My name is Tate. He doesn’t call me that, though. He would never refer to me so informally, if he referred to me at all.
We’re neighbors, and once, we were best friends. But then, one summer, he turned on me and has made it his mission to screw up my life at every opportunity. I’ve been humiliated, shut out, and gossiped about all through high school. His pranks and rumors got more sadistic as time wore on, and I made myself sick trying to hide from him. I worried about what was around every corner and behind every door.
So I left.
I spent a year studying abroad and bathed in the freedom of life without Jared. Now I’m back to finish up high school and get the hell out of here forever. I’m hoping that after a year of breathing room, he’s moved on and forgotten all about me.
But even if he hasn’t changed, I have. I’m not interested in avoiding him or turning the other cheek anymore. We’re going to go head to head, because neither of us wants to back down.
I love this book. I read it in 2014 and was surprised how much I still remembered from it. I’ve read hundreds of books since then! So this is very memorable. I like bully books. This is definitely one of the best. The bullying wasn’t that bad. There were no sexual assaults or threats of it and no physical abuse. Jared didn’t make Tate’s life miserable, and she never became depressed or suicidal.
Tate is strong, which I love. Jared bullied her before she went to France for a year, but she comes back a badass. The way Tate became the bully was handled brilliantly. “This is how bullies are made.” I also liked how that didn’t go on too long, how Tate pulled herself back from that abyss.
Jared and Tate had a history of love, and Jared had a great excuse. He just needed to grow up and figure himself out after the trauma he went through. I didn’t completely believe Jared’s swift turn around at first, but by the end I got it. I believed how Tate could take Jared back into her heart as quickly as she did, which wasn’t overnight quick (a cliche I hate in bully books).
The story isn’t perfect. I hate that Jared was sleeping around but Tate is a virgin, and he even says how he loves that, that this makes her really his. Thumbs down on that cliche. I’m also not a fan of the cliche bitchy slut revenge for stealing her man bit. But I forgive these things because of all the rest. I love this book.
Oh! And the sex scenes were very hot.
1st person past tense all from Tate. I didn’t feel that Jared’s character was completely fleshed out because I only got Tate’s POV. For this reason, I like “Until You” better. More on that in the next review.
Contains graphic sex scenes. The characters are 18 when they get down to business.
Occasional foul language.
HFN (Happy For Now)
Alright is not a word. It’s two words: all right. Beyond that, there were 50 errors. That’s a lot. That I look past this speaks to how great the story is! Note: I may be reading an earlier version of the book because I bought in 2014. Amazon thinks I don’t own it when I go to its current webpage.
$4.99 on Amazon.
333 pages.
Favorite Quotes:
As I faced Madoc, who had raised himself to meet my gaze, I grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted my knee into his groin. Hard. The amount of pressure must’ve been a lot, because he yelped and fell to his knees, moaning while holding his crotch.
I’d been called a bitch before, and it didn’t hurt the way being called a slut did. Being a bitch could be a survival technique. They get respect. There was no honor in people thinking you were a slut.
Best friends to lovers with great small-town drama
Blurb:
Rayna would do anything for Brady and she has. She’s bailed him out of jail. She’s healed his bruises and picked him up from parties. She’s always been there for him regardless if he had asked or not. But when a potential love interest for Rayna returns to town, their relationship is threatened. Brady has to decide if he’s going to make her his or let her go. And when he tries to do the right thing by both of them, neither could’ve foreseen what secrets their decisions would’ve exposed. Their small town is soon rocked by controversy and in the midst of it, Rayna and Brady try to figure out if they can be together or not.
I love this book. I originally read it back in 2014. Even after all those years, I remembered a few things. “Get off!” – “I just did.” was my favorite. I thought of that recently and wanted to re-read this. I’m not going to put the quote here. It’s at the start of Chapter 2, which you can see in the Sneak Peek on Amazon. Tijan’s Fallen Crest series seems more popular, but this is my favorite of her books.
There is a lot of great humor here. It’s a fast read, quick paced. Tijan does soap opera drama very well. Whose father is whose and who slept with who and when, absentee parents, good surrogate parents to replace them, that sort of thing. I loved Rayna’s grandparents and other secondary characters.
