Recent Read

 

Broken Miles by Claire Kingsley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is my second series by this author and I'm very impressed.  In fact Claire Kingsley is in the lead for author find of the year.

Roland Miles is a workaholic and sadly it cost him his marriage. The marriage is over and he and Zoe are divorced before this book starts so this is a second chance romance. Roland and Zoe were madly and passionately in love but in order to make a richer life for the two of them Roland lost sight of the real prize and that was Zoe. She left him and moved back to their home town and is now working for his families winery. He’s living in San Francisco and rarely gets home to see his parents , three brothers and one sister. His relationship with his wife is distant though cordial enough. But when he gets a call from one of his brothers telling him he has to come home, they are about to lose the winery, he doesn’t really have a choice but to come home and face the demons there.

Of course there is Zoe his ex, but he also has a toxic relationship with his father. When he begins to look into the mess, he can tell that his father, who has been running the winery has really messed things up and keeps getting in Roland’s way as Roland tries to fix things. This means the couple of days Roland thought it would take, actually will take much longer than that so he settles in for a much longer visit than he anticipated. That means spending more time around his ex wife as she plays a vital role in the family business. They hold a lot of weddings and events at the winery and she is the event coordinator.

And as they spend time together, old attractions start to come back. The attraction between them was never the issue. They both begin to do some soul searching as to what went wrong in their marriage, Roland in particular and they begin to wonder if there is anything left worth saving. And even more, Roland begins to reconnect with his family. He had always held himself somewhat apart from the rest of them, but now he begins to bond with them in ways he never allowed himself to before.

I can keep saying the same thing about this authors books. I love them. I love the closeness of family, the goofiness of some of the siblings and the romance between the hero and heroine. Claire Kingsley has been such a wonderful find. This isn’t my favourite book but it has earned a solid 4 stars and a need to keep reading more of the Miles Family series.

Forbidden Miles by Claire Kingsley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

And continuing on with the second book in the Miles Family series by an author I’m loving to pieces, we come to the story of Chase and Brynn. Chase is the roommate and best friend of Cooper and together the two of them are a hoot. I’m chuckling and smiling every time they are on the page. Chase owns his own business fixing machines but a lot of the work comes from working at the winery Coopers family owns.

Brynn is Coopers little sister and to say Cooper is overprotective is lighter than even putting it mildly. There’s a hilarious scene at the beginning of the book when Chase is talking to Cooper on his cell and inadvertently tells Cooper that he’s at a restaurant and sees Brynn making out with some guy in the back booth. Cooper doesn’t even stop to put on pants before he heads over to put a stop to this, oh yes he does.

Brynn has always had a crush on her brothers best friend but it totally aware that Chase only sees her as Coopers little sister.

Until one day he doesn’t.

Nope, Chase has had his eyes opened and he’s sees her as a grown and beautiful woman. A woman he slowly gets to know and falls in love with. But with Cooper being Cooper, he knows things aren’t going to go well. And when Cooper does find out, Chase was right. It does not go well at all.

I am so, so glad I found Claire Kingsley. I’m thinking I say this in every review I’ve done but it’s true. Her books just make me smile and every one has given me the warm and fuzzies and ever so glad I read romance. They are the sunny sunny sky on a gloomy day and anyone reading this simply has to give her books a try.

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Entreat Me by Grace Draven

 

When I saw what the theme was in May for Super Librarians (Wendy) TBR Challenge, I wasn’t sure if I had anything that would fit the bill.  The month’s theme is Fairy Tale/Folk Tales.  I think you get those tropes more in Fantasy and I don’t read Fantasy very much at all so I wasn’t sure I had a book that would fit the bill.  I do!  I hit the jackpot with this one.  I’ve had Entreat Me by Grace Draven in the pile since 2015; just sitting there, unread.  I picked it up after reading Radiance ad Eidolon and loving them.  Then I tried getting into Master of Crows a couple of times, unsuccessfully and forgot I had this book.

 

This is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast.  Louvaen is our Beauty and Ballard is our Beast.  Now in this story, Cinnia, sister to Louvaen is the real beauty and Louvaen is the mother lion, doing everything she can to protect her sister.  Their father is ineffectual at everything and has put them all in debt to the evil villain who is willing to overlook the debt if he can have the hand of Cinnia.  This will be only over Lou’s dead body.  Cinnia is smitten with the handsome and dashing Gavin and the two of them run off to his mysterious castle.  Lou is hot on their heels, bound and determined to save Cinnia’s honour.

 

Ballard is the father of Gavin and he is under an evil spell.  He routinely goes through times where he turns into a beast.  Gavin does too but not to the same extent.  Ballard’s wife and Gavin’s mother put on an evil spell as she lay dying after giving birth to Gavin.  She hated Ballard with a burning seething passion and wants to make his life hell.  None of the castle inhabitants have really aged since she put the spell on them, which includes a few servants and one caster of spells, and they’ve been living in the run down and isolated castle for over 200 years now.

 

There is instant chemistry between Ballard and Lou.  Even when not in monster form, Ballard still bears the aftereffects and is hideously scarred.  He can’t see how Lou would find him the least bit attractive.  However, Lou sees beneath his scars to the truly fine person that he is.  He makes for a wonderful hero.  This felt a lot like a medieval and I love the atmosphere that Ms. Draven creates. I love the relationship between Ballard and Lou.  She is a very prickly type heroine and so overprotective of her sister.  Ballard gets more of a kick out her for it.  Ballard is also an amazing father.  We learn right at the beginning that his wife was not a faithful one and Gavin’s father is Ballard’s enemy but not even for one moment does Ballard not love him and consider Gavin as his.  We learn later what a sacrifice Ballard has made to help his son, to the point of being willing to give up his own life. 

