ARC Review: In Too Deep by Jordan Marie

I have never read anything by Jordan Marie before, but the blurb for In Too Deep was one that called to me as soon as I read it. I love a good enemies to lovers story, so this one sounded really good. Unfortunately though, this one just didn't work for me at all and I ended up throwing in the towel at 30%. 

Aden is looking to get away from Hollywood and all that comes with being a star in California. So when his friend sets him up with a hotel in a small town in Idaho, he jumps at the chance to get out. But when Aden shows up and meets his friend's cousin that owns the hotel, things get off on the wrong foot quickly. Hope does everything she can to get rid of him, but reluctantly agrees to let him stay knowing that she needs the money he offers her. But when she saves his life and says she is his wife so that the hospital will inform her on how he is, she never expects that he will believe her too!

I'll be honest here, Aden is the main reason I quit reading. This guy is an absolute jerk and what's worse is that he knows it! He is constantly saying the most horrible things to Hope and even as he does he admits to himself that he is being terrible. Yet he never apologizes and just keeps on saying and doing horrible things! I just couldn't keep going on because I just couldn't see any redeeming qualities for someone who is so burnt out on the way things are in California, yet he continues to be an asshole and act just like them. Talk about a judgmental hypocrite. I also couldn't really relate to Hope. It wasn't that I didn't like her, I just felt indifferent towards her. I wasn't feeling any chemistry between them and at 30% in I just felt like I wasn't going to believe in any kind of connection between them in the future. 

Overall, this one was just a miss for me and I had to give up. I think that there are readers out there that will enjoy this one and if it sounds like one you might like you might give it a shot. For me though it just didn't work and I don't know that I will read more from this author in the future. 

**ARC Provided by Ardent PRose**

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ARC Review: Rebel Custody by Sarah Hawthorne

Before you get all worked up about me hurling my Kindle across the room and screaming "NO" before I could finish this book, let me explain a few things. First, this is the second book in the Demon Horde MC series that I have read. You don't need to read the first one if you want to read this one but based on the first book, I thought the series would be decent and I gave it another chance. The second thing you need to know, I can't actually tell you whether this book is good. It might be, I don't know because I didn't read it...hence the "DNF" rating. And that brings me to my final point, the reason I didn't get past the 20% mark.

Everybody has book triggers. You know the things that will cause you to accidentally crack your e-reader or spend all day googling how to return unsatisfactory products to Amazon. Well I have two very unexpected triggers. The first is ridiculous bullshit involving children. The second, which is ordinarily unrelated, is ridiculous bullshit involving lawyers. And wonders never cease because this book managed to hit BOTH of my book triggers in like the first 50 pages. And for me, that's a deal breaker. The males could be alpha heroes with gigantic cocks and dirty mouths (which you all know I LOVE) but I am not reading a book with both stupid lawyer and stupid kid crap. No, that's asking too much.

Ok, and I know I only mentioned two triggers but another thing about this book which wasn't a deal breaker but I also didn't love was that it took away the things I love about reading MC romance. I read MC romance books because I love super alpha males who don't take any shit and are also sorta criminals. Right from the beginning of this book I was confused about how Skeeter fit that mold. Some random dude rolls up on Skeeter and threatens him and his kid and Skeeter...gets a lawyer???? Instead of taking the guy to ground (i.e., killing him) as they would say in the MC world. I was like, WTF just happened. Skeeter let a guy threaten him and his kid and he seeks protection in the law? Since when do bikers do this??

And just briefly, here comes what I really didn't like- Skeeter and the "lawyer" (who I guess becomes his love interest. Again, I don't know because I didn't read the book) find Skeeter's child. Skeeter knows it's his kid because the kid is his clone. After they find the kid in some run down motel room being guarded by a crack whore (I mean REALLY), they just leave the kid there....I was like no, nope, nah, not doing this. Skeeter was a coward and the "lawyer" was an idiot who was not familiar with the actual law and I was done.