Both Rayna and Brady grow during the story. I love both of these characters and how they interact. I don’t like that Brady has been having casual sex. It doesn’t seem like he was a real slut as I don’t know how many girls he has been with. But I don’t think he is a man-whore (doesn’t make the girls pay emotionally, doesn’t lie to get it).
All sex is off camera.
Occasional foul language.
1st person past tense, all from Rayna.
286 pages.
$3.99 on Amazon.
Standalone.
Errors: 33 (wrong words, extra words, missing words, misspelled words, wrong punctuation marks, laughing/groaning/smirking/etc as dialogue tags, alright is not a word – it’s all right)
There is a never published start to a sequel called “Brady Remington Is My Boyfriend” that was abandoned. I have it and read it. It just stops with no resolution to the story but does have some actual sex scenes in it. I think Tijan posted the chapters to Facebook at one time, and I copied them into a Word doc. I feels like Tijan didn’t like where the story was going, and I would agree. Rayna was acting wish-washy and vague, not the great character that was in the actual book.
Favorite Quotes:
A tingle shot through my toes from his soft tone, but I clamped down on it. I didn’t need to be getting hot and bothered by him, not tonight. Not ever.
“You… you upheavaled my night. I wanted to stay in. I wanted to be boring. I like being boring, Brady”
I looked away when Clarissa sent a scorching glare at me. I wasn’t going to bend to her will and go against my grandmother. Viola had spoken.
A very alien-looking and delightfully unique alien SciFi romance
Blurb:
Claire has never really fit in with everyone around her, but she’s carved out a life for herself using her own unique style and artistic ability to support herself on the Internet. The last thing she expects is to be abducted by aliens and dropped into a research facility, where a genetically-engineered alien soldier chooses her as his life-mate.
Thrax’s pheromones are compelling, and his status as a fellow unwilling test subject makes them allies, but Claire isn’t certain she can trust someone who is convinced she belongs to him, when all she wants to do is find a way to return home to Earth—a place that her devoted alien can never follow, because there’s no way the scorpion-like alien would ever be able to pass for human.
Still, she’ll accept help where she can find it, so she doesn’t hesitate to escape with Thrax from the facility, though their time running from their pursuers in the warrens beneath the research facility will forever change Claire, and could make it impossible for her to return to Earth.
But will there be anywhere else in the galaxy they can go where their love will be accepted?
This alien romance features an alien hero who actually looks alien, strong language, violence, and open door intimate scenes.
Claire is abducted from Earth and awakens inside a research facility. When she first sees Thrax, she thinks he is going to kill and possibly eat her. Turns out he only wants to eat her in the good way.
I loved that Thrax was very alien-looking. It is difficult for us humans to imagine things we haven’t seen before, but Susan Trombley does a very good job of it! As the title and cover art suggest, the closest thing we have to Thrax on Earth is a scorpion. But Thrax is as much different from a scorpion as he is like one. He was genetically changed by their captors to me more like them, more humanoid, more human. He has a human mouth and tongue, and a working man-part, which he wants to use with Claire.
The most hilarious thing in the book is that Thrax can feed Claire with oral sex. He can consciously change the molecular makeup of what comes out of him. One of the things he can make is a fluid that meets all a human’s nutrition and water needs. It’s not just protein! Yes, you can suck him like a straw and not need any other food or water. The latest in handy-dandy survival tools! There are many other funny moments, but this takes the cake (as it is not needed anymore).
I also really loved Claire. She was smart, level-headed, not prone to panic or acts of idiocy, and had a great sense of humor. She was not an unrealistic super-character. Her strengths were all mental and emotional. A strong character, but not a fighter. Not kick-ass, until she has Thrax at her side. Claire taught Thrax to truly feel emotion. They make a great and powerful combination.
Their story is very good, fast-paced with world-building, interactions between the couple, and action scenes. There wasn’t anything I would have cut, nothing that bored me. I particularly enjoyed discovering the world as Claire did. Nothing was front-loaded. There were no data dumps. I read this very quickly and didn’t want to put it down.
This reminded me of Amanda Milo’s Stolen By An Alien series. There isn’t as much humor in it but still a good bit. I loved Amanda’s books, and I loved this.
