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stephanie_inman's Reviews (228)
Three stars because this had so much going against it when it came to be something I’d normally read, and yet I FINISHED IT.
The story is cute enough. HS sweethearts, Evan and Cam are back in each other’s lives when Cam ends up divorced and back in her hometown, with her teenage daughter.
Cam and Evan were together up until graduation. They had the perfect night, Cam thought things were great, but the next day, Evan had left town. Heartbroken, Cam also left. She moved and met Ryan, got pregnant and married him.
I appreciate that the author didn’t do the predictable surprise kid trope. Even though Cam got pregnant with Morgan shortly after leaving town, there wasn’t really a question of who Morgan’s dad was. When Evan does get upset and lash out at Cam, asking if Morgan is his, Cam gets pissed. She’s angry that Evan could think that she would keep a child from him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this situation played out in this particular way, and I enjoyed that.
The story is well written. I liked the side characters. I liked the hero, Evan. Cam, on the other hand was a bit too whiny for me. The story also seemed to move slowly.
Language is kind of explicit, if you like cleaner stories, it might be off putting for you. Sex scenes are fade to black. I’m good with explicit language and sex, so I had no issues with the content.
This was my first read by this author. This story seems to read very women’s fiction or chick-lit. I still enjoyed this one, but I don’t think that this series is for me. It was all just too sweet.
The story is cute enough. HS sweethearts, Evan and Cam are back in each other’s lives when Cam ends up divorced and back in her hometown, with her teenage daughter.
Cam and Evan were together up until graduation. They had the perfect night, Cam thought things were great, but the next day, Evan had left town. Heartbroken, Cam also left. She moved and met Ryan, got pregnant and married him.
I appreciate that the author didn’t do the predictable surprise kid trope. Even though Cam got pregnant with Morgan shortly after leaving town, there wasn’t really a question of who Morgan’s dad was. When Evan does get upset and lash out at Cam, asking if Morgan is his, Cam gets pissed. She’s angry that Evan could think that she would keep a child from him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this situation played out in this particular way, and I enjoyed that.
The story is well written. I liked the side characters. I liked the hero, Evan. Cam, on the other hand was a bit too whiny for me. The story also seemed to move slowly.
Language is kind of explicit, if you like cleaner stories, it might be off putting for you. Sex scenes are fade to black. I’m good with explicit language and sex, so I had no issues with the content.
This was my first read by this author. This story seems to read very women’s fiction or chick-lit. I still enjoyed this one, but I don’t think that this series is for me. It was all just too sweet.
This is one of those that set on my TBR for way too long. I wish I would have read it earlier. When I didn't see the following books in the Kindle store, I did some digging and discovered that the author had lost the rights to these books and, although I think she got the rights back, the books are still out of print, and are also still unavailable in ebook form.
Otherwise, even with the few issues I had with this one, I would have recommended it. It is cute, has a good storyline. The plot moved along well. And I thought Jack was a great hero. I was a bit bummed to find out I wouldn't be able to finish the series. I do have one of the following books (I believe the fourth one) on my Kindle already. As with this one, I had purchased it a while ago and just didn't get around to reading it. I'm still on the fence as to whether I will read it, or just delete it and move on. While this book stands alone, and I'm sure the other one I have does as well, I just don't see me being really interested in reading another book in a series that I can't continue on with.
Otherwise, even with the few issues I had with this one, I would have recommended it. It is cute, has a good storyline. The plot moved along well. And I thought Jack was a great hero. I was a bit bummed to find out I wouldn't be able to finish the series. I do have one of the following books (I believe the fourth one) on my Kindle already. As with this one, I had purchased it a while ago and just didn't get around to reading it. I'm still on the fence as to whether I will read it, or just delete it and move on. While this book stands alone, and I'm sure the other one I have does as well, I just don't see me being really interested in reading another book in a series that I can't continue on with.
My favorite Bailey has arrived. I love Juno so much. At times I felt like I was sticking with this series just to get to her story.
Juno and Colton have been best friends since childhood. In previous books we’ve gotten to know them a little. Most of the Baileys already think of Colton as one of them, and they are convinced he and Junk belong together.
Colton is engaged and Juno is trying to navigate her feelings about that. She realized too late that she is in love with him. What Juno hadn’t realized is that Colton is also in love with her. He got engaged for all sorts of wrong reasons.
The flashbacks, the chemistry, the story. Everything just works in this one. I especially liked seeing Colton, as a thirteen year old, step up for Juno and be her friend when she was grieving her parents. The scene with Colton and Liam at the Bailey parents’ funeral just made me love those two Bailey love interests more.
I’ve enjoyed a few of the Bailey books, some others I’ve struggled with. Still, like or hate any of the others, Juno and Colton are the only Bailey couple who I’d love to read more about.
I wasn’t ready for this one to end.
Juno and Colton have been best friends since childhood. In previous books we’ve gotten to know them a little. Most of the Baileys already think of Colton as one of them, and they are convinced he and Junk belong together.
Colton is engaged and Juno is trying to navigate her feelings about that. She realized too late that she is in love with him. What Juno hadn’t realized is that Colton is also in love with her. He got engaged for all sorts of wrong reasons.
The flashbacks, the chemistry, the story. Everything just works in this one. I especially liked seeing Colton, as a thirteen year old, step up for Juno and be her friend when she was grieving her parents. The scene with Colton and Liam at the Bailey parents’ funeral just made me love those two Bailey love interests more.
I’ve enjoyed a few of the Bailey books, some others I’ve struggled with. Still, like or hate any of the others, Juno and Colton are the only Bailey couple who I’d love to read more about.
I wasn’t ready for this one to end.
