Publisher: Forever

The Weekly Recap (118)

Posted January 21, 2019 by Rowena in Features | 6 Comments

This week was pretty quiet for me. I didn’t get into any fights, I wasn’t mean to anyone BUT I’m still failing in my don’t be a petty bitch resolution for this year. I need to just accept the fact that I’m always going to be that bitch. LOL. Welp.

I did make it out to all of Meghan’s and then Bren and Ken’s basketball games this week. Meghan is back from her injury and has played really well in both of her games this week. She was the top scorer of her game against Masters University and I felt bad because she played her ass off but came up short. Her team came back on Saturday and responded much better than they did in the game against Masters in a come from behind win so that was a lot of fun to witness.

As for Bren and Ken, they played against Bakersfield Community College…in Bakersfield and our family made the two-hour drive to Bakersfield to watch them play. Sure, a lot of the reason we made the trip is to visit one of my good friends Foti and his family. I got to meet Foti’s baby for the first time and spend time with his older son, Niko. It was a lot of fun going out there and touring his new, not quite ready to open restaurant in a historic building in Downtown Bakersfield. The building looks great and I’m happy for both Foti and his wife Maya. Their hard work looks good and I’m positive good things will happen for them in this new space. So pretty! Bren and Ken got the win in Bakersfield and Brenna was happy that she got to see Foti and Niko so it was a really good trip. Conference starts for Bren and Ken this week with a home game against Harbor College so that’s something to look forward to.

Now, onto the books…

What I’m Currently Reading
The Weekly Recap (118)One and Only
by Jenny Holiday
Series: Bridesmaids Behaving Badly #1
Published by Hachette, Forever on February 27, 2018
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Point of View:Alternating Third Person
Pages: 337
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Add It: Goodreads
Reading Challenges:2019 GoodReads Challenge, 2019 New to Me Challenge, 2019 TBR Challenge

Miss Responsibility meets Mr. Reckless

With her bridezilla friend on a DIY project rampage, bridesmaid Jane Denning will do anything to escape - even if it means babysitting the groom's troublemaker brother before the wedding. It should be a piece of cake, except the "cake" is a sarcastic former soldier who is 100% wicked hotness and absolutely off-limits.

Cameron MacKinnon is ready to let loose after returning from his deployment. But first he'll have to sweet talk the ultra-responsible Jane into taking a walk on the wild side. Turns out, riling her up is the best time he's had in years. But what happens when the fun and games start to turn into something real?

I have been itching to get this series read so I’m super thrilled that I’m finally reading this one. So far, it’s really good and every positive review that I read was spot on. I’m really enjoying this one and already, I can’t wait to jump into the other books in this series.

What I Read

The Wrong Game by Kandi Steiner | 2.5 out of 5
Blood Kiss (Black Dagger Legacy #1) by J.R. Ward | 4 out of 5

I had such high hopes for the Steiner but was pretty bored with the story in the second half of the book and then the first half was chock full of stupid immature games played by the heroine that had I not loved the hero so much, I probably would have DNF’d it.

Blood Kiss was the book that I read for book club and the first part of the book was super slow. It took me while to get into the book and because of that, it took me forever to read it. This was the first time that I finished the book the day of book club. I try to get the book read in plenty of time to put together some questions for a discussion but this month, I was late to all of that. Oh well, the story did pick up and I did end up really liking it so that’s something. Craeg and Paradise forever!

Book Boyfriend

Garrett Daniels
Getting Schooled (Getting Some #1) by Emma Chase

What I Reviewed

Mystery Man (Dream Man #1) by Kristen Ashley | 0, 1, 4 out of 5
Illegally Yours (Laws of Attraction #2) by Kate Meader | 4 out of 5
Hoops Holiday (Hoops #2.5) by Kennedy Ryan | 4.25 out of 5

What I Posted

The Weekly Recap (117)
The Wednesday Post (3)
Eye Candy Friday: Garrett Daniels from Getting Schooled by Emma Chase

What I Got

Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren

What I Got for Review

Only a Breath Apart by Katie McGarry
Passion on Park Avenue (The Central Park Pact #1) by Lauren Layne

Yeah, I’m a happy camper after this week’s haul.

What Made Me Laugh

There you have it, my week in review. How was your week?

6 Comments
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Buddy Review: Mystery Man by Kristen Ashley

Posted January 17, 2019 by Rowena in Reviews | 8 Comments

Buddy Review: Mystery Man by Kristen AshleyMystery Man
by Kristen Ashley
Series: Dream Man #1
Published by Hachette, Forever on July 11, 2011
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Point of View:First Person
Pages: 494
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Add It: Goodreads
one-half-stars

Night time is the right time...