1st person past tense from Claire and Thrax.
Contains graphic sex scenes, but only two main long ones, both very hot. There is a lot more story than sex here. I really like that we get a sex scene from Thrax’s POV.
Occasional foul language.
It has been very well edited. I found only 9 minor errors (missing words, wrong words, words that should be hyphenated, wrong punctuation, spaces before the first letter of paragraphs, and a blank line that didn’t look intentional).
Paranormal shifter romance set in a post-apocalyptic world with unique shifter lore. Currently free on Amazon.
Blurb:
Breed or die off.
The future of Wolf Hollow is in the hands of their single shifters to claim mates and rebuild their pack after a devastating attack leaves them vulnerable.
Sasha is the only surviving female pureblooded wolf in her pack and feels the pressure to claim the pack’s only pureblooded male . . . until he runs off rather than claim her. The elders have chosen a new male for her with no concern for her feelings on the matter. None of her packmates appear to care who mates her, except for one.
An attraction that threatens the future of the pack…
Tabor, a hotheaded half-breed, is the hollow’s only wizard shifter. Constantly overlooked despite his strengths, Tabor believes Sasha is as shortsighted as the rest of the pack until she proves there’s more to her than a blindly obedient lapdog.
Unable to resist the proud and sensual pureblood, Tabor would risk everything to claim her.
Despite her vanishing bloodline, Sasha can’t resist the charismatic half-breed, even as the elders set her up to breed with another pureblood.
Predators are closing in, threatening to eliminate their pack permanently, and there are shifters within Wolf Hollow willing to do anything to prevent the pair from claiming one another.
It’s a savage, Mad Max kind of world where only the strongest survive. Meet the Wolf Hollow Shifters in Nikki Jefford’s dark and addictive dystopian romance series for adult readers.
Wolf Hollow has unique shifter lore I haven’t come across before. There are four different kinds of wolf shifters: pure-bloods who always lived in the wilderness; non-pure-bloods whose ancestors lived among humans and perhaps mated with them – I’m not clear on that point; werewolves who shift into the monster form we’ve seen in movies; and half-breeds who are a mix of wolf shifter and another magical race – the only one we know of is wizards.
This shifter world does not have fated mates. They choose their mates just like humans do. And they can cheat, having sex with other people than their “mate”, which I don’t like. Both male and female claim each other with a bite to the neck, but it doesn’t have to be during sex (as I often see).
“Wolf shifters, in both animal and human form, could only become pregnant during the full moon. The closer to the exact second, the better their chances.”
“Once a female shifter reached her second trimester, her body became incapable of shifting into wolf form until after she gave birth. With pure-blooded native wolf shifters, the opposite was true. When two purebloods mated, the female was stuck in wolf form the moment she became pregnant until she gave birth. Purebloods were considered the strongest wolf shifters in existence, but they were a dying breed.”
I loved Sasha. She is strong, fierce, and honorable. Tabor is the same but fighting against the prejudice and exclusion of his pack growing up. They both grow throughout the novel.
This was a fast paced read with a lot of action and emotion. I only found one error in this novel, so it is extremely well edited. I’m eager to read more in this series.
There are a few sex scenes, but they aren’t detailed.
SAFE – no Other People drama, cheating, or abuse.
3rd person past tense from Sasha and Tabor.
293 pages. Currently free on Amazon. There are 4 more in the series, $3.99 each.
A delinquent and a young police officer – clean romance
Blurb:
HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO?
All Meg has ever wanted is to get away. Away from high school. Away from her backwater town. Away from her parents who seem determined to keep her imprisoned in their dead-end lives. But one crazy evening involving a dare and forbidden railroad tracks, she goes way too far…and almost doesn’t make it back.
John made a choice to stay. To enforce the rules. To serve and protect. He has nothing but contempt for what he sees as childish rebellion, and he wants to teach Meg a lesson she won’t soon forget. But Meg pushes him to the limit by questioning everything he learned at the police academy. And when he pushes back, demanding to know why she won’t be tied down, they will drive each other to the edge — and over….
