Book Review: His Deception by Patricia Rosemoor

Maybe it’s because I watched The Bodyguard at an impressionable age, but I love this trope. I just don’t get enough of these types of stories, so I was excited to read this one. I especially liked the twist of her not knowing he’s guarding her body.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

One-Sentence Synopsis
A man is hired to bodyguard a millionaire’s daughter without her knowing about it, which makes things even more complicated when he falls for her. For a full synopsis, see this book’s Goodreads page.

I Guess He Meant Well
Katelyn grew up in a weird situation, her mother having left her father when she was young, but her father doing what he could to make her a part of his other family, despite the poor treatment she received from his wife and her half siblings. As an adult, she still loves her father, but she wants to make it on her own and has made it a point to distance herself from his name. By opening a cafe in a small town in Wisconsin, she thinks she’s found her dream.

When a school shooting happens and her father receives threatening emails as the manufacturer of the assault weapon used, he begs Katelyn to get a bodyguard. She doesn’t think she’s in danger, believing that only a few people know she’s his daughter, so she refuses. But her father is a control freak, so he hires one anyway. Enter Thorne Hudson.

More Than a Job
Thorne pretends to be just another traveler passing through the area and Katelyn feels drawn to him instantly. He’s attractive and mysterious and he offers to bartend for her when her normal guy disappears. Thorne starts to have feelings for Katelyn, and his feelings war with his duty and his sense of guilt. But he also realizes she needs to protecting, and eventually it becomes less about doing the job her father hired him for and more about him knowing he would die for her if need be.

A Little Too Stubborn
Katelyn knows something’s up, but though she doesn’t trust her father, she never believes that Thorne is anything other than who he seems to be. Which makes it that more exciting when she does find out. At one point though, she starts to understand that she probably is in danger, yet it takes her awhile to come around and actually be thankful for Thorne’s protection.

Love and Mystery
I liked the mystery and the danger of this story and thought it blended well with the romance. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I dig a story where the culprit could be any of a group of suspects. There’s also some other issues going on, like Katelyn’s trust issues and the return of her ex after several months. Thorne also has issues that stem from his childhood.

The Romance Factor
If The Bodyguard made me enjoy this type of love story, I think it was probably Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves that made me love the hero who would die for the woman he loves. When Katelyn gets emo over the fact that she didn’t know he was guarding her, he still holds on to hope that she’ll come around and his feelings only get stronger. 4/5

The Steam Factor
To be completely honest, I though things were going to be a lot hotter than they were. The sexy times started out really promising, but they usually didn’t last long. It felt like there was a lack of foreplay before Thorne slid into home base (if you know what I’m saying). I’m thinking it was less of a series of quickies and more of a lack of detail, which is cool. I mean, they both seemed to enjoy it, even if we didn’t see everything. 3/5

Final Thoughts
Despite the lack of foreplay, I really liked this book. I thought the emotion between Thorne and Katelyn was solid and I liked the tension of waiting to see who was targeting Katelyn. This seems to be a standalone novel, which makes me a little sad because I liked the setting and thought some of the other characters were interesting. I would definitely read more by this author.

How Forever Feels by Laura Drewry

Sometimes you just need a sweet romance that doesn’t put your hormones in overdrive. NetGalley suggested I read this one since I’d read and liked its predecessor, and I think it’s safe to say that Laura Drewry is definitely a go-to for a mild contemporary that still delivers on the feels.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

One-Sentence Synopsis
A game developer reunites with his ex-sister-in-law only to discover he still has feelings for her, despite the fact that he’ll have to choose between her and his family. For a full synopsis, see this book’s Goodreads page.

The Good Stuff
I love an awkward hero, and Jack is awkward, not only because he has long held feelings for Maya, but because he knows his family wouldn’t approve. While this type of family dynamic annoys me, I thought Jack’s reasons for being loyal to his family were solid, and his backstory only made him that more likeable.

The catty woman in me liked how Maya unwaveringly and unapologetically referred to her ex’s new fiance as Skank through the entire book. It cracked me up and felt all too real.

