Just What I Needed (Need You #2) by Lorelei James ~ #bookreview #contemporaryromance @BerkleyRomance

Just What I Needed (Need You #2)

by Lorelei James (Goodreads Author)

The second sexy novel in the Need You series, from the New York Times bestselling author of the Mastered Series and the Blacktop Cowboys® Series.
 
Trinity Carlson might be having the worst day ever. And that was before she started drinking in a dive bar, right across from her ex and his new girlfriend. So when she finally decides enough is enough, she grabs hold of a hot, blond stranger and gives him the kiss of his life.

Walker Lund never expected that a chance at love would hit him right on the mouth. Since the moment his brother decided to settle down, Walker has been dodging his family’s hopes that he’ll do the same.  He’s never been interested in following in anyone’s footsteps. But when he discovers his sexy assailant has given him a fake name and number he suddenly finds himself in the mood for a little hot pursuit...

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Source: eARC for Honest Review Courtesy of Signet | Penguin Group

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

Part 2 in an ongoing series

My Just What I Needed Review . . .

If you haven't met the Lunds before then you need to.  I love them! All of them.  The first book in this series was based on Brady Lund and this time around we get Walker's story.

As of late, I seem to be on a quirky romance kick and I love it.  Walker and Trinity have quite the quirky, cute love story.   Walker Lund is the dependable Lund whom everyone of the family takes advantage of.  They take so much advantage as of late they haven't really noticed Walker and what he needs.   To the rest of the Lunds, Walker will always be there and will always try to fix everything, including the people he dates.

Trinity Amelia Carson's a talented artist but she's a bit broken.  Not from her art but from her family.  For her, Art is everything but most don't completely understand her or her art.   After a long day she finds herself at a bar wallowing in her pity but the minute Walker comes through the door her world changes.

"How about we have a drink and you can tell me the real reason you used your tongue to introduce yourself instead of a handshake."

The moment Trinity sees Walker she literally walks up to him and kisses him.  And after that sparks flew for these two.  The Lunds believe in fate, so when at first Walker didn't think he would see his mystery woman again, fate had a different plan bringing these two together.

"It was like I was in a lusttrance."

I liked Trinity and her idiosyncrasies but at times she almost pushed me to my brink.  Thankfully she was able to clear her head, that she could see the gift that was in front of her, which was Walker Lund.   When we first met Walker in What You need I didn't know about his quirky side but I absolutely adored it here.  These two couldn't be any more perfect for one another.  And don't even get me started on Buttons.  :)

"I specialize in hello kisses.  Good-bye kisses are  your deal.  So next time . . . I expect one that'll blow my hair back."

 Since these two are from fairly different worlds, we knew it would not be smooth sailing for these two.  And what a bumpy ride it was, but I loved it.  There is just something charming and sweet about this series that I can't seem to put the books down once I picked them up.

I first found Lorelei James when I was in the cowboy romance genre phase than she blew me out of the water with her bdsm erotica with the mastered series.  At first I wasn't sure how she was going to fare with the contemporary genre but so far both of these books from this series I have adored.

I absolutely love the Lund family and I can't wait for more.  This series has so much potential with all the Lund children.  Whom will be the next one to fall? Can't wait to find out. 

4 I have a huge crush on all things Walker Lund thumbs up!

Lauren

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THE AFTERMATH by R.J. Prescott! Release Day Blitz #giveaway #excerpt #bookreview #paperback #releaseday #re-read

ABOUT THE BOOK

Title: The Aftermath

Author: R.J. Prescott

Series: The Hurricane, #2

On Sale: August 2, 2016

Publisher: Forever

Formats: Trade Paperback & eBook

Price: $14.99 USD (TP) / $3.99 USD (eBook)

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Cormac "The Hurricane" O'Connell's star is on the rise. Billed as the most promising young boxer of his generation, his new career is taking him to places he never dreamed. But O'Connell only needs one thing in life: his wife.

In her final year of college, Em cannot follow him around the world but together they make it work. Just when everything they ever wanted is on the horizon, the past resurfaces to haunt them, and O'Connell realizes that justice might not be a part of his happy ever after. He couldn't protect Em once before, but in the aftermath of the hurricane, he will make sure that never happens again.

THE HURRICANE SERIES

The Hurricane, #1

The Aftermath, #2

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

USA Today bestselling author R.J. Prescott was born in Cardiff, South Wales, and studied law at the University of Bristol, England. Four weeks before graduation she fell in love, and stayed. Ten years later, she convinced her crazy, wonderful firefighter husband to move back to Cardiff where they now live with their two equally crazy sons.