This is about two teenagers 17/19 who face fears, grow, and heal. It’s clean – there is only making out on camera. It’s funny, sweet, and has a great, dramatic story. It is very well written and fast paced. I read it all in one go. 5 stars – this is the second time I have read it.
The book ends at 75%. The last 25% is a sneak peek at two other novels.
1st person past tense all from Meg.
Errors: 10
Favorite Quote:
I didn’t quite dare, because I didn’t want him to tell me no. But I got very close to touching The Place Prisoners Should Not Touch Policemen.
Contemporary romance set in Scotland. Book 2 in a series of standalones.
Blurb:
A woman used to taking charge is about to meet a man who’ll make her lose control in this novel from the New York Times bestselling author of On Dublin Street.
It has always been up to Johanna to care for her family, particularly her younger brother, Cole. With an absent father and a useless mother, she’s been making decisions based on what’s best for Cole for as long as she can remember. She even determines what men to date by how much they can provide for her brother and her, not on whatever sparks may—or may not—fly.
But with Cameron MacCabe, the attraction is undeniable. The sexy new bartender at work gives her butterflies every time she looks at him. And for once, Jo is tempted to put her needs first. Cam is just as obsessed with getting to know Jo, but her walls are too solid to let him get close enough to even try.
Then Cam moves into the flat below Jo’s, and their blistering connection becomes impossible to ignore. Especially since Cam is determined to uncover all of Jo’s secrets…even if it means taking apart her defenses piece by piece.
Johanna “Jo” has been dating men looking for financial security rather than attraction. She takes care of her drunk mother and her 14-year-old brother, Cole. As she does with her family, she puts the men’s needs ahead of her own, showing them a personality she thinks they want instead of the real Jo. She is immediately physically attracted to Cameron, the tattooed graphic artist out of a job, but tries to ignore it.
This is a slow burn, friends first type of romance, as both of them are in relationships at the start of the novel. We have to endure a somewhat graphic but short sex scene with Jo’s current man at the start of the book. This is not the man she ends up with I surmise. It isn’t cheating, but I’m never a fan. And also, it’s bad sex. 😂
This was very good. 5 stars as I would read it again. I’m not sure I will like the next one because the guy is a slut, but I’m going to give it a shot. I’m going back to Tijan’s Crew series for a bit though.
I loved Jo’s character – snarky and strong but weak inside, growing throughout the novel. It made sense for her, and I never hated her. I loved seeing her tackling that damn inner voice that said she was nothing that her abusive parents gifted her.
Cam was very good as well. We don’t get to hear his inner thoughts, but we can see him fighting his own demons.
Cole, the 14-year-old brother, was so cute. He was very believable, with his grunts, but you could tell he really loved his sister.
The pacing was very good. It’s a fast, enjoyable read, and the sex scenes were very hot.
Contains many graphic sex scenes, foul language, flashbacks to physical abuse, and current verbal abuse from the drunk mother.
A women hiding from her past has all of her secrets laid bare in this New York Times and USA Today bestselling sensation that enraptured readers everywhere…
Braden Carmichael is used to getting what he wants, and he’s determined to get Jocelyn into his bed. He knows she has a past, one that has made her skittish about getting into a relationship, so he proposes an arrangement that will satisfy their intense attraction without any strings attached.
But after an intrigued Jocelyn accepts, Braden decides he won’t be satisfied with just mind-blowing passion. The stubborn Scotsman is intent on truly knowing her…down to the very soul.
Jocelyn “Joss” doesn’t do relationships. She doesn’t talk about her past with even her best friend and never lets anyone get too close. Braden and Joss have immediate sexual chemistry, but Joss won’t do a relationship. Braden agrees to a friends with benefits deal… or does he?
I liked this a lot. I do like bossy caveman alpha males, especially when they are sweet and treat their woman right. So I was very happy with Braden. I liked Jocelyn too. She was complex, strong, and weak at the same time. But her weakness was understandable. She had stuffed down the grief from losing her family when she was 14 and never dealt with it. It takes amazing strength of will to compartmentalize like that and even more to unpack it later. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do to survive. And sometimes you need a bossy person to push you into dealing with your baggage and overcoming it.
We get Joss’ backstory in little hints along the way, making us curious. The novel was fast paced, an easy, enjoyable read. There was a good amount of humor throughout. I loved how snarky Joss could be.