Things That Made Me Go Hmmm
I hated Will (the ex) and I didn’t like Stella (Skank), and I think that speaks to just how well the author put me into Jack and Maya’s mindsets. There are moments when both have a redeeming quality, and other than being Will’s other woman, Stella wasn’t a bad person. But I appreciated that the author didn’t try to make me like either one of them.

There’s a huge amount of exposition at the beginning in the form of Maya telling her friends the backstory of her and Jack. I prefer stories to unfold over time, as scenes like this often feel forced as a way to bring the reader up-to-date.

The Romance Factor
Not only is this a sweet, slow burn romance, but it’s one that has to overcome a lot of obstacles. Even though the two admit their feelings early on, there’s a lot more at play than the “Does he/she love me” conflict. 5/5

The Steam Factor
As I said before, sometimes you just want romance. While there are a few sexy times, the scenes aren’t detailed or scandalous. 2/5

Final Thoughts
This series is cute, and while sometimes fun, it doesn’t shy away from some of life’s real challenges when it comes to romance.

Goodreads Review: High Heat by Linda Morris

I’m still considering making a devoted book review blog over here, but I need to do some research into the best way to go about doing it and I need to decide if it’s something I’m going to keep up on (since I haven’t done such a great job of keeping up on this one…other than book reviews pulled from Goodreads). I’m torn between wanting to do something cool and wanting to keep it simple. Until I make a decision…and we could all be waiting awhile for that…I’ll keep doing what I do. Though hockey is my sport of choice, this baseball romance was fun and proves you don’t necessarily have to like to sport to enjoy the romance. 

High Heat by Linda Morris

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As VP of public relations for her family’s minor league baseball team, it’s Sarah’s job to keep professional pitcher Tom from getting into too much trouble with the media. Having already caused some controversy, Tom is pitching for her hometown team while he rehabs his pitching arm before heading back to the pros. Things get complicated when Sarah and Tom start and affair, despite the fact they know it won’t go anywhere past Tom’s short stay and despite the fact that Sarah has been warned by both her father and her brother to stay away from him.

The plot was fairly simple and straightforward, but it was sweet and fun to read. This was my first baseball novel, and even though I’m not necessarily a baseball fan, I found the dynamic of this to be entertaining. The story was paced well, and things didn’t seem to drag on, though I felt the whole thing about Sarah’s dad doing his best to protect her started to get annoying, more because her dad was a super unlikable character.

Though I didn’t like the dad or the brother, Sarah and Tom were fun characters. My issue with Sarah is that she was kind of a pushover, and it was painful to watch her hope that her father would come around and give her a higher position with the company. Tom was a nice guy who just fell into that trope of a good guy who didn’t want to commit and had a rough time of it with ex-girlfriends. I loved how he wasn’t impressed with the way Sarah was treated and seemed to have more faith in her than her family did.

The Romance Factor was a solid 3/5. No heart feels, but it was definitely sweet. The Sex Factor is also a 3/5. While there wasn’t a whole lot of foreplay and it wasn’t as naughty as some of the other books, there were a few steamy moments.

Overall, a good book. I wouldn’t mind reading more in the series and more baseball romances in general.

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Goodreads Review: Accidentally in Love by Laura Drewry

In some of the podcasts I’ve been listening to, book reviewers talk about spacing their reading and reviews so that they read and review closer to the release date. If I get a book from NetGalley, I want to read it right away, because there was a reason I requested it in the first place. As for reviewing, I have been publishing closer to the release date, but I think I’ll start publishing ON the release date so that people who are interested in the book can buy it if they want to. If you want to buy the book, feel free to follow the link to my Goodreads page and access purchase sites from there. I admit it. I’m a lazy blogger. Someday maybe I’ll get crazy creative. In the meantime, go read this book! 

Accidentally in Love by Laura Drewry

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

After a bad experience involving her stalker ex and heroin, Elli hates cops. So every chance she gets, she snarks and prods at one of the local constables, Brett, making sure he knows that even though they happen to hang with the same circle of friends, she has no interest in talking to him. But when her license is suspended and her creepy ex shows back up in town, circumstances mean she has to spend a lot more time with him since he becomes both her driving instructor and her fake boyfriend/protector.

