Tag: #romance

Book Review: Breaking The Honor Code by Stanalei Fletcher

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

BREAKING THE HONOR CODE (Northstar Security #4) by Stanalei Fletcher is another entertaining addition to her romantic suspense series. This series gives you stories that are well written and always deliver an action packed page turner.

Allison Richards has been dubbed “the cyborg queen” of the Northstar computer labs. All work and no personal interactions. When she leaves to takes a vacation and go home to Idaho to babysit her nephew, the hacker that has been plaguing Northstar strikes again.

Sloan Cartland is Northstar’s profiler. Viewed as a rich playboy, he doesn’t try to fight that misconception. When the hacker strikes Northstar again and more damage is done to the company’s reputation and cases, his boss sends Sloan to retrieve Allison and bring her back.

Trapped by a blizzard, Allison and Sloan begin to see each other beyond their work personas and sparks begin to fly. But when communications are restored, Sloan is ordered to get Allison to L.A. The evidence is pointing to Allison as the hacker. Sloan now questions all of his feelings for Allison and their attraction, while Allison has to use all of her skills to save herself, her nephew and her reputation.

I really enjoy this series and all of the characters. The books are easy to read with fast paced action and romance. This book has the beginnings of a romance which was sweetly written without any sex scenes. The themes of trust and honor are woven throughout all the characters and storyline. An enjoyable read that can standalone, but the whole series is well worth the read!

Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.com.

Book Review: Brothers In Blue: Matt by Jeanne St. James

RATING:  5 out of 5 Stars

What a great addition and emotionally charged finale to the Bryson brother trilogy of books!

BROTHERS IN BLUE: MATT (Brothers In Blue #3) by Jeanne St. James has the youngest Bryson finally returning home after several deployments overseas to a job and extended family that he is finding very difficult to deal with due to PTSD.

Matt Bryson believes his mind is broken. He is not ready to accept help except what is forced on him by his brother to keep his job as a police office in their small town. He has buried his emotions and is barely making it day to day.

Dr. Carly Stephens is Amanda’s obstetrician at the local hospital. She is tall, calm and extremely professional working hard to help her elderly parents and save money to adopt a baby of her own one day that she cannot have herself. When Matt ends up being the brother to rush Amanda to the hospital to deliver, he is attracted to Carly’s calm and leadership. Carly is attracted to the hot police office.

They start out as landlord and tenant, but soon agree to a sexual, no commitment relationship. They are just too different and want different things out of life. Matt with his OCD and PTSD believes he will never be able to love and he never wants children. Carly is too busy earning and saving money for her future home and adoption and just wants the hot sex. But can they truly keep to this arrangement? Hot, steamy sex is great, but soon emotions become entangled and they will have to find a way to compromise or break.

Matt had me all tied up in knots emotionally. There are many forms and degrees of PTSD and I feel Ms. St. James handled Matt’s character responses in a realistic way. I especially agree with the way that Matt had to handle a lot of his decisions on his own and in his own time. Carly was an equally strong character because even though she is a doctor, she knows she can’t heal Matt, she can only love and help him. The plot was a delicate back and forth written with empathy and compassion.

It was great reading about all the characters from the previous two books, also. I am going to miss these brothers, the loves they found and the entire extended family. This is an excellent contemporary romance series with plenty of hot and steamy sex scenes. They can all be read as standalones, but is much more fun to read them all in order and get three HEAs.

Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.com.

Book Review: The Mortal Falls by Anna Durand

RATING: 3 out of 5 Stars

THE MORTAL FALLS (Undercover Elementals, Book One) by Anna Durand is the first in her new fantasy romance series. This story is full of mythical supernatural characters in a parallel realm to ours, a steamy romance and murder.

Lindsey Porter finds a dead body in the woods. From there things get a little crazy for her. An almost naked man runs from the scene and disappears. When the sheriff shows up, the body is gone, but a blood pool remains. He hauls Lindsey in as a suspect and we learn she has a past with this sheriff who has followed her from Texas.

Nevan is an immortal sylph and the almost naked man who keeps popping from thin air into Lindsey’s life. He was turned into a Guardian when trapped into a bargain a century ago by his king, Skeiron. Linsey has to trust this magic wielding man to help her solve the murder she is charged with and both need to learn to trust each other with their pasts. The fate of the mortal and elemental realms depend on these lovers.

The dialogue between Lindsey and Nevan in the first part of the book is somewhat juvenile. I didn’t care that Lindsey was a 32 year old virgin, I felt she should have been more mature in her language and attitude, virgin or not. That said, the relationship between these two takes off when they have sex. The sex scenes are hot and steamy and what I expect in an Anna Durand book.

