Our Book Picks for the Week of Aug 23rd 💖 Reviews and Recommendations

📚 Our Book Picks for the Week 📚
 Reviews and Recommendations
Aug 23rd
 
🖤 Loki by Stacy Gail
🩺  One Moment Please by Amy Daws
⚡ Scars & Sins by Melanie Munton
🙈 The Spare - Part One by Gemma Weir
🩰  Dance For Me by Erin Trejo
📋 The Honey-Don't List by Christina Lauren

Loki by Stacy Gail
Description:
Alice’s life is falling apart. She’s penniless, jobless, and a week away from being evicted. Every last ounce of her misery can be dropped on the doorstep of one man—Loki, legacy member of the Gravediggers MC and tattooist at House Of Payne. One way or another, she’s going to make that monster pay.
Loki’s life turns upside down when a long-legged beauty flips him onto his ass like she’s an escapee from a bad kung-fu flick. He has no clue who Alice Halliday is, but he’s determined to change that.
Their lives…
…are getting complicated
My Thoughts 💭:
Loki - I wasn't sure how Gail was going to spin this one - seriously - having gotten glimpses of the giant alpha chest-beating grumpy my way or no way meany in previous episodes I was a bit weary
But this ... this was so much more 😌
Real quick this can be read as a standalone but it is part of the House of Payne series -
One that I highly recommend reading
"One minute everything's rosy. The next, it's like a hurricane blew in, and there are tattered survivors staggering around, looking for solid ground that they can rely on. "
That ☝️ right there
That was Loki and Alice's story.
I laughed - full-on, out loud belly laughed
I cried those ugly silent tears
I held my breath hoping the next page would show some mercy
I white knuckled my kindle when I wanted to reach in and strangle a certain someone
I wanted so badly to reach out to let them know "it's gonna be okay, not sure when or how but it's gonna be okay"
Most of all - I enjoyed the journey
"This should be fun, this you-and-me thing. Can't wait to see how it turns out."
The things we do in the name of love.
I just can't get over Loki. If you have read the previous episodes in this series you are going to flip when you see Loki expose his heart. I want to climb him so bad! 🤭
"You're teaching him that when a law unto himself meets a force of nature, nature always wins"
Oh, Alice, you deserve this and so much more.
A force of nature is a kind way of describing this bundle of kinetic energy. She just blows in, rips right through the gates and spreads her magic. She has so much to give and it has been stifled, muffled. Her back story broke my heart.
The House of Payne series is such an eclectic mix of characters. Each new episode takes the reader on a wonderfully crafted journey that touches on all the feels.
Every time I come to the end of one of the books -
I don't want to close it.
I don't want to leave the House of Payne and it's family
*Sigh* Until next time 🤗
#loki #newadult #contemporary #romance #houseofpayne #stacygail
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One Moment Please by Amy Daws
Description:
That awkward moment when an ER doctor has to inform you that you’re pregnant…with his baby. Three things Lynsey Jones knows about the hot doctor: he’s grouchy, an arrogant jerk, and strangely obsessed with pie. Three things Dr. Josh Richardson knows: he doesn’t talk about his past, he doesn’t do relationships, and the crazy girl in the hospital cafeteria who ate a fistful of French silk pie…is annoyingly irresistible. After a chance meetup at a bar and a heated cab ride together, things come to a head and now instead of hating each other, they’re horizontal in a bed. Three months later, the weird cafeteria stalker who crept out of Josh’s house like a thief in the night, winds up as his patient in the ER after her Tinder date from hell. The doctor is prepared to keep it cool and professional. That is until her bloodwork reveals she’s pregnant. What really throws him for a loop…is the surprise baby…is his.
My Thoughts 💭:
Ughhh could they have been any more perfect!
Clamp those thighs together and hold on tight things are about to get bumpy 👶 in the best of ways
One moment please delivers non stop - From the tension-filled first meeting to the swoon-worthy happily ever after - and all the side-splitting oops moments in between Lynsey and Dr. D will own your heart.
Lynsey is such a breath of fresh air. She just finished her thesis and is, looking to celebrate 🎉 all the pieces are falling into place and her future is looking easy as pie (there is a hidden meaning here)
Until an overly grumpy grouchy sexy as silk Dr. insinuates she is up to no good!
How dare he! She'll show him.
From that scene forward Lynsey was my hero.
That girl was a disaster on stilts while roller skating.
Josh was a grumpy man, I'm not spoiling the why, but he needs the rubber room not our sweet, at times a bit strange Lynsey.
Do you know that saying about opposites attracting?
That is our Dr. D and Lynsey
Josh is oil
Lynsey is water
Together 🙈
Daws is one of my one-click authors.
The way she spins her stories - it's almost magical.
Her characters seem to grab your heart and never let go.
Another fabulous addition to my collection
#onemomentplease #romanticcomedy #amydaws #kindleunlimited
Amazon

