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Cold Cruel Kiss by Toni Anderson
Loverboy by Sarina Bowen
Shipped by Angie Hockman
Flight by Laura Griffin
Sweet Dandelion by Micalea Smeltzer
Hard Pursuit by Pamela Clare
Ever After Always by Chloe Liese
To Whatever End by Lindsey Frydman
Yes & I Love You by Roni Loren
Mission: Her Justice by Anna Hackett

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Advanced Reader CopyContemporary RomanceReviewsRomantic Suspense

Cold Cruel Kiss by Toni Anderson

written by Dísir
Cold Cruel Kiss by Toni AndersonCold Cruel Kiss by Toni Anderson
Series: Cold Justice: Crossfire, #4
Published by Toni Anderson Inc. on 28th January 2021
Pages: 400
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
three-half-stars

When the daughter of the US Ambassador to Argentina is kidnapped in broad daylight on Christmas Eve, the FBI sends one of its best negotiators to investigate.
Supervisory Special Agent Max Hawthorne arrives at an embassy thrown into chaos as US and local law enforcement hustle to track the young woman. Is this a simple kidnap for ransom, or part of a political agenda? Could it be something more sinister?

Lucy Aston has something to hide. Preferring to stay in the shadows, the lowly, fashion-challenged office assistant resents being assigned to help Max. But Max can’t resist a puzzle…he’s starting to suspect Lucy Aston is not what she seems.

When rumors emerge of a suspected Russian spy operating out of the embassy, Lucy’s carefully constructed life begins to crumble. As she and Max race to rescue the ambassador’s daughter, Lucy has to do whatever it takes to keep her cover from being blown—even if that means betraying the man she’s falling for.

Intricately and expertly-crafted, ‘Cold, Cruel Kiss’ is pretty much a masterful storytelling attempt by Toni Anderson, who dips into the spooks-world of conspiracies, underhanded, traitorous dealings and politics that all come to a head when an ambassador’s daughter is kidnapped in broad daylight.

Little by little, Anderson reveals the puppetry going on behind the scenes in Argentina…and yes, it’s an engaging but messy as hell state of play that’s bound to make your head spin. Even though it’s classified as romantic suspense, there’s more of the latter than the former here, as SSA Max Hawthorne finds himself deep in the kidnap case and getting some unwitting assistance by a woman so clearly in disguise for reasons he can’t fathom.

But Lucy Aston herself is hiding something that’s potentially one that end both their careers. How Lucy acted and behaved however, was what made me hesitant about my own rating of this story. I definitely felt for her and the predicament she found herself in, but I was also waiting for her to do the right thing about her situation since there was so much more at stake—which she didn’t. Instead, she sat back, filled with mostly regret and a defeatist attitude of ‘he’ll hate me and it’s best to get what I can for now especially when the truth comes out later’, all of which crossed the line into woe-is-me TSTL.

 

I simply couldn’t get on with Lucy thinking so admiringly of Max in terms of integrity and honesty while constantly positioning herself as someone who didn’t deserve him, as it made that seem like an excuse not to hold herself to that same standard when she’d already ‘fallen’. Then trying to redeem herself by going rogue later threw her into the stupid, deep end of a pool in which she could barely tread water…trouble of her own making, anyone? Her lack of honesty grated, more so when Max seemed like the upfront on the whole time.

In other words, even though casual deception is part and parcel of the spy-game, having it as one of the stumbling blocks—particularly when a protagonist is deep in it—in a romantic relationship tends to sour it for me (just a personal pet peeve shining brightly through here).

‘Cold Cruel Kiss’ however, is a standout on its own. As much as I didn’t exactly warm to Lucy/Max and their eventual resolution, Anderson’s kidnapped teenagers found a fan in me as they kept their smarts and wits throughout their ordeal; that they fought as hell for each other despite their fear made them the stars of the story for me. Maybe because it’s Anderson’s portrayal of how tenacious and unbelievably brave these girls are that I found myself loving the last few chapters of the book.

three-half-stars
Cold Cruel Kiss by Toni Anderson was last modified: January 21st, 2021 by Dísir
24th January 2021 0 comment
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Chick LitContemporary RomanceNew AdultReviewsRomantic Suspense

Loverboy by Sarina Bowen

written by Dísir
Loverboy by Sarina BowenLoverboy by Sarina Bowen
Series: The Company, #2
Published by Tuxbury Publishing on 1st December 2020
Pages: 278
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
three-stars

Secrets, desires, and exquisite pie. It’s all in a day’s work at The Company.

