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A Curse of Queens by Amanda Bouchet
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
Talk Flirty to Me by Livy Hart
50 Ways to Win Back Your Lover by...
Kiss Hard by Nalini Singh
The Potter by Kristy Marie
Unforgiven by Rebecca Zanetti
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Mr. Wrong Number by Lynn Painter
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A Curse of Queens by Amanda Bouchet

written by Dísir
A Curse of Queens by Amanda BouchetA Curse of Queens by Amanda Bouchet
Series: Kingmaker Chronicles #4
Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca on 4th October 2022
Pages: 496
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
five-stars

The queen has been cursed, and no one knows who’s behind the plot to threaten the realm’s fragile peace. Desperate to help, Jocasta hatches a plan to find Circe’s Garden, a fabled island where she hopes to discover an antidote.

But she can’t do it alone. She needs the strong arm and unflinching bravery of the warrior she’s loved since childhood—her brother’s right-hand-man and captain of the guard, Flynn of Sinta.

Together they can do the impossible. Yet with treachery brewing on Mount Olympus, one thing is clear: Thalyria and its new royals are still pawns in an epic game of power—one that might end in a War of Gods.

A happily-ever-after isn’t guaranteed for Cat/Griffin, which is how ‘A Curse of Queens’ begins–even if you do know it’s just temporary. But take a few steps in and you’ll enter into Amanda Bouchet’s world: one that’s a very, very slanted reframing and recollection of Greek mythology–purists, look away right now–cut and pasted piecemeal into a fraught land that is of her own imagination, where the pantheon of gods still behave as badly as the humans who populate the lands they apparently created.

But as much the last few books didn’t exactly sit too well with me, ‘A Curse of Queens’ is a relatively self-contained story within the larger universe built of the series: a new couple who should have been together from the start but weren’t, a quest archetype to save a newly-remade land, and a hastily-assembled team of varying gifts taking on insurmountable odds in order to save their queen.

Jocasta’s and Flynn’s relationship, written with so much heart, longing and angst (and short-lived unrequited feelings of a brother’s-best-friend kind of trope) helped anchor these elements and the result is a potent mix of high fantasy, adventure, unexpected humour and a portal into an alternate universe that sucks you right in. That both Jo/Flynn were neither magical nor immensely gifted by the gods, relying on their human strength, wits and cunning to get through the obstacles set before them, made them even memorable.

‘A Curse of Queens’ can be a standalone; Bouchet’s map of her world and a very, very generic idea of Greek mythology will get you through it, though not without much difficulty in following the story from where the last book left off. The story grew on me as I went on and to immediately want more after the somewhat rushed conclusion probably meant that this has to rank as one of my unexpected finds of the year.

five-stars
A Curse of Queens by Amanda Bouchet was last modified: May 2nd, 2022 by Dísir
16th May 2022 0 comment
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Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez

written by Dísir
Part of Your World by Abby JimenezPart of Your World by Abby Jimenez
Published by Forever on 19th April 2022
Pages: 400
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four-stars

After a wild bet, gourmet grilled-cheese sandwich, and cuddle with a baby goat, Alexis Montgomery has had her world turned upside down. The cause: Daniel Grant, a ridiculously hot carpenter who’s ten years younger than her and as casual as they come—the complete opposite of sophisticated city-girl Alexis. And yet their chemistry is undeniable.

While her ultra-wealthy parents want her to carry on the family legacy of world-renowned surgeons, Alexis doesn’t need glory or fame. She’s fine with being a “mere” ER doctor. And every minute she spends with Daniel and the tight-knit town where he lives, she’s discovering just what’s really important.

Yet letting their relationship become anything more than a short-term fling would mean turning her back on her family and giving up the opportunity to help thousands of people.

Bringing Daniel into her world is impossible, and yet she can’t just give up the joy she’s found with him either. With so many differences between them, how can Alexis possibly choose between her world and his?

My first Abby Jimenez book and it was a solid, solid offering (oh, thank god) that dragged me in from the afternoon and way past my bedtime.

