The Will (Magdalene Series) by Kristen Ashley

I blame Kristen Ashley for my foray into the motorcycle romances. Her Chaos series coupled with Sons of Anarchy had me taking unnecessary detours past my local Harley Davidson story just on the off chance I might meet my book boyfriend come true. This also had me taking a lengthy detour away from stories like The Will, stories I like to call the quiet romance. I use that term because my first Kristen Ashley novel was Lady Luck and it was the first time I read a novel where the hero was over 40 and beyond hot (admittedly Tate's motorcycle did help). So I have been gone, off dreaming of Tack, Shy, and Hop and any other man with his legs wrapped firmly around a hog, until now. And after reading The Will, honey it feels good to be back.

Josie returns to Maine for her grandmother's funeral and discovers that her grandmother has done something very untoward, she has relinquished Josie to a man, Jake Spear. Jake is a divorced dad of three and on paper does not fit Josie's standard of a suitable mate. But deciding that her grandmother would never lead her astray, Josie decides to extend her stay at Lavender House and give Jake a chance.

I read quite a few reviews before reading The Will and I was surprised to see that a common factor amongst readers was that they did not like Josie at the beginning of the book. They found her cold and detached and her language to be very off-putting. I completely disagree; Josie is hysterical. I would read her dialogue and just get so tickled by the things she would say to people. I should preface this and explain that I spent over a decade as an English teacher, so her jargon did not bother me in the slightest. I did not find her cold at all, in fact I thought she was a rather "stand-up broad." After she insulted Jake's business and he called her out for being judgmental, she did not let 24 hours pass before she went to him to apologize, most women I know will not do that. Even though everything about Jake's life was completely opposite to what she was accustomed and preferred, she still kept an open mind and allowed him and his children to invade her space. I loved Josie, even at the funeral when she seems overly critical of the people in attendance, I liked her. Not because she was judging them but because she is sitting at her grandmother's funeral trying to fight the feeling of that loss. I love the image of her crying and hiding behind her big sunglasses and oversized hat, knowing that Jake is watching her the entire time. And that is what readers should understand about Josie is that the speech, the clothes, the manners, all of it is a mask.

Now Jake. There is so much that can be said about Kristen Ashley's men and Jake Spear is no different.  He's an alpha male. He's a boxer. He's a dad. He's an alpha male (it bears repeating). The one thing about the men in her books is the way they set their sights on a woman and then proceed to know that woman in every which way so they can read her and understand her needs without her saying much at all. In fact, they usually insist the woman shuts up (usually making her do it with kisses or saying "babe"). Jake has all of that and then some. He is understanding and caring and so ridiculously honest with Josie. On their first date, Josie asks questions and rather than dismissing her questions Jake asks her how much of the truth she can handle ("How real do you want it?). That is beyond sexy.

The one complaint I have about returning to my "quiet romances" from my adventures in motorcycle heaven is the crying gag at the end. It never fails, every time I read one of Kristen Ashley's contemporary romances I get near the end and the tears fall. It doesn't matter if it is a tearful speech, a sentimental gift, and heartfelt goodbye, or a letter read posthumously from some endearing relative. It all just breaks me down and The Will did just that with all of those things. I am looking forward to reading this again, mostly because Jake is too enticing to be only enjoyed once.

Into the Deep by Samantha Young

I read On Dublin Street over a year ago and once finished I knew that I had to read any and everything that Samantha Young published. I am always a little on the fence about new adult romance because I prefer my book boyfriends to be established gentlemen (or hot, sexy, alpha male, badass bikers). Imagine my surprise at discovering Jake Caplin to be a rather mature and self-assured charmer. I have had Into the Deep in my cue to read for some time now and with the recent release of Out of the Shallows I figured now was as good a time as any other. 