Scars & Sins by Melanie Munton
Description:
You know when you have a little sister and she has that one friend that always follows you around like a puppy? For me, that was Roxanna "Roxy" D'Angelo. That was years ago, back when our fathers didn't hate each other. Then they became enemies and she went off to boarding school in Connecticut. Now, she's back...and looking nothing like the shy girl I remember. Cavorting with anyone from the five families is strictly forbidden to someone like me. So, I can't figure out why I keep finding myself in situations with Roxy that could bring the force of the entire mafia syndicate down on our heads. Even if those situations are the wildest, most intoxicating experiences of my life. But with the Sicilians in town and out for blood, times have never been more dangerous. If they find out about our relationship, they won't hesitate to remove both of us from the equation so they can restore order. We're not Romeo and Juliet. They both died. And I refuse to let anything happen to Roxy. I have to protect her. From my family. From hers.
I hope she won't hate me for what I have to do. Because it might just kill her before any bullet can.
My Thoughts 💭:
Roxy really?
Ace you love-struck fool!
Things are getting a bit more complicated for the Rosetti family
Their last little "endeavor" to protect the family has left a vacuum among the leaders and a call for 'heads to roll' -
Just happens to be their heads that are wanted and
Roxy's body that is needed
A quick summary here
Roxy has been called back from graduate school by her father
She has no idea why but she knows her loving father would not interrupt her life
unless it was important
Ace and the family are preparing for the blowback from the head families
When Roxy returns home she runs into her childhood crush -Ace
The feelings are still there only stronger - Much Stronger
Ace finds himself drawn to Roxy in a way that puts both his family and Roxy at risk.
But he can't fight the need to be near her.
Roxy finds out she is part of a more nefarious plan and decides that enough is enough -
She is just not that girl
Roxy is counting down the seconds (just wait for it)
Ace is finally grasping what he has always known - Roxy is meant to be his.
Is it too late for our star crossed lovers?
Can Ace protect Roxy from the war about to erupt between the families?
Let me start with Ace - Oh do I enjoy the Rossetti men -
Ace is highly intelligent and the family's cyber professional.
He is more of the type to do battle with the mind than brute force. But like all the men in his family, he is no way lacking when it comes to defending those he loves.
He is a bit 'stalkerish' but nowhere near the levels of Cris.
I enjoyed how he pushed Roxy out of her comfort zone.
He showed her in every way possible besides words - yes he failed to utter those three words and it almost cost him his Roxy girl - that he was hers.
Roxy ... Okay, I will admit I felt half her problems were created by her impulsive responses and how she created mountains out of molehills. For being so career-driven and decisive I was a bit confused when she did the exact opposite when it comes to her personal life
Girl pull up them panties and tell them what you want!
There is going to be some serious retribution owed after the events of this book -
Honestly, I am hoping it is one of the twins who falls next
#contemporary #erotic #mafia #romanticsuspense #books #melaniemunton
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The Spare - Part One by Gemma Weir
Description:
Young love, betrayal, intrigue and more, this book has it all!  This is the first book in a brand new series: The Kings & Queens of St Augustus.
A will. The last wishes of a dead man shouldn’t have had the power to change all of our lives.
But a family fortune can test even the bonds of identical twins.
Now there’s him, the perfect bad boy who hates us all.
My sister wants him, but he wants me.
With billions of dollars at stake, no one is going to come out unscathed.
My Thoughts 💭:
Christ on a cracker!!
I can't breath 🤯
How?
Gawd
Why?
I started this after dinner figuring I could finish it on the 'morrow
I couldn't put it down!
No joke
I walked while reading
I had to know
The clincher? Spares are real.
Tallulah, honey, I'm so flipping sorry
Arlo, I know you don't see the whole picture
It's easy to be blind to the pain others are enduring when your world is so easily manipulated to satisfy your wants
But open your eyes!
You just delivered a death sentence on an innocent!
Olly, I hope you can save her
Mom, I hope you choke on your champagne
Dad, you... I have no words for
And Carrigan dear
May you rot in the he ll you've created
I am not going to recap the blurb
I will tell you that you need to set yourself up
Uninterrupted reading space - preferably a closed door
A pillow to scream into
A stress ball so you don't crack the reader screen
Some tissue when you feel your heart cracking
A reading light so you don't get lost in the darkness
Patience - lots of patience
Why?
Because this ends on a bloody big cliffhanger!
Book Two is releasing 8/25
#newadult #saga #fiction #books #kindleunlimited #gemmaweir
Amazon

