**BOOK REVIEW- Montana Mystery (Book #4 Resting Warrior Ranch) by Josie Jade & Janie Crouch

  

Some nightmares you don’t wake up from.  

Noah Scott spent two months in an enemy prison camp but made it out alive—unlike most of his SEAL team. He’s one of the lucky ones but doesn’t always feel that way with his scarred body and daily fight against PTSD.  

Working with the animals at the Resting Warrior Ranch helps. So what if he trains service dogs, fosters a couple of kittens, and has an alpaca as one of his best friends?  

He’ll take whatever holds back the darkness.  

When beautiful Kate Tilbeck arrives at the Resting Warrior Ranch neck deep in danger, Noah knows he can’t stand by silently. Especially when the threat centers around a dog fighting ring—and some of the pups he trained may be involved.  

But to save the animals he loves and the woman he can’t get out of his mind, Noah will have to embrace the darkness he’s pushed down for years.    

And hope he doesn’t lose himself in the process.

AMAZON LINK 

4 STARS

 This story was emotional in more than one way, and it was well written.  I really liked that although I have read other books in this series, I think that it still is good for first time readers.  

Kate and Noah were both good main characters, each dealing with their own problems.  But I liked how they were pulling together fairly quickly.  So did the rest of the RWR team.  And they were a team or maybe even a better way to say it they were "a family." 

Tensions and dangers climb as the bad guys just seem to be one step ahead.  Kate did something SO incredibly stupid at one point that I got mad and just slammed my kindle closed.  All the while yelling out loud, "Dumb, Dumb, Dumb." It took me a while to cool off and start reading again.  

I liked how the story ended though. With a H.E.A. and with the door open to read about Jude's story next.   

 “I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Book Review- The Gunslinger’s Guide to Avoiding Matrimony (Book 2 of 2: Gunslinger ) by Michelle McLean

   

Romance

 Each book in the Gunslinger series is STANDALONE

Description

At the ripe old age of twenty-eight, desperate-to-retire gunslinger Adam Brady has exactly two rules. And one of them is never, ever get married. So he’ll be danged when his dreams of permanently avoiding the bounty hunter on his tail in Desolation, the only town where notorious men like him can find respite, comes with one helluva string attached. The town has a new rule: gunslingers welcome—if they get a job…or marry.

Without realizing it, Adam stumbles into a big town wedding and accidentally marries Nora Schumacher, a sassy-mouthed mountain of a woman with legs as long as his wanted poster. So what’s a gunslinger to do but get himself unhitched and find a job. Any job. Except Adam keeps getting fired, one odd circumstance after another. And he’s running out of options.

Desolation was supposed to be his safe haven. Except, he’s not only running from his past but from the irresistible woman he married. And worse, he’s finding that he rather likes the enticing, if damnably independent, wife of his. But some men just aren’t the marrying kind. Only, if he leaves, his own life won’t be worth living. If he stays, he puts the lives of his newfound family and the woman he loves on the line. So much for Desolation being the answer to all his problems. 

AMAZON LINK

3.5 STARS

 This was a quirky, unusual and sometimes even funny story.  Even though it had good plot ideas it also took me long time to even get into it.  Sad to say.  But I think that's on me because the writing was good but just didn't pull me in as much as I would have liked.
I did like Adam's favorite phrase. "Where's the fun in that?''   It cropped up at just the right or is that improper time?  
The people of the town did add a lot to the story.  And things do speed up towards the end as trouble comes to town.
It all comes to a good end with a H.E.A. and Epilogue at the end.  I will be giving it 3.5 stars when it opens on Amazon.


" I voluntarily read an advanced reader copy of this book. And these are my honest opinions about it.”

 

(Netgalley)

***Book Review- Reasons Why Not to Date Public Enemy CEO (Shell Grove, #1) by Melanie Munton

    

General Fiction (Adult) | Humor | Romance 

What happens when the most hated man in town goes after everyone’s favorite girl-next-door?

Reason #1: Big, bad CEO Aiden Beaumont wears his grumpy mask every day like a badge of honor. Mia Sparks wants nothing more than to honk his nose or throw a pie in his face, à la The Three Stooges, just to see if he’s capable of smiling. Unfortunately, she can’t. Because he’s technically her boss, and she’d like to keep her gig at the new five-star beach resort for longer than two weeks.

