ARC received for an honest review - thank you Hachette Australia

I won't lie, The Cactus did start off a little slow for me, and I did put it aside for a week, however once I picked it up again, I finished again over the past weekend.

Susan is a prickly character, just like the title suggests. It did take me a while to warm up to her, I wanted someone to extract the stick that was up her rear. The was bristly and quite unlikable, however as the story progressed, I did warm up to her.

I loved her inner voice - it often showed us so much more than she showed the world. She could come across as quite 2 dimensional and flat at times, but I think that was just her. She is a complete control freak and comes across as brash.

I did enjoy how she evolved though. She formed relationships of many different kinds as the story progressed, came out of her self-imposed shell.

Secrets, lies, twists and turns, I ended up really enjoying The Cactus.

This is Ms Haywood's debut novel, and I look forward seeing what she brings us next.

ARC received for an honest review

Go out they said. Have fun they said. Hook up they said.

Yeah, that worked well for lovely Holland!

I freaking adore her. She has body image issues like so many of us do, and I couldn't help but cheer for her when she meets McHottie.

Now, him, I am still not sure what I think of him. He is sweet and sexy and all kinds of goodness wrapped in a skin suit. Then he is a d!ck and an ar$e and I want to beat the crap out of him with my kindle.

Oh what an emotional roller coaster we are taken on with *him* and Holland. I laughed, I swooned, I fanned myself cos things get reeeeal hot. Then I cried, I threw my Kindle across the couch, I cursed so loud I am sure the neighbours were wondering what was going on.

I have a love/hate relationship with quite a few of the characters actually! I know as we get more of this series (yes, there will be more) I will love and hate them all still - and I can't wait for it!

I love love love that Ms Anderson writes her books in Australia - so many Aussie authors set their books overseas, and it is always refreshing when they don't.

Fast paced, beautifully written, I am impatiently awaiting more.

Please don't make me wait too long!

A Perfect Moment, a perfect snippet of My Hayden's life.

Very quick read (originally in the Drunk Love Anthology) gave me a wonderful insight into Hayden and Vi's lives, and made me swoon all over again.

I just wish it was longer!

ARC received for an honest review

Oh my Zeus!

What a sweet, sexy, adorable second chance romance is Ruin!

Zeus and Cam have a difficult history, and as I read I couldn't help but want, no need them to worth things out and get back together.

There is a little something at the beginning that is alluded to, and it was pretty predictable to work out what it was, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment.

I loved them finding their way back to each other, fighting the past that destroyed them, falling in love again 0 maybe.

I am glad that, as much as the fighting is a huge part of Zeus' life, it wasn't the be all and end all of his life. And as the story progresses we find out just how much he has more to live for.

The "surprise" part of the story (which we as the reader find out really early on in the piece) is really the glue in this tale. I don't want to spoil anything, but you will know it when you come across it.

I did find that Cam did drag things out a little bit (ok a lot at times) and it did feel a little long winded at times - but this is probably just me.

ARC received for an honest review

It is always a joy to read one of Claire Contreras' story, and Then There Was You was no exception.

I didn't really know much about it from the blurb, so I did go in pretty blind. It did take me a little while to get into things, but once I did I read the whole thing in one go.

Tessa and Rowan's story is sweet, and frustrating, and gah. It has been a day since I finished reading and I still don't know if I love or loathe Rowan. I wanted to nut punch him at times lol.

Their history is tender and sweet, as well as heartbreaking and frustrating and annoying.

There is this character that I hate hate hate. She is a total b!tch and I want to punt her from one side of the room to the other. There are also so many other selfish, unlikable characters (they are meant to be unlikable though!)

I so completely want Rowan to remove his head from his sphincter! I go from thinking he is a complete douchenugget to him being kinda swoony. He made my head spin, so I can completely understand how Tessa feels.

There is so much that needs to happen in this book, but being a duet we know it is not going to happen right away, but it will happen. We are left on a bit of a cliffy, but it is only a few weeks till the second part comes out, so we don't have to think about it too long!

Let's hope our lovelies can find their way to a HEA!

Ooh la la! Merci beaucoup for this delicious audio book.

Firstly, now that I have listened to Richard Armitage narrate Wanderlust, I think we need to start a campaign to have him narrate every audio book ever. His voice is just diiiivine!

The story line is our typical lovely, sweet, adorable Lauren Blakely fare. I love the Paris setting, and we are swept away along with Joy as she takes in the sights and sounds - and croissants! - of Paris.

Griffin is all kinds of swoony, and I couldn't help falling for him along with Joy. Who wouldn't want a romance in the city of lights??

The story flowed well, the narrators complemented each other, and I found myself walking an extra block, driving an extra few streets, just to listen to a little bit more.

ARC received for an honest review

A new Body Armor story? OK, if you insist!

This is the story in the series that I have been waiting for. There has been something about Sahara all along, and in the previous book we knew there was something afoot with Brand.

And now we know what it is.

One thing - it is called Fast Burn, but to me it was more a slow burn. Things just plodded along slowly for the first 50% of the book and then things really took off.

I adore Sahara's bossy, ball busting, take no prisoners attitude- not just at work but also in her private life. Go get 'em tiger!

There is great banter between Sahara and Brand, and also between Brand and the other fighters-come-bodyguards. It will keep you on your toes.

Fast Burn is sweet and sexy, full of suspense, and just the way this series needed to end.

But I am sad that is has ended :( Now I am impatiently awaiting what Ms Foster brings us next.

ARC received for an honest review

♫ movin' to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches, i'm movin' to the country I'm gonna eat me a lot of peaches ♫

I have had that tune running through my head since I started reading Pretty As A Peach. It was great t head back to Whynot, NC and the Mancinkus family.

This whole town, this whole series is seriously sweet, and will probably give you a toothache! Now we have Colt Mancinkus and his nemesis/woman he never knew he wanted Darby.

I loved the I hate you / I want you push pull between then. Theirs is a cute friends to more story. Though I am not going to lie, I did miss the sexiness between them. I know, I know, this is Sawyer/Juliette's cute series, but I just wanted a little bit more -but that's probably just my smutty mind ☺

There is a great set up for the next book, which will be Colt's sister Larkin's story - you know, the one who owns the bakery that I want to live in!

Great secondary characters, a sweet story that will leave you with a big grin on your face.

Can't wait for the next installment.