bandherbooks's Reviews (3.65k)

Sexy sex but very shallow character development. Hoover is truly the queen of insta-love and that is my very least favorite romance trope. I bumped this up a star because her writing style is unique (see chapters written in 'verse') and because of the cranky old elevator guy who befriends the main character. Miles, you are a tragic piece of work and I just didn't like you.

This was not for me. All of the tension between the main characters was driven by lies and anger. I also didn't like how flying into a jealous, possessive rage that often led to physical violence equaled love.

I really love when a young couple meets back up when they are older and still have hot sparks. This fulfilled that completely.

Both Katie and Cameron went through life changing accidents, but while Katie now tries to say yes and take chances, Cameron (formerly a Olympic Gold Medalist snowboarder) isn't. Until he finds Katie sleeping in his cabin after he returns to Wishful, Washington.

Super smoldering hot. I don't know what Shalvis does, but she does it really right for me. I still hate these covers though.

Holy mother, pants afire for this one. Talk about delayed gratification with a huge payoff. TJ and Harley have smokin' chemistry, and I love their dance around each other since high school.

Sexy mountain man meets up tight big city doctor who grows to love both the mountain village and the man. Great Shalvis fair.

Short and sweet, but a bit lacking in character depth which isn't standard for Shalvis. Not one of my favorites, but a pleasant distraction.

I read the two short stories, already having read the first two full novels. They were cute and fun for Christmas time, but not too Christmas-y.

Well now. I chose this for the 'guilty pleasure' square for the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge (come on that description is too much), but this was actually really fun and great.
Kauffman's two main leads defy typical romance tropes. Tessa is suffering from PTSD related to her war photographer career and Roan is running an artisanal basket weaving coop on a small Scotish island. Tessa is on a holiday to hopefully recover when she is asked to photograph the men of the island (including Roan) for a Hot Scot calendar. Sparks fly, and while Roan wants Tessa for forever, she doesn't know if she can be healthy enough to give her all.
A bit repetitive at times but great Scottish dialogue.

Typical "New Adult" novel with a tortured soul of a young woman repressing a troubled past and a hot, domineering jerky rich guy, but this time set in Scotland! Same story, different setting, and the Scottish setting really had no impact on the story whatsoever. However, in defense of this story, I did have an iota more of respect for Joss then I normally do for most of the female leads in these novels. She had some good quips, but alas her love interest was basically a controlling asshole.

Read for the "guilty pleasure" square of the Book Riot 2015 Read Harder Challenge.