Man I wish the story was as thrilling as the cover. :( This was very up and down. I really should be giving this a lower rating honestly. First 40% I Man I wish the story was as thrilling as the cover. :( This was very up and down. I really should be giving this a lower rating honestly. First 40% I wanted to strangle the bratty childish heroine Maggie who couldn't see past her own nose. Then I started to enjoy it once she acknowledged what a screw up she was and how spoiled and naive she is. Then I started to get bored again and just wanted to finish it. And this author has a serious attachment to the word "powerful". It's used in every context. It's a choice. He wanted her powerfully bad, the rain poured down in a powerful force, he makes her powerfully frustrated, homesickness swept through her so powerfully, etc. A thesaurus is really needed here, it should be Sharon Cullen's new friend. The use of modern language was less in this one but still it had problems. The hero's penis goes from being called "penis" to "cock" half way in for reasons that still aren't clear, the grammar needs help and like stated above Cullen tends to get stuck on phrasing things a certain way and doesn't want to let it go. The English are awful to the Scots but does everybody need to put the "damned" epithet in front of it every time they are mentioned? It's too much. There's no other adjective we can use? Maggie can't stop calling anything English-related as "the damn English" "she's damn English!" "thedamnedEnglish". She already sounded like a teenager, this kind of dialogue certainly didn't help.
As for Colin MacLean, he was quite pathetic for a hero I have to say. He bailed on his entire clan for years to run his smuggling business instead and was in no hurry to get back home and take his position as chieftain ever since his father and brothers died. Gee...what a guy. The fact that all he did was mope over his dead relatives being ashamed of him and kept dragging his feet to get home through a majority of this was facepalm worthy. Dude, suck it up and go home. He acted like a complete useless bampot trying to figure out a way to infiltrate his own castle that was under English siege. Maggie literally had to give him and his men the plan and force his hand not to turn around and give up. Like seriously? This is only my second read by SC and one of the biggest issues aside from her writing issues is her heroes are barely fleshed out and not really memorable. Her writing just lacks something overall. Maggie was very hot and cold for me but I found her more fleshed out than Colin. Bratty, slap-worthy moments aside, you felt for her. But Colin not so much. I don't know, if I had more faith in Cullen's writing ability I would give Iain's book a try next but it's just...not there for me. :/...more
This was such a delight. A charming, funny, angsty, endearing, adorable delight. I adored th
The bane of his life and the balm to his soul.
This was such a delight. A charming, funny, angsty, endearing, adorable delight. I adored this so much and adored the leads Max and Effie even more. Two incredibly lonely souls finding acceptance and happiness in each other. For fans of Amanda Quick's Ravished I think you'll love this one. This had a very similar set up with a scarred "beast" recluse hero and a sweet eccentric bluestocking heroine who loves her archeology. Although I found this one much stronger with more depth and emotion on top of the humor. I loved Effie's combination of confidence in her intelligence yet vulnerability and insecurity of wanting a family and to be loved just as she is. Max was the perfect gruff, brooding, grouchy "beast" to her smiling personality and open heart. Max just dissolves into a big teddy bear around her and it was so great to see. Their meet cute happens when he finds her on his land digging up holes trying to extract an old ancient pot. He first mistakes her for a boy since she's covered in mud and wearing breeches and weird goggles. The hilarity and fun ensues from there. What I loved most about this was that while we got to see this couple slowly fall for each other we also got to see them become friends first. I found that very significant and so dear considering Effie never had a real friend before this. Her "big brain" and tendency to ramble out whatever comes to her mind and debate topics always scared people off and society labels her as odd. Her scholarly father died so that left her completely alone in the world with nothing but her and her passion for antiquity to distract her. I just found her so endearing and sweet. Both hero and heroine are recluses for different reasons but need distractions from the whirling questions and thoughts plaguing them in their loneliness. They both needed unconditional love and that's exactly what they found in each other.
