Sunday 9 January 2022

Review: Kari & Levi (Rojo, TX Series Book 4) by Cee Bowerman

Kari & Levi Kari & Levi by Cee Bowerman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Third Time’s A Charm

I’d probably give this book 3.75 ⭐️ if I could.

This book is this fourth in the Rojo, TX series. This series is connected to others written by this author set in the same place with lots of cross over characters. You don’t *technically* need to read the other books before this one, but you’ll find it a lot less confusing if you do.

TRIGGER WARNING: This book deals with people with mental health issues including OCD, panic attacks, PTSD, anxiety and depression. There is also the aftermath of surviving domestic abuse, though not the specific details of what occurred to create the problems. If these subject matters cause you to experience emotional difficulty, you may want to stay clear of this book.

Kari has been in Cee Bowerman’s books since the beginning. Before she was introduced she was in an abusive relationship and got out, but not before she was scarred both physically and mentally. After her escape, she decided to make a safe haven for other women like her, who needed a safe place to make a fresh start. She’s spent most of her life looking after other people at the expense of her own health.

Levi has also been around in a supporting role from quite early on in Cee Bowerman’s books. After college, he went into the army and broke Kari’s 18-year-old heart. They had been dating several months when he had to go away and though he asked her to go with him she felt she couldn’t leave her family, so he went alone and their relationship ended.

After being in the army Levi became a police officer in a different city until he was kidnapped and tortured. After that, he was unable to work in the force and left to set up a gym with his family. Since he’s been back in Rojo, he’s wanted to see Kari but felt his mental health wasn’t good enough to try starting up a relationship again, especially as he knew what she’d been through whilst he’d been gone. Then when Kari moved into her old family home they discovered they were neighbours.

The beginning of this book is quite muddled and a lot of information is thrown at the reader in order to help make the rest of the book comprehendible. There are a lot of scenes from past books and flashbacks in a short period of time which was quite overwhelming as I tried to place all the reminders in the right order. I didn’t particular enjoy wading through that initial section of the book, but once past it I found the book to be of the usual high standard of this author.

This story is a journey of two very damaged people who truly love each other but don’t know how to love themselves. They are both on the same road to happiness, but they are at different stages in the journey. At first glance, Kari seems to be happy and fulfilled and it’s only because Levi lives next door and sees her all the time does he come to suspect that she’s never really dealt with her problems. Levi has a support dog who helps him with his PTSD and he is on medication and seeks counselling because he knows he’s not healthy yet. Kari however denies there is a problem. It takes a lot of work for both of them to get healthy and a lot of heartache is exposed along the way.

It’s really nice to get a HEA for Kari who has been such an important character throughout all of the books set in Rojo. She does so much for others that it’s nice to see her rewarded for that work. It’s also good to read a book about how people can appear fine on the outside but inside are screaming in pain. If you’ve never suffered from mental health issues this is a good reminder that just because your friends and family look OK, they might not be. It’s a good reminder to people who do suffer from mental health issues that you need to do the work to get better, and you need to keep doing the work to stay that way. It’s a very good example of why you need help when you spiral out of control and that it doesn’t mean you are weak or ‘broken’ to ask for it.

There’s a lot love in this book and a lot of hard work. At times it was painful to read, but it was worth it to get to the HEA that these characters deserved.

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Saturday 8 January 2022

Review: Prose Before Bros (Green Valley Library Series Book 3) by Cathy Yardley

Prose Before Bros Prose Before Bros by Cathy Yardley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Finding A New Way Of Doing Things

This is the third book in a series of connected books. This series is a spin-off from The Winston Brother Series written by Penny Reid, set in the same world, but written by different authors. The book stands alone but does have some cross over of characters and shared history.

Thuy has never lived anywhere other than Oakland, California, but she’s helping her best friend in the world, Maddy, in Green Valley, which is a tiny place in Tennessee. It’s a bit of a culture shock, especially because they are dealing with the death of Maddy’s father, who had not been a particularly pleasant man, and who had been a dreadful father. Maddy hadn’t been back to Green Valley since she went away to college, where she met Thuy. Maddy has helped Thuy through so much and she wouldn’t have graduated without her help, so helping to Tetris the food they’d been given into the fridge seems like a small step towards paying her back. Though she is a little taken aback when Maddy decides to stay and asks Thuy to stay too. Being a big city librarian hasn’t given her enough training to work a farm, but for Maddy, she’ll try.

