Review: Gone (Deadly Secrets #2)

Gone (Deadly Secrets #2)

by Elisabeth Naughton 

Blurb:

Three years ago, Alec McClane and Raegan Devereaux lived every parent’s worst nightmare: their one-year-old daughter, Emma, was abducted from a park when Alec turned his back for just a moment. Emma was never found, and presumed dead. The crushing trauma, plus Alec’s unbearable guilt, ended the couple’s marriage.

Now a four-year-old girl matching Emma’s profile is found wandering a local park. Alec and Raegan are heartbroken to discover she’s not their daughter but are newly motivated to find closure…and each secretly feels desperate to be in the other’s presence again.

Alec suspects his vengeful biological father is behind Emma’s disappearance. But as Raegan investigates other abductions in the area, she sees a pattern—and begins to wonder if Emma’s kidnapping is actually linked to something more sinister.

As Alec and Raegan race to uncover the truth, a long-burning spark rekindles into smoldering passion, and they realize they need each other now more than ever.

Themes: Contemporary

Rating: 4 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

Wow I haven’t read a story with this much emotional turmoil and drama in a very long time and truly found myself in tears several times—you can literally feel this couple’s heartache as they each try to find a way to deal with the loss of not only their child but their marriage. This second installment of the Deadly Secrets series took an unexpected turn from the very beginning.  We knew from book one that Alec, Ethan’s brother (Repressed), was dealing with some serious shit and that he was having a very hard time coping, but we never imagined he was going through something this difficult.  Elisabeth has this terrifying skill of taking her readers deep into the psyche of her characters, both good and bad, and pulling the reader into their hearts and stories until you feel like you are living their lives along with them.  Despite the heart-wrenching emotions in this story, I enjoyed this novel thoroughly and I’m definitely looking forward to the next one in the series. Alec and Raegan are dealing with the kidnapping, and possible murder, of their daughter Emma, in the best way they know how, which for Alec meant pushing Raegan out of his life. But now that they are thrown together again Alec finds that he can’t resist her pull any longer, especially when Raegan is determined to follow a story she hopes will lead to their missing daughter and that he knows could cost her life.  Together they work to uncover the truth behind a string of mysterious kidnappings of local children and the more time they spend together, the harder they find it to resist the passion that still burns in both their bellies and the love that never died in their hearts.  I am always a huge proponent of second chances at love and this story has so many twists and turns incorporated that I couldn’t stop reading, even though I knew I needed sleep before going to work the next day! Alec was a good guy through and through, with a lot of past traumas and fears about his future because of his parentage, even though he tries to believe he was saved by the McClanes in time to nip the criminal instincts in the bud.  He never stopped loving his wife, but someone had to slap him hard enough to get him to understand that pushing Raegan away to keep her safe is never the best choice for anyone.  Raegan is one of those women that could be easily written off as shallow and TSTL, but truly she is just holding on to hope with the very tips of her fingers and trying to hold it together all on her own.  She lost the two most important people in her life, almost at the same time, and is still floundering as she tries to live long enough to at least get one of them back. She continues to believe she will get her daughter back, even if she thinks she has lost Alec forever, but she is also as determined as a bloodhound when she catches wind of a story that could lead her to Emma.  Once you dug past that shell she put around herself for protection, you see how great of a character she is and I found her to be the perfect match for Alec. The passion between these two is apparent even as they are fighting and trying to keep one another at a safe distance, and that obvious pull becomes more and more flagrant as they are forced into tense and life-threatening situations.  In the end I can honestly say these two earned every second of their HEA and I cannot wait to see more of it in future stories.  Excellent work Ms. Naughton.

*ebook provided by publisher (via netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.

Review: Dare Me Once (Angel Fire Falls #1)

Dare Me Once (Angel Fire Falls #1)

by Shelly Alexander

Blurb:

Love is a risk worth taking in this sizzling romance about secrets and second chances…

Scarlett Devereaux’s life on the Gulf Coast went from riches to rags so scandalously fast that she barely had time to kiss her Jimmy Choos goodbye. Now, with a new alias (Lily Barns), a new budget (tighter than a pair of Spanx), and a new job on the vacation island of Angel Fire Falls, she’s daring to reinvent herself.