Growing up, I was the rough guy from the wrong neighborhood who couldn’t catch a break. Posy was the pampered girl I tried to impress. But all she gave me was a single kiss before I had to skip town.Now I’m back, and the tables are turned. Posy runs a struggling pie shop. I’m the VP of a secretive billion-dollar security company.

Not that I can tell her. There’s a murderer on the loose in New York, and he seems to spend a lot of time at Posy’s shop. It’s my job to identify him before he can harm a hair on her pretty head.

Going undercover as Posy’s new barista wasn’t my idea. I don’t even drink coffee. But now I have to call her “boss,” and do everything the curvy perfectionist asks of me. I’d forgotten how much we infuriate each other, and that she somehow fills me with both irritation and desire in the same breath.

There’s nobody more skilled at stealth ops than me. I can bring this killer down. Right after I take a cold shower. And just as soon I figure out how to make a skinny peppermint latte with milk poured in the shape of a kitten...

‘Loverboy’ is a bit of an oddball, reading like a more ‘loving’ and dampened-down romantic suspense with cutesy moments minus the gore, guts and edge. It requires a mental shift really, as it tries to sit between a rom-com and a romantic suspense and I’d thought that if anyone could pull it off, it would be Sarina Bowen. The result is one that doesn’t quite punch above its weight, but that’s because I couldn’t quite get over its strangeness and the rather tiresome phrases that try to emphasise quirk and homey-comfort more than heart-pounding action.

Going undercover as a barista – this should be a huge clue that the storyline isn’t what you’d typically expect – isn’t really the highlight of Gunnar’s career, but doing so in Posy’s cafe – the girl whom he sort of teased and had a crush on years ago – is probably the cherry on top of it. It’s amusing enough to begin with, but then Bowen builds on their chemistry and leads the plot in weird directions that get me more and more befuddled.

Posy’s inexperience is overshadowed by a near-neurotic monologue of her losing her senses over Gunnar – her hormones quite literally, speak a little too much here – as Gunnar’s slickness never quite fades into a vulnerability that I wanted to read about. Still, their banter takes precedence over the mystery – an overarching plot runs through this book – and Bowen never quite strays from keeping it as lighthearted as possible.

‘Loverboy’ probably works well as a standalone; it’s sort of a new direction that Bowen’s writing seems to be taking with this series even though I’ve not read the first book yet. I’m probably slow to jump on the bandwagon here, but fingers crossed here that it only gets better.

three-stars
Loverboy by Sarina Bowen was last modified: January 17th, 2021 by Dísir
20th January 2021 0 comment
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Advanced Reader CopyChick LitContemporary RomanceNetgalleyReviews

Shipped by Angie Hockman

written by Dísir
Shipped by Angie HockmanShipped by Angie Hockman
Published by Gallery Books on 19th January 2021
Pages: 336
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three-stars

Between taking night classes for her MBA and her demanding day job at a cruise line, marketing manager Henley Evans barely has time for herself, let alone family, friends, or dating. But when she’s shortlisted for the promotion of her dreams, all her sacrifices finally seem worth it.

The only problem? Graeme Crawford-Collins, the remote social media manager and the bane of her existence, is also up for the position. Although they’ve never met in person, their epic email battles are the stuff of office legend.

Their boss tasks each of them with drafting a proposal on how to boost bookings in the Galápagos—best proposal wins the promotion. There’s just one catch: they have to go on a company cruise to the Galápagos Islands...together. But when the two meet on the ship, Henley is shocked to discover that the real Graeme is nothing like she imagined. As they explore the Islands together, she soon finds the line between loathing and liking thinner than a postcard.

With her career dreams in her sights and a growing attraction to the competition, Henley begins questioning her life choices. Because what’s the point of working all the time if you never actually live?

I’m not so sure that Angie Hockman’s ‘Shipped’ is really a love child of Sally Thorne’s “The Hating Game” and Christina Lauren’s “The Unhoneymooners” as it’s touted to be, but the blurb is an appealing one. An adventure in the Galapagos with a rival colleague? Sign me up, literally.

‘Shipped’ started out as a 5-star read and held there for a while, as I was heartily entertained by the cruise and what Graeme and Henley would find themselves in as they went round the Galapagos. I understood Henley’s focus on her career at the expense of people around her, her wariness in wanting to pursue something noteworthy for herself, her unwilling attraction to Graeme when he was supposed to be public enemy number 1.