 

I love the secondary romance between Gavin and Cinnia.  Also the bickering between Lou and Ambrose, Ballard’s magician and good friend.  Lou has inherited a bit of magic from her mother and hates it.  She and Ambrose do quite a bit of bickering and I admit I love some of the names they came up with for each other.

Moreover, the villain sure is good and villainy.  Though we don’t see her, there are a few flash back scenes with Isabeau, Ballard’s wife is truly evil.  It is bad enough to put a curse on your hated husband, but to put one on your newborn son is beyond the pale.

 

Except for Lou being a tad overprotective, this book is perfect.  I can really see me reading it again.  I was very impressed with this book.  While I was reading this book, I picked up a couple more of her books.  The third book in the Wraith King series is out and somehow missed that and I picked up another one of her books at the same time.  One other thing I have to mention is the absolutely beautiful covers she has for all her books.  I love all of them.

 

Therefore, this month’s TBR Challenge was a complete success.  I love the book.  I’d forgotten I had it so finding it was a real treasure and I loved enough to get back on the Grace Draven train.  Win, win  This book gets 4.5 stars and comes oh so close to 5.  I very happily recommend this book.

Recent Read

Hearts in Darkness by Laura Kaye

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I saw this book mentioned on a few Romance Vlogs I've discovered over this past year and was reminded of how much I adore this book and how much I want to reread it. So I did. This time around I changed it from a 4.5 to a well deserved 5 stars

*^*^*^*^*

I first read this novella a number of years ago and it was my first introduction to Laura Kaye. Next up on my list to read was the follow up to this one, love in the Light so I wanted to revisit Caden and McKenna first.

They meet when the elevator they are riding in stops midway and they lose all power. Caden got a glimpse of Mckenna but she didn't see him before power went out.

Because of a tragic accident many years before, Caden suffers from claustrophobia. McKenna helps him through it and during this time they talk for hours and over the course of time sparks begin to grow.

It's a simple premise but one I enjoyed very much. Caden is seemingly a rough, tough kind of guy with piercings, tattoos and a shaved head. But because Mckenn can't see the outside of him, she gets to know the inner Caden who is a whole lot different. This is a quick and very enjoyable read.

'til later

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An author I found while in lock down

 

Ball Peen Hammer by Lauren Rowe


5++

This book is a riot and I think I was either smiling or laughing through most of it. I’ve never read a hero quite like Keane Morgan before. He struck me as being over the top at the beginning of the book and to be honest I wasn’t sure how far I was going to make it. However, once I got used to him, I couldn’t read this book fast enough and I just adored him.
Keane is a stripper by trade and according to him, he’s the best in the world. His stage name is Ball Peen Hammer. I think I’m a bit naïve as I’m not sure what exactly what that means in the world outside of actual hammers. Stripping isn’t his first choice of career and while it takes a while, we do see what his first choice was and it’s sad he didn’t get to succeed. He’s determined to be the best at his second choice though.
He’s also the world’s greatest lover – according to him – and every woman wants him. He claims he knows everything there is to know about women and he has no problems at all confirming this to everyone he meets. He’s just a hoot and I just love him to pieces.

There is one woman though who doesn’t seem to fall at his feet and that is of course our heroine Maddy. She is on a road trip to California to attend college and her older sister doesn’t want her traveling alone so she arranges for Keane to be her travel buddy for the trip. Keane had been planning on heading to L.A to do some auditions and visit his younger brother, an aspiring singer. Keane almost doesn’t make it though as he doesn’t listen to his voice mail or read his text messages. That whole screw up is so cute and so funny. They finally do get things sorted out and start their road trip. And every single bit of the journey is a delight. Keane is completely unfiltered and says whatever he thinks, most of all about sex and what a sex god he is. Maddy describes Keane as Daffy Duck trapped inside Prince Charming’s body. Throughout their trip they are both determined not to fall for each other but they do become fast friends. And of course, because they aren’t supposed to be anything other than pals, they do begin to fall for each other but neither really clues in on their changing feelings. Keane in particular is hilarious as he is in total denial about what’s happening. They are both bummed when the 3-day trip is over, they gotten so close.

In addition to the relationship between Keane and Maddy, there is an equally well done, touching, and hilarious relationship between Keane and his roommate Zander. Never have I read such a close bond between friends and I bow to the author for writing this relationship.

It’s a bit frustrating, as no matter how I write this review, I can’t seem to do the book justice. There’s a whole lot I haven’t written about. I think it would take at least three pages to share everything that makes this book a book that blows me away. It took until close to the end of the year, but this is my favourite book of 2020 and as I’ve read more books than ever, the fact Ball Peen Hammer is my number one book of the year just says how much I loved it. This is a new too me author and as this is the second in a series you can bet your bottom dollar I’m going to be reading the whole set of them and her other books as well. In a year full of darkness, this book shone such a bright light.

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Recent Read - A Classic

Morning Glory by LaVyrle Spencer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was reminded the other day that it’s been a while since the last time – but by far not the first time – that I read this wonderful and amazing book.  So of course I had to fix that and read it again.  It has really stood the test of time since the very first time I read in 1990.  It needs to be read by everyone who loves romance.  Here’s the review I wrote ages ago and everything I said then.