Single dad Trace Remington is devoted first and foremost to raising his young son, who has Asperger’s. With flying his floatplane and salvaging his family’s island resort too, he has time for little else. His brothers think he needs a break from his all-work-no-play lifestyle, so they goad him into action. In response to their dare, Trace asks a sexy tourist for her number, only to discover afterward that she’s the resort’s brilliant new hospitality manager.

The sparks of flirtation soon ignite into a flame too hot to ignore. But Lily and Trace both have pasts that threaten to tear them apart. Now, they’ll need to admit their secrets to each other…or risk ending their relationship before it really begins.

Themes: Contemporary

Rating: 3.5 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

Shelly Alexander begins a new series about a family of resort owners and a woman that comes into their lives with a secret and a mission to make their resort all it can be. I have enjoyed many of Shelly’s series in the past and when I read the synopsis of this story I was instantly drawn to it. Scarlett aka Lily has given up her life in New Orleans to travel to the Pacific Northwest to a small resort town in the hopes of escaping the stigma of her father’s crimes. When she arrives at her new job, she immediately knows she has her work cut out for her, and when she meets an attractive man she pushes him away, determined not to let a man distract her from her goals. Unluckily for her the man that she pushed away was her one of her new bosses.  Trace Remington is drawn to the beauty and sweetness that Lily exudes, but he has too much on his plate to deal with a relationship right now, especially with his newest employee. The more time they spend together, the closer they get and the harder it becomes to deny the passion that flares whenever they are in one another's company.  More importantly are the emotions that are being affected just as strongly as their hormones, especially as Lily has also fallen in love with Ben, Trace’s autistic son.  I enjoyed getting to see Trace and Lily circling each other and fighting the attraction to one another, but more I loved seeing them falling in love and letting go of their hang-ups.  Lily obviously has some serious issues and secrets that she needs to work on, ones that almost implode their young love, but as she comes to terms with her past, she will learn that her inner resolve and resilience are titanium strong.  She was a sweet woman, one that could have been a total bitch with her upbringing, but luckily she had some good influences that kept her from being too spoiled.  While I can’t say she didn’t make mistakes, she certainly did her best and tried to make amends for those mistakes and even mistakes that weren’t hers to own.  Trace is the type of guy that sometimes just drives me a little nutty; he had one bad relationship, granted it was really bad, but to let that color every woman and relationship to come in his eyes seemed a bit excessive to me.  So when he was such an ass to Lily in the beginning it made me hate him just a little, but overall he was a good guy, a great father, and a funny guy. I liked the side characters and the setting of the story and I’m very much looking forward to the rest of the series and seeing the types of women that grab the other Remington men by the balls.  The beginning of another good series to be sure.

*ebook provided by publisher (via netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.

Happy New Year!

Another year has flown by for me here at Romance Witch Reviews!

While I haven’t been as faithful as I would have liked, with a lot happening in my personal life, I have read a lot of good books, and have had the chance to post a lot of great reviews.  I hope you have enjoyed reading the reviews this year and continue to read along in the coming year.

I am going to be working to make 2019 and much more productive year, with my review coming in a much more timely manner. J

Please give me any feedback as I always love to hear what others think of my writing and reviews.

 

Here’s to an amazing 2019 for myself and you all as well!

Thanks for visiting, 

Michelle 

the Romance Witch

Review: Rocky Mountain Cowboy Christmas (Rocky Mountain Cowboys #1)

Rocky Mountain Cowboy Christmas (Rocky Mountain Cowboys #1)

by Katie Ruggle

Blurb:

When firefighter and single dad Steve Springfield moved his four kids to a Colorado Christmas tree ranch, he intended for it to be a safe haven. But he never expected danger to follow them to his childhood home...

Or that he would come face-to-face with the one girl he could never forget.

Folk artist Camille Brandt lives a quiet life. As the town's resident eccentric, she's used to being lonely--until Steve freaking Springfield changes everything. Brave and kind, he's always had a piece of her heart, and it doesn't take long before she's in danger of falling for him and his rambunctious kids. But as mysterious fires break out across the sleepy Colorado town, Steve and Camille will have to fight if they want their happy family to survive until Christmas...

