Tag: contemporary romance

Out of the Box Blogs

Tough Love by Lori Foster

debra

Hi everyone,

Tough Love is the third installment of her Ultimate Series.  This series follows the lives of several fighters in the SBC, a fictional ultimate fighting company. This installment tells the story of Stack and Vanity.  I have enjoyed both characters since meeting them in prior books, No Limits and Holding Strong. Stack has wanted Vanity since meeting her and the same goes for Vanity.  Stack is a bit relationship-phobic and lacks any tolerance for deceit.  Without knowledge of this and the why behind it, Vanity decides the best way to get to Stack is by using a “smoke and mirrors” plan.  Through a series of unforeseen incidents, it takes a little bit for them to hookup, but when they do, they steam the pages.  The real story lies within how both of them come to realize they truly love one another.  Vanity completely captures Stack with her response to what he considers his crazy family including his sister’s beloved dogs.  Stack wins Vanity by showing her his love for his mother, his sister, his friends and the community. Vanity is alone in the world except for her best friend, Yvette (the heroine in the first book, No Limits) and the other fighters in Stacks’s circle whom she has developed real friendships with.  I loved it when the fighters stood on Vanity’s side when Stack discovered her small deception.  There is also a little suspense added in with someone hiring people to hurt Stack and Vanity steps into the situation in her own way to help which leads to the finale.

Although I don’t consider this to be the strongest book in this series (that still goes to No Limits, the first book in this series), this is a nice addition.  I ended up liking both Stack and Vanity.  This book also sets up the next story nicely.  I think everyone is really looking forward to Armie and Rissy’s story and we got a little peek of them here.  All in all, a solid entry in the Ultimate Series.  It is not necessary to read the books in order, however, I do suggest it so you can see the introduction of all the characters and the lead up to their stories throughout the series.

I received an ARC of Tough Love in exchange for an honest review.

Books, great reads, indie author, Reviews, scifi

Sins of the Father by Anthony Vicino

Karen

About two weeks ago I posted a review on another one of Anthony’s books Parallel. Needless to say I was not happy with the end. So Anthony messaged me and our conversation went like this:

Kar how could you write a review like that on your blog! I’m one of the few people who actually liked something you wrote, think you could throw a little of the love back, sheesh! Here! If you’re going to be so cruel why don’t you just start taking my books!

Sorry, that’s a total lie, he was a completely professional and was really nice. I imagine if I was an author that’s what I would think every time I saw a bad review, of course I’d never say it. Really, I promise. To top off the fact that he seems to be genuinely nice (see I told you most authors are) he was also kind enough to send me this novella so I could give his writing another chance. So that’s how Sins of the Father came into my possession. And let me tell you, this one is a winner.

Background first. The story is about Ricky who is a man is his forties locked in a mental institute for killing his grandmother when he was a child but he can’t remember why. Problem? He thinks he’s still 9 years old and is suppressing the truth. So can the doctors unlock his memories and make him whole again? And will he be able to survive?

This is a completely different story than the first one I read from Vicino, more of a mental mind game scifi than a multi dimensional multi world scifi, but I can appreciate both. I found myself unable to put this book down, constantly curious as too what was coming next in the story. This book really forced me to feel with the characters, which is hard for me, making the end even more impactful. If you want a taste of Vicino’s writing this was a great, quick read. I plan on picking up his full length book, Time Heist, to see if the trend can continue.

Thank you Anthony, redemption successful.

Books, Reviews

Rock Redemption by Nalini Singh

Karen

I have been reading Nalini for years so when Netgalley offered me a copy of this book for an honest review I almost fell out of my chair, but I looked at it like any other.

This was my favorite of the Rock Kiss series. The book opens with a big emotional situation and it’s like a car wreck, I knew I was going to be bad but couldn’t stop. That was the hook, and at this point I had to know how she was going to build this story. Then you had the push and pull where you wanted to protect Kit, because of what Noah did, but at the same time you wanted to help Noach because he was so broken and the best way to help Noah according to him in the book? Kit. I don’t know if I agreed with him, but like Fox said who am I to say what he should do to fix himself. I was completely immersed, couldn’t put the book down, and felt like the story was well paced, well put, and written to perfection. The romance I felt was one of the best parts, not hurried so we would have a build up with the characters. I enjoyed that it took a little longer and they didn’t jump into bed right after they saw each other again. Loved it! Loved it! Loved it!

This book will be available on October 6th.