Review: All I Want

ALL I WANT
Animal Magnetism #7
Jill Shalvis
Contemporary Romance
304 pages
Berkley
Available October 6th
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Pilot-for-hire Zoe Stone is happy to call Sunshine, Idaho, her home base. But her quiet life is thrown for a loop when her brother’s friend Parker comes to stay with her for a week. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife special agent is a handsome flirt with a gift for getting under her skin. And the situation only escalates when Parker hires her to fly him around the area while he collects evidence on a suspected smuggler.

Now she has to live and work with the guy. But when they’re in the air, she sees another side of him. He’s driven, focused, and sharp. And while he enjoys giving commentary on her blind dates, she quickly realizes with a shock that it’s Parker who gets her engines going…

MY THOUGHTS
All I Want is yet another fun, engaging romance from Ms. Shalvis, delighting us with a sweet couple and a standout supporting cast of animal characters. Like the relationships before them, Zoe and Parker’s romance is low on the drama and high on the charm, starting with a kiss meant for someone else and continuing with a series of moments that should have been awkward but are completely endearing instead.

Zoe is a woman adapting to an empty nest since her younger brother and sister moved out to be with their significant others, so used to being the responsible, reliable one that she doesn’t know what to do with herself when Parker enters the picture and offers her help in small ways. She’s humorously outraged when she attempts to fix things and ends up making them worse instead, only to wake up the next morning and find her plumbing mishaps and other household issues not-so mysteriously remedied by her new tenant. It takes some convincing to get her to take a chance on Parker knowing his time in Sunshine, Idaho is short-lived, but once she does decide to go all-in she stays honest with herself and Parker for the duration of their fling. She knows he’s leaving, and as much as she wants to tell herself not to get emotionally attached, she knows herself better than that and just admits the feelings to Parker as they come.

Parker is as amused by Zoe’s determination to handle of all aspects of her life herself as we are, adorably enduring her narrowed-eyed glances when she notices that he’s gone behind her and fixed what she couldn’t. He’s as open and honest as she is, never once pretending that a relationship between the two of them is possible long term, and their communication is as much a highlight as their chemistry and their shared love of animals.

While all the books in the Animal Magnetism series have show-stealing furry and feathered characters, none (aside from Peanut the foul-mouthed parrot who does make a brief appearance) is as endearing as Zoe’s dog Oreo. His continual surprise over the fact that he farts nearly every time he barks will have dog owners giggling throughout, completely understanding the look of utter bafflement he directs at his hind end when it happens. Overall, All I Want is one of the strongest installments in this series, Oreo’s prominent role and the honesty (and heat!) between Zoe and Parker ensuring that we breeze right through this romance in no time at all.

Rating: 4/5
 

Find Jill:

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This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Review: Call On Me

CALL ON ME
Loving on the Edge #8
Roni Lauren
Adult Contemporary Romance
448 pages
Berkley Romance
Available July 7th
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Oakley Easton wants two things: to be a good mom to her daughter and to ditch her less than ideal night job. Hooking up with bad boy drummer Pike Ryland? Not on the agenda. She needs a promotion. Not sex, tattoos and rock ’n’ roll.

Pike isn’t about to let Ms. Prim and Proper shut him down so easily, especially when he stumbles upon Oakley’s sexy night job. She’s only playing a role on those late night calls with strangers, but when he gets her on the line, all bets are off. He won’t stop until that sultry voice is calling his name for real.

But as they move from anonymous fantasies in the dark to the flesh-on-hot-flesh reality of the bedroom, the risk of falling in love becomes all too high. And the safe, quiet world that Oakley’s worked so hard to create is about to be exposed to the one person who could ruin it all.

MY THOUGHTS
Call On Me is a sexy-as-sin opposites attract romance, the drummer for a rock band sweeping the mom of an autistic daughter off her feet as readers are left panting and swooning in equal measure. We can't help but smile and shake our heads as both Pike and Oakley attempt to set one-time only rules for themselves, knowing their good intentions are going to be obliterated by a tidal wave of lust and love. Sometimes a romance between two people who think their relationship can be nothing more than a fling can be frustrating, the couple denying everything they're feeling as they stubbornly cling to how they think things are supposed to be. Luckily for us Oakley and Pike are much more honest with themselves, and while they put up a token struggle here and there, they opt to be open in their communication every step of the way.

