Nobody's Baby But Mine

Review:

A friend lent me this book and I needed a book with a baby on the cover for Ripped Bodice Bingo. I'm using this shitty book for that square! And here's why I thought it was a shitty book: rant ahead. And maybe a little spoilery. And maybe a little cussing. You've been warned.

So, Jane. Jane is a GENIUS and DESPERATELY wants a baby. So does she do what a NORMAL person would do? Fuck no! Why would one use a sperm bank (don't cha know that medical students are notorious for sperm donation?!) when one could trick an unsuspecting guy instead?! Now, granted, she doesn't get pregnant the first time when she sabotaged a condom. No, that happens the second time when they have unprotected sex. But, see it's okay becomes she didn't enjoy herself. Amiright? 
The whole "I'm super smart and it was hard for me growing up, so I want a less intelligent baby! So, I'm going to pick a football player because they all lack intelligence!" just pissed me off. Judgmental much? She's such an idiot. 
On the other side, Cal. I really didn't like him either. "...why should he chose a desperate 30 year old..." Yeah, he is 36. Anyone over 24 is "too old." FUCK YOU ASSHOLE!! I thought he was mean, spiteful, ageist. Granted, he had every right to be pissed, but he took it too far.
I could not forgive (or forget) anything that they did. Much less like them or even want these 2 toxic people to be together. 
The best parts of this book were Lynn, Annie, and Jim.
This just hit a lot of my hates. It definitely feels like I didn't read the same book that so many others read (and loved).

 

 

 

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/1783211/nobody-s-baby-but-mine

Feel the Heat

Review:

Francey (Francesca) is a firefighter (I know- a female firefighter!). Her grandpa, dad, and a brother are also firefighters. She and her crew get called out to a fire. She rescues Alex, who fell asleep at his desk. 
I like both both Francesca and Alex. Fran is a tomboy and is one of the guys. Alex sees her and is intrigued. It helps that she doesn't fawn all over him. They play at being friends and later have things they need to work out.
I liked the firefighting terms and learned a little. I thought it was realistic at how a busy, city fire department is, with the stress of the job, but also the stress it puts on the family. There is a strong secondary story-line here too with Fran's parents, Ben and Diana who divorced when she was 3. 
The fire that Alex is saved from; that was predictable and I had wondered, at first, if that would have been a suspense point. Hint- it's not. Anyway, I was right.
Points off for this: "But it was her eyes that snared him. They were huge, almost translucent and the oddest color, indigo fanning out to deep purple." This is NOT a paranormal! (Natural) purple eyes do not exist!

Ripped Bodice Bingo:  firefighters square!

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/1782988/feel-the-heat

Level Up

Review:

Tessa is an introvert, geek, gamer, into Fandoms, and an engineer. Multiple mentions are made of her being a female in a male dominated industry (and I will say gaming too) and her being an introvert. The group she wants to join is all male and led by Abraham. Abraham is an asshole. To everyone. But, I could certainly see how she could take it personally. Jose, one of the members, hits on all who are female. I didn't like him either. (It mentioned the secretary, Stacy, who Jose asked out often, continued to tell him no. Ask once. If you get a no, that means no, and back off. Anything more, it is NOT cute! It IS harassment!). So, IMO, part of her lack of a promotion to the (game) engineering group could be because she's a woman, but also be because of her lack of interaction. With anyone.
Tessa and Adam are roommates, Tessa having moved in after Adam's long-time girlfriend broke up with him and moved to New York. I liked that Adam wasn't a player. He was close to his close-knit group of friends, but otherwise didn't socialize outside of that group. I thought he was honest and supportive of Tessa without being overbearing. They both "get" the other. I liked their relationship and could believe it.
For all the mentions of her being an introvert, she can stand up for herself and those she considers friends without any problems. She is not a doormat. I was pleasantly surprised. 
One thing that was jarring were the perspective changes or scene/time changes without a space between paragraphs. It happened so often, the movie in my head stopped and I had to read the sentence again, so the movie in my head could pick right back up.
I also liked that the location was somewhere I've been! My sister lives in Woodenville and we drive through Snoqualmie to get there. Highly recommend visiting Sqnoqualmie Falls. 
Looking forward to more! 
Characters (for me and my memory):
Tessa (Teresa): 
Ani- long time friend. Kyla, Stacy, Cressida, Rachel, Hailey. Hailey, Cressida, and Rachel are sisters and own the bookstore. Kyla works for her brother and is an costume designer (in her spare time). Cressida is agrphobic. Rachel and Hailey work at a casino. Rachel is going to college too. Mallory was also mentioned, but can't tell you anything about her.
Adam:
Abraham (lead and an asshole), Rodney, Jose (harasser of women), Fezza.
Ripped Bodice Bingo: tech in the city square

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/1782762/level-up

The Lotus Palace

Review:

This needs to be said first. A historical romance NOT set in England or during the Regency! And the main (and I should say all) characters are not white!
I enjoyed this one. A bit slow at times. I found the romance a very nice, slow burn. Yue-ying and her sister Ming-yu were sold as children into slavery. Ming-yu was beautiful, so she became a courtesan. Yue-ying has a red birthmark on her left cheek. This marked her as unlucky and people would stare at her. As a result, she was forced into prostitution. In this world, a courtesan is educated and her patrons are wealthy, well known. 
Ming-yu is able to find and buy Yue-ying. Yue-ying becomes her maidservant. At the beginning, I really didn't care for Ming-yu. I thought she was cold. IMO, she did a complete 180 and her coldness was a result of the events that were unfolding. 
Bai Huang was from an old, rich, well known and respected family. He made many bad mistakes and choices. Having conquered (mostly) and learned from his mistakes, he spies for his father, playing the idiot. He notices Yue-ying and very gradually empowers her to come out of her shell and speak her mind.
I don't think the mystery/murder was the strongest aspect of the story. What made this excellent IMO was the romance, acceptance, and trust between Yue-ling and Huang. I was also wondering how J.L. was going to pull off the HEA. Nice.
Looking forward to Ming-yu's story.
For Ripped Bodice Bingo: the pre-renaissance square!