******~~~~~*****

There are classics in literature, Moby Dick, War and Peace, Oliver Twist and many more. I think the romances of yesteryear have their classics too, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights and more. With modern day romance I’m not so sure if there are what would be considered classics yet or not, it may be too soon, but if they did, I’m sure they would have a book or two by Georgette Heyer, Kathleen Woodiwiss.

And then we come to another author who has written some of what I consider modern day romance classics and that’s LaVryle Spencer. I’ve read most of her books except for perhaps her last couple before she retired and of all that I’ve read, I truly believe Morning Glory needs to be added to the classics of romance. I first read this book more years ago than I can remember and I’ve reread it every year or two since then. I can’t quite remember the last time but I have it on my Ipad and I know I’ve read it since I bought it but when I saw a friend recently post a review on GoodReads, I had the urge to reread it. And heaven knows when a book starts calling, there is no relief until you answer it.

This is an emotional and moving story of two sad and lonely people, how they come together in an enduring gentle love and heal each other with that love. Will Parker and Elly Dinsmore are characters that have stayed with me since the first time I read this book more than 20 years ago. It’s almost like I’ve absorbed them.

The book opens with Will Parker working at a lumber mill. He’s only been there 3 days and he’s literally starving. The book opens just before the second World War and Will has just been released from prison for murdering a prostitute. We find out details later in the story. His bully boss finds out this info and dismisses Will on the spot. Will has just been wandering around the countryside trying to find work and now he’s out of yet another job. The men laughingly tell him that maybe crazy Elly Dunsmore will take him in. She has an add up advertising for a husband to help work her farm. She is known as the local crazy widow woman and her story is just as sad as Will’s. She was the bastard granddaughter of the town’s religious zealots and was practically locked into the family home with the blinds drawn. Only after the truant officer found out about her was she allowed out but only to go to school, then back to her prison. She somehow managed to escape long enough to meet and marry. But her husband died in an accident and she has two young boys and is pregnant with her third child and is in desperate circumstances. Her only option is to look for a husband. After some thought and due to his own desperate circumstances, Will does go to see Elly and to check things out. It’s an awkward meeting; neither one of them is comfortable in dealing with others, Elly because of the isolated way she was raised and Will because of his prison record. But they manage to come to an agreement and thus starts the most poignant, tender, beautiful, tear inducing books I’ve ever read.

Seriously, I mean it. If I only had one word – the story is haunting.
Will has never known love and he sees all he’s ever wanted in the mother that Ellie is. He falls in love with her partly because of that. He was an orphan who never knew his parents, doesn’t even know his own birthday. His only friend betrayed him, resulting in his prison sentence. I think he’s the loneliest, saddest hero I’ve read in the of a book.
Elly is also sad and lonely but not as defeated.  She has her children and she had a good husband. Despite, or maybe because of her lonely upbringing, Elly has quite a streak of whimsy to her. She’s actually rather upbeat all things considered and this is just what someone in such a dark place as Will is needs.

Throughout the story, they heal each other. While she had loved her husband, Will is different. He’s young, and strong and determined and handsome and he has beautiful eyes. He loves her two sons and is a wonderful father figure to them. He is loving and very appreciative of everything Elly does both for him and her children. He never takes anything for granted. Who wouldn’t fall in love with someone like Will?
And for Will, Elly is everything he couldn’t even have imagined he wanted. She meets the mothering role he has needed filled all his life. There is a scene where she cuts his hair and one is almost in tears reading just that scene alone.

Slowly, Will gains a sense of pride and self worth. When he first comes to Elly, he’s a broken man. But with Elly’s help along with Ms. Beasley gets respect. Ms Beasley is the local librarian who helps him when he wants to learn more on different things he fixes around the farm, plumbing, bees, a number of different things. Ms Beasley is another wonderful character. She’s starchy and she’s tough and she’s opinionated and she has such a soft heart for Will. He’s like the son she never had and she is a lion in defense of him and when she offers him a job as library custodian, he gains a pride he’s never had before.

And of course there is conflict that comes along in this book. It takes place in 1941 and the threat of war hangs in the air. Will knows he is a prime candidate to be called up and wants it to be on his terms. But Elly is terrified and would rather keep her head in the sand. Finally the inevitable happens and Will must leave and he joins the Marines. It turns out that he completely becomes the person he was meant to be.

This part of the book, told through letters, is as wonderful and poignant as the rest of the book and it marks a turning point. Will comes back but not quite the same person he left. But now there is another block. He is being stalked by a woman who refuses to accept the fact he’s not interested.

I really don’t have the words or confidence to completely explain how truly wonderful this book is and how I think it needs to be read at least once by every reader who loves this genre. Ms. Spencer makes us feel every emotion that Elly and Will in particular experience. We feel the betrayal that Will feels when his best friend testifies against him during the trial that sends him to jail. We feel his despair and shame when he brings up the green apples he ate because that was the only thing he could find. We feel his wonderment over his growing relationship with Ellie’s two boys. We feel his panic when Ellie insists he be the one to help her give birth and we feel his pride when Ellie gives her new-born daughter his last name.
This is a book that shows, not tells the story and because of that she makes us feel like we are right there with them during their journey to healing and love. If you check reviews for this book on GoodReads and or Amazon, many reviewers give this higher than 5 stars even though that’s the highest grade allowed.

