Stealing Our Hearts

Before I even begin this review, I need to start by saying: going through a dry patch in books is R-O-U-G-H. Before this one, I was reading another book that I couldn’t even finish. I was so thrown off by it that I didn’t even write a review because it was so difficult to read (that’s what I would consider a one star review). Before that one was my previous review, and that book was also a big disappointment. It seemed like no matter where I went, I couldn’t find a good, decent story. Until I met Rynna and Rex. Holy CRAAAAP ladies. If you don’t fall for Rex in the first thirty seconds you meet him, maybe you need to get checked out? He’s a total babe. The chemistry in this novel is unreal; it’s fate, it’s love at first sight, it’s meant-to-be. It’s everything. 

“You are more beautiful than the sun breaking the day. Believe me. This morning, I had the privilege of watching them both, and I didn’t want to stop. Little Thief, what am I going to do with you?”

I’m not lying when I say Rex is a dream!! If that line didn’t make you swoon, something is up. This novel is a wild ride. Both our leads have past issues, baggage, that they have been carrying for years. It’s only when they meet each other and fall in love, that they realize they can share the burden and it doesn’t have to weigh so heavily on their shoulders. Our leading man, Rex, lost his first love (which you find out about halfway through the novel), then his wife left him, and now he thinks anything he loves, leaves. Makes sense, right? I mean, Payton thought the same thing in One Tree Hill.  When you’ve experienced enough trauma, anything seems possible. The thing is…Rynna loves him. From the moment she sees him. And she never leaves. Even when his lies come back and almost cause her death, she still loves him beyond reproach. And OH MAN, is it beautiful. 

Rynna has a looooot of issues. She was bullied and abused in high school, and the experience left her with some serious scars. She leaves her hometown only to return eleven years later in the wake of her grandmother’s death.  Her grandmother raised her, so it’s a very upsetting time for Rynna. She moves into her old house and, as it turns out, a very handsome man and his darling little girl live next door. So our love story begins! 

Give this story a chance, my friends. The sex is HOT and the romance is passionate. Everything a sweet, wistful adventure should be! 

“You are my heart’s second chance.”

Well, “Clean Beach Romance” is right lol. This novel was pretty much a Hallmark movie script. I’m not even really sure it qualifies as romance. Our couple kissed a total of maaaaaybe five times during the story. And I was all excited because our leading man, Dawson, was supposedly super beefy and passionate and manly. Charlotte, our heroine, was a very one dimensional character. Her ex husband left her for another woman after eleven years of marriage, so instead of figuring out her life, she just packed up and ran away to Hawaii and quite literally ghosted everyone. Like…even her parents, who she eventually called FIVE MONTHS after she left. They didn’t even know where she was! Very strange. Anyway, she buys this rundown house in Hawaii and plans to fix it up. The first day she arrives at her house, she finds a man living there…like he’s legit squatting in this house. She doesn’t even kick him out…she lets this rando live in her house and she’s not afraid he might rape her or something? Anyway, this guy, Dawson, is probably mid forties (we never actually find out his age) but he’s still built like a machine. He’s a helicopter pilot and he flies tourists around as a job. Pretty cool, not gonna lie. So…Dawson just “decides” he wants to date Charlotte and moves out of the house into a trailer. It’s all very fast and strange. Charlotte kisses him and then suddenly they are boyfriend and girlfriend? I don’t know man…Dawson is like mega-invested in this relationship with a woman who got divorced four months before and is obviously still grieving the loss of her husband. But Dawson is bound and determined to make this woman his wife, even though he’s running from a bunch of crap in his past too! These two people don’t actually TALK to each other about very much of anything…it reminds me a little of what I assume dating was like in the fifties. All surface level discussions and very proper etiquette. It was just painfully boring. You could totally tell that Dawson was gonna be a beast in bed but we didn’t even get a taste of it!!!! Like you couldn’t give us even an inch? UGH. I needed some heat. Truthfully, I was just all around disappointed. I’m hoping for something better in the future.

