stephanie_inman's Reviews (228)

By far my least favorite in the series. It somehow managed to be both boring and still make me hate the heroine. I struggled to finish it. There wasn’t enough going on to hold my attention.

I didn’t like either mc. Luke was a pushover. Seven was selfish. I was expecting someone who had been on their own so long to at least be smart, but that was another issue I had with Seven. She was blinded by wanting to get custody of her teenage sister, to the point of betraying Luke (even if she doesn’t fully go through with it, she allows him to “save” her by giving the FBI some information on his dad). It was crystal clear that her sister didn’t want rescuing from her foster family, but Seven for some reason had it in her head that she would make a better parent. Even though she was about the most immature character I’ve read in a very long time.

I did enjoy Tank and Emma’s wedding. Seeing as this is the last book in this series I wish we would have gotten a bit more of the previous characters (particularly Josie and Rissa).

Overall this series had its ups and downs. It’s been on my TBR for a long time. While I’m glad I finally read it, it’s not one I’d revisit or recommend to friends.

TW: Death

Another great addition to Cora Brent's Gentry Generations/Gentry Boys world.

Our POVs in this book alternate between Cami Gentry's fiancé, Dalton and Cassie Gentry's live in boyfriend, Curtis. I thought having the focus be on the two Gentry-by-association characters was great. Honestly, if anything this book made me wish there had been more of these type of novellas, but written in the women's perspectives. One of my biggest (and honestly only) complaints about the Gentry novellas are that I miss hearing from Sayler, Truly, Stephanie, Evie and Roselyn.

This book definitely is full of real life ups and downs. We have a wedding, a death, characters dealing with guilt. It's a bit of a roller coaster, but isn't that what life is? I've always loved that Ms. Brent doesn't shy away from actual life circumstances. Not everyone is wealthy and just totally happy every second. The angst we see in these books is more of a realistic type of angst than we see in so many other contemporary or new adult romances.

And, as usual for this series, the Gentry family shows us just how strong they and that bond of family can be.

As of this review, I've read all but the latest two Gentry Boys/Gentry Generations books. And I have to say, Stone and Evie are up there close to Roselyn and Con and Creed and Truly as the best of the best Gentry couples.

I loved both characters individually, so it's no surprise that I loved them just as much together. We met Stone previously, in other Gentry novellas (Hold and Cross). A huge part of his story begins in Cross. Where Cross tears your heart apart, this is very much the book that starts to put it back together.

Stone and his brother, Conway live in Emblem. They share the last name Gentry, and a fairly messed up family life with Creed, Cord, Chase and Deck. Although they lived in the nicer part of Emblem, Stone and Conway weren't without their own problems. As we read in Cross, a series of mistakes changes the paths that Stone and Conway were on.

Stone's path ended up being a place in the Emblem prison system. He served his four years and now has been released. He's headed out of Emblem, and close to our Gentrys. Deck, always seen as sort of the head of the family, has offered to help Stone out. He helps hook him up with a job and a place to live.

Evie, having a connection to the Emblem prison herself, meets Stone as he's working at a wedding where she's a bridesmaid. I absolutely adored Evie from the first moment we see her. There's just something to her strength and courage that pulled me in.

This book is about so much more than the romance between Stone and Evie. Yes, the romance is there. But this book is also about Stone's relationship with his brother, and with the family he's been getting to know. Evie has her relationship with her twin brother. She's spent so long trying to hold on to a relationship with him, that it's hard for her to accept that her brother really might not ever want a place in her life again.

I love that while Stone and Evie deal with everything they have to deal with on an individual level, they are also finding love with one another. They truly support one another.

And, as always, I loved being able to peak back into the Gentry world that Ms. Brent has created for us.

In Hold we return to Emblem and first meet Stone and Conway Gentry. We are shown a bit of their story. In this novella we get the details filled in for us.

This story just packs in so much for a novella. Stone and Conway’s family situation. Conway and Erin’s romance. They had such a sweet relationship. I thought Ms. Gentry gave us a very realistic depiction of first love. Conway is torn between Stone and Erin. He sees Erin as his future, and while he worries about how he will make that future work, he also struggles with what that means for him and Stone. They’ve always only had each other. Can he leave Stone in order to have the college life that Erin is planning for them?