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Source: ARC for Honest Review Courtesy of Forever | Grand Central Publishing

Genre: New Adult Sports Boxing Romance

Part 2 in a series

  

My The Aftermath Review . . .

I have to admit that I liked this one so much better than the first one.  Both were sweet but this one had so much more feels in the heart than in The Hurricane.   The Aftermath starts immediately after where The Hurricane left off with Em and O'Connell dealing with the aftermath of Frank's kidnapping.  

For more than a year, she'd been my sunshine in a dark place.   Now it was my turn to be hers.

I love this boxing family! Especially Danny. As Em's trying to move forward, her new family is rallying around her to support her.   O'Connell regrets not being able to protect Em when she needed it the most so he wants to put his plans on hold to help her while she deals with Frank's trial.   But Em is tough as nails and doesn't want Frank to win, so makes O'Connell still chase his dream. 

"How do you get to be so strong?" I asked.  "I found myself a family of fighters."

These two may be young but there love is strong.  In the first book O'Connell had some ups and downs for me, but here he really came into himself and shined.  Their love for one another is strong and even stronger with the rest of their group of misfits.   This time around O'Connell wants to help Em in any way that he can, which ends up being hard when Em's worlds starts to implode around her.

~I didn't need her to fix me and all the fucked-up shit that followed me.  I just needed her to love me and have faith in me while I fixed myself.  ~

 Gah! These two don't have it easy but it only makes their bond stronger.  There was something so heartfelt about this story that I absolutely adored.  Was it my favorite story? No, but it was a good one where we get a very well deserved HEA.  My fingers are crossed that we get more from this series with Tommy, Liam, Earnshaw and Keiran.
 

4 Worth the aftermath thumbs up!



Lauren

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It never occurred to me that mail was something to fear. Not until the day I came home and found Em sat on the floor, her arms wrapped around her knees, and a ripped open white envelope on the bed behind her.

“Sunshine, what’s wrong?” I asked. She swallowed hard and sniffed a few times like she was trying to hold back tears long enough to talk to me. I reached for the envelope, thinking it would give me some clue as to why she was so clearly freaked out.

“Don’t,” Em croaked. “Please,” she added pleadingly. I knew then, as a tear rolled down her cheek, that whatever was inside had to be bad. Contained within a folded sheet of plain white paper were about a dozen or so photos. They were different sizes and all taken at different times, but Em was in every one of them. The earliest photo was of a smiling happy nine year old. Just a normal kid out riding her bike. When the next one showed the same kid, fast asleep in her bed, I felt sick to my fucking stomach. The older that Em was in the pictures, the more invasive they became and none of them looked like they were taken with her knowledge. The last photo was really grainy, like it had been through a window maybe, or within a really bad camera, but it showed in intimate detail, her frail, bruised body taking a shower.

“Mother fucker,” I yelled, wanting to fucking hit something. Anything. I grabbed the envelope looking for some clue who’d sent it, like I didn’t fucking know. Frank was still in prison, pending trial, so someone on the outside must have sent this for him. The postmark on the envelope read London, which didn’t tell me much. The knuckles on Em’s hand were white where she gripping hold of her legs so hard.

“Shit love. You okay?” I said, hating that she looked so fucking scared. She nodded unconvincingly, but didn’t answer. I gathered up the pictures and stuffed them back into the envelope, not wanting her to see them anymore, but I knew we’d need to give them to police as evidence. The idea of her being on display like that to the police and the prosecution lawyers was as bad as knowing what she’d been through. Sitting down next to her, I wrapped my arm around her tiny body and pulled her into my chest. She was stiff as a board and shaking slightly. Rubbing up and down her arms, trying to get her warm I waited for her to talk to me. That was the way of it sometimes with Sunshine. She needed to think shit over before she could get it off her chest.

“I didn’t know about any of them. He’s been taking pictures of me for years. How could I not know? How could I let that happen?” she asked me.

“You didn’t let anything happen. He’s a violent, abusive rapist who’s sick in the fucking head. He did what he did because he’s a fucking whack job. Nothing you said or did gave him permission to do this.” I could see by her face that the pictures shamed her. Fuck that. There wasn’t a single fucking thing for her to be ashamed of.

“It was bad enough dealing with what happened, but he could have hundreds of these pictures and God only knows what he does with them. As if that’s not bad enough he knows where we live. Even in prison he can get to me. I’ll never be free of him will I?”