This book kept me up way past my bedtime. I couldn’t put it down. I’d requested it because it looked cute, but cute is only one of the words to describe it. This story got me in all the feels. All. Of. Them.

The enemies-to-friends trope is often done with flat out hatred between characters, but it took a slightly different twist here. Elli just hates cops in general and Brett doesn’t really hate her at all. In fact, he kind of admires her, even knowing he has no chance. The development between them is a slow burn. The author paces the plots well, including the stalking of Elli by her ex, and how that plays into the relationship between her and Brett.

These two characters are so great. Elli played the damsel in distress, but only with regards to her crazy ex, the only thing that really seemed to scare her (understandably so). Brett was one of my favorite types of heroes: quiet, shy, unsure of himself at times, but an overall nice guy who just wants to make sure people are safe, especially those he cares about. He’s so sweet! These two characters play off each other perfectly and have an absolutely awesome chemistry. The dialogue between the two characters (and between them and secondary characters) is clever and funny and real.

The Romance Factor is 5/5 because I had so many “aww” moments and heart feels it made for a super fun read (hence being up way late to finish this one). The Sex Factor is at about a 2/5, but I’m adding in a Sensual Factor and giving it a 5/5. Basically, there is very little sex in this book, because with Brett being a constable and involved in an investigation involving Elli, he doesn’t want to do anything that could mess up getting her ex arrested, so other than a few kisses (and they are hot kisses), he keeps his hands to himself through most of the book (I suppose the Foreplay Factor could also be listed as a 5/5).

When sexy times happen, they’re not super dirty, so readers who really aren’t into the steamy stuff will enjoy this one. However, there is a very high degree of sensuality, and when Elli and Brett do anything together, you feel their connection and the romance between them and it made me want to melt into a puddle of happy goo.

I absolutely loved this book and recommend it to anyone who loves a good small-town, shy guy mystery.

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The Lows and Lows of Moving

The Felbster and I are currently in the process of moving. It’s a process I hate. This doesn’t make me a special snowflake since I assume most people hate to move, even if they’re moving somewhere better.

We’ve been “preparing” for months, but we’re still feeling rushed towards the end. Many boxes are packed and some already moved to the new place. Internet and renter’s insurance have been canceled. We’ve lined up help from family and friends. Still, it feels like this big ball of relocation is just rolling right over me.

The sad part is, I don’t do nearly as much as everyone else. Sure, I take a few bags up the stairs. But I go at the pace of a turtle and make about one trip to everyone else’s three. Our current place is a basement apartment, so we contend with one set of stairs when taking stuff to the car. Our new place is a second floor apartment so we contend with 2 flights of stairs getting everything into the apartment.

Stairs and I are starting to be okay with each other, but we’re a long way from being BFFs.  Luckily, J is okay with doing the bulk of the unloading as long as I do most of the unpacking.

Besides the physical, there’s also a mental exhaustion. There are things to update: address, bills, driver’s license, etc. At this point, I haven’t even completed my mail forwarding form because I can’t find the address of our new place because I’m pretty sure I accidentally packed the lease document.

I currently have a stack of mail that needs to be handled, but with everything kind of a mess, I don’t have the energy to get them all together and go through them.

Because most of our kitchen stuff is packed up, cooking feels way too hard, so we’re trying to cheaply eat out until we get settled. This is probably not a good idea for so many reasons, but it is what it is, and dollar menus are everywhere these days.

Ever since we signed the new lease, I’ve also had bouts of anxiety where I wonder if we’re making the right move (we will now have a short commute to school and work), if we’re going to be able to afford everything (we’ll be spending more in gas and will have utilities to contend with), and how I’m going to decorate and organize (the space is bigger than what we have now, but it’s still considered small).

Even with all that, underneath the nerves and the work and the stress, I still think we’re making the right move. I’m ready for some small town living again, ready for some quiet, ready for a new space even with it’s challenges.

I’ll just be glad when the transition is made.