"Can I ask you a question, Max?" "You can always ask me anything, Effie. In fact, I insist upon it. I find your honesty and your undisguised curiosity refreshing." "Then that is a first. Most people loathe it." "Then most people are daft. What’s the question?" "Are we friends now? I feel as though we are, but I am never entirely sure. And experience has taught me that if I assume, then I am doomed to be disappointed when my perceived friend starts to avoid me." She said it so matter of factly, but his heart wept for her. It was so ill deserved. Effie was a breath of fresh air, not an irritation. "I suppose we must be." Her delighted smile was like a balm to his soul. "That’s nice. And you don’t mind all the questions?" "I don’t want you to ever think you shouldn’t ask questions, Effie. You can always ask me anything..."
Ugh. Just so adorable. ❤️ This scene honestly made me want to cry I found it so touching and vulnerable. I loved how patient and kind Max was with Effie. Her intelligence and how quick her mind works fascinates him. And him going from grumbly put-out neighbor to intrigued assistant helping her dig up treasures and artifacts on his land was really cute and hilarious. Their banter is the greatest thing. I loved the endless nicknames he came up for her when he was angry or wanted to tease her. Miss Naive, Miss None-of-your-business, Miss Ninnyhammer, etc. ...more
Lydia Michaels really needs to work on her pacing. She's a talented writer and the sexual tension in this was divine but omg she waterlogs her storiesLydia Michaels really needs to work on her pacing. She's a talented writer and the sexual tension in this was divine but omg she waterlogs her stories with endless filler nonsense that's not needed. She stuffs her books with so much mundane information and/or secondary characters that the romance completely gets overshadowed and rushed through to the very end with a bunch of loose ends barely tied up. Like the heroine not finding out about the hero's tragic backstory until the very end of the book when he proposes to her....seriously? And the crazy bitchy PA Erin not getting exposed/fired on the page after all the shit she did to the heroine Skylar and nearly hitting the hero's little girl was crazy. The heroine's lack of agency was absurd and just plain stupid. You're the nanny and you don't think it's important to tell your boss right away that his assistant almost hit his daughter?! O_o It made no sense how Skylar kept putting off telling the hero about his assistant especially after that incident. Her lack of agency and urgency was so distracting and made her such a doormat. All the "it's nothing" and "I'll tell you later" brushing off she did drove me insane and made no sense. (view spoiler)[ Neither was the fact that it was never discovered that Erin was the one who deleted a very important email causing the heroine to flunk out of her class. WTF? THEN WHY DO IT? (hide spoiler)] Your readers want to see payoff and follow through ON THE PAGE. Not dusty scenes about the heroine's Gran and Pops babysitting 20 grandchildren or her overbearing family. When you have bad characters do bad things to the h/hr then retribution of some kind is expected and earned. Also, that cover? So misleading. lol This is a fluffy cozy Christmas story with more time spent on family drama rather than sexy times. There's literally just 1 full sex scene and the hero eating her out that's it. They are together for a total of a few days before drama implodes and the heroine takes her sweet time dragging her feet in deciding to make up with the hero (which is another pet peeve of mine). It almost felt like Contemporary Fiction/Chick Lit than true CR at times....more
Started off really strong. This was cute for what it was and reminded a little bit of Mila Finelli's mafia books. Just wish it had more depth like FinStarted off really strong. This was cute for what it was and reminded a little bit of Mila Finelli's mafia books. Just wish it had more depth like Finelli's work. The world building and character development could have been better. A Mafia Don going into an arranged marriage with a Bratva princess who has a disability and uses a wheelchair. So intriguing right?! I did like the disability representation. The heroine Sofiya has a condition called EDS (Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) which causes sensitive skin tissue, joint pain and dislocation frequently. She uses a rollator and wheelchair to move around. What started off great with a marriage of convenience disappointingly crumbled into repetitive cotton candy fluff by the halfway mark. I'm all for fluffy goodness but characters doing the same thing over and over again to fill up pages just starts to wear things down fast. I loved the sweet moments which were many but when nothing else happens in the story I start to mentally check out. The hero was a complete puppy for his "tesoro" wife which was cute. But a mafia don grabbing his wife at every opportunity to have her sit in his lap in every occasion including business dinners with all the mafia families felt a bit like fanfic for me. I love when couples have their own special "things" but when it's done all the time in every scene? Nope. There was also a looooot of giggling and lip biting happening from the heroine which kind of drove me insane.
