Review: The Heir by Kiera Cass

The Heir is book number four in Kiera Cass’s Selection series. Honestly, I was surprised that she continued after the third book because everything seemed finished. So I am going to try to review this without giving spoilers to the end of The One.

Fast forward about twenty years from the end of The One and we find King Maxon and his Queen have four children. Their daughter, Eadlyn, was the first born causing the King and Queen to decide to change the law and not exclude females from taking the thrown. Following Eadlyn, the two had three boys, one of which is Eadlyn’s twin brother, Ahren. There has been some unrest in the kingdom lately so the King and Queen suggest to Eadlyn to have her own selection to find a husband. They think it will distract the kingdom so that they can come up with solutions to the real problems.

Eadlyn is not ok with this turn of events. She reluctantly agrees only to secretly plot ways to scare off all of her suitors. I did not like Eadlyn in the slightest. She is spoiled and rude and judgmental to the extreme. At one point she just surprises the group of selected by marching into their room and humiliating the ones she has picked to leave. Eadlyn’s one saving grace is that she somewhat tries to learn from her mistakes.

I did like a lot of the supporting characters. We see a lot of cameos from the first three books. Some of the selected boys were quite charming, and Eadlyn’s brothers were nice and funny. Ahren in particular was pretty amazing. He is in love with a princess of France, and his devotion to her is so adorable. Sadly, though, his relationship with Camille is the only romance you will find in this book. There really wasn’t romance anywhere else.

I don’t know what it is about these books that keeps me reading. I get so completely frustrated with them but I can’t help myself. I read this one in the space of one day. Something about Keira’s writing is addictive; I just can’t put my finger on what it is. It reminds me of the way I feel about the Twilight series. The books were honestly horrible, but I couldn’t stop myself once I started.

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Interview with Author Jennifer Bernard and Giveaway

Meet Jennifer Bernard, author of All of Me.

Jennifer Bernard is a graduate of Harvard and a former news promo producer. The child of academics, she confounded her family by preferring romance novels to … well, any other books. She left big city life for true love in Alaska, where she now lives with her husband and stepdaughters. She’s no stranger to book success, as she also writes erotic novellas under a naughty secret name not to be mentioned at family gatherings.

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Feature and Giveaway: Love in the Time of Scandal by Caroline Linden

USA Today bestselling author Caroline Linden's third novel in her Scandalous series brings together a feisty heiress, a notorious rake, and a shocking book that could bring one woman the utmost despair—or the greatest pleasure...

Penelope Weston does not like Benedict Lennox, Lord Atherton. He may be the suave and charming heir to an earl, as well as the most handsome man on earth, but she can't forget how he abandoned a friend in need—nor how he once courted her sister, Abigail. He's the last man she would ever marry. If only she didn't feel so attracted to the arrogant scoundrel...

Once upon a time, Benedict thought he and Penelope got along rather well. Though he needs a wealthy bride to escape his cruel father's control, spirited Penelope just doesn't suit his plans for a model marriage—until a good deed goes awry, and scandalous rumors link his name to Penelope's. She might not be the quiet, sensible wife he thought he wanted, but she is beautiful . . . beguiling . . . and far more passionate than he ever imagined. Can a marriage begun in scandal become a love match, too?

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ARC Review: The Day of the Wave by Becky Wicks

I have really enjoyed books by Becky Wicks before, so I was really excited when I read the blurb for The Day of the Wave. Not only did I expect it to be written well, but I couldn't help but be drawn to the content. It was something I hadn't ever seen in a romance novel before, and I was instantly intrigued about a book that centered around a real life natural disaster. Though I don't necessarily agree with the book's Amazon tagline of being "An inspirational historical romance novel" that followed the real life events of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, I did find it very interesting. Yes the book does touch on the tsunami and how things happened in real life, this book is mainly about Ben and Isla reconnecting in the future. 

