Tag Archives: contemporary romance

Donna Reads: Only You (One and Only #1) by Melanie Harlow

08 Tuesday Jan 2019

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Emme lives across the hall from Nate. They are friends. They share a love of James Bond movies and often spend evenings together watching a movie and sharing a meal. Nate is a womanizing playboy who often lends a sympathetic ear to Emme’s love life woes. Emme secretly would like more from Nate, but he is convinced that he never wants to marry or have children. He believes he and Emme want totally different things out of life. When an ex leaves an eight week old baby  girl on Nate’s doorstep, telling him in a note that he is the father, Nate is forced to man up and take care of his daughter. 

I loved this one. I’d forgotten how much I enjoy Melanie Harlow’s writing. She is great with character development, and her story lines are humorous and have great depth. Nate had a very sad event in his childhood that destroyed his family and made him afraid of opening himself up to love. He was scared to love and lose again. Emme was convinced she only fell for jerks. In the opening scenes where she receives a wedding invitation to her ex’s wedding, I was laughing out loud.  Emme was sweet and adorable. 

The supporting cast of characters were also well written and added to the story the way that real friends and family would.  I highly recommend this one. 

Donna Reads: Close (Ryder Brothers Book One) by Laurelin Paige

02 Wednesday Jan 2019

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Natalia Lowen is an actress, 36, with a reputation as a good girl. She’s America’s Sweetheart. When she meets former boy band icon, now rockstar, 23 year old Nick Ryder, in a bar and they share a sexy dance together, she doesn’t expect to fall for him. She doesn’t expect him to feel the same way about her. 

This story was okay. Nick was much more mature than Natalia was. He knew what he wanted in life. She spent way too much time worrying about her reputation and what others thought of her. About 74% of the way through when she decided she was too old for him and wanted to end things, I got fed up and put the book aside. I did eventually finish, and they do work things out, but in my opinion the angst wasn’t necessary. 

Donna Reads: Accidental Protector (Marriage Mistake) by Nicole Snow

14 Friday Dec 2018

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Mindy Austin has finally dumped her cheating fiancé and left her parents’ home in Arizona for a much-needed break in Reno, Nevada.  She doesn’t expect to wake up in bed beside a stranger. Unable to remember how she got there, she grabs her clothes and sneaks out. She returns to her borrowed apartment and soon finds a marriage license in her purse and realizes she is wearing an engagement ring and a wedding ring on her finger. 

Noah Bernard is a private investigator and a bounty hunter intent on solving his cousin Jess’s disappearance. Jess has gotten mixed up with a drug dealing, murdering criminal named Cesare Lucient and has gone missing. Noah has been working on a job for Lucient trying to get more information on Jess. Now he also has the mystery of the woman who just crawled out of his bed to solve, too. When he finds the receipt for the rings and wedding ceremony in his wallet, he makes finding the mystery woman his priority. 

Mindy and Noah both remember bits and pieces of a marriage ceremony in front of an Elvis impersonator. When it becomes clear they were both drugged, they both decide to solve the mystery. When Lucient takes an interest in Mindy, Noah knows he must protect her from the evil. He moves her in with him. 

I liked this one. The big, bad bounty hunter, ex-military, tough, dangerous and a little broken, and the sweet and trusting woman who’s been duped by one cheating, lying man and repeatedly bullied by her family to forgive and forget her ex’s transgressions. Mindy was tougher than anyone knew. I loved that her true character emerged and grew over the course of the story. She and Noah are attracted to each other and soon they can’t keep their hands off of each other. Soon neither one wants that divorce. 

Noah is determined to protect her, and Mindy is determined to help him solve the mystery of Jess’s disappearance and take Lucient down. Will they find Jess? Will they find happiness together?

My only (minor) complaint with this one was how neatly everything was tied up by the end, and I do mean EVERYTHING. Even the side characters got happy endings. Everybody had someone; everyone was happy. The totality of it was a little improbable. I do recommend the book, though. Nicole Snow is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. 


Donna Reads: Law Man (Dream Man #3) by Kristen Ashley

13 Thursday Dec 2018

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Mara Hanover is a shy, hardworking girl, born on the other side of the tracks. Her family is trailer trash, and she left home at a young age and worked hard to put her rough beginnings behind her. Mara heard all of her childhood that she was worthless and would never amount to much. Her self worth and self esteem are very low. Police detective Mitch Lawson is Mara’s neighbor and she has secretly been in love with him for years. Mitch, according to Mara, is way out of her league. Mara sees herself as a 2.5 and Mitch as a 10.5. When Mara gets a phone call from a store about her nine year old cousin, Billy and his six year old sister, Billie, she rushes out to pick up the kids she loves. She literally runs into Mitch on her way, and he talks her into letting him drive her there. The kids’ father, Mara’s drug-addicted, drug-dealing cousin, Bill is bad news.

I will freely admit I’ve had issues with Kristen Ashley’s heroines in the past. Too many of them are cardboard cut-out Lucille Ball type characters – wacky and obnoxious. Mara is not obnoxious. Mara is sweet and shy. She’s retreated so far inside her own head that Mitch struggles to find the real Mara. Mitch has been secretly into Mara for years, too, and she has all kinds of trouble accepting that.

The side characters in this book were great. Mara’s boss, her coworker, her best friend at home, and her neighbors all thought Mara was wonderful. When Mitch finds out she ranks people in her head and puts them all into zones, he’s baffled with that. He worked so hard the first half of the story to break her out of the protective and imaginary cocoon she’d wrapped herself in. It was sweet. Mitch forced her to live in the real world outside of Mara world.

Mara’s young nephew and niece were so cute and sweet. Mara ends up fighting to get custody. There’s action and excitement because Bill has entangled himself with some very bad people. Mara’s mother and aunt show up to create havoc.

I really liked this one and recommend it.