Oh by the by, if you find out that you have a child and the child is being held for ransom by strangers who have no legal right to the child, if you find the child unattended, just take the kid and walk away. Without legal documents to the contrary, paternity determines legal rights over children. So should the police come knocking at your door, just take a paternity test and voila, the kid is yours. Don't be a dumbass like Skeeter and his "lawyer."

**ARC provided by Publisher**

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Review: Solo by Jill Mansell

I don’t have much to say about this book other than that the title is appropriate. My rating for this book is SO-LOW it’s not even funny. Get it? Solo? Ok, whatever. I’m just trying to bring some cheer into the dank dismal basement of a DNF book. This book was so bad I think I only made it to the 10% mark before I threw my Kindle across the room like it had chicken pox. I don’t know what this book is about. I think it was supposed to be about some playboy rich guy who falls in love with a hippy type chick. I honestly don’t know. What I do know is that the POV’s were switching so fast and without warning that I was getting nauseated. What I also know is that when the characters got it on for the first time, I couldn’t tell if they were having sex or a conversation, honestly, I couldn’t tell. And then, here comes the part where I threw my Kindle. When what I now know was supposed to be sex ended, the male character says….wait for it….wait for it….."WELL, THAT WAS PLEASANT." 

Look, it’s 2017. I’m trying to lose 20 pounds and stop using the F word. This book though, made me want to shove a donut in my mouth and scream what the eff was that? I know I can be a picky, judgmental B. Those are also on my list of things to reduce in 2017. So, I read some other reviews to make sure I wasn’t just being myself. If I was, then a lot of other people were trying to imitate me because there were 1 star ratings everywhere. I even read some reviews of people who really like this author and still thought of this book as trash. I haven’t read anything else by this author so I’m not sure if you should try other things by her. All I can tell you is that this book will make you want to cuss.

**Review Copy Provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: Breath of Fire by Amanda Bouchet

Breath of Fire is a sequel to A Promise of Fire and it picks off right where it's predecessor left off. It had been so long since I read Promise, that I was a little lost at first trying to remember who side character were and such. Once I reacquainted with the story and characters though, it flowed pretty well. Because of this initial confusion however, I would say it would be best to read A Promise of Fire before trying this one out. The author didn't seem to do a very good job of catching a new reader up to date.

Honestly, the first few chapters were random in my opinion. They do not progress the plot in any fashion. It was mostly just an argument and then serious make up sex. I don't mind too much sex in my stories, but this out did my level of comfort so I skimmed quite a bit of it. I know though, that there are a lot of readers out there who would have loved it, so I just pressed on afterwards. 

After the first four chapters, the story actually begins in my opinion. The royals determine their next move to unite the three kingdoms, and go about getting started. I did start to enjoy the book at this point. I got a little drawn back the same as the last book with the characters' language. It just sounded to modern for an ancient Greek setting. 

Sadly, though, I came across a near rape scene. It was not done badly in any way, I want to make sure that's put out there. But for me, I can't take it. I've stopped many books because of this. I'm sure they might have all been great books, too, but I just can't get past it. I tried to read another chapter, but I just kept remembering my fear for Cat, and I would get nauseous all over again. 

This book might be great for the right reader. I stopped at chapter 10, about 25%. I wish I was better at handling that type of scene. Again, I felt the author handled that situation tastefully, and it wasn't too much. I just personally couldn't stomach. it.

**ARC Provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: How Not to Let Go by Emily Foster

First let me just start off by saying that when I got this book for review, I had no idea that there was one before it. It was never stated that these characters already had a book out and I was led to believe that this was a complete standalone. I would not recommend reading this book if you haven't already read How Not to Fall. While you can understand this one easily enough, I had a very tough time connecting with the characters and I think I might have liked this one better had I read them in order. Unfortunately after reading what I did of How Not to Let Go, I doubt I will be reading the first. 

