L-L-L-Little Reviews - 4 Romances Read in the 4th Month of 2019

Gah!  This time of the school year is so busy, and with the weather getting nicer, it's harder to stay as ahead on my blog and reviews as I'd like. BUT, hey, I'm keeping up, kind of, by getting all the reviews of romances that are not part of a blog tour in this post!


First Down (Lucky Charms #1) by Michelle Sodaro:

Genre:  Adult contemporary sports romance
Release Date: February 3rd, 2017
Source:  Finished copy purchased
My rating:  3.5 stars

This is an author who used to be a good friend of mine.  She was an inspiration for me to write myself and actually I credit her for the reason I finished my first story ever the year she and I did NaNoWriMo as writing buddies.  However, our friendship suffered a couple years ago when she did not like the reviews I'd posted of her books.  In fact she told me I didn't need to bother to review any more of her books.  But this was a series I'd been very interested in, and so I took a chance and went ahead and bought a copy to read.  In the end, I feel like this book was definitely better than the others I'd read before, I could see improvements. But it started with some of the same issues I often have with self-published books, and ended with some of those same things.  In a way, I got about halfway through the book and was ready to post a review that would be really good, because I was sucked in and not noticing the things that had bothered me before. But then, towards the end, the final third or so, it changed right back to the issues.  Lots of buts in my review it seems.  So let's add one more. BUT, the banter between characters had a few really good moments.  I loved the swear jar, and I definitely loved having something taking place in my hometown of KC.  I enjoyed the book enough to bump it to a 3.5 stars, although if it had carried through the improvement to the end, I'd have probably given it 4 stars.  I did enjoy it enough that I do want to read book 2, especially since it is set with a Kansas City Royal's baseball player, my really favorite sport and team.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
Josh Matthews had a childhood he would rather forget...and he never really knew what it meant to be in a family or to call a place home. His circle of friends are the closest he has come to a family as are his teammates on the Kansas City Chiefs. He is their quarterback and loves playing football. When he sees a fan holding a sign up in the first regular season game, his superstitious teammates tease him that she could be his lucky charm. Dillon Winters knows all to well how being star-struck can hurt you. She got away from her ex-husband and is working hard to take care of her daughter, Lilly. She goes to a football game to drum up business for her bar and meets Josh Matthews, who makes her realize that giving love a second chance can fulfill her life in ways she didn't even know she was missing. 


Tinfoil Heart by Daisy Prescott:

Genre:  Adult contemporary romance
Release Date: April 22nd, 2018
Source:  Finished copy purchased
My rating:  4.5 stars
  
Now, my rating on this is a depends rating.  You see, the author gave us two different endings.  Based on the synopsis below, you might think this is a bit of a science fiction/alien visitor type of story.  And you might be right. Depending on which ending you choose to go with.  Me, I loved the Believer ending, which would make it 5 stars for me.  But if she had just gone with the Skeptic ending, well, then it would have been only 4 stars.  So I compromised with the 4.5 stars finally.  From the minute I picked this one up though, I was hooked.  I wish I'd gone ahead and read it last summer right after I bought it at Book Bonanza, so that I could have stayed up all night reading it on a summer night with no school the next morning.  Instead, I waited, and there you go.  Loved the humor, the story, the angst, the setting of the story, all of it.  There was even one line that just kept me laughing out loud for quite a while after, even as I continued reading:  "The unicorn of orgasms".   

And since I got to meet the author at Book Bonanza last summer, I'll share that photo (even as horrible as I look!):

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
A new romantic comedy about love, letting go, and little green men from USA Today Bestselling author Daisy Prescott.

My father was abducted by aliens.
Or so I believed for the last eighteen years.

After my mother's death, I moved to Roswell, capital of all things alien. I’m going to find out the truth and nothing will stop me . . . except Boone Santos.

Compared to the intergalactic tinfoil hat brigade, he's a god amongst mere mortals. Too handsome for his own good (and mine), with a grumpy arrogance, and the most beautiful smile ever—he smashes my plan to pieces like a UFO crashing into the desert.

I need a tinfoil hat for my heart.

