Down for the Count

Review:

Lacey walks in on her husband, on their wedding day, just after exchanging vows. With one of her best friends. Her other best friend, Cat, has an older brother, Galen, whom Lacey secretly had a crush since she was a little girl. Both are present and step in to help her out. Lacey ends up going on her honeymoon with Galen. 
I can be forgiving, but there were a few things that took me out of the story. There was Lacey's low self-esteem. Her lack of ability to stand up for what she wanted. Of course, she's lovely and has no idea, blah, blah. Galen consistently would call Lacey "squirt." Yeah, really. Not for fun once or twice, or as a joke, but as an endearment. Oh hell no.

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/1593119/down-for-the-count

The Duke of Snow and Apples

Review:

Frederick is a duke in hiding. As a servant. Charlotte wants to land a husband. I picked this up because it sounded interesting, a gender-swapped Cinderella/Snow White, and I happen to really like fairy tale retellings. Plus, I bought this when it came out a few years ago.....and forgot all about it. Then I needed a book for one of the Bingo games/challenges I'm in (debut author shelf).
This really didn't work for me. There wasn't anything that I really liked. The characters, mainly Charlotte got better as the book progressed. (Okay, that's *1* thing). This read more like a historical romance with fantasy (magic/fey) elements thrown in. I couldn't decide what it wanted to be: a historical romance or a romantic fantasy. While there are overly descriptive moments (oh very many, my eyes crossed), I thought the world building could have been more. It was slowly paced. 
Frederick was okay. He finely got some assertiveness towards the end. Charlotte, my first thought was: Spoiled brat. I. Did. Not. Like. Her. It took all of the book to somewhat like her. Or I should say, dislike her a little less. I can be quite forgiving when I adore the main characters. 
When I'm on the fence about a rating, I really should write out what I want to say first and then star rate. A 2 is too high. Changing this to a 1. This would have been DNF'd but for the Bingo challenge.

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/1592362/the-duke-of-snow-and-apples

Off topic- 2017 Solar Eclipse

This post is a little long!

The Hubs and I were able to drive to Ola, Idaho (north and a little west of Boise) and see it in its totality!  Boise was 99.5% of totality.

We have two telescopes.  The top picture was taken from the smaller one.

This one was from larger telescope.  The color is a little different d/t the filter.  At least that's my guess.  The sun spots show up better on this one.

The top was taken from smaller telescope.  All the totality pictures were also taken from the smaller telescope.

Top picture was taken without telescope; camera on full zoom.

Back to larger telescope.

Selfie time!  Making use of the timer!

The Hubs with his precious....

That's all!

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/1590777/off-topic-2017-solar-eclipse

Arm Candy

Review:

Davis and Grace were both introduced in the last book. Davis was/is Vince's best friend. Grace is one of the bartenders at their favorite bar. Grace and Davis have bantered back and forth and this has been going on for a few months since Grace started to work there. However, she has always seen him leave with a different, blonde woman just about every night he is there. She bets him that he won't date someone who isn't a blonde. Davis asks Grace (a redhead) out.
I expected to not like Davis. Davis is a manwhore. But, surprisingly I did. They both a jaded about love and relationships. I thought Grace was a bit more (her parents are divorce lawyers and are- you guessed it- divorced!) jaded and was the one that took longer to come around. When a certain person from Grace's past showed up, Davis was there and supportive. This was a sweet, gradual fall-in-love book. 
Next book features Dax, the bar's owner. (He had a brief appearance in this one. Very brief. I don't know anything about him. Except he owns the bar.)

eARC courtesy of Random House Publishing Group (Loveswept) and NetGalley
Release date: Sept 5th

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/1590619/arm-candy

Black Diamond

Review:

Glad that Jena has her own book.
Jena, recovering from the events of book 1 is finally back on duty. She is self-conscious about her scars. Cole had something Bad happen and he decided to move and live off the grid. He succeeds until the arrival of drugs in his backyard.
I thought Jena and Cole were a good match because of things that happened to them. (I surprised to read about what happened to Cole- I thought he was hiding from someone). I liked the secondary characters- Ceelie and Gentry make appearances (and Paul, Mac). Decent plot and the villains (while guessed about 1/2 through), were good ones. I would liked a bit more at the end, I thought it was a bit rushed.
Jena's parents are TOXIC.

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/1590327/black-diamond

Sins of the Demon

Review:

Warning, book ends in a cliffhanger.
It's been about a year since I read the last book. I remembered enough/enough reminders in this one and I was able to pick right up. So, 3 people have had things happen to them. It turns out there are all people who wronged Kara in the past. Add to that a mayor who has it out for her and she is a murder suspect. 
I enjoyed that one for the dynamics between all the characters. Jill, Zack, Ryan all have decent roled to play in this one. Add to that, what was suspected about Ryan is, IMO, pretty much confirmed in this one. The rouge summoner was a surprise. Eilahn was definitely my favorite character in this book. Her enthusiasm for getting a pet, Christmas decorations, etc just made me smile. I really hope she makes an appearance again. What's poor, little Fuzzykins going to do?

 

More for my memory- (spoiler) just in case:

Ryan is an exiled demon lord- Sezrain. He has no knowledge/memory of that. Exactly what he did is unknown. Zack is tasked with his protection. He and Jill are in love and Jill is pregnant (unexpected).  Book ends with Kara being summoned to the demon realm.

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/1588965/sins-of-the-demon

Trust in Me

Review:

I liked this slightly better than the last one.
Maggie used to be an executive assistant, until she was sexually harassed and almost assaulted by her boss. William Montgomery happened to be there at that time and offered her a job. Fast forward 3 years later. William thinks it's time she got a promotion, started living, and stopped hiding. He also wanted to match her with his son, Jason. Jason, on the other hand, has been hit on by multiple women. (He blamed it on Emma and Lucas). Problem is, Maggie has pretended to be married for last 3 years to keep men away from her. What ensues next is friendship, than attraction.
It was sad that her ex-boss had so much power over her. It does get resolved, but I would have liked Maggie to have been more involved in it. (I think that those who have read the book will know (and agree) to what I refer to).
Jason, a workaholic, was able to be more balanced. I did think the ending was more rushed and I didn't appreciate how he handled the ex-boss situation. 
Clean romance. Kissing only.

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/1588582/trust-in-me