Themes: Contemporary, Holiday

Rating: 3.5 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

Well anyone that has read any of my reviews has probably noticed I am not really a kid person, so a story where there are 4 kids in the mix didn’t really jump out at me as a big draw, but seriously… a Colorado Christmas Tree farmer/fire-fighter cannot be resisted forever, especially during the holidays.  So here we are, and I can say that this story is a bit misleading in only the best of ways.  This story has some weird twists and turns, awkward characters that are a bit heartwarming, and a few loose plot strings that made me crazy in the end, but as a beginning to a new series it was solid enough.  I kind of loved the awkward and shy Camille and it was obvious she was a perfect character to blend with Steve’s mostly adult kids—yeah that was a twist.  These were not your normal kids in any way shape or form folks, so don’t be expecting little girls playing with dolls or little boys wanting to play video games all day. Steve has come home after some mysterious circumstances in his previous town, which to be honest I’m still unsure about even after the story ended, and has settled his family on his childhood family Christmas tree ranch, meanwhile volunteering as a firefighter in his free time since he can’t do it as a fulltime job anymore.  On his first day he runs into the intriguingly shy Camille and every time he runs into her she draws him in more and more.  Soon he finds himself wanting her in a way that he never imagined he’d want a woman after his wife passed away, and surprisingly his children have all developed an instant connection with her.  She seems to blend seamlessly with their unconventional family, and when tragedy strikes and she needs a place to stay it make sense for her to move right in for the holidays.  I liked Camille’s character, her babbling and geekiness reminding me a lot of my own interactions with men, but you can see that she understands each of Steve’s unique children in a way that no one else could and her attraction to Steve is incontrovertible.  Steve was the perfect hero, with a little bit of his own quirkiness thrown in here and there, and he obviously loves both his family and Camille once she worms her way into his heart.  I liked the story, but the ending was way too abrupt and left way to many questions in my mind.  I’m kind of hoping that the next in the series might fill in a few of the gaps, but it’s a solid beginning.  Not a bad way to ring in the holiday season if you like a quirky story about a woman finding her footing in a family of equally unique characters and a man that finally finds that woman that completes his family and makes them all truly whole. Happy Holidays all!

*ebook provided by publisher (via netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.

Review: Taking It Easy (Boys of the Big Easy #2)

Taking It Easy (Boys of the Big Easy #2)

by Erin Nicholas

Blurb:

Logan Trahan is one of the French Quarter’s hottest bartenders. A single, charming, sexy southern boy who’s proud to pour the best Pimm’s Cup in town. Yes, that’s his biggest accomplishment. So what?

Dana Doucet is a widowed mom of two who’s doing it all. And doing it well, thank you very much. But she had a moment--okay, an entire night-- of weakness and gave in after, ironically, nine months of Logan’s naughty flirtations. And a couple of those Pimm’s Cups.

It was just one night, but now they’re stuck with each other forever. Or at least for the next eighteen years, eight months, and one week. Not that she’s counting.

Well, this is definitely big. But there’s no way it’s going to be easy.

Themes: Contemporary

Rating: 4 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

So the bad boy has finally charmed his way into the widow’s bed with some very unplanned and unforeseen circumstances. Like I said with the last book in this series, it seems like this whole series is going to be focused around the romances between single parents and will focus a lot on issues involving kids and babies.  Being a non-kid/baby person, I’m not really jumping for joy at this trope, but I’m willing to admit that Erin pulls it off enough that it doesn’t drive me crazy and make me want to drop the whole story half way through.  It is obvious that the story revolves around meshing Logan into this family, but seeing as I myself come from a blended family I guess I can understand the problems he was facing, even though I had some issues with how Dana was determined to keep Logan in a strict role even as he tried to be all she and her girls needed. Logan is the brother of the hero from the previous novel in the series so we got to meet him a bit in that one, and see how he was attracted to Dana, but to see that he finally managed to talk her into bed only to get her pregnant was a bit surprising.  Now Dana and Logan are going to be irrevocably intertwined as they have to find a way to deal with the fact that he will be in her life forever now.  Logan wants more, wants to be her husband and a father not just to his child, but a stepdad to her girls as well, but Dana is determined that she will never come to depend on him.  Dana was a bit of a bitch, and I don’t like to use that term often, but I didn’t like how she kept trying to force him into this little box of being just a playboy even as he tried so hard to prove to her that he was willing to step up and be the man she needed again and again.  She was willing to sacrifice everyone’s happiness for her own stubbornness and unwillingness to bend right up until she almost lost the best thing that had happened to her in a long time, if not ever.  Logan knows he hasn’t grown up much, but once he understands that the time has come, he puts his all in and doesn’t shirk a single bit of his responsibility despite that fact that he easily could.  He gives his all to Dana, her girls, and the life he wants to build with them all, even as he is forced to fight her at every turn.  I definitely liked Logan a lot more than I did Dana, but the heat between them is obvious even when they were fighting or when they were playfully arguing.  There were a few frustrating moments to me that I really wanted to slap Dana upside the head for being ridiculous to Logan, but in the end she finally understood just what a great thing had landed in her lap, so I guess in the end I can forgive her.  I am actually looking forward to Lexi and Caleb's novel coming soon, and I enjoyed the little holiday novella that was slipped in as well, Eggnog Makes her Easy, so if you get a chance to read that one over first I highly recommend it.