Having just recently read this book again, it’s timeless, it’s a classic and it only gets better with each telling.

They don't have anything higher than 5 so all I can do is give this a 5+++

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Series Spotlight – Preload by Scarlett Cole

Part 2

Since I got rather wordy in my enthusiasm for this series, I thought it best to break it into two parts so as not to overwhelm anyone reading this whom might be interested in reading this wonderful series.

(Be interested, Be Very Interested)

 

Nikan Rebuilt

 

I wanted to start my reading year of 2018 with a bang.  I was reading a different book and while I was enjoying it well enough it didn’t have the wow factor I was looking for.  So when I got notice this book had downloaded, I put the other book aside and picked this one right away.  Based on how much I enjoyed the first two books in this series, I thought Nikan Rebuilt would be a winner.  And boy was it ever.

This is a second chance at love story.  Nikan and Jenny both grew up in the foster care system, both in group homes.  While their lives before they ended up in the system were horrendous, Nikan was fortunate to end up in a very good group home with very caring staff and fellow residents he bonded with to the point where they became more than best friends, they became brothers and formed the band Preload which has gone on to become an extremely famous heavy metal band.  We have already seen 3 of the band members get their story, now it’s Nikan’s turn.  He and Jenny meet in high school when Jenny is being bullied and Nikan saves her.  From that moment, they become a couple and though both very young, they were very much in love and thought they would last forever.

Fast forward a number of years, Nikan and the band are very successful and one night while on tour, Dikan makes a mistake that changes the course of his life and Jenny ends things and disappears.

Now it’s current time and eight years later.  Jenny has returned and is temporarily head of the group home that Nikan and the rest grew up in.  Because they all are still very much involved with the home and the boys living there, Nikan runs into Jenny again and his feelings for Jenny are just as deep and all encompassing as they ever were and Jenny is still greatly in love with Nikan but what he did devastated her and she is doubtful she can forgive him.  Nikan knows how badly he screwed up and how much he lost and he just wants a chance to show her who he is now.

That’s the outline of the story and now I have to start the raving and rave I will do.  This book is incredible.  Every woman should have a Nikan.  Yep he screwed up and badly.  But his explanation for what happened was believable and makes the reader much more sympathetic.  As the oldest, he’s always been the mother hen of the group and does what’s best for them rather than himself.  For example, he doesn’t really like doing heavy metal and would like to change it up but he knows another member of the group uses it as an outlet for his rage.  It’s Nikan who arranges for them all to live in the same house as it’s something that Jordan needs because of his issues.
But now Nikan has to look after his own problems and concentrate less on the other members, especially since getting Jenny to forgive him and give him another chance.  He’s at a turning point in his life and the author does such a great job in letting reader ‘feel’ his confusion and frustration and his longing for Jenny and his guilt for what he did that split them up.  He’s one of the best heroes I’ve read in a while – and I’ve read some really good ones.

I would say that Nikan makes the book but Jenny is such a wonderful heroine that she deserves as much credit for this being such a great read as he does.  She’s still very deeply in love but she’s clear with him that she doesn’t trust him, that he needs to earn it back if that’s even possible.  One thing that sets this book higher than many they talk things through.  The both realize that they have to be open and honest if there is any hope for them.  There’s no big misunderstandings, they are both mature and intelligent people.

I say this in each of the Preload reviews but something else that really sets these ones above for me is they take place in Toronto, a city I’ve visited many a time.  One scene takes place at Rogers Centre (though it will always be Skydome to me) and as a family we would go there 4 or 5 times a summer to catch the Jays.  Eaton’s centre is mentioned and as I’ve been there quite often I can close my eyes and see it.  And most of all Ms. Cole mentions Tim Horton’s a lot.  Now not many people outside of Canada know this probably but there is almost a symbiotic relationship between “Timmies” and most Canadians.  It’s the go to place for coffee – though I myself stop at Mickey D’s to pick up my morning coffee on the way to work.  But EVERYONE knows about Timmies.  The author married a Canadian and lived in Canada for a while so she really ‘gets’ things.

Something else that gets mentioned in this book that puts it way up high is her referencing the struggle that Indigenous  People went through for many years and are still struggling with to this day to what was done to them.  The Canadian government, in their unbelievable and unconscionable arrogance stole the children away from their parents and put them in ‘schools’ were they were stripped of their culture, their language, everything that made them an important nation.

A great deal of thanks goes to the late Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip for letting the average Canadian know about this great dark part of Canada’s history.

The inclusion of this storyline makes this a very emotional book.  Nikan father was First Nations and after ignoring his heritage for most of his life, this is something he starts considering.  I felt this really added something special to the book.  It wasn’t done in any kind of preachy tone at all, but more of an added feature to the story.

Grade: 5 out of 5

Lennon Reborn

And now we come, sadly, to the final book of this amazing series about the heavy metal band Preload.  They started with The Purest Hook which was actually part of a different series and then carried on as their own series with Jordan Reclaimed.  I am SO going to miss these guys though I can go back and ‘see’ them again in rereads, but it won’t be quite the same.

Lennon McCartney – yep, he knows, is the youngest band member and the jerk of the group.  Throughout the series, he’s been the one to say stupid and crass things and he hasn’t fully engaged with the other four.  But despite this, the others still consider him their brother and ad the drummer, a very vital part of the group.  But every so often in previous books Ms. Cole would drop just the smallest of hints that that who we were seeing wasn’t the real Lennon so anticipation for his story has been building.  By now he’s the only one who hasn’t found a love interest and it’s not long into the story when we find out why.

