Kade - Cheyenne McCray

Synopsis:
After a bitter divorce, reporter Kelsey Nichols has erected a border around her heart too strong for any man to cross. She's not ready for a relationship of any kind with any man. But when Kelsey meets Kade she can think of nothing but being in his powerful arms and in his bed.

Intelligence Agent Kade Owen is hot on the trail of a notorious smuggler when the sensual blonde reporter comes into his life. Once he gets a hold of Kelsey, nothing will stop Kade from winning her heart.

Review:
While at the airport getting ready to head to Arizona for some investigative reporting, Kelsey meets the handsome cowboy, Kade and they strike up and easy friendship.  The plane ride just solidifies his interest in her and when finding out they are staying at the same hotel, he asks her to dinner.  After leaving her at her room with a smoking hot kiss, he wonders if he will ever see her again.  At breakfast, visiting with his father who is there to meet the reporter that will be staying with them for the next several weeks, who walks in but Kelsey.  Both Kelsey and Kade are shocked that they will now be spending the next few weeks sleeping under the same roof.  While Kelsey strikes off to write her article and conduct her interviews, Kade slowly starts to break down her heavily lined walls that are around her heart from her disastrous marriage.  With Kade getting to close to a human smuggling ring, things begin to get more heated.  Then Kade's family is threatened and action must be taken.  Kade knows almost immediately that he is in love with Kelsey, will she realize what is in front of her before it is to late?

Notable Quote:
"Can we keep her dad?"  (Trent talking to Kade about Kelsey)


Rating:
I loved this book from cover to cover.  I was pretty sure I had all the bad guys picked out early on, but I have to admit I get surprised by one at the end, which I love when I can't figure it all out.  I love the chemistry between Kade and Kelsey and that she didn't just fall at his feet from the beginning, but he had to work hard to get her to open up to him.  In my opinion, a good book is one that brings out a myriad of emotions, and that is exactly what this one did.  I had adrenaline pumping, and the sex scenes were not only hot but intimate, and the scenes with Trent warmed my heart.  I felt myself smiling at times and turning the pages faster to see what happens next.  I can't wait to read the next in the Armed & Dangerous series.

Instant Attraction - Jill Shalvis

Synopsis:
Accountant Katie Kramer is a quintessential good girl—working hard, recycling diligently, all the while trying to ignore the feeling that she doesn't fit in anywhere. That's all she wants. Well, that—and amazing sex, and the kind of daredevil escapade she can look back on when she's crunching numbers in a dusty cubicle. Which explains why she just took a job in Wishful, California, working for Wilder Adventures and Expeditions. Waking up to find a magnificently built stranger towering over her bed—that part defies explanation...

After wandering the planet for months following a life-changing accident, Cameron Wilder has come back to the only home he knows. Under other circumstances, he might be thrilled to find a gorgeous woman sleeping in his cabin, but now, while he'll risk his body taking clients on adrenaline-drenched excursions, his heart is off limits. Still, Katie's killer smile triggers something deep in his gut...among other places. Showing her how exhilarating it can be to stop balancing her life as if it was a checkbook is the biggest rush he's ever felt—and an adventure Katie's wishing would never end. . .

Review:

After a life and death scenario, Katie is looking for some adventure to add to her boring LA life.  When she happens on a temporary position with Wilder Adventures, she thinks it it perfect timing.  While dead asleep, she is waken up by the one and only Cameron Wilder back from an 18 month trek to "find" himself.  While there is mutual annoyance between both Cam and Katie, there is also mutual admiration and gratitude, Katie for helping Cam see he is a different person than who he used to be but still that new person is just as great, just different.  And Cam for showing Katie what adventure really is.

Notable Quote:

"Do you exercise?"  "It's on my to do list, at the bottom."  (girl after my own heart)

Rating:

This is a very dynamic and complicated family, but for all their quirks, they just work.  I loved all of Annie's aprons, each one made me giggle, but my favorite was "never trust a skinny chef".  Katie had back bone and wit and wasn't ever afraid to use either of them.  Cam was wounded and healing and Katie was just what he needed.  A cute romance, setting up the next two while introducing all the brother and several town's people.

The Cowboy's Surrender - Ann Marie Novark

Synopsis:
Copper River Oil Company is drilling for oil on the Diamondback Ranch. Dallas McCade can't do a thing to stop them, because he doesn't own the mineral rights. To add insult to injury, they've sent a woman to oversee the operation. Dallas has good reason to distrust women. As soon as he sets eyes on Gillian Bankston, he loses his temper . . . and his heart. That makes him spitting mad and frustrated as hell. Gillian has never met a man quite like Dallas. He's as prickly as a cactus, but his kisses are hot enough to ignite a West Texas wildfire. Gillian's been burned before and wants nothing to do with love . . . or lust. Battle lines are drawn and it's war between the sexes. Will they surrender to the powerful attraction neither can deny? Who will be the first to wave the white flag?