*ebook provided by publisher (via netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.

Review: Rebel Hard (Hard Play #2)

Rebel Hard (Hard Play #2)

by Nalini Singh

Blurb:

Nayna Sharma agreed to an arranged marriage in the hope it would heal the fractures in her beloved family… only to realize too late that a traditional marriage is her personal nightmare. Panicked, she throws caution to the winds, puts on the tiniest dress she can find, and ends up in the arms of a tall, rough-edged hunk of a man who has abs of steel—and who she manages to mortally insult between one kiss and the next.

Abandoned as a child, then adopted into a loving family, Raj Sen believes in tradition, in continuity. Some might call him stiff and old-fashioned, but he knows what he wants—and it’s a life defined by rules… yet he can’t stop thinking about the infuriating and sexy woman who kissed him in the moonlight then disappeared. When his parents spring an introduction on him, the last woman he expects is her. Beautiful. Maddening. A rulebreaker in the making.

He’s all wrong for her. She’s all wrong for him. And love is about to make rebels of them both.

Themes: Contemporary

Rating: 4.25 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

Ok I have to confess… I put this story off as long as I humanly could because I did not want to think about leaving these characters behind, even though I knew in my mind I was missing out on an amazing experience by not reading the story! And I was right. This story runs parallel to the first book in the series, Cherish Hard, which is the story of Nayna’s best friend Ísa falling in love with Raj’s best friend Sailor, so we have gotten a few glimpses of this story already if you read that story, which I must say if you didn’t, stop right now and go do that. I must preface this review with the comment that if you haven’t experienced a lot of different cultures either personally or through your reading, you might not understand a lot of the angst and drama in this story, as the two characters come to terms with their emotions and their family obligations, but it made perfect sense to me. Nayna has finally decided to give into the family pressure to be the "good daughter" and let her parents set up an arranged marriage, but she wants one chance to be the "bad girl" before she is forced into the role she has always feared and sets out for a night of wild fun with her friend at a party.  There she experiences the first real passion of her life at the hands of a man that should be all wrong for her and has no way to gauge her feelings for him or what he draws from her and soon finds that she has gravely insulted him.  When midnight strikes on her Cinderella night, Nayna decides to forget the man that brought out such passion in her, until she finds herself face to face with him in the most unexpected of places.  Raj is determined to find the woman made to complete him, but the siren that inspired more reckless passion than he has ever felt in his life is beyond unforgettable.  While he has promised his parents he will marry and is willing to let them set him up, he has changed his mind until he can find the woman that has haunted his nights, but when he discovers that she is in fact the next woman his parents have matched him with, his entire world tilts on its axis.  The gauntlet is thrown down between them, but as they spark off one another the challenge of what they both want versus what they think they owe their families becomes an entangled mess.  Raj has to decide if he loves Nayna enough to allow her to spread her wings, even if it takes her away from the love and life he wanted them to build together, or if he will try to cage the spirit that so draws him to her. 