The mafia action didn't kick in until the last 100 pages which stirred my interest again but parts were ridiculous given some of the questionable stupid stunts the heroine pulls. You want to get away from your husband fine, but why the fuck would you team up with a rival mafia to "rescue" you? ...more
-Weston Belmont made for a sweet hero. Was he memorable though compared to other Silver heroes? No. He's a walking green flJust some random thoughts.
-Weston Belmont made for a sweet hero. Was he memorable though compared to other Silver heroes? No. He's a walking green flag and a sweetie but he felt a *little* too perfect for me that it fell flat and kinda boring. Always throwing winks and cracking jokes felt a little too on the nose. I love nice guy heroes but I need a little something more underneath the surface. He felt way too laid back on some things too. He's supposedly protective of his kids and introducing new women to them but it didn't feel that way with the heroine once they got intimate. The fact that he didn't even bat an eye over his daughter catching them in bed together is an example of that. A lot of conversations seemed to happen off the page. He's a horse trainer but the "cowboy" aspect was nonexistent.
-West's two kids Oliver and Emmy were cute, I especially loved Oliver. But his little girl Emmy who is 6 years old sounded like a 12 year old going on 20 and it kept throwing me off and taking me out of scenes. It was so distracting. Does anyone know a 6 year old who talks this way?...
“I’ll come up with one and show you. If you like it, we’ll need to negotiate a price. I don’t work for free.”
“No, fancy girls don’t drink out of cans, Skylar,” Emmy argues. “What about a champagne glass? I think Dad has one back here somewhere.”
Emmy lets out a little scoff before turning to me dramatically. “It’s amateur hour over here.”
-Skylar Stone made for a sweet heroine. I don't love musician characters/stories, so that didn't really grab my attention and probably why I wasn't as invested as I should be in this story. It certainly didn't help here that Skylar didn't really feel like this big famous musician considering all the details about her music making and lifestyle wasn't really shown. She's supposedly a Taylor Swift-type of famous but it really didn't come off that way. Like her writing her whole new album pretty much happens in small bits and pieces and then boom! skip a few months(?) ahead... album is out. Which made no sense. Your heroine is a superstar shouldn't we see that creative process in real time? Her abusive asshole parents pushed her into stardom at a young age and controlled her whole life so it was nice to see her break free from that and discover what she really wants in life. Just wish the actual plot and chemistry was more exciting. I didn't feel invested/interested until the last 100 or so pages. I especially didn't feel the chemistry and angst till the near end which felt late.
-The standout character for me: The heroine's foul mouthed African Grey parrot, Cherry. ...more
Single dad-nanny books really do it for me. And a Hockey sports romance on top of all that? Yes please. This hit all the right buttons. Gru4.75 stars
Single dad-nanny books really do it for me. And a Hockey sports romance on top of all that? Yes please. This hit all the right buttons. Grumpy Goalie widower Will Perry and kindergarten teacher Chloe Knot were adorable. And his little girl Ava was cuteness overload. I loved that she wanted to play Hockey just like her Daddy. ...more
So so so much better than Hail Mary (Leo sweetie I'm so sorry you were done dirty). Clay and Giana were a treat. Very adorable. I just really4.5 stars
So so so much better than Hail Mary (Leo sweetie I'm so sorry you were done dirty). Clay and Giana were a treat. Very adorable. I just really wish this author would lay off the 3rd act drama in her books that takes up 100 pages. I'm fine with break ups and conflict but why is it always family drama and adults being so fucking awful and toxic to their kids in Steiner's books? Or whatever 3rd act drama there is, it's always dragged out for much too long IMO. And parents getting excused for abusive behavior to their kids cause they "mean well" and need help isn't it. Absolutely not. Don't care if it's his mom who raised him, that shit with Clay's bitchy conniving ex-girlfriend and her interfering father was ridiculous. But shout out to that breakup scene cause a hero crying because he can't stand hurting the heroine and leaving her? THE ANGST. ❤️ Emotional heroes are my kryptonite. Just hits different....more
Perfect cozy holiday novella. Just what I was looking for and needed to end the year with. A grumpy Welsh man with a jaded heart and 3.74 stars
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Perfect cozy holiday novella. Just what I was looking for and needed to end the year with. A grumpy Welsh man with a jaded heart and a sunshiny sweet American curvy heroine who live in the same apartment building in Paris and hate each other but get stuck in their tiny elevator lift on Christmas Eve. Colin and Jules were cute. And the body positivity and praise kink in this was nicely done. That nod to Love Actually was sweet. I recommend this for those who love wanderlust romances!