Review:
Dallas McCade is as rough around the edges as they come.  Having had his heart trampled by his ex-wife and feeling betrayed by his sister-in-law he has no use for any female unless it is to warm his bed.  Gillian Bankston has had her own troubles with the opposite sex, after an abusive relationship that ended luckily with the death of her husband, she is in no hurry to let her heart loose anytime soon.  To bad for both of them, fate has a different plan.  Every time they turn around, it seems they are at the same place and same time, finally giving in a calling a truce, the heat ignites between them.  Gillian is the new boss at the oil rig that Dallas despises.  When things start to go wrong at the rig, all fingers and evidence points to Dallas.  Would he really do anything to get his land back, as he has said?

Favorite Scene:
I really loved the delivery of the new baby!!

Rating:
This was my first Novark book, and I guarantee it won't be my last.  I loved getting to know the McCade family.  All with their own since of loyalty and honor, but the banter with the brothers was a crack up.  I could picture them each time throwing verbal jabs at each other.  I liked that Gillian was a woman with a purpose, not just some pretty girl, and that she was cautious.  Some of the scenes seemed to be a bit wordy and a little over descriptive for my tastes, but the story line was great and I hope we get to see more of the brothers, and Tori of course.

Creed's Honor - Linda Lael Miller

Synopsis:
Conner Creed knows exactly who he is: a hardworking rancher carrying on his uncle's legacy in Lonesome Bend, Colorado. Maybe a small-town cowboy's life isn'this dream, but he owes the man who took him in as a kid. Until the identical twin brother he's been estranged from for years reenters his life.

Conner struggles with identity issues as he gets to know his wilder brother. And then he meets Tricia McCall, a beautiful woman who knows a thing or two about living someone else's dreams. Together, they just might find their own dreams right here in Lonesome Bend….

Review:
The next book in the Montana Creed's series follows Connor Creed.  Small town rancher Connor Creed has always done the right thing.  Holding on to the family ranch while his wilder older brother travels the rodeo circuit, drinks and has a multitude of women at this disposal.  Tricia McCall has a life in Seattle that she loves, friends that she adores and a man that she...tolerates.  Coming back to Lonesome Bend to settle her father's estate and sell off his properties is just a little hitch in the road, until she isn't sure Seattle is her home anymore, and not sure where her home actually is.  With the help of a matchmaking dog, a nosey goddaughter and a meddling grandmother, Tricia can't help but fall in love with the country side and the cowboy, right??

Notable Quote:
"...he likes her, too.  You can tell buy the way he looks at her.  It's the same way my dad looks at cheeseburgers."

Rating:
I adored the first in this series, but this second on kind of fell flat for me.  The main characters didn't even talk to each other until about page 100.  It seemed very slow to get to the point and when the point was made it was a rush to the end.  I liked the characters individually but together I am not sure they had chemistry, and that could be because there wasn't a lot of the book that revolved around them being a couple, just their own battles that needed to be won.  I am very much looking forward to Brody's book though, hoping this is just a little bump in the road.

Fool For Love - Marie Force

Synopsis:
Joe Cantrell, owner of the Gansett Island Ferry Company, has been in love with Janey McCarthy for as long as he can remember. At the same time, Janey has been dating or engaged to doctor-in-training David Lawrence. When things go horribly wrong between David and Janey, she calls her “fifth brother” Joe, one of the few people in her close circle who lives on the mainland. Janey decides a few days with Joe is just what she needs before she goes home to the island to face her parents and family with the news of her broken engagement. It was bad enough for Joe loving Janey from afar, but having her in his house is pure torture.

Review:

This is the second book in the Gansett Island trilogy.  It is the most horrible way a woman can find out her significant other is or has been cheating, Janey walks in on her fiance while he is in the middle of having sex with another woman.  David is so busy he doesn't even realize she is in the room.  Quietly slipping out to head back to the island to lick her wounds, her car breaks down.  There is no one else to call (in her eyes) than Joe.  Joe rushes to her aid, having been in love with her for to many years, he is having some mixed feelings about what has just happened with David, the brother part of him wants to beat him to a pulp, the lover part of him wants to kill him and the man in him, wants to make her all better.  While staying at his house, she pushes him for the ultimate medicine, to help heal her broken heart.  Is his heart safe, even from this woman he has given his entire heart to?  How will she feel once she learns he has been in love with her for...years?  

Notable Quote:

"May the Force be with you"  (not that this was a hugely funny line, but it made me giggle while referring to Marie Force)

Rating:

This series just gets better and better.  I love this whole family, and the dynamics.  I am so happy that Joe gets his HEA and that Janey finally realizes what is right in front of her face.  I think one of my favorite parts was at the bachelor party, and the secrets that get spilled.  I am looking forward to the next in the line and sincerely hope that Marie finishes out the brothers too.

