The Rake's Daughter is the second book in the "Brides of Bellaire Gardens" and I was excited to return back to Anne Gracie. I love how she writes her historicals, they are just more authentically feeling. I was fascinated to see the set up of the romance. It was well narrated and it really pulled me into the story. I adored the friendship and sisterhood between the two sisters. The way that they defend each other is completely solid, you instantly become endeared by the way that they protect and stand by each other. I was slightly disappointed with this story though, in that the romance could have used more focus. It was very slow burn and we don't get much action in the romance until the ending, so I was disappointed in how the romance was developed. I am glad that I chose to listen to this as it was a super slow burn and I think if I had read this one physically, it would have been more of a struggle to read. I still enjoyed the story in some ways, but in other ways, it was highly disappointing. I am hoping that we get the sister's book because I want her to reach her HEA.

A Lesson in Thorns has been on my kindle for the longest time, I am not sure why it was on there for so long or why I had waited so long to read this one here. I have been such a fan of this author and I like the she pushes the boundaries but in a way that most readers won't even notice right away but will go along for the ride. I will say despite the ending of this one, I LOVED this book so much. I am going to keep this review short because I do feel like readers need to go into this one completely blind. I was recommended to go into it blind, and I am glad that I did. From what I could tell there isn't anything super triggering, so as long as you don't get triggered easily, there isn't much that you will have to worry about in this one. I was highly impressed with this story and how it was built into. I really adored the growth of the relationship between the character, there is such a solid friendship and I enjoyed seeing the complexities come to light. If you are a fan of this author and her writing style, then I think it will be one that you will highly enjoy and I can't wait to read book 2 and get more from these characters and I have a feeling their story is just beginning.

This was my first Amish romance, I have been seeing these books around for a few years now, and I wanted to pick up one to see what all the hub hub was about. So I have to say that I was impressed with this one here. I ended up loving this one so much. There was something so different about this than I expected and it also had such a refreshing feel to the story. I just loved how non feminist it is, its much more traditional and I really adored that. I also found the romance so sweet, there is such an instant chemistry between these two but then some family drama gets in the way. The only thing I didn't like about this one was the sister, she was awful. I really admired though how the hero and heroine handled the situation with her, its a pretty complex one and they treated her with much more grace than she deserved. My heart felt for them because you see how much they truly like each other all the way through the story, and have to hide what they feel but I am glad that everyone in the end sees her for what she is. I also adored the grandparents being matchmakers, they were so adorable. haha I will say that the heart and feels that were delivered especially in the later part of the book is what won me over and upped my rating from 4 to a 5 star, I just loved so many aspects to this story. And I was so endeared by this one and I can't wait to explore not only this author much more, but also Amish romance.

This was such a wonderful read, and I was curious to see how this duo author writing team would do together. I personally prefer Anna Zaires writing on her own, but I still enjoyed this one. It's a solid story but it does deal with some aspects that may be a struggle for some readers . I really enjoyed the level of intensity of the chemistry and there was something intriguing about the set up of the story. BUT the hero is a bit of a possessive and controlling alpha type of male so he kinda drove me nuts even though I like that type of alpha male. I did enjoy the heroine though, she was very relatable and I liked that she stood on her own even though I felt like she could be a bit naive at times. But overall such a solid read.

This is the second part to the White Nights duo and I had such a fun time with this one here. There is much more to the plot that is developed here and we also see more growth in the relationship but there is definitely plenty of drama as it starts out with a kidnapping of the heroine even if her life is in danger. I do wish the drama wasn't dragged out so much and less relationship conflict. I did enjoy the suspense plot of the story and seeing how it all comes together in the end. But the heroine drove me batty at times, she was such a drama queen at times.

I have to say that I was excited to pick this one up, I always love some historical PNR and the covers of the series are really pretty. But I was highly disappointed with this one here. It was a real struggle to read this one, and I had it in audiobook. And if a audio is slow then that's a sign lol but I stuck with the story because it does getting better the more you read, but I will say that I wanted so much more from this story and it just didn't connect for me. I found the set up of the story to be fascinating and I really enjoyed the world building, but there was a disconnect in the pacing and writing style from the actual plot and character development. I will probably try another book from this author but I was discouraged in reading this and almost became a DNF. I just wanted to stick with the story as I really wanted to know how it ended. I did find the plot development's with the uncle of the hero to be fascinating and was curious to see how the climax of the story would turn out. The romance was solid and I adore a pining hero or heroine, in this case, it was the hero who was pining for the heroine and it was delightful to see this happen. And even though there were plenty of factors about this one that I did enjoy, there were some major issues with the writing style that affected my enjoyment from the story.

As searching through my goodreads reviews, I noticed that I hadn't review All Broke Down or All Played Out so I decided to do some re reading for the Holiday and do some reviews for these treasures. There is something very unique about All Broke Down and as a whole the Rusk University series.

The Key Players of All Broke Down

Silas Moore: The running back "bad boy" of the team, always tending to get into trouble, but his talent is football.
Dylan---is motivated by protests and believing in what is right. She doesn't involve herself in the athletic circle.

All Broke Down begins when Silas, reluctantly joins up with his ex best friend at a bar after he gets released from jail. But soon realizes that he doesn't care for his ex friend anymore and through a fit of anger he ends up in a bar fight and now is in jail and he meets up with Dylan and her friend who ended up there over a protestation they had participated in.
“You’re really hitting on me? After we just met in jail?”
“Is it working?”

