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.
After shuffling from one bad foster home to another, Parker is finally taken in by a good family. They have seven sons. Five of them are older than Parker.
This was a clean reverse harem romance, which I’ve never run into before. There is kissing but just that, no more. I really liked it. It was sweet and a fast read. There was no insta-love. Feelings built slowly. It had some good humor in it, especially with the character of Austyn.
1st person present tense from Parker and the guys.
I found 24 errors. A lot of them were weird like the first letter at the start of a sentence not being capitalized. Word should fix that on its own.
An okay reimagining of Pride and Prejudice with teens in high school
I love Jane Austen and have read
all her books. I’ve enjoyed all the miniseries and movies. I’m not a purist and
have enjoyed sequel regency romance novels. I’ve also loved Austen storylines
reimagined movies. My favorites are “Bride and Prejudice” and “Clueless”
(Emma). So when I read this book was “Pride and Prejudice” reimagined with teens
in the modern world, I was fully prepared to love it. Unfortunately, I had some
major problems with it.
It’s cute and sometimes amusing.
I had no problem finishing it. I wasn’t bored, and it didn’t drag on. The
writing was okay. I kinda liked it. But you can tell I’m not really excited by
it.
These were my major problems
with it:
1. Dialogue straight from
Austen, some of the most memorable quotes, did not sound realistic coming from
modern teenagers. It felt forced and fake.
2. Overused clichés – mean girls,
the destruction of a dress right before a fashion show, a prom-like climax, and
others. It felt too “Gossip Girl”.
3. The “Bingham” character was
far too shallow and narcissistic. He also punched out his windshield, twice,
which indicated anger control issues. It made me worry Jade (Jane) would be
abused later.
4. The entire book takes place
within the time “Pride and Prejudice” is being discussed and quizzed on in Mia’s
class (Elizabeth Bennet). The timing wasn’t clear. I don’t know how many weeks passed
between the start and the end. But it felt way too long to be discussing one
book. At least my English teachers never would have taken that long on a single
book.
5. Along with the last point, the action unfolds so the class talks about the plot points in P&P as they correspond to what’s going on in Mia’s life. This forced the comparison, as if I wouldn’t get it otherwise, when it was blatantly obvious all along. It also made me doubt Mia’s intelligence as she doesn’t see the similarities between the book and her life.
1st person present
tense with alternating chapters from the two main characters. I did like
getting into the mind of Finn (Darcy).
Clean romance appropriate for
young readers. Nothing beyond kissing. No foul language. Little violence – mainly
the punching windshields thing. No OM/OW drama.
HFN, which felt more appropriate than a HEA.
Grammar:
Dialogue is very often separated
from the action sequence that identifies the speaker. Sometimes one character
speaks twice, in two separate paragraphs. This made knowing who was speaking
difficult to figure out in places. There weren’t any unnecessary dialogue tags,
but there were places where necessary tags were missing.
Commas weren’t routinely
missing, so not using them wasn’t a choice. There were 9 missing commas.
Other error count: 15 (misspelled, wrong, extra, and missing words,
and missing punctuation marks)
So it was readable but not a good job.
My favorite quote comes from the school principal as she is about to announce the king and queen of the winter formal dance: “Pipe down, you pompous—” Potter lets out a loud whistle. There’s dead silence as she finishes her sentence with “…little turdfaces!” More awkward silence follows, and Principal Potter gives a wry smile. “Firstly, I want to say I’m drunk.”
Crossing the Line grabbed
me and held on. It’s a story about building trust, not only with others but
with yourself. With trust, comes love. It’s a romance between a man and a
woman, but it’s also about both of them rebuilding themselves to be capable of
giving and receiving love after life has broken them down.
The setting for this is the Emergency
Medical Services, and it’s compelling. EMS is a completely new world for me,
and I loved it. So you won’t need to know anything going in to enjoy it. It’s
certainly not just for EMS workers or those who know them. My curiosity compelled
me to Google several things, but it wasn’t necessary. It felt like reading
science fiction or watching a medical drama, where I trust the characters know
what they’re talking about or doing when I don’t. I found several things
shocking, like the work hours. I found all of the little details interesting.
Both Megan and Nathan are complex,
interesting characters. They have their strong and weak moments. They do good,
bad, wise, and stupid things, and I liked them. I hated Todd and wanted to
torture him slowly, so he’s a very good bad guy. The supporting characters
provided flavor and were memorable, even a radiologist who only appears for a
page (See? I remember her!)
The writing is very good, fast
paced and entertaining throughout. We are shown instead of told. We don’t get a
load of backstory at the start. Many things are slowly revealed with hints,
like light slaps to the face, telling us something is not okay.
I liked the occupational slang
and that it wasn’t dumbed down or explained to the reader, even if I didn’t
understand it. It gave me that fly on the wall feeling of realism.