Sadly, there wasn’t even a single quote that I could use for this one so sorry everyone. Better luck next time. 

“I was lost before you came along, Milly.”

This is hands down, my favorite Meghan Quinn novel to date. I know The Locker Room had a lot of mixed reviews because of the timeline, but honestly, that’s life, my friends. Things don’t always happen in perfect tandem. As a warning, The Dugout also has a time gap. DON’T FREAK OUT. It’s only a year and a half, not eight years, promise. And! It’s necessary. So so important to the plot. Alright now for the real fun…

Wowwweeee!!! I thought I loved Knox (from The Locker Room)…but I was wrong. I don’t think anyone could beat out Carson. Could he be more perfect? Even in his flaws, he’s still untouchable. Carson and Milly are in their senior year at Brentwood University. Carson was supposed to be drafted alongside Knox after their junior year, but he got hurt and everyone passed on him. So, at the beginning of our tale, Carson is a bitter, grumpy baby. Milly is a kinesiology major whose first love is baseball. She has 3 older brothers, all of which played in college, and her oldest, Cory, went pro. She eats, sleeps, and breathes baseball. So when Carson starts slacking with his hits, she knows EXACTLY what it would take to fix him. If he would just give her a shot…

Milly is also, quite possibly, my favorite heroine thus far. She doesn’t wear a lick of makeup and is still stunning. She hides underneath big baggy clothes, not because she’s self conscious, but because she’s comfortable and doesn’t enjoy showing off her chest. She’s one of the guys. A total secret knockout. And she’s crushing on Carson something HUGE. It’s insanely adorable, the way she stutters around him at the beginning. But the more they hang out, the more her confidence grows. He respects her and her abilities/knowledge of the game. As their working relationship grows, so do their feelings for one another, but both are afraid to confess for fear of rejection. The first half of this book is a flirt-fest and I AM HERE FOR IT. Quinn’s dialogue is witty and hilarious, making these characters likable beyond reproach.

We get about 70 percent of the way through the novel before the other shoe drops and tragedy strikes. Guys. I wasn’t prepared. My heart was not ready. The next 20 percent of the novel is a disaster, not like the book or writing was bad, like the story is TRAGIC. I was weeping in my bed, big, disgusting tears. I won’t give anything away, but just make sure you’re prepared to have your heart ripped from your chest and then stuffed back in later. Because holy moly, Quinn brings it all back together perfectly. Ties it up with a beautiful bow and hands it to us, her readers, like the gift it is. Because yes, this novel is a gift. You gotta read it. Trust me. AH. 

“Think of me?” “I don’t think anything could make me stop.”

“You could have lit the sky on fire with how passionate you were for each other.”

WOW. Harlow James has officially outdone herself AGAIN. Every time I open one of Harlow’s stories, I know I’m in for a treat. Harlow has a delicate eloquence in the way she writes. It’s not stuffed full of  unnecessary flowery language that takes away from the beauty and originality of the characters. Everything just works, it’s as simple as that, but it’s what makes all the difference. James is surly a staple for your romance collection. You will fall in love with each and every one of her characters. She truly bested herself with this new piece. Refreshing, energizing, charming, and rebellious, One Look leaves you gasping for air and begging for more. And umm can we talk about those love scenes because oooooooweeee they were SUPER hot. 

We’re introduced to our leading man, Jake, as he’s starting out his career as a professional baseball player. His first home game…and he meets his soul mate. How insanely romantic is that? GAH. Such good story-telling. Jake meets Dani’s gaze in the stands after his first home run and she’s his end game from then on out. She is destined for him and he knows it. He can’t stop thinking about her, he looks for her all the time, he dreams about her…it’s literally a fantasy. Like umm where’s MY professional baseball player please and thank you?  Anyway, so Dani feels exactly the same way. She can’t stop thinking about him either, and her family (her, her brother, and her grandfather) have season tickets to all the home games of the OC Rays, the team Jake plays for. So they pretty much see each other every few days. Dani becomes Jake’s good luck charm as they begin dating (thanks to Dani’s best friend Lochlin). 