This is the final book in Piper Rayne's series, The Baileys. I've had hit or miss experiences with this entire series. I had read most of the series before the last two books were available. Once they dropped, I added them all to my Goodreads and give them all another go. I skipped a few this time. I remember being a bit bored during Rome's book (Birth of a Baby Daddy) so I didn't re-read it. I hadn't read Denver's book (Demise of a Self-Centered Playboy), but tried this time around. Unfortunately, I couldn't get into it and ended up adding it to my DNF shelf. And, as much as I enjoy the character of Phoenix, the tropes used in her book (Confessions of a Naughty Nanny) just aren't ones that I usually enjoy (nanny/single dad relationship, Hollywood/entertainer MCs). I did, however enjoy Phoenix so much in this book, I think I might give her book a go.
As for Rules for Dating Your Ex, unfortunately it goes down as one of the misses for me. In earlier books I liked the character of Sedona. We didn't get to know Jamison, but once again, I had high hopes. In this one Sedona is portrayed as a doormat, and Jamison is not all that likable.
The story picks up at a Baily baby shower. Sedona is a surrogate for Austin and Holly. She's also a single mom to Palmer, her 18 month old daughter she had with Jamison. We knew that Sedona was back in town, and pregnant, sans Jamison, when she appeared in one of the previous books. Jamison was a professional soccer player, but due to an injury, his career ended early. He started drinking and pregnant Sedona had no choice but to leave him.
Jamison shows up in Alaska, asking to meet his daughter and with the hopes of winning Sedona back. There's barely any talk between Jamison and Sedona before he's meeting with Palmer. Sedona needed to stand up more for herself and for her daughter. Each time she's upset at Jamison, something happens and she ends up feeling bad. The dude fucked up and yet she's constantly feeling awful for the things she's done. Jamison didn't make Sedona stronger. His showing up seemed to make her feel bad. About herself, about the type of mother she was and about her family.
As for the Austin/Holly/surrogate storyline, I hated this. Austin and Holly didn't seem to care at all that Sedona was giving up nine months of her life to give them a baby. Sedona is alone in the hospital, and Austin and Holly are down the hall with their infant. They don't come to see Sedona. Jamison notices that Sedona's room doesn't have any cards or flowers, because she's "not going home with a baby". Like, what the fuck Bailey family? Not a one of them could send flowers or a teddy bear? No one visits her when she's in the hospital after having an emergency c-section? They basically visit her after the birth and disappear for the rest of the book. And Sedona mentions over and over how she "owed" Austin because he put his own life on hold to raise her, yet there are basically one or two mentions of Austin and Holly being grateful that Sedona gave them a CHILD? Sedona needed a backbone, some self esteem and to demand better of those around her.
I didn't mind Sedona being pregnant. I would have liked it better had she been pregnant with someone else's baby. That would have been something for them to work through. I felt Jamison being an alcoholic was dealt with in a way where Sedona was supposed to sympathize too much for him. He fucked up, yet it seemed like she was the one who was constantly sorry. I also think it would have been great had Sedona tried actually moving on after Jamison. The story included flashbacks of their life together, and even in the FOUR years that they were apart, Sedona never had sex with anyone else. Then she gets back to Alaska and still doesn't have a relationship, sexual or otherwise.
As for Palmer, I did like the storyline of her being deaf. I thought she was written as way older acting than an 18 month old should be. This bothered me to no end, tbh. We’re talking an 18 month old who acts like she’s at minimum three, more like four. They had her “understanding” stuff way past what a toddler gets. I also found it too convenient that Jamison was more fluent in ASL than anyone in Sedona's family. Due to him having a deaf uncle, who had died years before, he knew ASL and pulled up that skill with no problem.
There was a little added drama towards the end. Jamison starts going to AA meeting and, for some reason thinks as someone who's only been clean for a year, he should be a sponsor to another member. He's also trying to get to know his daughter and work on his relationship with his ex. Yet he sponsors a woman who, on top of being incredibly attractive, flirts with him. This is what made me really not like Jamison. He came off as self-centered and stupid.
All in all, I just think Sedona Bailey deserved better.
As for Rules for Dating Your Ex, unfortunately it goes down as one of the misses for me. In earlier books I liked the character of Sedona. We didn't get to know Jamison, but once again, I had high hopes. In this one Sedona is portrayed as a doormat, and Jamison is not all that likable.
The story picks up at a Baily baby shower. Sedona is a surrogate for Austin and Holly. She's also a single mom to Palmer, her 18 month old daughter she had with Jamison. We knew that Sedona was back in town, and pregnant, sans Jamison, when she appeared in one of the previous books. Jamison was a professional soccer player, but due to an injury, his career ended early. He started drinking and pregnant Sedona had no choice but to leave him.
Jamison shows up in Alaska, asking to meet his daughter and with the hopes of winning Sedona back. There's barely any talk between Jamison and Sedona before he's meeting with Palmer. Sedona needed to stand up more for herself and for her daughter. Each time she's upset at Jamison, something happens and she ends up feeling bad. The dude fucked up and yet she's constantly feeling awful for the things she's done. Jamison didn't make Sedona stronger. His showing up seemed to make her feel bad. About herself, about the type of mother she was and about her family.
As for the Austin/Holly/surrogate storyline, I hated this. Austin and Holly didn't seem to care at all that Sedona was giving up nine months of her life to give them a baby. Sedona is alone in the hospital, and Austin and Holly are down the hall with their infant. They don't come to see Sedona. Jamison notices that Sedona's room doesn't have any cards or flowers, because she's "not going home with a baby". Like, what the fuck Bailey family? Not a one of them could send flowers or a teddy bear? No one visits her when she's in the hospital after having an emergency c-section? They basically visit her after the birth and disappear for the rest of the book. And Sedona mentions over and over how she "owed" Austin because he put his own life on hold to raise her, yet there are basically one or two mentions of Austin and Holly being grateful that Sedona gave them a CHILD? Sedona needed a backbone, some self esteem and to demand better of those around her.