So we then see the strong connection that they have from first meeting and even though they are so different from each other, they have a connection they want to explore. Silas is dealing with some drama. His mother is causing problems for him, the team has been completely changed since their head QB ended up in prison over drug dealing and Silas is dealing with some difficult anger management problems. Silas knows that he will need to change and soon or he could lose the one thing that he is good at. He struggles with his classes and has hardly any family to support him, but he is good at football and its what he loves. Dylan is completely different from Silas. Dylan is sexy and sweet and at first they become good friends and some sizzling chemistry erupts between the games and the books.
Except I’m starting to think that the idea of “belonging” anywhere is false. We go through our whole lives thinking that we belong in one place and not in another. We think certain ideas and actions have to be relegated to the tiny little boxes we place them in. What if we just react instead? What if we take whatever the world gives us and instead of focusing on what it isn’t, we enjoy what it is?

What I have always tended to enjoy about this book is the depth of growth in our characters. This is where Cora Carmack's talent truly lies, is making these characters come alive off of the pages. And boy Silas and Dylan together is pure poetry. They just seem to click in all of the right ways and its interesting to see these unqiue dynamics come into play. We also see some great effort from Silas to change his life. In book one, I will admit he is not my favorite side character. He definitely likes to party and tends to get into fights. So we see how he deals with his issues from the past and change who he is to become who he really wants to be. There is so much vulnerability in Silas and we see a completely different side to him and I was totally cheering him on in the beginning. And boy I love seeing his team and his coaches push him but also the way they believe in him despite the mistakes he makes is simply breathtaking and riveting at times.

I will never get enough of this author or this series who breathes new life into New Adult Romance!! SUPERBLY WRITTEN!!

The third and simply incredible story that brings together the shy and sweet dancer with the all clothes off energetic football player deliver enticement and sweet sexiness you delight in.

All Played Out is a story of journey and growth and love and I simply adored the way that Cora Carmack wrote this book. I definitely think that this book is probably my favorite of this series so far because well the hero is hilarious and fun and I just wanted him to find his story and to find more depth to this character. In the first two books we just see him as the “goofball” of the team. And whenever he gets drinking, the clothes start to come off and its pretty fun. But in All Played Out we see how he strives to be more and to get people to see him more than his goofy personality, to actually take him seriously and then he meets the girl that changes him.

The key players of All Played Out :

Antonella DeLuca, our heroine, is the brains, she focuses on her schoolwork and does great at it, but in her last year she wants to experience some fun with her LIST. She is innocent and sweet.
Mateo Torres, the entertaining hero, is all about fun and parties and girls and loves his beer. He is rowdy and fun and has no shy bone in his body.

All Played Out begins when our heroine wants to do more than just study. She is starting to realize that she has really missed out on the full “college experience” and wants to actually experience it in the way that many around her do. When her roommate drags her to a ultimate frisbee game with her boyfriend and his football buds she is nervous since she doesn’t hang out with that crowd. But then she meets Mateo who has set his eyes on her and doesn’t want anyone else. When she shares her desire to cross off certain items off of her list, he is more than willing to be her partner. As she explores in her new adventures of college life, she discovers a love she didn’t plan on but wants to fight for.

"Because Mateo Torres is loud, and I’m quiet. Because he’s reckless, and I’m cautious. Because he belongs everywhere, and I don’t."

Oh how much love did I have for this story and man Mateo is one sexy hero and I just fell so hard for this playboy He just has this charismatic and sexy side to him that is so appealing and works so well for a hero that plays ball. And he really lightens up our heroine Nell. She is a bit too serious (which I can totally relate to) so Mateo is the type of man she really needs to make her laugh and see the fun side of life. Our heroine is a lady many readers can relate with and will enjoy reading. So she sweet and shy and awkward and really smart. She is very innocent so she just doesn’t understand the college party culture and I liked seeing how she handled putting her feet in the water and seeing the way that she wants to be more and just LIVE life. We see how our super intelligent heroine learns that living in the moment can do more than getting the best grades. Nell is very driven of course but we also see another part of her become more energetic.
"What I’m realizing is that living isn’t about what you achieve, but how you achieve it."

The romance that builds between them is so sexy and charming and I just wanted their story to be real. I adored the way that this book was written and seeing them explore new experiences together. A story that will revitalize and renew the reader with a new experience of reading and will make you feel young again!!

Broken is the third installment in the "Deep Ops" series and I have been wanting to get back to this series and get Wolfe's story as he has been teased for a while now. I was really pulled into the audio pretty quickly and I do enjoy this narrator. There is something so well done about the way that Rebecca Zanetti writes her suspense. I just adore how well paced her books are and how they instantly pull you into the story. I really loved the style in which this story was developed. We have a matching of a military secret ops type of hero with a journalist heroine. Normally I hate journalist heroines, but in this one, it was well done and she was so relatable and had a good heart. I enjoyed the BDSM elements that entered into the story and how this couple did what worked for them. I enjoyed the way that these two come together and really find their way together. The romance just seemed to fit for the characters and I enjoyed seeing how it all gets wrapped up in the end. Overall a solid installment of the Deep Ops series and I am eager for the next one. If you are a fan of romantic suspense, then this author is a must read.

Pride and Pleasure was a interesting read and this was also my first book by this author. This was a book that I came close to DNFing to be honest. The first chapter will really pull you in but after that the pacing just slowed down drastically and I really struggled with this one, I was hoping that it would get better and while there were moments where the pacing slightly picked up, it just never got to the point where I was engaged. I am not sure if this is the author's writing style or if historical's just aren't for me right now as I have been struggling with them a lot lately. I will be trying this author's contemporary romance and see if those work a bit better for me.