ARC Review: One Night with You (Montgomery Ink Legacy #7)

One Night with You (Montgomery Ink Legacy #7)

Carrie Ann Ryan

Blurb:

Never fall for your best friend.

That’s the rule. The code.

Claire Harlow always follows rules—except this one.

However, when an attack leaves both of their worlds shaken, she decides to walk away from what could have been and hide within her own shadows.

Kingston Montgomery is the man who saves the day.

At least that’s what he’s always told himself—until one day he was too late.

Now he’s trying to find his purpose while also ignoring the heat between him and Claire.

When a chance blizzard changes their plans, one night turns to two…and then there’s no going back.

Only the two must overcome what they thought their relationship should be and realize what it could become. Because if they don’t figure it out quickly, the spark that ignites them could burn them both.

Themes:  Contemporary

Rating: 4.5 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

 I’ve been looking forward to this one for a little while now, hoping that Pheobe and Kane’s friends would find their own HEA, despite the obstacles that seemed to be in their way. Carrie Ann Ryan has a way of leading her characters on a merry chase for far too long for our (her readers’)  peace of mind, but in the end you have to believe she know she knows what she’s doing (or hope so anyway). Kingston and Claire’s love story is one that is filled with lots of healing and trust building as two friends with conflicting emotions finally come to realize that they’ve loved one another all along, even if they refused to acknowledge their feelings. I am looking forward to where Carrie Ann takes us next in their second generation of Montgomery greatness because it just keeps getting better and better and after that last chapter I cannot imagine how hot the next story could possibly be!

Kingston Montgomery is going through the paces of his life, trying to find his way and accept that there are some things that he can’t change—such as the fact that his friend Claire has been avoiding him ever since he let her get badly hurt in an attack. Claire Harlow is definitely avoiding Kingston, but not for the reasons he thinks. She doesn’t blame him for her injuries, but she can’t be around him anymore because her feelings have become more than she can handle since the attack and she doesn’t know what comes next for them.  But when a friend group weekend in the mountains turns into the two of them stranded alone in a snowstorm, things quickly heat up and soon they are friends with some seriously hot benefits. The more time they spend together though, the more both of them begin to understand their feelings are so much deeper than just friendship and lust, leading them to question is they should give a relationship a real shot, but can they get over their pasts and all the problems they each worry about in order to have a future together, or will they have to walk away from the most important relationship either of them have ever found in their lives.

Talk about two characters that are so lost in their heads that they don’t realize the perfect person for them is right in front of them! Claire went through a very traumatic experience at the hands of a psycho, but she is slowly (very slowly) finding her way out of that darkness, but she really needs to talk to someone and let others help her more. She is a smart, classy, sweet, and loving woman, but she so often refuses to lean on those she loves and instead depend on herself that she forgets that part of loving someone is being there for them and letting them be there for you. I really enjoyed seeing her finally open her heart as Kingston got through to her and made her accept his help and support, and of course the more time she spent being absorbed into the Montgomery cult, the more obvious it was how much she needed them. Kingston is obviously a protector, one that when he fails on that job (even just in his eyes) he flounders for a while and has to work hard to redirect himself. Almost losing Claire left him in a dark place, but when he finally got to have her in his life even deeper, showing her his love and protection, you could see him truly coming back to life. I loved seeing his strength, love, intelligence, honor, and devotion to his family, but I wouldn’t expect anything less with the triad he comes from. Truly these two were a match made in heaven and I am so glad we finally go to see them get their stuff together and admit their feelings for one another.

Often we read a story that begins with a couple snowed in together and it leads to all kinds of naughtiness, but One Night With You is an entirely different take on that trope if you ask me. Instead of being the climax or the beginning of their relationship, which was really the catalyst for two people that had been hiding their feelings to finally just accept that their feelings didn’t need to be hidden any longer and they could in fact have a relationship together. For Claire, that night give her the permission she needed to give into the feelings she’d been surprising from the beginning and give herself to Kingston, which leads her to find the inner truth she hid from herself that she loves him more than any man she’s ever been with. Kingston however has been running form his own feelings so long he still doesn’t understand anything beyond that one night being the hottest of his life and giving him the permission he needs to finally pressure the woman that he’s wanted from the first moment he set eyes on her. Together the two of them have a lot of emotional drama to work through, and while they almost let it go too late, they finally admit their love not only to themselves but to one another. That passion is apparent form the first moment though they try their hardest to hide from it and when they finally give into it, its hot enough to burn down the winder forest around the cabin where they find themselves trapped. I am dying for the next book (Accidentally Forever) where Carrie Ann is determined to drive us insane for sure with  Aria and Crew’s crazy passion and heat, though in between we will have a new connected series beginning (Always a Fake Bridesmaid) which looks to be interesting too.  I’m never sure how she does it but Ms. Ryan always finds a way to take us on a roller coaster and finally leave you begging for more and ONWY is a prime example of that torture, so run right out and grab your copy on release day! 