ETA: Ok after reading the bonus epilogue I just have to say Ms. Anders is in need of an editor or a good one at least. The amount of typos in just 20 pages is hard to miss. I noticed this in the initial story too, for some reason she tends to skip over her words a lot and it's really obvious especially during intimate scenes and dialogue. Important words are missing or repeated at odd times so it reads like mistakes. Her writing is a bit hiccupy because of that....more
The hero was terrible. His daughter was annoying and the heroine deserved way better. I've read my fair share of asshole heroes but this guy takes theThe hero was terrible. His daughter was annoying and the heroine deserved way better. I've read my fair share of asshole heroes but this guy takes the cake in being belligerent, oblivious, unfeeling, selfish, contrary and dismissive. I'm a pretty forgiving reader when it comes to mercurial HR heroes but this was just too hot and cold and dismissive for my tastes. He almost gave me bodice ripper vibes with how mercurial and contrary he was. The number of times he gave the heroine mixed signals just makes your head spin.
The heroine Norah Linton sails all the way from England to Ireland in the hopes of meeting her future groom who she has corresponded with through letters. She was desperate to get out of the clutches of her cruel stepfather in England who was planning to marry her off to a welp of a boy. She thought she was writing to Sir Aidan Kane a bereaved widower looking for a mother for his little girl. What she discovers however once she arrives at his gloomy castle doorstep is that his 15 year old daughter Cassandra was the one writing those letters and hoping to "surprise" her Papa with a Birthday gift of a new bride for him. He's furious and blusters but not at his willful spirited daughter for literally catfishing and luring a woman out under false pretenses but rants and raves at the poor heroine who was an innocent party in all this. He even taunts Norah for being "brainless and desperate enough to marry a stranger". That should have been my first red flag.
I was really hoping this would be a grand sweeping HR of old where a jaded rakehell hero falls for the plain-faced wallflower heroine looking for a home and family to love. This is that but not much is given or shown in character development and romance. Words are given but barely any action is shown to prove it. I really felt for Norah who was so eager and yearning to find someone to love her and have a home of her own. I just wanted to hug her so bad. Every time this woman shows patience and kindness to Aidan it gets ignored or thrown in her face later on when he's triggered by Feelings™️. I tried to wait it out and kept going but it didn't help that the writing is so long winded, where it's pages of endless exposition and internalizing and repeating events just to get to dialogue. I just didn't care for Aidan and how he treated Norah, being sweet and seductive one moment promising to make her happy and protect her but then going back on his word 5 minutes later. The number of times this man disappoints and crushes her hopes was one too many for my tastes and made me wish this man to Hades. It was the same thing over and over again. From rushing her to the altar and treating the wedding vows like a headache he needs to get through after promising to make her happy and give her "the wedding of her dreams" ...more
This started out with strong potential. I loved the concept of single pregnant heroine working for her boss who slowly falls for her and her2.75 stars
This started out with strong potential. I loved the concept of single pregnant heroine working for her boss who slowly falls for her and her baby. I was expecting an office romance with a pregnancy trope that's slow burn but this quickly morphed into insta-lust/love fanfic smut halfway in where the supposedly emotionally detached hero is suddenly pouring out endearments and moving her into his house and buying her a whole new wardrobe and giving her money and fixing all her problems at the drop of a hat. It just didn't work for me. It's a nice fantasy but it's just not interesting or exciting. Especially when it's so instant. Office romance power dynamics usually don't bother me and I normally love that trope but the heroine pretty much going 'okey dokey' and going along with everything just made the whole story collapse like a cheap suitcase. It just became so one dimensional and shallow. Where's the conflict? The tension? When there's no agency or conflict then you lose me. I love a care-taking hero but he gives her everything from the very start and she happily goes along with it. The minute he said "once I put my dick in you, you are mine" I knew where this was heading. The assistant falling for her boss and having sex in his office and nobody raises a brow over it? Really? And I can't tell you how much I hate the endearment "sweetheart". It's like nails on a chalkboard and makes my skin crawl. ...more