Fate can be cruel, though and soon Conway and Stone are dealing with far more than anyone, yet alone two teenagers from Emblem should have to deal with.

This is just flat out good storytelling. I’m not one who usually likes stories without a happy ending. This one, though was worth the read.

This was my least favorite of this series. I didn’t really feel any connection to either character, nor did I feel any connection between the two of them. Honestly, this whole book is forgettable.

I still like Liz Fox, and I think a few of her stories do stand out. I recommend giving her a try if you’re in the market for short, mostly sweet/low angst reads. And while they aren’t explicit, they still have a tiny bit of steam for those who want just a little of the sexy times.

TW/CW: Cancer and Mental Illness

The best way for me to describe this is that it's okay. I didn't absolutely hate anything about it. I just didn't love anything about it either.

I liked Carter. I did think there was a bit "too much" going on with him. We have his farm, the fact that he's doing this interview with Summer, the new business he will be starting, his mom and her new love interest, his PTSD, his dealing with his brothers. While I'm all for a well-rounded character, I didn't feel that many of his stuff was fleshed out because there simply was so much of it. He was okay to read about, but I don't feel like we got to know him.

As for Summer, I liked her at first. Sadly, I found the same issue with Summer as I had with Carter. Just getting to know Blue Moon and its residents, and the conflict of her career would have been enough. The cancer storyline was just one too many thing on the list of Summer's character profile. I also thought the cancer storyline was handled poorly. I get that this is fiction, but I wasn't buying that Summer went through treatment for cancer, all while working an obscene amount of hours and attending the proper social engagements, and no one knew she was sick. And then she did the whole "I can't be with you because cancer" thing. Also the "I live in the city and my career is my life" thing. Again, it was just too many things.

I think this book suffers from the fact that with so many things, you don't have much of a focused plot. I can barely describe the actual plot. It's a bit everywhere. Carter is dealing with all of the things I mentioned above and the same can be said for Summer. They just don't really come together. It seems like two separate stories. The romance seems rushed. I would have liked to get to know both characters before they are just suddenly together. Obviously, the author has set up roadblocks as to Carter and Summer being together permanently (Summer's secret cancer, her job) but the problems just were kind of shoved away until the last part of the book. There was a whole section of the book where things just seemed stagnate.

On the plus side, I loved the side characters. Jackson, Joey, and Beckett were all way more interesting and entertaining than either Summer or Carter. Full disclosure: I'm writing this review after reading some of the other books in this series (both Beckett's and Jackson's books). This book wasn't the best of the ones I've read.

So, while this one wasn't really for me, I was interested enough in the series to continue on with it. I'm not sure I'd recommend this one, if you're looking for a book to read as a stand alone. However, I think if you're interested in other books in the series, this is still worth a read because it really does set up the other books well.

Super short, insta-everything but I didn’t mind. Somehow C.M. Steele manages to take things that drive me bananas in some books and make them work.

Done to death virgin heroine? Yep. Way over the top alpha male hero? Again, here we have it. Ridiculously overhyped gender roles? Of course.

So, why is it that most of this author’s work is fine with me? Honestly I think it’s just because most of the time I sort of like the characters. We do have virginal heroines, but they are pretty badass. And we have the male, “I want to get my woman pregnant” hero, but he’s rarely a typical manwhore. C.M. Steele writes men who, yeah, once they meet the h are constantly thinking about sex. But before that? No. There’s not all of that talk about how many women they’ve been with. Basically the author lets us figure out if this is a desirable dude. We aren’t beaten over the head with “he’s had sex with so many women because he’s hot”.

I’ll admit, I’ve liked some of this author’s books more than others. This one is one I’ve actually read more than once. The follow up book to this one is one I’ve read numerous times. Another odd thing, because most of the books do follow a very similar formula. And, yep, it somehow works.