Gwendolyn Kidd has met the man of her dreams. He's hot, he's sexy, and what started as a no-names-exchanged night of passion has blossomed into a year and a half-long pleasure fest. Sure, it's a little strange that he only appears in her bed at night, but Gwen is so sure he's the one, she just can't turn him away...

Hawk Delgado knows more about Gwen than she could ever imagine. She's gorgeous, headstrong, and skittish about relationships. But Hawk is facing his own demons, demons that keep him from connecting with anyone. Yet when Gwen is drawn into Denver's lethal underground scene, Hawk's protective nature comes out full force. The problem is, when Gwen gets a dose of Hawk's Alpha attitude in the daylight, she's not so sure he's the one anymore....

Rowena: Time got away from me last month so I’m just now getting around to posting our December review of Mystery Man from Kristen Ashley (sorry guys!)

We’re just going to jump right in guys. So what did you guys think? Yay or nay?

Shy: I’m so sorry to say that this book is terrible. Did no one proofread this mess? Less than a paragraph in, I knew this was going to be torture. Her writing style is painfully redundant, I felt like I was reading an adult version of Dr. Seuss. I am Sam, Sam I Am. I just couldn’t get past her writing. Then the nerve to have ole sweet pea as a book author.

Rowena: Ha! Welcome to the world of Kristen Ashley. She was a self-published author before she was picked up by Forever (her traditional publisher) but yes, you’re right. Kristen Ashley writes super long romances with huge chunks of unnecessary shit. Too bad for this book, my gripe was more focused on the characters and how idiotic, condescending and just outright stupid they were.

What about you, Tash? What did you think? I think of the three of us, Tash was the only one that liked this one.

Tasha: This was my second go of this book and I wasn’t as excited. I actually liked the book, just maybe not as much as the first time around. Gwen got on my nerves, her “mystery man” was borderline psycho but the whole story with the bikers, the law enforcement guys, her issues, his issues….it was a good read!

I probably liked it more because this was the first book I read where the girls come together and have their night to hang out and talk about whatever. It reminded me of our monthly book discussions and how we all do pretty much the same thing. Of course, we talk about our book but then we pretty much catch up and share the latest news with our lives. I LOVE IT!!

And the other reason I liked the book? It called to my inner naughty girl. The fact that a total stranger comes to her bed in the middle of the night totally rocks her world and leaves her sated is kinda of HOT & SEXY to me (don’t judge me, LOL). On Fantasy Island, I wouldn’t mind a mysterious stud hooking me up on the daily. As long as it was the SAME guy, of course.

Enough about me, let’s get back to the book…I think Gwen got on my nerves because all the hot guys wanted her. And the way she kept bouncing back & forth into the arms of the next gent who was willing to catch her, was so annoying, SMH. Hawk was irritating me too. I mean, there’s Alpha and then there’s Psycho Alpha. Hawk was the latter. It’s like he was two people, almost. Daytime Hawk- broody, bossy, jerk, all business; Nighttime Hawk- mysterious, sexy, freakin’ love machine. Gwen had to learn to accept both sides of this man.

I’m a fan of Kristen Ashley and I agree, her material can be really “wordy” and lots of unnecessary stuff gets in there, but I like her stories. This book actually led me to some amazing reads in this series.

Rowena: I did enjoy Gwen’s squad and how they had her back no matter what. I loved that Hawk’s assistant got in on that action as well and was able to share her input on Hawk’s background.

Sure, it was the same guy that was sneaking into her room and banging her three ways till Sunday but dude, out of all of those times, she couldn’t ask him for his name? I didn’t like how alpha Hawk was because there were a lot of consent issues where he was concerned. There were far too many times when Gwen would be like, NO YOU CAN’T DO THIS and Hawk would just bulldoze over those feelings because he knew better than her. He annoyed the shit out of me and even in the end, I couldn’t stand him so there was really no saving this book for me.

What do you think, Shy?

Shy: This book… I just couldn’t. Honestly, I hated it. How in the blue monkey hell do you go from phantom fuck (sorry excuse the language) to happy ever after? Its just weird and wrong and hell, desperate even. I guess I just personally have an issue with female characters that are ditsy, helpless and desperate lol. I’m sure this author has come a long way since this book but I’m not picking anything up by her any time soon. The only thing I liked about the book was the stepmom.