I didn't mind Sedona being pregnant. I would have liked it better had she been pregnant with someone else's baby. That would have been something for them to work through. I felt Jamison being an alcoholic was dealt with in a way where Sedona was supposed to sympathize too much for him. He fucked up, yet it seemed like she was the one who was constantly sorry. I also think it would have been great had Sedona tried actually moving on after Jamison. The story included flashbacks of their life together, and even in the FOUR years that they were apart, Sedona never had sex with anyone else. Then she gets back to Alaska and still doesn't have a relationship, sexual or otherwise.
As for Palmer, I did like the storyline of her being deaf. I thought she was written as way older acting than an 18 month old should be. This bothered me to no end, tbh. We’re talking an 18 month old who acts like she’s at minimum three, more like four. They had her “understanding” stuff way past what a toddler gets. I also found it too convenient that Jamison was more fluent in ASL than anyone in Sedona's family. Due to him having a deaf uncle, who had died years before, he knew ASL and pulled up that skill with no problem.
There was a little added drama towards the end. Jamison starts going to AA meeting and, for some reason thinks as someone who's only been clean for a year, he should be a sponsor to another member. He's also trying to get to know his daughter and work on his relationship with his ex. Yet he sponsors a woman who, on top of being incredibly attractive, flirts with him. This is what made me really not like Jamison. He came off as self-centered and stupid.
All in all, I just think Sedona Bailey deserved better.
I’ve been looking forward to West’s story since we first met him in the second book (Nailed). It was fairly easy to guess that his love interest would be Sawyer, and I was, as always a sucker for books where we know both characters before their story. I have loved West since first meeting him. Maybe that’s the issue. Because Sawyer wasn’t anywhere close to being good enough for West.
I liked that West and Sawyer had a friendship. And, once again I find myself saying that no one owes anyone else a relationship. The problem is that in a few more recent books authors seem to be wanting to point that out by making one of the members of our couple just treat the other one unfairly. Yes. Sawyer didn’t owe sex or a relationship to West, just because West was a good friend to him. But at some point it goes from “I want to be friend, but we can’t be involved in more” to Sawyer just taking advantage of West. West never asks for anything from Sawyer, which I guess is good because Sawyer sure as hell wasn’t contributing to their relationship. Even the friendship was more upheld by West than by Sawyer. And when West decided he needed to start dating again, Sawyer completely freaked out and sabotaged West’s dates. I maybe could have been more okay with that if Sawyer had owned up to it before he got caught, but West literally had to catch him doing it before he confessed.
Sawyer worried because of their age difference, yet West was the one who should have been worried. Sawyer needed to mature. He may have been chronologically older, but West was much more emotionally mature. And it takes Sawyer way too long to just tell West “hey, my ex left me for someone younger, so I have that issue”.
I don’t know if it’s because the relationship between West and Sawyer seemed so one sided, but I also didn’t feel much in the way of chemistry between the two MCs.
I loved the “ducklings” and thought they brought a cuteness to the story. While not a major plot point, it was just sweet.
I always enjoy revisiting the other guys in this series. Particularly Ollie and Daniel. They make my heart melt.
I have a feeling we might be seeing soon-to-be Dr. Porter again, which definitely works for me. He was sweet. I honestly found myself wishing he were West’s love interest rather than Sawyer. It also looks like Porter’s story might just overlap with one of the newer Bears. I’m looking forward to seeing if that happens.
Another positive thing about this book is that we get some bi representation with West. Love that.
I still think this is a good series overall. And I’m sure West and Sawyer will be some readers favorite couple. They just simply didn’t work for me.
I liked that West and Sawyer had a friendship. And, once again I find myself saying that no one owes anyone else a relationship. The problem is that in a few more recent books authors seem to be wanting to point that out by making one of the members of our couple just treat the other one unfairly. Yes. Sawyer didn’t owe sex or a relationship to West, just because West was a good friend to him. But at some point it goes from “I want to be friend, but we can’t be involved in more” to Sawyer just taking advantage of West. West never asks for anything from Sawyer, which I guess is good because Sawyer sure as hell wasn’t contributing to their relationship. Even the friendship was more upheld by West than by Sawyer. And when West decided he needed to start dating again, Sawyer completely freaked out and sabotaged West’s dates. I maybe could have been more okay with that if Sawyer had owned up to it before he got caught, but West literally had to catch him doing it before he confessed.
Sawyer worried because of their age difference, yet West was the one who should have been worried. Sawyer needed to mature. He may have been chronologically older, but West was much more emotionally mature. And it takes Sawyer way too long to just tell West “hey, my ex left me for someone younger, so I have that issue”.
I don’t know if it’s because the relationship between West and Sawyer seemed so one sided, but I also didn’t feel much in the way of chemistry between the two MCs.
I loved the “ducklings” and thought they brought a cuteness to the story. While not a major plot point, it was just sweet.
I always enjoy revisiting the other guys in this series. Particularly Ollie and Daniel. They make my heart melt.
I have a feeling we might be seeing soon-to-be Dr. Porter again, which definitely works for me. He was sweet. I honestly found myself wishing he were West’s love interest rather than Sawyer. It also looks like Porter’s story might just overlap with one of the newer Bears. I’m looking forward to seeing if that happens.
Another positive thing about this book is that we get some bi representation with West. Love that.
I still think this is a good series overall. And I’m sure West and Sawyer will be some readers favorite couple. They just simply didn’t work for me.
This was an okay read. I liked Sara, but I didn’t really feel much when it came to our H, Zach. I didn’t see what Sara saw in him. Up until the end he’s actually pretty shallow (obsessed with getting in to some sort of private club, takes a date who he doesn’t seem interested in because she looks the part, etc). With the length of the story, I didn’t get to see much of a change in Zach. I also didn’t like that he only noticed Sara because she was wearing a dress and he liked her body (before seeing who she was). Like he’s had zero attraction to her, sees a gorgeous body in a club and suddenly, between that and her having a date, he’s in love with her? Again, he just seemed super shallow.