Drill is in a 1% MC. He’s been part of the club since he was kicked out by his father aged 16. His father cut him off completely but he felt he had a much better family in the Iron Wraiths MC. He still kept a distant eye on his sister, Maddy, but contact with blood family isn’t allowed by the Iron Wraiths MC. Over the last few years, the Iron Wraiths have had a lot of adjusting to do after key members were imprisoned. Drill has had to step up as one of the longest-serving members, and one of the toughest enforcers. However, things aren’t really sitting right with him lately and he’s been questioning some of the decisions being made. When he meets Thuy he’s instantly attracted to this pocket-sized Vietnamese tower of strength, which only confuses him more because he’s forbidden from getting involved with her.

On the surface, these two characters have little in common, but as they dig deeper there’s much more to connect them than discourage their feelings. Drill’s crisis of identity is central to this book and Thuy is a surprising source of consolation and guidance as he tries to sort out what he wants from life. She is also a source of fascination and desire. Both are trying to lead different lives and they aid each other on the way.

This book was very different from what I was expecting. Both characters were filled with surprises and I enjoyed that a lot. Maddy was a little annoying, but she’d been through a lot so I gave her a pass when I read about that, plus how she’d helped Thuy in the past made her much more endearing. Though she wasn’t the main character she was a major part of the story and being ambivalent about her was a little distracting.

As this author is new to me, I will definitely keep an eye out for other books by her that I might enjoy. In the meantime I’ll keep reading this series.


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Friday 7 January 2022

Review: The Ways We Betray (The Path of Temptation Series Book 4) by Auryn Hadley

The Ways We Betray The Ways We Betray by Auryn Hadley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So Good I Read It Twice

This is the fourth book of a continuing series. You need to read the first books in the series to understand this one. The book ends at a natural break in the story, but there are lots of things left unresolved that I’m desperate to read about. The first book in the series is The Price We Pay.

This book starts just before the beginning of the second and final initiate year for Nari and her chosen family. Saval has taken over the education for their year group after the disaster that nearly ended Talin’s life the year before. As someone who can also see Zeal, their god is happy to help her make plans to finish their education properly. After making their choice to specialise in Entertainment Nari and Ela are thrown into a much more complete and enlightening education. Nari is also taking her extra classes, both of which she finds fascinating and lead her to meet even more priests in different branches of the priesthood. Even though everything seems to be going well, of course, things aren’t going to stay that way.

This book only covers the period between the Summer and New Year, so there is a lot packed in. The growing emotional bond between Nari, Ela, Talin, Wraythe, Anver and Zeal is the main focus of this book. Through exploring their emotional bonds, we are also exposed to more about their history and personalities. The characters internal landscapes are explored through multiple points of view. These characters are all growing as they get a little older, gain more education and training and have more experience of what they want from life. The developments are all in keeping with their core personalities and are part of a believable and engaging journey to attaining their goals.

This book deals frankly with the difference between lust and love and how the characters separate the two things to maintain their relationships. Though we still have very passionate and erotic content within this book, the sessions the Priests of the Body engage in within this book are not just about these encounters. These sessions are also about socialising with people of different backgrounds and dealing with the differing needs of the individuals concerned. This also aids in exploring the relationships between the different temples. This is especially useful as Zeal’s siblings start to step up needing aid in connecting with their own priests.

Zeal not only wants to bring back the power of the gods for himself and his siblings but because he wants to help his people. We see glimmers of this in the way he talks about his manipulations and nudges of temptation and the things he wants to achieve with them.

The Head Priest, Kinen, doesn’t show his hand very often in this book, which leads me to believe that we’ll see more of him in the future. There are still plenty of difficulties faced by the five Priests of Temptation, but they are not all brought about by Kinen. There are external politics to be dealt with, instead of solely focusing on internal ones.

This book, like the others in the series, wraps you up and doesn’t let go until you turn the last page. I was wrapped up in it so tightly I was disappointed when the book ended. In fact, I couldn’t bear not reading more, so I read it again straight away. That NEVER happens to me. There is something about this combination of characters that resonates with me. There is something so accepting and inclusive of these priests who follow Zeal.