This didn't work for me at all. The number of times I nearly DNF'd was too many. I probably should have but I've heard great things about this book anThis didn't work for me at all. The number of times I nearly DNF'd was too many. I probably should have but I've heard great things about this book and my goodreads friends love this so I kept going and dammit I'm trying to break this awful reading funk I've been in for 3 months now. ...more
I should have taken the fact that this is a clean romance as my first red flag. I'm not knocking books with no sex, clean romance just isn't for me peI should have taken the fact that this is a clean romance as my first red flag. I'm not knocking books with no sex, clean romance just isn't for me personally. Or at least ones like this. But I have to say for a mail order bride story where the characters talk and think about sex 24/7 since first meeting but not show any sex in the end is a weird choice. And if it's gonna be a clean romance you gotta make it worth my while in other areas like emotional development, plot, and writing and it just wasn't happening in any of those areas either. You have a 24 year old virgin heroine who is a complete sensitive Mary Sue who is stuck in the dark ages with zero agency. Meredith doesn't own her own phone or even an email address and saying things like "his back assets" and "licentious woman". Which makes you question what decade this book was written in? It felt like my grandma wrote this. And the heroine is a rich socialite city girl which makes it even more implausible. Her tantrums were especially a sight to behold, if I never have to read the word "stomp" again I'll be happy. In the words of Meredith herself, Jumping Aunt Hannah! Whatever the hell that means. (Again, a city girl would be saying stuff like this? lol)...more
I couldn’t help but feel that her lips would be just out of place against my own: a rose petal against a chainsaw.
Too stupid for words. Th
I couldn’t help but feel that her lips would be just out of place against my own: a rose petal against a chainsaw.
Too stupid for words. This supposedly takes place in Ireland and all the characters are supposedly Irish but they don't sound like it at all. The accents are barely present and come and go throughout the book. You wouldn't even realize the heroine Kayleigh is Irish with the way she talks, she talks like an American with the exception of the word "fecking" on and off (she sometimes says "fucking" and other times "fecking", which is it author?) and when she calls the hero an "eejit" near the end. It's like the author didn't even try to do her research and just plopped these characters into a setting she wanted. The forbidden love aspect of this (which is the main reason I picked this book up) ended up being so silly, so ridiculous and thinly drawn. The heroine Kayleigh is dating the hero's brother Eoin for a few days who is a complete stranger to her (she meets him on the street after saving his life in a near hit and run and he's instantly smitten and asks her to dinner) who she has no feelings for but not wanting to break it off with him because she feels bad and loves his family so much after spending 2 days with them and it's the holidays. ...more
Highly anticipated 2023 releases have been really disappointing for me overall and that makes me so sad. :(
This booNot really what I was hoping for.
Highly anticipated 2023 releases have been really disappointing for me overall and that makes me so sad. :(
This book frustrated me and underwhelmed me in so many regards.
-Breeding Kink. How are you gonna promote/market a book having breeding kink and not actually show it? I mean we got…some. Just barely. I didn't even realize until I read this book that breeding kink is the thought of impregnating that's the kink and turn on, not the actual act per say. But even so, that barely had much airtime in this either. I’m so confused by the choices Finelli made here. You have an arranged marriage between two people who are from rival mafia families who need to get pregnant in 3 months time or their loved ones will die. What’s more higher stakes and dramatic than that?! But nothing happens. Barely any sex (compared to the other books). No pregnancy in the end, nothing. So much page time was wasted instead on the hero and heroine delaying consummating their marriage, the heroine trying to get out of it and go back to Toronto or the hero pushing her away. The constant flip flopping also confused me and frustrated me.
-Emotional connection. I had the same problem in Mafia Madman and same problem persisted here. There was barely any time or effort shown in letting the characters actually connect and fall in love. It just seems to happen over night and come out of thin air after they have sex. The words are given and they are nice but I didn’t really believe it because of that. You literally have your heroine say at the 70% mark she doesn’t even know anything about her husband. So you just fall in love with someone you barely know? *crickets* How does that even make sense? :/ I mean we finally do get some of the sweet moments we are waiting for but it felt like a blip compared to everything else that happens there. It felt like these 2 barely spent any time together here, the pacing was very odd. I wanted much more than what was given.
