The Deal

Review:

I'm surprised by how much I liked this one.
Garrett is failing 1 class that should have been easy to pass. He plays on the hockey team and needs a min GPA to stay on it. Hannah is acing the class so he talks her into tutoring him by going on a date with her to make her crush interested.
This was a great enemies to lovers romance. I loved the banter back and forth. Both are dealing with traumas of their past and I thought that was dealt with in a realistic way. I liked the secondary characters too. The only thing that irked me was Garrett's father paying his tuition. Realistically, since he was good and was probably going to make it to the pros after graduation, I'm pretty sure he would have had a full ride scholarship to play college hockey. At the least tuition (which father paid) and probably room and board too (which he worked summer jobs to save up for to pay). So, the threat of withholding money by his dad felt manufactured.
For romance-opoly Campus Corner moon track

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/2042807/the-deal

Elements of Chemistry: Attraction

Review:

Martin is rich, smart, hot, athletic, and a bully. He has everything but a loving family. Kaitlyn is smart, socially awkward, shy, a product of a loving, but overachieving family. Martin happens to be her lab partner and she overhears something that could damage him. More on that later.
She tells him what she overheard. He invites her on vacation with him and his team. She admits to really liking him and they (of course) have great chemistry. Kaitlyn is *different* from all the other girls. This ends of a cliffhanger. Both Kaitlyn and Martin are likable and I enjoyed the writing style/banter. I probably would read more of their story, but the ebook is too overpriced (4.99) for the length and I didn't enjoy this *that* much to fork out that.
And on to my problem and it's NOT resolved in any satisfactorily way.

[spoiler]

Kaitlyn overhears a guy and gal talking about drugging and raping Martin to blackmail him. Bonus points if a pregnancy occurs. The guy was bragging about drugging girls and then having sex with them. Kaitlyn hears him OPENLY admitting to drugging and rape. It turns out the guy is Ben, one of Martin's teammates. The gal is nameless. Does anything happen to Ben? Nope. Actually this quote sums it up perfectly: "Because he's strong and we, the boat, need him to win." Lovely, right? Good to know winning trumps everything else. Priorities bitch. 

[/spoiler]

Romance-opoly Campus Corner sun track

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/2042804/elements-of-chemistry-attraction

Dead Iron

Review:

Cedar was cursed as a werewolf. He is tasked with finding a missing little boy.
What sounded fairly simple, was a lot to unpack due to the multiple points of views this book had. There's (of course) Cedar, but add Mae (a witch), Rose, Jeb, The Madder Brothers (Alun, Bryn, Cadoc), Shard Lefel, Mr Shunt, you get the point. The world is an interesting one (old west, but with steam). I am happy to note the big bad gets his due, but someone else is still alive leaving a future plot line open for books 2 and 3 (I assume). (And not to forget the Holder).
Not really that interested in continuing.
For Romance-opoly Journey's End moon track

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/2041886/dead-iron

Silver on the Road

Review:

Isobel (Izzy) was an indentured servant since the age of 2. She gains her freedom on her 16th birthday. She then opts for a Bargain (this is for life) to serve the devil (that's what he is called) as his Left Hand.
Gabriel is an experienced rider and his expertise is enlisted to help Izzy learn the ropes. The world was confusing at first- this is a re-imagining of the old west. The US exists east of the Mississippi River and everything to the west is either under Spanish protection (CA, AZ, NM, parts of TX), unclaimed (WA, parts of OR, ID), or part of the devil's territory. The US and the Spanish are trying to expand into the Devil's territory.
This had an interesting start but then got very slow. There was Something going on, but they were consistently arriving after the fact. Lots of traveling, but not actually doing anything useful. The big thing was figuring out Izzy's new role and talents. And at the end, it was still unclear (at least to me).
This is a trilogy with a few short stories too. While I liked Izzy and Gabriel, this was too slow for me and I don't care to continue.
For Romance-opoly Journey's End sun track.

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/2041778/silver-on-the-road

The Life and Times of Call the Midwife

Review:

I just got into this series and am really enjoying it. It's a surprise though- I don't have kids and have never wanted them and this is a series about midwives. However, it's about so much more! I did a search because I think I want to read the Memoirs the series is based on and found this at my library. (I just finished season 2).
What I liked about this book with the backgrounds on the characters- some of the characters are based on real people and others a mix of totally made up vs a composite of one person. It was refreshing to see a group of people who really care about what they are doing. I thought they made things as historically accurate as possible. I liked the background of the NHS (National Health Service). Overall, recommended for fans of the show.