Do I believe in aliens? I’m not sure.
What do I believe? I’m not going to fall in love with Boone. Definitely not . . . 



All Broke Down (Rusk University #2) by Cora Carmack:

Genre:  New Adult contemporary sports romance
Release Date: October 28th, 2014
Source:  Audiobook purchased from Audible
My rating:  5 stars

It's been a while since I listened to the first book in this series, but I had purchased this on Audible a while back, and decided I was in the mood to listen to it.  And boy am I glad I did, this one was so good!  One thing that was really funny for me as I listened, was at the beginning when I was getting so annoyed with one character going on and on describing stuff, and then the author totally wove that moment into the story so that her spacing out was annoying or causing issues for another character.  I loved chapter 7, it was extremely hot!  And then there was a lot of back and forth between the characters that fit perfectly for the most part, enough that it didn't even annoy me when it was a usual type of issue you see.  Then something happened at the end to one of the other characters, and I'm guessing that is who one of the next books will be about, and I'll need to read it soon!  Another great book from this author!

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
In life, you can't only fight for what you believe in . . .sometimes you have to fight for what you love

Dylan fights for lost causes. Probably because she used to be one.

Environmental issues, civil rights, education—you name it, she's probably been involved in a protest. When her latest cause lands her in jail for a few hours, she meets Silas Moore. He's in for a different kind of fighting. And though he's arrogant and not at all her type, she can't help being fascinated with him.

Yet another lost cause.

Football and trouble are the only things that have ever come naturally to Silas. And it's trouble that lands him in a cell next to do-gooder Dylan. He's met girls like her before—fixers, he calls them, desperate to heal the damage and make him into their ideal boyfriend. But he doesn't think he's broken, and he definitely doesn't need a girlfriend trying to change him. Until, that is, his anger issues and rash decisions threaten the only thing he really cares about, his spot on the Rusk University football team.

Dylan might just be the perfect girl to help.

Because Silas Moore needs some fixing after all.
  


Sweet Southern Secrets (Georgia Peaches #1) by Colbie Kay and Chianti Summers:

Genre:  New Adult contemporary romance
Release Date: April 28th, 2017
Source:  Finished copy purchased
My rating:  3 stars
  
I purchased this one last year when I got to meet the authors at Kinky in Kansas City, a romance author convention that sadly is going to not go on after this coming summer.  The authors of this book were the hosts of this convention.  This awesome convention is where I met Amy Daws for the first time, as well as the cover model Jonny James, just to name a few of the awesome people!  But anyway, I hadn't read these two authors before, so I purchased this book.  Now, normally I'm not the biggest fan of the baby on the cover like this one, that often turns me away. But the synopsis sounded most like what I'd be interested in reading so I bought it.  This book had the same things about it that my friend's book has that I know has to do with self-publishing.  That is where the 3 stars comes in.  It was an okay story, although I guess I didn't read the synopsis that well, because the whole baby plotline was not what I had assumed it was going to be, it went a whole different direction.  I don't know if these are authors I'll read more in the future by or not, but I won't say that I won't.  It would be fun to see where the other Georgia Peaches stories take them.  

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
Dex Mitchell has wanted to play baseball for as long as he can remember. His life was going exactly as it should until a failing grade threatens it all. Dex has no choice, but to go looking for help and where better to look than the quiet girl that sits next to him. If Dex can get her to agree, he might end up needing her for a whole lot more than just tutoring.

Callie Fisher is scared, timid, and being held captive by a night that turned horribly wrong. She's happy being invisible to people around her. Except for the guy that sits next to her. He's always noticed her and now he needs her help. What Callie thinks is supposed to just be a couple lessons in the stars turns into a whole lot of unexpected. Callie never anticipated that agreeing to help Dex would in turn help her also.

These two come together when they need it most, but as the rules change can they still win the game or will secrets give them a loss?  

L-L-L-Little Reviews: Three Adult Contemporary Romances

Still not sure about that title idea.  Oh well.  Right now is about getting reviews done before November and NaNoWriMo starts, so I don't feel like those are hanging over my head and I can get some writing done!  These are all three adult contemporary romances. 