Reason #2: Everyone in her small hometown of Shell Grove, SC hates the man. He brought big business to their little beach town, and as far as her fellow citizens are concerned, that makes him the devil incarnate. But he won’t be staying forever, which works for Mia. She doesn’t go for the flashy city types anyway. She’s quite happy living her quiet life in Shell Grove. The faster the cranky—albeit stupidly hot—CEO is out of her life, the better.

Reason #3: Every time Aiden frowns at her, it hits her like a thousand-watt smile. He has a language all his own, and it’s starting to make way too much sense to her. She can’t avoid him in a town the size of a postage stamp, and it finally hits her that…she doesn’t want to escape him. This always-irritated, too-serious businessman couldn’t possibly be the stable safe haven she’s been looking for. Could he?

Aiden knows there’s a million and one reasons to stay away from the sugary sweet Mia. But who runs away from sunshine after living their entire life in a secluded cave? And when someone from her past unexpectedly emerges and tries to drive a wedge between the two of them? All bets are off. Aiden has never lost a fight in the boardroom, and he’s not about to lose the fight for the woman he wants to deserve. He just has to prove to her that he’s not the PUBLIC ENEMY CEO everyone thinks he is.

 AMAZON LINK

5 STARS 

What a surprise this story turned out to be.  Starting from the first meeting between Aiden and Mia.  Now there was a meeting to remember!

Mia is one fun main character.  Her best friend Maggie was too but on a much wilder scale.  And she was so funny too.  Put the two of them together and you just didn't know what was going to happen next.  Maggie was the prank master and she often had led quieter Mia into the more adventurous things over time.  It's easy to see why Mia was so universally loved in her hometown. 

Aiden is SO out of his comfort zone but after a while it was easy to understand why he appeared so stiff and somewhat anti-social.   He just didn't know any better.  Mia tips his world upside down in the best way.  

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole story,  the town of Shell Grove and it's unique residents.  I could have probably done with a bit less of the raunchy sex talk and scenes but the rest of the story was good.

 It ends with a H.E.A. that made me smile.  Once again. I say once again because I found myself smiling often as I read this story. 

 

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Netgalley

 

Book Review- The Rescue ( A Team Zulu Novella) by Julie Weaver

 

 One night. One Christmas wish. One killer on the loose.

Unlucky in love, Lilly Hart regrets volunteering to cover the New York CIA intelligence desk on Christmas Eve. That is until field operative Dylan Fox—the swoonworthy spy she’s spent far too many hours daydreaming about—dials in requesting her assistance. But before Lilly can explain his life is in imminent danger, their call is cut short, and it’s up to Lilly to dash through Manhattan and find him before it’s too late.

Dylan Fox can’t believe his luck when a gorgeous brunette crashes into him on the sidewalk and drags him into a crowded, dark bar. But when he realizes it’s none other than Lilly Hart, the intelligence analyst with the sweet voice he’s fantasized about for three long years, he thinks all his Christmases have come at once. Although, with an assassin on their heels, it could be a rendezvous to remember for all the wrong reasons.

AMAZON LINK 

4 STARS

This book was a surprise but a nice one at that.  It might have been short but it was full and it made me smile.  Dylan Fox was so much more than what the outside of him might make him seem.  He was an agent though and was good at his job.

Lily was one spunky, fun person who had so much going for her even if things didn't usually work out for her when it came to men. She was really smart and really good at her job.  I really enjoyed the fun give and take that the main characters had between them.  And they hadn't even met yet. But sparks do fly when they finally do. 

Good ending that also made me smile. 

“I voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

 

Book Review- The Billionaire's Impromptu Bet by Lorana Hoopes

 

 

Originally titled Lawfully Pursued Can a SWAT officer and a billionaire's daughter find love?

SWAT Officer Jesse Calhoun wasn't looking for love when he met Brie Carter. And at first, he thought they'd have nothing in common, but when a new side of her emerges, will she win his heart? Or will her secret destroy their relationship?

Daughter of a billionaire Brie Carter was bored and looking for a way to spice up her life. When her friend offered a bet with a prize Brie wanted, she agreed, but she never counted on falling in love on the way. The problem is, how does she tell Jesse about the bet without losing him?