More than an age-gap romance, ‘Part of Your World’ is exactly what the title says it is and also much more than an older woman who accidentally breezes into a town that’s in the middle of nowhere and gets caught up with a much younger man who wears multiple hats in that place–and is refreshingly unashamed of who he is and his own lot in life.

What I love however, is how Jimenez writes of parallels and “mirrorings” that tie the whole cast of characters together. The number 125 takes on certain significance for Alexis and Daniel just as the cycle of abuse gets perpetrated on several levels and ways and the brokenness that results from it that can’t easily be waved away by weeks spent in therapy. The age-gap isn’t made too much a big deal of, but rather, it’s the mile-long gap between their social status and social circles from which Jimenez draws the friction.

What stuck however, by the end of it all, was that I simply liked how easy Alexis and Daniel are together–without too many angsty, wishy-washy shenanigans and how they always manage to laugh, learn with and support each other.

I’d wished of course, that Alexis has a little more courage to overturn that ordered life earlier, but also constantly marvelled constantly at Daniel’s steadfastness in his pursuit of the relationship. Grounded way beyond his years while retaining a little bit of that youthful sense of idealism, I felt so sorry for him that he got the short end of the stick quite a fair bit up until the point where Alexis finally, finally stood on her own two feet and went for the life she really wanted.

In short, there’s a little bit of everything I do like in a rom-com, from the smattering of humour to some bit of angst, even if the identity struggles so feel a little too youngish at this stage in life for Alexis with some bitchy-shallow-girlfriend-clichés too overly done. Still, ‘Part of Your World’ has that feel-good sensation after I’d finished the book al bleary-eyed and unable to sleep, so maybe there was still that bit of Wakan-fairy-dust left sprinkled in its pages.

four-stars
Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez was last modified: April 23rd, 2022 by Dísir
9th May 2022 0 comment
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Talk Flirty to Me by Livy Hart

written by Dísir
Talk Flirty to Me by Livy HartTalk Flirty to Me by Livy Hart
Published by Entangled Publishing. LLC (Amara) on 30th May 2022
Pages: 150
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three-half-stars

I’ve got ninety-nine problems and my brother’s snarky, smart-mouthed best friend Sam is tangled up in every last one of them.

When it comes to firefighter Sam O’Shea, absence—and a regime of tactical avoidance—has been working for me just fiiiine. But when the audition of a lifetime falls in my pathetically broke lap, and he’s the only one who can help me land the job, I’m willing to make a deal with the devil if it means I can kickstart my career as a narrator for audio books.

The problem? We’d have to actually do the job. Together. And then we’re told it’s for an erotic romance. Narrating steamy lines in a tiny studio with a man who lights a fire under your skin? An occupational hazard. Accidentally inciting a town scandal when your erotic audiobook clips wind up on the radio? A crisis. And falling for the one man I promised my brother—and my heart—I wouldn’t touch?

There’s a lot going on in ‘Talk Flirty to Me’—much more than just a broke, down-on-her-luck Piper Bellini returning home and meeting a teenage ex- who’s suddenly the key in reviving her career as a voice actor.

In fact, ‘Talk Flirty to Me’ reads like a whirlwind of activity with one new thing stacked on top of another—with the horrifyingly large Bellini family taking centre space in the story. And with the number of events happening, it just seems obvious that everything is inevitably going to fall over like a house of cards…which it predictably does towards the second half of the book, with Sam and Piper being in the centre of the hurricane.

Yet as fun as it was at times, there were elements that seemed far-fetched, ridiculous (the extra, extra large family that’s still growing was just one I couldn’t get past) and frustrating (character-wise) which had the characters behave more like hormonal teens than mature adults. There was also much talk and action revolving around the past dictating one’s present actions and thoughts and for much of the story, the inability to move past it is what’s shown and reiterated.

In the case of characters, where Sam was overreaching, ambitious and earnest in all his pursuits, Piper seemed too cowardly and too soft in going for what she wanted in backtracking (and hiding too often behind sarcasm) too many times for me to like her enough. Having her actions explained away as being ‘self-sacrificial’ simply emphasised what I’d hoped to see more but never did: a lion-hearted sort of bravery that just didn’t materialise at all, because she tucked tail, pushed away and ran at every turn despite what her inner monologues seemed to say. That her behaviour was still largely regulated and governed by a teen breakup nearly a decade ago also felt somewhat petty and immature.

