ARC Review: The Way Back Home by Carmen Jenner

This is not my first Carmen Jenner book. I read a couple of her MC books and two of her other small town books. What is never in question with Jenner is whether she is up to the task of putting together a completely engrossing novel with complete character development- she absolutely is and she does it every time. This book is no exception on that front. Overall, if you like Carmen Jenner's storytelling, I think you will really like this book. For me, this was a good book but not the best suited for my taste so it stays on my good but not great list.

This is another small town offering from Jenner. In this book Olivia is the operator of a non-profit organization with laudable goals and a very worthwhile mission. Olivia travels all over setting up kennels from which she houses dogs that will become companion animals for war vets who are often suffering from PTSD. August is a vet who returned home to Magnolia Springs to care for his baby sister after losing his leg in combat. August has more issues than Vogue. Beyond his serious PTSD, he is parenting a little girl and clearly has no idea what he is doing. August has just lost BOTH of his parents and he's dealing with that. And oh, did I mention that Magnolia Springs is populated by absolute jerk face A holes? The good folks of MS view war vets as freaks who can't just "get over it."

In addition to their poor outlook on the men and women who sacrifice themselves for our country, the Magnolia folks are also deeply suspicious of Olivia and her mission. Olivia is my kind of character. She tries to be nice but she veers towards the confrontational end of the spectrum often losing her cool and telling people exactly what she thinks of them. This attribute does not endear her to the people of Magnolia Springs. Olivia and August are thrust together because August's parents, prior to their untimely demise, were working with Olivia to open up her service dog facility. When Olivia arrives in Magnolia Springs she is expecting to find August's parents to welcome her with open arms. Instead she finds August, an orphaned little girl and August's terrible attitude.

August and Olivia have one of those hate/attraction relationships throughout the entire book. Olivia finds herself more and more drawn to the surly August. August can't believe anybody would want his broken pieces and he continuously tries to push Olivia away. Olivia, is complicated. August has her all wrong. She had been through some ish which created in her a spine of steel that August didn't see coming. The thing I like about this relationship is that I felt like these two were made for each other. No one else could have just stepped in and been in a relationship with either of these two, they were clearly made for one another. The only issue for me in this book was the angst level. It was just a lot of angst, A LOT. Other than that, this is a really good book that I think you contemporary romance lovers will really appreciate.

**ARC provided by TRSoR Promotions**

Purchase: | Amazon |

ARC Review: Kick by Carmen Jenner

Let me start off by saying that Kick is not your average MC book. The warning should be take seriously, and if you have any issues with violence (especially those of a sexual nature) you should consider if this will be a trigger for you before reading. With that being said, Kick wasn't a bad book but it wasn't fantastic to me either. Kick by Carmen Jenner is dark, and it is a spin-off of her Sugartown series but can be read as a standalone. While there were things that I liked about this book, there were also some things that didn't work as well for me.

Daniel "Kick" Johnson has grown up around the MC lifestyle, and it is the only way he knows. His brothers share a bond tighter than family, and maintain the bond through blood. But when he betrayed them, he was forced out. Now years later he has a new brotherhood. When he comes across a woman being tortured, he finds himself wanting to keep her though his club expects him to get rid of her. But when Indie agrees to help Kick and his club hunt down the remaining two captors that wronged not only her but one of their own, they set out to get their revenge. Kick and Indie want each other, but Indie doesn't trust anyone after everything that she went through and Kick is still struggling with a past he can't let go of.

I liked Kick and Indie both well enough, but I never felt connected to them or truly invested in their story. Kick was actually not nearly as bad as he claimed to be, and he was rather protective of Indie. He kept trying with her after every single time that she lashed out at him, and he was pretty sensitive to her and her situation. Indie was a fighter, though she was also extremely damaged and broken. With Kick's help though she really was able to find her strength, and I enjoyed seeing how Kick was able to get her to let him in slowly. These two were really good for each other, and I thought that Indie helped Kick just as much as he helped her. He had been struggling with his past, and with Indie around he was finally able to start moving forward with his life. While I felt the attraction between them, I did feel as though the physical relationship was a bit rushed. This girl had just been through hell, and it felt far too soon for her wanting to be with Kick in that way even though she had been building up her trust in him as she got to know him better.

While dark reads aren't always my favorite, I was able to get through this book and thought it was a good story. It was dark, gritty and raw, and it should be said that there are frequent scenes that could possibly trigger those sensitive to rape and sexual violence. I wasn't expecting them to be such a large part of the story, and honestly I felt like it was overdone at times. But the thing that really brought the rating down on this one for me was the fact that it seemed to get too hung up on details at times. There were parts of this story that were more about the club and each member than about Kick and Indie. While I appreciate the set-up for the series, I found myself not really caring about each and every member that only played a minor role in the story. I wanted to focus more on Kick and Indie, and who they were. I wanted more depth of character for each of them, and to really see these two as they started to form a relationship. I found myself getting lost in the details sometimes and losing interest in the book when that happened. While I did have some complaints with this book, I did think that it was a good story. If you are looking for a different MC read and aren't afraid of a dark story filled with violence, then you might give this one a chance. But I do think that if you are sensitive to sexual violence that this one is probably not for you.

**ARC Provided by TRSOR Promotions**

Purchase: | Amazon | B&N |