Side note: PLEASE give Loch and Rocky a book. PLEASE. I neeeeeed it. 

Then, of course, as in any well-written novel, tragedy strikes. I won’t tell you what happens, but it pulls Jake and Dani apart. They hadn’t even said the big ILY yet…so that was rough to witness. Yes, I was crying. THEN WE SKIP TO THREE YEARS LATER. AH. No contact for three freaking years, guys. I was very emotional about this. Fate steps in and brings our lovers back together. Dani starts working for the OC Rays and Jake is playing for the team.  It’s explosive. It’s like they never broke up. They picked up exactly where they left off. Dani being the cautionary one, and Jake being head-over-cleats (lol) in love with her and throwing caution to the wind. They get their HEA and it is magical. 

Wow just wow. This was a GREAT book. An awesome five star read. I enjoyed every second of it.  Just the cutest story about two humble, sweet humans that needed love and found it in each other. Jake is such a dream and sweet Dani is so deserving. I could gush forever about how much I loved this journey, but you should just go check it out for yourself.  

“One look, Dani. One look is all it took for me to know that we were meant to be in each other’s lives. I’m not going anywhere.”

As we’ve already established many many times, I’m really not a baby person. I don’t really like children in real life (there are a few exceptions), so it’s almost worse when they weasel their way into my romance novels. I’m not a fan of the surprise pregnancy subtrope either…as you may have already guessed. That being said, I downloaded this book on a whim because it kept popping up as recommended, and I figured I’d give Fiona Cole a shot. This is the first book I’ve read by Cole and wow, she did NOT disappoint. I could care less about the fact that Carina is pregnant because that really isn’t the sole purpose of the novel. Thank god LOL. It’s about two people coming together over a shared situation and falling in love. It’s gold.

Okay, first off, there’s a LOT going on in this book. I jumped in, head first, not knowing what I was getting myself into. Our leading lady, Carina, is a straight up badass bitch. She’s a ball-buster, she’s independent and confident and beautiful. She’s literal goals, ladies. But then…her fiancé, who she’s been with for six years and is her best friend, leaves her for another man. At first I was a little confused, like is Jake (her ex fiancé) gay? Because Carina talks about the threesomes she has with Jake and his now lover/boyfriend, Jackson. But then, Carina knew and loved Jackson too. It’s a lot of information and drama and I cannot wait to dive into it when I read Lovers. Anyway! Back to Carina, so she’s pretty burned after the Jake fiasco, and is feeling a little less confident, less sexy, less happy. Her four aunts collectively get her a boudoir-shoot-blind-date-gift-package for Christmas and that’s where she meets Ian…but this is their second encounter. Six months prior, when she learned of Jake and Jackson’s affair, she met Ian at a bar and they shared a moment together. Both of which still remember and cherish. Carina and Ian do this shoot together and end up having deliciously hot, unprotected sex and voila, Carina gets pregnant. And has no way to find Ian to tell him.

As fate would have it, they run into each other again at Ian’s company seven months later; Carina is consulting for them, and it’s off to the races! Ian is pretty much fully invested from the moment he sees her pregnant belly. It’s insanely romantic how much he cares for both Carina and their peanut from the very beginning. He’s attentive and adorable and good lord I would have married him in an instant. Carina is still recovering from Jake’s betrayal, so Ian has to be careful about how far he pushes her. Their chemistry is off the charts, though. They bicker like an old married couple, challenge each other, respect each other, and love each other beyond reproach, even before they both realize it. 