I’m still glad I picked this one up, or that I took a chance with this fun, very confident but very chaotic run of things by Livy Hart. What stood out were the snark of the supporting characters and several the outlandish set-pieces that were smart showcases of comedic timing—things that sort of helped outweigh and outpace the frustrations detailed above that I thought bogged the writing down a bit otherwise.

three-half-stars
Talk Flirty to Me by Livy Hart was last modified: April 13th, 2022 by Dísir
2nd May 2022 0 comment
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50 Ways to Win Back Your Lover by Kelly Siskind

written by Dísir
50 Ways to Win Back Your Lover by Kelly Siskind50 Ways to Win Back Your Lover by Kelly Siskind
Series: Bower Boys #1
Published by Montlake on 6th September 2022
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three-half-stars

Growing up, I had it all—my art, close friends, a gorgeous girlfriend who owned my heart—but then my life exploded.

Turns out my father was laundering money, and my whole family got shoved into witness protection. No notice. No chance to explain. I was ripped away from beautiful, blue-eyed Delilah Moon, shattering both our worlds.

A decade later, fate has given us a second chance.

The cartel my father worked for has been wiped out. I’ve returned to my hometown, determined to win back the love of my life. But Delilah is engaged.

Or . . . is she?

I’m almost positive she’s lying about her fiancé to protect her heart. Which means I need to up my game.

I’ve made a list of fifty ways to prove we’re meant to be. Except Delilah’s barely looking at me, never mind swooning. I have a feeling my disappearance scarred her more than she’s admitting, and no one in town will tell me what happened . . .

Written entirely in the male protagonist’s POV, ’50 Ways to win back your Lover’ is sort of an exercise in grovelling when you’ve disappeared for a decade without an explanation in the dead of night only to reappear when the circumstances magically turn your way. Starting with a checklist of things to do in order to erase the trauma of your disappearance.

At least, that’s what Edgar Bower–or better known as E–is facing in life after WITSEC. Making amends is probably one of the hardest things to do as he determinedly sets out to win back the love of his life, ploughing through all obstacles as hard as he can just to get near Delilah Moon. But people’s memories aren’t short in the small town of Windfall and E has a lot to do just to get back to where he thought he’d been all those years ago, and apparently, as do the rest of his family.

I found myself part bemused and amused at Edgar’s odd train of thoughts at times–he wins hands down at the kind of pursuit most women would probably dream about, but little goes down in the first half of the book except for a lot of near-hysterical monologue about his current and past circumstances, some flashbacks about his and Delilah’s history and how good they’d been together.

The subtle and unexpected bursts of humour had me smirking at times–that part made the read worth it–but I also cringed when it lobbed itself from romantic to cheesy from one moment to the next. As far as beta-type heroes go, E isn’t at all a bad one and I liked his quirky, artistic and sensitive side that’s seen throughout the story–it’s a kind of softness and a breath of fresh air that is often missing from the muscly, reckless sort.

But Siskind doesn’t stop there at E’s and Delilah’s somewhat rushed HEA, as this is clearly also the set up for a series to come as this broken family tries to mend itself after ten long years of separation from their old lives. In short, it’s in no way a bad read at all with a promise of more of this family in the future but I think I did expected a little more drama and action (higher peaks, lower troughs) perhaps instead of a more talked-over, babbling kind of narrative where there were more instances of telling rather than showing.

three-half-stars
50 Ways to Win Back Your Lover by Kelly Siskind was last modified: April 12th, 2022 by Dísir
25th April 2022 0 comment
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Kiss Hard by Nalini Singh

written by Dísir
Kiss Hard by Nalini SinghKiss Hard by Nalini Singh
Series: Hard Play, #4, #4
Published by TKA Distribution on 3rd May 2022
Pages: 329
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three-half-stars

Daniel Esera is a young god on the rugby field, a sexy and charming man who's got the world at his feet. There's just one problem: his sudden potent attraction to his number one nemesis--Catie River. No. Just no. Not happening.