King of Code by C.D. Reiss:

Release Date:  September 18th, 2017
Source:  Free Kindle E-book 
My rating:  4 stars 

Not exactly sure where to start with this one, as it was different than expected.  I decided to tackle this as the next of my enormous TBR of free e-books because the author is supposed to be at Book Bonanza last year.  I really did like this book a lot.  I'm afraid that my mini-review may not come off that way however. First of all, it was all done from the male viewpoint, and I feel like so many romances are usually done either all from the female point of view, or go back and forth between them, not just the man's story.  So that took me off guard a bit at first.  But in a way that was refreshing and made the story even more interesting to read and kept my attention for that uniqueness.  It was a very dirty, sexy book.  You have to really be okay with that to enjoy it.  I know that there were a few things I didn't like, for example, the noises that it had Harper making. Sure, sure, I know that real noises during sex are weird sounding, there is even a line in the movie Dogma that makes me laugh because of how true it is.  However I kind of feel like in a romance, we can make the noises a little less realistic?  Maybe?  Just me?  Oh well.  Not a biggie.  And then I did feel like it was just one thing after another, piled on top of each other until the tower was ready to fall and upset every little bit they'd built up and created.  Overall a good book, and I look forward to reading more by this author, as well as meeting them next August at BB19.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
Taylor Harden is a tech hero on the edge of fame and untold wealth, until a hacker freezes his company and holds it hostage.

Harper doesn't want much from Taylor.

All he has to do to get his company back is teach her how to please a man. Step by step, and for every step she'll unlock a piece of his system.

Kissing unlocks a partition.

Touching unlocks another.

Using your mouth to…

How far is this crazy woman going to go?

They hate each other. They can't keep away from each other. They're decoding each other with every step, until all Harper's secrets are revealed, and Taylor risks losing his heart as well as his company. 

Royally Endowed (Royally #3) by Emma Chase:

Release Date:  August 31st, 2017
Source:  Purchased physical copy of book 
My rating:  4 stars   

I had owned the paperback of this for awhile, but then decided to try the audiobook.  Unfortunately the male narrator was the same as who does Hardin on the After series audiobooks, I think, and so I had trouble hearing him as this character.  So even though I started listening in April, I didn't get around to picking up the paperback to finish it until September.   Once I did that, though, it was a very quick read.  While it was interesting to see how Ellie and Logan got together finally, their romance a very edgy and drawn out one, probably just a little lacked due to not having any true royalty as a part of them.  But not enough to be truly disappointing or make the story not good.  Logan had a background that was dark and led into so many twisting points in the story.  And it was great to have the two of them with their own types of connections to our other characters from the first two books so that we could still get our fill of the royals.  Good, even if not my favorite of the bunch.  Also, I posted my review of the 4th book earlier this week, had a deadline thanks to a review tour, but if you read that review, you'll understand it didn't matter to read out of order, even though I didn't.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
Logan St. James is a smoldering, sexy beast. Sure, he can be a little broody at times—but Ellie Hammond’s willing to overlook that. Because, have you seen him?? 

Sexy. As. Hell. 

And Ellie’s perky enough for both of them.

For years, she’s had a crush on the intense, gorgeous royal security guard—but she doesn’t think he ever saw her, not really. 

To Logan, Ellie was just part of the job—a relative of the royal family he’d sworn to protect. Now, at 22 years old and fresh out of college, she’s determined to put aside her X-rated dreams of pat-downs and pillow talk, and find a real life happily ever after. 

The Queen of Wessco encourages Ellie to follow in her sister’s footsteps and settle down with a prince of her own. Or a duke, a marquis…a viscount would also do nicely. 

But in the pursuit of a fairy tale ending, Ellie learns that the sweetest crushes can be the hardest to let go.
 
***
 
Logan St. James grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, in a family on the wrong side of the law. But these days, he covers his tattoos and scars with a respectable suit. He’s handsome, loyal, brave, skilled with his hands and…other body parts. 

Any woman would be proud to call him hers. 

But there’s only one woman he wants. 

For years he’s watched over her, protected her, held her hair back when she was sick, taught her how to throw a punch, and spot a liar.