Dance For Me by Erin Trejo
Description:
She was a job. Nothing more. Nothing less.
I followed my father's orders like usual until I was tired of being used.
Whisper was a casualty of our world. One that I decided I wanted to keep more than I wanted to ruin.
She was a challenge that I liked. Even though I still wanted to break her, I wanted more.
Yet I knew the punishment I would face if I chose to keep her around.
Is she worth it?
My Thoughts 💭:
Dance for me is first in a series that follows the Alder brothers - Steele, Knox, and Callan.
... I think I am a bit partial to Knox but this was not his story
A small town with big influences that wants to keep its power structure the way it is and will use any means necessary to ensure it.
Steele and his brothers are directed to get close to Whisper and find out what she knows then eradicate the problem.
Problems is Whisper -
She is not easily swayed by good looks
She is not bending to their threats
Pretty much everything the boys throw at her seems to roll right past her.
Whisper has enough demons to battle without willing adding to the pile.
And this psychotic band of brothers is the last thing she needs
But it seems her choices are not her own - her body lights up when her newly appointed tormentor comes close
Can she outmaneuver the Triple A's?
Can she figure out what her "kind" foster parents really want?
Steele gave me whiplash! One minute he was hot the next cold
Whisper stayed true to her self she trusted no one
I am going to admit I have a chit ton of questions!
Trejo sets us up with multiple directions this can go
A couple of them were resolved a bit quickly for me -
Others I am still trying to figure out who is behind it,
why they did it ...
This does end on a happy for now note
with that said I felt it wrapped up a bit quickly and some things were not answered to my satisfaction (you know I like all the details)
I am hoping I get my answers in the next release
#danceforme #alderacademy #enemiestolovers #kindleunlimited #romance #erinmtrejo
Amazon

The Honey-Don't List by Christina Lauren
Description:
Carey Duncan has worked for home remodeling and design gurus Melissa and Rusty Tripp for nearly a decade. A country girl at heart, Carey started in their first store at sixteen, and—more than anyone would suspect—has helped them build an empire. With a new show and a book about to launch, the Tripps are on the verge of superstardom. There’s only one problem: America’s favorite couple can’t stand each other.
James McCann, MIT graduate and engineering genius, was originally hired as a structural engineer, but the job isn’t all he thought it’d be. The last straw? Both he and Carey must go on book tour with the Tripps and keep the wheels from falling off the proverbial bus.
Unfortunately, neither of them is in any position to quit. Carey needs health insurance, and James has been promised the role of a lifetime if he can just keep the couple on track for a few more weeks. While road-tripping with the Tripps up the West Coast, Carey and James vow to work together to keep their bosses’ secrets hidden, and their own jobs secure. But if they stop playing along—and start playing for keeps—they may have the chance to build something beautiful together…
My Thoughts 💭:
This was my first time reading Lauren's work and
Honey let me tell you -
From beginning to end The Honey-Don't list kept me entertained
Plenty of "Oh no you don't" temper tantrums tossed about with a few hilarious "oops"' incidents all wrapped up with some powerful "See me" moments.
I felt for Carey she put so much of her life into Mel and Rusty's career. Sure she made good money but the cost was high both emotionally and physically.
Despite Rusty's faults I liked him. Mel on the other hand needs to be brought down a peg or two.
The chemistry between Jimbalaya and Carey is a bit of dump and go
Carey stays to the sidelines, hides in the shadows
When they both do collide it is a bit like an "AH HA" moment
They were always within proximity but never really saw one another
When they do? It is an instant attraction they both decide to feed.
One time - feed the need and all - should be simple they are both adults.
The opposites attract theory is definitely in play here
Carey has always worked for the dynamic duo that is Melissa and Rusty Tripp.
It is all she has known. Carey is literally the train that keeps Melissa's life on track. In front of the camera, she has it all together but behind the scenes? She is a complete disaster.
Can't blame the girl when at home it's time to let it all go.
I found this little quirk endearing when it came to her character.
Jim... What can I say about him? Mr. Perfection. He was hired as an engineer and to assist Rusty.
He is NOT an assistant - just wanted to clarify that (eye roll here) -
I appreciated Jim's slightly arrogant attitude in the beginning, he was still struggling with where his life had landed him. I would be a bit bitter too.
As the story progressed and Mel and Rusty slowly implode Jim drops his walls and the man we see is
A nerdy, handsome, quirky sense of humor and attentive
- husband material right there.
Jim and Carey are charged with keeping Mel and Rusty in line and the truth about their marriage off of social media.
It's only ten days
About two weeks
Surely it can't be that hard, right?
Let the circus begin -
So glad these are not my monkeys!
#thehoneydontlist #romanticcomedy #womensfiction #humorous #netgalley #christinalauren
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