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Back to Her by Dani Wyatt Review

blurb

38598834Going to prison and taking the fall was my gift to Mia. How was I to know her father would disappear with her and I would lose her forever? After serving my five years I’m finally out, but bars or no bars, I’m still in hell.

I never believed in miracles until today. Because I’ve found her. All plush softness, sorrowful eyes and lips that call to be kissed. She’s right here in the same place I’d met her all those years ago when she was too young. Before I could touch her.

There is no force on heaven or earth that will take her from me again. No force that will keep my hands off her now. I will take her. I will do as I please with her because she is mine. Now and forever. God help us both.

Author’s Note: Take five years waiting for her to be legal. Then another five locked up in prison and you’ve got one powder keg of alpha naughtiness waiting to explode. This love at the speed of light novella will warm your heart and your nether regions. All you expect…safe, smutty, swoony and happily ever after.

author

From the bio of Dani Wyatt on Goodreads: 
Since I was a little girl, I’ve made up stories. I would lay in my bed at night and before I knew what a trope was, I would make up these trope filled stories. Boy sees girl, boys falls for girl, boy saves girl….happily ever after. As I got older, the stories turned steamier and more intricate, but the basics never changed.

Now, my books are still full of romance but the naughty bits are naughtier, my hero’s are obsessed alpha types and my heroines are quirky, real women who come in all shapes and sizes.

So, sit back, banish the real world and get lost in some over the top romance with a heaping helping of hot. xoxoxo

Amazon:
Dani Wyatt used to feel bad about having such dirty thoughts. Luckily, one day she decided to starting writing them down. Her uber alpha heros have a wicked possessive streak and an insatiable libido. Her heroines are intelligent, quirky and worry about having too much muffin top. With her books, you can count on a heaping helping of HOT and always a happily ever after.

When she’s not writing (which is not often) she is probably laughing about some irony (like A-1 Steak Sauce is vegan), riding her horse, wondering why The Walking Dead can’t have a new episode every night, or looking cross-eyed at some piece of technology sent to ruin her day.

Friend her on Facebook here.

review

3-stars

I’ve read quite a few Dani Wyatt books, and I’ve always loved her OTT Alphas, but Walker just didn’t do it for me like some of Dani’s other alphas. The book started out strong, but eventually Walker and Mia just bothered me.

First, I don’t know what the heck Walker did to make money. When he first got out of prison he said he still had a lot of money, but that he needed more. But then later he doesn’t have enough money to help Mia and her Nana? And then there’s Mia, who has been kept inside her whole life by her father and no longer wants to be trapped hoping a man could take care of her. Admirable, but the first thing she does is lie to Walker and meet with a creep. A creep she didn’t like before her father disappeared with her. There was also a lot of unexplained things in the book, and it made parts of it feel rushed. Then there seemed to be unnecessary drama, that was resolved very quickly.

I still gave this book three stars because Dani always delivers on at least two things: the quality of writing, and super steamy love scenes. While the flow of the novel wasn’t my favorite, I can’t complain about her style of writing. While Walker wasn’t my favorite alpha that Dani has created, he is still Over The Top and completely in love with Mia. He knows what he wants, and waiting ten years to get it doesn’t stop him.

This is a short, insta-love story available free on Kindle Unlimited. Goodreads.

I Wanna Play Hyde and Seek!

Untitled design (3)Hellooooooo jello legs.

HOLY HANNAH MONTANA. Looking for a new OTT(over the top) brooding alpha man for your romance collection? Look no further than Layla Frost’s Hyde and Seek series. She’s one of the authors writing in the Kindle Happily Ever After Crossover series with Aurora Rose Reynolds, and she’s writing Until Nox (and I am in desperate need for this book.)

I think my favorite alpha is the borderline-neanderthal kind, and Layla Frost’s Jack Hyde is such a caveman. The book kept me smiling from the very first “Babe” and had just enough twist in it to make me seriously want to cry and scream. But I held myself together enough to read it. Jack is a mechanic and owns his own shop, and Piper Skye is starting her own cake business.