He dreams of her. Would lay down his life for her. 

But beautiful Ellie Hammond’s off-limits. 

Everybody knows the bodyguard rules: Never lose focus, never let them out of your sight, and never, ever fall in love. 

Studly Period (The Ivy Years #5.5) by Sarina Bowen:

Release Date:  March 20th, 2018
Source:  Newsletter serial
My rating:  5 stars    

So, I started reading this as part of the author's newsletter.  I rarely convince myself to do that, but something about this one got me interested enough to read it.  It was my first story by this author, but I'm now sure it will not be my last.  I guess maybe it was originally published back in March in the newsletter, but I just signed up recently and she must have decided to share it again.  I'm glad that she did.  It could possibly be that it was a hockey player in the book, and I'd just attended my first hockey game ever right about the time I found it.  It was a great story, and then there was even one day that it had such a major cliffhanger I was immediately joining the author's Facebook fan group to tell her how much I was hanging on it and she was killing me!  LOL.  A cute fun short story.  Sounds like as series I'll have to look into soon!  Now, if it sounds like one you want to read, I believe you can click the link on the Goodreads info page, or maybe sign up for her newsletter yourself.

Here is the blurb from Goodreads:
There are 1016 people in the freshman class at Harkness College. I can’t be the only socially awkward nerd girl virgin among them. Right?
 
It’s time I learn to talk to guys without blushing and stammering. So I take a confidence-building job at the student tutoring center. Twelve bucks an hour, plus human interaction. What could go wrong?
 
A fun-loving French Canadian hockey hunk, that’s what.
 
When Pepe Gerault sits down at my tutoring table, my brain shuts off and my mouth goes right into hyperdrive. Even the sound of my name on his lips—Josephine—gives me a mini orgasm.
 
I want to hand him my V-card. But all I manage to hand him is…my thesaurus. And my dignity. All seems lost, until I hatch a plan to get him alone… 

Book Bonanza 2018 Recap

So the last two days have been both awesome as well as mega-crazy.  There were so many awesome authors to meet, but there were also so many fans there to meet them!  I've been to a few different book conventions, BEA, Romantic Times Convention, NOLA StoryCon, Apollycon, Kinky in Kansas City, and last month, ALA.  This weekend was the first ever Book Bonanza, and I'd say it was a pretty neat experience, even if it definitely had some growing pains that will hopefully be easy to fix before they, hopefully, have the 2nd one next year!  In fact, by the end of today's last signing time, things seemed to really be going pretty smoothly!  While I didn't get the chance to go meet a lot of authors I didn't already know, I got to meet or visit with all of my top planned authors. 

This is going to be a looooooooonnnnngggg post.  Lots of pictures!  

Below is a picture of all the planning I did from the beginning list of authors I had until late last night when I was trying to streamline the final two signing times based on what I'd learned at the first one.

Last minute purchases of post-it notes and highlighters - needed because what I did have was at school and I couldn't get to over the summer because of construction.  A pad of regular size post-its from a fellow BB attendee that was very useful in marking my name on the pages I wanted signed by the authors.

When I got to Denver and went to registration on Thursday night, I got this awesome tote bag filled with all these goodies.  Now, for some reason I got a 4XL sized t-shirt, which was way big for me. But the awesomeness and organization that went into this made me able to stop back by the registration desk on Friday morning to switch it out for the XL that was the actual size I needed.

Here is a video I took of the book I made to get autographed when it arrived a week before the convention.

Book Bonanza Attendee Group on Facebook

All the book bloggers were invited to meet with the Bookworm Box to talk about how we can work together to help them promote what they do, especially since what they do is all in a great support for different charities.  Here is the picture of all of us after that movie.

There were some awesome panels.  I took a couple pictures.

Rachel Hollis panel - She was such a great motivational speaker!
Jenga Writing - From A to B:  This panel had some great ideas to help with writing.  Authors included:  Rebecca Donovan, Kenzie Hart, Rachel Higginson, and KA Tucker.	Words and Cliches We Love to Hate - How do you avoid the slippery slope?  And then we had the awesome and hilarious panel where it was discussed the words that we all cringe over such as moist, turgid. The authors talked about their preferred terms for body parts, etc. and other funny things about writing sex scenes.  Authors on this panel included:  Willow Aster, K Bromberg, JD Hollyfield, Raine Miller, and Tabatha Vargo.

