Tag Archives: contemporary romance

Donna Reads: Look the Part by Jewel E. Ann

12 Wednesday Dec 2018

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Ellen Rodgers is a musical therapist, and she rents office space from attorney Flint Hopkins. Flint is a moody single father raising an autistic child. Free-spirited Ellen enjoys messing with Flint’s orderly existence. When he decides her musical therapy sessions are too loud for his peace of mind, he decides to evict her.

That was the basic premise of this story. The meat of the tale didn’t develop until late in the book. It was promoted as a romantic comedy, but I didn’t find it particularly humorous. I thought it dragged a bit in the middle, and I kept waiting for something (or anything) to happen. Instead of laughter, it actually brought me to tears when the two main characters split up at one point. Both Flint and Ellen had tragedy in their pasts. That caused a lot of the dithering, inactivity and indecision in their relationship and storyline.

I do have two criticisms:

1) As the mother of an autistic child, I find myself overly critical of fictional autistic characters. Something about Flint’s son, Harrison did not sit well with me. He gave in too easily. Autistic kids can be unreasonable and unrealistic. They don’t just cave and say “okay” when someone explains things. By the epilogue he seemed far too “normal” to me. Quirks don’t just disappear.

2) I’ve also been through two strokes (both of my parents). Ellen’s father’s recovery from his stroke was too rapid (he was speaking full sentences in the week it took for them to move/drive to Minnesota). His 100% recovery was too miraculously complete. It just wasn’t plausible for me.

Only parts of this one worked for me.

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

11 Tuesday Dec 2018

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Isabel Derby is an art teacher. One of her students is a child prodigy. Natalie Eden is ten and in the eighth grade. She’s sweet, and she’s special. Her father, Brent, is broody, handsome and protective. When Izzy is stalked by a creepy guy she dated only one time, Brent comes to her rescue. He tells the persistent jerk that Izzy is his fiancé.

There was a lot going on in this story.

1. Izzy’s family was obnoxious. They were all fussed and constantly harping on the fact that Izzy wasn’t married. That was ridiculous. She was 23, not 43.

2. Teachers and students’ families weren’t supposed to fraternize. Izzy was insistent that she and Brent couldn’t see each other because her job was everything.

3. Brent used to be part of an outlaw motorcycle gang and he was ex-Army. This was hinted at off and on, but it didn’t come into play until the end.

4. Brent’s younger brother, Davey had died a number of years earlier. This is a sore point for the hero, and he won’t discuss it.

Overall, I enjoyed this story. It rambled around a bit with several subplots, but it pulled itself together at the end. I liked the tough guy hero, especially when he fell for Izzy and let her in. They truly were a team by the end with Izzy as kickass and tough as she needed to be when they faced down real danger.

Donna Reads: Harmony (the Club Girl Diaries #1) by Addison Jane

10 Monday Dec 2018

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Harmony Jones is an MC “club girl”. Most MC books don’t feature the club whores or camp followers. This book is written from the angle of the hooker with a heart of gold. Everyone loves “Harmz”. I almost passed on this one because I have a hard time with stories that feature multiple sex partners. It’s gross. That part of her life is only the first bit of the book, though. Even though there are only a few separate scenes of her with other guys, it was a little hard for me to forget that she’d been intimate with all the guys in the club. They all knew all there was to know about her. Yuck.

The story improved and picked up for the better when the hero, the President of a different chapter of the same club, arrived. Kit Cranshaw claimed her as his almost immediately upon seeing her, and he put a stop to her sleeping with anyone besides him. He didn’t want her for just sex. He wanted all of her. He wanted to get to know her and build a future with her. He wasn’t sure why at first, but he saw something special in her. She got angry when he doesn’t immediately sleep with her. I liked the relationship between the two of them. I liked him a lot.

The supporting cast of characters was an interesting mix, both Kit’s club and her original one. The tension in the story comes from the bad guys, and she is roughed-up and kidnapped a couple of times. She feels Kit lets her down and doesn’t protect her more than once. Towards the end of the story when she blindly goes off with a character who has physically mistreated her more than once, I almost threw my kindle across the room. She was supposed to be smart. No one would have gotten into a car alone with someone who hated her, someone she had never trusted, someone who had proven over and over again that he was not trustworthy. That was ridiculous.

I will continue on with the series to get the resolution of Chelsea’s story, the teaser/cliffhanger from the end of the first book.

Donna Reads: Wild Man (Dream Man #2) by Kristen Ashley

09 Sunday Dec 2018

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Tess O’Hara owns a bakery. She’s a 43 year old survivor of a very bad, abusive marriage. The story opens with her making love for the first time with her 45 year old boyfriend. Jake is a bit of a mystery. After he leaves, Tess falls asleep. Shortly after, her house is swarmed by police, and she’s taken in for questioning. The questioning has to do with her drug dealing, douchebag ex-husband. The police don’t believe she isn’t part of his newest illegal activities because her name is on joint bank accounts. She finally breaks down at the station and explains why she’d have nothing to do with her ex. He’d raped her. When she says that, she hears a loud crash outside the interrogation room. The police finally let her go. On the way out of the station, she sees Jake in one of the offices and he’s wearing a badge. Her mysterious boyfriend isn’t named Jake. His name is Brock Lucas, and he’s a cop.

I liked this book and its heroine a LOT better than I’ve like KA’s heroines in the previous book in this series and in the Rock Chick series books I’ve read so far. Tess isn’t ditzy or obnoxious. Tess is sugar sweet, but she’s tough. I liked that Tess and Brock were both older. Once they got past the initial confusion of his having been undercover investigating her, and he confessed to having actual feelings for her, their dedication to one another never wavered. I liked that a lot.

The angst and danger in this story came from both of their exes and some from his family and his past. The supporting cast of friends and family were great. KA focused almost exclusively on his family and very little on Tess’s. I loved that Tess didn’t play games. She never lied. She found good in almost everyone. Brock was strong and supportive and a great family man. I loved that he was 100% Tess’s man.