ARC Review: If You Were Mine (The Cage Family # 3)

If You Were Mine (The Cage Family # 3)

Carrie Ann Ryan

Blurb:

The last words I said to my best friend were “I trust you”. Then the world went dark, and I nearly lost everything.

While my best friend’s little sister lost even more.

I promised him that I’d take care of her—but if he knew my current thoughts when it came to Harper, he’d have never trusted me.

She’s too young for me. Too bright to my shadows. And too tempting.

Now I’m stuck in our small town, and I can’t escape her. I’d rather hide in my cabin, restoring what was once lost. Only Harper won’t let me.

I’ve already held onto more secrets than my family knows. I don’t know if I can keep what I feel about her secret too.

She sees beyond my scars and anger, and I know she hides her own just as tightly.

When one kiss changes everything, there’s no going back—even if it shatters everything in our wake.

Themes:  Contemporary

Rating: 4.5 stars

Heat Rating:  

Review:

Carrie Ann Ryan never fails to rip out your heart in order to set up her characters for a journey through the pain of loss and growth in order to heal and accept the love that they’ve been denying.  This latest edition in the Cage Family series is one that I have been looking forward to as much as I have been dreading it, knowing I’d be in tears as much as I would be falling in love.  Harper and Dorian’s story began years ago despite them both denying or hiding from their feelings but when horrible tragedy changes their lives forever, they both begin to accept that some things can never go back to the way they were before, and maybe they shouldn’t. I enjoyed every moment of their story and while I was terrified that they wouldn’t find a way through their pain and sadness to happiness, I hoped that with the support of their friends and family they could accept one another and the future they deserved.  Dorian’s life changed forever on the day that his best friend was lost, but he has worked hard to get his independence and freedom back and he is determined that hiding out in the small town his family owns wont force him to back slide.  Harper lost not just her brother, the only family she had left, that day but also the man that she’d always secretly loved, because Dorian has pushed her even further out of his life.  When he comes back to Cage Lake, she is determined show him that she will be there for him and that their friendship is worth fighting for, but when their friendship goes so much further, she wants to show him that her love could be something even greater.  Now Dorian and Harper have to find a way to prove to one another and everyone around them that their relationship is everything they both want and need and that being together is worth any challenge and overcoming their fears to find the love they were always meant to have.

If You Were Mine is one of those stories that it is hard to summarize and review because it truly does need to be experienced to understand the depth and greatness of the connections between these characters.  From the love between all the siblings, to the long-term friendships, depth of the love that develops between the H/h and even the twisted love between parents and children that have too long kept secrets.  Dorian is the perfect tortured hero, one that is not only physically hurt, but mentally and emotionally challenged and forced to heal as he grows and changes with the help and love of his girl.  It was beautiful to watch him find his balance not only with Harper and the love they shared, but also with his siblings when he finally let go of the secret, he’d been living with most of his life.  Harper was wonderful as well, having lived through so much in her young life, loss after loss, but never giving up on love and never letting those painful experiences turn her away from living her life to the fullest.  She knows that life is short and will do everything in her power to make sure that Dorian heals and give them a chance to find the love and happiness they both want and deserve.  The more we get to know these MANY Cage siblings the more I love the and look forward to getting to know them, so I cannot wait to find out who gets their story next and what they will have to go through to find their heaven.  Ms. Ryan will surely take us all on a wild ride and we will all be lined up for it.

*eARC provided by author for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.

ARC Review: Falling for Violet

Falling for Violet

Katie Reus

Blurb:

It was supposed to be a simple favor…

Plan the perfect wedding for her best friend. Then enjoy margaritas by the pool once her bestie is off on her honeymoon. Easy, right? Wrong. Violet has planned hundreds of weddings, but something weird is going on with her best friend’s wedding. Plus her best friend’s younger brother is back home from his deployment overseas, and she’s seeing him in a whole new light. To her surprise, he’s looking at her in a whole new way too—like she’s cake and he wants seconds…and maybe thirds. Worse than that, she wants him too.

She never expected to fall for her best friend’s brother…

Tripp has wanted his older sister’s best friend for longer than he wants to think about. Now that they’re working closely together on his sister’s wedding—and he’s permanently back in the country—he’s making his move. Or that’s the plan, but then a flock of flamingos are released at the rehearsal dinner, and the bride disappears with an apparent case of cold feet. Now they’re all on damage control. If he’s ever going to claim the woman of his dreams, he’s got to help her salvage this wedding and prove that he’s not her best friend’s annoying younger brother anymore. He’s all grown up and ready to stake his claim.

Themes:  novella, Contemporary

Rating: 3.75 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

 I always love with Katie slips one of these little teasers to us to fill in the gaps until we get another Redemption Harbor story because we get teasers of the characters and sometimes crossovers.   In this story we get to see Bradford and his wife as well as hearing a few other familiar names, but the main characters are two childhood friends that finally have their time as adults.  Violet is a Wedding Planner extraordinaire whose best friend is getting married so she’s the maid of honor instead of working, but she kind of is anyway.  Tripp is the brother of the bride, and he has changed a lot in the six years since she saw him last, and Violet is feeling all kinds of feelings she shouldn’t be feeling for her best friend’s little brother.  Tripp has grown up into a warrior, but he never stopped wanting Violet and he is determined to seduce her into a relationship at his sister’s wedding. When weird occurrences start happening with wedding events which could cause mayhem, Violet and Tripp team up to make sure the bride and groom never realize someone is trying to sabotage their big day and the more time they spend together the more they both realize the desire is mutual and hard to resist. Once the wedding is over will they stick together or will Violet run from Tripp faster than an ice sculpture melts in the Louisiana heat? I loved every minute of this cute story of two long-time acquaintances finally opening their eyes to one another and getting their chance at love.  Tripp and Violet were both great characters, funny, smart, and dedicated to their shared goal of making the wedding happen, but when they were together you could see the sparks flying.  I would have loved to see their story be a full-length novel, but alas, I will make do and just hope to see move of them in future stories.  If you enjoy a sweet, spicy, and funny read that will keep you entertained for a few hours, you can’t go wrong Falling for Violet right alongside Tripp in this novella release by Katie Reus.