The complex nature of heart versus mind is explored in great detail as both Nayna and Raj come to terms with the fact that you cannot always mold yourself into what the world wants, sometimes you have to mold the world into what works for you. Nayna was a woman that never really had a chance to embrace life, always hidden in the shadow of the mistakes made by her older sister and the scandal that she caused.  Being the good girl, mainly to make sure that her family was never again ripped apart, showed us that her heart might have been in the right place, but someone should have been looking out for her much more than they were.  When she finally has her chance, with Raj’s help surprisingly, we get to see the fully-evolved and amazing woman she was always destined to become and I have to see I could see her being one of my besties.  She is fun, sweet, loving, and sensual without trying to be, and her sass and verve for life would keep me on my toes as her friend as much as it did Raj as her lover.  While I hurt a lot seeing her go through her growing pains, it was time, and once she got past them she was a much happier and loving person for the drama. Raj is a great guy, even if he is a bit rigid, but with Nayna’s help he finds a lot of ways to unbend.  Once he decides that Nayna is it for him, he refuses to let anything stop him in his pursuit, even her own fears, and is willing to sacrifice anything for her happiness, making him truly a hero in my eyes.  And let’s not forget that he stood up to her family, his own, and the community as a whole to allow her to be happy, even at his own expense—can you say HOTT?! I would love to find myself a Raj type guy that I could have the chance to ruffle up while he helps me blossom.  These two spread heat like a wildfire as they challenge one another at every turn, whether they are arguing, loving, or fighting together against the world, and I can see that lasting into their old age as the explore the world together.

This story is one that many might see as too hung up on the customs and cultural issues that Raj and Nayna dealt with in the story, but I can only say that they obviously don’t understand just how much family obligation can truly shape a person and their love life.  I loved seeing Nayna break out of her shell and drag Raj right along with her to bring him to understand that just because a person spreads their wings to fly doesn’t mean they don’t need a solid home to return to.  Nayna was a woman that just needed the right reason to give herself the permission to put herself first and that reason was love and a man that was willing to work for her heart.  Raj too needed to find his balance between love and obligation and when he found Nayna, he knew he’d found the woman to complete his life.  I loved every second of seeing these two struggle to find their footing together and individually and find their places in one another’s lives and almost wish the story had been even longer so I could enjoy more.  I am hoping the series might continue someday so I get to revisit these characters, but if not I know I can always return for a reread to enjoy the magic all over again.  Thanks for the fun experience of these two magical stories of people that need one another more than they ever imagined to become the people they were meant to be, Ms. Singh.

*ebook provided by publisher (via netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.

Mini-Review: Christmas Lights and Cowboy Nights (Marshall Ranch Series Book #3)

Christmas Lights and Cowboy Nights (Marshall Ranch Series Book #3)

by Shelli Stevens

Blurb:

Rosa Mercado is looking for something more serious with her love life, which is why she hits the brakes on the sexy cowboy who walks into her dad’s restaurant and hits on her.

Calvin Marshall had Rosa lined up in his sights to be his next conquest. Until she makes it clear she’s looking for Mr. Right, not Mr. Right Now. Commitment isn’t exactly his favorite word.

But when they’re forced to stay at Misty Meadows Ranch together over Christmas, it becomes clear that there’s more at stake than just one of them inheriting the ranch by New Year’s Eve. The magic of the season will blur the line between love and hate, and challenge everything they both thought they wanted.

Themes: Erotica, Holiday

Rating: 3.5 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

I just love a good erotic holiday story—throw in some serious family drama and some unexpected emotions and you have the perfect cocktail for a cold winter night.  I have enjoyed many of Ms. Stevens’s works in the past, including a few series, so when I had the chance to read this holiday story I figured it was a no-brainer.  The story kicked off pretty quickly with our H/H meeting in a fun meet-cute and then finding themselves thrown together into an intense situation, but once the emotions and heat get turned, up the rest of the story just falls into place.  I enjoyed this story a lot, even though the plot-line seems to wrap up way too quickly in the end and there were some threads to the overall story that could have used a bit more page time to develop. The heat between Cal and Rosa was evident and as they embrace that, they both begin to understand that there might be more than just lust between them.  Cal is determined that the feelings he is developing for her won’t influence the future in a negative way for her, willing to sacrifice his dreams for her, showing that he is a true gentleman cowboy, and making me truly love him.  Rosa is a bit of a scared bunny through most of the story, refusing to truly accept the chance at love that has come her way, until it is almost too late.  I liked both Cal and Rosa in the end and the supporting characters were just fun enough that I would have liked to get to know them more through their interactions with the H/H.  I cannot say I was overwhelmed by the story in any particular way, but it was a solid story with a lot of heart and some heat and of course in the end there was a fun HEA and some laughs to bring the holiday theme out of the darker moments that lead to the ending.  I am wondering if I might have been a bit more invested had I read the rest of the Marshall series first, but that will have to come next year, and I can say I have no regrets at all to adding this holiday novella to the ending of my 2018 reading list.

*ebook provided by publisher (via netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.