A staccato rhythm of thoughts
and feelings, leaving sentence structure behind, is used to convey
indescribable terror and pain in a very credible way. This is how the mind works,
or doesn’t work, when we can’t deal.
I also laughed out loud many
times. The humor is great at relieving tension, just as it is in life, and
keeps this from being a depressing read. It made me sad, angry, hopeful, shocked,
proud, amused – It made me feel!
Favorite quotes:
Past tense. 3rd
person close to both Megan and Nathan but no head-hopping.
Sections are separated with time
and place headings. I find this format difficult to follow at times, needing to
flip back to see how much time passed.
Almost clean romance – no graphic
sex scenes. What is shown is camera obscura or high-level lens.
No cheating or OW/OM drama.
Triggers: Verbal and physical
abuse and rape, not graphically described. Some other violence and medical
gore. Suicidal ideation.
Occasional foul language.
Grammar was great for most of
this. I was reading an ARC and sent what I did find to the author. Fellow
grammar curmudgeon’s need not beware.
Sort of HEA but definitely a satisfying
ending. No cliffhanger.
Loved it. Would I want to read it again? Yes! So 5 stars. I highly recommend this!
Makings of a good story, shame about present tense + grammar
At the start of an apocalypse, Reagan escapes the college she’s been at and goes home to the family farm. The McClane’s are clearly preppers. One of Reagan’s sisters is married to a an Army Ranger. He is brought home wounded by his brother and a friend. So we have three hot military men for three beautiful McClane sisters.
This story is written in present tense throughout, which was shocking to my system and difficult to read until I got accustomed to it. I don’t think I’ve ever read a novel in present tense before and have decided I’m not a fan of this choice.
There are many grammar and spelling errors. At some point, there was a search and replace that replaced the second half of certain words with “Where”. Yikes. Unnecessary dialogue tags are everywhere. Dialogue and action are placed in separate paragraphs. The same word is used to describe things in adjacent paragraphs. This novel could have seriously benefited from an editor.
Now the story is actually pretty good in parts. I love the whole post-apocalypse romance genre, which is why I decided to try this even after reading bad reviews. I found I don’t agree with the complaints that the women are weak. Reagan is a sharp shooter and goes with the men to defend some neighbors. In the beginning, she kills her attackers. She’s got the makings of a strong character, but her thinking she is ugly because of some scars seems quite far fetched.
It makes sense that Grams and Hannah would be cooking all the time. There are no more microwaves! Cooking for that many people is actually quite strenuous. And Sue is heavily pregnant and then taking care of an infant while still managing an enormous garden, which is hard work too. These women aren’t weak just because they are doing “women’s work”. Women’s work is frigging hard!
The fact that Reagan and Hannah are both virgins makes sense for their characters. Reagan has been far ahead of her age group in school since before she hit puberty. Hannah was home schooled because she didn’t want to go away to a school for the blind. I don’t find it ridiculous. When Hannah decides she wants a man, she isn’t shy about showing him.
The story ends before it’s complete, but it’s not really a cliffhanger. I don’t feel like I have to know what happens next. Since I found present tense so uncomfortable, I don’t think I’m going to find out. If the series is ever properly edited and put into past tense, I would definitely read it.
There were no sex scenes in Book 1, so it is a clean romance. However, the romance itself didn’t get very far in this book.
Awesome, gripping, couldn’t stop reading to go to bed.
Blurb:
A British nanny looking for a low-key summer finds buried secrets, murderous attention, and unexpected romance when she visits the Nantucket Sound in this heart-pounding novel.
The Nantucket Sound is a beachfront playground for the privileged and elite, where the sunny days are filled with scenic bike rides, backyard picnics, and bonfire parties.
But all Ren Kingston—a visiting Brit still reeling from heartbreak—really wants is a quiet summer as a nanny for one of Nantucket’s wealthy families. Getting acquainted with handsome Jeremy and his young group of trust fund, private school kids was not part of the plan. Neither was befriending the local bad boy whose reputation is more dangerous than charming.
After a dead body is found next to The Sound’s postcard-perfect view, Ren starts to wonder where the real threat lies. Because it’s becoming clear that her newfound “friends” are much more than they seem. They’re hiding secrets. Secrets that Ren wants no part of.
But once The Sound has you in its current, it won’t want to let you go…
This is a complete story in one book. No cliffhanger!
It’s clean but has some steamy kisses.
I really loved it. It grabbed me from the start and I couldn’t stop. I read it all in one sitting, staying up all night to finish it. It was gripping and had me on the edge of my seat but it wasn’t depressing at all, which I love. I didn’t see the twists coming. I was thrilled that Jessie stopped Ren from having regrets – you’ll see what I mean. I was very satisfied with the ending. Overall, I absolutely loved this book and highly recommend it.
V. B. Law 