AMAZON LINK

3.STARS

I took a chance on this one...but the information on it really got my attention.  Usually it's a guy with the money making a shady bet.  This one sounded different with the reversal being a woman and I was hoping for the best.

Things were moving right along until...her daddy makes an ultimatum.   She's spoiled so that ultimatum was okay with me.  The time frame was what I had to shake my head at though.  Seemed a bit unrealistic although it did make her hustle to get it done. 

The story turned out to be short, charming and sweet.  With strong Christian values that you don't always get to see in a romance.  I would have liked to have seen Brie's BFF confronted but otherwise the story did have a good ending.

BOOK REVIEW- The Marquess Who Kissed Me (#14, The Valiant Love Regency Romance) by Deborah Wilson

   

Forced to betray the only man she ever loved...Lady Belle Lawrence knows she'll never have the man of her heart.

The Marquess of Venmont.

So, in order to save a friend, she decides to marry a man she loathes. Venmont saved her a long time ago.

Now, Belle has the chance to save someone else.

She sees the sacrifice as only fitting.

Sadly, her rescuer doesn't agree...Lord Oliver Childs didn't become a hired assassin just to see Belle sell herself to yet another man. He'll protect her with his life, just as he's always done.

But something is different about this time. He's always been dangerous, and with Belle, he's worse.

But enemies past and present make it impossible for them to be together.

Will these two ever find their happily ever after?

And what happens when it's revealed that Oliver is not the man she always thought him to be?

GOODREADS

This was quite a different type of story with plenty of darkness and sorrow in both of the main characters lives.  Some of it they were still trying to shake off.  It really did get in the way of love. Oliver really hadn't experienced much love in his life growing up with such a cruel father..who looks like he might have turned  mad.  He often pitted brother against brother as they were growing up.  Oliver did his best to protect both Leo and Nicholas.  Oliver was full of surprises though, some good ones too even though he didn't think he was a good man.
And the things that Belle went through weren't a picnic either.  Just different kinds of torture.  I liked both of the main characters and the depth that was given them in the story.  Because of the things they both went through this was a pretty emotional story with some adult themes.  It also had some good moments in it as well although the back and forth of mistrust felt like it went on a bit more than I would have liked.  But hey, I get it Trust was a Major issue.  
I did enjoy the end while it felt like a few threads of the story felt left undone.  Maybe for another book? 

**Book Review- The Best Is Yet to Come (A Novel) by Debbie Macomber

   

Description

When a woman alone in the world bravely chooses to open her heart, two lost souls have a new chance at belonging, in this intimate novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Debbie Macomber.

A new beginning in charming Oceanside, Washington, is exactly what Hope Godwin needs after the death of her twin brother. There are plenty of distractions, like her cozy cottage with the slightly nosy landlords next door, and a brewing drama among her students at the local high school.

Despite having settled quickly into the community, something is still missing for Hope. That is, until her landlord convinces her to volunteer at his animal shelter. There she meets Shadow, a rescue dog that everyone has given up on. But true to her name, Hope believes he’s worth saving.

Like Shadow, shelter volunteer Cade Lincoln Jr., is suffering with injuries most can’t see. A wounded ex-marine, Cade identifies with Shadow, assuming they are both beyond help. Hope senses that what they each need is someone to believe in them, and she has a lot of love to give. As she gains Shadow’s trust, Hope notices Cade begins to open up as well. Finding the courage to be vulnerable again, Cade and Hope take steps toward a relationship, and Hope finally begins to feel at peace in her new home.

But Hope’s new happiness is put to the test when Cade’s past conflicts resurface, and Hope becomes embroiled in the escalating situation at the high school. Love and compassion are supposed to heal all wounds. But are they enough to help Hope and Cade overcome the pain of their past and the obstacles in the way of a better future? 

AMAZON LINK 

 3.5 STARS

 

This was an emotional story with good main characters. Both Hope and Cade were dealing with things but they weren't the only ones.

 It was well written with also a few other good supporting characters.  That being, Spencer and Callie and the challenges that they were facing.  The part that they played was in the high school that Hope was teaching in.  

I really liked that part of the story had to do with the rescue shelter and Shadow, a dog who's luck was about to run out.

 The title of the book fit well.

Although I liked the story it also felt like maybe a younger than me group of people would enjoy it more.

 

 

   " I voluntarily read an advanced reader copy of this book,  and this is my honest opinion about it.