But things started to unravel somewhat from there, beginning from the tone-deaf inclusion of a flighty sister who behaved more like a flouncy teenage who thankfully improved a lot later on. The constant push-pull between Graeme and Henley was expected, but the longer it wore on, the more it simply looked like Henley opted to put herself first over everything—including stepping on Graeme when it suited her, then offering a lame sort of conciliatory note before almost expecting Graeme to step up the rest of the way as her irksome insecurities ended up getting her off easy for it.

As single-minded as Henley was, I found it increasingly irksome that the focus seemed to be more on her trying to get everything for herself, without putting much room for Graeme and their so-called relationship that she never really fought for enough in the end.

Their steamy scenes—which would have gone a way to help solidify their feelings—were also abruptly cut off as just things were getting up to speed with several cock-blocking moves, as though Hockman decided to skid to a stop at the front of the bedroom door to slam it shut at the last minute.

As eager as I was with ‘Shipped’ when it first started, I wished the story had taken a different turn that involved a bit more compromise and more reciprocal emotional investment towards the end…it would have certainly worked out for me a lot better.

three-stars
Shipped by Angie Hockman was last modified: January 7th, 2021 by Dísir
16th January 2021 0 comment
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Advanced Reader CopyContemporary RomanceMystery/CrimeNetgalleyReviewsRomantic Suspense

Flight by Laura Griffin

written by Dísir
Flight by Laura GriffinFlight by Laura Griffin
Series: The Texas Murder Files #2
Published by Berkley on 30th March 2021
Pages: 368
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four-stars

When former forensic photographer Miranda Rhoads moves to the seaside town of Lost Beach, she's decided to make her living as a wildlife photographer and put crime scenes behind her. But her plans are quickly upended when one morning, she comes across a couple sleeping in a canoe, entwined in an embrace. Looking closer, she realizes the man and woman aren't asleep--they've been murdered.

Detective Joel Breda sets out to find answers--not only about the unidentified victims in the marshy death scene, but also about the aloof and beautiful photographer who seems to know more about his investigation than he does.

As they begin to unravel the motivation of a merciless serial killer, Miranda and Joel must race against the clock to make an arrest before the killer can find them first.

As a former CSI, Miranda Rhoads’s move to the coast in the hopes of having a peaceful time doesn’t last long when she stumbles on a seemingly staged (and macabre) murder of 2 people. It’s a discovery that brings her back too closely to her old life just as a small-town detective whose intensity and confidence stir an attraction she doesn’t want to feel.

There’s much to like about Griffin’s writing, which is what brings me back over and over (and quite eagerly so) to her: the clear, concise descriptions, the perfect use of atmosphere and protagonists that are fleshed out enough that you could very well imagine them anchoring a crime drama series, a well-crafted plot and the bonus—a romance that you know you want to see out as the story progresses.

The guess-whodunnit game begins from the start, amping up as Griffin builds on the urgent need to link all the threads that don’t seem to come together. In all, it is an engaging process of getting yourself to think and work backwards just as the characters do, involving symbols and ideology and the groups today that try to employ them for their own purposes.

On the other hand, the romance here is admittedly thin at times; the chemistry between Joel Breda and Miranda seems somewhat threadbare despite Griffin’s words insisting so without much showing in support of it. Both Miranda and Joel have pasts they are seemingly scarred by, but even those back-stories are hardly explored, written about only as a few lines as dialogue that comes and goes without making significant impact. The low-level conflict of coupling up when they work together is a simmering issue, though not one that’s blown out of proportion; both are easily competent in their professional lives even as they struggle personally in their growing relationship.

Miranda/Joel are likeable as they come, but I finished ‘Flight’ thinking that they became a couple who stood as solid as they could be as long as there was work tying them together after their rushed love declarations. Would they have been good together if they weren’t working together, if there wasn’t a crime scene between them? How well did they really know each other beyond the few exchanges they had about their personal lives?

‘Flight’ is a good standalone; it hardly registered that Bailey (Miranda’s sister) was actually the protagonist of the first book given there’s barely any kind of romantic continuity here. But if the murder mystery is something more important to you as a reader as opposed to the romantic subplot, then take heart, this is the kind of writing Griffin excels in.

four-stars
Flight by Laura Griffin was last modified: January 6th, 2021 by Dísir
12th January 2021 0 comment
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Contemporary RomanceNew AdultReviews

Sweet Dandelion by Micalea Smeltzer

written by Dísir
Sweet Dandelion by Micalea SmeltzerSweet Dandelion by Micalea Smeltzer
Published by Amazon Digital Services, Amazon Publishing on 25th March 2020
Pages: 486
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
three-stars

Dandelion Meadows is cursed.

Horrible name.

Horrible luck.