Piper wins over almost everyone she meets by just being herself. Maybe feeding a bunch of huge, mega hunky guys with sweets she bakes to perfection helps too. Normally, when there’s a character that is so charming the people around them can’t help but be protective of them makes me want to gag. But it’s hard to hate Piper. She’s fictional, but I so wish I could meet her and be her friend. She won me over. Her sweet exterior totally matches with her sweet interior, but she knows how to rock. My favorite kind of people.

Jack Hyde makes me want to fan myself while I’m reading. And I’m not a fan of the man-bun or long hair look usually, but thinking about this caveman with long hair? Yeah totally did it for me. His rough, grunting ways are not because he is unable to speak, just that he chooses his words. And when shit hits the fan, he chooses to use more hands-on methods. His insecurities with dating someone ten years younger than him (plus some!) get to him, but he and Piper work it out. With the help of some friends.

If you read my Brynne Asher review, you know that one of my biggest pet peeves in a book is discounting therapy as unnecessary because they are fine, or don’t need it. Well, after some traumatic events, Piper needs therapy. And she admits she needs it! There’s not as much depth as I would have liked, but the acceptance of needing to gather more tools to help cope with something you weren’t equipped to handle, is something I think more authors should be doing.

There were some editing choices at the end that I wasn’t a fan of. There was a lot of quick flashbacks, and back and forth between Jack and Piper’s POV. Most of Hyde and Seek was told through Piper’s POV. Adding Jack in there was something I loved to see, but the back and forth on the timeline was a little disconcerting. It did help to amp up the anxiety and tense situation, but it just wasn’t my favorite aspect.

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The love that Piper and Jake find together is truly amazing. It is all consuming. But my favorite part that Layla details, is the parts you don’t think about. It can be hard to detail the little things that make you fall in love with someone. It’s not always the big grand gestures, but the way that someone searches for you in a crowded room, or the way they look and you when no one is watching. Layla manages to effortlessly make you fall in love with characters as they fall in love, while getting glimpses into the life that is hard to detail. As an author, you can’t always show or describe those little things, but Layla slips them in there.

So my rating? FOUR SOLID STARS. I cannot wait to devour everything Layla Frost has to offer. Her books are offered on Kindle Unlimited if you are a subscriber, but I am totally buying them the second I get the chance.

Follow Layla Frost on Facebook!

 

By the way… I’m totally finding amazing books by being in crazy book clubs on Facebook, and Layla has one for her cupcakes!

How to Date a Douchebag Review

**SPOILER ALERTS BELOW!!**

Early February Sara Ney came out with another stunner in her How to Date a Douchebag series. This time, it’s the Coaching Hours.

This addition to the series was a little different. First, we get to see Elliot, Sebastion “Oz” Osbourne and Zeke Daniels’ roommate from the first two books in the series. I, for one, was so excited to see Elliot’s return! But, Elliot is not a douchebag.

Elliot’s love interest? The wrestling coach’s daughter, Anabelle. And Anabelle is not a douchebag either.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. But where are the douchebags?

The douchebags come in the form of Rex Gunderson, wrestling team manager, and Eric Johnson, member of the wrestling team. These two knuckleheads bet on who can get into Anabelle’s pants first. But Anabelle isn’t having it.

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Anabelle moves in with her father, the Coach. Although she loves him, she wants to get her own place. While searching for an apartment, she overhears the wrestlers talking about Gunderson and Johnson’s bet. Anabelle and Elliot meet in the library, after Anabelle overhears some guys in the gym talking about the bet. Then Elliot meets her again at a party when she gets very drunk. Elliot, the sweet guy that he is, takes care of her. He helps her when she’s sick, and helps drive her back to her house in the morning. Anabelle realizes he has an extra room in his small apartment, so asks to move in.

Elliot’s thoughts? “What if she decides to walk around the house with no pants on and I have to see her ass cheeks? What if I like it?”

They move in together, and Anabelle gets her revenge on the boys, while she slowly falls for Elliot, and Elliot falls for Anabelle. The problem? Elliot is leaving once he graduates. He’s moving to another state for school.

Sara Ney has done it again with this installment. She also says it’s the final one. *sigh* I so would love to see another douchebag story! The writing, the comedy, the story. Everything about it is fantastic.

