Review of Pink Pucks & Power Plays by V.L. Locey

Pink Pucks & Power Plays by V.L. Locey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Despite the fact that I found Viviana to be quite annoying in the beginning of the book, I enjoyed Pink Pucks and Power Plays immensely. In the first several chapters of the book Viviana comes off as a bit of a diva drama queen to me. However, as she spent more time interacting with those around her – especially the girls and Alain – I found her character much more likeable and enjoyed the story that much more. The country club scene towards the end of the story is probably my favorite scene in the book.

Despite being a bit self-absorbed (at least in the beginning), Viviana is simply unable to deny her sister a favor and finds herself thrust into the apparently hideous Busy Bee scout leader uniform and chaperoning a group of girls to a basket weaving class – at least that’s where they’re headed when her car breaks down. As the society pages reporter, she has absolutely no idea as to who Alain is when she and the girls stumble into the ice hockey rink trying to find a phone to call for help, but she learns the extent of her “find” during the weekly Monday meeting at work when her boss offers her the chance of a lifetime if she can get “the story” about the elusive Alain. Thanks to the demands of the Busy Bees who want to play hockey instead of making baskets, she has her in and quickly finds herself involved with Alain. As she spends time with him and gets to know him, she finds herself less enthusiastic about her article and far more invested in Alain. The fact that he is a genuinely good guy that absolutely worships her Rubenesque figure and is the best lover she has ever had makes her dilemma that much more difficult. But as all good romance novels require a bit of conflict and drama, Viviana’s assignment is revealed to Alain by her backstabbing colleague and she must deal with the consequences of her betrayal – which include crushed Busy Bees and her own broken heart.

I enjoy a good sports romance and Ms. Locey did not let me down. I love Alain’s character and fully appreciate the touches she added to make him seem real – my favorite being him speaking in broken English at times. While I prefer fiction to non-fiction, I do like my characters to feel real, so it irks me when an author has a foreign-born character who speaks perfect English. Ms. Locey’s inclusion of broken English and misused words for both Alain and Veikko give Pink Pucks and Power Plays that touch of realism I enjoy. The fact that Alain is a super sexy athlete who appreciates a full-figured woman is an absolute bonus. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Locey’s work and can only hope that we do get more of the Wildcats as the book’s cover seems to indicate that this is to be a series.

I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Angela at Crystal's Many Reviewers!

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Review of The Lover's Secret by J.C. Reed

The Lover's Secret by J.C. Reed

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I’ve got to say that I spent most of the time reading this book feeling like I was missing vital information. I kept waiting for things to be cleared up … for misunderstandings to be explained … for a freaking clue. But it never happened. Once I finished the book, I went back online and pulled up the description on Goodreads to confirm that it was indeed the first book in the series. And yes it was. On a whim I pulled up the book on Amazon and finally the missing piece clicked into place. This is related to Ms. Reed’s Surrender Your Love series and even though it states they are stand-alone series, there are far too many references in The Lover’s Secret about previous incidents for me to believe this to be true. So I’m kind of annoyed because I think this would have been a much better read had I read the other series first.

While I enjoyed the author’s writing style. I found Brooke to be indecisive to the point of being an annoying character. She redefines the term flip-flop. Again, not having read the previous series I don’t know if this is characteristic of her or not or if it was due to Jett’s referenced betrayal (which is why I don’t believe this really is a stand-alone series). The references to the first series make it clear that Brooke’s trust issues with Jett are well-placed, but her paranoia seemed a bit over the top … until it wasn’t. As the story takes place over two days and is told from Brooke’s perspective, with a good deal of it being her thoughts, the storyline moved quickly. Despite my confusion, I enjoyed it enough that I will likely go back and read the Surrender Your Love series before even considering reading book two, The Lover’s Game. My recommendation, don’t read this unless you’ve read the other series first.

I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Angela at Crystal's Many Reviewers!

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Review of Finding Julia by Desiree Holt

Finding Julia by Desiree Holt

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Finding Julia was not the Desiree Holt book for me. I’ve read several of Ms. Holt’s novellas and books and find her writing style to be quite enjoyable. The same holds true for this book. She has produced a cast of characters in this book that were, for the most part, rather entertaining – even the ones you’re meant to hate. However, for me, I didn’t like Julia much at all. She had moments here and there during which I found her likeable, but for the most part she annoyed me and pissed me off. Her martyr syndrome got to be way too much and I just wanted to take her out to a big body of water and drown her. At about 75% into the book I finally realized why I disliked her character … she reminded me of an ostrich with her head buried in the sand. This is not to say that she wasn’t dealing with some serious situations – because she most definitely was – but the things she agreed to do just to avoid confrontations with her prick of a husband (soon-to-be ex) were mindboggling for me. I kept waiting for her to say enough is enough.

Fortunately it was Luke and the supporting cast of characters that made this book palatable for me. While I was rooting for Luke and Julia to get together, it had nothing to do with her and everything to do with Luke being happy and Julia made him happy. The fact that he obviously knew his way around a woman’s body made for some STEAMY sex scenes. Claire and her husband were a wonderful support system for Julia, with Claire providing reality checks as need. I loved the relationship she had with Miranda, the live-in nanny/housekeeper/cook – it went far beyond employer-employee and made Miranda yet another individual in her corner.