This is set in Edinburgh, Scotland. I’ve been there a few times and loved all the details about the city that were sprinkled throughout.
This contains many graphic sex scenes, which were hot. No complaints
Frequent foul language. I thought it was hilarious when Joss cursed in her mind.
Grammar:
The first review on Goodreads was from October 2012. I believe it shows up first because it has the most likes. It talks about the terrible grammar in this. Since I can’t read books with grammar that bad, I read part of the sample on Amazon. This book has clearly been edited and proofread since 2012. It looks like it was originally self-published but was picked up by Berkley and reprinted in 2019. This is the version I am reviewing.
1st person past tense from Joss (Jocelyn).
“Alright” is not a word. This has become a pet peeve of mine. It’s “all right” – two words!
Mom/Dad should be capitalized like a proper name when not her mom, his mom, and so on.
When the dialogue continues from the same person into a new paragraph, you need an open quotation mark on that second paragraph to indicate they are still speaking but not a closing quotation mark at the end of the first paragraph. The open quote is often missing here.
There should be a comma before, right? This is just like yes, no, yeah, and others. Yes, I get that. No, that’s not it. Yeah, okay. And when you end with a question, it needs a question mark, okay?
Text messages were not consistently formatted. The first set was in italics, but later sets weren’t.
Other than these issues, I found 15 errors, which isn’t bad.
If you need a break from overused cliches, angst, evil villains, or tearjerkers, dip into this series!
I read the first book, Trucker, a long time ago. I remember at the time thinking I would save these for when I needed a break from angst and difficult reads. I really needed that break after The Sainthood series! I’d been in gangland with murder and raunchy sex for too long. I needed something nice and sweet. So I binged the rest of the series. It was just what I needed. They are all so cute! I had plenty of laugh out loud moments.
They are feel-good reads without being over the top or sugary. They are like real vanilla, not the cheap imitation stuff, with deep notes of true flavor. When I’ve been having a lot of Rocky Road and other complicated or sour flavors, it’s just so refreshing to savor something so genuine and real. If you need a break from overused cliches, angst, evil villains, or tearjerkers, dip into this series!
They are all SAFE – NO: cheating, sex scenes with Other People, love triangles, abuse, non or dubious consent, or cliffhangers! They do contain occasional foul language and graphic sex scenes, which are very hot. These are emotional. People make love in these books.
I especially love that the author turns cliches around. A familiar situation comes up, but the characters react to it in a different, usually saner, way.
Each book is written in 1st person past tense with about half the chapters from each of the two main characters.
They are all very well edited. I only found a few errors in each.
Travis picks Angel up when she starts to hitchhike across the country.
This was so frigging cute. It’s a light-hearted, feel-good read. I loved that both the leads are virgins. Travis’ horror date stories were hilarious. I laughed out loud several times while reading this.
The only thing I didn’t like was the OW drama. It was just another woman that wanted Travis, mean girl stuff, no touching at all between H and OW. Very cliche, but at least it was over quickly!
Angel was naive and far too trusting, but she’s very young (17/18). It’s nice to see that life hadn’t beaten that out of her already.
Brielle “Ellie” and Colton were best friends as children until Colton moved away when they were seven years old. Now in their early twenties, Brielle is a cage dancer in a nightclub. Her clothes stay on. She is a single mother, having gotten pregnant as a senior in high school. We met Colton in Trucker. He is Travis’ roommate and also a mechanic like Travis. Colton has been having erectile dysfunction, performance anxiety. But that magically clears up when he sees a certain cage dancer performing, and he has to meet her.
They aren’t virgins in this one, but they haven’t been promiscuous either.
Colton’s autocorrect texts are hilarious! I’ve been to webpages that list these things and laughed so much, so it’s like having one of those sprinkled throughout. He talked about wanting to get his phone fixed, and I yelled, “No! No fixing Colton’s phone!” And Brielle’s kid is fabulously funny as well.
Favorite Quotes:
“Did you ever think maybe you just didn’t like her? I mean, maybe your dick knew better than you,” he joked, making light of the situation.
Me: My dad is a nympho gopher. Travis: Hahaha. Me: Dammit! A nosy gossip.