At eighteen she should be headed off to college, all smiles and naivety.Instead, a victim of a school shooting, she’s starting her senior year in a new city and living with her brother.Nightmares of that terrible day haunt her, affecting her daily life and the relationships around her.

Forced to meet with the school counselor, Dani finds him chipping away at the walls she’s built around herself, and even her heart.

Lachlan Taylor doesn’t know what to make at first of the broken student he’s tasked with helping. She’s survived a trauma he’s not sure he can save her from, but he knows he has to try.

The more time they spend together, the more they learn about what it really means to live.

Some things are forbidden.Some things are necessary for survival.

Their love is both.

‘Sweet Dandelion’ slots nicely into the NA genre – one that typically deals with teenage trauma of any kind – with an age-gap student/school-counsellor romance, brought about as Dandelion Meadows starts life anew as she tries to deal with a school-shooting that took nearly everything from her.

Micalea Smeltzer definitely does a credible job in detailing the ups and downs of Dani’s emotions and her journey towards a man who’s forbidden in many ways. Written wholly in Dandelion’s POV, the story stretched out longer than I’d liked, starting brilliantly but eventually dipping at the halfway mark when the emotional descriptions started to get repetitive, lessening as well, the impact of Dani/Lachlan’s romance when it soon became evident that the rest of the story consisted of a push-pull vibe that carried on for too long. In fact, there were too many superfluous details (and even characters, like Ansel or Sasha even) that detracted from the intensity of the story and their forbidden romance.

That Lachlan also took it upon himself to make a major decision for the both of them however, was a major turn-off during the read – apparently communication isn’t the biggest thing here? –  couched as it was under the rationale that it was Dani’s own good. It was at best, an unconvincing move, and at its worst, patronising twist in the plot that I could definitely have done without.

Long story short, ‘Sweet Dandelion’ was something that could have been better told with tighter (and ruthless) editing, especially with the number of scenes falling into plain implausibility given the number of coincidences written into the story. I just wished I could have gotten on board more with this.

three-stars
Sweet Dandelion by Micalea Smeltzer was last modified: December 27th, 2020 by Dísir
8th January 2021 0 comment
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Action/AdventureContemporary RomanceReviewsRomantic Suspense

Hard Pursuit by Pamela Clare

written by Dísir
Hard Pursuit by Pamela ClareHard Pursuit by Pamela Clare
Series: Cobra Elite, #6
Published by Pamela Clare on 15th December 2020
Pages: 254
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
four-stars

She walked away once…
When ER nurse Kristi Chang met former Army Ranger Malik Jones in Antarctica eighteen months ago, they agreed to sex with no strings. She had no idea that Malik would turn out to be the most fun she’d ever had. Or that a big, bad soldier could be so sweet. Or that she would still be thinking of him more than a year later.

Now working with an international aid organization in Nigeria, Kristi regrets letting him go. When gunmen suddenly attack and tear her from her medical unit and force her at gunpoint to care for their leader, she knows she’ll have to use her wits if she wants to stay alive. She warns her captors that she’s married to a Ranger named Malik who will kill any man who touches her. If only that were true…

Now he’ll do anything to free her…
Malik hasn’t forgotten a single incredible moment he spent with Kristi. When he gets the news that she’s been abducted, he is gutted and wants to get Cobra’s guns into the fight to free her. A veteran of more than a few rescues, he knows only too well how brutal captivity can be for a woman and wants to get her out of there as soon as possible. But the State Department decides to let local authorities handle the situation and gives Cobra a different assignment, leaving Malik no choice but to quit the job he loves to go after Kristi himself. But locating her in an area bigger than the state of Texas and freeing her from a band of ruthless killers by himself isn’t going to be easy.

But the threat is greater than they realize…
When Malik appears out of nowhere and saves her life, Kristi thinks she’s dreaming. As she recovers from her ordeal, the heat between them once again flares into passion. This time, however, it’s not just about lust and physical pleasure. Their hearts are on the line. But in rescuing Kristi, Malik has kicked the proverbial hornet’s nest, unleashing the wrath of a ruthless criminal organization bent on revenge. It will take all of their strength and skill to survive—and turn this second chance at romance into the love of a lifetime.

When Kristi Chang and Malik Jones had their not-so-secret fling in Antarctica in Thor Issaksen’s book (the previous one), I easily dismissed this couple as a frivolous pastime (and never as protagonists of their own story) to be ignored.

I’m glad to be proven wrong here, in ‘Hard Pursuit’.