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

ARC Review: Dark Heart (Elven Kingdoms #2)

Dark Heart (Elven Kingdoms #2)

Donna Grant

Blurb:

Deepest passion. Darkest betrayal.

Once, she was my world. The only one I loved. Then it was all ripped away—including my freedom.

Vengeance kept me alive. It paved every step, shaped every plot.

Until I finally caught her.

I learned that line between love and hate is wafer-thin. Where once my dreams were filled with revenge, now that I have her, all I think about is the intoxicating passion we once shared.

But there’s no turning back the events her capture has set into motion. It unravels a carefully constructed world, one where enemies surround me.

Everyone, that is, except her.

Now, we only have each other—and the love that once united us, to fight our way to long-buried truths that will change everything.

Themes:  Paranormal, Elves

Rating: 4.25 stars

Heat Rating: 

Review:

When I first heard that Donna Grant was starting a new spinoff series of the Dark Kings series I knew I would love it, but I had no idea just how different it would be. While some of her series have gone dark and twisted this new series has gone into even darker territory of human emotion than even I imagined and while there is a bit of romance, it is certainly not the main feature, or even key, to the story line. A fantasy world filled with terrifying creatures, backstabbing and dangerous political intrigue, the Elven Kingdoms series grabs ahold of your heart and keeps you on the edge of your seat from the very beginning, even in the moments when the action is in a lull, as few and far between as those are.  This newest installment picks up right where book one ended with one of the side characters finding her life in mortal danger, from someone she once loved and that she thought she’d lost forever. I am dying to read more as this series develops, but I am terrified at the same time, knowing that things are only going to get worse for this team of rebels before they have any hope of getting better for them.

Arya is a wanted woman, along with the rest of her team, after helping to bring down the slave-trading stronghold of Shaldorn and while she is proud of that she knows she needs to keep her head of a swivel or she could even up capture or killed. She’s just leaving a meeting with Dain, the Dark elf that is her boss, when she finds herself overwhelmed by enemies and taken captive. But the real nightmare begins when she awakens to find herself on a ship on the river in the Dark kingdom, being held by the man she once loved, one she thought was gone from her life forever, and one that is obviously beyond infuriated with her. Jai is finally getting vengeance against the woman that cost him and his best friend years of their lives as slaves, the woman that still owns his heart even though he refuses to acknowledge that fact apparently. Even though kidnapping her and turning her into to his Masters will buy his freedom, it gets harder and harder by the moment, and as truths slowly come to light, Jai has to come to terms with the lies of his past and decide to place his trust in the woman he thought had betrayed him if either of them have any chance of surviving to have a future, because they both now have powerful enemies after them and only a slim chance of getting out of their predicament alive.

I loved this story and have to tell ya it took me a little bit to recall who Arya was, but once I did I was thrilled to get to learn more about her. She is definitely one of those girls that you can see be friends with, one that burns with a sense of needing to help, instead of just living an entitled life and seeks adventure even when it comes with danger. She is smart, brave, loving, and strong, even when she is faced with emotionally tumultuous pain, but she never lets that pain stop her from thinking. Seeing her come to terms with her past and Jai’s, leading him to the truths that would shatter his heart, but still being there for him and supporting him showed just how strong she was and that the love she had for him transcended any obstacles in their path. Jai was a hard one, because obviously his character was set up to be the villain for a good bit of the story, but even then you could see the depth of his emotions and the need to protect those he loved, even if his love was sadly misplaced.  He is strong, intelligent –when he finally looks past the obvious—and he loves deeply. I enjoyed seeing him kicking ass, but truly what I loved most was watching him supporting Arya and showing her how much of a team they could be once they both accepted that they were always meant to be together. Some hearts are always meant to find one another, and nothing can stand in their way.

Dark Heart truly is a story of two people, repeatedly betrayed and deceived by someone that was trusted, and while it cost them too much time, they find one another again through deadly and dangerous circumstances. While some stories are fille with lightness and fluff as two people find love, this is in no way that, instead filled with repeated obstacles, deadly battles, and near-death experiences that the lovers have to overcome in order to claim their second chance. Arya never thought she would see Jai again, assuming that he was forever beyond her reach, but seeing the darkened version of him might have been even worse if she couldn’t still see the man she fell for in his eyes. She holds that truth close as she battles through the pain and fear in order to reach him and soon they are faced with the truth that separated them, one that could break them even now, but Arya will do everything in her not-inconsiderable power to protect Jai this time and stop the slavers trying to take control of her world.  Jai has lost most of his adult life to a betrayal deeper than any he ever imagined and a quest for vengeance that has darkened his heart, but finding Arya and their love again reminds him of the kind of male he is and nothing will stop him from showing her she can trust him. Together, with the help of her team, they will do whatever they can to bring down the disgusting power-hungry elves kidnapping and enslaving their people, but their renewed love will be the ultimate treasure  to come out of their quest. Their passion is undeniable, even when it comes out as hatred, because real sometime love and hate are just two sides of the same coin, one that can be so easily flipped back over. I am dying for more in this series and cannot wait for Donna to take us on the next adventure. 

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