The beginning of the story has a lot of world-building and character backstory, which I feel bogged down the first part of the book. The interesting characters and their interactions kept me reading on. It was a good fantasy read and a steamy romance read.

Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.com.

Book Review: Stark Resolution by C.D. Bradley

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

STARK RESOLUTION by C.D. Bradley gave me the resolution I was looking for from this trilogy, but the path taken was not in any way what I was expecting. It is an emotional powerhouse written in a way that lets you have a window into the depths of a wounded warrior’s mind.

This book starts with both, Kira and Stark, waking up in Walter Reed Medical Facility. Both are facing difficult recoveries in differing ways. (Sorry, can’t give you more without spoiling a major plot twist and major scenes.)

When they come together again, the pieces of the overall suspense portion of this trilogy become transparent. Kira, Stark and all of their friends we have been introduced to along the way in books 1 and 2 work to stop what could be a potentially devastating biological weapon.

This trilogy is not at all what I was expecting and yet it turned into one of my all-time favorites with strong characters that I will always remember. I thought the cliffhangers at the end of books 1 and 2 were the most devastating emotional twists this author could throw at me until I got into the meat of this third book in the trilogy. C.D. Bradley takes some specific problems that our veterans’ face and writes from the heart of the veteran’s viewpoint with powerful emotional realism.

When I started this trilogy, I thought I was just getting a well written erotic military series that I would read and enjoy the sex scenes and try to figure out the suspense subplot on the side. This trilogy is so much MORE!

I cannot recommend this trilogy enough. C.D. Bradley’s writing is captivating, intense and emotional from page one.

Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.com.

Book Review: Silver Thaw by Catherine Anderson

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

SILVER THAW (Mystic Creek, #1) by bestselling author Catherine Anderson is the start of a new traditional contemporary romance series set in Mystic Creek, Oregon. This is an extremely well written story that has a hero that we all dream of meeting and a heroine with a small daughter who both need him desperately.

Jeb Sterling is a self-employed precision woodworker who finds messages scattered across his land on pink strips of paper. He becomes intrigued by the writer’s hopes and wishes for herself and her six year old daughter. When a severe ice storm hits, Jeb goes to check on his mysterious new neighbors and ends up rescuing Amanda Banning and her daughter. He finds himself drawn to this pair that are on the run and hiding from a physically abusive spouse and father.

Amanda and her daughter’s previous physical and psychological abuse is handled very convincingly by this author. Jeb is a strong hero to take on this pair and to deal with all the fallout to come. There are mild religious references, but only before meal prayers and the idea of praying for help. All Ms. Anderson’s books have very mild sexual scenes and focus more on the growing of the love between the H/h. The growth of the relationship in this book is the main focus. It is well plotted and realistic to the situation.

This romance is character driven and tells the tale of overcoming past adversity and starting over with the love and help of a strong hero and a caring community.

I am very much looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

Book Review: Stark Shadows by C.D. Bradley

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

O-M-G!!!

STARK SHADOWS by C.D. Bradley is the second book in the Stark Trilogy and a great addition well worth the wait, but this book’s ending was even harder to take than the last one! Everyone who is familiar with my reviews, knows I hate cliffhangers, but there have been a few trilogies that I am willing to forgo that dislike because either the story and/or characters are so amazing as to be worth the wait. This is one of those trilogies!

The start of book two has Kira being attacked in her home with flashbacks to her previous college attack. It is a well written and intense scene that still has you wondering if it is real or an alcohol induced dream. When she wakes up in the hospital, Holt is once again trying to help her, or is he? Kira has Paige stay with her until she is to be deployed in two weeks and Paige is kidnapped.

Owen Stark is back from deployment and looking to make things right with Kira, who he realizes is the only woman for him, but with Paige’s kidnapping and Kira’s attack nothing is going as planned again. Nothing between Kira and Owen is settled as Kira wants to focus on her military career and Owen vows to get Paige back and find out who is attacking Kira and why.

Although Kira and Owen are apart more than they are together in this book, the split into two separate paths never lets up in an intense, emotional, intriguing read. I got to read more about Owen’s true character, his willingness to do anything for those he loves and that no matter how dark things become there is a line of integrity he is not willing to cross. I was interested in all of Kira’s storyline revolving around her deployment to Peru and the history and study of the Zika virus.

And then BANG!

Book boyfriend that makes the pages sizzle! Strong, realistic characterization. Smart, intelligent plot. I love these books and am lucky that I have the third one available to read now, because if I had to wait I would go crazy.

Written for and posted first on The Romance Reviews.com.