This story centers around Charles and Annie. Charles had been a doctor in her lab when she was an undergrad and the attraction led to a fling between them once she had graduated. But though things were intense, they were brief as Charles was broken and couldn't be with Annie. Annie knew she couldn't be around Charles and not have feelings for him, so she left. When they end up reuniting, things once again spark between them and they rekindle their friendship. But with the past Charles has, Annie and Charles must figure out if they can find a way to be together or if they should let go once and for all.

I will admit that I struggled a lot with the characters here and that was a lot of why I eventually threw in the towel. Charles was broken and damaged, coming from a very dysfunctional family. Annie was pretty bland as a character. There wasn't really anything to her, and she just felt so one dimensional. She spent so much time being heartbroken and boring, that I just couldn't bring myself to care about her. She also irritated me with her actions and thoughts a lot of the time, and I just never could connect with her and Charles. Some of the things that happened were just too over the top and ridiculous to me, and that really killed what little interest I might have still had in these two.

Overall, I only ended up reading about 35-40% if this book before I resorted to skimming. I wanted to see if I should stick with it, and unfortunately it looked like I didn't miss much. This isn't what I would really call romance, as much of this story was angsty and filled with more of a self-help/therapy sort of vibe. It was all about overcoming the past emotional damage and learning how to love rather than actually forming a relationship and connection. I just couldn't get into it and maybe that is due to me not already having a connection with these two.

**ARC Provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: Furious Rush by S.C. Stephens

I was so excited when I found out that S.C. Stephens had a new book coming out. I am a huge fan of hers, and Furious Rush looked and sounded right up my alley. Unfortunately I have been struggling with this book from the very start and ended up having to throw in the towel. Right now this book just isn't working for me at all, and I couldn't finish it. Hopefully at some point I can give it another chance, since I have loved books from S.C. Stephens so much in the past. 

As the daughter of a racing legend, Mackenzie Cox has a lot to prove. The last thing she needs is to deal with the sexy new driver that has been hired by her team's biggest rival. Hayden Hayes gets under her skin immediately, insinuating that she is a princess that has only been successful due to her daddy. But the more these two are around each other, the harder it becomes to stay away from one another. When the most important rule to their teams is to never have any contact with the enemy, Mackenzie and Hayden struggle with their growing attraction to one another and where the connection between them could possibly go. 

I will admit that my biggest issue in this story was the characters. I didn't like Mackenzie. She seemed to have no backbone, letting those around her walk all over her and get away with whatever they felt like. All the while she had a total attitude towards Hayden and made a ton of assumptions about him. She came off as completely immature and I just couldn't warm up to her. Hayden was a jerk. Rude and judgmental, making assumptions of his own. He was sexist and awful, and I felt zero connection between these two. I also couldn't stand the secondary characters here. Mackenzie's friends were horrible. They were worse than she was and I got so tired of how idiotic they all were. Their actions were beyond frustrating, and the fact that Kenzie let them just do whatever really irritated me. Unfortunately this started immediately with the beginning of this book, and it just continued to get worse. If her friends weren't bad enough, her father was even worse. She wanted nothing more than to continue the family legacy and make him proud and he was absolutely awful to her. Why she felt like she needed to impress him after the way he treated her, I will never understand. 

With all the issues I had with the characters, I had to put this book down and move on. There was just nothing to keep me wanting to finish this book, and it just wasn't working for me. I was so disappointed because I think S.C. Stephens is a great writer. For some reason this book just wasn't clicking for me, and that could just be for me personally. I tried walking away and coming back, but after several times or trying to get into Furious Rush I ended up setting it aside at a little after 30%. If this book sounds like something you might like, I encourage you to give it a go. Not every book is for every person, and this one might work better for you than it did for me. I did see that while this one does have an ending, it was pretty abrupt and is more HFN than HEA and it looks as though this might continue since things were left open for more. With the way I struggled here, I am not sure that I will be able to get into this one eventually or continue on if this does become a series.

**ARC Provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: The Drifter by

I did not like anything about the pages of this book that I read. Nothing. I felt like the author was going for something really deep and dramatic but it seemed to me like a lot of words that didn't convey whatever actual emotion was supposed to be conveyed.