-The sister. I’m gonna sound like an epic b*tch saying this but it’s fiction so who cares. But having your hero have a more visceral/urgent reaction and drop everything to run after his runaway 26 year old sister Vivian instead of fighting for his wife who he supposedly loves was a.....choice. It just left a bad aftertaste in my mouth and so underwhelming. Your wife is curled up in a ball sobbing and you just leave her there and tell her to go back home? Seriously?? THAT'S IT? Giacamo coddling his adult sister and his obsession of hiding her got tiring the more it went on. I wanted the heroine Emma to meet Vivian and become friends. Instead we got this nonsense. One conversation with Emma over the phone and that's it.
-Emma. I liked her...sometimes. She's exactly the type of heroine I usually love. Smart, quiet, sweet, selfless, minds her business. I liked her levelheadedness and good heart. That's very easy to like. But this girl really got on my nerves at times. One with the goody two shoes “the dangers of misogyny!” act. For someone so smart studying to become a doctor she would say stuff that would make my eyes roll so hard they almost fell out of their sockets.
Yes, I was a virgin. I knew it was silly. But it wasn’t like I was waiting for marriage. That perpetuated an arcane patriarchal view of a woman’s body and her rights.
“That was fast. Too bad for your wife, eh, Don Buscetta?” A stamina joke. Awesome. I guess we were checking all of the clichéd misogynist boxes today.
“You have no right to yell at me, because I did nothing wrong. I will not perpetuate a backwards society where I’m supposed to be lesser than you just because I’m a woman.”
She pushed a strand of long brown hair behind her ear. “Sex isn’t just vaginal penetration. That’s a very misogynistic way of looking at—”
“I’m done pretending to be head over heels in love with you because I’m legitimately head over heels in love with you. And acting lik
4.5 stars
“I’m done pretending to be head over heels in love with you because I’m legitimately head over heels in love with you. And acting like I’m not tears me up.”
I'll be honest I'm a little conflicted on the rating for this. It's between a 4 and 5 stars. Which is still great either way. This was a 5 star for a good chunk of it but the steam factor and the last 20ish% kind of made that last star fall off a bit for me. I've been in a not great head space the past week so reading was a struggle in general. But even so, this grabbed my attention and the distraction I needed from reality. Beau and Bailey were adorable and so sweet. Two lost souls trying to find themselves and their way in life and finding comfort in each other. Bailey was a great combination of innocent, vulnerable yet smart mouth and guarded. I loved the age gap here. Beau is 35 and Bailey is 21. Beau is a special ops soldier who is back home after a rescue mission left him with burned scarred feet and a serious case of PTSD. He's the jovial "goofy" Eaton brother but underneath the bravado is someone who is very weary and lost. Bailey Jansen is the misfit outcast that everyone in Chestnut Springs treats like a pariah given her last name. Her family is a bunch of drug addicts, petty thieves and bullies that the entire town find a nuisance. Bailey has been getting the burnt end of her family name when she's just trying to make her way on her own. I felt for her. Did the conflict in the end feel overblown and a bit silly? Yes. I was expecting it. It was overblown considering the timeline of it. But thankfully it didn't drag on too long and they talked it out. I love how slow burn this felt. Elsie said this was her "least" slow burn book from this series and frankly I disagree. I'm a little confused what she meant by that because this felt pretty slow burn in my book. The amount of pining/yearning/edging that drags on is both delicious and frustrating at the same time. lol
You don’t tell a person you love them with the expectation they’ll say it back. You tell them because you want to. You tell them because it’s true.