Me: Where spank tits tomorrow? Ellie: Are you talking dirty to me?
Unfortunately, I got mixed results. Apparently when your internet search contains ‘giant balls’ you need to be prepared for anything.
Mackenna is a reclusive song writer who recently moved next door to Beverly, the fantastic old lady that we first met in Trucker. Beverly is Jimmy’s grandmother. He moves in with her for the summer after failing his first year of college.
If I have to choose, this is my favorite. There is so much humor in this. We have Beverly, where all my favorite quotes below come from. Then there is Sweet Pea, the cussing parrot who poops everywhere. And finally we have Jimmy himself with his tightie camouflage underwear.
Mackenna had an abusive boyfriend in high school and stayed away from men after that. She isn’t interested in dating anyone, but Jimmy is hard to resist. I loved how their relationship slowly progressed, starting with just holding hands. It was very realistic and just what Mackenna needed. So sweet!
Favorite Quotes:
Beverly Louise Johnson was the coolest motherfucking lady in the entire world. She was brutally honest, didn’t take anyone’s crap, and swore like a sailor. On more than one occasion, my parents had said they thought I inherited my wild streak from her.
“Rule number two,” she continued. “No hanky panky in the hot tub. I’ve never broken that rule and neither will you.” I made a face. “Grandma. No offense, but gross.”
“Well I’ll be damned, Jimmy,” she said, looking misty-eyed. Then she motioned toward my chest again. “What about the piercings? Did that hurt?” Looking down at her housecoat, she added, “Maybe I should get some.” A rude sound escaped at the awful suggestion. “Grandma… no. God, no.” “Seriously. I think Ernie might like it.” Mortified, I ran a hand over my face. “Please stop talking.”
Jimmy, I’m shacking up at Ernie’s for the night. Be nice to Sweet Pea and give him a peanut. There’s a bag in the pantry. P.S. Don’t you dare tease me about doing the walk of shame in the morning. -Grandma
Ezra is Jimmy’s little brother, whom we met in Dropout, and Kayla is his classmate. The story starts at the end of their senior year in high school. Ezra is a little overweight and walks with a limp. He has been bullied and teased his entire life. Kayla is very interestingly mixed race and always gets asked, “What are you?” It turns out they have both been crushing on each other for a long time.
They are both virgins in this.
I loved Ezra’s service dog, Pierre. He wasn’t comic relief. He’s a very serious fellow with a job to do! There is still a lot of humor in this. Kayla was adopted by a gay couple, and they are hilarious.
Favorite Quote:
Clearly, she’d been both afraid and impressed by my size. I knew I wasn’t small down there. It wasn’t something I ever flaunted, because my dick wasn’t anyone’s business. Except Kayla’s. It could be her business anytime she wanted it to be.
We met Jay and Casey briefly in Dropout. Casey was 16 and knocked up by Mackenna’s psycho ex. Jay got busted for meth dealing that night of the fight. Jay is just recently out of jail and doesn’t think he is worthy of Casey and her son, Gus. Casey is an adult now and concentrating on taking care of her son.
This one had more angst and sadness in it but not too much. It’s not a tearjerker. Still a feel-good story with a HEA. We have a case of a character being an idiot, but it at least it didn’t go on too long, and there was no cheating or OP involved.
Gus was a very cute and funny toddler. I loved that they let him play with jewelry and wear princess dresses since that’s what he wanted. They didn’t judge or worry, even in their thoughts. Kids want they want, and it doesn’t have to be traditionally gender-assigned toys and clothes. Gus might change his tastes as he gets older, and he might not. Either is fine. He might grow up to up be straight, gay, or anything in between, and all of that is fine. They are letting him be who he is and not worrying about it, which is very refreshing in a novel.
Favorite Quotes:
I had a lot of nicknames for my little dude. Buddy. Bud. Bubbie goo. Mister buddy goo goobie goo man. Sometimes I got a little obnoxious with it—I even had made-up theme songs just for him.
Jay: Not having anything to contribute to a conversation about birthing large objects, I stuffed my hands in my pockets while they went into some of the nitty gritty details of labor.