I still recommend Liz Fox as an author when you’re looking for a zero-angst, quick read. This one just wasn’t my favorite.
I still recommend Liz Fox as an author when you’re looking for a zero-angst, quick read. This one just wasn’t my favorite.
TW/CW: physical abuse, emotional/verbal abuse, sexual assault/rape, violence
***Full of Spoilers***
I'm reviewing this after reading it a second time. I didn't love it the first time, but I wanted to get the details onto this review, so I read it again.
This is also possibly the longest review I will ever do.
Premise was good: hs sweethearts, military badass, badass ATF heroine. Sounds promising
The beginning has our young h, Belle and our H Bobby together the night before he leaves for basic training. The have sex. This is after he asks her how she's feeling and she replies that the antibiotics the doctor gave for her strep throat her has helped and she's fine now (so, we all know where this is going, right?)
Bobby is the golden boy, with parents everyone sees as great and Belle is the daughter of the town drunk. She lives in a trailer park (because, of course she does. Why is it that authors always equate trailer parks to alcoholic and abusive parents?). Here was the first character strike for me: Bobby's parents are supposed to love Belle so much, yet they know she is being physically abused and they think that giving her a meal when she's hungry is somehow sufficient? Bobby knows that the girl he loves is going through this, so he up and joins the Army? He promises her that he will be back for her, but come on. We're supposed to see how bad Belle's life is, and already I hate Bobby and his family because they are clearly failing her.
While Bobby is away, Belle takes a helluva beating from her dad. She hits him over the head and knocks him out, and being afraid of him, she runs to Bobby's family to ask to stay with them. Bobby's mom gives her a letter. So, in just a few weeks, Bobby has decided he needs to break up with Belle. Belle is crushed. Here's where once again, B0bby's parents suck. It's mentioned later that Bobby's mom saw Belle's bruise on the side of her face, but she gives her the heartbreaking letter and then just watches Belle leave? Again, knowing that Belle has been abused?
I know I'm going way into details of the beginning, but this shit bothered me so much.
Forward fifteen years later, Bobby and Belle are brought back together by a case they are both working on. Bobby is special ops in some sort of off-the-books government agency and Belle is an ATF agent. Bobby immediately wants another shot with Belle. We hear how he regretted sending the letter only a few weeks after sending it, but by then Belle had skipped their small, Georgia town. He had his parents look for her and even hired PIs, but he never found her. Belle, meanwhile had settled into a life in Texas.
At first I rooted for these two. Yes, Belle had a big secret (remember that antibiotic?) in the way of her fourteen year old son, Seth. She was guilty that she had kept Seth from Bobby, but at least I could see her reasons, however misguided they were. Bobby had promised her, the girl who always felt like she wasn't good enough, that he would come back and marry her. Then he dumps her, pretty much proving to her that she was right. That she wasn't good enough for him. There's also the fact that Belle was afraid of her dad finding her. So, yeah, Belle had made mistakes. But Belle wasn't the worst.
Bobby was the worst. From the beginning he pretty much manipulated her into giving him another chance. She realizes that she can't, because he will hate her when he finds out about Seth. And she was right. This is where Bobby went off of the rails. Sure, get mad, dude. She had a kid and didn't tell you. But instead of even trying to see why she did what she did, he yells and screams at her. He calls her a bitch, in front of their son. He says he regrets ever meeting her and at one point he's so angry that he looks violent, and she flinches. Bobby not only says these awful things to her, but his inner monologue is him saying how he never wanted to hit a woman before, but now he wants to wrap his hands around her neck and keep squeezing. Like, what the actual fuck? This is not okay. Oh, and when Belle flinches? Bobby just keeps going. He doesn't care that he is being an abusive fuck, taking his anger out on anyone wouldn't be okay. But Belle is an abuse survivor. And he just doesn't fucking care.
Still he decides to try and win his family back. He basically uses Belle for sex. The only time they had sex before he found out about Seth, Bobby didn't want to use a condom. He was "I don't want anything between us ever again". After the secret comes out, they have sex and he starts using condoms. Belle realizes it's because he doesn't trust her, but she doesn't stand up for herself. She doesn't think he will ever forgive her, but when he tells her that she owes it to him to try and make it work, she agrees. Again, what the fuck? He shames her into a relationship, has incredibly angry, unemotional sex with her and keeps on hating her, yet she keeps coming back for more. He also just immediately thinks the worst of her whenever anything happens. Seth doesn't know if he wants to get to know Bobby? Bobby immediately thinks Belle bad mouthed him to their son. Belle doesn't talk much about what she did during their years apart? Bobby assumes she'd been abandoning their son so that she could go screw a bunch of men. (Also, can I say, her kid was taken care of, so who cares if she was screwing every guy she met. Bobby was not exactly celibate)
Shit happens, with their case. Belle is hurt, badly. She's in the hospital. Bobby pours his heart out to her. He wants her to be his future, he's always loved her, etc. But the minute she asks him if he's forgiven her? No. He tells his incredibly injured, hospitalized, stitches and staples in her body, mother of his child, no, he doesn't forgive her.
Seriously, dude is a prick. Luckly, he's overheard by a friend of Belle's and tossed the fuck out of there. We later find out he didn't even tell Seth goodbye. He just went back to Virginia and called Seth and apologized. So, he's a horrible boyfriend and a horrible dad. Awesome (/s)
The man who pulled Bobby from Belle's room was Belle's on-again, off-again friend with benefits, Charlie. They always remained friends and he was close to Seth. I love that Belle wasn't celibate the entire time she and Bobby were apart. That is one thing this book had going for it (it's implied that Belle had been with a few other men, but Charlie is the one she got close to and became friends with). I loved Charlie. Belle should have chosen him. He was one of the few saving graces of this book.