Lennon had such a sad and traumatic childhood that he doesn’t understand the concept of love and as a result of being completely ignored by this young teenage mother, he is unable to really connect with anyone which explains why he isn’t as close to his ‘brothers’.  He also constantly expects them to reject him so he self-sabotages himself.  He’s always been more of a loner but with all his band members finding the love of their lives, he’s even more isolated and envy has crept in.

And his mind never gives him a rest.  It’s constantly racing, telling he’s no good, everyone will leave him and he’ll all alone.  It’s heartbreaking reading his inner dialogue thoughts.  The only thing that really gives him any real happiness is his drumming

This is where his head’s at when his whole life is turned upside down.  The band is involved in a bus crash and Lennon is hurt in a life altering way.  Dr. Georgia Starr is a legendary neurosurgeon who happens to see the crash and she jumps into action trying to save the victims.  When it’s Lennon’s turn, he pleads with her to just let him go.  But from the moment she touches him there is an almost electric current between them and Georgia know she will do whatever it takes to heal Lennon from his demons.

Georgia has her own battles to deal with.  She’s the only girl in her misogynistic family and despite her incredible talent as a doctor, her father and brothers are constantly judging and belittling her even though she’s the best neurosurgeon in the family.  Added to that is the fact her father and brother resent her since her beloved grandfather left the apartment building she lives in to her and no one else.  So both of these two people are struggling.

I don’t think I have enough words to say how much I enjoyed this book and indeed, this whole series.  The reader can feel the pain Lennon went through in his childhood and how it’s affected his whole life.  Even the good things are tainted with his self-doubt and low self-esteem.  Although it takes him a while to let Georgia know the particulars, she still sees he is in a great deal of pain tries to help him and reassure Lennon that she is there for him.

Lennon in turn, wants to show Georgia that there is more to life than just work.  While he is really impressed with her talents as a doctor, he wants to see her life more balanced.  They are really the exact person the other needs and both need the other.  They are simply wonderful.

This isn’t meant as a criticism, as much as a wish though.  The other books in the series take place in Toronto, a city I know, while not that well, still well enough to know many of the locations the author mentions.  Lennon Reborn however, takes place mainly in NYC.  This is the city Georgia works in and close to the accident.  Lennon has had to stay behind to recuperate and sent the rest of his ‘brothers’ home to Toronto and their families even though he does need them.  This is just another example of his tendency for self-sabotage.  But Georgia keeps him holding on. But it was real nice to almost have ties to the setting.

I also with there were a few more scenes between the band members, Dred, Jordan, Elliot, Nic and Lennon.  The bond between these five is one of the real gems of this series.  But again there aren’t as many as Lennon is off by himself for the majority of this book.

The third wish is some kind of feedback on their music.  As the members find love, their pain is directed into heavy metal and as they each find happiness, some of them want to change the tenor of their music.  It would have been nice to have an epilogue to the epilogue to see how Preload change of direction fared.  But other than those wishes, this book is simply a wonderful read about overcoming hardship and tragedy.

Jordan Reclaimed is my favourite book of all of them, but this one is a very close second and the whole Preload series gets huge kudos and recommendations from me.  As I said at the beginning, I’m really going to miss these guys.

Grade: 5 out of 5

Final Thoughts: I do believe that of all the series in all genres I’ve read over the years, Preload is the best I’ve ever read book for book.  There have been other series I’ve loved, but the love has varies over the course of them. One or two might have been A books and then a couple of others may have been B or B- books.  But Every. Single. Book in this series is an A or A+ read for me.

Every one is an emotional wringer in a totally wonderful way and I loved seeing each one of them overcome their broken childhoods with the help of the women they love.  I know this is a series I’ll be reading over and over again and it gets the highest recommendation that I can give.

 

 

Series Spotlight - Preload Series by Scarlett Cole

Part 1

I must admit I have some scathingly brilliant ideas for blog posts.  Then I get stymied for any number of reasons.  But this is my latest brilliant idea.  I gave every book in the Preload series a 5 out of 5 or higher.  I’ve read all of them except for the final book at least twice and the only reason I haven’t reread the last one is it just came out a short time ago and I haven’t had a chance yet.  But I will read it again, oh yes I will.  So here are my thoughts on this magnificent series.

 

The Purest Hook - Second Circle Tattoos # 3

 

 

Although part of a different series by Scarlett Cole, this is also the first book of a new series she’s written about a heavy metal band, Peload.  The other band members are only briefly mentioned and it’s not necessary to read this one first if you plan on reading the Preload series, which I highly recommend.  I read this book after reading the first couple of books and my reaction when reading this one was, “oh, OK, so that’s how they met each other.”  And also a point I should mention is that while I did enjoy this one, the rest of the Preload books, I found, were much more enjoyable.

Dred Zanders is the hero and the first member of the group Preload, that we get to know. We first meet him when he and Trent, one of the heroes of the Second Circle Tattoos Series, work together on a tattooing reality show where both are judges. Dred is very successful in his music career but also very down to earth. He comes to visit Trent at Second Circle where he meets Pixie aka Sarah Jane Travers. She works as an office manager and aspiring tattoo artist at Second Circle. Trent and Cujo, another tattoo artist had found her at the lowest time in her life and helped her get back on her feet and make a good life for herself.