“Sunshine, even if it means killing him, I swear he will never touch you again. This is just a sign of desperation. In a few more months he’ll be too concerned about how to pick up the soap in the shower without getting arse raped to worry about getting you back. He’s going away for a very long time and there’s fuck all he can do about it. This kind of shit just gives the barristers more ammunition against him.” I did my best to reassure her, but as I was as freaked out as she was. The fact that he could get hold of the pictures and post them from prison had me worried about what else he could do from the inside.

She wiped her eyes and leant across to give me a quick kiss.

“You’re right,” she told me. “A few more months and this will all be over.”  It had to be, because I hadn’t been exaggerating. If Frank came after her again, I’d kill to keep her safe.

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Worked Up (Made in Jersey #3) by Tessa Bailey ~ #bookreview #releaseday

Worked Up (Made in Jersey #3)

by Tessa Bailey (Goodreads Author)

Factory mechanic Duke Crawford just wants to watch SportsCenter in peace. Unfortunately, living with four divorcee sisters doesn’t provide much silence, nor does it change his stance on relationships. But when a fellow commitment-phobe stumbles into his life, getting him good and worked up, he can’t deny his protective instincts.

Samantha Waverly’s brother just put her in an impossible situation. The only way out? Marry huge, gruff, gladiator look-alike Duke—for show, of course. She doesn’t make promises—she knows too well how easily they can be broken—and this is no exception.

As the blistering attraction between them grows, the lines around the no-strings relationship blur. But Duke and Samantha’s marriage is only for show…or is it?

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Source: eARC for Honest Review Courtesy of Entangled

Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance

Part 3 of an ongoing series but could be read as a standalone

My Worked Up Review . . . 

From the moment I picked up my first Tessa Bailey book I have adored her.  She has such a knack for combining sexy and sweet.  As of late though I have to admit sometimes the balance has changed to more sex than sweet which loses some of the essence of the story.  However, with Worked up the balance is back with the very sweet Duke Crawford and the quirky Samantha Waverly.

Worked Up is the third part in the Made in Jersey series but it could be read as a standalone.  However, if you read Thrown Down first your crush on Duke would have already started.  From the beginning Duke has been a sweetheart.  At first it was for his four divorced sisters, then to his friends Vaughn and River and now to Samantha.

After taking care of everyone in his life all Duke wants is SportsCenter and a beer.  The last thing he wants is a commitment because he knows how terribly they turn out, and he never wants to let anyone down.   Samantha has a dream but after always been let down by others, the only one who can help is her brother, Renner.  Her and Renner had a deal but she couldn't go through with it, which is why she finds herself at the Third Shift in Hook.

The minute she walked into the bar everyone knew she wasn't from there but for Duke it was so much more.

"Why did you immediately start calling me Sam?  You didn't even take a warm-up lap with Samantha."
"This isn't a three syllable establishment."

Duke tries to fight the instant attraction because he doesn't do relationships but he also can't stay away from Sam either.  He tries to do the right thing the first time he sees her but when he runs into her the next day he brings her home like a stray. 

"Who's the girl, you big, dirty tomcat?"

I loved the quirky banter between these two characters.  They seem polar opposites but really they just fit perfectly together.   The attraction is so strong they both can't fight it, but they also have to overcome their fears if they want any kind of future.

What starts as a bit unconventional between them turns into fire between the sheets.

"I can't see a way around fucking you, Sam.  Giving it to you until you're a whimpering little mess."  Pink swarmed her cheek like bees.  
"You should quit your job and write poetry full time."

Even though these two can heat things up, there was still that quirky charm that kept it light.

"Holy . . . Is this thing registered as a weapon?"

For two commitment phobe people they sure jumped on the at first lust band wagon and totally pulled it off.  Lust or love at first sight can either flourish or flail in romance books but here it totally flourished.  You felt their instant connection and their continuous draw to one another.  I loved these two together, but as we all know in the romance genre things don't always go according to plan causing some angst.

The moment things are put on the line, Samantha's insecurities get the best of her but good ol' Duke has to make it right and oh boy did he do it.  

"Hey, I can find another job. But I can't find another Samantha.  All right?"

I loved that Duke was a big giant but when it came to Samantha it immediately softened him causing him to be even sweeter than he always was.  I adored Duke so much he will be making an appearance on one of By Book Boyfriend Mondays as one of my gruffly, sexy sweet faves.

I adored this book!  Duke and Samantha brightened my day.  This series started at bit slow for me but after this book I'm completely hooked and I can't wait for more from this series and this author. 

4 . 25  Gruffly sweet thumbs up! 

  . 2 5

Lauren

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