Caine's Reckoning

Review:

I will put up with a bad book if it's for a challenge and I didn't know what else to read for the category.  

Caine is a Texas Ranger and a member of Hell's Eight.  Desi is the woman he rescues and marries.  Desi was repeatedly a victim of trauma and sexual assault.  Does she get time and space to work out her trauma?  Yeah, nope.  This has the trope of the magic penis that heals.  Don't like to be touched?  Well, let's get it on!  It's not romantic, it's abusive.

Then there was the bad guys.  That's it really?  It was too easy.  And it's not helped that there was still the mystery sadistic evil guy that had no name that didn't get his.  He is still free.  And the whole issue of the who/why of Desi and her twin sister Ari (who is not in this book and is alive/dead (who knows!) and suffered/is suffering the same fate that Desi did) kidnapping.  For the length of the book, it left a lot of unanswered questions.  But you know what?  I don't really care and would very much like to burn this trash.  I won't be reading any more of this series.

It's sad that the best thing about this book was Boone, the loyal dog, and Cantankerous, a randy rooster. 

I read this for the Romance-opoly Passion Place sun track square  

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/2112823/caine-s-reckoning

Hurts to Love You

Review:

This wraps up the trilogy. Nicholas's sister, Evangeline gets her story. I liked reading about her and her ability to grow as the book progressed. I liked Gabe from the previous books and liked them together. Since this wrapped everything up- Nicholas and Livvy are getting married, there are secrets that come out, it was nice the see how everything wrapped up. And I loved the epilogue to see where everyone was a year later.
And Eve's paternity wasn't in question.

[spoiler]

Gabe's dad was Robert, he had had a one night stand prior to meeting Tani. Maria and Robert were not having an affair. Maria was leaving Brendan. Livvy's pregnant. She has a girl.

[/spoiler]

I read this for Romance-opoly The Bar moon track

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/2094688/hurts-to-love-you

Animal Attraction

Review:

Jade has something bad happen and she ran to small town Sunshine, ID.  She found a job and made a life very slowly letting people in.  Expect she's not planning on staying, because her family expects her back.  Dell's got relationship problems with women due to his history as a child.  He doesn't do them.  

I enjoy JS writing, humor.  Both Jade and Dell are likable even if this did drag in a few places.  Both are adults and have difficulty admitting to themselves what they want.  Jade has always done things to make her family happy and what they want.  It was only after running to Sunshine that she did things for herself and it took the whole book for her to admit to her family what she wanted.  The upside was her family loved her and wanted the best for her.  Dell had issues with his birth mother and had a relationship/non-relationship with her in them one.  I would have liked for that to be explored more.  The strength in this one are the supporting characters.  Dell's brothers Brady and Adam and friend Lilah are all in this and I enjoyed their banter.

The only problem I have with JS, and I've pointed this out before, is her use of "like a girl."  I hate that phrase and she uses at least once in most (all?) of her books.  (Think "fight like a girl"  or "cry like a girl.")  I do like her writing style, it's easy and humorous, and I know what I'm getting.  

I read this for romance-opoly The Bar sun track

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/2090689/animal-attraction

Little Women

Review:

I can't really say anything that hasn't been said already. I do have a confession- this is the first time I've read Little Women. Sure, I've seen multiple adaptations. Greta Gerwig's version that recently came out made me realize I had never read the book. When Romance-opoly called for a YA book considered a classic I knew I had to read this one. I thought it was interesting reading what scenes didn't make it to the various adaptations. It's interesting to see what each version chooses to highlight from the source material. Recommended.
I read this Romance-opoly Beau Boulevard moon track

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/2083057/little-women

The Hallowed Ones

Review:

Amish and vampires? Interesting.
Something is happening in the Outside world. Not having TV, radio, cell phone, etc, Katie and her community have absolutely no idea of what is going on. They know something is happening since a helicopter crashes in one of their fields....and no one comes to investigate.
I did start out liking this. But then something happened and I just got annoyed. While I don't think this was preachy, I got tired about reading about "God's will," and the "Outside," and the "Plain" folk. I was horrified at the Bishop's initial decision about Alex until Katie stepped in.

[spoiler]

He was going to shot him.

[/spoiler]

Alex was unconscious. Katie is very likable and resilient. Alex's background was helpful, but I was annoyed that he kept calling Katie "Bonnet." This also showed (IMO) that no matter the religion or the belief that one is more pious, better, etc the more power and absolute trust an individual(s) is granted, the greater likelihood of corruption. There is no questioning or dissent in Katie's community. It's not allowed.
I read this for Romance-opoly Beau Boulevard sun track.

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/2082793/the-hallowed-ones

Silent Threat

Review:

I felt like this had 2 stories going on at first. There was someone who was sending military intel overseas and a stalker who was escalating. I did like the attention paid to (alternative) therapies in connection with the more traditional therapies. Cole was dealing with disability and PTSD. Annie had her own issues dealing with an abusive stepfather, indifferent mother, and a grandfather who I thought was verbally abusive to her. Both characters are likable. I would have liked this better with 1 focus- either the traitor selling intel (and the way intel was taken was interesting and could have been elaborated on) or the stalker. Even though

[spoiler]

it was the same person.

[/spoiler]

I read this for Romance-opoly The Gym moon track

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/2082788/silent-threat

Feed

Review:

This was interesting. It was a lot to unpack and once I got into it this was interesting. Set in the future after a major virus outbreak. I thought the concept is interesting- everyone has the Kellis-Amberlee virus and it becomes activated when one dies, gets bitten, or spontaneously converts. The virus is helpful in that it kills the cancer cells and other things. The problem is, once activated, people become zombies and require a head shot to die a 2nd time. Animals over 40# also are infected and the same things apply. I can't imagine a future where most don't have pets.
In this future, news is disseminated through bloggers. George (Georgia) is a Newsie (news and truth), her brother Shaun is an Irwin (likes danger), Buffy is a Fictional (stories). There are also Stewarts, Aunties). Together they run a blog/news site that gets chosen to follow the presidential campaign of Peter Ryman whose formative years were shaped by the outbreak.
I liked the writing, the characters, and the general story-line. There's a betrayal by someone close, trusted, and considered a friend. There's a conspiracy, murder. A major character dies in this. I do think this has a good solid end and was on the fence about reading the next. I did read some reviews regarding book 2 and certain things happen that I'm not crazy about, so the train stops at this one. I do recommend for those that like zombie stories.
I read this for Romance-opoly The Gym sun track

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/2077356/feed

Melt for You

Review:

Overall this was an entertaining enemies to friends to lovers romance. Joellen is a copy editor at a publishing house with dreams to advance. She's been secretly in love with her boss for years. Cameron is a famous rugby player and traded apartments for the Christmas season with a family member. (I've late at writing this and don't remember the relationship- I think it was a cousin). The apartment is across the hall from Joellen's.
Both characters are like-able, but Joellen's negativity related to anything about herself got old so fast. When her confidence grew and she finally stood up for herself, it was a beautiful moment. But, it took forever to get there. Her relationship with Cameron took awhile to develop and even longer for her to realize the depth of her feelings.
Michael was an asshole.

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/2076697/melt-for-you

Stone Cold Texas Ranger

Review:

Natalie's sister has been missing for 8 yrs. She spent all that time looking for clues and working her way into the Texas Rangers as a hypnotist. She assists with suspect interviews. After a suspect is murdered and her house burned she goes into hiding with one of the Rangers who doesn't like her.
The forced proximity and enemies to lovers was decently done. This one had some nice action/suspense scenes.

I read this for Romance-opoly Soldier Street moon track

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/2076690/stone-cold-texas-ranger