*eARC provided by author for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.

ARC Review: Caught in a Storm (Perfect Storm #3)

Caught in a Storm (Perfect Storm #3)

Mari Carr

Blurb:

In the storm of life, some passions can’t be tamed.

Mila has spent her life working on Stormy Weather Farm, alongside her fiercely loyal, slightly eccentric family. The Storms believe in hard work, the importance of tradition, and—most of all—love at first touch. It’s a family legend, passed down like a vintage bottle of when you touch the one meant for you, you’ll just know.

Mila always thought it was just a romantic notion… until Boone.

A rugged, brooding single father with a past that still smolders, Boone has one giving his twelve-year-old daughter a stable, quiet life. Love? He’s been there, done that, burned the T-shirt. Or so he thinks…until Mila.

She’s all sunshine and cinnamon, and she makes Boone ache with cravings he thought were long dead. Every time she blushes, every time she touches him by accident, the tension coils tighter.

Soon, late-night harvests turn into stolen glances, and shared glasses of wine become heated whispers in the dark. But love is risky business, and Boone’s heart isn’t the only thing on the line—his daughter’s trust, and Mila’s future, hang in the balance.

Themes:  Contemporary

Rating: 4.25 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

One always wonders what an author will do with a character like Mila that has been pigeonholed into a role in not only her family but her entire life—a role that she isn’t necessarily happy or fulfilled living. Sometimes it can lead to very tragic circumstances and others to very crazy changes for a character, but for Mila our Queen of Romance took just the right direction by bringing Boone and his daughter into her life to teach her what she needed to change and what was missing for her. Mari Carr never lets us down when she takes us on an adventure be it bringing together three disparate personalities to find love, or just simply two stubborn people that have to overcome their own personal hang-ups to find a way to build a future together. I fell in love with this story from the very first meeting between Boone and Mila and wasn’t able to put it down until the very last word and I am dying to find out what comes next for these Storms and the craziness that never seems far from their love lives.

Mila Storm has always been the dutiful good girl, working on the family farm in whatever role is needed at any given time, but when she suddenly finds herself falling through the air and landing in the lap of the new vineyard manager her life changes forever. Boone Hansen arrived with his daughter on Stormy Weather Farm hoping for a fresh start for them, but when the first person he sees is a gorgeous younger woman falling from a ladder his heart almost stops.  Saving her with his own body as a crash pad causes all kinds of reactions for both of them, but he isn’t a relationship kind of guy and Mila has forever written all over face, so he pushes her away—hard. But the more time Mila spends with his daughter and around him the more he wants her until finally he can no longer deny the need and soon, they find themselves having an affair that terrifies him but fulfills something in Mila she never thought she’d find.  But when Boone’s past comes back to try to separate them, they have to decide if what they have is worth devoting their time to building a future for, or if they will walk away from a love neither of them ever imagined they could find.

I cannot express my love for these two characters enough; Mila is the perfect family member that I would have LOVED to known, the best sister, niece, friend, and just all-around human being.  While she is the kind of person to always jump in when someone needs help, she never forgets when there is something special happening and always goes the extra mile to make you feel loved. She is caring, smart, sassy, knows what she wants (even if she has trouble expressing it), and is determined to show those she loves that they matter to her.  She is also a crafty businesswoman, ingenious when she is making plans, and dedicated when she wants something.  While what she wants out of life might not seem like BIG things to a lot of people, she works hard to get what she wants and never fails to reach for her happiness even if she gets hurt in the end.  Not going to lie Boone was a bit of a twat in the beginning, knowing that he was breaking Mila’s heart by denying their attraction simply because he was too afraid to try a relationship again after the disaster of his first wife (and boy-howdy she was a piece of work), but when he finally pulled his head out, I liked him.  He is strong, loving, masterful, carting, nurturing, and gives credit when due but he is definitely a true alpha, no denying that. I would love to see him with even more daughters making him crazy, maybe learning that you can’t always win and argument with “because I said so”.

As a reader we always love to feel like we are along for the ride as the H/h are getting to know one another and finding love, and I definitely felt like I was Caught in a Storm, right alongside Boone and Mila. Mari Carr takes us back to the mountains of VA and lets us experiences a beautiful winter filled with weather issues, all of the teenage angst of a “new girl” situation, and of course all the craziness of lust and love denied and accepted.  Mila Storm is beginning to question her life as a sweet Storm girl more and more when she lands in the arms of the mans of her dreams, only to find herself soundly rejected, but soon her heart is invested in the Hansens, and she has to decide if she will fight for the man she can’t live without.  Boone Hansen is determined to live out his life with no more attachments, burned badly by his first wife, but Mila challenges every desire and need he’s ever felt and the more time he spends with her and her family, the more he wants her in his life and his bed.  When he finally gives in and takes her into his heart, Boone has to convince her that he will fight for them every step of the way and nothing and no one will ever tear them apart, or he could lose his only real chance at a happy ever after.  I loved the heat and passion of the lightning strike between these two, but even more I was warmed by the slow burning fire they nurtured as they built a friendship and then love that will support them for all their years. I am very much looking forward to the next story in the series because I just bet Maverick’s story of woe and heartbreak that has been kicking him for years is going to be a doozie. Carr strikes gold again.

*eARC provided by author for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.