Every time I read about another woman coming into the picture in a novel, it feels like someone poured burning oil down my throat. It makes me physically ill. I’m volatile. It’s impossible for me to relax. There are definitely some personal issues there, which is why I needed to preface my next few comments. Hanna, the sister is Ian’s best friend and business partner, is in love with Ian. She has zero respect for Carina and the fact that she and Ian have a baby. She is selfish and naive. I understand that she went through a lot. She was sold into sex slavery alongside her twin sister, and when they were rescued, only Hanna returned alive. That is A LOT. Regardless, that doesn’t give her the right to act the way she did. Ian was oblivious, as most men are, to her constant advances and flirting, but Carina saw right through it. When our journey came to an end and Hanna redeemed herself somewhat, I felt a tiny bit better. I’m very intrigued to read Hanna’s story, Teacher, releasing in 2020. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that she fully redeems herself and gets her own happily ever after with Daniel. This journey was smoldering and passionate, while also being sweet and accessible. Cole has joined my list of brilliant authors and I’m anxious to continue exploring her work!

“I’ll always be there. Even if you don’t want me to be, I will always be waiting to be what you need.”

We were inevitable, me and him. And maybe we knew it from the start.”

Steiner has done it again, folks.  Good GOD she knows how to write a romance novel. I thought it couldn’t get better than Noah and Ruby Grace, but I was so wrong. 

Mallory is a ball-buster, a creative genius, and the heroine of our tale. Even in the way she thinks and sees the world; everything is through an ingenious lens. Mallory Scooter and Logan Becker’s families have been at war since Logan’s father mysteriously died in his office inside the Scooter Whiskey distillery. Their grandfathers had been best friends, and created this whiskey brand together. When Grandpa Scooter died, he didn’t leave anything in his will for the Becker’s…they have been trying to keep their legacy alive ever since. Logan, Noah, and Mikey Becker all work at the distillery in different positions. At the beginning of our novel, Mallory Scooter starts a job in the tour department, being trained by Logan. She doesn’t want to be there but does so for her father, in exchange for a studio in town where she can showcase her art and teach classes. We learn that Logan probably has OCD and he’s also been kind of in love with Mallory since high school. SO CUTE. Well, sparks fly and yes, there are definitely some Romeo and Juliet vibes.

I love the larger plot that’s spanning all of these books regarding the death of Mr. Becker. I feel like he was definitely murdered…I’m so freaking excited to read the next book. Sweet Mikey needs a happily ever after, especially after Bailey broke his heart. Steiner does a beautiful job of alluding to things that will happen in her future books. Fingers crossed that Mikey realizes he’s in love with Kylie. THAT would be a cute story. Eeeep! Okay, yes, short and sweet review. 5 stars as always to Kandi, one of the greats! She’s definitely a staple for your bookshelf. 

“What a beautiful mess she was.”

Okay, before I even start this review, I need to point out that next to Buffy, Roswell (the original, not this new trash) is my favorite tv show. I loooove me some alien/human forbidden romance. This story was even more interesting because it was like Roswell with a twist. And DEAR GOD THAT CLIFFHANGER. UGH.

Our leading lady, Natalia, is a lonely human who is a brilliant painter but suffers from deadly food/drink allergies. She’s kind of just a sickly human being that can’t maintain relationships with people. It’s rather sad to witness. Our hero, Korin, is an alien doctor whose main job was to tend to Nat while she was serving as an incubator for an alien fetus…which would ultimately result in her death, but she had no idea about it. Yeah…it’s all sorts of fucked up. Anyway, Korin and Nat end up falling in love with each other and it is SO entertaining to watch. I wish we had gotten some of the story from Korin’s point of view because I would have loved to have heard what he was thinking while Nat was explaining human things to him. So, they fall in love and Korin tells her all about how he plans to save her…by turning her into an alien, marrying her, and taking care of her and the baby that she will have. BECAUSE if he turns her into an alien, she won’t die giving birth. So that’s great.

Poor, sweet Natalia has to give up what’s left of her life on Earth in order to save herself and this unborn child. It’s a pretty ginormous deal. Now, on top of all that jazz, there’s our villain of the story, Nathan. He is Nat’s high school ex boyfriend that her mom enlists to help talk to Nat and try to bring her out of her shell again.  Holy CRAP I hated this guy from the moment Nat first told us about him. He was a manipulative, psycho jerk. Shit hits the FAN about ninety percent of the way through the novel and you just know it is going to end in a cliffhanger. Ugh you guys know how much I hate cliffhangers. Well now I have to wait for book two but I need to know what happens NOW PLEASE. 