I tried really hard, Tasha, to find some sorta saving grace in this book that would help me fluff my review a little. However, you taught me valuable lesson years ago that it would be a disservice to the author to not give a genuine review lol

I just couldn’t with this book, I don’t think I ever hated an author’s writing so much. I’m all for living out my inner slut vicariously through a book, I get the no string attached but we should at least be on a first name basis (alias and all). This human would prefer to forego his government name and be called daddy? That, I get. But him creeping in and out of your house (and you didn’t even give him a key) at all hours of the night, you can’t speak to him, you don’t know his name smh. No, just hell nah.

Rowena: LOL, right??? She didn’t know shit about him and then when she finally does meet him? He knows EVERYTHING about her and is bossing her around, leaving her no room to make her own decisions but she didn’t think that was weird? GTFOH. Another issue I had with Hawk and just everything was his attitude toward Gwen’s past hurts. Like because she was just cheated on, her hurt over her sister’s betrayal wasn’t important, she should get over herself because at least her sister is still alive for her to be mad at? I mean, fuck you very much. Then after they break up and his Mom shows up and tries to guilt trip Gwen, like it was her fault and she’s supposed to fix things? Everyone can get all the way the fuck up out of here with that shit.

I give this a 1 out of 5 stars rating. What about you, Shy?

Shy: I don’t give it any stars, lol.

Tasha: Bwahahahahaha, this one gets 4 out of 5 stars from me.

Final Grade

Rowena: 1 out of 5
Shy: 0 out of 5
Tasha: 4 out of 5

Dream Man Series

So…did you read this book? Did you like it or hate it (like us)? Haha, share your thoughts in the comments!

one-half-stars

8 Comments
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The Weekly Recap (114)

Posted December 10, 2018 by Rowena in Features | 2 Comments

This week was a pretty busy one for me. Bren, Ken, and Meghan played this week and I went to most of their games. I missed Bren and Ken’s games on Thursday and Friday but made the game on Saturday. Same with Meghan. Bren and Ken came in second in their tournament play from this week, they lost the championship game against Irvine Valley and blah. They were flat the whole game. Nothing was falling, they didn’t get a lot of stops and they just played terrible. Meghan’s game on Saturday was against the other best team in their conference and Meghan’s team came out on top of their first match against Westmont this conference. Meghan didn’t play a lot and I just don’t understand her coach. He’s a weird one.

Brenna was cleared to return to full contact basketball this morning and she is beyond stoked. She can finally get back on the court to help her team win.

My work Christmas party was on Friday and it was a lot of fun. It was a lot of work for me (and Bren and Ken) but well worth the effort. We had a good turn out, we laughed a lot, played games, and won prizes. You can’t really beat that as far as work parties go.

We also got to spend some time with Caiden this weekend, which is always a good thing. I heart that little guy so much.

Now, onto the books…

What I’m Currently Reading
The Weekly Recap (114)Mystery Man
by Kristen Ashley
Series: Dream Man #1
Also in this series: Mystery Man
Published by Hachette, Forever on July 13, 2011
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Point of View:First Person
Pages: 512
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Add It: Goodreads

Night time is the right time...

Gwendolyn Kidd has met the man of her dreams. He's hot, he's sexy, and what started as a no-names-exchanged night of passion has blossomed into a year and a half-long pleasure fest. Sure, it's a little strange that he only appears in her bed at night, but Gwen is so sure he's the one, she just can't turn him away...

Hawk Delgado knows more about Gwen than she could ever imagine. She's gorgeous, headstrong, and skittish about relationships. But Hawk is facing his own demons, demons that keep him from connecting with anyone. Yet when Gwen is drawn into Denver's lethal underground scene, Hawk's protective nature comes out full force. The problem is, when Gwen gets a dose of Hawk's Alpha attitude in the daylight, she's not so sure he's the one anymore....

My end of the year book club meeting is this coming Friday and I still haven’t read our book or prepared anything for the meeting so I really need to get cracking on all of it. Wish me luck on getting this book read, a discussion prepped, AND game prepared.

What I Read

Hate Notes by Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward | 4 out of 5

I only read one book last week after having put down The One You Fight For because I needed to get Hate Notes read so that I can review it with my blog buddies. Hate Notes was an enjoyable read and I’m definitely interested in reading more from that writing duo.