I’d definitely recommend checking out C.M. Steele when you’re looking for a short, suspend reality and just have fun type of read.

This is the third book in the Mercy Academy series. While there's some angst in this one, I felt the delivery didn't quite match the set up of the first two books. In the first two books it seemed like Royal and Hannah had much more of an enemies relationship than what we are given in this book.

Royal and Hannah had a bit of a summer romance during church camp. Royal was forced to be there, while Hannah volunteered because doing good is important to her. So, basically it's a bad-boy meets good-girl story. I liked the chemistry between them. I do want to point out that there's a bit of an "ick" factor when it comes to one of their first interactions. Royal does a few things that overstep. While light when it comes to bully romance standards, I still think pulling Hannah's towel off of her so that you can see her naked is crossing a line.

Still, Hannah is somehow into Royal and they spend their time at camp together. They are secretly hooking up and lose their virginity to one another right before the camp ends. Due to lies and some miscommunication, they both leave thinking the worst of one another. I get that they were young, but at the same time I hate it when an entire plot revolves around a couple not simply asking ONE question of the other. Seriously, if either of them had just said "What the hell happened?", we'd have no plot.

I do appreciate the fact that when Royal was with Hannah, he was also not very sexually experienced. The fact that the heroes in this series are not just typical "manwhores" is a HUGE bonus for me and made me love all of the books a little more than I would have otherwise. I'm so tired of reading about men who put their dick in every woman they can find, but then meet the love of their life (9/10 that woman is either a virgin or very inexperienced) and go on to basically slut shame every woman that came before the heroine.

When Royal and Hannah finally get their shit together (with the help of one of Royal's friends) we are given barely any time with them together. They are back in one another lives, but Royal is keeping a secret. He reconciles with Hannah knowing that he has joined the military and will be leaving immediately after graduation.

We're given a rushed HEA, with a glimpse into the future. While this book wasn't bad, I wish we would have been given more. More build up, more of them as a couple, more of them as individuals.

Just more.

This one looks like I loved it, if you go by my read count. What really happened is that I kept meaning to write a review, then just wouldn’t get around to it and the book didn’t leave quite enough of an impression to do a fair review without a re-read.

Overall, I think C.M. Steele is okay. Their books (that I’ve read) are on the shorter side, though and that doesn’t leave a lot of time for both character and plot development. This one had a bit more character than plot. Much of the plot of this one seems to coincide with the first book. We see some of the same events, only this time through the eyes of our main characters, Mick and Morgan.

I thought Morgan was one of the better heroines in this series. I’ve noticed that Steele writes her heroines well. They are strong. Often there’s a thin line between strong heroines and heroines who are just mean. Steele’s heroines stay on the better side of that line.

Mick was okay. I like that he seemed to respect Morgan. He was obsessed with her from the first time he met her, but he also wanted her to have time to figure out her life before he pursued her.

I will mention that Mick and Morgan meet when she’s sixteen and he’s twenty-one, so there is a slight age gap. There’s no sexual contact between them until she’s of legal age, though.

The misogyny in these books runs deep. I try to be a bit more forgiving because these books are so over the top, unrealistic that the alpha maleness of the characters somehow fits in as it’s also way over the top. These are not the type of guys I’d ever want near my real life. Get out of my head and read a quick, thankfully fictional story? Sure. But in no way do I want a real life Steele Rider. These books are very “no one looks at my woman, I’ll bust their heads in if they do” and “I wanna put a baby in my woman” heavy. And that the women just eat it all up with a spoon? Again, I have to believe that’s all really far out, extreme behavior or I’d constantly be hating society.

As far as MC romances go, these are very light on the MC aspect. They’re also safe. No cheating. No om/ow bullshit. Very straightforward stories.

While this review might sound a little harsh, if you’re into alpha males in your romances, I think these are a good choice. The author here manages to write alpha males who aren’t manwhores, which is awesome. And they aren’t cruel, bullies to the women they love. Maybe that’s why, even with all of the possessive bs, I still find myself not hating these books. Whatever the reason, I think these books do have an audience and C.M. Steele has done a good job of finding that audience.