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/2041768/the-life-and-times-of-call-the-midwife

The Soldier's Scoundrel

Review:

Jack is a fixer. He helps women where the law doesn't. He also grew up poor with his siblings and stole, worked, and worked some more to get where he is. Oliver is the 2nd son of an Earl who is now out of the army having spent the last 10 years or so in uniform.
Both Jack and Oliver are different, but I liked that their differences each complimented the other. At the end of the day, they just wanted someone to love them and have companionship. I liked the element of the mysteries in this one (who stole the letters and who murdered Lord Montbray). I am looking forward to Georgie's story.
For Romance-opoly Lover Lane Moon track

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/2040416/the-soldier-s-scoundrel

Top Secret

Review:

3.5* rounded up
I was pleasantly surprised since this was new adult and I generally don't care for NA. I enjoyed this and will read these authors again.
Keaton is in a relationship with Annika. They've been together 5-6 years having been high school sweethearts (the book said 5 & 6 years at different places). Annika asks for a threesome which leaves Keaton to an ap (yes, there's an ap for that!) to search for someone. He matches with someone and unbeknownst to him it's someone he knows, but doesn't like.
Luke grew up poor and has a scholarship to college. It doesn't cover room and board so he works (as a stripper at a ladies bar and bar tends). His dad is not involved, his mom is a moocher, and his older brother is a felon. He rushed the frat to have someplace to live that he could afford. Keaton, on the other hand, is rich and doesn't know what it's like to not know where his next meal is coming from. I liked the dynamics between each and how wrong their first impressions were.
Keaton stands up to his family and goes for what he wants as does Luke. The only thing I didn't like was Keaton was in a relationship for the first 40% of the book and he was chatting up Luke while Annika knew nothing about it. This kept this book from being a 4*. It's one of those gray areas cheating or not cheating (IMO I thought kinda was- some won't see it that way, but I think it was because Annika didn't know about it and there were feelings involved. No physical act.).
This was a nice enemies to lovers story.
For Romance-opoly Lovers Lane Sun track.

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/2039601/top-secret

Gravity

Review:

Ari is a 17 years old who lives in the future in a hugely different world. Earth as we know it has been destroyed by nuclear war and individual countries are no more. It is divided up by continents and each region is lead by a president. These leadership positions are also hereditary. Enter an alien race (who needed water) who want to colonize earth. Except they can't live on earth. In exchange for terra forming the earth, each human being participates in "the Taking," a process from which an alien (I mean Ancient!) gets "antibodies." This starts at 10, no questions asked, and is mandatory. "The Taking" is secretive and each human gets an eyemask to wear; the mask also paralyzes the person. Nice right?
So Ari's dad is like a head of security and this appears to also be a hereditary position, 'cause Ari is moving up! She also is engaged to the president's son for political reasons. Welcome to the future!
So, during "the Taking" one night she loses her mask and peeks. Her assigned alien (I mean Ancient!) is Jackson, who goes to her school and she thought was human. He asks her to trust him- and she does.
This was weird and not in a good way. There's also insta-love, an attempted love triangle (but not really), found 1/2 siblings (not Ari), a Super Special heroine, and multiple questionable decisions. I was also surprised at the amount of death and violence in this one. Ends in a cliffhanger. However, I have no desire to read the next. I'm out!
Romance-opoly: Outer Space Moon track 

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/2036156/gravity

The Captive

Review:

Christian was captured, held captive, and tortured for almost a year. He is freed at war's end. This book had heavier issues due to this. He had to deal with the trauma done him- both physical and emotional. Gillian was married to an abusive man for 8 years before died of a stroke. To get an idea of how sadistic this guy was is he tried to frame Gillian for his (natural) death.
Both Christian and Gillian connect and find comfort in each other while carrying for Christian's daughter Lucy. Something happened and now Lucy does not speak at all. While he was a prisoner, his wife (Helene- Gillian's cousin) and son (Evan) died.
The book did drag for a little while in the middle. Then the suspected attempts on Gillian's life happened and it picked up again. I think the villain responsible for that (and Christian's capture in the first place) is easily guessed at. And also Lucy's inability to speak.
Girard's (AKA Sebastian St Clair) story is the next book and I admit to being leary about that. Girard was a villain in this one (he was one of Christian's torturers), but was humanized at the end of the book.
For Romance-opoly Courtship Row Moon track 

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/2036155/the-captive