Book Boyfriend

Benito Rossi
Fireworks by Sarina Bowen

What I Reviewed

Dead Heat (Alpha & Omega #4) by Patricia Briggs | 5 out of 5

What I Posted

The Weekly Recap (113)
The Monthly Recap: November 2018
Can’t Wait Wednesday: On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
The Holiday Dinner Book Tag
Book Boyfriend: Benito Rossi from Fireworks by Sarina Bowen

What I Got

One and Only (Bridesmaids Behaving Badly #1) by Jenny Holiday
It Takes Two (Bridesmaids Behaving Badly #2) by Jenny Holiday
Merrily Ever After (Bridesmaids Behaving Badly #2.5) by Jenny Holiday

What I Got for Review

Nothing caught my eye this week so I didn’t request anything. Maybe next week?

What Made Me Laugh

There you have it, my week in review. How was your week?

2 Comments
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Can’t Wait Wednesday: Meet Cute by Helena Hunting

Posted November 7, 2018 by Rowena in Features | 2 Comments

Can’t Wait Wednesday is hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings and it was based on the meme Waiting on Wednesday that was hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Can’t Wait Wednesday: Meet Cute by Helena HuntingMeet Cute
by Helena Hunting
Published by Hachette, Forever on April 9, 2019
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 384
Add It: Goodreads

The New York Times bestselling author of Pucked and The Good Luck Charm delivers a Hollywood happily-ever-after where a famous heartthrob falls for his ultimate fangirl in this sexy standalone romantic comedy.

Talk about an embarrassing introduction. On her first day of law school, Kailyn ran - quite literally - into the actor she crushed on as a teenager, ending with him sprawled on top of her. Mortified to discover the Daxton Hughes was also a student in her class, her embarrassment over their meet-cute quickly turned into a friendship she never expected. Of course, she never saw his betrayal coming either...

Now, eight years later, Dax is in her office asking for legal advice. Despite her anger, Kailyn can't help feeling sorry for the devastated man who just became sole guardian to his thirteen-year-old sister. But when her boss gets wind of Kailyn's new celebrity client, there's even more at stake than Dax's custody issues: if she gets Dax to work at their firm, she'll be promoted to partner.

The more time Kailyn spends with Dax and his sister, the more she starts to feel like a family, and the more she realizes the chemistry they had all those years ago is as fresh as ever. But will they be able to forgive the mistakes of the past, or will one betrayal lead to another?

I haven’t read very many books by Helena Hunting but the last one that I read of hers, I enjoyed so of course, I wanted more. I went along the yellow link road to discover more of the newer stuff that she’s coming out with and this one caught my eye.

Awww, she has a crush on him and they become friends and then he betrays her? I want to know everything so this one landed on my wishlist and I’m hoping to read just as soon as I can.

If you’re interested in this book, it releases on April 9th and you can pre-order it at any of the fine online establishments listed below. You’re welcome! 😛

Pre-Order the Book

Meet Cute by Helena Hunting
Releases on April 9, 2019
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google Books | Kobo

Are you a fan of Helena Hunting? Are you looking forward to this book? What other books are you looking forward to?

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Can’t Wait Wednesday: The Good Luck Charm by Helena Hunting

Posted July 18, 2018 by Rowena in Features | 6 Comments

Can’t Wait Wednesday is hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings and it was based on the meme Waiting on Wednesday that was hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.

Can’t Wait Wednesday: The Good Luck Charm by Helena HuntingThe Good Luck Charm
by Helena Hunting
Published by Forever on August 7, 2018
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 384
Add It: Goodreads

Is it love, or is she just his good luck charm? New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Helena Hunting absolutely delights with this witty and fun standalone contemporary romance.

Lilah isn't sure what hurt worse: the day Ethan left her to focus on his hockey career, or the day he came back eight years later. He might think they can pick up just where they left off, but she's no longer that same girl and never wants to be again.

Ethan Kane wants his glory days back. And that includes having Lilah by his side. With her, he was magic. They were magic. All he has to do is make her see that.

Just when Lilah might finally be ready to let him in, though, she finds out their reunion has nothing to do with her and everything to do with his game. But Ethan's already lost her once, and even if it costs him his career, he'll do anything to keep from losing her again.

Helena Hunting writes great contemporary romances and I’m very much looking forward to The Good Luck Charm. I’ve read a few of her books and while they haven’t all been complete winners for me, I do like her writing style and I love me a good sports romance so I’m all in for this one.

Pre-Order the Book

The Good Luck Charm by Helena Hunting
Releases on August 6, 2018
Amazon || Barnes & Noble || Google Books || The Ripped Bodice

Are you a fan of Helena Hunting? What books are you looking forward to coming out soon?

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