I personally love shy virgin heroines who find their own voice and independence. Bailey fit that bill. I just wish the steam was a bit more exciting in this rather than focused solely on "I wanna get rid of my virginity now, a sex toy already got rid of my hymen". It felt heavy handed. I know I'm in the minority when I say this but I absolutely hate when virgin heroines are portrayed like this in romance, specifically CR. Like it's some big shocking annoying thing a young girl in her 20s should be ashamed of? It's a weird gross narrative that I'm seeing more of and I truly don't get it and so tired of seeing it. A woman in her 20s (or any age for that matter) being a virgin is not gross or shocking please stop treating it that way authors, it's insensitive and utterly ridiculous. But that's a rant for another time. Also the porn thing, do all of Elsie Silver's heroines love to watch porn? I'm not knocking porn fanatics and normally don't even care but it feels very disingenuous here because these are women from different lifestyles and backgrounds but all of them just casually watch porn when they are horny or bored, in every. single. book. With uptight "ice queen" Winter it felt weird and very forced and here it felt forced too given how much it was brought up. Like yes, the heroine is a virgin but she's a COOL virgin ya'll! She watches porn and has a box of sex toys to prove it. RME. Please stop. It was doing too much IMO. Also, when you have an experienced hero and a virgin heroine who is eager to try things and discover sex, why not show some of that sexual exploration? *cries into my pillow* That's the part I felt let down the most TBH. This book kinda felt like a big ol' tease in many ways in that regard. And I want to throw my shoe at people who labeled that bathtub scene as "steamy" all over social media because it built up expectations in my head I wasn't aware of until I got to it. (view spoiler)[ Your man helping you shave your pubic hair is sweet but standing in a bathtub full of floating pubic hair (I really didn't need that visual Elsie Silver thanks) while he performs oral sex on you is not my idea of sexy time. But that's just me. (hide spoiler)]...more
I was a chaotic disaster, one he didn’t deserve to put up with.
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The hero Leo Hernandez deserved so much better. I did not r1.5 stars
I was a chaotic disaster, one he didn’t deserve to put up with.
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The hero Leo Hernandez deserved so much better. I did not read the previous books but all I know is this boy deserved so much better than this. I probably am the wrong reader for this series/author because I am not a fan of New Adult. The drama, characters and actions are usually incredibly frustrating, melodramatic and stupid. Here was pretty much that.
“It’s a lot easier for me to remind myself of all the reasons I hate him than it is to think of how he might have changed.”
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My biggest issue is I could not stand the heroine Mary Silver. She just wasn't my cup of tea. She felt more like cough syrup. This girl rubbed me the wrong way and I tried really hard to give her grace given her past history in high school and her own insecurities and sense of hurt. But lawd mercy, honest to g-d the way this girl would compartmentalize and misjudge things and never *ever* want to admit she is in the wrong was so miserable. Her insecurities gave her serious tunnel vision and sense of entitlement. I just couldn't deal with how she would process things and react to things. And I know this is more of personal taste bleeding through here but I also didn't love her lifestyle, choices she made and attitude suited for a moody 16 year old. The whole fully tattooed head to toe, pierced everywhere, gothic babe, wears no bra so the hero can oogle her pierced nipples (busty girls need support, my back was hurting just reading this!) smokes pot 24/7 and rolls her eyes at everything just isn't my thing. She's supposedly and I quote directly "a boss ass bitch!" but was really a "pick me choose me I'm not like other girls" walking bumper sticker.
I so desperately wanted to get high, but I didn’t have any edibles on hand, and I knew I couldn’t sneak a joint — not in my mother’s house. It didn’t matter if I walked down the street to smoke it, she’d find out.
"I wasn’t an angel — that much I could easily admit. I liked having a guy’s face between my legs for a night or railing me in the morning before breakfast. And most times, we didn’t talk enough for me to know if they were in a relationship or not.
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I normally love curvy thick heroines but I just wasn't feeling Mary at all. I mean bare feet on the dashboard of a car?! WHO RAISED YOU? ...more
Now Marigold understood she and women like her were birds that flew into a window, believing the mirrored reflection they were shown,
3.5 stars
Now Marigold understood she and women like her were birds that flew into a window, believing the mirrored reflection they were shown, blind to the very real barrier until it knocked them flat.
This easily would have been a 4 star or even higher for me if the constant misunderstandings in questioning the heroine's integrity and the 3rd act nonsense didn't get in the way. Dani Collins is such a great writer. Honestly that impressed me the most. Her attention to detail in atmosphere, world building and just characterizations overall was fantastic and so fun. I could picture everything so clearly down to every crumb and wrinkle. The humor is also hilariously good and quick, if a bit crude in some parts. It just feels so fresh, honest and smart. The hero and heroine snarking at each other was a highlight. Quite a few moments that had me rolling. If Dani Collins writes more I will definitely read it. She has a fan in me if this was anything to go by.