Catie River is on her way to Paralympic gold, and she's not about to allow Danny "Hotshot" Esera to derail her plans. Too bad her body isn't cooperating. Even worse? Her heart might be coming along for the ride. No. Nope. Never.

The pair are united in their desire to remain enemies... until a stranger's reckless action threatens both their careers. Now, the only way out for Catie and Danny is to pretend to be in a relationship. How bad can it be? They're adults in full control of their hormones and their hearts. There will be no kissing. No PDA. And definitely no falling in love.

Let the games begin.

From time to time I’d venture into Nalini Singh’s contemporary word outside of her Psy-changeling series for a breath of fresh air. ‘Kiss Hard’ is one of those times and as always, I find myself taken aback–in a good way–at the threads of warmth that always shoot through her family-type romance stories, where snarky humour and familial cosiness (though this might be an Antipodean style of writing, perhaps?) seem key to her contemporary series.

That ‘Kiss Hard’ was pitched as an enemies-to-lovers type story was one that sunk me well and good. But Danny Esera and Catie Rivers aren’t exactly enemies; they’re more frenemies who have grown up together and like taking pot shots at each other while always being in each other’s corner instead of hostile foes hell bent on total destruction as I’d expected (and honestly, hoped for).

That relationship hasn’t and shouldn’t change given how comfortable they both are with throwing shade at each other at every given opportunity, god forbid really, until a compromising event makes the both of them look at each other in a different light.

Even as frenemies, their chemistry sizzles; as lovers, it’s taken a notch higher in a slow-burn that starts by fake-dating and undeniable mutual attraction. Still, I think the standout here really is Singh’s bold portrayal of Catie and her disability–an elite athlete who’s also a double-amputee–written in a manner so well-balanced that she’d never felt like a character that was over-compensating or self-pitying in any way. It’s also for this reason that I felt more for Catie more than Danny who seems a little more of a stereotypical player with a heart for people he calls his own.

Family ties take equal priority in their low-angst drama in getting together, though the inclusion of so many secondary characters (who also have stories of their own) can be a distraction at times. They are the checks and counterbalances in Catie/Danny’s growing relationship, yet also the anchor that grounds them both in reality. It isn’t necessary to read the rest of the books in this series, though the strong ties written about here and the years that flow between these books seem to suggest that you might actually need to for a complete picture of the Bishop/Esera clan. Feel-good vibes are aplenty, interspersed with some sober reality bits, and if you like written-in-the-stars-type of stories, ‘Kiss Hard’ carries that tinge of kismet of two people who are meant to be.

three-half-stars
Kiss Hard by Nalini Singh was last modified: April 8th, 2022 by Dísir
18th April 2022 0 comment
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The Potter by Kristy Marie

written by Dísir
The Potter by Kristy MarieThe Potter by Kristy Marie
Published by Kristy Marie Books LLC on 17th March 2022
Pages: 228
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one-star

A brilliant surgeon. A master sculptor.

The media touted Dr. Potter as a savior dressed in a crisp suit. I think he’s a vicious madman of jerk-sized proportions. But fate is a wicked tease. Only Dr. Potter can give me what I need. A fresh start. A new identity.

But he refused, leaving me to take matters into my own hands by accepting a job as his partner’s new secretary. Dr. Potter can’t turn down my case forever.

Or at least I thought so until I found him on the floor. Broken. Angry. With a venomous warning... I failed to heed.

The blurb itself was a wicked tease and I fell for it. A surgeon burned by a case so badly that he refuses to go any further with the work that used to define him versus a woman who seeks reconstruction so that she can get her normal back?

I wanted it, badly. But salivating after what was promised and getting into the story however, was an entirely different matter.

Everything just seemed implausible thereafter, from the circumstances Halle found herself in, to seeking Vance Potter out, to finding herself working for his brother instead and so on and so forth, more so as both Vance Potter’s and Halle’s behaviour seemed to come from a place of overblown dramatics, with shrill hysteria filling their dialogues and actions that I couldn’t quite reconcile the many medical professionals that I’d come across with the crudeness that I was reading on the page in any way.

