Ramblings From This Chick

Monday, February 6, 2017

Sealed With a Kiss Event with Christy English

Ever since Christy English picked up a fake sword in stage combat class at the age of fourteen, she has lived vicariously through the sword-wielding women of her imagination. Sometimes an actor, always a storyteller, Christy works happily with Sourcebooks Casablanca to bring the knife-throwing women of her novels to life. A banker by day and a writer by night, she loves to eat chocolate, drink too many soft drinks, and walk the mountain trails of her home in western North Carolina.

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Sunday, February 5, 2017

ARC Review: Hooked by Christina Phillips

This is the first book in the Viking Bastards MC series. I am an MC romance fan (motorcycle club romance for all you newbies). It doesn't take much to get me "hooked" on a book with a dirty biker and his future 'ol lady.' For all you MC romance readers, I would warn you that this book is very light on the stuff you typically see in MC books. Besides referring to the fact that Zach is in a MC and is gruff and bossy, there isn't really information about the MC or MC life in the book. In fact, Grace never even goes to Zach's clubhouse in the book. Because an MC is usually so important to the members in these books, a lot of the romance between Zach and Grace seemed completely unrealistic. There is just no way in 98% of MC books a club member will consider a relationship with a woman before making sure she fits with his club.

Grace is super rich an happens to meet Zach in a dive MC bar when her car breaks down. Zach offers to fix it but he winds up fixing Grace. Within minutes of meeting her, Grace is spread out on a pool table living her wildest fantasies. Turns out Zach didn't even really think her car had broken down. He thought she was some rich chick just looking for a good time. After the pool table shenanigans Zach winds up deciding he is not quite ready to give Grace up. He brings her home where even his wild sister notices that Zach is different with Grace. After that, things keep escalating between the couple. Eventually Zach has to deal with his demons and Grace has to decide that she is going to break free of her family expectations. There is a brief conflict and then a HEA.

So here's the thing- I have no problem with unlikely couples hooking up. But there comes a point when things just stop making sense and I think we reached it in this book. First there is a vast socio-economic difference between Zach and Grace. Grace is from old and very big money. Zach and his sister were basically orphans. Because Zach is into Grace he accompanies her into her world and everyone magically loves him. This includes Grace's wealthy Mother who before meeting Zach wanted Grace to get back with her rich ex. None of this made any sense to me. These people would not have loved someone like Zach and Zach would not have loved them. This book could have only made sense if Grace had made the decision to separate herself from her old life and start over. That was not the case. Instead, we get a book of two people who have absolutely nothing in common on the outside or inside falling madly in love. I know it happens all the time in these books and we go along with it. In this book, however, I needed something more to connect these two characters.

Despite the lack of credibility, I read this book pretty fast and can say that I honestly enjoyed it. I like Phillips' writing style and I look forward to reading books by her in the future.

**ARC provided by Publisher**

ARC Review: Daring to Fall by T.J. Kline

Daring to Fall is the first book that I have read from T.J. Kline, but it won't be my last. I was immediately drawn in with this gorgeous cover and will admit that I really didn't pay much attention to the blurb. It just looked so good that it made me want to read it, and I am really glad I did. I was engaged right away and enjoyed reading this new to me author.

Emma returns home after the death of her father to run the animal sanctuary that is his legacy. But when things start happening and it appears that someone is out to shut her down, Hidden Falls' sexiest fireman Ben McQuaid starts to ask questions. The more Ben digs, the more he must decide if he can keep his loyalty to Hidden Falls separate from his growing feelings for Emma. But can they figure out what is going on and have a chance at something together, or will they soon find out that the game they are playing could destroy everything?

I loved Ben right away! He was sweet and sexy and one of those guys that is just genuinely good. I couldn't get enough of him and he was definitely a hero worth rooting for. I will admit that it took me a bit to warm up to Emma, not that I didn't like her I just found it kind of hard to relate to her. She had some issues that she was dealing with and that made it hard for me to connect with her. These two had chemistry and a growing connection, but this was definitely a slow build romance, with things taking time between these two. While I enjoyed that to some extent, I would have liked to have seen more of the focus here on these two and not just what was going on around them.

While I enjoyed the story overall, I did think that the slow build of the romance and the fact that much of this story was about Emma and the sanctuary kind of kept me from loving the book. I am more of a romance reader, and while it was there at times it felt secondary to the rest. I prefer to have the romance a bit more front and center than it felt here. But I did enjoy it and Ben is definitely worth the read. I am curious to go back and read the first book, and I would read more from T.J. Kline in the future. This was a good read, and I think if readers know that this is a bit light on the romance side going in that a lot of readers will enjoy it.

**ARC Provided by Publisher**

Sealed With a Kiss Event with Anna Harrington

Anna fell in love with historical romances—and all those dashing Regency heroes—while living in London, where she studied literature and theatre. She loves to travel, fly airplanes, and hike, and when she isn’t busy writing her next novel, she can usually be found in her garden, fussing over her roses.