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/1782499/the-lotus-palace

Down With Love

Review:

eARC courtesy of NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Loveswept
Out Aug 7, 2018
Max's brother, James has a surprise for Max. He is getting married. Max was one engaged to a woman who only wanted his money. He also happened to be a divorce lawyer. As a result, he sees women 1 or 2 times and is ready to move on. Charlie is a wedding planner. Her last name (no pun intended) is Love. When Max and Charlie meet, there is instant lust.
I thought Max and Charlie worked well together, each realizing they had the other pegged incorrectly. I was fun reading about him falling in love. I do think, out of the both of them, Max was the more romantic. Max is definitely more of a cynic at the beginning. I thought Charlie was one too, even though she didn't admit it. It was interesting Max's take on how he helps his clients (mainly women) who are going through divorce. I thought his actions were noble. Both had obstacles they had to overcome as children.
Both Max and Charlie were relate-able and I could believe their story.
The other characters in this; Max and Charlie's parents (Susanne/Jack and Donna/Sully), Max's brother James (Gina), Max's law partners (Lucas/Grant), and Charlie's friends (Nathan/Penny) all added to the story. And only family/friends could get away with calling Max, Maxie. 
Mentions Max is getting in shape to run a Marathon and he will be running on behalf of Mercy Homes- who this person is was never explained. It didn't matter to overall plot, I was curious is all.

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/1780833/down-with-love

Loyal Wolf

Review:

Kathlene is a deputy sheriff who suspects a group of men, who have moved in to her town, are in the process of doing illegal activities. No one listens to her (she's a woman, and this is a theme among the Sheriff- he doesn't like woman who have opinions). So, she calls in an outside party to help investigate- Alpha Force. Alpha Force happens to be an elite military group made up of shifters and plain old people. Jock is the shifter in the duo that meets at her town.
This wasn't bad, but it wasn't awesome either. It kept me entertained. I thought the wrap-up happened fast and would have liked more suspense (there isn't much). I was glad that Kathlene was smart and could more than hold her own against the sexist Sheriff.

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/1779672/loyal-wolf

One Wedding, Two Brides

Review:

eARC courtesy of Entangled Publishing and NetGalley.
Published: 7/23/18
Let me start out by saying I requested this book because it sounded interesting with a different trope/plot-line than what I normally read. When I first started reading, I had some concerns and if the general "likability" of either Ryder or Monica would be enough to overcome what issues I had with it. While I thought Monica was TSTL at the beginning, I liked her at the end. She had some good business ideas and the talent to carry it out. Ryder, on the other hand, I thought was an asshole and made a little improvement, but not enough. The rest of this review is hidden behind the awesome page break. I can't talk about the issues I had with this book without giving anything away. 

So Monica gets black-out drunk and crashes her ex-fiance's wedding. She is "rescued?" by Ryder, who also happens to be the bride's brother and SOBER. He then lets Monica (or as he states later in the book "badger") him into getting married with the promise of a 50,000 payday. Oopsie, I mean loan! Consent anyone? Not only that, but his views of women: "He didn't need a woman underfoot, getting in his way, throwing tantrums, and telling him what to do." 
"She's ride and rope, be tough enough to get thrown, but climb right back in the saddle. She'd cook and clean and all-in-all make his life easier." "Just like a real wife- nag, nag, nag." None of the give and take, it's all about ME! What can you do for ME! Yeah, that's romantic. Asshole. 
Then the morning after when Monica wakes up, she has NO memory of what she did. None. She comes clean about what Matt (the Rat) did, and does Ryder believe her? No. Is he concerned about his sister? No to that as well. Instead, he reacts angrily. "...clenched teeth." "...he added with a growl. If his fists tightened any more, his knuckles would pop off like the buttons on David Banner's shirt as he turned in the Incredible Hulk." "Ryder's molars ground back and forth in fury.....With shoulders tense and feet spread, he looked prepared to fight. And all Monica could think was that if he took a swing at her, she should duck and run for cover." "Ryder stared at her a moment with crazed rage in his eyes." "Ryder didn't strangle her." Attractive, amiright? Just what every woman wants to read about. I just LOVE (potentially) abusive heroes!! 
He thinks she could have prevented Matt from leaving her. He thinks Monica is a lazy, idiot. He continues to not believe her (and actually don't blame him there) about Matt swindling her money. What bugged me more, was he wasn't concerned at all about his sister. Learning later that Josie stood to inherit some money, I would have liked him to show some concern. She could easily be a victim too. But, this would require Ryder to think about someone else besides ME! Sure, he's got a goal to start an equine therapy program on his ranch. That's good. He, however lacks compassion. Despite all of that, Monica still wants to help him. Maybe that does make her an idiot too. 
Another issue I had is the whole Matt thing. It's unresolved. He skips of of the country. And is free. How is that fair? I wanted to see his swindling ass locked up!
One last thing (and this is really just me nitpicking): One of the reasons Ryder was broke was a tornado that hit his ranch. This is Nevada. Yes, they can happen, but they are a rare. It mentions fixing up the property and the cost, etc. Did he not have insurance? Because, yah, that's stupid right there. 

Original post: RachelGoodbyeBorders.booklikes.com/post/1778828/one-wedding-two-brides