I also liked Seth. He stood up to Bobby when Bobby yelled at Belle in front of him. And Belle's friend, Tegan, was great. It was refreshing to see a friend who stood up for her friend, and not side with the long lost love. So many times the friend in the book pushes the couple together. Tegan saw what Bobby put Belle through and she wasn't having it. Even at the end, Tegan was still not fully on board. I felt that was much more realistic in the way a best friend would actually have your back.
I think I would have liked this book much better if Charlie had been our hero, and Bobby was the douchebag ex who came back, wrecking Belle's life, while also getting Belle to see that the perfect guy had been in front of her all along. Bobby was one hundred percent the douchebag ex. And who wants to see our heroine end up with that?
***Full of Spoilers***
I'm reviewing this after reading it a second time. I didn't love it the first time, but I wanted to get the details onto this review, so I read it again.
This is also possibly the longest review I will ever do.
Premise was good: hs sweethearts, military badass, badass ATF heroine. Sounds promising
The beginning has our young h, Belle and our H Bobby together the night before he leaves for basic training. The have sex. This is after he asks her how she's feeling and she replies that the antibiotics the doctor gave for her strep throat her has helped and she's fine now (so, we all know where this is going, right?)
Bobby is the golden boy, with parents everyone sees as great and Belle is the daughter of the town drunk. She lives in a trailer park (because, of course she does. Why is it that authors always equate trailer parks to alcoholic and abusive parents?). Here was the first character strike for me: Bobby's parents are supposed to love Belle so much, yet they know she is being physically abused and they think that giving her a meal when she's hungry is somehow sufficient? Bobby knows that the girl he loves is going through this, so he up and joins the Army? He promises her that he will be back for her, but come on. We're supposed to see how bad Belle's life is, and already I hate Bobby and his family because they are clearly failing her.
While Bobby is away, Belle takes a helluva beating from her dad. She hits him over the head and knocks him out, and being afraid of him, she runs to Bobby's family to ask to stay with them. Bobby's mom gives her a letter. So, in just a few weeks, Bobby has decided he needs to break up with Belle. Belle is crushed. Here's where once again, B0bby's parents suck. It's mentioned later that Bobby's mom saw Belle's bruise on the side of her face, but she gives her the heartbreaking letter and then just watches Belle leave? Again, knowing that Belle has been abused?
I know I'm going way into details of the beginning, but this shit bothered me so much.
Forward fifteen years later, Bobby and Belle are brought back together by a case they are both working on. Bobby is special ops in some sort of off-the-books government agency and Belle is an ATF agent. Bobby immediately wants another shot with Belle. We hear how he regretted sending the letter only a few weeks after sending it, but by then Belle had skipped their small, Georgia town. He had his parents look for her and even hired PIs, but he never found her. Belle, meanwhile had settled into a life in Texas.
At first I rooted for these two. Yes, Belle had a big secret (remember that antibiotic?) in the way of her fourteen year old son, Seth. She was guilty that she had kept Seth from Bobby, but at least I could see her reasons, however misguided they were. Bobby had promised her, the girl who always felt like she wasn't good enough, that he would come back and marry her. Then he dumps her, pretty much proving to her that she was right. That she wasn't good enough for him. There's also the fact that Belle was afraid of her dad finding her. So, yeah, Belle had made mistakes. But Belle wasn't the worst.
Bobby was the worst. From the beginning he pretty much manipulated her into giving him another chance. She realizes that she can't, because he will hate her when he finds out about Seth. And she was right. This is where Bobby went off of the rails. Sure, get mad, dude. She had a kid and didn't tell you. But instead of even trying to see why she did what she did, he yells and screams at her. He calls her a bitch, in front of their son. He says he regrets ever meeting her and at one point he's so angry that he looks violent, and she flinches. Bobby not only says these awful things to her, but his inner monologue is him saying how he never wanted to hit a woman before, but now he wants to wrap his hands around her neck and keep squeezing. Like, what the actual fuck? This is not okay. Oh, and when Belle flinches? Bobby just keeps going. He doesn't care that he is being an abusive fuck, taking his anger out on anyone wouldn't be okay. But Belle is an abuse survivor. And he just doesn't fucking care.
Still he decides to try and win his family back. He basically uses Belle for sex. The only time they had sex before he found out about Seth, Bobby didn't want to use a condom. He was "I don't want anything between us ever again". After the secret comes out, they have sex and he starts using condoms. Belle realizes it's because he doesn't trust her, but she doesn't stand up for herself. She doesn't think he will ever forgive her, but when he tells her that she owes it to him to try and make it work, she agrees. Again, what the fuck? He shames her into a relationship, has incredibly angry, unemotional sex with her and keeps on hating her, yet she keeps coming back for more. He also just immediately thinks the worst of her whenever anything happens. Seth doesn't know if he wants to get to know Bobby? Bobby immediately thinks Belle bad mouthed him to their son. Belle doesn't talk much about what she did during their years apart? Bobby assumes she'd been abandoning their son so that she could go screw a bunch of men. (Also, can I say, her kid was taken care of, so who cares if she was screwing every guy she met. Bobby was not exactly celibate)
Shit happens, with their case. Belle is hurt, badly. She's in the hospital. Bobby pours his heart out to her. He wants her to be his future, he's always loved her, etc. But the minute she asks him if he's forgiven her? No. He tells his incredibly injured, hospitalized, stitches and staples in her body, mother of his child, no, he doesn't forgive her.
Seriously, dude is a prick. Luckly, he's overheard by a friend of Belle's and tossed the fuck out of there. We later find out he didn't even tell Seth goodbye. He just went back to Virginia and called Seth and apologized. So, he's a horrible boyfriend and a horrible dad. Awesome (/s)
The man who pulled Bobby from Belle's room was Belle's on-again, off-again friend with benefits, Charlie. They always remained friends and he was close to Seth. I love that Belle wasn't celibate the entire time she and Bobby were apart. That is one thing this book had going for it (it's implied that Belle had been with a few other men, but Charlie is the one she got close to and became friends with). I loved Charlie. Belle should have chosen him. He was one of the few saving graces of this book.