Oakley is a mom by day and a phone sex operator by night, numbing herself to all things sexual as she works a second job to help support her daughter. She's as upfront as they come, telling Pike where she stands from the beginning and continuing to do so as their relationship shifts and changes, never allowing a miscommunication or misunderstanding to derail what quickly becomes a very important part of her life. Pike has the ego expected of a rockstar, but all his self-congratulatory statements are laced with humor, meant to elicit and eye roll and snappy comeback from Oakley rather than be taken seriously. Their banter is playful and so very well done, beautifully deepening their relationship on an emotional level as things progress on the physical one, causing the chapters to fly by until we find ourselves on the last page before we're ready to let these two go.

One quibble is with regard to a secondary storyline involving the father of Oakley's child, his reappearance toward the end feeling more like something added for the sake of a small bit of drama rather than a necessary event to further the romance, but that's a very minor complaint in an otherwise fantastic installment. Ms. Loren writes gorgeously genuine characters whose bedroom activities are hot enough that we feel the heat waft from the pages as we read, leaving us utterly satisfied while at the same time craving more.

Rating: 4/5

Find Roni:

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This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Review: Shards of Hope

SHARDS OF HOPE
Psy-Changeling #14
Nalini Singh
Paranormal Romance
496 pages
Berkley
Available June 2nd
Source: ARC from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Awakening wounded in a darkened cell, their psychic abilities blocked, Aden and Zaira know they must escape. But when the lethal soldiers break free from their mysterious prison, they find themselves in a harsh, inhospitable landscape far from civilization. Their only hope for survival is to make it to the hidden home of a predatory changeling pack that doesn’t welcome outsiders.

And they must survive. A shadowy enemy has put a target on the back of the Arrow squad, an enemy that cannot be permitted to succeed in its deadly campaign. Aden will cross any line to keep his people safe for this new future, where even an assassin might have hope of a life beyond blood and death and pain. Zaira has no such hope. She knows she’s too damaged to return from the abyss. Her driving goal is to protect Aden, protect the only person who has ever come back for her no matter what.

This time, even Aden’s passionate determination may not be enough—because the emotionless chill of Silence existed for a reason. For the violent, and the insane, and the irreparably broken…like Zaira.

MY THOUGHTS
Shards of Hope delves us deeper once again into the cool and calculating minds of the Psy race, and as always, it’s an absolute treat to watch our lead couple pull themselves out of the darkness that was Silence and into the light. Aden and Zaira, as damaged by the brutal way the Psy race disciplines their young as Vasic, Kaleb and Sahara before them, are unique as a couple in that they’ve had a lifetime together prior to us meeting them, their shared past making their eventual romance all the more satisfying.

Aden, perhaps the least Silent of the Psy protagonists immediately preceding him, makes it easy to fall in love with him quickly, shedding his Silent skin with far greater speed than Zaira, though the development of their romance is anything but fast. He’s more than aware of Zaira’s absolute need for a rigid structure to her life, the strength of her rage as a result of all that was done to her when she was young something that cannot go unchecked, and so the two of them take beautiful baby steps forward in changing the nature of their relationship. Each small step feels like a massive accomplishment however, Ms. Singh giving us glimpses now and then of everything the two of them faced in Arrow training as children to help us understand the emotional challenges they face, and we can do nothing but smile as the two of them fight their pasts to have a chance at their future.

While the Psy-Changeling series has always included time with characters other than our main couple – small snippets of characters whose stories have happened or will happen – Shards of Hope feels as though it bounces around a touch more than previous installments as Aden and Zaira uncover a massive chess game that aims to create a war between Psy, Changelings and humans. The middle in particular meanders a touch as our time with Aden and Zaira exclusively is limited, but as always, Ms. Singh introduces new characters who immediately grab our attention and touches base with beloved ones, so it’s hard to work up any kind of frustration at being denied additional time with our primary romantic pairing.

Overall, Shards of Hope uncovers a complicated plot that will undoubtedly have far-reaching effects in future books, but it anchors us with Aden and Zaira’s relationship, ensuring that we don’t get so overwhelmed with all the political maneuvering that we lose our emotional connection to their story. Here’s hoping a Changeling romance is up next though, as it’s been a while since we’ve gotten to take a walk on the wild side.