This was my first historical that takes place during the Gold Rush trail in America. The widowed hero Virgil Gardner is a Prospector who runs a mining company in Qual's Creek where him and his employees mine for gold and he's looking for a wife to keep house and be a mother to his 3 kids Levi, Nettie and little Harley. He's a hard working man who is blunt, doesn't suffer fools and has the temperament of a bear. He puts an ad out for a wife and is expecting a young bride named Pearl Martin after corresponding through letters with her. Instead her older sister Marigold Davis shows up offering herself up as a replacement. She has no place to go and running away from the fallout of an ugly divorce scandal that sullied her reputation very publicly. She was branded an adulterer by her awful ex-husband who cheated on her and managed to take her house too. Because of this Virgil hires her on as a nanny for his kids instead. I just adored the heroine so much. She keeps getting a bad hand dealt to her but tries her best and is so resilient and emotionally intelligent. She's smart, sassy, funny, witty and quick on her feet and has a big heart. She's honest but speaks her mind and just wants a home of her own and security. The hero doesn't trust her from the start because she's a divorcee who was labeled a cheater (even though she's innocent) so it doesn't sit well with him. I gave him some leeway at first since his dead wife cheated on him and had a baby with another man while Virgil was out in California working to send money home, a biracial baby he's now raising as his own. Honestly if this character didn't frustrate me so much in how he behaved towards the heroine his bond with little Harley and how protective he is of that baby melts your heart. But that mistrust keeps rearing its ugly head through the whole book and I just wanted to throttle him and sock him in the balls. It made no sense the longer it continued because she's literally taking care of his kids and taking care of his home. I mean come on dude. I loved that all the men rallied around her and kept giving her gifts and helping her along. That was adorable. Seeing a jealous hero watch other men trying to court her didn't hurt either. She really makes that place her home and it was great to see.
The lifestyle in Kansas territory is rough and brutal with very very humble living conditions. All the men live in tents except for Virgil's family where the five of them literally live in a hovel shack that's not even finished completely which our dear hero wasn't very honest about in those letters of his. Just want to point that out since he was so high and mighty about *honesty*. Hmmph. Marigold toughs it out and makes the best of things with zero complaints and even comes up with clever ways to create dolls for the kids and clothes and bedding so yes I felt super protective of this character. (view spoiler)[ That whole drama over Virgil's missing lucky golden nugget and thinking she stole it was so stupid and offensive if the end result wasn't so hilarious and deserving. It involved a toddler, poop and a chamber pot getting thrown at the idiot hero. But if that wasn't enough silliness, to make matters worse as the final act of conflict the "pretty" younger sister Pearl shows up in the end thinking Virgil's offer for marriage to her through letters still stands and throws a tantrum when she finds out he was about to marry Marigold. I hated this selfish twat of a character so much. We literally have a switcheroo Wife Swap moment where Marigold gives her sister a chance to play house with Virgil and the kids since Pearl technically had "first dibs" on him and Marigold "owes" her and no I'm not kidding. She gives up her happiness with the man and kids she loves so her sister can take her place and the hero lets her walk away after she lies to him about not loving him. At this point I nearly threw my kindle out the window. I love angst but not this kind near the end of the damn book and at the expense of the heroine's own happiness she worked so hard for. I have no idea why the author thought this was a great idea in the last 20 pages of her story but it just killed things for me. To be fair, I normally love high angsty situations like this but if it plays out earlier and if the hero wasn't acting like a distrusting jerk for so long. Those poor kids bonded and loved Marigold like a mother and their reaction to finding out they were finally going to have a mother in Marigold was so heartwarming and sweet so it was so hard to see her sister try to take her place and the hero trying to go along with it. WHERE IS YOUR AGENCY SIR? His own insecurities of feeling unwanted since he himself is an illegitimate child from rape is a big part of his distrust and feeling unworthy but even so.....I needed him to step up. This wife swap misery only lasts 3 days but it just was too much, too far and so ridiculous. It made it hard for me to believe the hero loved the heroine given how he continuously didn't believe her and distrusted her. (hide spoiler)] This was a good book in the sense that the writing is fantastic and the overall characters are engaging and so endearing, Levi, Nettie and little Harley were adorable and a hoot. But the hero Virgil is a fucking idiot and the heroine is an angel who deserved better if you ask me.
“Take the shortest road to Hades, sir. And take that nugget with you.”
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