I also liked Seth. He stood up to Bobby when Bobby yelled at Belle in front of him. And Belle's friend, Tegan, was great. It was refreshing to see a friend who stood up for her friend, and not side with the long lost love. So many times the friend in the book pushes the couple together. Tegan saw what Bobby put Belle through and she wasn't having it. Even at the end, Tegan was still not fully on board. I felt that was much more realistic in the way a best friend would actually have your back.
I think I would have liked this book much better if Charlie had been our hero, and Bobby was the douchebag ex who came back, wrecking Belle's life, while also getting Belle to see that the perfect guy had been in front of her all along. Bobby was one hundred percent the douchebag ex. And who wants to see our heroine end up with that?
TW/CW: grief, physical/emotional abuse
I may be (okay, definitely am) in the minority here, but unlike other reviewers, I didn't hate this book because of the cheating. While it's usually not my thing, in this one I was surprisingly okay with it. I absolutely wouldn't have been okay with Asher having a girlfriend and Livie just being confused about Asher. First off, I hate the "pining heroine". The one who wants the guy so she sits around and waits for him to see how great she is. Add in that the main point of this book is that Livie is getting to know who she is, and, yeah, the cheating made sense.
Livie has always lived her life being exactly who she thinks her parents (who were killed in a car wreck when Livie was eleven) would want her to be. She was especially close with her dad, and living up to what she thinks was his idea of her is incredibly important to Livie. She's planned out her entire future without giving any thought to whether or not it's the future she wants.
Part of that future includes going to Princeton, where her parents went. I loved the first scene, with Kacey and Livie at the toga party. Livie doesn't want to be there, but on the orders of her unconventional psychiatrist and under the eye of her party-encouraging sister, she's definitely outside of her comfort zone. Jello shots and an inexperienced Livie don't mix. This is where she meets Asher.
Asher is known as the guy who parties a lot. He sleeps around. He doesn't come across as the most serious guy. Livie is immediately attracted to him, even if she doesn't want to admit it. She is adamant that Asher isn't the guy for her. Enter Connor. Connor is exactly the kind of guy Livie has always pictured in her future. Sweet, studious, preppy and Irish. She thinks he's the guy her dad would have wanted for her. And, besides, Asher has a serious girlfriend (who he has repeatedly cheated on).
Connor and Asher are best friends, and live off campus in a house with two other guys. Obviously, this means that Livie and Asher are going to be forced to see one another. Neither is great at fighting their attraction. And talk about mixed signals. One minute Asher is telling Livie that they could never be together and the next he's got his tongue down her throat. We are given a bit of romantic Asher, but not enough for me to like him.
While I liked Livie, I do wish the author had given her a little more experience when it came to sex. Livie's first kiss is a drunken one with Asher. And she's a virgin when she sleeps with Asher. Asher, on the other hand falls into the ever present manwhore category. I would have loved to see Livie maybe hook up with Connor before she and Asher get together. Asher even has sex with another woman while Livie is in the house where he and Connor live. Livie is across the hall, taking a tour of the house, and Asher is banging some random girl. Yeah, Livie and Asher weren't together. Asher was cheating on his girlfriend, but again, he also cheats with Livie, so can't throw stones there. But his justification was that he was jealous that Livie was in Connor's room? So, interrupt them. Get mad. Whatever. But having him have sex with someone else while Livie was in the same house just put me off of Asher immediately. And, yes, we are given "reasons" for Asher having slept with so many girls, but, eh, I still sort of hated him.
And him sleeping with Livie? The timing there definitely put him square in douchebag territory.
Asher also has a lot of things he needs to work out. His dad is abusive. Asher wants to live his own life, but has to live the one his dad wants him to for fear of what his dad will do if he steps out of line. This part of the story is meant to be tragic, but by this time I disliked Asher for so many other reasons, I had a hard time connecting and feeling his pain.
This book is full of angst. You have the pining, the cheating, Livie's fear of failure and Asher's family problems. And the main focus of Livie figuring out if she's on the right path for herself. Much of it seemed to drag on needlessly.
We're treated to some small snippets of the characters we met in Ten Tiny Breaths. I enjoyed those scenes immensely. They were light hearted and gave us a bit of a reprieve from the angst. I love how Kacey was always Livie's sister, not trying to step in and be Livie's mom. Kacey wanted Livie to make mistakes, to experience life, and to not always be so serious. Total big sister stuff, and it was heartwarming to see the relationship between them.
I do think this was a good read. I would have most likely classified it as a great read if Asher's sexcapades were toned down some. And if Livie would have had literally any experience with someone else besides the philandering, manwhore Asher.
I ended up going with three stars because, in the end, I liked Livie, I loved her and Kacey's relationship, and Livie's journey to find herself was interesting enough for me to keep reading (even after I realized that I wasn't going to be Team Asher)
I may be (okay, definitely am) in the minority here, but unlike other reviewers, I didn't hate this book because of the cheating. While it's usually not my thing, in this one I was surprisingly okay with it. I absolutely wouldn't have been okay with Asher having a girlfriend and Livie just being confused about Asher. First off, I hate the "pining heroine". The one who wants the guy so she sits around and waits for him to see how great she is. Add in that the main point of this book is that Livie is getting to know who she is, and, yeah, the cheating made sense.
Livie has always lived her life being exactly who she thinks her parents (who were killed in a car wreck when Livie was eleven) would want her to be. She was especially close with her dad, and living up to what she thinks was his idea of her is incredibly important to Livie. She's planned out her entire future without giving any thought to whether or not it's the future she wants.
Part of that future includes going to Princeton, where her parents went. I loved the first scene, with Kacey and Livie at the toga party. Livie doesn't want to be there, but on the orders of her unconventional psychiatrist and under the eye of her party-encouraging sister, she's definitely outside of her comfort zone. Jello shots and an inexperienced Livie don't mix. This is where she meets Asher.