As always with this author, we can see the foreshadowing and the laying out of pathways that may lead to further plot twists and the tying off of loose ends that were left from previous books. It’s a masterclass in how to write a complex and engaging series and I can’t state how much I love it. Originally this series was meant to be 5 books long, but at the end of the book, we are informed that there will actually be a further two books in the series, which makes me ecstatically happy as I can’t see myself ever getting tired of these characters and the incredible world in which they live.

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Thursday 6 January 2022

Review: Crime and Periodicals (Green Valley Library Series Book 2) by Nora Everly

Crime and Periodicals Crime and Periodicals by Nora Everly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Hot Cop and the Shy Librarian

This is the second book in this series of connected books, which stand alone. The books all contain the same characters and they all have shared history, but the other books aren’t required to make sense of this one. The series is a spin-off from Penny Reid’s Winston Brother Series, and is written by different authors.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series and was intrigued by the characters selected for this book and decided to give it a go despite never having read anything by this author before. I’m glad I gave it a chance because I enjoyed it a lot.

Sabrina is incredibly shy and suffers from anxiety and panic attacks. She is an assistant librarian and hides from nearly everyone, even at work. She lost her mother when she was a young child and later lost her sister when she was 17. Since the death of her sister, she has raised her sister’s children along with her father at the family ranch. Sabrina's father is a pretty famous surgeon and popular in the small town where they live. The two eldest children they are raising are now in their teens and will graduate in the next couple of years. They are happy and well adjusted young people. Harry the youngest was born the day his birth mother died and sees Sabrina as his mother, he is also
on the autistic spectrum.

Wyatt is one of four brothers and is the odd one out. The others all work for the family construction firm but after he got injured and couldn’t play football anymore he became a cop in Nashville, where he attended university. He recently moved back to Green Valley and became a deputy sheriff after his now ex-wife left him for a country music star and decided she didn’t want anything to do with their adorable daughters. In Green Valley, he gets help from his mother and his new job allows him greater flexibility to be a parent.

When Wyatt bumps into Sabrina on a traffic stop he falls for her instantly. He’s great with Harry and later on his daughters are also great with him. When he asks her for a date her shyness overwhelms her, but he is kind and gently persistent.

This is a very sweet love story that is as much about Sabrina becoming less afraid of the world and the people in it as it is about the romance. It’s also not surprising that the children are a big part of the story and they are incredibly sweet and funny.

I like that there is great family support for Sabrina. Her relationship with her 16-year-old, highly intelligent niece is more like a friendship than that of a parent and daughter. Sabrina also starts to find friendship outside her family because of the strides she makes in facing the world.

It’s a really lovely story and I’ll definitely be looking for other books by this author.


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Wednesday 5 January 2022

Review: Enlightened (The Ascension of Meghan May Series Book 2) by Jaya Moon

Enlightened Enlightened by Jaya Moon
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

History is Revealed

I’d probably give this book 4.5 ⭐️ if I could.

This is the second book in a continuing series. You need to read the first book to understand this one. The book concludes at a natural break in the story, but there is a lot more yet to come.

After Tallow has told her to stay away from the Kin for her own safety, Meghan tries to return to her usual dull routine of sleep, eat, work and repeat. However, it seems like the world of the Kin does not want to let her go now they have found her and her abilities. At least it gives her a chance to see Tallow and Mox again.

This book is full of revelations about Meghan’s history and about the men she has come to care for. She seems to spend quite a lot of this book being overloaded with information about what she hears. Some of the information seems to conflict with things she thought she understood and it leads to confusion.

There is violence in this book, counterbalanced with passion elsewhere. It made me feel like I was being thrown from pillar to post, never knowing what emotional wringer I was going to get pushed through next. Poor Meghan experiences much worse than me. Her emotions are all over the place. She’s still grieving the loss of her family, she has strong feelings for an owl shifter, a human and an angel, she finds out she’s not what she thought she was and the Kin want her to risk her life for them. If some of her decision-making skills are a little shaky I can forgive her, given the state of her life.

This book is just as compelling as the first in the series. Meghan is someone I can empathise with and I really want to know what happens to her next. The plot is intriguing and I want to know more about the men in Meghan’s life. I will definitely be reading the next book soon.

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