Fiction this may be, everything here lay so far out of my own imagination that I just couldn’t get past suspension of disbelief with Potter’s gruff, overbearing actions) and Halle’s own wild swinging between sassy refusal and astonished capitulation. That it actually turned sexual a while later shouldn’t have caught me by surprise but still did because I couldn’t see the build-up sufficiently for that to happen believably.

The long and short is, I liked the premise of the story–a lot. Kristy Marie doesn’t call this a medical romance so I had no qualms that it was going to be one despite the medical setting; it’s more of a medical soap opera with actors acting the part of doctors and turned out to be something really not up my alley when it felt more like erotica with neanderthal male and sweet Southern female as the story wore on.

one-star
The Potter by Kristy Marie was last modified: April 1st, 2022 by Dísir
11th April 2022 0 comment
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Unforgiven by Rebecca Zanetti

written by Dísir
Unforgiven by Rebecca ZanettiUnforgiven by Rebecca Zanetti
Series: Deep Ops #5
Published by Lyrical Press on 7th June 2022
Pages: 344
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three-half-stars

Run: Gemma Falls never expected to use her game theory expertise to outrun a killer. But for years, that skill is all that kept her one step ahead of a deadly stalker. When Gemma gets the chance to teach at D.C. University, she hopes she and her young daughter have found a safe harbor. The only flaw is the arrogant philosophy professor who’s always underfoot giving unwanted advice—in his sexy British accent . . .

Hide: Jethro Hanson has blood on his hands. He’s working within ivy-covered university halls now, but he knows that his work with the Deep Ops team and the deadly acts he once committed for the sake of Queen and country place him beyond forgiveness—until he meets Gemma . . .

Seek: Soon, the passion between them stuns them both. But when Jethro discovers a threat is fast overtaking her, he must choose between the redemption he seeks—and releasing the ever-present killer inside . . .

3.5 stars

My soft spot for Rebecca Zanetti’s ‘Deep Ops’ stems from a misfit crew under Angus Force that don’t really bother to hide their brokenness (but in fact, almost revel in it) and slowly becoming a dysfunctional family as the series progresses. The individual books’ focus on each pairing however, do vary in quality and romantic tropes underpinned by suspense.

In ‘Unforgiven’, the entire team gets thrown into chaos by the whirlwind that’s Gemma Falls and her daughter–a mother-daughter pair on the run from an abusive ex. The sudden insertion of Jethro’s super-evil, over-the-top smart villain of a brother who threatens to wreck the fragile peace the crew has been enjoying also conflates the danger that Gemma faces. With the twin threats, Zanetti’s storytelling is pacey as the crew fight fire on both fronts, with Jethro neatly bulldozing himself into Gemma’s life and bed.

It was nice to see the return of the crew as a whole and the dynamics that they create when they are around each other; the addition of some side characters does helps keep the plot more lighthearted than darkly violent. Zanetti’s brand of humour that she lends the secondary cast can be somewhat off-key, though it certainly does well enough to serve as a tension-reliever at times.

I’m a little less enthused strangely, about the Deep Ops’ crew’s individual stories and it’s no different here–the violent past of each of Angus’s team member is often touted to be the reason and excuse why they don’t take any emotional plunges, then switch their opinions almost immediately when ‘the one’ appears. It’s a holding pattern that repeats like clockwork and frankly, I’d like to see a bit more nuance with this particular tortured and overused trope.

Jethro’s insistence on railroading his way into Gemma’s problems (going so far as to order a background check on her when it wasn’t his place to) simply because she was reticent with him didn’t put him in the best light, more so as he’d also just come off a one-night stand when he’d met her. That he also flipped so quickly from steadfastly refusing any commitment to any woman to suddenly wanting to play family because of his need to protect Gemma and her daughter felt more of a product of the constant adrenaline rush from a sudden roll of traumatising events than one forged out of deep emotional connection and understanding.

Zanetti’s blend of suspense and action is probably what will keep me coming back still; maybe the next pairing is the one that will really unearth that pot of gold for me…who knows?

three-half-stars
Unforgiven by Rebecca Zanetti was last modified: March 18th, 2022 by Dísir
7th April 2022 0 comment
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