Asher is known as the guy who parties a lot. He sleeps around. He doesn't come across as the most serious guy. Livie is immediately attracted to him, even if she doesn't want to admit it. She is adamant that Asher isn't the guy for her. Enter Connor. Connor is exactly the kind of guy Livie has always pictured in her future. Sweet, studious, preppy and Irish. She thinks he's the guy her dad would have wanted for her. And, besides, Asher has a serious girlfriend (who he has repeatedly cheated on).
Connor and Asher are best friends, and live off campus in a house with two other guys. Obviously, this means that Livie and Asher are going to be forced to see one another. Neither is great at fighting their attraction. And talk about mixed signals. One minute Asher is telling Livie that they could never be together and the next he's got his tongue down her throat. We are given a bit of romantic Asher, but not enough for me to like him.
While I liked Livie, I do wish the author had given her a little more experience when it came to sex. Livie's first kiss is a drunken one with Asher. And she's a virgin when she sleeps with Asher. Asher, on the other hand falls into the ever present manwhore category. I would have loved to see Livie maybe hook up with Connor before she and Asher get together. Asher even has sex with another woman while Livie is in the house where he and Connor live. Livie is across the hall, taking a tour of the house, and Asher is banging some random girl. Yeah, Livie and Asher weren't together. Asher was cheating on his girlfriend, but again, he also cheats with Livie, so can't throw stones there. But his justification was that he was jealous that Livie was in Connor's room? So, interrupt them. Get mad. Whatever. But having him have sex with someone else while Livie was in the same house just put me off of Asher immediately. And, yes, we are given "reasons" for Asher having slept with so many girls, but, eh, I still sort of hated him.
And him sleeping with Livie? The timing there definitely put him square in douchebag territory.
Asher also has a lot of things he needs to work out. His dad is abusive. Asher wants to live his own life, but has to live the one his dad wants him to for fear of what his dad will do if he steps out of line. This part of the story is meant to be tragic, but by this time I disliked Asher for so many other reasons, I had a hard time connecting and feeling his pain.
This book is full of angst. You have the pining, the cheating, Livie's fear of failure and Asher's family problems. And the main focus of Livie figuring out if she's on the right path for herself. Much of it seemed to drag on needlessly.
We're treated to some small snippets of the characters we met in Ten Tiny Breaths. I enjoyed those scenes immensely. They were light hearted and gave us a bit of a reprieve from the angst. I love how Kacey was always Livie's sister, not trying to step in and be Livie's mom. Kacey wanted Livie to make mistakes, to experience life, and to not always be so serious. Total big sister stuff, and it was heartwarming to see the relationship between them.
I do think this was a good read. I would have most likely classified it as a great read if Asher's sexcapades were toned down some. And if Livie would have had literally any experience with someone else besides the philandering, manwhore Asher.
I ended up going with three stars because, in the end, I liked Livie, I loved her and Kacey's relationship, and Livie's journey to find herself was interesting enough for me to keep reading (even after I realized that I wasn't going to be Team Asher)
So sorry I wasted my time on this one. The story wasn’t awful. I was pulled in by the over the top drama (sometimes a little escapism is good). This book has been on my shelf forever, and seemed perfect to read as a “get away from everything going on with the world read”.
I mean we have amnesia, love triangles, unplanned pregnancy; the drama trifecta
This is the third book (Also, did we really need 3 books? No.) . I should review them all separately, and I might go back and do so, but right now I’m just too “Aggh” at this one. The first two I was more intrigued with and truly kept rooting for one guy over the other. Although I was still allowing the other to “make his case”
There is a lot of drama in all three books, which I’m usually not here for, but I was tuned in on this. Hanna has two men to choose from. Max (amazing guy), who made some big mistakes in the beginning of the relationship, before they had really been in an actual relationship (he started dating Hanna for the wrong reasons and then went over to ow from his past place, intending on hooking up, but left after a kiss because he realized he only wanted Hanna). And we have Nate. Sexy rockstar Hanna has sex with while she and Max are broken up (after she finds out about the beginning of the relationship and her insecurities get in her way. She can’t believe Max loves her). In the end, I dubbed Max “amazing guy” and Nate “douchebag sex guy”
Because when thing go pear shaped, Max steps up big. In ways Nate never would have. Only at the end, when Hanna is pregnant and Nate knows she won’t give in to his demands, does he come around.
Oh, and immediately after making his case for why Hanna should choose him, douchebag guy sleeps with his ex wife. He gets drunk. He doesn’t tell Hanna until way after he’s trying to win her back. Once we find out he had sex with the ex, I was done with douchebag sex guy.
So we have one guy who admits he screwed up. But still doesn’t sleep with his ex. And the other guy thinks he should be the one for Hanna, but jumps in bed with his ex. Neither are great choices, but seriously douchebag sex guy, imo, is worse.
And, yes Hanna also ended up having sex with amazing guy. But this was after being pushed away by douchebag sex guy. This was also after a huge plot point, and she did not think she was at all being unfaithful (she wasn’t). It may not have been fair to amazing guy, but it wasn’t just hooking up with an ex just because she was drunk and hurt. And she didn’t hide it the way douchebag guy did.
Hanna chose wrong.
One star for the book. Five stars for Max.