Into the Deep is the story of Jake and Charley, a young couple who meet again at a study abroad in college after a heartbreaking separation that happened when they were teenagers. Jake is firmly attached to a new girlfriend and Charley is unable to trust Jake four years after their break up. Both Jake and Charley have best friends who are with them on this adventure in Edinburgh and they end up spending time together with their collective group. Somehow in the midst of all of this mingling, things get complicated: Jake wants to make amends with Charley without hurting his girlfriend and Charley wants closure with Jake but knows she could very well get hurt again in the process. In the meantime, Charley is quite fetching and manages to attract the attention of the lead singer of a band who also happens to be friends/roommates with Jake. See? Complicated.

Into the Deep is definitely a page-turner. Jake and Charley are a couple you want to know more about, you want to see what happens. In truth, I despise love triangles. I personally do not bother with the complicated. I am an all in or walk away type of girl. So I found myself urging Charley to not listen to her heart and walk away from Jake throughout the story. The wonderful thing about the structure of this story is that the reader does not immediately know how Jake hurt Charley, we just know that he did. The first two-thirds of the book alternates between the present day and four years ago. We toggle between their reconnection and their initial introduction and burgeoning romance. This configuration allows the reader to see how incredible Jake is without holding too strong a grudge against him. Charley often comments on his maturity and charm and all of the things about him that led her to give him her heart. So by the time we do discover the awful truth the hurt and heartbreak is felt from both parties. The scene encapsulates the hurt Charley feels at the words and actions Jake renders while also capturing how much pain he feels in giving them to her. It is harrowing and enchanting all at the same time.

Charley is a strong-willed heroine who unfortunately suffered heartbreak much too early. She is fortunate to have a close-knit family and group of friends that add a lot of body to this story. I found myself laughing out loud at a good deal of the banter between the friends. The secondary characters are really good at helping Charley and Jake come to terms with all that they are dealing with, placing a multitude of perspectives on what happened between them four years ago and what is happening with them in the present day. Top all of this off with the beautiful and always bewitching setting of Scotland and Into the Deep is a lovely story. QUOTABLE: "I knew after weeks of meeting you that I was never going to love another girl like I love you. You're it for me. They write books about what we have." Whew!

Mine (Book #2 in the Real Series) by Katy Evans

After reading Real, I was longing for this book. However, the timing of the release coincided with my venture into the motorcycle romance so Brooke and Remy had to wait. I finally caught a break this week and I read this follow up. Unfortunately, I came across some reviews that were rather scathing because the readers seemed to be disgruntled with Brooke and her ravings on how much she was in love with Remington. After reading the novel, I realize that these readers might be missing the point. This story is about a woman in love, from the point of view of a woman in love. Brooke is completely infatuated with Remington and anyone who chooses to read the novel should understand that before cracking open the book. In the follow up, Remy is back on tour and now he has his woman beside him.  Scorpio is still lurking about and causing trouble so there is that element of danger looming over their HEA. Brooke is determined that this season, she will not allow anyone or anything, including herself, especially herself, to get in the way of Riptide regaining his title.

I love how in Mine, Katy Evans uses these animal images and references to detail Remington and his behaviors. He is primal and fierce and a little scary. She continues with the lion motif and his licking and petting of Brooke both in public and private. The growling when someone comes near his mate, the looks, the stalking toward her, the possessive way he marks her, whew!!! I find it sad that anyone could read about a book couple like Remington and Brooke and find her weak because of his nature. When in fact, Brooke is much stronger than most women in that she is able to handle a man like Remington, not just his illness that he battles but his entire nature. He is overwhelming and it takes a very strong woman to contend with him. She is able to nurture and cure him and act as a foundation for him when he begs her not to let him make her leave. He begs her to stand by him, even when she may not understand all that he does. I love that Katy Evans does not write these things to be glaringly obvious, that while reading I am remembering what is felt like to be enamored with a man. I am remembering how it feels to know a man that consumes you while still giving back more than he was getting. This was not the perfect story but this couple is perfectly endearing.

Beautiful Broken Mess (Broken Series, Book #2) by Kimberly Lauren

This time around we get Jace's story. If I'm bring honest, I liked Jace better than I did Jaxon, even in the first book. We also get a better understanding of Audrey, the misunderstood vixen in Jaxon and Emerson's story.

