Ramblings From This Chick

Monday, November 13, 2017

ARC Review: Andre by Sybil Bartel

Andre is the third book in the Uncompromising series by Sybil Bartel. This is a standalone story though, so don't worry about starting here if you haven't read the previous books in the series. While this was my first book of this series, I had no problems understanding anything. I liked this world that Sybil has created. It is a bit dark and gritty with the alphas that she is known for. While there was a lot to like her though, I did have a few issues with this story.

Andre is a former Marine that has now transitioned to civilian life and owns his own security firm. He is the best in the business, but all of that could come to an end when he comes face to face with Kendall Reed. What starts as an instant attraction between them quickly turns to more, though Andre never suspects who Kendall really is. But once he sees the mark on her back he knows that not only is she in danger, but that everything about his life has changed as well. Can Andre find a way to keep Kendall and himself safe?

I loved Andre. He was smart and sexy and all alpha. But I loved that he was caring and kind as well. He was a great guy and he was 100% devoted to Kendall, even knowing the risks that came along with that. I will say that things seemed to happen very quick for these two, especially when it came to what Andre was willing to do for her but I still loved him and believed that his actions were genuine. My biggest problem with this story was actually Kendall. She got on my nerves so much and unfortunately that never changed. I kept waiting for the moment when the switch would flip, but it never did. She remained the same throughout the entire story, no matter how much those around her were willing to sacrifice for her. She was selfish and only seemed to think of herself. While she had been through a lot, that only went so far to justify her actions and I just couldn't bring myself to like her.

Overall, I liked this world that Sybil has created and with the exception of Kendall, I liked the characters. Andre was great and I really liked Hero as well. I am excited to get to know him better, especially after the revelation at the end of this story. I really wish that I had been able to come around when it came to Kendall though as I wanted to love this one but wasn't able to. I do think that this was a good story though, and I enjoyed seeing how everything would play out. While I didn't like Kendall, I am very curious to read more in this world and would go back and read the previous books as well. I think that there are a lot of readers that will enjoy this one, and I urge you to give this one a shot if you think it sounds like one you might like.

**ARC Provided by Xpresso Book Tours**

Purchase: | Amazon | B&N | iTunes |

Fall into Romance Event with Author Jennifer Shirk

Jennifer Shirk has a bachelor degree in pharmacy-which has in NO WAY at all helped her with her writing career. But she likes to point it out, since it shows romantic-at-hearts come in all shapes, sizes, and mind-numbing educations.

She writes sweet (and sometimes even funny) romances for Avalon Books/Montlake Romance and now Entangled Publishing. Her novel SUNNY DAYS FOR SAM won the 2013 Golden Quill Published Authors Contest for Best Traditional Romance and recently, her novel WEDDING DATE FOR HIRE was a 2016 Golden Leaf finalist for best short contemporary romance.

Lately she's been on a serious exercise kick. But don't hold that against her.

Feel free to join her newsletter! eepurl.com/Q6TH1 Monthly giveaways!

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Sunday, November 12, 2017

ARC Review: He Loves Me...KNOT by RC Boldt

He Loves Me...KNOT is my first book by RC Boldt, and I absolutely loved it! I couldn't put this book down and ended up staying up way past my bedtime so that I could read it in one sitting. It was such a great story, and I can't wait to read more from RC Boldt after finishing this book. He Loves Me...KNOT is a second chance romance, which happens to be a favorite trope of mine, but honestly I just loved everything about this one.

Emma Jane and Knox thought that they would spend forever together, but when Emma Jane finds out that nothing is as it seemed with Know, she runs. Now eight years later, she is successful and her life is finally starting to be everything she dreamed of. But when Knox returns and is now standing in the way of her future with the company she has worked so hard for, she quickly realizes that things are no longer in the past and she could lose everything. Worse yet is that she also realizes that her feelings for Knox have never fully gone away either despite everything that happened.

I loved these two. I felt the chemistry and connection between them and it was clear that it had never gone away for either of them. Both of these characters had made mistakes, and with a few different choices things could have been so different. I wished that they had talked to each other more, but they had both been acting on emotion and insecurities and it was easy to see how they each reacted the way they did. I was glad that they were also able to see that the connection between though was still real and very present, because what they had was special and not something that is easily found. I really believed that Emma Jane and Knox were meant to be, and I loved seeing them get to know one another again, while still knowing each other better than anyone else did.

I also have to say that I loved Emma Jane's friendship with Becket! He stole the show here at times, and I couldn't have loved him more. As much as I loved Emma Jane and Knox and their scenes together, I couldn't get enough of Becket's scenes! I cannot wait for his story, and I was so happy to see at the end of this one that RC Boldt is writing a book for him. This cast of characters was so much fun to read about, and I can't even begin to say how fun this one was. The characters were devoted to each other and the love and loyalty present here were unlike anything I have read before. I highly recommend this one!

**ARC Provided by Barclay Publicity**

ARC Review: Seducing the Defendant by Chantal Fernando

I was immediately drawn to “Seducing the Defendant” by Chantal Fernando because of the storyline. I love the idea of a stuff and top-of-his-game attorney taking on a defendant charged with killing her husband. The evidence was pretty strong against the heroine, Scarlett Reyes. I personally love courtroom romances so I immediately jumped into the story when it became available and I was interested to read Chantal Fernando, whom I have never read before.

When the story begins, our hero, Jaxon Bentley is a grieving man. He lost his sister and he is very much into his grief. Even though he is on leave he is pulled back into his job when he hears of Scarlett Reyes, a very wealthy woman who is accused of killing her husband. Jaxon has earned a reputation as a hardworking defense attorney and one of the best. He runs a small firm with one of his good friends. Scarlett was a battered woman. She was charmed by her now dead husband and really thought he was a good guy. By all accounts he was not only a crooked cop but also involved with a motorcycle gang and heavily involved in selling and using drugs. He was also emotionally abusive to Scarlett and ended up controlling all aspects of her life until Scarlett was free of him. Scarlett trying to free herself from her husband’s abusive control fled to France to take care of her sick aunt.

When Jaxon meets Scarlett she is defensive, scared and closed off. Because he recently lost his sister Scarlett’s hurt and pain is endearing to him. Because Jaxon quickly realizes that Scarlett has suffered at the hands of her husband and is caught up in the media storm, he is kind, compassionate, caring and sweet. Everything that Scarlett needs and has craved for so long. Because of their client and attorney relationship they fight their attraction for each other and try to maintain everything strictly professional, even though, both really need a friend.

So as I mentioned before I really wanted to like this story because of the plot. A few things fell flat for me. First, I did not think that there was much chemistry between Jaxon and Scarlett. Most of their conversation felt forced and even their slowly forming friendship felt very stiff. Yes, they were attracted to each other but I knew this because the author told me not because of the chemistry between them. Also, some parts of the story were so over the top I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes a few time. This is one of those stories where if it were a novella I would have enjoyed more. Finishing the story was sheer determination and effort because most of the story felt long and drawn out. I’ve seen some great reviews online, so some readers really enjoyed the story. For me, I expected more.

**ARC provided by Publisher**