I won’t spoil it for anyone, but our lovers are so close to their HEA when it’s ripped out from under them. I’m actually tearing up right now while writing this. Both Korin and Nat deserve each other and earned their happily ever after. Finally, I’ll leave you with a line from the love letter Korin wrote to Nat.

“Of all the beautiful things I have encountered in this vast universe, you are the masterpiece of the cosmos.”

My memories of Brody, good or bad, were mine. They were all I had, but at least they would always be mine, even if I had nothing else. Memories, and a T-shirt. 

Oh man, this was QUITE the ride. Book one, Dirty Like Me, ends with an epilogue from Jessa’s point of view. About Brody. And oh my god it sucked me in immediately. I had to know what happened between them and what their future would hold. This story satisfied my every desire. 

Oh sweet, self-sabotaging, furious Brody. What a perfect alpha male. I think I may have actually, physically drooled while reading this. Brody and Jessa have known each other since she was eight and he was thirteen. He was this tough-looking, leather-jacket-wearing, knight in shining armor in Jessa’s eyes. She loved him from the moment they met. He became Jessa’s older brother, Jesse’s, best friend, meaning he was around all the time. Especially since none of the kids had great parental figures, they all kind of banded together and became their own family. Throughout the novel, Jessa thinks back on all her memories with Brody, and we get a front row seat to their complicated, emotional relationship. Brody saw Jessa as this beautiful, spunky child until one day she blossomed and he realized he was attracted to her. He remained her protector throughout her youth, until she mysteriously left him and her family behind after she graduated college and never looked back. The beginning of this novel is the first time Jessa and Brody have seen each other in six and a half years…and they are still just as fiercely in love.

The beautiful way this novel weaves the past and the present together, painting the picture of these character’s incredible lives is profound. I craved learning about their past as much as I needed to know what their future held. Book two in the Dirty Series filled my heart just as deeply as book one did. As much as I love every single one of these characters, knowing that book three is about Seth makes me nervous. It’s difficult to get on board with him finding his HEA after everything that happened with Jessa is revealed in this novel. I know I could never be let down, partially because I’m wondering if this is ultimately Elle’s happily ever after too…but I’m still nervous! I’m keeping my fingers crossed and my hopes high. 

“I have loved you forever, Jessa Mayes. Pretty sure I was fucking born to love you. I know you didn’t really believe me when I said so, or maybe you just didn’t want to…but I would’ve waited for you forever.”

What a wonderful, exciting read. This novel is the perfect pallet cleanser, if you need to read something that’s not very heavy. It left me smiling and rejuvenated; this thriller-love-story will keep you at the edge of your seat.

We meet our heroine, Haley, at her lowest point. She’s just lost her job, her fiancé, her best friend, and any confidence she had about her artistic ability. She’s packed up and leaving Seattle with her small amount of personal belongs and her ten year old niece, Tara, tagging along. Haley’s plan is to road trip with Tara from Seattle to Chicago where she plans to move in with an old friend so that she can get back on her feet. Unfortunately, they don’t make it that far. Haley is driving her sister’s (Tara’s mother) blue mustang convertible when the engine gives out and it leaves them stranded on the side of the road in the small town of Heart’s Edge. 

Haley meets our hero, Warren, when she and her niece end up booking the last available opening at the town’s Inn. The opening ends up being one half of a duplex at the back of the property, and Warren lives in the other half. There are a lot of secrets and history in this town that Haley begins to find out about, all leading back to Warren. Her super sexy, super rude next door neighbor. Well, as any good love story goes, their mutual disdain for each other turns into white hot passion and our two lovebirds fall over the cliff together.

This story is hilarious and exciting and an all-around pleasure to read. It’s not often that you find books like this; simple enough in it’s telling to leave you secure without weighing on your heart. It was like a cool drink of water on a hot summer’s day. Nicole Snow took me away to the beautiful town of Heart’s Edge for a few hours, and I came away one very happy reader. 

“We make love like making war.”