Ben and Isla met as teenagers just days before the Boxing Day tsunami hit. They both suffered terrible losses as a result and were never the same. Both of them were left with scars, Isla's on the outside while Ben's were internal. But they never knew that the other survived. Now ten years later, a chance meeting reconnects them, and they jump at the chance to spend time together once again. Though a lot has changed as the years have passed, Ben and Isla realize that the connection they once shared has remained. Though no one understands everything that they went through but each other, is it possible for them to leave their pasts behind for a chance at a future together? 

I liked Ben and Isla a lot. I thought that they were great for one another, and I loved that they had a connection that had never faded. These two understood one another in a way that no one else could, and they just seemed to always know what the other needed. They supported one another and encouraged each other through good times and bad. It was great to see them push one another, while also understanding that sometimes they just needed to avoid certain subjects. They were both still struggling with so much, and the patience between them was exactly what they needed. They helped one another while also realizing that some things had to be done on their own time table rather than what others thought. I loved the friendship between them and how they had always held onto everything that they had talked about and felt years before. They had such great chemistry, but it was the connection between them that made their bond unbreakable.

While I really liked this story and seeing Ben and Isla reconnect, I did think that there were times my interest started to wane a little with all the details given. Becky Wicks does a great job of describing things so that you feel like you are actually seeing the cities with your own eyes, but I do think that it can sometimes cause the reader to get a little lost in the details. I also had a tough time with how much others factored into this story, when I really wanted Ben and Isla focused on reconnecting with each other. I kept waiting for things to change between them so that we could see them start to figure things out together as a couple, and it took quite awhile before they were each able to actually move forward without being with someone else. I was glad that there was no cheating though, even if that meant that Ben and Isla together took a bit longer. I think that this book was a really interesting story, and I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for something different. I know this won't be the last I read from Becky Wicks , and I look forward to seeing what she writes next.

**ARC Provided by Xpresso Book Tours**

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ARC Review: Yield: A Legal Affairs Story by Sawyer Bennett

Yield is the third and final part in Cal and Macy's story from Sawyer Bennett. These have to be read in order as the story continues from one part to the next. However you do not need to have read the Legal Affairs series to understand, though Mac and Matt do play a large part in these books. While I have liked the first two installments of this serial, I haven't loved this serial like I typically do anything written by Sawyer Bennett. For some reason I am just not finding myself able to connect with these characters or their story the way I have with her other books. This was a good ending to their story though, and I did like how things played out for them.

Yield picks up after the events of Grind, with Macy's past suddenly catching up to her. Though her and Cal have made a lot of progress in their relationship, Macy is insistent that Cal should get as far away from her as possible because she is broken. Cal refuses to let Macy push him away though and will do whatever it takes to show her that she can lean on him. Can Cal help Macy move forward with her life, or will her past destroy everything that they are building together? 

I have had my ups and downs with these characters over the course of this series, but Cal and Macy were both better in this book than they had been previously. I felt like Cal wasn't as all over the place as he was in Grind, and Macy was finally starting to deal with her past rather than avoid it. I will say that they both handled a few things poorly in this one, but I thought that overall they seemed to finally be moving towards a future together in a positive way. They had both realized their feelings for one another and weren't running from it. Instead they were doing everything that they could to protect the other in the only ways that they knew how, even if they weren't the best.

With everything that happened in this installment, Cal and Macy spent most of this installment separated and I think that this book suffered a bit for it. It didn't pack the usual amount of heat that I have come to expect from Sawyer Bennett. I also thought that these two didn't have the initial spark that they did in Clash, but honestly I expected that after seeing how things had changed between them throughout the first two installments. When this series started, Cal and Macy couldn't stand one another and they were constantly bickering and the banter was fantastic. However that instantly changed after they hooked up the first time, and I have to admit that disappointed me. I was hoping that eventually they would get a little bit of that back but they never did. While they had chemistry and the sex between them was hot, I missed how fiery they were in the beginning outside the bedroom. While I think that this series was okay, it definitely wasn't my favorite by Sawyer Bennett. I still think that she is a great author, I just wasn't able to personally connect with this one. Fans of the Legal Affairs series will enjoy seeing Matt and Mac though, and I think that this might be one that just wasn't for me.

**ARC Provided by Author**

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