Finding Hope - Katie Reus

Synopsis:
Twenty three years ago, Luke Romanov's childhood playmate disappeared without a trace. He's never stopped blaming himself. When the family he works for hires a woman identical to his childhood friend, he'll stop at nothing to discover her true identity, even if it means betraying her. What few memories photographer Hope Jennings has of her past aren't pretty. The monsters from her nightmares make it impossible to completely erase her violent history, but she's living her life one day at a time. Hired to photograph a wealthy family's ancestral home in the Caribbean, she expects to work hard, get the job done, and go home. Instead, Hope finds unexpected passion in the arms of the family's sexy and dangerous security expert, who has the power to destroy the safe life she's built for herself. When someone from her past targets her to die, Hope doesn't know who to trust. Will Hope and Luke find the answers they need before it's too late?

Review:

Luke is sent to the Key's to strike a deal with an up and coming photographer to take pictures of his family friends home in Cuba.  This should be an open and shut kind of thing until he sets his eyes on Hope.  She is strikingly familiar and he can't help but think, "can this be her?"  Hope has been trying to make a name for herself in the photography world for some time, and an opportunity like the one just handed to her, could really boost her portfolio.  Putting some haunting dreams and prank calls on the back burner, Hope heads to Cuba with the handsome Luke, having a strange feeling she has met him before.  Once they make it to Cuba, all hell breaks loose, she is attacked, and told to stay hidden for 3 days with Luke before returning, she will in essence be dead for 3 days.  While in hiding, her feeling for Luke begin to take hold.  After the 3 days time, they head back to Miami, Luke not being certain the danger is truly over.  While in Luke's kitchen, she comes face to face with her twin, a twin she didn't know existed.  The family she never new was there for her, after being on her own for so long.  With the threats coming at her from all angles, who can she trust?  Is there a future for her?

Notable Quote:

"Five minutes in real time or in Hope time?"  (Hope having lived on "Key West Time" was notoriously running a little late)

Rating:

I really liked the concept of this book.  Hope was strong willed and didn't trust easily.  Mac was the protective father (and I adored him), but she had this whole other family that wanted nothing more than to get to know her.  A quick read, but worth it.  The part I found lacking was the end.  I think an epilogue could have handled some of the "left out" parts.  Mac, Hope's adopted dad, had become close to Hope's mom, and that seemed to upset her biological dad, but nothing came of that.  Maria was having a secret relationship, but other than a brief mention, that was never brought up again.  Several other details could have been wrapped up in another chapter, but instead I was left....wanting a conclusion.  

One Night Stand - Cindy Kirk

Synopsis:
Marcee Robbens found herself in the arms of a sexy stranger before the bouquet was even tossed at her best friend's wedding. And after a night of hot caresses and knee-weakening kisses in handsome Sam McKelvey's arms, even happily single Marcee is humming the wedding march. So when the sun comes up and Sam hits the road, the usually tough-as-nails beauty finds herself nursing a tender heart. . . .

Sam's not the kind of guy who would have a super-hot hook-up with a woman he barely knows. But something about Marcee had him mesmerized—enough for this usually sensible single dad to abandon his responsibilities for one unforgettable night. But Sam never thought his one night stand would turn up as his new next-door neighbor. Or that once he glimpsed the soft side of this captivating woman, he'd find himself falling in love. . . .

Review:

Marcee is a beautiful woman with lots of womanly attributes and men seem to think that is all there is to her.  After losing her job at one of the biggest CPA firms in Chicago, for not sleeping with a client, she decides to start looking at things differently.  After her mother runs off with husband number 5, or was it 6, she decides now is a good time to confront the demons that haunt her in her home town, not to mention being able to get to know her younger brother while helping him get through his final year of high school.  While catching up with one of the only people she could call a friend in the small town, who should walk in but the new sheriff, and one night stand that rocked her world.  After realizing that they are neighbors and her brother is keeping the company of the sheriff's daughter, Marcee and Sam begin a secret affair.  With small town gossip the way it is, they decide mutually to keep their budding relationship to themselves.  As Marcee realizes that her feeling have not only grown, but also being with the dreaded "L" word, being kept a secret is no longer good enough.  Is there more to their relationship besides sex??

Rating:

This was a fun fast read.  The story line was great, and the meddling town was....well meddling.  There was great chemistry and it was really lovely to see Marcee become a respected member of the community, finally.  I wished there was an Epilogue,  her brother had applied to Julliard, what happened with that?  Marcee started a new job and Sam asked her to marry him, did they live HEA?  Another thing that really turned me off to this book was the edit issues.  One chapter Marcee had a Saturn, a few chapters later, she had a Jetta, then back to the Saturn.  Just one of my pet peeves.