and I wanted to see how Grant and Morgan’s story would play out. How Morgan would convince (or force) Grant to see past his autism and give the man inside a chance. While Ms. Wilder did not disappoint, she gave me far more than the contemporary M/M romance I expected. Between the realism of Morgan’s character, the relationship that develops, the mind-blowing sex scenes, and the unexpected romantic suspense elements that the author included, I was glued to my Kindle from the first page until the last. I am so relieved that this book fell on the weekend of my reading schedule, because I’m not sure how well I would have endured having to stop reading it just to go to work.
proved to be far more interesting and mildly more confusing than I anticipated. Let me explain my “confusing” statement first. When I began reading the book late last night, I vaguely recalled that in addition to being a BDSM romance it was also supposed to be a paranormal romance. As I enjoy both separately and combined, this was not a concern for me until I got farther and farther into the book and there were no paranormal elements. I should explain that once a book is on my review schedule – whether it’s a review copy, a book I’ve bought, or I book I’ve won (as is the case with this book) – I rarely reread the synopsis before I begin it. So the farther along I got into Bane of My Existence I convinced myself that I must have confused the book with another in regard to the paranormal aspect. This wasn’t a big deal because the author does such a good job with the focus on the BDSM romance that I was enjoying it for that alone – that is, until I got 93% into the book and the paranormal element was revealed. When this occurred my knee jerk reaction was why now? What purpose did that serve to the story because it seemed to be an unnecessary addition to the storyline? As this is the first book in a trilogy, I can only assume that the subsequent books in the The Shift series continue with Antonia and Master Bane’s story and that it will become more important to the series thread. I do worry that BDSM readers who miss that the book is included in the paranormal romance genre will wonder why the author veered off course and will abandon the series. In the same vein, readers looking for a paranormal romance will likely wonder why it took so long for it to be revealed as such, assuming they make it that far into the book. I for one plan to continue with the series and can only hope others do as well.
was another great addition to season three of Corbin’s Bend. Not having read A Perfect Partnership from last season, this was my first encounter with Ginger, Beau, and the Ginger Paddle. I do not know whether or not I would have gotten a pre-pregnancy look at Ginger in the previous book, but it mattered not as Ms. Jamison provided a very clear picture of how Ginger was before Hazel’s birth both through Ginger’s self-defeatist thoughts and Beau’s worries over the drastic change in his wife.