First, the issue that drives Kray out of his home just didn't move me. I didn't identify with his relationship with Rory and I didn't really get the depth of emotion regarding the separation. The couple seems really really young to have the kind of intense connection that is being depicted. I also didn't really understand the issue with Kray's Father or why he set out to destroy his entire life. None of it made sense to me.

By the time Rory and Kray meet up as adults, Kray is a vagrant who hangs out with an old hooker and Rory is a wealthy executive. I was still trying to hold on to the story until Rory becomes obsessed with getting this random vagrant (who is of course Kray) she meets on the street to sing for her. Kray knows that Rory has stumbled on him because he still remembers her from their teenage years and is still in love with her. And oh yeah, Kray has not had sex with anyone since Rory. And it was just all too ridiculous. Add to all of this the fact that the writing just tells you what to feel instead of drawing you into the story and this was one book that I just could not get myself to keep turning the pages on.

Maybe you can get past the 20% mark and this will be for you but it wasn't for me and I had to just cut my losses.

**ARC provided by TRSoR Promotions**

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ARC Review: Rush by Shae Ross

Rush is the third book in the Pretty Smart Girls series from Shae Ross, but each book in the series is a standalone story. I have to admit that I read a previous book in the series and it wasn't my favorite, but the cover for Rush was enough to convince me to give this one a shot! I really loved it and it just instantly drew my attention. Unfortunately the same can't be said for the story itself, and I ended up throwing in the towel at the 30% mark. While I hate to DNF any book, I just couldn't force myself to finish and this one wasn't working for me at all. 

Rush is about Priscilla Winslow and Preston Rush. Priscilla is the captain of the soccer team and Preston is the star quarterback for their school's football team. When the two of them attend the same Halloween party at a local bar, it ends with Preston being involved in a fight. Looking to help him out, Priscilla jumps in and they both end up in jail. But when Priscilla is suspended from the soccer team, Preston and Priscilla must work together to try and get her reinstated. The attraction between them is something neither of them can fight, but with Priscilla hating Preston for everything that has happened can he win her over? Or will both of the futures be destroyed? 

Part of my problem here was that I just didn't connect with the characters. I liked them at first. There was so much promise with the first meeting in the bar and how they were dressed in costume and you could really feel the pull between them. Things were interesting when they were in jail together. But it was after that that this one lost me. Priscilla was angry (and I totally understand that and even sympathize with her) but I just found her impossible to like. I wasn't feeling the connection between her and Preston beyond that first bit and it just felt like they weren't really progressing at all. There wasn't any real depth or development and my interest started to wane. 

Besides just the characters though, I felt like the humor was forced and over the top. It just wasn't funny to me and came off as the author trying too hard. I'm not trying to be rude, but it just didn't feel natural and there was just something off about it to me. Any interest I had left was quickly lost because of it, and I just couldn't bring myself to continue. I think that there are plenty of readers that will enjoy this story, and I encourage any that are interested to give this one a shot. If this sounds like one you might like, you should definitely give it a try. Just because it wasn't working for me doesn't mean that it won't for you. I think maybe I just wasn't connecting with the story or characters or in the right frame of mind to read this one. After a few different books of hers not working for me though, I think maybe her style just isn't one that works for me and this will likely be my last book from her.

**ARC Provided by Publisher**

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ARC Review: Anything More Than Now by Rebecca Paula

Anything More Than Now is my first book from Rebecca Paula. It is the second book in her Sutton College series, though each book is about a different couple and is said to be a standalone story. Unfortunately this book was not at all like I had been expecting, and I just couldn't get into it like I had hoped I would be able to. I gave this one a shot after putting it down and walking away a few times, but at 35% I am throwing in the towel. 