As for this author, I know I have more on my Kindle by her. Frankly, I’m just deleting the rest. This is the second attempt I’ve made at reading a book by them and both have left me disappointed. Okay, truth time - I MIGHT go and read Max’s book. Because it’s ONE book, not 3 (no way would I invest that much money into this author again) and, dammit, I so want Max’s HEA
I mean we have amnesia, love triangles, unplanned pregnancy; the drama trifecta
This is the third book (Also, did we really need 3 books? No.) . I should review them all separately, and I might go back and do so, but right now I’m just too “Aggh” at this one. The first two I was more intrigued with and truly kept rooting for one guy over the other. Although I was still allowing the other to “make his case”
There is a lot of drama in all three books, which I’m usually not here for, but I was tuned in on this. Hanna has two men to choose from. Max (amazing guy), who made some big mistakes in the beginning of the relationship, before they had really been in an actual relationship (he started dating Hanna for the wrong reasons and then went over to ow from his past place, intending on hooking up, but left after a kiss because he realized he only wanted Hanna). And we have Nate. Sexy rockstar Hanna has sex with while she and Max are broken up (after she finds out about the beginning of the relationship and her insecurities get in her way. She can’t believe Max loves her). In the end, I dubbed Max “amazing guy” and Nate “douchebag sex guy”
Because when thing go pear shaped, Max steps up big. In ways Nate never would have. Only at the end, when Hanna is pregnant and Nate knows she won’t give in to his demands, does he come around.
Oh, and immediately after making his case for why Hanna should choose him, douchebag guy sleeps with his ex wife. He gets drunk. He doesn’t tell Hanna until way after he’s trying to win her back. Once we find out he had sex with the ex, I was done with douchebag sex guy.
So we have one guy who admits he screwed up. But still doesn’t sleep with his ex. And the other guy thinks he should be the one for Hanna, but jumps in bed with his ex. Neither are great choices, but seriously douchebag sex guy, imo, is worse.
And, yes Hanna also ended up having sex with amazing guy. But this was after being pushed away by douchebag sex guy. This was also after a huge plot point, and she did not think she was at all being unfaithful (she wasn’t). It may not have been fair to amazing guy, but it wasn’t just hooking up with an ex just because she was drunk and hurt. And she didn’t hide it the way douchebag guy did.
Hanna chose wrong.
One star for the book. Five stars for Max.
As for this author, I know I have more on my Kindle by her. Frankly, I’m just deleting the rest. This is the second attempt I’ve made at reading a book by them and both have left me disappointed. Okay, truth time - I MIGHT go and read Max’s book. Because it’s ONE book, not 3 (no way would I invest that much money into this author again) and, dammit, I so want Max’s HEA
TW/CW: mentions of abuse
As with most Cora Brent books, my review on GR is coming after several reads of the same book. The Gentry Boys Series has become one of my go to reads for when I'm in a "book funk" and can't find anything that seems to do it for me. I know I can't go wrong with Ms. Brent and her Gentry Boys.
Game is the third book in the series, and revolves around our sweet, sweet, Chasyn Gentry. While I am usually not the biggest fan of the reformed manwhore, and Chase was the biggest womanizer of the three brothers, Ms. Brent just writes Chase so damn lovable that I can't help it. He's not "a reformed bad boy". He's more of a really good guy who just wanted to be loved. (And I know nearly every manwhore book is supposed to pull this off, but this one actually does it)
He has so many issues, stemming from his childhood. But while we see Cord and Creed deal more with issues from having their abusive dad, Chase is dealing with the fact that he had a drug addicted mom who wasn't there for him. He's much more sensitive than the other brothers. And, for a series about three big, brawny men, I love how Ms. Brent manages to show them all in a way that avoids the typical toxic masculinity bullshit. Yeah, they are all tough. But they also aren't afraid to show their feelings. And, while they protect their significant others, they also sit back and let Sayler, Truly and now Stephanie take care of themselves when they need to. The relationships in this series have actual balance. It's refreshing.
Stephanie was introduced as Truly's roommate, and she hasn't really interacted with the rest of the characters much, but Chase and her do attend the same college and have a class together. Chase is taken in by her "I don't give a shit" attitude and he's also observant enough to see behind her walls, that there is more to her, and Chase, being Chase, likes a puzzle.
The two of them fall fast and hard. I loved seeing Stephanie open up. And Chase, while I loved his humor, he also grew up through this book. His brothers always had treated him like the baby (even though they are triplets) and it was good to see him stand up for himself and for Stephanie.
I honestly cannot recommend this book, or actually any of Ms. Brent's books, enough.
As with most Cora Brent books, my review on GR is coming after several reads of the same book. The Gentry Boys Series has become one of my go to reads for when I'm in a "book funk" and can't find anything that seems to do it for me. I know I can't go wrong with Ms. Brent and her Gentry Boys.
Game is the third book in the series, and revolves around our sweet, sweet, Chasyn Gentry. While I am usually not the biggest fan of the reformed manwhore, and Chase was the biggest womanizer of the three brothers, Ms. Brent just writes Chase so damn lovable that I can't help it. He's not "a reformed bad boy". He's more of a really good guy who just wanted to be loved. (And I know nearly every manwhore book is supposed to pull this off, but this one actually does it)
He has so many issues, stemming from his childhood. But while we see Cord and Creed deal more with issues from having their abusive dad, Chase is dealing with the fact that he had a drug addicted mom who wasn't there for him. He's much more sensitive than the other brothers. And, for a series about three big, brawny men, I love how Ms. Brent manages to show them all in a way that avoids the typical toxic masculinity bullshit. Yeah, they are all tough. But they also aren't afraid to show their feelings. And, while they protect their significant others, they also sit back and let Sayler, Truly and now Stephanie take care of themselves when they need to. The relationships in this series have actual balance. It's refreshing.
Stephanie was introduced as Truly's roommate, and she hasn't really interacted with the rest of the characters much, but Chase and her do attend the same college and have a class together. Chase is taken in by her "I don't give a shit" attitude and he's also observant enough to see behind her walls, that there is more to her, and Chase, being Chase, likes a puzzle.
The two of them fall fast and hard. I loved seeing Stephanie open up. And Chase, while I loved his humor, he also grew up through this book. His brothers always had treated him like the baby (even though they are triplets) and it was good to see him stand up for himself and for Stephanie.
I honestly cannot recommend this book, or actually any of Ms. Brent's books, enough.