Dred is smitten with her and keeps asking her out but she figures he's way over her head and keeps saying no even though she's also become smitten with him. Because of this she eventually agrees and they start a long distance relationship. He lives in Toronto part of the time and LA part of the time so it begins to become a real problem working Miami in but he's finding it harder and harder to be apart from Pixie. That is until he finds out about her past and that changes everything.  Dred over reacts to what he finds out and walks away from Pixie without

Both Dred and Pixie are great although I do want to smack Dredd a good one on his reaction when he finds out about Pixie. It's not like he hasn't sprung something big on her and she wasn't fazed at all. But thankfully he doesn't take too long to see the error of his ways and does the grovel us readers love so much.
 

So this works as the set up book for the series.

Grade: 4 out of 5

Jordon Reclaimed

 
Wowzers, where have you been Scarlett Cole? I was checking out book lists by other readers with similar tastes and came across this one.  The price was right, I hadn’t read any by this author, the storyline sounded good so I took a chance.  I started it as soon as I got home from work and simply couldn’t put it down.  This book blew me out of the water.  I read it until well into the night, knowing I’d be working the next day, but I couldn’t not finish it.  There are SO many things to love about it I’m not even sure where to start so I’ll start with Jordan the hero.

He truly breaks your heart.  He’s the bassist of a very popular heavy metal group named Preload and very successful now.  But his history is horrendous.  He was locked in an attic when he was a very small child and kept there until he was finally found at age 10.  He had no light, no company, nothing.  He was never allowed out of the attic but his ‘father’ had no problem going into the attic and beating poor Jordon.  In fact, he didn’t even have a name until he was rescued and a warm hearted social worker gave him a name.  When he was discovered, he was put into foster care but that didn’t work.  He was small and skinny with no social skills and was bullied mercilessly until he was finally put into a group home where he bonded tightly with four other teenage boys who had also been mistreated.  In fact, they are who have formed the band.

Jordan is left with all kinds of issues.  Fear of abandonment is one of them and because of this, the other four band members and Jordan all live in the same house.  One of them, Dred Zander (who happens to have his own book in a previous series and one I was absolutely delighted to discover I already own) is planning on moving out and Jordan is freaking.  Although he knows it’s irrational, he needs to know where they all are all the time.  One of his coping mechanisms is walking.  He’s walking one evening with his very young honorary niece when he walks past a dance studio and he sees a young woman dancing.  He’s mesmerized by her beauty and her talent and for a brief time he forgets all his issues.  Because he’s also a composer, when he gets home he writes a song for her to dance to.

 
They meet and it’s like each other has found their other half.  Aleksandra Artemov is a ballet dancer with the National Ballet of Canada.  Her father was a ballet dancer who defected from Russia until he injured himself to the extent he couldn’t dance any longer.  So instead he devotes himself to Lexi’s career to the point of abusiveness.

There is such a connection between Jordan and Lexi but Jordan doesn’t think he’s worthy of her because of all his issues.  But other than letting her father walk all over her, she is very strong and nothing that Jordan does or says frightens her away.

So! Why do I love this book so much?  First reason is Jordan.  He is so damaged that you just want to hug him and hold him and not let him go.  Even though he’s this famous rock star it hasn’t gone to his head at all.  In fact he’s even uncomfortable spending money despite the millions he has.  He’s never had any kind of relationship with a woman before so he has no idea how it works.  Though he’s had sex with random women, considering he’s this big musician, he’s not a dog about it.  He is quite your atypical rock star.

 
Lexi is the next reason.  I just want to hug her too.  She is so there for Jordan.  Nothing he does or says fazes her.  The only thing she wants is for him to ‘talk’ to her when one of his trigger raises its ugly head as he has a tendency to just run off.  She has ‘daddy issues’ but they are completely understandable and she doesn’t escape her own struggles.  It’s so heartwarming when Jordan stands up for her.

The world of ballet.  I love ballet.  In fact I could so relate near the beginning of the book when she dances the Nutcracker near Christmas.  I DID THAT!  Not the dancing of course, but a number of years ago I went to see the National Ballet of Canada perform in Toronto and it was around Christmas.  While I don’t know all the dances mentioned I was familiar enough.  I’m a big fan of or rather I was of So You Think You Can Dance so I could really understand Alex’s desire to break out and dance some contemporary dances.  The fact that Jordan understood that about her was special.

The book is set in Toronto, Ontario and many of the places she mentions I know of since it’s just a hop, skip and a jump from where I live so it was cool that I knew the streets.

This review is longer than I normally do but I’m just so excited about this book and all the future books in this series I got carried away writing this review.  The book is selling for $1.99 on Amazon and I really can’t recommend it high enough

Grade: 5+ out of 5

 

Elliot Redeemed
 

I so enjoyed – in fact more than enjoyed if that’s possible – the first book in this series, Jordan Reclaimed, that I was very keen on reading this one.  The series is about a successful heavy metal band, Preload, whose home base is Toronto, ON Canada.  They all grew up in the system and became best of friends and even brothers in a group home.  Music was their escape.