“I brought you a funnel cake,” he announced, clearly pleased with himself. As he should be. If I hadn’t already been planning to jump his bones, I certainly would’ve been now.
ROSALIE I’ve been a prisoner in my own home for as long as I can remember. My mother says I’m sick in the head, and that’s why I can’t leave. And maybe she’s right.
But that doesn’t stop me from watching our new groundskeeper from my window and wanting things I shouldn’t. Like his hands on my body. His lips on my skin. Just him and me, running free in the world.
All I want is a normal life, but it’s a fantasy. Insanity.
Because no one would want a crazy girl like me.
PRESTON I broke the cardinal rule of the private investigator business—I fell for my client’s daughter. When I agreed to go undercover to get Rosalie out of her house, I had every intention of bringing her to her father. After all, it’s what he hired me to do.
But Rosalie’s life is a tangled web of mystery, tragedy, and lies. Her loneliness calls to mine, tempting me with a chance at redemption I never thought I’d have. I refuse to deliver her from one hell to another.
Even if it means risking my life.
Although LONER is the sixth book in the Good Guys series, it can be read as a complete standalone.
I haven’t read this yet but plan to when I need a break.
High school to college reverse harem romance with crazy feels!
Blaire moved in the middle of her senior year of high school to a new town after her twin brother died. Before school starts, she meets three amazing and hot guys. They had been best friends forever and almost immediately all want her.
I loved this. 5 stars because I would read it again. It was extremely written making for a fast read even though it was pretty long. It needed every word. Things were revealed at the right times along the way, and I don’t want to give any spoilers. Blaire has gone through hell and continues to do so. The story is dramatic but feels real, not like a soap opera. It’s a story of emotions, good ones, bad ones, and complicated ones.
The characters were complicated and felt real as well. I loved Shaznay, the sister of one of the guys, and she provided some much-needed humor. The sex scenes were hot and added to the story. The story is amazing. I’d never thought about the families of the instigators of these crimes and what hell it must be for them.
Warnings: This contains references to gun crimes, rape, suicide, and self-harm. Nothing bad happens between the main characters, no non or dubious consent. There are several graphic sex scenes. All are one-on-one, no group sex.
1st person present tense from Blaire. Midway through we get sections from the guys. This was very well edited. I only found 8 errors.
Let me begin by saying, “I hate football.” For me, it’s associated with the men in my family screaming at the TV. I’ve always hated conflict and raised voices, so this made me cringe. It also broke my concentration when I was trying to read! I was dragged to football games because my parents didn’t want to get a babysitter, so I sat in the stands reading and hating all the rude noise around me. But with all that, I still loved this novel!
I read a paramedic romance last year and knew nothing about that world and loved that novel too. See Crossing The Line. This felt a lot like that. I didn’t understand the football jargon, trusted the author knew what she was talking about, and just moved past it. It added to the realism and didn’t bore me. I think football fans will enjoy it immensely.
The writing was great, aside from unnecessary dialogue tags. It was fast paced with a lot of story. So this isn’t just erotica. But the sex scenes were very hot. This is also SAFE – no cheating, no Other People problems at all, which was very nice. There was no slut-shaming or villain girls! Overall, I highly recommend this if you like reverse harem / menage romances. It’s a plus if you like football, but it isn’t necessary that you do.
1st person past tense from Roberta and the three guys.
This is well edited. I found 10 errors. There are also some unnecessary dialogue tags, but there weren’t enough to bother me.
Favorite Quotes:
The outline of his huge cock slid against his shorts, falling across to rest against his other thigh. I got the impression it wasn’t fully hard, but it was thick. Like a damn extra-large stick of Toblerone chocolate.
Aly made an annoyed noise. “Do you have to talk about football? I’m trying to enjoy all these hunks in tight pants.” “Oh, sorry. Didn’t mean to interrupt what really matters.”
Feña was wearing a Ralph Lauren polo shirt, and his dark curls looked like they’d been freshly washed. But below the waist he wore baggy basketball shorts and a pair of gym sneakers. It was a hilarious juxtaposition of styles. Attractive college boy on top, and lazy athlete on the bottom. Like a fashion mullet.
I could see why women loved dating bikers. It was like riding around on a big vibrator.
V. B. Law 