While there were references to her past, I never felt like an actual explanation was given as to why she married and then stayed with her husband. Maybe a better understanding of Julia would have enabled me to connect her, but it just wasn’t meant to be. With all that said, do not allow my dislike of Julia to sway you against the book. Ms. Holt is an excellent writer and Finding Julia is a well-crafted novel. I suggest you download a sample and check it out for yourself. Just because I didn’t like Julia, doesn’t mean you won’t. You may love Finding Julia because ultimately it is the story of a woman who finds herself and the trials and tribulations she endures to get there.

I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Angela at Crystal's Many Reviewers!

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Review of Deacon by Kristen Ashley

Deacon by Kristen Ashley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



OH! MY! GOD!!! I cannot believe that I forgot how much I enjoyed immersing myself into KA’s writing. The first KA book I ever read was Knight, the first book of this series. It was a book that should not have appealed to me – the idea of a woman calling her man “Daddy” during sex had never done anything for me. Yet somehow KA not only made it acceptable, she made it hot. Then she took it one step further and made me fall in love with a seriously flawed hero – a man who does not live in the world I live in yet lives by an honorable code, especially for the world in which he lives. Somehow she did it again with Creed and Raid. Despite this, she managed to surprise me by making me fall hard for probably the coldest mo-fo in her lineup … Deacon. I knew I would love the book, I just never expected to love Deacon so much.

Having met Deacon in Creed, I was already familiar with part of his story and knew he was damaged. But the depth of his damage still managed to shock me when his story was revealed. It was heartbreaking, so I was tickled pink with Cassie’s reaction when Deacon told her what his wife did to him. Had Cassie not already endeared herself to me by that point in the book that would have been the final nail in the coffin for my girl crush. As I find with all of KA’s books, witnessing the relationship as it developed between Deacon and Cassie was an intense roller coaster ride of emotions – happiness, sadness, laugh out loud moments, total devastation, sexy as sin, and extreme bliss when they finally find their way. The cathartic nature of a KA book, for me, is a ride I cannot wait to take and it is one that does not diminish with each read, even after a dozen times.

I have a short list of authors whose books I have read over and over and over again, yet have a difficult time writing a review because their books have that intangible factor that makes me love them so much that they render me nearly speechless. As I have written more and more reviews over the past several months, it has gotten easier to write reviews for such books – even though I know that no review I write will ever do them justice. Kristen Ashley is on this list and Deacon is just one of the many of her books that hit me so hard I know I will be reading it again and again and again and …. well, you get the idea. Thank you Ms. Ashley for making my reading experience that much richer and for reminding me why I love your writing so much.




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Review of Show Me, Baby by Cherise Sinclair

Show Me, Baby: 1001 Dark Nights by Cherise Sinclair

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Ms. Sinclair has delivered yet another pleasurable story in the Shadowlands series. I had preordered Show Me, Baby back in January and woke to a delightful surprise on my Kindle yesterday. Unfortunately I hadn't planned for its arrival and I had other reviews I needed to complete. And while I tried to stick to my schedule, I just couldn't do it ... Ms. Sinclair proved to be too much temptation and I bumped it to the front of my reading list last night and I am so glad I did. I absolutely loved Rainie and Jake's story.

Like many of the women from previous installments in the series, Rainie is a bundle of insecurities and has major self-esteem issues. She has a bad past and has made mistakes that she regrets, but she has worked hard to rise above that and has just completed her MBA program. She plans to move out of state so that she can start fresh where no one knows her or her background as there are so many people in her life who refuse to let her forget it. Enter Jake, a Master at Shadowlands who indirectly affected her life years ago and whose entry into her life was unfortunately paired with a rather traumatic event, so Rainie does her best to avoid him whenever possible. But torrential rains, an irresponsible driver, an injured dog, and fate have different plans in store for her and shove her right into Jake’s path.

I must admit that I don’t recall meeting Jake prior to this book. Normally I would have reread the last book or two to get me back in the Shadowlands, but as I didn’t realize the release date was NOW, I didn’t have time to do so. Fortunately, Ms. Sinclair does a great job of writing this series as stand-alone books that are enriched when read together, yet completely enjoyable if you read them out of order (but why would you want to). Needless to say, it was easy to fall for Jake – who had his own baggage despite his more privileged upbringing. He’s a nice guy who is down-to-earth and respectful of others, which is why he hasn’t pursued Rainie despite his attraction. But as they spend more time together and he realizes that she is attracted to him, all bets are off and Jake shelves the nice-guy persona and introduces Rainie to his full Dom persona, Master Jake. Of course, she finds she can no longer deny him and doesn’t that just make for some spontaneous-combustion level sex scenes. Oh if only the Shadowlands were real.

As something worth having is worth fighting for, Jake does what all good Masters of Shadowlands do and fights for his girl with everything he’s got, thus making Show Me, Baby a book I enjoyed from beginning to end. Ms. Sinclair has given her fans an excellent addition to the series with Jake and Rainie’s story. While Rainie shares some of the characteristics and similar history with the other ladies of Shadowlands, I never felt like Ms. Sinclair was recycling another character. She manages to make all of her characters individuals despite their similarities to others within her books, just like people in real life. And her ability to create such realistic characters is what makes her books so enjoyable. As I expected, Show Me, Baby has been added to my re-read list and I am looking forward to the next book in the series already … Uzuri or Anne, Uzuri or Anne, Uzuri or Anne, oh it really doesn’t matter, just please write quickly.



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