Audrey has had a rough life: enduring an abusive father, abandoned by her mother, and getting pregnant and married while in high school. Now she is attending the same school as Jace and trying to find a way into his life. Jace is haunted by fleeting memories of his brief time with Audrey. He wants her, has wanted her for four years. He faces some other melodrama in his life that also puts a hitch in his wagon. Somehow, circumstance presents roadblocks in their journey to be together and these two have to figure out a way to get past all of the nonsense. All of the characters from the first book are back and they either make trouble or just join in in the fun.

Plus we get to meet Audrey's new companion Lane, a rather large and sexy man whore.

Once again Kimberly Lauren presents the hooker with a heart of gold heroine for readers to judge and the holier-than-thou Riley brothers to redeem her. Audrey is back but we find out that she made mistakes and doesn't want to apologize as much as she just wants to get her story out there so they'll stop judging her. Jace is still the sexy, intelligent twin but makes the same mistakes his brother did by not trusting the people around him for guidance. He does reveal a dominant side that I am all for hearing more about. I love that he knows how much Audrey wants him to take control and does so with a smile. When we're not dealing with the theatrical guilty feelings, we get to enjoy some pretty hot rendezvous between these two. The story dragged at times and I put my reader down more times than I care to admit. Another bright spot in the story is Emerson is still around and she is funnier than ever. She has a few more one-liners in this story than she did in her own. She is still slutty in a fun-loving way but her comedic relief takes away from the drama of so much history between Jace and Audrey. Admittedly, I was not as enamored with this book as I was the first but it is still enjoyable and I'm looking forward to Lane's story and discovering what secrets he's been keeping.

The Edge of Always by JA Redmerski 4/5 Stars

The irony of being single and reading books about hot, sexy, badass alpha males is that when reading about said man, he is everything you could possibly want. However, when said single girl comes across an actual man that personifies these qualities, he is the physical embodiment of every reason why she is still single. Occasionally, the book boyfriend comes along that is realistic and still hauntingly very appealing. Andrew Parrish is such a man. Is it possible that a young woman can find a man that is handsome and talented and restless? Absolutely.

The Edge of Always is the continuation of Andrew and Camryn’s story after they finish their first road trip. They find this happy groove where they are both waiting for something to happen but seem to be enjoying their time together until tragedy strikes and the restlessness becomes overwhelming to both of them. After several weeks of debating and doubting themselves they decide to go back out on the road to rediscover what brought them together in the first book.

I read The Edge of Never over a year ago and the end of the story was so emotionally charged that I felt incomplete and needed more; not in the sense that I felt the story was incomplete, but from the want to know more about the direction their HEA would take. In this book, the author includes a letter to her readers in which she explains why she did not add more to the original book. She talks about the heightened emotions the book conveys and how affecting their story is to the reader. I appreciated that she added this piece and included a little surprise for fans of the first book.

Since reading the first book, I’ve ventured into so many romance genres that it took me a while to get to a place where I could truly engage in Andrew and Camryn’s story again. I bought the book when it was first released and waited months to read it. Now that I’ve read it, I’m happy that I’m through it. The one downside to New Adult romance is the angst that goes along with young lovers. Not just angst but the feelings of self-doubt and insecurity and finding that sense of comfort and peace with the person that you know you belong to. JA Redmerski captures all of these emotions so incredibly well that when you get to the moments of passion between them it feels like someone released a pressure valve in your lungs. I found myself rereading these parts just so I could mentally prepare for what could come next. 

I am happy knowing more about Camryn and Andrew’s journey and how they found their comfort and peace with one another. I love that I feel complete after reading this story. More than that, I love that a writer can create a character that is not so detached from reality that a single girl can still hope to find an Andrew Parrish, just maybe not on a Greyhound bus.