And oh the twists and turns! There were some WICKED plot twists that I was not expecting, but were fully appreciated!! This read was 5 stars for me!

And I can’t wait to read more from Sara Ney!

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Review Time!

Ok, I am so behind when it came to this book. My cousin (shout out to Felicia) lent me her book after I told her I was looking to read more books that weren’t romance novels. I tend to stick to what I know and love. I am so glad she gave me this book.

The novel itself is short, only 163 pages, but the overall messages this book delivers are both great and impactful.

For those, like me, who have never heard of the book before, it is about a young shepherd Santiago. While traveling with his sheep, he has a dream of going to the Egyptian pyramids and finding treasure. But before he can find out where the treasure is, he wakes up. He decides to go to a gypsy woman to help interpret the dream. Her advice is simple: go to Egypt.

Santiago debates on what to do, because he has his sheep to take care of. While debating, he meets a king, who tells him of a Personal Legend. The king tells him he needs to follow his Personal Legend, now while he has been gifted an omen, before it is too late. Not everyone realizes their legend, but if they do, they must follow it. But he must remember, everything comes at a price.

On Santiago’s journey, he meets more people, including an alchemist, a crystal merchant, a thief, and eventually he meets the love of his life. Over the years, he struggles with whether or not to continue on his journey, whether or not to fulfill his Personal Legend.

The novel was originally written in Portuguese and translated in the 90s. Though translated books are usually not as good as the original (due to certain things being lost in translation) The Alchemist holds its true meaning. The moral of the story: if you want something you need to go and get it.

But I got so much more out of the novel. Some of my favorite quotes:

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“It’s this: that at some point in our lives, we lose control of what’s happening to us, and our lives become curried by fate. That’s the worlds greatest lie.” – The King of Salem

“Even though I complain sometimes, it’s because I’m the heart of a person, and people’s hearts are that way. People are aftraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they don’t deserve them, or that they’ll be unable to achieve them. We, their hearts, become fearful just thinking of loved ones who go away forever, or of moments that could have been good but weren’t, or of treasures that might have been found but were forever hidden in the sands. Because when these things happen, we suffer terribly.” – Santiago’s heart.

For me, this was a 4 star read. I give it 4 stars, because although I really enjoyed reading this, it was kind of hard to get through. The translation of the novel was really good, but the writing was stilted. The sentences were smaller, and were uncomplicated. The language was simple, and it was repetitive. This is probably more a Young Adult novel than one for adults.

But still good!

Have you read The Alchemist? Did you have favorite quote? Comment below and tell me!

Carter Reed by Tijan Review

UM HELLO CARTER REED.
I’ve read many of Tijan’s books, but I think Carter Reed is my favorite. It’s not *exactly* a second chance romance, since Emma and Carter were never together when they were younger, but they wanted to be together.The novel begins with Emma killing her roommate’s boyfriend because he is raping her. After getting Mallory, her roommate, to a safe place, Emma has to figure out her next steps. She can’t go to the police, but there’s a dead body in her apartment.

Oh, and the now-dead boyfriend was the son of a mafia boss. This pushes her to do something she’s wanted to do for 10 years, but has never done. Emma goes to Carter Reed, her brother’s best friend, her one-time crush, and the only person she can go to for help. Carter is also the current head of a different mafia family.

Can I just say I don’t know if I could have handled everything the way Emma does? She has her moments, with panic attacks and questioning her decisions, but she is strong. Emma makes decisions her friends are not able to make. She has to decide and war with her own morals and values, rationalizing the life she is now apart of. Emma has to fight, not only for her own safety, but to be a part of Carter’s life.

And Emma was never known to be a quitter.

Emma is not the only one who struggles though. Tijan teases the readers with glimpses into Carter’s mind, showing his struggles to bring Emma into an inherently violent world. This is the woman he would go to war for, and do anything to protect. His entire life is and was always devoted to keeping her safe. And Carter coming to terms with feeling something other than the thrill for killing is beautifully shown.

Overall, this was a 5 star novel. I would HIGHLY recommend this for those that love dark romance. NO CLIFFHANGER!! There is a second book but this book does NOT end on a cliff hanger!!