Right from that alone I’m excited as I live close to Toronto and it’s obvious the author is familiar with the city too.  I recognize streets and areas and even stores so it makes the book seem even that more real.  Elliott Dawson is the hero of this book.  It opens not long after Jordan Reclaimed ends.  There are only two of the group living in their home now and Elliott is planning on buying them all out.  But in the meantime he and fellow bandmate Nikan are living together.  Nikan asks if Elliott would be willing to make a hospital visit with him to visit a young fan of the group.  While he has his issues with hospitals, Elliott is a real good guy and agrees.  While he’s there he notices another young patient, 14 year old Daniel, a burn victim.  Daniel has suffered pretty bad burns when he set his home on fire.  They say like recognizes like and Elliott can tell  right away that he an Daniel both suffer from the same issue, an unnatural love of fire.

Elliott has worked years to overcome attraction to fire and his need to set them.  Elliott became a pyromaniac when he was young in a way to deal with the trauma of his childhood and he could sense in Daniel the same thing and he wants to help him through it.  It also doesn’t hurt that Elliott is strongly attracted to Daniel’s mother Kendalee Walker. 

Kendalee is attracted to Elliott too.  I mean he’s very good looking and he is good to her son who is a big fan of Preload.  But there are SO many reasons she can’t get involved with him.  She’s older than him by a few years.  She was shattered when her husband left her for a younger woman and cleaned out their joint bank account.  She has her son and his ongoing issues to deal with.  She is homeless since Daniel burned down their home.  She spends all her time at either the hospital or her part time cashier’s job at No Frills – of note here, I was a part time cashier at a grocery store for 9 years and I often shop at No Frills myself.  Her ex meets Elliott and is turned off right away.  Elliott is a long haired rocker whom Daniel worships and refuses to have anything to do with his father.  So

So any kind of relationship is almost impossible.  But now that Elliott has taken an interest in Daniel, he runs into Kendalee more often and the more often he runs into her, the more he wants to help her and just plain wants her.  But the closer he gets to both her and Daniel, the more his own issues begin taking over as he identifies with Daniel.  As Daniel begins to confess to Elliott the abuse he has suffered, the harder it is for Elliott but he knows is leading to healing for Daniel so he’s undone in whatever he does.

This is another excellent book in this series.  While I preferred Jordan Reclaimed just a tad more, as I found Jordan extraordinary and special.  It doesn’t take away for this book at all.  Elliott is such a wonderful hero, so tortured, so loyal, so honorable, so everything that makes for great hero material.

Kendalee is also very well written.  She has had so much thrown at her in such a short amount of time and she deals with it so well and remains strong and such a good mother.  I love it when I adore both hero and heroine.

The secondary characters are also amazing.  Daniel so damaged and I love seeing the other members of the band.  It’s clear by the end who is going to be matched up in the next book and I can hardly wait for that one either. I’ve already pre-ordered it.   I highly recommend this book.  I think it could be a stand-alone but it is worth it to read the first book to if only to get insight into the tight bond these friends and brothers have.

 Grade: 5 out of 5

Recent Read

Six of Hearts by L.H. Cosway

Why this One:  I was following the books a fellow GoodReader had just done a review on that sounded very interesting.  It was the second book in the series and when I looked it up on Amazon, I saw the first book, Six of Hearts, was a freebie.  Well that was a done deal for me.

Genre: YA

Steam Level: Makes for the perfect temperature, hot but not enough to burn your tongue

Synopsis: I think in triangles. You think in straight lines.

I show you a table and make you believe it’s a chair.

Smoke and mirrors, sleight of hand, misdirection. I trick and deceive.

But most of all, I put on a good show.

The world thinks I killed a man, but I didn't. Bear with me. It’s all a part of the plan.

Revenge is what I want. I want it for me and I want it for her.
I want it for all six of us.

She doesn't remember me, but she’s the reason for everything. She’ll be my prize at the end of all this–if I can hold onto my willpower, that is. Maybe I’ll slip up a little, have a taste, just a small one.

So go ahead and pick a card. Come inside and see the show. Look at my hands, look so closely that you can’t see what’s happening while you’re so focused on looking. I’ll be destroying your world from right here in the spotlight.

You’ll never see me coming until it’s too late.

I've only got one heart, and after I've pulled off my grand deception I’ll hand it right to her.

So, sit back, relax, and let my girl tell you our story. You’re in for one hell of a ride.

My Thoughts: I’ve been on such a run of good reads lately that I love the fact I’m an avid reader.  And surprisingly to me, a good number of them are YA and told in the first person – both of which weren’t my usual pick until recently.  And Six of Hearts continues this Most Excellent Streak.  I loved it, just loved it.

It starts out very angsty, a young boy living in Ireland, who’s been abused by his father, is hiding out when some shady looking people come and burn his house down.  He loses his family in the fire, his younger brother, his mother and his father.  He stays for a few days with his neighbours before an uncle from the US comes to take him back with him. This is all told from third person past tense.

The book then switches to first person present tense and becomes the story of Matilda, rather ordinary young woman named Matilda.  She lives at home with her lawyer father as well as works as his admin assistant.  They’ve been very close since her mother was murdered when she was 10.

Her world starts to gain colour though when Jay Fields enters the story.  He is an illusionist extraordinaire Jay Fields.  He’s amazing at what he does.  He wants to hire Matilda’s dad to represent him in a libel suit he is planning against the local newspaper whose reporter wrote a scathing article against him almost accusing him of murders.  Her dad refuses, thinking he’s not a good enough lawyer but somehow Jay ends up renting a room in their home.

Matilda is dead set against it.  She has a very strong attraction to this gorgeous, charismatic entertainer and just knows it couldn’t possibly reciprocated, as successful and captivating as Jay.  But he does give off vibes at times that just maybe…….