Hidden by Catherine McKenzie 4.5/5 Stars

Similar to Karen Smith, from Mean Girls, I have this very special psychic ability to tell when a movie is going to either show on television or come up in conversation. I have had this ability since I was a child where I will think of some arbitrary film that I’ve seen and then within the next day or two it is on television. Forget trying to understand this phenomenon, that’s pointless. I just call it happy circumstance. 

Recently, the movie Intersection (1994) came to mind, I am still not sure why. I just thought of Richard Gere playing the infidel and Lolita Davidovich and Sharon Stone standing at the site of the car accident both with these knowing smirks that in the end he chose her. After my capricious thought passed I knew, at some point this movie would come around. Well in this case, the movie never came about but a book did, Hidden by Catherine McKenzie. This is the story of Jeff Manning who dies after being struck by a car leaving behind his wife and son. However, Tish Underhill is a co-worker that feels this loss rather strongly as well, which leads to the question of whether or not Jeff was having an affair with Tish. Unlike in the movie, Intersection where the viewers know the main character was having an affair, in this novel the reader proceeds throughout the story with innuendo that maybe something did happen between Jeff and Tish or what could have been.

I was rather excited about reading this book largely because I only read adult fiction about once a month. The writing is very artfully crafted, spanning three perspectives in narrative: Jeff, his wife, Claire, and Tish. The author intersperses these metaphors and allusions throughout the novel that showcase her talent and intelligence. At one point, Claire refers to Tish as the “dastardly Mr. Wickham.” She writes her characters with insecurities based around their families, whether it is a child, father, husband, or sibling. Even the secondary characters reveal these self-doubts which then fosters the movement of the plot. Without giving too much away, the story centers around the doubt and guilt each of the three narrators feel from past transgressions and how these doubts spur their actions and reactions to the events in the book.

Hidden is a gem of a read. I know I’ve said it before but honestly it bears repeating, this story is so well crafted. The carefully structured wording and piecemeal revelations of the characters’ lives that the reader gleans from each narrative could each act alone as reasons for reading this novel, but in this case we get to enjoy both.

Play by Kylie Scott 4/5 stars

I am the kind of person that enjoys organization to a fault which would explain why I find the categorical arrangement of romance novels so appealing. In the mood for something super- hot? Try erotica. You like your men buff and badass? Go with an MC story. Stressing over your unpaid bills and need a Cinderella fix? Billionaire romance is your ticket. Lately, I’ve been on the road with a few bikers but my smartphone alerted me that a very special book I have been looking forward to was available for download: Play by Kylie Scott. This is the story of Malcolm Ericson, the drummer for Stage Dive. I have been looking forward to this release for a few months now after reading Lick.

The appropriately named Play introduces us to Anne Rollins, a down on her luck bookstore cashier that lives in Portland, who is inextricably linked to the Stage Dive band through six degrees of separation (actually it is more like two but whatever). Anne meets Mal when she is in need of money and he is in need of a fake girlfriend. In Lick, we discover that Mal is playful, too playful to a fault. His antics can diffuse or incite any drama that ensues between his bandmates. In Play, Mal’s whimsy is endearing and frustrating. On the one hand, what woman wouldn’t want a very sexy and amusing man intruding on her life and taking away all of her financial problems in exchange for pretending to be his girlfriend? Sounds enticing but of course there are issues that plague these two. Although it is never directly stated, Mal is obviously suffering from manic depression which is a problem that Anne has faced with her mother. Mal is dealing with his own demons in a destructive manner and Anne is insistent on helping him (this is what Mal refers to as her being a doormat, which ironically is how he easily invades her life by moving in with her, unannounced).

Overall, I enjoyed reading this story. I am certain that I enjoyed Mal and Anne’s story more than David and Evelyn’s romance. I find Mal to be more appealing, he is imaginative and impulsive where David is too brooding and moody. Mal has the sexiest and funniest dialogue, at one point telling Anne “Whatever you’re imagining, it’s bigger.” This is a definitive quote of Mal’s personality; he is much bigger and better. Although at times he is childish, he is worth the read. Mal’s antics make me look forward to reading the next story in the series: Lead.