The writing style here is part of my problem. While I believe that the story itself has promise, I found the execution lacking. This book was all over the place, and I honestly was constantly trying to figure out what was going on or if I had missed anything. At times it felt like words were missing, or the story would jump around in time or place as well as from one point of view to another. I just couldn't keep track of everything and there were often times no explanation between the jumps. The reader was left to try and figure it out on their own with no clues at all. I also thought that there were a ton of characters and things going on in the story, but little information was given. It was almost as if the reader should already know the background when it was never given. Part of that could be because I haven't read the first in the series, but if this book is intended to be a standalone there should have been more information given for those who hadn't read the previous story.  

It was also hard to reconcile the characters from the Prologue to the characters in the following chapters. I understand that there was a jump in time and that things had changed, yet the characters seemed to have huge personality shifts that weren't explained at all. Maybe that was explained after the 35% mark, but I just couldn't figure out how these two had gone from friendly and Noah wanting to ask Reagan out (before his friend moved first) to Noah and Reagan constantly fighting and pretty much hating one another. It didn't make any sense to me, especially since she had dated his best friend for awhile. If anything I would have expected them to become closer (since they both had attraction to the other and seemed to want something with each other) rather than being at each other's throats. All of that along with how confusing and disjointed this story was, and I just couldn't continue. There wasn't anything holding my interest, and I just grew tired of trying to figure out what was going on. Reagan was abrasive and came off as cold and bitchy. Noah had turned from slightly awkward but likable to a bit of a jerk. I found him calling Reagan "four eyes" to be insulting rather than endearing. I also wasn't really feeling the connection or chemistry between these two, probably because of how they treated one another. 

I think that there are NA fans out there that might like this book, and I think that if people can stick with it that the story might actually be a good one. Unfortunately I just couldn't get over all of those things and find the will to finish. I think the pacing and characters as well as the author's writing style just don't work for me personally. But while it didn't work for me, if this book sounds like something you might like then you should definitely give it a go. 

**ARC Provided by Inkslinger PR**

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ARC Review: Leaving Yesterday by Zoe Dawson

Leaving Yesterday is my first book from Zoe Dawson, as well as the first book in her Laurel Falls series. I was really excited to read this book after reading the blurb, even with it being a new to me author. Unfortunately though, I wasn't able to make it past 25% and this book ended up being a DNF for me. 

At the beginning I was drawn in and thought that this book was going to be very enjoyable. Rafferty Hamilton is a recent divorce that has left New York to head west and scout locations for the family business. Her car breaks down outside the small town of Laurel Falls, and Trace Black comes to rescue her and tow her car back to his family's garage. Trace's family life was a bit complicated, but I was liking all the members of the family and how they interacted. But then things took a turn, and something happened that I like to call "The Character Dump". This is where the author throws in a ton of characters all at one time and the reader is left to try and figure out who all these new people are, and if they are important enough to the story to try and remember all the details or if they will promptly disappear and aren't worth trying to figure out. 

Things went from bad to worse for me after all the new characters were brought in, as we went from having Rafferty and Trace's POVs, to also suddenly getting another POV courtesy of a side character. Soon Rafferty and Trace's story was taking a backseat to that of Trace's little brother Harley suffering from what appears to be PTSD and Anzu (the one whose POV we were suddenly getting). Then we were getting into a character named Greg Chamber's POV as well, and it all just became too much. I was confused and didn't really care about figuring out what was going on. The story just felt all over the place, and at this point we are only 25% of the way through and this is the first book in the series. It wasn't like I had missed out on what was going on from previous books. This was all being thrown at the reader at the very beginning, and I just had no idea what was going on or where things were going. This should have been Rafferty and Trace's story with some set-up for the continuation of the series. Instead it felt like Dawson was trying to cram as much information about all the other players in the series here, when the focus should have been the couple whose book it actually was. This was just not working for me and I was frustrated and confused, so I threw in the towel and made the choice not to continue. 

It really was sad for me to DNF this book as I had really started to like Rafferty and Trace at the beginning. Unfortunately it was just a case of the writing and execution here rather than the characters. If this sounds like a book that you would enjoy, I recommend giving it a shot. It could just be me and that it didn't work for what I personally enjoy when reading.

**ARC Provided by Publisher**

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