I know I’m going way overboard on the adjectives, I try not too as a rule, but one simply can’t help it with Jay.  He really is the bees knees, a bag of chips and all that jazz.  He’s brilliant at his illusions and he has what seems to be a twinkle in his eye at all time.  Yet on very rare occasions Matilda catches what seems to be anguish in their depths.

I loved Matilda too.  Though she considers herself ordinary, she’s far from it.  According to others, though she get it herself, she is quite attractive.  Jay seems to think so, though he gives out very mixed messages to her at times.  I love her enthusiasm and wonderment when she sees one of Jay’s illusions.  She’s quick witted and keeps up with Jay quite easily in the quip department.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but I haven’t said anything about the story itself.  To say anything risks giving it away and I don’t want to spoil this book for anyone.  So final word:

GET THIS BOOK!  I LOVE IT AND IT’S FREE FELLOW READERS – FREE! 

You’ve nothing to lose but you can gain a great book and a possible new author.  I know I did. I’m now reading book 2.

Grade: 4.75 out of 5

Would I read it again: and enthusiastic yes.

Recent Read

How to Save a Life by Emma Scott

Why this one: It was one of those books that comes up “Recommended because” in reference to One Day Soon and since I thought that book was brilliant…..

Steam Level:  pretty heated

Genre: YA

Outline: Josephine Clark is trapped. A harrowing past haunts her every time she looks in the mirror, and she can’t escape the violence of her everyday life. More and more, her thoughts turn to Evan Salinger, the boy she knew in high school. The boy they called a mental case. A loner. A freak. The boy who seemed to know things no one could know. For a few short weeks, Jo had found perfect solace in Evan’s company, sneaking every night to meet him at the local pool. In the cool of the water and the warmth of Evan’s arms around her, Jo had tasted something close to happiness.

Cruel circumstances tore them apart, and four years later, the sweet memory of their time together is dissolving under the punishing reality of Jo’s life now. Evan seems like a fading dream…until he reappears at the moment she needs him most. Guided by Evan’s strange intuition, they flee her small Louisiana town, and Jo begins to suspect there is something more to his sudden return than he admits.

Over twelve days across America’s heartland, deep secrets come to light, buried pasts are unearthed, and the line between dreams and reality is blurred as Evan and Jo fight to hold on to their soul-deep love, and discover that there is more than one way to save a life.

My Thoughts: I think if I had read this book at a different time, I may have gotten more out of but coming on the heels of One Day Soon, and because I found One Day Soon so…. Everything, How to Save A Life didn’t have as much of a chance.  It’s like watching a brilliant ice dance skate in the Olympics, the kind that gives you goose bumps.  Each move by both is perfection, even down to the move of a hand.  Their connection to each other is intense and the audience knows it’s watching something they will rarely see and experience.  And then the next pair of ice dancers come on to the ice and they do a wonderful job, worthy of high scores, but it just didn’t give you the goose bumps that the first pair did.  On another night. In even the slightest of circumstances the second couple could come first – but just not this night.  That’s how it was with this book.

Josephine, or Jo, is one very angry, very damaged young woman.  It’s her final year of high school and she’s the ‘new girl’.  She lives with her uncle and as a long distance truck hauler, they move around a lot and even when they settle somewhere, he’s not around much.  Jo has good reason to be angry.  She was abused by another uncle, though the author doesn’t really get into it in any detail.  When she scarred herself on purpose to make him stop, her mother who already suffered from mental illness, couldn’t handle it and killed herself.  So Jo was left with basically no one.  We don’t know about her father.

She gets involved with the ‘geeks and freaks’ crowd though she also bangs the jock of the school.  This gives her the ‘illusion’ of being in control though of course we the readers, know this never really works.  But it adds to her isolation.

But there is someone even more isolated that Jo who attends the small town high school and that is our hero Evan.  He is ostracized by everyone and bullied and made fun of.  And even worse, it is his foster brothers that lead the charge.  They hate him with every breath they take

He interests Jo, here is someone very handsome who to her should be one of the cool kids but then she hears his story.  He has visions and has spent time in a mental institutions.  In the cruelty that can be young people that’s all it takes.

But Jo gets to know Evan better and she sees he’s a wonderful caring young man.  As their young love begins to grow and flourish and as she begins to trust Evan. Jo slowly lets down her walls a bit.

But just as things start going very well, a tragic incident happens and they are ripped apart from each other and Jo’s life slowly descends into hell.

Will they find each other again?  Can they heal each other?  Can their love overcome all that keeps them apart? This is what is answered in the second part of the story and I’m not going to tell.  Instead, if I’ve intrigued you enough, you will want to find out for yourself.  I will say though that it becomes a road trip book, based mostly on the ‘visions’ that Evan still sees.

I loved both Jo and Evan.  Jo is only keeping it together by a thin veil of ice, never really letting herself trust, always expecting the worst and sometimes even sabotaging herself to get what she thinks she deserves.

And Evan – well, even as a young high school student he’s swoon worthy.  His past is almost as sad, he was abandoned and then later adopted by a couple who aren’t really aware or care, what is going around them, how horrid this young man they took in is being treated.  He will break your heart with his story.

I have no problems whatsoever recommending this book and I’m sure many will very much enjoy it too.  For me though, not quite as much as the ‘other’ book

 

Grade: 4.5 out of 5

Would I read it again?:  I don’t know honestly.  I can see me starting to read it and the other book calling to me.