Rating: 4/5

Find Nalini:

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This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Mini Reviews: Night's Honor + The Accidental Abduction

NIGHT'S HONOR
Novels of the Elder Races #7
Thea Harrison
Adult Paranormal Romance
282 pages
Berkley Romance
Available Now
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
On the run from her former employer, Tess knows that she’s vulnerable on her own amongst the Elder Races. That’s why she decides to audition to become the human attendant of a powerful Vampyre of the Nightkind demesne. But while her position affords her the safety she seeks, her protector turns out to be more than she bargained for.

The right-hand man of the Nightkind King, Xavier del Torro is both terrifying and alluring. While his true nature frightens Tess, she can’t ignore the appeal of his innate sense of integrity and self-restraint. Thrown into Xavier’s world, Tess must quickly learn to navigate the dangers—both to her life and to her heart. But the biggest threat comes from her own past….

MY THOUGHTS
Initially the two protagonists of Night’s Honor seem like they might not live up to the couples of previous books simply due to the fact that neither individual is a member of Dragos’s inner circle; our desire to read the stories of all those closest to him resulting in little patience for time with others. What we learn in chapter one, however, is that our doubt in the appeal of Xavier and Tess simply cannot hold up in the face of the beautifully slow burn that brings down their walls and allows trust, affection and true intimacy to flood through.

Tess is the type of heroine we wish for every time we crack the spine of a romance book, completely aware of her shortcomings and honest about her feelings even when standing in front of those who could easily do her harm. Though she fears Xavier for nearly the entire first half of the book, she doesn’t allow that fear to blind her to Xavier’s positive attributes, instead keeping a wary distance from him but fully acknowledging when his words or actions go a long way toward disproving her previous assessment. Xavier, for his part, is amazingly patient with Tess despite the fact that her trust issues affect him more than he’d like, and he gives her all the time and space she needs to come to her own conclusions about the man and Vampyre he truly is.

It takes majority of the book for Xavier to prove himself to Tess and for Tess to open herself up to what her eyes and heart see rather than what her mind stubbornly clings to, but that only serves to create the most delicious type of tension between them, and the reward when they finally come together is worth every minute of the time it takes to get there.

Rating: 4/5
 

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THE ACCIDENTAL ABDUCTION

Darcie Wilde

Adult Historical Romance 

336 pages

Berkley Romance

Available Now

Source: Finished copy from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)

Harold Rayburn is about to be taken for the ride of his life…

After having his proposal rejected by a beautiful but flighty woman, Harry vows he is done with unpredictable and impetuous women for good. Until beautiful and fierce Leannah Wakefield barrels into his life, inadvertently kidnapping him while on a wild carriage ride and leaving him all too eager to get back in the saddle…

Leannah would sacrifice everything to protect her family. So upon hearing of her sister’s intended elopement, she races across London to stop the ill-advised ceremony before it can happen. However, when her mad journey picks her up an unlikely stowaway, one who ignites her desire beyond all reason, she’s the one who ends up hastily wedding a handsome and secretive stranger.

But as Leannah and Harry immediately encounter opposition, jealousy, and suspicion of their hurried nuptials, they begin to doubt that their unquenchable passion can truly lead to a happy marriage—especially when both the bride and groom have devastating secrets to hide…

MY THOUGHTS 

The Accidental Abduction is a fairly straightforward historical romance, the rigid societal structure of the time period creating a number of obstacles for our lead couple to overcome, but despite not creating anything new or groundbreaking within the genre, it's still a sweet and sexy way to spend a couple hours. While the story gets off to a quick start with Leannah practically running Harry down in the street, the pacing of the first half still manages to be a bit slow, endless speculation from both Harry and Leannah about how the other feels, tastes or sounds in intimate moments making us wish for less imagining and more action. That's not to say them actually jumping into bed together would have been the more desirable course–especially given the fact they get there quickly enough–but the time they both spend musing in the first half keeps us from diving into their story with enthusiasm.

Once Leannah and Harry marry however, the story starts to take a more emotional turn, the two of them endlessly compatible in bed but yet so hesitant and unsure out of it. They both have secrets they're keeping from one another, and though that would normally be a source of frustration, they each work hard to be as honest as possible while sorting through the displeasure of their respective families. They don't want to believe all they hear and learn about one another from outside sources, but even as distant observers we can recognize the insidious nature of doubt and how easily it slips into the tiniest of cracks in one's armor, spreading quickly until it becomes all-consuming. Overall, despite a somewhat rocky start with too much time spent on Leannah and Harry's internal musings, The Accidental Abduction ends on a high note with trust broken and then oh-so perfectly restored.

Rating: 3.5/5
 

Find Darcie:

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These books were sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.