Pamela Clare brings the action to Nigeria, following up from ‘Hard Line’ where it was mentioned that Kristi was making her way to Nigeria, leaving Malik doubtful and concerned for her safety. Many months later, the memory of their time together remains strong and upon learning Kristi’s abduction by Nigerian bandits, Malik doesn’t hesitate to play saviour in a mission that puts his entire career on the line.

With a straightforward plot, the spotlight falls on Kristi/Malik as a couple whose strong personalities help carry the story, who are solidly written as characters who are resourceful, quick-thinking and full of chutzpah; their easy camaraderie and determination never to give up on each other throughout made ‘Hard Pursuit’ a joy to go through without the bumps of having to deal with TSTL moments (thankfully missing here).

My only complaint is the somewhat easy and quick way it was all resolved: when Kristi and Malik find themselves in an unsolvable bind, resolution and saving grace come from the Cobra team who insert themselves just at the right time, and a somewhat ‘offline’ end to the whole conflict driven by a very large cartel that’s got its fingers spread around the world in human trafficking.

But it’s this wrap-up that enables Clare to deliver a satisfying HEA all around with all loose-ends tied up and a glimpse into a future between a brilliant couple I never thought I could like at first .

four-stars
Hard Pursuit by Pamela Clare was last modified: December 24th, 2020 by Dísir
4th January 2021 0 comment
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Ever After Always by Chloe Liese

written by Dísir
Ever After Always by Chloe LieseEver After Always by Chloe Liese
Series: Bergman Brothers, #3
Published by Amazon Digital Services, Amazon Publishing on 12th January 2021
Pages: 286
Buy on Amazon
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three-half-stars

Aiden
I’ve spent twelve years loving Freya Bergman and twelve lifetimes won’t be enough to give her everything she deserves. She’s my passionate, tender-hearted wife, my best friend, and all I want is to make her happy. But the one thing that will make her happiest is the one thing I’m not sure I can give her: a baby.

With the pressure of providing and planning for a family, my anxiety’s at an all-time high, and I find myself pulling away, terrified to tell my wife how I’m struggling. But when Freya kicks me out, I realize that pulling back has turned into pushing too far. Now it’s the fight of a lifetime to save our marriage.

Freya
I love my cautious, hard-working husband. He’s my partner and best friend, the person I know I can count on most. Until one day I realize the man I married is nowhere to be found. Now Aiden is quiet and withdrawn, and as the months wear on, the pain of our growing distance becomes too much.

As if weathering marriage counseling wasn’t enough, we’re thrown together for an island getaway to celebrate my parents’ many years of perfect marriage while ours is on the brink of collapse. Despite my meddling siblings and a week in each other’s constant company, this trip somehow gets us working through the trouble in paradise. I just can’t help worrying, when we leave paradise and return to the real world, will trouble find us again?

A confession I’ll have to make at the start: reading about maintaining the HEA past a couple getting together typically isn’t what I go for. It’s hard, messy and well, where the real work begins.

Usually, the epilogues of a few years or months later at the end of a story is palatable, as my personal kink usually has to do with heavy sexual tension, filthy talk and two separate individuals self-aware enough to act on their attraction while not flying off the handle at the slightest bit of brewing conflict.

‘Ever After Always’ however, gamely steps into a position that begins where the HEA is supposed to come with the fall of the curtain, then shoots off with a glorious mess of a couple in crisis. Aiden and Freya – last seen as the bastion of what a rock-solid marriage should be – aren’t spared in Chloe Liese’s latest installment and their own issues are profound, raw and oh-so-difficult to read about.

Delving deep into the psychology of why even the most stalwart of unions can fail and how the littlest things can derail whatever little progress is made to improve it, Liese throws Aiden and Freya head first into the deep end of the pool when both realise that they’re taking too many steps backwards as the months roll on.

Consequently, there’s a lot of reflection, pages and pages of emotional ranting, of inner monologues and the difficult scenes of protagonists struggling to come to terms with their own states of reality. It did get a bit too weighty for me, but Aiden/Freya’s journey – if angst and heavy musings are your thing – can be rewarding in its own way when they both finally emerge into the light by the end of the book.

The large Bergman family is the ballast in Aiden/Freya’s tumult, providing comic relief at the risk of becoming caricatures when there are just so many secondary characters adding their own version of spice to the bubbling marriage broth. As stylised as some scenes might be however, I appreciate Liese’s attempt to keep it as real as she could…even when I was hoping for something lighter to catapult me into a more escapist fantasy in days like these.

three-half-stars
Ever After Always by Chloe Liese was last modified: December 21st, 2020 by Dísir
31st December 2020 0 comment
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