Ramblings From This Chick

Monday, January 2, 2017

ARC Review: Painted on my Heart by Kindle Alexander

I have been waiting for what feels like forever to get a new book from the writing duo Kindle Alexander! Their books are some of my all time favorites, and I knew that whatever they were working on would be worth the wait. I can say now that Painted on my Heart was all of that and more, and I have yet to be disappointed by them. This story was really good, and I think readers are going to really enjoy Kellus and Arik's story!

I don't want to get into much of the story so as not to spoil anything for the reader, but this story centers around Kellus Hardin and Arik Layne. Arik is a wealthy businessman who prefers not to have relationships beyond casual hookups. Kellus is an artist struggling to pick up the pieces of his life after letting his love and loyalty cloud his judgment. When the two meet, Arik wants nothing more than to make Kellus his. But Kellus isn't willing to open himself up after his past.

I really liked both Kellus and Arik. I will admit that there were times that I was frustrated with Arik and his actions here, but I really did believe in his intentions. Things between these two were obvious from the start, with strong chemistry and a growing bond between them. I loved that it was a slow build that felt real and natural. These two really felt as though they belonged together and that things happened in a very genuine way. If you are a fan of Kindle Alexander's past books, this is one that I think you will really enjoy.

My one criticism is that this story is on the long side, and it really felt like the beginning of this book could have been a bit less detailed. It was a bit slow and hard to get into, with things going on that didn't really seem to make much difference to Kellus and Arik's story. Once I made it through about 30% though, things started to head in the right direction and at that point I was really enjoying the journey these characters were on. Kindle Alexander is one of my favorites when it comes to M/M stories, and Painted on my Heart proved once again why they are a go-to for me. This one had everything I have come to love and expect from them, and I would definitely recommend this sexy and emotional love story.

**ARC Provided by Author**

Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle | B&N |

ARC Review: Naughty Boss by Whitney G.

I was so excited when I saw that there was a new book coming out from Whitney G. I love her books and Naughty Boss sounded like it would be everything I was looking for and more. While I still love Whitney G., this book was a bit underwhelming for me. It just never quite got there for me and sadly wasn't all that I had hoped for.

Mya thinks that her boss is the sexiest man she has ever seen, but he is a jerk and she has the countless emails to her bestie to prove it. But when she accidentally sends an email complaining about him to him instead of her bestie, her boss Michael views it as the perfect excuse to finally act out on some of his own fantasies that he has had about Mya.

Mya and Michael had great chemistry. Things were hot between them, and that is the one thing that I loved about this story. Whitney always delivers when it comes to steam, and these two were as hot as ever! But I wanted more of an actual connection between them, and that is what I found missing here. Michael never really seemed to redeem himself from the way he had treated her, and when he did change it was abrupt and just seemed to have happened over night with the flip of a switch. I think that a lot of that was due to the fact that this was a novella. I have always had issues with novellas not having enough pages to do a story justice, and I think that was a huge problem here. It didn't help that the story ended at 70% of the eBook and gave us previews of other books by her. I wish that she had used the rest of those pages to make this one a little more solid, as I would have loved to have been given more of these two developing something I could believe was real and lasting.

Overall, this wasn't my favorite from Whitney G. It was good at times, but with the abrupt ending and rushed feeling over the course of the entire book and relationship, I just never really felt invested in these two. I also have to say that at times I had a bit of a deja vu feeling as though Michael was a little too similar to Andrew Hamilton. There were a lot of differences between Naughty Boss and Reasonable Doubt, but there were times that Michael seemed to act and say things that were straight up Andrew, and I think that bothered me as well since Andrew is one of my all time favorites and is so different. This one just didn't fully satisfy, and I found myself a bit disappointed, though I think that there are a lot of readers that will feel differently than I did.

**ARC Provided by Author**

Purchase: | Amazon | B&N | iTunes |

Naughty New Year Event with Jennifer Blackwood

Jennifer Blackwood is a USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance. She lives in Oregon with her husband, son, and poorly behaved black lab puppy. When not chasing after her toddler, you can find her binging on episodes of Gilmore Girls and Supernatural, and locking herself in her office to write.

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Sunday, January 1, 2017

Naughty New Year Event with Lilah Pace

Lilah Pace is a pseudonym for a New York Times bestselling author, so she can’t give away too much about herself here, but she has lived everywhere from Italy to the United Kingdom before putting down roots in the American South.

She’s addicted to Diet Coke, loves her dog, and daydreams about several British movie stars (though usually no more than two at a time).And while it took her a long while to get up the courage to write books, now she hopes she’ll never stop.