Next are all the books!  Even though as I showed above I made my own book to get signed so that I wouldn't have to carry a bunch of books around, well, let's just say my weakness showed when there were book to buy.  I mean, I drove, so it's not like I have to worry about how to get the books back.  Just don't probably need them all?  But you know, they're books!

So these are the free books I got. The bottom two from Book Bonanza just for coming!

These are the books I brought that I got signed.  You can see my book I made at the top.  In the middle you've got Cocktales and Felony Ever After both had multiple authors for me to get.

These are the books I bought.  Only 11, that's not horrible, right?  Two on the top are coloring books, and then another two are ones I'd read as e-galleys and wanted a physical copy to get signed.

And then there is all the awesome swag!!

Cool pens.  Yeah, the top one is from Meghan Quinn.  It is what it looks like.	Bookmarks galore!
Cool buttons.	Lots of stickers!  Some temporary tattoos, which are cool, but I'd rather have them as stickers to keep on my blogging calendar.
Then there were the interesting odds and ends of random type of swag. Some coasters, a tote bag, bracelets, fans, candy, magnets, post-its, and more!	Of course there were the cool postcards and even a signed picture of one of the cover models.

Other than the t-shirt that came with the tote-bag for the event, I was able to get another free one from the Bookworm Box, as well as I bought a shirt with a cool Outlander quote.

Free shirt from Bookworm Box!

Cool Outlander quote t-shirt from The Bookish Shop.

Okay, now, here is the reason I really had to attend Book Bonanza as soon as I heard about it, all the awesome authors!  Some I'd never met but am now in LOVE with their books, and others that I'd read a story by and wanted to read more, and finally ones that I'd met before, but still LOVE all their books and had to say hi to again.  There will be a lot!  So hopefully you don't get bored and enjoy looking at them!

Had to find Amy Daws right away!	Kami Garcia.  I've met her before, but only have a picture with her and Margaret Stohl, so now I have one with just her!
Helena Hunting was one of my MUST meet authors!  She was so nice, and so fun to talk to.  Her husband was there and he was nice as well!	Celia Aaron was there Friday night, wasn't expecting her till Saturday.  Loved her husband's shirt which said "I make Celia Aaron moist.  Ask me how."  He said no one had asked him yet.  I was not going to be the first one.
Sara Ney was another MUST meet author.  Also sat in on a panel with her that I forgot to take a picture of.  But she was a blast!	Yet another MUST meet author was Cambria Hebert.  Also, I'd lost my sunglasses when I went to register on Thursday night.  I was saved from having to either drive to find a Target, or buy the $25 ones in the hotel gift shop because she had some for swag giveaways - bonus - they were pink!
Aleatha Romig was another MUST meet author.  She was so excited that there were so many people in her line she ended up having to have wristbands because the line got so long.	I'd only read one by Daisy Prescott, but she was also in my Cocktales anthology, and there was one of her books, Tinfoil Heart, that I've wanted to read ever since I did a blog promo post for it. So, I bought it.
Shirl Rickman, I've only read one of her books, but did enjoy it, so had to go meet her as well.	Now, I met Michelle Mankin earlier this year at Kinky in Kansas City, but since I hadn't read her books yet, I didn't get a picture then. But now that I have, and loved it, I had to get a picture with her.
Had to meet Rachel Hollis and get the book I bought at work last week, Girl Wash Your Face, signed.  Haven't read it yet, but her keynote speech was so good that I can't wait to start!	So, you've probably noticed all the reviews for books in the Man of the Month  series that I've done throughout the first months of 2018.  I had to meet J. Kenner. When I told her I loved the series and would need to read on, she suggested that I needed to try her Stark trilogy, and gave me the first book to read!  That was so awesome!  So that will be a book I read soon!
Jana Aston was one I really wanted to meet, she had her own page in my book that I made, with a quote that I love from that book.  I ended up buying Good Girl, because I've heard so much about it!	So, Meghan March was one of my MUST meet authors.  But as of Friday night, I was scared I might not get to meet her, because she had so many people they handed out wrist-bands, and didn't get through them all. So they were going to start the next day, and they said they wouldn't be handing out any more.  Friday night, around 11:45 pm, 15 minutes before the end of that first signing time, I was sharing my sadness about not getting to meet her at all, and the person in line in front of me gave me her wristband so I could meet her on Saturday!  Book people are the best.  Now, they did end up doing new wristbands, so I probably would have been okay, but this was still awesome!
Audrey Carlan was high up on my list to meet, and she brought the cover model from her new series with her!	I've only read/listened to one book by JA Huss, and I haven't even had a chance to review it on my blog  But, when I was able to get a wristband to go ahead and meet this author, I was very excited!  Plus, they were giving away copies of the new book, Sexpert, that I can't wait to read!
So, I've met Jay Crownover before, and wasn't going to worry if I didn't get to see her again, but as you can see, I did!  And since we always seem to have the photos with the crazy mouth, I saved that one.  I suck at it, while she always looks so cool!	Rachel Van Dyken was one I was really hoping to meet, and I did!  I accidentally left my copy of Cocktales at her table, and didn't realize it for awhile.  I was so close to tears until I had gone back to a lot of the tables I'd visited, and when I got to her table, it was there!  Yay!
I was lucky enough to slip in and see Abby Glines when she stayed into part of the 2nd Saturday signing to finish up the wristbands she didn't get to in the first signing that same day.  Love the photo bomb, by her daughter?	Yes, I've met K. Bromberg before, but I LOVE her books, and am so excited for Passionflix's movie of her book Driven, which comes out in August.  Plus I'm on her audiobook review team, so I had to go see her if I could.  And she seemed to remember me by name!  Coolest thing!
So, Meghan Quinn was a MUST meet for me, especially since she was the only author I'd done a pre-order with.  But getting a wristband to see her?  Well, let's just say that was crazy.  But I finally got over to meet her, and she was really cool!	And while I've met Anna Todd before, I really wanted to see her again and talk about the After movie that is now starting to film.  I think she was probably busy and tired by this time, she was still sweet, but not quite as bubbly and friendly as when I met her the first time.  You can tell by my picture here though, I was sweaty and tired, so I'm sure everyone else was as well.

Okay, this was an awesome event!  I'm hoping to attend next year, but we'll see.  I also hope to get to sell my house and move next year, so we'll see how I'm doing financially as well as time-wise.  

A fun time, but I was so exhausted when I got back to my hotel room Saturday night that my body just ached all over.  I had marks on my shoulders from carrying bags full of books all day, two days kind of.  So I didn't go back to the event hotel across the street for the concert.  Maybe if I'd been staying there, but now I'm in my room and just relaxing.  

I drive back tomorrow, but am happy to get to sleep in a bit.  Friday morning wasn't horrible, just got up about 7:30 am, but this morning I had to get up about 6 am in order to get in line for the 8 am signing.  I wasn't ready for school morning time yet.  It's not August!

Oh yeah, I forgot to talk about the awesome food trucks!  They had food trucks for us outside for breakfast, lunch, and dinner both Friday and Saturday.  I had them for all three on Friday, but on Saturday, I didn't make it out there.  I wasn't over in time to get breakfast and still get a good place in line on Saturday.  Then, they weren't going to start serving lunch till 11, and I was ready to get something to eat earlier so I could get back to get my last few authors from the first signing on Saturday, so I ate at the restaurant in the Marriott.  Then for dinner tonight, I just went to the restaurant at my own hotel.  I was going to just do room-service, I was that sore and tired, but needed some ibuprofen, so I had to leave my room for that anyway.

Food Truck Pictures:

These waffle cakes were to die for!! This one was a banana Nutella.

Friday's lunch was from this Mac and Cheese Truck.

This was my Cheddar Mac with Bacon.

I had pizza Friday night, but didn't take a picture to share.  Sorry!

As I said above, a great time!  You should keep your ears open for next year's info!